Nursery Rhymes Galore

http://picasaweb.google.com/vandanathomas/IshaanNurseryRhymes#

My Little Baby's First!!

Once bitten twice shy - is not something that applies to me usually. As a general rule of thumb, I strive to treat each experience on a fresh new page. Ofcourse, there will be slight leaks from previous experiences that prevent me from using a totally white page, a few scribbles here and there are pretty evident.

I had grand plans for Rayaan's First. I made my invitation cards and got them printed at Kodak gallery. It was supposed to be on farm - with an Old Mac Donald Theme, since he loves animal sounds. I figured the 4th of July weekend would be an ideal day giving a chance for out of towners to come in. But unfortunately, it didn't work out like what I wanted it to be. Plan B was to go on a family vacation and celebrate his birthday on a quite getaway, just the four of us. But that plan got shelved as well because my husband's company never gives him a relief from customer meetings.

But they say, it all happens for the best, so with not much previous planning (which I suck at anyway, read previous post), I did what I do best - an impulsive , spontaneous plan that worked out like magic. I was determined to make Rayaan enjoy his day with his favorite person in this world, his brother .. and his recent favorite friends, our cousins kids. We had an old fashioned picnic at a nearby park, just the mommies and the kids.

It was a bright and sunny day (to begin with) and we decided to meet at the park at noon. As noon appoached, the sun decided to play a joke on me. It just vanished.. it got cloudy and the drizzling rain drops on my car top made it sound like, this would be another doomed attempt. Sometimes they say , if you wish really hard , "all the forces of the universe conspire to make it happen" (borrowed philosophy). So, I just didn't give up hope and my cousin Shehla, goaded me on with undying optimism, urging me to go on. All our positive energies in the car were so strong that by the time we got to the park, my old friend "the sun" decided to stop being a brat. From then on, it was a perfect picnic....

The kids ran around helter skelter and Rayaan followed them around ... and stopped every once in a while to taste the mulch...It was Rayaan's first ever tryst with complete independence to do whatever he wished to (with intermediate "nays" that he completely ignored). He looked helplessly at his brother and cousins indulging in a circuit training of all the stations in the park. He was wise enough to realise that he would not be able to keep up and made his own little circuit, which involved .. running till he went off balance, tasting the mud and the mulch, finding little stones and learning later that its not food,glancing at his running brother, furiously hitting a little table in a bid to make some music and then intermittent pit stops for yummy food and juice. After lunch we all headed to the beach park just across and then all the kids tried in vain to make sand castles and finally Rayaan got the hang of it after a sad realisation that dry sand is not as palatable as it appears. It was hard to get the kids back to the car because they were having too much fun, just like it was meant to be.

When we did head back covered in sand,mommies and kids alike, it felt wonderful deep inside. I felt like going back from school picnics, back in my times as a school girl - returning wet and dirty from an eventful day at the beach, with no change of clothes, yet very happy and gratified!! A mass shower for the kids was in order when we got home and with squeals unlimited that too happened unplanned yet successful.

The men returned home in the evening and we all indulged our senses in some good lebanese food amidst unnerving glares from the restaurant owner, who absolutely hated the squealing galore that accompanied our party. Finally the kids were thrown out of the restaurant and the adults had a peaceful yet grumpy dinner. When we got back home to cut the cake ... OUR little man was already in "sweet dreams land". So we all cut his FIRST birthday cake "while he was sleeping" amidst a birthday boy face painting session that had everyone in fits. "Just you wait" till he grows up and finds out!!!!!!

Blog Vrath :)

A few days have gone by and I've not visited my posting page to express any of my thoughts. It's been a hectic month with the birthdays of my two favorite people in the world. The birthdays themselves have not been as eventful as the thought processes that have accompanied them. The other big reason for the silence is that "summer has finally and officially been here for a month now- Hallelujah". I was too scared to make an announcement about the summer lest the weather gods get aggrieved and revoke their blessings. But the most important reason for intentionally staying away from blogging was that I had decided to take a "blog-vrath" (a silent demonstration) till I fulfilled my son's only birthday wish .... !!

I had to break the blog-vrath just for a day on Rayaan's first birthday to make sure I didn't punish him for my wrong doings.

I was really sad after Ishaan's birthday but I learnt a very valuable lesson, that I wish to share with all my fellow mommies, hoping it will put things into perspective for another mom who might otherwise bite the same dust I did. The kid asked me for only one birthday present in the language he knew and it was as simple as going to Chuck-E-Cheese's. With no sense of priority or planning, I went ahead planned a culinary centric birthday for a kid who does not even enjoy basic food. The whole day was spent in just telling him that he could not mess up the house and intermittent promises of taking him out to Chuck-E-Cheese's. Finally, the poor kid slept and didn't wake up in time for the scheduled "Chuck-E-Cheese's" trip. A point worth mentioning is, I entirely overlooked his sleep time during my doomed planning process. So all that was left for him to look forward to was this supposedly grand dinner that I labored at for two whole days. So much for all the "thought process" I put into his 3rd birthday. Eventually his day was saved because his birthday guests made it a day about him and all his favorite cousins made it a wonderful evening for him.

Moral of the story: Make a child's birthday about the child and not a day to showcase your culinary skills or whatever-other skills.

Guilt driven and utterly disappointed, I tried to make it up to him on his scheduled school birthday party. So right from assembling his party favors to his party at school to park hopping, I tried to let him drive the day. Even though at one point of time I thought I should probably take back control, when he decided that he is going to climb to the top of one those rope climbing maze structures in the park. I made a mental note to never come to this park alone because I just didn't have the guts to get to the top of that structure if he got stuck there.

Albeit late, I learnt my lesson and tried to make it upto him. But it was only today that I finally was able to fulfill his birthday wish of going to Chuck-E-Cheese's. What do you know...?? Better late than Never, Eh??

Happy FIRST Birthday Rayaan

Rayaan is all of one today.
We have a sweet little personal day planned for him.

A slideshow of his life so far
http://picasaweb.google.com/vandanathomas/RayaanBirthdaySlideshow?authkey=Gv1sRgCMHWmMym3LP21wE#slideshow/5350929071372177986

The Last Day Of Terrible Twos

I don't imagine the terrible two's will melt into terrific threes ... But it's nice that he is entering into his 3rd year as an individual tommorrow. June 14th !! My husband captured these last few moments of him as a 2 year old.

He is really excited about his birthday tommorrow. He kept asking me .. "Ishaan's birthday ?? Ishaan's birthday?? ME?? ME??" It's lovely... the twinkle in his eye when he says that. We asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday .. He said "DIEGO" without batting an eyelid!! He wants to go to Chuck-E-Cheese's .. :) He even knows which ride he wants. I guess he has seen something on TV...

I am so excited about tommorrow too. I feel like it's my birthday!! :)

Discovering A Passion

If you ask my arts and crafts teachers back from high school, what they thought about my aesthetic sense, I am sure they will draw a blank expression. Frankly speaking I don't even have a big collection of "artsy-craftsy" memories. The only memory from art class is that of learning to draw a beach scene with ducks in the sea, after being admonished and threatened with an 'F' for the class by our art teacher. So it came as a big surprise to me later on in life to discover a real passion for decorating.

The above is from a baby shower we threw for a very dear friend, Sri. I cannot claim full credit for the above. It would just not be possible without the help of my two dear accomplices Swapna and Vaishnavi. The theme was "Chocolates and Pink. All the accessories were made at home by the 3 of us, my mom pitched in by sewing the pillow covers. A lot of old containers in the house were transformed into vases. An old picture frame found its use to be dressed up as wall art. So thus a discovered passion was put to good use.

As per Harsha's request, I have uploaded some pics online.

http://picasaweb.google.com/vandanathomas/Hobbies_Decor#

My little sister's Prince Charming!!!

We don't realise when they get all grown up and ready to start a space of their own. We are almost five years apart and she has always been my kid sister. She would fiercely fight for her position as an adult right from when she was ten maybe. Her struggle to establish her identity as a full blown adult lasted even until a few years ago till my husband staged an intervention to put things into perspective. He upheld her status as a responsible woman and made me realise what a mature young lady she has become. Can you believe this little baby sister of mine is now an Assistant Professor ? !!

She has started an entirely new chapter in the book of her life, this past week. Ofcourse, the research for her book had been in the works for a while now. She has had her share of tribulations on her way towards this decision. I can remember , just a while ago I was praying she would find someone who loves her and who she loves, instead of going the whole shaadi.com / arranged marriage route. I am so glad she did find her Prince Charming!!

I am not against arranged marriages but this whole modern day arranged marriage arrangement a la the internet matrimony scene scares the living daylights out of me. I have heard too many horror stories to have any faith in it anymore. In the good old days, arranged marriages happened within a community, amongst friends and family. A family friend suggested an alliance and more often than not, the two families already had a lot of intersecting sets before a union of the sets took place. It was a comfortable arrangement and all the parties involved went to marriage with a peace of mind and an exciting anticipation of all that was to follow. The modern day internet alliances don't necessarily have that guarantee and that is what makes it a sham many a time. Ofcourse, I cannot write it off completely owing to many a success story that shines through every so often.

I am extremely grateful that I dont have to go through the anxious anticipation of what lies ahead. MANU has proved otherwise in more ways than one. She has found not just a wonderful person but an equally loving family. I don't want to jinx it by elaborating a whole lot. So I will just wish both my sister and Manu a loving life ahead. Congratulations on your engagement, darlings!!!

BTW: We are planning on nominating my parents for a "National Integration" award since we pretty much have a representation of all major Indian cultures in our family. We have always joked about how Fancy should marry a sikh ... and that would complete our "hindu muslim sikh isaai" requirements for national integration. Manu is a "dilwala from Delhi" and perhaps as close ro a punjabi as we could get. And to fulfill the "sikh" requirement, he even sent us some cute pics of him dressed up as "Sardar Manu Singhji". However, due to copyright reasons I would refrain from publishing them on my blog.

A small recap of the engagement ceremony!