Our Boy Wonder.....

Akku talk

2011-12-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

I have hardly written anything since a long time ..there has been so many things which i thought i had to write down but I never did ..for starters Akshaj is finally speaking a lot ..Ok not a lot if you compare with other kids his age but still so much that sometimes I just wish somebody else will answer him for a change.Some tidbits which I remember

JAB AKKU BIG HOGA :

In kichen when making dosa for him
Akku:mama tumne dosa batter laaya
me :yes
Akku:abhi tum ghee dalogi
me :yes
akku:(after pouring the batter) mama isko round round karo,turn karo turn karo
akku:main bhi karunga
me:no tum jal jaoge
akku:akku jab he big hoga fir karega,(that is what i tell him)
me :yes
akku:tab mama small ho jayegi
me:no mama old ho jayegi,to akku karega
akku:tab mama baithi rahegi, mama angootha piyegi(that is what he loves doing left alone sitting sucking his thumb)
me : wondering what to say

***********************

while giving him bath

akku:main apne ap nayee nayee kar loona
me :no abhi akku small hai jab big hoga to karega
akku:jab akku big hoga fir mama small hogi ,fir akku mama ko nayee nayee karega

somehow he has this concept in his head when he will become big I will become small ..wonder from where that came from ??

MONEY MATTERS

Akku: mama mujko magic jana( magic is our local grocery store)
me: kyon
akku:meriki sari choclate kahatam ho gaye aur mereka juice aur gems bhi khatam ho gaya
me :but mere pass paise nahi hai ,papa ne nahi diye
akku:(just after puneet returns from office) papa tumne mama ko paise kyon(nahi) diye (akku says ulta for no ye will for get to add nahi )

so after one week me and akku are just storlling outside home

akku:mama tumke pass paise hain
me :(wondering what he is getting to )yes
akku:tumko papa ne paise de diye
me :ok now i am stuck

This one I hope he does not say often

some of my salwar suit were in car,which puneet brought up

Akku:papa kya laye
papa:mama ke liye suit
akku:mama ke liye suit kyon laye,mama ke pass to hai na

Some things he very consistently does like he will call papa and ask

akku:papa tum akku ke liye kuch la rahe ho
papa :nahi
akku:crying ,mama papa akku ke liye kuch nahi la rahe
papa:ok ,kuch launga
akku:(just opening the door when puneet comes from office) papa akku ke liye kuch laye

(puneet rarely used to bring anything from office but maa baap apne bachoo ke liye kya kya nahi karte)
now adays after getting his something from papa he asks
papa tum mama ke liye kuch laye (which is asking too much from him)

*****************
If he does something wrong like tears off a paper i ask him

me:ye paper kyon fada
akku:(in all seriousness) wo akku ko paper fadnaa tha na isliye fadaa

*************
sleeping arrangement issue

we live in 2BHK ,akku loves when somebody comes over and stays overnight

but he has been bothered by sleeping issue off late

These days puneet's cousins keep visit bangalore and one of them is staying with us now another of his cousin come, so akku comes in kichen and asks

akku:mama chachu kahan soyenge
me :wo dusere chachu ke sath soyenge

i was also telling him his grandparents are also going to come soon

akku:fir dadi-babu kahan soyehge
me:wo dusere room main
akku:fir chachu chale jayege tab dadi babu aayenge
me:no chachu bhi honge fir aayenge
akku:ohhh fir chachu kahan soyenge

poor boy is really tensed...and he really is tensed about this topic
****************
KAUN ACCHA -MAMA KI PAPA

yeah the famous battle who is better 'mama' ki 'papa' has started

puneet :kaun accha mama ki papa
akku:papa
puneeet:kaun bahaut accha mama ki papa
akku :papa
puneet:kaun bahut hi bahut accha
akku:papa (by this time i start making very sad faces)
puneet:kaun infinite times accha mama ki papa
akku :mama
puneet:papa bolna tha na
akku:papa fir mama sad ho jayegi na

this he will say for either for us depending on the answer he gives,but sadly papa does win this favorite contest mostly

2 to 3...the year which we remember it was ..

2011-09-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

This is a guest post by Puneet ...this is a long pending post ..but since I don't feel like writing much these days so Puneet took this it upon himself(with generous coaxing from me)) to update the blog

Dear Akshaj,

So you are a 3 year old boy, though from the looks and weight you still looks 2+ only and for us you always be dear baby.
its been a year of some achievements, some usual worries and lots of fun time growing with you
At the start of your 3rd year you had started speaking little bit but still there were worries but now you can speak very well, Thanks to God and your speech therepy teachers.

The biggest worry came when we went for your 2nd year routine eye check up and got to know that there is some power in your eyes and you may have to use the glasses,and this year(3rd year) check up confirmed that you have to use the specs soon. This was a little sad news for all of us , specially for mummy as she used to praise always about your eyes how beautiful these are and all...and to grand parents who were so emotional to know this, we adjusted to this and have made up our mind as well now for your spec and we are preparing you as well...so this is gonna be an excitement now how many specs you break and how comfortable you become with them

Other achievement for your mom was that to get rid of you bottle. With Dada dadi at home you had a luxury of having milk from bottle. So getting rid of milk bottle included the risk of not having milk at all and we were not so ready for that, seeing your food habits and weight issues. Mom took the bold step..First she quit her job and in that process you had to quit the bottle...(Poor dad for a milk bottle quitting a job is not a good idea by any means but who can say what)offcourse the milk intake become less but it was supplemented with milk made dishes.

2nd achievement was to get you "su-su" trained and now you are almost 100% "su-su" trained in the day time
you got you first bicycle and soon mastered it and infact you have now got some different usage of cycle which keeps us always on toes and keep giving us minor heart attacs . Like you use cycle to press the lift button,cycling with eyes closed,looking down below from railing etc.

The biggest of all is that you started going to school and you are loving your school. and we are pleasantly surprised to hear so many positive feedback for you from the teachers. workaholic kid, very social...we are just amazed to know.....hope u continue the same way

You are also showing some amazing memory these days ..like when mama and you had gone to nani place ,mama had brough a hand towel from there and she totally forgot it is from nani place till one day you saw it and quizzed mama 'ye kahan se aaya' ..poor mama's all grey cells couldn't figure out the answer till you helpfully said..'ye nani ne diya hai'

Happy Birthday Post -Akshaj turned 3!!

2011-08-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

Long overdue post ....this year it was quite a simple birthday ...This year his hindu calender birthday came before the other one ...we just went to temple but it was bigger celebrations in his grandparents home,where they did the puja and had invited people over.There normally b'days are celebrated according to hindu calender and ladies get together and sing songs together followed by food...so we heard it was quite nice celebrations there ....This is him going to the temple

He was quite looking forward to his birthday and he would keep saying 'Akku ka kya aane wala hai " again and again...and when we would asked him what he wants for his birthday he would say ..bahut sare choclate ..bahut sare biscuits aur bahut sare colours ...finally we gave him a scooter..actually we brought this one week before b'day when we had gone to buy something else.So he saw the box and then for next 1 week we had to tell him scooter has gone for repairs to mechanic whenever he would ask for it.

He celebrated his b'day in school for the first time ...we gave juice and chocolate for everybody but he didn't like it one bit as we heard from his teachers ..he really felt bad giving his juices and chocolates to everybody in school.

But he did at had lots of fun in his home birthday ...we did a kind of baccha and mom party this time in our home..singing happy birthday for himself

He had wanted a chocolate cake for his birthday and he thoroughly devoured it :-)

Some of times he was caught in the act

Trip down Hometown

2011-07-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

There was a marriage to attend on Puneet's hometown so a short trip to Akshaj's nanu-nani house followed by Puneet's hometown Almora for marriage was done.Everybody was so looking forward to see Akshaj since nobody of our relatives has seen him from since he was 6 months old.So being the centre of attention he had blast of a time.First stop his nanu-nani's house he had lots of fun scaring off monkeys. Seeing monkeys he would ape his nanu and would take a stick and say shout on top of his lungs .Since otherwise he rarely speaks loudly my parents were saying at least this way they can hear him speak .He even had his first pipe bath there.Infact he saw his first water-pipe (one to water plants) there .Then he saw hand- pump and ricksaw there first time.He loved jumping on this sofa in nanu's house..

Next stop was Puneet's hometown Almora which is a quite picturisque hill station.It really took lots of efforts to show and explain what are 'mountains' to Akku.Whenever I would say see mountains he would look out and ask where are they ...I am not sure if he really understood !!

Akshaj was really very happy to see his grandparents after a gap of 2 months.Since I had quit work they went back to Almora and Akshaj was so looking forward to seeing them specially his grandfather after the gap.They were quite a team here and he really jumped on his 'godi' when he finally saw him.And rest of the stay was filled with his shouting for him every 5 minutes.I actually went out leaving him under his care for 3-4 hours and he didn't ask for me once .So much for missing mama !!Everybody was saying why do we say that he will cry without his mama-papa he is so happy even without them :-(.

View of Almora:

For Akshaj, Puneet's paternal house was a blessing as it has lots of stairs and whole time he was doing up-down .He would say 'Mama I coming 2 minutes' 'I go upstairs' and off he would go ..and same he

will tell whoever will be up ..'I coming 2 minutes' 'I coming down' ..and there was no stopping it ..offcourse all this stairclimbing will give everybody mild heart attacks.

Waking up in morning from home terrace you can see breathtaking view of mountains covered with clounds .

Then we went to few temples there ..this is Chittai temple...there are lots and lots of bells there ...if you can any problem you can write a letter and attach with a ganti and tie it here for your wish to come true ..whenever I go there I have a great time reading these letters..people even write on stamp papper and tie it here

Akshaj was beyond happiness seeing so many bells and ringing them...

This is him all dressed up for "ladies sangeet".Ladies sangeet is quite a big ceremony in marriages where all the ladies come out in thier best costumes for a evening of song and dance.Akku enjoyed the ceremony but he enjoyed more when everybody left and he jumped and ran around in the hall.

After marriage we went to a place called 'Ranikhet'.It was such a beautiful picturesuq location -awsome misty climate with mountains covered with clouds...

This is golf ground there ....

And another temple -jhoola devi.This is quite a famous temple there ...

Akku not loosing any opportunity to take his papa for a ride...

Saw some lovely flowers looking like rose ....

And final stop was a shikara boat ride in naukuchial.This was beautiful view of naukuciatal...

And resting in shikara boat after the long journey

And after hard days work this is how he rests in car ..above suticases in dikky

And finally bbye

First week in school

2011-06-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, the day finally came when Akshaj went to school.We didn't send him to playschool and I think he was the only one in our apartment complex of his age who was not going anywhere.We had to dodge many questions from everybody for why we are not sending, even our building's security guard asked Akshaj's grandpa why does not he go school !!Well in the starting we just thought he was not ready and later when he thought we can try most of the playschool were almost closing for summer break.So finally playschool was off our list and we decided to put him in school straightaway.He did got admission to a good big school but then we decided to send him to a small Montessori instead.So last week was his first week of school.We were fairly confident that he would happily go to school since he sees all his friends going ,only problem was the timing as he is in morning batch which starts 9 which is not even his waking up time.But since I was preparing since a long time that he has to get up and go to school so this is what finally happened in first week:

Day 1:I told him to get up to go to school and he very happily woke up saying "Mama school open ho gaya.sunlight aa gaye" .And I started thinking wow it looks easy !!But putting him to bath and getting him out was tough task but after lots crying and cajoling it was managed somehow.He was really very happy about putting his bag and bottle and he put it on at home only and went like that in car to school.Finally we reached school.He said goodbye and didn't cry while going in.This school does not allow parents to go in with the kids even for one day. Barring one time he has never gone anywhere without us but still I was not worried about it since I knew he would not cry but would have loved to see his activities on the first day.Since he is new student he has to go only for 1 hour in the starting and he came out quite happily with his shy smile.

Day 2: More crying followed when we tried to wake him up .But he went in quite happily.But while coming out he was really crying a lot.On top of it I had not told him that only I will be coming to pick him up and Puneet will not come so he was all sad sad.He kept crying and asking where is papa .This was his actual worry.

Akshaj:Mama .Where's papa again and again and again
Me :Papa went to office -again and again
Akshaj:(what was actually worrying him) Fir Aku our mama ghar kaise jayenge
Me:Hum auto se jayenge
Akshaj:Oh auto se and he takes the matter in his hands and forgets about crying and spots the first auto and starts shouting 'Auto auto"

I later ask him why he was sad and crying did anybody say anything but he said no but he didn't tell the reason also.He still does not say much what all happens in school and replies only in one word after much coxing.I was still thinking about his reasons for crying as somehow I didn't think his missing either one of us could be the reason.Later when I opened his lunchbox I saw that it was wet ,I figured he might have poured water from bottle to his lunch box and somebody might have stopped him ,that's why he was crying.But he was quite happy coming back and kept singing some rhyme he had sung in his school that day

Day 3:There was a slight hitch in going to school when we said goodbye but he went without crying.He didn't eat his lunchbox that day.

Day 4:This was very tough day .He was little unwell with slight cold but we though he could still go to school.But the moment he woke up he started crying "Aku school nahi jayega".."No school"...it was really very heartbreaking and we keep on thinking what should we do .Then we thought since its only 1 hour we will take him and see what happens.We actually tricked him by saying we are going somewhere else then only he came in car.In car only I changed his clothes and told him we are going to school.He started crying again but thank god I had packed his favorite chocos in his lunchbox.So he had that and with a promise of 'nariyal pani' he went to school still crying inconsolably.But he stopped crying the moment he saw the kids.He was crying so much that Puneet also stayed back to pick him up.We talked to the principal also and she said he is adjusting quite well and we can extend his school hours from next week.Only trouble was he saw us talking to the principal and he was still in his school.he started crying again 'Meri mummy meri mummy'.Thankfully his school timings got over and he came out happy happy.We asked him is he sad or happy (which is one of his favorite thing to ask these days).and he said he is happy.We were quite relieved hearing this and felt less guilty for sending him off.

Day 5:After a sparkling performance we slipped and reached half an hour late to his school :-(.And then Akshaj in half crying voice kept repeating 'Mama bahar main wait karegi" again again till he went inside his school compound

So all in all he did well for first week of his school.

Destiantion Srilanka -Post 1

2011-05-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

Last month we had gone for a trip to Sri Lanka ...and before anybody asks why Sri Lanka I will tell it myself ?We had heard Sri Lanka is quite a nice place to visit but what actually get us going was one phone call from Puneet's friend asking us will we go with him.Yes we said and the stage was set.We were supposed to go on Jan end which is considered to be good time to go there but due to some passport reissue issues(which needs a separate post) this trip got delayed and it finally happened in April .But what was really heartening in this entire episode was the fact that P's friend also postponed the tickets even though there was quite a charge for re-booking the entire thing. Puneet really pestered him to go ahead but he did not budge.So it was on April just after India and Srilanka reached the finals of World Cup it came to us we will be in Srilanka at the time of final match.

Sri Lanka flight was from Chennai.Till Chennai we went by train.So this was Akshaj's first train trip and we had lots of fun on it.Puneet's friend has a daughter some 9 months older than Akshaj and he had great time with her.Even now he keeps asking for her.And my my that girl knows so many poems .She took to Akshaj like a little brother .Half of my load was off as she was constantly behind her 'eyse nahi karo' wahan nahi jao' etc etc ..

Sri Lankan airport is really beautiful.And with all the world cup decorations done it was looking very stunning.

It is really neat and clean.Traffic is pretty less and people actually stopped their vehicle so that we can cross the road.Our first stop in Sri Lanka was a beautiful hill station called Nuwara Eliya. There was a beautiful lake - Gregory lake.

In front of the hotel the gardener was doing his duty and Akshaj kept on asking uncle kya kar rahe hai ? untill he got to do it by himself..

We went to Ashok Vatika, its not as grand as we see on Ramayana, now a small temple is build there.Idols inside the temple

Can you guess what this is ?These are supposedly lord Hanuman's footprints on rocks in Ashok Vatika

Akshaj's first horse ride ...I didn't think he will actually ride it since he is very afraid of such things ..but I guess didi's company pacified him ..

This was the day when India-Sri Lanka match happened,if you see in the shade there are people practicing drum beats before the match starts..Akuu merrily danced to its tunes..

And this was it ..India vs Srilanka match started.We had gone out for shopping There are many small shops which keeps jackets in really good bargain prices.Srilanka was doing quite good at that at point of time ..and all the shopkeeper knew we are from India so for every 4 and 6 they would all come to the small screen placed in the back and shout and clap..even burst crackers....

This was a very big park there with lots and lots of different 'jhulas' (can't remember English word for it) for kids...if you see in the end there is a small bridge and little dome like things..Akshaj sees a show on Ceebies -'In the night garden' where both of these comes ..so I told him this is 'Upsy Daisy ka bridge and dome' and he was really escatic...sometimes it is so nice to make things up !!

Over the 'upsy daisy bridge'

On his favorite jhula..he never actually comes out of this tunnel...

Lots of tea gardens and lots of greenery

Time to pack bags and head out to next destination -Kandy.

Computer Literacy --where I have reached so far

2011-04-28T01:45:00.001-07:00

Hellos ...considering my new penchant of adding 's' in everything ..

Just thought to put up here my progress as far as computer/laptop is concerned...you see mama is still not able to figure out it it is good or bad what I have learnt so far ..so she has not updated my blog ..so I thought since I have become so computer savvy why not I do it myself ....so this all I can do all by myself.

I can open computer all by myself..right from putting in the plug to getting the display.You see it is so simple ..u just need to put in the 'tingadi'(that is what you all call as plug')..once u put it you will hear a sound 'guaan' that's when i need to wait ..since papa's comp is bit old some error pops up and I need to press F1 key ..then 2 users come one in my grandpa's name and other one papa's.Till some time back i had to call babu(my grandpa) at this point so that he can drag the mouse to his name and login ..but not any more ..no Sir I can drag it myself and log in .(thank God no password is there for now)..sometimes wires are little loose so I press and can make them Ok as well.

Then I can open songs folder and I can select my favorite song and play it.I can increase decrease the volume to my liking.Only problem is I can play one song at a time ..so I do call my mentor ..by babu to play another one .But I can easily show which song I want from the folder.See little bit of 1-2-3 whatever I have learnt is coming much handy here .

What I totally love about Media player is that you can keep on changing effects -green red blue,temple,lights,circles and what not.This is by far my favorite activity on computer.

Then I can open paint and do what - paint offcouse !!.I can even do this on a laptop without mouse.I can press two keys together to drag the mouse and paint and erase (Thanks to my Chachu who is visiting us here these days) and paint again like in below pic.

I can open games .I try to play solitaire in it .Though I have no idea what the games is all about yet I love moving cards here and there

I love opening calculator again and again.

I need some help in opening notepad.But once somebody opens it for me .I can write ABCD and erase it myself and write again.

I can close a window and do shutdown of system as well.

I know from where mama searches for my favorite rhymes.She tries to fool me by saying she does not know where to search for ..so I show her (what she calls as google tab) and tell her to type for my favorite rhyme there.I also know that they take time for 'loading'.If mama gets impatient ..I tell her " Wait mama..its loading".

All these developments mama was taking in her stride as part of my growing up but I guess she really got turned off when one day while seeing my alphabet toy I saw a 'X' and and started telling her 'Mama windows ...Mama Windows" !!

Happy Holi !!

2011-03-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

This was Akshaj's first full blown Holi,last year we had holi in a much smaller scale.Initially we were skeptic how will he react since last year he had cried a lot seeing us playing holi(Although once we were done he had a blash splashing the waters)But all our fears were put to rest when he really got in the holi mood.In our building they played holi not only on Sunday but on Saturday also ,and he played on both the days .We were quite unprepared for Saturday Holi,had still not bough colors and pichkari.But our neighbor had bought pichkari for Akku ..so we just went like that and what fun it was ...

Only problem I faced was that Akshaj kept asking me for specific colors like he want red,yellow,blue etc and kept asking till I didn't get for him ...since we had actually gone there as a trial run and had not bought any colors it was quite something to tend to his demands..but holi means there is no dearth of colours ..so I just kep on smuggling them from others :-)

Parroting

2011-03-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Akshaj was never a parrot kid ..he rarely ever repeated the words we used to say ..until we pester him..but now he is doing it ..but still I am not happy ...I just roll my eyes and wonder ..are thinking why ?Here are some of the glimpse of his parroting :

Akshaj drinks his milk from sipper ..other things he happily drinks from glass but when it comes to milk full drama starts ...and somehow because of his constant cough and cold I am not getting heart to force him..so I try reason with him and how :

me :Akku bottle se dudu nahi peete
Akku:Cup se peete hain
me:Yes ,cup se peete hain
Akku:Gilas se peete hain
me :yes ..(glimmer of hope)
Akku:babu glass se peete hain,x glass se peeta hai,x glass se peeta hain
me:hmmm...(now I know what is happening)
Akku:bottle se peene se dant tooo jate hain...
me:Akku kis se peeyega
Akku:cup se
me:ok ,mama cup main dudu laye
Akku:gilas main
me:ok
Akku:NO,bootle main ..and if I bring up to the scene then it all starts crying and calling for his dadi to support

His grandmother has got some teeth removed..so I try to tell him that she used to drink from bottle when she was small that's why her teeth are gone now but now there is no need to explain this as he has learnt it by heart

Akku:dadi ke dant too(t) gaye ,dadi bottle se doodo peethi thi
me:to akku kaise dooth piyega
Akku:cup se,glias se .....nahi bottle se :-(

He calls "tomato sauce" as "sox" ..so I always used to correct him telling the difference between 'sauce' and "sox"..i was getting quite frustrated as to why he doesn't say properly when one fine day this happend

Akku:akku ko 'sox' chahiye
me:'sox' nahi kehte ,kya kehte hain
Akku:sauce ,'sox' to pav main pehnte hain

he sometimes purposely talks gibberish ...so I ask him to say thinks properly ...so during breakfast he was asking something talking giibersh

Akku: etu pututusdd
me:Akku ..was about to say something when
Akku:eyse nahi bolte,sahi se bolo

I have started toilet training him,what really excites him that he get to put water himself after it ..but getting him out of bathroom is a tough task ...we will keep on pouring after one mug after other,so after he has done the work:

me :akku chalo ho gaya
akku:lat ..bilkuuuuuul lat..and keeps going on(offcourse his last extends to infinitey)

Needless to say he was just repeating what used to say him to on such occasions

There are some originals also though:

he loves to say akku bada ho gaya hai these days ...as we say akku chota hai for some things which he should not be doing

Akku:Akku bada ho gaya
me:par akku bada ho gaya to bottle se dudu kyon pita hai ,bade bacche bottle se dudu nahi peete
Akku:akku cup se dudu piyega
me:akku kab se cup se dudu piyega
Akku:kal se (that is what is know as take a taste of ur own medicine ..as I tell him we will do something tmrw to paicfy him)

one more scenario
akku's dadi:Akku bada hai ki chota
akku:akku bada
dadi:fir akku dadi sath soyega..akku bada ho gaya hai
akku:akku chooooota hai ...mama sath soyega

Clingy kid or Bryan adams show ??

2011-02-17T03:52:00.000-08:00

It just started from the moment I told Puneet lets get ready for the show.....Akshaj assumed he is coming with us(as we do not like leaving him home on weekends) ..and he also stated saying .."chalo chalo" ..and started searching his shoes..and then for next 30-45 minutes it just became worse.He just clinged to me like anything refusing to let go of me...and no amount of bribes worked.I actually tried each and everything for which he would choose over me without batting a eyelid on other occasions ....
First was the most obvious, his trip with his grandpa to park..which was flatly refused with "No babu ..Akku mama sath jayega"...so I lied my way that we are going to office and bring jelly for him ...I thought poor guy melted for 1 sec but then he clinged to me again. the came the bribe of going to local kinara shop with his grandpa to get choco for him....which he never refuses infact drags us there but no sir ..not this particular day he wouldn't budge ...and clock was just ticking and ticking ..we had to take the printouts and collect actual ticket from venue before our entry ...seeing no end to this Puneet said he will first get printouts and then come and get me ...and poor baby for a seconds assumed I am not going and was so happy to see his papa go alone ...smiling and saying "papa ja rahe hain "..poor papa didn't know to be happy or sad by this treatment ...

Anyway with Puneet out ,my scheming and plotting continued with computer playing his favorite songs and laptop playing rhymes in separate rooms with no results ...he even hid my mobile under bedsheet in between all this ...but cruel mama had her say....the week link found to be his new fascination of coloring diyas ...he loves coloring diyas these days ..so gave him colours and diyas ..and in no time I disappeared from the scene ...offcourse in another second I could hear him crying while I was waiting for the lift ...

This was by far the worst case of mother's guilt I have experienced ..but managed to get to see Bryan Adams live missing only 1-1.5 hour of the show thanks to Bangalore traffic and child woes..

Bryam Adams is rocking ..that guy just kept on singing and singing..we were sad that we would have missed some of his famous songs but we hadn't ...best moment of the show was when he asked somebody to come and sing along with him ...he told the song and said anybody who knows the lyrics to raise hands ..then this girl comes up and he asks her name and asks does he know the lyrics and she replies 'NO' ....total timepass it was ..offcourse she went off after meeting him up and close and next girl comes and does do a good job of singing with him....

We left somewhere close to 10 as we had to pick up of of Puneet's cousin and the man was still singing then...I guess this will be last live show for a long time ...not that I have seen many .

First Fancy Dress

2011-01-24T02:20:00.000-08:00

Akku as a army officer,this is my first ever entry (this month's theme ) in arty crafy challage.

I have already written about Akku's first fancy dress in my last post .This is the first time he took part in any fancy dress.Dressed as a army officer he looked looked perfect.Goggles were added because he actually thinks he looks super cool with them .He loves wearing them asking us to give his 'chasham'(chashma or spects) to him

Happy New Year 2011 update

2011-01-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

Start of a new year and I realised I have hardly done much update since Akku's birthday ..Anyway to welcome 2011 we had with us 2 of Puneet's relatives(mausi's) coming to bangalore. Akku came with ingenuius way to call both of them 'Muasi bua' together!!(how it came about that name he only knows).He actually quite took to one of "mausi bua" He was rather inseperable from her from the the first day itself which was quite strange for all of us as he is usually shy now with new persons.His granddad was actually looking at him and wondering ki unke pyaar main kaunsi kami reh gaye thi ki 'bua mausi' ke aate hi apne 'babu'(granddad) ko bhool gaya !!When I came back from office after first day Akku didn't come much to me either .. only then his granddad was satisfied saying 'now that he is not even going to his mother I am happy".(Otherwise he stays with me like fevicol ka jod after I return from office)

Chrismas -New year time brings with it chance to hone my baking since Akku has grown enough to demand for cakes now(lots of demands of "Mama cake banao").So for chrismas I made swiss rolls followed by cake on New Years..

for both I found approval from him as evident from the pics below...I had to drag him out of the house for decorating swiss rolls as he was not ready to wait for it ...

Then we had new year celebrations in our apartment, where for the first time he took part in fancy dress ..I wanted something in which he can enjoy himself and I was sure he would not wear something too decorative ..so decided on Army officer for him ..he had to be literally dragged to stage when his name was announced and just cligned to me...but his friend's name was called after him and once she went on stage then he became quite regular unwelcome guest of stage and had to be dragged back from it !!..he not only landed himself in his frind's entry on stage but also jumped in 2 dance performances ...Thankfully he had not slept since morning and that was enough for him for the day and he slept off after these gate crashings..

Thanku/Sorry and more Akku Estyle

2010-12-29T03:43:00.001-08:00

Soiyee
*******

After doing something which he obviously knows he is not supposed to do

Akku:Mama Soiyeee
Mama :No reaction showing angry face
Akku:Mama Soiyeee
Mama :No reaction
Akku:Mama OK ,Mama OK
Mama:Left wondering was not she supposed to say OK to be it really OK.

Thankyou-Welcome
*****************

Mama gave Akku one jelly just coming back from office

Akku :(depending on his mood)Mama Thanku

Mama:(Maybe busy with something takes a sec too late in reply).....

Akku:Mama Welcome

Mama:Feeling little guilty for not replying quickly..

********************

In bathroom while making him do brushing...after brush instead of spitting water out he gulps it in...so I would keep saying 'Very good' if he does it properly ..but as humans sometimes I forget to say so :

Mama:OK akku kulla karo

Akku:(does spit it out ) Very Good (to himself)

**********************
One another things he is doing these days is touching everybody's feet and saying 'jaiii' he loves it when we says 'khoob bade' after it (off course sometimes we are offgaurd when he touches feet ..we will be wondering what he is doing , he just touches feet and says 'khoob bade' himself)

************************

Mama Sorry

2010-12-16T01:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was working in kitchen when Akku came and asked 'Akku paani de do'(give me water)..as I knew he was just asking it just to create a mess I said no to him so he started .."mama soiiyee mama soiiyee" ..I could not understand why he was saying sorry for few seconds and then I went in flashback and remembered the incident which happened 45 minutes back:

These days we take him to bathroom for toilet ....his self created incentive of saving us from the mess in the house is that he will do toilet in bathroom then put water before he comes out ..off lately he has changed it little more ..he will play with water in bucket a little after toilet, before he puts water over his toilet then he will wipe it using wiper again and again till my patience runs out.Yesterday he refused to come out and I had to pick him up and bring him out which let to me being subjected to his volley of slaps ..combined with his crying..I had some other work to do and was not in mood to entertain his tantrum so gave him a scolding ..his grandma was there to make him stop crying to whom he happily went..so I went away and forgot about this whole drama...

So cut back to present he started this whole 'mama soiiyee' thing ...he said it exactly 4 times before switching back to 'pani de do' ...and by the way he did not come back to me this whole time to say sorry before he realized that I was in the kitchen so he had to ask water from me

I really wonder who said that kids are innocent !!

P.S:In case something like this happens with Puneet ,Akku says sorry within a second of the incident.He has already started me taken for granted :-(

book ! book !

2010-10-21T05:14:00.000-07:00

We were all set to go for shopping ..

me :Akku come we are going out

Akku:(Instead of running to door like he usually do) Book ! Book !

We all were just staring at him what he means by that when he ran to drawer where his books are kept and picks 1 of the books and comes running back ...saying "Chalo Chalo"

And he has doing this rather consistently....he doesn't just carries but goes though it as well when he is traveling only with his papa in car.

I guess he noticed me carrying a book while I leave for office and has followed suit :-)

Happy Birthday -II and III

2010-08-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

Birthday has long gone but still its never too late to update :-)

2nd Birthday was janamvaar as per the Hindu calender..there was a pooja followed by lunch to panditji.Akshaj first had 'haldi' applied on him followed by bath and then pooja.

Then came the birthday bash...

I prepared 'Happy Birthday' banner modifying the last year's but it was still a lot of effort.I could only do it from 12 to 2.20 at night since before that there was no time..it took 3-4 days for this to complete ..I also made some stars from leftover wrapping paper as Akshaj loves them a lot ..

And Akku thourghly enjoyed his birthday ...he didn't sleep for whole day ...he was totally charged up for his birthday bash..kept on singing 'happy ..to you"

He danced a lot ..ran a lot and had loads of fun..

We couldn't take many photos this year as we were busy with all the kids ...

The year that it was...

2010-08-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

What a year this year turned out to be ,,,this year saw the transformation of easily mouldable baby(except last few months of first year) to a super-active-not to be fooled complete brat.It was a totally a exhausting, totally entertaining ride which has left all of us wanting for more..

In his first year Akshaj was very sweet, he would go to anybody, not at all clingy and he will happily play on his own.His growing up has transformed him into sometimes super clingy,many times very difficult to handle 2 year old. But what makes him even more likeabale now is actually is his totally bratiness combined with total innocence at times.

Second year started with his finally walking with his two feet after lots of discussions over when will he start to walk.And with last barrier of his dependency w.r.t movement over ..there was no stopping him ...he was everywhere ..from dining tables...to drawers ,cupboards ..we suddenly found us with no place safe enough to keep important things away it away from him.This off course led us to reaching home to know that we have one less piece of house hold item with us.

This year also made us realize how tough parenting can be as apart from his regular bouts of cold and fever which made us try allopathy,homeopathy and aurveda ,we had to hear that he might have to start wearing spects soon and had to take him to speech therapy.Which essetially means we have to keep monitoring him for any signs of his poor vision and further delays in speaking.Analyzing your own child is the most tough task to do. And maybe he knows how confused his parents are ..as he keeps us guessing on his progress always.Some things he will do will amaze us but other things will get us worried.

The words which came out after so much effort became so much more sweet ....and with starting of words being him opened a one more chapter of parental bliss ..and like all parents we think he is blessed with the sweetest voice ...its so much fun to hear him say new word and give it twist ..like 'godi' becoming 'dogi' ,'chalo' becoming 'shalo' and the likes..
He progessed well and learnt to argue very well with his one words.

He has grown up but still continues to be a baby.He will say 'chodo' or even ask to leave the room with 'jaoo' or a 'bye' but after sometime he would ask us to take him in 'godi' and loves to be hugged and kissed and be made fussed about.

This year has also been about realizing what being a mother is all about .Its about being loved in a way like never before.Like when its only me who can make his crying stop as he will just be held by me ,when he searches for me saying 'mummy mummy' in the house,when he comes to me with a half torn nail and goes back to what he was doing once nail is taken care.

It has been one great year !!

Some tidbits of 'AkkuSpeaks':

Generally I give him one jelly after coming from office ..but the jelly was over so couldn't give him ..

So the coversation went:

Akshaj:Jelly:
Me:Over

Akshaj:Toffee
Me:Thakham (he says 'khatam' opposite)
Akshaj:Choco
Me:Over
Akshaj:Keela(banana),namkeen ..etc etc ..(i really had to run away from the room to get something quickly for him)

One of my cousin had come to visit us .When she was leaving she says:

Cousin:OK Akku,bye ,I am leaving ,miss me
Akku:Ok Chalo,my sandals ,shoes and brings them.

Happy Birthday I

2010-08-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Celebration time has started in Boy Wonder's house.Akshaj turned 2 on 26th July.As he was awake till 12'o clock to celebrate his birthday he cut the cake(Actually leftovers of the cake I was making)in night ..seeing the joy on his face as he was saying 'Happy Happy' again and again was truly something to cherish
This time I attempted to make a zebra car cake with the little time I got ..cake turned out to be Ok but the birthday boy was was very happy with it ...it was quite tough to keep him away from it till it was cut ..and he was happily clapping and singing 'happy to you'(he cannot say birthday)

With cake cutting over it was time to march out Pretty indecisive family that we are ...we had decided to go to a theme park but instead we went to Lumbini Gardens..a lake with some toy rides etc placed for the kids..It was quite enjoyable and Bangalore weather made sure that we have a lovely day ...
He sat in different rides and his favorite chai shai(toy train).we were skeptical of putting him alone in toy train at first ,even he was a little scared but with all of us around him he became confident and enjoyed his first train journey a lot..

As his confidence grew so did ours so much so that we took him in 'Colombus' with us that too in last seat...actually only I had sat in that before that too a very long time ago so I didn't remember that it goes very high ..but we got a reality check pretty quick and asked it to be stopped.Poor Akshaj was just saying 'chalo chalo' when it finally stopped.But after sometime when we asked him how it was he said 'accha hai'...

It was just a perfect birthday ...since his grandmom was out of station his birthday party is postponed ..and that's why this post is titled 'Happy Birthday 1'..he is going to have 3 birthdays this time...2nd will be his 'janamvar' according to hindu calender and third will be a party with all family and friends sponsored by his grandparents.Talk about spoiling him !!

pitti

2010-07-29T02:31:00.000-07:00

'Pitti' (beating ) is the most loved word of Akshaj these days ...

He not just hits but also says 'pitti' while beating ..

and there is no kind of bais while giving his share of ' pitti' ---he gives it equally to us,his toys,sofa,bed ,door ..anything which/who does not work according to his will..

And stupidly I thought I can have some respite when he is sleeping ..but no ..picture this ...

One fine morning as usual I was sleeping next to him...
Pat came his slap to (as luck would have it) my face
I looked at him still sleeping ...
say what you can do in this situation ??

After 5 minutes he woke up and said 'meetu ro rahi hai'(meetu is a girl his age living next door)
It was easy to undertstand his dream ..in his dream he was beating meetu and she was crying..

All I wanted to say him at that time was not meetu but it was me who should actually cry !!

His 'pitti' thing is becoming really difficult to handle ...generally we will ask him to say sorry ..which he would do but after some time he will again hit ..

If we scold him he cries a lot and we know he is scared as he would do no. 1.

If we try to make him understand that he should not do this ..people get hurt ...he will start slapping himself ....

Now if he is with other kids I am very scared as to what he will do ...he has a very short temper..he just wants his thing to done the way he wants and that too pretty quickly..otherwise all tantrums start ..

My Sins Against Gender Stereotypes

2010-07-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

Passed to me my Deeps..this tag is surely spreading like wild fire ...and considering how common the answers are I would say most of these no longer qualify in 'man's world' category anymore ...

Well this is the manly side of me :

1.I generally do not cry.I guess I am more practical than emotional.I didn't even cry when my bitch died which was strange for even my parents as she was centre of my life at that time..I really miss her even but didn't cry at that time.

2.I love watching horror shows/action movies.I used to watch 'Zee horror show'(which was only horror show at that time') at 12 'o clock at night all alone with lights switched off .And I just loved telling horror stories to my friends and totally freaking them out.Sadly Puneet does not share my passion for horror flicks so I had to sacrifice my 'horror' passion for domesticity

3. I am the cockrock slayer,insect slayer of the house.

4.I do not do bargaining though I love getting them done by Puneet.He is great at it .He definitely has to follow me on all my bargain shopping places.

5. I do not talk to my maids to get a update on what's happening in neighbour's house.And generally also I am not a talkative person.

6.This one is coming as a topper in so many list.Though I love jewelery but I don't like wearing it.I only wear my ear-rings and my ring for daily use.Same goes for make-up or rather lack of it.

7.I have watched cricket matches right in the middle of my board exams and watching soccer was a ritual when I was small.We all used to go to my mama's place when we were kids and there all the kids(all my mausi used to come to mama's house during vacation time ) used to watch soccer matches with jam filled Parle G biscuits (dripped in milk and freezed).Sadly as went out of house to study I could no longer follow it that much.But trying to see them this time around with little time I have.As for cricket ,I get very angry when I hear comments like 'we don't understand why men watch cricket so much' ..well if women in general can't like without shopping or having daily dose of soap operas why men(or women) can't have their share of cricket.

8. I do all the photo/clicking/,uploading photo/video,Internet searches,laptop/PC troubleshooting,CD cutting in my house.

9.I have asked Puneet to skip traffic light .i.e when we are coming late at night and all streets are empty.

10. I have disappeared in middle of my office to watch movies and return back later.And have bunked college as well.

There that's it ..Confession to all my sins!!

Mommy Guilt

2010-06-25T03:10:00.001-07:00

Mommy Guilt:Just the topic makes my head nod in agreement and make me go in a pensive mode।And I could place a bet that almost all the mommy's in the world would do the same for it!!

Last Monday I had a dream

"My son Akshaj was there and my in-laws (who stay with us to take care of him) and maybe maybe not my husband was also in it..I am not sure where was I but there ,somewhere lurking in the background..And I heard my mom-in-law say to somebody ...that his(Akshaj's) mom is no longer there with us ... and there was I even in my dream listening to this ..it was not that anybody was crying or unhappy ..just it was a matter of fact "

I can say I have never felt such a profound mommy guilt or rather any kind of guilt ever close to this .. why you may ask so ??

Well it so happened a day before I had left home for some work leaving a uncontrollably crying son behind

I have had fair share of guilty trips in my 2 years of mommyhood ..but none that I could not overcome or accept

Like when Akshaj was born prematurely in 35th week and kept in incubator ,when I had to start giving him formula in 4th month and even now when I hear from his doc that his eyesight is weak because of born premature :I can reason myself to believe that I did everything I could to take proper care of myself and did as my doc told

when he fell from bed first time or when he fell sick the first time :At first I foolishly thought I
would never let him fall again।But quickly I realized it happens and its OK.And I have come to accept my minor heart attack like moments I go through when Akshaj shoes how many different kind of stunts he can pull of with 2 year old brain of his .and numerous others like that

But this mommy guilt....seeing him cry every morning when I leave for office ..when everyday I have to break free of his hug and explain to him mummy has to go to office ..is really taking a toll on me .. what' funny is this is quite a recent change in him...earlier he never used to cry so much seeing me leaving ..
One of the main reason why I am not able to get away with this mommy guilt is that earlier whatever problem came I am sure I did what was best I could do ..but this time I am not so sure ..

I love working and can't imagine being limited to house ..this is not because I am a very career
oriented women...but just that I love my space..and love the money (howsoever less)I am getting..I have always seen my mom working ..I never had problem with that ever

But now I have started thinking am I doing the right thing by working ॥ and there are 2 reasons(although related) of why I am thinking this..which is ..

1) everybody says that first 3 years of baby's life are very important and they have a bearing on rest of their lives." Not sure if it is true but heard enough to think about it

2)I cannot read Akshaj's mind or heart for that matter to know for sure how much he is affected by it....sometimes I feel he is just OK but sometimes I or rather we all feel somewhere in his mind he is now scared of me leaving him and keeps clinging to me when I am there

So how can I judge what is right for him...still thinking. Don't know if I will be successful in overcoming this mommy's guilt which has become a part of so many working women's life !!
Have my finger's crossed and hope for the best !!

Mommy Guilt--This is my entry to "Mommy Guilt" Contest started by "womensweb"

Childhood Rhymes(Hindi/Kumaouni)

2010-06-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

After reading so many childhood poems across various blogs, I couldn't resist writing the poems we use for sing when we were small..

For our native language rhymes(which is kumaouni) I bugged my mother to provide with translations ..

but even she does not know the meaning well..but we used to love them when we were small

and Akshaj also laughs like crazy when we sing them to him...

So these are my list I could come up with for entry in Tulika's blogathon.

***********************************

लाठी लेके हाथी आया ,छन छन छन

ढोल बजता भालू आया , धम धम धम

मैढ़क ने ली मीठी तान

ओंर ग़धे में गाया गान

Meaning:
Elephant came with a stick (followed by its voice)
Bear came with a drum
Frog made a melodious sound
and donkey sang a song

******************************************************8
अक्कड़ बक्कड़ बम्बे बो

अस्सी नब्हे पूरे सों
सों मैं लगा तागा
च्रौर निकल ने भागा

Meaning:
Don't think it actually means anything much .
We used to play this when we were kid.
We have to one of our palm down(on table) with fingers apart from each other
Then run finger of another hand one by one over fingers of first hand.
and sing the song and finger where the song stops you have to fold that in.

****************************************************
पीपी पीपी टररढम नन्हे मुन्ने बच्चे हम

Meaning:
First line doesn't mean anything
we are small small kids
************************

veer balak hai hum satya pe chalenge hum
apne desh ki aan par ,sar ko na jhukayehge

we are brave kids,we we always speak truth
for our country's pride,we will not put our head down

(Actually we used to sing it while climbing walls by replacing 'satya' with 'chaat')

***************************************************************
POEMS IN KUMAOUNI:

बाड़ा मैं कौंआ छा ,उक्कहल मैं पिनु छा
डाला मैं बहुआ छा,काबिड़ी काबिड़ी काबिड़ी

Meaning :

In between boundary there is a crow,in 'ookhali' there ??
in basket there is baby,followed by kabidi kabdi where we bring one hand(like how we do to show twinkling

star) from top to tickle the baby

*okkhali is a hole in ground which was used to grind masalas in earlier days।
**************************************************************************
We normally do this while lying on our back with knees bend(like when we do crunches)
And keeping the baby on below knee position.

चूँ मूसी चूँ ,द्वि माना ग्यूं
घट पिसी ल्यूं,के मैं खूं,के मैं द्व्यूं

Meaning:
first line most probably addressing rat(not very sure about exact meaning)
two mann* wheat
have got them grounded from 'chakki'
what will I eat,and how much can I give.

*mann was used as a measurement standard in earlier days like now we use kgs
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घू घूती बासूती ,आमा काँ छा
मालकोते, के ल्याली,दूदू भाती
को खा लो ,----खा लो ---खा लो (fill dash with baby's name)

Meaning:

Again first line not sure
where is grandma
in हेर मतेर्नल अंकल's place,what will she bring,milk with rice
who will eat,_____will eat,____will eat (for us we say akku will eat,or u can say baby will eat)
******************************

उद्दकुच्ची मुड्कूची ,ल्या लेएची
पीतल कैची,हथी कुट्टी
तौड ताढ़ बैल लाया

Meaning:
No idea just use to sing for the sound of it ..
ending ..came back with broken hand and feet

*************************************************

Vadnnna................vadnnnna..............

2010-06-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

that's how my boy shouts for me these days if he is in another room..
and 'mamma' has changed to 'mamba' somehow ..

before we can pat ourselves that he has learnt something he quickly unlearns it as well..

like 'goodi' has become 'dogi' these days....

these are quite funny excited days ...we never know what Akku will come up with next..

when Akku goes diaper free and runs out of the house like that we tell him that he should not run 'nangu'(naked) like that ..and that word has become quite a favorite with him..

Other day some Bipasha basu song was coming and Akku starts off ..'Naangu Naangu'and then it did follow up with other songs as well..
I tell u TV watching has become even more restricted now as we never know when 'Naangu' calling will start again..

And since water is the most favorite thing for him ...he can recogonise it everywhere ..In books,CD's poster,songs ..whereever he sees water he starts saying 'mum mum' or even 'water' at times.And moment he sees somebody jumping in pool(like our society pool) he goes 'nai nai'(bathing)

Other times he takes water from him bottle ..puts it in his clothes and says 'geela geela'(wet)..

One thing which I found amazing he has learnt to say is 'Hawa'(air)...If we fan him with paper or if breeze is blowing he says 'hawa' which I think is the most coolest and one of the difficult thing he has learnt to reconize so far ..

He has beginning to join some two words together and use verbs/abstract nouns as well .

whenever he wants something he just follows us everywhere which his one hand outstreched over the other and he keeps on saying 'de do ,de do'(give it) or 'le lo,le lo'(take it), till we actually give that thing to him...yest we went to temple and before we could take prasadam from purohit ..there he was his tiny tiny hands outstretched to get the prasad.

We have started his potty training ...so far nothing much is happening apart from his truely original way of doing 'shu-shu'

He refuses to sit on his potty seat ..so we actually take him in our hands and in sink he does it ...
And this is the complete procedure he follows..

1.We hold him and bring him to position before the sink.

2.he starts 'eiight eiight' (light light)..so we switch on the sink lights.

3. Then comes 'water water ' (We dutifully turn on the water)

4.'Pav tho' ..pav dho'(clean the feet) we wash one feet ..and he goes off 'dusaa' 'dusaa'(second one )

5.and followed by recently added 'haatdo' 'haatdo' ..and we clean the hands ..

6.Thankfully the times arrives for the real deal and 2/10 it results in success rest of the times it goes back again to lots of step 5/step 6 only to realize we are being duped.

babu..chai shai ..gaye

2010-06-07T00:17:00.000-07:00

That's what Akku says almost daily ..

His grandpa-grandmother have gone back to their hometown for a month.And he keeps remembering his grandpa a lot.He is more of a friend to him than his 'dadu' or 'ba' as he calls him.Offcourse anybody who jumps from bed for you,sits on kitchen slabs,touches ceiling fans,hides in cupboards ,takes you out to play/outing in his godi for almost an hour,teaches new tricks to be naughty can only be ur friend

Off lately Akku has been showing lots of 'attitude' to him,seeing him but still ignoring him,not going so much to him..but its been almost 2 weeks he has been gone but still he keeps asking for him...and its not just randomly he says 'babu' ..its remembering the things he used to do for him or seeing his photo.

* if we sing a song or rhyme which his 'babu' used to sing, he starts saying 'babu chai shai gaye'..

*After bath his babu used wrap him in towel and keep him in his hands and jump saying 'tick tica tick tick" .So now sometimes we wrap him towel he keeps saying 'babu'.

*For my parents we put Akku's first birthday CD .In it, his grandpa was playing and dancing with him.Akku didn't recognize himself and got really irritated seeing his 'babu' playing with some other kid.And he kept on saying 'babu babu' in angry way.

*Yesterday Akshaj was going through newspaper and suddenly he started saying 'babu babu'.We were quite puzzled and when we saw the paper all those photos were actually of Yeddyurappa, CM of Karnataka (he has gray rather white hair and mustaches as his grandpa wears)

Are u wondering what is this 'chai shai' ??

Akku has a karadi rhyme CD in which a rhyme starts from 'chai chai ..train at the station ready to go' and it has train in it..with chai wala and all...and since Akku also came to see off his grandparents at station ..he got it figured out by himself that his dadu has left on a 'chai shai'...

He slept off when we came from station and when we reached home ..he woke and started searching for him everywhere and finally said 'gaye' and when we asked him 'kaun gaye' he replied 'babu ..chai shaye.. gaye'

P.S: Something about Akku's grandfather :

Before he was a granddad,whenever he used to see other granddad's going crazy over thier 'nati-potas' he used to make fun of them and would say(his very infamous quote now): "Apne baccho se to sabhi pyaar karte hain par apne baccho ke baccho se kya pyaar karna.Main to nahi karunga".(Everybody loves thier own childern but I cannot understand why they love their grandchildren so much.I will not be like them" Now he just happily eats his words and is super crazy about Akku.

Daily Dose 6

2010-05-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

Some great news finally ..Akshaj has started to speak ..yeah..
Speech Therapy really worked ..her therapist was full of praise for him ..that he has done very well and shown great progress :-)
And its not only the words which he learned there ..now he has started repeating words after us ..he has even gone ahead and started manipulating us already ..you ask how ??

Example one:

Premise :Puneet scolds Akki for something ..
Akki:goes to his granddad and says "papa mar" "papa mar"(papa ne mara ie papa hit him)

Example two:
Premise:Akki likes closing door and then asks somebody to open it for him.Yest when Akki,me and P were in a room,Akki went and closed the door on us and then asked his grandmom to open the door for him.After that, in total insult to her, he makes her go away and closes the door on her ,now again me ,P and Akki are in room with door closed)

Akki(after sometime to us) :Dadi ..band ..dadi band(ie complaining that Dadi (has against his wish) closed the door)

Example three:
Premise:Whenever Akki gets hurts and cries we give him glucose and he stops crying

Akki now cries his hearts out even if he does not get hurt also...and starts saying "gucose" "gucose" ..that is still ok ..that is totally understandable ..

but one day he got hurt (not that much) but he started crying anyway ..his grandparents thought to ignore him to see what he does ..but they were totally shocked to see that he actually hit his head hard against a wall just to grab their attention and get glucose ..and this he has already done twice ..

and you say kids are innocent !!

But offcourse there are some good things he has learnt as well :-)

now he has started filling in some of the rhyms which I sing to him..

like if :

Me:Old Mcdonald had a farm
Akki:eia eia o..

or if I ask him to sing a poem

Akki: ro ro ro (row row row ur boat)

and he keeps repeating 'chai chai" (kadagi rhyms) thorughout the day ..
he sure is going to love tea by the way he eyes lit up when we drink tea

When I leave for office before he wakes up ,he wakes up crying and keeps saying "mama gaye " to everyone in house ..

he can now recognise and say his main body parts like :eye,nose,ears,hands,stomach,lips,teeth,tongue,chin

his dadu has already started teaching him ..staring with hindi letter 'a' 'aa' 'e'..

when he draws anar,aam and imli or says 'a' for like that akki is able to currectly recogonise and speak them..

and Akki loves when we draw "tar"(star) or "channa"(chanda) for him...once he was saying "tar tar" I just could't get what he was saying ..then he got very irritated and made star action by hand as if to say how dumb can mummy get !!

Some of the words he can say are (maybe I will repeat above ones also as his therapist asks how many words he speaks now sometimes ..and we both are just blank at that time)

1.Mama
2.Papa
3.Ba
4.Dadi
5.Purse
6.ba ba
7.chai
8.toy
9.on
10.close
11.am(for om)
12.aam
13.keyya(for kela)
15.apple
16.anuur(for anguur)
17.gaye
18 gir gaye(most used)
19.cd
20 tar(star)
21.channa(chanda)..sometimes moon
22.fan
23.ei-ite(light)
24. car
25. auto
26 bus
27. bubu (bubble)
28. juice
29. pani/mum-mum
30.kauva(crow)
31.chidi
32.chin
33. Bua
34. Nani
35. yello (hello)
36. dudu (milk)
37. Kaun aaya (who is at the door)
38. phone
39. potty ...(not to inform, after wards only when u say )
40 Anaan (anar)
41. Bat
42. Ball

Missing ...Anybody seen Akshaj Joshi ,age 21 months (1 bonus included)

2010-05-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah ..it happened on Friday ...Akku disappeared for 5 minutes ..
Puneet and I were in our offices..
Akku's dadu was playing with him in our corridor(we live in 3rd floor)..Akku had 2 footballs and one bat in his hand ..so his dadu thought to keep one ball inside the house as it was hindering Akku in playing properly because he was trying to hold both the balls and bat together..it would have been just 2 sec and when he came out ,corridor was empty ..

This off course led to a mad panic for my in-laws....both of them searching for him desperately only to find him happily playing bat -ball at ground floor with our building's security and admin people...

And this is what happened( as per the events constructed later)..

Exactly when Akku's dadu went inside, at the same time one of our neighbour came from the lift..she opened the lift(lift is in our corridor) and came out and Akku went inside ..by the time his dadu came out somebody pressed the lift from down so Akku reached ground floor(with bat-football)..his dadu did see that lady enter her house(she could have told him that Akku went in the lift she surely must have seen ..but she didn't)..anyway then both his grandma-grandpa went searching for him and came to g-floor and there was he ,happily playing ..

And yest night he fell from the bed sleeping ..he sleeps between us but still he fell down ..

So the fear of raising him hail and hearty is becoming more and more panicky day by day ..
Thank God he is Ok ...but there are so many 'what ifs' that still linger on ..

Awards

2010-05-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Got a cute award from Swaram..(Sorry I always write ur name as Swarnam as that is the name of my friend/co-worker who was in my project earlier.And that name has just stuck with me.I get a 'gentle reminder' from Puneet everytime I do this..)

Now for the rules:

1.Thank the person that gave this to you

Thanks Swaram ,its just amazing how you always find time to reply promptly to blogs.

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog.

3. List 3 things you love about yourself

This is very tough for me..ok let me try

1.I love the fact that I am very calm person.So basically I do not freak out or fight very often.
2.I am a very low-maintainence girl .Just buy me some suits and books and I am happy.As I tell Puneet often how lucky he is to be married to me (off course he says vice-versa)
3. I generally do not lie.In school I was the one who used to ask teachers to cut my marks as they have done wrong calculation while copy correction or entered wrong marks in report card.I have seen that look on my classmates suggesting 'how weird can anybody get'.I have improved since then but if you ask a point blank question its tough for me to lie(apart from where I am actually making somebody's fool for fun)

4. Post a picture you love (e.g a person you adore etc.)

This is a no-brainer for me..two men who have changed my life 100%..
I was watching 'Jab we met' this weekend as making a rip of one of the dialogues I will say ..
I married one and got another one for free ,free ,free !!

A Birthday and a cake !!

2010-04-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday yesterday...and I decided to make the birthday cake myself...and after incredible amount of net surfing (mainly blog surfing) ...I finally decided what I wanted for my birthday --a chocolate ganache cake.I have made cakes some 2-3 times earlier but every time I made those in exceptional hurry and when I make it(in 1 hr) and in half hour it is cut also ...But this time I wanted to make it more properly ..so decided to start a little early.More than ingredients what was very important was that Akshaj should not be in the house (and I could do without P too).So P, Akki and his dadu were ordered out of the house and I have next 2-2.5 hours for my cake. And this is how cake finally turned out ...

After baking the cake I made home made marzipan (for animals) and piping gel for writing on the cake.I could only find 3 food colors in Bangalore and so I made bear/cat/bird/duck and some grass with them.P was already smuggling my marzipan paste behind my back and shamefully telling me how good it tastes.(I told u I wanted him to be not in the house)

Like father like son,Akshaj was also busy licking away the cake with his figure(right bottom)while we were clicking traditional birthday snaps ..

Everybody loved the cake ..but was was best of it all that Akshaj was actually kissing instead of eating the bird/duck/bear/cat I made...

Just a perfect birthday gift !!

P.S The writing on the cake was done by P as he thought it does not feel right if I write my happy Birthday myself :-) (thank god for him..I would have messed up the writing completely)

Speech Therapy

2010-04-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

That's what Akshaj is going to these days

Since he was premature he went to some mandatory tests after his one year. Like going to a child development expert.P and and I didn't like the expert one bit.For one she looked so bored that we couldn't understand how she became a child development expert.She was continuously yawning and kept talking to her maid to what to cook for dinner while we waited for her..Anyway ,she had a questionnaire with her by which she gauged Akshaj's development .And according to her results he was a little behind in speech department, rest everything was OK.She asked us to do a BERA test(this test is done to check child's hearing) and come back with the report so that she will do one more test with him.In that she would have given him some toys and seen his reaction and then would have come out with the report.But as we didn't like her much we did the BERA test and went to Akshaj's pediatrician.He suggested to go to a speech therapy as there was nothing wrong with Akshaj ears so he should have started speaking by now.

So after thinking about it we did went to Speech therapist.She asked us random questions about how he is doing,how much he is speaking,kind of sounds he make etc.What was so good about her that whatever she said about Akshaj was actually quite true and made sense.We have heard from many parents that their kids started speaking after they turned 2.We asked her the same thing and she said that its possible that he will start speaking but otherwise might also be true.And if delayed it might be more difficult for him to speak.One thing which she said and its so totally true in his case was the fact that he is a very active kid.He has very waving attention span and like to move on from one activity to other.Since all the time he is so involved in doing something that he does not even listen what we are saying.And if he is not listing anything how will he learn !!

Its been a month already for him..we go twice a week 45 min session.We are still very mixed on if he is progressing or not.

But Akshaj is having a ball..all he has to do is to play with toys and fight with his trainer.For eg :For anything Akshaj wants us to open he will come and say 'on' (picked up when we say to switch 'on' the fan).That's just stuck with him.So its quite sight to see 2 of them fighting when she asks him to say 'Open' something but inturn he says 'on'..So they literally go like 'on'-'open'-'on'-'open' when finally she has to give in and 'on' a box..

Yeah that's my brat for sure !!

Aaaahhh...

2010-03-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

Beware...that you will be subjected to a Aaaahhh treatment...

Well everybody in the house is little upset with Akshaj because of this word(the kind of consistent usage defiantly makes it a word in our dictionary)...

This he says when we go near him and he does not want us to come to near him ...like when I am in a too much hurry and ask his grandpa/grandmom to take him ,he is playing with keyboard/mouse and we come even close to him etc etc ..then will come a big AAAAHHH...followed by a big Indian 'No' with face going left and right with considerable speed..It does not matter if we actually were going to him...his senses are too strong and he tries to decipher our movements before we even make them

He does not scream or shout just says it as a word in a most expressive face suggesting you are not welcome..

Everybody agrees this is the most insulting form of 'No' they have ever encountered..
Offcouse this follows a emotional drama where everybody starts telling how much they are doing for him and in return we get this ...

Seeing him,I actually feel real guilty for the times I saw any unruly child and thought why parents are not able to handle their child ..God help me now !!

I have been nominated !!

2010-03-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

I am quite surprised actually !!I never thought I would be nominated for it.I went to Avante Blog Awards site to vote for Monika for the categories she has been nominated to.Then I thought I will check out who is nominated in other categories as well(vote for the ones I know) ..And look and behold ..there was my post too ...Then I remembered P telling me sometime back he has nominated my post for something ..well he actually is one who coxed me in starting this blog..and is more into the bog world than me ..

I know generally who read about Akshaj are mostly family who just check his photos and what he has been up to ..but if anybody reads this go ahead and make my day ..vote for Akshaj(as this post is pseudo written by him)

http://avantgardebloggies.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/most-evocative-post-on-parenting/

Tiger==dinosour ??

2010-03-04T01:01:00.000-08:00

I have been seeing the "Save Tiger" campaign in TV for a while now.Its pretty disturbing to know only 1411 tigers left.What's the saddest part in find is that tiger is even not eaten by us..it is just for the sickening pleasure(directly/indirectly)that anybody kills tiger.

I still remember after Jurassic Park movie from school we had all gone to Delhi museum and seen those big T-Rex's which had been used in Jurassic Park movie.I am wondering will Akshaj will also go to some museum to see tigers rather than some zoo/sanctuary.Will he see the majestic beauty of Tiger only in some TV/photos ?

Will rather than seeing Dharmendra fighting a tiger we will see some X hero fighting a dummy tiger instead(that's another story that we do not have heroes like Dharmendra to fight with tiger now !!)

Edited to add:Some useful link how and why we should save tigers:

http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/?gclid=CIiz9deioaACFcZS6wodpwiAaA

http://www.wwfindia.org/help/donate/

Happy 1.5 year day !!

2010-01-28T02:47:00.001-08:00

That is more so because we will always get a chance to be at home for his half b'days as it falls on Republic day .

We did not do anything special on the day just chilled out and let him do all the show off (he loves being centre of attention..pakka leo I must say)he wanted to do

This year is going on with a mixture of worries and total fun..

Still he is not talking much ..just says ma ,ba(for grandfather) and ija (grandma)..he can't speak papa but he has come up with a ingenious name for Puneet ie -'Am'(for Om) ..and that has not come from Ekta Kapoor's serial ..That is because he hears daily Puneet chanting 'Om' while doing pooja hence that word is attached to him...

And this also is the best thing Akshaj has learnt till now...daily he does pooja with Punnet ;he completely apes Puneet with saying 'Om' with him ,doing 'analom vilom' ,'pranam' full head down like this

And these are total fun times ...he is in his playful best ...he is a total drama king ..we has to have our attention for everything he is doing ...his interest in dancing is still going strong ..he will start dancing the moment we say 'dance' (even without music)and then everybody has to sing together otherwise he will keep on scolding the one who is not involved...his favorite song currently is 'Love me Love me' from Wanted ..he even sings 'lome lome' sometimes ..

He is understanding all daily chores like 'brush','shoes','going out' ,But best is 'food' whenever I get his 'plate' ready I just have to show him saying food ...he will ran and sit on the mat(I normally feed him with a paper over normal 'chatai') and he even tries to put on bib before he begins eating .He dips chapati in 'daal' before eating it .Only problem with this is he has a clock time for eating his food..his food should be over till his 'daal' in the bowl is empty ..even if there is chapati or something else is remaining before his bowl is empty then he will just not eat it anymore...he will remove the bib and walk away ..so its a constant challenge to make him eat little slowly ...

He is becoming more assertive day by day ..he is mostly able to explain what he wants from us ..he has starting saying 'no' with his hands ..he doesn't even let us near him if he doesn't want ..he just waves like 'no' and shouts at us ..

And that is precisely one of the major problem ...he has become very very stubborn ..with each 'no' to him turning into shouting ,crying uncontrollably(mind u no tears come at this time),hand and leg banging.And we just have no clue what to do about it ...lets hope its just a phase.

He has starting being productive already..he helps in putting up clothes for drying ..and also passes things around from one person to other or one room to other.If he has something which he doesn't want to give like he has got hold of mobile and doesn't want to give back and we ask him to give it to us he will just come and pat his hand in ours or give some other toy instead of mobile ..

And he definitely has mind of his own ..he will keep on waving 'bye' and giving 'flying kiss' to everybody and the time he is going out ..but the moment anybody of us is going out leaving him or somebody whom he doesn't want to do he just refuses to say 'bye' ..that is still ok that's what are kids known for right !!But he keeps on kissing all the animals ,babies in his book but if we say give 'mama' a 'kisse' he will never do ..and to test if he clearly understands what we are saying next sentence will be 'give baby a kisse' and off he goes to give kisse to the baby in the book...now that is little too ruthless !!

Some moments so far :

this garland was made for Akshaj for one of our local festival (this is actually fed to crows)

stacking all blocks one above the other has given way to new ideas

Too much of naughtiness ..

This scooter is mostly used as a stool

spects--so soon !!

2010-01-22T04:54:00.000-08:00

Since Akshaj was born premature ,we had to get some mandatory tests done for him when he completes one year ...after lots of cancelling reappointment we finally went for an ROP check up.In this they check the well being of eyes.

At first eye test was done...followed by doctor check up and it turned out Akshaj has already a power of -1.But since he is very small this needs to be followed up when he turns 2.If at time also if the power is there he will get his first spects ...At 2 !!

The root cause is because he was premature and preme babies tend to have little weak eyes

Since then all of us in the family are little sad...since I have power and Akshaj I always doubted that he will end up wearing them ...since it tends to be hereditary but at such a young age I never knew...

He has such wonderful eyes it will be such a shame if he ends up wearing them..

But them looking at the brighter side as doc said wearing spects is not a problem and if left just like that there are chances that a squint may develop apart from the fact that power will then increase much more ..

Shimoga Trip

2010-01-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

For this new Year we went to Shimoga which was recommended by many of my friends...

Shimoga is famous for 'Jog Falls' that is the highest waterfalls of India.
First day we landed there we went to see TungaBhadra dam followed by boating ....

The dam is really very big and there is some construction going on with new passage with lights on both sides.Once that completes it will be a sight to see in night..On our way back we found one place which had statues of shiva,hanuman ,gandhiji ,horse and some other ..it was already dark by the time we reach there so we could not actually figure out what the place was..but the statues were beautiful ..

2nd day we first went to Tiger safari...While we were waiting for the van , Akki had a blast running here and there and we had a hard time controlling him.

The safari was good..we saw tigers,lions,deers,blackbucks....Akki saw one tiger and lots and lots of deers....as we were the only Hindi speaking people in the group the driver not only explained us everything specially in Hindi but once the tiger part ended and we were in the deer zone he asked Puneet to stand in the door itself to click snaps.Seeing his papa go away Akki started crying so then driver coxed me to give Akki with his papa ..so they both had a nice view from the door...

Next stop was the famous Jog falls which is about 100 kms from Shimoga....though it was out of season and much water was not there but still we could imagine what it would be like in its full force ..there are 2 entires of Jog falls one where you can see jog falls falling with its four different streams while from the other side you can watch its ferocity ..

In between Shimoga and Jog there is a place called Sagar which has lots of ancient temples ...we managed to see 2 of them.One of the most famous there is Ikkeri. Me and Akki got scolding there as Akki was always running away from me and standing on one pious spot after other and so we got nice scolding from the caretaker there ..

Day 3 was our return day...and we planned to explore Shimoga before heading back..What was really strange in our trip was that even though there are places to see in Shimoga itself..if you ask the locals about the places to see they will just tell you about Jog Falls..so take all the printouts(which we could not do in this trip) of the places you want to cover..Anyway thanks to google we came to know that Shimoga has India's second largest church and with lots of efforts and wrong directions we could still reach there ...

In Shimoga there are lots of beautiful temple we saw one or two enroute our return journey and thus ended our journey !!

P.S :All the wrong dates are because our gadget freak had enabled the dates from somewhere and we did not have the time to see how to disable that.

Happy 2010 !!

2009-12-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

Welcmed 2010 by waching TV and enjoying Akki's new dance steps...sometimes when he is in mood all we need to say is dance and he dances wihout any music ..
And tried my hands at baking ...the cake that too eggless turned out to be OK .thought it got stuck in the tin and didn't come out properly..and 2010 looked more like 2070
But there were no complaints from both the men as they gulped on the cake ...
Akki already had licked off all the icing fom the bowl which had little leftovers ..

Hope this new year will bring lots of happiness and fullfillment to everybody ...
Happy new year 2010 !!

Daily Dose 5

2009-12-17T22:51:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say Akshaj is still not speaking anything ..or his understanding/speaking of words is limited to 2 only ..

He is fascinated about fans/light switching them on/off so if u ask him where is fan he will point to fan and when he switches on tube light he will say 'light' ...once when I and P were talking something abut light Akshaj went and switched on the 'light'...

But sadly that's it ...it is not just that he is not talking, he is also not figuring out the words as of yet..he says mama and ba(for his grandfather) ..but there he says so randomly to know for sure if he actually means to us .He has absolutely no interest in showing us where nose ,head ,mouth is or understanding other words...

But I can't say that he does not know anything ..he is showing amazing progress and intelligence for things he is interested in(basically for his mischief) :-)

he now knows in which drawer we keep our snacks item..If that drawer if full he can put his hand in and take out some or the other item.So if his luck is favoring him u can see him eating biscuits which nobody has given him..I even caught him happily eating uncooked maggi once ..And if the packet is closed he will bring it to us to open the packet and give it to him to eat..if we do not comply you can hear his shrieks almost immediately...same is the case when he cannot get anything out of the drawer to eat..
He can open all containers with lid if they are not very tightly closed..and if cannot open again he will bring them to us for opening.
He got a baby pushcart-cycle for his birthday ..he does not sits on it much..but he has devised a great use for it ..He uses it to access the things which are not reachable to him mostly over TV stand..he brings it near to TV stand and stand over it to get the thing he desires ..even if I keep the cycle a long way away then also he will push it and bring it back and stand over it.
His grandpa normally works on the desktop computer which is kept in his room...so if Akshaj is playing with us in another room and his grandpa comes to talk to us, without wasting any time he goes and climbs on the chair and starts pressing keyboard..if pressing keyboard does not result in any change in screen appearance then we will start using mouse (combination of keyboard/mouse) till he gets the desired result on screen ...and don't be so foolish to think if u remove the chair u can stop him ..he can push it back and start his business again...If his grandpa is working on the system and he wants him to play with him rather then he goes and switches off the Internet connection(Our house is so supportive of our brat that all our switches are placed by builder in easy reach of him) and gives him a mischievous grin saying now what will u do!!
When he goes for a bath he puts his tub in proper place and tries to open the tap..he does not even give mug to me he takes the water from the bucket and tries to put water on him himself...I feel really lucky if I get the mug from him.
Same is the case with spoon ..he absolutely have to hold it himself..and he tries to eat 'daal' from the bowl with the spoon..now he can put 'daal' in spoon and take till his mouth but he still has not figures the part of how to put in mouth..and any help is most unwelcome..u just have to touch the spoon to get the most violent scream out of him..but he has figured a way around the spoon problem..he just takes the bowl and directly puts in his mouth .This all results in the most messy way of eating ..everyday we shroud in horror seeing him after he is done with his food...but in this process he easily eats one bowl of daal and one chapati so there can be no complaints .
he just has to see what all we do in kitchen...he tries to see from close if he cannot see he even moves back a little and then tries to see !!Making food in kitchen has become a big problem as he will push us and cling to us till we hold him up and show him what we are doing ..
he has started putting blocks also..he can atmost put 3-4 blocks now (if he has more blocks he just gets more confused ,also since he loves to throw them as well this many he gets in the end )..but the best part in this is even if he puts one block over the other he will start clapping and make that happy noise and look at all of us with a big smile and ofcourse we have to clap in return (which we are more than happy to do)...this is one of the best moment nowadays ..this makes me realise how happy parents become when their children achieve something and how important it is for parents to keep encouraging their kids and for kids to expect recognition and praise in return for the work they have done ..even a small baby of 15 months expects that recognition which we all so need in all our life..
Since I go to office 3 days a week he happily stays with his dada-dadi..but for the days I am at home he will just be with me or his dadaji...he does not go to his dadi at all ..even if I keep him with her for 5 min to prepare his milk or go to loo he starts to cry..wonder how these oh..so innocent babies become such good blackmailers..while we are at blackmailing if you had seen these saas-bahu soaps and seen the vamp face when she hugs the herione ..she makes a that cunning smile seeing her scheme succeed...same face my little baby makes ...when Akshaj wants something.. like he wants his grandpa to take him out and he clings to him(dadaji) so much that he has to give in ..then when his dadaji is holding him in his sholder his face against him and where we can only see then that sweet baby gives the same kind of smile..saying 'see dadu had to take me in the end ..I succeeded"..
He has started recogonising when we are going for work and starts becoming restless when we are about to leave ..and monday morning are tough on his grandparents since I go after a 4 day gap to office.

One of the most bratty things he is doing these days is he comes to kitchen breaks the basket ..and he throws all the potato-onion from the basket ..this has become his favorite pastime..

So much for his daily routine and his progress ...getting too much confused and wee bit worried about him now ...we had gone for his progress check to doc also ..she also said that his understanding should have been a little more till now ..speaking comes later..what she was saying is that whatever he is leaning till now he is doing it on his own but he should respond more to what we are saying to him..hmmm..with such a stubborn doing everything on my own kiddo wonder how that is possible ..!!

What do u do ..

2009-12-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

when your baby boy mixes poori,sabj,raita,kheer in his plate in worst possible way and then instead of eating it himself (like he usually do)..puts that food with his tiny fingures in ur mouth ..with those very expactant eyes and most beautiful smile in the world...

You just take a deep breath and with a very reciprocating smile eat and think is the food sweet or salty ...

Only thing which kept me going was his face filled with so much happiness and achievement!!

2009-11-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

This 'jabla' (as it is called in Hindi) I made in my stiching classes when I was in class 10th...now my baby boy is wearing it ..thanks to my mom who saved it for so many years ..and finally gave to me ..
Looks more like a frock on him though !!

Painting ??

2009-11-13T05:41:00.000-08:00

Akshaj has been very interested in designs from the very beginning ..so I thought its time to give him some hands on in it ...

We all never thought that he will actually make something great looking but wanted him to just have some fun...so I placed the colours in a plate for him..

And this is how his some snapshots of some of his painting ..

Off course painting for him was not limited till chart paper...it soon spread to his hands legs and face

And so much of work ...he turned pensive ...and he decided to sleep over it literally ...

But after a while we was quite happy with the way things turned out to be ... and we were all in splits with Akki's this new twist in the tale

As for the final look this is how it turned out ...

And these are caught on take video's of Akki's creations ;

Daily Dose 4

2009-11-02T05:08:00.000-08:00

Some updates due on what Akshaj is upto lately..

He is running away with CD's and trying to put the disc in computer... he even tries to switch on the monitor by clicking the start button
One day he was wearing a pant which was little loose and was falling down again and again ...and before I could change his pant ...when his pant went down one more time he himself picked it up and was walking holding it ...it was such a lovely sight to see him protecting his modestly ..literally
he takes his diaper and tries to wear it himself !!
Same is the case with shoes and socks..One day he picked his sandals brought in front of me ..put his feet in front so that I make him wear the sandals when I obliged ..he straight went to the main door and started banging to go out .
he takes the broom and starts to sweep the floor himself..it is a big task to keep the broom away from him these days
But the best is ..he takes 'roli' from 'puja ki thaji' and tries to put 'tilak' himself..This was a real surprize as we do not daily put tilak only in case of festivals we do it !!

Baby Einstein DVDs

2009-10-29T04:12:00.000-07:00

Came across this newspaper article today :

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article6894458.ece

Disney is refunding money to parents in US who bought Baby Einstein DVDs with a premise to make their babies 'little Einstein' but were disappointed with the results .

What I really do not understand is why parents are so much after making their child genius and know all wizards at such a small age.

I do understand babies need a stimulating atmosphere for their better development. But with one research coming and other one rebutting its claims how much can you believe to be true and how far will you go to 'stimulate the minds' of your little ones.

Diwali post

2009-10-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

This was Akshaj's first Diwali in Bangalore(actually mine also)...last year he was with me in my parents home...and since he takes active part in everything we do now (like if I try to clean the mandir ..he will come and sit on it) so doing diwali preparation was very exiting and challenging...

Diwali was on Saturday ...and since everyone was so occupied after running around with Akshaj it was only on Friday night I could start decorating the 'mandir'...(that too after Akki finally slept)...so I slept real late ..

But I had not even imagined in my dreams that I will be woken by sounds of crackers at 5 a.m in the morning ...I had heard that Diwali in Bangalore is celebrated in the morning times..but crackers 5 'o clock in morning and they generously continued for 3-4 hours after that ...even Akshaj woke up early and scared with so much sound ..

On the Diwali day we also make 'Devi(Godess Lakshni) '...for that we take Devi's face and attach it on tripod made by sugarcane sticks.These sugarcane sticks are held on a heavy plate(which has corners) and we keep 'kheel' and Lord Ganesha and Godesss Lakshmi silver coin .Then we decorate it further with lehanga and chunni for Devi and malas ...This work is usually done by my father-in-law...

And this is how finally the Devi's and the mandir after all the decoration...You can also see a board with red and white design below it ..normally instead of making rangoli ....You can also see a board with red and white design below it ..normally instead of making rangoli ...we use this red base called "geru" make design over it with powdered rice(rice put in water overnight and grounded next day) mixed with water.Akshaj just loved the makeover and was hoping we all vanish from that area so that he can do some hands-on on how we have done this ..

And I even made a small rangoli(first time) with color paints as I knew if I did it original way it will not last even for a minute ...And since Akshaj was super-exited with everything happening around I did it in least possible time .. And then as outside firecrackers had started ..Akshaj was busy hearing the sounds of all the bombs ..though he was very scared yet he was in balcony to hear the sounds ..so he went with dadaji for a live show outside...but in few minutes he was back crying uncontrollably ...and later when crying was over he started making so many sounds ..woof ..woof ..etc with huge face to show all of us that there were lots of noises like this happening outside ..it was a so much fun to watch him explaining what happened to make him cry so much ..

We normally do not burst any cracker on Diwali ...just bring one 'fuljhadi'(came to know its called sursurbatti here) packet ..but as this was Akshaj's first Diwali and he likes fire very much we bought all non-sound crackers like pencil,anar,fuljadhi ,chakkri..

And since we had brought them, we thought we will take Akshaj outside again....we went to terrace as nobody was bursting crackers there ..but the moment we lighted pencil again the tears started to roll off ...and to pacify for our guilt of making him cry ..we let him watch lots of songs in TV ..so that he becomes normal again...

Then we did the puja and Akshaj obviusly had to join it ...we just can't keep him away from puja area for too long anyway ..he just loves to go there ..

And this is Akshaj putting the kheel in the house ...we have to do put them in all the rooms of the house ..actually lady of the house ..who is considered as lakshmi has to do it ..but since he is the start of the house so he also did it along with me ...You can also see the 'Lakshmi paav(feet)' which we make in all the rooms and till puja...on Diwali day Godess Lakshmi is supposed to come in all the houses over these feets and supposed to fill the houses with you know what ..Lakshmi ..meaning prosperity ...

And finally some great Diwali food and our Happy Diwali over !!

Let's rock and walk (videos)

2009-10-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Akshaj loves to dance ...just put on some good item number and he will be swaying with the beats ..check out some of his moves..

And these are his videos from first and second day of waking ...he even started playing football on the second day of walking

Balancing with outstretched hands ...it was so much fun to watch him..

Fevicol add and rest!!

2009-10-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Remember the Fevicol ad when there's a small baby continuously running away and his mom in between her work picks him up and makes him sit and the baby runs away in jiffy until the fevicol box is brought in to resolve the . Oh how I wish I could have that magic fevicol !!

I need tons of it for Akshaj...not only he has become extra naughty he even has started stamping his feets on floor and hands on whatever ..he even hits sometimes...and crying comes naturally when he is stopped from doing something.

And I really do not have a clue how to make him stop ..I have tried making him understand by words...by little scolding..making serious face..but he just does not listen...

And I do understand that he is too small to comprehend things but still he is sure showing all signs of a totally stubborn child..

Doing all the mischievous things is OK ..that's what a child will do ..but stamping feet ..hitting that is is way too much..

Never thought such problems will arrive so soon!!

Walking on 2 feet!!

2009-10-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Finally Akshaj has started walking...since it was so long due ..it was such happiness mixed with a about time it happened kind of feeling ...

Since he had started crawling pretty early he had become a pro at it ....so he never felt like walking...he would take 1-2 steps and then will again be in all fours ...

He was at such a stage instead of walker making him walk ,he was making the walker walk !!

But thankfully at last ...he is walking ..though he tries to walk so fast that he falls more than he walks but still he has no issues with it so we are just overjoyed ...

He has finally done 2 of the 'to do ' thing from his list he is walking and he has learnt to climb up and down the bed...

Now one the major problem I am facing is weaning him completely out of bottle ...when I am at home from morning till evening I make him drink with a spoon...but at night time I am still offering him bottle (though I do clean his teeth after it)..this way he sleeps peacefully(so do we) and gets up only in the morning(so no night time feeding)...

But I am just not finding the courage to make him stop using bottle completely...sometimes when he cries for milk in his sleep and just do not know how he can drink without bottle..sigh..

Also for the days I come to office things are not in my hands...so it is a mix of bottle and spoon he is getting ..

I have tried sipper but he just does not like to drink from it and again drinking from sipper is also not considered to be good so do not want to do it anyway!!

Well he has completed his milestones for now .. but mine are still long way to go !!

Munnar Trip

2009-10-02T00:02:00.000-07:00

We all went to Munnar towards the start of September but somehow couldn't write about the trip...

Mettur Dam enroute Munnar

Enroute to Munnar we saw thousands of beautiful windmills....and even saw the wing of windmill in a truck....that was before the wind mill and I stupidly thought that it was the wing of airplane instead ....

Then came those famous tea estates..just one look at those lush green tea gardens for as far as we could look had us all energised and all set for the trip...

But sadly it was raining so heavily when we reached to Munnar and it was sooo cold that we were all thinking it was such a mistake come at this time ..just holed up in our cottage ..but by evening we decided as we have come better we do go out and enjoy all the same...

So off we went to Munnar town to get the necessary things for the trip---umbrellas ,sweater (for his papa) and raincoat for our star boy ...

Now we were all ready and enjoyed shopping in Munnar Town ..got hold of Munnar tea,dry fruits ,spices ....had spicy Munnar Tea....

But since the rain Gods were still above us ...and roaming around nearly impossible we decided its better that we pack our bags and leave as we were doubtful if Akshaj and his grandfather will be able to bear the cold..

So we packed our bags and started back and what do you see ..sun had come up ..though it was raining but nearly as bad ...so we went to boating ...

Akshaj totally went to a pensive mood in midst of so much greenery and water...

After surviving the famous stunts of Munnar streamer drivers ...our next stop was the breathtaking views of Munnar from the Top view ...but Akshaj enjoyed the adjoining branch present there instead...

And he was so truely happy to see the hens around the top spot...

And so with the promise of 'We will be back' left Munnar with some mesmerising memories..

Daily Dose 3

2009-09-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

Hi ..
thought of adding on to the list of my activities ..in case u people start thinking I am a lazy bum..
This time I am going to share my daily routine ...all boring work I have to do ..like ..

Morning morning brushing of teeth ..I don't even eat chocolates then also I have to brush ..but u know what when mama-papa put their finger in my mouth for proper cleaning then I bite their figures real hard..now nobody is ready to brush my teeth :-)

Then off course I eat my lunch ..see how much I love my food..

Then comes the outing time..see how innovative I am..I love to sit in pram this way ..

And I love helping mama putting up all the clothes to dry ..but since I am small sometimes I have to stand on the bucket to help her ..though its tough but still I manage to do it ...but somehow papa does not like it ..and drags me away :-((

So I help mama in a way that doesn't offend papa ...like cleaning the drawers ...

Am I the best baby or not !!

Daily Dose 2

2009-09-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody ,I am back to describe how I spend my days ..I think u know by now I fell very ill in recent past ..so when I got better I had to cover up for all the lost time and had to make a fresh start ..so this is what is my best past-time these days..

I get on the table and try to switch on the TV ..and you know what if the TV is in standby mode I can turn it on...I really don't know why mama is angry with my new found wisdom ..she just hates it if I turn it on ..and as u can see I like seeing real close..but sob sob ..these days this TV is mostly off and they blame it on me for this ..on me can you believe it .. I love watching TV but still I get all the blame ...so since I cannot turn it on I move on ..so I take the mobile and dial some numbers ...I can imitate very well how everybody in the house talks on phone ...(though I never talk on phone just smile hearing voice coming out of it (another of mama's grudges with me))...then its time to listen to some music ....sadly when I turn things on they don't work I wonder why ..I even try to get in the cabinet to get some new CD's ...but sadly I can't go in there ...so I turn to good old books (this gets mama smiling a little finally)...
After so much of work finally some rest .....!!

Now with all recharged energy I move to my dada-dadi's room...since I want to perfect my work I try my skills to drawers as well...and look I have become a pro at this .I can open this drawer also and sit on it easily ...

Now it looks like I am really doing good!!

As they say you have to perform another time to be sure its not luck ..

So strange..

2009-08-22T02:53:00.000-07:00

It feels so strange when you have spend so much time running around your little troublemaker ,wishing he would sit in some place for 5 min so that you can atleast get some reprieve ..and one fine day you see him just lying in bed unable to get up...and just clinging on to you and not going out of your lap..
Poor baby got high fever last week ....and it just broke our hearts for us to see him trying to do all the daily naughty things he does everyday.But with no strength to do that , he would just end up crying instead...And in this scary times of swine flu ..you can't just be sure ..even taking to doctor is risky ...
Thankfully now fever is all gone though leaving him much paler and with lots of cough and cold...but that is nothing for the brave wonder boy ...and he is back with a bang ... covering up for the lost time with never before stunts ...and the normal life (of him leading the way and we helplessly following him has started)...

One of the funniest thing he did the day he was able to move was to check out the whole house to see what has changed while he was sick ...and then when he was sure everything is still the same , he took out my spects(that is his favorite pastime with me) ...he had to do something to show he was well now ..isn't!!

2009-08-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have been awarded by Gaelika....yipeee..my first award...how cool!!

My Birthday Party..

2009-08-03T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi ..I am back ..this time to describe my birthday party...

First a prelude to the birthday ..my birthday dress kept my parents very anxious .Till the last moment I resented wearing it ...mama made me wear it 1-2 times before the party with the end result like this ...

Poor mama-papa they even got me a new dress as they didn't wanted me to cry on my b'day .But mama knew if I was crying there will be some reason as normally I am never choosy while wearing anything. Then she came to know it was actually the tag on the dress which was hurting me ...and with problem solved ....and one more trial (which went just fine .)final selection was made.

So this was me all dressed up for my party :-)

..you would notice dhoti is replaced by payjama as even by modifying it ..as it was sooooo long that it would fit me when I am 3-4 years.

Mama made the 'happy birthday poster' and mama-papa-dadu did all the decorations themselves.

They also got a collage made with all my first year activities

And then while the guests were trickling in and some of them left waiting I thought I would take the matters in my hand .And with some nice foot tapping music number playing and with me in good mood I danced to entertain the arriving guests...well the party was for me..so I had to make sure I get all the attention...and entertain the guests as well

I got little to possesive about a gift and started to carry it along with me..frankly I would have carried all but mama didn't let me have them ..I guess she was J

But then ,because of the all day drama and running around with no sleep made me tired and I started to feel sleepy... but how I could have slept without cutting my cake ...so I somehow managed to wake up till then...
Finally cake cutting ..'Happy Birthday to me ..Happy Birthday to me'

ohhh...I got so tired that I took a quick nap...but I had to eat the cake ..lets see what all the fuss is about ... the proceedings did continue with the game (which was so much fun)...and dinner but for me I nicely slept off ...good babies do not wake up too late in night na ..
P.S :Special thanks to M auntie for being the official photographer for the evening.

Naming Ceremon +Birthday Greeting--for archiving

2009-07-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Naming Ceremony:

We had Akshaj's naming ceremony little late as we wanted to be sure that he will be able to sit through it ...and then there was so much confusion on the appropriate day to do it ..but finally we did manage to it and it went off just fine with Akshaj sleeping all though the post ceremony party (which was on next day)

Birthday:

What to say ..still can't believe he is one ..

Hello Akki

2009-07-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hello my baby,
Thanks for being there and filling our life with joy and happiness in a way only you could have done.Making our already imperfect life totally unmanageable yet so totally fun and complete.

With love,
Mama

Crossed the '1' milestone !!

2009-07-28T02:26:00.000-07:00

Well..well ..well...keep adding one day and 365 days over and my little frail baby with all tubes over his body becomes a vibrant full of life toddler...
The first thing which I remember while writing this post is my baby's face when he was born ...at that time I thought how can such a beautiful baby be mine ...he was just perfect ...and then he was taken to ICU and I still regret why I didn't take snap of him at that time ...since after that for next 13 days I could only see him with tubes over his body ...and under bright light(put because of jaundice)...but he was there sleeping peacefully unaware of the things going around him..

And this has been how he has been thought this one year always smiling ...I cannot say he troubled me anytime ..nor he gave me any chance for to tell stories of long sleepless nights(except maybe for starting 1 month)...he has only 2 enemies --cold and lots of gas in his stomach ..but still he would keep on smiling even through his worst enemies -- cold and gasthem ...he would cry for just 5-10 minutes and then he would be himself again...I would fear will this phase be over and he would become fussy like the horror stories I have heard but no...as days passed he become more and more playful ...now he is just a personification of naughtiness ..there is not one minute he can sit still..

Working for last 4 years it was my dream to take as long a leave possible when my baby would be born...so for full 9 months(yes the positive side of him arriving early was that I didn't even waste 1 day of my leave ) ...after my delivery I was with him 24X7...and with papa at office we had a great time together ....those were the best 9 months ...then as time to join back office came there were all those worries will he be comfortable without me around ...will he cry ...but he took to my in-laws very comfortably ...so much that he has become a 'poonch' of his dadaji as I put it ..following him anywhere he goes ...he even prefers sitting in front of bathroom for 1 hour if he has gone there over anything else...

He got one step further in keeping us at ease as he goes with anybody ...he doesn't have any stranger anxiety ..he just needs 5 minutes and then he wants all the attention of the guest who have come ..it can be ever "ironwale","maid","delivery boy" ..it doesn't matter ..all are his friends

For rest of the progress I don't know if I should be happy or sad ...since whatever he does he will never do if I ask him ..and will learn nothing from me ...looks like I cannot make him do anything(if this trend continues I am sure I will have lots to worry about )....but then he has learned a few things ....though learning is not in his agenda...

most of the things he has learnt all by himself when he wanted to ...like clapping ..off course he will not clap if we ask him..but if he likes something he will clap....he can dance also by moving his bums up and down ....and can stand if put to standing position ...just sing one item number with lots of beat in it ..he has learnt to open the door and run out ..to hold anybody's clothes the moment they get dressed to go out ...he has started making sounds like gundaas ..."aey"..and he has become expect on a child's best weapon... crying which he does uncontrollably if he doesn't get anything like mama's spects ..mobiles ...cameras etc...he even cries if he doesn't get the amount of attention he wants from anybody...OMG ...there I have started cribbing about his bad habits when I thought one year post to be all goody goody ..

I can go on and on ...but all I want to say is ...

This past one year has just come and gone ...and changed our lives in profound way...it has helped us to stop and notice the small things with him...seeing how a baby evolves and sees the world around him,understands it ,with each day a new discovery and a life giving new colours and meaning to daily cacophony
And we all just love this precious gift we got !!

I year 1 day old ...first activity

2009-07-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Yes finally ,my boy wonder is no longer a baby ...which he never thought of himself anyway...Will update on the happening on the special day after some time..but this is the first things he did after turning mature(so to say)...

He opened a jar of pickle takes out the spoon and happily ate it ....that too from below the dining table so that nobody can find him....all this in just 4-5 min we were all away from him.What is so surprising in it he loves to make things fall ..but in this case he nicely opened the jar and was calmly licking the pickle !!

This is one photo of caught in the act (couldn't take better one as was scared of pickle stains over my chair)

khata khula ..

2009-07-22T03:55:00.000-07:00

Finally ..Akshaj got his first teeth ...and if u look closely in the photo u will be able to see it as well..

JanaamVaar (Birthday --Hindi Calender)

2009-07-22T00:10:00.000-07:00

We generally celebrate 2 birthdays according to our customs ..one is according to Hindu calender and another is by English calender....Akshaj's birthday according to Hindu calender was on 15th July...
It started with little pooja followed by Haldi ceremony (Haldi mixed with til) for him....then he had his bath ..after which was followed by a pooja --we have "markandeya pooja" for birthday..was was heartening to see was he sat through 1.5 pooja without unease.. here are some of the fond memories..

he was totally engrossed in pooja and was seeing it carefully...he even took active part by ringing the bell ..(he loves mandir and pooja anyway..anytime he hears ringing of bells in pooja he will go there running and takes the bell and rings it himself) he even danced on aarati...

pooja over ..time for kalava ...and the prasadam...he got banana which he loves to eat ...he did get a little greedy as he took one with about half his size :-)taking blessings of dadu...finally some rest ...after so much of work one well well deserved one ..

Bad Weekend..

2009-07-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

This post is little delayed but still worth mentioning..
Last week was a terrible weekend for us and Akki ...
First of all we came early on Friday and seeing us he got so hyperactive ..that while sitting he started jumping and fell backward flat on the ground...
Then on Saturday while playing with his papa his face collided with papa's head and blood started to come out of his teeth(at last one is coming ) ...
And the worst was that inadvertently his hand got burned with diya...

But what was so heartening was that he just forgot about these incidents just in 1 minute after happening ..even with diya once we gave him water to play with he happily started to play with it ...and then slept off ..next day even with a boil he never cried once ...
I wish I could have some of his endurance to live through all his falls and mishaps without guilt!!

Daily Dose 1

2009-06-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

Mama is at it again(have done it before) ...she has broken the laptop ans finding that as an excuse to not write about me ..that too when I am doing so much in the house everyday

So again ,I have to be in charge and from my busy schedule find time to write also ...poor me !!
Well for starters ,they say children learn from parents but here parents are learning from children...it stated with me eating my mama's phone so bad that it couldn't be repaired ..(well I had to eat something right ,so why not mobile!! ..these people give me that toy mobile and think I can be fooled but no .).anyway I don't know why this started the whole breaking trend ...with mama dropped laptop off the table and papa dropping his phone in water ...really suddenly this whole trend of aping me has started ...now it is my turn again....lets see what I will break next.
Apart from this ...everybody wants me to stand .. but when I actually do that on top of sofa (i.e not on the seat on sofa but on the top head-rest then they ask me to come down...so bore they are!!..I even try to stand on the edges of my bath tub but till now I have not been able to (mainly because nobody lets me)...will let u know when I do that ..

If there is somebody at the door it is perfect time to sneak out while somebody is attending on the door..and after that if the door is not closed properly ..even if a smallest creak is there ..I can open it myself and can crawl out of the house ...I want my freedom what's wrong in that!!
I can open each and every drawer and cupboard in my house and I love to take out whatever is in there ..but my favorite are shoes ....I just love to eat them ...
I have learnt the fine art of blackmailing ....I do cry sometimes if they take something out of my hands ...but mostly I can manage everything with my smile ...I just have to give my sweetest smile and look with really sorry eyes and I can get everything ..mostly I love using it when anybody is going out ..off course I know if somebody is going out when they get dressed (my favorite pick--dadaji..he loves going out so do I so why not together)..and I juts have to follow them around the house till they go out and keep looking them with pity ...it always works !!
One of my most loved activity is taking out the sink pipe..they just forget that I did it it as they concentrate more on removing me from there ..then later when somebody opens the tap ..water is everywhere and I love to pat it and sit on it ..isn't it a great idea play with water!!

I like doing lots of work like spill oil,switch off fans, come to dining table from sofa (sofa and dining table are back to back),from bed to side basket,

pick smallest of thing from ground like ants,flower petals,peas fallen in kitchen ..just to name a few but nobody is happy with my progress ..what they want me to do instead is walk and talk ..but I can manage that pretty well with my crawling and baby talk ...

Something which I cannot do but would love to do is ..holding agaarbatti's smoke...holding water..grabbing sunlight ..I try to catch them a lot ..don't know when will I succeed.

That's it from me ..I see mama coming ..maybe she will atleast post this ..

Strong Boy!!

2009-06-04T03:53:00.000-07:00

Nowadays Akshaj goes with his dadaji in play area of our complex daily ..One day a small boy comes ..checks Akshaj's biceps and declares "he is a real strong boy"...

Now what more u can want ..they say childern don't lie :-)

And this is akshaj with his (so called) biceps

Masinagudi-Ooty-Kunoor

2009-05-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Since it was a long trip I got bored in the car while going but once we were in our resort I simply loved everything ...even the tyre prints left in the mud .As seeing this was a first for me spend a lot of time figuring out exactly what was it !!

Finally reached Northern Hay ..time to do some masti
Perfect bonding time
With mama-papa ..they were happy they atleast got one photo with me facing front

This was a beautiful bed...I laughed like anything standing here

Nice place to relax while enjoying the view of Kunnor's Sims park
There were lots of people in queue to get their photo in front of "tope"..but with me there the busy ooty garden came to a standstill

Mama doesn't give me tea to drink so I thought to eat tea leaves instead My family photo with papa,mamma,dada,bua and dadi :-)

Just the perfect moring.......

2009-05-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

is when you wake up daily and see a most mesmerising smile on your baby's face.

Nowadays each morning is just magical as daily I wake up to see a smiling Akshaj (he gets up before me and wakes me up).Lazily he will lie here and there in bed and will give that wonderful smile of his ...and best of all this is only time of the day when you can kiss him cuddle him give him a big bear hug and he will love every second of it ......

Just the perfect start to a day!!

Hair Cutting

2009-05-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

Finally the day arrived when Akki got his hair cut ..it was a simple affair with a little pooja

followed by hair cutting except it took 5 people to grab him so that his hair can be cut :-)

There is a custom that we have collect all the fallen hair and then keep them safely for future rituals ...but with our wonder boy how could we imagine it will be easy ...We were collecting hair on a plate ..and he simply grabbed all the hair in his hand and put it in his mouth ....it was total mayhem ....

But that's not it after some time even that didn't work so I have to hold him up in my arms ..and then only whole process could be completed

And finally bath and pooja ..he was so tired after this that he slept off

First thing he learnt

2009-05-11T03:40:00.000-07:00

P and I have been trying to teach Akshaj lots of things but all our efforts have been in vain..but now with the arrival of his grandparents and bua things have changed ..he has started dancing to dadaji's tunes...and with the arrival of bua he has started dancing to all the songs which have beats ...play any iteam song and he starts to move ...must say in total rhythm ...but his favortite sons still is dadaji's (haven't heard that ever)..."Ding dong ding diga ..mere dil ko samblao mera dil gaya" ....hearing this he bends his knees(mostly he will be standing with support) and goes up down up down ...this is most lovely sight to watch these days ..

Stranger anxiety

2009-05-11T03:30:00.000-07:00

Well this is what everybody was telling about ....
Akshaj has started crying whenever some stranger holds him ..though it is not that worse as after some half an hour he gets settled down and starts laughing with them and goes with them as well.
On sunday we went to some of P's friends house for his parents 50'th anniverary .There were lots of other guests there.Now Akshaj has been a centre of attraction in our house ...every body is always around him giving thier total attention (like in every home).But in the party there were two guests who were talking among themselves and didn't see him..he kept on watching them for a long time but to no avail ..they still didn't see him ..so what does he do ..the poor baby started crying ..new place on top of it getting ignored it was too much to handle for the little one ..

Non-veg

2009-05-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

We all are vegeratian in our house but looks like our boy wonder is breaking this habit already ...
He is already picking ants from ground with his still to fully develop grip and eat it ...alive .....

Now what can you say ..as if there were already not hunderd things to keep him way from ..but this one is totally out of the box

Vaccination

2009-04-25T23:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to doc for his 9 month vaccination and we were very tensed that it will pain him very much.Earlier whenever we had gone for vaccination he has been a very brave boy and would cry very less and sleep peacefully minutes after vaccination.But this one we were giving after a long time and he has grown up also since then so we were very worried for him..and the cries of other babies who were getting vaccination were making us more uncomfortable.

But he again put all our worries to rest ...he did cry but only for some seconds ..but then he was back to his mischievous self. ..even him cry was not very loud..we have seen him wail much forcefully for his milk or some other thing.

He is really very brave and I am so proud of him for that !!

Akshaj's activties at nana-nani's place

2009-04-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

Akshaj went to his nana nani place past weekend so of his activities there ..His morning used to start very early there ..we was all up at 6 'o clock ..and first thing he did after waking up was to attack all the things kept in bed ..ie even before he could open his eyes fully ..
His way of watching TV .. this led to a total ban on TV..Well if not TV ..he thought to listen to some music instead ..

But best is to create his own music ..loved any chance he got to be on top of containers ..

Even other utensils work just fine ..Then time for some pooja ..he became bhairav on navami ...and was centre of attractions with other 'kanyas'

Impressing them with drum playing ..time to put practice to test ..offcourse he was getting all the attention without it as well

All dressed up in dhoti -kurta for the day ..

And finally some rest after all the hard work ..

My First Vacation --Coorg

2009-03-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

After working so hard in Banglore it was time for being with the nature and recharging the batteries so I hit out to Coorg ...and this is our homestay in Coorg --nice view from window and I can see it myself by standing on the bed

Such a big swing ..I can even stand on it !!

this is me having a lots of space to crawl which is not possible in my crumpled home

And mama said these are called plants and she repeatedly told me not to pluck any leaves but I did it anyway (every time)..it has so many leaves and if I pluck just one because I am seeing first time what is the harm :-)

If you don't give me anything to eat , I can have it on my own !!

Abbey falls ,wonderful....

Me in Raja's seat

This time flowers and yes I did pluck them ..again

After a hard day's work ..rest

Why should I play with a dummy when I can have the real thing ..papa's phone is so cool

Swing again ..and I can crawl on it too..

Papa thinking how can he get some of my energy ..look at him he needs 30+

Good learnt the lesson ..and now they are giving something to eat ..really have to work for anything you want these days!!

Nice place to hide ..

Some relaxing ..

Next day ..can I do rafting please ..

But this will also do ....what a calmness ..

Dubare Elephant Camp ..but you know what inspite of mama-papa trying their best ...I didn't look at even one elephant ..impressive right that I could miss such a big animal ..

Now this is what I call a perfect ride ..what will be elephant ride compared to this ..

Can I jump from here ..

Offering prayers at the Monastery...see little bit like monks

Hmmm...just beautiful ..

Nice way to knock..if only we can have this at home instead of the disturbing doorbell

With mama ..loved so many colors here ..

Finally ..enjoying on my own ..hey did I mention ..I posed with lots of girls for photographs .. :-)

Sitting this way on car seat is better

But standing on it is just perfect
Give me something to read ..I am getting bored here !!

Daily Dose

2009-03-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

Since mama is so busy that she is not updating my activities properly it is time I take over ..and do what mama does best --complain .. :-)

My biggest problem is that I don't know why mama wants me to stop anything which I really love to do ..like

1.The moment I wake up I have to crawl ...so it means that if I am sleeping on bed I have to crawl out of it ..don't know why but she makes awful lot of fuss over it..(I normally don't cry when I wake up ..and she has a problem with that too)thankfully she does allow me to go half down by holding me sometimes....its total bliss (and she wants to teach me how dangerous it is by doing this..ha ..ha..) .but we have come to a truce finally as she has made a bed for me on floor and so I can crawl out of it ...so both are happy :-)

2.One more word which I hear often but really don't get is "Sitting"..now what is that !! ..I really don't understand why I have to sit ..if I have studied properly nobody in my whole khandan likes to sit(everybody likes to lie down)..even my doctor uncle(BTW my doctor visits need a separate blog but mama never does it .sigh) has told that I don't like it so let me be ..but even then I was being forced to sit also in my swing and rocker ...but finally I have defined a ingenious way of stopping them..I try to stand up as much as possible ..apart from crying on top of my lungs but what gets a immediate reaction is when I act like I can open the latches ..poor mama she can't even hold me in my seat for even a minute now..to make her happy I do "sit" for about a second each day ..what you don't think it is 'sitting' ..well this is the best I can do..so much for all the hard work!!

3.Instead of sitting I have come with another way to use my swing and rocker ..I try to stand by taking their support ..now this freaks mama out ..as swing off course starts going back and froth ..and rocker also can't support me fully ..

4. I can roll over in my bath tub and stand up by taking the support of bucket of water ...and I love standing when mama is putting shampoo in my head ..now she can't stop me at this time right ..what if shampoo goes in my eyes !!

Then when I come fresh out of bath I don't know why I have to wear all those clothes ..I just want to be free ..so I try my best by runnning out of mama's hand when she puts me on bed for changing but she does catch me in the end

5 I am not even allowed to do simple things like use computes(I have found so many menus which she never knew existed..may be she is jealous) and see TV (I ofter hear both of them were TV buffs before me ..now they can hardly watch it half hour as if I have stopped them ..we both can happily watch)

6.I love going to puja ,I can also sit on puja stool by myself (seeing this they have removed it) ,play ghanti and use other puja items as well ..but they want me to play with my boring toys and totally bar me from coming to puja alone

Apart from this ,I have become an expert in crawling and standing and mama-papa are very proud of me for that

Well ..there are lots of other things but how much can a little baby write ..so that's it for now ..hope mama starts updating the blog more regularly now ..

Recogonition

2009-03-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Finally Akshaj is showing some signs that he is recognising us..now if he is sleepy he comes crawling to me to put him to sleep ..even if I am not looking at him he will pull my dress and make me pick him up...

Normally whenever we have guests he will be a prefect host ..more perfect than both of us combined...he would laugh with them ,talk with them and give equal attention to everyone of them.But when he is little sleepy or just not in the mood then he has starts to look up to us ..and even has started crawling from our guests to us.What I would love to see (and maybe fear a little once he starts doing it) is the open arm movement which normally all infants do ..

First Holi

2009-03-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

This was Akshaj's first holi.There is a custom in our family that we put a little color on the clothes that we are supposed to wear on holi...and I for the first time coloured his clothes and on Holi day he wore them
.Though I tried really hard to stop his papa from putting colors on his face but what can I do..It was his first holi so I also couldn't resist the temptation of coloring him a little. And of course he was more than happy to oblige.

Naughty Naughty

2009-03-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

Since Akshaj has started to crawl ,one of his favorite place to crawl into is our central table .He planned the whole thing perfectly ---first he made the whole table clear putting everything down

he even managed to open a photo album box .With such eminent threads we cleared the table.Poor we how do we know what was about to come... ...so finally when the stage was clear he went inside (see video)..and the poor bamboo shoot was the target..

After everything done ,when it was time to come out he was little worried.. but still he was literally dragged out of it..see the way he is taking the bowl out along with him.. and after this the table was fully cleared and then he not only went inside but came out on his own as well.

Tagged ..

2009-03-04T03:30:00.000-08:00

Monika tagged me for this ...will be nice remembrance for later..

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?

Yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME?

Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS?

Was so happy that it can't be put in words.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU?

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?

Went to gynec ..couldn't get courage to buy home Pregnancy tests...somehow I was sure also..

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?

Hubby

8. DUE DATE?

28 August 2008

9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?

Yes ,although there was nothing morning about it !!

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?

Nothing which I normally do not crave for ...I can also say I was very scared to eat at that time I had a maina that every food I eat is acidic .

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?

Mostly smells...Non-Veg smell coming from the neighbour's house,polythene smell,aggarbati,dhoop,onion tadka...just smelling for 1 sec would make me vomit.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?

Male

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?

Wanted a daughter ,but towards the end wanted a boy (and my sixth sense told me its going to be a boy)..maybe because everybody was predicting that I will have a girl.But now to think of it, it is so irrelevant ....girl or boy they are just magical.

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?

Lost lots weight in starting then gained overall 2 kg and baby was born 2.1 kgs

15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?

Didn't even get my baby to take home for 13 days. :-(

16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?

17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?

Nothing major during pregnancy except infection UTI once and acidity throughout,but there was major complication when my water broke 1 month in advance ..was admitted to hospital ..there was a see-saw that it is water or something else but finally it was time!! still don't know why it happened though.Thankfully was in home at that time.

18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?

Manipal Hospital, Bangalore

19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?

I was admitted 3 days in advance ..was put on drip so that labour does not occur ..in between removed from the medication for scan then pain started ..put back again on drip afterwards and finally removed ..so maybe total 16-18 hours I guess.
20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL/BIRTH CENTER?

Hubby

21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?

My husband,doctor ,nurses and my baby from inside !!

22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?

Natural

23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?

24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?

2.1 kgs

25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?

26 July 2008

26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?

Akshaj

27. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY

7 months though his doctor consider him 6 months only!!

27. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN THE DOCTOR ANNOUNCED THE SEX OF THE BABY?

Actually was too happy to know it is all over and he is finally out ...couldn't believe it at first

28. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST REACTION ON SEEING THE BABY?

How can such a beautiful baby be born to me !!

28. DID YOU CRY?

Not at that time .

Stage 1 over...

2009-03-02T00:08:00.000-08:00

Looking at recent activities of Akki I can safely say that stage one is over and the scary stage 2 is starting .Stage 1 being the heavenly time when just feeding him was enough ...then I need not bother much ....just leave him on his floor bed and he will happily play with his toys and I can also relax ..but all of a sudden my sweet baby has changed overnight ....now if I am waiting something in computer near him he will totally take it over from me ...

if I leave him alone he has to tap on floor leaving his bed and walk on it,or eat chappalls on the way ...which eventually results in some sort of head banging and lots of cries.2-3 times crying while doing something mischievous has become norm of the day.

Massaging him is the biggest task as he just stay refuses to still even for 1 minute. If he is on his back then making him not to roll over on his tummy is nearly impossible and by sheer miracle if it does happen, when it is time to massage his back he prefers crawling instead ..only way out is to massage him when he is crawling ....Even bathing is not spared as he has to have the mug full of water in his tiny hands specially when the mug is directly on his face .He has try to stand holding tub's edges to check out the bathroom floor.And to top is all to cry on top of his voice if I try to stop him from doing something dangerous like making a jump from bed to ground ..or from bed to side table.

Whew!!!

2009-03-01T23:26:00.000-08:00

because lots of activities started by wonder boy in 2 weeks now he can crawl quite well ...he is showing some progress in sitting (at last)...and even trying and managing some time to stand with support .!!!have to write blog for each one but with all this things Akshaj has become expert in one more thing ...how to stall mamma from writing anything in computer :-(

I love gymming ...

2009-02-20T04:44:00.000-08:00

That is he still loves to pass time in his gym.It is one thing that never bores him.He loves to watch his face in its tiny mirror
roll the ball
pull the lovely butterflies(so much that they are longer part of it he has pulled so much that they have come off) ,pull its wriggly toy,
if nothing else he can stare at its lovely design( BTW the way he stares at the design we wonder if he's going to be a designer one day). But special mention will go to its giraffe with whom he has a love hate relationship ...sometimes he loves to pat him but most of the times he just can't resist pulling his tail or his green grass.Sometimes the rivalry goes a little further by stamping him under his feet ...or going for the overkill by targeting both the giraffe and the wriggly toy at the same time.. now this is too much for the kindly giraffe so he takes his revenge sometimes by totally blocking his way ...but untimately our boy wonder has the last laugh....the poor girrafe cant even stand staight now..he's now forever in a half suspended state !!

Food for Thought

2009-02-20T04:33:00.000-08:00

Akki is developing bad habit of sucking thumb.Whenever I take his thumb out of one hand he immediately puts in thumb of his other hand.I am wondering how does a 6 month know that he has 2 hands ...and more precisely that he has 2 thumbs which he can put in his mouth!!!

East or West Papa is the Best!!

2009-02-20T02:39:00.000-08:00

Well ...with 100% jealousy I have to admit Akhsaj just loveeeeeeeees his papa...and he doesn't give even give me a cursory glance (even if I try my level best to grab his attention) when Puneet is around.On the other hand P doesn't have to do anything ..he doesn't even have to look but Akki will still smile looking at him.

Everybody says it is because I am with him all the times but my point is whenever there is long weekend then Akki should pay him less attention at least on Sunday perhaps ,but no there is no change .P will console me that this is not the case but we have done few experiments like he will call him and I will call him,I will pick him he will pick him etc but all results have let to the same known conclusion.Only solace is that P is sometimes at the reciving end of it when he has to take his kicks ,nose pulling hair pulling also :-) Sometimes even Puneet is scared that when Akshaj grows up and he does not give him the same partial treatment then he will feel very bad...so this blog is specially written so that he can come back here and remember the good ol' times and maybe emotional blackmail Akki showing him this blog(how it used to be what has why has he changed so much etc etc..)

Marriage outing ..

2009-02-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to one of Puneet's friend's reception.Akshaj being a charmer that he is soon became centre of attraction ..His modus operandi is very simple to pass big big smiles to whoever looks at him,talks to him and go to anybody who picks him up.Now who can resist such a nice baby ??...He didn't even cry for milk while we were there(there was a full 4 hr gap in total when generally he drinks every 2 hrs.we received all the jealous praises like we are really blessed to have such a nice baby who doesn't even cry,such a smiling baby etc etc.Some even suggested if he keeps on going this way he will grow up to be a big flirt(really eager to know how he turns up in that front).One big advantage of this is off-course there are so many people to carry him that we needn't strain our shoulders to carry him all the time ;-)...but little worried/sad also since he doesn't even care if his parents are there or not .He is same with everybody no special treatment for his parents(though he does Puneet more when we both are there)wonder when he will start missing us a little ...

When will I crawl :-((

2009-02-03T10:55:00.000-08:00

I have been swimming on my stomach since past 2 months And it has been 1 month since I have started to be like a horse ...

I can move one foot now forward but I am stuck at that .Moreover if I try real hard instead of moving forward I move backwards ..Can't even go to my favorite toy ,more I try to go forward I always end in reverse gear.I have tried a lot different ways to crawl ....

but I am just not able to do so ...Even mumma papa thought of helping me by teaching me how to crawl .They tried it a few times themselves but they got so confused among themselves .They just couldn't make up their mind will it be right-left combination of hand and leg or right-right(or vice-versa).Mama was for same leg and hand while papa was for alternate leg and hand ....so finally they gave up and again the big responsibility has come on me.So let me try to think what's wrong in my technique .These elders are good for nothing !!

Annprashan(starting ann)

2009-02-02T02:16:00.000-08:00

When the baby is between 5-6 month then there is a function in which baby takes ann for the first time .In this function according to the custom that we keep lots of different article in front of baby which represent different career paths (like books,ball,pen etc).Whichever article baby picks up indicate the career he will take later when he grows up .So for this lots of traditional dishes are prepared so that Akshaj has lots of option to choose from ...rice ,kadhi,khadi daal(in which all unbroken daals are taken),kheer ,halwa,vada,pooye,bhindi,raita.Akshaj's one of dada-dadi also came that day out of nowhere (can't just trust mama-papa with pooja).Akshaj was a perfect boy that day .Somehow he got a hint that everybody is busy preparing food for him so that day he got up played for a while and drank milk and slept again that too on his own..didn't cry even once during the whole process!!!.When the pooja started he took active part in it as well ..saw everything that was going on.

After the pooja all the delicacies were put in front of Akshaj .He was left in middle so that whichever he touches will be give first .But there was lots of confusion on what he touched first ...finally we gave him all items one by one to taste and we all waited to see his reaction.He lived up to the family tradition and gulped on (by his standards) on kheer and halwa but made the worst possible face for daal.After all the pet pooja it was now turn for choosing the career path ...so all the items book,pen,racquet's,colors ,scissors etc were placed before his..His papa Puneet wanted so much that he picks something related to sports (which is a misnomer for cricket in India)Finally Akshaj was set free to chose his destiny ...and after touching lots of things he finally settled for a C++ book and kept on tapping on the book to hold it much to the disappointment of Puneet.Now as any Indian who believes in rigging things ,Puneet brought racket (there was no bat ball in house for option)in front of Akshaj.Like a obedient child Akshaj left his much loved book and held on the racket to please his father.His papa was one happy man then!!

The adventure so far ...

2009-01-30T03:03:00.000-08:00

Birth
*****
My date of delivery was supposed to be 29th August .So with one month to go one of my colleague of earlier project had flown from Pune on 23 July to hang around for 2-3 days and next day some 4-5 more were planning to come to have a big get-together we all were planning to have for long time..I was still going to office as doc had told I can go for 2 more weeks ...But my little angel had other plans ..he had decided how can mummy have fun with her gang and ignore me in the process...so on 23 night only I am sure he hit me with his big nails and I was admitted to hospital..To add to more drama next day there were serial blasts in the city .With so much of drama our angel was born on 26th July with 2.1 kg weight exact;y when his dada-dadi landed in city travelling for the first time in plane (he believes in everybody living royally!!)and breathing problem. He was immediately shifted to ICU .For next 13 days he was there with all in his nose hands ...it was one of the most traumatic times..and finally when we brought him home he came with big list of instructions to be followed so each passing day was like a big achievement for all of us .To this day whenever we go to doc he is still considered one month younger than he is currently!!

And the Rest...
****************

From birth weight of 2.1 kgs

to now 7 kgs

.from worrying about he is not seeing things ,not grabbing things to seeing him give a big grin after making eye contact and seeing him swimming to grab things ...from continuing thumb/hand sucking from 13 days to this day..from sleeping on his side when he was 1 month to now sleeping on his tummy ...and all failed attempts of trying to stop him from doing these ..it has been one incredible experience ...

My baby completed half year

2009-01-30T02:57:00.000-08:00

How time passes ..my sweet baby turned 6 months old so thought of dedicating a blog to him...so this site is for my boy wonder ---Akshaj