We recently took Sabina to a reading of a Dr Seuss book at the newly refurbished library in San Mateo City. It was super fun, really well organized and very well attended. We’re hooked.

Sabina is obsessed with Pinocchio. Ever since we came back from Italy with a little carrier bag featuring the long nosed pine head, she has been putting the pieces of his story together. Dad, why was the Fairy blue? Mom, what is conscience? Is it really Jiminy cricket? At first she was extremely frightened by the prospect of her nose growing on uttering a little fib, but once she realized this was fiction she revelled in telling and retelling the story to her friends at school.

Could I find a copy of the video or book anywhere? Nope. So I visited our local library and lo and behold, video, CD, two different books. Sadly, the story actually gets quite sinister as you delve in to it so we had to gracefully abandon reading half way through but it thrilled her.

Last week the Bay Area was promised a major storm. It never really materialized but we did have pretty persistent wind and rain. Where better to hide out than book central? Sabina and I managed to spend a solid hour checking for books, reading a couple, doing puzzles, finding a bunch of stories to check out and for Mommy, a CD book for her commute. They have new releases, old classics, videos, DVDs, free internet, book readings, movie nights and a fantastic on line search engine.

We will be frequent visitors, go check out your local.

You really just can not beat a break in one of Italy’s wonderful cities. Sabina and Kiran became comfortable enough with their Dida and Dadu that we were able to steal away for three nights and not worry about them (or my Parents). It’s a pretty big deal and by all reports they were a joy for their Grandparents.

We had planned to visit Rome before leaving England back in January 2006. Sadly we had to cancel that trip as our move back became complicated and so we were thoroughly excited to be heading off to Italy’s capital.

Originally, we ‘celebrated’ our first child-free jaunt by reserving a room at the opulent Hotel de Russie, a Rocco Forte property that regularly graces ‘Top Ten’ lists. As the US dollar continued its steep decline, this rather lavish treat became more of a worrisome and unnecessary expense and we downgraded to the Sofitel. But the dollar kept dropping. So we finally settled on the Condotti Hotel on Via Mario de’ Fiori a few yards from the base of the Spanish Steps. What a gem. Steph had stayed there years ago and had managed to secure the best room in the place complete with balcony. It was central, clean, had a decent breakfast, friendly and helpful staff and was reasonably priced. It’s amazing what a good hotel can do for a trip; it set us up nicely.

Day1: How many photos is it possible to take of the Trevi fountain? We learned that this tourist mecca was actually a much missed font until the famous movie and its Oscar winning song. We must have walked 5 miles and managed to take in a number of sites.

Day2: We thought we’d just stay local to the Piazza de Spagna but the allure of Rome’s major sights was too much. So we went totally tourist and did a Rome open top bus tour. Brilliant. The commentary got a little mundane but the trip was fab. We took in the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Piazzas and Palaces galore and spent some time at the Vatican and St Peter’s – they were relatively quiet and it was all quite moving.

Evenings were just fabulous. The quality, simplicity and elegance of our food and drink was incredible. The passion and verve of the locals, contagious, and as the movie tagline says, “you really haven’t lived until you’ve loved in Rome. We deposited our three coins of course, which insures our return.

Ten things that are:

• iTunes downloads
• Dollar Menu – unless you get ten items
• Trader Joe’s, Target and Walmart
• Libraries
• Standing only at the SF Opera
• Barber shops
• The Economist
• Latin America vacation
• The Gap at sale time
• Me – at my current salary

Ten Things that aren’t:

• Housing in the Bay Area
• Gas and Petrol
• Hardback books
• Cable TV
• Babysitters at $15 per hour for a 15 year old
• Extended Warranties
• Shirts at Ted Baker
• Hairdressers
• Holidays in Western Europe
• Subscription to Typepad when Anu posts once a month on average – I’m moving to http://anud.wordpress.com

Click here for the Lemar-Datta Dance troupe

Today was Steph’s first at Extreme Networks as a Program Manager; she is responsible for managing internal resources for the sales teams which includes organizing their President Club trips.  Next year is Sydney, Australia.  Cooooool. The location means she will be commuting 30+ minutes each way but the company has been super flexible about working hours and telecommuting so it should not be too difficult a transition.

She will be learning a whole new set of talents built around her exceptional project management skills.  She’s already started writing HTML  (watch out for a Lemar-Datta web site soon!) and talking networking jargon.

Please join me and the girls in wishing her all the best.  We are really proud of her.

Today is Thanksgiving.  Steph found that Starbucks was open until 3.  It was such a glorious day we decided (urged on by Sabina of course) to walk to our closest house of barista for a holiday cuppa joe.  Sitting outside eating pumpkin scones – they were out of Bean’s favorite vanilla ones – Sabina was starting to exhibit sugar rush behavior.  She started saying ‘Hi’ to every person, animal, vehicle that came past in increasingly loud exclamations.  "Hello Doggy", "hello lady".  And then suddenly at the top of her voice as an old bearded guy struggled to get back on his bike, "Hey Santa, be careful".  Probably doesn’t sound that funny now but…..

…how we laughed.

So to Thankgiving dinner.  We were reminded of how distant our families are and how difficult it is to mobilize with young kids as assorted friends jetted around to be with their loved ones.  It was a bit weird cooking a 12 pound turkey for Steph and I and the morsels that we could force feed Sabina.  Well as it happened it was a really fun affair.  Steph and Sabina hung out at the park while I (and Kiran) got the Turkey going.  Steph conjured up the trimmings; green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, baked bread rolls, cranberry sauce and we all sat down, Kiran included, for a family Thanksgiving dinner.  Sabina ate heartily and having calmed down a little from her sugar high, suddenly burst in to "thank you mummy for the gravy and the mash, thank you daddy for cooking the turkey".  It was really sweet.  I then explained to her that this was a time we think about all the things we are thankful for.  She did not ponder a second longer; "I’m thankful for my mommy, my daddy and for my little sister."…

…..how we cried.

Hope yours was a Happy turkey day.

But not so bad after all.  She got to spend the whole day with Mommy; Steph and I took her out for lunch at her favorite restaurant, Il Fornaio.  She loves the mac ‘n’ cheese there and they have now started giving kids a piece of pizza dough to play with which they then bake.  She had a grand old time running round like she owns the place.

We have been told recently that Terrible Twos are replaced by Tantrum Threes and we are now witnessing Sabina’s shift in behavior that confirms that. But when she is sick, her demeanor drops, but her behavior generally improves!  Here are a few signs that your 3yr old child is sick:

• You tell her she can only open one birthday present per day and she agrees without any negotiation.

• She asks you to put her to bed, and employs none of her usual delaying tactics

• Hugs that 3 (going on 13) year olds give usually last a second; now they linger  just like when they were ‘young’!

• She doesn’t remember to ask for cookies, candy, chocolate or any other sugar fest as is her normal dinner routine.

However, she does get very sensitive and the smallest things will trigger a crying fit – "I’m supposed to switch the light on".

She seems to be getting a little better so we hope that she’ll properly enjoy one of her present opening days and then we’ll know she’s back to normal.

And we’ll have to plead for good morning kisses again.