Construction
There’s been a bunch of construction outside our house. A large rainwater irrigation project by the city of Austin, set to take two years to finish. The beeps of machines in R and wake us up as early as 7:30 AM, M-S. By mid January the presence of the crew working the perimeter of our house was a huge drag. And because Sajan’s nursery is the room closest to the street, the noise would wake him up.
Somewhere in the middle of month, Pranitha had the fantastic idea of letting Sajan watch the construction from his room’s window. It was a hit, made better a few days later when we brought up the “throne” he received from Titi this Christmas. Suddenly this became a new core activity: construction watching.
Sajan is now endlessly fascinated by movement of cars and trucks outside his room’s window. He will spend a good 30 minutes simply rotating his head left and right following each individual vehicle. Sometimes a bird or a squirrel too. For us, it’s a nice reprieve from stimulating him through toys and books. A moment to sit together in stillness and quiet, observing the hum of the day. And a silver lining to the otherwise inconvenient presence of all the yellow vehicles out front.
Luka
On January 16th little Luka joined the family! Luka is Sajan’s cousin on Pranitha’s side, son of Jeevitha and Armir.
To say Sajan acknowledged Luka at the hospital would be a strong statement. He was selective with his eye contact, more interested in the room and his milk. It’s hard to know whether or not this was intentional, or what he really noticed was that his Titi was now preoccupied with another baby. His first pang of jealousy, perhaps?
In the weeks since we’ve all spent a lot of time together since we live only three minutes away. The two share changing stations and have started going on walks together. It’s all quite precious. Luka is still getting settled, but the vision of two little rugrats wreaking havoc seems just a minute away.
Snow day
Though Texas is known for its blistering summers, it’s a legit four season state. And to my surprise, each winter even offers a few flurries days. Those around in 2022 remember when a blizzard and incompetent state government meant no power for days.
Last year Austin got a flurry which we missed. But this year we were here and got a solid snow day. It was Sajan’s first and a great change of scene, even if just a blip.
End of an era
Pranitha finished breastfeeding Sajan in early February. To celebrate the grind of pumping and feeding while being a working mom, we had a small celebration at home right before Bad Bunny performed at the Superbowl. Jeeves, the family resident baker and barista, came through clutch with the homemade boob cake (10/10).
