nice weekends part 2 and because i don't wanna forget - part 4

No, we didn't manage a completely anti-social (it just means NO socializing and not something more serious) weekend.


We had a super get together of M's side of khandaan in honour of one of the mausi's visiting Bangalore from Ambala. That was Saturday evening, of which the morning was spent mostly doing nothing major, except jhadoo-pocha and bartans (amma was on chhutti again, but she is back today!:) The father had a ball bathing the l'il guy who now enjoys his l'il tub the way he should! Splashing about, playing with his toys and getting his father so drenched that you would wonder who was bathing who! :p

Before this M also whipped up some nice pasta for breakfast. This time we did away with Tomato flavour and added spinach instead and the joint effort was absolutely yummy! :)

Yaaayyyyy!!

The evening party was at the maha-fancy Palm Meadows. The place is absolutely gorgeous with pretty duplex homes, well manicured lawns, nice roads that you can walk barefoot on and fancy lamposts. You get the idea. Cubby was thrilled to just see the amount of space and really cute love-birds kept as pets at home. He even went and gave them chips and was talking to them quite earnestly! :)

Who wants to play catch with me next?!

Then his bua found a ball for him to play with and his party had officially begun. He was running all over the lawn chasing the ball or the people who were holding it! People kept coming and after a long time we saw the puraana Cubby! The one who doesn't shy away and cling or doesn't start crying seeing new faces! He ofcos didn't want to be carried by all and sundry, but other than that he was at ease and had lotsa fun.

Kahan hai bhai chocolate?! :p

This was what Cubby was trying to say as he dug into his V daadi's purse who had lured him on her lap with promises of chocolates in the purse! ;)

There was a live barbecue too which was being handled really well by M's young cousin and another cousin and soon yummy starters were making rounds. M was busy managing the drinks for people, while I mostly ran afta Cubby and made small talk with people.

We were back home by midnight and Cubby was fast asleep.

Sunday dawned (??!!) late and we were all up only post 930am. Then lolling on the gaddas and such timepass happened. We were tempted to do last week's repeat and go have the buffet breakfast at Isys in Jayanagar. But then doing it too soon and often will make it boring. So Paranthas were decided on. This time it was paneer and capsicum! Name suggestions, anyone?! :p

Cubby started with pouring water into the flour for which I hollered at him. But then the l'il guy wanted to knead the dough and he did it too! It was totally cute! Don't belive me, look here! And don't ya dare start with I am a Hitler thing! My voice is like that. Ok? OK?! :p

Paranthas made and had, bathing session happened again while I did the bartans. A l'il bit of sleep for Cubby and small fight for us and the evening for already there.

My mom has NO clue how to do this! Child labour office anyone?! :p

I had picked up some stuff for Cubby from PE People which turned out to be a size bigger (yeah! me a loser mom! :p) and we needed to go to exchange it.

Here's Cubby insisting on carrying the bag! The school bag effect?! In a weeks time already?!

Whose bag is bigger, huh?! :)

The shop is pretty big and they have kept stuff like small slide and those magnetic slates and chalk board etc to keep kids occupied. Cubby had fun while we shopped. He even had his first Trial Room experience! :) It was really strange doing that for the first time. You suddenly notice how much the l'il baby has grown up. For him, he was amused seeing himself in those huge mirrors! Oh! To be a kid! :)

Arre darwaza toh Band karo Mummy! :p

Anyhoo, shopping done, we went to Total Mall to do some ghar ka shopping and see if we find a decent pair of floaters for Cubby. It was fairly comfy and we headed over to try this place called Serengetti in Total Mall.

Drink toh theek hai, khaana kahan hai?

Now the place is themed like an African jungle with trees all over the place and a huge fake elephant at the entrance. Cubby got scared to start with, but then M managed to soothe him and soon we were set to have you dindin. Yummmy tandoori chicken (oily though; since when does tandoor require OIL? Weird) and some tandoori fish was ordered and for a change Cubby wanted to eat his fill too. It was a cute sight seeing him sit on his high chair and sipping on his canned juice and trying to get fish on his fork and acting all grown up! :p

Cheers Mate! ;)

After a small bout of crying because he was just too sleepy, Cubby slept off before dessert came along (we skipped the main course completely!) and we headed home wishing the weekend went on just a l'il longer.

As for the because i don't wanna forget moment (ofcos I hadn't forgotten! hehe), this happened on Saturday at the khaandaan party:

Cubby's concept of God is pretty much identifiable with Gampati Bappa (Lord Ganesh) and he doesn't know Goddess or Devi. Our Puja Ghar doesn't have any and we simply are not temple people.

Anyhoo, so Mama's house has this gorgeous brass figurine of what looks like a celestial being. Maybe not goddess, but defi not human variety.

Guess what Cubby called it when he saw it the first time?

Gampanti AUNTY!

I was yet again floored by his logic and the fact that he understood the statuette had something to do with heaven's above. I had a hearty laugh and so did everyone else who was around!

hai naah BIDWF kinda moment?! :)

I know this weekend sounds pretty much standard, but it's moments like these that make them special and fun! Check out this video too! :) This was weekend where Cubby made us smile and get teary eyed with such ease that it seem unbelievable that life existed before him! :)

welcome to adulthood!

Isn't 18 supposed to make you old enough to vote and get a license?! Cubby turned 18months yesterday and he is already such a grown up l'il guy! I did his post just 20days ago, so I really don't know how much fodder I have for this one, but heck, it's a tradition I wanna follow as much as I can. Till I can!

So here goes my sweetheart!

You talk CONSTANTLY. I mean there is just no stopping you anymore. Just yesterday you made your first "sentence" by saying keep it and this morning you said Give me! Phew! How do you remember just about everything we say and do?! If not words, its gibberish, but there isn't a moment of silence with you around! :D

You love pointing to things you have learnt to show you KNOW! So nose, chin and chashma (chamma) is touched all the time. You keep pointing to objects and people in the book too. And more often than not you are right.

The new body parts learnt are elbow (ebbow), palm (pamm) and feet (feett). I didn't know you knew which are your feet and was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

You absolutely LOVE dancing now. I mean you always did, but it was pretty much limited to hand movements, now we get to see feet moving along with the hands and an occasional bum shake too. Its so totally cute. Every time I go to plug in the hands free so that we can listen to radio on my phone, you go Nusee (music)!

You have now started understanding your senses. A spicy thing eaten is followed by the word Teeka or a hot touch makes you say Garam or Bisi immediately. Nimbu is khatta is also a familiar term by now. The other day you were climbing stair and held the railing for support and exclaimed Bisi (hot) sending us into peals of laughter! You are such a nautanki!

And yes, the climbing of stairs that started last month is a totally loved activity now. We are more than happy to NOT carry you up three floors. HERE"s how you do it! :)

You have become quite religious now. We see you standing in front of the Puja room and starting a conversation saying "Bhagbaanjeee!" It so adorable. You keep saying gampati Morya and Ganesha. These days you sit with Papa to light an agabatti (agarbatti) every morning. Papa says a cute prayer for you saying "Bhagwaanji mujhe buddhi do, shakti do. Mujhe accha baccha banao taaki main sabki madat kar sakoon" and the works. You just sit and listen, quite amused! :)

Namaste is not so uncommon anymore! You either fold your hand (in your own weird way) or just say Namaatte. Sometimes its both or neither! :) Handshakes are offered on rare occasion too.

You initiate your own games sometimes now and don't mind yanking your mother's chain. You insist on calling a cat bhoo and then top it up with a super naughty smile that says "Do what you can!' And every time I tell you it's a cat, you say Bhoo even more forcefully. i would have believed it was genuine confusion if i didn't get the SAME smile everytime! :p You do the same thing for Horse and Donkey!

You recognize a lot of animals now. Some of it gor cemented by our visit to Bannerghatta national park and that deserves a seperate post by itself. You love Zebba and Hippo. Elephant is called Eyetaya, dunno by what logic. You also point to Sea Otter saying c otta. I didn't know that before the book! :p

last month I was telling you your name and you almost got it. Now you confidently answers Gabbi Je when asked what is your name. And we though Kabir would be a simple name to pronounce! :p But I loved the fact that you associate the questions with the answer.

From putting bartans in the sink and clothes in bucket you now throw kachra in the dustbin. Not the best place to put your hand, but you are learning to do it pretty propahly!

You love chocolate. You like dark chocolate too. You share my 85% dark Ghiradelli Squares! The moment you see one in my hand a chant of chocetay starts. You now say bedde when you say bread in our plate and if in a good mood have some too.

You quite like doing video chats now and went ballistic screaming Ajoba when we spoke to your grandparents recently. You are very amazed by the fact that you can see them and try and touch their faces to point to their nose etc. Occasionally a neighbouring kid would be there too and you remember them so well.

You keep pretend calling someone or the other on our phones. Mostly it's Amma or ajoba. It's so much fun to see you talk so seriously holding the phone on your ears.

You want to try doing everything on your own especially wearing socks. You give up too easily though! :p

Potty training is finally being attempted a little more earnestly. You now tell us Pattty with scrunched up face, so high time we start making use of this. Telling us when you wanna pee seems a few months away. Can other working moms pls tell me how they toilet trained their babies? Amma doesn't seem to take it as seriously as we would like her to!

Feeding you is little better now. Major distractions are still needed. Plus you not the one for passive ones like TV or story! So we rack our brains everyday about something you can do sitting in a place while we shove the spoonfuls down. Let's see how things go.

You ask for "Goddi" a little too often now that you can say what you want! :p Major crying happens on refusal but I am hoping "its just a phase!" What would parents do without this phrase?

You can now recognize and say necklace (neckk-laace), earings, rings (ringa) and bangles (banga)! You love saying Paisse, we dunno why. You grin when you say Bhaisaab and say subzi like saabji! :p There are so many more words you have started saying that I don't even remember them anymore. We see you try to repeat every word so earnestly and they all sound like music to our ears.

Oh! And you have finally started to share! You don't look too happy doing it, but a request saying "Please give it to whoeva," you almost always handover the said thing to the other kid. You call yourself Goobaa (good boy) after that! You can be a brat sometimes, but thats normal I am guessing.

All in all, you are a complete joy my love! What do you have in store for us this month you big boy? 18 months and all! An year and a half! Already speeding towards the really big 2! :)

have fun dude! :)

PS: Am too tired to add pictures after THIS post! So make do pls! :p And i have given the link to a video! So that should make up!

a Brilliant week and Cubby's lucky friday at 13th!

This post comes almost a week late! Cubby completed 13months of existence on 20th Aug and whoever said 13 is unlucky must be kidding. Its looking like by far the most promising month of his l'il life till date! :D

So here goes what transpired in the last 31 days!

You have taken your first baby steps!!! YESSSSSS!! While mommy sat in office, getting bored, she called Papa to check whats happening. Papa asked me, "did you see the video", and i said "what happened?" There you were on walking online, (You can watch the video and say verrry cute) taking your first unsure steps with SUCH a proud look in your eyes! Before I knew i was crying! My colleague came running wondering whats making me break into tears in the middle of afternoon. You keep trying to repeat the cat every now and then and seems more confident with every step. Way to go sweetheart! :)

You are saying some intelligible words now, sweetest of which is still Papa! I love the way, you go "papa" and then your papa fondly replies saying "Bolo beta". All of this is said in a sing song tone with both of you using your softest voice. (Papa has been threatened with divorce if you don't learn to say Mamma in 15 days) You have taken to repeating some words. The favourite is pussycat which is said like pussycada or something. Apple which is called Appue. You say Pappu when mommy is singing Pappu Can't Dance Saala. And Bookk. It's all so darn CUTE!

You love applause. You hate to perform without audience. Even now when you are taking your l'il steps, you fall down and wait for us to clap for effort made. If we don't, you start clapping yourself, looking at us to make sure we follow suite!

You have officially and totally given up on toys which keep languishing in their box. You would much rather play with all the bartans. The empty plastic dabbas, my kadchis and kadhais. You try putting one dabba into other or spoon in the katori (i wonder why i spend a good 125bucks on buying those stacking buckets!). Every morning and evening our kitchen looks like it has been hit with tornado.

You love showing that you recognise stuff (or maybe i just like seeing you know!). So when i say Mask Uncle and Mask Aunty you look at the masks hung at the entrance. Or the butterfly on the door. Mickey, Pluto and Winnie who adorn the bathroom tiles are also given a wide smile of recognition. Nose, ear etc are still being resolutely ignored.

You have become a little too aggressive for our comfort. Throwing toys from a height, banging things, answering back in your own baby sounds when scolded. We are hoping this too shall pass!

You resist EVERYTHING new. You don't wanna drink from glass. WE tried for a week to feed you with glass and you tshirt had more than you. Now we are taking it easy and trying to teach you to have water with Sipper. You create a major ruckus while being fed and mommy daddy have a tough time trying to figure out something NEW to distract you at every meal.

Of course that doesn't stop you from eating what we are eating. Nothing is too spicy for you. You eat a kadak onion pakoda, but you try to throw out small pieces of cooked carrot in your khichdi! You love eating biscuit etc with your hand and making a complete mess of the house while you are it. Yet again, healthy stuff like raw carrot is given a cold shoulder.

Potty training is being attempted. On lucky days we might see coupla peeing sessions and an actual potty too. But most times its a big dud and you are still to understand su su = potty. We live in hope of course.

You have started taking bribes to give smiles. You don't need shiny gift wrapped packages. You only need a chocolate chip biscuit. If not that, even Parle G will do. On rare occasion that you cry on seeing new people at home, we quickly handover a biscuit to said guest. Soon you are, literally eating out out of their hands!

You can REALLY cling now when you in the mood. Papa can even cook with you in one hand now! Mommy is still l'il more heartless and lets you cry while she finishes job at hand.

How could I forget? We can now say Teeth and not just tooth when you open your mouth. FOUR in all and it makes you look all grown up. Thanks to homeopathic dawai being administered all the time, teething has been a smooth sail.

You enjoy playing in water in your own little tub! We put some toys and you enjoy splashing around and we enjoy spending those minutes with you. It gets difficult at times to get you out, but it's not impossible, as yet.

There is so much more you do and watching you everyday, I just keep counting my blessings and say a little prayer for you! :)

Here's something a very dear friend did for Cubby's birthday. He sent it to us only now and am quite kicked that someone can take so much effort to do something so creative and personal.

Amen! ;)

Last week, I got my first opportunity to give an acceptance speech when Quirky Indian thought my blog was Brilliant while calling me a high octane Mum! That's that then. My identity is indeed Cubby ki Maa and I am not complaining.

In all my modesty I ofcos accept and it being my first award and all, I am thrilled! Here goes the rules for this award;

This award is for blogs whose content and design are brilliant as well as creative.

The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere.

1. When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back

2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design.

3. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’

4. Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).

5. And then we pass it on!

So here goes my list of favs many of whom must have already got it more than once!

Swati - who speaks her heart and mind with equal ease.

~nm - whose creativity keeps giving me serious complex ALL the time! She even made my blog header!

Vidooshak - aka M whose blogs give you a slice of life with a dose of cynicsm and humour - a true gemini trademark

Grimescene - another v.v. brainy Gemini whose posts have you thinking, awwwwing or ROTFLing if such an expression exists.

Mamma-Mia - I call her my namesake, but she is leagues ahead in terms of creativity and sheer imagery she can create with her magical words. Must read!

Mampi - her tongue in cheek humour and her innate sensitivity when she writes her serious posts have me hooked.

Tazeen - her witty and satirical commentary of whats happening in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world will make you think furiously

Preethi - her cheeky tales will have you in splits! she really WRITES!

Preeti - The spunky Dentist with very cool attitude. Wish she would write more often.

Aren't ya all winners very very kicked?! :D So like the QI said, spread the cheer! :)