Just Another Work Meeting

Bobby had been a germ magnet! Last several months he's been gathering new germs with a cadence of what seems like every other week. 

Last week Bobby did not go to his play school, he was under the weather. So it was a week of juggling work, while caring for him and not getting enough sleep. 

Here's what happened one afternoon last week:

It was late afternoon. Bobby and I had had our lunch and it was time for his nap. I put Bobby to sleep and headed into my meeting. He was ok for sometime, but then I heard him cough. More coughing, almost non stop for sometime. Poor thing i thought. I came back and picked him up. Poor thing was tired of coughing and crying. I picked him out of his crib and sat with him. Put vicks on his back and feet and on his little baby nose. Then i told him he needs to go back to sleep. He didn't want to go back to crib and wanted to stay on the bed.  So, i put pillows all around him, covered him with a blanket, set baby sleep music on the speaker and told him to go back to sleep. After this I headed back to work. I had another meeting to get to. 

For some time it was all quiet in the house. Then after about 30 minutes, i heard a door close. Then, i heard another door open and close. Then another voice in another room. Then, some shuffling... soon the little boy emerged, looked me in the eye from the study door, and ran away. I continued talking in my meeting and pretended i didnt see him! More noises came from another part of the house, and soon the boy came strutting back. This time i was intently talking to a collegue. That's when Bobby came to the study and said "Mumma, i have poopoo". "I have poopoo Mumma", he repeated, just in case anyone on my meeting had not heard it.  I was deep into a conversation, so in stead, Bobby proceeded to play with the curious looking buttons under my desk. I have recently gotten a stand up/sit down desk, so the buttons under the desk are all curious play things for him. Suddenly, while i was in my work conversation, i noticed my laptop was not charging anymore. Then, it started charging again but my monitor went dark suddenly. Then it came back momentarily, only to go dark again. The badmaash boy was under my desk turning buttons on and off. Soon, the boy decided to sit on my chair behind me, but in that process hurt his leg. It was time for me to go off camera and speaker, and wrap up my meeting!

Just another regular work meeting with a twist! 

Fall Concert

Back in the summer little miss Haana had auditioned for a strings orchestra to be a violinist in it. Her teacher Mr. Lucas and she worked on the audition pieces for several weeks through the summer. We sent a video recording of her playing the audition pieces right on the very last day.. and then we waited.

And waited. And waited. Finally I couldn't take it any longer and I emailed the chairman to ask if she made it or not. And then with baited breath, waited some more. Then, i got the reply back. She's in!! Miss Haana was longing on the couch on that lazy summer day when I screamed to her that shade it in to the orchestra! We were delighted!! 

Orchestra practice started in the fall, every sunday. But she practiced at home almost every day.. no more reminding her to practice. Now she was practicing on her own non stop!

A couple weeks back her orchestra performed their first fall performance. I had never heard them perform together before. She was dressed in a black lacy blouse, back pleated skirt, black socks and shoes; and took her place amongst the violinists. I had never heard the orchestra perform together, only her practicing solo at home. It was such a wonderful experience hearing them perform together, sounding so different as an ensemble!! 

I am so proud of her!! 

In Case You Get Lost

I have a new GPS with me now. Lemme tell you about it..

Last week picking up da monsters from school, I picked up little Bobby boy first. Then we headed to little miss Haana's school to pick her up. As soon as I turned on the street leading up to her school, Bobby boy spoke up "We going to Gugu school, Mumma!". I was surprised he recognizes the street!

Then, last weekend, little Bobby boy and I went to the library in the morning. The road to the library passes little miss Haana's school on the way. As soon as i turned on the road to school, Bobby boy spoke up again, " We going to Gugu school Mumma". I said yes! On our way back home, listening to some music in the car, I didn't turn into our community, and went on straight. Bobby boy realised what was happening and immediately spoke up. "Mumma, where we going? Not going home Mumma! Mumma!". I was so surprised! He realized I didn't take the turn I should've taken to go home. What is he, a GPS? I reminded him he's a 2 and half year old baby. "Be a baby now, Bobby! Be a baby!", I reminded him! :-D

Track Meet

This week was the first ever track meet for little miss Haana at school. 5th graders from several schools in the school district will compete in several games. It was going to be fun!

Little miss Haana was really looking forward to it! She had been so psyched about it, last week every day after coming back from school she was either going for a run or skipping rope or doing something to prep for her big track meet. At PE last week they had selected a small team of these 5th graders in every category. Little miss Haana was in Standing Broad Jump aka SBJ (like long jump but you jump from where you are, there's no running before jumping), softball throw and 100 meters run. Little miss Haana was bummed she was not in hulahoop team. I didn't know there is a hulahoop team! 

This week, the day arrived. She went to school with a sack lunch and 2 bottles of drinks - water and water with electrolytes. Raj and I went over after our morning meetings to the high school stadium where the track meet was being held. 

It was a beautiful fall sunny day. Cool with the wind but wonderful in the sun. Little miss Haana was not in the stands, she was out of the other side of the field for the SBJs. We went over and sat in the parent's stands. We cheered for their school as other races proceeded. Meanwhile Ms Petrie came by and showed us a video of little miss Haana's SBJ and said she was really really good! Music to my ears!  After some time, it was now time for the 100 meters race. We cheered for their school in all the runs. But then it was time for her 100 meters run, we were so charged up. The school's track record so far had been far from great. But as soon as the run began, she was off like the wind! "She's so fast!", another mom exclaimed. Both Raj and I stood up, screaming to egg her on. It was delightful to watch! She was fast. When she finished, she won a gold for the 100 meter. Later we learnt she won a gold for the standing broad jump as well!! Neither Raj not I could go over to the school for the awards ceremony. But little miss Haana returned home that night with 2 gold medals! So proud she was! Almost as proud as me :-) 

Next to Gugu

Little Bobby boy has been sick. It's been going on and off for weeks now.. the reasons have varied. He's had a persistent cough for months now. Few things have worked. 

But as a result sleeping arrangements have changed. Lately little Bobby boy and little miss Haana (all of 11 years little now) sleep on the bed with me. I typically sleep in between them both, primarily to avoid them climbing on each other. Instead they climb on top of me. 

The other day, they were both on bed and I was working in the night. When I came to bed, little miss haana was fast asleep on one side and little Bobby boy was next to her. Seeing me, he batted his eyes and said to me, "Mumma, I want to sleep nekshh to Gugu. I wanna be neksh to Gugu Mumma", he repeated for good measure. I thought that was so sweet! I settled in in the bed and switched off the lights, with him being in the middle between little miss Haana and I. 

After a few peaceful, sweet moments, I heard little Bobby boy grunting. "Mmmmhh". Then again, "Mmmmghhh". I turned around to look. Little miss Haana had turned and her arm had landed smack on top of Bobby. And he was trying to free himself of the arm, but wasn't able to!! I moved the boy out of the arm's reach. And all was ok momentarily.

Next night at bed time i asked little Bobby boy again if he wanted to sleep next to Gugu or next to Mumma. This time, without hesitation, he answered "Nekshh to Mumma"!

Book Fair

It was book fair week at little miss Haana's school last week. Just like the last year, little miss Haana made a list of the books she wanted to get from the book fair. We capped it at a certain budget and she made the necessary adjustments to her list. Last Friday she came back home with the new books she'd bought from the book fair. There was a few fiction books for her, a fancy mechanical pencil, stickers and then she had gotten a book of Trucks, Fire Engines, Dump Trucks and Bulldozers for little Bobby boy!! 

Aww, how sweet and thoughtful of the big sister! I fussed over her and attempted to give her kisses that she dodged as usual!

Getting Glasses

After postponing for weeks i finally got little miss Haana for her eye exam after school today. She'd been complaining she has trouble reading the board from the back at class. At least part of the procrastination was due to dread. I had been convincing myself that she's complaining for no reason, her eyes are fine. And I didn't want to be wrong on this one.

Well, of course i was wrong. Very sadly so. And little miss Haana needs glasses. She's near sighted; very slightly so. But at this age, it could progress and get worse, so the doctor told her some tips she could use. I am so bummed! Why is this happening! :-(

I used to have glasses. Power of (-3). Got them when I was 15. They were horrible. Having something on your nose all the time, keeping them with you like a crutch. Then sliding down my sweaty nose all the time, or my eyelashes rubbing against the glass and getting it cloudy ever so often. It is a running joke with Softy mausi, nana and nani.. I used to throw and break my glasses when I would get into a fight with Softy mausi and was very mad. In impotent frustration. As a punishment to self for some unexplained angst. For existing, perhaps. I used to get new glasses way too often. And I used to hate all of them. Hate the feeling of being dependent on this inanimate object sitting on my face, every moment of the day. I know its not a big deal, and it doesn't even qualify as a real problem. But in my mind i resented it, warming up later to only treat it as a nuisance. A necessary nuisance. 

I hoped and hoped little miss Haana doesn't need glasses. So beautiful she is. My golden girl. And now behind glasses. So foolish I'm being, I know. Maybe it's my fault with genetics after all. Anyway, she's fine about it. If anything she's bummed she couldn't get them today. 

Oh well.. 

11 Year Old Now!

As is tradition, we did a treasure hunt at little miss Haana's birthday party. 

See if you can figure it out!

Spoiler.. this one was fancy earrings!!

On to the second treasure:

This one was a journal she wanted but I refused to get it then!

On to the next treasure:

This one was a custom journal hidden amongst my paints and other at supplies!!

On to treasure 4: 

Treasure 5:

This one was in a pair of fancy earrings in my office drawer:)

And that was that..

Too Hard For Bobba

Since little Bobby boy started going to his preschool, and since little miss Haana's school started, I've been picking up both little miss haana and bobby boy from their schools together. The other day, as is my usual routine, I picked up little miss Haana from her school first, then headed to Bobby's school to pick him up. After we picked him up, Bobby boy said he wanted to drink some paani. I handed him his dinosaur sippy cup. This sippy cup religiously stays in my car in the hope that some day it will be called upon. Today was its lucky day. Bobby boy drank water from his dinosaur sippy cup. When he was done, he wanted to keep the cup back into the cup holder. But he couldn't reach the cupholder. So he did the most reasonable thing. He asked little miss Haana. "Gugu, can you keep dinosaur paani. It's too hard, for Bobba!". Since little miss Haana was distracted, he repeated the last line at least a couple of times before both she and I paid attention. "It's too hard for Bobba! Its too hard for Bobba!". 

As soon as little miss Haana and i heard it, we instantly melted! All the way home, we repeated that line on an endless loop, trying to get just the right tone and pause. But i dont think we got it down perfectly! Little miss Haana and I then argued about who should get to squeeze those sweet baby cheeks ince we were home!! 

Because it was too hard for Bobba!!

The Stories

Little Bobby boy has been listening to stories. He also has been weaving some of his own for me!.  

Lately when you ask bobby boy to do something, he usually retorts with an indignant "I'm doing it!". For instance at home when I ask bobby to come to me, he says " I'm coming!", but actually he is continuing doing whatever he was doing, and is not coming! When i ask him to go to the bathtub for a bath, he'll say "I'm going to the bathtub", but actually he just wants to hang out around the house in his nakedness (I do love that! Lol)! When i ask him to come inside from the garage when we just drove in from somewhere, he'll remind me " I'm coming Mumma!", but actually he's hanging out in the garage and is not coming in at all! There are so many such examples... too many stories the little Bobby boy weaves for me!

Walmart

I like my neighborhood Walmart. It is well kept, and is well stocked up on milk and groceries. 

The other day little miss Haana and I went to walmart together. We each had our walmart wish list, but then invariably we find other things we now want, that have never been in any lists! Little miss Haana found a sleep wear set she really really really wanted! I looked at it. It was cute looking. But then I noticed, it wasn't the right material. It was long sleeve polyester, hence for cooler weather, but the pj bottoms were tiny shorts. I told little miss Haana I'm not getting it, is just not very useful. She didn't like my answer. She was irritated. I paid for our stuff and had to do a return, so I stood in the returns line. Little miss Haana grudgingly came up to me, and was still very upset. She said "I'm going", and left me at the returns line and was off. I was irritated by her reaction too and did not so much as turn around at that time either. 

But once the returns were done, I turned around and couldn't see her anywhere. I thought maybe she's lurking by the car, so I went to the car to offload our purchases. She wasn't there. I came back into the store, I expected her to be by the cashiers. But she wasn't anywhere to be found. I went back to the parking lot and checked the car inside too. Nowhere to be found. I now realized I am unable to find her anywhere and a sudden panic hit me. I went back to the store, up and down the cashiers. No sign of her. I called up Raj, he said he'll come to the store and look for her too. I was talking to Keith and told him I can't find her too. 

Then as I was going back through the aisles we had been, didn't see her, then I went back to the cashiers. That's when finally I found her. Walking around and then, seeing me, coming towards me. I was so so mad! But i didn't say anything. I just called up Raj and told him I found her. Pinged Keith and told him she's found. 

We came back home and Raj met us at the garage. Asked her why she behaved this way.. I asked her if she felt all those emergency texts we get on the phone, of child abduction, are they happening on another planet? No, they're happening around us, in front of walmarts. I was so scared, so mad and also so relieved, all at the same time - I could hardly say much. 

Summer Break

Little miss Haana's summer break this year has been somewhat like her - whimsical, creative, some prepared agendas but plenty of room for surprises and explorations. Here are some of this things miss Haana spent her time on this summer:

Gardening flower bed - Miss Haana did a project at school that got her interested in growing her own vegetables. This was back in spring. We made a couple trips to the nursery, but didn't get anything. Then I found a youtube video for building your own flower bed. Papa and she made a few trips to the nearby lumber store and for supplies to build it all. Over the next few weeks, they built the flower bed, got several bags of soil and mulch, laid it out, got seeds and finally planted them later in the summer. We now have a few small tomatoes plants that have tiny green tomatoes hanging in there, 2 okra plants growing crazy, several cucumber plants but no cucumbers yet, a couple basil and an Indian variety of basil called tulsi, I got from the temple. Miss Haana has been diligent about watering them through the scorching summer.  

Wooden toys - Everyone month we get a package for miss Haana that is a project for her to build. It's called a tinker crate. These are science and engineering projects, with all supplies included. She loves them and it is quite cool. One of these crates came with an ad for a woodworking project. I thought we could try that. We now get packages every month with pieces of wood and supplies like nails, hammers, screws and even paints and stickers for finishing up. Last time she made a lime green quarry truck (after some frustration).. it was promptly adopted by Bobby boy!

Violin orchestra - Miss Haana has been learning to play violin for awhile. Last year I had an idea that little miss Haana might like to play violin as part of a team -an orchestra. But last year I didn't do anything about it. This year, I got my act together. We downloaded the required music she needed to play for the audition. I spoke to her teacher, and they practiced the pieces for several weeks. Finally, on the last day for submission, she recorded videos of herself playing the pieces required for the audition. And then,  we waited. And waited. And waited. Several weeks later, we got a response. She made it into the youth orchestra! Super excited!! We texted her teacher, and he was really pumped up too!! 

Animation and editing - Little miss Haana has been drawing quite a bit lately. Occasionally on the laptop too. But over the summer I let her loan my laptop and she got adobe fresco software on it. Then she found a course offered by one of the artist she really liked online. We bought the course and she enjoyed every bit of it! Suddenly she was practicing all day on the laptop and coming up with really expressive faces! Seeing her progress, i finally relented. We created an instagram account for her to post her art work on. Her handle is suhaana.balak. Do follow her!

Animation - in June, I had an opportunity at work to recognize and celebrate my team and what they were able to accomplish. I thought of doing something funny and creative. I thought I will check with little miss Haana. I told her I want to do a video with animation using avatars for my team members. This was her turf. She told me about this website that can help with that. She worked the entire day or two, helping me make the creative content, edit and put finishing touches on everything. It was a big success at work, and everyone loved it!! Big thanks to my new intern, although she now says I owe her $$!

Hang out with grandparents - this year we had something that we hadn't had for last several years due to covid. Grand parents. My parents came for just one a month in the spring. Over the summer Raj's parents came to visit. Bobby boy loved hanging out with grandparents and so did little miss Haana. 

Combat training - Over the summer I had little miss Haana try a class for combat training. I wasn't sure if she'll like it or will it be intimidating to her. They practice skills that will be useful in real life situations using a combination of martial arts and street fighting elements. The school I found teaches krav maga- a style of combat training used by israeli military forces. Little miss Haana liked her initial class. I signed her up, but I was still waiting to see if this is something she'll stick to. It's been a few months and she still really likes it! I'm glad!

Loving Bobby - Little miss Haana hanging out with Bobby and playing with him has been one of the highlights of my summer! Every evening she would wake him up from his nap by entering the bedroom with a resounding "gooood mooooorninnng!!" (Even though it would be 5pm or so).  And then she'll pick up a feather and rub it in his face saying "feather in your face! Feather in your face!". And for some bizarre reason, the boy will sit up in his crib, just woken up from his nap and laugh out loud!! They are an odd bunch, aren't they!!

Bambaid

Little Bobby boy has being watching as little miss Haana put bandaids on her boo-boos, and soon after, it gets all better. He's also observed when little miss Haana helps Mumma. When Mumma gets hurt, Haana puts a bandaid for Mumma so she feels all better soon.

Now, since little Bobby boy is a big boy now and he knows things, he wants to help too. So when i get hurt, Bobby boy asks me, "Bambaid? Want a Bambaid Mumma?". Then,  he takes it upon himself to go to the bambaid drawer and get one for me. He gets plenty of fanfare and "Oh, my sweet baby!!", from me!

This week Bobby boy got a boo-boo himself. Now he's a big boy. So even though little miss Haana put a bambaid for him, Bobby boy decided this is something he has to do himself. So he went back to the bambaid drawer, found another bambaid, ripped it out from its packaging and put it on. At first, the bambaid wasn't put on just right. He needed to get just one more bambaid to make it just right. I'm not sure how many bambaids were sacrificed in this process. All i saw was a wasteland of bambaid packaging and a content and satisfied Bobby boy. Well, at least the boo-boo will heal. I put more bambaids on the grocery list!

Doodles

Little miss Haana's doodling at our neighborhood coffee shop Dragonfly Coffee House yesterday.

Look Don't Touch

Little miss Haana is the master of art and crafts of all kinds! This summer she spent on many many different projects. But somewhere in between her projects, little miss Haana made this special sticker to be stuck on top of Bobby boy's onesie. It says "Stop! Your germs are too big big for my little body! Look, don't touch".. Not really advice one can actually follow!

Bobby thought it was too curious to let the sticker stay on his onesie anyway. 

Sleeping Dragons

Why do babies look so utterly cute when they're sleeping? Look at this one looking all so peaceful. His sister likely taught him to look so sweet and innocent.. 

Makes me wanna squeeze them like a toothpaste tube. But I don't. Only because i know what this toothpaste tube can do to me when he wakes up unhappy :-/!!!

So i admit defeat and let sleeping dragons sleep :-)

Open House

Gone are the days that I used to blog about whatever I feel like about miss Haana and bobby boy. These days, little miss Haana lets me know when a blog entry is needed. Such was the case earlier this week. But first a bit of a catch up of events.

Spring of 2021 we had found Bobby a nanny as I had returned to fulltime work. Anna was a 17 year old then and amazingly responsible. She used to watch bobby at our home. Always coming in right on time. We loved her! Little miss Haana used to love hanging out with her during summer; drawing, baking or talking about art supplies! She very much became an extension of our family. But come fall, she joined college, and her hours no longer matched ours. From fall'21 until spring this year, our luck with nannys was not been great, to put it lightly. Fed up with the uncertainty of nannys who have been way less responsible than the 17 year old Anna, I decided to find a playschool for Bobby boy. We toured multiple places, finally settling on a small play school with small class size. 

Then came the next challenge. Introducing Bobby boy to his school. It was a rocky start. He didn't want to go. And heart wrenching to drop him in the morning. I was questioning the whole decision process that led up to this point. It was this way for a good 2 weeks.. and we were ready to pull the plug on the play school, when it suddenly looked like bobby boy was not so unhappy going to school after all. And just like that suddenly he was happy going to school, meeting miss Theo, and playing with other kids. 

A couple weeks back was bobby's school's first Open House, where they invite parents to come in and see their child's classroom, have snacks, play some games and meet with the teachers. Guess who was most looking forward to it? Little miss Haana! 

Then the day arrived. And we all climbed into the car. Bobby was pleasantly surprised to go to school in the evening. We met with bobby's teachers, and did a scavenger hunt in their class room. Once we solved it, little miss Haana ran out to the hallway to get the prize for the hunt. Meanwhile bobby showed me the school bus and the fire engine he really likes playing with in his class. We hung out and talked to his teachers before heading out to the hallway too. There, we found little miss Haana was already on her way getting a face painting. She was on her way to be a tiger! Next to her, was the balloon station. I decided I would like a butterfly balloon. For Bobby of course!! Meanwhile little Haana had become a tiger. A pizza eating tiger, that is. She'd found the pizza station on her prowl! I got some cheeze balls for me, I mean for Bobby. Bobby wanted to be in Papa's arms and eat cookies in stead. Soon little Haana had gotten herself and the boy some ice shavings. And I decided to try a emerald green colored punch they had there sitting on the table. It was delicious and paired well with the cheese balls. More games in bobby's classroom, talking to the playschool owner and bobby's teachers. And soon it was time to head out. I took my punch glass and cheese balls and sat back in the car! It was a good and fun open house! First one for Bobby!

Nap Routines

Nap routines are all wonky lately. It's summer time, so little miss Haana is not going to school. And with all of us on home quarantine and not working due to covid, the sleep and nap times are all over the place. And, not to mention, some of us are getting too smart for the rest of us. 

This was Bobby boy's nap time routine today: 

I started working this week after a week of been out due to covid, and so I've been busy during the day. Bobby boy is still not going to his new school yet. I took a break from my meetings just as Papa was putting bobby boy for a nap, it was almost 3pm - way past his nap time already. I gave him tons of kisses and put him down in his crib. Monster ball, blankie, doggy dog and Bobby boy were all happy to be together in the crib for nap time. Instrumental nap time music on low volume. Check. Drapes blocking most of the light. Check. Bathroom door closed to block more light. Check. Me silently slip away. Check. Success! I went back to work in the study. 

Not too long after, I heard Bobby boy talking loudly to himself. I ignored him and went about my work. After sometime, I heard him cry. Not angry crying. Just low wailing.. he was calling out, "Monty bally! Monty bally!" (Cry). I melted when I heard that. Oh my poor baby! His monster ball must have fallen off. Oh my sweet baby. Poor thing is looking for his monster bally!! Awwwle! - i thought this as i rushed to the room. And as i suspected, he was standing up in his crib, looking down at the monster ball that had fallen off outside the crib. I got my poor baby, and picked him up. Picked up the monster ball, and reunited them. However, something was wrong. 

As soon as bobby boy was out of the crib, he gave me a satisfied smile. "Paani! Want paani", he said. I found his green sippy cup for water. Then, next he pointed towards the bed. "Bed? Bed?"  He asked. I knew it was more of an intent than a question. So i put him on the bed. As soon as he got on the bed, he rolled around a couple time and giggled! I didn't like where this was going.. this didn't look like nap time anymore! What's going on?! Also, had the monster ball fallen off the crib, or was she been thrown down to set all of these actions into motion, I wondered..

I leaned down and asked him to come over to me, "Come Bobba! Its neena time! Come!". He reluctantly walked over to me and said, "  Papa? Go to Papa?". 

"Papa is in office, Bobba", I lied straight faced. 

"Go to Gugu?". 

"Gugu's sleeping", more lying. She was very awake and working on her art work.

"Pati! Go to Pati" (paternal grandma)

"Pati is gone neena too". This was almost true, or rather soon to be true. 

Now, run out of options, Bobby boy decided he might just spend the afternoon with me, so he said "Come! Come on! Let's go", and started heading towards the bedroom door!

There was no way of getting him back to the crib just yet, so I let him get away for a few minutes. Will try and catch this wild thing in a few minutes..

No Hugs For Me

Life is a desert without love. And it is painful not being able to express love. 

Today, for the last 27.5 hours, I haven't hugged little miss Haana, kissed her, given her a pat (pitti), cuddled with her or generally tried in various ways to squash the living daylights out of her at the pretext of a hug. I haven't done any of those things. I haven't even touched her. And it feels like everything is missing. It sucks. Although, maybe suck is a bad word. I'm not super sure about these things. 

27.5 hrs ago I tested positive for covid-19. So did Raj. Little miss Haana and Bobby boy are ok so far and I hope that stays that way. 🤞

Bunny Close to Cars

We've had some fun trying to catch bunnies in our neighborhood before (http://roadtohaana.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-sharp-and-curious.html). Yesterday little Bobby boy and I were out for a neighborhood walk when we noticed a bunny at a distance. As soon as Bobby saw it, he took off running in the grass.. chasing after the bunny. Shouting. Pointing his baby finger. "Hey bunny!! Come back here."

The bunny didn't even run in a hurry, just hopped around just a few steps ahead of us.. swerving this way and that, never disappearing into the tall grass or borrows. Bobby boy and I took to running behind the bunny.. "Hey! Wheyugoin?", "Come back here bunny! Hey bunny! Come back bunny! Come here bunny bun!", "Come to mumma bunny". The last one might have been me! 

But soon the bunny turned and was running towards the road. I was watching bobby boy so he doesn't run to the road. But Bobby boy warned the bunny "Hey bunny! No goyee close to cars"!! I heard that and i was like Aww! My sweet Bobby is so thoughtful!

Funny Business

Today, little miss Haana, Bobby boy and I were getting ready to run over to one of her evening classes. We were running very late. Bobby boy had just gotten up from his nap. I picked him from his crib, told him about going out in car, and he gave me his pleased look. I managed to get them both loaded up in the car, and hurried over to her class.  

Somehow we made it, eventually. Little miss Haana headed to the class while Bobby boy and I headed to the in the waiting area. Bobby boy first scouted the area from the vantage point of my arms, directing me to go here, then there. Finally I gave him a snack and deposited him next to me on the couch. Soon the boy was out and about, exploring and dodging me. 

There was a little girl on the other side of the waiting area, exactly Bobby's height. As soon as he saw her, he pointed her out to me. "Look! Baby!" He shouted in excitement, finger pointing the little girl. She didn't pay him any attention; neither accepting nor denying his existence. 

Soon Bobby was the self-designated greeter for the place. Everyone coming in the door was greeted with a resounding hello! And a wave! Then they were educated about where miss Haana was.. "Gugu! In class over there!", he said. I don't think everyone registered who or what gugu was supposed to be. 

Then, when he was done greeting the new comers, he went back to greeting his new found friend, the little girl. He insisted on calling her baby. "Baby! Come! Come over here!", he waved to her to come over. "Baby! Look Gugu over there!", he pointed in the general direction of the class. When the little girl ignored him and was going in the other direction, he yelled, "Hey, Where you going?". Soon, I heard - "Come Baby! Come to Mumma", he pointed to me. Looks like I was being introduced to his new girl. Is that what was happening?! Momentarily a few new people came in through the door, and Bobby boy was back to being the cheerful greeter "Hello!! Hi!", with a friendly wave. "Bye, see you morrow ", to all those who were leaving too.

As soon as the class was finished, we were ready to leave. Bobby boy continued his one sided conversation with the new girl - "Bye Baby! See you soon! See you morrow"!! I shared all the details of what little miss Haana had missed during her class,  and we both agreed, there was indeed some funny business going on back there!!

Ba Ba

The other night Bobby boy was laying in bed with me. Lights were off. It was way past time to sleep. I was gonna let him sleep on the bed with me. Too tired to move him to his crib now. Boy wasn't asleep yet. He was moving about, making noises. Typically he does his usual throw the monster ball off the bed, then look at it with longing, and call to it. He looks on concerned, like he was on a boat at sea, and monster ball fell off the boat surrounded by sharks. After calling to his monster ball a few times, he would usually turn to me to get up and get his ball, in stead. He gives quite specific instructions like- get up,  go there, get monster ball. These are repeated with increasing volume until i oblige. 

But anyway, on this night, we were past that. Lights were off. I was about to drift off when the boy started singing to himself. 

Ba ba bla she, hai u ayi oo,

Yeso yeso, too baa oo,

One for mater, one for day,

One for..

By the time he finished i couldn't believe it! So cool! When did this happen? Bobby boy is learning, he's so smart! I was delighted! Time to grab the boy and smother him with kisses!

The Sharp and Curious

It's almost dark. Temperatures are back at the tolerable levels.. cool and pleasant now. Outside, the wind blows and soothes the heart and mind. The trees are swaying under the lamp post. An occasional sprinkler goes off with a hiss. It seems like a beautiful, peaceful evening. But don't be lulled.. cause something sharp and curious lurks in the darkness. 

Suddenly there's a scream. What was that??!! A finger is pointed. And the sound of 2 feet scuttling away in urgent haste. I turn to look at what the commotion was about. I see not one, but two pairs of feet. The tall one, silent, takes off like a cheetah. The short one pointing, screaming and running towards seemingly endless grass.. The feet change directions. Go this way then that. Faster now.. but then, as suddenly as it all began, they slow down as they come to the edge of tall grass,  and stop. Hesitating. It seems they lost the chase. Little miss Haana and Bobby boy, chasing down bunnies around the neighbourhood.. Looks like they were outrun this time. But not out done. Bobby boy is still pointing his finger at the tall grass where the bunny disappeared at. Little miss Haana, looking even taller, lurks next to him.. straining to see a flash of the white cotton tail amongst the darkness and grass. 

The verdict is clear. This one got away. But curious eyes are already scanning the surroundings for others. And soon, the duo is off running away again. Both little miss Haana and Bobby boy; as well as the furry things are off jumping away in the dark. 

There's Something in the Night

Little miss Haana's poem - There's something in the night...

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter egg hunt is a big deal for me. I'm not a very competitive person am the time, but there's something about easter egg hunt that presses my buttons just right!

Last year we had not wanted to go to egg hunts with too many people so little miss Haana and I set up our own egg hunt, and had Jinu aunty, Kirthi aunty and Varam over. That was a fun day! This year we thought we can hit up an egg hunt in our town, very close to us. On the day, I asked miss Haana to retrieve our egg baskets from upstairs, one for Bobby, one for her. And then prep up Bobby boy so he doesn't let me down during the egg hunt! She demo-ed to him how he was supposed to grab the eggs and put them in his basket. It was hard to say but it looked like he got the gist.

We had our breakfast and all of us were off for the egg hunt - Nana, Nani, Miss Haana, Bobby, Papa and I. The egg hunt was in a super small park that had a gazebo in the middle and eggs all over the grass. We waited at the flag with baskets ready and Bobby chomping on the bit to go. Soon the hunt began. This one was for ages 1-4. And in stead of ages 1-4, all parents jumped all over the eggs and flooded the tiny park. I was scared to loose him. Thanks to little miss Haana we managed a fair share of eggs.  One of the eggs had a coupon from a nearby candy store. So we headed there to spend my money. Since the egg hunt finished so quickly, we headed to the nearby rose garden. It was a good day, and we played around eating candy we just bought. 

But my itch for easter egg hunts was not sufficiently scratched. Next morning,  on Sunday,  a soon as I woke up, I started looking if there were any suitable egg hunts we could still go to. Not too big, not too small, just right. I found one egg hunt in the nearby church, but it was going to start at 945. It was kind of early for us. But it would have to be, I thought. It is now or next year. So I sprung into action. Little miss Haana was already up. Made her her morning milk. Then started on swift breakfast of egg sandwiches for everyone. Raj started on the eggs. We all cut corners to get ready in a hurry and get to the car. Nani stayed at home. We reached the egg hunt barely 5 minutes before starting time, ran from the car, and made it to starting line with 2 minutes to spare. Bobby boy started dutifully putting eggs he could reach into his basket. I told him "Not yet Bobby!", we hadn't started yet. At that, he moved the eggs from his to miss Haana's basket!! 

Soon they rang the starting horn, and I egged Bobby boy to grab more eggs and put them in the basket. He was moving at glacier pace, but he still got his basket full. Miss Haana who was swift as a bunny by now, returned with her basket full too. Satisfied, we headed to the petting zoo. Bobby and I patted the sheep, llamma and the bunny. Bobby boy spoke at length to the goose, saying "Hi goose" repeatedly. Miss Haana held little chicks in her hand! They were so cute! 

It was a good egg hunt, and we had a lot of fun! Now it was time to head home and open our stash of eggs!

Second Birthday

Late March this year was a milestone. Little baby Bobby boy turned 2! It is a big deal!

To celebrate with him, I had taken the day off. In the morning, after planting loads of kisses to Bobby boy, and after he had played at home with his Papa; he and I left to meet Bobby's Godfather Keith. We had breakfast together and then went to Playstreet museum. This was a place for little kids to play with blocks, tubes, mini shopping carts and cash registers. There were all kinds of fun things. Bobby played with all kinds of things. He watched other kids as they played. He insisted of returning cars to other kids' mom's. Then ended up finally fixating on cars, trucks, school bus. And then there was dump truck, his favorite. After playing for quite some time, it was time to head home. It had been a fun, fun time! 

At home, Bobby boy ate some chicken nuggets and soon headed for his nap. Soon little miss Haana will return from school. She and I had work to do. Our plan was to make a 3 tiered chocolate cake for cake cutting that evening. Somewhere in there we managed to have a quick fight and then make up as well.

In the evening,  we had some company. None of the grandparents had seen Bobby boy since he was born. All due to covid. But now, on his 2nd birthday, both sides of grand parents had travelled from India to celebrate with him. In the evening we had Tata, Pati (paternal grand parents), Nana, Nani (maternal grandparents), Kirthi aunty, Karthik uncle and Varam, and Jinu aunty, all together to celebrate Bobby. Bobby boy was delighted to be the center of attraction and to play. After cake cutting, we had cake and ice cream. Bobby boy picked out and stole chocolate chips from the chocolate cake, and stuffed them in his mouth. He wasn't fooling anyone though, cause soon his whole mouth was brown!

We played games and ate. And soon it was time to call it a night. 

The celebration for Bobby's 2nd birthday continued though. Little miss Haana and I had invited few of her friends over to celebrate Bobby's birthday in the park on the coming weekend. We decided we will bake and decorate our own cupcakes for the party. 

It was a beautiful sunny, spring morning. I had fresh cooked muffins on the trays, ready to be decorated. Little miss Haana, Nani (grandma) and I got busy icing the cupcakes. Little miss Haana, who knew her baking thanks to cooking shows and a summer spent in numerous baking adventures, showed Nani and me how its done! Three generations working on cupcakes!

When we got to the park, we hung up the baby shark pinata, put up other baby shark decoration on the picnic tables, and set up baby shark paper plates and napkins! I put on coco melon and baby shark songs on the speaker! Bobby heard them and giggled in delight! We had only 1 guest who was Bobby's age- miss Siyona. She was the guest of honor. All the kids hung out at the party ground and enjoyed the day. Soon, it was time to break the pinata. All miss Haana's friends took turns and it was only after several tries from all of them that the pinata gave in. All the candy was recovered, looted and divided amongst the kids. Bobby boy stole all that he could. 

It was a great birthday for Bobby. 

April Fools Day

I had a feeling something is brewing late yesterday evening. Little miss Haana told me I had no idea what's in store for me tomorrow. "Tomorrow is a Friday, what else?", I wondered aloud. She gave an ominous laugh. Later she was making some lists and whispering urgently into Nana's ears. 'How suspicious', I thought. 'What is it tomorrow?'.

This morning has been so strange! First, my usual alarms didn't go off early this morning. (I keep 3 different alarms in quick succession, and still sometimes manage to sleep through haha!). Luckily I had to answer another call, I had to use the bathroom. I would've been surprised not to find my toothbrush anywhere, but late last night Nana had told me my toothbrush is hidden behind the air fryer in the kitchen... in a tall jar of water! Things were about to get stranger still. 

I went to the study to keep my personal laptop back and found something looks missing.. My work laptop was gone from the table. And with it, the charger too! I looked in all the cabinets and drawers and found random things relocated in random places, but no sign of my laptop or charger! 

Prepping breakfast, I found a bowl of cereal in the freezer! Frozen fruit loops? I don't think so! Also, they had something in there.. pepper! Pepper in frozen fruit loops! What in the world is going on! 

While I was discovering these strange things I had a trick up my sleeve too! I shook up little miss Haana awake with my usual "Wake up sweet baby, it's 7 o'clock. It is time for school". She demanded to see the time, but I distracted her, telling her I'll show her the time when she brushes, gets ready and come for breakfast. In fact it was only 645am. For reference - in the race to get to the school on time every morning, 15 minutes is an eternity! When she was having her milk and enjoying my surprise at pepper in fruit loops, I asked her, "Did you like my April fools surprise?". She asked "What?", innocently. I showed her the time, it was barely 7 then. She wasn't super impressed, but I revelled in my limited success, before trying to goad out my chargers' location!!

As she was leaving for school this morning, she warned there were more tricks up her sleeve today! I wondered what else is in store for me. Just as she left with Dad, my phone alarm finally rang. "YOU'VE BEEN PRANKED", my phone screen yelled! No kidding!!

Later I found this note on her table...

Coco

Little Bobby boy has a best buddy. It is Coco! Well, i call him Coco, cause that's the show on TV that Bobby loves! The little baby's name in the show is JJ. But I like Coco better, so around here, he's called Coco.

Coco is the best baby ever. He listens to his parents, never fusses about brushing his teeth or changing clothes or taking a bath. He's even thinking about potty training now. So obviously Coco is fictitious! Real babies are much much different,  not naming names here! 

On his 2nd birthday Bobby boy's Godfather Keith gave him Coco. Bobby loves it. So now not only does Coco goes to bed with Bobby boy,  along with Monster ball. But also Coco must be tucked into the blanket with him!  :-)

Sweet babies! Bobby is mumma's Coco! 

An Ode To Mini

A long time ago, before the kids, before I married, before a lot of things, I bought me a really cool car! It was the first new car I bought. It was my Mini, a tiny Mini cooper,  red with white stripes on the dash, convertible. Completely automatic convertible top, and so much fun to drive! Everytime I drove my Mini with the top down, I was glad I shelled out the extra cash and got me a convertible! 

It was a unique car, fun to drive and very entertaining. I loved my mini. Over the years, little miss Haana and I had driven with the top down, on good weather days, with music on, around the town! Recently, there were a few times little Bobby boy and little miss Haana both hung out on the back seat with the wind in their hair from the convertible top open. 

When little miss Haana was about to be born, I contemplated changing and getting a bigger car. But giving up on my little mini and getting an suv just didn't seem right! We did great with the mini, and there was a long period of time when little miss Haana used to enjoy my car. All of her friends thought he mom had the funniest, coolest car. 

Lately though, she had changed her mind. It was too small for her, too hot in the summer and just too inconvenient for her. She'd choose to go on Papa's dazzling Tesla anytime she had the option to. With the years, the music system didn't work anymore. The mini was from a time before Bluetooth connectivity. And I hadn't quite had cup holders in the last decade or so. Most recently, the passenger seat would only be in an almost laying down position. 

Now with Bobby, it was evident Mini was a bit too mini now. I looked for options. Unfortunately, with mini I was thoroughly spoiled. I was sure I wanted to get a hybrid car; something that wouldn't burn gas with usual city driving, but could do so if going long distance, or outside city. Since my parents were now visiting, I decided it needed to be 6 seater at least. I finally decided I'm going to get a new mini van. A new Chrysler Pacifica hybrid mini van! 

Instantly, so much room! Its like an apartment on wheels! All the latest technology.. Bluetooth connectivity, network hotspot connection, 2 screens at the back individually connected to the internet, hands-free doors opening,  great music system and cup holders!!! Ha ha! 

In the last 4 weeks, the mini van has gone some 800 miles. And only used a few gallons of gas (that too mostly in the first few days when the battery was not charged) thanks to electric charging! 

I went from mini to a mini van! I still miss my mini sometimes, but cup holders and good music are here to stay!!

You Seem Frustated

One day last week i was really upset! It had been a long day.. Babysitter had decided to take the entire week off at the last minute. I had a lot to do at work. Grand parents had just come over from India, so there was a lot to do at home too. Little Bobby boy was not on his best behavior. He had been fussing, wanting to make a mess while eating. I was so mad! I was frustrated having to watch the boy all the time. 

My sweet and so very thoughtful little miss Haana quietly slipped away to her table and emerged only several minutes later with a paper for me. 

This (picture above) is what she had for me. A suggestion to throw the baby to a "servant" and get me some TV time. I liked the thought and the suggestion, but I told her I lake a necessary ingredient - "servant"! She suggested grand parents. Hmm.. food for thought!

Man in the Middle Attack

In cyber security, man in the middle attack is a well known attack type, where someone intercepts a message, potentially changes it and impersonates as the sender to the receiver on both sides. At sleep time, we have a different interpretation of man in the middle attack. 

I love cuddling up with both my babies in bed. Most days they don't cooperate. Little miss Haana is usually asleep before she even hits the bed. And Bobby boy moves too much to cuddle. Some days when little miss Haana and I are in the bed, next to each other and both awake, Bobby boy decides he must have a role in this picture. While I try to encourage him to come up next to me on my other side, he has different ideas. He hikes up on the bed, on top of the pillows, balancing himself precariously, stepping on my face and then getting to a foothold between little miss Haana and me. Here, then, he settles in. There obviously is no place in between. But he decides to land his baby butt on either of our faces till we grudgingly make space for him. Now, between us, he quickly slips back on the pillow, gets inside the blanket, gets his monster ball closer to him, thumb in his mouth. He's in his happy place! And so are we!!

We just got a man in the middle attack!

Sleep Time

Gone are the days that little Bobby boy could be just placed in the crib and he would sleep peacefully. Those days seem so dreamy now!

Yesterday, it was getting late and Bobby boy kept insisting on being on the bed, so I let him. But in stead of sleeping, he climbed on to the bed side table. Some decorative flowers fell on the floor, and he got down, pushed the bed-side table out, picked them up, put them back, pushed the table back. And then wanted to continue playing with other things on the table. I told Dad to put him in the crib, he wasn't sleeping otherwise. I believe my exact words were "Throw him in the crib.."!

Soon little boy was in the crib and mighty unhappy too. After listening to him complain for sometime, I finally got him out, told him it is very late, he must sleep. He can be on the bed but he has to sleep. And so we got in. But then Bobby boy realised he needed to drink some water. He must be thirsty from all that complaining, I thought. Then, he was done drinking, he wanted to go over and put his sippy cup back on the side table. Then I got him to lay down, but he complained he didn't have his blanket. I found that. Then he panicked about his monster ball. I consoled him, the ball was right next to him. Then he complained his feet were not in the blanket

I fixed that. Then I told him, in no uncertain terms, to sleep. Now.  

Looks like I took my own advice immediately, and soon fell asleep. But not Bobby boy! After putting mumma to sleep, he climbed down from the bed. It was dark, but he managed to get out of the bedroom and went across to the grandparents' room. They were already asleep with lights off too. 

Bobby boy called out at them "Tatta?! Patti?!", "Dark!", and so on. Soon lights were switched on, and the boy had climbed on to the bed, playing with the vicks vaporub bottle, doing his usual show-and-tell games! Before long dad heard this commotion from upstairs. It was 1130pm now. He came down to check and found the boy and the grandparents very awake! 

Bobby boy was taken and placed in the crib

again. I'm not sure if he complained again because he had put Mumma to sleep a while back!! Finally somewhere closer to midnight, the baby boy fell asleep!

Figure Skating

Last week we were watching the winter Olympics on tv. This is one of those TV content I don't feel as guilty about having both kids watch it. Little miss Haana decided she wants to watch figure skating. So we were checking out these very young men,  boys really, do amazing things on ice. Little miss Haana was watching intently. And someone else was too. Bobby boy was spotted behind the sofa, trying to twirl around like the figure skaters and then, giggling at himself! Papa spotted him first and then little miss Haana and I jumped up at him! "Ohhh Bobba is a figure skater too!!"! "Awwwlee!", I exclaimed!! He beamed with pride and giggled some more. Twirling too, almost falling but catching himself and giggling some more! We could not help but ooh and aah at him!

We have our very own figure skating coverage!

3D Pen

There was a time when little miss Haana would build anything under the sun, armed with her glue gun, a cardboard box and wooden sticks! She built tons of projects with those 3 basic ingredients. Several glue guns have been eagerly sacrificed at the altar of her projects and ingenious engineering. Some projects worked, some did not. But there was never a dearth of ideas with little miss Haana. 

Lately, though, a new player has entered the arena. The glue gun has been put away even! Welcome 3D pen! 

The moment it came, she's disappeared into her world of craft projects. She made herself a pair of dangling earrings first. Then a pencil box made out of filaments. Yesterday she made me a tray with 2 compartments to keep soap next to the kitchen sink. My usual soap tray has seen better days. Some of the design on it recently came off, and no matter how many times we've got glued the little bits on it, they just don't stick. So little miss Haana decided to make a new one for mumma! She made the tray sides with her 3D pen filaments. But for the bottom she used a stiff paper! I told her that just wouldn't do. I can't keep paper next to the sink, there's too much water around the sink. She was disappointed. 

But today I was looking at the test she made, and I thought it was so super cool. Not as cool and smart as my little miss Haana, but that's to be expected. She's the only one!

❤

Soap dish miss Haana made:

Sleeve Tattoos

Ever seen one of those sleeve tattoos? I've seen some that are very picturesque. I've thought of getting a tattoo myself on occasion. But I avoid needles as much as I can. I'm even bad enough not to get flu vaccine most years mostly to avoid a needle. Also, what tattoo to choose - is hard to settle on 1 image for the rest of your life. I have commitment phobia. 

But, a couple days back little miss Haana returned from school with art work all over her left forearm. It looked like a sleeve tattoo at first glance. Markers. During class. Doodling rose flowers on herself. It looked quite pretty. But during class?! What in the world!

Next day she came back with a bigger doodle! This time she assured me it was after class. Permanent marker. Black. Oh no! I lamented, it's going to rub off and ruin her new hoodie. Or worse, it might rub off on the couch! Noo! She assured me nothing off that sort will happen, while she continued adding more details into her artwork. I was hardly assured. I made her hold her arm in mid air so it doesn't rest on the couch! And then I hoped the shower will do the rest. 

Down sides of having a creative artist girl! 

Sidekick

Yesterday I was fixing to turn in for the night. I was brushing in the bathroom, when suddenly a flurry of giggles ran towards me, past me and then off it disappeared. In a few seconds the whirlwind came back again; and just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone again! 

Little miss Haana and Bobby boy were working together. Big sister was whispering to the boy just outside the bedroom door. They giggled at their shared secret. Then he ran towards the closet, carrying his monster ball, sucking his thumb, and giggling at their delicious shared secret. Then little miss Haana ran behind him, all secretive, telling him to run back towards him. And they both ran out of the closet together giggling into each other's ears. I watched this parade with questioning eyes and a toothbrush in my mouth. 

Later miss Haana quipped; Bobby boy is now her sidekick. I think that's his new name. She tells him to go run up somewhere, and the little boy, biggest fan of the big sister, is delighted to do her bidding. Runs off in the direction he's been instructed, delighted to be her sidekick. Giggling at the prospect. Prancing about in sheer happiness. Bobby boy is a prancer! Big sister Haana is happy with her sidekick!

Hair Cut

Sweet Bobby boy's hair were a bit of a late bloomers. When he was a year old or younger, he hardly had much hair on his head. But then, sometime after his first birthday, it seemed like suddenly he had a head full of hair. And they were oh so curly! Locks of springy curls. So wonderful! Sometimes I lamented he got crazy hair like mine. It was crazy no doubt. But on him, it looked so cute in a crazy, wild kind of way that can best be described as 'Bobby-ish'. 

But then lately, his hair was getting longer too. We had started making a bun for him in the morning. And I have to say, it was the most good looking man bun ever! Sometimes I used to put a white bow clip on his hair, little miss Haana's of course! Sometimes people would refer to him as a 'her', no doubt because of the bow. But I don't care.. when little miss Haana was a baby, she didn't have much hair for a long time. Even though she would be dressed from head to toe in pink, some odd person would ask me, "What is his name?"! 

I had been thinking I need to find a place where we can take Bobby for his first hair cut. But I was making no progress on it. It's hard to guess how things might go in a new place. One day, a couple weekends back, Rajesh took out his clippers and decided he's just going to do it today. Little Bobby boy was placed on his high chair and dressed in a plastic robe. Favorite thing Coco Melon was tuned in on the TV. And then, the clippers were put to work. Bobby boy didn't mind at all. Soon, a bigger looking boy emerged, with short short hair. And all the curls were gone. I looked at them with some sadness. I hope they come back, all in their curly springy wild wonder! I remember Softy mausi said she had curly hair when she was very young, but they're all straight and smooth now. I hope Bobby boy's hair don't give up on their craziness! I liked them! A lot! 

I saved one springy curl from the aftermath of the haircut. I saved it in a small zip lock bag just for me. My sweet Bobby boy's first hair cut.

Oh! Peepee

Some babies like to play. Some babies like to talk. But some other babies like to just run away!

This evening, I had just gotten Bobby boy out of his bath and wiped him dry. I wanted to pin him down, creme him up and put him in his diaper. But things rarely go as per my plan. Instead, as soon as I got done drying his baby body, Bobby boy scuttled away towards the closet. Once there, he hid behind my tall dresses, in the far corner of the closet. I figured I will grab hold of him in a minute. But before that happened, the little naked boy, crouched down and yelped "Oh!" with equal parts surprise and delight. Like one feels about a package that gets delivered earlier than expected; or you find your favorite movie or TV show suddenly available for streaming. An unexpected delicious surprise. Bobby boy exclaimed "Oh!". Then continued with "Oh! Peepee!". I turned to look, he was crouching down and pointing to a pool that had just appeared on closet floor. 

I grabbed him before things got worse, and put him into a diaper. I got a little mad at not having trapped his baby butt in a diaper before the accident. But once I cleaned up, I thought the "Oh!! Peepee!" reaction was hilarious!! He thought so too!

Guided Tour

Little Bobby boy loves going to the play ground. But he doesn't just do it all alone, Bobby boy takes his beloved monster ball along for the ride. 

Yesterday at the party ground, Bobby took his monster ball, climbed up the stairs in the playground, sat the monster ball down on the side, and pushed. The little ball went rolling down the slide in a hurry,  then flopped down amongst the wood chips! Bobby boy giggled and went down the slides himself. 

Then,  the little boy took his monster ball over to the swings. Kept the ball at the swing, and slowly and gingerly pushed the swing. The ball flopped down in stead. 

Bobby boy proceeded to show the monster ball other fun things around the play ground. The ball got a good guided tour! 

Nursing Bye Bye

This week, after all, I finally, totally, with some deliberation, stopped nursing. 

I had planned and hoped to nurse for 1 year, same as for little miss Haana. But these past 2 years have been different. With covid, I was able to stay at home in stead of return to work. Most technology work is now remote, so there was no return to office. So, in short, there was no big event that made nursing too inconvenient, so I just continued. Then, with covid vaccines, I figured the boy will get some protection through breast milk. Add to all that, with covid, there's been significant reduction in going out. 

All of this made is more conducive to continue nursing. 

But there was one more reason. Unlike little miss Haana who is a sound sleeper, little Bobby boy is a very light sleeper. And he's super active through the day, with constant non stop moving about. Doesn't give much of a chance for mumma to hug and kiss him. He's too busy for that showing him down. Haana was this way too, but then she would sleep like there's no tomorrow, and I would use my chance to hug and kiss her while she sleeps. No such luck with the boy, though. He would stand up in attention if he hears a creak of the door. So when can i just hold him and tell him what a wicked sweet thing he is.. And that he didn't need to be this sweet and lovely, that all his needs would've been meet even if he was less sweet, but then he decided to become just too sweet and lovely. And that he's so tiny and yet he knows and gets everything of interest to him, how?! And that he is the sweetest baby boy thing. When he's nursing was the time when I would have these one sided conversations with him. And I loved them immensely!! 

So it was kind of hard to stop nursing for that reason. But he's close to 2 and I saw some signs that he was ready to move on. Here's to the most over rated sport - growing up!

Fossil Rim Safari

Over the holidays we got together with Kirthi aunty and Karthik uncle and sweet Varam to go to the Fossil Rim safari. They provide a cup full of feed for the animals, all herbivores, and as the animals come up close to the car window, you can feed them. It was a 2 hour drive. Little miss Haana and I were quite excited. I intended to lure the animals close to the window and pet them while they're close enough. Last time we had come here, little Bobby boy was 4 months old. I remember because we saw 4 month old cheetah cubs that time (separate enclosure), and I thought they were so cute, but my 4 month old cub was more good looking! 

Once we reached we haggled at the engraved to see if we can get another cup of feed. In stead they just have us another cup to divide the feed amongst us. Little miss Haana got one cup, and I took the other. Both of us shouting out various noises to the unsuspecting mountain goats, ibexes, deer, and others from opposite window of the car. Soon little Bobby boy was interested too. He wanted to feed the animals too, but right when they got real close to the window, he was scared and dropped the feed or of the window. He giggled at this. I sat with him and I braved it, having the mountain goat eat out of my hand.. bobby boy giggled at that too. 

Soon though another thought came to him though. What does the feed taste like? Next time i turned to face Bobby, his cheeks were puffy with a minced grass or hay pellet. "Oh no Bobby!! No eating the feed!!", I exclaimed. I pryed my fingers into the puffy cheeks to extract the feed out, but was only half way successful. A small piece came out. But the rest was still in his mouth, and bobby boy quickly jumped to the back seat and away from my arms reach, defensively. "This is mine" written all over his puffy cheeks and face. I gave in. I accepted it as part of Fossil Rim adventures. 

As we went through the rest of the safari, we met several emus, for who we threw out some feed (no hand feeding to these guys), and some ortriches (close the window on these ones). 

We met a giraffe too and little miss Haana hung outside the car window to feed the giraffe the last remaining remnants of the feed we got. Bobby was much amused too. He had only ever seen a giraffe in a book or the toy giraffe he got from Keith over Christmas. This one was much much bigger! 

As always it was a good trip! The kids had fun. On the way back he had a picnic lunch. Bobby boy didn't eat much. Yet I'm sure it was an interesting tasting trip for him!

Everything Ok?

"Ouuch!", she yelled. 

Little miss Haana had gone into the study to put away her violin. She had been practicing all afternoon. In the study she had stubbed her toe against something. Dad asked from where he was, "Everything ok?". Before she could answer, the little Bobby boy dropped whatever he was playing with and ran towards the study. "OK? ok?" He asked as he ran over to check to little miss Haana. I had a cuteness over load!