Secret Santa, XMas Party & Masti

XMas was so much fun this year... After so many years I played Secret Santa with friends building up the excitement from the week before XMas! Had a lot of fun deciding creative gifts and sending stuff to one another :) And kids had loads of fun too...

Ami's XMas started quite early. By end of Nov we had decorated the tree... The whole month of Dec all play dates had activities related to Xmas- and there were quite a few... Colouring, crafts, food, masti and get-togethers all had a festive feel. At the XMas party all kids got same gifts and Ami had a good time opening so many gifts. 

We bought her a kitchen set and Santa gave her gems, loads of stationary and chocolates in her stockings. She also got a Furby from Alakh Mama & Vidhi Mami. It was a time for lots of gifts and the month just flew with so much fun... :)

Visit to Gurudwara!

Last week was Guru Purab & La Petite introduced Ami to Guru Nanak Ji. And this week promptly they were taken to visit a Gurudwara or as my baby said "Guru Nanak Ji's house!" ;)

She was happy to go- dressed up in school uniform (which is mandatory only during such occassions) and came back home & told me all excitedly "how she had gone to Guru Nanak Ji's house & got Prashaad (I'm pressuming in langar) & had lots of Kishmish there (This I'm unclear about)." ;) I'm happy that my child is being exposed to so much of the world & is growing up with knowledge of what happens in the rest of the world too. 

Jo bole so nihaal... Sasriyakaal! :)

Chal mere ghode tik tik tik...

So Ami decided to go horsie on papa. And it was loads of laughter and fun all around... Chal mere ghode tik tik tik...! ;)

Oh No! It has started... ;)

So from the time Ami's come into our life, I have always heard my friends and cousins who are mothers of girls complaining "I don't get to choose what she wears. She refuses to wear anything but what she chooses..." I have a very very head strong daughter who generally has no qualms letting us know how she feels... So naturally I have been dreading this stage of hers to come... But oh-so-suddenly it was upon us yesterday! 

She calmly walked up to her cupboard, opened it, chose what she wanted, lay it on the bed, closed the cupboard and announced "Mumma, Ami ko yeh pehen na hai!" As parents we were both aghast and mighty surprised. We knew this moment would come but we weren't ready for it yet... And look at the T-Shirt she chose to innaugarate this stage "50% Ma... 50% Pa... 100% ME!" Hellooooo... I couldn't have said it better. Sigh! :)

Potty training... The things you experience! ;)

No this is not another gory post on how easy or difficult it was to potty train my baby... It is to share the funny side of it! So let me start by saying- my baby is finally potty trained (at least I hope she is now :)). Its been a constant learning for last 3 weeks and now she only wears Diaper while sleeping! :)

The side effect of this being now when we are out or travelling long distance, and want her to urinate in her diaper, she refuses to do it. The outcome of that being...

   

...yes we had to stop the car on Yamuna Expressway, remove madam's pottyseat, so she could do it! :P It is definitely one of life's funny experiences... A typical 'my bunny's funny' moment! :)

Chalo Satsang karo...

Wearing a dupatta... Love Story in hand (She thinks its her Pothi)... Ami can announce "Satsang karo!" at anytime of the day. Quite literally so...

You'll then hear her humming 'Tere charnon mein' (almost fully) 'Radhasoami rakshak jeev ke' (with missing words in between) or 'Tamanna yehi hai' :) She'll even use her hands to indicate that everybody else should sing along too. 

Oh & such adult-like demure looks and comments soon follow! Gosh!!!

First Nail Polish: Check

Hello Girls... 

Guess who's just realised she likes girlish things too? Ami! So here's what happened today- Vidhi Mami put nail polish... Then nanni put nail polish... So my pixie goes like "Ami ko bhi Nail polish lagao Mumma please." I was so surprised coz she has never been keen on such things before but here goes... Today mark's the first time my daughter got her nail polish put. Memories... Memories...! :)

Mere Mamu ki shaadi hai!

Ami's mamu jaan got married on 18th and brought home our super sweet Vidhi Mami :) Ami and mumma had moved to Dayalbagh on 9th to help with the shaadi preparations... Ami had a lovely time running around between shaadi houses and met loads and loads of new relatives. She was hardly able to get friendly with anybody new as there literally were so many new faces... She spent a great deal of time doing masti at Dadi's house too. Especially at times when the shaadi mahol would get too much for her. And her vocabulary saw a dramatic improvement over this period & she could literally tota'ish (parrot-like) repeat all words told in her vicinity, including some that weren't meant for her ears!!! ;)

We went bangle shopping a few days before shaadi (with Massi and Binti didi) where Ami bought loads of bangles, even matching some for her sangeet outfit. 

16th was the first function... Shaadi ka Satsang where Dataji asked mumma to put Ami on the ground and asked her to take Prashaad directly from HIM. This marked the first time that Ami received the Prashaad from HIM directly. :)

On 17th the sangeet day, regular running around at the venue kept happening with last minute preparations... So Ami was packed to Dadi's place & slept in the afternoon and was planned to arrive at the venue with papa all dressed up in her new yellow & orange lehenga. But when mumma found her, just before sangeet was to start, she was still in her shorts & t-shirt and mumma rushed her in to get her ready, assuming she'll be in good mood as she had had her beauty sleep! Little did Mumma know what she was getting into!!!

What followed was full-fledged drama! Ami crying... Unhappy... Not willing to wear lehenga or her much beloved bangles... Cranky... Not willing to dance or let mummy dance... Or get out of mummy's godi... More crying... More chipku'ness... Unbearable May Heat.... And no electricity!!! You get the picture right? Complete mayhem! Until thankfully what saved the day was an orange lollipop! :)




And Alas 18th arrived!!! All excited filled with joy but tired as hell we woke up...

 .

Thankfully early morning at khet was a little better mood-wise. But she just didn't get what all the running around was about. So naturally she spent most time in mummy's godi (again!). Not even ready to smile by the time the photo-session happened.

Shaadi went much better. For starters Ami was wearing a pretty black & white frock. There was literally no fuss in her dressing! No lehengas or dupattas or bangles to reckon with! So she sat thru the pheras and watched mamu & mami tie the knot happily. :)

Post shaadi, during lunch, the photo-session again clashed with her nap-time and naturally Ami was no longer interested in posing for the camera! Kids are moody but in an odd kinda way, happen to have the priorities right! Nap over photo-session is the right order in life- so what if it also happens to be your Mamu jaan's wedding...?  :) Sigh!

Eat it... Please eat it..! Ha ha ha! ;)

Ami for the last 2-3 days has a new game with Mamu jaan... She'll get something, try feeding it to him (be it chips, biscuits or peppys); and when he opens his mouth to take it, put it in her own mouth instead... Followed by gleeful laughter... :)

When after a few attempts Mamu stopped opening his mouth & responded with "Mamu ko nahi chahiye, Ami khalo!" She then went into "Khalo na please mamu. Eat it! Please eat it..." And when he gave in & opened his mouth, she quickly put in her mouth yet again!" Followed by a ha ha ha! :P Gosh! Kids... 

Holi with the play group :)

Ami enjoyed Holi party with new friends today... The kids had fun throwing flower petals at each other instead of water... :) it was fun watching them get together even though they hardly knew each other :)

The adults had fun too... High without Bhaang! ;)

Dudu-Goggles! :)

If someone had told me a few months back that my Pixie will ask to wear Goggles to drink her early morning milk, I'd have laughed. I actually laughed quite a lot when she actually did do it too... Today! :)

My natak company, continuously comes up with new ways to entertain. Here's touching wood that these unexpected giggles at 7 in the morning, never stop. :) 

First Annual Day Function- Check!

It was a proud moment for us as parents... Ami had been chosen for her first dance performance on Stage. She was going to be a rabbit in the Jungle Safari themed Annual Day and dance to Bum bum bole. 

She has been humming & singing the first line of this song for two weeks now... All I knew was I am supposed to get her ready in her costume (according to the list of Dos & Donts provided by the school) and deposit her at 2:30... 

Now lets talk about her day... She woke up at 7:30, had milk, got ready & we went to get her passport size photographs clicked... Then took her to the park where she met the toddlers of the walking group for the first time. (My pixie was the oldest). She played ther and after a photo session of sorts was tired... 

So I brought her cranky-self back home to put her to sleep b4 the function... She hardly slept for an hour when I had to wake her up to get ready... Rush... Rush... Rush.... Change...Cry... Cry... Cry... Eat... And got her to the school only 10 mins late. Phew!

Went back home... Grabbed a bite... Changed... And rushed back to school. Waited patiently for my baby's performance... And then bum bum bole started... 

First thing I noticed was Ami was not wearing her head gear... Uh oh! She was in 'the' mood! Next I realised she was just standing... Not moving at all, as wer most kids in the performance. 

Princi actually made them dance a 2nd time... But nope! My kid was definitely-stubbornly among the kids who didn't groove or dance to the beat. 

There was this one moment on stage when Ami recognised us in the audience and we witnessed a shy smile. :) 

Umang feels she is more like him & will never enjoy limelight on the stage. My deepest hope is he is wrong and that she gets out of this phase & displays her talents to the world. Coz thers no doubt in my mind that she is talented- I have seen glimpses of that at home. Oh my baby is just shy... And I do hope she can overcome this shyness soon. :)

Bath Crayons :)

Ami was introduced to bath crayons today. These are water soluble crayons that kids can draw to their heart's pleasure (on tiles) with. Bathing is suddenly so much more fun :)

Do check out my Picasso in the making! :)

First Picnic from Play School- Check!

So today La Petite had organised a picnic for Ami's class. Naturally my baby joined in and went to Leisure Valley with all her school friends. She came home to say she had fun in the sun with her friends and two-two mams. 

Awww the spirit of independence is so evident in her these days... Her world and experiences will not always clash with mine going forward. All I can do is stand back and smile and wish her all the best to experience life her-style.. May Huzur Radhasoami Dayal always keep an eye out for her. :)

Gosh! But isn't she growing super fast? Sob sob!

Donkey ko Papa ne Sorry ki!

Umang had had a small mishap while returning from Agra on the first weekend of this year, where a Donkey stepped in front of his car (from the median) all of a sudden, and he had to sway the car suddenly so as to not hit the Donkey, head on! In the process he did hit the car on the side. By God's Grace Ami was not in the car to witness all this first hand. But when she asked me where was Papa & why was he late, I narrated this story to her. 

Her first question to me was "Papa ne Donkey ko Sorry kiya?" (Did Papa say sorry to the Donkey?) ;)

Post that, thers probably no family member who has not been told of this incident by her. She'd just start by saying "Papa ne Donkey ko Sorry kiya!" And then follow with the explaination of the whole thing. 

Whoever said kids have short memories, have clearly not met my daughter, coz she's been going on & on & on about this for a month and a half already! Gosh!!!

Mumma, Ami ko bat-ball chahiye.

I'm not even surprised that Ami who has never really asked us to pick any toy till date, stood in front of me, seriously (both her hands folded in front of her) and stated "Mumma, Ami ko bat-ball chahiye!" 

Well it happened like this, she was down in the park yesterday, playing in the sun when she smartly exchanged her football with a smaller kid who had a bat & ball. As both kids were happy with their exchanged toys, we the mothers let them be. But all hell broke loose when it was time to say bye and Ami just plain refused to return the kid's bat & ball. Naturally mumma ended up returning it & telling her 'Agar Ami ko bat-ball chahiye toh mummy-papa Ami ke liye bat-ball le'ange.' And again naturally my smart kid remembered that and first thing this morning reminded me of what I had told her.

Hmmm... So out went poor-little-mumma and bought it for her, all the while thinking 'Ami can't have everything she wants jlt. I should insist that she does things to earn what she wants.' 

Sigh!!!

Post getting the bat & ball, instructions started pouring in- of where should mumma stand and what should mumma do... 

And someone was not happy when Mumma got busy clicking her in the process. Look at that expression... Gosh! 

Gandi baat... Haanji bolo...Nooooo! Ami ka hai!

Some new catch phrases Ami's been dishing out these days are 

"Gandi baat": If there's anything done by anybody that is against what she wants, then out comes "Gandi baat!" 

When she doesn't want you to take away something that she has from her, she folds both her hands across her chest and very adult-like says "Noooooo! Ami ka hai."

And my absolute favorite is- "Haan ji bolo!" You call out to her from anywhere at home and out comes a cute "Haanji bolo." :) It always makes me smile. :)

Pretty Pretty Mommy :)

So jlt, out of the blue Ami gave me a compliment today saying "Pretty Pretty Mommy!" while pulling my cheeks. She did this in front of Umang, who promptly burst out laughing, coz of the mutual admiration society we seem to have created for each other. 

Here's hoping someone takes her que and starts complimenting mumma more :)

First adventure ride- Check!

We were at Ambience Mall tonight when a rides space (generally avoided by us) came into focus 'coz Ami wanted to try it. So we checked where the ticket counter was and picked the fun card and Ami & I tried the rotating saucers which became Ami's first ride ever..! :)

Initially my baby was scared and not sure about it but by 2nd round she held my hand and started enjoying the ride. She was a natural. Enjoying & ready to explore :) It was really fun watching her blossom. 

Here she is taking a ride at the animal-ship!