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!!! ;)

Chitiyaan Kailaiyaan Ve!

A few months back (post our Binsar trip) Ami got hooked on to 'Abhi toh party shuru huiye hai' and insisted on playing that song all the time in the car, so she could dance on it... And now it is 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan ve'! So why is this more special? Coz she sings lyrics with it... She knows lots of words of the song and sings it when she feels she's not being observed! Its sooo cute and funny :) I love it!!! Her favorite line from the song? "Mann jaawe Shopping karade...!" Such a girl thing no? :)

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! :)

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...

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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! ;)

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 :)

11.12.13- Blush it on!

Oh yes today has become the red letter day when my baby learns how to blush! ;) Well what happened was this- her very favorite Kaka mamu winked at her and every time he did that, she blushed... and did I add, "profusely"? It was hillarious to watch. :)

And to add to the drama queen moment, we later also had a tantrum thrown, when Alakh was narrating to others how this was happening and everyone looked at Ami to watch her blush.... Naturally my baby got angry & slightly embarrassed at this show on interest by all the adults around her. :)

So we had to literally get her in the mood again before we could click our group pic! Gosh! Kids...! 

Hair Spa? Nahhhh! You are a mom!

What do you expect from your 2 year old daughter when you get a Hair Spa and get your hair blow dried? Hmmm....

Option 1: Mumma you look Nice!
Option 2: Mumma! I want to do what you have done too...
Option 3: Did you do something to your hair Mumma? 
Option 4: Nothing at all. Coz well she's too busy!

Well how about, if your daughter gives you your hairband (as soon as she sees you) and tells you to tie your hair up? ('coz she finds it more comfy sleeping on your shoulder when your hair's not bothering her) Sigh! Life!!!! ;)

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... :)

Turning the No's into Yes!

As a 2 year old, you probably hear 'No' all the time... No this is not good for you or No don't do that... No don't pick this up or No, don't eat that... So its hardly surprising that 'No' is one of the first words in our child's vocabulary. Don't they learn to say 'No' much-much before learning to say 'Yes'? 

I have been seriously contemplating, whose fault that is? As parents we want our children to be independent and learn to face the world, but we probably don't allow them space to do just that. Albeit unintentionally, but we do condition them to be less independent by saying No to everything they want. We do not let them reach their true potential, 'coz our natural instinct is to-protect. And in being protective sometimes, we just don't let them be...

I read this somewhere and really liked it- "It's hard being a 2 yr old...There're things u want, but "NO" you're told. There's not enough hours in the day, 2 learn all d words they expect u to say. I've done well up 2 this time I've learnt what's theirs n what's MINE. I've used my legs n learned 2 walk, I've listened hard n learned 2 talk. I've learned 2 count from one 2 ten, n then I say it all again, u'll hear them say that I'm so bright, Coz I know my colors, black, red n white. Life's a twinkle, let's go to the zoo, remember mommy, I'm just two! :)"

This morning I faced one such dilemma too. Ami, brought a bottle of water to me and insisted she wanted to drink water straight from it (rather than the straw bottle or straw glass she generally prefers). My natural instinct was to say "No Ami, don't drink from the bottle, you will spill water all over you." but then a small voice inside said "So what? Let her do it, even if she does end up spilling the water." 

In hindsight, I'm glad I heard that small voice and let her have water straight from the bottle. Had I not, I'd have never known that my daughter was actually capable of drinking water from the bottle (miraculously without spilling it :)) and I'd have never got to see the precious little look of accomplishment she had on her face when she finished having the water. 

This got me thinking, that maybe as parents, we don't even realize this many times. Its not like we don't want our child to learn and grow. We only say No, coz of the fear of what happens if they don't do it right. Sometimes putting things (that might break in the process) much before our own kid. But maybe, just maybe, as parents, our task is not just to say "No" but also know when to give-in and say "Yes!" I agree its a fine balance, and we'd all have to learn as we play, but isn't that true for everything in life? 

"Catch"... Ha ha ha!

So if you are entering our house by any chance- Beware! Coz Ami can just throw a ball at you, (actually at anybody in the house) and simply say "Catch".... And if u don't catch? She just claps and laughs like bonkers! And really Maids... Guest... Nobody is excluded... :) Kisipe bhi kabhi bhi humla waar kiya ja sakta hai!

Chashme baddoor!

Look at what my brat was doing just for fun...? Brat= School teacher look ;)

Kerala- 22nd to 31st Aug

Our holiday in Kerala gave Ami opportunities for some more firsts... Her first trampoline jump was something she enjoyed most I guess. But the one I enjoyed the most was her first butterfly chase... :)

Houseboat was another first (for all of us actually) and was a fabulous experience... 

Kerala as such was just that... A fabulous experience! May be we got lucky or maybe someone up there was feeling a tiny bit happy with us- but we had a series of pleasant surprises wherever we stayed. Be it the private Jacuzzi in Cherai Beach... The floating cottage in Ashtamudi... Or the private pool in Poovar... It was all a teeny bit more luxurious than our own-standard of living, completely unexpected and hence a pleasantly-surprising-joy to the soul. :)