you know you are on a vacation when...

Your day starts with a big piece of dark chocolate which is more than what you normally eat over a week! :)




When you have unending supply of Ajobas and aajis who will do anything to see you smile and chuckle. Even if it hurts their legs and backs!






Someone or the other ready to give up their rest time to swing along with you either just for fun or





or to make you sleep when you are all tired and sleepy

Bath times are even more fun when daadi specially get the tub down from the loft and then bathes you too! And when you are having so much fun, how can Daadu stay away?! :)

:) :) :) :) :)

You can monkey around as you like! Climb on the step ladder or

Or get thrown around by Ujoba during bedtime making full use of rows and rows of gaddas!

It took us a good 20mins to wind you down post this session with favourite Ujoba! :)

When you could semand 5 people to go out and jump with you! All the time!

and when you could eat alu bhajiya with sauce while on a picnic! :)

and then you got to cozy up and sleep with your panjoba (great grand father) making him and us very happy! :)

Seeing you with all these people who love you to bit made us count our blessing yet again. Be it Vandana aaji who made besan laddus for you or you Aaji who worked endlessly for your birthday and kept curing you with excellent home remedies or Ujoba who could make you laugh in a jiffy to Vijoba who planned your party so perfectly or Ajoba who put you to sleep every single day with his gentle patting. Dada - Dadi who planned the 2 dats we spend with them so beautifully and Panjoba who was so proud to see his great grand child bonding with him! :)

May this love keep getting showered on you, protect you and may you return it in equal measure and more.

Love ya!

kya bahu kabhi saas banegi?!

Now now! Lest you are wondering if I am already looking for a suitable bride for my 2yo very cute Cubby, you are totally wrong! (I mean i don't want you to start sending me pictures of your susheel and lovely daughters already!;)

I am talking about my Ma-in-law aka Mummy who is a bleddy brilliant cook! I mean you can say Annapurna resides in her hands. She can make anything taste perfectly awesome. In her heydays, she would cook for 100 people with little or no help. She baked these huge cakes for M's birthday - cats and aeroplanes! She keeps claiming that her cooking is very simple, but as hard as we try we can never even come close to that taste! And its not just the cooking, it's even her presentation that is flawless to say the least.

I mean how many people you know can turn this (the picture below) in to the final product you will see and that too at HOME!

I have not seen more yummy looking raw material!

That's how everything put together looks like!

A dash of sauce... the beginning of the completion!



The master-chef with her completed creation!

Papa obviously happy with the food in front of him!






Yayyy! I am eating a HOME-MADE sizzler! :D






Don't miss the happy faces behind the smoke that say "Bliss!"






After, NOT before! That's how clean the sizzler plates got licked! :)




So, the answer to the question asked in the title is a resounding NO!




But then, I am more than happy to be fed this food and man, it tastes even better than it looks, if that is possible! :)



Thanks Mummy for the gastronomic pleasure trip you always take us on - be it a simple dal or the finger lickin good Karela or this fancy sizzler! You rock! :)


The begging for invites is now open! ;)

why?!

She walked in to the room looking for him.
He just gave her a curt nod and she went up to him wondering whats in store today.
She did not know why she submitted to him like this.
He pushed, pulled and prodded her in public.
Even after she was tired and spent, he would say "Once more" with a twinkle in his eyes.
She would push herself and do what he said yet again...
She signed and wished that next time at least it would be a hot guy!


Are all gym instructors this crazy?!


Gotcha there, didn't I?


I started just a week ago and the trainer can really push everyone hard. He doesn't let anyone say "Enough!". If you do, you are rewarded with "Another set!" and he will laugh as you groan and discover the muscles that didn't exist!


Right now I am a permanent double H state! Hurting and Hungry. But then you can add another H to it, Happpy! :) It's good to see how much you can push yourself and being able to do more and more every day. I wish i had more time that the measly hour I am getting, but something is better than nothing and I seriously hope I can keep at it this time!


So wish me luck, will ya peoples?! :)

And yeah the very cool Monika and her hubby N are gunning to get a go at The Great Driving Challenge. All you have to do to make their dream come true is - VOTE HERE! Here's a couple with a passion for cars and drives and our 2 mins can let them have a paid holiday doing what they love! So PLEASE to vote! :)


Have a super weekend folks!

awesome, anyone?!

Past few days I have been feeling a tad low and l'il deficient as a mother and a wife and generally think am being a painful person to have around! So, this tag might be a good exercise in boosting my self esteem. Thanks awesomely cool Asaan and awesomely funny MiM for this one. Ofcos these two phenomenal ladies have done just too much of an awesome job of it, but I am gonna give it a shot in any case! :D


I need to put down 7 things that make me AWESOME! Seven seems a tall order! brrrr!


I am awesome because I have a smile that reaches my eyes even today. My teeth aren't pearly white by any stretch of imagination, but that has never stopped me from showing em off at any given chance! :p


I am awesome because I always manage to look at the bright side, the silver lining or whatever else you might call it. I love the fact that I am almost always positive about how things are and will turn out! :)


I am awesome because I am a solution oriented person. I can think in ten different ways and come up with just the right option. Basically, I am quick on take and enjoy taking control of the situation that seems to be getting bothersome!


I am awesome because I deal with people at every level with equal respect. You can be the office boy or my boss, my maid or my ma in law, you will see me being polite and genuinely respectful and/or affectionate. I use please and thank you in every situation, though sorry doesn’t come by that easily! :p I make friends easily too, though keeping in touch is not my strongest point! ;)


I am awesome because I can forgive even when I may / may not forget, but mostly I forget too. I truly believe that life is too short to hold grudges and waste time in hating when it can be used to love! :)


I am awesome because I give without expecting (most of the times! Hubby may be excluded from this! ;). I believe that one good turn gets another and even when you may not get something back from the same person; it will come to you from the most unexpected quarter... in full measure or maybe more! :)


I am awesome because I managed to do this tag!! I started this blog on M's insistence and didn't think that it will be such an awesome thing to have where i can record our life with Cubby and make awesome friends while at it!


Now if that isn’t too much awesomeness for a day, I dunno what is! ;)


I tag fellow awesome peoples;


Puja for being an awesome friend all the time!

Swati for being awesome at everything!

~nm for being awesomely creative - be it cooking or photography or making cool headers!

Namesake for using her words so awesomely that you always feel you are right there!

Priyanka for doing awesomely interesting stuff with her l'il gal Ash!

Sue for her awesomely clear thinking and honesty!

Dee because she is awesomely sporting and funnn!

Mags - for being an awesome woman in every way! and please to read THIS awesome post by the lady that talks about keeping our children safe from sexual abuse.

Couchpapaya - for being an awesome reader, reviewer and cook!

Angel's flight - for being awesomely fun and sensible!

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?! :)