From 21 inches to 32
you used to lie calmly,
.... now I run after you
my little munchkin you are growing so fast
Mom, Dad and several other words you say
you giggle, babble and independently play
I miss the cooing but I love the cuddling
Come winds, rain, snow or sun
I hope each day is better for my little one
When you aren't with me
I gaze at your pictures
I think of our games, songs and dances
Love you very much Vedu
Grateful that you gave me back my childhood
your innocence and cuteness
your naughtiness and impishness
everything you do or say
.. you keep me enthralled baby
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Water baby
My daughter Veda loves to play in the water. She has had the joys of splashing in the beach at Gloucester, a lake in upstate New York, fountains in Downtown Boston, the Frog Pond in the Boston Commons and of course last but not the least in her blue tub. I still remember making her sit in her tub when she was 10 months old and she hated it. She wasn't feeling safe and stable then I guess, but things have changed since then. At 14 months she cries when I pull her out of her tub or a pond. She walks into fountains fully clothed before we can change her into her swim suit. She even loves bottles that squirt water when squeezed or spray jars.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Fun at 14 months
For a week or so now my daughter address me as ma :). It is awesome. She hugs my legs when I am standing and says ma.. ma.. She points at the toys or food she wants and says maa maa. She shakes her left to right vigorously indicating that she doesn't want something.
We have lots of fun together. We read books, play with blocks, finger puppets, stack cups, cuddle her soft toys and, we even dance together. I am sure if she was allowed she would cook with me. She starts bawling when I say NO and stops when she finds something interesting to do. ... she throws tantrums too. Guess we didn't have to wait for the terrible twos :). She loves to join me in the shower, sing in the water with me.
Her favorite body part is her Belly button, she refers to this as Bee-Bo thanks to Sandra Boynton's books. If she is wearing an outfit that doesn't allow her to see her Bee-Bo she will point at mine or my husband's.
We have lots of fun together. We read books, play with blocks, finger puppets, stack cups, cuddle her soft toys and, we even dance together. I am sure if she was allowed she would cook with me. She starts bawling when I say NO and stops when she finds something interesting to do. ... she throws tantrums too. Guess we didn't have to wait for the terrible twos :). She loves to join me in the shower, sing in the water with me.
Her favorite body part is her Belly button, she refers to this as Bee-Bo thanks to Sandra Boynton's books. If she is wearing an outfit that doesn't allow her to see her Bee-Bo she will point at mine or my husband's.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Film songs and dancing
I enjoy listening to hindi and tamil movie songs and watching the movies too. It is in my genes, my parents and grandparents (and to my knowledge my great grand parents on my father's side) enjoyed movies too. Veda enjoys listening to the film songs and she is only a year old. When I play a catchy film song, if she is belted to her car seat or a rocker she wiggles her belly, if she is standing she bobs her head up and down and moves her butt up and down and sometimes side to side too. Her eyes light up with joy and she flashes her gorgeous dimples. It is fun to watch her dance and join her too :).
Monday, June 28, 2010
Super summer weekend
The weather is awesome in Boston in the month of June ( when it isn't raining). Veda is an active and fun little girl. We take Veda to the park every weekend and let have fun playing on the slides and swings. Since Veda has been born some of our friends have had babies too. Veda's list of friends and playmates is growing.
On Saturday Veda met two of her friends, Sarthak a 6 month old boy and Kavya and 3 week old baby girl. Veda kept saying Hiieeee to both the babies. Sarthak doesn't say anything yet, but he smiles back at Veda politely and occasionally breaks out into giggles. Kavya was sleeping the whole time. Veda stared at sleeping Kavya for a loong time and eventually moved on after seeing no response to her Hiieees. Later when Kavya was awake and I carried her for a while Veda started crying. Later my husband was watching Kavya and Veda was scared of loosing his attention too, so she walked to him and indicated her displeasure.
On Sunday we took Veda to the mall where she walked all over the store, checked out some clothes for herself and recommended some clothes for her dad. After that we went to the city where Veda played in water fountains, she also enjoyed her 1st ride in a merry go round. Being the daughter of two engineers ( and grand daughter too) she checked out the stuff above her horse that made it go up and down.
On Saturday Veda met two of her friends, Sarthak a 6 month old boy and Kavya and 3 week old baby girl. Veda kept saying Hiieeee to both the babies. Sarthak doesn't say anything yet, but he smiles back at Veda politely and occasionally breaks out into giggles. Kavya was sleeping the whole time. Veda stared at sleeping Kavya for a loong time and eventually moved on after seeing no response to her Hiieees. Later when Kavya was awake and I carried her for a while Veda started crying. Later my husband was watching Kavya and Veda was scared of loosing his attention too, so she walked to him and indicated her displeasure.
On Sunday we took Veda to the mall where she walked all over the store, checked out some clothes for herself and recommended some clothes for her dad. After that we went to the city where Veda played in water fountains, she also enjoyed her 1st ride in a merry go round. Being the daughter of two engineers ( and grand daughter too) she checked out the stuff above her horse that made it go up and down.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Mother's day gift
May 5th .. Veda has been cruising since the end of January and she manages to take 2-4 steps without support, but we are waiting for her to walk. Finally today evening she walked across the living room repeatedly without support4-5 times... But if I get down on my knees she gets down too waiting to play crawling and catching with me :).
Monday, May 10, 2010
Walking - May 5th
For the past few days My husband and I have been holding Veda's hand and encouraging her to walk, she loves to walk holding our hands, she thinks she is a big girl. We also sit at different corers of the room and try to make her walk between us. She usually took a couple of steps two or four only and then she would sit and crawl. Finally on May 5th she walked as we cheered her. She was very excited with this new knowledge and continued to walk most of the evening. She still likes to crawl to go around fast though. My husband calls her baby Frankenstein because she walks slowly with her hands stretched out. I guess my days of playing crawling and catching with Veda are numbered :(.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Eating @ 11 months
Veda is a picky eater, one day she will choose to eat cabbbage cooked in Indian spices right from the dish, and sometimes she will scowl away at the very sight of food. Veda is independent and prefers to eat on her own, this results in me preparing goof that she can put in her mouth on her own without a spoon. I have tried the following with some success
1. Boiled vegetable cubes, usually carrots, potatoes, yams, cauliflower.
2. Boiled kidney beans or any large bean.
3. Squares of grilled cheese sandwich, buttered toast
4. Boiled Elbow Macaroni with Parmesan Cheese
5. Avacado Wedges, this gets messy
6. Orange wedges, this gets messy too
7. Rice balls, this is any dal and ride i mash them up together and then make small balls, bigger than peas.
8. Pieces of Cheese
9. Plain waffles cut up. I tried blueberry waffles and pancakes, but that seems to sweet and she refused to eat it. Likewise she refused bread and jam.
Today I heard she grabbed some strawberries from a friend at lunch and ate them happily. I have tried giving her apple cubes and banana cubes but no luck there :(.
1. Boiled vegetable cubes, usually carrots, potatoes, yams, cauliflower.
2. Boiled kidney beans or any large bean.
3. Squares of grilled cheese sandwich, buttered toast
4. Boiled Elbow Macaroni with Parmesan Cheese
5. Avacado Wedges, this gets messy
6. Orange wedges, this gets messy too
7. Rice balls, this is any dal and ride i mash them up together and then make small balls, bigger than peas.
8. Pieces of Cheese
9. Plain waffles cut up. I tried blueberry waffles and pancakes, but that seems to sweet and she refused to eat it. Likewise she refused bread and jam.
Today I heard she grabbed some strawberries from a friend at lunch and ate them happily. I have tried giving her apple cubes and banana cubes but no luck there :(.
The amazing park
We live in a town called Billerica and there is a great park in our town. The park is infant friendly, so on a great warm day (April 24th) we went there with Veda. Veda's day care buddy Madison beat her to the park. Both the girls enjoyed the sun on their faces and the breeze in their hair as they played in the swings. Shortly afterwards we took Veda to Play on a Blue hippo, a Red Caterpillar, a bouncy duck and two different slides. She loved it and cried a little bit when we took her off each ride. Since the park was such a hit we too her there again on Sunday too :D.
Two weeks later we took Veda to the Park at Spy Pond in Arlington. She had a great time on the wooden roller slide and kept pointing to the top of the slide to go on it again and again. Veda crawled through the tunnels at the park and played with gravel and mulch too. Come on warm weather she says.. I love being out !!!!
Two weeks later we took Veda to the Park at Spy Pond in Arlington. She had a great time on the wooden roller slide and kept pointing to the top of the slide to go on it again and again. Veda crawled through the tunnels at the park and played with gravel and mulch too. Come on warm weather she says.. I love being out !!!!
Friday, April 16, 2010
you are my baby in sickness and in good health...
Recently Veda fell sick and it was a tearful sight. My cutie pie who loves to go all around the house and play all the time was in pain. Her body temperature was high, her eyes were all watery, her nose was runny and she was in discomfort. When I saw Veda's tearful face I would feel extremely guilty and helpless that I could do nothing to make her feel better. She was hungry but it hurt to drink milk or swallow any food. Sometimes she would just wake up from her sleep crying, because it hurt to be sleeping with the phlem. My baby even started snoring. With medication and rest, Veda is getting back to normal. On the upside she has started hugging us and sleeping, with her head on my chest and her arms wrapped around me and her legs dropping over my waist.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
heyo !!
This morning as we got ready for work and Veda waited for us to get ready, we set her down to play in the living room. Veda crawled over to the TV remote and picked it up and kept it against her ear and said "heyo", my husband and I were extremely amused. She thought the remote was a phone and she was imitating her teachers at day care. We had sleek small cellphones and she never does that with them :(.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Dal makhani, Grilled Cheese and vanilla ice cream
Last week I made Dal Makhani and I thought of giving some to my little daughter who stood holding my leg and the chair. I put some beans in her mouth expecting her to razz it out and shake her head from left to right.. but she ate it and smiled. I was thrilled and I gave her some more but all good things last for a short while and four bites later she found something more interesting to do. I mashed some dal and rice and gave it to her for lunch the next day and she ate half of her lunch.. this was a big surprise for me, because she hasn't been eating anything at all.
Veda after 3 attempts has started eating Vanilla ice cream !! She started enjoying it on a hot Sunday afternoon (4/4/10) when it was 80 degrees. She does take breaks in the middle when she gets too much of the cold stuff.
Grilled Cheese on wheat toast.. mmm good. Veda loves this and has eaten this snack several times now. I am scared to offer it too often lest she stop eating it, like the Avacados that she enjoyed eating.
Veda after 3 attempts has started eating Vanilla ice cream !! She started enjoying it on a hot Sunday afternoon (4/4/10) when it was 80 degrees. She does take breaks in the middle when she gets too much of the cold stuff.
Grilled Cheese on wheat toast.. mmm good. Veda loves this and has eaten this snack several times now. I am scared to offer it too often lest she stop eating it, like the Avacados that she enjoyed eating.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Curiosity and the Wonderland
Little Veda is extremely curious, she keeps watching what we are hiding from her, how we eat and drink. She loves to keep her mouth at the edge of a glass or a cup and pretend to drink. I have offered her sips of milk shakes and tomato juice, my husband offers her buttermilk and tea. Often she picks up an empty glass and just gnaws at the edge. My daughter is extremely independent at meal time, she doesn't like to be fed, she likes to nibble on foods that she eats on her own. More recently we discovered a strong liking for grilled cheese sandwich on wheat toast. I could be wrong but she has enjoyed this on 4 different days.
Yesterday at daycare the kid next to her was eating black beans and Veda grabbed some of them and ate it. I guess she liked the taste and decided she wanted more.. and more. Her teachers tried to distract her, but the only way they could avoid an uncontrollable situation was by moving Veda to a different place. As Veda's mom I am happy that she found something she liked to eat.
The kitchen is a wonderland for my daughter. Till Saturday 3/20/2010, Veda wasn't allowed to crawl in the kitchen. I was out Saturday morning and I return to find my little princess in the kitchen. She even crawled out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face to greet me when I entered our apartment. Almost as if she was saying, "haha what will you do now mom, I can come inside the kitchen". She had taken out her baby spoons the ice cream scoop and some more things and was happily playing on the floor. My husband was making breakfast and supervising her. Since Saturday she has been in the kitchen everyday. Yesterday (03/23/2010) she tried to climb into the dishwasher, after she realized she couldn't do that she took out some dirty spoons and tried to put a clean pan, which she took from a shelf, in! Before that she lifted and/or dragged the pressure cooker with its lid out from the shelf and stared hard into the cooker. Maybe she was wondering why it wasn't whistling away. Between Saturday and Tuesday she has also managed to look into the shelves of the refrigerator, stand up against the cooking range at stare at the oven. On the upside she hasn't figured out how to ( or bothered to) open the cabinets or the refrigerator.
The main attraction in my kitchen remains the microwave. My daughter cheers for the microwave, she will clap her hands when the light is on in the microwave. If she cannot see the microwave, but she hears the microwave go on, she will try to come to a location where she can have a good view of the microwave in action. Sometimes when she cries my husband runs the microwave for a minute just to calm her ( I prefer showing her a mirror)!!
Yesterday at daycare the kid next to her was eating black beans and Veda grabbed some of them and ate it. I guess she liked the taste and decided she wanted more.. and more. Her teachers tried to distract her, but the only way they could avoid an uncontrollable situation was by moving Veda to a different place. As Veda's mom I am happy that she found something she liked to eat.
The kitchen is a wonderland for my daughter. Till Saturday 3/20/2010, Veda wasn't allowed to crawl in the kitchen. I was out Saturday morning and I return to find my little princess in the kitchen. She even crawled out of the kitchen with a big smile on her face to greet me when I entered our apartment. Almost as if she was saying, "haha what will you do now mom, I can come inside the kitchen". She had taken out her baby spoons the ice cream scoop and some more things and was happily playing on the floor. My husband was making breakfast and supervising her. Since Saturday she has been in the kitchen everyday. Yesterday (03/23/2010) she tried to climb into the dishwasher, after she realized she couldn't do that she took out some dirty spoons and tried to put a clean pan, which she took from a shelf, in! Before that she lifted and/or dragged the pressure cooker with its lid out from the shelf and stared hard into the cooker. Maybe she was wondering why it wasn't whistling away. Between Saturday and Tuesday she has also managed to look into the shelves of the refrigerator, stand up against the cooking range at stare at the oven. On the upside she hasn't figured out how to ( or bothered to) open the cabinets or the refrigerator.
The main attraction in my kitchen remains the microwave. My daughter cheers for the microwave, she will clap her hands when the light is on in the microwave. If she cannot see the microwave, but she hears the microwave go on, she will try to come to a location where she can have a good view of the microwave in action. Sometimes when she cries my husband runs the microwave for a minute just to calm her ( I prefer showing her a mirror)!!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Veda and her friends
Veda was and is an active baby, she burns the calories very fast. She crawls all over the place and cruises around holding onto furniture. Her partner in crime at her daycare is a little boy named Mike. Mike is older than Veda, bigger than Veda and as active as Veda. It is a common sight to see Veda and Mike crawling in circles or Veda Mike and Teddy standing together balancing themselves and jabbering away.
Veda taught Mike her fake laugh. One day Mike's mommy tells me they sync it up and keep laughing. I wasn't sure if she was happy with the fake laugh that Veda had taught Mike or not.
Mid February Katherine, Mike, Teddy and Gracie moved on to the crawler room and Veda was left behind :(. Poor Veda she had two girls for company, Olivia and Madison. They were nice but not as active as the bunch that had moved on. They liked to sit and watch the world go by. Veda continued to crawl around class and amuse herself, picking up her friend's pacifiers when they fell etc. Veda even made friends with a petite girl like herself, but a few months younger. The petite girl's name is Adelaine. Veda offered her friendship by feeding the baby a cheerio. Adelaine is a small baby, two or three months younger than Veda, and she could have choked on the Cheerio. Veda missed her old friends a lot. To make her feel better I started playing crawling and catching with her at home. She even started crying when we left her at daycare. This never happened when her buddies were around.
Finally in the first week of March the day came and Veda was taken to the crawler's room. Her older friends were happy to see her. Katherine said Hi to Veda. Teddy crawled to her, and Mike smothered her with wet sloppy kisses. Things were looking up in Veda's world. She was going to be back with her buddies and they would have good times together, playing crawling and catching, jamming oh what the heck she would even eat if all the kids were going to.
... on a different note maybe Adelaine will miss Veda and look towards joining her in the new class.
Veda taught Mike her fake laugh. One day Mike's mommy tells me they sync it up and keep laughing. I wasn't sure if she was happy with the fake laugh that Veda had taught Mike or not.
Mid February Katherine, Mike, Teddy and Gracie moved on to the crawler room and Veda was left behind :(. Poor Veda she had two girls for company, Olivia and Madison. They were nice but not as active as the bunch that had moved on. They liked to sit and watch the world go by. Veda continued to crawl around class and amuse herself, picking up her friend's pacifiers when they fell etc. Veda even made friends with a petite girl like herself, but a few months younger. The petite girl's name is Adelaine. Veda offered her friendship by feeding the baby a cheerio. Adelaine is a small baby, two or three months younger than Veda, and she could have choked on the Cheerio. Veda missed her old friends a lot. To make her feel better I started playing crawling and catching with her at home. She even started crying when we left her at daycare. This never happened when her buddies were around.
Finally in the first week of March the day came and Veda was taken to the crawler's room. Her older friends were happy to see her. Katherine said Hi to Veda. Teddy crawled to her, and Mike smothered her with wet sloppy kisses. Things were looking up in Veda's world. She was going to be back with her buddies and they would have good times together, playing crawling and catching, jamming oh what the heck she would even eat if all the kids were going to.
... on a different note maybe Adelaine will miss Veda and look towards joining her in the new class.
Monday, February 22, 2010
the cruiser goes to India
The day after Veda turned 8 months old in January 2010, we went to India. Her teachers at daycare said they would miss her."Oh she brings such a personality to the room", said Roberta. Before we left Veda had learnt to pull herself up by grabbing thing and she could cruise holding onto furniture.
My husband couldn't accompany us and I took the challenge of travelling alone with her across the seven seas and back for a week. The excitement of travelling to India made me both strong and stupid. Strong because I got the strength and ability to do as I pleased,, and stupid because when I think rationally I wonder if I should have done everything that I did.
With co-operation from Veda I managed to pump milk on the flight, feed her, keep her clean and, allow us both to get some rest. The good times of watching a movie on the flight, drinking alcohol, or chatting up the stranger next to me was no longer of interest.
India was warm and delightful for me and Veda had her moments of fun too. She got loads of attention, love and pampering. Everyone carried her around all the time. The sport that she is, she squiggled around and socialized with everyone too.
My husband couldn't accompany us and I took the challenge of travelling alone with her across the seven seas and back for a week. The excitement of travelling to India made me both strong and stupid. Strong because I got the strength and ability to do as I pleased,, and stupid because when I think rationally I wonder if I should have done everything that I did.
With co-operation from Veda I managed to pump milk on the flight, feed her, keep her clean and, allow us both to get some rest. The good times of watching a movie on the flight, drinking alcohol, or chatting up the stranger next to me was no longer of interest.
India was warm and delightful for me and Veda had her moments of fun too. She got loads of attention, love and pampering. Everyone carried her around all the time. The sport that she is, she squiggled around and socialized with everyone too.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
She stands tall and daycare tales
I enjoy looking at older pictures of my daughter and I am amazed by how much she has changed n the last few months. Now she can stand. She scratches and scrapes at everything near her and pulls herself to standing position. After this she shakes her head from side to side with a wide toothy grin. My giggly little brat is extremely proud of herself. She even stands up on her own in her crib holding the rails and starts yelling and jabbering away. She doesn't want to be alone at all. Veda is very popular in her class at daycare. As she enters the room her friends start giggling and coming towards her.
Veda in the band:
The kids at Veda's daycare play their baby musical instruments and jam away. Recently Veda was at the Guitar, Mike at the piano and Olivia at the drums. The trio was jamming away !!
Veda helping other babies
Yesterday a Olivia had dropped a pacifier and Veda crawled towards it rushing to pick it up. After this she saw Sophie sleeping quietly in the rocker and she decide to rock sleeping Sophie. Veda thinks Mike is very chubby so she chases him around the room and he returns the favor to Veda so that she learns to crawl faster.
Veda tries to cut class
She moves very fast and because of this the teacher has to keep the classroom door shut so that Veda doesn't crawl outside. Veda scratches at doors thinking this will make the door open. I guess it will be a couple of months before she figures out how to open doors.
Veda in crib/jail
Veda was put to sleep in her crib by her teachers at daycare. Veda woke up a little later and held the bars of the crib and began shaking it. It appeared like she was in jail. Seeing Veda inside, Katherine, Mike and Olivia crawled to Veda's crib and started pulling at the rails from outside. Finally Veda's teacher had to let her out.
Veda and the wires and tubes
Veda has a fascination for wires and tubes. She can play for at least 20 minutes with a cable or plastic tubing. I hope she doesn't become an engineer. She yanks the laptop power cable and anything else in sight.
Veda in the band:
The kids at Veda's daycare play their baby musical instruments and jam away. Recently Veda was at the Guitar, Mike at the piano and Olivia at the drums. The trio was jamming away !!
Veda helping other babies
Yesterday a Olivia had dropped a pacifier and Veda crawled towards it rushing to pick it up. After this she saw Sophie sleeping quietly in the rocker and she decide to rock sleeping Sophie. Veda thinks Mike is very chubby so she chases him around the room and he returns the favor to Veda so that she learns to crawl faster.
Veda tries to cut class
She moves very fast and because of this the teacher has to keep the classroom door shut so that Veda doesn't crawl outside. Veda scratches at doors thinking this will make the door open. I guess it will be a couple of months before she figures out how to open doors.
Veda in crib/jail
Veda was put to sleep in her crib by her teachers at daycare. Veda woke up a little later and held the bars of the crib and began shaking it. It appeared like she was in jail. Seeing Veda inside, Katherine, Mike and Olivia crawled to Veda's crib and started pulling at the rails from outside. Finally Veda's teacher had to let her out.
Veda and the wires and tubes
Veda has a fascination for wires and tubes. She can play for at least 20 minutes with a cable or plastic tubing. I hope she doesn't become an engineer. She yanks the laptop power cable and anything else in sight.
Friday, January 15, 2010
US passport and PIO card
My brother is getting engaged and we need to go to India for the engagement and wedding, which are about three months apart. Now we realize our daughter requires a US Passport and a Visa or some other document to enter India. We applied for the US passport on December 8th and received it on 26th December. The information on applying for a US passport is given in the website
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html
Note: Not all post offices issue passports.
After this Veda was really sick and we were busy and had ruled out all possibility of going to India. But after her doctor declared that her health was better I decided to apply for the PIO card. We could have applied for a Visa but there is a criteria that there should be 180 days between entries to India and that would not be possible for us with travel in February and again in May. There are several rumors out there that it takes 3-4 weeks to get the PIO card etc, but I got it in a week and I applied by mail. I am in Massachusetts so I had to apply to the Indian embassy in New York. I provided the following
1. The application form filled out in duplicate, with my daughter's thumb print on it.
2. Notarized photocopies of my Driving License and my husband's license.
3. Notarized photocopies of pages of my Husband's passport, my passport and my daughter's passport. I only took copies of the three pages, the first two pages ad the last page.
4. 4 photographs of my daughter in addition to the two that were pasted on the application forms.
5. A certified check for 205$, 185$ for the PIO card fee and 20$ for express mail charges. the check should be payable to Consulate General of India, New York.
6. Notarized Bank statements for address proof.
7. Birth Certificate, original ( actually this was a copy from the town office). Several websites said they do not return the Birth certificate, but they did.
I also provided a cover letter indicating the application contents and requesting for the card to be mailed back as soon as possible, the sample letter format is given below
January 6th 2010
To
Consulate General of India
New York, New York, USA
Subject: PIO card application for _child's name___.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have enclosed the application for the PIO card for my _age_ old daughter _name_. Along with the application I have provided
1. Four photographs
2. Notarized copies of relevant pages of my husband’s passport, my daughter’s passport and my passport.
3. Notarized copies of my husband’s and my driver’s license.
4. Notarized bank statements
5. My daughter’s birth certificate.
6. A certified check for 205$, 185$ for the PIO card fee and 20$ for express mail charges.
Kindly accept the application and the attached documents and provide us with _child's name_’s PIO Card at the earliest.
Please mail the PIO card or any other correspondence to
___my address___
Regards
_my name_
I mailed the application to
Consulate General of India, 3 E. 64th Street, New York, NY 10065
For additional details about applying for a PIO card please refer the Indian embassy website
http://www.indiacgny.org/php/showContent.php?linkid=179
I sent the application on January 7th 2010 and received the PIO card on January 14th.
Hope this information helps.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html
Note: Not all post offices issue passports.
After this Veda was really sick and we were busy and had ruled out all possibility of going to India. But after her doctor declared that her health was better I decided to apply for the PIO card. We could have applied for a Visa but there is a criteria that there should be 180 days between entries to India and that would not be possible for us with travel in February and again in May. There are several rumors out there that it takes 3-4 weeks to get the PIO card etc, but I got it in a week and I applied by mail. I am in Massachusetts so I had to apply to the Indian embassy in New York. I provided the following
1. The application form filled out in duplicate, with my daughter's thumb print on it.
2. Notarized photocopies of my Driving License and my husband's license.
3. Notarized photocopies of pages of my Husband's passport, my passport and my daughter's passport. I only took copies of the three pages, the first two pages ad the last page.
4. 4 photographs of my daughter in addition to the two that were pasted on the application forms.
5. A certified check for 205$, 185$ for the PIO card fee and 20$ for express mail charges. the check should be payable to Consulate General of India, New York.
6. Notarized Bank statements for address proof.
7. Birth Certificate, original ( actually this was a copy from the town office). Several websites said they do not return the Birth certificate, but they did.
I also provided a cover letter indicating the application contents and requesting for the card to be mailed back as soon as possible, the sample letter format is given below
January 6th 2010
To
Consulate General of India
New York, New York, USA
Subject: PIO card application for _child's name___.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I have enclosed the application for the PIO card for my _age_ old daughter _name_. Along with the application I have provided
1. Four photographs
2. Notarized copies of relevant pages of my husband’s passport, my daughter’s passport and my passport.
3. Notarized copies of my husband’s and my driver’s license.
4. Notarized bank statements
5. My daughter’s birth certificate.
6. A certified check for 205$, 185$ for the PIO card fee and 20$ for express mail charges.
Kindly accept the application and the attached documents and provide us with _child's name_’s PIO Card at the earliest.
Please mail the PIO card or any other correspondence to
___my address___
Regards
_my name_
I mailed the application to
Consulate General of India, 3 E. 64th Street, New York, NY 10065
For additional details about applying for a PIO card please refer the Indian embassy website
http://www.indiacgny.org/php/showContent.php?linkid=179
I sent the application on January 7th 2010 and received the PIO card on January 14th.
Hope this information helps.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
ticklish baby and massage for mommy
Veda is growing up very fast, she now feels ticklish on her belly. I often smother her with kisses and declare a kiss attack, she doesn't fight the attack at all :). Recently when I launched the kiss attack she started shrieking with joy, my husband told me that Veda was now ticklish on her belly. I proceeded to tickle her and I think she enjoyed it, because she kept giggling, her dimple clearly visible.
Every night I try to give Veda her milk before she goes to sleep. I rest her head on my thighs and her legs would be at my feet. I hold the bottle in her mouth with my right hand and play with hands or pat her to sleep with my left hand. Veda is such a sweet baby, she holds on to my right hand and releases it gradually moving up and down as though she were giving my hand a massage. She is only seven months old !!!!
Every night I try to give Veda her milk before she goes to sleep. I rest her head on my thighs and her legs would be at my feet. I hold the bottle in her mouth with my right hand and play with hands or pat her to sleep with my left hand. Veda is such a sweet baby, she holds on to my right hand and releases it gradually moving up and down as though she were giving my hand a massage. She is only seven months old !!!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
baby on the move
Veda now crawls and this lets her go everywhere that she wants to. Her final destinations are under the high chair, waiting near the bathroom door for someone to come out from there, the entertainment center and of course my arms. Post crawling she sits and surveys the place she has reached. Except when she crawls into my arms, then she climbs on me if she can and levels her face to my face followed by a kiss on my cheek or a bite on my nose.
When Veda wasn't crawling she would get around by rolling all over the place and she would indicate her happiness by getting on all fours and bobbing her body up and down with glee. Now post crawling she sits and bobs her upper body up and down and claps for herself. It seems like she is cheering for herself.
She even tries to bring her self to a standing position by holding onto the couch, or the rails of her crib. I guess it won't be long before I write about her cruising or walking.
When Veda wasn't crawling she would get around by rolling all over the place and she would indicate her happiness by getting on all fours and bobbing her body up and down with glee. Now post crawling she sits and bobs her upper body up and down and claps for herself. It seems like she is cheering for herself.
She even tries to bring her self to a standing position by holding onto the couch, or the rails of her crib. I guess it won't be long before I write about her cruising or walking.
Friday, January 8, 2010
teething and crawling
Every routine that we form lasts for a week or two at most and then it changes. The previous routine broke when Veda started teething. I remember feeling something sharp poking my finger, but I couldn't see anything in her mouth,it seemed pretty strange, and two days later the tooth came out :).
The teething started with Veda loosing her appetite. She wanted to gnaw on hard things like a breadstick, plastic rattle and sometimes a carrot would help too. She completely stopped eating solids. I felt extremely guilty, miserable and frustrated with her behavior (.... but yaey that is past us now :) ). I massaged her gums and gave her a frozen rattle to chew on. On Friday Dec 18th Roberta called me from the day care and said Veda has diarrhea and asked me to take her home. The silly lady didn't have a clue that Veda was teething. Veda didn't have diarrhea either. But what the heck it was Friday and I enjoyed playing with her early afternoon. I opened her mouth to massage her gums and I saw the teeny tiny little tooth on her lower jaw. Now the second tooth is coming out.
Post teething Veda suffered from ear infections and came into 2010 feeling sick. But that didn't stop her from getting on all fours and rocking her body. She had been doing this since Thanksgiving and I have been waiting for her to crawl and tempting her to move. Finally she figured it out on Jan 5th. I was sitting few feet from her telling my mom that Veda isn't crawling yet, she just gets on all fours and rocks her body and I barely finished my sentence and she crawled towards me. It was coool.
The teething started with Veda loosing her appetite. She wanted to gnaw on hard things like a breadstick, plastic rattle and sometimes a carrot would help too. She completely stopped eating solids. I felt extremely guilty, miserable and frustrated with her behavior (.... but yaey that is past us now :) ). I massaged her gums and gave her a frozen rattle to chew on. On Friday Dec 18th Roberta called me from the day care and said Veda has diarrhea and asked me to take her home. The silly lady didn't have a clue that Veda was teething. Veda didn't have diarrhea either. But what the heck it was Friday and I enjoyed playing with her early afternoon. I opened her mouth to massage her gums and I saw the teeny tiny little tooth on her lower jaw. Now the second tooth is coming out.
Post teething Veda suffered from ear infections and came into 2010 feeling sick. But that didn't stop her from getting on all fours and rocking her body. She had been doing this since Thanksgiving and I have been waiting for her to crawl and tempting her to move. Finally she figured it out on Jan 5th. I was sitting few feet from her telling my mom that Veda isn't crawling yet, she just gets on all fours and rocks her body and I barely finished my sentence and she crawled towards me. It was coool.
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