Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

FOUR years of Cubiness! :)

I am more than a week late doing this birthday post. But then we got a bot ambitious and did two birthday parties for the boy and he promptly decided to fall ill post those. So, here I am finally!


This year saw the good, the bad and the ugly of His Cubiness! We have had (and continue to) to have some really tough times with him. He is as my brother calls it a Baby Teenager and I call him Rebel without a Cause AND a Pause! We say no for pretty much everything for the heck of it and same goes for the whining as well. Of course his parents do not show the much needed maturity to deal with such behaviour and often that is the recipe for disaster. But then again, because we tend to focus so much on his crying and whining we often forget to appreciate what a great kid he is otherwise and I have been guilt tripping myself over it often. Time to make some changes. Send positive ideas, thoughts and vibes our way folks! :)


Now for the good parts!


Cub is becoming more and more independent by the day. Just this morning I went to drop him to school because he was still not too well. The way he walked into the school and just waved goodbye without even looking back, I suddenly got teary eyed. When did he grow up so much?! He now sleeps in his own room and all he expects is about 10mins of cuddling time before he dozes off. When in a good mood, he keeps his stuff back in its place. Be it school bag in the cupboard or shoes on the shoe rack.


He is a super helpful kid at home and outside. If we go out and come back with lots of bags he always makes sure he is carrying one. He helps us with little stuff around the house including cleaning the ghar or sorting the vegetables. He gets his own glass of water and keeps our coffee cups back in the kitchen if he is feeling especially happy! :p


Cub is an adorable and adoring big brother to the Bub. There are times when the attention she gets bothers him and I would think it is only natural, especially since she is going through an ultra cute phase. But more often than not, he is ready to play with her, soothe her with sweet words and generally just be nice and protective!


He is an extremely sensitive child not to just his feelings, but others' as well. I am still amazed when i see pained expressions on his face anytime the stories he is listening to have a sad tone. He readily shares his things and is rarely demanding. Even the times he is demanding, a decent explanation is usually enough or he tends to forget after some time.


He is learning so many things at school and tends to retain all of it much to our surprise. So other day M just throws the word Kimono at him for something they were talking about and the child pipes up "That is the dress of Japanese women!" We just kept staring at him in complete shock! Hehe! His drawing is improving a LOT! He actually draws recognisable images now and it is fun to see him take effort at it. Thank god he has M's artistic genes. The colouring has shown marked improvement as well.

He recently learned the whole honesty, lying and joking bits. Very often he says he wants something and when given says "I was just joking!" Grrrrrrrrrrr!! Or because he has changed his mind he says "I was lying." Huh?! The other day we had a blog meet in Boo's honour at Art's place. Artsy Crafty Shruti had got some colouring work for all the kids. After some time Cub got a coloured picture with his name on it. I was super surprised at how neat it was. I kept asking him "did you really do this?!" and he said Yes! But then after some time he came up to me and said, "This is not mine. It is someone else's!" I was so proud that he came clean. We found the picture he was colouring, got it home, coloured it and it is now stuck on his cupboard! :)


He still LOVES being read to and I enjoy reading to him. He now gets the funny parts and some word play as well. It is easier to explain the slightly complicated words. Of course he goes through phases where one needs to keep telling the same story over and over again. It can range from Cinderella (gah!) to Little Bird Learns to Fly to Samira goes shopping. I do hope he soon starts reading on his own and keeps this habit forever.


He is also in at a stage where he HATES being photographed! :( So, we have such few photos of him in over 6 months! I do hope he grows out of this soon. Sigh!


He is eating better now. It does not mean it is painless, getting the food down the throat, but it is definitely easier. He also very clearly told us that he can eat spicy food from outside but will find even mildly spicy stuff made at home inedible! :p No, no! He does eat regular khaana at home. Just not as easily! He does have taste for good food and always surprises us by eating most random stuff like salmon and fancy cheese.


While Cub is not naturally brave, he is ready to push his limits. To try something he has not and see how far he can go. It may not always be very far, but it is more than he thinks he can and that is good enough.


All in all, he is a really great kid who needs to realize just how nice he is. Someday soon, we hope. Meanwhile I hope he keeps being the kind and generous boy he is. Just today we were watching his old videos and I was struck by just how much he has grown up! He just does not seem like a little baby anymore, though at heart he so much is. Thank god for that! :)


We love you our first born! It may seem like we are being jerks at times, but we are learning too and it is good to have you with us! Hugs and kisses!


Here are few photos we manage to click when His Majesty lets us without running away or starting to bawl! Boys!!!

The ultimate fake smile! gah!



Enjoying his favourite Mango ice-cream at Naturals!


Isn't he a handsome fella?! :)


But then we get to see his hands far too often! :(


eating batatyaachi bhaaji and poli in the train en route to Kolhapur!



That is a panther out for a hunt! :)



Since he refused to show me his face, i clicked the picture of an umbrella and a pair of shoes!



At Papa's office on a Sunday afternoon! :)



Learning to befriend water in the colony pool!


Always happy with Vedu bhaiyya who is reading to him in all seriousness! :)


Discussing colour scheme? With colony friends at his chhota Birthday party!


At the Frisbee Tournament called the Ultimates


Dust-buster! Helping me get rid of the grime! :)


If I have no place to run, I will hide! :p


Agreeing to pose with his posse! :)



At Miggu's birthday - Cub's favouritest person in whole wide world! :)


With Miggu and other buddies at his own birthday pahty!



The first spellings learnt! :)




Trying out the new kinda swing at Jungle Lodges!


Taking his sister along to see the zoo! :)



The latest photo. he let me click if i agreed to let him cover half his face! *rolls eyes*

Monday, July 19, 2010

:) THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From incoherent words to loooong sentences


From parents saying No to parents getting used to hearing just NOs



From careful walking to running with the wind



From toothy smiles to full blown laughter



From occasional swaying to music to what can almost pass off as dance



From listening to stories to making up your own



From being a fussy eater to being a fussy eater



From liking chocolates to LOVING them



From refusing ice cream to wanting to go to Naturals for your fix

From sleeping in the movie theatre to demanding your share of popcorn and cola



From being offered choices to making those choices



From waiting patiently for us to change you to bringing your night suit including diaper on your own

From getting hugs to giving them



From accepting kisses to avoiding them


From being fed all the meals to trying to eat most of them on your own


From drinking milk with glass to spoon to glass again depending on your mood


From being able to sing your alphabet to being able to recognize half of them

From needing the two of us to drop you to school on bike to standing confidently on your own and even pulling the choke to help my bike start


From being absolutely nuts about Hemmets to have your own Helmet that you wear when we drop you to school



From the Terrible Twos to the Terrifying Threes!!


This year has been full of new discoveries… for all of us! It has been amazing to see you soak everything up like a sponge… good and bad and we keep struggling to find the balance. You mostly delight us with your observations and ability to know the right answers!


You are officially a junkie loving your chips and chocolates, but you get them only when we have guests over or when we are traveling or something.


You have become extremely stubborn often driving me complete and total frustration. I know a lot has to do with the fact that my scolding makes you defy me even more, but I am hoping in this coming year we will be able to find a middle ground.


We had one birthday party for you this Saturday and it was a lot of fun! For us. I hope you enjoyed too. Considering we saw / heard from you ONLY during cake cutting I am guessing you managed to keep yourself busy and had fun! The cake was absolutely gorgeous and the presence of all our friends made it very special. Next year perhaps you will have friends of your own or something and we will have a small do at home.


Happy Birthday Love! You are one of the most amazing kids around! Have a great year ahead and may those shining eyes and the brilliant smile keep enthralling us! :)


Love ya lots and pots! :)


Here are some snapshots of the evening! :)

Accepting his gifts minus the Thank Yous!



Kids getting enthralled by bubbles thoughtfully brought by Richa aunty! :)



Draw the bindi! Much like pin the donkey's tail. Thanks Ramya for the idea! :)



The Birthday Cake! Kingfisher aeopane with all his favourite movie characters grabbing the window seat! :)



The cake cutting and all that jazz! :) Cub had dipped his fingers into it before we could get to cutting it! :p




One for the camera! :)


Kids had a gala time drawing / scribbling on chart papers put up on the walls!


The sole streamer flying along with the fan! :)



Cub - happy to have the whole place for himself!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ONCE AGAIN!!!!!


Much love, hugs, kisses and prayers!


God bless you sweetheart! :)


ps: Most of this stuff was a part of Cub's birthday invite. I just added some more Froms! ;)

Monday, June 2, 2008

May be...

The month that last one has been! May! With a tentative name itself, obviously nothing was planned and done and things happened. Mostly good! Touchwood!

So warning - SUPER long post!

17th May was my Kaka - Kaku's anniv. (Uncle and Aunt would be the apt translation.) Of course that;s what the family tree makes them, but they are lot more than that. Both of them have always been around in good and bad times in the family. Kaku fawns over Kabir as much as my Mom if not more. You should have seen the way she geared up to prepare for the baby as soon as she knew. From gorgeous chaddars to little clothes to tiny woolens for Cubby. She really pulled all plugs and pushed herself hard. No words can ever thank her for such genuine affection and love she gives without any expectations! Kaka too makes it point to be around for all important occasions even if it means travelling six hours for a 3 hour get together. They were the first people to come and stay with us in Bangalore with the intention to just meet us and be with us! Thank you both of you for being such a solid and loving support! Hope to see you here for Cubby's first birthday! :)

22nd May - My parent's anniversary! What do i say about these wonderful people? Words fall short when i try to describe how well they brought us up. I also don't know what to say because they made it seem so effortless. I hardly remember them ever being preachy and yet they taught us so much! From my mother I learnt how to support your family, be strong in times of crisis, how to be adjusting without compromising on what you believe in! I am still grappling to manage time as awesomely as she does (she multi-tasked waayyy before the term became so hep!) and to cook three fresh meals a day like her! Hats off to you Mom! It's from seeing you that I was confident I could be a working mom and do a good job of it! I love your free spirit, your will to stand for what you believe in, not just for yourself, but others too!

My dad is mostly what I am even today. He taught me to be positive. He told me life is not always fair and yet managed to imbibe that there are more good people in this world than bad, and that's why the world still continues to exist. My faith in humanity is thanks to seeing him in action with people at every level. I have learnt that at times I might get cheated, but a good deed is always returned! If not from person you expect, then from someone else. So keep doing good work and life will be good to you. Dad I admire your never say die attitude, the way you always have listening ear and sensible advice. I get my habit of shedding tears at drop of the hat (esp at happy things) from you! :D I guess I get whatever bit of my writing skills also from you. It's absolutely no surprise that you are loved and respected in whole of our family!

And together both of you showed me what a good marriage is all about! I am glad I married a little later in life and got my basics right! Thank you for respecting my decision, supporting it and being there always sharing the joys of my married life!

Love you MOST!

25th May - M's birthday! :D What do I say about the joy of my life? After a almost non-existent courtship (the courtship was zero!) period of six and a half years, I managed to blackmail this guy enough to marry him. To his credit, he did not run away from the mandap! :p Married life started with some rocky patches and setting our expectations right. Once we got settled into the groove that's when our courtship period actually started. From after work 'dates' at Cafe Coffee Day to watching every new movie that released in the first week! From learning to cook together and having dinner only by 11pm to depending on Maggi to sail us through the lazy weekend. Everyday was filled with love and laughter. And it has never stopped being like that. Of course we fight (which couple doesn't), we slam doors, say hurtful words we wish we could take back, but through it all, we know we are imperative to each others happiness! We kiss and make up and the days are beautiful again! M is patience personified and I manage to test that as well. Yet, he forgives me graciously, until I manage to upset him again. When we found out I am pregnant, M was even more caring. We went to all our favourite haunts in Mumbai. I just had to ask for something and it would be there. He even got me the last Harry Potter the day it released, pleading not to read in the hospital! :D Our innumerable scrabble games and DVD shopping jaunts to Majestic to actually agreeing to NOT having cable at home, we have been equal partners in every decision we make. M treats my family as his own and he is adored by everyone. He is magic with kids and equally popular with the oldies. He can have you laughing in minutes with his brilliant sense of humour!

M you are indeed in every sense of the term my better half. I am glad you took a chance to find happiness with me and I hope you will never regret this decision. Thank you for being the perfect husband, the best father and an awesome son! Life just wouldn't have been the same without you! And i mean it only in a good way! :)

And last but not the least! My darling l'il brother who is a whole six and half years younger than me was going through a tough phase! He is studying in the US and was trying hard to get a summer internship. Apart from a chance to earn good money, it also means a chance to land up on a good job later. With US economy slowing down, no good news came for over a month. Being the cynic that he is, he worried and worried, ruining his health on the way too. I so wished I could just go and spend some time with him. Few days ago, phone rings midnight with his name flashing! I obviously get worried till I heard "Yohoo! Sis! I got through Yahoo!" I was sooo kicked and happy. He said he didn't wanna disturb Mom-Dad and HAD to share the news with someone! I felt SO proud and touched. Now he has offer from another good company as well and things are looking up! You rock brother! I just KNOW you gonna be SUPER successful! Am so proud to have the brain of the family as MY brother! :p Though Cubby could do with spending some time with you (you were so good with him), am sure you will make up for it. I also look forward to some EXPENSIVE Raksha Bandhan gifts! ;)

All in all a month where some of the most special people celebrated some special occasions. I am really lucky to have all of you in my life!

Always, be there, will ya?