Googly.

Ashu and Antu were sitting on the kitchen counter while I was going about making our evening hot chocolate/milk/tea.

Antu - Amma, where is Appa?

Me: He is in Germany, Antu. Actually hes on a plane now. He ll be home tonight.

Ashu: On a plane? *does a plane sound*

Me: Yes. Hes in Germany and hes flying from there *pointing to Antus nose* and coming to Zurich. *pointing to Ashus nose*

(The girls giggle.)

Ashu - Amma! Is Germany bigger than Switzerland or smaller?

Me - *thinking to myself how geographically inclined my daughter is* Germany is bigger, Ashu.

Ashu - Then why did you point to Ashu's nose as Germany? I am Germany and she's Switzerland.

Me - You are right. My mistake. Im sorry. *rolls eyes*

(pause.)

Ashu - And you know what Amma?

Me - *uh ho* What?

Ashu - You are U.S.A. because you are so beeg!

Me - *sigh*

I should have listened to the warning bells and changed the subject. I never see what's coming.

Locarno.

Since Ashus school is closed for autumn break, Hd took two days off and we went to Locarno last weekend for four days. The weather was warmer than here though it was a bit cloudy the first 2 days. We were so scared that it will turn like our Como trip since we were going in the same direction. But the next 2 days were fabulous. We stayed in a fully furnished flat. I think its someones holiday home. I fell in love with the place. It was so tastefully decorated. Simple but classy. Futons and single beds in the living room where the kids slept. A beautiful bedroom with a blue theme going. A spacious balcony where we had our breakfast everyday with a fantastic view of the Lake Maggiore. A dream kitchen with everything I needed. TV, Music system, books, tourist info, board games, ... I was blown away by how thoughtfully the place was done. Sigh.


We had a perfect vacation by getting up late, eating breakfast and getting out of the house in time for lunch. Eating yummy food at the Italian joints, sight seeing, idly walking by the lake, window shopping, gobbling gelatos,... and getting back to our place for dinner. Dinner was some ready to eat stuff out of the packets. We went on the mini train ride around the city. It has become a must in every place we go, thanks to Ashu. Another day we took a funicular and went up to Orselina and a cable car from there to Cardada. The views were amazing and the place also had a nice park in the woods. We also drove to Valle(y) Maggia. In the lakeside park in Locarno, there was a trampoline and Ashu jumped with harness and all and also learnt to flip. It was fun to watch her.

On Tuesday morning, we checked out and drove to Valle(y) Verzasca which is a 25 kms drive from Locarno. It was AMAZING. One of the best drives ever. So scenic and so beautiful. I could nt believe that we have been in Swiss for so long and never came here before. We stopped at Lavertazzo, crossed the double arched stone bridge and hiked amidst rocks to go near the river. Its a crystal clear blue river. The photos don't do justice. We could nt get enough of the beauty of the river. We drove on to the end of the valley to a village called Sonogno. A tiny place with stone houses. So picturesque. We had lunch there. Then retraced our route back to Locarno. Stopped on the way to see the Verzasca dam where James Bond did the bungee jumping stunt in Golden Eye. Was scary to even look! Hd wanted to bungee jump but after seeing the 220 metres high dam, he said, "no way!" (paithyam dhaan ingendhu kudhikkum* were his exact words!) LOL! Then we hit the road back home.

One morning, Hd and I woke up to the voices of the kids. They both were sitting in the living room and the conversation we heard went like this.

Ashu: Do you want to kill me, Antu?
Antu - No.
Ashu - Not really kill, ok? Just pretend. And not me. My horse.
Antu - OK.
Ashu - Move something. Do you want to move this?
Antu - No. This one.
Ashu - No Antu. You CANT move my dead bishop. Move something else.
Antu - (silence)
Ashu - (storms in to our bedroom) Amma! Its not fun. This Antu is not listening to me at all. She does nt know how to play chess!
Me - !!!!

ps.
Ashu does nt know how to play chess either. She just uses Antu as a pawn in all her games! ;)

*only a crazy person would jump from here.

Phone Booth.

(Wife calls the Husband at work around 6 pm.)

Wife: Still in office? What are you doing?

Husband: Its not even 6 yet.

W: So?

H: Did I tell you I will be leaving at 6?

W: Did you tell me you will be leaving later?

H: No.

W: Then whats wrong in me asking?

H: Its only 6. Thats why. *sighs*

W: *yells* Dude! You should be happy that you have someone in your life who loves you, misses you and is waiting for you at home with your kids! So stop this sighing business, ok? You so don't deserve me. Heres a person who actually cares about you and you don't even appreciate...

H: *hurriedly* I am sorry. I am sorry.

W: *smiles* Lets try this one more time. When are you coming home?

H: I will leave in another half an hour.

W: Good. See you then. Bye.

H: Bye.

Im sure he sighed again after he hung up.

Little Miss. Smarty-Pants.

Ashu strongly believes that one day Antu will catch up with her and they both can be twins and go to the same class, look alike, do the same things, etc... etc... And I totally understand where shes coming from because when I was a kid all I ever wanted to be was a twin. "Twins" was such a magical word. Ashu has a twin in her class this year and its a fascinating experience for her. Even though the other twin is in a different class, they all meet during recess and Ashu is always proudly declaring how she always know the difference but the boys always get confused. (they wear different dresses everyday, duh!)

I burst Ashus bubble and told her that Antu will always be younger than her. They can never be the same age. But she threw a googly at me and asked, "Amma! When I become big and you are dead, can Antu be my baby?" Sigh! I should learn to keep my mouth shut.

The other day she was being very difficult and I yelled at her. She got very upset and marched off to her room. I took some time to cool off too and then went to talk to her. But its like talking to a wall when shes upset. Nothing works. So I tell her, "Listen Ashu. You have a choice. Lets just hug each other, move on and make this day happy. Or you can keep on sulking and make this day sad. What are you going to do?" She looks at me and says, "I don't like both the choices." "OK. So what do you want to do?", I ask her. "I want to play some game with you", she says. Sigh. I wish my demands were so simple too.

Last week, she came home from school and told me, "Today we had to pick a non-fiction book from the library, Amma." And I was all, "What?" So she explains, "Non fiction books are not stories. You learn something. Like about animals or birds or people." Oh, OK. And how do you know if a book is fiction or non fiction, I asked. "I just look at the spine label, Amma, Its marked!" But of course!

Ashu also educated me on what is symmetry. "If we slice our body in two halves from top to bottom, everything on the right matches the left, Amma. So we are symmetrical" and also folded a paper in two halves, opened, sprayed some paint, closed and opened. and showed me the symmetry on both the sides. "Even this baby is symmetrical, Amma. Look at her eyebrows", she said pointing at Antu. Poor Antu. Reduced to a lab experiment by her older sis!

Today we had the parents teachers meeting at school and as always I was tearing up hearing the teachers sing her praises.( For the money we pay, they better! ) Ashus class has this class stuffed toy which is given to one child each day to take home and then write a report on what the child did with the toy at home. Its fun. The kids think that they get it only if they are very well behaved in class and make good choices. Ashu got it the first time in the third week of school and patiently waited until then. She asked me once when she will get it and I told her that she has to make good choices. And she replied, "But I always make good choices, Amma!" Since its coming from Ashu and not Antu, I believed it too!! And today her teacher told me, "If I could, I will send her home with that toy everyday. Shes such a good kid!" Now what more does a mom need, you tell me!

First Day First Show.

Let the records show that today while Ashu was really unwell and running a high temperature and taking a long nap in the evening, the father of the said sick girl sneaked out of the house to watch the first day first show of Enthiran and hes not even a Rajini fanboy!

You thought I would let this one go, Hd? *insert evil laughter* My sis and I have never ever let my dad forget the fact that he was watching a cricket match in a different city while our mom was in labor. This is Ashus trump card. Use it well, my dear.

ps.

Hd's records might show that we tossed a coin to decide who goes and who stays but lets focus on whats important, shall we? I was home. He was NOT. ;)

At the Breakfast Table - 3.

Hey Ashu! How would you like it if I become your class mom this year?

What does a class mom do?

You remember last year when A's mom was the class mom? She came with you on trips, came and helped out whenever the teacher asked? That way.

Oh cool! You can be a class mom! Yay!

But Im just thinking about it, Ashu. I don't know if I will be able to do it with Antu. So lets see. I just wanted to ask you if its ok with you.

Ok.

(a short pause)

Amma?

Yes.

You be a class mom if you WANT to. I don't NEED you to be a class mom, ok? Only if you WANT to.

Needless to say, I had fainted at this point and Hd had to come and sprinkle water in my face to wake me up. Need and Want, indeed! I don't think I knew the difference until I got married and WANTED a red volkswagen beetle very badly and Hd lectured me about wants and needs! :)

Chalk & Cheese.

Ro's recent post reminded me of this incident which happened a couple of weeks back. I was organizing the kids toys and while doing so, I found the Dora puzzle box which has been in storage for the past 18 months. I remembered that it was Ashus favorite puzzle to do when she was 2+ and decided that now is a good time as any to introduce the same to Antu. *you can call me an idiot right about now* Ashu was thrilled to see the box after ages and opened the box to see the seven different puzzles neatly arranged in different ziploc bags. Immediately, she started working on the puzzle while the resident 2 year old was happy playing with the box and excitedly talking to the picture of Dora and Boots on the box. In no time, Ashu finished all the puzzles all on her own and neatly arranged them on the floor. Like this. (She even spun a story with the finished pictures.)

Soon afterwards, the dad and daughter duo decided to go watch the Zurich Street Parade and marched off. Ashu asked me to guard the puzzles and not to clean them up since she wanted to make up more stories once she came back. I foolishly agreed and asked her to move them under the TV stand so that they are safe from "predators"! An hour later, Im busy making dinner in the kitchen while Antu is playing as usual in the hall. Or so I thought. I switch off the stove and come out to see THIS.

My heart stopped for a second. So now I got to pick 200+ puzzle pieces from the floor, sort it out, bag them and pack them off? And hope Ashu does nt remember? (yeah right!) Or do I actually sit and do the puzzles as fast as I could before Ashu comes home? (yeah right!) While I was clicking pictures, yelling at Antu and contemplating what to do, in walk in Ashu and her father. Oh ho! Ashu was mighty upset at the mess but the poor thing consoled herself quickly. And to Antus credit, she apologized to her sis even without me prompting her. (She would do anything to get out of a situation) And much to my relief, Hd offered to clean up. And thats what I call a happy ending. For me, that is. ;)

ps.

oh! Forgot the whole point of the post - Good luck, Ro! :D

Five years.

Who would have thought? I love you my dear blog. Happy Birthday!

That reminds me, when Ashu was a baby all I wanted to know was how will Ashu look like when she is 5. How will her voice be? What will her interests be? Who will her friends be? It was such a giddy feeling. Sigh! Good times. All I want to know now is when will the girls go to sleep! Ha ha ha! (Just kidding, Dad!)

Did I tell you Ashu is riding her bicycle without the training wheels? The big milestone happened last Sunday when Hd removed the training wheels and took Ashu down to teach her to ride. I gave him all sort of gyaan and told him that it will be great if Ashu can learn to ride by end of this year. Ha! 15 minutes later, he calls me and asks me to look out of the balcony. And whaddayaknow? Ashu is riding the bike on her own! This man does nt have to sweat for anything in his life, I tell you! Anyway, yay! I was so proud at the moment. Lets just say that I could totally relate to how Neil Armstrong's parents would have felt when he landed on the moon. (Or at the photo studio if thats what you believe! ;)

Super School.

In spite of all the reservations I have about Ashu's school, I like it because Ashu loves to go to school. But with the email the school sent today to everyone about the drop off and pick up guidelines, Im in love too.

Please remain in the car when you pick up your children as this makes the traffic flow function smoothly. Teachers on duty are happy to assist your child. If the school traffic line is full please immediately use the other line. If you have a sleeping child in the back and need to return to the main line when you reach the top of the road, the parking attendant will help to guide you back into that traffic line. Thank you for helping us out.

In my opinion, anyone who is thoughtful enough to think about my younger kid who is mostly sleeping while I go to pick up the older one should be the best in what they do. So what if Ashu will never know her ABCs? I don't have to park the car a mile away and walk with a sleeping child and that is what matters! :)

Kindergarten Girl.

It was Ashu's first day of Kindergarten yesterday and it was all so overwhelming. For me, that is! When we went for the orientation the day before, Ashu refused to stay in the class and started crying when we left her and went to attend the orientation. And I was surprised at her behaviour. I mean she has just began her 4th year in this school and she's crying? But then, its a new campus. Big school. New teachers. So settled her down calmly and ran away. When we went back after an hour, madam was happily playing with her best friend. Phew. This campus is not that near to our place which means we have to leave the house at 8 am. So yesterday, we managed to get up early and pack snack, lunch for her, eat breakfast and leave on time. Ashu got down and skipped to her classroom with the help of a teacher. I parked the car and walked to her class to leave the rain boots, jackets, indoor shoes, etc... I said bye to her and she waved and went inside. She had loads of things to tell in the afternoon when I went to pick her up. Today I did the run with Antu since Hd is out of town. And in spite of an emergency diaper change situation for Antu in the car and a bit of traffic due to road work, we were able to reach school on time and I dropped her off at the entrance and drove off. Sigh! My little girl is growing up. So am I. (I got up at 6.00 am two days in a row, alright?)

Antu is missing her Akka terribly. Yesterday when I came back home after dropping Ashu, she stood at the door and asked in a horrified tone, "Akka enga?" (Wheres Akka?) After two months of being inseparable, she does nt know what to do now. But that was only yesterday. Today madam has realized that she can play with all the stuff thats forbidden to her when Ashu is around! I told Hd about my sister and me when we were young. How this one year my sis used to leave for her school before me and come back after me. So I used to raid her cupboard and take her pens, pencils, rulers, erasers,... take them to school and then come back and put them where there were. (sorry, sis!) After all those years, Im still putting back things. Only now I work for someone else!

Heres to all the kids who are starting their first day of school or going back to school. Loads of love, learning and laughter. And good luck to the younger one raiding their cupboards! :)

A Twist in the Tale.

During story time, usually before bedtime, Ashu and I have quite an interesting thing going. So I give her some choice and she chooses the story she wants. Like "I want two animals in the story, Amma. You choose any animal. And I want a happy story. Not a scary one". So I spin a story on the characters given to me often involving her to move the story forward. Whenever Im stuck, all I have to do is ask her, "What do you think happened, Ashu?" and voila! you can move on with the story! :) Poor thing does nt know that the tale just formed in my head and is so thrilled that she "guessed" correctly! muahaha!

One day, I was completely blank. Story tellers block, I guess. So I decided to tell her some well known tales. "The Midas Touch" came to mind and I told her that story. Once Midas got the "golden touch", I described to her how whatever he touched turned into gold and told her that that might be a problem for certain things and asked her to guess what the problems might be. While I was imagining myself with uneatable golden Idlis and a golden river of Sambar and worrying, pat came the reply from her. "Midas can never draw a rainbow, Amma. Whatever color he touches will turn into gold. So he can only paint a golden rainbow. Never a colorful rainbow"! Now, is that cute or is that cute?

Another day, another story. This time the story of The Cap Seller. ("I want a story with an animal and a person, Amma. You can choose if its a boy or a girl. And I want a silly story!" *giggles*) So I tell her how the monkeys were wearing the caps and the cap seller was trying to get the caps back and how the monkeys were copying whatever the man did. Interaction time, I thought and asked Ashu to guess what the man did next to get the caps back. Pat came the reply, "Did he climb the tree and then swing upside down? Then the monkeys would do the same and all their caps would fall down from their heads." Well, theres an idea! Thats exactly how the story would have ended if the cap seller was nt wearing his hat now, would nt it?

Talking about copying monkeys, I call Antu Copy Cat all the time because she has to do everything her big sister does. Once Ashu asked me why I call Antu a copy cat and I told her the reason. "But why a copy CAT, amma? Do cats copy?" errr... Then thankfully the story of the cat and the tiger came to me. Its a popular phrase in Tamil, "puliya paathu soodu pottunda poonai" meaning "the cat who burnt himself wanting to be a tiger". So I told her the story about how a cat wanted to be like a tiger and decided to get some stripes. So he used the firewood to mark his body and ended up getting burnt. "But why did nt he just use some paints, Amma?", came the question. "Oh thats the moral of the story, Ashu. Use paint!", I replied and escaped! Phew. Kids today! I so get my grandma now!

Home Sweet Home.

Yeah right! Who am I kidding? All the unpacking and organizing! I really am an idiot. Every time I go to the US, I tell myself not to go crazy while shopping. But I cant help myself but scream "but thats so cheap, thats so cheap" and buy everything under the sun. And do I have enough storage to keep all of that in my house here? The answer would be a big NO. The edible marker pens I bought at Michaels to decorate my future cupcakes - do I really need that? The fancy ribbons which were on sale? *bangs head* The dozen summer outfits for the kids which they cant wear more than a month here? *bangs head again* The nth pair of shoes, the bhel puri mix and the Tetley elaichi tea bags at the Indian store? *bang bang bang* Anyway, long story short - junk junk junk. (sorry sis!) As if all this is nt enough, I find instant Tomato rasam and Pepper rasam bottles in the suitcase. Courtesy - the master packer, my Mom. Next time they ask me at the airport if I packed the bags and if someone gave me something to keep, Im going to confess, "My mom packed. And she must have sneaked in Oorugaais for her Son-in-law or badham halwa for her grand kids. I honestly don't know!"

That apart, the jet lag is killing us and the kids are missing the US and the US folks like crazy. They don't say it as many words but it pains me to watch Antu see her doll after a month and getting all excited to show it to everyone. Only everyone is not here. Only plain old me! :( And Ashu asking after the caterpillars on the phone to my sis. The teeny weeny caterpillars Utbt gave Ashu. They grew fat and big (just like the book described they would!) and were in their cocoons when we left. We miss seeing the butterflies by a few days. Ashu is hoping that it will skype-casted live from there though! ;)

Hd has worked hard around the house last month and it shows. New upholstery for the arm chair, new cooking pots, new storage unit for his office desk, ... Ashu even commented, "Amma! Appa has changed the toilet paper also. Its blue in color!" He also managed to dispose Antus crib(sob! sob!) and moved Ashus toddler cot in her room. So Ashu and Antu would be sleeping in the same room from now on. Ashu was totally cool with the idea and Antu marked her territory by plonking Jamadu on the bed and climbing in even before I could prepare my big girl speech. Sigh! Whats her hurry? Hd also had a fully stocked fridge with idli batter, sambar, chutney and eggplant curry all of which he had made during the weekend and store bought chapathis. I felt only guilt(and very hungry!) since all I left for him when I went was the dirty laundry!! *gulp*

And oh! If you thought I forgot about the travel part, I did nt. It was so uneventful that I was surprised myself. The kids and I slept for 5 hours during the SFO-LON flight. So that was cool. And slept the entire LON-ZRH stretch too. I think BA read my blog or something because I got the stroller both in LON and ZRH as soon as I left the aircraft so that was a life saver. And I wizened up about the LON airport security and packed only idlis for the kids. Take that, you saddos! And I was so disappointed that they did nt ask me to taste the food because I was starving after standing in the line for such a long time! ;)

The vacation is still going strong.

We are so busy having so much fun here that I dont have a minute to sit and think about anything. And I realize there are only 5 more days before we leave back for Zurich. Sigh! Last weekend was fantastic. It was the first time I went camping. Ashu has been wanting to go camping for the past 2 years and she was excited about the whole idea of sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere. We carried a truck load of stuff for an one night koothu. Utbt and Co also joined us with another truck load of stuff and we cooked, we ate, we played, we chatted, we slept looking at the stars. It was awesome. The campsite was quite rough and thorny. While Ashu would gingerly put one foot out of the tent, wear her shoe and then the other one, Antu would just run around barefoot taking a break to pluck out thorns from her feet. Chalk and cheese, I tell ya!

As if all the shopping and eating out and the camping was nt fun enough, we decided to sneak in a girls only trip to Las Vegas. Sis, a friend and I left for Vegas on Saturday morning. A very dear friend (who just happens to be my sisters SIL) from the Mid West joined us there and we four had a blast à la Sex and the City. Only replace sex with food and gambling! :D It was so liberating to do a trip sans kids. No diaper bags and strollers. No kids menu and high chairs. No tantrums and whining. Ah! Bliss! Giggling like crazy for every thing under the sun. Checking out dudes and dudettes in the poolside. Margaritas and Wine. (water in my case.) Coming back to the hotel room way past midnight and getting up in time for lunch! It was a dream come true. We also watched the show Kà by Cirque du Soleil at MGM Grand and it was brilliant. I loved the sets, the moving platforms and the special effects. Especially the one scene where one of the twins is drowning in the ocean. It was just amazing. Worth the money for just that one scene.

Got back on Monday morning and it seemed Ashu had grown taller in 2 days! Antu blessed me with a smile and then yelled, "Perimmaaa" and ran to my sister and hugged her. The little imp! At least I have one child who missed me. Hmph! While my mom is thrilled that her little girls had a blast, my dad is all "ellam all kali kaalam!" I agree that the statement "leaving your kids/husband and going for a weekend away to drink/gamble" would nt sound like a good idea to most of the previous generation especially when translated in Tamil (kuzhandhaigala vittuttu kudi, koothu, soodhaatam!) but they better get used to it! Hd went "You went for a break and now you are taking a break from the break?" Well, what can I say? I swear by the quote - "Live life to the fullest... think of all the people on the Titanic who passed up chocolate dessert." :)

Appappa!

Hd called this morning and Ashu yelled, "I want to talk to Appa, I want to talk to Appa" and snatched the phone from me.

Ashu: Hello!
Hd: Hello Baby!
Ashu: Hi Appa! We can't talk to you right now because we are all going camping. Chula and Mieja are also coming. We are packing now and we are busy. Bye!

I could hear Hd's heart breaking into hundred pieces all the way here. Sorry, dear. She does miss you. In her own way! ;)

30 Days of Summer.

Since I'm a sucker for punishment and also to retain my "Ulagam sutrum Boo" title, I decided to travel to the US with the kids. The husband wisely talked himself out of the trip sighting work and stayed back in Zurich. Ever since my parents reached my sister's place in May, my sis has been nagging to me to come to her place for the summer. But I said no way. 1. I did nt want to travel ALONE with the kids. 2. I did nt want to travel alone WITH the kids. 3. I did nt want to travel alone with the KIDS. OK. OK. You get my point. But I think my sis talked to Ashu behind my back and coached her or something because Ashu insisted that she wanted to go see everyone and "its not fair Amma, if we don't go". So I gave in. Told myself that since Antu turns two and will get a seat of her own, things might be a bit easier. And whaddayaknow? Things actually were easier. Easier to go the bathroom whenever I wanted to. Easier to eat the food when it was served. Easier to walk with both the kids when I did nt get the stroller in London as promised. Of course things were tougher when the security in London threw away all the baby food because I refused to taste 50% of every yogurt cup/fruit puree.

Ashu: Amma! I want my bag back.
Me: You have to wait, Ashu. They are checking it.
Ashu: But why?
Me: To see if theres anything dangerous in it.
Ashu: But theres nothing dangerous in it, Amma.
Me: I know that. But they don't trust you.
Ashu: *shakes head*

Anyway, we all landed safely without blowing the plane up. No bombs in Antus diaper or knives in Ashus coloring book. Phew. You never know what the kids were up to when you were nt looking, right? ;)

It has been a week but feels like a month. We went to Yosemite for the long weekend and had a blast. Saw a bear just five feet from us crossing the road. And I was standing with Ashu in my hip on the road. She was so thrilled. "Why is there no fence? No cage?", she wanted to know. After that incident, she started saving Honey sachets in her pant pockets so that she can give them to the bears when she sees them again! Antu is still in a daze about the change of place and so many people who cater to her every whim. Thatha and Perippa have replaced Appa and she does nt even give the time of the day to us women folks.

We also watched The Amazing Bubble Lady in the library, went to the beach, watched fireworks on 4th of July (Antu's first and she was gobsmacked) and have loads of plans for the rest of the trip. 3 more weeks to go and I don't know how Im going to deal with the good byes. The NOs and tears and tantrums and all the emotional drama. My parents, Sis are Bil are too much to take when they are a slobbering mess all at the same time. :)

Five year old girls and their weird questions.

Ashu: Amma, what is "pussy"?
Me: EXCUSE ME?
Ashu: Why is a cat called pussycat, Amma? What is "pussy"?
Me: phew!
Ashu: What? Tell me.
Me: Its just pussycat, OK?
Ashu: So what is pussy?
Me: I don't know.
Ashu: look in the laptop and tell me then.
Me: sigh ok. *googles* Ah ok. A pussycat is a female cat, Ashu. A girl. Puss is a girl in Dutch, it seems. And do you know what a male cat is?
Ashu: I don't know.
Me: I can tell that without looking in the laptop. Its called a Tomcat.
Ashu: *giggles* like in Tom and Jerry?
Me: Yup.
Ashu: And if Jerry was a girl cat, then we can call it Tom and Pussy! *giggles*
Me: sigh!

27.06.2010

Dear Antu,

Happy Birthday, Darling! You are way too cool for my mushy birthday letters. So I ll tell you how you spent your day today. We were at our friends place last night and got back late. You charmed the pants off everyone there. Today I packed a picnic and went to Park im Grüene. Three families joined us there and all you kids had fun in the water area, the train rides, the play area, etc... You did nt want to leave the water area and cried a bit when I carried you and walked away. You loved it when all of us sang the Happy Birthday Song (in English and Deutsch). I had made an Almond flavored cake with cream cheese frosting. Ashu suggested a Mickey Mouse theme since you love him. Ashu and I played around with marzipan and did an outline of the mickey mouse face and put it on top of the cake. Not my best work, but you recognized it to be Mickey and thats all I wanted! :)

This year flew away so fast. Today I told your Appa, "I cant believe last year this time I was in the hospital" and he gave me a look and told, "You mean the year before?" Yikes! You are TWO?! You are already wearing your sisters Age 3 clothes. You don't care if your dad or I leave you and go somewhere. You are not bothered when we three hug each other. You just keep doing your own thing most of the time. You are raring to go to school. You adore your sister and would rather listen to her than me. You both go and shut yourselves in a room and 15 or 20 minutes later come out dressed as princesses. You patiently let your sister dress you up when you would nt even cooperate with me to put a diaper on you. While your sister still dresses up in the clothes I select for her, you already have a mind of your own. "Kai want, kai want,..." is your favorite phrase. (I want, I want,...) Kai want, kai want butterfly dress amma. Kai want, kai want bikki amma. Kai want, kai want Dora Amma,... are some oft repeated requests!

I love you to bits, my adorable Antu. Hope this year has been as fantastic for you as it has been for us. And here's to many, many more fantastic ones.

Love,
Amma

Today is Ashu's last day of school. From August, shes going to be a Kindergartner. In another campus aka Big School. I'm very emotional about it and nagging Ashu so much that she is this close to saying, "Cut it out, Ma! Its Pre K I'm passing out of. Not PhD!" Well, what does she know?

She had a play date with her school friend yesterday at our place and the girls had a blast. A fitting end to this school year. And as soon as her friend left, Ashu asked if she can have a play date the next day as well. I told her no and informed her that we will be doing something special after school to celebrate the last day of Pre K. This made her very excited. "I want to buy something, Amma", she told me. We were in a store that time and I told her, "OK. Whatever you want!" So she picked up a big bag of sweets (the chewy ones, like fruitella?) and asked, "Can I buy this?" I remembered that she has been asking for this big bag of sweets for over a year now in the same shop. (This shop is right next to our building and we go there almost every day) And I have been always saying no because well, I can! Just kidding. Because it was a BIG bag and I did nt even know if she would like that sweet. But yesterday I said OK. There was this disbelief in Ashus face. "Really?", she asked. "Of course", I said and put it in our basket. Ashu followed me and asked, "Amma. Is it OK how much ever money it is? Can we still buy it?" I was shocked. I was always thinking that I have never said no to ashu because something was expensive. Only because we did nt need it. Apparently, I seem to have. More than one time that too! I told her that this was a special occasion and it was a treat. I felt quite bad and at the same time proud of her. All this for a bag of sweets which was on half price sale that day! Lucky me, huh? :)

I'm proud of you Sweetheart. Wishing you a wonderful time in Kindergarten too.

Our Trip to Norway.

Hd and I have always been wanting to visit the Scandinavian countries. But since the weather is quite harsh there, summer is the only time to visit and it was just not happening for us. We decided to fulfil our wish on our 10th wedding anniversary. We left Zurich on the afternoon of June 2nd and landed in Oslo around dinner time. Took a train to the City centre and walked to our hotel. The room was so small and I could nt believe how expensive the city was! Ashu was ecstatic that there was a bunk bed in the room. It was weird to see the sun shining until 11 pm and even around midnight, it was nt completely dark. The next day, we took a hop on hop off bus trip to see the city. We first stopped at the Vigeland Sculpture park. Its a huge place with around 200 statues. From there, we went to the Viking Ship Museum. It was fascinating. Its jaw dropping to read about the history of Vikings and their seafaring passion. Then we got back to the city, walked around the harbor, hiked to a small park, had dinner at an Indian restaurant($8 for a garlic naan!) and called it a night.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and took a train to Bergen. The train route is one of the most beautiful in the world. It was like watching Lord of the Rings out of the train window! The family compartment had a small children's play area complete with a TV showing cartoons and the kids had a blast and 6 hours went in a jiffy. We got down in Voss which is an hour before Bergen. Its a small town almost a village. Our B&B was a good 20 minute walk from the station adjacent to the lake. The location was awesome. There were bunk beds here too much to Ashus excitement! We left our baggage in the room and went for a walk around the picturesque town. Ashu was playing outside until almost 10.30 pm under the bright sun! And refused to go to bed because "Its not yet night, Amma!" The next day was June 5th, our 10th anniversary. Hd surprised me with a pair of designer sun glasses while I gave him a hand made card bought from a souvenir shop there! We took a train to Myrdal and from there the famous Flamsbana train to Flam. Its one of the steepest rail routes in the world. The train stops at the Kjosvossen waterfalls and it was a beautiful sight. And then stops at Flam from where we took a boat for a Fjord cruise in the Naeroyfjord. The 3 hours cruise was just an out of the world experience. Everything was so dramatic with dozens of waterfalls on the way, the sea gulls following us for some bread crumbs, the beautiful fjords, picturesque houses in the middle of nowhere, ... It was fabulous. We got down in Gudvangen and took a bus back to Voss.

On 6th, we checked out of the B&B and checked into another hotel near the station. It was a beautiful place with antique charm and the hotel has been there since 1888. The rooms were fantastic and not only were there bunk beds for the kids, but it was in a small room attached to our room. Excellent! :) We left our bags and took a train to Bergen. Bergen is a charming city and attracts lots of cruise passengers. We were very lucky with the weather because according to reports, it rains 275 days in a year in Bergen! We walked through the fish market to the Bryggen area which is the old town. And the colorful wooden houses by the wharf are on the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Its such a picture postcard perfect place. We took a funicular to the top of a mountain and took in the aerial view of the city. We came down and took the touristy road train for a small tour of the city. It was fun. After a leisurely walk around Bryggen, we took a train back to Voss. The next day we did another Fjord cruise. The second largest in Norway, the Hardanger Fjord. We took a bus to Ulvik and from there a boat to Eidfjord. We took a sightseeing bus tour in Eidfjord to go and see Vøringsfossen, Norways biggest waterfalls and Hardangervidda Nature Centre. The latter had a 20 min panoramic movie of Norway and it was mind-blowingly good. The waterfalls was also a fantastic experience. We got back to Ulvik by boat and took a bus back to Voss.

On 8th, our last day, we left Voss and reached Bergen airport. We took a plane to Oslo instead of the 6 hour train trip. And from Oslo, we flew back to Zurich and reached late in the night. The girls were quite happy to be home and Ashu was visibly homesick on the last day. But both Ashu and Antu were very cooperative throughout the trip even though we did nt do much kid centric stuff. We wanted everything to be about us both in this trip and succeeded quite well. Norway is so expensive that its not funny. An ice cream cone from a street corner shop costs around 7 to 8 dollars! I would never say Zurich is expensive any more. But what was surprising was everyone spoke English there. Right from school kids to old folks. Every shop keeper and every one on the street. It was such a pleasant change from Zurich. Its also such a clean country. (and that's saying something since we live in Zurich!) People are very friendly. The bus driver actually stops the bus and helps you carry down the stroller. The Swiss will have a heart attack at all the time wasted and the buses running a couple of minutes late!

So that's it. Norway - ✔

I could also tell you about how Antu fell down from the lower bunk with a thud or how my hair caught fire from the candle flame in a restaurant or how Antu got her first ever time out at the Bergen airport or how Ashu purely survived on hot chocolate and ice cream the entire trip, etc, etc,... May be later. :)

A Decade.

Dear R,

Can you believe that we are here? Feels like yesterday when I was asked to wait in a room upstairs while my parents, uncle and aunt received you and your parents on the day we were about to see each other for the first time. I saw you first. Have I told you that before? I sneaked near the banister and took a peek. How you took off your Walker sandals(seriously?), how you had rolled up your jeans(again, seriously?) and how your blue checked tee shirt was so casual while I was wearing my prettiest salwar kameez with gold jimkis in my ears. But when I saw your face, my heart skipped a beat. And after 10 years, it still does. And that's all I ever wanted. Happy Anniversary, dear!

Love,
S.

ps.
What started as a coincidence became a tradition. On our first anniversary, Hd and I were in Bracknell, UK. The second in Paris. After that Croydon, Vienna, Basel, Bangalore, Las Vegas and Zurich. For the 9th, on a whim, we drove to Colmar, France. We decided to go all out on our 10th and while you are reading this, we are somewhere in the Northern Europe. More once we are back. :)