Dear Xavier,
Your godmother called today to tell you happy 1/3 of a year birthday. One third of a year! I know I say this all the time but it’s hard to believe that you are four months old already. The last four months have been some of the most difficult, but rewarding months of my life. I love watching you learn and grow and change as each day passes.
The big change this month was your transition from mostly stationary to constantly moving. One morning you figured out how to roll over but had to use your arms to pull yourself over and ended up with an arm pinned underneath you. By that evening, you were rolling over proficiently every few minutes and have never looked back. It was a strange feeling the first time I came downstairs and you had rolled off the blanket where I left you. Unfortunately, you don’t seem to have a whole lot of control over your rolling yet and often end up on your tummy crying, needing Mommy or Daddy to rescue you!
An article in this month’s Parenting magazine says that much of a person’s personality can already be observed at a very young age. We can already see that you are quite the intense little man. You certainly make your feelings known—from your earthshaking cries to your resounding laughter. According to the article, you are also very sociable and adaptable. Just this past weekend, you attended a track clinic with Mommy and Daddy and managed to flirt with many a coach there and did a great job sleeping in a new place. The one area that you are lacking adaptability is eating! You have decided that you hate bottles and only eat enough to survive on the days that I go to work.
In the past week, you have rediscovered your tongue and it is constantly hanging out of your mouth! I almost felt the need to apologize for you as you stuck out your tongue at Melody Fairchild, a famous distance runner, as I spoke to her at the track clinic. But she thought you were cute and stuck her tongue out at you too. Even though they might attract the ladies at this age, we’re hoping you grow out of the habit sometime before high school.
You are becoming more and more alert all the time. If it were up to you, you would watch quite a bit of TV, but your mommy always turns you away from it. You definitely have noticed the kitties now and try to reach out and pet them as they scurry away from you. It seems that you like them a little more than they like you! Looking in the mirror or in the refrigerator are surefire ways to calm you down and quiet your cries. You love to reach out and grab onto our faces, our glasses, Daddy’s hats, and sometimes even my hair.
Xavier, even though you’ve only been here for four months, the joy and laughter that you’ve brought to our lives is immeasurable!
Love,
Mommy
I have owned these three Indian cookbooks and I have spent a year and a half of my life in India and yet, today was the first time I've really cooked it.
The menu consisted of Balti Butter Chicken, Baked Fish with Spicy Almond and Coconut Sauce, Aromatic Rice with Peas, and Garlic Naan. (The naan was premade and frozen--I just added the butter, garlic, and cilantro). Overall, it turned out really well! It only took...2 hours to make! The butter chicken was definitely the favorite. Do you think with that name it came from the healthy Indian cookbook? Probably not... I also made the mistake of using brown basmati rice instead of regular basmati rice--too sticky and too distinctive of a taste.
Hopefully, we will be doing this more often...at least when we have some time on our hands! 
