The customary end of the year musings.

Looking back at the year 2006:

Really sucked. All I will remember about this year is being a mom to a toddler. Every waking and sleeping moment - I spent it as a mother. I did nt take a day off. No weekends. No breaks. Changed approximately 1500 diapers. Washed bottles around 1000 times. Did nt watch loads of movies I badly wanted to watch. Did nt go anywhere out of town except to parents and in-laws place. And that sucked even more. Fought with my parents all the time when I was with them when I should nt have. Did nt speak to my MIL at all when I was at my in-laws when I should have. Of course there were loads of good times too. Lots of precious moments with Ashu. But I realize now that those are not enough. I should have taken some time off and gone somewhere with HD. We did plan but it just did nt work out. I know this is how its going to be forever. But we should have gone somewhere special to fondly remember about this year. With or without Ashu. At least if I had left for Swiss by now and joined HD, this year would have ended on a happy note. But no such luck. Hope 2007 is better.

May be being away from HD for the first time on New Years eve is putting me in this negative mood. May be not.

Ok! Moving on...

As a mother - I rate myself 9/10 this year. The one point I cut because I shout. A lot. Not only at Ashu but generally. I am loud mouthed. Need to work on that. I should really stop screaming. At least reduce. That would go as a new year resolution if I believed in it. But I dont. Will try anyway.

As a wife - 9/10. For the same reasons I said above. ;)

As a daughter - 1/10. I sucked. I screwed up big time this year. Hope to make it up next year, Dad & Mom!

As a daughter-in-law - 0/1000.

As a sister: 10/10. Well, long distance relationships are always easy for me. So this year has been great what with Ashu now. Thank you for a wonderful year, Sis. If there was one silver lining in this bleak year, it was you! (And that includes you too, Jeeju!)

As a friend: 5/10. I did nt reach out to many friends. I was just content with family, blogging, etc.. I dont even know whether I should change myself or not on that front. Well, I just answered myself, did nt I?

Happy New Year people! Let 2007 rock for all of us! :)

Take a look at Ashus journey through 2006 here. Thanks baby for all the special moments which bring a happy tear to my eyes whenever I think about them.

Update on Ashu at 20 months.

Yesterday Ashu turned 20 months old. It will be her second birthday in 4 months. I definitely cant believe that. Feels like yesterday I went and got my hair cut to look good for her 1st birthday party!! Hmmm... that reminds me, time for my next hair cut! :)

Heres update on Ashu all of 20 months:

~> She has outgrown the big winter jacket I got for her when she was 6 months old in Swiss. Yes, after 14 months!

~> She will do things only if we make it look as if it was her idea to do it.
Example: She ll run away as soon as I take a fresh diaper to change her. So I ll keep the diaper near her and go away. Exactly after one minute, she ll come to me with the diaper and ask me to change. Its the same while dressing her up, feeding her, ...

~> She has lots of teeth and much more attitude. So she would nt let me count them all.

~> She has learnt loads of words that I cant count them anymore. Understands everything we say and conveys everything she wants to say too.

~> She recognizes some of the alphabets. She says "babulu" for Double U. Very cutely!

~> She is still stuck on too, thee, chix and nain for the past I-don't-know-how-many months. When we play hide and seek, she closes her eyes and counts too, thee, too, thee,...

~> As kids at this stage are, she also has photographic memory. She loves to answer when I ask "What is this" pointing to objects. Apple, Banana, Horse, Cat, Bow Wow, Ball, Doll, Balloon, Star, Moon, etc... are some her favorites.

~> Loves it when I take her out for shopping. No surprises there, I guess!

~> Loves to watch herself in the mirror and in photos. I have no idea how she learnt it but the other day I put a clip in her hair and she ran to her room to look at herself in the mirror! Girls!

~> Whenever we get ready to go out, she reminds me to get her jacket and shoes. As soon as she comes back home, unzips the jacket and takes it off. Removes her shoes and throws them in a corner and no force in the world can stop her doing that.

~> The other day my neighbors daughter had come to play with Ashu. Shes 2 1/2 years old. She and Ashu fought over a small, plastic, yellow cup the entire one hour the girl was here. Oh, we had two identical yellow cups at home. But they both wanted "that" yellow cup only!

~> Ashu can switch on the monitor, move the mouse and send a couple of desktop icons to the recycle bin. And move a few folders while at it to some vague locations!

~> At last we are down to one nap a day instead of two since two months. We are happy.

~> Prostrates on the floor before the Puja shelf, rings the bell and touches both her cheeks every morning. All under her grandmas intensive training!

~> Very shy when guests are at home. Bonds with older kids immediately. But the kids must be a head taller than her. Same height means fighting over the yellow cup! Infants are okay, though! Very tricky, this one!

~> Long distance relationship with Appa for the past 2 months is not going well. She just refuses to talk to him on the phone. I hide the phone and HD eavesdrops our conversation to hear Ashu's voice. May be its her vengeance for leaving her. She talks to my sister and BIL as always though! Did nt I say this one is too tricky to figure out?

~> Started screaming! Oh. My. God. Really annoying! She calls me AMMAAAAAAA never Amma. As if shes calling me for the hundredth time. And to think that I have to fly with her alone! God save me and then the co passengers!

~> Picks up certain words and actions very fast. But never the things we want her to learn! Says bye to everyone when leaving without me asking her to. But never says thanks to anyone even after me telling her a hundred times!

~> Identifies the colors Blue and Red. So everything under the sun is either blue or red according to her. Must be fun!

~> Sometimes she runs to me, gives me a hug and kisses me and runs away again. Those unexpected show of affection makes me feel so special!

Gilli 365.

Check out Gilli if you can read Tamil. I have written a post with my favorite links to celebrate Gilli's first anniversary. Thanks to Prakash who for whatever reason asked me to write and I used the opportunity to blabber. Little did I know that there are so many bigwigs who are writing too. Not fair Prakash! ;)

Quite a heavy thought for the day.

I really don’t like my dad that much. I don’t consider him a great father at all. I fight with him a lot. I question his role. I ask him why he brought me into this world. I don’t like his rules. I don’t like his role as a husband as well. But I go to him whenever I need help. If I am standing on the middle of the road with a flat tyre, I call him and ask what to do even if he is in another city. I ask him to do something to make me pass my exams even though he can’t do anything about it. If I am in any tricky situation, I seek his advice. I ask him for money. I ask him for guidance. I ask him to choose. I call him and ask him to come and visit me just like that. I tell him all my problems even though he can’t solve them all. I trust him. I need him. And I am totally selfish. According to me, he is just there to give. And I thank him occasionally. I want him to be partial towards me. I don’t try to please him when I want something, I just ask. I blame him for everything that’s wrong with my life. I want him to set everything right for me. I respect him. I don’t tolerate anyone who say mean things about him. I say mean things to him. I don't lie to him. I want him to protect me. I will trust my life with him.

And today I realized that I treat my father and God equally.........bad.

Happy Christmas Everybody!

Wish we were together HD. You, me and Ashu (in my tummy!) back in Grindelwald celebrating a true White Christmas like we did two years back. Hmmm....

The beginning of the "Look Mommy" saga.

You know how some kids call "Mom, mom, mom" a dozen times and their moms will slowly tear themselves away from the conversation with you and answer the thirteenth "Mom" with "What?" Well, I did nt want to be that kind of a mom. I had planned to answer my child immediately and give all my attention to my child instead of some stupid conversation. But of course the whole motherhood thing happened to me for only one reason and that is to prove me wrong and also to accept being an idiot and beg for forgiveness from every mother I have (mis)judged!

Long story short, Ashu calls me around 300 times everyday. She is awake 12 hours of a day so do the math. And she has started talking as if shes making it up for being quiet the 9 months in the womb and 18 months outside. And its neither Tamil nor English. Its some gibberish language but the irony is I understand every word. She will connect the horse she saw on the road , the J for Jump in the ABCs, a pony in a cartoon show on TV and a horse picture in the book and spin a story. Since I am the one who showed her the horse and the ABCs and the pony and the horse picture, I ll get what shes saying 5 minutes later. And since Socks, Horse, Stars, Os(Oswald the octopus), Spoon, ... everything sound similar, 5 mins is a record. If she points her feet, she means socks. If she jumps, its a horse. If she points up, its a star. If she does neither, then its Os. And the funny thing is shes getting frustrated trying to make me understand. Today I gave her some puffed rice in a small bowl and she pointed to the bowl and said "solthomowquyhska ma"! I am like "What?" and she patiently points to her bowl and says "solthomowquyhska ma"! Have to give it to her. At least she is consistent in her gibberish. After a lot of action from her side, I get it. She wants a Spoon! I just hope there was a "please" hidden somewhere in that gibberish sentence. Anyway, so I give her a spoon and she goes away mighty pleased with her communication skills!

So where was I? Oh yeah, the calling part. Today I had the TV on mute and was channel surfing. Ashu was sitting on the floor facing me and playing with her toys. She calls me:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Yes dear? Tell me!
Amma?
Tell me?
Amma?
Yeah?
Amma?
Hmm?
Amma?
(Silence)

5 mins later:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Ashu?
Amma?
Ashu?
(giggling) Amma? Amma?
Ashu? Ashu?
(more giggling) Amma? Amma? Amma?
(Silence)

5 mins later:
Amma?
(Silence)
Amma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaa?
(Silence)
Comes near me, touches my face and calls Amma.
What?
She points to the floor.

And I see this:
She has arranged her books on the floor, it seems. And she wanted to show me. This was the first time she did something like this and more importantly she wanted me to see something she did and knew that I ll be proud of. I went speechless for a second. And guilty the next. And snatched the camera next. I also gave her lots of compliments and she blushed. And then I came to blog about it. :)

ps. This IS a huge thing for me especially since I only see mess on the floor day in and day out and something like this which is remotely similar to order just choked me up! And do you see the neat intervals between the books and how the back cover of one book touches the front cover of the next? *wiping proud tears of joy*

Phone, Fan, Spoon and I have one thing in common.*

The only thing good about the whole delay in getting our Swiss visas is Ashu having fun. With her grandma that is. Since last week, Ashu has started calling us by our names. She realized only last month that every one has a name. Before that whenever we ask "What is Moms name?" She would say Ashu. Whats dads name? Ashu. Whats grandpas name? Ashu. So much so that you ask what the doggies name is and she would answer with Ashu. As if the only name worth having is Ashu! Anyway, then she understood the trick. Now shes showing off. At first, she started pointing to the photo on the fridge and saying Thatha and then his name. Its a photo of my dad and Ashu. Then she started saying his name whenever he talked on the phone. This weekend, my dad visited and she started calling him by his name. It was very cute. And she shortened his name and called him "Soo" so it did nt sound so offending. And I knew she was just flaunting what she has learnt. Then the day before, we were in a department store and I was paying for the goods. My dad was carrying Ashu and she called me "Amma! Amma!". I did nt respond to her as I was counting the money. So this one shouts "Oooon". I was shocked. "Oooon" is what she says when asked for my name. My name does not sound even remotely like "Oooon". (Pronounced like Spoon but without the S of course!) But she sticks to Oooon. Whatever. Anyway, this one had the guts to shout "Oooon". And is continuing to do so. Annoyingly. Amma, amma. Oooooooon! is what she calls me every time now. And my mom is "Paati, Paati, Dhaadhaa". And my dad is Soo. She does nt pretend with my dad. She knows he would respond to her even if she says "Here! Here, nice doggy" to him! Long distance phone calls have saved HD for now from disrespect. But what do you know? Hes feeling left out and urging her to call him by his name! To be honest, it sounds absolutely cute when she calls us by these made-up names. I just hope she stops before she can pronounce our names perfectly well. For my parentings sake!

* Ashu says "Oooon" for phone, fan, spoon and ya, me!

Word Cloud.

One look at the above word cloud and my whole life unravels! You don't even have to read the small print. The big bold words say it all: STAY at HOME MOM, BOO with way too much TIME in her hands writes about her BABY GIRL, ASHU in her BLOG all DAY long and THINKS that she is OLD! And shes RIGHT.

Taking sides.

I have a new found respect for men who have taken their wives side and decided that wife and kids are more important than their parents. Until recently, I detested the sons who abandoned their parents. And the daughters-in-law who split happy families. But when I became a mother, my opinion changed drastically. We have long debates on who is more important to a man: his mother or his wife? But rarely have I seen the topic discussed with a daughter in picture. Is nt a daughter as important or even more for a man? Given a choice between his mother and his daughter, what should a man choose? Very tricky, I know! But a friend of mine has had some marital (read as In-laws) problems and her husband has nt gone to see his wife or his daughter for a year now. Occasional phone calls is all thats happening. This guy is living with his parents. So he has chosen, even if its temporarily, his parents over his wife and daughter. In the case of choosing one's wife, at least she is happy and Im sure any parents however miserable they are will only want their children’s happiness. But when a guy chooses his parents over his wife (and especially a daughter I should add), the wife is miserable. The daughter is miserable. The parents can not be happy seeing their sons family separated or is it possible? In that case, they don’t deserve a son who will sacrifice his family for them, right? If their son is so important for them to keep close, should nt the son feel the same about his daughter too? Is nt she important to him? Does nt she matter at all? I know this is not a simple matter of choosing this over that. But what kind of man is he? Am I missing something here? I hope this is only a temporary phase and he comes back to his senses soon. Thats what my friend wants, right or wrong, and thats what I am going to pray for too.

No power.

Mommy had way too much time in her hands today. And way too much hair clips. And Ashu had a little patience! The result, these mug shots:


There was a power cut the whole day today. So no internet for Mommy and no cartoon for Ashu. I mean, what can one do when theres no power the whole day? My mom is sick and Ashu is sick too. So no cooking either. They both had curd rice and I had toast! So it was a 2 mins affair. Ashu of course has dysentry, her best friend who never fails to visit her when shes sick! So my mom and I were running to the bathroom every 30 mins with Ashu. In spite of this busy schedule I got bored by the evening. I started asking aloud "Ashu, when will the power come back" a dozen times just like I used to ask HD and annoy him. Ashu started playing with the remote and pointed the TV and asked me "Noddy?" Yes I know, me bad mother! Too much of Noddy is good for nobody! (Hey, I just made that up and it rhymes!) The house got darker and darker towards evening and we could nt even read a book. So out came the hair clips to keep my baby busy for a while. My mom thought the same about her baby too, I guess! So we both played around for sometime. But of course I had to take pictures. And blog about it now that the power has come back. :)

I am a celebrity!

How did I forget to write about this? Anyway, better gloat late then never! So I told you guys I was in Chennai 2 weeks back for a wedding and my US Visa appointment right? One afternoon, my FIL, Ashu and I were going home after a bit of shopping. Stopped at this shop called Surya Greens (Is that in Adyar? I am not Madras Savvy so forgive me!) for eating some chat and to buy some veggies and fruits. I finished my Sev Puri in 2 seconds and took Ashu and went out so that my FIL and the rest of the customers can eat in peace! Next door was Surya Sweets and Ashu and I were doing some window shopping there. There was this family with an elderly lady, a young woman and 3 cute kids. Ashu immediately said "Paappa" (Baby!) and went near the youngest child. And then it happened. The young woman asks me "Are you Boo from Boosbabytalk?" I have to check with her later but I think my jaw dropped and I went blank for 2 whole minutes! She continues, "I recognized your daughter from the photos you have posted". That brought me back to Earth. Ok, I am not the real celebrity after all! Then we chitchatted for a few mins and said bye. I liked the way her son came to her and asked in a whisper who I was and she was like "I ll explain to you later!" Ha ha ha! It might take quiet some explanation, Im sure. I think I said something like "Keep reading" when I left! How silly is that! I am sorry P, but this was the first time it happened to me and I was nt prepared!

And P it was so nice of you to say Hi to me unlike some people I know who lurk and read this blog but never acknowledge it when we meet. They get to know all the dirt about me but never bother to even mail me or wish me on my birthday. Ya, I am talking about you Honey. Now you know I know! ;)

Remember that evil boy in the Toy Story movie? He is real!

Dear Opposite Door Neighbor,

I don't know how else to say this but don't come home anymore with your 3 1/2 years old son. Don't make him knock on my door and watch it from the peep hole of your door. He is YOUR son. Your responsibility. If you are at your wits end and ready to crack because of the brat, get a baby sitter. I am not one. I have my own baby to take care of. I know it was only 2 hours but it was too much. All my sympathies are with you, but thats all I can offer. Even if you had sent him alone, I would have taken care of him in my own "special" way. But you followed him too and sat on my sofa asking me hundreds of questions while your son was literally making my living room as if a hurricane had passed through. I can forgive him for scattering all the 120 pieces of blocks all over the floor. I can forgive him for not putting them back while leaving. I can forgive him for snatching a book from Ashu. I can forgive him for going to the bedroom and searching for Ashus bus which he saw a couple of months back while Ashu was riding it. I can forgive him for throwing a tantrum when I would nt allow him to open the showcase and take out my precious souvenirs. I can forgive him for sitting on the big stuffed toy and dragging it all over the floor. I can even forgive him(if i try really hard) for taking a real pencil and scratching all over the doodle board and trying* to rip the board apart. But I can never forgive him or any one else in this world for laying a hand on my daughter. I mean she was only coming near him to ask what was wrong when he was crying at the top of his voice when you two were leaving. And your son had the guts to push her. (again with the psycho look!) And I can never ever forgive you for not stopping him. Your lame attempt does nt count, ok? You are a bad parent, thats what you are. There I said it! I know I can never say this to your face and I am writing this in my blog only because you will never read it. And tomorrow if you come again with your son, I ll give my fake smile and let you in. But I just hope you don't!

Yours,
Boo. (The Opp door neighbor in constant terror whenever the door bell rings.)

* I mean you guys should have seen his face. He had a psycho look and was repeatedly stabbing the doodle board as if the pencil was a knife and the board was his victim! It scared the hell out of me!

Another movie quote. I am watching too much TV!

We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I
mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to
care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the
mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your
life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go
un-witnessed because I will be your witness'."

Susan Sarandon in Shall We Dance.

And I rest my case.

I watched Mona Lisa Smile a few weeks ago on TV. I liked it. Below is the conversation between Julia Roberts and Julia Stiles(I really like her.) Anyway, for a long time now I was wondering how to convince people that being a house wife is MY choice and I AM happy with MY choice. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I decided I dont have to convince anyone about anything in my life. I dont care. But now and then when one gets certain looks from Working Wives/Mothers and as well as from fellow House Wives/Stay at home mothers and not to mention from the Toms, Dicks and Harrys, one cant help but steal quotes from movies and throw them at their faces. Here you go...

Joan Brandwyn: It was my choice... not to go. He
would have supported it.
Katherine Watson: But you don't have to choose.
Joan Brandwyn: No, I have to. I want a home; I
want a family, that's not something I'll sacrifice.
Katherine Watson: No-one's asking you to
sacrifice that, Joan, I just want you to understand you can do both.
Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one
morning and regret not being a lawyer? Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that
you will.
Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I regret not having
a family, not being there to raise them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it
doesn't make me any less smart. [Katherine looks down] Joan Brandwyn: This must
seem terrible to you.
Katherine Watson: I didn't say that.
Joan Brandwyn: Sure you did. You always do. You
stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a
housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center hall colonial. She has no
depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one who said I could do anything I
wanted. This is what I want.

I am back...

... in Bangalore.

One long month resting my behind in my parents place - Check
Ashu having the time of her life - Check
Ashu catching a severe cold and suffereing from wheezing and generally having a tough week - Check
Traveling to Chennai to stay with my in-laws - Check
Mosquito bites - Check.
Meeting up with my BIL, my sis's husband - Check
Attend wedding and hog food - Check
Bye bye to BIL and Welcome to HD - Check
Grand re-union of daughter and daddy after a month - Check
US visa appointment in Chennai on Monday - Check
Jumping queues thank to Ashu and visa approved - Check
Shopping and dining out - Check
Back to Bangalore, home sweet home - Check
Passports to arrive from the US embassy - Check

So many things accomplished, wont you say? HD is only here until the weekend and he will leave for Zurich again. My Swiss visa is still a mystery. Loads of my favorite blogs to read but no time. HD has made me promise that I wont sit before the computer until he goes back to Zurich. Hoping he wont notice this post!! So catch you all soon and The Mad Momma, slow down a little for my sake girl! I cant catch up with your posts fast enough! ;)

I am an actual person! Hurray!

I tried to publish a new post in my Tamil blog and I had to go through word verification before publishing. But even after the word verification, the publishing failed. I tried a couple of more times and it was really annoying. There was word verification even to save it as a draft. I tried a few hours later and I got a message from blogger. My blog has characteristics of a spam blog it seems!

Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

Before we can turn off mandatory word verification on your posts we'll need to have a human review your blog and verify that it is not a spam blog. Please fill out the form below to get a review.

Find out more about how Blogger is fighting spam blogs.

Remove word verification from posts Word Verification: Type the characters you see in the picture below.
Email Address:
We'll contact you after we review your blog.

How insulting! :(

ps. Prabhu, the post was about Tamil Rhymes for your kind info! I know I would have someone to blame this on! (Prabhu asked me for a post on Tamil Rhymes.)
ps1. By some hair pulling and searching for my lost post, I found it here. But it cannot be viewed in my home page or in its permalink. Go figure!

update: The posts are appearing now but I am not able to publish a new post in my Tamil blog. Even this post appeared only after 12 hours. Whatever!

1.5 & a tag.

I found this cute little meme at flipflopmamma and tagged Ashu. Could nt resist! ;) By the way, Ashu is 18 months today and call this my gift to her.





3 Things That Scare Me
Pressure cooker whistle
Beach
Walking on the wet bathroom floor

3 People That Make Me Laugh
Grandma
Grandpa
Amma

3 Things I Love
Noddy show on TV
Noddy book
Noddy stuffed toy

3 Things I Hate
Sweets including chocolates. Mom says I ll change and start hogging them soon. But I dont think so. Bring on the pickles!
Washing my hair. How am I supposed to breathe when water is running down my face? And Im not supposed to swallow the water too. When will mom get it?
When grandma tries to put flowers on my head with a hairpin. It can wait, woman! I have hardly any hair and you are doing seriuos damage to the scalp.

3 Things I Don't Understand
Why do I have to begin counting with one? Why cant I start from two? And finish with three?
Why do I have to go in the potty? What are diapers for then?
Why cant I drink Milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner? And for snack time?

3 Things On My Floor.
The entire contents of the toy basket. About 108 things.
Me.
Winnie the pooh rocker.

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now
Playing hide and seek with the two boys from next door.
When they call out my name, I come out of my hiding place!
When the boys go and hide, I run to mommy!

3 Things I Can Do
I can give a dimpled smile and make grandpa eat out of my hand!
I can understand most of the stuff Mom asks me to do. But I do only a few stuff. Why give her the satisfaction?
I can open the main door, climb the stairs and go to the terrace on my own and give mom a heart attack.

3 Ways to Describe My Personality
Happy
Needy
Lovable

3 Things I Cant do
I cant be alone in a room even for one waking minute.
I cant pronounce Water. I say Taater. But you know what I mean, so why bother?
I cant go to sleep on my own.

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To
Grandpa. He is always right. He is my man!
The song "Suttum vizhi sudare". Rocking!
Kids below five talking. Sounds like heaven to me. I am not far behind myself!

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To
My mom singing me lullabies. Although it makes me go to sleep, it ll be very embarassing if theres an audience.
Ferber.
Some of the things my mom writes in her blog about me.

3 Absolute Favorite Foods
Bananas
Yogurt
Toast

3 Things I'd Like to Learn
Operate the TV remote and switch channels between Pogo and Cartoon network.
Take the milk from the fridge and pour it in my bottle. I dont have to depend on my prison warden then!
Climb down the stairs without my butt on the air.

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly
Milk
Apple juice
Water

3 Shows I Watched as a Kid
Make way for Noddy
Oswald
Sesame street

3 Fellow Babies That I am Tagging
All the babies whose parents read my mommy's blog.

Except for "dressing up Ashu" part, this Diwali was a bummer!

The Old.

Right now my grand mother (Dads mother) lives with my parents. She’s 90 years old. Next door lives my Uncle (Dads younger brother) with my 96 year old Grand uncle and 94 years old Grand aunt. This is a story about the old.

My father has 6 sisters and 3 brothers. My grand father had two sisters. Both of them did nt have any children of their own. One of the sisters was widowed when she was in her thirties and demanded her brother to give one of her sons in adoption and succeeded. She adopted my dad. Though not legally but with all the required religious poojas. Soon after the adoption, my dads Upanayanam (where he wears the sacred thread) happened. After that, he started doing the required customs to be performed after the death of a parent. For his adopted father. Once a month on the Amaavasai(Tharpanam) and once every year (Srardham). We called his adopted mother Athai Paati. She died when she was 75. She lived alone almost all her life and only the last year of her life, she lived with us. She suffered almost for 5 months before she died. The last 2 months, she lost her memory. It was really bad. My mom bathed her, dressed her, fed her, cleaned her and did everything for her. Soon after her death, we moved to another town.

Six years later, Dad’s parents came and lived with us on and off for around 3 years. My grandpa fell in the bathroom, broke his leg and was bed ridden for 2 months before he passed away. He was 90. Then my Grandma lived with my Uncles and Aunts for a while before coming back to my parents. Whenever my parents were traveling abroad or moving to another town, she ll live with the other sons and daughters. After my parents came back to our home town, she started living here. Now even when my parents travel, she continues to live alone in her down stairs room. A cook brings her food and since my uncle lives close by, he takes care of her. She’s 90 years old now.

My grand father's other sister who did nt have children either asked her brother for a child to adopt. So my dad’s younger brother was given in adoption to her. She died within a year of adopting my Uncle. Her husband, my grand uncle, is the one who is 96 now and living with my Uncle. The grand aunt I told about earlier is his sister. Her story is a tragedy. She got married in her teens. Her husband did nt want to live with her as she was dark and ugly. She came back to her village and lived with her family. After a decade or probably less, her husband died. She shaved her head, adorned the widow's attire and lived alone all her life. Last year, she joined an old age home. But she got too sick and wanted to live with my Uncle along with her brother. So she’s currently with my Uncle now. She is 94 and very sick.

My great grand mother had a sister. Her story is the most tragic. She got married when she was around 10 years old. As was custom then, girls got married young, stayed with their parents until puberty and left for the husband’s house afterwards. But after a year or two, her husband died. She became a widow when she was 12. After her puberty, they shaved her head and made her wear the widow’s attire. (My grandma has told me that she had really long and beautiful hair.) So she did nt even see the inside of her in-laws house, I guess. She lived alone almost all her life. I used to be very scared of her as she was a bitter old woman. (I can imagine why!) She died when she was 95.

I wish I had a magic wand with which I can wave and wash away all the worries and troubles of the old. Life is nt worth living long.

ps. If you have a story to tell about the old, please make an effort to write. Don't forget to send me the link. Or you can email me(boobabytalk at gmail dot com) the story and I can put it in this blog. It can be about anything:
The problems the old face.
The dilemmas our parents face caught between the old and the young. (I am currently writing a post on this topic.)
The customs and beliefs which make life more difficult.
Or anything which comes to your mind when you think about the old.

I would love to know more about this topic from you.

My gullible baby!

I am sitting on the bed and watching "America's next top model"(Some old season!) on TV. I have closed the door since the AC is on. Ashu, as she does every 10 or 15 minutes, calls out "Amma! Amma!" and prompted by my dad comes and knocks the door. She is too short to open the door by herself and I am too lazy to get up from the bed and open the door. Also, Tyra is about to criticize the contestants photos. So I shout "Amma is not in here" and Ashu believes me and runs away. My poor darling! Either she thought Amma is always right and if she says so, then she might not be in there(!) or she was just reassured with my voice and went back to play with Grandpa. I could nt help laughing. I heard my dad telling Ashu "Amma is lying, She is in there" and she came back and knocked again. And I shouted again that I was nt in there and she ran away again. But this time I opened the door and said "Gotcha!" She came running to me and gave a hug. One of those sweet nothings! :)

Baby's day out!

Sitting on this swing was a little scary but fun!










And it was fun to feed the cow too... until she licked my hand! Yuck!








And this was a big deer. I saw several and a small one too. Amma sang "Maan kuttiye, pulli maan kuttiye"! I dont think she meant me this time!



Being chased by the Geese was no fun, I tell you. And with Amma and Grandpa screaming at Paati to run, I thought I will have to face the geese alone! But the good Paati picked me up and ran. Now THAT was fun! :)

Heights tag.

Height of Embarrassment - Ashu refusing to say a word when guests come home. And they ask me, "Does she talk?"

Height of Perfection - Ashu trying to keep her bottle straight on the table after she finishes her milk. She will stand on her toes and keep it straight but not sideways.

Height of Cruelty - She will dangle a piece of biscuit near my mouth and I would say no thanks. But she will persist. When I open my mouth, she will promptly put it in her mouth and run away.

Height of Anger - Ashu screwing up her face and pushing me away if I so much as touch my father. If I hug him, she gets mad and starts screaming.

Height of Comparison - Whenever she pulls my long ear rings, she will touch her ears to see if by magic she has long ear rings too!

Height of Choosiness - Picking out one book from the book shelf and holding it for months as her favorite. She won’t make another one her favorite until I hide the book or she does permanent damage to it!

Height of Vigilance - As soon as the mobile phone rings, she ll figure out where the phone is, run to it and bring it back to my dad to answer.

Height of Promptness - She always closes anything she opens. Firmly. The cupboards, bottles, boxes, doors, ...

Height of Desperation - Ashu closing the bedroom door and going and lying on the bed waiting for me when I delay to put her to sleep.

Height of Brilliance - As soon as we gave her the numbers book, she started associating. Now she says too, thee, fo, chix, nain,... looking at the phones, calendar or wherever she sees numbers.

Height of Frustration - Ashu trying to turn the back cover of a book thinking that there is another page sticking to it and crying in frustration when she cant!

Height of Manners - She says "Thanks" only to me and only when I give her appalam. (papad)

Height of Sharing - Ashu giving a toy to the kid who comes home so that she can snatch the toy that the kid is holding.

Height of Caring - Whenever I hurt myself and scream with pain, Ashu will come running to me with a concerned look on her face. I ll smile and tell her Im alright and she will smile back sheepishly.

Thanks ArtNavy for tagging me. Thanks Itching to Write for starting this tag. This one made me think a lot. And thanks all of you who took this tag because it helped me copy!! ;)

HD,

I miss you. Can you like come back?

Luv,
Boo.

ps. I am sure Ashu will say the same too if she can talk. Dont let her attachment (read as glued to) towards her Thatha fool you. Hes just a rebound.

Bits and pieces.

So many things are happening in my side and each deserves a post of its own. But I will spare you all and just give a glimpse!

On Saturday I am going to my parents place. Will be there for a month and then come back to Bangalore and leave for Zurich by mid Nov, if everything goes as per plan that is!

My moms cleaning the house right now. Which means, we are fighting from morning to night. Dont ask!

Ashu is being extra clingy to my mom and extra stubborn and extra adamant and extra everything. Is this a phase or is it my mom?

HD is in Zurich hunting for a house. It is tougher in Zurich than Basel to get a house I guess. Hope the difference between the two cities ends there. (If by some remote chance, you are reading this from Zurich, can we be friends? If you have a child too, can we be best friends?)

My dads car which we had borrowed all these months went back today loaded with all our luggages. I have no idea why we have so much stuff to take while we travel.

For dinner today I made Kadai paneer WITHOUT turmeric, tomatoes, corn flour(for thickening as it went too watery!) and garam masala because my mom sent all these things in the car. I had to make Kadai Paneer since the paneer I bought a month back was expiring tomorrow!

Just today I remembered that I need to buy at least 2 big packs of diaper as we dont get it in my home town. When I went to the corner pharmacy to buy them, they were out of stock. Another shop where we used to buy also did nt have them. May be Ashu is ready to be potty trained!

When the driver was taking the stuff to the car, Ashu saw him taking the Pooh rocker and leaving the house. She ran behind him shouting "Pooh, Pooh" and started crying. And she has never bothered to sit on it or play with it even for a minute.

I am shocked to see the amount of stuff I have to take for one month. How am I ever going to manage with the measly 20 kgs to Zurich? Daddy, can you send a car there too?

I am hooked on to Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, the celebrity dance show on Sony and Nach Baliye 2 on Star one. But they are so dragging. Especially the one whole hour for eliminating a couple on JDJ. I can as well watch the next day and find out whos missing. Farah Khan on JDJ and Saroj Khan in NB rock as judges. But Shilpa Shetty and Kunal Kohli are total waste. And can Malika Arora Khan please refrain from saying "Yo all were great", "Yo all are cute", "Yo all were brilliant", "Yo all sucked" like a million times. It is so annoying. There are only two shes talking to, right? So why "yo all"?

On the blog front, I have three or more tags on my head. It would be fun to do them. One by one. I also wanted to write a post on a certain issue triggered by another post but dont know where to start. But I will.

Moving.

It's that time of my life again. The one word I have started to hate. Relocation! We are going to Switzerland (again!), to the country Ashu was born. Excited, yes! If I blink and will be in Zurich, that will be great. But no such luck. HD left Bangalore last night and is in Zurich already. It will take a month for our visas to come. So mostly by November, we should be there too. My parents and FIL were here to see him off so it did nt hit me hard, his absence. But when I came back home from the airport to find his black flip-flops lying on the floor and his tooth brush along side mine, I felt very sad. Ashu asked "Appa illaiyaa?" (No Appa?) in the middle of the night and that made me miserable. :(

A depressing week.

17th Sept, Sunday - My Dad arrives after his 3 months trip to the US. Loaded with goodies for Ashu. Happy reunion of Thatha and Pethi.

18th Sept, Monday - My dad and I with Ashu go visit my Aunts house and along with Aunt and Uncle, we go to visit my maternal grandparents. My grandpa seeing my dad after months, chats with him for a long time. Then collapses and falls on the floor unconscious. The doctor who arrives after an hour says he has passed away. He was 82. We had to break the news to my mom who is in the US with my sister.

19th Sept, Tuesday - Funeral.

20th Sept, Wednesday - We are trying tickets for my mom so that she can at least be here before the 10th day ceremony.

21st Sept, Thursday - My moms ticket to Chennai is confirmed. She ll be landing on Saturday. Since my dads stuck with some work, I decide to go to Madras.

22nd Sept, Friday - HD, Ashu and I leave for Chennai.

23rd Sept , Saturday - We all go to the airport to receive mom. She does nt know that I am in Chennai. She comes out late as one of her baggages has nt arrived. Shes in tears when she comes out but when she sees me, her mood changes.

24th Sept, Sunday - All of us back to Bangalore and we drop Mom at my Aunts place. Sad reunion of family.

When my grandpa was lying on the floor, Ashu was pointing at him and saying Thoola, thoola (Sleeping) with her palm on her ears.
It was pathetic when the doctors would nt come home to confirm he was dead. One homeopathy doctor nearby said "I don't know to do that."
Death is scary.
One minute he was talking fine and the next, he was dead.
I am glad I was there near him. Especially since my mom was nt.
My grand mother was so calm and collected. It scared all of us.
On Tuesday, Ashu would nt go near my grandpa. She circled and walked as far away as possible from him. Do young children sense something?
I have no one I can call Thatha now and Ashu has lost her only great grand father.
RIP.

Update on Ashu at 16 months and 3 weeks.

~> She had her first major injury on August 3rd when she fell from the chair and got hurt in her mouth. As she was screaming, I picked her up thinking it was just another bumpy fall when I saw blood. Lots. From her mouth. On the floor. All over her shirt. I called HD and he took her and there was blood dripping on the floor and his T shirt as well. I took a wash cloth and started wiping her mouth. The tissues were turning red by the second. I made her lie down and checked her mouth. It was horrible. I checked the teeth, they were intact. But the upper gum on the right was gory. She had fallen from the chair and got hit at the lower base of the computer table in between her upper lip and the nose. The gum had borne the brunt of the fall. I called the Doctor and she said if the bleeding stops and the teeth are intact, I don't have to worry and gave the name of an ointment. We were deliberating whether to go to the hospital(it was 10 pm by now!) when Ashu went to sleep. The drool from her mouth was staining the pillow red.
The next day, we took her to the doctor. She checked and said it was just a scrape on the gum and as the blood vessel had been cut, there was so much blood. But she could see that it was a pretty bad injury. She said the ointment will heal it fast. Ashu had a swollen lip for a day and could nt open her mouth wide for a couple of days. I did nt give her anything hot to eat for 3 days. She was alright in 5 days. I cried loads after she went to sleep. The incident shook me up.

~> She goes crazy and dances around when Noddy comes on Pogo. Just for the title song and the end credits song. And when Noddy breaks into a song in the episode. Otherwise she has not much interest watching it. She touches the TV and says "NODDY" when he comes on the screen. Sometimes when she gets up from her afternoon nap, she asks "Noddy illaiyaa?" (No Noddy?)

~> She can count. When I say One, she says Too, Thee, Toothee, Theetoo, Toothee, Toothee,...

~> She readily says "Tata" to anyone and everyone. Sometimes she says Tata to me and runs away from the room. When my sister says Tata to her over the phone, she says Tata and runs away from the room too!

~> She still has nt said Appa. When asked where is Appa she points to her father. But she calls him as Amma only. She can say Amma, she can say Paapaa but not Appa. Kids!

~> She likes to fetch things for me. She brings the remote, switches on the fan, picks up things I have dropped, brings the phone, ... Its fun for me! :)

~> Milk, Banana and Yogurt are still her favorite food. She does nt want to try anything new.

~> I took this quiz from the Toddler care book I have and it says Ashu is a Textbook Baby. The other types of babies are Angel, Touchy, Spirited and Grumpy.
*Note to self: Take the quiz again next month.*

~> She has become shy. She does nt say her name or say Hi or answer anything when guests are home. If she likes them, she will give them a smile. Nothing more, nothing less! The minute they leave, she becomes a chatter box.

~> She runs to me calling "Amma, amma amma" as if theres a fire somewhere. But thats all she wants to say. Amma, amma, amma. End of sentence.

~> Other than the eight teeth she has already cut, shes cutting four more, all premolars, at the same time. Ouch!

~> She has got this interest to point at things and say what they are if she knows them. Before I had to ask her a dozen times, now she says them on her own. Car, Kaakaa (crow), Maadu(cow), Noddy, Doggy, Taato(auto), Taater(Water), Book, Aadu(goat), Shoe, Ball,...

~> She still needs two naps in a day. She gets cranky otherwise. I tried to cut the morning nap and planned to make her sleep after lunch. So around 12, I was feeding her rice and half way through she did nt open her mouth and I find her eyes closed and sleeping! That was a first, sleeping while sitting! She looked so cute!

~> She looks like a ballerina wearing just the pink training pants and nothing else! :)

~> She clings to her dad as soon as he come homes from office and would nt come to me. It bothers me. A little bit.

~> Books still rule over toys.

~> She likes to observe the kids more than playing with them when we go to the park. She will stand in a corner and keep on looking at them and will look at me every few minutes and give this absolutely adorable smile as if sharing that special moment with me. She does that even while watching Noddy or some of her favorite songs on TV. I do exactly that with HD when we are watching something nice on TV. But he would never look at me when I'm looking at him and that will piss me off. So when Ashu is watching something, I only watch her. I would nt want to miss that special look and that knowing smile for anything in this world.

Cold feet!

Babies should nt get sick. And can anyone tell me why we don't have a vaccination for common cold or at least some cure? Here we are in this century, in this time with prevention and cure for deadly diseases but we cant protect the kids from a common cold? Is this supposed to be a joke? If you have nt already guessed, Ashu is down with a cold. Running nose, severe cough, vomiting, nose block,... the works! I waited for 2 days but the cough got worse. She does nt know to spit so the phlegm was accumulating. And as soon as I gave the cold medicine she vomited. Which was actually good as the phlegm was out. She was looking miserable. So we went to the Doctor today. We went a little late and there were 5 patients before us. All under five and all of them coughing. Felt a little better! More parents with kids in tow arrived. We heard the Doctor mention the word Chikungunya in the examining room to somebody and all of us went silent and on high alert. I started praying. When our turn came, Ashu took one look at the Doctor and remembered the vaccination she had just 2 weeks back. Stopped crying only when we came out and the doctor did nt even touch her. Anyway, she is okay. Nothing to worry. Just cold. Give this syrup 3 times a day. Admit her in the hospital for some nasal spray if the cough gets worse. Blah blah blah!

Sunday was the worst day in my life. There are different types of worst days and I write this one down so that I can compare notes later when I have another one.

I am tired even when I get up. FIL was here on Friday and Saturday so major cooking, cleaning etc. Then HD had to work this weekend. That is both Saturday and Sunday. Ashu is sick. I am just plain pissed at everything. The day only worsens. Ashu drags a chair near the shelf in her room, stands on it, takes the glass tea light candle stand and drops it on the floor. I am in the hall and hear a shattering noise. I think she has dropped a spoon or something and go to the room. There are a million pieces of glass all over the room. I carry her out and ask her to stay put in the hall when I sweep the whole room and then mop. In the mean time, I have forgotten the milk I had kept on the stove. I don't know how but it explodes and there is milk everywhere in the kitchen. I clean. In the mean time, Ashu has opened a cup board and takes out all the 101 things from there and spreads them across the hall. She tears the Tinkle book and is on her way to my precious Calvin & Hobbes book when I save it from her. I clean. Fast forwarding the soosoo cleaning and poopoo cleaning and we get to night time. After finishing her milk, she goes to sleep around 8.30 pm. I go to eat my dinner. (HD is nt home yet, by the way!) As soon as I begin to eat, she gets up and cries. Her nose is blocked and shes struggling to breathe. But the cold medicine has made her drowsy and her eyes are closed. I put the nose drops and put her in the crib. She stands on the crib and cries even while her eyes are closed. I bring her to our bed. She lies tummy down and vomits. All over her, me , the bed, the pillow and the blanket. I remover her clothes and change her while shes crying her lungs out. Her eyes are still closed. I wash up and change. But she would nt let me change the sheets. I just wipe it clean as much as I can. Then she goes to sleep but opens her eyes as soon as I put her in the crib. So I put her in our bed in one corner as the middle of the bed is still wet. I lie down with her for a while. I just want to die. I am exhausted. But I still have some cleaning up to do. I come out of the room and eat my dinner. I wash the stinky blanket and the clothes and hang them for drying. I clean the bathroom as it is stinking too. I rant about my worst day to my sister on Skype and go to sleep around 12. HD is still not home.

No means No!

Ashu has got this annoying habit of saying Nanah(NO!) to anything and everything these days. She first said Nanah a couple of months back when I asked her if she wanted some water. Then Nanah to juice, biscuits, cheerios,... Food types, basically. But never Nanah to milk though! Whenever we ask her "what do you want", she promptly says "Paal" (Milk). Even when she has just finished a bottle of milk, she ll answer that question with "Paal". The other day she got up in the middle of the night and cried and I consoled her and asked her why she was crying. She said "Paal" and went back to sleep the next second. I laughed so much. Anyway, she has realized the potential of saying Nanah and has started applying it for stuff other than food too.

"Ashu, say hallo to grandma on the phone". Nahnah.
"Ashu say Hi to the baby". Nahnah.
"Ashu blow me a kiss". Nahnah.
"Ashu come here". Nahnah.

She says Nanah when some stranger tries to carry her. When I take her from HD. When HD takes her from me. When we leave the park. When we enter the house. When I want to try a dress on her in a shop. Not even try on her. I just wanted to keep the pants on her waist and check the length, thats all. As soon as I went to her with the pants, she said Nahnah and moved away. The attendant there was really amazed. She thought Ashu did nt like those pants and asked me to try another one! It has nt come to that yet lady! Don't put ideas on my child's mind! Its really embarrassing sometimes. We went to a temple on Ganesh Chaturthi and the priest there gave the Prashad(Sweet poha!) to Ashu. Nanah indeed! So HD got it from the priest and put one morsel in her mouth and she promptly spat it out. It was not "I don't like it so I'm spitting it". It was definitely "I said Nanah and you still force me to eat it? I am spitting it". Generally she does nt like sweets. More spicy type like me! So only to Perumal Kovil hereafter for some Puliyodharai, methinks! And here I am thanking her a hundred times a day for stuff I don't even have to say thank you for and she still has nt mastered that word. Kids these days I tell you...

The pain of Potty training.

1. It is frustrating.

2. It requires a lot of patience and I don't even know why we have to do it. I mean, I can afford diapers even until Ashu goes to college. I don't care about the environment. Theres no water scarcity or wet wipes scarcity! No rashes or allergy to be worried about. And I care a foot about my neighbor who has told me to potty train Ashu like a million times.

3. After 16 months of peepee-free, poopoo-free life, its very tough to adjust now.

4. The entire day, I either spend in the toilet urging her to peepee and poopoo or on the lookout for where shes going to "go" next. Because as soon as she finishes, she ll start tap-dancing on "it"! And sometimes slip and fall and hurt herself.

5. She goes #1 while sitting on my lap, while standing on the bed, while walking, while running, while lying down on her tummy,... spraying everything within a foot radius. But shes discreet when it comes to BMs. Always chooses a corner. Thank God for small mercies!

6. Currently the whole house is her bathroom and she pretty much goes anywhere and everywhere. I clean up the floor like I have never cleaned in my entire life and bathe Ashu every time she goes.

7. After telling about 100 times, you would think that a child will understand what you are asking her to do right? But she is clueless. Wonder what goes through her mind.

8. Today Madam climbs on the bed and goes #1. I finish hanging the clothes in the balcony and come back inside to see soggy wet bedsheets and mattress. I blew my fuse. For the first time, I really, really screamed at her. I screamed so badly that she started crying and I got furious and dragged her out of the bedroom. Then I locked myself in the bedroom while changing the bed sheets and drying the mattress with a hair dryer. The hair dryer died on me after 10 minutes. All the while I could hear Ashu crying in the hall. It took a while to calm myself. Then I sat with Ashu and told her NOT to go on the bed hereafter. She of course had no clue what I was talking about! Like I said, it is FRUSTRATING! :(

ps. To be filed under "Posts to be deleted as soon as Ashu learns to read".
ps2. Neha, not so cute anymore. Is she?

1.

I have never kept a hobby for this long. You must be really special. Happy FIRST Birthday, Blog! I love you. :)

ps. Do you like your new dress?

Dear Thatha,

7 years ago, this day, I was holding your hand when you breathed your last. I felt terrible that you would nt be there for my wedding. You would have liked my husband. I am glad you at least saw his photo before you passed away. I get immense pleasure whenever someone from the family says that Ashu resembles you. Nothing can make me more happy than that comparison. I hope she is as honest, as hard working, as noble and as loving as you. Watch out for her. Always. I miss you. Lots.

Your favorite Grand daughter.

The case of the missing tomatoes!

The other day I took a tomato from the bowl to make a sandwich. I found that some tomatoes were missing. Since I had bought a kilo of tomatoes only the previous day, it was easy to see that some were gone. Theres only one little thief in our house. Usually, it is onions and potatoes as they are in the lower shelf. Tomatoes and Bananas are in the top shelf. The thief cannot reach the top shelf or so I thought! The enquiry started. "Ashu! where are the tomatoes?" She gives me an innocent look and runs to the hall. I follow her and see a tomato under the sofa. When I go and pick it up, the thief runs to the kitchen. I follow her and Voila! the secret place is found. Behind the fridge! I retrieved almost half a kilo of tomatoes from there. I guess she was doing it for the past week or so taking one or two at a time and stashing it there! No wonder I was buying tomatoes very often! Wonder what she was planning to cook! Its not even my birthday or something... ;)

Krishna Nee Begane Baaro!

Come back as Jesus,
Come back and save the world .
Bless all the future of every boy and girl.
Come back as Rama, Forgive us for what we've done
Come back as Allah, Come back as anyone...

Security Check.

After reading about the strict security measures at the airports, I thought this is what it would come to at the end. And then I get this cartoon in an Email forward. Hmm...!

From here.

Googled.

Its my turn to write a post on google searches. I have had a few funny(read as porn) searches which have landed on my blog. But this one takes the cake. How can I not write a post tell me?

how to ask your hubby to come back for dinner

So this woman makes dinner and waits for her hubby to come home. He does and for one of those million reasons a couple can fight, they do. It happens. Its normal. Happened like a dozen times(ok ok. way more than that!) with me too. What do I do? I call him to eat. Like any man with a spine, he refuses. I call him again. I plead, I beg, I threaten. Mostly one or the other works. But this woman goes and googles "how to ask your hubby to come back for dinner"! To be honest, I have googled my share of weird things too. One of them was about men peeing while standing. Well, I had to get my facts right before getting into an argument, right? A girl has gotta do what a girl has gotta do especially when shes the one cleaning the toilet. Agree? Well, come on now! Whats your weird google search? Confess!

ps. A piece of advice for the woman who landed in my useless blog, "Let him starve, Girl!". (Unless you are planning to poison him! In that case, good luck!)

pps. I almost forgot. The person who googled for "mother breast feeding photos" - I sincerely hope your baby had some latching on problems and you just wanted to see how other babies do it. If not, nice NOT to know you!

Update: Regarding the pps, I guess its confusing. So heres my take - People who googled for those photos in a good way, I am sorry if I have offended you. The "nice NOT to know you" is for the pervs. (Not that you care but anyway...!) Clear?

Dear Ashu,

Every time Amma goes into the bathroom, she will definitely come out. She cant dig a tunnel in the bathroom and escape. She sometimes wonders about it though. It feels great that you think Amma is more important than a cartoon show. It feels nice when you follow Amma to the loo when you can actually raid the fridge. She also feels happy that you need her so much. But then no one absolutely no one, that includes you too, can ever knock on the door and scream at her to come out. Amma has nightmares still about the times when she was in the college hostel and could nt take a decent shower without someone knocking on the door and asking "How long will it take?" and then keeping their red buckets at the door claiming the right to use the bathroom next. She hated that. Now she has to relive the trauma all over again, thanks to you . But this time she is not even showering, for Gods sake!
Luv,
Boo.

Tagged.

Tagged for the first time by Wundergal and Ardra. It's always good the first time, is nt it?! ;-)

I am thinking about whether to make this post funny or serious!

I said "Sit" to my daughter an hour back. No! No spelling mistake there. I actually wanted her to sit down! :)

I want to ban stupid movies. Wajah- A reason to kill on Sony is the reason. I would nt want my enemy to sit through this movie. And I have nt even watched 30 minutes of it!

I wish I could sing. The talent I see these days is making me so jealous!

I miss my mom who's having fun in the US with my sister! *Death to sharing!*

I hear Sarasa Logha song from the movie Pachakuthira in musicindiaonline. Awesome. I think I will be hooked to it it until I see the song! (Remember Mayilirahe?)

I wonder how blissful my life would have been if I was still single. I think that quite often actually. I hate the responsibilities that come with marriage!

I regret not having the guts to say what I think. No one can say what they think all the time. But I lack the guts even for simple stuff.

I am what I think I am. Sometimes I am a coward, a pessimist. sometimes I am strong, positive. Most of the times I am just confused!

I dance without any inhibition. I love dancing. I regret the day I ran away from the Bharathnaryam class when I was 6. My mom should have tried again the next year! :(

I sing a lot now to rock Ashu to sleep. Mostly Tamil movie songs. I suck. I cant hear myself! No wonder Ashu goes to sleep immediately!

I am not ambitious.

I cry at the drop of a hat. This one time I cried while watching Nine months when Hugh Grant apologizes to Julianne Moore. I was nt even married then. Probably I would cry buckets now if I watch the movie again. Or maybe not!

I'm not always patient. I hate that about myself.

I make with my hands pencil sketches, drawings, greeting cards, food,...

I write so that I can read it again when I am old and laugh at myself.

I confuse motherhood and having a life.

I need compliments. I thrive on them. *Let the comments start rolling!*

I should spend more time with my child rather than reading about other peoples children. God that makes me so guilty. "Go away Ashu. Go play while Mom reads what Dooce has written about her daughter!"

I tag 3 mommies and 1 daddy, if they are interested that is!
Aparna
Dadoji
Mad momma
Tharini

Vaccination.

Ashu got her vaccination shots yesterday for MMR and Chicken pox. One in each arm. :(

Anyway, just thought to write some stuff as a reminder for myself. It might help young parents in India too.

1.Dress the child right. If the shot is going to be administered in the arms, make them wear a sleeveless top or some top in which the sleeves can be easily rolled up. Otherwise it is a pain to taken them off and even more painful to put them on again when the child is screaming her lungs off. Unlike in Europe or US, here they don't remove the clothings of the child. They even weigh the child with the clothes on!

2. Try to buy the vaccines,syringe, etc.. the previous day itself. Some vaccines you might have to store in the fridge, so ask the Doctor about it. Also the paediatric medicines or vaccines are usually not available in all the medical shops. You get them only in the medical shops the Doctor suggests or the ones near the Doctors clinic/hospital. If the Dr's appointment is before 9 am, then the chances of the medical shop being closed is more. So check out the timings.

3. Finish off all the formalities before the child gets the shots. Ask all the Q's you want, get the appointment for the next visit, get the prescription, write down all the details of the vaccination. Even pay the fees. Because once the child gets the shots, all you would want is to get out.

4. Take a bottle of water or milk if that will pacify your child. Or some biscuits or her favorite toy.

5. In Swiss, the doctor used to keep a ball of cotton and put a band aid over it after the shot to stop the bleeding. But here, the Dr just asks you to press the cotton tightly on her arm where the shot was given. Its really stupid as its impossible to hold the baby still. Either go with a band aid or ask the Dr beforehand for a plaster.

6. Usually there is a vaccination report card where all the details of the vaccines given for the child is noted down, in Swiss. No such thing here. But you might require it if you travel abroad. So you can ask the Dr to write the details in her prescription pad and sign it.

7. Some vaccines cost around Rs.2000 so go with enough cash.

Thats all I can think of. Life really revolves around the child for me, no?! :)

Movies and popcorn.

Watched 2 movies in the last 2 weeks on the big screen. That makes a grand total of five movies in one year. Not a bad record with a baby, I should add. The first four times, my mom baby sat Ashu while HD and I went for the movies while yesterday HD stayed home with Ashu while I went with my cousins and nieces. There were 6 of us and we had a blast. But the movie was a dud! (We knew that beforehand. Thats the reason HD decided to be all nice and stayed home!) My seven year old niece loved it though! Oops, I did nt mention the name of the movie, did I? It was Krrish! Ok, so have you stopped laughing now? Read on then! The first half was at least watchable but the second half was OH MY GOD horrible! My cousin and I were passing our own comments and were laughing so hard. That was the fun part. As if the movie was nt irritating enough, there were loads and loads of product placements too. It was nt like the occasional coke cans here and there but was 'on your face' and annoying. I could spot all these brands in absolutely unnecessary scenes:

Bournvita
Tide
Hero Honda
Boroplus
Vicks
Lays
Siarams
Samsung

The hilarious part is when grandma Rekha pours Tide detergent into a bucket standing in the middle of a beautiful living room. I mean, give me a break. And in the next scene, the Tide packet is sitting on the kitchen shelf next to the stainless steel tumblers! I would have appreciated a free sample, for Gods sake! Hrithik was good though. Poor thing has poured his soul for this dud. Priyanaka's make up was horrible in some scenes. I don't even know the first thing about professional make up and I could see what a blotchy make up it was! And she was Miss World? Hmm...!

Mission Impossible 3 was the other movie we watched. Loved it.

"I'd marry him!"

In the movie, two women who come to the engagement party of Tom Cruise and his fiancée (whoever she is, I don't care!) say that to each other after talking to Tom for a few minutes! I agree! :-D *drools*

ps.
Why do parents bring babies to the theater? The father was taking the screaming baby out of the hall 5 or 6 times. And the noise was horrible. I tightly shut my ears during all the song and action sequences. It was damn loud. Show some mercy to the babies people!

pps.
Try the Schezwan popcorn at the Innovative multiplex in Bangalore when you go next time. Very good. Made watching Krrish worthwhile! :)

If you know what I mean...

I really wish I were old. Whenever I do this uncool thing, I wish I were around 50 so that the thing I do is nt uncool. I mean is there any cool way to get the idli batter out of a grinder? (I mean the wet grinder here and not the mixer grinder!) How much ever you try, you have to use your hands ultimately to take the batter out and then scrape your hand in the storage vessel. Yucks! And I still waste a good amount of the maavu (batter) stuck in the grinder. How my mom wipes the grinder clean is beyond me. Anyway, I worked like a dog today around the house. I wish I cleaned the house everyday. But unfortunately no such determination or OCD. I always postpone housework until some guests arrive. It happens that this weekend we are having visitors and I ended up doing everything in one day. Clean the shelves, cup boards, make Idli maavu(thats how the uncool thing happened!), arrange the closets, clean TV, computer,.. All while dragging Ashu as she had tightly hugged my legs! Poor thing, never saw her mom so worked up before! The tough part was cleaning the fridge inside out as it has been ages since my fridge had some fresh air for more than 5 seconds!! (You must have got it by now who's coming if I am cleaning my fridge right? If not, ignorance is bliss!)

Usually I have loads of time to write but nothing comes to my mind. But sometimes it so happens that you will have loads of interesting stuff but no time or energy! So see you on the other side of a pretty long weekend! ;)

Girl next door.

Theres a big apartment complex near my apartment. They have a play area for children with swings, slides, see-saws, etc... and in the evenings I stand on my balcony with Ashu and show her what a play area looks like! (We occasionally go to parks when it does nt rain but shes still too small for everything and there are no baby swings anywhere! This info so that no one sues me for being a bad mom!) Anyway, every evening I see a young girl of about 6 or 7 years old. She looks like a servant maid. She comes with a 2 year old girl and baby-sits her. Even though the child can swing on her own, the girl keeps her on her lap and swings. Until some mother comes with her child and asks her to move. Then she slides with the child on her lap. Then the see-saw. She puts the child in one end and she sits in the middle and rocks.
I don't want to know what she does in the day time.

'BOMB'AY.

Nothing shocks me anymore. And that is really worrying. All I can think is, what is this World coming to?
Let Peace prevail!

ps. And yes, Rajdeep Sardesai was absolutely insensitive. I just wanted to wipe the smirk off his face!

It’s all coming back to me now.

Agreed that you are always in praise about your hubby when you are newly married and can’t stop talking about him to Tom, Dick and Harry telling them how great he is. You have to prove to the whole world, the ex boy friends, the ex girl friends, the current friends, the cousins and their likes what a great catch you have landed. You believe you are perfectly made for each other and go on and on about it to your friends. How smart he is, what fun he is! The gifts he showers on you. You love to swap hubby stories among your friends and wait for an opportunity to tell them about the surprise dinner he cooked for you on your birthday. You can’t believe how some wives can complain about their husbands so openly and secretly thank God that you have nt ended up with a husband like theirs. You vow never to be like them. You never ever tell anybody about the fights. You quit a perfectly nice job and follow him to the end of the Earth. (I remember a week after getting married I told my sister, "I can’t live without my hubby"! Yikes! It sound so foolish now but if I go back in time, I would say the same thing again, I’m sure. Only more confidently perhaps. Ah! Those were the days!)

But after 5 or 6 years, it should stop. It will stop! Then you will tell only the things you mean. You would advise your 21 year old cousin not to get married so soon. You would tell your 27 year old single friend how lucky she is not to have got caught in marriage and its responsibilities. You would ask your parents why they believe in a stupid institution. You would tell your husband that your pre-married life was bliss. Not that you are nt in love anymore, but because you grow up!

ps. Absolutely my personal experience. Just replace the "you"s with "I"s if you don’t agree! And this post is dedicated to everyone who think couples are caught in loveless marriages after reading their blogs! ;)

Ashu - Dated today.

~> She is almost 14 months old.

~> She saw her first rainbow today.

~> "Suttum vizhi" song from the movie Ghajini is still her favorite.

~> Since she has done damage to her favorite Noddy book, he has been retired.

~> Her favorite is a book with pictures of animals now. Of the 35 animals in it, she points to the goat and says "Aadu". I am really proud of her!

~> She calls me, her dad and my mom as "Amma". Even though I pretend as if it does nt bother me, actually it does a little bit!

~> The fevicol bond is still stronger between her and my dad. I am still amazed why.

~> When asked what her name is, she very cutely says "Taashi". I am thinking about renaming her!

~> When a guest gave her a book she took it from him and said "Thans" much to my amazement. But has nt repeated it since then. Guess I was just hearing things!

~> She can point where her head, ears, ear ring, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, tummy, hands and legs are. But she always gets only 8/10 things right. Did I say I am proud of her?

~> She loves kids and calls everyone under ten as "Paapaa".

~> She unscrews her ear studs and loses them. Once she put one of them in her mouth and gave me a heart attack.

~> If you give her a box or a bag full of assorted stuff, she ll be occupied for 20 minutes. But the same box/bag won’t work the second time. Because we have photographic memory!

~> When my 3 year old niece comes home to play, Ashu does nt share her toys with her and snatches them from her. She also does nt like it when my dad holds other babies in his arms. I am really wondering where she inherited this from?!!

~> Her shaved head is really funny to touch now!

~> She is still in the "beautiful-in-every-photo" phase! Probably she ll be as long as I live!

My Hero.

While all my classmates would pee in their pants at the thought of being asked to bring one of their parents to school by the teacher, I waited eagerly for an opportunity like that all my school and college life. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for the teachers, it never happened. Actually it happened once but did nt turn out like I wanted it to. I was 13 years old and did nt go to school one day when there was a History test scheduled. The next day the teacher asks me why I had nt come to school the previous day and I say I was sick. "Bring your father to school tomorrow", says she. After school, I go home and tell my dad to drop me at school the next day as the History Miss wants to meet him. He does. I take him to the Staff room and introduce him to my history miss. She asks, "Yes, what do you want?" I am puzzled. I tell her "You asked me to bring my father." She’s puzzled now. "Oh? Ok. So she was sick day before? She did nt come to school." My father: "Yes she was and she told you that did nt she?" "Well ok then!" says the teacher. My father: “You can take her word hereafter. She does nt lie. I don’t have to come to the school all the way for this, ok?" The teacher nods her head and tells me to run to the class as the lessons are going to start. I smile at my dad and run away. The funny thing about all this is I LIED. I was nt sick. I did nt study for the test and bunked school. My dad knew it too! I have never been so proud of him! He picked up a fight with my sisters school head master too in a similar incident but that time my sister was right and he stuck to her side.

To be honest, my parents overdid it. No one can get away with saying anything not-so-nice about their daughters. All my uncles and aunts would complain about their kids like they are nt studying; they are lazy; they are irresponsible, etc... But my parents would always compliment us. She has got first rank, she got first prize,.. .which was nt always true. Till this day my dad tells everyone that I was school first in my 12th board exams when I was only second. My best friend was first and when I remind him of that, he says "She’s also like my daughter!" What a logic, huh? All my classmates were really jealous of me to have such a cool dad. That he hit me unlike any other dad of my friends was another issue. But at least I could bunk school whenever I wanted to do! I don’t know how I turned out the way I turned out. I drew the line myself and did nt cross it and it worked out fine for me. My sister is the golden girl. She aced through school and college without my parents uttering the word "study" ever. We studied because we wanted to study. I know lots of children need to be told what to do and may be this method would have been disastrous for another child. But I loved my dad for what he did for me. I knew I could count on him and he would be on my side against anything in this world. That trust is something I treasure. He has always been a phone call away. When I called him from college, the first thing he would ask is "When do you want to come home?" He would judge my mood just from my "hello". I would go home for holidays and keep on postponing the trip back to college. He ll take me to the bus stand and as soon as the "Trichy" bus comes, I ll have a frog in my throat and tell him "I ll go tomorrow Pa." He ll immediately take me back home without a question. One time, this went on for 3 days continuously and on Thursday my dad said, "Stay here for the weekend. You can go on Monday". I readily agreed and left for sure on Monday. I can’t remember what went through my mind. Why did nt I quit college like Rupa did? Or why did nt I go to college without a single leave of absence like Shanti did? Puzzling!

There have been millions of instances when I have called him in a helpless situation knowing full well he would be helpless too. But just talking to him and having him worry for me made me feel better. When I was in Bangalore alone and HD was in Swiss and my dad in Coimbatore, I had a flat tyre with my Kinetic Honda. I stood in the middle of the road not knowing what to do. I called HD from my mobile! (Yes, to Switzerland!) He did nt pick up the phone. I called my dad then. He asked me to enquire in a shop for a garage nearby. I asked a pharmacist and he told me there was one in that corner. I walked there and got it fixed. After I got engaged, I was really scared to get married and go and live with almost-strangers. Every night I would pick a fight with my parents and tell them that they were heartless to make me go live like that.

Me: What would I do for money? Do I have to ASK "them" for money?
Dad: I ll open a bank A/c for you and get a cheque book.
Me: What would I do if they ask me to wash all their clothes?
Dad: They have a washing machine.
Me: I dreamt** that the machine was broke and they asked me to wash all their clothes by hand.
Dad: In that case, just pack your bags and come home.
Mom: *going bonkers* WHAT? What kind of advice is that? Will you please shut up!
Me: What? I can’t come home Ma?
Dad: Don’t care what she says. You can come anytime you want to.
Me: *mighty pleased* So have you decided the menu for the reception dinner?

I know I sound so stupid and naive but I have my own super-hero to think for me! :) So here’s to you dad! Happy Fathers Day!

ps. HD, take a hint and start doing something if you want Ashu to write about you fondly in her blog. I am pretty sure I have blown my chance already! ;)

pps. My dad has fallen greatly in my dad-scale since my daughter’s birth but has already passed with honors in Ashus grand dad scale. So no complaints there!

** I really dreamt that! :)