Like Father Like Son, Like Father Like Son

 Missing from this photo?  Daddy.  Why?  Because Saavan's got the jimmylegs.

When I was little, I would, when scared or sick, run to my parents' room and climb into bed with them. (This stopped around my 21st birthday.) In the morning, I'd wake up in the morning to discover that my dad had moved to the guest room because I would kick him constantly in my sleep. I had no recollection of said kicking, and always felt bad about it, but given that it was happening while I was asleep, it was out of my control.

These days, I am the father, and my boy Saavan usually wakes up around 5:30, at which point we bring him into our bed to let him sleep for another hour or so. Saavan then proceeds to kick the crap out of me. Seriously. From the moment he gets into our bed, Saavan squirms around like crazy with his legs flailing, desperately trying to find a comfortable position in which to sleep. Neither Neha nor I is safe, although I bear the brunt of Saavan's attacks. Oftentimes Saavan ends up sleeping perpendicular to Neha and I, so that the three of us form an "H," with Saavan's head in Neha's direction, and and his legs facing towards me. In such situations, I am the only victim of Saavan's relentless barrage of baby feet to the midsection.  

So the question you're asking, "have you, unable to deal with Saavan's kicking, ever gone to sleep in the guestroom, like your dad used to?" The answer? "Yes, on multiple occasions."

What's Up With The Saav-Man?

In other Saavan matters, the last month has been very eventful.  Much to the joy of his parents, Saavan is a big fan of books, and is constantly demanding that he be read to.  But he has a very specific method by which said reading must take place.  After he hands you the book of his choice (he's big into Lisa Patricelli these days), you must sit cross-legged on the floor.  Saavan will then stand in front of you, turn so that his back is facing you, and slowly reverse - like a truck moving backwards - until he falls into your lap.  It's quite the routine.

Saavan has also developed a bit of a vocabulary, which is very exciting.  His favorite word is "airplane," which he pronounces "appy," and repeats constantly whenever we see or hear an airplane flying overhead.  He also loves to say "all done" upon the completion of anything - from him drinking his milk to us turning off the faucet after we've finished brushing our teeth.  Other favorite words?  "Truck," "doggie," and "up" (a new word he's learned to get us to carry him).  He can also say ball (and says it frequently in reference to his basketball, as you'll see below), and celebrates whenever he hears someone singing the alphabet by saying "a-bee, a-bee" repeatedly.  He's also a big time repeater of words and sounds, meaning that I've had to seriously curb my profanity usage, which is much easier said than done.  Goddammit. 

His eating habits haven't gotten much better, although he's obsessed with animal crackers from Costco that taste like cardboard.  Which is something. 

I Give You Some Pictures And A Video

Saavan partakes in his first wedding, the Palak-Rudi nuptials:

 Unable to decide who has the most awesome outfit, Kavi and Saavan agree to a walkoff.

Saavan also hung out with his new friend Kiran to watch the re-birth of Michigan football.

Two out of two babies agree.  It's a lot more fun when Michigan is winning.

Saavan has also developed an obsession with basketball, and demands that we take him to the park near our house each day after school so that he can ball with the big boys.  Don't believe me?  Check it out:

Just wait until he masters his crossover. 

Saavan's love of basketball is a direct result of his obsession with being outside.  We take Saavan to the park in the video above on a near-daily basis, where he gets to watch a lot of pick-up hoops (and reasonably believes that he's better than most of the players out there).  To get us to take him outside, Saavan will pick up our shoes and bring them over to us saying "Shoessss, shoessss" while we're watching television or something.  If we don't put our shoes on right away, he'll go and get us another pair of shoes.  And then another.  If you aren't careful, Saavan will drown you in your own shoes in order to get you to take him outside.  It's recommended that you comply with the Saav-man's demands. 

This past month also included a trip to the zoo with Saavan's buddy Saajan. Remember Idli and Sambar last summer, a couple of months after they were born?  Well check the boys out now:

Don't blame us because we're really really ridiculously good-looking.  Blame our devastatingly handsome daddies.
 

The zoo was pretty awesome, and Saajan and Saavan were fascinated by the gorillas in the monkey house:

But really, who could blame them, given that the monkey house featured a baby gorilla nearly as cute as the boys themselves:

The big one on the left is the baby's daddy.  I gained a lot of terrific parenting insight just by watching this scene for a couple of minutes.

This past month also featured lots of visits from friends and family that I'm unable to post here because I've run out of room for more pictures!  (But this means I can put up another easy post so it seem like I'm writing a lot!  Hooray!).  So as Saavan says, for the time being, "all done."

The Indoctrination, Take Two

The young Michigan fan gazes into the distance, searching for the elusive "win."

Just over one year ago, I introduced Saavan to Michigan football. The endeavor was an unsuccessful one. The Michigan football team had the worst season in its storied history, and for the first time that I can remember, watching Michigan games became painful not because the team broke my heart (they do that regularly), but because the team was so bad, the games were incomprehensibly boring. As such, I'm grateful that because he was only a couple of months old and the time, Saavan will have no recollection of last season's debacle.

His presumed lack of memory notwithstanding, we decided it was necessary to start over and re-indoctrinate Saavan into the glory that is Michigan football. In essense, last season was a mulligan. We started by dressing Saavan up in his super-cool Michigan jersey, courtesy of Uncle Mike and Aunt Joann. (See the picture at the top of his post, and feel free to admit to yourself that he looks like a badass. I mean, look at his shoes.) The next step was getting him on to the University of Michigan campus. First stop? Majestic Michigan stadium:

Already tall enough to play slot receiver in Coach Rod's new offense.

It was love at first sight, and before long we had to drag Saavan away from the Big House:
Please let me in. PLEASE.

Confident that we had given him the requisite taste of the pageantry and greatness that is Michigan football, we took Saavan to central campus and give him a chance to experience the University as a whole and everything else it has to offer. (For example, honies.)

The search for honies proves fruitless.

Though Saavan wasn't able to find a girlfriend on his first tour of campus, he was nonetheless a huge fan.



We were confident that Saavan was now a Michigan man. But before we could let him get too emotionally invested the team and subject himself to heartbreak over and over again (just like his dad), I had to sit him down and explain both last year's disastrous 3-9 season, and the (wholly unsubstantiated) "investigative report" in the Detroit Free Press alleging that coach Rich Rodriguez had violated team rules by making the team "practice too much." Saavan was clearly shocked:

So you're saying the FREEP made no effort in its report to distinguish between countable and non-countable hours? What a bunch of dicks.

Why did we do all this? Because last season was painful, and I cannot help but blame myself for upsetting the Karma gods by not more appropriately preparing baby Saavan for the football season. (For chrissake, last year, the only Michigan clothing he wore on opening day was a bib! Totally unacceptable.) As Saavan becomes a toddler and more cognizant, I don't want him to ever suffer such pain again. Thus the massive pro-Michigan propaganda effort. And guess what? I think it worked, as Michigan recovered from its horrific 2008 season with a 31-7 thumping of Western Michigan, a game many thought we could lose.

All is right, Saavan, and I can't help but hold myself personally responsible. Welcome (again) to the wonderful world of Michigan football. Prepare to have your heart broken repeatedly.

But in the meantime: