The Puja

My Mamama helped my mama and daddy do an abbreviated version of the puja for 1 year olds. There was a ceremony for my mama and me when I was in the belly, too. This one was tastier, but perhaps more uncomfortable.

I didn't want to be held. I wanted to walk around. Here I am being my usual, floppy self.


Mama had to put my clothes on right. We left the hat on Tia Anjuli had just given me, just for fun.


Oooh, here's Mamama with many things......


Like a birthday hat!


Which I wasn't so fond of. This was to be the first neck item that would make me uncomfortable.


Some red vermillion powder.


Circle with the flame three times.


That was too fascinating.



I had to touch it.


Throw a bit of rice three times.


The garland of flowers I liked to look at...


...but I didn't like wearing it around my neck. I didn't want it to go over my head. Just like my clothes.


My mama then gave me the sheera (sweetened cream of wheat with banana and raisin -- one of my mama's childhood favorites). That made me feel a bit better.


Then came the sweetened milk to drink.



I, again, liked looking at the necklace...



...but not wearing it.


Everyone was happy for me, though.


My mama set me down.


I then was happy to run off and play.

Cutie Pai

Party Peeps: Olivia and Me

Wacky Wonky Wonders

On accident, my mama took this crazy picture, but now she thinks it probably is what the party felt like. All the new people and new toys and sounds and so much food -- wonderful whirlwind of moments!

Party Favor Fun

My Mamama brought and blew up some balloons. I loved to scratch them with my fingernails. I popped one and gave a start. My daddy thought I was scared, but I promptly stood up and walked to get another and to try again!

Party Pictures: Olivia and Aunt Darla Making Art

Late Night Dinner with Mamama and Papa

Lunch with Lelayna

Birthday at School

My Family


Massi's Card, Read by Mama Carla






"What Else Is in There?"


"HA! Cereal Bars!" Picked out by Massi himself


"What is THAT thing?"


"Oh! It makes a bird sound!"


"That was kind of cool, Tia Carla. I was a bit scared at first, though."



"Can I see that bird?"

Birth Day Date with Anjali

Another Fever

I have another fever today. It was 9 am (8 with Daylight Savings, but my mama didn't know that) and my mama wanted me to wake up to see my Mamama and Papa. When I opened my eyes, she started singing the Awake Morning Song my daddy and she created. I looked at her with my tired eyes and signed "sleep" to her. It was a late night last night and a busy day yesterday with my birthday party, as you will see in later posts. In contrast, I have spent much of the day today in my mama's arms moving in and out of sleep and fever.

My Birth Day

Today I am one year old. My mama has been nostalgic since month one, watching me grow and change and learn so quickly. These are some things you may remember were exciting to her:
1. opening my eyes more
2. picking my head up
3. rolling over
4. sitting up
5. crawling
6. standing up
7. drumming
8. climbing
9. walking
10. talking!

There were other experiences that were exciting in their own way:
1. much awaited poop coming out
2. my first mama-inflicted injury
3. baby acne and other random redness
4. gas pains
5. teeth bobbing up and down in the gums
6. the weighting game (I'm still petite!)
7. falling out of bed
8. sleep marathons
9. poop in the potty, poop on the floor at 11 months
10. 3 day stretch with a clean diaper at 3 months!

Those were all physical things. Some she was ready to see and some she had not imagined. She has loved watching me discover my body and learn how to use it. I am presently fearless with a dose of caution, thankfully. My body is a machine, as my mama says, and I am quite capable, though I sometimes doubt myself.

At one, now communicating with my emerging voice and my signing hands, my mama can recognize my emotional and social developments. I am a loving child, she says, and she knows this because I like to give kisses. I don't even mind getting kisses sometimes. My mama was remembering some of her (well-themed) favorites in these categories:
1. when I first smiled
2. when she could tell that I smiled because of her
3. my laugh, the big belly one where I, alternately, can barely breathe and scream in a ridiculously high pitch
4. when she realized I knew the word kiss
5. the first kiss I gave her
6. the kisses I have given each of my friends, and some people I just met!
7. the wake up kisses I began giving a month or two ago
8. the comfort I have gone over and given my daddy and mama starting in the last week when I see they are hurt or sad (usually a kiss or a comforting pat) and the concern I have had when my mama and daddy tell me I hurt them or someone (a pitiful cry and an apologetic kiss)
9. climbing into my mama's lap the other day for the first time.
10. the smiles I give my mama when I see her after she's been away.

My mama loves me something fierce. My daddy, too. You know what? I love them back, and I am showing them just how much. I have had a blessed year. It began with a blessed birth in my mama's bedroom in the waters of the birth tub with the full moon shining in the sky and the full red of the sunrise on the horizon. Into the loving arms and presence of:
1. my daddy, Radha Gopinath das Marinelli
2. my mama's midwife and friend, Meredith
3. her second midwife, homebirth class teacher and now friend and mother of my friend Ami, Janelle Lucido-Conte
4. another midwife, Randy, who assisted and made my mama the best breakfast right after my birth so my mama could recover quickly
5. my mama

I was also welcomed by my grandparents and uncles and aunts.
Mamama and Poppa
Grandpa and Abuelita
E-ma and Zofta
Ajitmam and Janine Auntie
Ram Uncle and Tia Anjuli

And my friends:
Malcolm, Jenn and Dan
Olivia, Darla and Justin
Anjali, Madhavi and Jeremy

Thank you, these family and friends and all the rest, for bringing us your love, showing us generosity, giving us understanding, and exercising patience with us. A blessed year, indeed.

Old Present, New Clothes

My Ajitmam and Janine Auntie got me that awesome gold knit hoodie. My daddy got me the bunny hat. My mama like to put the cool hood on the bunny hat like an elven bunny. My Ajitmam, Janine Auntie, Mamama and Poppa are coming for my birthday celebration this weekend! Tomorrow is my birth day, though....

Daddy Mountain and Drumming

After my walk, my mama, my daddy and I were just playing around. After a while I got sleepy and signed sleep and put my head down. You can see me starting to do that in the video. At first I just climbed up on daddy because I thought it would be fun. Then my mama got out the camera. In the middle of daddy mountain I decided I love my daddy a lot and gave him a kiss (not that my mama noticed) and got off and got in his face to give him a kiss (not that my mama noticed). Right at that point the video ends and the next one begins where I explore the drums a bit. Finally, I gave an all out Daddy Mountain and drumming combo that lead to much sleepiness.

Wakeful Walk

I was getting sleepy and fussy and my teeth were hurting. My mama came home early because she didn't have any afternoon parent conferences, and I have been needing her a lot these last few days. We went on a walk in the cool, fall weather. I love walks. My teeth still hurt and I fussed, but I loved the walk. We didn't take the dogs so I got to stop and talk with my mama about things. She showed me trees (not the sign, but the word, because she didn't learn the sign till we got back). I loved the trees. I pointed them out when we saw them. Sometimes I said "ee." My mama stopped and let me touch the bark of a maple and the bark of a sycamore. They were both so warm from an afternoon of the sun's rays. We ran into the little (now hefty) bull dog that lives down the road. Mama took me out but I didn't walk any closer. I just looked in complete fascination. When we were gone I said, "Dog" out loud very clearly and signed so my mama knew I liked stopping to talk to the dog. Then when we walked by the house where we always see him sitting (we ran into him on his walk instead of in front of the house for the first time in a whole year!), I signed dog and pointed, but there was no dog. It was a good walk. A bit chilly by the end, but I so loved to be with my mama and be outside.