- after I ask Vansh for the umpteenth time to come to the table for breakfast and he doesn't comply till LUNCH.
- I ask him to pick up his toys and he keeps playing as though I never opened my mouth.
- my day with the kids begins with hearing a scream saying "I WANT MILK!!" when I have it all ready for him the first thing after I wake up! (and yes I do remind him every day to be nice and gentle when he speaks)
- a request to take off clothes and get ready for a bath is met by a defiant NO (as is a request for washing hands or brushing teeth) and then after a count of 5 (which worked earlier) when I proceed to take them off myself, I am met by a full fledged tantrum.
- as soon as he finds the TV remote within his reach, he turns up the volume to 60.
- the mantra in our household these days is "SHUT UP!!" ..mood decides the volume at which its said.
HHHHEEEELLLLPPPPP!!!!!! Just where does that magic button lie??
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I am sure to have a whole bunch of gray hair ...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Back from a fulfilling vacation ...
... we returned last Sunday from a 6 week long vacation, a fun one in many ways. Not having to deal with nasty illnesses would rate #2 on my list, a close second after the gigantic joy of meeting my parents after 2 years. I was quite nervous after our last trip 2 years back when Vansh and Ashwini had the most terrible bout of stomach upset accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. The kids stayed healthy apart from a couple of instances of moderate cough and cold. They had way too much fun with both set of grandparents, kisses and hugs pouring in from every whichever way, the weather being just perfect for outdoors for the most part, and with a thrilling life sans routines and bedtimes and only specific days reserved for candies and lollipops.
There is no way I can sit down to write about the trip in detail, one because I am anyways finding it hard to adjust back to the quiet life here with just the 4 of us, 3 of us for the better part of the day. The Sunday that we reached, we wondered whether it had always been so quiet here or was that a special day! And two because I wouldn't even know where to start. I believe my subsequent posts would have a distinct flavoring to it with references to the time that we spent there.
We are slowly settling back down. Vansh surprised us with his maturity when he said "Dada dadi nana nani trip finish ho gaya" (Our trip to our grandparents has finished) as soon as we reached our apartment complex and didn't demand to be taken back there until last Friday when I chatted with my parents and he turned into a blob of mush, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stood at the door waiting for us to get out and on the plane. But he understood. Saturday, when we chatted with my in-laws, he once again stunned us when he responded to his dadi's "I am missing you." by saying "Aap US aa jao." (You come to US) completely on his own with no prompting of any kind whatsoever. Jiya is unmistakably sad too. She follows me around the house (She started crawling at about 8-1/2 months), expressing her displeasure if I move around too much, making it difficult for her to catch up by crawling. She was happy beyond words this Saturday when we had a few friends over for some time and today when we went for a playdate, happy to be amidst so many people again. I still think of what I was doing 2 weeks back in India at this time. Even as I cooked chicken this Friday, I thought of cooking it exactly 1 week back on my brother in law's special request. As Vansh runs away from me when I try to change him into his night clothes and I hide behind his room's door to pounce on him as he comes back, I think of my mom who had to literally force him to hug her back and then giggle away to glory. And I smile with misty eyes.
Well, enough for my first post after returning. Shall sign off with a picture of each of the kids which perfectly sums up the fun they had while there.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
At 8 months, Jiya is upto ...
Ha!! What a month! The leaps, physical and mental, are nothing short of amazing when we look at this little girl, who in our minds is still a very small baby being the younger of the two siblings.
- So our surprise knows no bounds when she creeps forward to grab a Lego while I and Vansh are cleaning up, raises herself up and goes on to drop it in the box herself, while I thought she is going to toy with it for some time. Phew! So she now knows what cleaning up toys means. Keep it up little one :)
- The fights have begun! She got Vansh good the first time she roared back at him when he roared at her. He stood there for almost 20 seconds, with a 'finding it hard to believe that she had actually done that' look and didn't know what to do next except roar again. She was quick to retort again. In fact now she is the one to start it all when she can't find anything better to do. Mom is out of this till one of them cries after having read wise words from other fellow mom bloggers with grown up kids. And in fact enjoys the scene and even captures it on video.
- They fight but they can't do without each other. So while Jiya wakes up from her morning nap, Vansh runs to her room at the first whimper and demands that she be put among his toys to play with him. And Jiya creeps forward and follows him around if he doesn't come to her for some time. One of the best visual treats is watching them snacking together, looking at what the other one is upto while they take a sip and munch.
- She is getting more and more vocal, adding to her repertoire pa, pa, pa, mm, mm and ba, ba, ba sounds in addition to da, da, da. Like Vansh, the mmmma is reserved for situations of distress like hunger and exhaustion.
- She is getting ready to crawl. She assumes several postures suggesting the same, like getting down on all fours and moving back and forth, at times even taking a step or two before falling down on her tummy and creeping thereafter.
- She is now eating a lot of what we are eating. Very small bites of chapati with small bites of potatoes, bottle gourd, bell pepper, etc dipped in yogurt; rice mixed with yogurt accompanied with diced peach, banana, carrots (steamed), apples (steamed); small bites of buttered whole wheat toast; flavored upma (I proceed to make upma as usual for everyone else in the house and after adding the water to the sauted onions, kadi patta, vegetables from the frozen mixed veg pack, I take out about 6-7 tbsp of water and strain it to be left with just the flavored water in another pan and add the sooji. Jiya has this upma while we have the usual one with onions and vegetables) as also the usual oatmeal and mixed cereal, at times, mixed with sweet potato, carrots and peas, etc. Finger foods include cheerios, crackers, small bites of string cheese, etc.
- She is now taking two naps during day time ranging between one and two hours and sleeps fairly well during night.
- Has taken after her brother in flashing the best smile for the camera :)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Out of the blue!
I just googled my full name on google (oh boy! Look at the things I am writing!!) and guess what I am in for! This!!
Oh boy!! I had just submitted this picture for the I SPY Little India contest and absolutely forgotten about it. And it just so happened that our subscription to Little India expired in December and I thought I'll renew it after our vacation to India (to happen soon). So we didn't get the January issue and hese guys didn't even notify me. I have written to them telling them how hurt I am (no one told me :( :( ) and I want that $50.
But happy at the same time! Ok now let me send this to all family and friends!
A screen shot for posterity after the link expires :
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Monday, February 25, 2008
A fun morning at Edinborough park
An indoor park in Edina, about 7-8 miles from our place, Edinborough is a very popular hot spot for kids especially in the harsh winters here. We had to meet a few more friends here this morning for a playdate. Both Jiya and Vansh had loads of fun. The first word Vansh said as we reached inside was "Mummy, trees!!" Yeah its been ages, or so it seems, ever since we saw one outside. Vansh wanted me to accompany him through all those tunnels and stairs leading to the slides and of course down the slides as well, thus ensuring all three of us got a pretty good workout.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Our daily grind
Dear friend Deepali has been reminding me for the last few weeks to do a post about our routine. Me thinks its great to have a written record for posterity, as also a good way to write about our usual day and activities.
Everything is +/- 30 minutes, more often than not its +
Anywhere between 4:30-6:30 Jiya wakes up for a feed.
7:00 am -7:15 am - I and Ashwini wake up. Prepare tea for Ash, make roti/chawal, cut salad and pack lunch; (sabzi has been made the previous evening); warm milk; prepare breakfast for kids (I and Ashwini usually have a banana and milk)
7:30 am - Kids wake up. Vansh has his milk and throws in a few giggles and/or shouts a few No's at being hugged and kissed. Jiya scoots around in the kitchen after playing with her toys for a bit. I continue with the above.
(this is on days we are home till about 11:00)
8:00 - 9:00 am - massage Jiya, brush teeth, give both kids a bath - for the last few days they have been taking a bath together and love it. While Vansh used to run away when I called him for a bath, now he enthusiastically takes off his clothes on his own and jumps right in. Jiya too squeals away in delight.
9:00 am - Feed both kids breakfast and have my own.
9:30 am - Sneak in a few moments to check e-mail/news/new blog posts if the house is in not a HUGE mess. Smaller messes I am adept at handling now by ignoring them. Once Vansh starts climbing on to me is signal for shutting it down for later.
10:00 am - Take Jiya for a snooze. Then I start cleaning the house and try to fit in a bath before Jiya wakes up. If not in a mood right away, then chat a bit with my parents. Vansh, in the meantime, helps me around the house, chits and chats - the who's and the what's float around (he still hasn't gotten to the why's)
11:00 am - Usually Jiya wakes up at this time.
Once or twice a week depending on how many days I have the car with me, we go out for ECFE and some other activity in the library or a playdate at this time.
When we are home and under the rare circumstances that house work is already complete, its my and kids time for about an hour. Otherwise, NOW the kids play with each other. Yay!! On good days, Vansh is such a darling and is quick to make sure that Jiya has a ball and she in turn keeps encouraging him with squeals and giggles. On others, Vansh wants to do his own thing and wouldn't let her come within a foot of any of the toys. And Jiya, so used to having him around on those good days, is not good at all playing by herself and whines for attention. So then she has to be propped in that swing for some time till I get my hands free from what I am doing at that time. On good days, a bath fits in right here if I haven't had it before and on normal days it has to wait a bit longer. Somewhere in between, the kids have a snack.
(On Monday, when we have to get out of the house by latest 9:30 to meet friends for playgroup, one of us - either me or the kids have to skip the bath and of course the cleaning has to wait for later.)
12:15 pm - I start getting ready for lunch.
12:30 pm - We eat lunch, I and Jiya, that is. Vansh is threatened to eat lest the fire truck uncle/police uncle/maintenance uncle grab him away and/or asked to tell stories about his friends/Caillou/ Curious George to distract him enough to feed him. He eats some and he leaves some pronouncing "You save it! I'll eat after waking up."
1:00 pm - We clean up all the toys and the kids go to sleep. Now is the time for about and hour and a half of solitude where I catch up on e-mails/blogging and the like. Once again, unless the house is in a HUGE mess, I like to have this time for myself.
3:00 pm - Kids start waking up. I change and feed Jiya. If Vansh wakes up before Jiya, then we enjoy some time together by looking at some old pictures/videos together on the laptop. This is a BIG hit with him. If Jiya is already up, we usually go out for a stroll in the apartment building itself having our own little workout by climbing up and down 3 floors and walking in the corridors, playing hide and seek inside the house itself or dancing to some music.
4:00 pm - Vansh has his milk after he finishes the left over lunch. I start cleaning up the kitchen and preparing for dinner and lunch the next day. Earlier I used to be done by about 5:30-6:00, it takes longer than the normal time because I have to keep entertaining the kids in between. These days, at times Jiya is being quite clingy starting about 5'0 clock. Earlier she used to take a nap at about 5:30. From last week she doesn't. So at times, I just be with the kids till Ashwini returns by about 5:30-6:00 and then proceed to finish off cooking the remaining meals. He has tea if the dinner is still some time away. Otherwise all of us have dinner together. Its gotten easier this month because now Jiya also has a lot of what we eat. She's able to have small pieces of chapati with yogurt or rice with yogurt and small pieces of whatever sabzi I have made. If I feel the sabzi is still not suitable for her then I cut up small pieces of peach or apple or carrot, steam them and give it to her with the chapati/rice and yogurt. On days when we have pizza/burger/tacos (home made) I take out a couple cubes of previously cooked and frozen sweet potato/carrot-peas and give those to her.
7:00 pm - Now is fun time because most of the day is done. On good days I have been able to clean the kitchen also by now. Otherwise I leave it for later after the kids sleep. We play games, read books, watch TV. Jiya loves to roll and scoot around the room and devour magazines, in the literal sense :) She pulls out a few from under the table and loves to tear and hear the sound of crumpling paper. At times, we go out, if we hadn't earlier for that walk and climbing stairs. This is also the time we go out for groceries if we were not able to do that on the weekend.
8:00 pm - Vansh finishes his dinner if he had me save it for later. Otherwise he has a snack - I try to make it a fruit but its not easy. Depending on his hunger level, he decides whether he can get away without having to eat anything. If not, he proceeds to eat it. Off late, he has started enjoying oranges though. Grapes used to be the favorites once but now no more.
8:30 pm - I take Jiya in to feed and change her and to put her to sleep for the night.
9:00 pm - Vansh has his milk and starts getting ready for bed.
9:30 pm - After another game of Cherry-O/Candyland or a couple of books, saying our prayers, he goes to sleep.
By 10:00 I finish cleaning the kitchen and then read a book/spend some time surfing the internet and have dessert/fruit.
11:00 - 11:30 - We go off to sleep ourselves.
