Ishu got to meet his Bhanu Mamu for the first time yesterday. Bhanu, like Ankur (and unlike me), knows not to grab a child upon first meeting them. And that is why Ishu so easily went to him. Because Bhanu respected his autonomy and, my GOD, what a concept. But something that takes conscious effort for me because I just want to grab all the babies and squeeze them.

I wish they had more time together, but I’m happy they got to meet and snuggle a little.

We left Ishu with the grandparents and went to pick up sandwiches from Ike’s and ate them on a grassy spot overlooking the Back Bay.

It was a little chilly for SoCal standards, but thankfully I was wearing my North Face (what the heck am I going to do during winter in Chicago?!).

Between the time difference and Bhanu’s crazy residency schedule and us millennials not really loving phone calls, we had a lot to catch up on and we were happy to have some quality time with our baby brother.

We hung out until we had to pick up Arjun and Sherene from the airport. And then the five of us all went to Irvine for a little bit and hung out. Doing young people things like making TikToks and Boomerangs. Obviously.

And then 7:45 hit and I was reminded I was a mom and bedtime was waiting for me.

After over a year of not seeing them, I’m so grateful to have had some time with the New York family this week! (And hopefully many more weeks like this in our future since we will be living closer!).