Where is the party?

It has become a norm to celebrate Ashus birthday thrice. Once at home with close friends and family during a weekend. The second one, on the day of her birthday - a simple affair in her class. The third, a joint party along with her best friend (both their birthdays are a couple of weeks apart) in some play park or gym for the whole school friends. The first one happened last Sunday on 25th. Inspired by a friend(Hi Mons!), I decided to bake a rainbow cake. So went with a colorful theme for the party. The invite had a rainbow. Let me just post the pictures with captions. That way, I don't have to type much. :)

First, Ashu and I decided to make some rainbow decorations. I found this beautiful idea for a craft. Once I drew the arcs, Ashu could cut on her own. So it was a team effort.

This is her counting the rainbows after we were done. (we did 10 more the next day)


And this is how it looked hanging from the door frame.

I could nt find a colorful table cover matching the tableware. So bought a cream color table cover(disposable) and let Ashu design it.

Shes at work.

The finished product.

The Tableware.

The Drinks.

The Goody Bags. (color pencils, smarties and gummy bears)

The Birthday Girl.

The fruit platter which Ashu arranged.

The Food. (mac & cheese, pasta salad and paneer stuffing for the sandwiches)

The Flowers.

The Balloons.

Hd reading the book "One" by Kathryn Otoshi to the kids. Its my most favorite book in Ashus book shelf and its about colors! (thanks, sis!)

And finally, the cake. (takes a bow)

* Ashu really worked hard for her birthday party and I'm proud of her. She also helped me decorate the cake with smarties and sprinkles! Helpfully suggested that the rainbow in her Dora blocks will be perfect to put on top of the cake. And also helped her dad blow the balloons.

* On the morning of the party, the pink piping on the white frosting ran and the cake looked hideous. I was horrified. Somehow salvaged it and it turned out pinkish! Ashu was such a sport, consoled me and told me that she loves pink and the cake looks beautiful! :)

* I had bought a tricolor ice cream for the kids but almost all the kids had a cold. So skipped it.

* The cake was yummy. I was using the food colors for the first time and was sure the cake would taste "chemical"! But it did not.

* Antu wore Ashus first birthday frock for this party! (now don't start a dharna, Sue! I'm a second child too, remember? ;)

* I was *this* close to adding food color to the tea I was making for the adults. Stopped myself just in time.

* It was a pain to buy all the assorted party stuff. I wish there were shops like dollar store and party city here. But then,... this was more fun! :)

* After the party, Ashu came to me and told, "Thank you for the nice party, Amma. Can you make me a rainbow cake again?" Need I say anything more? :)

Out of the mouths of babes.

Today morning, I heard Ashu sing.

"Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily merrily
life is ABOUT a dream!"

Whoa! I immediately thought of Tharini and how she would ve written a profound post on this and how I can only go "whoa"! :)

27.04.2010

Here we are, Ashu. The magic number five. Its hitting me today more than the previous birthdays. You were after all only 1, 2, 3 and then 4. But now? You are FIVE. How much ever I want to avoid this "oh I cant believe you are so big. It feels like yesterday when the nurse brought you to me and I faked tears!", I am just not able to. Now that that's safely out of the way, what a year this has been! I don't know if I'm repeating this in all my birthday letters to you but this year has been the absolute best. Your little sister helped you in her own way to make it a great year and don't you ever forget that! She has been your playmate, punching bag, best friend, arch rival, soul sister,... all combined in one. But you ve been nothing but a role model for her. According to your little sister, you can do no wrong. And from my personal experience, its not going to change. Ever. Its a heavy cross to bear. So good luck with that!

You ve been going full days to school this whole year and loving everything about it. G is still your best friend and your teacher promised me that you both will be in the same class next year too because she does nt have the heart to break you two up. How sweet that you can make such strong bonds in such a young age! And when your teacher told me how you took M, the new girl in your class, under your wing and mothered her and made her feel welcome, I was so proud of you. Keep it up, dear. I do hope you don't clam up when I'm around though. I have nt heard you speak one word to your teachers or your classmates when I'm present. It breaks my heart not to see you bubbly and chatty but your teacher reassures me that you are very vocal otherwise. If I ask you, your reply is "But I'm shy, Amma!" Sigh!

We travelled so much this year and you ve been such a sport. You love staying at hotels and going by bus, tram and trains. You spent a considerable amount of time with your grand parents, uncle and aunt this year and I'm happy that we are able to pull this off year after year. You are so lucky to have such wonderful people in your life and that you see them a lot. I remember how you brave you were and did nt cry when we left India this time. And you understood when Paati left back to India after staying with us for almost 3 months. It amazes me to see how mature you are and how clearly you understand the rules of life. At the same time, you are absolutely certain that you want to visit your aunt and uncle this summer and even went on to tell your aunt over the phone, "You come here and take Antu and me with you to the US, Perimma. Let Amma and Appa stay back in Zurich"! Hmph!

The tantrums miraculously stopped when you hit 4 1/2. They do surface on and off but I can take that. And like you told me the other day, "I am not a robot, Amma" when I asked you to give me a big smile when you were upset about something! The cheek! By the way, you are the least materialistic person in this household. If its giving your car seat to your sister or the stroller or your clothes or your shoes, I have nt ever seen you even flinch. That's some trait I am still trying to acquire so hats off to you. Also, one can take you to a toy shop without a worry because you never seem to want anything that badly. You might point to something and ask me if we can buy it but you are very understanding if I say no. You have always been like this but I never thought its a big deal until I took your sister shopping the other day. Could you train her or something for me, pretty please?

You are so interested in reading and writing and the artsy-crafty stuff now that its not funny. I pack your writing pad, paper and pencils first before packing a snack for you when we go out these days. I have learnt to do so much this year that I'm quite surprised that I even have a creative side in me. You are everything I dreamed about, my dear girl. You are the perfect little five year old I imagined you will be. You know what I do to make myself feel better as a mom when I'm really, really feeling low? I compare myself to some really irresponsible adults. (I know that I tell you all the time not to compare but then have I ever lectured you on hypocrisy? Never.) But even in my lowest of lows, I never had to compare you to another child. And I promise I never will. Just shove this letter in front of my face if I ever did, OK? Love you with all my heart, my dearest Princess. Wishing you a very Happy Birthday!

Love,
Amma.

Remembering the Baby Shower.

I read this post of mine today and laughed my way through the comments. One of the high points of my second pregnancy! Happy 2nd Anniversary, Doulas and fellow MTBs. You all are being remembered very fondly today.

Have a nice day! Spread the joy like you always seem to do. :)

ps.

Read this post and then this post if you are new here and want the full story. Or just read this post for a summary. I'm nothing if not a shameless self-plugger! ;)

Anti-jinx.

It has been more than a year since Antu was sleep trained. So she goes to sleep on her own in her crib and wakes up again only in the morning.(To Hd - This is not boasting. Just blogging. I know. I know. Its all the same.) There has not been one night in this period where she has woken up in the middle of the night. And all was well with the world. And then one night recently, she started crying uncontrollably around 2 am. Hd went to her room to pat her but she just would nt stop crying. So he brought her to our bed but she would nt quieten down even then. Then I put her on my chest and she stopped crying. She went to sleep in a few minutes. Hd transferred her to the crib again. And then she got up at 8 am the next day. We were really wondering what disturbed her sleep. She had a bit of a cough and Hd was blaming it on the cold. But I had a different theory.

Me - I think it was a jinx.
Hd - What do you mean?
Me - The other day this friend went aahh oohh over our kids sleeping habits.
Hd - *in an accusatory tone* who asked you to go and boast?
Me - First of all, I did nt boast. She asked if they sleep on their own and through the night and I said a simple yes.
Hd - You could ve underplayed it.
Me- Look. I cant lie about the kids like you do. And most importantly, I dont believe in this evil eye business.
Hd - You dont? *smirks*
Me - I dont, ok? I was just thinking aloud about the coincidence, thats all.
Hd - But you did think about it that way, right?
Me - Dude! You are my husband! I will tell you whatever goes through my mind and you cant judge me!
Hd - Thats what you will say. And then you will go blog about it and tell the whole world!
Me - No, I wont!

Oops.

Amsterdam & Keukenhof.

As if the Como trip was nt hectic enough, we went to Amsterdam last weekend. This trip was planned even before the Como trip actually. I ve been wanting to see the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens for the past 3 years and since the garden is open only 2 months in a year, it just was nt happening for us. At last, we managed this year and what a sight it was! It was terribly cold for this time of the year but we managed to see a little bit of the city and Keukenhof in the two and half a days we were there.

Day1:

We landed in Schiphol around lunch time. Took the airport to hotel shuttle and reached our hotel. Antu protested against being a lap child on the plane and promptly sat in Hds seat and even wore the seat belt herself (and I wonder why the poor air hostesses show people how to wear the belt! I mean for who's benefit?) and refused to budge. Hd was standing until the seat belt sign came on and then I bribed Antu with a biscuit, distracted her and sang to her and she went to sleep. Phew! She got up only when we reached our hotel room! Now that's what I call effective teleportation!! We ate the sandwiches we bought from the airport, got ready and went to the city. We roamed around the Central area and took a tram to Vondelpark. Walked a while in the park. But it got terribly cold, so we bought some falafel to go and rushed back to our hotel.

Day2:

We took the shuttle to the airport and from there took a bus to Keukenhof. It was a bit cold and the tulip fields were nt as colorful as I thought they would be. But the garden itself is worth the trip. It is AMAZING! It is the worlds largest flower garden and seven million bulbs are planted every year in this 80 acre garden, so let your imagination wild! There are tulips, narcissus and hyacinth everywhere you look. In pots and planters. Different shapes and sizes. All clearly labeled. The effort it takes to keep this garden baffles me! There is also a cute kids play area with farm animals. A picturesque windmill. An indoor flower show. A flower shop. Restaurants. Museum. A free guided tour. And even though thousands and thousands of people visit in these 2 months, the place is so huge that its no big deal. We were there the whole day. Antu napped, lunched, snacked and went "aiii fowers!" every few minutes and then gave up after a while! Ashu was enthralled by the whole place.

Day3:

My sore throat worsened and I was feverish. But nothing could stop me from venturing out. We reached the city after our breakfast and went straight to the Van Gogh museum. It has been my dream to go visit this museum since it did nt happen when we went to Amsterdam nine years back. At last, it was fulfilled. We have a small Sunflowers print in our house so Ashu knows a little about the painter from me. She was looking forward to see the original painting. Antu was in the stroller looking around for a while and then slept off. I bought myself an audio guide and saw that they had a children's audio guide too. Ashu was thrilled to have her own guide and where ever there was a butterfly symbol near a painting, she would punch that number in her guide and listen to the tape about that painting. What more fun for a kid, huh? We both were in our own worlds for a good part of the museum trip. She just understood bits and pieces of words here and there and coined her own story. (The Potato Eaters - "They are eating potato amma. And they are not happy. They are sad." Sunflowers - "Thats Van Goghs favorite flower, amma. I like sunflowers too. But I like Tulips more after we saw them yesterday. We have this painting at home." Almond Blossom - "He painted it for a baby, Amma. I think its for a boy because its blue. He painted the tree first and then the sky. I love this one, Amma. Can we buy this?" Poppies and butterflies - "This is my favorite amma. It has butterflies.") I don't know what was more exciting. Seeing the largest collection of Van Goghs paintings or seeing them with Ashu!

After a hurried lunch, we rushed to the airport to catch our plane back to Zurich. Reached home around dinner time. I cant help but wonder how a plane ride, however short it may be, just exhausts everyone out. Anyway, the spring break(what spring?! bah!) has been really good. We braved bad weather, illness and what not to see the places we planned to see. So yay us!!

Gym Diary - 2.

This is to officially record that I have successfully completed the C25K programme. I desperately wanted to complete it by March but the Easter Weekend coincided and ruined my plans. So I completed the last day this week. I think Day 1 was mid Jan. It has taken me 11 1/2 weeks to complete the 9 weeks programme. Which is not so bad considering I have never seen through any of my personal goals before. I have quit bharatha natyam class, hindi class, carnatic music class, computer courses, maths tuition, physics tuition, chemistry tuition, yoga class, swimming class, previous gym memberships, .... Heck, even Ashu and Antu were delivered 3 days and 6 days earlier than the due date!! ;)

Anyway, heres the Oscar speech. Even though I knew whats C25K from Broom, I never thought I had it me to do it so I was nt even tempted. Then one day in Jan, a blog friend (*waves*) wrote and asked if we can do it together and I thought I ll give it a try. She did nt continue (frankly she does nt need it! ;) but surprise, surprise I did! Im not a person who does lots of research before doing anything. I just jump on it and learn on the way. (and quit without a care if I'm bored or lazy!) This time, the encouragement from all my friends and Antu adjusting well in the day care really, really motivated me. So thank you pals! You know who you are. And thanks to all of you who took time to comment in my previous gym diary post and recommended songs! (You thought I ll forget to thank you? :)

Though Im able to run for 30-35 minutes now, Im still not able to run fast enough to complete 5 kms in 30 minutes. I am able to do only 4. So my plan is to continue the programme, slowly increasing my speed and try to do 5 kms. Lets see how many more weeks it takes for me to reach that target. Now that spring is here, Im looking forward to run in the outdoors. Hope the neighborhood does nt protest! ;)

Lake Como.

This was one of our lousiest vacations ever! It rained when we reached Bellagio, it rained for the next 2 days and it was bright and sunny on the day we left. If I could go back in time, I would ve broken a sadhir thengai at the nearby Pillayaar temple before we left. (Yes, Amma. I should nt have left at raahu kaalam, I know!)

Let me start at the beginning. Como is around 3 1/2 drive from Zurich. We reached in EIGHT hours. First, we missed a road because there was some road work going on and it was confusing. Had to go 15 kms to just take an U turn. Then just before the Gothard Tunnel(the 17 km, 3rd longest tunnel in the world), the traffic built up and we like smart cookies took an exit to go via another town. But due to snow, every pass was closed. Add another 2 hours for this. We had lunch at a cosy joint and joined the Gothard traffic again. Miraculously, there was no jam and we just zoomed past. I was driving by this time and once we entered Italy and people started changing lanes without indicators, I said no way and asked Hd to drive. If we are going to die, let it be in his hands. Then we drove in those winding narrow roads, reached Cadennabia and took the car ferry (12 euros! akramam!) to reach Bellagio. We drove in the cobble stoned narrow roads and reached our apartment hotel. Hd dropped us and found a parking spot nearby to park the car. We saw the car again only when we left Bellagio on the 4th day.

Bellagio is the prettiest place ever. It is situated at the tip separating the Y shaped Lake Como. Looks like we are entering the middle ages when we enter Bellagio. Steps and slopes everywhere. Not exactly stroller friendly. But one can manage. There was a Gelateria right opposite our hotel where I had the most amazing french vanilla and pistachio Gelato for dinner! The next day, it was cloudy and gloomy and so cold! Good we all had taken our jackets and woollens. Actually, the kids had them. Hd and I were shivering in our spring jackets. We left for Villa Menzi. A leisurely walk in the gardens. It was nice. We got back to the center again, had a late lunch in a lovely restaurant, ran back to the hotel in the rain. Passed the day by eating more gelato, watching Chicken Little movie in Italian.

On Sunday it rained non stop. But we said enough is enough, covered antus stroller with the rain cover, ashu was all hooded up, Hd too. I held an umbrella and we walked to the ferry point, bought tickets for Lenno to visit Villa Balbianello. We got down in Lenno and was told that it was a 5 mins walk to the villa. Happily, we walked in the rain in the direction of the villa only to be told that its only the entry point and we ve to walk 20 mins uphill from there to reach the entrance. There was a water taxi stand but there was nobody there and we were nt sure what to do. So we walked uphill. Antu slept off in her stroller and poor Hd pushed the stroller and walked. Ashu was all wet and tired and hungry and cranky but poor thing did nt complain much. We reached the entrance after 30 mins. I knew there was a compulsory guided tour for the villa but only if there were enough people. But thankfully, there were other idiots like us waiting in the villa. We bought the tickets. We were told that there was a tour at 12.25 and we can see the gardens until then. While Hd and Antu stood under a shade, Ashu and I went to explore. The views are just breathtaking. The garden is beautiful. The villas location is just out of the world. But the rain ruined everything for us! Hd remarked as soon as we entered the gardens that he thought the last scene in Casino Royale was shot here. I had no idea. But the guided tour later confirmed that fact! whaddayaknow? I should ask James Bond to tell my husband to buy milk the next time! May be he ll remember then! After a wonderful tour of the villa, we wisely took a water taxi right from the garden(10 euros but we did nt care this time!) to Lenno(5 mins boat ride) and then from there a ferry back to Bellagio. Hd bought some pizza and we ate in our room because Ashu said she did nt want to go anywhere anymore! We ate more Gelato and watched Toy Story 2 , Stuart Little 1 and Stuart Little 2. All in Italian.

The next day was bright and sunny. But we had to leave. We took the car ferry back to Cadennabia and since Villa Carlotta was just few minutes away, we drove there. But there was not one parking spot for miles. We should ve come by the ferry to visit the villa, gone back and then should have drove our car. But we made a mistake. So waved to the villa from the outside, ate lunch in a very lousy restaurant in the middle of nowhere and drove back to Zurich. We reached in four hours. Hd is confident that we ll go back to visit Como in Summer. But I think Ashu is scarred for life. I asked her what was her favorite thing about the trip and she said, "nothing, amma"! And this is the girl who loves going on trips. Antu clearly is happy to be home too because yesterday I was taking the girls to the park in the evening and was getting ready and Antu said, "bye amma" and closed the door on me. She was still inside! As for me, I ll go back for sure. Its worth it just for the cassata flavored Gelato! :)

Ashu has 2 weeks spring break and even though spring came and disappeared again, we are making the most of the break. Did I tell you we got her a bicycle? Yes we did. An early birthday gift and shes having a blast. She riding it with the trainer wheels, of course. We bought it on Saturday and since it rained that day and the next, we did nt go out much. Then on Monday I took her down after breakfast, after lunch and before dinner. And she was so excited. Reminded me of the days when sis and I used to rent a rickety old cycle from the cycle kadai and used to take turns with another friend riding the cycle. Sometimes, we were at it the whole day! Ah! Nothing like the beginning days of cycling, I tell you! I relived it again through Ashu.

Since we wanted to be fair, we bought a cycle bell for Antu! It has even mickey mouse on it! Its a different story that as soon as we came home, we fixed the bell to Ashus cycle! Poor Antu is going to spend a fortune on therapy.

We are off to Lake Como for the Easter weekend! See you all on the other side. Have a great weekend everyone. Leaving you with a special photo. Courtesy - Lindt. Only in Swiss! :)

Snippets from a play date.

Ashus best friend G came home last week for a play date.

(G trips and falls on top of Antu.)

G - Oops! Sorry Antu.
Ashu - Its OK, G. I fall on her and squish her ALL the time!!

----

(They are playing Candy Land.)

G - I don't want to play this anymore.
Ashu - Why? You said this is your favorite game.
G - Yes but I don't want to play now. I want to play with your laptop.
Ashu - OK. Clean this up first.

-----

(They are eating a snack.)

G - Yay! I finished first.
Ashu - (sticks out her tongue at G)
G - If I did that, my mom would tell me that I cant have a play date in a long, long time.
Ashu - I DON'T want a play date in a long, long time. OK?

----

G - Ashu said that Antu wont play with me. But I want to play with Antu.
Me - Antu will like to play with you, G. Don't worry. *glares at Ashu*
Ashu - I just thought that Antu is still sleepy and tired after her nap, Amma.
Me - Yeah right!

-----

G - Ashu is screaming in my ears.
Ashu - No I did nt do it, Amma.
G - She did.
Ashu - No, I did nt.
G - You did.
Ashu - No.
G - Yes.
Ashu - No.
G - Yes.
.
.
.
(Boo leaves the room)

----

(3 hours later)

G - Bye Ashu. *hugs and kisses*
Ashu - Bye.
G - I love you.
Ashu - See you tomorrow.

----

The Rabbit and the Chipmunk.

It has been a long time since Ashu told a story for me. Remember the one with the wolf? That was two years ago and the Ashu-almost 5.0-version is a lean, mean story machine. Heres the one she told me last night before her bed time. This time entirely in English.

There were two chipmunks living in a tree house. They both went to visit another city. Then a rabbit started living in the house. The chipmunks came back and saw the rabbit and said, "Its our house". But the rabbit said, "its my house"! They both kept on saying the same thing. Then a girl came there with a knife and killed one of the chipmunks!! (No. there was no warning for me either!!) She did nt do anything to the rabbit because he was her friend. One day, the rabbit and the girl were sleeping. The chipmunk planned something and went to their house. He saw two small bunnies. He killed one. So the girl started sleeping in the dead bunnies cot after that! (don't ask!) One day the rabbit wanted to go to the market. But the girl said no. So he went when she was sleeping. She got up and saw there was no rabbit. So she left the house and went to another country. The rabbit came home and saw that the girl was not there. So he went to a shop and snatched all the food and stored it in the house. There was no food for anyone else in that city. Then he caught a plane and went to another country. Now the girl came back to the house and saw the rabbit was not there. So she went on a plane to London. But the rabbit was not in London. He was in South Africa! So she went there and killed the rabbit. Now she had two houses. (huh?) She came back to rabbits house and gave all the food back to the shop. Took all the nuts from the shop and went to see the chipmunk and gave him all the nuts. She saw the bunny there. But he was not a clever bunny. So she taught him this and taught him that. Then she took him to her house and they lived happily ever after.

The End.

If I add some choice swear words here and there, you think may be I can send this story to Tarantino?

Getting Crafty.

Its only fair to contribute to Shrutis Artsy Craftsy March challenge after all the inspiration (read as stealing!) I got from the Artsy Craftsy finger painting challenge. I googled and found this simple craft from YouTube. So easy that Ashu saw it once and made it all by herself. With absolutely no help from me. The house of Boo is proud to present,

The Paper plate Puppet.

All you need is a paper plate, scissors and scotch tape. Thanks Shruti for inspiring me to try the land of puppets. :)

ps.

Meanwhile, the resident toddler can run away with the scotch tape and use the almost entire tape trying to stick the pillow to the bed. Beware!

Birthday Musings.

Its nice when the birthday falls on a weekend. Especially if its your 32nd!! :) Decided to forget the fact that I'm getting old(er) and went to Flums to do some sledging. Poor man's Skiing, I call it. :) Theres a 3 km sledge run there which I ve been wanting to go for a long time. So after an hour drive, a 20 min cable car ride, a 10 mins bus ride and another 5 mins cable car ride, Ashu and I reached the top. Rented a huge wooden sledge and weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! We tumbled, we fell, we rolled, we were scared but we survived. Ashu swore she ll never ever sledge ever again! We both took charge of Antu while Hd went to sledge. He came back in 10 mins saying he had a blast! I was tempted to go solo. So after a hearty lunch, I went again. This time it was much more fun because I was nt worried that I ll kill my own child! But in my defense, I saw 5 year olds sledding in their own sledges unaccompanied. And overtaking me! I also saw a guy who went past me, hit the barrier on the right, flew up and fell on the other side. Thankfully, he was OK. But I had my heart in my mouth the rest of the way. Towards the end, the slopes merge and the skiers and the snowboarders and us were all using the same run and it was scary, to say the least. But then whats the fun if its not? :)

I also baked myself a yummy zucchini cake this year. Ashu slipped a birthday card she made under the bathroom door. Antu was clueless. Hd did nt disappoint. I went Wiiiiiiiiiii when I opened his gift. ;) Friends of mine took me to dinner the previous night while Hd was home with the girls. I had a blast. Went to this restaurant called Movie. Stepped into a child unfriendly place after ages. Once in a while, its nice to dine somewhere where they don't have high chairs, you know what I mean? The food was awesome. The ambience was great with studio lights, film roll menu cards, red carpet,.. the whole nine Hollywood yards.

As always, birthday reflections happened. I could nt think of anything I could do to improve my life, so stopped trying! ;) Being content is so under rated these days. So I want to admit that I am content. And I am exactly where I want to be in my life. I think that's the advantage when one is not ambitious. I'm happy being an average Jane. Here's to everyone like me! *clink*

Gym diary.

Today at the gym, I left Antu in the kids care and was filling the form there. The one which asks for our names, check in time, phone number, etc... Theres a column where one has to write the date of birth of the child. While I was writing Antus, my eyes went to the last entry and saw that there was a March 2010. I was shocked. I ve seen infants at the kids care there and the moms taking a break from the work out and breast feeding them in the changing room. Yes, its true. And these are non celebrity women, for your kind information! But I was still shocked and saw the date again and tried to calculate how many weeks old the baby was when it struck me. The mom had, by mistake, written today's date in that column! phew! But you never know. Some mom might hit the gym right after the birth straight from the labor ward! These women just exist to make me feel bad about myself, I tell you.

I am the most over weight person in my gym. Except when this other woman comes to the gym. But I don't see her most days. Guess she waiting for a member fatter than her!

Its like a fashion show out there in my gym. I gotta admire these women. If I look anything like them, I ll sitting at home ODing on chocolate instead of sweating in the gym. And I still do it some days - the ODing on chocolate skipping gym, I mean! ;)

The gyms lake facing and its lovely to look at the water and the ducks and the boats while running in the treadmill. I feel so alive. Cant say the same about the ducks though! Poor things have to watch me run and sweat!

Antu is loving the kids care. Runs inside without even a backward glance at me. I cannot believe shes Ashus sister. Ashu who cried, screamed and yelled for WEEKS before settling down in her play school.

I'm on Week 7 of my C25K programme and jogged for 25 mins for the first time yesterday. Almost collapsed at the end. Oh Eesa kept me going the last few mins. Today it was Dhan te nan.

Ashu asks me everyday, "Did you go to the gym today, Amma?" If I say no, she gives a very disapproving look. So I ve appointed her as my personal trainer.

I have nt lost any considerable weight in these 7 weeks. (Do you even have to wonder why after that chocolate confession I just made?) But my clothes are looser and I feel good about myself. Thats a start, I guess.

Even though the programme says 5 kms, I am able to jog only 3 kms in 30 minutes. So I'm planning to repeat the programme by increasing the speed slowly and trying to achieve the 5 km mark.

My Gym playlist:

Aahun Aahun - Love Aaj Kal
Adiye Kolluthe - Vaaranam Aayiram
Boom boom - Boys
Chiggy wiggy - Blue
Title Song - Delhi 6

Dhan te nan - Kaminey
Dol dol dol - Ayutha Ezhuthu
Excuse me - Kandasamy
Fatak - Kaminey
Honey honey - Ayan

Ibn e Batuta - Ishqiya
Jana Gana mana - Ayutha Ezhuthu
Kodaana Kodi - Saroja
Masakali - Delhi 6
Oh Eesa - Aayirathil Oruvan

Vennilaavin theril Eri - Duet
Yakkai Thiri - Ayutha Ezhuthu

Can you please suggest some songs that really keep you going? I would love to add more to my list.

ps.
Im embarrassed by most of the videos. So dont judge me! Think of the greater good - me getting fit! ;)

Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya.

I am really silly when it comes to certain things. Especially about movies. For no good reason, I would decide not to watch a certain actors movies in the cinemas. Simbu aka Silambarasan is one of them. Or should I say was? Sigh! I gave in and watched his movie last night. Yes, its his movie all the way! I made all kinds of dramatic dialogues like "Let History not say that Boo watched a Simbu movie in the theatre" and "I'm a card carrying member of the I hate Simbu club", etc.. much to Hds asmusement the last couple of days. "You want to watch the movie, don't you?", asked Hd. "Go and watch. I promise I wont tell anyone", he goaded! We could nt watch the movie together anyway and I did nt want to go alone so I decided to let it pass. Then the Universe conspired and a friend called me yesterday and asked if I'm game to watch the movie. The Universe is really jobless, I think. If it had to conspire, cant it do something about my weight loss or that lottery I'm hoping to win? Anyway, so I went with the friend, the friends friend and the friends friends husband(who does nt speak a word of Tamil) for a 11 pm show last night.

To say I LOVED the movie would be an understatement. Now I get what people saw in Vaaranam Aayiram. May be that movie resonated with them in some level and I just was nt able to relate to it. I'm sure there are loads of people who might hate VTV too. Its mushy, its long, its intense, its love love love, its confusing,... But I got zapped into the movie completely. I had a lump in my throat as soon as the movie began. And had it hours after it ended. I came home at 2.15 am after dropping the friends home and could nt sleep for an hour after that. I said all sort of mushy nonsense to a sleeping Hd. Yes, I had gone that crazy! And no, I don't drink.

I think Jessie is one of Goutham Menons fantastic female leads. Never in my life have I ever seen a film where I could totally be in the head of the female character and feel the same way as her. And Simbu as Karthik is such a revelation. I whispered, "Simbu is good" to Hd today morning and added "Oh who am i kidding? He was great okay. He was awesome!" and thankfully Hd was sitting down when I said that! He has played Karthik just perfect. Trisha was good too but its his movie all the way. The ending is what clinched the movie for me. Kudos to Goutham for that ending. You ARE good, dude! I sort of underestimated you after Vaaranam Aayiram and I'm sorry, OK?

AR Rahman - where do I begin? What can I say that has not been said already? Aaromale is so good that I want to drown in that song. Especially after watching the song on screen, I get the now familiar lump in my throat every time I hear it. Sigh! What a hopelessly romantic, mushy person I actually am! I'm embarrassed to admit that. The picturization of the other songs did nt work for me though. Except Mannippaya.

Now lets talk about Jessie - for some who call her immature, confused, b****, etc... etc... and say most modern women are like her - always leading the men on and then breaking their hearts and moving on - Yes, its true. Been there, done that. And whats wrong in that, may I ask? I ve never understood this blanket statement that women are so selfish and they are not in "real love" if they ve any desire of their own. Have nt we seen it in tonnes of Tamil movies where the hero berates the girl for dumping him? "Did nt you know I was poor when you roamed the streets with me? Did nt you know I was a lowly mechanic when you came to repair your scooty? You women are so selfish. You don't ve the guts to leave your family while we leave everything for you"! Yawn! Give me a break! He falling in love at the first sight is nt immature but she trying to see what kind of a person he is by going out with him is? He deciding that she is the woman of his dreams just by seeing her behind is nt stupid but she deciding that he ll be a mechanic all his freaking life and does nt want to be a part of his life is? He, leaving everything behind, is getting a woman of his dreams at the end of the deal. What is she getting out of it? Pregnant and alone when he is off to see some location and being a edupudi to a film director? Why should she settle down? Yes, he makes her head giddy and heart go boom boom, but how long is that going to last? When did being smart and logical become a crime? The only dialogue I did nt agree with Karthik in the movie was when he says that Jessies sister would nt be happy. That shes just acting. I disagree. Women are made of stronger stuff. When we can move on after burying our children, whats something as hormonal as first love? I can hear you ask, "So why get into the relationship in the first place?, Why lead the men on?" Because we want it all. We want our heads to go giddy. Our hearts to go boom boom. We want that first kiss. We want that excitement. We want to see if the guy is worth fighting the world for. Worth leaving the family for. And we can't decide all that based on his posterior. Even if it looks like Brad Pitt's. And as cliched as it might sound, we do believe its better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. And be loved.

ps.
Thanks Gowtham for the fantastic Jessie. And let me tell you one more important thing. Since we ve established the fact that the Universe is pretty jobless, it might conspire again and try to make you think of casting SJ Suryah in your next movie. But I beg you. Don't. Just don't. OK? Promise? Its the least you can do for a woman who left her husband and two little girls at home to watch your movie at the middle of the night. :)

Ashu and Antu - The almost five year old girl and the 20 months old baby.

It has been 3 months since the last update on the girls and Im shocked at how much they ve grown up in such a short period. I also went through my archives to read about Ashu when she was 20 months and got all teary. We came to Zurich when Ashu was 21 months old. So in another month, Antu will be that old and I feel a lump in my throat. Until now I ve always been picturing Ashu in our Bangalore house whenever comparing Antu to Ashus toddler days. I cant believe Antu is a big girl now. Just like the big girl who I brought with me to Zurich from Bangalore. And that in turn is making me realize how even more bigger Ashu is. Sigh! But the good news is that I ve every piece of Ashus clothes from that age in my basement. So you can kiss goodbye to new clothes, Antu! Nothing new for you anymore! :)
(Thats Ashu on the left aged 20 months.)

Ashu has gone through a remarkable change in a short time. I'm proud to say shes not a time bomb anymore. (hurray!) Shes very independent, matured and more responsible now. If anyone had told me that I ll live to see this day 3 months back, I would ve punched their face for kidding me!

Antu is already following her big sister. She wears her jacket, shoes, cap,... all on her own and waits near the door for me when we are going out. So what if the jacket buttons are not done and shes wearing the shoes in the wrong feet? Shes trying, is nt she?

Ashu is also slowly exploring the world of vegetables. I don't want to make a big deal about it because I don't want to jinx it. But I ll let you know that I'm wriggling my behind and doing a war dance and typing these lines with my toes! Right now its only raw carrots, corn and boiled and salted beans, cauli flower, broccoli, peas, etc... but Im not a fool to complain!

Antu is in the middle stage where she eats mashed food for meals and anything and everything during the snack time. I ve to slowly phase the mashed food out. But the good news is that at last, shes willingly drinking 2 glasses of a milk everyday. Im doing the war dance again here.

Ashu is having a busy life with school, skiing, skating, birthday parties, play dates,... She loves her school to bits. And that's the only reason she agreed to come back from our US trip. She also finally wished "good morning" to the teacher who receives her from the car every morning. Yes, after seeing the same teacher every day for the past 2 years - she finally said a word to her! She also has nt spoken a word to the skating teacher after seeing her every day for a week and to the skiing instructor after 6 weekends! I ll update again after 2 years on that front!

Antu is the total opposite here. Wishes everyone and happily goes to anyone. Loves outdoor. I take her to Kids Care in my gym at least twice a week and to a Mommy & Me music class once a week. She loves both. Theres this absolute joy in her face during the music class that I'm feeling bad for not taking her early on. Looks like music or dance will be her calling. And I'm not saying this only because she shakes her tiny butt to "Excuse me Mister Kandasami!" :)

Ashu went through this phase for a week where she ll come back from school, see what Antu is wearing and then go to her wardrobe and select clothes in the same colour. Drove me crazy when she could nt find the exact match and one time, I had to dress Antu in the same orange pjs for three days straight! Its never a dull day, I tell you. These kids come up with weird stuff just to keep us in our toes.

Whenever I yell at Antu, she screams "Akkaaaaaaa" and Ashu comes running to her. Once I had to hear a long lecture from Ashu on how Antu is just a baby and I should just give her what she wants and should nt be yelling at her. She even issued a stern warning - "Don't do this ever again, Amma. OK?" Of course, all this lecture is conveniently forgotten when Antu is grabbing something from her.

Though Ashu is protective and possessive about her sister, its Antu who has this unwavering adoration for her Akka and I can say with absolute certainity that Amma and Appa rank very lowly in her list. Especially Amma!! *rolls eyes* One can clearly see the divide that Ashu is a mommy's girl and Antu is a daddy's girl.

Ashu is very into reading and writing these days and even practises on her own a lot. So I ve to sit with her to help her out. Wonder why I'm paying so much for the school if I ve to do all the work! She also draws like theres no tomorrow. Her life ambition is to make a drawing for everyone she knows in this world. The other day she wrapped birthday gifts for her classmates using scissors and cellotape. Also wrote a happy birthday note and stuck it on the present. Without zero supervision from me. Though my hands were itching to rewrap the gifts, I resisted because Im a good girl. (OK. I was afraid to face the consequences if Ashu found out. Happy?)

Antu can sing loads of rhymes. Can point things and say what they are in her books. Can even recognize a few alphabets. She has none of the mazhalai(babbling) like Ashu had when she was this age. She speaks clearly. The only babble she says is busserbee which is butterfly. That's only because all of us at home keep referring it as busserbee and not butterfly because we are afraid she ll stop saying busserbee! I mean, wheres the fun then?

Antu is into Noddy, Dora, Diego, Mickey Mouse and Barney. She loves Good night Moon, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Polar bear Polar bear and the first words books. Oh and the nursery rhymes books. She can say what nursery rhyme it is in every page. And to think that we don't even read to her that much.

Ashu is still going strong with Dora, Diego,etc... and in books, she loves Curious George, Charlie and Lola, DW(from the Arthur books) and generally anything and everything if someone is ready to read it to her. I ve got her lots of Usborne early reading books and they are super.

The almost five and almost two age group is good. Its like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Only time will tell if its the light from an oncoming train. Till then, the going is good.

At the breakfast table today - 2.

So there I was making tea and singing loudly "Govinda, Govinda Feel The Fire Govinda" while Ashu was drinking her milk.

Ashu - Amma? Did you say feel the fire? But fire is dangerous amma. You said I should nt play with fire!

Me - !!!!

What now? A woman cant sing(in my case yell!) peacefully in her own house?!! The little brat sings about cows jumping over the moon, black birds baked in a pie, boughs breaking and cradles falling without batting an eyelid but has problems with "feel the fire"? Is she kidding me? What kodumai, I say!

ps.
No Appa & Amma. I usually don't go about singing random Kollywood songs first thing in the morning. You both did nt bring me up that way. But today was an exception and its sort of a Saami Paattu anyway, no? :) And dont worry. I ll never ever sing "Kalyanam dhaan kattikittu odi polaamaa" in front of your beloved grand daughters ever. At least not this early in the morning! ;)

Ashus Time Pass Idea - 309.

Things needed:
. A baby bath tub that the baby has outgrown and which is used as a laundry basket now.
. A very, very unwilling toddler who can be bribed with a biscuit to participate in the project.
. A pair of wooden salad spoons .
. An Ashu, of course.

Procedure:
Merrily sing "Row row row your boat" and then seeing Amma clicking with a camera, SCREAM LOUDLY and scare the bejeezus out of your baby sister because duh! Amma is the alligator!

Approximate Time passed - 20 minutes.

ps.
Seriously. Ashu said "biscuit venumaa? indha" to Antu and dropped the biscuit in the tub and when Antu went to pick it, she pushed her into the "boat" and took off!! It was like seeing the kidnapping scene in "Babys day out"! ;) I think its time to lecture Antu about strangers and biscuits. Or in her case, her very own sister!

Whats the opposite of writers block?

Loads of things I wanted to write about and forgot promptly. So be warned! Here comes the bullet points post.

. Firstly, thanks to the kind soul who sat next to my mom in the flight to Dubai from Zurich 2 weeks back. As if sitting quietly next to my mom was nt a punishment by itself, you confessed to her that you read my blog as well. I understand how much my mom would ve talked if you asked her if she was "boosbabytalks mother" in less than two minutes! My sympathies. And thank you for letting her use your phone to call me from Dubai. Now I can tell Hd confidently that my bog is at least worth an international phone call! :) And please email me when you can. I don't think I can trust my moms memory and write to the email id she gave me because the last time I did something like that, some stranger got to read about my churidar kurta measurements!!!

. Ashu is leading a busy life with weekend ski lessons, play dates, parties, etc... and school of course! ;) Its her ski break this week and her father promptly signed her up for ice skating classes almost every day of this week. At this rate, he might also put her in a bicycle class to learn cycling! (No! That was nt a suggestion, Hd!) She is in the one hour group ski classes for kids on weekends. Go 15 minutes before the ski class, pay and learn! (kootathoda govinda dhaan!) Shes having fun and after 4 weekends, shes able to walk with her skis on! We sledge for a while after her ski class is over and thats my kinda fun. Though Antu is her grumpiest best in snow! (Thats Ashu with her friend in the picture.)

. Antu did nt look for my mom after she left like I thought she would. When asked where paati is, she answered that shes gone. ("paati oorukku!") Who asked her to grow up? We went to a friends place for dinner a few days back. Their 5 year old son, as a rule, does nt like babies. Though he played well with Ashu, he was nt nice at all to Antu. Within an hour of being in their house, Antu came and told me, "anna naanaa. vaasalla ponum" (the boy no-no. wanna go out) and was all set to go wear her shoes and leave! Hd and I could nt believe our ears! That a nineteen month old could understand that she was nt wanted and could vocalize her feelings so well. Sigh! Wish I could too.

. Out of the blue, I decided to do the C25K thingummy inspired by a friend. Did nt want to announce here and jinx it. But now that I am in my 5th week of the programme, I can safely say that I ll stick to it. Though my fitness level has been average, my running has always been pathetic. I could nt run for 2 mins straight. C25K seemed to be the right beginning to rectify that and I'm also enjoying it. Now I ve a plan when I hit the gym. Hope it improves my fitness because running down a slope trying to catch a wayward sledge in the snow is no joke, I tell ya. Especially when the resident 4 year old is sitting on the said sledge!

. I cant get over the song "Dil to bacha hai ji". I just cant. This song has been in repeat for the past one week in this household and its driving Hd crazy. I go to sleep listening to this song, I run on the treadmill to this song on repeat, I cook, play with the kids, read,... with this song in the background. Its playing right now too. Is nt it a fantastic song?

. Ashu and I have been doing lots of finger painting stuff thanks to Shruti of mindfull meanderings and her artsy craftsy contest. Since I dont ve a creative bone in my body, I show that page to Ashu and we do whatever work she chooses! So far, the caterpillar, the hand tree, the flowers and the thumb print cards are the most repeated projects.

. Watched Three Idiots. It was on okay movie. Did nt understand all the hype though. Aamir Khan annoyed me for the first time.

. Read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Was a good read. I dont know why but when a best seller(especially Indian writing in English) is about the poor people, it bothers me in so many levels. I ll leave it at that.

. Reading Thillana Mohanambal. Finished the thalahaani size part 1 and onto attack part 2 now. Amazing read. Too bad that I cant wipe out Sivaji and Padminis faces while reading though. Though no movie ever justifies the book and this one especially is such a long novel that no way they could squeeze everything in the movie, the book is a must read even if you ve watched the movie. Just for the Vaithi character. Its hilariously written and Nageshs Vaithi character in the movie is not even 10% of the book character.

Love is...

It was Dec 2001. Hd and I were married for 18 months then and we were in Amsterdam during the Xmas holidays. Hds college friend who lived there was taking us around the city and we were walking through a flower market. Bunches and bunches of colorful tulips were peeping out of the shelves everywhere and I was blown away by the beauties. I think it was the first time I set my eyes on tulips. Had never seen them before. We walked and walked and I waited and waited and I oohed and aahed but saw no sign of Hd even going near the tulips let alone buying them for me. Since the friend was also walking with us, I could nt even say some choice words to the man. But after spending a good half hour in the market and were about to leave, I took Hd aside and asked him, "does nt it occur to you to buy a big bunch when im not looking and surprise me with them? I would ve totally done something like that if your friend was nt here, you know?" And then just shook my head, rolled my eyes and walked away to another shop to look at some souvenirs. Two minutes passed and whaddayaknow! A dozen blood red Tulips were blocking my vision and the hand holding them was Hds. I let out a shriek and hugged him. The friend went, "awww. how romantic" and I did nt care to correct him! To this day, whenever I see Tulips, it brings a smile to my lips. I'm so glad I asked. And I'm very, very glad that he listened.

So Love is... telling your partner what you want even though you will sound pathetic. And the partner doing it for you even though it will be even more pathetic! And then they live pathetically ever after. The End.

Happy Valentines Day! Spread the Love.