Anirudh's World

Huh?

2011-09-13T21:05:00.000+05:30

Conversation between hubby and betu a while back -

Hubby singing the song "Sweety sweety tera pyaar chahida..."

Betu: Aap kyun yeh gaana ga rahe ho? Aapki to biwi hai. Aapko girlfriend thode hi chahiye. Aapki biwi naraaz ho jayegi agar aap girlfriend le kar aayoge.

Me: *dumbstruck*...at usage of word "Biwi" (wife) and also at his understanding of the fact that either biwi or girlfriend.

Going to be a big brother - 5

2011-09-13T10:33:00.001+05:30

The excitement and the wait for your chhotu baby keeps going up and down like waves for you. Like me, you are also getting impatient about babys' arrival and keep asking me why does it take so long for the baby to come out.

In the past month you have been referring to the baby mostly as a girl. As Rakshabandhan was approaching you told me that if the baby is your little sister, I should help her tie Rakhi to you as she would be too small by the time Rakshabandhan comes again next year for her to tie it on your hand on her own.

You wanted to know if the baby will also go to same school as you are going to. And when I affirmed, you went on to tell me that you will take good care of the baby as you will be the big brother. I feel so overwhelmed at your concern about your little baby sibling.

Since you continue to believe that the baby will come out of my navel, as we have not tried to explain you the reality, you try peering through the navel to see inside and take a peek at the baby. And I smile at your innocence. I made you feel baby's hiccups the other day and you started counting them. After a while you suddenly shouted "Bhow Bhow" to imitate a dog barking. Totally surprised, I asked you what was that for. And before you could answer I realised you were trying to use the old age method of getting rid of the hiccups - scare the person who is getting hiccups. And you confirmed my notion but were a little disappointed when the trick didn't work.

Since we usually take us with your for all our doctor appointments, if we go over weekend or your school holiday, you hear everything what doctor is telling us whereas we thought you were totally engrossed in playing on my mobile phone. This became evident when one day your Papa told me about one conversation between you and him. You showed your concern about my low lying placenta and asked your why is it important for placenta to move up. So your Papa explained to you as best he could without going too much into medical details. I guess you understood. So later in the day when you were snuggling with me, you told the baby to kick it and move the placenta up. I get so awed at such a mix of innocence and maturity. I love you my jaan.

Although you don't talk about it often but I can see in some corner of your mind there is angst of being away from me when I stay in hospital after giving birth to the baby. And you either keep asking me the same question as to how many days will I be in the hospital or ask me to confirm if I will be in the hospital for 2 days as I had told you long back. Since you have stayed away from me many a times on your own will lately, I have a feeling its just a temporary anxiety. You will do just fine when the time comes.

Your caring attitude towards me continues and sometimes I feel its growing as the time for the baby's arrival is nearing. Other day I had pain in my wisdom tooth. It was a little late at night and your Papa was already asleep while we both were up reading a book together. You started to massage my jaw from outside to make the pain go away and had a worried look on your face. You kept asking me if you should wake up Papa. But I stopped you from doing so as I had already taken a clove and was hoping for it to relieve the pain soon which it did. However, till the 10-15 min the pain was there, you kept insisting that we should wake up Papa looking at me in so much pain and kept sitting next to me massaging my jaw. What do I say about this love and concern of yours my jaan? Words will never be able to do justice to it. Not even 1%.

And two days ago, on Sunday, I told you I would make pizza at home and you were so excited. And at the same time you told me strictly that I should not over strain myself and take help from Papa. When I told you that Papa has exams coming over and he needs to study and that I will manage on my own, you promptly offered to help me. I gave lots of kisses to you for your thoughts and left it at that. I really didn't think you would remember to help later. But you did. Around 7 PM when you came to the kitchen and saw me chopping vegetables for the pizza, you asked me how you can help me, what are the things that you can do to help. When I tried to send you off by saying thank you for your offer and to go and that I would manage, you told me in a very stern tone that I should listen to you and take your help. You reminded me that I've a baby in my tummy and that I should not exert so much. I hugged you tight, showered lots of kisses and asked you to spread the pizza sauce on the pizza base and then spread veggies and then the cheese over it. You did it all so promptly and did a pretty good job.

When I think back on such moments, I think that I must have done some really really good deeds in the past and then thank God for giving you as my Betu. And I know that these thank yous will never be enough. You are too precious a baby for me. Love you soooooooo much my jaan.

Mumma = Time Machine

2011-09-08T08:48:00.003+05:30

A conversation between Betu and his Papa.

Betu: Mumma is like "Time machine".
Papa: How come?
Betu: She knows what has happened even when she is not there and she knows what's going to happen too.
Papa: *laughs heartily*

Me: *rolling my eyes*

Google zindabad

2011-09-07T09:41:00.003+05:30

Conversation between me and Betu yesterday evening

Betu: Mumma dragonfly to hindi mein kya kahte hain? (What is dragonfly called in Hindi?)
Me: I don't know bachha.
Betu: To google karo na...usme sab mil jaata hai. (Google it. You find everything there.)

Yes, my smartypants :)

You are such a pyaru jaan

2011-09-06T10:08:00.002+05:30

You knew your Papa is not there to help you get ready today. You know that Mumma can't do much these days. And you did all your morning chores on your own. You got ready for school on your own.

I could not have asked for a child more adorable than you, my jaan. I feel so blessed. I love you so much,.

No words can describe what the feeling is. No words.

Going to be a big brother - 4

2011-08-03T15:05:00.002+05:30

Little less than 3 months and you will be a big brother. And you have been waiting so eagerly for October to come.

I know I've said this million of times before and I say it again - You are such a sweetheart. The way you care for me, the way you talk to me..its just so touching and heartwarming.

You help me in cleaning the dining table after every meal. You take every one's plates and put them in the sink. You ensure no one disturbs me when I'm sleeping. You will talk in whispers with your papa unknowing of the fact that I can still hear you :)

There are days when you really act like a granny to me telling me what to do and what not to do. Other day I was talking to your papa about post baby stuff and in a very serious tone you told me to not get too exited about the baby. A little perplexed when I asked you why you said so, you told me earnestly that when the baby comes out it will be very painful and I would cry a lot. When I laughed hearing that you again remarked that this is not a joke and I will realise when the baby comes out.

I just hugged you tight my jaan. I love you so much.

The "sleeping-in-your-own-bed" rendezvous has been going good. You sleep in it throughout however you want me close enough to be able to touch me. So for this purpose, we have put your bed at the foot of ours and I sleep with my head next to your bed. Its working good and I'm very proud of you. I realise its not easy for you to suddenly start sleeping separately when you had been sleeping snuggled with me for past 7 years.

You get amazed at the increasing size of my belly and ask in wonder how much more bigger is it going to get. And you roll your eyes when I show you approximately how big I will get. :)

You have already started making plans for me to lose weight once the baby comes out. And the plan is to play basketball with you and your papa and also to play football with you. And to start back my morning walks. I'm sure with such a strict health coach I will definitely lose this pregnancy weight soon.

You keep dangling between whether you want a brother or a sister but mostly you are inclined towards a brother. Your sole reason for wanting a brother is that you feel you will not be able to rough play with your sister. You will have to be gentle with her. You have even thought of the name for the baby in case its a boy and the name is "Arjun". When I asked you for name if its a girl, you told me that I may go ahead and decide that. Thanks for the permission baby :)

I love you my jaan.

Going to be a big brother - 3

2011-06-27T13:40:00.001+05:30

You will be one adorable, caring and a very responsible big brother is what I am so sure of already.

We started putting a separate bed in our room and trying to get you sleep on it. You had your inhibitions and were fussy about it moving now. You were insistent that you will sleep on it once the baby arrives. However, we wanted you to start now. So you started sleeping there, on your separate bed but would be cross with us. And invariably in the early hours (around 2-3 AM) you would hop on to our bed and snuggle with me.

I'm OK with it as at least you have started sleeping in your own bed. We still have 4 months to go and am sure you will be comfy with your own bed by then. I've promised you your favourite character bedspread and your papa has promised you a toy of your choice once you completely move to your bed for 1 month.

You really enjoy feeling the baby's movements as they are quite strong now. And I love to see your wide eyed amused expression as you feel each kick and move. You sing rhymes and songs to make the baby sleep. You sing them so cutely like we usually do when talking to a small baby/kid and you keep giving kisses on my tummy.

Since the past week your Dadi-Dadu are visiting and your Anamika bua and your cousins also came over to stay with us for couple of days as summer holidays are on. It would touch me so much how you would get angry when you would see me moving around too much doing or doing house chores. You would ensure I either sit or go and lie down immediately.

You asked me yesterday if I can make burgers for you the coming weekend if I'm not too tired and feeling fine. Bachku..I really don't know how to thank God for giving such a lovely, adorable and pyaru bachha like you to me. I must have done some really really great deeds in my previous birth to have you as my son.

Its not that we don't get angry at each other. So many times we both sulk at each other. But then we both cannot stay apart or angry with each other for too long.

I once told you that you will always be my chhotu paaru baby however old you get. And you promptly said, "Nahi..October se main bada baby ho jayunga." (October onwards I will become big baby). I smiled and said but you will still remain a baby to which you nodded and cuddled with me tightly.

Getting too smart?

2011-06-25T22:40:00.000+05:30

Other day Betu told me he will not have burgers for one month.

Being occupied with something, I simply responded a "Hmm..." As if reading my mind he said "I know what you mean by 'hmm'. You mean 'Let's see...'".

I was a little zapped and couldn't help smiling at his response. :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Going to be a big brother - 2

2011-05-19T09:14:00.061+05:30

Hi bachha.

You have been very excited once I shared the news of having a baby in the house soon. You have so many questions to ask and are so concerned about me and my health.

Your papa was not sure if we should take you to our first ultrasound as at 6 weeks the baby looks like just a blob. He thought you might feel the baby would look like a baby even at this stage and might be a little disturbed seeing that its nothing like how you see the full grown babies. But I was somehow insistent and thought that you will understand. Before the ultrasound I had told you that we will not be able to make out anything. And asked you if you still want to go. You said a definite yes. After the ultrasound when we asked you about your reaction you didn't have anything specific to say. But we could see you were happy to be part of it all.

Many a times you started getting ready on your own saying how will you be a big boy unless you start doing things yourself. I can see that you are already imagining yourself in the shoes of a big brother. You understand that there may be a lot of things you will need to do on your own as mumma will be busy with the small baby. When did you mature up so much my pyaru?

Every night at bedtime, instead of hearing the usual stories, you want to hear baby stories. Since I am unable to think of baby stories till the baby arrives, I tell you what you used to do when you were a baby yourself. It excites you and you keep asking me if shona baby will also do the same things as you did. :)

You pick a random age month and ask me what you used to do that age. For e.g. you will ask me what I used to do when I was 8 months old or 1 year 3 months old, so on and so forth. There are some things I remember off hand for others I've to really think hard.

Your biggest concern initially was and I have a feeling it still is, is how will you stay without me when I have to go the hospital to deliver the baby. You ask me again and again how many days will you have to sleep without me. And I can see a sadness on your face when I say maybe 3-4 days. I can understand your concern but at the same time I'm sure you will manage fine. You are already my big bachha.

Love you meetha!

Missing you

2011-05-17T11:58:00.013+05:30

Hi bachha.

You have gone to spend few days with your Bua and your cousins since Saturday night. At one hand we feel happy that you are having a good time and on the other hand we miss you around in the house.

And this time your papa also said so. He would never be vocal about it earlier until yesterday. He said "Pata nahi kyun chinta si rahti hai.." (Don't know why but there is a little anxiety in the mind).

I miss cuddling with you in the mornings. I miss your tantrums. I miss your masti. Your questions...our fights...I just miss you my jaan.

But however much I want you to come back ASAP I know you are having a good time. And I want you to enjoy to the fullest. So I'm going to hold on to my feelings and let you come back whenever you want to. Love you sweeta!

Going to be a big brother - 1

2011-05-10T14:03:00.000+05:30

Hi Meethu, my jaan.

Since last year you have been asking us for a baby again and again. And one day I told you that we will have a baby after you turn 7 years. Later I realised I did a mistake there as you started to announce to the world about it and everyone started to look at me expectantly if I have some news to share whereas I had none.

So two-three months before your birthday you started prodding me how many days after your birthday will we have a baby in the house. And I had to talk to you in detail and explain a lot to let you know that we do not know. You were not happy. In fact you were very angry.

And soon after we realised I was pregnant. Since it was very initial phase we didn't tell you thinking you will be so excited that you will tell the whole world whereas we wanted to wait for at least one month to go by before we share with people other than close relatives. My physical play activities with you were intentionally reduced quite a bit. You were not liking it. We would just say Mumma is not well.

And then one day you got really really angry at me telling me I don't play with you at all these days. And if I'm so unwell why don't I go to a doctor and get medicines. I tried to cajole you, distract you but you would hear nothing of it. And then I told you. It was on Feb 27, 2011. I still remember the expression you had on your face. Although for a few seconds only. Because soon you got back into your angry mode and said that I was lying to you to make you feel happy. It took me good 5 min to convince you it was true. That you were going to be a big brother.

And then your whole mood changed. You were happy in a very different way. You wanted to know when did we do the baby making activity :) And why didn't we tell you when we did. I had no answers for that then but am sure when you grow up you will understand yourself.

You started giving me instructions on the dos and donts. I should sit softly. I should not stand. I should not tell office people as everyone will then come and talk to me and that will make me tired. So on and so forth. I was quite surprised as I didn't know where you learnt all this from.

That day you must have kissed my tummy at least 50 times. And then made it a routine to kiss my tummy or rather kiss the baby every morning and greet the baby saying "Good Morning".

Could I have asked for more?

2011-05-07T18:35:00.000+05:30

I just can't describe what I felt when I saw this.

Getting this from a 7 year old is not what I expected at all.

Love you so much my jaan! I love you so much!

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

A rose for you Mumma

2011-04-29T21:07:00.000+05:30

Betu has been asking me for buying him clay for almost a week now, reminding me everyday.

Today his papa finally bought him a box. And he made this lovely rose and gave it to me saying "This is for you Mumma!"

I love you my jaan.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Don't grow up so fast my baby!

2011-04-01T14:12:00.003+05:30

I know you turned 7 three days ago. I know you are growing up but don't grow up so fast my jaan. Today your schools started after the session break and your timings changed from 8:30 AM to 7:30 AM. It was a little rushy today as we still have to get used to this one hour early timing. I asked you what you want for breakfast. You matter of factly said "Poha" which remains your favourite since the past 3 years.

After I had gotten you ready, I was about to rush to make your breakfast. You stopped me and said in such a mature tone "Poha mein time zyaada lagega na..aap mujhe bread butter hi de do." I was so touched by your concern and to see you talking like such a grown up mature boy.

I know its not a recent thing. I've seen you acting so much more mature then your age and it brings a lump in my throat. I love you my sweetheart! I love you so much!

Stumped

2011-03-08T11:14:00.001+05:30

Hubby is traveling and Betu doesn't like it one bit that when his papa goes away for long durations. He has been very sad and cried a lot on Sunday when his papa left.

Yesterday morning we continued doing our regular morning activities with no mention of papa. I thought he is fine now and not sad anymore. Well I was wrong. While I was driving him to his school, with a very serious face and tone he asked me "Aapke husband chale gaye hain, aap sad nahi ho?" (Your husband has gone, are you not sad?)

I turned to look at him and I didn't know what to say. It took me a lot of effort not to laugh. I was so amused with the expression...the way he stressed on the relationship between me and hubby.

His quips

2011-02-25T15:22:00.000+05:30

The other day I found one of his crocs on one side of the bed and the second on the other side. When I angrily asked him, why are they lying so he said "Un dono mein ladayee ho gayee hai. Isliye ek gussa ho kar udhar baitha hai aur ek idhar." (They had a fight and one is sitting on one side in anger and the other on this side)

All my anger just vanished in thin air :)

Its been long...

2011-02-23T10:41:00.001+05:30

Actually very long since I posted. Life has been very busy at home as well as at work. Betu has really grown up in these months. The way he talks, the things he does, his quips..they are the same yet they are different.

He has been doing so many things that I actually lost track and never managed to post them here. The level of studies has increased tremendously. I actually feel its too much for a 6 year old.

In extra curricular activities, he still loves doing craft works, he still loves watching his Ben 10. Although Power Rangers is the new rage.

His latest wish it cook a meal for hubby and me with the help of the didi (the maid) and keeps asking us what we want to eat :)

I will try and get myself back to posting here. I loved reading my earlier posts so that kind of motivated me to start writing again. Let's see...

Weekend activity

2010-09-02T17:21:00.000+05:30

Betu had got this model making activity book (Navneet Publications) long ago. He was around 4 then so I had kept it away as I felt he needed to be little older to actually do it himself even with help.

Recently I found it again and Betu was quite excited about making the fire truck. So today we both finally sat down and made it. Looks pretty neat to me.

What I loved best was that the book had perforated parts just to be snapped out from the pages. We didn't need any glue or scissors as the perforated, folding lines and slots were all there.

Betu is so happy to see it in its final shape that he wants me to buy more such activity books for him. :)
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Who is who's pillow? :)

2010-09-02T07:55:00.000+05:30

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Weekend craft work

2010-08-03T14:42:00.000+05:30

Betu wanted me to do some craft work with him over the weekend. Basically he likes to work with scissors and glue :)

He brought out the craft book that Swati had given to him and selected this activity of making paper flowers in a paper flower pot.

Betu chose the sheets to be used for making petals and also as to what shape would each petal be like. And I think it came out pretty good.

He wants to add more flower sticks which we will do in the coming days.
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

His take on washing dishes

2010-08-02T09:02:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I was cleaning one utensil which I needed and Betu came in to the kitchen...looking at me he asked "Aaapko to bartan dhone mein bada mazaa aata hoga?" (Washing utensils must be so much fun for you).

Me: "Why?"

Betu: "Kyunki aapko paani se khelne ko mitla hai!" (Coz you get to play with water)

Me: ...zapped and laughing...

Summer holiday homework - Part 3

2010-07-09T09:53:00.001+05:30

Here is the duck pond that we had made as part of his holiday homework. It was a bit difficult for him to do so Betu just painted the thermocol rocks and the pond. He also helped in sticking the cutouts and the rocks.

I forgot to take the pictures of the Rhino and the flash cards he had made for numbers 1-99 where he wrote the numerals on one side and the wrote them in words on the other side. He had also made flash cards for Hindi and English words where he wrote a word on one side and drew the picture of that word on the other side.

You know that?

2010-07-03T09:00:00.000+05:30

These days most of his statements end with "you know that?" and "that" sounds more like "dat". And this statement is said with an arched eyebrow and a interogative look on his face. Some of these examples are:

1. Jo mere paas Ben 10 wala toy hai woh Prithvi ke pass bhi hai. You know dat?

2. Aaj "Dance India Dance - Lil Masters" mein Remo sir aayenge. You know dat?

3. Maine poora doodh 1 min mein khatam kar diya. You know dat?

4. Maine aaj 10 sixes maare. You know dat?

And there are more like these but I'm sure you get the drift :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Craft activities

2010-06-22T22:03:00.000+05:30

Till date whenever Anirudh goes to any birthday party, when the khoi bag is broken, he would still collect more of the confetti than the goodies. And so it happened too when we went for a birthday party this Sunday. He had collected plenty of colored thermocol balls this time and was asking me to do some craft with them. When I asked him for examples, he told me lets make a tree. But then we didn't have many green colored ones so then he suggested to make some flowers. And this is what we made using those thermocol balls and some paper cut-outs.

Betu and me both liked the output from this craft activity and now we are planning to buy a packet of these balls and made more things. Betu wants to make a rainbow, a butterfly, a house and so many more things using these thermocol balls.

Summer holiday homework - Part 2

2010-06-19T20:25:00.002+05:30

We made this brown paper bag pillow yesterday.

First we decorated the paper bag with cutouts of flowers and butterflies which were colored by Anirudh and then cut to shape by me. Anirudh wanted some star shapes also so I took the easy way out and asked him to use his star shaped stickers. Lazy mumma ehh? :)

Then Anirudh made some crushed newspaper balls and we stuffed them inside the paper bag. Lastly we sealed the paper bag from the open end as well and voila..a beautiful paper pillow was ready!

Summer holiday homework - Part 1

2010-06-18T15:10:00.000+05:30

One part of the craft work that we did from his holiday homework crafts last weekend:

We still have to make a Hippo (or was it a Rhino?) and a duck pond. Hopefully this weekend we should be done with it.

Looking at the output, Betu is now excited to do rest of the one quickly too! What else do I want :D

There's no problem!

2010-06-16T13:57:00.001+05:30

These days whenever I'm stuck and wonder how to go ahead in doing a certain task, Anirudh suggests what we can do and ends it with "There's no problem!" :)

For example, yesterday night I was telling hubby that we don't have any milk at home even for tea in the morning. So Betu said "Koi baat nahi Mumma. Main aur papa subah ja kar doodh le aayenge. There's no problem!" (Me and papa will go in the morning and buy the milk.)

Other day, he was asking me to bake his favourite chocolate cake for him and when I said there are no eggs at home, he said "Hum abhi ja kar le aate hain shop se. There's no problem!" (We shall go and get it from the shop now.)

So you can see how he is my little problem solver. Love you my jaan!

Zapped

2010-06-09T10:26:00.004+05:30

Betu is really excited today because its his papa's birthday. He is planning a lot of things. We will do this...and that. We will go and buy this...etc etc. So basically he is in a vary happy mood.

So on our way to work and his daycare, he says to me and hubby both, "Achha hua aapne apni fight kal hi kar li (me and hubby had a big tiff yesterday). Aaj sab khush khush rahenge aur masti karenge". Me and hubby looked at each other and just smiled.

My grown up baccha

2010-05-14T12:32:00.000+05:30

Since the past three days I've been down with very high fever and thus have not been able to help Betu in packing his school bag. And all these days he has been doing it himself deligently without me ur Hubby asking him to do it.

And today when I asked him to bring his daycare bag so that I can pack it, he tells me to take rest and he will do it himself. And he did proceed to put in everything one by one and the zipped up the bag and said "Ho gaya!" (All done!)

Betu, you are my jaan. Mumma must have done some really good deeds in previous birth to have such an adorable and sensible boy like you as my son.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Some more questions...

2010-05-07T09:37:00.001+05:30

If you would have noticed Betu has been asking a lot of baby or pregnancy related questions to us. Most of the questions would be directed at me but this time they were directed to his papa dear.

Betu: Boys ke tummy se baby kyun nahi nikalta? Sirf girls ke tummy se hi kyun nikalta hai?
Papa: Aisa hi hota hai Betu.

Betu: But girls ke tummy se girls nikalni chahiye and boys ke tummy se boys..

Papa had no answer to that and neither do I. Do you?

My big boy yet my little baby

2010-04-29T09:52:00.003+05:30

Big boy: When he tells me to drive carefully when he sees lots of traffic on the road or if he sees someone driving badly.
Little baby: He still likes to hold my hand when crossing the roads.

Big boy: When I see him taking care of his younger siblings and friends with so much care and tries to protect them from any harm.
Little baby: He still likes to cuddle with me every morning when he wakes up.

Big boy: When he gives me and hubby gyaan about not talking to each other in loud voices.
Little baby: When he still cries when he is sleepy and tired.

Big boy: When he always comes and asks me if he can help when I've guests over and doe everything I tell him perfectly.
Little baby: When he still wants me to feed him at dinner time and refuses to eat on his own.

Aap cheating kar rahe ho!

2010-04-22T11:26:00.000+05:30

Anirudh came over in the evening to my workplace yesterday. And his observation about me was hilarious and too cute. He saw me writing something in the notepad and after a while as I started to check something in my computer, he immediately pipes up "Aap cheating kar rahe ho!" (You are cheating!)

Before & now

2010-04-13T15:19:00.003+05:30

BEFORE -

Betu:: "Aap aaj khane mein kya banaogi?" (What will you make for dinner today?)
Me: Aapko kya khana hai? (What do you want to eat?)

Betu: Palak paneer? (Spinach + cottage cheese)
Me: But Betu palak aur paneer dono hi nahi hai. (I neither have spinach nor cottage cheese)

Betu: Rajma rice? (Kidney beans + rice)
Me: But rajma ko bahut der tak bhigona padta hai. (We need to soak kidney beans for very long time)

And he would keep coming with options which I would say no to because of some reason or the other and then he would say...

Betu: To aap kya banaoge? (Then what will you make?)
Me: Daal rice?

Betu (With a sullen face) : OK

This conversation would happen way too often..almost everytime. But now...

NOW -

Betu:: "Aap aaj khane mein kya banaogi?" (What will you make for dinner today?)

Me: Aapko kya khana hai? (What do you want to eat?)

Betu: "Pahle yeh batao aapke paas kya hai? Aap kya bana sakte ho?" (First you tell me what do you have? What all can you make?)

hahaha...can you see the difference between "before" and "now"? :D
He's definitely turned smarter :D

School activties

2010-02-25T09:34:00.001+05:30

Every year Betu's school organises "Open Day" where the kids do various activities such as enact stories in the form of skits, sing songs and rhymes, do some word building activities and basically have fun. Last year betu was the giraffe in the "Little blue elephant" story. This year he was the troll from the "Three Billy Goats".

The school organises this open day for pre-primary kids in the open grounds, under the sun during the light wintry days. Each class takes a corner and show their activities there. Its good fun for the kids as well as for the parents.

Here are some pictures from the day -

With his entire class and the class teacher - Sharbani Ma'm

His play "Three Billy Goats"

Singing the song "B I N G O"

Working on a word puzzle

His take on our financial status

2010-02-12T21:12:00.002+05:30

A while ago, me and Betu were playing pretend play and I was a shopkeeper and he a customer. 'So after he had bought stuff from me, I asked him to pay. He replied that he didn't have any money. I then asked him to call his mom and dad to bring money. His response - "Mere papa mummy ke paas koi paise nahi hain. Woh hamesha bank card se samaan khareedte!" ("My papa-mummy don't have any money. They always pay by bank cards.") He was referring to credit card when he said bank card).

Any comments anyone? I had nothing to say when I heard him saying that.

Visit to Post Office

2010-02-12T11:43:00.001+05:30

Yesterday Betu had gone to Post Office from school and afterwarsd they went to Lodhi Garden for picnic.

So when I was asking him to detail out hat all he saw in the post office, he told me they saw the stamps, the boxes where they sort the letteres for different places, letter boxes, the sacks in which the letters come to post office an also about the stamp/seal that is put at the post office on the stamps for date and location of the post office.

He added that its the same post office that they had gone to when he was in Nursery class and asked me "Kya sirf ek hi post office hai yahan?" Baar baar usi post office mein le jaate hain." (Is there only one post office here? They take us to the same one again and again.)

me and hubby had such a good laugh at his observation. I then told him that since that post office is close to Lodhi garden, that is why they take you to that post office.

Edited to add:
All the kids had posted a letter to the parents from the post office and he has been eagerly waiting for it to arrive.

Dil mein do laddoo phoote

2010-02-02T16:25:00.000+05:30

Yesterday Betu came to me and said "Mumma, dil mein do laddoo phoote!"

I looked at him blankly and he giggled. He again repeated it and with a confused look on my face I asked him "Kya?" And he handed me this in my hand - a pack of Cadbury dairy milk shots -

And then proceeded to tell me that this is the byline shown in the ads for this chocolate and that the chocolate is shaped like a 'laddoo' and there are two bits of it in a pack and that is why he said "dil mein do laddoo phoote" :)

Mera cutie pie!

Rainbow

2010-01-30T23:04:00.000+05:30

His love for rainbows started about 7-8 months ago and it still contniues. In almost all the drawings he will draw a rainbow. If you remember, he drew that even in the birthday card he drew for me 2 months ago.

Here are the three paintings he did today and all of them have different kinds of rainbows :)

Finger painting

This is an interesting one..he first dabbed some paints on the sheet and then folded it thrice so that the paints would merge with each other.

This one he painted using an icecream stick

I loved all of these Betu! You are 'amazing'! :)

So many questions...

2010-01-09T13:59:00.000+05:30

These days Betu's questions either leave me speechless or laughing. I guess the latter category can also be clubbed with the 'speechless' category since I am laughing so hard that I cannot say a word :)

I will tell you some incidents and am sure you would feel the same.

Incident 1
He is talking to his Dadi over the phone and then out of the blue asks "Aapki aur Dadu ki shaadi kab hogi?" (When will you and Dadu get married?)

While his Dadi was still struggling to find an appropriate response, I explained to him that their marriage had taken place many years ago. while my mind was busy thinking where did this thought come into his mind.

But that was not it. So now that he knew that Dadi-Dadu are married, he further asked his Dadi "Aapke babies kab honge?" (When will you have your babies?)

This left me literally rolling on the floor laughing while still thinking what is triggering all these questions in his mind.

So once I was able to control my laughter I told him that Papa, Chachu and Bua were Dadi's babies but now they are grown ups.

Incident 2
Long back Betu was curious about how babies are born. So I had told him in simple words that its an activity that papa-mumma have to do.

And these days every now and then he asks me when are we going to do the baby making activity :P

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

It never ceases to amaze me...

2010-01-03T15:27:00.001+05:30

...how kids don't need any introduction with other kids to play with them. They don't need to know the name or for that matter anything at all before they get pally with them. Even when they are meeting with them for the first time.

Names, age, backgrounds, caste, creed - it doesn't matter to them.

We adults definitely need to learn some lessons from our children :)

All those who agree say 'Aye!!'

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

His thoughts on privacy

2009-12-17T22:42:00.000+05:30

Today evening hubby was changing into pyajamas in the same room where me and Betu were busy playing a game i.e. In our bedroom.

The moment he saw his papa doing that Betu goes "Ladies ke saamne change nahi karte!" (You are not supposed to change in front of ladies)

Me and hubby had such a good laugh and realised he is growing up and a sense/need of privacy is growing in him. He has to shut the door of the loo when he is doing the deed. He has to shut the door when he is taking bath. Who will say he is only 5? :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

The birthday card

2009-12-13T13:52:00.001+05:30

He made such an adorable birthday card for me. He drew 6 hearts to show how much he loves me and gave me 8 stars for being an 'awesome' mommy! :D

Isn't this just so awesome?

P.S. I forgot to write what those people and the numbers against them denote. Even I was curious and asked him who were these people. He told me that they are his cousins and the number is their age. He asked his dad for the ages :)

So 8 is Advik Bhaiyya, 5 is he himself, 11 is Prakhar Bhaiyya, 9 is Sowmya Didi, 7 is Pallav Bhaiyya and the last 6 he didin't remember :D

His writing redezevous

2009-12-12T10:08:00.000+05:30

Now that Betu can figure out sounds and identify the alphabet accrodingly he sometimes tries to write the words on his own. And its really cute and funny to see him writing. Here is one instance of it. A friend of mine had come visiting and she was teasing him. This is what he wrote for her :

Amita = Spelled perfectly!

Noti = Naughty - I liked the way he wrote it..very logical.

GL=Girl - :)

"Aapne mujhe kanjoos kar diya!"

2009-12-06T17:46:00.000+05:30

I was talking to betu and telling him some details about how babies are born. I think it got a little bit of overdose for him and after a while he said "Aapne to mujhe 'kanjoos' kar diya!" :D

I had such a laugh hearing it. He wanted to use the word 'confuse' and instead used 'kanjoos' which is a totally different word. :)

(Kanjoos=miser)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Waiting for Mumma

2009-11-24T12:23:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I was home with Betu as his bronchitis was acting up and he was running high fever.

Although fever was gone yesterday evening he wanted me to stay home with him today also.

I promised him I would come home after lunch and he agreed.

Around 10:30 AM he called me and asked "Aapne lunch kar liya?" I told him that I haven't. He asked me to have it quickly and come home as I had promised him.

:D

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

His first experience with a 2 month baby

2009-11-03T11:41:00.001+05:30

We went to meet a relative who had a baby boy 2 months ago. It was Betu's first rendezvous with a baby so young. He was quite small himself when Aryan was born so he doesn't remember that bit.

So when we were going I was telling him how young the baby is and what he should not do since the baby is so small. It was really hard for him to believe that there can be a child who is not even 1 year old. He was asking me what all can he play with the baby and I was telling him the baby doesn't even sit right now. He cannot talk or walk or run. He was really amused and laughing as if I was telling all the wrong things. Or as if I was joking. But when he saw the baby he understood. He was trying to do things to make the baby smile. Clapping his hands. Brushing his hand on the baby''s forehead. Cooing with him. It was really cute to see him like this.

Later on the way he told me "Mumma, Baby kitna cute tha na?" and I just smiled and nodded. Here is the pic of him holding the baby in the lap. Sorry the quality isn't great since its from phone and the lighting wasn't proper in the room and I was trying to take without flash.

Who wants to be a 'good' boy?

2009-11-02T16:26:00.000+05:30

Definitely not him.Yes, I'm talking about Betu here. He is in a very difficult stage right now. And I would definitely call it "early teens" . The defiance. The anger. "I just don't want to listen to you" phase. Bad behavior. Not talking to other/elders properly.

Yes..that's Betu. I'm surprised too. He wasn't like that 2 months ago.

Yesterday he told me in very clear words that he doesn't want to be a good boy. He wants to do all the bad things and that I can go ahead and punish him. In fact he wanted me to punish him.When I asked him why should I punish him he said because he has done a bad thing. On further asking if he thinks doing bad thing is right or wrong, he replied, its right thing. So when I reasoned with him that if he thinks its the right thing to do then why should I punish him. He responded that because he thinks its right but I think its wrong, that's why I should punish him.

I just didn't know what to say or do. I just moved away from him.

I've no clue what is leading to all this behavior change. One reason that I can think of is me not being able to spend enough time with him. Office has been too hectic and he is demanding attention by doing things which make me angry.

Betu, I just want to tell you that Mumma loves you and will do the best to spend more and more time with you. And that I don't want you to be a good boy all the time too. Just be yourself and be happy. I know you are not not happy too when you are upset and angry.

You are my jaan!

Kal 'parson' hai?

2009-10-29T16:04:00.000+05:30

I'm sure the title must be sounding mind boggling to you. I felt the same when this question was put to me. It took me good 30 seconds to understand what it meant.

Is so happened that yesterday (Wednesday) I was telling Betu "Aap to parson Railway museum jayoge school se" as his school is taking his class for picnic and visit to the museum. And he was gettiing all excited and telling me what he would want to take with him for the picnic and I agreed.

And today when he woke up his first question was "Kal parson hai?"

I am sure now you understand what the question was :D

I found the way his mind worked amusing and funny at the same time.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Its out!

2009-10-21T22:08:00.001+05:30

Yes..his first teeth is out. I can't believe I'm getting excited about it :P
He was trying to open a packet using his teeth and it popped out. He didin't cry and there was no bleeding.

The other tooth has also started to come out and its growing quite tilted. So will need to take him to the dentist to see if anything can be done.

He is quite excited that his first teeth has broken off :)

The beginning...

2009-10-10T23:09:00.000+05:30

...of falling of the first milk teeth. One of his front lower teeth has become loose and the new one has already started to peek in too.

He is getting a bit excited about it and keeps asking what will happen when the teeth will come off? What will happen if he keeps touching the loose tooth? ..etc...etc

I hope I'm able to save the first tooth and not loose it.

Let's see :)
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Scared of white hair or scared of aging?

2009-09-13T10:12:00.000+05:30

Betu saw some white hair in hubby's hair and in a shocking tone said "aapke kitne saare baal white hain!". Then he peered at mine and found some there too and repeated the same line to me as well. And then very proudly announced that he has black hair and he will never have white hair.

I tried to tell him that everyones hair gets white. It just depends how soon or how late they go white.

Pondering over it he asked me "Kya mere baal bhi white ho jayenge?"

I said yes and further added that if he eats healthy food and does Pranayam his hair will stay black for longer time.

Immediately he started doing Pranayms and all kinds of excercises and after 15 mins declared now his hair will stay black for very long time.

I couldn't help laughing at his reaction. The scare of aging has started early with him. Or is it just that he doesn't like white hair?

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

It shows how much he loves his Ben 10 toy...

2009-08-31T12:53:00.001+05:30

...when he clicked close to 60 pictures in less than 10 min yesterday using my Blackberry. Don't believe me?

Here is the proof:

And ore so I've been given strict instructions not to delete any pic from my mobile so that he can have a look at them as and when he wants :)

My skating star

2009-08-27T23:49:00.000+05:30

Its been about a year since Anirudh has been learning skating thrice a week at his daycare. And now I can see the confidence in him and the also the ease with which he does whatever he knows so far. Since the timings are from 4-5PM, I had been unable to see him skate until few days ago. It really felt so good to see him skate so smoothly. I took some pictures of him recently which I will share with you. Although I had shot one video also, but its a little heavy to upload here.

My skating star

What a smooth sailing...err rolling!

Thoda style to banta hai!

Well done my boy! You are just so awesome!

He a godfather?

2009-08-27T09:32:00.000+05:30

Yesterday when I went to pick Betu from Daycare, I met a mother of another child and was exchanging greetings. And then she told me that Anirudh is like a godfather to Samarth. I looked at her a little confused and asked her "I didn't understand.". Then she went on to explain that if Anirudh tells Samarth that Samarth is a bad boy, Samarth keeps sulking till the time Anirudh doesn't say he is a good boy. And then he is really happy and chirpy. She added that even if she tells Samarth that no, he is a good boy it has no effect untill Anirudh says that. I just smiled and didin't know what to say.

On the way back I was talking to Anirudh about it. I told him that "Samarth really likes you and thinks of you as a really good friend. So if you tell Samarth that he is a bad boy, he feels bad and if you say he is a good boy he feels happy."

Then I asked him "Aap Samarth ko bad boy kyun bolte ho?" (Why do you call Samarth a bad boy?). He said "Jab woh Mitr (Another friend at daycare) ki tarah badmashi karta hai to woh uska friend ban jaata hai. Isliye main usko bad boy bolta hoon." (When he does naughty things like Mitr, he becomes Mitr's friend and that's why I call him bad boy).

So I asked Betu "Aap Mitr ko bhi bola karo ki woh badmashi nahi kare. Aap sab saath saath khela karo. Isse sabko achha lagega na?" (You ask Mitr to not to be naughty and you all play toghether. This way you all will be happy. RIght?). As he nodded in affirmation I closed the topic at that.

But I must say that I felt happy at the bond between Anirudh and his friend Samarth when Samarth's mother told me the whole story. It gave me a sense of pride as well.

It shows...

2009-08-20T12:12:00.001+05:30

...how much he loves me when he started to cry seeing me crying and got angry at the person becasue of whom I was crying. He told the person "Aap bahut gande ho..aap meri mumma ko rula rahe ho" (You are very bad. You are making my Mom cry) and started to softly wipe my tears with his hands.

I can't tell you Betu what I felt that time because I've just no words to describe...I just hugged you tight and asked you not to get upset.

I love you so much meethu..so so much!

His take on ATMs

2009-08-08T11:14:00.000+05:30

You just put any card in it and take out any amount of money.

He was kind of zapped that we first need to keep some money in the bank to be able to withdraw from ATM. How I wish it was so simple Betu :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Now where did he learn this from?

2009-08-03T18:57:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, after hubby gave Betu his bath, he wrapped Betu in towel with the towel reaching till his armpits. How Betu reacted to that neither me nor Hubby could have ever imagined. Can you guess?

He said "Aise to ladkiyan pahenti hain. Kya aap mujhe ladki banana chahte ho?" while adjusting the towel down to his waist level.

Me and hubby were totally zapped and didn't know what to say or do.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

His take on pregnancy.

2009-07-14T00:55:00.000+05:30

Out of the blue, Betu asked me that he wants to have a sister. Not completely surprised, I started to explain him that when papa and mumma 'make' the baby they don't know if it will be a boy or girl. God wants to keep that as a surprise. It is much later when the doctor does the checkup that you can tell if the baby in Mumma's tummy is a girl or a boy and sometimes after the baby comes out only then we figure that out.

He kept listening with a complete bemused look on his face. And then he asked me "Aap baby apne tummy mein 'order' karte ho?" I had such a laugh at his innocence. When these kids see everything being 'ordered' on phone or on the internet, they feel babies also come that way :)

Sweet. Isn't it?

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Role reversal...

2009-06-08T15:33:00.001+05:30

I went for a meeting leaving my phone at the workstation hooked up to the charger. When I returned I saw a missed call from Jaipur. I dialled and my FIL picked it up. He said Betu had wanted to speak with me and called betu over to the phone

Betu: Hello?
Me: Hi jaanu. Kya kar rahe ho?

Betu: *ignoring my question and in a stern tone* maine abhi pahle phone milaya tha tab aapne phone uthaya kyun nahi?
Me: Betu main meeting mein gayee thi aur phone table par tha. Maine jaise hi dekha aapka phone aaya tha to maine aapko phone mila liya.

Betu: hmm..

*** Did you see how he scolded me?

Me: aapne breakfast kar liya?
Betu: Haan

Me: Aapne brush kara tha breakfast se pahle?
Betu: nahi. Main to bhool hi gaya. Kisi ne mujhe yaad hi nahi dilaya.

Me: Par yeh to aapko yaad rakhna chahiye. Chalo koi baat nahi. Ab kar lo brush.
Betu: Aap jaayo apni meeting mein. Bye. Bye. Bye.

So as you see, the moment I get into instructional conversation, he simply changes the topic. And I thought topic change and diversion was my role :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

I'm missing you so much...

2009-06-07T21:48:00.001+05:30

I didn't expect I would. But I am.

I wish I could be close to you and hugging you right now.

Mumma loves you a lot Betu.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

He is so funny!

2009-06-01T17:56:00.001+05:30

These days he tries to mimic a lot. And it is really funny to see him doing that.

Just a while ago he was showing me the different ways people laugh. The loud kinds, the snickers, the kinds where people laugh with breaks in between, so on and so forth. I was laughing away all the time. And it didn't even strike me to make a video of that.

Must say that it shows he is very observant.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

What animal will you be?

2009-05-31T08:56:00.004+05:30

Today is our company's annual day. As I was getting ready to go, Betu very earnestly asked me "Aap kaunse animal banoge?" It took me few seconds to understand where that came from. He had become a giraffe in one of his open day performances. :D

I laughed and told him that I won't dress up as any animal. A little perplexed he further said "Par aapka to aaj annual day hai na?" I nodded in affirmation and said" Haan. But hum log animal show nahi kar rahe."

But must say that I just loved the way his mind worked :)

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~

Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Feeling upset

2009-05-24T11:32:00.003+05:30

Betu was really upset and sad when his Dadi-Dadu left today after staying here for a week.

He waved them bye with a smile but the moment he sat in the car he started crying really bad. Looking at him so heartbroken made my eyes water too. I sat there with him clinging to me and sobbing for good 5 min and we started back for home.

As we were taking a circle around India Gate we passed by "Children's Park" and I asked him if he wants to go to children's park since the weather was pleasant as it was 8:30 am only. He nodded with tears still streaming down his cheeks.

Luckily we even found a ball in the car and we took it inside to play with. We spent good 1 hour there and he was so happy playing on different swings. Here are some pics that I clicked while we were there.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Cute little birdie

2009-05-03T10:38:00.000+05:30

Betu drew this bird which I found really really cute.

Letter to dear brother Aryan

2009-05-01T20:41:00.004+05:30

Anirudh wrote this letter and posted it to his younger brother Aryan on April 28 as you can see from the picture. I told him the spellings while he wrote the words down.

After he was done writing it, he took out his Mickey Mouse sticker sheet and pasted one sticker saying "Aryan ko achha lagega."

He is now eagerly waiting to talk to Aryan when Aryan opens it. But it will be another 3-4 days since they are traveling and shall be back only by Monday.

It reminds me of our younger days when we would also write to our cousins and post letters. I don't remember when I last wrote a letter by hand and posted it. It must have been good 4-5 years.

Question for which I've no answer...

2009-04-23T19:11:00.001+05:30

Betu and me were doing numbers and I was asking him questions randomly.

Me: What is 2 and 5?
Betu: Twenty five

Me: What is 4 and 1?
Betu: Forty one

Me: What is 3 and 6?
Betu: Thirty six

Me: What is 5 and 0?
Betu: Fifty Zero

Me: Huh?
Betu: *grins and giggles* Fifty

Betu: Par agar 5 and 1 Fifty one hota hai, to 5 and 0 Fifty zero kyun nahi hota?

Me: *looks blankly and quickly changes topic - as usual*

Anybody, any answers?

On his first ever holiday without Mumma-Papa

2009-04-10T23:52:00.002+05:30

Betu has gone on a 5 day holiday trip to meet his cousins along with his Dadi-Dadu. Its been 2 days since he has been gone and from what I know after my calls to his Dadi-Dadu and Bua, he is having lot of fun. He is being such a brat and not even coming on to the phone to talk to me when I call up.

It makes me sad and happy at the same time. Sad because it shows he is not missing me and having lots of fun. And happy because he is not missing me and having lots of fun. Yeah..we mums are crazy like that *wink*

Have lots of fun Betu. Mumma is eagerly waiting to see you on Monday night. Love you lots jaanu. Muaaaaahhh...

There has to be some excitement in life..right?

2009-04-03T14:35:00.005+05:30

Now that the stitches have come off from the cut in the forehead from last week, life had become kind of boring so Betu decided to make it exciting by swallowing a Re 1 coin today afternoon.

We called up the doc and he said not to worry if Betu is not feeling any discomfort. And that it should come out in 2-3 days in the poop. We asked him if scan is required or not. He asked us to come and show him if we want to. So off we went.

As we entered the room, I told the doc that Betu just has to see you once a week and we both laughed. Then he proceeded to have one on one with Betu:

Doc: What did you have?
Betu: Coin *giggles*

Doc: What denomination?
Betu: 1 re *grins wide*

Doc: How was the taste? Was it nice?
Betu: Meetha tha *again giggles* (it was sweet)

Me: *rolling my eyes*

Doc: How old are you?
Betu: 5 years *still grinning ear to ear*

Doc: If you had been 2-3 yrs old I can still imagine. I didn't expect this from you at this age.
Betu: *keeps looking at the doc with the widest grin plastered on his face*

Me: Itne saalon se maine isko bacha kar rakha tha jab yeh chhota tha, par ab ho hi gaya.
Doc: Hmm..to tabki kasar ab poori kar raha hai :)

And then he proceeded to check betu. After he was done he turned to us and explained where all are the possibilities of the coin getting stuck and in which of those areas it gets a little dangerous and how they take it out from there. After examining thoroughly he asked us to give him soft diet so that no constipation happens and prescribed isabgol to be given at night along with a very mild laxative to keep the stools soft.

So now its a wait and watch game for us. It might take 2-3 days for it to pop-out and till then he will be called as a "living piggybank" as Itchy called him when I was talking to her about this incident :)

The journey of 5 years

2009-03-29T18:29:00.002+05:30

Apr 1 2004: Just 4 days young and you would look at everything so curiously.

March 29 2005 : An year young today and your lovely smile and giggles would enlighten any heart!

March 29 2006: On your 2nd birthday. You had started to become a bossy little man but still as adorable as ever.

March 29 2007: 3 yrs and you would amaze us with little little things that you would do.

March 29 2008: By 4th birthday you had become a total brat!

March 29 2009: 5 years today and you have already started giving us threats of leaving us ;) but then Mumma Gogi bestest!

Happy birthday Betu!

2009-03-29T11:15:00.000+05:30

It seems so unbelievable that it has been 5 years since you came into our lives. Rather 5 years 9 months as I would rather count from the time I concieved you. And what you have been for us ever since is just too difficult to explain.

You made us smile, cry, jump up and down with joy and at times made us angry too. But whatever we love you so much!

Happy birthday our little baby! *muaahh*

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Why are you not a kangaroo?

2009-03-27T23:01:00.000+05:30

I was reading a story to Betu from one of the books that his chachi had got for him last year. The book had lots of animal stories. He really likes that book since it has a huge variety of animals in it from elephant to walrus, anteater to flamingo etc

So as we were flipping through the drawings/sketches of one story he stopped me short and asked in a very thoughtful tone "Aap kangaroo kyun nahi ho?" I didn't know what to respond and looked at him in a confused state of mind thinking now where does this come from?

He probably guessed that and said "Kangaroo ki pocket hoti hai. Agar aap kangaroo hote to main aapki pocket mein baithta. Kitna mazaa aata na?" :D

I just hugged him tight and kissed him on the head. Such are the simple hearts and simple desires of these little ones.

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Braveheart - thats my little boy!

2009-03-26T22:42:00.001+05:30

Yes..that's what I called him when I saw him being so brave after he got hurt on the forehead which required suturing up. This happened on Mar 23 late afternoon around 3:30 PM. He was playing with another boy who was pulling his t-shirt from behind while Anirudh was trying to run forward. Suddenly the boy let Anirudh's t-shirt go from his grip and Betu lurched forward with the impact of sudden release and bumped his forehead on the wooden chair close by.

I reached his daycare by 4:00 PM and by that time he had been bandaged up by the supervisors there. They told me how brave and strong he has been throughout and how he didn't cry at all minus the initial tears at the time he got hurt. And that was not all.When I took him to the nursing home nearby, even at the time of stitching and cleaning up of the wound he did not shed a single tear. That is why I called him a brave heart while I was going weak in the knees, heart, hands, head...weak in every single part of my body.

While I was still shaken up throughout the rest of the day, he was up and about like any other day playing and talking and laughing. I was also trying to smile and laugh and be normal but I knew it wasn't coming naturally to me. Every time I would look at the potato sized bump on his forehead I would get so uneasy.

After we came back home me and him played with his newly bought wooden building blocks, our gift for his 5th birthday a week in advance of his birthday. The mother of the boy who he was playing with at the time of injury and the little boy dropped by our house as she was feeling a bit apologetic. Somehow I never even developed any ill-feelings towards them as it was a just-by-chance accident. They are kids and they will play. Sometimes wild and sometimes not. However I did pull up the daycare people to be careful so that the wild play doesn't go out of hand to this extent again. They were feeling quite sorry too and I knew I didn't need to drive it in their head any further.

Mar 23: Few hours after the injury. Notice the bump on his forehead just above the right eye?

Mar 23: Playing with the wooden blocks.

Mar 26: The stitches (in blue colored thread) all dried up.

Today on the 3rd day post the injury we went for a checkup and his pediatrician said its healing up well. He removed the bandage and asked us to leave it open. When I showed this pic to Betu he was actually excited to see that the stitches have been done in blue color :D

These kids I tell you...

Mera Pappu pass ho gaya

2009-03-23T12:37:00.000+05:30

Today I went to Betu's school to collect his report card. It was nothing more than a formality. I knew he was doing fine and I knew very well what he had been doing throughout this year because he would come home with bits of assignments which we would do together. So to cut it short, I was happy with how he was learning and growing in terms of his vocabulary, English conversational skills etc.

So with a brief interaction with his teacher wherein she said all the good things she also mentioned one thing where she felt he needs to focus on and improve over a period of time. And that being conversational skills. I was actually taken aback. Him and conversational issues? I could have agreed if it was not listening to instructions or not doing work. But this surely was a surprise. I asked her to tell me in detail. And then she told me when she asks them questions in a group, turn by turn, he invariably fumbles and ends up doing "umm..." and not responding at all.

After I heard her in detail, frankly it doesn't matter to me. Some are comfortable speaking in front of a big group and some aren't. Its just OK.I will try to tell him to not be nervous but I am not going to do any bit of pushing. I'm going to let him be.

So to conclude "Pappu pass go gaya" and shall be going to KG now. Yippee! Good job Betu. :)

"Disney Cars" pasta

2009-03-19T20:10:00.004+05:30

Thanks to Ruchi Mausi, Betu got a box of car shaped pasta few days ago. It was only today that I finally was able to cook it for him and but obviously he was ecstatic.

But after 10 min I was ready to tear my hair out because he would look at each piece for 2 minutes by turning it left and right and only when the full inspection was done that he would eat it. He did this for the first 10 minutes and then I asked him to finish eating it or I shall take it away. Call me a meanie mommy or whatever..I don't care! :D

Our contribution to recycling

2009-03-16T21:39:00.002+05:30

Betu and me are helping towards the cause of Global Warming by doing our bits in recycling/reusing stuff. This is one example of it -
Using Surf Excel Matic boxes in which we get the washing machine powder as toy storage boxes. I had thought of covering them up with some paints etc but now I'm just leaving them like this.
What says you guys about this?

Treasures from the pocket

2009-03-14T13:27:00.002+05:30

Couple of lil Kitty picture cutouts that I found in his pockets yesterday night while doing the laundry. Yup. After a long time I found something in his pockets:)

Annual Day at Betu's School

2009-03-06T14:16:00.006+05:30

Anirudh's school holds a separate Annual Day for Nursery and KG kids. I really liked the idea of a separate one for such small children.

He was part of a play where he was supposed to play the role of a granpa. He told me about this play about 15 days ago and said "Pata hai. Main dadu hoon!". I looked at him a bit bewildered wondering what he meant. Later he explained me that he is in a play where there is a boy Ken who doesn't take care of his toys and his dadu helps him fix his toys. He then proudly told me that he is playing the role of Dadu.

As per Swati, he was just perfect for the role looking at his bossy nature. She has also written in detail about his cute bossy nature in a guest post on this blog :D

Coming back to his performance, after the experience from the open day and also from one of the rehearsal sessions I attended, I was not sure he would say his lines. But the moment he entered the stage, it didn't matter to me if he would say it well or not. Just seeing him on stage made me feel so very proud of my lil guy. But then today he said them just perfectly making me even more proud. Its another story that after saying his lines, he was standing with his back towards the audience (as you can see in one of the pictures below) and playing with the other kids on the stage.

Now I leave you with some pics from his Annual Day -

Thanks Dear Anirudh !

2009-03-06T14:01:00.005+05:30

Hi Everyone, I am Anirudh's chachi and Aryan's (of Times of Aryan frame) mother.

I am here to thank dear Anirudh for all the parenting lessons that he has given me to help me raise Aryan into a good boy. NO , I am not here to thank ~nm. I am here to thank Anirudh.

He told me that , I should teach Aryan to pee in bathroom and not in diaper. He taught me that I should make Aryan wear sweater ,when its cold. He taught me that I should not let Aryan walk bare foot. And I even got scoldings (with frown and lines on forehead) for letting Aryan do his Big Job in diaper once. Where do I get just advices from a little wishful thinker.

I would also like to thank Anirudh for being a responsible big brother that he is to Aryan. Witness this :

Scene : Aryan gets extremely angry and starts hitting me in fit of anger at a public gathering. All the other cousins of his left from the sight like I told them to (till Aryan becomes calm), since I did not want them to be the victim of Aryan's anger. But Anirudh being Anirudh stays and goes like this , with finger up and a frown on his face and lines on forehead :

"Aryan !!!! Aaapne Mumma ko kyo maara ???? Aaapko pata hai na , ache bache Mumma ko nahi marte??? Gandi baat."
The !!!! , ???? in the above sentence denote the stress on the words.

He looked so cute that I felt like leaving Aryan to hug him. All the irritation that I was feeling that moment because of Aryan's behaviour just flew away.

And another one :

Scene : We are at ~nm's place. Anirudh just started his dinner , having dal roti and subzi. Aryan attempts to get hold of the spoon in Anirudh's bowl to have a spoonful of daal. At this Anirudh reacts :

"Aryan !!! Yeh Bhaiya ki daal hai !!! Isme bahut mirchi hai !!!"
The !!!! in the above sentence denote the stress on the words.

His tone was a mix of anger and shock , it was like a mom would react if the kid is about to touch a hot vessel. He looked so very adorable.

But the funny part was that Anirudh does NOT eats mirchi and his dal had NO trace of mirchi. He was just behaving like a grwon up big brother.

So here I am thanking dear Anirudh , for being such adorable teacher and guide to me and such a responsible bro.

Love you Sweetheart !

Big Brother feeding the younger one with ice cream!

The cutest panditji ever

2009-03-05T04:37:00.000+05:30

Ain't I right? :D

My cute little Giraffe

2009-03-04T12:08:00.000+05:30

The play titled "Blue Elephant" was staged on feb 14, 2009 where he was supposed to say the lines "I've never seen an elephant which is blue in color". After initial hiccups of making him learn the lines since he wouldn't accept as he had seen a blue elephant. So when the final show day came, he was very excited since the morning.

I sent him off in the same brown dress which I used for the goat activity. I just didn't have any other dress at home which could be brown or yellow in color from top to bottom. Betu did question me saying "Yeh to goat ki dress hai" but I somehow managed to convince him that lot of animals can have the same color.

They were to perform twice and the parents were given time slots to come and watch the show. Ours was the second slot.

I did a mistake here. I forgot to tell Betu about the slot business and when he didn't see us but saw the parents of all his friends he started bawling away loudly. He didn't say his lines at all and was crying in the top of his voice. So was I told from a mother of his classmate, called me to ask where was I when she saw him crying, with whom I'm pally with.

So when I reached he was in a really off mood and it took a lot of cajoling to agree him to speak his lines again. But when the second replay happened he spoke only half of his line "I've never seen a blue elephant which.." and he broke off. It was obvious that he was still not OK.

I didn't say anything to him but just said a "good job" when he came back to us. here are some of the pictures from the show

Drawing Sea Animals

2009-02-12T06:20:00.003+05:30

I found this drawing in Betu's school bag yesterday evening. When I said "Betu. Wow. Yeh to bahut achha banaya hai.", he started to tell me in detail as to what all he had drawn very enthusiastically.

On the top, the pink one is a jellyfish, the green one is an octopus and the blue one is a crab.

He then pointed to the yellow colored sword fish in the blue water and said "Woh bahut daynjrus hoti hai." :D

And the brown one below the swordfish is a star fish.

Well done Betu. It looks very pretty.

His first letter

2009-02-10T09:35:00.027+05:30

After a visit to the post office in December 2008 from school, Betu was quite upbeat about writing a letter and posting it in the letterbox. But slowly over the time he forgot it. He would talk about it once in a while and we lazy parents didn't do anything about it. A week ago, when we saw a new letterbox being installed just next to our society entrance, we decided that we should stop being such lazy parents and help him write a letter and also to post it.

Today we finally managed to do it. He wrote a letter to his Dadi-Dadu and then I put a stamp on the envelope and wrote the address. Off he went with his papa to drop it in the letter box on the way to school.

I forgot to click a pic before sealing the envelope but this is what he wrote:
---------------
DADI - DADU
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
MISSING YOU.
ANIRUDH
---------------
Since he is not very comfortable with lower case letters, he wrote it all in uppercase. I was telling him the spellings and he kept writing them down. But for his name, I didn't have to spell it out. He knows how to spell his name just perfectly.

Now I'm just waiting to see the excitement of Betu when his Dadi-Dadu will call up to talk to him when they receive the letter.

Goat says...

2009-02-02T14:50:00.005+05:30

I'm sure all of you would have already read about the whole goat mask making exercise and the activity at his school.

So when I asked him what did he say when his turn came.

Betu:
"Thank you teachers.
Thank you children.
I'm a Goat.
I say woof-woof.
I give milk"

Me : Goat says what??
Betu: Woof woof

Me: *slapping my forehead* woh to Dog bolta hai. Goat kya bolti hai?
Betu: After thinking for a few seconds "baaa"

Me: Fir aapne woof woof kyun bola?
Betu: *looks blankly at me*

Me: Fir Ma'm ne kya bola?
Betu: Sab hasne lage

Me: *in a disappointed voice* koi nahi..next time theek se bolna

And I left it at that. I know I should have at least praised him for speaking up in front of all but I was quite disappointed. He was saying it so well at home.

Today he had to go and say these lines as a part of a small skit "I've never see an Elephant which is blue in color".

So over the weekend I practiced it with him. But he rehearsed these lines with a lot of reluctance. Every now and then he would say "Par maine to blue elephant dekha hai. Dumbo!! cartoon network mein aata hai." :D

Now I wonder what will he say during the skit. Will he be able to say the lines properly or will he add these lines of seeing a blue elephant? :D

It shows how much he loved...

2009-01-31T20:22:00.000+05:30

...his earlier daycare "Pink Elephant" when

- he doesn't let me throw the old envelopes of the old daycare.

- he remembers the route to the daycare even now, almost 2 years after he last went there.

- he was in tears to see a new building in place of the old building.

- he says "mujhe Pink Elephant ki bahut yaad aati hai"

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Chand taare tod layoon...

2009-01-31T20:01:00.000+05:30

It could very well be my son singing this song for me :)

Betu: "Aapko moon chahiye?"
Me: "par moon to bahut door hota hai. Aap to wahan tak pahunch nahi sakte."

Betu: "main ja sakta hoon"
*made a funny sound and said*
"yeh lo. Moon"

*again made the same funny sound*
"yeh lo star"

*again made the same funny sound*
"yeh lo ek aur star"

:D

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

His summary of the Manali Trip

2009-01-31T08:04:00.002+05:30

On the train from Chandigarh to Delhi (Shatabdi Express), our seats were right in the center where we get a table. So the crayons and paper that I had carried came to the rescue and I managed to keep the kids busy for good 1 hour.

There was another kid besides Anirudh and Prithvi and I'm sure his parents must be thanking me in their hearts too :D

The first thing Anirudh asked me when get got paper and crayons was "Main kya banayoon?" I told him if he wants he can draw whatever he saw in Manali. The idea really appealed to him and he got down to it. And this is what he made -

There is the sun, the clouds, the mountains covered with snow(blue bit on top of mountains) and with fir trees growing on them.

He drew a horse (pink one) and a monkey (blue one). he also drew the big boulders he saw near the mountains and in the river Beas (black and brown ones).

I think he did a splendid job of drawing a summary of his Manali trip. What says you all?

Craft time - Making a goat mask

2009-01-29T22:22:00.034+05:30

On Tuesday evening I got a note in Anirudh's school diary that we have to send him dressed as a farm animal on Friday, Jan 30. So I asked Anirudh what he wanted to go as. Pat came the reply "Goat" along with the baa sounds. :)

So I started to think of the various ways I could manage that. The first thing that came to my mind was to make a goat face mask. And for the rest of the body I thought I can send him dressed in white or brown. Since I didn't have anything brown, I decided to go full white way. But by Wednesday morning the whole dress up activity was out of my mind until yesterday evening. And then I was kind of stuck what to do with so little time on my hands. I started to search the internet for goat masks outline. I managed to find only one decent mask but that was way too small. And then Photoshop came to the rescue and I enlarged it and did some tweaking and lo and behold I had a face mask which I could use for making one of my own. But somehow it wasn't looking good enough to me. And then I suddenly remembered Rohini's trysts in dressing up her son as a goat for his school activity. And there I found another goat mask which she had put together wonderfully by taking bits and pieces from 2-3 goat images off the internet. So when I saw this mask, I was sure I want to use this one and not the one I had found.

With the mask ticked off the list, now it was the turn of the dress. After humming and hawing I thought I will just send him in regular clothes. And then I remembered his dress from his annual day function at his earlier daycare "Pink Elephant". But that was 2 years ago. Since the dress was quite big (read that as 'QUITE BIG') for him that time I thought I will give it a try anyhow even if the chances of it fitting him were not even 5%. But the biggest hurdle was to find it. I vaguely remembered putting it in the loft of the guest bedroom. So when I reached home, I searched for it there and actually found it there!! I quickly undressed Betu to try on the dress and it was short at the legs and the arms. It was fitting just perfectly on the rest of the body. I heaved such a big sigh of relief.

So with everything in place, me and Betu went to the local stationer and got white ivory paper, traced the mask outline, cut it up and then colored it. This is how it looked once done.

And this is Betu err..a little cute goat today morning :D

When I was done coloring up the goat Betu said he didn't like it. I was pretty upset hearing this and said that he cam make his own and sat holding the mask with a pout. Within seconds he came to and hugged me and said "Yeh bahut achha hai. main isko hi pahnunga." Par main bhi kum nahi hoon. I told him "Nahi aapko pasand nahi hai ko mat pahno." but he insisted and we both smiled and hugged each other.

These are the sentences that I taught him to say

I'm a goat

baaaa..

I eat grass

I give milk

baaaa..

I kept telling Betu that he can slide up the mask a little up but he was adamant on wearing it on the face so I let him. I just hope he remembers to say these lines when his turn comes.

Here is the face mask that I used to make one -

And here is the other mask that I got from the net and modified to fit my requirements -

Reading sentences

2009-01-28T12:46:00.003+05:30

Now that Anirudh's school is coming to the end of the nursery session and he knows the phonetics pretty well, he is able to read some basic words that they have been taught. The school calls it "sight" words. And now he can read sentences using these sight words. I didn't know this till I got this sheet to practice with him on a long weekend and he read them all correctly minus a few mix-ups. I was feeling so proud of him and rewarded him with a KitKat chocolate for reading so well.

Here is the picture displaying some of the sentences that he got as holiday homework. There were 20 sentences like these that he was to practice reading.

I can't describe how elated I was thinking "My son can read!!" :D

Marriage talks

2009-01-24T17:29:00.000+05:30

We were discussing about our marriages with a friend of ours. And discussing how long it has been since we have been married when Betu suddenly pipes in "Meri shaadi kab hogi?" leaving us laughing out loud.

Betu, your time will come soon :)
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Imagine this

2009-01-24T08:26:00.001+05:30

Imagine two 4 year olds singing the song "Talli..main talli..main talli ho gaya..."
Anirudh and Prithvi, his daycare friend, were singing this song enroute to Manali. The most inapproriate song they could have chosen. :D
Jan 24, 2009 8:25 am

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Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Amused

2009-01-22T10:17:00.002+05:30

While driving on the way back to Delhi from Jaipur on Jan 19, Betu saw these buffaloes being transported in a truck. Our conversation:

Betu: "Yeh buffaloes truck mein kyun ja rahi hain?"
Me: "Kyunki jiski buffaloes hain, woh unhe kahin le ja raha hoga."

Betu: "Par truck mein to samaan le jaate hain. Inko kyun le ja raha hai?"
Me: "Truck mein saman ke alawa bhi le ja sakte hain."

Betu: "Hum logon ko bhi?"
Me: "Haan bilkul. Log bhi ja sakte hain"

Betu: "Par woh truck mein kyun ja rahi hain? Chal kar kyun nahi ja rahi?"
Me: "Unko door jana hoga isliye."

Betu: *no response and with the same amused expression on his face looking at the truck*

Bagawat

2009-01-17T09:22:00.000+05:30

..abhi se.

A while ago hubby was telling betu about some rules because he was behaving badly.

After listening for a while he goes "No Rules!!"

Looking at him I worry about his teens. What will happen then if this is how it is now?

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

All this just for not wanting to go to school

2009-01-14T12:15:00.004+05:30

Yesterday morning Betu didn't want to go to school. He was cribbing and fussing about getting ready. When I made him stand at the basin to brush his teeth, he finally said, "Main ghar chhod kar chala jayunga. Fir aapko meri yaad aayegi, main fir bhi nahi aayunga."

So you see these threats start so early in this generation. Sigh. Anyways, hubby got angry hearing him say all this but I talked to him very calmly about it

Me: Ok. Par aap kahan jayoge?
Betu: Kahin bhi. Aur aap udaas hoge, par main fir bhi nahi aayunga.

Me: Its ok. Aapko jane ka mann hai to chale jayo. Par aap jayoge kahan?
Betu: Main prithvi ke ghar chala jayunga.

Me: Ok. Par Prithvi ki mumma to usko pyaree karengi. Uske saath cuddly karengi. Aap kya karoge?
Betu: Nahi uski Mumma sab bachhon ko pyar karti hain.

Me: Haan. Woh sabko pyaar karti hain. Par raat ko to woh apne papa mummy ke saath soyega aur aapko aapi aapi sona padega. Fir kya karoge?
Betu: *ponders for a minute* chalo achha..main yahin rahunga. Aap udaas ho jayoge na isliye nahi jayunga.

Me: Nahi. Aapka mann hai to chale jayo. Mujhe koi problem nahi hai.
Betu: nahi par aap udaas hote ho to mujhe achha nahi lagega.

And the topic got closed as he went for his bath. But did you see how he very cleverly I was made to be the reason he was not going :D

Aajkal ke bachhe, baba re baba...

My sweet little guy

2009-01-13T15:56:00.001+05:30

He packed me 3 of his chocolate creme biscuits saying "Aap office mein kha lena" :D

I love you jaanu!

Making Pop-out cards

2009-01-12T20:30:00.000+05:30

Me and Betu made these pop-out cards recently using rough paper. Betu was mighty thrilled while making these and even more thrilled to see how they finally turned out.

I would draw the outlines and he would color them up. And then it was my job to cut at the right places. I did get a good scolding when I didn't cut the aeroplane properly and actually snipped the plane.

We first made the Christmas tree and then all sorts of ideas kept popping in his head which I was totally incapable of making. His ideas included a frog, a a crocodile, a ship and this aeroplane also. ALthough I was not sure if I could make an aeroplane one but still tried. Although it didn't work out as expected but it was good enough to make him happy. Here is the pic of the ones that we made -

Next in our to-do list is to make a rocket and a dolphin. I will have to wrack this rusty brain of mine to figure out how to make these.

Tryst with numbers

2009-01-10T22:08:00.000+05:30

Teaching needs LOTs of patience! And apparently I don't have enough. I have written about it earlier and here I'm writing about my trysts in teaching some rudimentary stuff to Betu.

Yesterday I was trying to teach Anirudh the counting in tens - verbally as well written.

He could recite it upto 80s if he started from 1. It was kind of learnt by rote. However, when I asked him what does 3 and 0 or 6 and 0 read as? He would look at me blankly.

So that's how we started with the number practice session. Somehow I was able to make him understand how to figure out 60. I told him if its a 2 digit number, and 0 is in the 2nd position it makes the sound of "tee". He caught that concept after trying for 30 min. Then I stared to focus on the first digit and how to recognise and read the tens. If the first digit is 6, pronounce it usually way and add "tee" in the end. It works well for all but for twenty, thirty and fifty. Even though forty also doesn't work exactly the same way but it makes quite a similar sound.

Anyhow all went well except for these different sounding numbers in tens. This is how the rest 1 hour proceeded. I would say the number first and then he would repeat.

2 0 - twenty
3 0 - thirty
4 0 - forty
5 0 - fifty

After we did this for 5-6 times I asked him to recite it himself. But he would keep getting stuck at pronouncing 'thirty' and 'fifty'. I kept helping him but after trying for another 30 mins trying to make him remember to say "thirty" and "fifty" I had started to lose patience and was getting quite angry.

This is how it went
Me: 3 0 - thirty
Betu: 3 0 - thirty

Me: 4 0 ?
Betu: Fourty

Me: 5 0 - Fifty
Betu: 5 0 - Fifty

Me: 3 0?
Betu: *looks blankly"

Me: *after waiting for 1 min" 3 0 thirty
Betu: 3 0 - thirty

Me: 5 0?
Betu: *looks blankly*

Me: *again wait for 1 min" 5 0 - Fifty
Betu: 5 0 - Fifty

Me: 3 0?
Betu: *looks blankly*

Again I tell him and he repeats after me

Me: 5 0?
Betu: *looks blankly*

Again I tell him and he repeats after me

This went on for full 40 mins and I was at my wits end by this time. I ended up giving him a tight slap and sent him off to bed. He cried really hard for good 5-10 min. I don't know if I should have felt bad for slapping him but the truth is I didn't. I was way too angry then. Hubby tried to intervene but I told him to just go away and not interfere.

About 15 min later when I joined him in the bedroom to read my book, I could hear him talking to himself in whispers. I ignored it and went on with my reading. He was facing the opposite direction all this while. After about 5 mins he turned towards me and said -

Betu: *in a whisper like tone* 3 0 - thirty *paused for a while for my reaction*
Me: good!

Betu: 5 0 - fifty
Me: very good! *hugging him tight*

And at that point my tears started to flow because of happiness mixed with a bit of remorse. And we both dozed off hugging each other.

Next day morning while we sat drinking milk and tea, hubby asked him -
Hubby: 3 0?
Betu: *after thinking for 2 secs* thirty

Hubby: very good. 5 0?
Betu: fifty

Hubby: very good!!

The happiness, the jubilation we both felt that time is beyond words. It was actually a feeling of a battle won!

And now the situation is that since he has figured out how to read 2 digit numbers, he randomly asks me to practice counting with him all through the day :D

~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Scenes from my childhood...

2009-01-10T15:32:00.000+05:30

As I am writing this, Anirudh is listening to a story from Amma - my dadi. Just the way I used to when I was smaller. And I just smiled looking at this scene playing in front of my eyes. It is giving me a strange feeling of happiness.

But there is a difference between those days and now. As Amma finished just now with her story, he asked her if she wants to listen to a story. She said yes and now he is telling her a story. And he is making the story all from his mind at runtime. :D

I was not as creative as Betu is when I was his age. And that is a big difference now and then.
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
Sent on my BlackBerry®.

Shaitani dimmag!

2009-01-08T09:42:00.003+05:30

Yesterday morning I went for my bath after Hubby had given Betu his bath.

The moment I reached the bath mugs I let out a big gasp. WHy? Because this is what the sight was...
Can you guess what it is in the those bath mugs? No? Look closely and see whats similar in both the things. Yeah..may be you are getting an idea now :)

Those are his pair of socks. The ones that he was wearing when he went for his bath. Both socks have been duly thrown into each mug.

Sigh...main kya karoon is ladke ka??

Aap meri step mom ho?

2009-01-07T17:18:00.007+05:30

This is the question I was asked couple of days ago by my dear little son Anirudh. Surprised? Even I was. So I asked him why do you ask this? He had a very simple answer to it "Kyunki aap mere se itna kaam karati ho. Aur step moms bachhon se bahut kaam karwati hain."

I was initially a little aghast at this statement but the moment I realized why he asked me this question I was really laughing away. It so happened that I was making him clear the mess of his toys when he made this statement in full seriousness.

But I didn't leave it there (but obvious..isn't it? :D) and I asked him who told him about step moms.

It seems in the school that day the story of Cinderella was narrated to them. And that story has a step mom who is very cruel to Cinderella and makes her work really really hard. And because of THAT story, I was asked THIS question.

Sigh..what do you say to this question and more so to this logic!!!!

As per his logic...

2009-01-03T10:43:00.000+05:30

...I must have been very naughty and would not listen to my Mumma, so I got scolded by my Mumma a lot and that's why I came to the house in which we are living currently :D
~~ Keep Smiling! ~~
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