Introducing...

Viola "Lila" Rosalind Ashok

Dinner and a movie

On Sunday night we went on a date with Appu. We took him to our currently favorite restaurant here in Calicut for a speedy dinner - while his little sister napped under achamma's careful watch. Rohan opted to stay home to watch his favorite Thomas movie instead and for once we thought, why not, if everyone is happy.

So it was just the three of us and it really is nice to spend a little time one on one with our big boy - he is already five years old!! When the waiter poured water in his glass he said "Thank you" and I told him "That was very polite, Appu, good job!". His comment was "I've never been polite in a restaurant before". So now he can tick that off his list :)

This is us in front of the steaming hot tagliatelle with cheesy pesto. Too bad I don't have a snap of the french soup in a bread bowl, I really must go back to document that, as soon as possible.

Almost official

Viola Rosalind Ashok

or

Lila Rosalind Ashok

But we would probably call her Lila at home either way. Any strong objections before we go to apply for the birth certificate?

So, names

It's a rapidly changing market, but these are today's favorites:

Lila (pronounced the straightforward way, not Laila)
Sofia
Viola
Olivia
Nicole (we like the nickname Nikki, and we know two great girls with this name)

Combinations of the above for first and middle name?
As was pointed out by my mother, Lila could be used as a nickname for Viola (and we think maybe for Olivia too), so get two for the price of one? Or not?

Welcome!

Picu was born on May 21, around 9 PM. Don't worry, we'll think of another name soon...
Oh, and it's a girl.

More details soon.

While we wait

We have done a lot to prepare the children for the idea of having a new sibling popping out at some point.

We told them right away when we found out about the pregnancy, we have read books and talked about what the baby was like at various points in time. There is a character in the "Little Bear" cartoons that is called No-Feet, because he is a snake. In the first few weeks Rajiv and Rohan had a lot of fun referring to the baby as No-Feet, because we had read that the arms and legs form later...

Then we all chose a name for the baby. Temporary, let me reassure you. It was decided for some reason lost in the fog of time that we should call him Picu. We don't know that it is a boy, but let me say "he" anyway, for now. We talk about Picu all the time and we talk to Picu too, sometimes.

A few times Rohan has seemed a little disappointed that he will not be the smallest child anymore and he likes to reaffirm, constantly, how small he is. Overall though the kids seem really happy about this new baby.

Still, sometimes I wonder whether there might be some doubts or fears they have and that they don't feel free to share with us. So a couple of weeks ago I asked directly: "Are you happy that Picu is coming out soon, or are you also a bit worried?"

Rajiv (convinced) - "I'm happy!"
Rohan (frowning) - "I'm worried. I am worried that Picu is not coming out!"

I can only sympathize with this feeling. We have talked about this baby for so long that it feel like a permanent feature of our life, to have a baby in mamma's tummy. Probably Rohan thinks he's been had and babies don't really come out of tummies, they just stay there.

Rajiv too seems to have trouble picturing a mamma with a vacant womb. We sometimes talk all together about whether Picu will be a boy or a girl and Rajiv really wants another baby brother. S would like to see what it is like to have a girl and he tries to convince Rajiv of all the advantages of that outcome. These days, Rajiv's reply is always: "The next one can be a girl, ok?".

Let me not mention the dad's reaction at this thought, but the point is that both my children are so used to me being pregnant that they think that's what moms do, they grow babies season after season in one continuous endless cycle. How appealing..

What could possibly prompt me to resurrect the blog after months of silence?

Well, it shouldn't be hard to guess :)

Some of our relatives have already received the news and at first I thought that I would wait to be further along in my pregnancy before spreading the news. After all, I am only 4 weeks pregnant, which means that there is no guarantee at all that this mustard seed sized lump of cells will hang in there for the distance.

Obviously though I changed my mind about the early announcement. The reason is that I really would like everybody to know that we are very excited and very happy at the idea of having another baby. It was discussed at great length and it was planned. If this time it doesn't work out we will most likely try again.

All this to say, I know three kids sounds like an excess to many people, but please be happy for us and show it next time you see us :) Just like the other two times...