Luca on a "date"

On a "playdate" that is...though sometimes he appears to be making the moves...


Video: Luca and Friend


Video: Luca and friend

Luca's Food Blog - May/June 2008

Now that I am a big boy and can eat solid foods, I decided to start my own food blog posts to officially begin my life as a "foodie".

Here is what I have started eating the past month or so and my thoughts on each of these new foods...

The vegetables and rice cereal have been pretty good - but my parents have also been pushing some sickeningly sweet food as well...hopefully they will get over it soon.

Luca's Annaprashan Ceremony

Luca visited his Thamma and Dadubhai so that we could all celebrate his "Annaprashan" ceremony. This ceremony is a Bengali tradition that marks the first time that a baby eats solid food (eventhough Luca had eaten rice cereal by then, his Thamma made some payesh, a rich pudding, as an extra special treat for the occasion).

Here are some videos of the ceremony. We had to wake up Luca from a nap to do the ceremony but he held up well anyway!

In the videos Luca is being held by his mom and is being fed by his mom's brother (another part of the tradition). His other uncle also somehow made it "on stage" though we were not aware of any traditional role he was supposed to play ;-)

After being blessed and fed, there is a game in which Luca chooses from among several items out in front of him on a plate - a book, pen, some coins, and some dirt - that indicate his prospects in life. If he chose the book or pen, he is supposed to become a scholar; the coins indicate wealth, i.e. becoming a merchant or businessman; and the dirt signifies becoming a land owner. We won't spoil the surprise...


Video: Annaprashan 1


Video: Annaprashan2


Video: Ap3

He also spent some time with his cousin:


Video: Luca with Chloe

Bathtime giggles

Video: Bathtime giggles

Luca In Williamstown

Luca met some of mommy's friends at her college reunion...here he is with her friend Sarah's little one, OJ....


Video: Luca in Williamstown

Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma...

Luca calling his favorite person



Video: Ma Ma Ma Ma

Luca's 1st Solid Food

Video: First Meal

Luca Rolling Away

More action of Luca Rolling



Video: Luca Rolling Again

Some more highlights from the month of June

being mellow with Joanne...




Going a walk around the neighborhood to check out the flowers...


Trying the big-boy swings for the first time. He loved it!



A happy reunion at the airport with Dadubhai--they hadn't seen each other since Luca was 2 weeks old!



Family photo:


Snugglies with daddy:


"Hey! No mommies allowed!!"


Playing with cousin Chloe...





A proud grandma and great grandma...



Checking out the Japanese Maple that dad planted for me...

Happy half-Birthday Luca

I can't believe how quickly time has flown by, Luca is now more than six months old. To show ourselves how far he has come, we took pictures of Luca on his six month birthday (June 14) wearing the same outfit that he came home from the hospital in. Here are the pictures from when he is just 2 days old....









And here he is at six months old:

I can't believe how much he has grown and changed in what feels like such a short period of time. I wish I could push some sort of pause button so that I could really savor all of these moments---in the rush of getting things done and waiting for the next milestones, I'm feeling like I haven't done enough to commit to memory just how special every single day is. I feel so lucky to have such a beautiful baby, and Luca has really made our house into a happy home. Thank you, Luca, for the past six months. Happy half birthday from your mommy and daddy, who love you more than anything!