New development: Clapping!

We get the biggest pleasure out of the littlest things that Shoriya does.  Just last week, she started clapping.  We've been showing her how to clap for a few weeks and it just clicked.  Now, she's clapping at least 3 times a day.  Music, the professionally recorded or randomly improvised kinds, definitely increases the chances of her clapping.

Here she is in the morning by her favorite large toy house, ringing the doorbell and clapping away:

Kalp also got her to clap with the mail:

Shori's First Christmas.

We spent Shoriya's first Christmas in Texas with my parents, Vindya, and Sri.  She was the center of attention and loved every minute of being in ajja and bapama's home.   Shoriya got a chance to meet all of our Texas friends, spent some in the local mall (playing glow in the dark miniature golf of all things), and screamed at marine life at the local fish hatchery.   The best part was of course opening Christmas presents.  She had no idea what was going on and was more interested in tearing up the wrapping paper than the actual gifts!  These will be fun to look at later on.

New Baby Game!

We just love doing anything to make our little Shori laugh.  On a Sunday afternoon, Kalp invented a new game to do just that.  Check it out.  Either we let all the clowns across the country know about this new trick or we license a it as a game to Hasbro.  Haha.   We will keep you posted.

Reading the Economist.

Here is Cuddles reading the Economist.  She was really upset with their coverage of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan but then laughed it off.

Shoriya's first concert!

Today, we took Shoriya to her first ever rock concert.  "House of Kids" was at Irving plaza and it featured fun and games like bubbles, balloon animals, facepaiting, etc., the Muppets singing Queen, talent shows, and two live bands.  The opening band was called "Jersey Kids", a bunch of really talented 12 and 13 years that acted like they were 25.  They sang "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Winter Wonderland".  The other band was the Sipping Cups, a group from San Francisco.  The music was original I believe.  The kids absolutely loved it.  Shoriya was taking it all in and really enjoyed the music.  Next stop - music class!