First independent walk to the shop

So today Ms. Pyari is old enough to walk to the shop right outside our society to get Paneer. So Papa is usually the designated person to go get last minute stuff at home. But today he wasn’t home so Ami volunteered. I gave her 80 bucks for the paneer and 10 extra to pick whatever chocolate or gum she wanted to get for herself. She got ready to go- covered with mask and overalls.

First independent walk- check!

Ami turns 3-8! Birthday Parties!!!

 Ami’s 3rd was a Birthday Party theme was Mc Donalds, 4th Bday Party was at Dominos Pizza (Good Earth Mall) filled with magicians and the whole jing bang. 5th Bday was the theme Tangles at the Vatika City Club. Where we had magician again but a bouncy too which made it ao much fun for the kids. Both 4th & 5th were attended by family :)  6th Bday was at Winky Boo where everyone jumped their way to fun. 7th was technically celebrated at Ranthambore but we also had a moviedate with Ami’s friends once we got back and watched “Grinch stole Christmas”. For the 8th Bday we went to Obstacle park. Will put up a separate post for that later :)

Paddy Plantation Aka Buaaaiii

So it was Ami's first Paddy plantation today and boy did she enjoy herself thoroughly! 

One simply has to have so much fun in the keechad...! :P 

So our conversation went like this...

Ami: Ma can I go in? 

Me: Yes.

Ami: Wow! 

Ami: Ma can I put my hand inside the keechad? 

Me: Yes.

Ami: (Almost jumping in glee) Yay!!!! :P

For Ami, As School Starts...

Four years, five months old exactly and you step into your next milestone with elan tomorrow. Are you scared? Not really. Shy? Definitely. Happy to go to Big School? Oh Yes! I think so. And yet there's this feeling suddenly that you're  growing too fast... School's just starting and I'm already thinking of all the things ahead in the next fourteen years for you- the padhai, the learnings- (educationally, and lessons in life), late night projects and parties, the best friends, the sleep-overs, the heart breaks, the gossips and the giggles that's yet to come. So much of fun and life in store ahead. :) I am thinking- this is going to be both "the beginning of the best years of your life" and "the closure to the baby years". These school years are going to shape you into the kind of happy, intelligent and fundamentally nice human being that I know you will become and I can't wait to meet that young lady who I proudly even now declare as 'mine'. And yet the fear lingers if I will be a good mom who is capable of showing you the right path ahead always, who knows the right advice to give, and can control her own emotions so as to do the right thing. I'm scared my baby that I might not be the mother you always need- might not give you the bestest advice or be a great rolemodel always, I'm not always proud of the way I behave and the impact it has on you; but know this- I love you so-so much and I hope deep in your heart you ALWAYS know that! :) 

As you start this new journey I wish for you a beautiful life that is filled with much laughter and innocence, so much gossip and giggles, much love and satisfaction. I wish you live a life where everyday becomes a beautiful memory to look back upon and cherish, without regrets, when you are a 30 something. Something that makes you smile and be happy to have made friends forever! For no matter what other friends you make later, the ones you make here are those that you make for life! :) I wish you the strength to bear all the hurt and hope you'd let me be a part of those inner thoughts. I hope you and I stay best friends and that you share everything good and bad with me always. We might not agree upon everything going forward but I will always, always...

Love you Forever and More

Mumma :)

Turning four!!!

It was Ami's birthday yesterday and we had gone to Dayalbagh to seek Gracious Huzur's Blessings in Khet (as is our usual routine on birthdays). I had made Chocolate Cupcakes for Prashaad. GH spoke at length to the group... There were over 20 people who had come for their birthdays to Khet (the largest group I have ever seen on a single-day, aging from 1 to 65 yrs :) Gracious Huzur was very happy-happy and our day started on a very nice note. Badi Mummy and Mumma had planned breakfast at Radha Nagar with cake for Ami. So post khet we went there... Left Agra around 11 for Gurgaon, with Gharwallas from both sides (except Dad who couldn't make it); we got back home by 3PM.

We had a small party planned for Ami's friends in the evening. I rushed to get the decor done and MIL got Ami ready and brought her to the venue. Umang rushed to get the cake... 

The party was in Dominos Pizza at Good Earth and we got magician and tattoo artist to make it more fun for kids. All the kids along with Ami had so much fun with his bag of tricks... :) 

Then this morning we had another cake cutting in school. :) she was very shy there... I'm never sure if she enjoys being the centre of attention or not... ;) 

For now, happy to report that our little madam is going around telling everyone that she is a big girl now- all of four years old! ;)

Halloween @ Vatika City

The newspaper post next day said Vatika are the "trend setters", so I guess we have to believe it...! Hai na? ;)  We organised Halloween party for kids in Vatika City for the second year in a row. So where we are concerned, planning as always happens at the last minute... This year we decided to include some activities for the kids to take the event up a notch- Magic Show, tattoo artists, art & craft workshop, was the way we went.. 

Learning from the mistakes of last year we decided to go with a goodie bag instead of ordering happy meals (and I strongly believe it was a good decision :))

Ami had been very scared of masks last year, in order to avoid that, I had started preparing her weeks in advance, she seemed excited about the whole idea- even deciding she wanted to be Pumpkin this time, and choosing her own costume! :) 

But on the D-Day she got scared, yet again clinging to me whenever an older child with mask came close. :(

I sent her home and asked her best friend's mom to bring her along whenever she came for the party. It was a good call... :) She was happy when she came later with her friend. Spent a lot of time dancing to songs, went around clicking pics and even got a tattoo... I was happy to see her enjoying herself. :) Her one regret was she didn't wear the pumpkin dress (she had refused to wear it while she was cranky).

Next morning she woke up, and oh-so-seriously told me, "Mumma, were you a Witch in Halloween last night?" I said "Yes! Why?" Her response "I didn't like you as Witch Ma. You are pretty-pretty when you are my mumma." Awwww! Always glad to know that! ;) 

Complains... And getting grounded!

For last 3 days I have had Ami's Class Teacher complaining to me... About her being talkative, not listening in class, and opening her hair and disturbing the other students during Circle time. Everyday she has been promising me "she won't do it again" but it has been happening no matter what. So today when she got back from school, I explained to her that as she was continuing to do what she promised me she won't I was planning to punish her by Grounding her for the evening... She was not going to be allowed to go play with her friends in the park, as is her regular routine. I also told her this would be the punishment going forward whenever I get a complaint from her teacher regarding her behaviour in class. First she kept telling me "No" I don't agree. To which I kept explaining that to behave well or not well was her choice but what her punishment would be "was not her choice". When she finally understood this, she asked me very seriously (almost making me laugh out at her expression, which I controlled with difficulty) "what is it that she was allowed to do instead..?" Was she allowed to watch TV? "On thinking if that would be a suitable alternative, I would be okay with? I said "No!" I told her she could play with blocks or do some painting. Which she silently agreed to. 

And here's my Brat doing her painting- Oh-so-seriously... :)

Movie Date: Penguins of Madagascar

Just another normal Tuesday became slightly special for my baby girl as she had her first movie date at home. We called her friends home to watch a movie with her... We did it in full style. Popcorn, tickets, and the whole jing-bang! Tickets were issued... 

Ami helped Mumma pack a little something to give away to all her friends. 

Mumma's little helper, personally did all the bee stamps on these small return gifts. 

We then made some popcorn and lemonade & waited for Ami's friends to come...

All kids settled down and the first 50 minutes were quiet and was super fun except for request for more popcorn!  But as we soon realised their attention span was not much longer after that and they wanted to move around and play rather than sit in one place and watch a movie... :) 

Getting them together for a group shot in the end was an event in itself! Phewww!!! 

Beautiful evening, spent with friends, watching a lovely movie- Aha! First Movie Date- Check! Laughter & Giggles- Priceless!!! :)

Snugly-rainy mornings!!!

Ami & I woke up to a rainy day and decided to enjoy it to the fullest... We sat on the swing and enjoyed the view while I had a cup of tea... 

We then followed it with our very own story session... Snuggling up and enjoying each other's company to the max :) Its my favourite kind of start to a rainy day!

A Simple ABC of Food Request: Apple Pie, Bread Pakoda & Cutlets!

Umang has never been a Die-hard-foodie. He enjoys good food of course but he is not the kind who asks me to make something specific; or very rarely, if ever so. I'm often surprised when my daughter, Ami makes those requests with me (sometimes even making up for her father's lack of doing so... ;)) 

This week began with a request for Apple-Pie. "Mumma Ami ne bahut dinn se Apple pie nahi khaya... Banaoge please?" 

And Ta Da mumma baked an Apple pie for her baby girl, feeling quite accomplished when it was also relished and gobbled up quickly. :)

...So here was today's request- "Mumma, when I come back from school can you keep Break Pakoda and Cutlets, ready for me please?" Like Helloooo! Sure Darling, mummy's at your service, again. :)

I just hope she only asks me to make stuff that I can cook... I'm in deep trouble otherwise! :P Oh I don't think she realises that her requests have been chronological ABC... else imagine 23 more exotic food requests that she can think of! Phewwww!!! ;)

Green Drive- Plant a Tree!

Vatika and Art of Living together organised a Green Drive this weekend and encouraged kids to come and plant trees... 

So Ami (geared with her watering can) along with her three friends, went and planted two trees each... Watered them... And had a ball of a time. 

The organiser was kind enough to explain to them how the trees would grow along with them and how each of them now own those two trees and should come and check it out time-to-time. My kid for one took it to heart and Ami is now the proud owner of two jamun trees!!! ;)

Story Session

So Ami went for her first Story telling session today. Well let me explain that again, its not like she hasn't heard a story before; but it was the first event where we went out for it. :) (Gotta love Gurgaon for giving us these opportunities. Not many cities get it, so am thankful! :)) 

Bucko & Books buddy had organised a story telling session with Pooja Gehani (whom I had previously also, heard so much about in the forum) and this time the book was "Three Little Pigs"- a book Ami can relate to as its her favorite read with Dadima. :) So off we went for it, also roping Utsavi & Aditi into our plan. 

It was a good decision to take them... The kids had such a ball of a time. Ami loves the book and was ready with answers, participating and engrossed in a way I have never seen her before. :) It was such a pleasure to watch my child open up like that to a new person and situation. 

Oink Oink! Snort...!

The story telling session was not your usual open a book and read the story out... It was an enactment with Stick puppets in a very likable, animated way that kept kids entertained and involved. :)

As for Pooja, there are no words to explain how kids connected with her, she made them so comfortable, instantly... She was just amazing... Kept the kids totally engrossed. Ami for one is such a shy child (especially with strangers) but by the end of the session she was sitting on Pooja's lap. ;) 

The book session ended with some activities- "match the cards to the story strip" and then colouring to make 2D Puppets for themselves. 

What a fun hour spent in such a productive manner. Simply, A Beautiful Sunday... :) And to celebrate the same we ended the morning on a sweet note..! :P

Bedtime Stories... :)

...So when Ami was younger, Umang and I- who are both avid readers, had tried to get her interested in books but to our disappointment she was just never interested in them. We tried reading to her loads of times, but her attention span was always much smaller than the smallest of stories and she would most often loose interest in the plot much before the ending. 

A few months back to our joy we realised things had changed some how and she now showed interest in stories- just like that, out of the blue. And to our immense delight we discovered that our pixie now, not only wanted us to read to her (regularly) but was most often also keen on repeating the story back to us. Her favourite series currently is Pepper... And she loves reading what he is doing and also learns with him. The bed time ritual (both during afternoon naps and night time slumber) is incomplete without a book which she chooses herself. Generally afternoons are my turn to read to her and nights are Umang's!

So let me share how exactly the scene goes... During afternoon nap: Mumma lets read "Pepper goes to School"! Okay Ami, lets do! (...After reading the story to her) Excitedly "Abb Ami padegi"... Ami's turn to read! Okay... :)

Oh and the same repeats during night slumber with her papa. And often times the same book repeats too... :) She is almost able to tell the dialogues word for word by just seeing the pics on the page.. And yes I am kinnda-slightly-happy-proud of that ;)

Happy Spa Date...! Yay!!!!

So if someone had told me when Ami came into my life that she'll have her first Spa Date at 3 & a half, I'd have found that "you-are-joking-right?-funny..!" But today happened to be her first Spa date and boy did she have fun...? :)

This is what happened... We went to her friend Dia's house for a Spa Playdate and the five girls (along with two sweet little boys) had a ball of a time. They really did have a complete deal...Bubble-dipped-Pedicures... Face packs... Nail Polishes... :) It was just sooo much fun! 

Ofcourse splashing water was sooo much fun too! ;)

Not very happy about the face pack, ehh?

We made cupcakes for all her friends with "Happy Spa Day" tags on them... And needless to say, it really did turn out to be a 'Happy' Spa Day! :)