Girls will be girls

Not that i would trade that for anything in the world but, girls will be girls. And mine is a typical one at that. Huggable, kissable, spreading their affection with a smile-kind of girl.

She pretend plays with her dolls in the dollhouse, she makes and serves tea in her lil kitchen set, she screeches when she's excited and fake cries (with tears) at the drop of a hat! She craves attention and would do anything to have it her way. She's talkative. Very talkative. And she's all of 19 months old. I shudder to imagine what's in store! 


She's most fascinated with new clothes and shoes. And very happy to go out of the house. Give her a few more years and she'll enjoy shopping also as much as i do! Tsk Tsk!


The 'I'm being shy' phase has also begun (though i think that's more of a toddler trait which doesn't last for more than five minutes). Once she's warmed up, she'd even like to go home with strangers. There are times when lil missy suddenly decides to be shy with her grandparents and aunts over skype. And she sees them almost everyday. What goes on in the tiny head of hers only she knows! 

When it comes to cuteness, no one and nothing can beat 'her'. She woke me up with a kiss the other day. And of course my day went well. It's a different thing that it didn't happen again, but i would like to think its because i wake up before her on most days! She does a little dance for her father when he gets back from work. Maybe that's her way of saying 'I missed you'. 

During one of her pretend play sessions, she wanted to fake feed her father. But of course one can't eat without a bib on, so the father, with a drink in one hand, was forced to wear her pink bib. And he had to say 'yummy' after each bite or else she was offended! 

In another father-daughter bonding session, the father decided to take football lessons (in the house!). And believe me what a racket it was. Not because there was a ball being kicked around the drawing room, but because the young lady decided to use lung power more than foot power. When the father kicked it, she screeched and ran behind the ball, picked it up and scurried away. What a sight! 

The father-daughter affection was highlighted the day she brought huggie bear to her dad and got herself tiny huggie bear. So papa had to hug big huggie bear and baby had tiny huggie bear... and they lived happily every after... whilst mumma cleaned the dishes!

I say again, girls will be girls... most attached to their fathers. Very soon they'll be a team, plotting against mumma! I don't mind. At the end of the day, they'll both be on my side! 

Naming Aanya

Throughout my pregnancy i thought i was having a boy. Not as a bias of any sort, just a gut feeling. And you know how people judge by your tummy and hips and eating habits whether you'll have a son or daughter, my usual reviews were that of a boy. MMW and i had decided to look up baby names once the second trimester was over, basically after the seventh month customary 'godh bharai' or 'shaadh' as we call it in bangla. 

I only looked up boy names. MMW had one condition, just one in the entire baby naming process, the name had to start with A. So that narrowed it down immensely. And most of the names were so common that i didn't even bother listing them. My primary resource was the internet and a book by Menaka Gandhi on baby names borrowed from a friend. 

One sleepless night (as are most nights during the last phase of huge tummy days), in my ninth month, i suddenly woke up MMW, "what if it's a girl? we haven't thought of any girl baby names? she'll feel so bad!" And thus began the hunt for a beautiful baby girl name. In a couple of days i chalked out an entire list of names and their meanings. Between the two of us, we'd picked and finalised a boy and girl name. In my enthusiasm i checked out the numerology implications of the spellings et all (my pregnancy website had a tool for the same!)

That moment on the 21st of april 2011 is etched in my memory forever. In the OT, in my blindfold i heard the baby cry for the first time. The doctors were busy stitching me up and i was itching with curiosity. The anesthetist very hesitantly asked me, "what did u want?" and believe me at that moment i only wanted to know that i'd had a healthy baby. "Here's your baby girl", he said, opening my blindfold for a second. My wet cheeks touched her soft face and she was taken away. 

A very drowsy and heavily drugged me was wheeled in to the room post operation. The baby was put in a cradle next to me. MMW couldn't stop smiling. Between all the congratulatory calls, visits and the sudden added responsibility, he whispered in my ear "So, shall i register her as Aanya?". I smiled, and nodded and that's how we named our Aanya. 

It means inexhaustible in sanskrit and gracious in hebrew. Before we named her, we'd hardly heard of any Aanyas. Now, everyone i know knows another Aanya. Yet, there's only one Aanya Purkayastha- our most awaited, most petted, most pampered- our first one!

Her canvas

Her tiny fingers dabbled with paint for the first time today. Aanya finally discovered the joy of messing around with paints. 

I laid out newspapers on a tiled surface and kept a chart paper (read her canvas) in the center. In a plate i put some green, red and yellow paint and showed her once what needed to be done. Very soon, the plate looked brown, thanks to the heartless fusion of the three. 

What followed was a little confused yet fun and messy exploration of texture. I'm going to let the pictures do the talking with a promise that it's definitely not the last time she felt colours.

I don't know why i made the silly mistake of bathing her before the experiment. Anyway, lesson learnt. Oh, and i've kept her canvas and bloomer as souvenirs. 

  

Space matters

It's the free space and exposure to the company of many others that's turning her in to more of a social being. First thing in the morning she wants to explore the outside, play ball, say hi to the birdies and run around. Finally i think hunger drives her back in.  

My theory is, at home there's only so much she can do and is then constrained by space. Here she's found boundary less space. Hence, more to explore and even more to engage her naughty mind in. She's not threatened by unfamiliar territory. It takes her just a few minutes to warm up to the new place. 



And i'm talking out of experience. In the last month she's visited her thammu's place in Delhi, family friends' places also in Delhi, her ammu-dadu's house, the golf course, my dad's colleagues place in Amritsar, my aunt's place, cousins house, friends place and uncles' house in Mumbai. She's never clung on to me for too long. She's definitely a social baby. As long as she gets her food, sleep and diaper change on time. 

After the sweet taste of space and the meaning it brought to her existence, i introduced her to the train. Paradoxical situation leading to one of the most horrendous experiences of my life with aanya. Train compartment=no freedom of space=feeling of being chained! Umpteen end to end walks of the compartment were taken (I could hear almost all the passengers empathising with mumma and me), songs and rhymes were repeated, so much so that the co-passengers also learnt them by heart, books were read aloud, extensive doodling on the slate was observed and the the toys animated their story till she was bored. There was nothing we didn't try. 

Moral of the story. If you have a child like Aanya, travel by train before she can start walking or after she is old enough to use the loo herself! Preferably travel with spouse; never alone. 

17th month update

She's definitely become smarter in the last couple of weeks. She understands more. Can express more. She even drags me by my hand to show me what exactly she wants. She follows and imitates. To the tee.

The other day my mum was upset about something and was sitting on the sofa with her palm covering her face. For a long time little missy tried to humour her with the antics, even tried a fake laugh, and when all failed, she sat down beside her copying her exact facepalm gesture! Of course all of mumma's worries vanished in a jiffy!


Every day has fascinating 'aanya moments'. Mostly good, sometimes annoying and sometimes painful (for her)!

She picks up the mobile and has an entire one sided conversation with her papa, including a little laugh somewhere mid-way (almost like he'd shared a joke), and doesn't end the call without saying 'bah' (bye). She tried the same with a corded fixed landline one day and was taken by surprise when the phone wouldn't move beyond a certain point. Innocence of a child born in 2011 i say!

Another day, she was flipping through one of her first word picture books, when she started saying 'meow-meow'. It was the first time i saw her relating picture to a sound i'd taught her. The feeling was great! Yesterday she saw the picture of a black panther and 'meowed' again. Not her fault. It does belong to the cat family! Innocence of a child, period!

Two weeks back aanya made a certain discovery. She discovered the apple. I never thought something as plain and simple as an apple could be so fascinating and complicated for a toddler. She began by calling it 'aapa'. Then, any and every fruit became 'aapa'. Even a tomato was 'aapa'. There was an 'aapa' hidden in one corner of my aunt's fridge. She managed to see it through the various utensils and almost threw a fit till she got a slice to herself. She cried like crazy at the railway station because one of the stalls had fresh tomatoes piled up at their counter and she wanted one of those 'aapas' only. As of today the 'aapa' has evolved to 'aple'. (and i haven't misspelt it ).

'Bhaiya' is yet another word she speaks fluently. No mistake in pronunciation even. More so, bhaiya is a good friend. He plays with her. Gives in to most of her demands and doesn't even try to discipline. He shows her the kittens and willingly carries her when wants.   

Now we come to the part where i scold her for being mischievous and she fake cries at once with tears rolling down while looking at one of the grandparents for sympathy. (Thankfully they let me do my bit and console her only after she's corrected her mistake). The best part is, within two minutes its all forgotten and she's back to being her naughty old self. 

Aanya is crossing all her milestones month by month; and i'm becoming more patient with each passing month. Even though the gray hair on my head speak a different language! 

The One!

Its been three and half months since we celebrated Aanya's first birthday and somehow i never got to write about it earlier. 

I moved to Singapore with Aanya to join MMW in the first week of her b'day month. It was a little selfish of me. Choosing MMW in a foreign land over family, friends and well wishers back home to celebrate her first. But then, he's the father. So it was justified. We had to celebrate our little one together. With just a fortnight to settle down, getting used to completely new surroundings, and plan for her big day, i had lots on my plate. 

I was a little more organised by the end of week 1. Though Aanya was still not used to seeing only her mumma around. We had moved from a familiar house full of people and her buddy panzer into an unexplored house, with just the three of us. Not only was she clingy, she had an irritatingly different routine everyday. And every evening when MMW walked in, i had a new crib!

As Aanya's b'day approached the last week of my pregnancy kept playing in loop in my mind. It was a highly emotional time for me. That i had successfully managed to nurture that little tiny 'barely-the-size-of-my-arm' new born into a beautiful, adorable, walking, mischief making toddler was beyond any emotional scale. 

People say that a child doesn't even remember his first b'day so why do anything special? I feel, maybe not today, but many years later when the same child grows up, he would love to know that his first b'day was special and grand and celebrated. And i wanted to make it extra special for her. We didn't know enough people to have a grand party, but in our own little way we planned something. 

It had been playing on my mind for long that the closest family Aanya has wouldn't be with her on her b'day, so i asked them to write little notes for her. Trust me, it was the best gift she could have asked for. Feelings and emotions poured and so did my tears. Baba wrote his first ever poem, Tini almost wrote a novel, the grandmothers expressed their 'aadore' and Shreya made a lovely poster. Not to forget Akshay who was the most prompt and precise in his affection. I'm sure she'll cherish each one's each word forever. 

On B -1 day, while she was sleeping, I baked the cake. After browsing through 100 websites i decided to make a castle for my princess. Once back from work, MMW put up the balloons and 'Happy Birthday' banner. To our utter surprise, the little toothless monster was horrified of the blown up balloons... till we patted them and said "good boy, good girl" like typical pyscho-parents-trying-to-pacify-baby! A little before midnight we sat together, and while i dictated, MMW wrote down all the messages on coloured sheets of paper with bright markers. That was the last thing we put up and voila! the house the was set to ring in the celebration!

She started the day with 'payesh' (kheer as many people know). I dolled her up in a pretty pink dress with silver sequins on it, matched with silver shoes and fluffy pink hair band. (It was the first time i saw her admiring her shoes.) Aashi and Aseem, the closest we have to family in Singapore, joined in the bash with their twin boys Aayan and Aahan. 

The cake was a shabby, 'no-sign-of-a-castle' lookalike yet tasty cake. Tini and Shreya joined us on skype as we cut it. Aanya was a little confused with all the attention. Loving it nevertheless. After a sumptuous continental meal, all of us left for 'Kids Amaze', a 3-storey indoor playground close to our house. This was the fun element. Two hours, heavily expended baby energy and millions of photos later, we decided to head home. We were spending the weekend with Aashi and Aseem, so we headed to their home. 

The day came to an end. Mental exhaustion overpowered the physical.  The baby became a toddler. Responsibility soared higher. The 21st of April, will always be special, and the aim will be to celebrate it ever after!

National Spirit

This mornings paper brought with it a 12 page, hard to miss, thick paper pullout. On the cover are seven faces of Team Singapore. It reads "The faces that make us proud, Come experience the London 2012 journey with Team Singapore; Ignite your support". Inside are pictures and quotes of every participant. And on the last page are best wishes from the sports council and supporters. 

                                                    
I don't mean to compare, but i'm very impressed with the Singaporeans for inculcating patriotism the way they do. Their National Day is less than a month away and residential blocks have beautified their locality with flags and streamers. The town councils have put up huge posters and banners with photos of people from their areas congratulating the country for its 'birthday'. The community centres have also been decked up. Cloth flags that can be put up on the window sill are being sold at all stores for a reasonable amount. Each house has built in hooks to which the flag can be tied. And its a pleasant sight. These flags fluttering high in unison, telling a little something about the family that put them up. 

Singaporean men around the age of 18 have to undergo compulsory military training called National Service. There's a large group of people here who don't like that arrangement. Its a complicated equation but i don't want to get in to that. What i liked is that the Ministry of Manpower has come up with an ad that's screened at the movies. Quite a tearjerker expressing a father-to-son journey of the NS and of course, the spirit to do something for the nation. 


I'm a firm believer that nothing can harness patriotism and national spirit better than being a part of the military. Maybe having grown up as a military man's daughter and marrying a military man has something to do with it. I was brought up in army schools where parading on republic day, independence day and sports day was out of enthusiasm, singing the national anthem was out of patriotic fervor and saluting the flag was out of respect. 


Aanya will be patriotic. Am sure of that. She'll be surrounded by defence personnel, study in the naval school and have parents who inculcate values that bind. 

My greatest fear

Some reality checks come with the bitter understanding of life. When someone else's sorrow haunts you for days on end, its time for some introspection. It's human nature, to put yourself in that persons shoes. You may feel horrible. But after a point there's nothing much you can do. You're helpless. Just pray that they get the strength and courage to move on.

The incident brought me to think about the arguments and fights i have with MMW. Often. Most of them petty. Some evolve from egoistic unpleasantness and some from unnecessary issues. Word to be noted, unnecessary. I'm going to consciously try to make amends. To live and love each day. Express my love to my near and dear ones. In my own way, i want to be there for those who mean anything to me. For my greatest fear is losing them.

Why this post deserves space here is because when i was most disturbed, i knew, after MMW, the only person who could pep me up was mummy. And even a five minute conversation with her really helped. 

The never ending debate

Why go far? In my house, between MMW and me there are differences on this issue, so how can i judge others. Spare the rod or Beat to treat, what's your call?


When Tini encouraged me to write on this topic, it brought back a series of unpleasant memories from my childhood. The rod, or rather, the hand wasn't spared in my case but i don't think i've evolved wrong. It was a decision mumma had to take. And i respect her more than ever for bringing me up the way she has. Leave alone raise his hand, baba hardly even spoke to me sternly. His emotions were generally routed through mumma. 


MMW was an extremely naughty, 'always getting in to trouble' kind of child. From the stories i hear about his childhood from him, Ma and her friends, i'm not surprised that Ma grayed early! So i don't think sparing the rod was even in the question in his case. And he is by far one of the best human beings i've ever come across. 


The first time i traveled by the MRT (metro train) here, i was the centre of attraction. For very different reasons though. My daughter was the only one making noise. The other "kids" either had gadgets in the hands or pacifiers stuffed in their mouths. A short while in to the journey and the glares faded away. Maybe i stopped paying attention. When MMW spoke about this in his office, one of his seniors promptly asked, "Don't you cane your child?". He was a little taken aback but came to realise soon that caning is legal here. Parents discipline their kids by caning. 


I'm differently opinionated on this issue. I don't want to beat up my child. I want to be stern. And i will be. And i'm sure if she anything like me or MMW, she will need serious disciplining, which will only get stricter with time. She's already as stubborn as a grown up and throws temper tantrums and fake cries like a pro! MMW thinks am going wrong somewhere, coz she doesn't listen most of the times. Maybe i am. Yet, my guess is, she's still a little too young to understand. 

Fighting for his toy with Aahan

I distract her when she gets temperamental. Sometimes i show her the eyes. Sometimes i lose my cool and give her a good sounding. Sometimes i just hug her tight. Most of the times it works and in the one odd time that it doesn't, she gets a light whack. (Mumma and Ma, if you're reading this, please wipe off those tears... it was just a light whack, didn't hurt her at all.)





I read an article on this subject and it made sense to me. It said if you beat up your child when he does something wrong, the child starts thinking its ok to hit. One day he'll turn around and hit someone else too. He's too young to differentiate right from wrong. 


Our parents were spanked (many a time for no fault of theirs); we were beaten up by them (mostly for grave mistakes); but neither was exposed to as much violence as todays generation is. The ways and means of upbringing are changing with time. 

Ignoring the look

The worst is to let out our anger on our kids. Most of the times it happens in the moment, unknowingly. Listen, explain, rationalise with yourself and your kid. Be curt yet understanding. 


And when you can, answer this... Spare the rod or Beat to treat? 

Bait-ed

My little tootsie has long hair now, from a babys point of view; and she sweats a lot. The combination of the two... quite smelly and unhealthy! So I, being the ever concerned mother, went out to buy baby shampoo because all this while i was using mild bathing baby liquid soap for her hair as well. After some confusion, discussion and more confusion, i picked L'oreals new baby shampoo. And yes, L'oreal has two varieties of baby shampoo. I was kicked to see it. I picked it up because its mild and tearless with a sunny orange smell for 'active babies'. Apt for my toddler. 

Back home it got me thinking... The market is flooded with options and in a consumerist society like ours, I think mothers are the worst hit. They want everything for their baby. And everything comes at a price. That price doesn't really bother us so much as long as we can afford it. 


My almost 15 month old has a toiletries bag of her own. Maybe heavier than mine. Soap, shampoo, tooth brushes, tooth paste, comb, moisturiser, cream, lotion, lotion powder, diaper rash cream, nail clipper et all. Oh and the diaper rash cream has a story. Before she was born, i'd picked up the Himalaya baby range of products, thinking its all safe and good for the baby. Half the products didn't suit her. Including the diaper rash cream. So began the hunt for a new 'suitable' one. Trial and error and a couple of months later i was introduced to the Mothercare range of products. This one HAD TO suit her. It was way more expensive than the previous ones i'd tried. But then, who likes to take a chance with sensitive areas. It's being used till date. 


A similar case story for the lotion. Delhi is dry. And lil madams' skin was cracking up. So i tried many a oil and lotion... nothing helped. Finally picked up the Mothercare seabuckthorn baby body lotion which suited her just fine. And was very effective too!

The toothbrushes also have an interesting story. Aanya didn't have teeth back then. I'd gone to a baby store to pick up a straw sipper. There i happened to see a set of three toothbrushes for babies. The first one was for when the baby has no teeth (basically for the gums), second for when the baby has few teeth and the third for when the baby has the complete set of pearls! Of course that came home along with a tube of toothpaste. 

A few years back most of these products may have been luxurious items. But today, i and most mothers with kids Aanya's age think of them as necessities. I'm not even beginning to mention about clothes and shoes and hair accessories, coz that's another closet full of spendthrift indulgences there.  

Journeys...

This was our first family vacation. I've traveled alone, with MMW, with Aanya, but the first for all three of us as family. And we traveled abroad from abroad! (I think the mole on Aanya's ankle has something to do with this!) After a lot of internet surfing and consultation with friends, it was decided that Genting Highlands and Kuala Lumpur would be good as a first. We had our itinerary fixed for 3N/4D including travel time.


I was as organised as a bee and ready to leave the house 15 minutes before time. Imagine that! Barring the slight faux pas in the bus which was resolved soon, it was an extremely comfortable journey. Aanya slept through most of it, MMW read through all of it and i enjoyed the scenes from my window. We moved from concrete jungle to luscious green. The housing structures really excited me. Row houses with gabled roofs. But that was only in the town area. High rises, condos and city scrapers were back as we moved further in. 


The shocking part was now. When we had to check in to the hotel at Genting. The hotel is listed in the Guiness book of world records for it has 6114 rooms. There was a queue for the token for the check in counter. We checked in an hour and half later. Freshened up. Spent the entire evening in the indoor amusement area. Aanya slept through our venture at Ripley's Believe it or not, screamed and cried her head out at the Haunted adventure, loved the horsie on the carousel, and the wouldn't stop ringing the bell on the toy train! 

Waiting for our turn to check-in

The next day we left for KL. Easy check in. Lovely room. Rested for a bit and went out shopping. I wasn't very impressed with the city though. We were warned by everyone to be careful of thieves and robbers. There was beggary and bad roads and disobeying traffic. Maybe if i had gone from India, it wouldn't have struck me much, but since Singapore is a better maintained country, i felt the difference. Yet again, all the tourist attractions were very well maintained. No scribbling on the walls or littering or any other nonsense for that matter. 


The next two days were good fun. We took a guided city tour, tried street food and local beer and had our share of relaxation in the hotel too. Whenever Aanya was bored, she would somehow huddle up in her stroller and say 'tah-tah'. One time she even brought us our shoes one by one and said 'tah-tah'!!! Apart from troubling with her meals once in a while, she was an angel. It may sound gross to some, but she always did potty in the room. Never once during travel! (all mums will understand my apprehension about potty.)


Which brings me to the one incident i've been meaning to write about for a long time. A few months back, we were three women travelling with one baby from Amritsar to Delhi. On the seat behind us was an Indian gentleman with two young girls. A toddler and another about 4-5 year old. He had come all the way from Germany with his daughters while his German wife was back home. He was on vacation. Doing everything for the girls. Feeding, changing diapers, putting them to sleep, entertaining them throughout the journey. Patiently. And his journey would not ending in Delhi. He would travel back to Germany the same way. Hats off man!!!


I was extremely apprehensive about travelling from Delhi to Singapore alone with Aanya. She was not even a year old then. Good luck prevailed and she slept through the entire journey. (The  gentleman sitting beside me even complimented me for having such a well behaved baby, little did he know!!!) And this time again, even though MMW was around and we took turns to entertain her on our way back from KL, it was quite a task. I sang all the nursery rhymes i know, showed her the various cars and buses and trees and clouds, played with tom numerous times, gave her body part lessons, animal sound lessons and what not, and even then the seven hours seemed like ages. 

That guys courage will always set an example. Especially during journeys...

My daily dose of entertainment...

... and it doesn't come from the television. It's my little girl, my entertainment channel. In rapt attention she picks up dance moves from the umpteen nursery rhymes she watches and soon we're witness to her cute baby moves. 


It all started with 'chikni chameli'. You know how all babies have a favourite song to which they're attracted, to the extent that they forget anything and everything else. Well, for aanya, 'chikni chameli' was that magical number. She could barely sit back then when the song released, but she had her moves right. She would shake her baby hands up and down and believe me, all in tune! Till today, she can be distracted with the song. It's just that now she's come up with some better moves. She sways her body, does a little twirl, moves up and down and claps while at it!!! 


The funniest was, MMW and i were following the comedy-mystery series called 'psych' on the laptop. And it has a very catchy credits tune. So one of those days, after aanya had slept off, we were doing the same. It had been more than 40 mins since she was fast asleep and as soon as the credits started rolling, we saw to our bewildered amusement, madam was shaking her bums up and down in tune!!! What a sight! We were in splits till we were holding our stomachs. 


I've been showing her the 'gigglebellies' nursery rhymes during her meals. And now she's addicted to them. So much so, that when i bring her bowl out, she points out to the laptop demanding the hear 'her' rhymes. There's one called 'Raindrops and gum drops'. 


If all the little raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops
Oh what a rain it would be
I would stand outside with my mouth open wide
Ah-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-Aaaah
And so on... 


The 'Ah-a-a' part is what caught aanya's fancy. Yesterday, while i was busy with something, i suddenly heard her sing 'Ah-a-a' while following the rhyme and prancing around. My little baby sure is growing up. 


The tech savvy baby that she is, aanya loves to talk to Tom. Now tom is 'tom cat' or 'talking tom' as many people know him. She brings me my phone and says 'Hie Taa' which corresponds to 'Hi Tom'. And of course, i have to show her tom or else there'll be mayhem.     She brings the remote to me when she wants to watch 'baby tv' and knows exactly when to say hi when someone calls on skype. 


Funny as it may sound, aanya can say 'mumma', 'tah-tah', 'hie-ta', but not 'papa' and her papa has literally been after her from the time she was born to call him that. She has her own version of 'tah-tah' which refers to her father. And whether he likes it or not, he HAS TO respond to her when she calls out to him. 


Tishi taught her to show her tongue, Girija (aunty) taught her 'high five', tah-tah showed her her nose, she was caught on camera giving her first flying kissie to mash, all her stuffed toys have been named and the party trick is to ask her to show us 'huggie bear' or 'minnie mouse'.  As soon as she wakes up in the morning she says hi to 'nighty' her sleeping buddy. She's learnt 'namaste' and 'jai hind', 'clap your hands, stamp your feet and jump up high'; she brings the 'big red ball' when asked for and can throw the ball. She makes a moo sound when asked what the cow says, and she always nods her head vigorously when asked "who's the goo girl in the house". 'Tagbak-tagbak' means rocking her favourite wooden horse and "tuki"(bengali version of peekaboo) is her all time favourite game. 

She knows exactly where her shoosies are kept and shoosies means going out. And nothing else brings her more happiness (already). The excitement on her face to see her shoosies is boundless. To be able to sit on the cycle or in the stroller wearing shoosies is ultimate happiness!


I know most children cross these milestones by her age, but i guess being a proud mother means being able to recognise and appreciate each and every little act of your child. And this doesn't mean she's the best, most well behaved child you've seen. She can be quite difficult and stubborn. But the vices i leave for another post. 

Frustration leads to.... a new post!

It's been ages since i wrote and yes, am back to it... on a slightly frustrated note... but back still. I guess, sometimes unpleasantness leads one to do their 'out of the blue' thing, rather than happy thoughts.


It's just that my 13 month old has refused to eat. I've tried everything! Believe me, am not exaggerating... everything! Sweet food, salty food, home cooked food, packaged food, 'what we eat' food, baby food, the list goes on.


All my principles of bringing up the baby took a back seat. I pushed the high chair away. Allowed her to watch 'baby tv' or gigglebellies to feed each morsel. Taken her for cycle rides in the house. Bribed her with cheese sticks. Had MMW entertain her with something funny. With each passing day, her level of boredom towards food kept increasing.


But mind you, all the antics are forgotten if there are wafers around or french fries, or sometimes even sausages.     So i even tried to bribe her with french fries and sausages. Am still not willing to bribe her with chips, though i did dip chips in cerelac to get her to eat it once!


Her likes and dislikes seem to be changing faster than the weather of Singapore. And for all those who haven't been here, its true that it can rain/get sunny/rain again within minutes of each other... for a few days she gorged on cheese, now she spits it out, she was crazy for bananas, so much so that she would literally cry to eat them, now she doesn't want to look their way, eggs she likes off and on... i'm amazed as to how such a tiny little thing can have such varied choice of dislikes. 

Freedom to eat

The main reason behind this could be that she's teething. Yes, thats another issue, she's all of 13 months and doesn't have a single tooth, but that's the least of my concerns at this moment. Baby literature does mention that teething leads to fussy eating habits, weight loss and irregular behaviour, and i would like to believe my daughter is also facing the same. 


Trial and error and err to try, feeding her is slowly becoming my greatest challenge. And then, when people tell me about her weight loss, it hurts. My latest principle is to add tons and tons of ghee to her food, at least she'll get some fat for all the energy she's expending. Oh and also, following a friends advice, i've started her on pediasure. On alternate days, if not everyday, especially on days when she doesn't open her mouth for anything else.


Am hoping the 'i'm watching my weight' phase is soon to end. Already it looks like i eat up all my daughters food, any more tantrums from her and i might lose my sanity! Several years later when Aanya reads this, i hope she turns to me and says "Mumma why do u stop me from eating now... i love food!!!" 

Our anniversaries so far...

It's our sixth anniversary today. While i'm freezing in the cold in one part of the world, MMW is sweating away in the other. Basically means, we're not together. Again.

We started off on a wrong note i guess. He wasn't with me for the first. Imagine. I sulked at home while he was busy serving the nation! He made it up. Even after spending sleepless nights the last couple of days, he took me for a weekend 'spur of the moment' trip to Lonavala. We had a blast. Borrowed a friends' rusty old bike and zoomed across the narrow hilly roads. 

Then, one year, i think it was our fourth, he was to be out for the entire month, but got just one day off and it happened to be our anniversary. I was thrilled. Planned out everything. Dressed up for the occasion. Me in a saree, he in a suit. Almost forced him to take me to a five star for dinner. But he seemed to be lost. His mind was in his work. He was exhausted. But we ate. 

This year, we knew well in advance that we won't be together. Few days before his departure, we went on date night. Sat at a restaurant, ordered dinner, saw a gaming parlour opposite the restaurant, played two games of air hockey and some 'kill the bad guy type' shooting game, returned to restaurant, finished the lovely chicken stroganoff, saw a movie, very violent movie, but who cares, we were seeing a movie together in a theatre after way too long... Of course all this while Ma and Tini were baby sitting!!!

Then again, I did something very corny. Wrote out a few lines for him on a social networking site on our special day. And to my utmost pleasant surprise, he reciprocated with a lovely poem. Very touching indeed and very very unlike him. 

My lines:


Six years on,
You bring a smile to my face,
Even when I'm my lowest low,
Your love strengthens me,
Support encourages me,
Yet...
It's no surprise that we aren't together today,
In the times ahead we'll make it up,
Meanwhile, i have a piece of you to nurture and love...


Happy Anniversary!


His poem:


You n I started this journey, 
Six years ago, this very day,
and just wanted to tell you, 
I wouldnt have it any other way

But true to form, once again
I cant spend this day with you
We'll make it up, and then some
Like we always do!

Thanks for a wonderful home,
the crazy dog and angel girl
Supporting me through thick n thin
You always pulled me through
and I promise you once more,
to ever be your guy,
and corny as it sounds, in prose,
to love you till i die!

Happy Anniversary

Phew...!!!

January has been crazy and it doesn't seem to be getting better. The best part is, its all fun crazy. Main reason for not being able to write the blog. 

Coping with the cold is the next major reason. I've spent many many years in the north, but ever since MMW took me away, i've become more of a coastal person. I just can't stand the cold. Let's just put it nicely, 'i'm a warm person'! Thankfully, its getting bearable now. 

Aanya's been quite a sport. From halter necks and ganji's she moved on to four layers of clothes, top and bottom. She could barely lift herself up. The first day was funny. She didn't know what hit her. After three layers came a windcheater. She couldn't even bring her hands together... cuteness personified!!! As the layers are slowly coming off, she's getting back to her mischief. I think, with a vengeance. 

There was an engagement and a 'not wedding' wedding in the family. Almost like a prelude to the main event in march. Great fun, family time, get-togethers. The Miss Purkayasthas stole the show. One of them is the bride to be. The other became famous as the 'tah-tah' baby!

MMW left for his new place of work. After so many months of having him around, its odd not having him around. On the phone it feels like he's in the next room, the truth is bitter. Bright ray of sunlight here, i'll be joining him soon! New place, faces, environment, challenges, am too excited!!! As of now, he's all alone, doing it all by himself. Wish we were together...

Happy Twenty Twelve

Some years are landmarks. 2011 was one such for me. 

Aanya happened. Main event. Life changed. Completely.  

Bashiku put on his much awaited stars. We were treated to and spoilt with some worldly pleasures!

Tini decided to take the plunge. Finally. We were introduced to some wonderful people. Soon to be family. 

Shreya evolved. As a designer. As a person. Her dream (NID) came true. 

The Ma's taught me a lot. About Mummyhood. Dealing with pressure. Believing in myself. 

MMW got transferred again. Hopefully for good two years! For once am not complaining. Yoohoo...

Friends too became parents; Left some behind, made some new ones, reconnected with some. Always kept in touch with the close ones. 

Cousins went places, accomplished a lot. Aunts and Uncles showered us with blessings. 

Twenty Twelve is already looking happy! There's a lot to look forward to. Good times with family. Reunion. The marriage. Travelling. Writing. Cooking. Weight loss. Shopping. 

Enthusiasm. Excitement. Energy. Love. 

Cheers!!!