i thought i would skip it!

But then a monthly update is something I enjoy doing and it's so much fun to read later! Cubby turned 17 months aka 1 year and 5 months old on 20th of Dec 2008. We celebrated in style at Pune with a lovely dinner at a gorgeous place called Khaana, Peena, Jeena. My life's motto I say! :D But then this post is about Cubby and let me rack my brains about what's new!

You have started proving the adage that kids always do exact opposite of what their parents tell others. We kept telling your grandparents, what a pain you are to feed and you behaved like an angel the 10 days we spent with both sets making them wonder what the fuss is about?! Ofcos they struggled a couple of times and didn't think we were making up stories! Phew!

You are a constant chatterbox now. We still can't figure out most of it, but you are in what I call "parrot stage". You just wanna repeat whatever we say. Considering you picked up Oh Shit! when someone passing by said it, we better watch our tongue. You tried and almost succeeded in saying complicated words like zabardasti (zabardatti) and musibat (started as musitab and moved on to right pronouncation!). Your Mama who flew down from the US taugh you useless marathi words like Yedpat (silly) and Chamya (I dunno how to translate that!). Both Chashma and Camera were Camma till you said Camea today! :) You have learnt many many more words which i just can't remember and you are already trying to make sentences too! Oh yes, aeroplane is aeopaya and you refuse to call even helicopter anything but that. Among veggies, you love to say Bainga for Baingan! Meethi for homeopathic pills which we call meethi goli! :) You finally made your nana happy by saying Ajoba and you love the word so much that you chant it very often! Everone including Aaji (previous fav word) and mama are called Ajoba!

Trying to put socks on Daadu's feet!

Your power of association and sharp ears amaze me. In our area, a lady comes to collect the kachra (rubbish) everyday and she rings a traditional bell (the sort used in puja) to announce that she is there. We being on third floor don't hear it often and have requested her to ring the door bell also connected from ground floor. The moment you hear her regular ting ting bell, before she rings the door bell and we realise she is there, you start saying Kacchi! Kacchi! Same goes for dogs barking in some far corner and you going Bhoo! A stray cracker somewhere and you go Patti. That day you zapped us by saying Meethi when papa said he will give you some Chamomilla! You actually KNEW that it's your homeopathic medicine's name. When we change you, its standard that once pajama is through your legs, I say stand up to pull it up your bum. You say "stan up" on your own once step 1 is done! Awesome i say!

Step By Step! One step at a time!

You love climbing steps now. And you want to do it the grown up way by putting just one foot at a time on the step. When there is no support to get going on all fours! It's so cute to see you do that. Plus you also love to Jump down with our help. As soon as we say one, two, three... you say Jump! Or you say it even when you want us to help you do it.

I might know nose, but i still LOVE showing my Tummy! Sigh(from Mommy)!

You finally know some body parts! Yaaaayyyy! From showing your eyes, nose and ears on your head to being able to show other peoples nose to being able to figure out your own nose, it's all so much fun! You now know nose, ears, chin and hair perfectly. Cheeks and eyes are still found just about anywhere. You also insisted on raising your pajama and showing your knees when asked where is your Bum. You seem to have sorted that out (keyword being almost!) and get tad confused with finding your knees when they are not covered by full pants that you can raise! Hehe!

It has added sugar? Preservatives? Colours? Then give it to me!

You can ask for a few things now when you see them. So you managed to successfully flick the a pen from the lady at Kingfisher check-in counter by chanting Pen! Pen! till she gave it to you! You also ask for Paani when we are having some and Bikkite (biscuit) when we are having our chai. What would i give to hear you ask for normal food! :p

Trying to read in the cab on way from Pune to Mumbai!

You love your books alright. Everyday you hop into my lap saying Godi and pick up a book. Depending on your mood, you point to everything asked correctly to not even recognizing your fav cauu (cow)! Lot of times, you point to both the pages to show the said object making sure one of them is right anywayz! :p Like your mom, you never say no. So what if you don't know or won't do that thing later!

Hurry up you slow coaches! :p Dont miss the UCSB Tee Mama got from his college in US!

You LOVE walking. We can make you walk for long time and you are happy to oblige. Once you are tired, you will refuse to move and thats our cue to pick you up. Wide and open spaces drive you nuts and your happiness is infectious when you start almost running all over the place. This time in Mumbai, you walked at Gateway and Colaba. You also entered a mall looking place on your own whim and mommy got a great bargain on some stoles out there! Following you has its own benefits! :D

You have started showing signs of throwing tantrums. You now can shed tears within seconds of being told no. You sit down without bending your knees when offended. Thats our way of knowing you are angry with something even if you don't cry! You throw things too often for our liking, but pick them up once told firmly or if we offer to help.

You have suddenly developed a bit of stranger anxiety. That doesn't mean you cry as soon as you see someone new, but you don't always go to people with smile as easily as you used to. But then again, it all depends! You also cling a LOT MORE to us and i guess it because you understand that we are not around all the time. Ofcos there are other times when we have been asked if you go to a playschool because they find you verry social for your age.

Showing his "Dhaaga" tied during the Vaastu-Shanti Puja in Pune.

You now point to your chest, when asked Cubby kidhar hai and follow it up with Idha hai! You can almost say Cubby Jain when asked to repeat.

You keep chanting either Mummy or Papa depending on who isn't there in your immediate vicinity! And the crying when we go to the loo continues.

Trying to play Foo-Ba like older kids in the terrace where his Mommy used to play!

You love mimicking us and try and do things we are doing. If your Papa is exercising at home, you try to copy him and even attempt spot jogging! :p Plus, you KNOW you are being cute and follow the copycat act with that fake smile of yours!

You can finally give a hug!! Well, almost and not always. Mommy tells you "give me a Huggie" about 1000 times and you might just oblige twice. But the feeling is incredible!!! You bend forward with your l'il arms outstretched and mouthing Uggie and give the best hugs ever!

All the people who met you this time around and gifted you toys, but saw you playing with bartans instead, have sworn to just buy you vessels rather than expensive toys! While you chucked Elley the adorable stuffed elephant and ignored the gorgeous wooden car, you were thrilled to see the kadhai rotate for endless amount of time!

You love Dhakkans (lids/caps) also known as Dhanka in Cubby speak. You love to close lids of everything in sight. Bottles and dabbas. We manage to shove a few spoonfuls of food with the help of those Dhankas. As you concentrate to get it right, we get the spoon in your mouth! When not that, you cannot even wait till we finish having paani and keep chanting Dhanka till the bottle is given to you.

You have a funny quirk where the sound Su is pronounced as Foo. So while see-saw is see-sa and sargam is sadgam, su-su is foo-foo, soup is fooppa and Suhas is foohas. Add to that Coffee is Cosee! Really weird!

How can we NOT be crazy about someone as adorable as you are?! :)

There are lot of things you do, which I cannot even describe with mere words! They have to be seen to be believed and appreciated. Your little reactions, nuances of doing things that you keep picking up, the smile that cannot let you get anyone upset with you for over 5mins, the cute gait with which you walk and the words you keep learning and repeating are a joy that I could have never imagined possible!

Rock on, Dude! :)

Love you mostest! Belated Happy 17th to ya!

just a quickie

to say that we are enjoying our vacations at both the grand parents' homes!

Dada-Daadi are done enjoying Cubby's company in Pune and we are now in Mumbai at Nana-Nani's for a few days starting today! and its been quite a ride!! :)

hope to see you on this side of the year itself!

hope all you guys having fun and have made some super plans for new year!

cheers!

move over MFH!

So, Smita tagged me to this fun thing! Ofcos, me being, technologically handicapped me, came up with pretty dumb questions till I figured out yeh MS Paint ka khel hai. You remember that programme?! We used it when we got our first computer sometime in 90's! The only thing computer was used for was to play Solitaire and PC Man, followed with Tetris in later stages and MS Paint. We were actually PROUD of our creations! Sheesh! Considering how bad I am even now, I can't even begin to imagine our efforts then!

Anyhoo, this is what the tag is about. -

You must use all the five words given to you by your tagger and draw pictures using paint or GIMP or any other photo editing tool.-

Each picture must be self explanatory when you relate it to the given word.

Each word MUST have at least one picture attributed to it.

None of these pictures should be copyrighted. By this I mean that you have to draw them yourself.

After you finish the tag, which will take quite some time; you need to pass it on to other people with a fresh set of 5 words.

I am doing a slight twist! Am going to try and add OUR non-copy right pictures along with my AHEM... creations! ;)

My words were Garden, Kebabs, Grin, Hair, Words

I hope the garden is KINDA obvious! And that's us at gorgeous Cubbon Park!!

Oh well! I Love Kebabs! Thats me (even in the "drawing") fat and satisfied afta having yummylicious kebabs at Barbeque Nation. Empty skewers are a mute testimony! :p

In Jain Parivaar there is no dearth of toothy smiles and grins! There Cubby doing his bit!







Errrr... Hair! Yeah thats what it is! Different hairstyles! And that's us giving Cubby his first haircut! Quite a momentous occassion! We feel like hair stylists n all! ;)






Words are now small ones, mostly! :) And thats ABC in Cubby's room. Not that we teach him any! Just to add some colour! :p



Hope you guys didn't fall off the chair seeing my artwork! ;)

Now the tough job of tagging others! That too come up with my own words!

I tag you peoples,

Puja - books, home, cooking, baby, friends
Mampi - teacher, shopping, movies, police, god
SnS - love, travel, dreams, celebration, food

Ok! I can't think of any more words. So, anyone else who is game, just go ahead and do it! I had a lot of fun! And aur kuch nahi toh mujhe sabko hassaane ka punya milega! ;)

of coming out and awards...

You know how everyone is a closet poet, and there is a reason, some, like me, should STAY in the closet! We scribble silly rhymes once in a while or just sing them and forget about them! But sometimes, we actually dare pen them down and mail them to friends as birthday wishes! And then copy it to the husband, who find this more than a year and a half old mail and resends it to me!

So what better to do than put it here and laugh at oneself! :) And ofcos let you guys have a good one too!


My favourite one though is one I used to sing for Cubby when he was really tiny and you know how they have ugly, green l'il butt?! I used to say


Puttt Puttt Puttt Puttt Puttt
On you little green butt
It is the little and it is the green,
It is your butt on which i do Puttt Puttt!


Ok! Dont run away, already! Just one more and the torture is over! I promise!

Arre O! itika (I was trying to cheer her up for some reason!)
You must read and learn from tales of jaataka
At times life is about getting coffee with cream,
At times it is about a few broken dreams


But let nothing keep you down
Its must easier to smile than frown
Uneasy lies the head that wears ghum ka crown
The point is to swim back and not drown

What would it be, our life?
Without a few joys and a few strifes!
Just keep chin up forever
Things will turn out just super!

I cant think of rhyming any further
My imagination is at the end of its tethers!
Hope it brought some cheer
Keep rocking Iti Dear! :P


Plus there is an award to acknowledge. Thanks a ton Monika for The Proximity Award. The blogosphere has been wonderful to me and the number of friends made is just amazing. So many I haven't even met as yet, but I know when we do, there won't be a trace of awkwardness! :)



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


I pass this on to SnS, Dee, Monika, Mampi, Mamma Mia, Sue, Suma, JaM, Devaki, Puja and Chandni.


(I know I have added more people, but agar mera bass chale toh list will be endless! So please to excuse! Take a bow ladies!;)

dabba gul!

I was going to write a post about how Cubby came into his current Ganju (bald) avtaar, but when we went for lunch today, noticed a guy opening his dabba to have khaana, and all of us wondered when was the last time we carried a lunch box!

Since I moved to Bangalore, post shaadi, I almost never took dabba simply because I would have to cook some lunch to carry. It is just too much effort! Ek baar kar lete hai wahi bahot hai! Of cos when I was in Mumbai for my delivery, I used to carry lunch to work everyday. One, it meant, healthy food and more importantly MOM was cooking it! :D

I remember in my primary school, we had two breaks. One a sorta mini snack break and second a lunch break. The snack dabba would obviously get over very quickly! :p By the time we moved on to secondary school (thats 5th std onwards), there was just one break around lunch hour. By now, we also had groups and certain friends would have lunch together. WE would open our dabbas and hope that the other person had something nicer (read chatapata and unhealthy!). Worst would be if multiple people got same subzi, esp if it was something dull like cabbage.

My mom made fresh lunch before going to work. It was unwaveringly chapati and subzi. Add to that I was a picky eater. I could count subzis I like on fingers rather than the ones I didn't like. The only silver lining was my mom is a good cook, so even sad veggies tasted nice unlike some food some of my otha friends got.

Pav-bhaji held a special place in our heart. Pav-bhaji was lunch meant it was made the previous day for dinner at some pal's place. The mom's would always make extra for next day! The person who got it would take one pav BEFORE opening the bhaji dabba, to ensure he/she gets something at least! The scene after opening the dabba wasn't a lot better than all brothers eating like uncivilised animals in Satte Pe Satta! :p

I remember buddy G who used to eat ONLY alu subzi and that too made only in a particular fashion. She used to get it at least 4 days a week. The other two days was egg sandwiches which incidentally were very yummy. Her mom used to send a whole dabbaful and we would still finish it all.

V was me thinks the only north Indian in the group. The achaar she got was always in demand and so were the parathas! :)

Once I dropped my lunch box and so didn't eat it. That gave my wicked brain an idea. If i didn't like something , I would tell mom dabba gir gaya and the food she had so painstakingly prepared would be go in the dustbin. Of cos this didn't last for too long. One day she said show me the gira hua khaana and realised I hadn't even opened the dabba and was lying through my teeth! :(

Now when I cook and someone doesn't like/eat it, I feel so bad. Now I know how much effort it takes to put a fresh and complete meal on the table. Now I know how irritating it is when you ask someone what do you feel like eating and the person says "Anything! Kuch bhi chalega". Now I know what it feels like when food you have taken effort for gets thrown in to the dustbin.

After getting married to the totally non-fussy eater M, I have started eating almost all veggies without a complain. We make them l'il more chatpata (northie style) to make it interesting. Trust me, lauki paneer is MUCH nicer than the bland Marathi style doodhi chi bhaji! My bro who swore he will never eat lauki (snake gourd) didn't even realise he was eating it at our place! :p

When we started working, someone or the other would order one extra thing from the canteen to add a little spice! Now toh only dinner is made at home and M cooks half of it and me the rest and I have to concede M is a much better cook!

Mom, this post is for you! Thank you for making healthy and tasty food for us everyday! Now when I struggle to make different breakfast everyday, I can't help but look back how you made so many different kinds and we still made faces when you made upma once in a while! Or the time we tried to "improvise" the food you made! Sorry! We were little silly and young! :) And when you ask me even today what do you wanna eat, I will still say "Kaahi hee"!

Some things never change! Love ya mom!

P.s dreading the day I have to pack lunch for Cubby!

PPS - Whats in your lunch box today?! :)

and life goes on... if only a little lightheaded!

We decided to run away from all the depressing news for sometime. Started with watching Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye on Saturday night. Excellent movie and Abhay Deol, like always, doesn't disappoint.

Didn't do photo post in a long time. Yesterday when I spoke to Papa, he insisted I do one pronto. I thought why not?! It's these innocent smiles that will hopefully bring us a better tomorrow.

This one is for you, Papa. Kabir's hair-raising story! :D

Was born with a decent mop of hair! That's what apparently gave mommy the horrid reflux!

The hair seemed quite straightforward to start with!

Perhaps a little wavy?

Till the curls started showing up bit by bit!

Before you knew it I had a curly top!

Curls that mingled into each other!

Sometimes turned into ghungralee latein too!

Everyone said my curls were absolutely adorable!

Till they became too wild to be cute!

Mom-dad went ahead and gave me a haircut!

And i looked cute even without them, curls!

The waves seemed to be getting back!

Are those fresh beginnings of curls, yet again?

Till THIS happened!

Mommy! Where has my hair gone?!

What did you say? It will grow back? Curly too?

Okie! In that case, Mogambo khush hua! :D

So, that's all new bald Cubby for you! Of course I think he looks lot cuter with hair, but apparently this helps better hair growth in future and anything for Cubby to not suffer from thin hair syndrome his mommy suffers from!

HERE's his video after the loss of hair. It's amazing how kids can express everything without saying a word! :D

Yeh sab, kab, kyon aur kaise hai, batayenge next post mein!

tab tak, padhte rahiye - Mama-mia!