In Which Arjun Turns 5, and Then 6 Months...

Arjun cannot hide his excitement about a new blog entry! (5 and a half months)

In previous blog postings that occurred after lengthy layoffs, I provided a myriad of excuses for my poor blogging performance and promised that things had changed and that going forward, I would be the model of blog-entry consistency.  Well no more.  Given that it has been over two months since my last post and in that time, our beautiful younger son has gone from adorable baby boy to basically a grown man, I have no choice to embrace my true identity:  I am a terrible blogger.  Please read anyways.

 For posterity, here's a picture of Arjun on his 5-month birthday:

Yes, we do always dress him in this sweatshirt.

And here's Arjun on his 6-month birthday:

Unamused upon learning that the 5- and 6-month blog posts are being consolidated, and are still incredibly late..

In the past two months, Arjun has taken his place as the world's most smiley baby, as confirmed by the fact that when he wakes up from naps, all he does is look at us and smile.  It's amazing.  For comparison's sake, Saavan used to wake up from his naps by screaming at the top of his lungs.  (He sort of still does.)  Arjun has also demonstrated a great proclivity for eating solid foods.  He's taken fondly to squash, avocado, and even zucchini (which, as we all know, tastes like nothing).  As a result of his great eating so far (knock on wood), I now refer to Arjun as "the garbage disposal."  I challenge you to come up with a more delightful nickname.

The past two months have been quite eventful.  In the fall, a farm near us holds a big "pumpkin festival" with a petting zoo, slides, a corn maze, and, um, pumpkins.  Naturally, we took the boys.  Arjun spent most of the time during the festival hanging out in the shadows...

Mysteriously adorable.

...but we were still able to lure him out for at least one good photo with mom and dad:

Arjun looks a little bit conniving here, but I assure you he isn't, and in any event, it's a nice photo.

Saavan, on the other hand, used the trip to the festival as yet another opportunity to eat his staple meal, french fries and ketchup (this time with some friends):

Saajan and Rania join Saavan for some healthy eating.

Smartly, after eating all those fries, Saavan and co. burned off their calories by dancing:

What moves!

One of our biggest mistakes since Arjun's birth is not taking more photos of the four of us.  Here's one that turned out alright, notwithstanding the fact that the boys look like they'd clearly rather be elsewhere.  

Whipped after a long day at the pumpkin festival.

The pumpkin festival was a precursor to Halloween, which saw Saavan and Arjun's dad carve this incredible pumpkin:

Way better than any picture of the kids.

Arjun actually passed out and missed all of the Halloween festivities, but before he did, we were able to get a couple of photos of him dressed up as an adorable puppy.  Prepare to have your heart melted:

Please ignore unfortunate tail placement.. 

Here's a picture of Arjun with his buddy Shaan the Lion:

Shaan the Lion's mane: breathtaking.

Because he passed out, Arjun missed our Halloween party, which featured a diverse cast of characters:

L to R: Michael Jackson; Shark; Lionel Messi; Monkey; Lion

The Halloween cuteness was overwhelming.

Instead of spending Thanksgiving in Chicago this year, the extended Vohra family ignored the threat posed by the ongoing Mexican drug war and headed down to sunny Puerto Vallarta.  Fortunately, none of us were beheaded.  Even better, we ended up with some great photos!

He can swim!  (Really, no.)

He can swim! (Really, sort of.)

No caption necessary due to awesomeness of photo.

Man whoever took this photo knows how to work a camera.

Vacationing with the grandparents means free babysitting!

Slingin'

Adorably sunburnt.

Finally, a decent family portrait.

Finally, we always get asked about Saavan and how he's getting along with Arjun.  And I'm happy to report that after 6months, the two boys have developed quite the relationship.  And while that relationship consists mostly of Saavan putting Arjun into headlocks and us freaking out in response, it's (almost) always done lovingly.  Saavan has, unsurprisingly, become a great big brother.  (For some reason, blogger is not letting me add my hysterical captions to the photos below.  Just pretend that as you're looking at the photos, you're also reading adorable quips that are making you laugh hysterically.)

 

So there you have it: another great blog entry that has resulted in you totally forgiving me for the infrequency of my blog posts.  (Hooray for adorable photos!)  And while this post will invariably leave you pining for another one, rest assured that we have compiled a great collection of Christmas photos that I easily could have put into this post, but am saving for a separate entry.  So there's a decent chance you won't have to wait another two months (no promises)!  In the meantime, enjoy this one last picture of Arjun with shaving cream on his nose:

And...fin.