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!

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!

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 ;)

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! :)

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!!!

Our day at the zoo!

If a few years back someone had told me that one winter morning, I'll actually go to the zoo and enjoy myself there, I'd have laughed at the idea. But well, times, things and lives change, and with that, priorities & simple pleasures take a shift too.  

So, we took Ami & our niece Karuna to the zoo today. Now that she's two, and can say the name of many animals, she has earned the right to go to the zoo :P Staying in Gurgaon, visiting the Delhi zoo was naturally taken up as a project. The plan was to reach there by 10, so we could enjoy the place and avoid the crowd. But as is usual with us, we left home late and got there only by 11:30. The Sahai's were later still, so we got the tickets & patiently waited for them. :)

A Note to anyone going: Don't carry any eatables, its just NOT allowed inside. All sandwiches which we had painstakingly made (early in the morning), so as to have a 'picnic' had to be left in the car outside. I managed to sneak in my daughter's orange juice & cheese slices, though they actually check to see you aren't carrying anything.

Once we were in, the girls went crazy. Left our hands and ran like they were proving a point to the animals- 'look we are free!' :) Tssk Tssk! We went wild keeping up with them... The excitement was just too much- "Mumma look "Duck", "Lion", "Tiger", "Elephant", "Giraffe"...! And some new ones were added to their vocabulary- "Jaguar, Alligator, Leopard, Turtle, Reptiles etc etc..." 

Let me tell you, I'm definitely not an animal's person. Meaning I don't get excited like other people when I sight an animal, so I was more than happy in the back seat clicking snaps of all the excitement. 

 

Another Note: We walked 4-5 kms that day. (And we didn't even cover it all). This place is HUGE, so comfy footwear and clothes is a must. You could also carry a hat & sunglasses. There are some small beverage joints conveniently placed along with decently clean toilets for visitors. Benches under huge trees to take a moment to rest, complete the picture! :)

Naturally our day had to end with lunch, coz we were starving by the time we got out... Here I'm with my cute little niece. :)

2 much!

My baby's turned two today. :) Donno what to expect in the "troublesome twos" but am feeling blessed that I have my very-own-gorgeous-bundle of joy. :)

Of course the reference to her being a boy in the form of "Yeh toh "Khalega"?" instead of "Khalegi", was quite unexpected. So shall follow suit by making her appearance more girlie! :)

Ami turns Ammi...! My baby's baby.

Till date, I have never seen Ami as excited by anything we have bought her, as she was when we bought her baby home. :) The look of extreme delight & excitement she had on her face then, was so surprising and completely gorgeous to look at. It was not just satisfying to me coz I'm her mother, but any onlooker could make out just how excited she was with her baby...

The first thing she did, post her sleep the next day was ask where her baby was... :)

Check out the possessive stand :)

She wanted to take the baby to School with her... The only reason she didn't (thankfully) was 'coz 'baby ko ninni aa rahi thi' (its a bedtime baby) ;)

Putting baby to sleep...

So she says 'bye' to the baby. Along with a lot of gibberish instructions which I'm going to think meant "mummy ko tang' matt karna" :P; before leaving for school.

 

And now the baby goes everywhere Ami does... :)

From Imp to Pixie :)

Anyone who knows Ami & me, knows I have a tom-boy for a daughter. Someone who makes it known, she prefers cars & balls to barbies & soft toys... Who prefers jeans to dresses... Who loves running around screaming and lets us know her dis-pleasures (with anything) immediately. 

So imagine my surprise when this weekend, quite out of the blue, I noticed some girlish behaviour in my pixie and her wanting to do things I did. :) To start with, on Saturday, after getting her ready, when I was getting ready myself, she came and stood by me at the mirror. When I put my eyeliner & kajal, she insisted I put them for her too. And then the same request was made for lipbalm. It had me in all smiles... But as if this wasn't enough, a little later in the day, she also wanted to borrow my stole to wear it herself. And finally she wanted me to let her carry a handbag of her own... :) 

See, let me clarify  I have absolutely no problem in having a girlie baby who's into girlish stuff... I wud absolutely luv that kinnda daughter too, but Ami's well always been more boyish, so it did come as a pleasant surprise. :)

And as I close this, the song in my head is...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey

You never know, dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away... :)"