snagabag

So for all of you wondering how I managed to transform my baby into an iBaby (never mind those of you wondering WHY I would do such a thing), here’s the not-so-secret to my success: iPodMyBaby.com. Yep, some creative person realized lots of dorks like myself would pay to have our babies look like a MP3 player. Who would’ve thought that was a viable business model? Well, apparently somebody did, and now they can’t keep the darn things in stock!

Introducing my ALL TIME favorite gadget…

I’m happy to report iBaby loves having her buttons pushed.

Click here to see more photos of Liah at 2 months old! (Weeks 7 thru 10 for those of you keeping track.)

I hereby give my first ever snagabag shout out to my peeps at Wright State! Go Raiders! (I admit it. I had to go look up your mascot just now.)

Sindhu informed me during her visit to Austin that her entire class reads snagabag. Ok, so maybe she said she once saw her roommate reading it, but this is my blog so I’m free to imagine I’ve captured the attention of all the budding doctors at the Wright State University’s School of Medicine.

Okay all you future Dr. Dorians and Dr. Reids. Back to studying! (But first feel free to post a message here, hopefully with a little tidbit about your friend and mine, Sindhura Bandi.)

It is less than a week from October. Yet on the drive home today the temperature was 114 degrees!! That is insanely hot. It’s over halfway to boiling for crying out loud!

Today was the first day I truly wanted to move back to San Francisco. I don’t know how I survived all these Texas summers growing up, and I sure don’t know how I’m going to put up with all the Texas summers in my future.

114 on September 26. That’s just ridiculous.

Liah was also able to meet some of more of Aparna’s family this month. Last weekend Aparna’s cousins Sindhu and Karthik flew in to visit. Since I met Aparna, I’ve probably seen Sindhu and Karthik more than anyone else in Aparna’s extended family. As you might imagine, they are pretty bitter about that. It was Karthik who arranged the never-to-be-forgotten trip to Vegas we all went on in 2003, and it was Sindhu who turned 21 at the time to give us a reason to go to Vegas!

At first Liah was a little nervous about meeting them.

Thankfully, she quickly overcame her shyness and was soon hanging out half-naked with everyone!

In honor of their visit, we took Liah out to her first restaurant! We went to Hula Hut for lunch on Saturday. It’s a great restaurant right on the lake here in Austin.

On Saturday night, Dimple, Rahul and Rohan came over. As you might guess, the boys spent most of the night taking care of the kids while Dimple, Aparna and Sindhu drank the night away!

Liah had a great time hanging out with KP and Sindhu, and we think they had a good time. They basically switched back and forth between holding Liah and eating all weekend.

Click here to see more photos from their visit, including a full size version of Sindhu attacking the world’s biggest appetizer!

Catching up on my blog…

September has a been a great month for Liah. (How do I know that? She told me.) After meeting off of her crazy dad’s family in Toronto, she got to meet some of his “old skool” friends from high school. A few of my Plano Senior High friends (beat PESH!) were in town for a wedding Labor Day weekend, and they were nice enough to work around our schedule to meet Liah. It wasn’t easy for them, what with all the vows, toasts, threatening answering machine messages, and other people’s dogs to feed. Nevertheless, they made it over and I’m glad they were able to meet Liah. However, Liah was a little bit cranky the whole time. We weren’t sure what was bothering her, but about 10 minutes after everyone left Liah had a big POOP and she was in a great mood after that!

The next weekend, some of our good friends from Dallas came down to visit. Mini and Raman came down and brought their 2-year-old son Rishabh. We had a great time hanging out. Rishabh is so much fun, Mini took great care of Liah, and Raman …well, Raman made sure we all had up-to-the-second updates on his fantasy football players. They were able to stay until Monday, so we all (and by all I mean “Raman and Mo”) were able to watch the Cowboys seasons opener at Moews Cinema. Let me tell you, watching a movie there is a pretty freakin’ cool experience, but watching the ‘Boys in High Definition on a 130″ screen while kickin’ back in a recliner is a little slice of heaven on earth. (Raj, one way or another I’m getting you to Austin this season!)

I’ve put more photos online. Click on any of the images to see the albums.

Yep, it was one year ago today I started my blog.

I’ve never done much writing, much less any journaling, so I mostly decided to create my blog so I could have a permanent record of just how dorky I am.

In the past year I’ve written 153 posts and you all have written 186 comments. I’ve received a lot of great feedback from all sorts of people. It’s run the gamut, from my mom giving sincere replies to my relentess self-deprecation to complete strangers who I’ll never meet telling me they thought a certain post was funny or congratulating me on Liah being born.

For those who never saw it, here’s a reminder of the photo that I opened my blog with. I think it set the tone for my blog perfectly.

Aparna & I successfully took Liah on her first plane trip earlier this month. We flew with her to Toronto, and Liah seemed to really enjoy flying. In coach no less!

Traveling with her is quite the experience. Mainly because there is just so much stuff when you bring a baby. You would’ve thought we were flying to India for a month! Aparna handled it with aplomb. Me? I lost my wallet and spilt coffee on the plane, and that was just on the way to Toronto!

We flew to Toronto for a wedding reception / family reunion. My cousin Vikas Sagar, aka Victor Storm, got married earlier this year and they had their wedding reception over Labor Day weekend. It was great to meet his wife Shivani for the first time, as well as see (most) all of our family. We were even fortunate enough to see my cousin Baboo and his wife Babita who came form India! Everyone was able to meet Liah, and everyone was able to watch Liah (thus giving Aparna & I a little break!)

In addition to her first flight, Liah wore her first Indian outfit! Check out little Miss Adorable!

Click on any of the photos to be taken to the full album from our trip to Toronto.

PBS is premiering a new episode of Wide Angle tonight entitled, “1-800-India.” Here’s a brief summary:

Offshore outsourcing — firms subcontracting important parts of their businesses to firms in other countries — are changing the nature of global business. In India, outsourcing has sparked an economic boom, and those working in the industry are making new lives that balance traditional Indian family values with Western-style social and economic mores. In the United States, the impact is less clear.

The episode focuses specifically on how women in India are affected by this. The website for the episode has a wealth of great information, and I’ve already set the TiVo to record the show as it sounds very interesting. I recommend you check it out tonight or tivo it for future viewing.

Well, for those of you who wondering how I found the time to blog with the new baby, plus my job, etc… wonder no more. After going almost two weeks without updating my blog (a new record.) I must admit that there is simply Not Enough Time. Oh well, enough complaining. So much has been going on. I’m going to inundate you all this week with a flurry of posts! Here’s a quick reminder of who’s been eating up all my time: