In Which Saavan Wipes Out...

Brick sidewalk: 1, Saavan: 0

Saavan is now a master walker, and has advanced to the point where 1) he must speedwalk (he hasn't yet conquered running) everywhere; and 2) he refuses to hold anyone's hand while doing so. Normally this results in Saavan walking around with his hands up and stumbling ever so slightly, like an adorable little drunk. People beam and smile and point in delight. Unfortunately, speedwalking is still relatively new to Saavan, and so he tends to fall every now and then. This past Sunday, while we were waiting outside a local restaurant to get seated for brunch, Saavan was in full speedwalk mode. And then he fell.

Saavan has fallen before, but this was the first time he'd fallen on a brick sidewalk, and without getting his hands out in front of him to brace himself. So that was kind of bad. The Saav-man ended up with a decent cut on his nose (see above) that bled for a little bit, and some road rash on his forehead. I was actually pretty freaked out, especially since Saavan let out a real yelp of pain as soon as he fell. (Typcally when Saavan falls, it takes a second for him to realize 1) that he fell; and 2) that it was unpleasant, and only after that realization does he cry. It's all a bit staged. When the cry is nearly simultaneous with the fall, you know something is up.)

In the end though, Saavan was fine, and in the big scheme of things, probably better off for it. He's toughening himself up, and in no time he's going to be running through brick walls. So I'm excited and happy for him. He can fall down whenever he wants. Another positive to take away from Saavan's fall? A couple of days later, was eating cherries. And by "eating cherries," I mean rubbing them all over his face. Coupled with the cut on his nose, the effect of this eating display was tremendous:
Crap this picture doesn't really do justice to the scene. While eating cherries, Saavan smeared them all over his face and looked like he was in a crazy fist fight. It was awesome looking. I swear.

Some recent action photos!
Rajan chacha and Saavan share a hearty laugh after Rajan suggests that Duke might be good at basketball this year.

Ravi chacha displays a moment of indecision when Rufus attempts to eat Saavan. Avani chachi thinks its all just adorable.

Preeya chachi helps Saavan model his stylish new Tim boots. Thanks Ravi and Avani!

In Which We Enlist Saavan In The Army...

Who loves ya baby?

If you're looking at the picture above, don't adjust you computer screen. That is Saavan you are looking at, and he is in fact bald. You're understandably bewildered. How could a boy with this luscious head of hair:


end up looking like Kojak?

Rest assured, Saavan is not suffering from premature hair loss. Instead, this past Saturday we performed his Mundan ceremony. The Mundan signifies a baby's first hair cut, usually done on the first birthday (we were a little late), in which the baby's head is shaved in a symbolic effort to remove the "impurities" associated with the baby's past life.

Whether or not we were going to actually do a Mundan for Saavan remained unclear for some time. Neha didn't want to shave his head, and remains offended at the notion that anything about Saavan was "impure." Nonetheless, given that both she and I had both had a mundan ceremony as baby's, we decided that Saavan needed one as well. (Truth be told, I was a bigger proponent of the head shaving, in large part because I thought Saavan would look like a badass when bald.)

So this past weekend we took Saavan to the Hindu Temple of Northern Virginia, where a priest performed the Mundan ceremony and identified the hair that he would cut by tying those pieces with red string:


And then, the first cut!


It was all very exciting. Though the priest did the first couple of cuts, he wasn't in the business of shaving heads, and so that responsibility fell upon...me. Holy crap. It was an overwhelming responsibility, but because I am awesome dad, I was willing to undertake the momentous task. We brought Saavan home to complete the ceremony, and after firing up the clippers (also beard and nose hair trimmer!) that I purchased that morning, the head shaving began:

The last photo of Saavan with his adorable baby hair!


The initial pass of the clippers:

Neha clearly approves.

Saavan wasn't always a fan:




Eventually though, Saavan came around to the process:

I feel so light and free!

Saavan's Nihar Mama (a/k/a "Soccer Mama") came over to assist in the cutting process:


And I must say, Uncle and Daddy did a pretty good job on the haircut:

Sohum considers whether the chrome dome is a look he should adopt.

On Saturday night, when the Mundan was complete, I actually felt pretty guilty. The Saav-man had an amazing head of hair, and we robbed him of it all. I felt even worse because Saavan had the straight floppy hair that I've always wanted, but never had. What if it doesn't grow back the same way? What if he ends up with a thick mangled head of hair like his dad. (Oh who am I kidding, my hair is awesome.) Would he look as adorable bald as he did when he had his fabulous locks?

But then I took a look at the baldy again...


...and realized that he still looks totally awesome.

(Also like bit of a badass.)