Xmas @ Dadda's Office

This place looks familiar. Of course I know this place.. I was here exactly a year back, all bundled up the same way. Its my Dadda's Office.

But I wasn't sure if I was there for the same reason as last year. And my doubt was cleared in no time..There he was - SANTA!!

As much as I was excited to get the gift from Santa, the thought of being asked to sit anywhere near Santa still worried me. I know I've grown a year older but no offense - Santa's beard is still not the most comfirting thing :(
And as can be seen I expressed my fright very openely.

It took a lot of persuasion and soothing words from Dadda's colleague / friend, Anoop, to kindda convince me to just pose for a few pics with Santa.

I obviously was not very pleased but I still posed. Because as Anoop 'Uncle' said, after all Santa is the one who gave me the lovely gift. So I had to be good, not only to him but all of this year to get a nice gift next year :)

Beginning of Terrible Twos!!

Gone are the days of complete dependency. Days where I ate whatever was fed (well most of it), now I know what I want and ask for it. Gone too are those days where I had to be carried everywhere, now I can walk and run (except when I play lazy). I have turned TWO!

Unlike last time when Mamma and Dadda organized a grand party and let all the adults have a blast. Of course, I did get all the attention but more or less I was only a spectator. But this birthday has been different. I have my own set of friends now, and I can have some fun too. So Mamma and Dadda organized my second birthday party at “The Little Gym”. Though a much shorter event , it turned out to be so much fun. 

It started with all of us gathering in the gym, and soon we were into our first activity. It called for a giant board to be pushed to the ground and it took the might birthday girl, ME, to start the proceedings. I say might, because as you see I managed to move the giant board with a gentle one-handed push! Mamma evidently was proud of me.

Encouraged by this initial stint, we then moved onto a gigantic rolling wheel and then a thin as a pin-stripe gym bar. Balancing on such a thin bar was an extremely difficult job but me and my friends, managed to come out with flying colors.

We had a couple of other activities as well, and soon out little bodies started tiring. We gathered for a final group picture - in which I made it clear that it is MY Birthday!

We then moved to the adjacent area. As we gathered, suddenly the lights were dimmed, then there were candles and ta da….it was yummy cake time. Mamma had got me a Nemo cake, such a colorful cake it was! Very obediently I blew the candles, cut the cake and shared the first bytes with Dadda and Mamma.

I didn’t like it though that in the middle of my cake eating frenzy I was asked to pose for pictures.

I wasn’t done with the cake yet! As soon as the posing session ended, I helped myself to some yummy bites.

 Wish every day was like this !!

Jumping Jack!

It was around this time...exactly one year back...just before my b'day...
Dadda &  Mamma were so excited to see me walk for the first time. But I'm more into talking than walking. That's why the leap from walk to jump took one complete year...Its not that I haven't been trying but somehow I've always had an inertia...I believe in resting after every session of (trying to) jump around..which is quite evident here -


 

Nursery Rhymes

From a few words to a couple of lines and now rhymes. 

I've been reciting parts of nursery rhymes for almost a month now. But 'Twinkle Twinkle' happens to be the first one that I can sing from start to end.

Tell Daddy

My second birthday is a few days away and I keep hearing that this is the phase they call 'naughty two'. But looks like those characteristics have dawned on me already! I've been notoriously disobedient since 1-2 weeks, so much so that Mom Dad had to check with my teachers Shana & Jill if I was the same at school. My teachers said that they too have noticed some minor changes in my behavior - like I refuse to clean up after playing or when I'm asked wash my hands after having lunch I pretend as if I didn't even hear what they said. The only workaround Miss Shana & Miss Jill found was to say - 'Do you want me to talk to Daddy in the evening when he comes to pick you up' forcing me to hesitatingly do what I was asked to.

Today while returning from the playground I refused to line up with my friends to go back to the classroom. But this time before even my teachers could say anything I looked at them and said 'Go tell Daddy!'

All my teachers could then do was laugh :)

Happy Halloween

Last year when I was dressed up as a pumpkin on Halloween, I had this big stuffed toy - a fish whose name I didn't even know. 

Hardly did I know that within a year, not only will this be my favorite character but I will also be able to speak the lines from his movie - FINDING NEMO!

There is not one single meal that I've had in the past 5 months without watching this movie.

After knowing about my craze for Nemo, a colleague of Mamma, Louise, gifted me a small Nemo which has become a mandatory part of my chores.

Of course Mamma didn't have to give a second thought to shop for my Halloween Costume this year.

We had a small Halloween party at our school. I had a great time with Dadda, Mamma, my teachers - Shana & Jill and my friends.

This was followed by trick or treat in our neighborhood. Since this was my first trick or treating, I didn't know what to expect. But once I realized that candies is what I get as treat, there was no stopping me.

All the hard work paid at the end - I got my first candy and yummmm it tastes so good :)


Happy Halloween!

From ABCD to Apples & Dinosaurs...

Gone are the days when I could only recognize a few things around me. My new school, especially my teacher Shana and of course Daddy & Mamma have ensured that my dictionary keeps growing.

Colors

With the start of my new school and so much to learn, my blog clock has gone for a toss. I've learned a couple of poems, ABC's, numbers but when it comes to colors - let's not get there for now! Whenever I'm asked the question 'Rheu, tell me which color is this' my answer never changes; its always 'Blue'.

Mamma Dadda always point to the plants, grass and trees and say 'That's green'. But off late they've started using other references to show green. Today I figured out the reason behind that. 

Ours & Ananya's family started from home early in the morning. And I was told we were going to see 'Fall Colors' which didnt make a lot of sense to me because 'fall' is something that I relate to Boo Boo :( not colors.
Anyways, after a nice b'fast at Mickey D's followed by some singing, playing and a bit of our respective way of being cranky, we both took a good nap in the car. When we woke up, we were at the flume gorge, located at Franconia Notch State Park in NH. 

Ananya and I were all smiles to see those colorful trees.

After walking around a bit, we decided to refuel by munching something - it definitely recharged my batteries.

Being with Mamma, Dadda, my dear friend Ananya, those beautiful and colorful trees made me think I was in for a great and fun filled day. 

But I hardly knew what was in store :(
I was sitting with Mamma near this beautiful lake, enjoying the view of gushing water from close proximity and unknowingly (well not really unknowingly..) as always I took my cap off and threw it. Alas, this time I couldnt ask Mamma to fetch it for me. It was gone with the flowing water....And undoubtedly neither blanket nor hoodie was a good replacement :(

I was so upset that I decided to rest with Ma & Radhika Aunty while Ananya, Srini Uncle and Dadda went ahead to further explore the place.

We went for an aerial tramway ride which didn't cheer me up either. It was only after we reached the Echo Lake and I was allowed to get down and play for some time, that I felt better. We both had a blast

It was a beauifule place and I heard Daddy & Mamma say that they were nostalgic to be at the same place after four long years..But this time with their little doll :)

Bye Buddies

After we returned from India in May, I started at my new school - the Sudbury branch of NGCC. The transition from a place where I was treated like a princess to one where I didnt know anyone was sure a nerve wrecking experience. But me being the youngest in the new class, definitely helped as I was pampered by not just my teachers, but friends too. And to Dad Mom's surprise, within no time I could introduce them to all my classmates, when they'd come to pick me up.

But Friday, Aug 27th was my last day @ this school. I'll miss you buddies 



A special thanks to my teachers - Jen & Liz for taking such good care of me.

I'll be moving back to my old school (the Natick branch) on Monday. Mom Dad are pretty nervous about this big change. But having one of my closest friends, Ananya, in the same class is a relief!

Hope I'll do well :)

Happy Onam

Grand cleaning of the house, waking up so early, getting an early shower, dressing up in traditional clothes, and most importantly the sumptuous feast that Mamma started preparing even before crack of dawn. Finally I understand the reason behind all this. 

Happy Onam! 

The day started with the prayers and rituals. As always, I did a good job of praying with Ma, Dadda. 

After Ma offered Naivedhya to Lord Krishna, it was we kids' turn. Seeing each other doing a good job, inspired us to do good too.

Apparently there was a big conversation going on about aunties getting to eat the food while uncles were serving them. Didn't quite get what it was though.

After all the hard work, the men got to enjoy the grand meal. Thanks to Radha Aunty for making Sambhar and especially for the yumm payasam :)

While the elders were enjoying the food, we kids were having a great time too. Although we were under continous monitoring - first by Krishna uncle, followed by Deepa and Radhika Aunty.

Thank you all for being a part of our family on this special occasion. We had a great time.

We kids gave a 'Kodak Moment' to all elders before they left.

Happy Onam Ars, Achacha, Achamma, Nanu, Ammamma, Vellyamma, Tuttu, Vellyachcha and Hashu Mama. We missed you all on this special day.

Appreciation

I happened to spill some water on the floor. Immediately Mamma got a tissue and wiped it. But unlike what she usually does (trashing it), she held it in her hand. She was trying to help me get down from my high chair because she is probably aware of the consequences if my requests dont get the top priority :)
But me, Ms Smarty Pants, ordered - "Mamma Tissue Trash". She very obediently did that.
And the very next moment, I go "Good girl Mamma. Good girl!"
The surprise that showed up on Mamma's face was worth seeing.

Betty + Mamma = Hurt

Last week Mamma bought me a doll - Betty. I'm so fond of Betty that she has become a part of all my chores at home, my day starts with greeting her in the morning and ends by holding her while sleeping.

Today I tried playing 'Ring-a Ring-a Roses' with her. It was fun until she refused to fall when I said 'We all fall down'. Instead of requesting her to fall along with me, I threw her. The next moment I see her in Mamma's arms and Mom saying 'Rheu, you should use gentle hands and not throw Betty. See, she is hurt..' And Mamma started rocking her in her arms.

It didnt take long for me to lift my hand, bang it on a table and say 'Mamma, hurt..Rheu hurt'

And the trick worked. Within a split second,our positions were swapped :)

Happy 4th!

The weekend of July 4th was round the corner. The original plan was to visit the Edaville amusement park with my very good friend Ananya (along with her family). But the park, which usually remains open every day during this part of the year, was closed. Luckily Dadda was able to locate this nearby place, called Imagination Island, which saved the day for us.

I measured my height as soon we entered the play center. Ananya initially hesitated to do so, but after a little cajoling from me she happily stood to check hers.

The place was really fun and had so many little things for us to enjoy. We started running around happily; suddenly I noticed a lot of bubbles in one corner. We ran to that corner, danced around, tried to catch some bubbles and even burst few of them.  Mamma also joined us and the three of us had a blast.

We hit the vehicles next, each of us picked our car and drove around for a while.

After some time, we got tired and moved out. We tried our hands at a lot of things, we hit the kitchen area too. I made a good tea for Srini Uncle and served it too!

Soon it was lunchtime; the food was so yummy, I guess the pictures speak for themselves.

After lunch we turned our attention to some of the less physically demanding activities. Radhika aunty did a little puppet show for us, but it didnt take too long for Ananya to figure out the mystery hand.

Our parents had only seen us running around till now, but we wanted to bring out our other side as well. So we went to the study room, sat on the study table like the nicest of kids and flipped a few pages (at our age that’s all u need to create a false but innocent statement :))

We went to a nearby restaurant afterwards and everyone had some great food. From there we returned home and took a much needed rest.
What good is the July 4th weekend without the fireworks show, so the next day we went to our nearby town to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. 

Happy 4th! :)

My Dictionary

I'm 18 (months) but my dictionary sure includes a lot more than 18 words. My vocab is growing every day. Wanna watch a trailer of what I can speak? Check this out...

18 Months

I had a great 18th month birthday. A year and a half is a big milestone... big enough to throw tantrums, to adamantly say 'NO', to give a scary frown when things go against my wish and of course to butter someone up (esp Mom Dad) if I need to get something done. I've always been good at that. Actually my smile usually does the job.

If not I always have my hugs and kisses

Now that I'm grown up enough, if none of these work..I've learnt to say 'Please'...And the way I say it...I can melt just about anyone's heart

Back to my 18 months birthday- Mom Dad bought me a new 'cutie' dress

Also, each of them gave me a gift and Ooooohhhh that made me happy

And a little confused too...Cus I was wondering which one to open first..

Off late, the denial and refusal to let me touch Mamma Dadda's laptops was making me furious enough to pull out a key or two. But thankfully before that could happen, I got one as my gift today.

Also, my keen interest in scribbling just about everywhere made Dadda think I need a better something to write on rather than spoiling the wall, floor, books, magazines. I got a whiteboard with an eraser / duster. Mamma was wondering if I was a little too young for it, but neah...Within no time I made a wonderful piece of art Ambidexterously and gave it to Dadda

Had a great day...I wish every day was some kind of birthday so that I'd be inundated with gifts :)