Babushka is super super super excited about her birthday!She had a hard time falling asleep too..:)All she wanted to do was talk about her BURDAY and then some! She has a list of people,who cannot wish her,who will not get any treats..who can wish her and who can get extra lollies-:) reminded me of the Vodaphone delights ad!
It was decided earlier,that we will go pick up her cake,after we pick her up from school,but now the Princess has decided,that its not cool.. She wants the cake ready at home,when she gets back..Better still,she wants us to bake it together..:) Lets see how that goes.
And she wants Mumma to help in her school,tomorrow..When I asked her,how about your special lunch? She got really upset and said,”No,Mummy,you need to help first,then come home and cook..”I asked her,should we just go out to eat?? And that was followed by a big tear-fest..
Ohh Well!Mummy,better get her act together and help out in school one of these days..
She got her presents from India- Her dadu-dadi’s parcel arrived last week and her Nanu-masi’s arrived today,and she still hasn’t stopped gushing over ther goodies.She wore one of the new dresses to school today and we already have another pretty dress lined up for tomorrow:) You know,we do not buy her party clothes on her birthday anymore..:) She gets a big loot by courier..we just end up buying essential-play wear,school wear,shoes,etc.
SD and I had planned not to buy her anymore toys,until after her party,because,we are seriously running out of space to keep her toys.So,when she asked me,at bed-time,what we are giving her as a gift-I asked her what she wanted?She said,she wanted a Dora cake and a Dora hat.And she wants that to be her gift 🙂 So, tomorrow,after we drop her off at school,we go on a Dora-hat hunt!
OMG!OMG!I cannot believe that my ickle baby is turning four..She is looking bigger,talking like a big person..OMG!!Somebody pinch me,so that I know its not a dream!
Category: Babushka
4 in 4!
Babushka’s b’day is coming up. In 4 days,she will turn 4!
The celebrations this year are mostly outsourced and I can’t stop feeling guilty about it.
She’ll be in school that day and her school has a policy against home-made stuff.. So,I am thinking of ordering a mini donut-tower from dunkin donuts-either that or just cadbury Freddos,that she can hand out at the end of the day.
As for the birthday party,this year we booked a party hall in an indoor play center. I would have loved to have an outdoor-park party,but the weather here is crazy this time of the year.
I sent out e-invitations from here and for the two invitations,to be handed out in her Kinder,SD just got a print of the e-invitation and I stuck it on a blank card.
This has to got to be the simplest,most basic invitation,I ever made.Heck!Its plain even when I compare it to the ones made by a 10-year old me..
Anyway, the cake has been outsourced too..Outsourcing the cake was the hardest for me.. Babushka and I started planning the cake,right after her third birthday party was over…I am not kidding you…I thought and thought and finally with a heavy heart contacted a local cake decorator.. And I was amazed by her enthusiasm..Looking forward to the final cake… I have been baking more and more to get over the guilt..but,I figured, BAbushka would rather have a happy,relaxed mother v/s one doubling over with sciatica or back ache..tired and grumpy.
The food again has been ordered at the party place,for the same reason.
The only thing I need to take care of is the Loot bags.. And I am planning to go all crazy with those! 🙂
Gosh!I can’t believe my little girl is turning 4!
Look what did you do,now!
Ever since we got married,one habit of SD’s has annoyed me to no ends. Whenever something goes wrong..- The cable channels get scrambled, the laptop crashes,the fuse goes off.. NO matter what… and I ask SD to take a look,the first thing to slip out of his mouth is,”What did you do now?” Gosh!It irritates me…I can’t even tell me how much!
As the years have gone by,I have learned to not take it personally and yell back at him,saying..It wasn’t me..just get up and take a look.But,it still irritates me.
Guess who uses the same irritating phrase?Who else,but Babushka!!
Today she went to sit on her little chair and the chair was turned upside down..her own doing,a little while ago. But,the little brat,looked at me and said,’Look what you did now,Mumma!’
I was this close to yelling at her..when I looked up and saw SD wink at me.. I glared at him,he shrugged.. as if to say,I get it… and we burst out laughing.
Babushka,naturally got upset..and said,’Hey!Its not funny! you better stop!!’
Ohh Well,atleast SD can stop cribbing about how she looks,walks,and talks like me..:P
You have got to be kidding me!!
Yes!!That’s the only thought on my mind last 3 days!I will tell you about that shortly.. first let me explain my absence. The last few days,we have been quite sick..I caught the flu-bug from Babushka and have been living in feberile hell last 3 days. To add to that,an unexpected Asthma attack.. What I thought was indigestion..actually turned out to be full blown asthma attack.I had to go into our local GP’s emergency room and had to get the nebuliser and go on antibiotics!I haven’t had to use the athma inhaler on a daily basis for many years now and that doesn’t make me happy:( But anyway,atleast I am breathing,instead of struggling to breathe-so its a good thing.
Anyway,now to the title of my post,today.
First off,we have crossed the half-way mark!!Yayyy Me and yayyy Babykins!! I cannot believe it we haven’t taken any belly shots this time..I think the last shot was at 8 weeks,before my sister left!!! Hopefully,today,we’ll take some pics this week.
We went for the 20-week ultrasound on Tuesday.. and the baby was in a difficult position..So,I ended up spending nearly 1 and half hour on the examination table.. The baby didn’t move..I ended up with a back ache,the sonographer ended up with a stiff back..When she told me after 45 minutes of probing,”Try to empty your bladder”..I told her..”Ohh even a thousand horse couldn’t hold me back!!!” Seriously I thought I was going to burst!!!! Anyway,after 1 and a half hour,she told me,sorry,I can’t see much,you will have to come back again..hopefully the baby will be in a better position and we can finish off the rest of the measurements then.
We then went and picked up Babushka and guess what she looked tired and drained..and sure enough when we got back home,she was burning up.I gave her some Panadol and let her rest.. and then,my asthma episode happenned.
I couldn’t sleep at all that night.. may be the nerves,may be the breathlessness.. whatever,I was literally checking the time,every half an hour and was out of bed,before the alarm rang. Anyway,we got ready,downed brekkies and gulped water.. was ready to burst again,this time,even before we reached the radiology center.This time,Babushka went with us,after much drama-she is not a morning person at all..just like her mumma!! She was happy to see the ‘Video-doctor’ and we got down to the business of studying the babykins morphology.. again,the same thing.. not in a good position..:( This time we tried for one hour..and the u/s tech told me,”we got 1/3rd yesterday, 1/3rd today..but you still need to come in again tomorrow..for the rest”..WHATT?? Are you kidding me??
We trooped back again today and finally it was done..they got all the measurements..and we got two beautiful pictures.. and everyone is happy.. well except..we are still waiting to know..Pink or Blue? LOL!!
Ohh and the first day,we saw the cutest thing ever. Everytime,the u/s tech pressed the probe on my belly,Babykins would punch it -it was like watching a little boxer,lashing at a punching bag. Everytime the probe was near his/her head,s/he would put a hand on the head. Finally the little fighter got tired of punching the crap out of the probe and rubbed his/her eyes and nose..It was sooo cute!!:D
Oh!And I figured out,why I have been feeling less movements..This time,I have anterior placenta!! That sure explains it.. but,I can’t help but think..’There goes my chance for VBAC’.. Oh! Well.. as long as the bub is busy,inside..and comes out safely,all’s well!BTW,anybody out there,reading this,who had or knows someone who had anterior Placenta?
More later,my lovelies..
Od-ing
Babushka is currently Od-ing on –
*An in-utero baby video on my iPhone,courtesy of Babycenter-the baby is waving and playing with her cord.She can’t get enough of it!!
*2 tsps ginger chai diluted with half a cup of milk.She has the flu for the last 3 days and what started as a last-ditch effort to get her to down something,has turned out to both our advantage.Every morning,when she wakes up,she has a bite of something to eat and then asks for her chai.She is happy feeling like a grown up..I am happy to see her down something.
*Daddy- SD had managed to accumulate some excess leave and was promptly asked to take time off..a certain number of days before the end of this month..So,much to Babushka’s joy..he is having longer weekends and doing fun things with her..:)
*Treats and candy- Refer to previous point. SD is home and always,always melts at the puppy-dog face and a sweet voice saying-‘Daddy pleasee can I have just one last??Pleaseee Papa??’
As for me-I am just tired between cooking,cleaning,raising the bratty father-daughter duo..baking the bun..All I want to do is flop on the couch and sleeeeeeeep..zzzzzzz
Of Little Fashionistas and patient Daddies
We went shoe-shopping for Babushka today.When we started looking,I saw some sneakers and went to the next aisle to see if there are anymore options.Now,SD is a quick shopper and has no patience for stragglers like me…who like to walk around various aisles and shops and then finally pick one thing or on some occasions, walk out,without buying anything. So,as I was saying,I spotted the sneakers I was after and then,went to the next aisle to check for other options and heard SD cluck and say..’Now,why can’t you look at what you came to look at!’ By now,I am used to it..and just ignored his frowns and clucks and words..and walked on.We picked the sneakers and Babushka tried them on.And she loved’em. Then we went to look for a second pair..Now,it was SD’s turn to give up..he found himself a stool and settled down. We went and found tiny UGG replicas..after much deliberation on color,we picked black..She tried on the new pair and strutted around.And thats when she spotted a pair of shoes that her current BFF A at school had.. and she had to try those on,and in all the available colors,too.And she was convinced that that was that was the best pair for her. I was really keen on her getting the black UGGs but no she wouldn’t budge.I looked at SD for help and he just shrugged..’Oh come on!! let her pick!!!’
Humpff..Whatever.. the guy,who wants me to finish my monthly grocery in half an hour,he who doesnt understand why I need to try on clothes,sat patiently as his daughter tried shoe after shoe and supported her choice,in a heartbeat!! Ohh Well..I have my heart set on the black uggs and will go back and pick them up.. in a day or two..:P Whattttt??I wanted a girl,so I could dress her to my heart’s content..not soo..she would start vetoing my choices so early on in life!!!
Can we do some Padhai?
says Babushka! Don’t believe me??
See this:
She wrote these all by herself,and without any prompting too. A ‘T’, an ‘A’ and an ‘F’,another ‘A’ and random scibbles,that I have now forgotten-So what if the F is the wrong side.. she did it all by herself..And before you say,its because of Kinder..No,sirree..No! Its all her! No Kinder,No Mommy,No daddy..All Babushka! I am so proud of my little girl.I taught her how to write A long back.. but then,decided to teach her to recognise alphabets,first..:)
Slowly and steadily,we worked through the letters of the alphabet-using books,magnets,flashcards and last but not the least,Starfall.com and now she recognises all but 8 random alphabets.The funniest is everytime,we come across a ‘W’,she will turn the magnet or the card/book upside down and say,”this way,it looks like M and this way like W”..
I was teaching her phonics as well..just during random play and Starfall helped to grasp it even better.I also downloaded the App on my iPhone and let her play with it..(what?its better than watching TV,na?) And now,she wants to know,what every word starts with!! It is fun!I tell her the sound and she guesses the starting letter.And the look of pride on her face,when she gets it right is priceless!
I had stopped teaching her to write,as I could see,it was stressing her out..And I am glad,I stopped.. because,now when she wrote,on her own..no pressure..it was amazing..she wants to write on her own all the time now and even makes letters using straws and sticks.
And we are doing some numbers too.. counting by rote upto 10 is something she mastered very early on.. now she is trying to do upto 20 and still fumbles sometimes,which is fine.. we are not in a rush.She loves counting figures and on her fingers..and does simple addition and subtraction,using her fingers.Gosh!!its almost like,I can see her mind working..:)- Eyebrows furrowed,forhead creased,eyes crinkled!!
And its at moments like these,that I feel relieved that I didn’t pressurise her,when I saw other moms around sending their kids for Kumon and Phonics classes..I feel happy that I let her take the time and let her set the pace,while I gently helped her move along:) Its moments like these that remind me,why I always wanted to be a SAHM for my babies,in their initial years..:) And thats when I am glad to be,what I am:)
Seeing a midwife
We were going to see a midwife,yesterday.Naturally Babushka the curious kitten wanted to know all about Midwives.
“Is the midwife a Doctor?” she asked. No the midwife is someone who helps the Doctor.
“Oh!so,is she a nurse?”came the next question.. No she is not a nurse. She will take care of mommy when there is a baby in her tummy.
“Achcha…so,she is a special person who takes care of little girls mommies,when they have babies in their tummies”..
Yes,baby she is.. 🙂 All this while SD,kept shaking his head and mouthing..”wow..did you see that?she is so clever..thats a very valid question”.hehee proud daddy that he is!
Anyway,after this long discussion,we went to see the midwife..and Babushka loved her instantly.. you know why?She asked her to hold the goodies bag,for the baby.Babushka was mighty impressed.. and held it patiently.SD told her,she can see whats inside once we are in the car.To her credit,she waited patiently,while we went around making various appointments!
And while in the midwife’s office,she asked SD and me,in loud whispers,”Is this the midwife??” atleast 10 times… LOL! The look on her face was surreal.. as if she expected the midwife to be an angel or someone with wings and halos.. and was surprised to see just a normal person!!:D
It was a good visit overall..my only disappointment being that we didn’t get to hear the baby’s heartbeat..she didnt even try..saying they try for a heartbeat,with a doppler,only around 20 weeks.Whatever!! Babykins moved just then,as if to tell me-‘Don’t worry Mumma,everythings fine here’ 😀 So,its OK I guess.
What does a Mummy do??
Babushka decorated my new laptop for me! When I asked her why?She said,”Because I love you,Mommy!!” ..Ohh well,the stickers do make the laptop look cute!! Whattt?I don’t have the heart to remove them!
When I went to buy my laptop,the sales guy,tried his best to sell me the MacBook.I kept saying no..then he asked me,why not?I just told him..’Look I share my laptop with my 4 year old..I would have my heart in my mouth,everytime she touched it…’He went on to explain how it was the most kidproof laptop ever..blah blah.. Much as I liked it..I still wouldn’t have the guts to give Babushka free reign over a $1500 laptop.. Nor would I have the heart to say No to her…So,I stuck to the tried and tested Toshiba!
Lunch Woes..
Well,I have been cribbing about this for sometime to whoever would care to listen.Its Babushka’s school lunch. No matter what I give her comes back,as is..the max she does is nibbles at it.She loves cucumber and carrot sticks,yogurts and puddings,crackers n cheese,mini pizzas. I have tried it all. If I give her two-three options like-crackers,cucumbers and yogurt-she will eat whatever is the smallest portion. If just one option..nothing at all. Last night I made veg cutlets for her.She loved those.She asked for more and even asked me to save some for school I did.
This morning I pan-fried the cutlets,quickly packed the lunch in a hotpack..SD thinks,she may not be eating,because she is used to hot food. And just added a few crackers in a ziplock bag,just in case. When she came back.. all she had eaten was 3 measly crackers! What is a mother to do??
I am really getting desparate as each day goes by..She just about manages to gulp about half a cup of milk,before leaving..and keeps running on that till she gets home.Naturally,by then,she is super-cranky.Today she went to a friend’s place for an after-school playdate.She had lunch there and when she came home,2 hours later..she had two big pieces of banana bread,that I had baked,when she was away. So,I know..she does get hungry..May be she is just too distracted or too busy talking to eat?Her Kinder is water only zone..so no juice or anything.But if this continues,I will check with her teacher n see if I can give her some kind of smoothie or so.. Any suggestions,moms of picky eaters?
15 Marbles 