Preschool Hibby Jibbies

                                                                     

Starting today, our three year old, Tara Annie Kurian, is a preschooler at Child’s World and Sheena has been preparing her, reluctantly, for this day. Reluctant not because the school is big enough for the child to get lost but the stay-at- home Mommy is not really convinced that pre-schooling is as worth as what’s being advertised. She finally gave in because few kids of Tara’s age are seen in our neighborhood park on weekdays and she started to warm up and play with other kids of her age. And on the flipside, there will be some quality time freed up while the baby is at school, to catch-up with the long pending reading list or to clear up the sleep backlog.

Tara was always with her mother. Sheena quit her job when the baby turned eighteen months as she was not able to mange working from home with her being around. It was fun to watch the baby growing up and it made no sense to miss a moment. While working from home, day nannies were coming in to be with her on work hours. We had about a dozen babysitters in eighteen months as we mostly engaged students and people in between jobs. When not working, Sheena was feeding her, bathing her, cooking for her and then was driving her around the town, showing places. At Des Moines, she mostly had an indoor life learning how to flip crawl and walk with occasional visits to parks and play areas in nearby mall. At Monterey, she loved going to the grainy sand beach spending infinite time making castles, figuring out seashells and creatures and scaring away the seagulls.

 

At Irvine, she loved going to parks with green blue and yellow slides, floating in the swimming pools and running away from waves inLaguna beach. Always fascinated by shopping cart rides, she was a dependable and entertaining companion for otherwise dull grocery and household shopping. Graphic books, well wrapped candies and fancy toys always showed up inadvertently at the checkout counter and at times some of them made their way to home, after an enduring defense session with her mom. And here is the cliché ..she grew-up fast to be a preschooler!

 

Tara never had a play date with her class mate or never met any of her classmates long enough
to feel comfortable in the new place. Even her teacher was absent on the ‘Meet-your-teacher’
day because she was ill. So the recipe for a disastrous start was in sight but we were optimistic
as the baby seemed quite eager to go. I took a day off from work and wanted to drive the mom
and baby to school on day one. May be I just wanted to be there when the Mom go frantic.

While waiting to open the school gate, Tara showed me the big green pumpkin and red and orange color cherry tomatoes at the garden. She knew the place from the last visit and was excited to show me the play area and other fun stuffs. When the gate opened, we met the teacher and the assistant and introduced the baby to them. She was thrilled to see a hammering kit on the table and right away started driving the plastic nails to the form board.A couple of other kids also joined her as they entered the room. We left the place in another five minutes as the parents are not allowed to stay. Tara appeared slightly concerned and alert when Sheena hugged her bye and said that we will come back and pick her up later. We waited outside in the parking lot watching out to the gate for a crying youngster running out of the classroom in a green pinafore. Nothing happened in next ten minutes and no one called on the cell phone so we drove back home.

We came back fifteen minutes early to pick Tara up and parked close the fence. A few minutes
went by and we saw her walking out of the classroom, sad faced, with a plastic cup and got
busy picking cherry tomatoes in the vegetable garden. There were no other kids in the garden
so we got curious and stepped outside the car.That’s when she spotted us from the distance
and started running towards us crying. She held her mom’s hands from behind the fence and
complained that we left her alone there in our mother tongue and the teacher said STOP. She
then insisted Sheena to come inside and be with her. Tears were running down her cheeks
and a look of doubt crossing her face was heartbreaking to watch. The teacher came out and
picked her up and tried to distract her with the tomatoes she was holding. A little nervous but
she appears to respond to the teacher fine. The gate also opened at the same time and she
wanted to be held and was cuddling on to her mother, not paying attention to the toys or other
kids. She complained again that teacher said STOP and we re-assured her that it’s okay for the
teacher to say STOP and asked her what she did before the teacher said STOP. She gave us
a ‘you don’t understand’ look and just repeated that the teacher said STOP.

When I looked around the scenery was pretty much the same. Most of the kids were held and some still sobbing with their hands tightly wrapped around their moms. One little boy appeared frantic as he could not see his mom among the crowd as she was late to arrive and the assistant was trying to pacify him. We stopped by the teacher and enquired how the day was and she said Tara did fine for the day one. She was playing with other kids and was very happy going out

in the garden. When they returned to the classroom she grew fussy and wanted to leave the room. She screamed at another kid for taking her toy, tried to pull teacher’s hair and attempted to kick her couple of times. She also spitted the snack, a piece of apple, and the teacher said STOP to all of them. She was let go outside all by herself and that’s when we saw her coming out. Sheena was certain that it’s the temperature inside the class room made her testy. The day
was unusually warm and the classroom was not air-conditioned and she always had trouble with coping up with such settings. We apologized to the teacher and explained her that a hot and stuffy interior always made her behave erratic. The teacher looked more than convinced when I added that she was born in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

After pre-school, we had plans to eat at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and also to watch a play at East West Players. In fact two events coincided today: Baby’s first day at pre-school and Sheena’s birthday. While driving to LA, Sheena asked her why she spitted apple in the classroom. She said it had skin on it. Sheena felt bad because from young days she always encouraged the baby to spit the
skin of any fruit to avoid chocking. I promised her a strawberry ice cream to perk her up and
she had three of them by the evening. End of the day, she agreed that she liked her school and
reluctantly accepted that she liked her teacher!

Living the Olympics spirits

We stole the flame from London Olympics cauldron and the warmth is felt everywhere: bike route and thirteen miles dirt trail around the Quail Hills are filled with  residents hiking, biking, walking and running. I bumped into an equestrian today at the trail and he was struggling to keep his stature and composure when the horse under was powering his dreams. The jolts from the horsepower, naturally delivered directly to him, looks nothing like a ride in Ford Mustang but you can only judge from a distance. Strangers on the trail found it strange that there are Coyotes, deer and bunnies on the trail and the animals hang-out long enough for a facebook picture.  At the pool, now I see two lanes converted for lap swimming. Butterfly and backstrokes are common. In family area, a number of brand new swimming aids are floating with and without their owners. Kids are home with synchronized diving and two and a half summersaults. At least they seem to pretend.  While driving to office, the sidewalks are  energized with runners wearing the same fluorescent foot wares that garnish the Olympics tracks.


At home, we are proud of our recent electronic acquisition. A Samsung LED that brings crispy fresh images from the stadium to our living room. We think our Cox provided DVR is a cool equipment because it lets us record the events when we are at work and also gives us 8x speed to forward the boring events. It’s not just Biking and boat races; swimming and gymnastics at times need a button push.  There is one new game I get hooked to these days - Women’s volleyball- Thanks to Destinee Hooker of the US team, you are destined to hook.  This 6ft 4 inches former high jump champion delivers every spike with such grandeur that impresses even her rivals.  I still wonder how the Brazilian team managed to upset them in the final.

An event that fell out of my favor is Beach Volleyball. Not because England’s chilly weather forced California stars Misty and Kerry to use jumpers and leggings.  I think it takes more than two people for a better court coverage and then please, please play on a warm day to preserve the base membership. Also, it was an all American final and I could probably watch one game here in Huntington Beach where they practice for Olympics and its just 9 miles far.

We followed Gabby Douglas in every gymnastics sequence and reminded people around us that she went to Chow’s Gym in West Des Moines, the same facility where former Olympian Shawn Johnson was trained. Then we spill out the fact that we lived in West Des Moines for three years and reminisce how wonderful the life there was. We thought Gabby is our own girl and we always forgive her small mistakes. Our three year old is into some gymnastics too. Hanging on the dining table, diving from the sofa , splitting and stretching legs  are commonly performed  at  the living room as we watch the events. She is also demanding a hula hoop for rhythmic gymnastics numbers!

There is something addictive about watching people running.  Following Kiprotiches for two hours and eight minutes to watch them finish their marathon runs confirms it.  Wilson Kiprotich from Kenya was leading the pack throughout the race but Uganda’s Kiprotich ran a brutal 4:42 minutes 24th mile to pull apart from the leading Kenyans and finished first. It was also a tour through London streets passing through London Tower, St.Paul’s Cathedral, The house of Parliament and the Buckingham Palace. Usain Bolt has proved again that he is the fastest runner ever . We also heard the yellow yam he eats is available in the Chinese grocery store here and this weekend we are getting our share.

Christmas at San Jose

Happy month December left behind some cheerful memories to kick-off the New Year 2012. As the month set in, there was always something happening every day at office- pleasing visuals with everyone dressed in red or green, cubicle decoration, home baked cookies from colleagues, and business sponsored Christmas parties or boss’s lunch. At home Sheena baked ginger bread man for the little ones in the family and then a variety of cookies – Almond, cashew nut, pistachio, sugar, coconut macrons and chocolate chips – that simply captured the spirit of sharing and cheerfulness. Our baby was busy biting the edges off the cookies that came out of the oven and she always offered help in packing them for her cousins. Our attempt to make the X’Mas plum cake was quite successful this time with brandy socked currants and orange peels producing a beloved aroma and enduring taste. We also hosted a couple of Christmas dinners with friends locally, where we served elaborate Kerala style meals with Lamb cutlet and sallas, Salmon molly, fish curry, shrimp masala, beef fry, duck roast and all of them accompanied with vellappam and rice. Paired with some crispy white wines, these meals probably attained the desired outcome. Joy.
Trip to San Jose, to join the families of my brother Thomas and cousin Agnal for Christmas and also to catch-up with some Bay area friends during New Years was planned in advance. On 22nd Thursday, after a lunch with John at Chef Hung, we started to San Jose at 3:30pm. The following twelve days were fun-filled and food remained the dominant theme throughout.

On day one at San Jose- 23rd Friday – Drove to Napa Valley with Chettan. Chateau Montelena , the winery famed for its top position in ‘Judgement of Paris’, was our first stop. Excellent award winning Chardonnay with butterscotch finish and expensive estate grown Cabs ($135) made the tasting flight rich and pleasing. Picturesque Jade garden and ambience were additional rewards to driving to this winery in Calistoga, the northern end of Napa valley. The manger generously waived $40 tasting fee when we bought two bottles of their Chardonnay. We picked nearby Envy Wines, even with its cheesy name, as our next stop because I had a Napa Card from WineBomb that offered a free tasting in this winery. Our enthusiastic host, Michelle - probably the owner -happily honored the free tasting and engaged us in interesting conversation about the private labeling of wines and their own operations as winemakers for others. She even poured the wines that are not in the list. Mid-range priced small lot Petit Syrah and estate Merlot stood out in our tasting. Overwhelmed by their quality and hospitality, we ended up packing a couple of bottles for Christmas. So now we know there is a small quiet place away from busy Hwy 29 where fine reds are waiting.

After a short lunch break, we took the scenic Silvarado Trail and travelled south to reach Mumm , a well reviewed winery for sparkling wine. Unlike a regular winery, this one was set-up like a restaurant and when you order a flight of wine that would be served to you on the table. Not in a mood for sparkles we tried a couple of regular wines. Following the suggestions from online forums, we drove to Chimney Rock Winery in Stags Leap district to taste their pricey Bordeaux (Elevate & Tomahawk $80-115) and 2005 to 2008 vintage cabernet sauvignons ($75-$66). It is quite intimidating that good wines costs a lot of money but places like Chimney Rock provides an option to indulge in fine wines with little money.

Our second leg of the day was to procure some fresh meat for Christmas. A friend of us knew a farm in Dixon, a place about 50 miles East of Napa and near to Vacaville. By the time we reached the farm our friends already bought a 50 lbs goat and had it butchered for us. We also bought a free range country chicken from the farm for $10. We got back to San Jose at 8pm and decided to cook some of our fresh catch from the farms. At around 10, we had our dinner with a mutton soup seasoned with fried shallot as starter, peppery liver masala on the side and coconut milk based chicken curry, which tasted gamy and felt boney, over chapatti and rice. It was also a gentle reminder that home recipes like these call for finest and freshest ingredients that are hard to find outside Kerala. The kick-off day at San Jose was grand and the days that followed kept on adding to it. When I started writing this log, I wanted to describe the everyday experiences in detail but when I am done with the first day, that does not seem to be practical. So let me just highlight some.

Christmas Eve at Agnal’s place with chilled Red Ale and IPA from Rockbottom Brewery and a variety of meat delights from Filsy, Chechy’s delicious mutton biriyani paired with crispy white wines on Christmas day, Gluhwein (Mulled wine – a mix of strong tea, red wine and spices), Dungeness crab and New Year Fondue were the novelties at home front. Tied House in Mountain View got added to the list of visited Micro Brews in Bay area. Apart from the elaborate home cooked meals, we occationally hoped restaurants like Joy Luck Palace in Cuppertino and Rock Bottom brewery in Campell.

Working from San Francisco office opened up new lunch opportunities in the downtown. First at Paladar Cuban Cafe in Kearny St-Boiled tapioca with herbs garnished as a side and a hot pressed Cuban pork sandwich. Second at Boudin - a grilled cheese ham sandwich on a fresh and flavorful sourdough . A third sandwich sized heaven at La Boulange - A Ciabatta sandwich with Provencal aioli, goat cheese and Boulange potatoes.

While visiting our Salinas friends, we could sneakout to a Monterey winerey - Pessagno - at the River Road wine trail for a tasting and also picked up a couple of zinfandels for the New Years party. Ramya prepared good vegetarian meals that were close to Aluva region in flavor and style. Tara baby had a great time with her cousins visting parks and fairs and was just happy visiting homes trying infinite number of new toys from her cousins and friends. Quite a compensation for the time she missed since we have moved from Monterey to Irvine. While driving back to Irvine on New Year day, our thoughts were still hanging out in Bay area sorrounded by food and drinks. What a great way to begin the New Year 2012 !