I finally managed to haul my butt to the salon and got my eyebrows shaped.So what? I will tell you what…
For the last two months,I kept thinking,about going to a salon. In the first month we were in USA and with me not driving,I had to depend on Sanj to take me places. Somehow, with the whole move thing,weekends spent packing and/or partying,there was never time for the visit to a salon.After moving here,we were busy house-hunting,settling down in the new house,new job(Sanj’s) and again the weekends got away from us. And I was paranoid,about going to the salon alone with Ms.Aadya.What if half way through,she threw a tantrum and I had to run out the door? I didn’t want to sport one well shaped and one bushy eye-brow.
But, today,I decided..that no matter what,it had to be given a shot.After all I didn’t want to be nominated for one of those makeover shows.So,right after breakfast,we stepped out. We ran into one of my newly acquired friends down the street. And she decided to join us too. So,we went into the Salon,I took Ms.Aadya along with me.She was sitting in her stroller,while I got my face mowed..er… cleaned.And she was a good girl too.She happily chattered away with the girl doing my eyebrows.,calling out to me once or twice..but generally ignoring me all the time.And thus I came out looking clean. At the end of it all, the petite Asian girl,who did the job,told me..”See, you look nice now..” and then,I knew..I did good in taking the risk. And they did a good job too..I say this,because Sanj, who is always quiet oblivious to such things,noticed and complimented!!!
Speaking of Sanj,he has been working long hours again.So much so,that today,when he met Aadya,it was after a good 36 hours.Last nite,she went to bed, calling out to him,but obviously he couldn’t hear,because he was still at work.And this morning,when he left,she was still sleeping.Her excitement at seeing him,was unbelievable.We went to pick him up at the station and when I saw him,I let her out of the stroller and let her walk next to me. She was happily looking at faavers(flowers) and bhoo bhoos when she saw him..she screamed and ran towards him.She is a typical girl..in turns of screaming and squealing..always,squealing..she tries to put on her shoes and if she cant she squeals.the water in her sippy gets over,she screams.. she wants a spoon,she asks me poonsh…I don’t give it she screams,you get the gist.So,she ran up to him and promptly demanded utho utho(aadya-speak for pick me up)..As soon as he picked her up..she almost smothered him with kisses. He was naturally thrilled..and refused to let her walk.
And Ms.Aadya loves talking.She loves talking .Period. When we are sitting around,watching TV, she is talking.louder than the TV.When we go for a walk,she is talking,about the things that we see,when we are in the car,she talking and humming,with the music that’s playing.This weekend,she was “reading” her book..and we were just lying around next to her.I asked Sanj, almost in a whisper,”so want some later?”…and before Sanj could answer,Ms.Aadya piped,”Yeah”…. We looked at each other trying to stifle our giggles..and she goes one step ahead and says,”Mamma,wann some..” And then we couldn’t stop ourselves!!!!From laughing of course!! What did you think,huh??
Ohh and we just completed one month in Australia..here’s hoping the coming months are nicer and happier.
Category: Pipetty-ness
hardwork paid in kind
This is what I saw this morning when I woke up and it cheered me up. Its the view from my bedroom window. And each morning,when I wake up, the first thing that I do is open the blinds and look out. I have a small patch which I have been working on,since we moved here. The Bubba asked me why are you so excited..its not like you planted it..well ?I didnt but I did work on it.This is what it looked like when we first moved in-
The whole patch was covered with weeds,and all the greenery you saw,was just weeds.The soil was snail infested and the real plants were all dying or infected.I spent several hours over the weekend ,pulling the weeds out and after 3-4 hours out in the sun,this is what it looked like.
And it still looked like the garden had been attacked by gnomes..The water was flowing out…the rose plant was diseased..and all the pots in the back, had nothing but grass.The shrub in the middle needed triming.
And here’s a tired Ms.Aadya sitting and enjoying the new garden,after all the hard work.
I wish to do more to the garden..hopefully the next weekend 🙂
The weekend that was..
It was a nice mall-ish weekend.Yes,we spend most of the weekend in the mall. Saturday morning,after a light brunch,we headed out to a shopping centre,close to home.The first hour or so was spent in lazy browsing.Christmas shoppers,are already out and the stores are decked with Sale banners and Christmas lights and the malls are over crowded . There was a long line at the check-out counter of the toy-store..of course we were just window-shopping and soon got tired of beating the crowed and came out the store.But only to come face to face with a musical merry-go-round. And I casually asked Aadya if she wanted to sit on it.Big mistake.She is not the little girl,anymore who loved sitting in her stroller..No sirree..she wants to explore now. Of course she wanted to get on the merry-go-round..We put her on it..one turn,second turn and she refused to get down..We put the coins in the first two times,because she was having fun.There were two more empty seats and while it was running,two other girls came and sat down on those seats. The second time,I put the coins,these girls were still on it. The third time, Aadya wanted..Mohh ..and I was digging for coins, and their mom just told them,”lets go,”and they were ready to leave..I managed to dig out some coins..the girls saw it..and stayed. But I was short of 50 cents..The mom never offered..nor did she stop her girls,when they asked me to hurry up!!HUH!! I was shocked..and its not like these were little girls.. These were 5-6 year old, surely the mom could have said something..Anyway, that made me mad..and I decided to not look for more coins. Picked up Aadya and offered her a choice between walking and sitting in the stroller.
Obviously, she chose walking..and then refused to hold my hand.It took a great deal of talking on my part to convince her that for her to not get lost,she needed to hold my hand. We stopped to look at puppies in a pet store..There were black Labrador pups and brown Labrador pups.Oh so adorable.And Ms.Aadya was absolutely smitten.This time I was smart and didn’t ask her,if she wanted to take one home..Then,there was the usual grocery shopping and ho hum. that was as boring as it gets. We came home and had some steaming hot cheese rolls for dinner.
Sunday morning,after a lazy brunch at a local Lebanese cafe,we hit another Mall.This time to look for some formal wear for Sanj. You see, he is joined a new company and the dress code here is very formal. The first day,I saw him dressed in his suit and tie,my heart swelled. All his previous jobs, called for a formal shirt and trouser,as the office wear..but this place is more corporate.There is something about a well-dressed man in a crisp shirt and starched suit…Ohhh seeing him dressed like that,makes me go weak in the knees..Anyway, not to digress..we hit the malls.. walked around ..looked at the suits,but didn’t find anything interesting..Finally stumbled upon a cute store called Pumpkin Patch.Well, what do you know..Pumpkin Patch had a lot of fun stuff for little Ms. Aadya..So, we ended up shopping for her. A pair of cute pink polka dot shorts,a red pant with ties at the ankles,a couple t-shirts.
Then,it was time for some coffee..Sanj ordered some yummy white hot chocolate,while I pigged on a Banana -berry smoothie..But,that’s not why I started telling you about the coffee orders..The reason why I started telling you about the coffee shop is..they had an offer of free Babychino with any drink. So,obviously we ordered one for Aadya. And she L-O-V-E-D it..She loved feeling grown up.. having her own cup of coffee…And we loved the fact that we could finish our drinks peacefully..without a curious Ms.Aadya, wanting a sip from our cups.
We rounded off the day, by meeting some friends.BTW,A “babychino” is a little cup of frothy, steamed milk with chocolate sprinkles on top served in an adorable little coffee cup. It’s made to look like a miniature cappuchino.How cute is that??!!!
And now for the cuteness shot of the day…..
These days,whenever we are going out,Ms.Pipette insists on taking along one of her “friends”..one of her toys. Today the chosen one was,the yellow Happiness Angel,that we have named “Happy”.Not even two minutes in the car,and Ms.Pipette,wanted some Didu…OK,Mimi gave her the Didu…And what does she do? She offers it to Ms.Pipette.. “aa aa” we heard…”aa aa mumm umm didu didu“..she was telling Happy… and if you think that’s cute..wait till you read this..After that, she wiped Happy’s mouth and then patted her to sleep…:)
Now you can say..Awwwwwwww
Bed-Time Battle Begins
That’s right..its a battle..and not one to be taken lightly.
Last few months have been so busy and crazy.We were travelling, catching up with friends, packing to move to Australia and so,our schedules have been erratic.Add to that a very social little girl and it means chaos everywhere.
She refused to go to sleep till the last person in the house was out flat. And in these past crazy months,slowly, sometimes,out of sheer lack of energy and sometimes,out of pure laziness, we let Aadya sleep in our bed..and before we could even blink,she became a permanent fixture in our bed. And that’s OK, its nice cuddling up with her, but what’s not OK is that she refuses to sleep,till we are awake. Now, no little body has so much energy to keep up with two adults,after being Super active all day long!
Our routine of last few days has been- quick meet and greet when Papa comes home from work,followed by a rushed dinner,long bath for Ms.Aadya,followed by her tucking in.Now, tucking her in means, all the lights have to be turned off, we have to lie down next to her, pretend like we are fast asleep and even then, madame,takes her own sweet time to fall asleep.First we are poked in the eyes and noses and then when we don’t wake up,there is some singing,followed by story telling,all done by Aadya herself-remember,we are pretending to be asleep. After a long long time,she falls asleep.By then, we are really truly sleeping.Another day gone by and we wouldn’t have spoken.
I am not kidding-Sanj joined a new job and we haven’t had a chance to talk about it. We haven’t had any couple time in forever!!! So,today,I declared war! I had decided..I am going to re-train her to sleep,on her own. I repeated her routine as it was, before,we er…things got crazy. I gave her dinner at 8:00, followed by a quick wash,then nice relaxing massage with her lotion,and donned her jammies. Then we said,nite-nite to her Papa, and her toys and went to bed,with a warm bottle of dudu and goldilocks book.
Dudu was downed,book was read,and then she rubbed her eyes,till then,we were on track. I thought to myself,wow she is going to sleep now.I started patting her.Till then we were on track.Then,I don’t know what happened,she was suddenly so fresh …like she had never been sleepy at all.But that wasn’t possible.She was sleepy, her eyes were watering,she had missed her nap.. Then,Papaa was asked to take over.But no,she wanted both of us there…like her captives.Like she doesn’t want us to have fun while she sleeps. So,I was pestered and tempted with baby cuddles and sweet smiles and “shoieees” till I finally gave in and went and lay down next to her.
And the moment I got in bed, the mischief started again..jumping,bumping her head into us…singing,talking.I threatened to go out.. and I was dared..”Mumma is going to go out,Aadi”..”yeah”..and out I went, and “Noooo Noooooo,aaja aaja”said the brat! Sanj almost smothered himself with his pillow,trying to hide his grin.Anyway, since the threat didn’t work,there was yelling followed by smacking. But it just made her more stubborn. Like she wanted to defy me. Like she knew,it was getting my goat and she was enjoying that. There was a lot of crying and loud crying at that too,because at some point of time,I was really mad and suggested that she get out of the bedroom! Yeah I know she is just a little girl!!
By now,Sanj had given up on his two girls- one not trying to sleep and the other trying to not sleep. Yes,I had made up my mind..I was not going to fall asleep today.anyway, after 4 long hours, finally she fell asleep.And before she did,I did doze off. But at the end of those four hours I was tired and hungry. I sneaked out of bed and guilt kept nagging at the back of my mind. I don’t like hitting Aadya, nor do I like it when she cries. And today was the limit of everything.. her mischief,her screaming and crying, my yelling, my smacking and most of all my patience.As I sit here, writing this, I know, that I didn’t give into her..but, is it really worth all the crying?At the same time,I do want to develop good sleeping habits for her. I really dint like the current sleeping arrangement.
I remember when I was growing up, 9.00 pm was bedtime and even if there were visitors, we were given our marching orders. 5 minutes to 9.00, we had to say our good-nights, brush our teeth and at sharp nine pm,lights out. Now, if only I could remember when we started doing that.I know the poor child has been through a lot of changes and I need to be patient,but come on 4 hours is too much ..even for a saint.I am totally at my wits ends..I will keep updating,the battle of bedtimes…in the meantime,if you have a magic wand to make my troubles, go away,please wave it this way!
15 Marbles 