Home sweet home

Longtime blog readers will know of our epic saga to buy a house, so it is with much fanfare that I announce that we FINALLY took the plunge. Yes, it's true, we are now living the American dream of having so much debt that you lay awake at night at think about it. But, you can also paint the walls whatever color you want and not worry about what the landlord will think, so no doubt it is all worth it. :-)

To make a long story short, we have been considering the same house since Thanksgiving, and finally with the market context, uh, "cooling" to say the least, we were able to agree on a price with the seller. This actually happened a week ago, but I think as of now we have officially released all of our contingencies, so it is really a done deal. In that week, we've been both super excited as well as occasionally terrified. The worst part is my seeming inability to stop checking Redfin, just waiting for a "better" house to get listed before we even finish buying this one (so far, so good).

In my brief week as a homeowner, I have already learned several things:

• No matter how much bigger the new house is, it will still be too small. Just mentally trying to move into the house I have already discovered that not everything will fit (despite gaining multiple rooms during this move). On an unrelated note, anyone interested in Sameer's monstrously large, albeit very nice, desk? :-)
• When you put your child on lists for preschool, you should put them on lists for every area you might conceivably live in. We dutifully put Sonia on lists over a year ago, and then went and bought a house in the next town over. Whoops. Here's where I hope Sameer's sales skills will come in handy as we have to beg our way into the neighborhood school.
• Washer and dryers are a lot more expensive than you think.
• Actually, everything is a lot more expensive than you think. I've gone from anticipating all of the furniture we should go out and buy to trying to decide if we can as a family just wear sleepmasks at night to avoid having to buy curtains. For the record, no, 2-year-olds cannot wear sleepmasks.
• You cannot tell your out of town friends and family how much your Bay Area house costs. Or, maybe you should because the economy is so depressing and they could use a good laugh.
• Ignorance is bliss, especially when it comes to what you thought about your new house before you did the detailed walkthrough with the home inspector. It takes a special kind of person to have a job where all he does is point out things that are wrong. I will never look at the non-grouted tub spout the same way again. (Yes, the seller is addressing all of these items...still, it was better when I just didn't know enough to care.)
• And, best of all, yes it is nice to be settled. As someone at work put it to me, "wow, you're all grown up now."

Here's a picture of the house from the listing. Yes, we did travel back in time to 1954 to buy Ozzie and Harriet's house, complete with white picket fence. No, I never imagined we would buy anything resembling this (I pictured us in a renovated 1920's craftsman, Sameer was angling for a newer, modern house), but we just couldn't say no to its top-rated schools, completely remodeled interior, good-sized yard for our future dog (negotiations still pending), and a mortgage that remarkably someone thinks we can afford. If you're ever in the area, now we have a guest room!

Training Day

Note: for those of you still awaiting proof that Sameer and I have become one of those boring, suburban couples who are obsessed with their kid (and, really, are there any out there still doubting that?), I suppose this post will seal the deal.

I've been hesitant to write this post for fear of "jinxing" ourselves, but I'm finally feeling confident enough to put it in writing. It's true. Sonia is potty trained. Sadly, I think this is perhaps the single biggest accomplishment Sameer and I have had recently, which is not a statement of how hard it was, but perhaps more of a statement of our professional impact of late. :-)

Okay, okay -- first the caveats. She is not 100% trained in that she still wears a diaper while sleeping (naptime and at night), and I know for many people that doesn't "count" as being potty trained. But, in our household, where just weeks ago Sonia would cry if you would not put her diaper back on, it is victory nonetheless. And given that she still sleeps in a crib, short of denying her liquids or us being willing to get up in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom, I don't see the sleeping situation changing anytime soon.

The actual potty training was surprisingly easy (I don't say this to brag, everyone knows we have repeatedly failed on so many fronts -- getting her to eat balanced meals, to name just one -- that I write this only to point out that we were genuinely surprised). We have been reading books to Sonia about potty training and talking about becoming a "big girl" for months, but in the end I think it was a primal desire to wear her new Minnie Mouse underwear that put us over the top (thank you, Target). As soon as she was in the underwear, there were maybe 2 or 3 accidents in the first few days, but then pretty much smooth sailing from there on out. At this point, we are back to our usual routine (going to restaurants, parks, malls, etc.), although admittedly I am developing a well-honed sixth sense for where the nearest restroom is.

One thing I didn't anticipate was how our-little-introvert would quickly realize that potty training has the added bonus of meaning alone time with one of us. I have quickly noticed a trend that if we are somewhere Sonia doesn't like (read: where there are lots of strangers, god forbid, trying to actually interact with her), then she will sometimes announce that she needs to go to the bathroom. And, of course, once you get in there she doesn't have to go. And then when it's all nice and quiet and secluded, she will say in a stage whisper, "I want to go home." I'll give her credit, it didn't take her long to figure out that putting the fear of cleaning up a mess in our heads was the easiest way to pull the ripcord on any social situation. Now, we just have to build up enough confidence in this area to tell her that she has to "hold it" for a while when we think she's faking. Wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

It also didn't take Sonia long to figure out that using the potty doubles as an excellent way to catch up on her reading. Here's a pic that shows a typical day at our house. Note the Minne Mouse PJs and the Thomas the Train book...we remain a marketer's dream household!

Photo Montage

Wow, am I behind on posting. No excuses...had plenty of time over vacation, just anything involving a laptop felt like work, so was to be avoided. But, trying to at least catch up on photos with a resolution to take more pictures and post more often this year (probably about as successful as my resolution to give up caffeine, which I have already amended to just be "have less caffeine").

Anyway, here are our photos from October (yes, it's been that long since we posted pictures!). Highlights include our trip to New Hampshire where Sonia got to meet lots of Sameer's family for the first time and Halloween.



November brought Sonia's 2nd birthday party, a Diwali party in the city, and a Thanksgiving visit from Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Kevin (far too few photos of that!).



In December, we managed to make it up to the city for Alex's birthday party, hit two Children's museums, and posed in front of the Christmas tree in both Berkeley and Portland. Despite all of the presents, no doubt the highlight for Sonia was a visit to the Evergeen Aviation Museum in McMinnville Oregon (home of the Spruce Goose, and surprisingly nice if you are ever in the area), which only added fuel to the fire of her current obsession with planes.