Partee Time :D

hey again everybody :) yea I know posting really soon, but I have had so much fun this week, just had to let you all know... 3 b'day parties, x-mas parties and a trip to the Railway Museum...

2 of my friends celebrated their b'day's at school. And the cake that was cut was regular wheat flour cake so I wasn't allowed to eat it. But I did get to eat chips, lots of it. So much that I did not eat my snack. And I managed to eat half a biscuit, much to mum's horror..but she can relax as I did not like it very much. After that everyday she's asking if I have tummy ache and pressing my tummy to check for lumps.. which is such a pain.

B celebrated her 4th b'day at the club which was so much more cooler. huge garden to play + huge rice cake and made so many new friends. The theme was the jungle, the cake and invite had all my fav animals. As soon as the cake was cut, I insisted mum pick out the elephant and i took him home with me. He was really sweet to taste too...but meanie mum did not let me eat it. But I was having way too much fun to complain. I played football for the first time too with B's older brother and his friends and totally loved it. I was stuffed with cake and ate it for 3 whole days :D . B is a very special friend, my first friend...ever since I was a few months old. There was only one balloon at the party as aunty in a hurry had left the bag with the balloons at her home. So there was this huge scramble for it. But I got it and did not let it go...gave it only to B and we shared the balloon amongst us...with mum making sure none of the other girls snatch it away from B's hands. One of the girls wanted to burst the balloon, and was trying very hard to do it. She even got B to light a match stick, but mum caught her in the nick of time.

Went to the first x'mas party (my very first one) at nani's club and came back with a smug look on my face :P. Met so many children there, made new friends, saw the older kids playing musical chairs . I even told mum to leave me here and go home in one of the cars parked there. she just kept coming in my way. not letting me go off to the grounds and play with the older kids...apparently deep in the woods snakes reside and B and I wanted to check out their home and cover the hole of the mould with big stones. Well actually B wanted to ... but I'll go along with anything she wants to do :P . Spoil sport mum! The best part was the gifts that I got from Santa. All of us were asked to stand in a line youngest to the oldest. Me being me refused to get in line, get out of mum's godi :D...but I still got my gift a story book... I just love them :). They played jingle bells, my fav song ever and had yum rice cake! Yes I stiffed my self like crazy... An aunty was distributing home made chocolates to everybody. I got mine too, but mum kept it in my bag even before I could see what it was. It was wrapped on shiny red and sliver paper...looked so tempting that i remembered to take it out as soon as we reached home and held on to it. The result was that it melted, I wiped my hands on my dress, and licked my fingers. Man it tasted sooo good...had to disagree with mum, when she told me I would get a tummy pain as it does not taste good. Mum really does not know anything does she! All she was thinking about was my blue dress which had patches of chocolate on it..well she did say something about allergies..what ever they are.

My school also celebrated x'mas day, before closing( yes I have my x'mas vacation, and mum is going crazy :P), but it was really boring. Also went to B's school's annual day function, and was bored again cause B was busy on stage and I couldn't meet her. Did enjoy the dance that the kids did on Mauja Mauja. One of the boys also played the Jingle Bells on his casio. All in all it was OK, not that great. Since the Hall did not have a loo( at least mum couldn't find one), I had my first experience of our mother earth and boy did I enjoy it! Going to pee became the most exciting event of the evening, until mum decided enough was enough and took me back home. Spoil Sport!

Mum took me to the Railway Museum on Saturday ( yes I do know the week days and that Sat & Sun are holidays :-D ). Initially I refused to get down from mum's godi, but one look at the park there, the slide..I was off in a giffy. And then there was this toy train, which was simply amazing. I got 2 rounds on it, we even went through a tunnel :D. And oh, I even went to feed the fishes at Cauvery River. It was so much fun watching the fishes dance around to grab the food ball, and finish it off really quick.

I'm having an awesome time, mum says we are going back to the Railway Museum with B and this time she will not forget the camera. And nani says that we'll go to feed the fish every week,I also have a new year party to go to, so it looks like I'm going to have a great holiday and

Happy Holidays Everybody and a Happy New Year!

Feel like a Star! :-)

I'd be flying right now if i could :)

Thank you Apar and Amrutha, for this beautiful Proximade award.

This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award

Thank you Indian Home Maker for this lovely Butterfly.. for a cool blog, never did I think that I'd be called cool after becoming a mum :)

Thank you Mapreet for the Certified Honest Blogger Award


The Trophy Cup by Amrutha, Thank you girl!


IHM again for giving me the award that makes me go smug. Its a great feeling to know that in spite of the dirty politics there still are people who irrespective of their boundaries have one common goal.
May their tribe increase!

Pass on all the awards with great pleasure to, most have already received these awards, but that by no means is a deterrent.

Apar
IHM
Roop
Manpreet
Santosh
Raji
Monika
Suki
Priyanka
Amrutha
Serendipity
Mystic Margarita
Thought Room
Army guy

Blogging is an addiction. Like that daily cup of coffee, I have to check my mail, check blog updates.. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would win awards for blogging! Appreciation for writing straight from my heart; for baring my soul and making new friends along the way. I'm touched, honored & speechless that Manpreet, Apar, Amrutha and Indian Home Maker thought of me..

Will be putting up the links soon, if in the mean time, you check this post, please do consider the award.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Nana ki chamchi kaun?

Main!

I have to sit on his lap when he has his breakfast. Lunch and dinner he is excused, simply because I fall asleep in mum's godi when they are all eating. I eat from his plate. He drops me to school, and he has to pick me up. Even if mum comes, I always ask for him. Thanks to me he is home on time...no early for lunch. I can never have enough of the car rides.

Mum says I have changed a lot. Grown taller, isn't that supposed to happen? All the new clothes I got for my b'day are very close to becoming small.

I totally love my day care now...can't miss it even for a day. So much so that mum has become to dread the weekends, that she used to enjoy so much. Ha! Like it makes a difference to me :P

Since I can climb up and down the stair by myself without holding on to anything or anybody, I run out the house as soon as I am up and have to be dragged screaming back inside.

I used to hate getting my feet dirty, wouldn't walk barefoot on the grass & the drive way, wouldn't enter the sand pit and insist on my feet being cleaned immediately at school. Now I can go barefoot everywhere. I love the feel of sand, dirt, concrete, tarred road and the mushy wet grass.

I have even begun to let mommy tie my hair up in a pony tail and yes, they are pulled off as soon as nana picks my up after school.

Love ringa-ringa roses, nani teri morni ke and ba ba black sheep... but the movie songs are still my fav. Mama has become very smart these days. He usually used to channel surf, always moving one level up now he just jumps to the channel he wants to watch. Simply because if any music channel comes on, he cannot watch anything else.. see ...I taught him to something which even mum and nani could not get him to do!

Rules of the house are as follows:

1. Anytime nana or mama come home in the car, I have to get a ride from the gate till they park the car.
2. Any time they leave, I still have to say bye and watch the car drive away.
3. No body can leave without kissing me good bye.
4. I will eat what you are eating, so you better watch out, if you do now want me to eat something, cause it ain't gonna happen if I see the forbidden food on your plate!
5. When mum's mobile rings I have to find it and give it to mum, never mind that by the time I get it, it stops ringing.
6. anytime you take a pic of me, you better show me that photo that very instant.
7. When I am around, mum should stay away from the laptop.
8. If mama is working on the comp and I need to watch my rhymes, he has to move the instant he is asked to.
9. I supervise the cleaning at home. Even show the maid how it is to be done. I do the same in nana's office too.
10. I decide the footwear I will wear.
11. Once I have gone to sleep, mum has one hour as her buffer time, she better come to bed then, I don't cry that much.

We went to Bangalore for a week, few days back and attended so many weddings. I met so many of my cousins, uncles and aunts. I was so confused! I just remembered the babies. And the car would play all my fav songs.. I got some wonderful gifts too. Santosh Mama gave me this cool Nursery Rhymes CD set. We also went to the supermarket with Pria didi and Raji mausi. Of course since mum was carrying me all the way there, Raji mausi was carrying her purse and I was making sure that she didn't run away with it. I found this cute baby doll there and sweet Raji mausi bought it for me. That of course made me really happy. I was really grumpy cause nana left me alone with mum and total strangers in a strange place and went away. Mama happened to be nearby, came to cheer me up for a few minutes cause nana told him I was really upset.

The baby doll is my baby. I feed it, apply cream, and even make the baby go su-su.. The 4 CD's are M.I.N.E. It was given to me and are mine alone. No body has the right to touch them. I can play with them as I please. After seeing them like a hundred times, I play catch with them, love to see the light reflect off them and they should always be near me.

I'm a big girl now, and I have to eat by my self. Rice, curds, dosa, idli, fruits.... aappi aappi. I'd love to cook it too only meanie mum does not allow me near the gas. But I stilllike to be carried by mum and nana. I love to see the moon and stars and go looking for them even during the day.

I'm also speaking words and picking them up really fast, but all say that ki main thoda tutlati hun... mum and nana are not worried but mama and nani are and they are planning to take me to dr. jag...lets see how that goes..

And did I tell you...I absolutely love footwear. Not just mine, but everybody's at home. I'm always wearing mum's and nani's sandals (which has a in a real tizzy cause mum wears her's all the time :P ) I don't spare nana and mama's shoes too. I can very easily identify their clothes and footwear, something mum and nani have not been able to do so ever!

Happy Christmas and New Year's in advance everybody. Mum is planning to take me to the club here, hopefully we will have a blast and not trouble her by staying in her godi all the time, like I did at the weddings. But they should have good music playing. Else there will be trouble in paradise !

Muah! Byeeeeeee.....

Too much Love?

Chubby cheeks and rabbit teeth, that is my imp. Just like her mama. And like him, her cheeks too get pulled and kissed by every tom, dick and harry. Till I got rude and pointedly told people - relatives, friends and total stranger to stop. Wasn't easy being rude, but it was getting out of hand with one aunt waiting to bite her cheeks.

Today whenever she wants to show her love and affection towards anybody, she pulls their cheeks and plants a kiss on the cheek, to adults and children alike. She loves kids, all are babies to her, irrespective of their age. She wants to hold them, kiss them, hug them... wants her mum to carry them. That is the one time that does not mind not being in my godi. Unlike other children who get possessive of their mothers when they carry or touch other kids, mine just loves it and wants me to carry them and cries when the kid is returned to the mother.

In her school, there are 3 kids younger to her. A 6 month, a 8 month and a year old kid. All with chubby cheeks. She is nuts about them. Always hugging and kissing them. The 1 year old took the longest time to adjust in the school and he is her fav. She is always running after him to hug and kiss him. Last week he kept running scared form her and she kept trying to pull him. She finally yanked him and planted a kiss on his cheek, only with her teeth, forming an "O" the front 4 teeth. Since the teachers know her affection for the younger ones, it was handled with explanation as to how she had hurt the kid. Since the child stays there till 6 pm, the mark had vanished withhte help of ice and the parents were not worried.

Yesterday, she does the same thing again, only harder, a perfect round. Deep dark red line. Thank fully no blood. And this time the teacher, hit her on her lips lightly, scolding her. All she wanted to do was kiss the child and again she was strong. I was least amused by imp's actions. The teacher was consoling me saying that its a small issue, bigger things happen with kids in a kiddie school. And the fact that they know she is nuts about babies esp. him! And this time his parents were not amused either. I know I would have been very upset too. Tomorrow I apologize to them, even if I have to reach early, cause I missed them today. And gave a bottle of Entrops at school, that will surely help.

My prayer is that she does not become a bully. That little boy is so scared of her or rather her affection. And everyday I'm going to hope I get no complaints about her.

Hope, Faith & Fear...

Motherhood introduced me to a gamut of emotions. One of them is Fear. I have never been paranoid or afraid of anything. But this bundle of joy showed me what it means to be paranoid and scared.

It was while checking out schools and day care that a facet of the fear slapped me in the face. Turns out that children having single mothers, divorced parents is a very common thing. And its the norm that the child is in the custody of the mother. Also common is the father & his parents and relatives turning up at the school to meet the child, without the mothers knowledge or permission, irrespective of having visitation rights. I was informed in detail the kinds of measures taken to ensure that the child is not in unwanted hands. " What if they feed the child something or take the child away without our knowing... what if something happens to the child! " this thought spoken out aloud by one of the managers in a school, chilled me to the bone. Needless to say I have strict instructions at her school, and am always testing them to see if they follow through.

And now I know another kind of deep rooted fear. All thanks to the Mumbai Mayhem. I'm terrified of taking her out anywhere. Keep thinking what if it was us in one of the rooms. What would I have fed her for 3 days. Would we have been lucky? My bag always has different foods for her, a snack and a fruit. I always keep a little extra. She always eats every 2 hours, so she is forever munching. During the mayhem, we had to attend a wedding at Lalit Mahal Palace Hotel, I was petrified. Would they think of attacking another city while one was under siege? What kind of security is in place? And it is then I realized, that I had lost my faith in the government, in the system.

Why was there such a huge intelligence failure? Why is there no crisis management in place? Why are our armed forces paid a pittance while our leaders are paid the sky? Is there no competent person who can be an effective, responsible and sensitive people's representative in the real sense? All of us need and ensure that our homes are secure, our leaders go to enormous lengths to ensure that they and their homes have high levels of security. Why can the same not be done for the land that we live in, for the country that we live in? Why do the leaders shy away from their job? Our leaders have a responsibility towards us, the very people who elected them in place. It is because of their high-handedness, insensitivity and uncaring attitude that our country in such a pathetic condition. The British started the divide and rule policy, and our politicians have perfected it.

And brings me to the most important question, that has been on my mind ever since it started. Who do I vote for now? I don't understand how a 49-O will help, except to ensure that no proxy vote happens.

A crazy thought ? -- Is it possible that the earlier Mumbai train blasts and the Bangalore blasts were trail runs, to check the response time?

I have lost all faith, yet have a glimmer of hope that this will not be repeated. I want to give my daughter a secure life, not just from me, but also from our country electives. How long does one stay cooped up at home, not venturing at any public space. How long does one live in terror and fear. All of us have to die one day, but a death forced upon like this is terrible. Living in fear is equally terrible. The terrorists set out to put fear in us, they might have succeeded for a bit but no way can they ingrain it in us, so that we stop living.



In loving memory of those who gave their lives so that many more could live. May their soul rest in peace.






And salutes to all the rescuers. and for all those who do not vote, are not registered, Jaago Re. Lets do something, go and vote. Each one of us can make a difference. India needs it.