Shawn’s Mundan

Today was definitely a new experience for me. I've attended similar ceremonies for friends and family, but each one is different and unique, which makes it special. It's always different being an observer than actually participating, too.

We set up an alter in the corner of our living room with plenty of seating for our guests in chairs, on the couches, and on the ground. We learned that it was very important for us to face West during the ceremony. Our pundit was wonderful at explaining the ceremony step by step as he conducted the rituals.

We began with a blessing and prayers to the Hindu Gods. The pundit gave us dots of red powder, Tika, between our eyebrows (Shawn chose not to have one) and tied sacred red threads, called Mauli, around our wrists. (Raj and Shawn wore theirs on their right hands, while I wore mine on my left.) Their significance was warding off evil and attracting good fortune. By placing them around a coconut, we offered water, flowers, and rice to the gods, inviting them to be a part of our special day.

One part that sticks out in my memory is how the pundit described the utmost importance of a child’s parents, holding them higher than all else. He said that parents are a child’s first teachers. Without parents, the child cannot learn properly and therefore does not have knowledge. Without knowledge, the child has no understanding. Without knowledge and understanding, the child cannot know God. Therefore, parents and teachers are the supreme powers in a child’s life.

The second part of the ceremony included actually shaving Shawn’s hair. Before we began, we tied red threads around three sections of his hair, which we then cut with scissors. Then, Kate Yglesias La Casse (who was my hair dresser for years and did my hair for our wedding) did an amazing job wielding her clippers quickly and carefully so that Shawn barely flinched while locks of his hair fell all around. He did a marvelous job while the clippers were buzzing around his head. It helped tremendously that Kate was able to cut his hair pretty quickly. Regardless, he sat very still and didn't fidget. (I was impressed.) We collected his hair along with some of the articles from the puja and were told to save them. When we go to India, we are supposed to offer it to the sacred Ganges River.

While Kate was shaving his head, she uncovered a cut from a fall a few days ago. (Shawn was being silly while in the bathroom and fell off the toilet!) I knew he bumped his head when he fell, but I didn’t realize that it had left such a gash on poor Shawn’s head! Until now, it had been completely covered by hair! At first glance, people thought that the cut was from the Mundan itself, but luckily, it was well into the healing process already.

Then, Shawn had to get cleaned up and changed into fresh clothes. This symbolized starting completely clean. The pundit conducted more prayers and blessings for ‘the new’ Shawn. All the children gathered around a small fire, or Havan, to make more offerings before concluding the Mundan ceremony. We took Prasad, or fruit (apples and bananas) that had been blessed by the Gods, and Raj and I led Shawn to show respect to our loved ones by touching their feet. Afterwards, we served lunch and socialized with our friends and family.

When I showed Shawn a mirror and he saw his bald reflection, he had a big smile – I was relieved that he liked it. The three of us kept joking, "Where'd your hair go?" Luckily, he has a nicely shaped head, so the bald look worked for him! (We also joked that he's more aerodynamic and he'd be lightening fast!) So, Shaggy Shawn is a Q-ball now! He looks like a completely different person!

I was convinced that he was going to look like an over-grown infant with his newly shaven head; in reality, he looks like he's suddenly become a big boy. He looks much older and more mature now than he did with his wispy locks. I already miss his curls, but I know that hair grows back. Besides, now it's fun to rub our hands across his stubbly head!

At the end of the big day, Raj and I gave Shawn a gift to celebrate his milestone. During the ceremony, we had it nearby in case Shawn needed a distraction while his hair was being shaved. Since we didn’t need it then, we were able to share it with him when everyone went home. He opened a LeapPad Explorer and was very excited to have something like our computer and iPad for himself, especially since it had a camera function on it!

I love that Shawn took an active role in his Mundan ritual. He couldn’t have done that when he was younger. He looked like a little prince and took it all very seriously. For many reasons, including the fact that he didn’t have much hair when he was just a year old, I’m glad we waited until now to have his Mundan.

Yet another milestone to remind me that my little baby is growing up...

That's the part I'm having trouble with!

Happy Mundan, son.

We are very proud of you and love you always and forever.

दैव-दैत्यों पुत्र प्रसन्न

हम बहुत गर्व है तो आप और आप हमेशा प्रेम और सदैव

 

From http://www.indianhindunames.com/mundan-chadakarana-first-hair-removal.htm

“The next important ceremony after Annaprasana and Namakarana in a Hindu child’s life is the Mundan or Chadakarana when the baby has his first hair cut. The Mundan ceremony can be done in the 1st year, 3rd year, or 5th year of age, but it is normally done before the completion of three years of age of the boy.

Please note that Mundan as a ceremony is prescribed only for boy babies, but today, with the changing times, it has become a practice to have the ceremony done for girl children, too.

A proper Mundan ceremony involves three rituals of about an hour’s duration – the boy’s parents do a “Ganesh Puja” (worship of the Hindu Go Ganapati or Ganesh); a barber who shaves the child receives some honour; and a “Havan” (a purifying ritual with a fire ceremony) with devotional prayers known as the Ayushya Home mantra and Arati concludes the ceremony. This is followed by a feast and the giving of presents, which form the social aspect of the Mundan as a samskar.

Shaving the head is termed as “Ayushkarma” in Sanskrit. It means enhancing the longevity or the life span of the child. (“Ayuh” in Ayurveda also means this.) This child’s hair at the time of birth is not strong and the Mundan ceremony ensures that hair roots are strengthened and strong hair is formed. The shaved head receives Vitamin D from exposure from the sun and this has its own medicinal benefits...”

From http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-traditions/mundan.html

“There is a significant reason as to why the head is shaved in such an elaborate ritualistic way. According to the Hindu beliefs, the hair present at birth is supposed to represent unwanted traits from the past lives. In order to make sure that the child has no undesirable qualities of the past birth in this life, the hair is shaved off to ensure a new beginning and a fresh start. Medically, it is said that shaving off the hair stimulates the cells and improves blood circulation to the brain. Some also believe that this gives the child a long life.”

The Easter Elephant?!

Happy Easter!

Last night, Shawn went to bed easily... the Easter Bunny wouldn't come to our house if we were still awake and might see him! Before I tucked him in, we read The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing. It was a fitting story for the occasion.

When Shawn woke this morning, he found a basket with just two Easter eggs in it. The rest of the eggs were scattered around the house, from the hall outside his room, down the stairs, and all over the living room and dining room. It was a lot of fun watching him hunt for hidden eggs and figure out how to get to a few that were out of his reach.

Finally, when all of the eggs had been discovered, Shawn found the last of the Easter Bunny's treasures waiting for him on the kitchen table: his dump truck Easter Basket filled with a bug net, Mr. Potato Bunny, a mini-pot with seeds for planting, a bath-time book, and, of course, a chocolate bunny. He was a pretty excited little boy!

The fun didn't end there! Next, we went to the circus! The George Carden Circus Spectacular was at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates. Before the show started, Shawn and I rode a camel, While we were waiting in line for him to ride a pony (which stopped giving rides just as we approached the front of the line! Arg!), our friends Veer, Shrenik, and Heena called Raj. It turned out that they were at the circus too and had seen us walk right by their seats! They saved a few extra spaces so we could join them. While we devoured popcorn and over-sugared lemonade, we watched "enchanting elephants, tantalizing tigers, amazing acrobats, motorcycle daredevils, and performers from around the world." During the intermission, we had another chance to ride the pony and Shawn got his first face-painting.

 

Though Raj and I were sure that Shawn was going to fall asleep on the way home from the circus, he was still wide awake when we got back. While I prepared our Easter dinner, Raj and Shawn planted the seeds in the little frog pot. They played tackle-football in the backyard. Shawn got a lot of use out of his new bug net and almost caught the biggest bug I've ever seen!

Got him!

Later, we feasted on ham with pineapples, crescents, rice, and green beans. As usual, there were plenty of leftovers to last us (and the rest of the neighborhood) until the next holiday!

 

It was a successful celebration - I think the Easter Bunny would be proud.

Easter Eve

Today’s swimming class had a substitute for Ms. Brittany. Though we really enjoy class with her, the substitute (I didn't catch her name) was wonderful! She got the students really involved in using swimming skills, moving their arms more, and being more active in the water. Normally, we spend a lot of time practicing on our own - and that's fine, but it was fun to have a different teacher's point of view and have new activities to try.

After swimming, we rushed home to clean ourselves up a bit and then headed out to a local bank to visit the Easter Bunny again.  Shawn recognized that this one looked different from the one we saw in the mall the other day, but we reasoned that the real Easter Bunny was much too busy getting ready for tomorrow, so these were just his friends helping him.  Once he got his picture taken, Shawn asked this rabbit if the Easter Bunny was going to come to everyone's house, because if so, he had a lot of work to do! Before heading home, the bankers offered Shawn a bag of popcorn - and a kiddie savings account. (Who can turn down free popcorn?!)

When Raj got home from work, the three of us got busy decorating Easter eggs. I had some hollowed out eggs saved from last year that we never got around to decorating. So, we decorated those as well as a handful of hard-boiled eggs that I had already prepared.

Shawn had fun dipping the eggs into the different colors of dye. It seemed like the dye took too long to get the color that he liked, so he got impatient. He did like playing with the little sticks that maneuvered the eggs in the bowls, but he had the most fun peeling stickers and piling them on in multi-layers. He also colored on some with crayons. I think he had the most fun adding stickers to them though.

Raj and I worked on the hollowed eggs from last year. We added some really neat designs and had a lot of fun coming up with new and creative ways to make patterns and designs on our eggs. We made a hollowed egg for Abby using her favorite colors - pink and purple. Shawn dyed it, Raj added the lettering, and I added the details. I can’t wait to give it to her. I also made a hollowed egg for Shawn – a blue egg, with his name and the year written in crayon, and silver stars and moons. I’m glad we have a few that we can save year after year.

Afterwards, we went to IKEA to look at some furniture for Raj’s office. He’s thinking about doing a little remodeling and renovating to give it a very comfortable, family feel. We didn't buy anything today, but when we got to the bakery / grocery area, we just couldn't resist a package of cinnamon buns and butterscotch filled chocolate eggs. (Shawn picked the eggs and I picked the cinnamon buns – Raj just couldn’t turn us down!) I think we all left happy.


Finally, we stopped at Gaylord's Indian restaurant to sample a few dishes that we plan to order for Shawn’s Mundin. Though we weren't very hungry when we got there, we still enjoyed the night out for dinner. When the bill came, Shawn was very excited that the waiter gave him the pen - he loves to "pay" for our dinner! (I wonder how long that will last...)


Jennifer sent me a text message today saying that she's on her way to Oma’s house with Jonathan and Elise. This is the first part of their trip before riding an Amtrak train to Chicago. I was able to borrow clothes for both kids so they can pack lightly on their trip. We also picked up diapers for Elise and Shawn was very proud to carry them around the store and then to the car, in honor of her.

I can't wait for them to get here!

Look Who's Growing Up!

In the past few weeks, we have had a lot of changes. I already wrote about how Shawn transitioned from a toddler bed to a full sized big boy bed. Since then, he has also dropped his nap in exchange for having a much, much earlier bedtime. It’s been wonderful - instead of going to bed at 11:30 pm, he's not going to bed closer to 8:30 pm! The whole family is happier with his more reasonable bedtime!


We also got to put on his new bed sheets with cars, trucks, and roads on them. They go really well with the mural on his walls!

Plus, Shawn has figured out how to put his own shoes on. He and Raj went to Meijer and got new Toy Story shoes with characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear on them. These new sneakers even flash when he walks. Sometimes I catch him stomping just to see them flicker! He is very excited about putting them on by himself. Thank goodness for Velcro!


Every once in a while, Shawn wants to wear underwear instead of diapers / pull-ups. Potty training is proving to be a very, very slow process. But, he's getting better at it.  He understands that babies wear diapers and big kids wear underwear, that kids in diapers don’t get to do as many fun things as big kids in underwear do (like preschool, the kids’ land at Ikea, etc.). He’s staying dry a lot longer in between changes is asking to wear underwear more often. Now, that it's not every day, but it's happening more often than it used to. Sure wish he was one of the ‘trained in a weekend’ types, but everyone reminds me that this isn’t something that can be rushed… sigh.


Shawn has even had his first activity without me involved! He and Abby went to a ‘Dora and Diego's Super Scavenger Hunt’ Spanish class at Language Stars. (The class description was, "Oh no! A group of baby animals is lost in the jungle, and they need help! Can you help Dora and Diego find them? Come join the super scavenger hunt to make a super rescue!") It was a Kids Only class for 3-5 year olds. (Technically, he didn't qualify for the class because he’s too young, but because he knows the center, the routines, many of the teachers, and has been attending classes for so long, the director invited him in anyway. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Abby was going to be there, too.)

When they arrived, the students each got a name tag and drawstring backpack. Inside the backpack was a pair of binoculars, a map, and vocabulary page to bring home.

 

They got to draw on their backpacks with crayons. I think their favorite part was wearing the binoculars as they searched the center for hidden animals. Very cute!

 

They had so much fun at this special Spring Break class that we've agreed to sign them up for the Kids Only class this summer. Another bonus about the summer class is that they take the children outside to a park - not to have recess outside, but to have an outdoor classroom. This allows the students to learn new vocabulary about the world around them and extend the lessons beyond the confines of the classroom. The Kids Only classes are also a longer time. They've been used to having classes last about an hour, while their new classes will be 85 minutes. Many exciting changes! However, I'm torn about moving them up to the next level because I'm certainly going to miss my Spanish lessons in the Parent and Tots classes… but I guess it's not reeeeeeeally my class. Shawn and Abby are doing very well and are ready to do some things on their and learn some independence. I'll just have to figure out another way to learn a few extra words here and there!


So we've had many changes in the last few weeks! It's been very exciting. Shawn is making it very obvious to me that he's not my little baby anymore.

…I’m not sure if I’m ready for that!

Project: Conversion - Part 2

Today we had a mission! Mattress. Bedspring. Linens. Anything else was secondary! (Not entirely true – I had put off going to Costco and Meijer for a long time and our list was getting ridiculous.)

After a long day on yesterday, we took advantage of the morning and slept in. (After not a completely restful night, we needed it!) However, once we were awake and ready to go, we headed right out to finish Shawn’s bed. Raj and Shawn went in one car while I drove the van with the back seats flattened in hopes of bringing a mattress and box spring home with us.


Without too much hassle, we picked a full size mattress and bunkie board (a 2 inch box spring to keep the overall bed height low) from Back to Bed. We were able to bring the mattress home with us, but the bunkie board wasn’t in stock. So, we’ll have to pick that up on Tuesday. The salesman assured us that since Shawn is light, he’d be fine sleeping on the mattress without the bunkie board for a few days without the risk of caving the mattress into the support beams.


Next, we drove down the street to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get linens. We found a great set that would’ve been perfect for his room – green spread with roads, street signs, cars, trucks, etc.

Kas Kids Raceway from
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=129861

"A colorful raceway gears your child up for a great night's sleep. The bed ensemble has a sham and comforter that reverses from a raceway to a black and white checkered pattern that matches the toss pillow, while the blue printed sheets and solid bed skirt complete the look..."

But of course, it was out of stock and discontinued. They just hadn’t taken the display of it down yet. Grr…


Instead, we found another set that’s just as fun. Though it doesn’t really go with his room, it doesn’t clash either and he does have a budding interest, so it’s fine. (We should have more than one set on hand anyway, so we’ll look for another car/truck themed one in the meantime. At least we have something for now.)

Kas Kids Dino from
http://calgary.flyerland.ca/products/bed-bath-and-beyond-kas-kids-dino-complete-product-7655293

"A land of colorful, playful dinosaurs comes to life with this exciting bed ensemble. Shades of navy, vibrant green, soft blue, purple and white adorn the sham and comforter in a prehistoric scene that reverses to a modern plaid. A plaid bed skirt and toss..."

On the way home, Shawn fell asleep in the car. While he napped, I went to Meijer and Costco (and picked up dinner while I shopped). When I got home, I threw the new bedding into the laundry and after putting away the goods, we had chicken salad on crescents a la Costco for dinner.


The new bedding took a little longer to dry than I had anticipated, so while there was a mattress to sleep on, Shawn still really had no place to sleep that night… so he joined us… again.

...We probably could’ve planned this better!

…Again.

Project: Conversion - Part 1

Shawn did a fantastic job at swimming class.  We got in the water about 15 minutes before class started, so he had a chance to warm up (and wake up).  I let him start with a float-belt with 3 floats on it, which he loves because his head stays above the water, but he does have to work a little, yet he has the freedom to ‘swim’ on his own.  Once class started, we traded the float-belt for a noodle.  (They do about the same thing, but the noodle is easier to use and not use it between activities.)  Shawn’s getting good at blowing bubbles, voluntarily putting each ear into the water, kicking is now second nature, and he’s starting to get the hang of doing arm circles while kicking.  He can easily use his arms or legs, but using them all together is a bit tricky – it’s a lot to keep track of!


The older kids in the class after ours were participating in a water safety exercise, which the teachers always hold on the second to last class of each session.  The teachers don’t actually get into the water at all, instead they coach from the deck.  The students put on life vests, learned how to jump into the water wearing one, how to swim on their fronts and backs wearing one, how to get into a canoe-type boat and maneuver it around the water.  Shawn was in awe.  Though we had been in the water for almost two hours, he didn’t want to leave!  He was amazed at what was going on in the other side of the pool – especially when the boat was involved.  Once I got him out of the pool, we of course had to warm up in the showers.  Apparently, it took a while for Shawn to thaw out because he didn’t want to get out of the shower either!  It appears that he’s either turning into a fish… or a human raisin!


We came home just long enough to pick up Baron for his grooming appointment.  While he was getting beautified, Shawn and I visited the library.  When we pulled into the parking lot, Shawn asked, “Is there a concert?” I think he was disappointed that we at the library just to get books this time.  He enjoys pulling books off shelves, occasionally reading a few, and putting others into our check-out basket, so he got over his regret pretty quickly.  The librarian helped us find a small stack of rebus books so Shawn can help read the stories.  He was very excited about them, which got her all a flutter!


On the way home, Yuppie Puppie called to say that Baron was ready to be picked up.  By the time we made it home, Raj was done with work.  It was a busy morning and I fell asleep with Shawn during his nap time.  Though sleeping in a rocking chair isn’t the best place for a nap, it was absolutely worth it (and cuddling made it an easy thing to do)!


Later in the evening, Raj started converting Shawn’s toddler bed to the next stage.  We couldn’t find anywhere on the boxes or papers what size bed the next level was.  So, we didn’t know if we needed a new mattress or what size it needed to be.  Not the best planning or design for the bed company!  The only thing we could do was – put the thing together and find out!


After a badly pinched finger (Raj’s) and an awfully bruised shin (mine), we discovered that Shawn’s new bed is… a full!  Not a twin!  The little man is going to get lost in the monstrosity!  The enormous converted bed not only required a mattress and bedspring (and linens), but we had to move other furniture around to get it to fit in his shrinking room.  Amazingly enough, we only had to move two bookshelves to a different wall and all his furniture is still in his room. However, since there was no mattress or bedspring, Shawn had no place to sleep that night… so he joined us again.

...We probably could’ve planned this better!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In the wee hours this morning, Shawn woke up and joined Raj and me in bed. Luckily, he went right back to sleep and there was minimal tossing, turning, or kicking involved (at least that I’m aware of)! Recently, Shawn’s been waking up and wanting to come into our bed or not wanting to go to sleep in his bed at all. We haven’t made a big deal about it, but we don’t exactly welcome him in either. Since this didn’t used to be an issue and, in the last week or so, it’s been a frequent request, I wanted to talk to Shawn about what was going on.

So, later in the morning, when Shawn was fully awake, I asked him why he didn’t want to sleep in his own bed ‘last night’ (since it was still dark out). “Because my bed’s too small!” he explained, “I need a bigger bed!” Huh – well, then! That sounds simple enough! I’ll make sure he tells Raj himself tonight! Meanwhile, I have no idea how he got this idea or even knew a bigger bed was a possibility. We’ve never talked about it. There really is still plenty of room in the toddler bed for him – it’s not like he’s bumping his head and feet on the ends. As far as he knows, all kids have beds like his (cribs converted with a toddler railing)! Weird. When I told the teachers at Gymboree this afternoon, Ms. Mary Beth suggested maybe tying a ‘big boy’ bed to potty training… hmmmm...

We attended Art Class this afternoon and I felt like we got a little more ‘bang for our buck’ today. After a few minutes of free paint, the kids colored a cut-out heart with chunky shaped red crayons, glued it to a larger piece of construction paper, and then added glittery foam hearts to it. Shawn was engrossed with the new crayons that were about the size of his whole hand and shaped as hearts, bowls, and simply over-sized crayons. On the other hand, after a few seconds of scratching them across his paper, he lost interest in the actual project. I got him to glue the large heart to his construction paper when I showed him that he could pour the glue from his dixie cup and then spread it around, rather than neatly apply the glue with Q-tips, like the rest of the class. The foam hearts were lost on him entirely. In contrast, Abby went to town! She colored all over her heart cut-out, used her Q-tip to carefully cover the back with glue, and then did the same to add the foam hearts. All. Completely. Independently.

Abby's

Shawn's (sort of)

Once the Valentines were made, we returned to the ‘Circus’ theme that we’ve been doing for a few weeks. The next project was more fun (even to me). The kids covered the back of a paper plate with yellow, brown, and orange paint using a sponge brush. Then, they glued on eyes, a nose, a mouth (a piece of foam that looked like a packing peanut - ??), and a yarn mane to create a lion. Shawn didn’t care for the painting (so I did that part), but he really got into it when we started added the other features. Again, Abby needed little to no help. She did a great job thoroughly covering the plate with paint, leaving barely any white showing even around the edges. She added facial features on her own, but needed a little help with the mane because the yarn stuck more to her fingers than it did to the plate! I think the final products are among my favorites of all their art projects so far!

Abby's

Shawn's

Then, Ms. LouAnn gave the grownups a choice of either doing a third art project, which she explained may be more challenging than our typical projects, or having more time to play with the toys in the sand/water table. Almost unanimously, we opted for the third project. (I’ve never really understood why there’s so much time at the end of class for play time – we could easily do more projects, or better projects, with that time!) The kids were to use colored foam peanuts to make an elephant on black construction paper. (What? How?) Ms. LouAnn handed out sea sponges and explained that if the peanuts got a little damp, they’d get sticky. (Ooookay…? Still, not understanding what we’re supposed to do.) She also gave us glue. (Alrighty, not sure about this one, but he we go!) Shawn was completely lost, so while he played with the peanuts, I worked with Abby. We arranged the peanuts on her paper trying to shape the body of an elephant, but we weren’t being very successful. Instead, we started over and focused on just an elephant head. We made a long trunk (highlighted with a strip of aluminum foil), big ears, and hopefully, the rest of the head would just emerge as we went. As Ms. LouAnn explained, “The important thing is that the children know it’s an elephant and can tell you about it.” Then, it’s perfect! She knew exactly what it was and could tell me where the ears, nose, eyes, mouth, etc. were. Great job, Kiddo – better than what I would’ve done on my own! It turned out that Ms. LouAnn took the opportunity to help Shawn make his elephant… though the few times I glanced over, it looked like she was doing most of the work. (That made me feel better, since sometimes I wonder if I’m doing too much of the project for him, leading to his disinterest. But, it looked like he was already aloof about it and she just didn’t want him to go home empty handed!)

Abby's

Shawn's

There was still time for Ms. LouAnn to read See the Circus, by M. A. Rey, while the kids had a snack. Rather than our typical Winnie the Pooh cookies, one of the other children brought in Valentine’s Day cookies for everyone. The kids even still had time to play in the toys in the sand/water table, which just turned out to be red air bean bags that they pretended were “Valentines” to exchange with each other…  Glad we did the third project!

Raj and I agreed that we weren’t going to exchange Valentine’s gifts this year. However, I knew he’d still bring something, so I made a present for him – without spending a penny. I took a verse from ‘our’ song (Wonderful Tonight, by Eric Clapton), printed it on velum, layered with some fancy scrapbooking papers, and framed it. I’m glad I did it – it was fun to watch him realize what the verse was.

Raj brought me a lovely bouquet of roses and a very sweet card. He also had a Mylar heart balloon and a box of chocolate turtles, but Shawn claimed them for himself right away. I gave Shawn new toys for the bath tub: a basketball hoop with squirting balls, a motorboat, and a waterproof bath book about opposites. Then, we went out to an incredible dinner at Redstone American Grill (courtesy of a gift card from the team at Artistic Smiles). YUM!  However, as cliche as it may sound, the best part was spending the evening with two of my favorite men.  Cupid's arrows have struck me hard!  (Wish I had captured my two incredibly handsome Valentines on camera, but it didn't occur to me until it was too late!)

I did have Shawn tell Raj what he thought about his bed and why he didn’t want to sleep in it lately. Though a little surprised, Raj agreed that if it’s something Shawn thought he was ready for, then we may as well go for it! Looks like we have a project for this weekend…