just to tell you who is the better cook!

So yesterday was another BIDWF moment! Ironically, I forgot to tag previous post with a BIDWF! Hehe!


Digression + Rant

Our Amma decided to ditch us for 3 days starting Saturday without bothering to call us or inform us in any way and not picking up our frantic phone calls either. My logic is you don't come we really cannot do much about it, but least you can do is INFORM us. Even when she turned up yesterday she refused to acknowledge and kept saying there was too much tension etc. I doubt she was that tense 'coz she resolutely refused to pick up OUR phones and picked up when we called from different numbers and still didnt tell us anything clearly! gah!

Over!!


Thankfully my office is close to Cub's summer camp and I anyway tend to go there everyday for my "pseudo pick-up" and so knew that Amma had not turned up even on Monday and got Cub back to my office. Took permission from the boss to WFH for rest of the day. Had lunch with Cub at restaurant close to my office and it was a nice experience! Cub and me sharing table with two of my colleagues who kept indulging and most importantly he ate without too much fuss! Now THAT is a big deal! :p


That done we reached home. bathing and sleeping also happened without an incident. Yayy! :p He woke up after coupla hours and after l'il timepass i asked him if he wanted to eat egg - omelet, half fry, boiled egg. He said he wont mind a haaff fy.


I made it, sprinkled l'il salt and mirchi powder on top and gave it along with a slice of brown bread loaded with Marmite! (both father and son are huge fans of that yucky tasting goop! don't ask me why!)


Now when M makes a haaff fy, its not as plain is this. He adds l'il pyaaz - tamaatar and generally makes it really yummy!


So after having some of the haaff fy, he demanded "Mummy chatpata banao!" which is the expression his father uses for his own cooking. Always tells Cub "main nice aur chatpata bana deta hoon."


I said a distracted haan knowing there wasn't much I could do at this point to chatpataofy that doomed haff fy!


But kids Cub's age don't give up easily do they? Next question was "aapne fyying pan mein banaya tha naah?!"


WTF! I mean i know i don't spend too much time in the kitchen and my cooking doesn't go beyond the mundane, but i DO know that sunny side up egg is made in the frying pan.


Anyhoo! That asked and me meekly answering "Yes. I did" was obviously not the end!


Considering all his demands of making it tastier were ignored he came up with his own solution. "Mummy thoda backk pepper daalo. Phir nice ban jaayega!"


That is what I did. The child finished eating the haff fy in next hour or whatever is the usual time he takes to eat!


So now you know who is Cub's hero chez nous?!


Let me give you a hint. It is NOT the mother! :p


That apart his talk is pretty much a constant source of amusement. The "Why" phase has started too! Anything and everything and I mean EVERY phase uttered is followed with a Why?! said in a sing song fashion.


He also wants to do everything on his own and sometimes it drives us crazy. But more often than it is nice to see him getting independent! Why, today he even kept his lunch box in the bag and was all ready wearing his shoes and all to go to his summer school. Sorry camp. I kept calling it school and one day he said "Main summer camp jaata hoon!"


Yeah! Ok! Whatever! :p


I have also found a way getting some kisses from him. I call him noseychand, rotuchand, naughtychand etc depending on what he is doing. Coupla days ago I kissed him about a thousand times and said "I am kissichand!" Now Cub cannot imagine someone else being any "chand" and indignantly said "No! I am kissichand!!" I told him people who don't give kisses cannot be called Kissichands. So now I just have to say he is not one because he hasn't given any kisses and i get some kisses AT LEAST! :p


He of course managed to make it into another game and tells me to sneeze and call me "Noseychand" in return! hehe!


While he is getting cuter and more helpful his whining and crying for every silly thing is really pushing me over the edge now. I just cannot take it anymore and get angry even faster than before. I mean is it really that difficult to use a normal tone when asking for something?! Everyday I tell myself that I will be more patient, i will learn to ignore the whining but the moment it happens it just drives me insane! I holler at him and then cry. Suggestions to deal with this kinda behaviour (his and mine) are welcome! And he does seem to save this special kinda behaviour for my benefit or maybe i just get irritated faster. M keeps telling me to "distract and deflect" but I can do it only twice maybe. I get tired of it real soon! And i do want get over this as soon as I can for Cub's sanity and mine.


That said his maturity in understanding things is brilliant. And when I pretend to be sad, he comes and gives me a hug and tries to soothe me. I wish i had that generosity when he cries, as M pointed out to me...


That day he was trying to fold his book and I told him not to do it because it will spoil the book. He refused to stop and I took it from him and said if he doesn't want to keep them properly I will give it away to someone else. So now anything and everything he is using he says "It is MY. I don't want to give to someone!"


Poor baby!


This has again turned into a Cub update! I am not surprised since past few months haven't seen too much of him!



showing how he has become big and strong by eating subzi, dal and chapati! Which he MIGHT actually eat once in a week but talks about it on a daily basis!

Two in 1 / 2 in One / 2 in 1 / Two in One

Read why THIS title at the end of the post!


Ok! Now that you are back (ofcos I knew you would go right down and then come back if you wanted to! :p), let's get on with this post! I missed last month's (22months update) and the 23rd month just went by, so I better do this update. Ofcos I have been doing BIDWF forget moments so that I don’t miss out on the most precious. But its just not the same, innit?!



Frankly, I don't know where to start! I mean there is something happening every day and now that the obvious physical and verbal milestones are done, it's getting more and more difficult to pinpoint how you have changed my l'il guy. Both your papa and me realize that you are growing way too fast, but what has changed I am not so sure! Weird?! Am sure you will get what I am saying someday! :)



You are now proficient with straw and glass! You now demand "jooce" very often and like to have it out of the small tetra pack with a straw. You managed this only by like 21months which is not early, but then I never gave you bottle or sipper, so afta you were weaned off at 9months, you never had to try your hand at sucking any liquid! You now also have you milk in glass (water etc in glass had been conquered eons ago!). Ofcos making you have doodh in glass takes much longer than feeding it you with the trusty spoon and when in rush we often regress to using a spoon. But hey, when we have the time, you are equally happy with the glass! :)

Kachra goes in dustbin, not on roads! :)

You are quite a model citizen. I cannot tell you how proud I felt the other day at IFC. You ate your cheese slice, balled up the cover in your hand and asked "Dustbin kahan hai?!" You regularly put trash in the dustbin at home too. You also love to sweep and mop. It's impossible to sweep till you have had your fill with the jhaadu. Similarly as soon as we get the mop, you start saying "Main kanoonga". We wonder how long this enthu will last! ;)



You are a chalta - bolta (talking / walking) instruction manual. You just keep telling us what to do. If we sit in the car, you tell your Papa "Peep! Peep! karenge aur jaayenge!" If he is getting ready in the morning you will rattle off "Belt peheno, paise lo, chaabi le lo!" When i ask you in the morning nahayenge aur kahaan jaayenge?! We hear, "bike pe baithenge aur schoon jaayenge!" Basically the moment you see us do something, further instructions are sure to follow. I put water bottle around your neck, you will say "bag dedo!" grrrrr!

You show affection lot more often now. Be it stroking our face saying "Pyaani Mummy / Papa" or giving those Uggies often enough. It is followed by a shy smile and hiding your face. You are just absolutely adorable at such times. You also say "I duv you" on request! :)



I am quite sure that you are Energizer Bunny in human form. your energy and enthusiasm seems just endless. Just last weekend we went to Mysore and you did the 3kms plus circuit of Mysore zoo without being asked you pick up even once. You got really thirsty with .3kms left and we then carried you to exit. But we were totally amazed and are very very proud of ya. And this was after walking as much the previous evening at Vrindavan Gardens. Phew!

You started school and that deserves another post in itself. But till then let me note it down here anyway. You cried you heart out first 2 weeks while getting into the school and were coming out all smiles from day 3! You are still crying your heart out, only now it's to get OUT of the school! :) Your teacher said you are an "independent candidate" whatever that means. But apparently you are nice and obedient and don't bother your teachers much. It warm my heart to see the helpers / ammas at school doing the nazar utaarna thing with you ever so often. You are quite the charmer, arent ya?! :)



You love jumping all over the place, all the time. These days you also scare us out of our wits by standing at a height and trying to jump off without taking our help. All in good time, sweety! :) Basically you love physical masti of all kinds and its totally fun to see you having figured out "Catch" and play with us often running behind us in circles trying to catch us.



Your favourite toys are cars, airplanes, helicopters and balls. If hemmet is one obsession, balls in another. Be it in the books, in your toy box or on your undies, you just love em all. We have more than 5 balls of varying colours and sizes and you never seem to tire of them. You have figured out the kicking business too and love playing football with your Papa. If i see all the bedroom doors closed, I know a game of football just happened! :)



Going to school has got you moderately interested in blocks and playdoh as well. Earlier the fun was only in destroying whatever we made, but now you actually attempt making towers with your blocks and try to use moulds to make stuff with playdoh.



You also enjoy small puzzles... something like shape sorters actually and are pretty quick on take with them. It's fun to see you figure it all out and feel terribly proud of it.



Your Ahem! artwork is improving too. The squiggles are getting more confident and most of your pictures (according to you) are of, what else, but hemmet! :D But it's amazing how quickly you agreed that all drawing needs to be done on "noosepepa" and NOT walls and the floor. On rare occasions we do find your arms and legs full of pen squiggles, but that is expected. It is adorable the way you pick up the newspaper from the place where we keep all the raddi, spread it on the floor and start drawing! :)



You have a temper and can really throw stuff. With me, you are a little more of a rebel. Frankly i seem to annoy you to no end. The moment i say NO, you double your effort and fervor and that doesn't do my impatience any good. Grrrr!

The tee says it all, innit?! :p

You can now tease us and make us laugh. Just the other day Papa asked you "Cubby kiska hai?" and you said "Papa ka hai!" and as soon as Papa said good, you turned back and said nahin "Mummy ka hai!". Papa showed mock anger and you said even more loudly Mummy ka hai and then followed it up with "Sirf mummy ka hai!" making us roll on the floor laughing! :)



You are back to being the friendly kid in spurts and it's good to see you back in your elements! :)


Basically you are a nice and totally cute kid who tests our (read MY) patience every now and then, but mostly you make us smile and laugh like we haven't ever before!

Love ya LOTSEST MOST! :)


ps: the Title? oh well! i didn't do his 22months post, so this 22 and 23 month post (so 2 in 1) and next month (20th Jul) Cubby turns 2 (so another 2 in 1)! don't beat me up now! :p

pps: for some reason blogger isnt allowing me to upload photos! next time! pucca! :)

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! :)

nice weekends can be like this too & because i don't wanna forget part 3!

Both M and me are people people! Esp M. For him a weekend where we haven't met someone is a wasted weekend. But the past two months have been too much socializing even for us. There wasn't a single weekend where someone wasn't visiting us or we were not going some place.

I told M that the last weekend that went by would that two weekends will be the time I would turn into a sociopath. No meeting people come what may. Ofcos, my friends who know us well just sneered and asked "Really?". They were right and we did end up visiting buddy N to see his parents who were visiting. But it was still a far more relaxed weekend and having even the Saturday just to ourselves felt like bliss.

This is what my perfect Saturday was like!

Wake up at a decent hour. Not too early, not too late. Around 830am (which is VERY early for M) is a good time. On a tangent does it happen to you that you end up waking really early on weekends and holidays and can't get yourself out of your bed on weekdays?! Tangent over.

Tell husband, let's go and try the buffet breakfast at a hotel not too far when you are not even sure if the place HAS a breakfast thing in the first place. Just throw on simple jeans and tee, change Cubby's clothes and go.

Cubby sitting on his chair and waiting for his food! :p

Reach there to find a yummylicious spread and smiling staff. Don't even look at healthy and green stuff like sprouts etc. Instead have sausage and salami. Get eggs made to order. Enjoy donuts, croissants and danish pastries and end with a strong cuppa coffee. Meanwhile stay amused at Cubby's antics with napkins and the space available. Also feel kicked (in true bania style) that your child is making the most of "free" buffet. The kid had sausages and salami like there is no tomorrow.

Bhoot aaya! This picture is nicer because you see the food in background! :p

Ask for the bill and see your smile grow bigger as its much cheaper than you expected! A steal actually!

Go back home and do a video call with your folks and brother who are in the US right now. Laugh at Cubby showing his school bag on request.

Then listen to music on the laptop and do an impromptu dance with the child in your arms and your hubby singing along and taking a video of it!

Papa! Dekho! Itne saane books!

Just relax rest of the day and step out to go to Landmark one of the BEST bookshops in the country. Feel maha-kicked to see you child full of glee seeing so many books. Even more fun to see him lug the basket and throwing in books randomly. Hear your hubby ask every now and then "Did you choose this?" to which mostly the response is no. It's the less than 3 feet mite who is adding stuff based on which shelf he can reach!

Now don't disturb me! I have to choose my books!

Finally go home, make a quick a simple lauki-paneer subzi that turns out really good, watch some TV and go to sleep smiling about the day well spent! :)

me a cool dude rapper! :P and this terrible bit of photoshopping is done by my mom! :p

And before I sign off from this post, let me tell you the latest "because i don't wanna forget" moment (they happen quite often these days, the moments!).

You all know just how much Cubby LOVES hemmets! He nowadays also likes caps and can be seen walking around in caps few sizes too big for him.

Now it's a topi!

Sunday evening, he was sitting with us and playing with his "toopi" when the straps that are held together by Velcro got separated and came in front around his neck.

Guess what he said? Hemmet!

Now it's a Hemmet!

I was amazed that he could make the association of the cap straps with the safety straps of the helmet and the fact that it DID look like helmet! More than that it was seeing his elation at discovering something new that was infectious! :)

Cool, eh?!

and then yesterday night was another "because i don't wanna forget" moment. THis was when we were just about to sleep. We were lying on the gadda with lights turned off and saying our good nights

I was smothering Cubby with kisses all over his face. Then I was repeating it with M and both of them were acting pricey and not letting me do it. I did it once to Cubby and then to M to which Cubby responded by trying to pull me away. When he did that I started kissing him some more and suddenly he pushes me away and says in a very serious and grown up voice "Ab so jao!"

WTH!!!

M and me started laughing like a crazed couple and Cubby joined in too and it was a perfect way to end the day! :)

So whats happening with you guys? How went the weekend?! :)

some crazy stuff! :)

So yesterday Amma didnt turn up third time in this week and I had to take chhutti. Amma is usually careful not to take chhuttis over the week, but it was her daughter's shaadi that was getting fixed, so we couldn't even get upset! I hope things work out for them. The boy is 10th pass and earns 10k. And for this supreme achievement he wants a piece of land. Amma said she can give 5lakhs and 100gms of gold and the wedding expenses ofcos. WTF! No wonder we still think ladki is a boj.



And ofcos the boy wants the girl to stop working post wedding. I tried telling her why not wait some more, but between our broken hindi and kannada and her thinking Dowry is called Gauri (and i DON"T speak that badly!), all i knew was that she needed prayers and good will to be sent her way. Say a little prayer guys that all goes well for the family! :)




So since I was at home, I thought maybe I should do something "pativrataesque!" ;) According M, that means a hot cuppa tea and khaana should be ready when he is back from work - his argument being he keeps the subzi ready on most days! So I offered to make stuffed parathas instead.


Now our fridge was almost empty, but we did find some gobhi (cauliflower) and paneer. So, a combo of, what else - Gobhi - paneer was decided upon. M got to work with the grater, while I was kneading the dough and rolling it. Grating done, I added the standard hari mirch, dhaniya, salt etc to the stuffing.


Anyhoo, cut a long story short parathas were made and enjoyed and I found my place in Wife Heaven, am quite sure! ;)


Generally when I make stuffed parathas (which are not made as often as the word "generally" might make it seem!), I make two or three different ones. It might be paneer and spring onion, aloo and pyaaz, patta gobhi and cheese etc. So each paratha will have alag taste to it.


So this morning M was still dreamy eyed about last night's dinner. He said you should start naming your parathas. Like Spring Onion Surprise or something.

I retorted saying "Spring a Surprise" sounds nicer no?!


M made a face he makes everytime he knows I have bettered him and made me laugh like crazy!


Ofcos, then i started thinking for a while and from now on my Gobhi paratha will be called "Flower Power". Needless to say I got THE look again!! :P


Any other suggestions for Mooli, Alu and Paneer paratha? :)


Meanwhile Cubby is not far behind making us laugh with his verbal pyrotechnics! :)


The other day M said to me "Mummy, zara mere pair (legs) dabaado." Now cubby hates to see us close and will say "Utho! or Hato!" right away. If we don't oblige, he will physically wriggle himself between us! Hehe!


So just to not get him riled him M told him "aap bhi dabao aur Mummy ki help karo". So Cubby started his seva with as much gutso his little hands would let him manage.


Meanwhile I was started doing my bit too to which I heard Cubby's little voice saying "Mummy! Chhodo! Main kar raha hoon naah!"


WTH! :D


On that note Have a super weekend people! :)

because i don't wanna forget it - part 2!

I am late to do his 22month update, but do it I shall. I just didn't get time to get nice pictures and we all know how you people react to posts without photos! :p So, i will do it soon enough!





These days with Cubby talking incessantly we have almost a perma awestruck expression on our face. Ofcos, today's incident is more about action rather than words.





This is around 9am afta M has left for work. I asked Cubby whether he wants to have Doodh (Milk) or Omelet. Regular readers of the blog must know we share a mostly hate relationship when it comes to trying to get food in his tummy. I actually dread it and have happily outsourced the responsibility to Amma! But there is atleast one feed we have to battle with EVERYDAY.





Anyhoo this is what happened when the choice was offered;





Cubby - "Doodh Chahiye!"



Me - Chalo Doodh garam karte hai!



Cubby - Nahi. Omelet chahiye.



Me - Pucca Bolo!



Cubby - Pucca! Omelet.





As if to reassure me of his intentions, he runs into the kitchen and takes the small pan we use to make eggs and keeps it on the kitchen platform and pulls me by hand saying "Omelet banayenge!"





I tell him to give the egg-beater which he promptly located and tries to do the needful too. I allow him that for a few seconds as is the ritual before I take over.





The omelet is ready within few minutes. I ask him if he wants to sit inside and eat or stand in the balcony and he just points to the door.





We go out and within no time breakfast is done! (Touchwood and anti-jinx!). I know Boo's mom says one needs to bake a birthday cake to go to Mommy heaven, but I was there with a measly omelet. Even if for just those 10mins! :)





And people, my son likes being given choice even at this age!!! Is that the right conclusion to makes?! Gee!


And if you wondering what to watch over the weekend go for 99 (yes! its a movie)! A howlarious movie that will make you laugh till you fall outta the chair! Here's M's review of the movie! (did i tell you guys i fell for him thanks to his emails! still love his writing! :)




A completely unrelated, but cute photo of Cubby getting his daily dose of gyan from the "noosepepa"!

becuase I didnt wanna forget it! :D

This is the conversation I had with Cubby this morning! And i HAD to put it down here because am sure to forget it sooner than later! Old woman and all that jazz!

Setting is at 9 in the morning. We have woken up really late and have just finished breakfast and all and M is getting ready for work. Cubby jain is rolling on the gaddas with his favourite "bon" (ball). The gaddas inciedentally get moved outta the hall and into the bedroom only when Amma makes an appearance and moves them where they are supposed to be.

Me: Cubby yahan aao. Pajama utaar ke diaper nikal denge

Cubby: Baadmein utaenge!

Huh!!! WTH!

Me: Nahi! Abhi utarenge. Phir bathroom mein jaake susu kaun karega?!

Cubby: "Bon" (ball) susu karega!

Again Huh??!! WTH! And laughing! :D

When do they learn to talk so much? Here I was few months ago waiting for him to say Mummy and now he starts a whole SENTENCE with Mummy or even Mumma sometimes. There are times when he calls me "AAabbhhaa" and if I don't pay attention he changes it to AabbhaaJI! :p

From yesterday he has started calling himself "Hum". "Humko omelette chahiye! Humko doodh dedo!" It's too cute and funny!

Anyhoo! That's that. Wanted to pen it down before I forget till the monthly update comes up!

Here's a picture (albiet grainy) of the l'il guy trying to hold on to his "lungi". We have to tie it around him every time his butt get wiped post clean up! :p

21 months at 80 clicks! :)

So IHM, Monika and my namesake have tagged me to put down 5 points that make motherhood special for me! I have read some seriously amazing stuff out there and I am feeling like a bit of a doofus among all these amazing mums!


Ofcos there are a lot of things I can whine about too, but we shall leave it for another day! Or actually maybe it will be a part Cubby's 21 month update that I plan to club with this post.


The tag is: 5 things that you love about being a mom. Next, find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country (let them know that you've tagged them!) - and link back here and HBM and leave a comment.


1) I love the way how I can be surprised all the time. I mean you know all kids walk some day, but the day I saw Cubby take his first steps, I just could not hold my tears back. And then I get surprised when he is suddenly trying to jump and next I know he is going up and down the steps (all of 3 floors) on his own needing very little help! I mean everything they do is just so new and fascinating, its a source of endless wonderment and joy! :)


2) I love seeing M as a father. I mean he was always brilliant with kids, but seeing him being able to keep at it 24/7 if need be, makes me happier than ever before. And sometimes, when I seem to stand back and look at three of us together, it is indeed a happy picture. Touchwood.


3) I love it when someone tells me that Cubby's smile is like mine. I like to hear guessing games between people about whom does he actually look like, though I myself still can't make any statement because I have no idea! Yet, when someone says that he is right mix of both of us, it makes me feel strangely emotional that he is OUR creation in every sense of the term.


4) I love how I love shopping for him. Be it books, clothes, shoes or socks or even decorating his room, I can spend hours doing it or take the decision within minutes. I love dressing him up in well co-ordinated clothes (not expensive though) and how I am obsessed with buying him matching socks. He must own least 2 dozen pairs of those things. I go through kiddie section of books forever trying to find the right stuff he might enjoy. Books that will help his fledgling love for books grow!


5) I love the smiles, hugs, kisses and baby talk. I don't think I can get enough of those! Ever! :)


Most Mom's I read have already been tagged and even done their tag. So leme just tag some whom I think haven't done it as yet. They might all be in Bengaluru itself tho!


Puja who enjoys just looking at daughter so much that she forgets to take pictures!


JLT whose tongue in cheek look at motherhood and all that comes with it and because she should be writing a lot more often!


Usha who has been through diapers and baby talk ages ago, but once a mother, always a mother they say!


Magicalsummer - a great friend and an amazing mom of two teens from Chennai.


Mampi because I love reading about her sensitive kids (when she rarely chooses to share them with us) and would love to read her take on this!


and why not add Fatherhood to this too! We have our own Bill Cosbys too! :) (though they never till date have written about it, I hope they do!)


~uh~ a proud and experienced Dad in Mumbai


ROFL Indian - the funniest dad around who is in jaipur!


And now to move on Cubby's 21 months! Just 3 months shy of 2 years and time is flying faster than it ever did. This ones gonna be a quickie for sure. For one I have coupla other longish posts in my head and for another I am too zonked out from Lucknow trip to make a lot of sense right now.


You are learning to jump on your own now. I don't know where you saw it that you suddenly want to do it all the time. You bend your knees as much as you can and then come up saying JUMP! At first it was just one foot that went in air a bit. Then both which is when you would fall on l'il bum and say "Cubby gi gaya" and come to us saying "Chhot lag gayi". Now every now and then you manage to get both feet l'il off the ground and NOT fall too! Ofcos a round of applause is demanded saying "Taai Taai!"


While potty training has been almost successful since last month, you can now sit on the normal pot with a potty seat kept on it. That's how we managed to keep the potty training on even at Lucknow. I would have never thought I would be carrying a potty seat with me! :p Things parenting makes us experience. It was M's idea and all credit goes to him! :)


You parody us constantly! It's so weird to hear you repeat the stuff we say in the same tone and you KNOW we find it funny! You will call your papa exactly the way I do or say O Re Baabbaa the way his Bua does 9whom he has met just recently!). It's just hilarious and is to be heard to be believed.


You have suddenly taken a 360 degree turn from being the sunshine kid to the whiny kind and I am finding it reallllly difficult to come to terms with it. You wake up crying and in general cry a lot more than you ever have in all these months! You have stranger anxiety to add to it and actually cling to us when around other people. It's giving me a lot more grief than I thought it would and I am quite upset with myself for that! I want the puraana Cubby back, please! God, you listening?!


Your vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds and when I actually sit back and think I cannot remember what new stuff has been added because it's like you have been talking forever. And now it's not just us talking that you remember. The other day at Lucknow, when Daadu put on the fan you actually said "its making noise!" When the heck did you learn that now?!


You love airports! We have had quite a few trips in past coupla months either to pick up or drop people and traveling a coupla times. You go ballistic in the space you get, keep trying to look for "Aeopanes" (change from Aeopaya) of last month and generally run around giving us a good workout too! :)


You enjoy having your separate seat for yourself now. Be it in the bus or the car. It was so cute to see you sit comfy on your own seat on the bus ride to the airport. Ofcos a godi is demanded in sometime, but you are growing up very fast l'il guy! :)


You love physical masti of all kinds. Be it keep falling around on the gadda, or throwing yourself recklessly on the beanbag or being held ulta with your head down and legs around my waist and your hands in mine! We walk around the room talking to odds and ends on the way! :) You will come n say "Mummy! Ginna Hai!" (girna hai) which means I need to do the ulta thing! :)


You are trying to wear and take off your shoes and even trying to take off your shorts and pajamas! You almost manage the taking off bit every now and then. Aren't you just dying to be independent?! :)


Papa told me that you know I am home when you hear my bike coming in. You then go on to say, "mummy aa gayi, hemmet utarenge, jacket utarenge!" The moment you get a whiff that I am about to change my clothes you start pulling them saying "utarenge" and stand with my pajama or tee in your hand saying "yeh pehnenge!" When did you learn all this?! :)


While it's getting more n more difficult to get your smiling pictures, you sometimes see the camera and say "SMiille", but our camera, sadly is too slow to catch that quick moment! Ofcos in no time you want the "camena" and put it back in the pouch!


This month you have grown so much that it seems impossible! :) Your baby talk just got cuter, smiles brighter (tho sadly fewer too!) and crying a tad unbearable! But mostly it's still more fun than not! :)


Love ya lots my sweetheart! happy 21st! :)

april seems like a good month to do this tag!

So OM's mommy tagged me to do this 4-4-4 tag and I am doing it about a mnth late, but hey I am doing it! The tag is pretty simple.

“Go into your photo archive,pick the 4th folder in the archive,select the 4th picture in the folder,and write about it.Then tag 4 other people to do the same."

Considering my expertise (Ahem!) in tags and photos, this is making best of both worlds! ;)

And guess what my fourth folder is called? Blog pics! Hyuk! I really need to get a life.

This was the fourth picture. Its Cubby's room (we all sleep there actually) and those are the rubber A,B,C,Ds which we bought just to add colour to his room. Its actually a jigsaw puzzle that turns into a small rubber mat! Now it surely wont! Yeh fevicol ka mazboot jod hai! ;)

Ofcos I have no intention to stop at one picture. Might as well turn it into a propah blog post about Cubby's room!

This is the most useful gift I got post baby. Given to me by my more experienced SIL. It a wall hanging with small shelves which are extremely handy to keep small clothes like hankies, bibs, nappies, vests and shorts! :D The Pluto on top is gift from Cubby's daadi and we get to hear "Goonite Puto" everyday. Oh! And there is the Fogg (cubby speak) too!

This blurred picture is the height of my creativity. Sadly I took the picture just before pulling it off so its in a sad shape. Thats all the booties Cubby got as gifts but never used 'coz they would keep falling off his feet. The red bits are cut from greeting card M ahd given me and some stuff off wrapping paper also! :D

This is what replaced it! These are greeting cards Cubby got on his birthday from grandparents and a few friends. Some stickers that were lying around in the house and that chhottu scooter we got as return gift from a birthday party. Even this one is shambles by now and I need something new! The small wall hangings you see have wooden birds and snimals on mat like material.

The close up! Just in case you missed some finer details of Ahem! My artwork! ;) And no, I didnt cut out the letters that say Cub Tale. They are bazaar bought!

The most prized posession. These are fish made out of leather, a speciality I believe from Andhra Pradesh. Ofcos getting them to stick on the wall was helluva job and took us forever till they stopped dropping off because of their weight. Eventually it became impossible! And yeah, the door doesnt close! :(

So then this gift from Aaji-Ajoba came handy. The wall was slightly damaged with all the feviqwik and jazz. And we needed something big enough to cover it. M and me obviously fought over the positioning of all the cute stuff and this was the final result! Cubby loves saying "Oney-Bee, Dog, Coow, Sunn, Birdy Birdd" and the works! I love how bright the whole thing is!

This is a buddy stuck on the walls of the master bedroom. Cubby's Eyetaya now almost called Eyephant! :D There is similar dog, parrot and pig on other walls. He ripped off a couple.

So thats that then. I tag Dee, Swati, K3 & Puja. Share your picture with us!

And why April is a good month to do this tag? Its the 4th month sillies! :p

Ps: Considering we all have credit cards and/or loans, read this very interesting post by the pati about very own Desi credit rating society! What do YOU think?!

20 mahine baad! :D

So Cubby turned 20months (1yr & 8mths if you please!) on 20th Mar 2009. And this time I am seriously lost. There are just so many things that he does now that it's becoming impossible to remember and classify anymore. I think I have to stop doing monthly updates and just keep making daily notes instead! :)

Here goes what you have been upto last month my darling son.

Your vocabulary is growing at an amazing speed. You now don't just repeat stuff, but also understand the context in which a word is being used and then use it again in just the right way. So if i tell you you will hurt your head if you don't lie down properly when I have to put on the diaper, you go down gingerly. And you say Sar Pe everytime you do that! :D


You remember the weirdest stuff and have a brilliant observation power. That day you shocked me completely by pointing to the lights in the park and saying "laaamp-post". I was seriously stunned! You were sitting in the balcony every morning with your daadu observing as the world goes by and making notes. Now rarely do the squirrel, crow (kauaa) or kabootam (pigeon) miss your sharp eyes. You even might notice Eagen (eagle) at time, though we are not sure whether its one or its one of similar ones like hawk or a kite.


Your father can never doubt my fidelity. You have inherited his funny bone is full measure. You keep doing crazy stuff KNOWING well that it will make us laugh. I mean you have already mastered toiler humour by making weird potty faces when trying to do the big job! Gross l'il fellow, you are! I really cannot put in words exactly what it is you do, but it's like we want to have you under cameras at all hours to capture the subtle stuff you keep doing. Here's how you keep driving us nuts! (partial nudity!:p)


You love your books, though sometimes, I have to keep reminding you not to stomp on them, That they are bhagwaaniji. More often than not you will pick it up and keep it saying "jagah pe!". You love pointing to stuff and telling us what it is. We also play this new game where either you or me pick one thing in the book and then look for it. So you might say "Camen" (camel) and then we will keep turning pages saying "camen aa jao" and you will point it to it with flourish when we reach the right page! And off we go looking for next object that catches your fancy! SEE HERE!


Your love for Hemme now called Hemmet which seemed to be in control is a full blown obsession again! It was cemented by your Daadu while he was here and who used its power on you in full measure to serve as distraction from any situation. You would wake up every morning and just walk to his room and wake him up saying "Hemmet dekhenge!'


You are indeed a creature of habit and routine. If last month the dialoguebaazi went on for bath, now it's for everything we do. I mean you repeat our dialogues even. So when I am making you wear shorts, you will first say shoulder and hold on to it, then you will put your leg in and then you rush the second one in and i say "ek second" and now you say that too! :p


You are turning out to be quite a helpful little fella. You bring our phones to us, throw your diaper in the dustbin, put clothes in the bucket as well as washing machine. You were even taking a plate with apple slices to daadu everyday and mostly without dropping anything. Seeing you get to the task with so much concentration was just too much. You help in clearing your books and toys and give me katori to pour milk into. You would help your daadu take biscuit dabbas everyday and even move the small table in front of the sofa where he sits to have his chai! You will do just about anything you CAN when requested to. Thanks sweets! :)


Like your mommy proudly declared few posts ago, you are potty trained for the day. Of course there are accidents and we are long way away from going ghummi diaperless, but no taking away credit from you. I think you learnt much faster than we ever expected and one wet pair of shorts during the day is totally cool! :)


You actually get hassled by big crowds now. There was a time you believed more the merrier and didn't care if we were around. But not anymore. Whenever we are in a big group you want one of us around you at all times. The smiles don't come as easily either. Guess it's a phase.


While you had started sharing stuff a bit, you again seem to be hesitant doing it. You are not used to being with other kids and that shows. You still don't know how to deal with aggression of other kids and mostly resort to crying! You Will learn it eventually i guess. So that you get to be with other kids at least sometime, we hope to start you off on play school this June! Hope you will have fun! :) That said, you share your chocolates easily giving them to everyone around when requested.


You have quite a temper dude! I know Papa is fan of the angry young man, but your tantrums... are they gonna get worse?! :p


You still prefer playing with stuff your way. Mummy enthusiastically bought you some play doh! First you decided to get scared of it, then throw it under the sofa the moment I rolled it into a ball and then just kept putting the smaller play doh containers in the bigger jar! Your papa made your fav dog with it and now you coolly handover the dabba to him and say "Bhoo banayenge!". You now like playing with car, aeroplane and motorcycle and like to see them zoom as you push them away.


Last month you used "what this is?" purely as a repetition exercise. Now you have started asking it as an actual question. So often we get to see you point to something and asking "What is this?" in your cute l'il way! :)


You love walking and rarely ask for godi unless really tired or just feel like getting carried. It's difficult to believe that it's the same kid who took his first doddering steps some 7months ago!


You understand the concept of ownership now. We ask you holding my book "Yeh book kiski hai?" and your voice pipes up saying "Mummy ka hai!" Or pick up a toy and he will say Cubby Ka hai.


The charm of TV is slowly getting there, but it's still very rare. We recently showed you a bit of tarzan and for a few days everytime I turned on the TV, you would demand "Gonilla" (gorilla). You like watching animated flicks with animals! :)


Oh yeah. You can say the 'L' sounds and say "N" instead. Same goes for R sound too sometimes. Its all adorable to hear anyway! :D


You love trying to say difficult words. Be it Pomegrenate (which only I undetstand when you say it) or staberry (strawberry), Pineapple (pine-eyepple), Rinoceras (Rhino) or repeating Diggly Bug Cub (Wriggly Bug Club) that is written on your tee.


Summer has finally seen you embrace water with gutso. You keep asking for it saying "Paani"and we give you about a sipful at a time in the small silver glass your daadi has given you. You hold it in two little hands and drink it up. If you want more you either say "Mo", "Oar chaaiyee" (aur chahiye) or "some mo". Ofcos I wish you had a better way of telling us you have had enough. You just pour the l'il water left in the glass wherever you are standing! Just say "bass" dude! :)


I have officially outsourced your khaana feeding to Amma and now feel no shame in accepting my defeat. That way both of us are happy. Since you like doodh, feeding that is pretty easy. On rare occasions that I need to feed, I use Amma's trick of making you stand in the balcony and feed as we differentiate between "good boy" and "bad boy" depending on whether they have worn helmet while riding ou non. The scuffles have come down drastically since this method has come in practice. Phew! and TOUCHWOOD!


If it was steps that you wanted to climb last month, now its every surface that can be climbed up on that you look to conquer. You finally climbed all the steps of the big slide too, though you did get scared to slide down and a kind hearted bhaiyya got you down with him!


All in all you are the official joker in the family! :D The amount of laughter that rings loud around the house thanks to you is unending. God bless you for that.

Thank you for being the sunshine kid! :)


Love ya lots! Uggie to you, my love!


Keep rocking!


ps: The GREEN phrases are links to his latest videos! To make up for lack of photos! :p

The end of teens, eh?!

So today Cubby turns 19months. Somehow the whole two's and schooling bit doesn't seem so distant anymore. Seeing his antics, I keep wondering "What next?!"

So my darling son, the stage is all yours! Like every month around this time. (Oh well! You know it is few days here n there, every now and then!) This time I really don't know where to start. I mean obvious milestones like walking, talking, dancing, teething and such are done. Now there is a marked improvement in these things and so many intangibles that I am clueless about putting in words. But I can always try, can't I?

You now RUN all over the house. Be it to run away from clothes or the oil massage before your bath or the cream post it. You just raise your hands and make a dash away from whatever it is you don't want. More often than not this is accompanied by naughty laughter which we get to hear ever so often these days! :)

You catch on the games pretty quickly and want to repeat them as often as it pleases you. Be it running between your Dadu's legs when he is trying to block you or the silly Dhoom game mummy plays. It just involves holding my hand and running and touching the main door saying "Dhoom!" and then running back to the other corner and touching the table!

You love physical masti now. Be it throwing yourself without a worry on the bean bag or being made to hang ulta holding your legs. You could be standing on the bolster on the bed and you just let youself fall without knowing what fear means. A happy laughter rings through the house when you do these things. It belongs to everyone present in the house at that time. You will stand at the edge of the bed or on the chair and extend your hands for me to hold them as you mouth the word JUMP! A word that sounds like Un mma but means Once More follows in quick succession! :)

You are quite a stickler for routine. Anything that is done once in a certain order, you demand it be done same way. When i tell you lets go have bath, you go and sit on the stool. I take off your clothes. You say "Stan up" and then point to your nappy saying "Naapee! Take it off!". You then ask for soap and it's a daily fight since you want to hold the soap the entire duration. Between a tussle here and there we manage to get done. I end the bath saying we will Bucket Boodoosha which means pouring the remaining water direct from bucket onto you. So then I hear a little voice teling me Buckette Booaassha! That done, you ask for "Tauiya" meaning taulia (towel). It always amazes and amuses me how you remember every l'il detail. You say "Chottu Munni" as soon as I wrap you in the towel and pick you up 'coz I call you Chottu Baby as I hold the freshly bathed warm close to me!

Yeah! What's with the chhotu munni anyway? When did you hear this word. Its really funny. I say Goonda Baby, you repeat it. I say gandoo baby, you repeat that. I say naughty baby, you do. You get the drift. But the moment is say Chhotu Baby, you say Chhotu Munni! And then laugh! You are such a weirdo, I tell ya! :)

And it doesn't end with this. You have now learnt to point to shoulders and chest. So when we ask you where is your shoulder, you show it correctly. But when we point to your shoulder and ask you "What is this?", you say "Ion" (lion) and the other shoulder is "Diger" (tiger). Sometimes both are Ion! What gives dude?! :p

That reminds me, you can now repeat What is this as What this is and I am guessing using it as an actual question is going to start soon! Sigh!

You say Good Night so adorably! It started just like that one day and for a few days only the toys and things in room got the wishes. Goonight! Sea Otta! GooNight! Payintin(painting)! GooNight Oneybee! and so on and so forth. Now we hear GooNight papa! GooNight Mummy! GooNight Daadu with a cute style that so uniquely yours. Goodmorning has just about started! :)

You love counting. Un, two, thee, four you know. Rest of it pretty much garble. You love saying do-do, dono, otha to indicate multiple number.

You also like pretending that you KNOW your abcd! Usually it gies A,B, C, D, M, N and then some baby talk I dont understand. A is sometime for apple, sometimes ball and mostly goat. Then sometimes, like today, you go ahead and shock me. I just randomly said as distraction for giving you milk, Q for and you said Cooween (Queen)! I am thinking it's just a totally lucky guess! :)

The tantrums keep getting worse. Now you raise hell for every little thing that is denied to you. It could be just about any random thing. If you are refused, a big crying session happens! I find it difficult to be patient and/or firm at such times. But thankfully you also get distracted pretty soon till the next thing catches your fancy. You can throw tantrum for something as silly as getting your nappy changed or wearing your nightsuit or demanding the spoon with which we are eating! Grrrrrr!

If there are tantrums, there are hugs and kisses too. You have finally started offering hugs on your own. You will come and just keep your head on my lap or put your arms around our neck and say "Uggie" and the tenderness just makes me go all mushy inside! :) Keep em coming my darling son! :) Soft toys are also offered Uggies every now and then especially when i scold them for not eating their food! :p

We are wroking on the potty training now. You understood the big job funda within 10 odd days and now tell us 95 outta 100 times scrunching up your face and saying "Paatie!". Uuderstanding the su-su funda seems quite some time away. There are times when you do tell, but mostly it's AFTER you are done. And yes, you demand a book when on the potty! ;) Ho jaayega! :)

You now take a little more time to adjust to new places and people. Not the free for all baby you used to be which in a way is a good thing. That in no way means you are anti-social. You still love meeting people, especially other kids! :)

You insist on reading same two books everytime. Looking at is more like it. You just don't have the patience to listen to a whole story. You prefer to point at things you know. Sometimes, you will insist on not even turning the page showing the same things as if caught in some kinda infinite loop. Gah! I mean we KNOW you know an elephant by now! :p

You have started with small phrases already. Be it give me (in tones of rsisng intensity!), keep it, nightsuit pehnenge and god knows how many more things!

You love playing in the kitchen. If you are in a happy mood and not insisting on Godi when we are cooking you play by yourself with dabbas and bowls. Occassionally I hear you say Patia (patila), Katoi (katori/bowl) and some such. You remove all the alu (potatoes) in the basket and spread them across the kitchen. You later help clear em up also.

Another thing you can do now is to open the microwave door. We have no option of taking it out of your reach. Saying no was obviously strengthning your resolve to do it. So as a midway, we have explained to you that you can open the door ONLY when it does Tee!Tee! which means, only after the buzzer goes off saying job done. You can be in any corner of the house but you RUN to microwave when you hear Tee!Tee! as if your life depended on it! Now am teaching you to not try and close the door on Mommy's hand. We are doing good!

Eating is still a pain. You eating normal khaana with us seems like a verry distant dream. You LOVE bananas and can love on them. Ask you anytime, you will say Banama (improvement from earlier Bawawa) and get it from the fruit bowl by stretching on your tiny toes and give it to us. We peel it and give it in your hand and you eat happily! You also like cheese evey now and then and can polish off a slice within no time. You like the taste of butter too. As you see, nothing that can count as a meal shows up here. (Sorry to all mums I must have judged!)

How can I forget? From touching the chappals to trying to lick em (with some successes I am sure!), you have finally moved to wearing them. Only hitch is they are ours and about 5 sizes too big! But when did that stop you, anyway?! So, you are often seen trying our chappals and shoes and we often find a pair cruelly seperated a room away!

You also know who lives where. Daadi and Daadu, Puna mein and Aaji Ajoba hai Baambay! Mama is in Meica (America). And yeah, what do we do with the "Amma" accent you have picked up ?! Dog is Daag, Potty is paatie and bombay is baambay. You add oo and ee to everything. Egg is eggu, soap is soappu and bread is bedde! I am praying you grow out of it eventually! Brrrrr!

Drat! Yet again I have to chew my words when I said I wont have much to say! You are such a complete joy to be with. Ofcos there were times in last month when we wondered whre out smiling kid had dsiappeared. I almost used the banned word "cranky" to describe you. Your Papa has gone out of town for about a month. When he left he told you that you are the man of the house aned need to take care of your mummy. It's almost like you understood what he told you! :) Your clear laughter (sometimes asli, other times fake) makes us laugh too.

And today when I kept my head on your lap as we woke up (just to tease ya), I was surprised you just let me be and even offered an Uggie!

What more can a woman ask for, eh?! :)

happy 19th my love! God Bless! :)

Zebba, Ippo and Eyetaya!

If you come into the Jain ghar these days, you will see a little boy walking around the house saying Zebba! Baergatta! Ippo! Baby! Baergatta! M says I have scarred him forever by taking him to Bannerghatta National Park. That he will be found walking chanting Zebba even at age 20 perhaps. Sometimes, I almost tend to agree. But I am already planning to take him to Mysore Zoo in near future. They even have a giraffe I have heard!


At the entrance. raring to go!

Anyhoo, now that Cubby had started recognizing lot of animals and can walk for fairly long time without demanding "Gooddi" (carry me request said in one word!), we though good time to take him to the zoo. And it was so totally worth it.



Oho! Mummy stop posing for pics! Let's go!

Ofcos the day started funny with rain gods deciding to do their sense of humour bit by making it rain in middle of January! I kept having my intense one on one with God demanding the rain be taken away with immediate effect, but the cludy n cool weather could stay. Afterall you can only bargain as much and the rains did stop by the time we entered the zoo, though cool n cloudy, not really! :p

Bass aise hi. GK ke liye! :p

We decided to skip the safari considering we were not sure if Cubby will enjoy being in a small bus with grilled windows and squinting to see tigers and lions. Plus there was a mile long Q for it. So we bought our tickets for the zoo and camera and went it.

Can you see the python, somewhere down there?!

Bannerghatta is a tad confusing and its not easy to find animals you really want to see. I mean would an 18month old actually care about a huge cobra that lying on the floor or hidden in it's cave with just the tail showing?! Anyhoo, we first found Bear which is an animal Cubby recognizes. There were three of em and one was eating Ganna (sugarcane). So now the series goes Bear! Baergatta. You ask what does Bear eat?! He replies Ganna! :) The grills have very small squares and for a kid it's not easy to make out what is prowling the cage.

That's a Bear! It is eating ganna!

We saw some monkeys, langurs etc and Cubby was quite happy though not as excited as we thought he would be. The leopard didn't interest him at all and the hyena was too stinky to stand there for long. The small tortoises were really cute, but thanks to almost no movement I am not sure how much Cubby noticed. Same goes for crocodiles, who were sunning themselves like statues that even I had a doubt if they are real. Some moved suddenly and we tried to see Cubby would notice it. He does say Cocodile now! ;) So maybe he did.

I think there is leopard somewhere in the background! :p

What really got a reaction was his favourite Zebra. He could not believe his eyes that he was seeing a live Zebba about 50times the size of his toy one. Plus the fencing had enough gap to see it clearly. Add to that it is a good looking animal. The black n white stripes, taut and shiny skin and right there within your grasp. Cubby was totally fascinated. Till date he identifies Bannerghatta outing with Zebba more than anything else.

Isn't the baby Ippo totally cute!

Hippo (Ippo) also became quite a favourite. My belief all babies are cute came true when we saw a baby Ippo. It was adorable and stuck to it's mum (i guess) all the time. They also came and gave them food while we were there, so we showed Cubby how they were having their khaana.

I am bored now, Mommy!

Eyetaya (Elephant) didn't get as much approval as we though. Or maybe it was because he was tired by now. He had been walking with us almost the entire time, demanding godi every now and then and walking again when little refreshed. We saw some birds, but that didn't interest him much, neither did the listless aquarium. I have seen better stuff in homes.

WE took a lunch break and ate some OK types biryani available at the government stall. Egg rice, more like it. Tried feeding Cubby some cerelac. The stall was next to the children's play area and Cubby went absolutely ballistic just playing in sand rather than go on slides and swings which we made him do for our khushi! :p

See- saw! Up Down! Upar Neeche!


I am doing this only for their happiness!


Id much rather play in mitti! One fistful of sand has so many interesting things! :)

Ofcos, playing in it with Zebba, even more fun!

Zebba ROCKS! people! :D

Where is my Zebba?!


Oh my god! What do I do now?!


What the heck?! I will just play with sand again!

We then tried hunting for rabbits which turned out to be futile and we just kept going in circles. Plus we were terribly tired by then and decided to call it a day, leaving the rest to another day. And we will be back soon indeed! :)

Chalo bhai. Ab ghar chalein?!



Haan please! I am so tired. And sleepy.

ps: We don't have too many animal pics because its difficult to click em through the mesh and we were too fascinated by Cubby's reactions to bother taking pics at that time. His expression to me read "OMG! These things exist OUT of books and even move!"

pps: for anyone who wants more details on Bannerghatta National park, here's my review with more practical details! http://bangalore.metromela.com/article/Go+wild+at+Bannerghatta+National+Park/2407

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!