29th June 2006 -  Can you believe it, there is a TV channel for babies now? Its called BabyFirst TV. There are tons for TV channels in the US for Sports, Cooking, Travel, Music even a channel called Jewellery Television. All they do it talk about Jewellery all day.

28th June 2006 - My father calls me Das Numbari. I thinks he calls me that because I have a football  jersey with the number 10 on it. The number 10 jersey was made famous by the legendary Pele from Brazil. Over the years, wearing the number 10 jersey is a prestige issue for players. Some of the famous players from the past include Diego Maradona from Argentina, Roberto Baggio from Italy and Michel Platini from France.

In the 2006 World Cup football touranament, the following players are wearing the number 10 jersey

• Ronaldinho from Brazil
• Micheal Own from England
• Zinadine Zidane from France and
• Francesco Totti from Italy

25th June 2006 - Its Sunday today and was a pretty slow day at home. My father had some office work and so I spent most of the day playing with my mother. In the evening we went to  the local Indian grocery store Bharat Bazaar. My parents have been visiting this store ever since they moved to Los Angeles. They like going to this store as they are always greeted with a warm smile. We picked up the weekly groceries and Indian veggies like Bhindi (Okra) etc. Bharat Bazaar also opened up a vegetarian restaurant recently and they serve chaats, samosa etc among other things. I wonder when I will be able to eat all this. Quite bored with this milk now. 

After Bharat Bazaar, we went to Al Watan restaurant on Inglewood Avenue. My parents love this little restaurant where they serve Pakistani food. Their Chicken and Lamb Biryani is amazing. My parents eat there almost 2-3 times a month and my uncle usually picks up food from there when he visit Los Angeles. The food was smelling very nice in the car. I started dreaming of the day when I could eat this food and I guess I fell asleep in the car.

June 24th, 2006 - We went to visit my cousin Ayush today in San Diego. He is going back to Des Moines after being here for the past few months and we went to wish him, my aunt and uncle good-bye. Also, we went to pick up my grandma.  It was a long drive as we hit a lot of traffic (Tip: Never go on the I-5 towards San Diego on Saturday morning after 9 AM, its really bad). We reached my aunt's place around lunch time, just in time to catch the 2nd half of the Mexico -Argentina game. It was a great game that went into overtime and Argentina won 2-1.

Everyone had a nice Lebanese lunch that my aunt had ordered from a local restaurant. Falafel and kababs for every, milk, milk and more milk for Ayush and me. This is not fair. I spent the rest of the day playing with my cousin, watching TV. It will probably be a while before I see him again.

June 23rd, 2006 - My parents wanted to take some passport pictures  so that they can get my passport done. We went to the "Picture People" store in the mall. They specialize in taking portraits, special pictures etc. Since I still cannot sit upright, they had to place me on a bean bag.  The lady at the store made it really nice and comfortable for me. I was very co-operative during the photo-shoot (since this is Hollywood, lets call it a photo-shoot). The nice lady took about 7-8 pictures and gave us copies of the best picture. I liked the store and will be back soon for a real picture. We spent the rest of the evening in the mall before heading home. My parents had dinner from CPK.  Smelled nice, but I am not allowed to try all that stuff.

Next week, we will apply for my passport. That will be another fun trip.

June 22nd, 2006 - Seems like have the World Cup Soccer Fever accompanied by a slight cold and cough, but thats not dampening my spirits. The World Cup is in full swing with the last set of games of round one in Progress. All the big names like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, the Netherlands, the United States (ooooppppssss, thats a typo) have made it round two. The United States got eliminated by a 2-1 loss to Ghana. Round Two begins on Saturday and my dad and I are really excited about it.

As you can see, I am totally into the event.  

June 20th 2006 -  Today was Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. Dallas had a 2-0 lead and were down 3-2 going into game 6. This was a huge turaround for Miami being down 2 games. They played really well and won Game 6 and are now the "World Champions". This is something that I do not understand. How can the US call itself World Champions in all these sports which they never win.

They call the winning team the "World Champions" in Baseball, Hockey, NFL and Basketball. However at the international level, this is how the fared recently

• The US finished 6th in the recent FIBA World Championship
• The US did not even make it to the Finals of the World Baseball Classic
• The US did not make it to the Finals of the Ice Hockey Championships as well.
• No other country plays NFL Football at an international level

June 18th, 2006 - Its Father's Day today. This is my first Father's Day and I surprised my dad by getting him a card and a "Jock of All Trades" photo frame. I had put a picture of my dad and myself in the frame and its was a perfect gift or my father who loves sports. My father and I spent the day at home doing guy stuff.....Watch TV what else!!!. With the World Cup in progress, thats all my father does on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In the evening we went out to the Strip mall behind our apartment. We went to Pier One, bought some flowers. We then went to Cold Stone Creamery for some ice-cream. It was really crowded. We finally got some Chinese Dinner from Chin Chin. All in All, it was a memorable first Father's Day.

June 17th, 2006 - World Cup Soccer 2006 action continues today and there is a big game on the TV as the US faced Italy. Everyone assumed that Italy would defeat the United States but the US managed to hang on to a draw and fight to stay alive in the touranment.  They now have to defeat Ghana to make it to the second round.

Also, today my grandma is leaving for visit my Aunt Hema's place in San Diego. My aunt, uncle and cousin are coming over to pick her up. They had a 2-hour drive, but the traffic was really terrible and it took them a bit longer than expected.  Once they came, I spent some time playing with my cousin Ayush. Once they left, I was a bit upset as the house was really empty. We are going to San Diego next weekend and I am excited about that trip. I really like to go out.

June 16th, 2006 - Tomorrow is June 17th, my sister Neha turns 7 years old.  We are celebrating her birthday today by going to a Mexican restaurant, CozyMels. The restaurant is a nice place and my parents used to go there for dinner once in a while before I was born. This the first time I went to that restaurant.  I was rather tired and fell asleep very quickly, but this bartender kept waking me up with the sounds of bottles and glasses. My sister had a grand party in Bangalore. She invited all her friends to the party and also had Micky Mouse and Donald Duck there too. She also had a magic show for all the kids. I wish I could have been there, must have been one heck of a party.

Hope you like me in my new summer sleevless outfits. They are really comfortable in this LA heat.

15th June 2006 - Two days in a row, I had been out for a stroll and I was very excited this morning when my mother  placed me in the car seat. I could not comtrol my joy and I started kicking my feet. Little did I know what was in store for me.  My mother was driving today and on the way we saw a big fire at a store in Santa Monica and we had to take a detour. We finally arrived at Dr Dennis Woo's Clinic. Dr Woo has been my pediatriian since I was born and I first met him at the hospital. Since then I have visited his clinic as per the schedule.  He's a really nice doctor and he always answers my parents questions very calmly. Sometimes he makes me cry though but I suppose he is doing his job.

we went in and sat in the well-area waiting room and there were lots of babies like me . Most were my age. Nurse Stacy called me in and took al my measurements. I now officially weigh 17 pounds and 2 ounces and am 27.5 inches today. She said I was a big boy and said I was as heavy as a turkey.

14th June 2006 -  The Fox Hills Mall is our local mall and we go there all the time. There was a sale in the mall today and so we all went there to see if we could get some good stuff. My dad and I dropped my mother and grandma off at J C Penney and we went to the Circuit City store across from the mall. My father is an electronic-junkie and I guess he wants me to "follow his footsteps". I liked the store. I was really quiet and saw the different sections in the store. We left the store and went back to the mall. I went to the other stores in the Mall - Macy's, Bath and Bodyworks, Children's Place, FootLocker etc. I sat quietly and enjoyed the time at the mall. I think I enjoy going to the mall, with the bright lights and crowds. I like having people around me. I was at the mall for more than 3 hours and I did not complain, but at home, I cannot go that long.

My dad promised to take me to geek-central soon..........Fry's Electronics...

13th June 2006 - As you may already know, I live in Marina Del Rey, CA. Today we went to the Lloyd Taber Public Library at the Marina. The library has a lot of books and they have a section for kids as well. When I grow a little older, I will come back for some books. The library is right by the Marina and its a very beautiful sight as you can see in the picture. There was a cool breeze blowing and it was a very plesant evening. I went to the library with my parents and my grandmother.  My mother and grandmother picked up a few books while my father and I went to see the boats and yatchs .  On the way back, we went to the Ralph's Grocery store to pick up some groceries and went back home.

Other than, I spent the rest of the day at home playing.

11th June 2006 - Sunday, the day to relax. After a long day yesterday, we were all tired and woke up late. Even me, I woke up at around 6, had some milk and went right back to sleep. My dad and I slept till 9:30 or so.  After that, my parents decided to leave me at home and go to Artesia to get some groceries. I could not believe they left me "Home Alone" (well, my grandma was there to take care of me) . The rest of the afternoon, we stayed at home and relaxed.

June 10th 2006 - Today was the longest I have ever been outside the house. My parents, my grandmother and I went shopping.....this nation's favorite pastime.  We drove about 50 miles North to the Camarillo Outlet Malls which is a large outlet mall in the Northern part of Los Angeles. We left early so as to get a nice parking spot. We reached there about 10:30 and the parking lot was relatively empty. We parked right outside the Nike store.

My parents went to the different stores here like Gap, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica, Eddie Bauer, OshKosh 'Bgosh etc. They bought some very cute outfits for me. I especially liked the reversible nightwear from Gap and the sleeveless T-Shirts at Oshkosh 'Bgosh. Look at me with all these new clothes. I am geared up for the summer. For the most part, I was a pretty good baby. I was happy as long as I got my food in time. I just got a bit grumpy in the afternoon. Must have been the heat.