26 December 2011

Snow Muffin

Today we took Muffin to Snow World here in Hyderabad. After dozens of readings of The Snowy Day along with "snow" being one of her favorite sign language cards, we were curious to see how she'd react to real snow. Or at least the closest thing to real snow we're likely to see for a while.

It was not great. Mike is from New Jersey and I'm from Rhode Island so we've had our share of cold winter weather, but Muffin has lived her whole life in balmy Hyderabad. Our clothes were not warm enough for her and the clothes you rent from Snow World (aside from being a little gross and weird) were too big for her. She enjoyed the novelty for about two minutes before the cold started to bother her. I have to admit, it was colder than I expected it to be. And the rubber galoshes they make you wear, to keep street dirt from coming off your own shoes and onto the snow, do not keep your feet warm.

It was such a surreal experience that we'd like to go back when she's a little older and we're better prepared for bundling her up.




Early tomorrow morning we are heading north for a short winter holiday, where, after today's experience, I'm glad temperatures are expected to be unseasonably warm this week. 

24 December 2011

Low-Key Christmas


Muffin has been down with a fever for the last two days which has put a halt on my Christmas preparations. This morning she seemed closer to her regular self except for a congested cough, so I think we're in the clear as far as the fever goes. We took her to the doctor on Thursday night to confirm that she didn't have an ear infection or the nasty throat infection that Mike had a couple weeks ago. Just a cold. Her first cold ever, but just a cold.

So, there won't be any gingerbread houses tomorrow. I've got the dough made already so I might be able to bake a batch of cookies, but I'm not worried about it if I don't. Two days of sitting with a hot, sleepy baby on top of me has been exhausting. I finished sewing our dresses so we'll have something to wear if we feel up to going out tomorrow. By a little mix-up we've ended up with two invitations for Christmas Day.

Mike's cooking our duck for dinner tonight. Since we brought it home on Tuesday, Muffin has been insisting on taking a look and saying "Hi" to it every time we open the freezer and then refrigerator. If she's not too crabby we'll make dinner early enough for her to join us before bedtime because, as I said to Mike this morning, she loves food and she's been so excited about the duck all week long.

Muffin had her first visit with Santa this week.

Santa on his own didn't bother her too much. She freaked out when the crowd of people watching cheered for her for not freaking out.

I hope everyone celebrating this weekend has a nice holiday, whether it's big or small, at home or far away.


23 December 2011

Travel Photo Friday: Bird Market, Hyderabad, India

It's hard to believe that a year ago when I went to the bird market to shop for our Christmas duck, Muffin snuggled into the Ergo and slept the whole time. Not this time. She was excited, yet thankfully kept a respectful distance from all the animals. We picked out a pair of ducks and this year, I guess my driver thinks I've hardened up to India life, so instead of coming back later for the "cleaned" ducks, we walked around the corner to, uh, the place where they "clean" them. Muffin wanted to watch. I made her wait outside with the goats. She was so happy and engaged throughout the whole process, from taking birds out of the cage in the market to taking them out of the cooler at home.



Muffin and this turkey were the same height.


Dinner!



Sitting on a bench, loving all the activity around her.
Photo Friday is hosted by Delicious Baby.com.