Orange Marker

Little miss Haana has lots and lots of markers. In fact she has a lot of art supplies- pens, markers, paints, pencils, charcoal... 

On Christmas, little Bobby boy got his own special markers and doodle pad from his God-grandma  Jane. These markers work only on the special papers, and don't color other paper, fabrics or walls. In short, they're perfect. 

Obviously, even though he has his set of perfect markers, Bobby boy still keeps an eye out for little miss Haana's art supplies. Yesterday he sneaked himself one of her orange markers. Little fingers scoped out the edge of miss Haana's table in search for hidden treasures close to the edge, and the orange marker was just waiting to be pinched. Once he got the marker, Bobby boy did what he usually does when he gets his hands on things he should not be dabbling with. He took off quietly worry his treasure tightly in his grasp. Eyes big as buckets with excitement. 

Soon Bobby boy got his treasure quietly to the living room. He tried several times before he could yanked the marker open. Soon little fingers had many orange bloches on them. But he had seen how Mumma and Gugu work with the marker. And so, he went about using his new found treasure - the orange marker, and his new found skill - holding and using a marker, on the nearest appropriate space - on the couch! By the time I looked around, the light grey/white couch had several orange lines on it!!!

This was not good! This was not right! And I was mad!! There was no way this orange catastrophe could be covered with any pillow or throw - it was right there. I looked up online for best way to take out marker stains. I did my necessary dose of screaming at miss Haana for leaving her markers where they could be grabbed by Bobba. Her markers will be confiscated for 3 days. 

Then miss Haana and I set about rubbing hand sanitizer and nail polish remover on the marker stains. At the end of several minutes of some angry rubbing, the marker stains were mostly gone. 

Is this the beginning of things to come?

Grapes

What would you do with a bowl of green grapes? Fresh and delicious. What would you do with 2 grapes?

Sweet bobby boy had grapes for the first time today. At first, he wasn't sure about it. It seemed too big for his mouth. He gave it back to me. 

Then, I bit a chunk out of it and have him the rest. This time he ate it and liked it too! Now, he was on a roll! 'Where was this green, juicy, luscious ball all my life! Give me more, give me more!!' 

I cut more pieces of grapes, put them in a bowl for him and Bobby boy was happy.  

Much later, after dinner, I offered him a few more grapes. This time he grabbed 2 grapes and wondered what else he could with them.. Very soon, Bobby boy was trying to fit the grapes into both his ears. And then, when we spotted him,  he giggled back. A knowing naughty smile, and then a giggle! How does he melt us like that! 

Simply the Best

This year little miss Haana has been really into drawing and painting. She's had this fascination for drawing human figures, faces, eyes. Over time she's gotten amazingly good at it too! 

This year when the creative entries' competition Reflections came around, little miss Haana came up with a unfair and original concept,  and then worked on her entry over several days. It came out wonderful!

Later, there came around another contest; a holiday card contest for students to come up with an art concept for school districts' holiday cards. Little miss Haana came up with her own original concept and drew a little girl in a Santa cap, leaning on a stack of books. I loved her painting!

Later we found our, both miss Haana's art entries won recognition. The Reflections entry will move to compete at district level. The holiday art theme will be used for district's holiday cards this year! 

Meanwhile this year little miss Haana has also been in an Orff orchestra at school where she's been playing a xylophone. She's been enjoying being part of an ensemble a lot! Today they performed for the retired teacher's luncheon for the district, and it was a flawless performance, a big success! 

Little miss Haana is simply the best!! 😌

Here's miss Haana's entry for the holiday card:

White Sands

Last week we visited the newest national park in the US - White Sands National Park in New Mexico. I had heard about this place, and now it was time to pay visits. 

It was a mostly uneventful short plane ride, Bobby boy was mostly content. On the drive over, he was nodding off to sleep. Then, suddenly in a distance, in addition to the mountains on the horizon, now we could see some white! How odd it looked. We were excited to get there. I'd made sandwiches for us all, so we were more than happy to skip lunch just to get there faster. 

Soon we were there. Soft velvetty white sand everywhere. It looked hardly real. We had bought sleds from the visitor center. At the first chance we got, we were climbing the dunes with a sled in hand. Little Bobby boy was a bit hesitant about walking on the sand. 'How odd this thing is', he thought. 'It's cushy like the bed but even more so. I'm not sure I trust it. Don't leave me, Papa! Hold me Papa! Hold me more! No, leave me now! I want to go, leave me already, Papa! I want to try it again. It's still odd, but look muma is slinking in it too! Hmm.. A little bit funny now! Look at me sliding on my butt now!! Haha! ' - thought Bobby. 

Little miss Haana was already ahead of us, trying to slide down a dune, then deciding this one was no good. Then heading to another. Soon she found a good dune and slid down it in giggles. I couldn't wait!

I slid down after little miss Haana, and we were both giggles. Couldn't wait to get Bobba on it too. I held his hand as we somehow hobbled to the top of the dune. Made Bobba sit on the sled with me, but it wouldn't go! Soon Bobby boy wasn't having it anymore. He didn't want this sled business at all. He got off and went about exploring the dunes on his own little legs!

After some time more exploring, sledding, sliding and, in case of little miss Haana, rolling around in the sand, we set off to the Alkali trail in the park. This was the long trail in the park with sand dunes as far as eye can see, and mountains on the horizon. After some more sledding and rolling in the sand in the sand dunes next to the parking lot, we set off walking in the dunes. First little miss Haana, and then I, took off our shoes and walked bare foot in the soft velvetty white sand. Little Bobby boy walked with his favorite person, Papa. Little girl and I strolled through the dunes until we found a huge dune, with a steep drop down. We decided we should slide down here. Little Haana went first and slid half way and rolled around the rest of the way. I decided I'm not sliding down after all.. i was thinking ahead, the climb up was going to be gut-busting! As I sat down on top of the dune, little Bobby boy came and starting butt-sliding down the steep dune! We laughed. But then I thought how is Bobba going to get back up! Soon I was butt-sliding down the dune too.. Papa slid down on a sled. 

Once all of us were down, Bobby boy continued on his mission of self guided exploration. Little miss Haana and I held races to see who can climb up and then slide down the fastest. Somewhere in this competitive spirit I yelled to her "I'm going to bite your butt!".. I may have been behind at that time, racing to get ahead. Turns out the judge/umpire was biased and declared Haana won! I think I totally beat her going up. :-D

Soon it was time for the park to close and we started walking back. But as soon as the sun set, something amazing happened. The sky turned from cool blue to pink. The mountains on the horizon moved to a shade to purple and the white sands that was glistening like someone dumped shiny silver glitter into it, now seemed even more magical white with fairy dust in it!! 

White sands were beautiful! And both Bobby boy and Haana girl explored it in their own special way. 

The Big 1.0.

I'm not ready for the 2 digit birthdays to be honest. Little miss Haana is growing up, as little sweet babies tend to do, and I'm trying hard to push aside thoughts that one day she will leave this home to live by herself, live her life. And my life would never be the same. And even though those times are some time away, I can almost already miss her. 

This October, I tried to convince her that growing up is over rated and she must turn 9 this birthday, again. Little miss Haana did not buy it. 

Leading up to her birthday little miss Haana made it abundantly clear what she wanted. She wanted a treasure hunt. We'd been doing treasure hunts on Papa's birthdays initially, and then on the little girl's birthdays for some time now. The expectation had been building up!

I had gotten her new clothes for her birthday (since she had been getting bigger lately), socks and winter jacket. These will be the treasures I will hide. She needed new shoes too. To make sure she gets the right size, I made Papa and Gugu go and get her new pair of shoes the weekend before her birthday.

As I do every year, I had planned to take the day of her birthday off from work. Little miss Haana's school was off as well. The day before, after the kids were asleep, I sat on the couch with a notebook and a pen. I listed on a scrap paper all the things I had gotten her, and then started coming up with little poems with hints for her to solve. This will be the treasure hunt. It shouldn't be too simple that she uncovers the treasure too soon. It shouldn't be too hard that she doesn't find it at all. It needed to be just right. And it needed to take her upstairs and downstairs, in the garage and back to the backyard. Out and about, and all the way around! 

On the BIG day, Papa and I made sure the cake was already in the oven before the little girl woke up. After her morning dudu (milk), it was time for the treasure hunt. It went just I had hoped it would! She loved every minute of it, and went round and round around the whole house uncovering her treasures.

After her treasures were discovered, we cut the cake! It was cake for breakfast. Little miss Haana and I got dressed and headed out after that. It was a beautiful fall day and we took our convertible top down and headed to my favourite place - rose garden. We strolled and then ran around. It is monarch butterfly migration season in October, and the garden was full of fluttering monarchs everywhere! We talked to a couple folks who seemed to be catching monarchs in the garden. They were part of a nation wide research group that tags butterflies to track details about the monarch migration. Little miss Haana caught and held a monarch butterfly in her hand while the lady tagged the he-butterfly with a tiny sticker too. We talked to them about all kinds of things, little miss Haana dazzled everyone with how much butterfly trivia she knew. 

Soon it was time for lunch. Papa, Haana and I were going to head to her favorite place for lunch - benihana. It was a great lunch experience at benihana as always. 

Later that afternoon, we knocked off another item little miss Haana had on her list of things she wanted to do, a bubble bath. We filled the bathtub with bubbles and played in there. Soon little Bobby boy wanted to join in the fun too and later we let him. 

For dinner, we made aloo paratha (potato stuffed tortillas cooked with oil). This was another item little miss Haana had wanted for sometime. Just like that the wonderful birthday was coming to a close. Lots of friends and family called. It was a wonderful day. And soon it was time for bed. I love you sweet girl! Happy birthday!!

Pumpkin Patch

Is been amazing weather lately. Thinking it would be a shame to waste it, I decided we should be spending our Saturday morning in the nearby pumpkin patch. It was to be little Bobby boy's first pumpkin patch visit! He was unawares, but I was excited about it!

I packed some breakfast for us to eat along the way. We picked up coffee on the way. And pumpkin patch, here we come. It was warm and sunny with cool wind. Beautiful weather. It was a small pumpkin patch with hay stacks all around and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes on 2x4s next to hay attacks. Scarecrows peeped in from corners. In the middle there were more hay stacks and a wind mill. At some corners there were cartons with smaller baby pumpkins. 

Little miss Haana got to work immediately. Scouting for the perfect pumpkins to take home. I parked myself on the hay stacks in the center next to the wind mill, and curated the pumpkins she was selecting. Little Bobby boy had pants and socks on,  but no shoes. He didn't mind it. He was on the prowl like his big sister. He was finding pumpkins half his own size and was trying his best to lift them up. Soon he found the stack of smaller baby pumpkins. He could handle those no problem. First we were just stacking the pumpkins we wanted to take, in a corner. But later little miss Haana got us a cart where pumpkins - the orange vegetable or the mobile, pesky ones - can be parked into. Bobby kept finding baby pumpkins and filling the cart up with them. He was on a mission, and he was busy at it. 

Soon little miss Haana spotted some kids with face painting and found out a corner where face painting was in progress. We went to get her some. I guess she got a fairy face paint. We played and hung around some more. It was a beautiful beautiful day. 

Our pumpkin patch adventure ended and soon it was time to head back. But not without several pumpkins loaded up in the trunk. The pumpkin patch was coming home with us!

The Cow Says..

Many popular toddler books introduce farm animals. And then they inform what the farm animal looks like, and what it says. I would argue that in reality the sound a sheep makes is hardly what we hear in the "Ba Ba Black Sheep" sing-along. Frogs don't exactly speak "Croak" or "Ribbit". Birds don't exactly talk "Tweet". 

I had been reminding Bobby boy the cow says "Mooo" for some time and it hasn't been sticking. So recently I thought I'll shake things up a bit and told him the cow says "Meee". He thought that sounded more funny and smiled. Soon he's been repeating after me "Meeee" and we both laugh after. I figured the sounds are only loosely based on reality so I can exercise some creative freedom here. 🤣

Once we get to a real farm Bobby boy will figure out for himself what the animals say. But for now the cow says "Me! Me!".

Corrupt

Oh no! We have corrupted the little boy! 

Bobby boy likes to play. All through the day he plays with his babysitter Preethi. In the evening he wants to play with Mumma and Papa and little miss Haana. But sometimes they all are busy, doing their own thing. They are cooking in the kitchen,  finishing their homework or doing art work etc. No one is playing with him! This makes little Bobby boy unhappy🙁.  He fussed. He tries to find new places to rummage. Sometimes he slinks away unseen to Mumma's office table and finds treasure in her drawer, or into the bathroom drawers and tries to taste the lip balm. 

So one day, we put Coco Melon on TV. Initially Bobby boy didn't care much for it. In stead, little girl Haana was hooked on to it! 😄. For Bobby boy, it was just something colorful in the background. 

But then yesterday something new happened. Bobby boy decided no one needs to play with him. He sat up on the couch and asked Papa for remote "Mo(te)? Mo(te)?". And when Papa got him the remote, he offered it back to Papa and asked for "CoCo?! CoCo?".

Papa laughed when he got Bobby boy was asking for Coco Melon! And Mumma laughed something about corrupting the boy!!

Bad Boy

Little Bobby boy has been told not to throw things. It can be dangerous. He's been told not to throw food. A rule he thinks is at his discretion to observe or not. 

The other day the little boy was done eating but still had some good on his high chair. Rest of us were not done with our dinner, so no one was getting him off his high chair. The boy was fidgety. He took a morsel of food, twisted sideways and threw it down with purpose. Then he peered down to see if it landed where he aimed it at. Papa was sitting next to him on the counter, he saw the deed but was not impressed. Before he could say anything Bobby boy removed the entire tray and threw it down too, with all its contents. Pieces of food travelled far and wide. "Bobby!!", I screamed, "No throwing! Look what you did!". The boy quickly switched to pensive mood. I knew by now pensive mood means nothing really, he'll still be up to the same things he would've, except now he'll look like he's really considering alternate options, except no alternates are being seemed quite right. 

But now he had 2 pairs of eyes glaring at him! He looked down pensive. Then looked up at us, and gave us his toothy smile to melt us. The 2 glowering pair of eyes met and couldn't help laughing!

Bad boy Bobby!

Mother Daughter Day - Down for the Books

Last Friday little miss Haana's school was off.  I took off from work too, to make it into a mother-daughter day. But our plans were sketchy at best. What will we do?

I asked little miss Haana for suggestions and some expected patterns emerged. We will lunch at the Korean bbq place we dined last time. I looked up movie schedules but nothing good jumped up. Little miss Haana asked to go to a nail place, but it seemed too repetitive. Then I thought of visiting the immersive Van Gogh experience on Friday, she would love that. But when i read about it, I thought Bobba would like that too; perhaps all of us should check that out. But then what of our mother- daughter date?

On Wednesday night I was listening to an audible, and the author mentioned 'SUP' rentals - Standing Upright Paddleboarding. It struck a familiar chord. A few weeks back in Colorado, we went boating on the lake, there were a couple boys who rented a paddleboard and paddled their way through the lake. Little miss Haana had wanted to do it. Instead, the next day she did kayaking by herself on a single person kayak, along with Dad. I looked up if there are SUP rentals on my area, and found out -Yes! There were! There was a paddleboard class near by!! Available for friday! So perfect! 

Next day I called them up to make sure they had equipment for 9 year olds, and then made my booking for friday morning. It was a 2hr class. I figured we will spend some time on the docks while the instructor explains to us how to be stable on the board, and then the 2nd hour being in the water. 

Next day on our mother daughter date, little miss Haana and I had a hurried breakfast and headed out for our 10am class. Put on our current favorite song in the car, singing along as we went. At the class, we put on our life jackets and within the first 5 minutes, we were already on the paddleboard floating on the water. Our instructor told us how to paddle, how to steer, how to turn etc. Somewhere in the middle of that little miss Haana asked when can we be in the water. I wondered what does she mean, we are already on the water. But I realized in a minute, she meant when can we be 'in' the water. Soon after she jumped off her board to float in the water! Of course! She is part mermaid! I somehow cajoled her to get back on her board so we could head a bit farther down the lake. But soon when we were a little bit father, she wanted me to jump off the board too. I didn't at first, but soon our boards rammed in together and i lost my balance and jumped in anyway. Oh! It was great! The water felt great in the summer sun. Little miss Haana and I laughed in delight at the unadulterated fun we were having! We floated for a while and played with each other. It was great! When we got back on our boards it wasn't for very long. Thanks to little miss Haana we were back in the water soon enough. But it was a lot of fun both ways! At one point our paddleboards seemed to be floating away while we played in the water; we had to swim up to catch them. 

After a lot of fun it was time to head on back. We were both hungry by now, it was time to move to our next activity of the day. We dried ourselves and changed in the car then headed to the Korean bbq place for lunch. We both love Korean bbq. We had a big lunch and headed out. It was time to head home. 

But there was another activity in our mother daughter date yet. A movie! I popped some popcorn in the microwave. Made myself a decaf coffee, little miss Haana made herself a decadent hot chocolate with whipped creme and chocolate syrup drizzle on top, and we headed to the couch for our movie afternoon. Little Bobby boy was taking his nap, so it was timed well.

The movie began but soon I had trouble keeping my eyes open.. it was all so cozy and perfect! I may have slept through the whole movie, though little miss Haana kept shaking me up every so often. I woke up just at the closing credits. It was a good movie indeed! :)

It was a great mother daughter date! A perfect one in fact! :)?

2nd Grade Show And Tell- Family Heirloom

I forgot writing about this earlier, it's been almost 2 years, but hey, better late than never. 

For 2nd grade winter break assignment, the theme for project work was- family. Little miss Haana had to interview her grand parents or family about how growing up was different for them. She also had to prepare to show a family heirloom and talk about it in class. 

She wrote her interview questions and then called up nana, nani in India on how it was growing up back in the mid 19s for them. Some things do remain the same - she discovered they were naughty at school too, they liked hanging with their friends in school, took home lunches, liked recess time. But some things were different - they had to walk or bicycle to the school, the school didn't have any laptops or devices, school was more strict with teachers who were not that fun, and classrooms were uninviting.

The family heirloom project had me scratching my head.. what family heirloom? Then somehow i remembered something.

My nani (maternal grandma) was very good at sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet and a whole bunch of other things. As a little girl I used to love my dolls. I still do even though I didn't actually have so many dolls then. Nani had stiched several fancy dress for my doll. In the winter time, she knitted sweater dresses for her. Fancy dress with multi-colored wool and custom belt and tie-back ribbon. I loved these dresses and my doll changed her clothes every now and then! 

A few years back, when visiting my parents in Delhi, my mom handed me these dresses and since then they are with me in my dresser. 

Those handful of doll-dresses are my family heirloom! They're so cute and precious. And they represent the unique bond I shared with my nani. I didn't actually learn how to sew or knit from her; at that time growing up, I wanted to be like a boy. And those skills were too girly for me. Now i don't think of skills being girly or boyish. 

For little miss Haana's class show and tell project, she prepared her speaking part. We wrapped one of the dresses carefully in a ziplock bag, attached it to the rest of project work on a big cardboard. In class, she narrated her story of heirloom and little bitty dresses to her fascinated friends while her teacher recorded her. All her friends wanted to see the dress up close, touch it,  marvel at it like I have for the past decades.

Of course I only breathed easy once the dress was back home, and safely back into my dresser with the others :-). That's where a family heirloom should be!

Rakhi

This last weekend was Rakhi. Sisters tie a "rakhi" (bracelet) to their brothers, and the brothers get gifts for their sisters. They also vow to protect and care for each other. 

When I reminded little miss Haana about it on the Sunday morning, she quickly ran upstairs and returned with yarn and her crochet needle. Soon a friendship bracelet emerged. But I complained it is too plain, maybe we can make a pom-pom. Her eyes glittered with an idea. Ran back upstairs and she came back with 2 white and 1 huge green pom-pom. These were tied to the bracelet somehow. I complained it looked a little dorky, but little miss Haana insisted it will have to do. Bobby boy was still sleeping but someone couldn't wait to tie the rakhi. So she tried tying it on little baby wrist. It obviously did not last long. And more, the small white pom-poms disappeared. I wondered of Bobba tried to eat them. I guess we will never know. 

Meanwhile I had a thought. What about rakhi gift for little miss Haana. Hmm.. only the previous day little miss Haana and I had run into the store and got several knick-knacks for the both of us. If I had played it better, I could've claimed one of those was a "gift" from Bobby boy. But too late now. 

So, later that morning I headed out with an excuse to visit the store. I had an idea of something little miss Haana might appreciate. All kinds of hair accessories - scrunchies, ribbon,  fancy hair clips; and then earnings and a set of friendship bands to be shared amongst best friends. 

When I got back, we did the rakhi thing over again. Bobba got the rakhi tied to his wrist (this time without the white pom-poms), but again he didn't tolerate it even for a second. But this time, I claimed Bobba got little miss Haana a gift in his onesie. Little miss Haana was very pleased with "Bobby's" gifts. 

But the best part came in the end. When little miss Haana saw the friendship bands that said "best friends", she took out 2 of them. She wore one on her wrist. And the other, she put on mine!! Oh how I hoped she would do that!! I showed my bracelet to Papa with pride, 'Look, she gave one to me!! I am her best friend! Her first, bestest friend"!! Little miss Haana's comment - "You should take it before I change my mind" :-D!

The Library

Today was Bobby boy's very first library trip. And did he have a blast!

Little miss Haana carried our stack of books, while I carried the boy to the library today. I took him straight to the baby books section, and showed him board books for little kids. He pulled out a few books from the shelves and handed them to me. I took them up to the little chair. Bobby boy, who thinks he's a big boy, no longer sits in my lap. He climbed up to a rocking chair next to me. Rocking on the chair was fun for a minute, but soon he climbed down to explore. 

Soon Bobby boy was scuttling down the book shelf aisles, giggling with delight. I didn't want to loose track of him, so I followed coming after him. This only made it more delicious for him; he giggled and squealed with delight as he sprinted down the aisles. Making noise, calling out, babbling, giggling and running down aisles!

Momentarily Bobby boy found a bench. He climbed up on it, and then he climbed up on the table. I had to grab him to get him down. He didn't appreciate it, but soon he ran down another aisle. 

Then next, he located the library display you weren't supposed to touch or get too close to. Bobby boy started climbing on it. "No, no,  Bobby!", I rushed to airlift him out. Again, he didn't appreciate it. But soon he was giggling and running down, turning into another aisle as I reached behind him,  "I'm gonna catch you this time bobby!", I laughed. "Mumma is  coming to get you Bobby!", I said. It only made him giggle and scuttle around more. 

Little miss Haana meanwhile had found herself a stack of books, talked to the librarian and had checked them all out. Finally when Bobby boy got into the library display again (little miss Haana came to inform me 'Bobbys in trouble again'), I figured it was time to go. 

Something tells me we are at the beginning of the troubles with Bobby boy ;)!

I'm not sure the library staff would agree with me, but for us, it was a fun library visit!!

Empty Plate

Little Bobby boy has some principles. One of them is, your plate should either getting worked on,  or it should be empty.

That means, he works on what he likes to eat. And once he is done, everything else on his plate is sent flying to the floor. The plate most be empty, afterall! 

We have tried to tell him throwing things is not cool. But so far, Bobby boy is sticking to his principles. 

4th Grade

And just like that summer is over and little miss Haana starts 4th grade today. She has been very excited about starting school. The virtual learning school all of last year had not worked for her. She'd missed her classmates, face-to- face engagement with her teachers and peers. She'd missed being out and about. But she's also anxious about starting school. Gone with summer are the days of chilling and hanging out at home, doing anything she pleases - drawing, reading, baking, creating, and of course, good ol' tv watching. "Last day of freedom", as she put it yesterday. 

Me, I have a bigger problem with today. Why is all this happening so quickly. Why is she already in 4th grade. Can't we just slow down a little? I'm going to really miss having her around at home during the day. The house is going to be so quiet. Makes me wonder about a life for me when she's not there. She's moved out to live her life, and mine will become so much more quiet and empty without her. I do want her to grow and live her life. But every now and then, in a moment here and there, I can feel a time when she wouldn't be around and I will miss her. And I wish in some way I can tell her before she goes, tell her such that she listens before she goes, how completely wonderful she is. 

Fifteen

This weekend we are spending in Estes Park,  Colorado. Other than being right next to the rockies,  Estes Park is a nice little town with shops full of antiques and keepsakes. I had just tuned into a country music channel on the radio on our rental car, as we turned into a parking spot at the main street. Little Haana asked if we could shop. What did she want to shop for? Oh, anything!

Ok, I'll give you a budget of $20.

$30?

20.

25?

20.

Fine! Now, can we tune into some actual music station?

I slowly turned to little miss Haana and said just this 1 word - "15".

Oh actually, no need, it's quite good music already - she back-tracked!

Just as I expected!

Sister Adventures

Little miss Haana decided she will create her own blog. Indeed she has a lot to say, and she is such a great big sister. The kind of big sister who sits her little brother on her lap on the playground slide, carefully adjusts his hand and legs safely and then, slides down the slides, so he can giggle all the way down. Her blog is adventures in sisterhood. Here check it out, and check back often: 

https://sisterhoodventures.blogspot.com

I'm always amazed at her creativity and ingenuity. It blows me away :)

Earbuds

I've been working from home for over a year now. There are 2 very important tools for working from home - my laptop and my earbuds. I have no-fluff, barebones earbuds, but I like them. I don't need to charge them. And they're a specific kind that fit my tiny ear, as very few do. 

But for all the utility they provide to me, and  for which i really like them; there's someone else who's had his eyes on my earbuds. Bobby. Grabby hands lunge and pull on the wire every chance they get. Every so often he comes over to my work from home desk, and if he can reach out, grabs and pulls on the earbuds wire. I reach to free the poor earbuds from clenched purposeful grippy fingers. As I rescue the earbuds, that doesn't leave Bobby boy too happy. Between happy baby and secure earbuds, I choose secure earbuds, of course!

But the other day, something bad happened. Bobby boy got hold of the earbuds wire, and this time in the usual push and pull between him and me to free my precious earbuds, he actually managed to yank the earbuds off from me. The little notch that controls the volume at the wire got yanked, and the earbuds were broken in two. Little copper wires came poking out. How could this even happen?! That grippy baby fist! And on top of all that, grippy baby was now crying too! Muma was not too happy at the earbuds demise. Turns out Bobby lost interest in it as soon as it got broken too. 'Typical boy!', as little miss Haana would say!

Another Fruit Loop Story

Ever since he discovered fruit loops, little Bobby boy has been crazy about them. He goes up to the pantry and points at the fruit loop box to Papa or Mumma, and then giggles with delight when they get his drift and pour out some loops in a bowl for him to snack. Sometimes he feels generous and shares his loops by offering them to his favourite person at that moment. Other times he feels tricksy, he offers the fruit loop but then takes it away and pops it in his own mouth at the last moment. 

Yesterday the little boy was on the couch with his fruit loop bowl in his hand. Little miss Haana was sitting on the ottoman across from the couch, talking to Papa. Little hands offered a fruit loop to big sister. But she was engrossed in talking to Papa and didn't notice this little arm offering a tiny fruit loop. So, little Bobby boy, gingerly got off the couch holding his fruit loop in his hand, went over to the ottoman to little miss Haana's knee, and offered his fruit loop to her. This time she noticed, took his loop and popped it in her mouth, smiled and said thank you boy. She would've grabbed his puffy cheeks but she was busy talking. Mumma saw this whole exchange and yelled "Awwwwle!!". This time little miss Haana jumped up to the little boy, squeezed his cheeks and responded "TOO CUTE FOR MY LIKING!!!". Mumma agreed!!

Fruit loops

Little miss Haana had been asking for fruit loops for sometime. Initially I resisted from adding it to the grocery list. The charm of such unhealthy but popular snacks for her remains only till I pay for it. Usually as soon as she has the first few bites, she's over it, and the rest of the snack bag loiters around in the pantry listlessly. But this time, she continued asking for fruit loops, so finally she and I went out and got them. 

As soon as we got back home, she had poured herself a bowl of milk with fruit loops floating. But there was another unexpected loop love waiting to hit the air. Bobby boy saw the colourful loops and had to try one. And another and then another. He was loving it!! 'Where has this goodness been all my life!', he thought. An unexpected hit. Soon that fruit loop box was over. Next grocery list entry - fruit loops- bigger box!

Earbuds

Bring it to me

Staar 

Fireworks

It was July 4th and we had nothing specific planned. Other than shop for home decor to set up the guest bedroom. 

Bobby and little miss Haana's Godfather Keith was in town so we met with him over for dinner. Bobby had his chicken nuggets packed from home. Little miss Haana had Mac and cheese and then ice cream. I got a humongous chicken sandwich and finished more than I was expecting to. After dinner we hung out outside the restaurant while Bobby boy inspected the surrounding parking lot. Little miss Haana busied herself with her sketch book. After several rounds of back and forth around the restaurant parking running behind the little boy, it was time to head home after all. 

As soon as we got home, I realized we were just in time to see the fireworks around town. We jumped back in the car and headed out. The destination was the lake by our library where we should be able to see the fireworks. Later we realized all the spots are already taken, so we parked by some houses as the fireworks started. Red blue white yellow! It was Bobby boy's first fireworks, and he was quite excited about them. But only for so long. After some time, he had had enough. Little miss Haana and I decided we liked the white colored fireworks the best. 

Happy July 4th!

Fountain

The talented little miss Haana makes new art and craft everyday. 

This day she made a fountain. Water flowing through a 3 tiered structure made of sea shells, falling down into a pool surrounded with stones. She made it all with hot glue and backyard stones. 

Good job little miss Haana and full marks for creativity and engineering.

The Performance

Little miss Haana was to have a violin recital soon. Her teacher and she had decided on what song to play. She knew the song well enough, she didn't need to look at the notes at all. 

Then, maybe because summer had just  started, or maybe she didn't want to play a song she already knew; she just fell off the rhythm of practicing. Now, with the recital only a week away, I was reminding her, with not so effective anger management on my part, to practice daily. 

On the other hand, given that the performance was at the Dallas Opera House, and formal attire was strongly encouraged, I had carved out the saturday before the performance for important family business - family shopping trip. First, little miss Haana needed some shoes that she can wear with her red dress that she had selected to wear for the performance (even though i tried to steer her towards the glittery pink one, but oh well). I decided I will wear a similar red dress too. And then, I needed some dress shoes too. I decided Raj must have a new jacket for the occasion. Not to leave anyone behind, new little man shoes were bought for Bobby boy too. All this while little miss Haana kept reminding us, 'Why are you guys shopping, it will only be me at the stage!'. After being at home for 1.5 years, there was no holding me back from a shopping trip with a purpose!

That evening though, the pesky issue of practicing came up again. And i had just had it! I was very upset and frustated that she's not practicing enough in the days leading up to performing at the stage. That just wouldn't do. I oscillated between deciding to just cancel all her violin classes and not even going to the recital; to remorse that if I cancel her classes it may be a point of no return. Of course through this all, I always wished I myself knew how to play an instrument. I didn't learn as a child, and then never had the time as an adult. It was an intense evening.

Next morning, little miss Haana's recital was in the afternoon. I kept watching her doing everything but practice her violin. And then, sometime after breakfast, she got up to play the accompaniment piece on my phone while she played with it on her violin. Since the accompaniment piece is on a slightly different scale, it takes a little getting used to, to not get distracted with it. She tried and practiced several times till she got it. That morning she practiced and played several times, till she was doing pretty good. 

When it was time, we all dressed up, even little Bobby boy was dolled up in full sleeves, formal collared shirt, jeans with suspenders, grey big boy socks (i forgot the new shoes at home), and a bow tie. All topped with his untamed curly hair. 

At the Opera hall, poor Raj had to pick up Bobby and walk him around the entire time, cause he wanted to run away exploring. But after the long wait when it was little miss Haana's turn, all of our eyes were glued. She glided to the center of the stage, bowed and got to play position with her violin. Her teacher was her accompaniment. She played Judas Maccabeus on violin and played what to my untrained ears sounded flawless and melodious. For that minute, little Bobby boy was glued to his spot too. And just like that she was done, she was bowing to the audience. We were filled with pride. 

Outside in the lobby, we took pictures. Little miss Haana and I were twinsies - wearing similar dress and similar shoes! On the way back from the Opera house, we all knew it was time to celebrate. Dinner restaurant choice - whatever little miss Haana would like!

Here is the recital video!

Hot Tub

Not been on a vacation since Dec 2019 (discounting 2 overnight camping trips). And now after getting the vaccine, i've been getting more stir crazy around the long weekend. May last weekend is the 1st long weekend of the year, and we decided to stay in. In stead, we decided to head out after the weekend, to stay in a cabin during the week. Raj took days off from work, i WFC (work from cabin) for 2 days and took friday off to make it a long weekend.

We headed to the cabin on the lake, it was just over an hour from home. Close enough that we don't spend too much time on the road and we could carry all the supplies from home in stead of hauling kids for grocery shopping. 

As soon as we reached, little miss Haana changed into swim clothes and turned into a mermaid. The big highlight of the place for her was the hot tub on the back patio. As doon as I finished my work for the day, I got in the hot tub too. It was pretty cool, I had to concede. Bobby boy played with a small fountain in the hot tub too. He got a little bit more clingy when all the jets came on and the water got foamy. But then he got used to it in a bit and was fine. On the first night, not quite comfortable with the place, Bobby boy took a long time falling asleep, while big sister Haana slept right through his fussing. 

Next morning, I looked forward to getting up early and having a peaceful cup of morning tea on the red seat swing in the front porch. Listening to the birds. 

After about a day in the cabin in the woods, I felt like i needed to see some people, and get a starbucks. So we drove up to the nearby town in the evening 10 miles over, got me a decaf caffe, and eventually had a pizza dine in. 

The next day in the evening, little miss Haana and I were playing Scrabble in the dining table. I kept getting these bad lettters, X and 2 Gs and then a V. I thought I'll hit a double word and make a word 'VASED', thinking, surely there's a verb form of the noun vase. Little miss Haana complained, "What's vased?". I said i'll check, expecting surely there's a word like that. Except, when I checked online, there wasn't. 

She mocked me, "Oh mumma, what happened to those flowers? Ohhh! They look so vased!" And then, "Did you see the flower mumma? It got  vased!' And then, she was like.. 'Something happened to this flower, ohh, it got vased!'. I left the table and ran away to escape the mocking, but she followed me everywhere. Finally Raj jumped in too, and more laughter ensued! 

It was a good trip. Thank god for the hot tub :-).

Stern Look

What is a stern look from Dad worth? Here's the answer. 

Papa was baby sitting Bobby boy this morning. For a minute there was silence. That could only mean 1 thing - the boy is up to some mischief. 

Papa rushed into the bedroom, expecting to find Bobby boy engaged in his favorite mischief- pulling out all the moss from the indoor plant. But no, the planter was untouched. Momentary relief, but there mystery continues. 

Next, Papa looked in the bathroom, and there he was. Bobby boy had opened the drawer and was actively on the mission to pull out everything from the drawer and throw it on the floor. He takes these missions very seriously. Papa stood at the doorway and gave the boy a stern look. Papa looked at Bobby boy and Bobby boy looked at Papa. Neither batted an eyelid. In this case, it had an effect.

Bobby boy slowly moved and picked up the gauze pad he'd thrown on the floor and gingerly placed it back into the drawer. All the while maintaining eye contact with Papa. Bobby boy moved and picked up rest of the items on the floor and placed them back into the drawer. Then he tried to close the drawer, and after some difficulty, closed it shut! 

After all this, and with a sense of pride, Bobby boy came up to Papa, both with a 'Look Papa, I did it' look all on his face, and with arms wide open. ' I deserve to be carried for being this good!!!' 

He got all that he wanted and then some! 

Third Grade Is Over

And just like that, little miss Haana is done with her third grade. As of friday last, the summer break has begun! 

Little miss Haana wanted to go to Olive Garden to celebrate her finishing third grade and to usher in the summer break. We made it there for a late lunch today. It was Bobby's only second trip to a restaurant. As I put him in a high chair, Bobby looked around and saw other people sitting on chairs, and beamed at me! 'Oh this new place, so much to see. And look at me, all sitting on a chair like all these big people! Look at me! Not a baby am I now!!' - said Bobby's smile. Little miss Haana busied herself with the real reason we were there for - fresh breadsticks. They were disappearing fast. Me and Bobby digged in too. Every table had a screen with games for kids, little miss Haana made good use of that as well. We got my favorite calamari, and got soup to dip more breadsticks in. By the time main course arrived, I was mostly full! I had Bobba try pieces of my ziti al forno pasta, it was the tube pasta, that i cut into pieces for Bobba. He put his fingers through it, like rings or finger braces! Then it disappeared. Some into his tummy, many under the table. It was a good lunch!! And we all took to-go boxes home. 

When we got home, half way comatose from a big late lunch, i told little miss Haana how proud I am of her - this was a tough year for her, being in remote school. Some of her friends went back to in-person school, but we didn't send her. In the middle of winter we packed and we moved. She had to move away from her friends in the old neighborhood. In the new place, it took some time but she made new friends. And all through it, remote school continued. I told her she's so amazing and outstanding. She quite something!! She's my best girl :-).

Monster Ball Adventures

Meet Bobby's favorite ball. We call it monster ball. It sleeps with Bobby, moves around the house with him and tumbles around the living room with him. 

This evening, when Papa and Bobby were going out for a walk on the stroller, Bobby wanted to bring around Monster Ball. Most of the walk, Bobby held on to it tight. Then a curious thought occured to Bobby boy. 'Why should I have all the adventures? Monster Ball will like to have some adventures of her own too.' And so, Bobby boy dropped his Monster Ball to have her own adventures. Papa didn't see this, and kept on walking. Then he noticed bobby was leaning over and looking back from his stroller. Papa turned around and to his surprise, found Monster ball, looking all hurt and alone on the trail by herself. Papa rushed back and scooped up the ball, Bobby jumped up and grabbed his Monster Ball from him. Then, a few minutes later, Bobby decided this to be right spot for another adventure for Monster ball!!!

Luckily, Monster ball didn't get left behind anywhere and made it safely back home with Papa and Bobby. But she did have an adventurous evening!

School of Tricks

Who has been teaching babies to be so naughty? I have a specimen right here, and either someone is teaching him or he came to this world pre-programmed to be badmaash, naughty to the core! 

For instance, little Bobby boy likes to get inside cabinets in search of hidden treasures. Once he finds something interesting, he turns around and leaves. If he sees danger, like a parent coming to grab his treasure from him, he turns around and runs, like any normal human being would! Because he knows he's going to get away, he giggles in his victory while he's running away!

And then some days, he's feeling lucky! No parent has grabbed his treasure from him yet. He's too fast for them. So he comes up to one of us, and is seemingly handing over his treasure of his own accord. 'Wow, could this be happening? What a good boy Bobba is, he knows he shouldn't be playing with this thing, and so, he's giving it back! Perfect, ideal baby!',  I'm thinking these thoughts and extending my hand. Except at the last second, he pulls his treasure away, giggles and runs away with his treasure still in his mouth. I'm left behind, wondering, what just happened here. Who's been teaching him these tricks? And why do they give him such pleasure?! 

STAAR

I've been avoiding writing about the STAAR test. But here goes..

This is 3rd grade and little miss Haana will be writing her STAAR test for the first time this grade. STAAR, are a series of standardized tests used in Texas public primary and secondary schools to assess a student's achievements and knowledge learned in the grade level. In short, a big final exam! :(

Since little miss Haana is in LEAP advanced academic program, she was to take 3rd grade reading and 5th grade math test.

This year has been very hard. I've worried about her screen time. Add to that, that this year she'll give the STAAR test too. She's been a remote student all year, and it hasn't agreed with her at all. Looking at a screen all day is hard even for adults, but at her age, she craved to move about, have actual conversations, hang out with friends. Her teachers have told us she has been having trouble focussing in the all day video meetings. 

First Raj, then I, decided to spend some time with her outside school time, to work with her for a few minutes everyday. This had varying levels of success with me. Some days, she'll corporate, and we'll be done soon. Other days she'll resist, and we will have a fight on our hands. 

With STAAR in the horizon, I talked to her about focussing on getting good grades for all the time she's already put into learning the concepts and practicing. I talked to her about focussing so she doesn't make silly mistakes. The test format is a multiple choice; which means getting an answer wrong because you made a silly mistake or bevause you had no idea what to do, are both rated the same- wrong. 

One day, she had spent a few minutes practicing some math questions, and got most of them incorrect due to silly mistakes even though she knew all the concepts. We were talking about it, laying in bed just before falling asleep. I was not happy. She realized i was disappointed, though i didnt say anything, and kind of shrunk away. I asked her what's wrong. She said this- "I know you're sad because of me. And i wanted to make you happy. But I think if I were never born, then you wouldn't be sad right now".

Oh my God!!! What have i become! A high expectation parent? What is she saying.. if she were never born? Then I wouldn't know anything.. i wouldn't know such a wonderful beautiful person as her. I wouldn't know a love so intense it scares me. I wouldn't know such a perfect thing could exist as her. I wouldn't know fun like the way she and i share silly things together. I wouldn't live and love like this if it weren't for her. My life, all changed the moment she stepped into my life. And i'm having her think she's a disappointment!!! :-( I got tears in my eyes, we both did. I'm soo sorry, my sweet little miss Haana. 

We patched up with loads of hugs and kisses before little miss Haana went to sleep that night. I told Raj about what she said later that night. And Raj said something so good and right, he said -"I decided i will not be a pressuring parent laser focused on grades, like how we grew up. I will try to keep her focus on learning in stead of grades". I agree completely. Learning how to learn requires making mistakes, not being afraid of them, and then continuing through them. That's what i wanted to inculcate in her too. But somewhere I got roped into grades too. I hope its not too late for me to change. 

Head Gears

This was little miss Haana at her first birthday. Something about the round ear things (giant ear lobes) in the cap and of course the pink (i mean the cheeks of course), that was just too good to part with!

So here is the take 2 with the same head gear.. unfortunately the model this time is moving too much..

Who Stole Cookies From The Cookie Jar?

This evening crime has reached a new height in this neighborhood, as friends and family discover that cookies are no longer safe, anywhere! There are many a twists in this story but our crime correspondent will walk you through safely.

Little Bobby boy had been looking out for new adventures as usual. He found the pantry door open, and proceeded to give it an inspection. Like is usual, he found a few cans and boxes he rolled and puttered with. But then, he found a box he wasn't supposed to find. After previous mis-adventures, the cookie jar had been moved high up on the pantry shelf, away from prying baby hands. But on this day, someone had kept it right within a baby arm's reach. Who could have done such a thing...

Well, the baby arms did reach the prize, and did pluck the cookie jar from the pantry shelf. Baby then proceeded to take the cookie jar with him to a different location for peaceful prying of contents within. 

When the cookie police (mumma) arrived at the crime scene, the crime was unfolding, right in front of her eyes. The cookie jar was open. All the chocolate creme oreo cookies are strewn about on the floor - some intact, some broken, some unreasonably wet! Bobby boy was in the middle of these cookies, grabbing them, pulling them apart, tasting the creme filling and breaking off big chunks of the cookie to devour them. A few such cookie bites in his mouth, holding another cookie in his hand, and regarding a few others next - that's how Bobby boy was found at the crime site. 

The Cookie Sherrif (mumma) and the Deputy (little miss Haana) proceeded to confiscate most cookies (some were just too gooey to be air lifted). They questioned the culprit, who unfortunately continued stuffing broken cookied pieces in his mouth during the questioning. It wasn't looking good for him. Finally in stead of confessing to his crimes Bobby boy decided to rely on charm to get out of sentencing. Unfortunately it worked. And upon confiscation of the cookies and cleaning up of the crumbs, badmaash boy was free to set sail on new adventures. The cookie jar this time was put back high on the shelf. For now. Sherrif and the Deputy have a tough job!

Easter Beagle

Easter was far approaching. Last year when i had mentioned easter egg hunt, little miss Haana had made a comment like "I am too old for egg hunts". I had immediately retaliated. " You'll be too old when i say you're too old for egg hunts". That's another way of saying: I'm not done with egg hunts, so you better play along. 

I have loved egg hunts! Beautiful spring weather, out on green grass fields on a sunday morning, having pancake breakfast, doing art n crafts in the park, petting some animals maybe and then, then there's the egg hunt! Egg hunts can be competitive.. only because some parents get their big kids too little kids' egg hunts, so they can steal eyes from poor little kids.. but little or not, I for one, am not coming home with an empty easter basket. So, one had to take matters into one's own hands at times. In the past I mat have goaded little miss Haana to get more eggs. I may have prepped her to be cut throat in the face of mean competition. Let's just say our basket has been quite full in the past years. 

But then covid hit. Last 2 years we've been giving egg hunts a miss. Severe weather in 2019 and then covid in 2020. This year, with covid still around, I decided to plan my own egg hunt. We invited Varam over for the hunt too.

Before easter, little miss Haana and i decided making bunny head bands cab be a craft we can ask do together for the egg hunt. Little miss Haana cut out bunny ears, several sets enough for everyone, kids and adults, and she made head bands that can be easily put together too. I'd ordered plastic eggs before, and on the easter morning, I filled several of them with candies. And then I spread all the eggs out in the backyard, some camouflaged, some in plain sight. Some eggs i saved specially for Bobby, these I filled with his favourite crackers. 

Soon Krithi aunty and Varam came, and so did Jinu aunty. Soon we were out in the backyard, first all of us making or head bands and putting all kinds of stickers on them. Pictures were taken. And then, we let the egg hunt begin! It was a frenzy! All the adults egging those with the easter baskets- Haana there's one here too, you forgot this one, Varam there's one here too, hey there are more here, quicklyyy!! Bobby boy walked and crawled on the grass, and i lay his eggs all around him, he regarded them with interest, tasting eggs before one of them opened to reveal a cracker inside! Magic eggs! Soon, we all were sitting around in the backyard. Little miss Haana opening all the eggs in her stash and eating candy. 

Later after candy, we all came back on the patio to have lunch together. Raj did some grilling, we had chicken burrito lunch on the patio. Soon after we all came inside, had chai and hung around talking, looking at photos and relaxing for awhile.

Little miss Haana said it was her best easter egg hunt ever. Bobby's too- since it was good very first egg hunt! Happy easter!

Caught Red Handed

Little miss Haana and I were sitting on the kitchen counter discussing fractions, and little Bobby boy was doing his round of the kitchen, checking if the cabinet locks still work. 

Well well, the pantry door was open. Curious george set exploring. There was all the usual stuff: cans, baskets, plastic containers full of lentil, rice etc. But then, what is that?!

There's this new crackly bag in there today. So crackly! But shouldn't make too much noise... oh the bag end came out! How does that taste? Nothing! I knew it. Let's chuck it, focus on the bag. Bag is wide open now. What's this in it.. some kind of multi coloured sticks. All sorts of faded colors. So strange. Have to try it. What about this pale red one. Looks tryable. Nobody is looking! Nobody found me, so cool! Mm this pale red stick is salty. Me liking it. Best thing! Tons of more sticks in jackpot bag! Oh no, Gugu saw me! Will she take a stick and keep it quiet? She's not keeping in quiet. :-(

Here, there's the evidence - caught red handed. With an opened veggie sticks bag and a veggie stick in his mouth. 

First Birthday

My little Bobby boy is all of one year old! Little miss Haana and I have been calling him "half a thing" all this while, cause we had decided only after he turns 1 year old does he become a full thing in his own right (regardless of the fact that he's been his own thing right since the moment he was born). And now that he's turned one, we have to concede. He's this one full thing now. One full thing. 

For his birthday, little miss Haana had plans. She is on

ly the best sister in the world! She decided we had to bake a 3 tiered cake. I had turned down the idea several times before but apparently it was still a go (Raj had gotten cake pans of different sizes). I had decided on the menu for the big day - everything little Bobby boy likes to eat - chocolate pancake, cheese crepe (dosa), carrots, grilled chicken for dinner and of course cake, lots of home baked chocolate cake! 

Little miss Haana tried to get out of school for Bobby's birthday,  but alas that didn't work. I had taken the day off to spend with Bobby boy. 

After a breakfast of chocolate pancake, Bobby and I met with their Godfather Keith at the park. It was beautiful sunny day, and we had ourselves some cake at the park. Bobby tried to feed the rest of the cake to the grass, but somehow i rescued it. He waved to the geese at the pond and rode on Keith's shoulders pretending to fly like a duck. We hung out in the park for sometime and headed back home later.

Back at home, Bobby boy was put for his nap. As soon as little miss Haana's school got over, we got to work. There were eggs to be beaten, ovens to be preheated, cake pans to be lined, and cakes to be baked. There was work to be done. And all before the boy wakes up. Somehow little miss Haana and I got through it without even breaking into a fight once. Soon, 3 cake pans with perfect looking chocolate cakes made it out of the oven. Meanwhile Bobby's Krithi aunty texted that she'll stop by in the evening. So we decided we will wait for her before the cake cutting. 

As always Raj had gotten surprise gifts for Bobby boy on his birthday. One of them being new clothes - smart shirt and pants with suspenders, complete with a bow tie! Bobby boy was changed to his new birthday attire (not birthday suit after all!). Krithi aunty, Karthik uncle and Varam stopped by. And we all huddled for cake cutting. A 3 tiered cake, decorated with whipped creme toppings and with exactly 1 candle on the topmost tier. Just like the best sister little miss Haana had planned!

It was a fun evening with more gifts, toys and clothes! Bobby boy and little miss Haana- two most special babies ever!

Banana Chocolate Cake

Usually when little miss Haana and I cook together, it starts off like a fun excercise! This will be a fun, bonding experience. But in reality, it stresses me out aplenty.

I usually stress out about making a mess in the kitchen- the counter tops and the floor. Then i start snapping at little miss Haana at what I would claim is her sloppiness. Then she gets upset. Then i feel bad. Then i go up to her and try to win her back with a 50-50 chance. All this rollercoaster drama happens while also working on the cooking task. Sometimes i try to remember what Papa said to me- she's only 9!

Last week, though was different. Little miss Haana was home on spring break and decided she wants to bake. We had found this chocolate banana cake recipe and on the counter 3 bananas were rushing to go overripe, perfect for the recipe. There was a catch though. Dad had to go out for some work, I had to cook dinner and I had a contractor coming in that evening, and I expected to be working with that contractor in stead of helping and monitoring little miss Gugu. I told her to wait for Papa to get back, but she couldn't wait.

So she got her stepping stool so she can work on the counter, and got cracking. I was directing and helping her briefly, but soon, the contractor showed up and little miss Haana was now on her own to make sense of the recipe. 

She worked at it with care and precision, and next thing I knew, ahe only needed my help with placing the cake tray into the oven! 

She continues to astonish me, by being outstanding. At the same time, I am not surprised that she's outstanding! 

Badmaash

Hindi word badmaash translates to bad, rogue, naughty. It fits Bobby boy.

When i call him to come, and he's on the floor, he goes crawling a few spaces. Then looks back to make sure I'm following him or coming to get him. Then he giggles in excitement, turns around and quickly scuttles away laughing. All the while he's laughing while he's running away.

And he's a trickster too..

When he's riding on Dad's arms, and I come close, he appears like he wants to come to me. He moves his arms towards me. I feel like 'Oh, my baby wants to come to Mumma'. Come 'ere Bobby, i think as I go and try to pull him to into my arms. Just then, at the last minute, he giggles and turns around like he changed his mind and he's very pleased about that. Not coming to Mumma after all! He does this very often and giggles all the while.

Badmaash Bobby!

Skills

New skills have recently been acquired by my little Bobby boy. 

After having scooted and crawled around the house, sometimes at astonishing speeds, my little baby boy is taking steps. Sometimes he reminds Dad of the Walking Dead series, the way he walks. But nevertheless, the boy is walking.. and getting more stable and faster at it by the hour!! 

Another news, in time for his first birthday, he now is not just a gummy boy, 2 bottom front white teeth are poking out finally. Sharp as scissors, and not quite all there yet, but they're spanking new in the gummy neighborhood!! Luckily so far, Bobby boy doesn't seem too fussy or bothered. He's chewing down everything he can grab, but that's always been the case! 

New skills and tools heading to the first birthday!

Family Dog

My little Bobby boy likes to keep his plate clean. He is generally curious and will taste anything he is curious about. He's also generally good with eating. 

But he also believes that anything he doesn't want to eat at that moment must still be cleared off from his tray. So once he's done eating, he sends all the remaining pieces hurtling down to the floor. Then the looks down from his high chair to make sure they didn't somehow get stuck somewhere, and did after all make it all the way to their destined places on the floor!

We have tried to tell him "No throwing food", in many different ways and tones of voice, but it has never stuck. He just looks at us with interest, with careful observation, then without batting an eye lid, sends the food on its way down. 

Since he's mostly eating solids, most times, his food is actually tasty too.. cheese, pancakes, grilled cheese, dosa (rice and lentil crepe), steamed carrots peas beans etc. When I crawl under his high chair to pick up the bite sized pieces Bobby boy threw away, I find myself occasionally popping them in my mouth. This has generally been a satisfying experience till it occured to me, clearing up the floor of fallen off food is generally the job description of the family dog! 

I am (being) the family dog!!!

Brave Triplets

Remember the movie Brave? The 2012 Pixar movie about a Scottish princess, who is impulsive, rebellious but also brave! And then there were her 3 brothers. Triplets, crazy naughty and rotten to the core! I have one of them!

Remember what the triplets looked like?

Here's what they looked like..

And here's a real life, crazy naughty, rotten to the core boy I found with me today...

See any similarities? 

 

Throwing Game

Most games that kids force their parents to play are a drag. Especially after repeating them a million times over. 

These days little Bobby boy's favorite play is to throw things and watch them tumble down. Certain things like his burp cloth don't go without a fight. They are really good at holding on to the bed. Those have to be dealt with with persistence. Others like the yellow dino is easy peasy. Just take him by the hand or head to the edge and send him in his way rolling in a hurry! 

Then there's food too. When telling Bobby boy repeatedly not to throw his grilled cheese down on the floor, little Bobby eyes regard us with interest and mild curiosity. Twinkling eyes blink at us. Holds the gaze with focus, and then, without blinking, throws another piece hurtling away towards the floor! 

No boundaries. No regard for anyone else. No repercussions. And nothing anyone can do anything about. This must be paradise for him! :-/

Chocolate Boy

We moved to our new house in 2nd week of January, 2021. On the 8th. There are some places little Bobby boy really likes in the new house. One of them is the pantry.

As soon as he sees the pantry door open, he scuttles towards it quietly. Thinking, 'If I dont make any noise, no one will notice me'. Once at the pantry, his first order of business is to take care of them cans. Normally, they are nicely arranged in a can-organizing-shelf. But little Bobby boy is not going to have any of that! He takes out as many cans as he can, sets them free from the clutches of the shelf, and sends each one of them rolling along on is way. They're then found is various corners of the living room. 

But on a recent endeavour, Bobby boy found  something else too. He found an interesting looking box. On closer inspection, the box opened and revealed several curious brown pieces. Little hands picked up the pieces and regarded them with interest. They seemed slippery and melty too. Let's taste them! Ooh, this is good! Soon brown gooey stuff was all over little Bobby boy's fingers, hands, clothes and face. Mumma found him this way, with chocolate all over him and inside the mouth!! "Chocolate boy!!". There's no record of how many pieces disappeared that evening!

Tasty Snow - Take 2 (Spoiler - Not so tasty anymore)

After the fun filled sunday, the entire landscape had changed into a winter wonderland. But monday morning wasn't all that rosy. When I went to take a shower, water pressure was painfully low, finally trickling to a stop. No water! Anywhere!! Oh no, this couldn't be happening!!

What can we do? Brought in a few gallon jugs of drinking water we had in the garage from the last camping trip. Checked with neighbors, they had their water running, got some water from them in recycle bins. But water is needed for everything.. washing hands, dishes, toilets, cooking, drinking, cleaning, everything! I attended my work meetings while Raj fed Bobby boy lunch and we ate left overs in paper plates. I hadn't brushed in the morning. I suited up in winter pants and jacket and went to pee in the backyard in the snow - a designated bush. Then i recruited miss Haana to go get buckets full of snow from  outside to melt into water. Unfortunately snow is very fluffy and you need a lot of snow to make very little water. Things one learns! 

Incidentally, we had just moved into this house a few weeks back, and our old house was all freshly cleaned, painted, carpets stream cleaned; all ready but not sold yet. I checked with my friend in the old neighborhood, and looked like they had water and power. It seemed clear water in our house can't get fixed till temperatures get above freezing, at the end of the week. Also became clear it will be v hard to survive without water for the entire week. We decided to take a chance on the roads and on tuesday we packed up just a few essentials - kitchen utensils, bread butter cheese milk eggs; and headed to the old house with sleeping bags. 

Back in the old house: Power? Check. Heat? Check. Water? Check! All the essentials! Bobby boy inspected the empty kitchen cabinets. Opened drawers and decided he wants to sit inside the drawer. Got out of it, and then climbed back into it again! Then he took a new fancy with the stairs! And when none of us were watching him for a short few seconds, he crawled all the way to the 2nd floor, all by himself. So proud of himself he was! Giggling all the way! 

Little miss Haana spent lots of time at her cousins' closeby. Played in the snow with her neighborhood friends. Even though the old house had no internet, and her chromebook died without the power chord, her time was well spent!

Bobby boy took on another new fancy - riding on Papa's arms. Vantage point, light house view. Who wants to crawl on the floor anymore! 

By thursday evening, water came back in our new house as inexplicably as it had disappeared. Packing and back home again. Temperatures are still below freezing for another day or two. And many many people are without power and heat in this cold. There is so very much to be thankful for indeed. 

Tasty Snowfall

This has been a crazy crazy week, and it is not even over yet. 

We saw record low temperatures this week. Snow was in forecast starting saturday night. Little miss Haana's school was declared off due to very cold weather on thursday. Then, it was a planned student holiday on friday and monday. Little miss Haana and her best buddy Rushi had been planning to have a sleepover during the long weekend. However those expectations needed to be reset. Temperatures were going to plummet on saturday with snow and treacherous road conditions starting saturday night. Instead, her friend came over for a playdate during the day on saturday. 

Sunday morning, anything was white and flurries were fluttering in the wind outside! Wow! For a while we enjoyed our Sunday morning viewing the outside from the comfort and coziness of the inside. But by the afternoon, it was clear, we have to get out and enjoy the snow. I pealed little miss Haana from her laptop, on video call from Rushi; to go outside. There was several inches of snow everywhere outside! And flurries still floating in the air. We played with snowballs, ran around, traced footsteps in snow.. went to the playground and played more with snow! We passed few other folks like us, walking in the snow or playing ball outside. We waved them hello. My fingers were seriously hurting with the cold now, and I couldn't wait to get them back to warmth. Bobby boy missed the action cause he was taking a nap.

Later that evening, it started snowing real hard. Raj had decided to grill chicken (not my idea) and little miss Haana wanted to play in the snowfall again. Surely Bobby boy wouldn't miss all the snowy action! I geared him up till he was a michelin man and then took him out to the backyard in the falling snow. Raj and Haana were playing snow-soccer.. where you start by kicking the soccer ball in the snow, and then just kick the snow instead of the ball! More snowball fight ensued. Snow angels were made! Bobby boy observed it all. I held up some snow to his face. I had bundled up his hands so he couldn't touch it. I held up some fluffy white snow by his face in stead. Of course, he wanted to eat it! It seemed like he thought it was interesting. 

I thought Bobby had somewhat of a lukewarm response. He was quietly observing our snow ball fight and the falling snow, but wasn't wanting to go dive into it. He was content to be in my arms. In the cold, his nose was leaking, so I decided he and I must head back.

As soon as i got him in, he protested! Took him out again, all complains are withdrawn. Hmm, so he does like the snow. Wants to stay out?! After few more minutes we finally came back inside. Little miss Haana made hot chocolate for all of us, all by herself! 

Bobby's first snow fall. It was tasty!

Reosens

Miss Haana made me a card awhile back which lists the reasons she loves me!

They are, and I quote:

" Reosens why i love you:

1. Your kisses

2. Your hugs

3. Your jokes

4. Your love

5. Your smile

6. Just YOU

7. Your pitis (spanks)

8. Your playing

9. Your looks

10. Your games

11. Your laugh

12. The point ,  YOU ARE THE BEST!"

Isn't sweet little miss Haana the sweetest girl in all of the town!!! 

Lion King

These holidays have been different. We had been looking at new homes on and off for maybe a year. My wish list for a new house was a compound of different things, some expressible, quantifiable, some not. So on and on we looked,  not quite finding the right match. And then suddenly, we found a house that seemed to check all the boxes and then some! Fast forward to the holidays and we have been packing for moving into the new place. It is very exciting and also very exhausting. I've been so anxious about getting everything done in time for the move, all the sorting, cleaning, organizing, packing. Been sleeping for barely 4 hours last several days, and that's not usually how I function. 

Other than the obvious plus side, of the beautiful new house we get to, all this packing has pleased someone for a whole different reason. 

Let me introduce you to the king of the jungle here. In the vast jungle of odd things and boxes - small, medium and large, there's but one king. He roams fearlessly, prowling around the forest of all things. If he finds something interesting, he doesn't hesitate, he rushes, even scurries to inspect at close quarters. He tastes everything. He makes his own path from between boxes, from above piles of clothes and below plastic bags. He explores cabinets, with first hand climb all the way in kind-of experimentation. He owns the place. He's free to roam, and he likes it this way. 

Thanks to the packing, there's stuff everything and we're much too busy to enclose him in a play pen, and then entertain him too. Some things we may not be going back to. Hmm..

SJDF

Same jacket, different baby.

Mumma moves on! 😜

Little miss Haana is Oct 2012, one year old. In Bled, Slovenia.

Little Bobby boy in Jan 2021, 9 months old. Back at home eating a pompom on my mitten!

Joy of Holidays

Miss Haana did the below write up for her school on the joy of holidays! :-)

Joy is reading her writings!