Welcome Jasper Powell!

The Parikh-Powell team is now a family of FOUR! Baby Jasper was born December 13, 2011.  Simms has been very affectionate and sweet with his new baby brother. When we first brought the new baby home, Simms took the pacifier out of his mouth and offered it to Jasper, along with his favorite security blanket. 



Japser Powell
Born December 13, 2011 at 2:52pm
7lbs 9oz, 19.5 inches

Just a few seconds old. He's not so sure about this new environment...

Meeting his parents for the first time.

First day at home from the hospital

Snuggle time with  his dad.
We're so happy about our growing family.

Santa's Little Helper

Christmas is approaching, and we have a little elf who is embracing the holiday spirit. Here's Simms helping Greg and Barbara decorate the Christmas tree at our house. At 38 weeks pregnant, huge and uncomfortable, I was unable to offer much help.

"Is the tree straight, dad?"

"I suggest we s begin with the colored lights first, then move on to the white lights."

Simms is supervising.

"Will somebody please  pass me an ornament down here...?"

"Let's dance to the Christmas music, Grandma Barbara!"

Powell Family Vacation - Thanksgiving 2011

This week, the Powell crew has been in Nags Head, North Carolina for a Thanksgiving family vacation.  I had been feeling poorly a few days before we were scheduled to fly out; so at the last minute, we decided that it would be best if I cancelled my flight and stayed in Jackson.  Plus, my doctor advised against any travel being 4 weeks away from my due date. (wouldn't be fun for anyone if I went into preterm labor during a family vacation!)

Greg has been sending me photos and videos daily. Looks like it's been a great vacation! 

 Below are some videos that Greg and Michelle sent during the week...

(video from Greg) Simms on the beach

(video from Greg) Chris, Turtle and Simms on the beach

(video from Michelle)  Fun at the beach house (Thanks, Michelle!)

Showered with MORE Love!

My great friend, Chelsea, her mother-in-law (Maxine), and Chelsea's mom (Kathy) threw us a wonderful baby shower last weekend.  The theme of the shower was "Brains and Booty"  (=books and diapers)!  We are so lucky to be surrounded by such thoughtful and loving friends. Thanks, all,  for celebrating this special time with us!

Kathy, me, Maxine, Chelsea

The food was delicious and table decorations were beautiful

Beautiful vegetable sandwiches that Maxine made. Almost too pretty to eat!

Nina brought this delicious cake.  I ate much more than I needed to....

Sweet baby Ellie sitting on Nora's lap and Barbara

Maxine, Kathy, Sally

Our thoughtful friends gave us so many marvelous books (plus diapers and more!)
 We look forward to many, many hours of good reading.
Greg and I are so grateful for all of the love.

Showered with Love

My mom's friends threw us a baby shower in preparation for our upcoming arrival.  We have most of what we need already (we're just reusing all of Simms and Roscoe's things), so the hosts made this a "Diaper Shower."  Perfect! 
The  Filipino community is like our extended family.  Everyone brought delicious Filipino dishes and sent us home with loads of diapers and wipes. We're so grateful for this community of friends and family.

Tita Susan, mom, me, Tita Fati

("Tita" means "aunt" in Tagalog)

Nora made and decorated this baby cake. It was DELICIOUS.
Those are real flowers on the cake!

yay for diapers and wipes!

Roscoe helping us load up the diapers

Welcome Watson Twins!

Sam and Susie had their twin girls today! Welcome Genevieve and Juliette! So happy to have you in the world! And congratulations to the proud new parents! (photos provided by Sam)

Sam, Susie and the Watson Twins!

Genevieve Emmaline Watson

Born 2011-11-14. 8:26am
4 lbs 9oz 17 3/4

Juliette Annabelle Watson

Born 2011-11-14. 8:27am
4 lbs 8oz 18 1/4"

Beautiful new mama and her sweet twin girls

16 Months

Simms is adding to his vocabulary.  I'm pleased to say that after 16.5months, I've finally made it into his vocabulary. yay!  Below are some of his most commonly used words

"mama"=mama!!!
daddy-greg
raw- roscoe
Ru-dee - Rudy (our dog)
tank you - Thank you
puhh - pacifier
mook - milk
raff - giraffe
mouse- mouse
butt - butterfly
wawa- water
juice-juice
bear - bear
me=me (when shown a picture of himself and asked, "who is that?")
ow=owl
"eat eat" = I'm hungry
eeez = "cheese"



new animal noises
"mooo" - cow
"quack quack" - duck
"raaarrrr!"  - tiger/bear

Favorite activities and foods;
feeding himself yogurt
wagons
trains
dinosaurs
kicking a ball
owls
giving pacifiers and toys to baby jasper
pulling blankets off baby jasper
eating whole tomatoes, as if they are apples
udon noodles
putting a sock on his hand (sock puppets)
climbing on furniture (dining room chairs, coffee table)
drinking out of a real cup and holding it himself


We started montesorri school last week.  I'm not sure who cried more - me or Simms.  It's a tough transition, but as the week progressed he did better and better. Fortunately, he's in a small class (5 kids), so he gets a lot of attention.  His teacher is great and I know two of the mom's in his class.

Halloween - Starring Dash and Elastigirl

Rewind back to Halloween. I'm a bit behind on posting, as you can tell. Roscoe is a big fan of the movie, "The Incredibles," and he desperately wanted to be Dash for Halloween. Nina scouted all over town for a Dash costume but could not find the right size.  So, the two of us put our superhero powers together and hand-made a Dash costume the night before and the morning of Halloween.  I stenciled the logo on the shirt with fabric paint, Nina made the eye masks, and we both worked on the arm and leg bands. Greg donated one of his black shirts so we could used the material. One can do wonders with some fabric paint and stitch witch. Not too shabby for last minute job, huh?

Dash and Elastigirl!

Dash (Roscoe) and the villain, Syndrome, (Greg)

Sunday Rookery on Etsy Front Page

Yay! One of my crafts (fabric covered button ring) made it on the front page of Etsy today!  (I took a screenshot just for proof).   It was included as part of a collection called "Modern Geometric Art."  Nice to be selected and featured among the thousands of artists and craftsters.  Thanks, Etsy! 

Resting and Nesting

36 weeks pregnant; 4 more weeks to go.
I don't think there's any space left...

16 Months Old

Simms is 16 months old and it's such a fun age (although, I've said this about EVERY stage he's at).    He can understand so much and it's amazing to watch him learn, communicate, listen, mimic.

Listening to different frog calls  at the Natural Science Museum

These days, some of his most commonly used words include:

• "thish" = fish/goldfish (the snack)
• "dirt" = dirt
• "deuce" = Seuss (Nina and Jerel's newly adopted fuzzy grey cat that was a stray)
• "doo"  = shoes
• "zoom!"  = sound of a car or plane
• "dhoom!" = some type of exclamation
• "ball" = ball
• "bath" = bath
• "wawa" = water
• "raw" = roscoe
• "door"  = door
• "daddy" = Greg
• "bye bye" = goodbye!
• "no" = no
• "down" = put me down

By far, THE most frequently spoken word is still "deee"  (=Rudy, our dog).  This is usually always the first word he says when he wakes up, and he is delighted each morning when Rudy enthusiastically greets him.

Favorite animal sounds to make:

• Owl - "hoooht hoooht!"
• Dog - "woof woof"
• Various bird calls - "screech," "eek," etc.
• Frog - weird gurgle sound

Most commonly used sign language:

• More/want
• Milk
• Done/Finished
• Eat/Hungry
• iPad (this is not ASL.  He made it up himself. He moves his finger back and forth through the air to indicate "scrolling" through the pages of an iPad or iPhone.  Kids and technology, eh?)

He enjoys any of the Duck Duck Moose  learning apps

Current Likes/Interests:

• Sleeping with  a security blanket (=one of my tshirts)
• Wearing hats/putting hats on others (especially on Grandma Barbara)
• Being pulled in a wagon (vs. pushed in a stroller)
• Handling large, oversized objects (empty diaper boxes, brooms, etc)
• Reading interactive books on the iPad (Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc)
• Holding a bottle to feed himself
• Playing fetch with Rudy
• Picking flowers
• Helping Greg water the plants
• Pointing to the sky when he hears an airplane/helicopter
• Saying "zoom!"  when he sees a car outside
• Bonking Greg on the head
• Books, books, books!

He seems so small and so big all at the same time...
We sure love this little guy!

Happy Halloween!

This year, Simms dressed up as a ferocious dinosaur for Halloween.  We took him to Belhaven Street Block Party which was a fun-filled family night of  live music, costume contests, friends, and festive decorations. This will definitely be an annual event for us.

ROAR...!  Is that a ferocious little dinosaur, or what?



Poor dog was dressed up as a cat for Halloween.
You can just see the embarrassment in his eyes...



meow.

Simms's friends, Eleanor (dressed as ladybug) and Griffin (dressed as penguin).
All the excitement and activity had them tuckered out.

Simms's buddy, Ella, dressed as an adorable fairy

Simms's soon-to-be classmate

After the block party, Simms went "trick-or-treating" at Pop and Grandma Barbara's house

Our little stegosaurus

Ending the evening festivities with a bit of pat-a-cake with Pop

Happy Halloween, everybody!