Half Birthday

Everything about you is round: The fat cheeks, the gently upturned nose, the eyes that widen into saucers when you’re curious, and the tiniest of lips.

You have the Bhargava eyebrows and eyelashes and the Shah nose. You mumble mum-mum-mum, hi-hi-hi, and na-na-na all day. You…

30 months

Dear Leila,

These days I’ve been occupied by the effusive, constant, near-devotional love you have in your life. You are the first grandchild on both sides of the family, which means that you have four doting grandparents, one borderline-obsessive masi (and masa), one set of fawning…

First Birthday

You were born in the year of Donald Trump’s ascendance.

You are an American citizen. We are not. As much as we’d like to move elsewhere and wash our hands of this mess, you are a reminder of why we need to stay.

Dear Leila,

Yesterday, you and I were coloring a mermaid sheet together. It was a “mixed media” project, with some parts colored with crayons, some with pencils, and others with markers.

After coloring the mermaid’s tail, I absentmindedly said, “I need a nice skin-colored crayon to do the rest of her…

18 months

Dear Leila,

This morning, Marisela was singing the Baby Beluga song to you and Juliana. “Bay-bee Bel-uuu-gaa,” she sang, as the two of you bopped around.

Then came the part with the word “Mama.” “Bay-bee Bel-uuu-ga,” she sang, “Is your Mama home with you, so…

Dear Leila,

This was written in Dec 2017, when you were just under 2.

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This is the last night of our 6-day half-vacation (half visa trip) to Mexico. Somehow, even though the three of us went to Hawaii together in September, this feels like our first real trip as a…