chokkit bikkit and BIDWF moment!

Chokkit bikkit is the demand we hear very often in our household as the youngest member has started getting more and more vocal in his demands. He now also follows it up with OUR set of dialogues saying "Mummy office se aayegi naah, toh bikkit le aayegi aur Cubby ko degi!'


Ofcourse, he is equally or even more vocal about things he DOESN'T want to do/eat. As the terrible two's show up in all their glory the instantaneous response to anything suggested is "Naee kanoonga" or "Naee Chaaiye"! And if it's not that it has to be "Main Kanoonga!". Even a sock taken off without letting him do it is reason enough to throw himself bodily on the floor and kick up a storm. We can do something for him if he graciously allows us to by telling us in so many words "Tum kano!"


But the terrible 2's are terribly cute too. With his increased understanding and vocab he makes us smile even more often. He talks his head off all the time and sometimes we just tell him to shut up and breathe! Can't blame the poor kid, it's in his genes! :p


Now that Cubby is going to school he learning his ABCs an he loves singing it all the time and we LOVE seeing him sprinkle sugar saying"Shugga on your bedd" and then do the sleeping action and say "Betta go to bed!"


This BIDWF moment came thanks to this new knowledge.


We were sitting in a restaurant and Cubby was getting fidgety and bored towards the end of the lunch. So we got some tissue papers and he started scribbling. Then he said "Tum likho naa!" So I held his hand with the pen and we were writing my name. So I went "A B H A".


What does Cubby say very indignantly?


"Nahi!! A B C D!"


WE could not stop laughing!


He similarly stunned us by spouting days of the week and months of the year! I mean we keep forgetting that he goes to school and already has a life that we have no clue about.


The kid is growing up way too fast, I tell ya! :)


Apart from that his eating habits MIGHT just be improving. He suddenly got completely turned off by the tasteless goop he had been having for past over an year, namely khichdi and raagi. He made it very clear that he will not be eating it anymore by refusing to let even a morsel go in his mouth without having to go through a battle.00


Now he likes stuffed parathas (esp aanoo and paneen), sambhar chawal and dahi chawal. He also likes to eat just sukhi chapati. So the attempt to make him normal dal-roti-subzi etc has not yet been made. Add to that Amma makes sure that he inherits the local taste buds and often does not even TRY and give the stuff that I make and keep. That bit is getting a little annoying, but then I end up not making a big deal because at least he is eating without too much fuss. (Touchwood and Anti jinx!)


He loves colouring and now recognizes (that means past few months) all the common colours. His latest favourite is Geen cunon (colour) and he insists on having all liquids in his Geen Gaas wonly! :D


He also comes up with some funny n funky dance steps every now and then and I am guessing that is the "Schoon effect" too! :)


All in all, if you discount the omnipresent whining, life is good! :D


Considering I have done like a mini Cubby update, leme just do one tag as well!


This was passed on to me eons ago by Starryeyes - an awesome awesome blogger whose posts I just love to read for their honesty and beauty!

1. What's for dinner? M will make the subzi, me the dal. Which one, I dunno!
   


2. What's the last thing you bought? Milk and curd
   


3. What are you listening to right now? Some kannada song playing at work.


4. What do you think about the person who tagged you? Read the lines before the tag!
   


5. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be? By the beach!
   


6. What's the principle you live life by? Life is too short to sweat over small things and that ONE person can make a difference.
   


7. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Rajasthan. I desperately wanna see go there!
   


8. Which language do you want to learn? Kannada I guess and teach Cubby Marathi. My family is hounding me for neglecting his mother tongue! :p


9. What's your favourite quote? Shit happens! :)
   


10. Who do you want to meet right now? Friends!


11. What is your favourite colour? Black and Red


12. What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own closet? A nice black top gifted to me by a close friend and white denim capris my folks got me from US and erstwhile yellow capris that are now greenish yellow thanks to a washing machine disaster!


13. What is your dream job? I wish I knew!


14. What's your favourite magazine? RD and Cosmo though I haven't read either in ages. And recently Cubby's Toot! :)
    


15. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? Books and movies
    


16. What do you consider a fashion faux pas? Wearing clothes in which one is visibly uncomfortable and yeah panty lines!


17. Describe your personal style? Anything that fits! I like capris and jeans!
    


18. What are you going to do after this? Take a nap on my desk.


19. What are your favourite movies? Thodaasa Roomani Ho jaaye (M finally managed to get me a VCD! yyayy! thanks!), Lock, stock and two smoking barrels, kill bill, Children of Heaven, Chicago, Clerks, Golmaal (old and new), Munnabhai and just too many more!


20. Which is your favourite poem? I have never been a poems person. I like Cubby's latest nursery rhyme G G G og the Giraffe. Like it even more 'coz he loves it so.
    


21. What inspires you? Any and every good deed... big or small.
    


22. What do you carry in your bag? Wallet, comb, ALL my lipsticks (don't ask me why!) and keys.


23. Coffee or tea? Coffee. Never been a tea person unless its that milky n sweet n kadak tapri ki chai!
    


24. What do you do when you're feeling low or terribly depressed? Shop and eat!
    


25. What is the meaning of your name? Halo (I always have a tough time telling people who go Huh when i say halo! So then i just say light! :)
    


26. Which other blogs do you love visiting? just too many to mention here!
    


27. Favourite dessert/sweet? dark Chocolate and things made with the said item! :D
    


28. Favourite season? rainy season!
    


29. If I come to your house now what will you cook for me? Maggi? No? Ok! Omelet then! a Niice cheese omelet!
    


30. What's your current mood? I need sleep! I need a new job!
    


31. Which feature of yours do you like the most? My smile!
    

And here's some random photos from the last month!

At Lalbagh flower show this Independence day!



Cheeeeees'y' Smines at Nandi Hills!

Cubby's fake smine! :D

Cubby staring at his first "real" frog sighting! :)

The time he thought his father was a trampoline!

Till he decided to give him a short 2mins break! :p

Cubby at UB City! :) The amphitheatre is awesome and we just ignored the security guy trying to shoo us away!

The Blue Umbrella! :)

That's that folks! Have a super weekend! :)

heart became garden garden! :D

When I moved from Bombay to Bangalore, I was often asked the typical question "How do you like Bangalore? Are you missing Bombay?". I always replied saying I like this city and am not mulling over what I left behind. It could also have to do with the fact that life seems nicer when you are newly married wherever you go. (That we had our worst fights in the first 6months is actually a fond memory laughed on today!)

What made me fall in love with this city was the shades of green you could see everywhere you turned and the cool weather which is like heaven for someone coming from Bombay. Couple that with the lazy pace of life, it's a stark contrast to the city that never sleeps.

Even now we have close to 5 parks within a 4km radius which have well maintained lawns, a tiled walkers' track and a kids play area with swings and slides. Every time I go to one of them, I say a prayer that may these last the onslaught of concrete and glass.

Apart from these small parks in older areas of the city, two HUGE parks that are lungs of this place, are Lalbagh and Cubbon Park. You can easily find the history and how many acres they are spread over etc on the internet (Jai Google Baba ki!).

I remember going to Lalbagh, during my first trip to Bangalore as a tourist, many years ago! Then, I was just fascinated with the big floral clock with Snow White and Seven Dwarfs adorning it. Then next was when we went for a picnic with entire khandaan post shaadi and we had so much fun. We kept wanting to go there for the Flower Show that happens every year for about a week, concluding on Independence Day.

the first look

This year we decided we HAVE to make it to the show come what may. First attempt was made one evening when there wasn't any better plan. We were shooed away by the cop saying no entry after 530pm because it was alreadytoo crowded. So then we decided to go on 15th Aug itself. When we reached we were in for a pleasant surprise when there were cops helping the vehicles find the right parking etc. We were also shocked by Rs.200 entrance charge! ;)

and you thought Petunia was just Harry's aunt's name

Anyhow. We started moving towards the glass house where the show happens. There was a looong queue to get in and soon enough we were a part of it. It was really fascinating to see the burst of colours in form of flowers big and small. From special decorations to some just put together flowers, everyone was trying hard to capture the beauty with their cameras, mostly on phone, while cops tried to make people move asap. It was lot like going to these famous temples where you stand for hours and then get pushed out within 2 secs. We also like complete bozos, forgot to take our camera.

fool khile hai gulshan gulshan! :p

ek phool do mali! ;)

Apart from flowers, people formed another colourful collage of sights and sounds that cannot be captured on a phone camera. The atmosphere was totally like a mela.

the wine baron.... err barrel?! :p

There were stalls selling some handicrafts and mostly gardening related stuff. The Amul ice cream carts were there every 500mtrs and people were indulging having Icecreams and Ice Lollies that aren't so common anymore. We bought a lemon grass plant for M's mausi and a Tulsi plant for ourselves which was pending forever! There were people selling baloons and bubble maker sellers were blowing bubbles incessantly giving the whole place a very dreamy and fairytale like appearance.

harit vahini - Go Green! Chk out the dog resting inside!

Cubby had a ball trying to walk all over the place holding our hands. All in all it was coupla hours well spent and I am sure to go back soon. Esp now that Cubby will soon walk comfily on his own and he will LOVE the wide open spaces to run on even more! :)

And you remember I said they shooed us away from Lalbagh in the evening. We decided to make a trip to Cubbon Park. This park has lots of separate gardens and a road going through it. We had taken the road often but never stopped by at the park.

So we parked the car opposite a garden and walked in on to the lush green lawns. We had a short walk with Cubby saying our hellos to all the little kids out there (there were MANY). It was fun to see kids of every age and size doing so many different things. One had just learnt to walk, so insisted to perfecting the skill while other who couldn't was content just lolling on the grass! :)

It was one of the windiest days in Bangalore (as per the newspaper next day) and the guy selling this contraption that starts spinning in wind (I have no idea what its called. Picture below. Pls help) did a brisk business. When M said lets buy it, I told him Cubby was too young to enjoy it. M coolly replied "It's for you!" So yours truly was quite busy seeing it spin in a dizzy with every round of breeze!

THE Contraption (name pls!)

Cubby was busy soaking it all in and was quite fascinated with green grass and crows that were flying around. It was just so much fun seeing him enjoy it all.

While Bangalore has very little to offer in terms of things you can do without spending money at a mall or multiplex, these parks can offer a pleasant change. It's so refreshing and invigorating to just enjoy the cleaner air and feel at peace even with so many people around you.

Here's some of Cubby's latest pics taken by our very cool chacha who has a golden hand at shooting of another kind! Yeah! We can now call him our Abhinav Bindra! :p