Swetha and Me

Some precious ones...

2011-08-31T08:30:00.001-07:00

More swetha

2011-08-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

First two days in the school

2011-08-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

I was in a panic mode. But it went like a breeze. No cry . No complaints. She adjusted just like that.She likes her school bus and winwood. She looks tired though . She finished her home work in the school itself so that she can rest at home when she comes back or do some other outdoor activities.

She loves her teachers Ms. Burnheimer and Ms. Oseth very much in the Liberty elementary. She told me about the game they played in the school " who took the cookie in the cookie Jar " . They also play treasure hunt every friday. Plan looks good.

The teachers have sent a note that every monday they provide home work and we need to keep the notebooks and do everyday and return on Friday. They do have Family Life Education.

So far so good. She's getting used to the food in winwood. She happily gets up early in the morning and getting ready for school.

All the very very Best Swetha

Big Event - Going to the Big school

2011-08-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

August 29, 2011

The Big day which we look forwared has come. We were talking about KG for a long time. Lot of discussions and debates.
For the past 1 year in all the family events , moms meetings , kids birthday parties , all moms were discussing about whether to put them in the montessori itself or in the public school. I have decided to put her in the public school .

She's already going to Kumon for reading and Math.Also going to drawing class. I thought it will be less load in public school more than montessori. She's is a strong personality and bright kid and so quick to learn new things.She talks to everyone easily and make friends.

Her time at the local Montessori daycare/school ended a last week.She did not realize the significance of it on that day. Though her teachers gave her a hug and we talked about coming back to visit etc she just gave the widest smile and said the usual byes not realizing that it was an end of chapter. I was a sad - we were saying goodbye to the school that helped her with potty trainings and taught her to read her first words. Her teachers have had a positive influence on her. Of course in a couple of years she would forget them but for posterity sake ....

Ms. Chandrika was a teacher, who always had a postitive like attitude to things - smiling, all forgiving, handing out gifts for the smallest of small things to big events like birthdays and everything in between. She made sure the kids played well was and truly was a great first teacher for the little ones. She helped ease the pain of parting for us and especially potty training.She also helped her acquire reading and math skills - addition and subtraction, writing down her name, and reading skills

Ms. Audry was her next teacher who helped with her social skills as she learned to speak English at school & nurtured her in to a social kid, helping her make many good friends - Meha, Rucha, Ariana, Krish,karen,amelia, Ishanika along the way.

So the plan is she will go to winwood for before and after care and go to school in the winwood bus.

I am a very strong lady in facing all the life situations. But when comes to swetha's transition I get so emotional and put all tension in my head. I still remember how i was sitting at home nervous crossing my fingers for the whole day when she went to montessori.Even today I am like that. Be she does not seem to mind this transition.

She's a strong, social little girl, but also hesitant and reserved in unfamiliar situations. She's a leader and a protector in many situations, but then in the blink of an eye she become timid and attach yourself to my leg. That part makes me little nervous

Bharat went to India right on time. I have run for all medical reports , shcool open house , all meetings . When I dropped her in winwood she waved me a good bye , hugged and kissed. I did not cry but I must admit my eyes were misty.

Swetha is still a baby to us and in this school alongside the 5th Grade kids she seems totally out of place, and yet we are all exited about going to the new school.

Alvin and Mario uncle wished her all the Best. Periamma , Athai, mama , mami , pattis , thathas , appa all wished her good luck.

But I am also little nervouse about the new influences that will begin barraging her. I pray that Bharat and me gave her a strong enough foundation to easily recognize the things that are right and trueand make some awesome friends

Amma and appa are so proud of you, Swetha. You are a curious girl with a zest for life. I can't wait to see what this next chapter holds for you.

Balavikas competition -2011

2011-08-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Swetha won three prizes .

Coloring - I
Story Telling - I
Sloka -I

Swetha -2011

2011-08-31T07:18:00.001-07:00

Well I know this blog is not touched atleast for an year. Just to give updates , Swetha is a little lady now and my little helper , little friend , little rakshashi and little mamiyar. Ordering the whole household and being in her own way of things. Growing up so so fast. She can dress appropriate to that event which I never does. She's very particular about what she likes .She's good in math until Division. Started swimming in the little pool , singing very very good, Able to read "I can read level 2 books" plus whatever she sees she'll try to read , loves books , very very manipulative and playing good with young children and lots of goods and some bad too.

Sometimes she wants us to share some soda with her , wants the gum too. Too talkative.

She's good in telling slokas. Recently she got first prize in coloring , first prize in story telling and III price in sloka. Need to push her a bit. But if we does she's picking up things very fast.

Though people around me are saying she's going to be # 1 in school and everything , I will be happy if she does something good in her career and get into some jobs which she likes and shine in the same field.

She goes to Jart studion for art class , kumon classes and music classes...

I know I cannot remember things which happened in her childhood. so I have decided to keep this blog updated.

Balavikas competition -July 4th 2010

2010-07-06T08:28:00.001-07:00

I was really really tensed. She practiced very well. But if she started crying then all efforts will be wated. I donot want to create the tension in her too. We went to the hall by 10 AM and confirmed the registration . First competition is coloring. There were about 40 kids from the age of 3 to 6 in the pre-elementary.The kids assembled in the hall. It just happened. She started crying .. My hearbeat was fast , angry , frustrated .. so many feelings. With no other option I took her outside.then Bharat hold her and told her to color. She was okey and said I am going inside and u wait outside. Happy Happy smile on my face. She went and start coloring. Luckily she got the same ganesha which she practiced at home. She wrote her name and started coloring. She did all but did not finish the dress colors . But she wasnt to give it to the person. One hour time is there. As this is her first competion , I donot want to tell her anything. She gave the paper and come out and told me amma I did a good job. I sais Yes yes... then I brought her some lunch and she did not eat much.

Then the sloka. Everybody have been given a number tag she's 14. She did a real good job. But I did feel that her voice did not come out. But otherwise it was good.

Next is story. She did very well in story too. but the same issue with the voice..,. but without stopping she did very well with the actions.

Results were announced. Though I was not expecting any prize as her participation is very important , I did feel that if she get in one then that'll give her motivation for the next year. For coloring No , for sloka No , for story yes ,, she was in the fourth place. I was happy.
She has received the trophy with the proud in her face .. we were too.
then on the way slowly I was telling the thhings she can improve. I believe this is a good start for her.

swetha's leg Brain

2010-06-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

Now a days to do any work if swetha's not willing I will tell her , see you are growing and brain is growing too. U have lot of potential to do. If you practice you can do it. Try try no shy no cry ... practice makes a man perfect and things like that. She'll also yes amma I am growing .. Yesterday and today she was telling amma do u know my leg brain.It's growing a lot. I was like .. what ? Then sat down , pulled her pants up , showed her thighs and told me see amma my leg brain is growing... I was trying to explain her a lot that brain is not there but in vain.. I was laughing laughing laughing with her ...she' still thinking that the brain is a visible thing in the body. It's okey for me now. She'll know later . So far it works for me to get the jobs done ..

Proudful Mommy - swetha's summer school concert

2010-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

They are practicing dances in school for the summer concert. She came and told me and i was like okey ... I donot want to talk about that and create the tension which made her quit last time . But I let her dance of her own but never talked about it. Instead I was telling all about confidence and all hoping words. We were practicing how to behave in the stage and how to come out from shyness. Everyday we used to tell try,try no shy, no cry for atleast 50 times. We used to practive slokas, co,oring,story telling.. The day came. June 16th. She also told me Ms chandrika told her to be a substitute for thank you speech. I know the reason.Last time she did not do the welcome speech . I told her it's okey but yet you can practice that. she did. I told her how to stand stright without dancing . she practiced it . I crossed my fingers and took her to school and did not talk about it at all. Al kids dressed up. In the age when she started dancing I was relieved. But the way she danced really make my eyes wide not only mine , all parents ... For the thank you speech when the other kids refused , she said I can do it.... the words really took me to some other world. She told the thank you speech without dance , with her chest straight ... I was like a very very proudful mommy. Everybody said very nice swetha ... the whole class was talking about swetha the whole day...
What else I need .. Hope she'll continue the same for balavikas competition . Love you swetha. love u so so much

Big girl yet my little angel

2010-05-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

There are certain things which clearly shows swetha is growing everyday and become a biggy biggy girl. She helps appa to clean the car, helping me in cooking, putting the finished plate or tumbler in the sink,bringing me things when I need them , doing all crafy things without my help... so many things .. But sometimes I see her only as my baby

Big girl : When she tells me to drive carefully when she sees lots of traffic on the road .Sometime even tells wow when bharat goes fast and crossing the hill area .
Little baby: She still likes to hold my hand when crossing the roads.

Big Girl: When I see her taking care of his younger kids with so much care and tries to protect them from any harm.
Little baby: Still crying and waiting for amma /appa to pick her from the bed
Not only that she does not sleep alone. She needs mommy all the time.

Big Girl: Ordering other kids and provide them instructions in the play ground. When I tell her something she does not like she'll stand in some distance holding her hands and say " I am not your chella kutty" -poi kobam
Little baby: When he still cries when he is sleepy and tired.

Big Girl: When she always comes and asks me if he can help when I've guests over and doe everything I tell him perfectly.
Little baby: When she still wants me to feed her at dinner time and refuses to eat on his own.

She's still sometimes want to sleep in my lap.want to drink milk sleeping in my lap. drink milk in a bottle ... so many instances. Lots of fun with all the activities. Whatever it is I am seeing her all the time as a LITTLE LITTLE ANGEL who's my complete life

Balavikas -competition preparation

2010-05-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

Though i know she does not seem to be opening her mouth , I wanted to give a try.Participation is always good. My aim is just to create the interest in her. They have coloring competition - they will give God /Goddess picture and the kids have to color it . one moral story . one sloka with meaning. She's practicing coloring at home everyday. I am also working with her shyness/ anxiety issues. Hope she'll improve.

Swetha's Balavikas class

2010-05-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

I was a balavikas student from my childhood and was a guru too.I have learned for more than 10 years. I know how much that helps to learn about cultural things , slokas and getting self confidence. Thats one of the base for what I am now. So I was looking for Balavikas for swetha. I just found one but little bit far away. i just thought of trying . Distance should not be a problem. it was a good one. One uncle is running the class for more than 30 years without any fee. He's doing a great service. Lot of kids have graduated from here.. I was so surprised. I can see kids from 2- 20. So so suprised. It starts from circle time to story telling, sloka telling and things like that. Swetha found a friend Shanthi and was sitting with her. In the first day she told the sloka Achutham kesavam ... But sitting for 1.5 hours was really challenging.. The next week she refused to tell slokas. Next week they celebrated Mother's day. All kids /elders have to tell about their mothers and what we did back to them. Though she did a lot to me she refused to talk. She did pooja to me. Next week they announced about the Youth competitions but swetha does not seem to be imporving from her anxiety /shyness. Hope she'll be better next week.

Swetha -4 yrs

2010-05-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

I know I did not write for a long time. lot of things happened. Swetha becomes a biggy biggy girl now. She has celebrated her 4th birthday. She's able to tell her own stories. She's going to Balavikas. But still not going for any classes. May be she has seperation anxiety. Did a pagent in school. Dancing sooo good. Singing bajans and cine songs too. She even watches 2 movies with is and she has grown in such a way that she can identify that the two film heroines are same. I know she's my little friend, helping me in gardening , cooking.. She likes Reading ... her favourite thing. She's able to read of her own too. Also she asks tons of questions to amma appa .Ordering too.. eating quite well when compared to the previous years but still surviving with pediasure. She can select her own dress what to wear .Doing addition / subtractions , mazes , dot activities tons and tons .. She can ride the bicycle on her own. I am sure I will again start writing and this time will continue writing

Appa Birthday

2009-08-17T10:24:00.001-07:00

Today is her appa birthday. She wished HIM happy Birthday. We ordered cake in the evening , called Ramshankar and sowmini and cut the cake and sing Happy Birthday . A big hug and kiss from her made him proud of her.She did a card for him tooo

Happy Birthday Swetha Appa!!!1

One more milestone

2009-08-10T07:57:00.001-07:00

With her bike

Little hands watering the plants

2009-08-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Gone is the baby girl

2009-08-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Swetha milestones

2009-08-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have to say we feel like being in heaven. She is growing like a little angel. Listening to mommy daddy[sometimes showing tantrums] , being obedient , creative , funny, talkative ...
She can talk both tamil and english fluently. Her accent for English is Hilarious. She's able to differentiate people for the language she has to use. She tells to her friends. With Mommy daddy I will talk in tamil. But Abinva does not know tamil. So I talk in English. She's able to narrate her own version of stories. So affectionate. Emotional attachment with mommy. Atleast two days in a week , I have to drop her in school. I am fortunate that I have working from home options monthly twice. Evening mommy has to come to for pickup from daycare. Evening mostly we take bicyle and go for cycling[I have to run with her]. All three go for long walk to park and she can play with her friends. She's able to reciate slokas. Her favourite songs are "chinna pappa enga chella pappa " and "aayar padi maligaiyil" . She know kutty krishna stories , ramayana. One funny thing is we are using the ramayana rakshashi characters to make her to do something. I told her to eat -thadahai , to listen to mommy daddy - soorpanahai , to sleep - langini .If I tell the names things will happen immediately. We make sure we are not using it much as it will create some fear in her. she's able to read and write alphabets , colors , telling the days ,months ... mostly all both in tamil and english[spanish too]. Most of the time she imitate her teacher and me and order her toy sofy kutty . Eating is still an issue. But I can handle her . still a BIG "NO" to dance class and swimming. I am waiting for her to say "yes"
Overall she's my little best friend. She used to tell me "amma nee alatha.Me and appa go to india , play with nandhini, take the flight and pick you .Donot get upset." Sometime she recommend me to her daddy "appa can I take amma also to India . I think I will miss her " .

Also when they returned back from India , she got a baby bottle in the flight accidently. But she wants to drink milk everyday. She also tells "I am changing to baby girl in the night and for drinking milk .I sleep in mommy's lap and drink milk in this bottle like kutty pappa". when I have to play cycle , do watch droa - when comes to daddy I become big girl. So funny ...I love u kuttima. I love you for ever and ever and always.

One More India trip

2009-07-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Bharat has to India for office work. Swetha has summer holidays. Also he felt that if both are not there for one month I can take a break. After thinking for days we decided that she can go with Daddy. But still little hesitation as last time I have to make a travel even before they reached India. But I am hope for the good.

No issues during the journey. They travelled in business class and also Jet airways where the airhostess were very kind and played with her. After reaching india she started playing with patti , thatha , nandhini , sowmya .... She was over excited and for 3 weeks time she didnot think about me.

In between bharat's patti passed away and there was a big family re-union happened. So swetha had a chance to play with 6 different thathas and pattis.

Nandhini and swetha becomes close buddies. As I was not there I could not take much pictures to post here.

This time she was not ready to play with sathvikha as she frightened her and srihari was fighting with her ..

I am longing to see her. She'll be back this Friday.

Swetha's First dental appointment with Dr Chu

2009-06-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

Little hand's craft works ...

2009-05-27T09:08:00.001-07:00

I was just sitting in sofa. She always used to collect coins. she said she's going to put them in line. And the output is this. In between the coins got all the scoldings like "you come in line"."Donot go out of line". "Listen to me .." .. Funny funny stuff. We saved this until evening to show it to daddy.

Birthday card to Shreya[I helped her of course]

I want to sleep in a seperate room

2009-05-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Swetha used to sleep in her bed from the start. From the last 2 months as bharat is frquently travelling to india. We both feel so cozy and love it. 2 days before she saw one potty training DVD and there she saw big girls have to sleep in a seperate room. From that day she's telling me , amma I want to sleep in a seperate room. But when night comes she used to say amma I am a baby, Not a big girl. Morning vandha big girl aagiduven.Night vandha baby agiduven ..Yesterday either she was not feeling sleepy or hungry and did not sleep for a long time.I forced her to sleep. Then she started crying saying I need to sleep in a seperate room. Then I told her. you have a seperate room, but need to do the setup , we need to paint , put the bed, pink bedding , crown in the head board, canopy, curtains ... We need to do lot of things ... She did not listen. She said amma naan big girl aagiten. I need to sleep in a seperate room. I need to sleep as I need to wake up early to go to office. I just told her go and sleep in the next room. Amma has to sleep now. She immediately replied , Amma-appa kooda varanum. How can I sleep alone.... I just got the meaning of seperate room. What else I can go except laughing. Then I spend sometime with her explaining the meaning and went down to get her milk .... slept after 2 hours ... those are all seperate usual stories

Three

2009-05-11T12:04:00.001-07:00

This morning as I cuddled with my baby girl, I became slightly emotional remembering three years ago, I was holding her just the same as today. I have so many incredible memories of the past three years of our lives, but April 24, 2006 was the beginning of it all. Where has the time vanished to? I just can't believe that little baby is such a big girl now. How quickly she went from totally depending on me to such strong independence. Now don't get me wrong...I am so glad she is growing up to be such a wonderful little lady. I have so much fun with her. She is like a little friend. We just talk and laugh and play. She has such a wonderful personality, she is so intelligent and I couldn't ask for a better little girl. Throughout our lives, we receive many blessings and discover such happiness, but when God blesses you with a child, that is the best blessing you could receive and everything about that child will bring you more happiness than you can contain! So, instead of being sad that my baby is really no longer my "baby", I am going wipe my tears and put a smile on my face and watch her fill my life with happiness! Happy Birthday Swetha! Mama Loves You!

Little hands that love to bake

2009-05-11T11:53:00.001-07:00

How sweet are these little hands? Natalie loves using her hands in play, doing art projects and most of all, BAKING! These hands have sweetened many cakes, cookies and pies. She loves to help Mi Mi make pizza and and chocolate chip cookies. Lately there has been quite a bit of friendship bread baking. So far this autumn season, we have made the bread, a pumpkin pie and our latest... pumpkin shaped cut out cookies. These little hands like to put in the ingredients, stir and pour, but mostly grab little bites and sneak little licks. Her famous line is "can I have a bite now?" Baking with these hands always make double the mess and double the time, but I love it and won't ever bake alone again! These hands will always be a part of baking in our house. The picture shown here is Nat making a pumpkin cut out with a mound of dough...I bet that will be the best cookie in the batch!

Mother's day

2009-05-10T09:05:00.001-07:00

This is swetha's craft for me for Mother's day. Not only that. Got tons of kisses and hugs ... What else a mommy needs ? ...

Swetha's new hair style

2009-05-10T08:59:00.001-07:00

Visit to Tico Farm _Mother's day

2009-05-10T08:33:00.001-07:00

It's the new farm started recently.They have few animals.It's my long due for swetha to show the animals. I made this promise long time back. So want to take this chance.Called Latha and she agreed to come. The same with Suman too. So me , swetha, suman , abinav , Latha , Krishna , Rohan, Mega everybody went to the farm to celebrate the Mother's day. It wass nice weather.

They had few but very good rides for the kids. Face painting. Mother's day crafts all goody which the kids enjoyed a lot. Then they played the huge giant slide and we did the same too. We all enjoyed.. Then kids started asking us to show the animals.We had a good tractor ride which was very new but exciting experience for all the kids. Then we bought some animal food[grains] and went to see the animals. Kids enjoyed feeding the animals. Then we call it a day and headed to home...

Very nice day. Looking forward to see days lithis...
Some pictures

Swetha's crafts

2009-05-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

Our Bear just turned There 3 days back

2009-04-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you ..
Happy Birthday to you ..
Happy Birthday Dear Swetha ...
Happy Birthday to you ...

Many Many Happy returns of the day Darling! My heartfelt blessings to you for a healthy, happy, long life!!! May God bless you with his choicest blessings and may all your wishes/dreams come true!! Thanks for giving a new meaning to our lives and enriching it so much with your uncondtional, incredible love. May you remain happy like this always....

Swetha's Birhtday Party

2009-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Swetha will be 3 in a week time. We have planned to celebrate in her daycare. Also plan to go to Pittsburg on that week. But we never throw a party for her birthday we thought we can have a kids party . We were thinking about the outside parties and atlast decided to have a home party with fun events for kids.

We have informed all the friends which inlcudes 9 og age more than 6 and 6 of 4-5 and 6 of 3-4. I did a lot of homework , collecting some riddles , fun games.Inviation has been sent. I have packed all goody bags.Filled the pinata butterfly with candies. Ordered the cake. Ordered samosa for elders. It's a evening party between 4.30-6 .I prepared the clues for treasure hunt and carefully put it in multiple places. We have planned for Lime Race , Obstacle Race , Pinata , Memory game , musical chair , dance ...Everything ready. I was kind of nervous as this is the first party at home and that too with more than 20 kids.

Kids stated coming at 4.30. Started playing. With small kids we were playing musical chair , pass the ball and sing rhyme. When all the big kids came , we played all their games. They loved the Riddles part.Ofcourse everybody got stickers and prices.

When everybody are tired of playing , they wanted to eat. Before that we have to cut the cake. But where are candles ? Swetha carefully hided the canles somewhere. We were trying to locate it. No use. So we cut the cake without the candles.

Then the fun part is Treasure hunt which most of the kids enjoyed. Then we just saw that we forget pinata. So we played that too ...

A fun party where all kids enjoyed. Swetha was so happy as expected.
We have called all her friends, elders, youngers and same age.Also boys and girls.
She loved playing with them all.

Friends are life !!! Watching little children bond and play so well together is simply wonderful. As I watch Swetha interact and play with other children, I wonder what she will be like 10 years from now. I also wonder if these friendships formed at the tender age of 3 are indeed friendships for life...

Missing Daddy

2009-03-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

I know she loves her dad a lot. If dad and mom are there and if she sits in the middle and play , there's better in the world for her. Yes.Now bharat is in India. Even though she's behaving good with me, she miss her dad a lot. Very very much. Atleast 5 times a day she'll cry for daddy. I used to tell her some stories to explain that appa has gone for work. But she's not in that age to understand the responsibilities in life. In the night at times she used to wake up and cry for daddy and if I take her , give her a hug , she'll be fine. When I went to pick her from daycare yesterday , her teacher told me that she woke up from the sleep and cried asking for mommy and she has to hold her and make her sleep again. I know she's emotional dreaming of something related to "missing daddy" . Poor kid ... Poor mommy ... how can I teach her what is practical ... tough life sometimes...

Baby, Mommy and Daddy we both love you so much... We never intend to leave u alone. There are situations which is making us do that. I am very sorry about that . Again we love you for ever and ever and always. Love u soooooooooooooooo much.

Dance classes

2009-03-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went and registered for Swetha's Dance classes. She'll be learning tap and Ballet. I am so exited .I think she's going be perfectly fine for her age. When we went , one group of girls were practicing for some competition.Thats for ballet. It was fabulous. We were allowed to watch. I could see the exitement in swetha's face. She refused to come and wanted to stay back. Then we registered for her .It's going to be one class per week.1/2 hour tap and 1/2 hour ballet.The teacher told us that in this age , they'll teach basic steps , co-ordination ... Whatever , I am so happy that I have enrolled her. I am sure she'll pickup interest. At the end, she got stamps on her hands that made her so happy too.

Will be Three ...

2009-03-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

Swetha will ne 3 in April 24th. But now itself she started talking about how to celebrate her birthday. Amma , I am growing like Big girl ... I will be soooooooooooooo big.. Want birthday party. Need to call Naren, shreya, cailyn[ all her friend's name]. So like the last two years , I cannot simply cut the cake at home. The day falls on Friday. So planning to have a little party in her day care and one more in the play gym . Need to do lot of planning..., purchasing goody bags ...More than anything else , she's so systematic,always want everything to be there when she wanted ...Tough job to convince her. More work to do. But feels so exited too ...

Not a little baby anymore...

2009-03-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

It's funny. I sat down today and went back and read all of my pasts blogs. It's only been one year since I started this, yet I find it amazing how much can change in one year.

Swetha. How can one little girl grow so much in one year? She must be at that age whereby one year is like five. Suddenly, she is no longer a baby or a toddler. She is, as she tells me, a big girl. Well, okay, she's a little girl. The toddler is gone. Swetha is her own person. She has her own mind, her own personality, her own desires. She's lost a lot of the baby fat and is physically maturing into a little person. She's growing taller, her hair growing longer, and her hands! How her hands have even changed. They are real little girl hands. I doubt that makes much sense to anyone else other than myself. But such is life!

Swetha is learning more and more each and every day. I bought some flashcards (yeah yeah, I know what many think about these) in addition to several Before Five in a Row books. She loves the flashcards! I can get her to sit for about 30 minutes while we mind numbingly go over numbers, letters, words, colors, shapes, objects, animals...you name it! We read the books but it's almost as if she is so involved that she doesn't want me to stop and ask her to point out the difference between daytime and nighttime. Despite the evilness of TV, I often sit with her and watch her repeat words like counting and showing me colors and animals. We love dancing and dance together like two clowns let loose! Great fun.

Growth in many aspects of our lives. We've done well and have been exceptionally blessed. I don't know what I did to deserve this life, or what I will do to make it so deserving, but I will remain eternally thankful.

Who's mommy here ... Guess

2009-03-05T06:55:00.001-08:00

Swetha : Amma , officela irundhu vandhutiya ...[Came from office .? ]- Giving a big hug and kiss..All konjifying
Lakshmi : I love you kannu.
Swetha : Amma inga vaayen ..
Lakshmi : iruda jacket kalititu varen[wait let me remove the jacket and come]
Swetha : Okey. Hang the jacket and come here. U are so tired . let me make tea for you in my kitchen. Okey.

???????

Swetha : Is this your dinner ?What is this ?
Lakshmi : Yes kannu. Boiled corn with salt and pepper. For you pasta.
Swetha : Okey. Amma.Come here. I will feed you .Okey..
[Feeding me the corn]
Lakshmi : Podum. See my tummy. It's full[ Went to do some other work]
Swetha : Amma inga va. nee sariyave sapdalai. Eat this. Inga vaa.[In a ordering tone]

????

Guess who's mommy here ....
I love you sooooooo much for ever and ever.

Pain of a working MOM

2009-02-20T10:23:00.001-08:00

Well. I am working since my college final year[part time] till now. I took 2 months for my delivery and again going back to the same. I took a contractor position with the government when she turned one as I know working 24* 7 is not going to work for us. ... All are past stories.

Swetha went to daycare since she from her 1st birhtday. She is ahppy and we are . When she's growing day by day , she's more attached, more emotional.
She all the time want to be with MOM. I feel so jealous when I see stay home moms. Like them , I want to do drushing , give then bath , feed them , play with them , make them sleep. Morning bharat needs to take care of her. It was mechanical. But now-a-days the thought of "staying home" inside me is increasing.

Whenever she says "amma venum, appa venum .." for me tears will come out of guilt.If she gets up in the morning before I start to office ,she never leaves me to office. Of couse , bharat will save me by deviating her.

Now-a-days I am questioning myself whether I can be a stay home mom everyday Before I go to bed.

I always feel that I should have bonded more with swetha If I am a stay home MOM

At times , when me and bharat are so tired and cannot give attention to swetha when she badly needs the same , i really feel guilty.

sometimes bharat used to scold her , beat her when she was not sleeping even at 12 PM in the night , when he's waiting for office calls. He'll ask me to go to sleep as I have to start early. But she's my baby. How can I see him beating her.

My mind knows very well that, Kids will grow up and they will understand .
But as a mother , my emotions come first. Especially with the girl who's fascinating , loves to play with me , admirning me with her little talk, tons of questions , little arts ... Am I missing all these because I work.?

At the same time , I love my work. I love what I am doing. We have some good signifigant investment made for swetha. She's going to montesorri school. Planning to put her for Ballet dancing ,music which she loves..
For all these we need two people income. Now Bharat has the opportunity to grow but need to work harder.

I know I am talking two different things which cannot come together as a package in our life . I can live with only one. I am coming home early. Spending time her. Playing with her. Preparing her special food , taking her to the park ...

I think it's just emotional feeling. She forget me when she see her friends , enjoying school with friends and her teacher.Thats what she wants. I need to know how to overwrite this thought in my mind. I am sure she does not need me when she's 8 or 9. I am reading lot MOMS blogs .Feel better to know that they also feel the same. Whatever steps I take to come out of this , the wave of guilt is coming now and then. I think it's part of motherhood.

I always used to tell Bharat , if we go back to India after we have earned more for swetha's future , I can take retirement and stay back home. But I am sure it'll take some 10+years .By the time swetha will be used to this environment ,even us and we'll think about going back. Even if we does , swetha will not need me all the time and I cannot get back today's moments.

So, what is the solution ?It is what it is !!! What else I can say.

I love u my dear. I never leave u alone. I will be always with you.
I love you more and more everyday. Missing u so much when you are not with me.
Thinking all about you..

Mommy and Swetha time

2009-02-20T07:47:00.000-08:00

Usually all of us [three] used to go to Bed together. Now-a-days bharat has off-shore team meetings and he will come only by 2-30 or 3. So we go to Bed first. This is precious -Mommy and Swetha time. She heard the "chulbuli song" and she's more attracted towards that. She thought Chulbuli is a character like Dora and there are more stories about her. I need to tell Chulbuli sotry everyday. I used this opportunity to get what's going on in the daycare , asking what she learned today ,teaching her slokas , teaching her manners . She used to ask me tons and tons of questions about everything under the sun. How this is happening, what is this , why this is like this ? ..... and the list is bigger to list.I used to convert Dora stories to Chulbuli.The charactes are chulbuli, bulbuli , gulbuli and gullabi...All my own imagination. I used to read something and prepare my own stories for her.It works very well too. We used to tickle each other, holding the faces close to each other and we used to play something.It's all precious and it's our precious time.It increases our bonding very much. This time is very precious for me and for her too. If Bharat offers to tell her chulbuli story, she'll say amma only knows that. I love her more and more everyday for everything what she does. Our bonding is increasing day by day. I love u kannamma. Love u soooo much

Picky Poor eater

2009-02-03T07:13:00.000-08:00

Swetha has strong likes and dislikes for food. I used tell myself , my food is good , if swetha eats it. Idli should be very soft. Dosai should be golden brown. She likes pasta very much. The only thing which she never say No is Icecream. But she does not like milk at all. She has developed a great aversion. Donot know why. Milk in any form , will take a long time for her to finish. If I am home , I used to tell her stories and feed her. Bharat with morning office meetings cannot do that. So I am giving her eggs now-a-days to fulfill the protein and calcium needs. She does not eat spicy food.She's very lean .When I see other kids of her age , she's just half in their weight. Sometimes I used to worry about that a lot. Thinking everyday about how to handle this problem. Hope I will get some help

Little surprises everyday

2009-02-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

We are blessed with this wonderful time in our life with Swetha. She's grown up now proudly says I am a big girl amma atleast 50 times a days. See I am having big hands , big legs .... See love to Dance . Pick up any song when she hears for the first time. Enjoying playing with her Friends. Able to differentiate whom she likes and not.She's learning new new songs from the daycare and immediately after coming from there, she'll teach me ... She'll not leave until I sing the rhyme perfectly with the same style of hers. We love playing each other. She needs a story for everything. Chulbuli or Dora .... Night she cannot sleep without my chulbuli stories.Can speak Tamil and English perfectly.She constantly talk about her friends. Never disturb me. She loves to help me in the litchen. ..What else you need ..

Yesterday we went to Giant for regular grocery shopping.Bharat said he's hungry and wants to have a sandwich. It's has been a long time we went to subway because of swetha.She wanted to have to coke when we went last time and troubled us. So we stopped going. I also got a spiral straw cup for her yesterday from giant and immediately after bharat said sandwich, she said I can have coke in this cup. I said water.she said coke and we were walking and inside subway I read from the price tag that see swetha , it says this is for water .I thought she'll believe. She thought for a second and took it from me and read .Amma it says
"Put in Coke , put in ice cubes mix and then drink through the straw " .I was speechless.What can you say.

Sometimes she'll take the books and read of her own using the pictures. If I donot respond to her, she'll say amma timeout okey ...

She's too talkative. She asks 100 questions for everything and never leave me if I donot answer. Sometimes it'll make us think. Sometimes make us realize we are wrong with something ...

She has very good pronounciation.She can sing "Nama ramayan" very easily. I want to put her for ballet dance and music classes.

Much more to say about her. Let me reserve some for the next post.

I love you kannamma. Luv u soooooo much...

Potty training

2009-01-12T05:09:00.000-08:00

After over 2.7 years, the diaper changing job is finally over for us. We can officially announce that my daughter is potty trained. She's free from all accidents. We had a great success after trying for an year. It's celebration time for us.

Back to regular schedule

2009-01-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Swetha's very long vacation is over. She's eagerly waiting to go to school. She went to the daycare and got exited to see her friends.She received her quarterly reports with Excellent remarks.

swetha's India Trip

2008-12-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

This is her third trip for this year. When compared to last year , she knows almost all people both from my house and bharat's house. So we expected a good time for her.When we reached chennai, full rain. Chennai was completely dark. No current anywhere .Roads are flooded and we were fortunate to get the travels for pickup. All others cancelled the service. We cannot anywhere left or right. All roads are completely blocked with flood and the van also stopped in the middle. Then we managed and come home somehow. Because of rain 2 suitcases fell down. Bharat's laptop battery was gone and all sad stories..

Swetha behaved very well in the Flight. She was sleeping in the First Flight and in the second one she was playing .Eat well and behaved so matured and make us proud of her.
She was telling I am going to see my patty thatha .. My patty My thatha ... She was so happy. When she saw thatha in the airport from the distance she was shouting ... thatha ... patti ...She went to them and played with them and she was so exited. Amma[me] and swetha both are in jetlag and I think will take a week for us to come back to Normal.

Immediately after reaching home , she had 2-3 mosquito bites. No current , all rain ...Difficult to manage for the first two days. Then she was okey. Having very nice time with Nandhini and Sowmya.Singing all rhymes with thatha patti - dancing all the time .Also she started eating properly as she has the company.

We did not go out for the first two days because of rain and water and swetha was bored.So bharat and me took her in scooty. I need to tell about this. She does not like cars in India. She's crazy for scooty and auto. I still remember , last time when we came , she wanted to go round and round in the scooty and for every round she used to tell us last one okey ...? So this trip we started our scooty journey to Saravana bavan and had our dinner and packed some items for thatha patti. She does not want to get down. We went three more rounds.

Friday , saturday , sunday is Gone ... Monday .. Bharat has to go to office. nandhini has to go to School. The next door little boy Aakash has to go to school. I cnvinced her somehow that appa goes to office and come back early. She gave a big kiss to appa helped him to put the shoes and gave a tight hug. Aakash also said bye to her and left with his father . and Bharat started to offcce she cannot control. Everyday it's taking a long time to convince her. In the afternoon sowmya will take with her to pickup Nandhini. She loves to go to school with her and say Hi to Nandhini and bring her home.

Then we went to my house. For sathvikha december holidays are preponded due to rain which is double happy news to me. Sathvikha , srihari and swetha become good friends and they had tons and tons of fun. Giving biscuits , pori to crows is one of her favourite activity. She also went to Balavikas with Sathvikha .Playing with mama , thatha , patti , periamma , periappa - Swetha enjoyed like anything.

For our surprise one day morning my father called me that my first younger brother came from singapore .I was flying in the air. Soooooo happy. Immediately we packed and went to our house and swetha had more fun with him too .

We went to beach one day with my in-laws house members .Went to B's office collegues birthday party ...

One day we have ordered one cake for nandhini and one for swetha . Sang happy birthday song and cut the cake just like that ....

To summarise , for me it's a more relaxed trip. For swetha it's a fun trip and for bharat as usual Official but not more hectic.

Wonderful vacation....

Anushka's Grandpa going back to India

2008-10-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

It's very hard to see people like him. We met him Swetha's park. His house is just opposite to the park and he'll be in the evenings taking care of all the kids , teaching them sharing the things , helping them trying things by themselves .... He's one of the great persons I have ever met. If we go to the park, we can take rest and he'll take care of the kids. I am so admired by his activities and extended my services to the kids in the same way. He has two Grand Kids Anushka and Aarushi. But he always treat everyone as the same. He also used to go for a walk atleast 5 miles a day.They came to our house with the whole family for Navarathri too.

We did not go to the park for the past one week due to the weather .He came to our house yesterday and told us that he'll be leaving to India tomorrow. I know we'll be missing him a lot along with their grand kids. Hope he'll come next year

Let me prey for his safe trip and for his good physical and mental health.

BTW , I forget to ask his name.. We always refer him as "Anushka's thatha "

Roomla amma madila pal sapdanum[Need to drink milk in amma's lap and inside the closet]

2008-10-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

We have hard times for the past 1 week. All day times Swetha is very much fine.When it comes to night , she becomes cranky and does not want to sleep.I used to read her 10-12 story books everyday and she never stops.We have to force her to put in the bed. Even this is fine.For the past 1 week,it becomes very worse.

She wanted to sleep inside the closet. She needs only MOMMY and No DADDY.
I was holding her in the closet , singing songs thinking that she'll sleep within minutes and I can put her in the bed.
She did not. She told me 100 things and then pasikudhu pal venum[feel hungry need milk] and bharat brought milk in the bottle and she want to sleep in my lap and want me to feed her. I did.After some time she wanted to laid down and wanted me to do the same. I did that.She slept around 1 and then we put her in the bed.

Second day , the same thing happened , but never slpet. Bharat scolded me and took her and put her in the bed and she started crying from her lungs.We forced her much and then she slept in our bed.

Third day, we didnot want to go inside the closet nad put her in our bed and wanted her to sleep. I was holding her singing songs ..... She slept around 12 PM.All the time she says room ponum. Amma madila pal sapdanum.

Yesterday it was the worst. Me and Bharat pretend like we slept and she was crying MOMMY , ammmma , endhuruma...
She never slept. After struggling wth her for 3 hours she slept. All the time she says "Roomla amma madila pal sapdanum"

Bharat cannot see her crying continuously. He has 2 reasons. One is it's highly irritating for him seeing her crying from the lungs and the other reason is he has to do office work.His BP shooted up yesterday. He yelled at her and beat her too ... It's hard to see. Tears coming from my heart. I have no idea how to solve the issue.

I want Bharat to keep quiet and leave her crying so that she'll sleep by herself .He for his part does not do that too.

I know we have to lower her energy level down. I cannot take her to the park.it's very chill outside.I am so worried.If any ideas , I really appreciate that

Navarathri 2008 & Swetha

2008-10-06T05:46:00.000-07:00

Please see the updates here

Halloween ...

2008-09-29T06:53:00.001-07:00

It is almost Halloween!.I absolutely love Halloween.I know it seems juvenile but I simply love it. It's lot of fun. Dressing in costumes,handing out treats to the kids that come ringing your doorbell all evening .We have started the fall decorations outside the home.Next week need to go to the pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for Swetha.But we got one from our friend. The challenging job for me is to find a proper halloween costume for Swetha. For girls the good costumes are princess, lady bug and some others. But how can she wear them in the cold night. I am working hard to find a costume for her.[Donot give me a weired look. I am a MOM always] .

Last year ,swetha was having fever. So I was holding her.She dressed up like a Lion. We went as a batch. So enjoyed it too. After some time she cannot handle it. I was holding her and walking .Kind of Tough.

This year I am expecting her to have more fun as she has more friends plus her age.She likes Dressing up.

Swetha eat chocklates very rarely. She likes Lollipop. Plus she's crazy for opening the chocklate covers.I think she likes the sound . So usually I will keep some for the visitors and pack the chocklates to India.

Last time she had the bucket full of chocklates and I just kept it in the counter top. She never allow anyone to touch it. Whenever she asked for it , I have to give it to her.She's play with the covers. After some time , when she reached some height she used to push from one side and go to the other side and take it. More and More fun for her....

Swetha's thaalaattu song

2008-09-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

I donot have any seperate scrapbook for Swetha.
So I want to write these lines which is my own version of thalattu.

This song has one history too. My sister does not know any thalattu song.
So she started singing her own version. When my mother came here
she sang the same thing for Swetha. But Swetha did not show much interest.
But I got it. When we went to india ,Swetha liked this very much especially
with the thooli. Her's is only one paragraph.I have modified that and created
a new version...
Later I'll publish the video version

Chinna Rajathi ava Chella Rajathi
Pattu Rajathi ava pavala Rajathi
Swetha kannuma ava chella kannuma
pattu kannuma ava pavala kannuma

this will repeat for each para

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

The following is because swetha is the mirror image of her father
But still amma chellam . But now-a-days she does not like this paragraph.
She says Amma this is not appa kannu appa mooku. This is Swetha's Okey ...

Appa kannu appa mooku appa vayima
appa kadhu appa chheksu appa chinnu ma

Swetha kuttima ava appa mathiri ma
aanaalume eppodhume Amma chellam ma

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

Astraneta aaganume swetha kannuma
latest planet poga venum swetha kannuma
OOrellam potra venum Swetha Kannuma
Ulagam pugazha peru vaanganum Swetha kannuma

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

Nermayaga irukka venum Swetha Kannuma -mana
Satchipadi nadakka venum Swetha kannamma
Periavangala mathika venum Swetha kannamma
Amma appa pechu kekkanum Swetha kannamma

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

Urudhiyana manadhu venum swetha kannamma
Inimayana vaarthai venum swetha kannamma
Dhairiyama irukka venum Swetha kannamma
Thooimayana ennam venum Swetha kannamma

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

Poo pola irupavale Swetha kannamma
Jaikathane pirandhavale swetha kannamma
Kannai moodi thonngu ma Swetha kannamma
Naalai poludhu nalladhagum swetha kannamma

ammu kuttyma ava kannu kuttima
Swetha kuttyma ava amma chellam ma

Happy moments

2008-09-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening Pappu[swetha] does not want to go to Park. I think she's tried. After some time , she became cranky and started crying for everything. She asked for dosa , my MIL made her Dosa. She said "No Black dosai patti ". Then I made two for her. Then I told her to eat thachu mamma . She said No.Very adament. Me and Bharat have to take her for a walk in the night to make her eat ... tough time.

Then it was 8 O' clock we felt that the time is running very slow. Also my MIL and FIL will be leaving within 2 days. So we all assembled in the hall having swetha in the center. MIL and FIL started clapping hands and swetha was singing all the rhymes. She sang almost 10 rhymes ... with her own gestures , dancing body language .... soooo funny to watch. We did this about an 1/2 hour and bharat recorded it. Then we wanted to see all her old recording and we started watching from her 6th month ...

Swetha cannot control herself. She was laughing laughing ....to see how she was ...
She said swetha kutty ma .. kutty pappa ma ..

Little little things in life gives meaning to our lives...

Patti thatha going Back ...

2008-09-23T06:10:00.000-07:00

Swetha's patti and Thatha are leaving on Sep 25th. I know Swetha will be missing them so much. Their selfless love for Swetha is really uncomparable. They way they took care of her is Great. She's a great Fan of Thatha. One of her activity before going to bed is Going to thatha room , talking to him for some time , jumping in the bed. They forget their ages and played with her , singing rhymes with her , dancing with her ..My MIL has too much patience to feed her and clean her stuff. Great life for her. Hope everything will be in her memory.
We'll be back to the triangle life ....

Let's prey GOD to provide them good physical and mental health ...

Cutie Kutty Mami ...

2008-09-21T05:39:00.000-07:00

Oh My GOD !!!! She's growing every day. I still remember the initial days when we can just hold her in one hand. Time is running very fast. She's continuously talking ... ,imitating everything whatever we does .... I know it's not possible to be in the same age. But I want her to be . This is the age of innocense. Once they started crossing the age 5 , they are entering the real world which is totally different to them and they'll be part of that world too . The Life in this age is Great. They get whatever they want. Everybody loves them ..
But anyways they have to face the reality. They have to come out of the box oneday to see the real world.

At times , I used to have thoughts , can I be a good parent to her.
I donot know how easier to teach things.Donot know how far we can guide her in her life and how effective it'll be ..
I know her life is not in our hands.It's already written.
Let me prey GOD to give her good , healthy environment around .
I want her to learn the values of life and be wise and be a good human being.
I want her to care for other lives and spread the love everywhere she goes.
I want her to be calm, lovable at the same time stand strong and courageous to face the world.
As every other mother I want her to smile always.

I love you kannamma ... You gave me rebirth in my life ..
I love you sooooo much.....

Two good news

2008-09-19T05:48:00.001-07:00

First , Swetha likes going to daycare. No more crying in the morning . We are so happy ....
She's playing, reading stories , learning math stuff.....

Second ,we have got sofy kutty back. She was in the daycare.Swetha is very happy and me too.

Sofy kutty missing------------------

2008-09-18T05:35:00.002-07:00

We have got a new stroller for sofy kutty and swetha is so exited and said i can take sofy kutty for a walk. I told her , she can do , but they need to come with me . She said OKey, okey. Then I asked her to take water , bring sofy kutty. Just then we noticed our sofy kutty is missing. Oh My GOD!!! She used to be with us all the time. Swetha usedto feed her. I asked her .She was blinking. I was so tensed. I went and lookedin the car , outside the yard, baasenent, bathroom,bedroom ... I searchedthe whole house , but cannot find her.
So , who's sofy kutty . She's swetha's baby doll .She's gifted to swetha by my collegue Ariv.She always wanted to be with her.She give her bath , feed her , put her in the shoulder,singing songs for her and make her sleep.She does everything what I used to do for her. In the night she'll say amma kiss swetha,swetha kiss sofy kutty...It's our favourite too.
How did she name her sofy kutty ? In the previous homedaycare she went, all the kids are same to her age and there was a new comer who's a 3 months baby girl.Her name is sofia. These kids were around age 2 and they used to be with her all the time,playing with her... So for her all the kids are sofy kutty. [she used to see her childhood photosand tell me that's sofy kutty.] .
This is the story behind her.If you find her please let us know...

Capsicum

2008-09-18T05:35:00.001-07:00

When I first introduced the word "Capsicum " swetha cannot tell that properly.She was telling "papsicum" .Later she figured out the way to pronounce it.But whenever I asked her to tell the word , she'll tell with the funny face "papsicum ". I need to tell her no baby ... then she'll tell "capsicum"and this is one of her play things in the night

Eat .. and sleep ... Okey

2008-09-18T05:35:00.000-07:00

yesterday I was so tired and want to go to bed. Wanted to skip the multivitamin. Usually it becomes a regular activity for swetha to give the tablets to me. She came to me and told amma mathirai sapdanum va [ need to eat the tablet , come] . I told her I am so tired and want to seelp
She was thinking for 2 mins . Then said amma "Eat ... and sleep .. Okey ..." . I think she was searching for words and told me. I just hugged her , went and had the tablets and came to bed.

Then I asked her to select the book to read. She picked up one and she does not like it.I asked her to get down and select another book .The conversation is the following[she talks everything with her cutie cutie childish language]

Swetha : What book u want to read amma
Amma : "visit to the doctor"
Swetha : where is that book, what color is the book
amma : Yellow color and it's in the right hand side.
Swetha : mmm.You like yellow one. Good . lemme look for it. Please wait for 2 mins okey...
Amma : okey.
swetha : [she took one book and asked me ] do u want to read this one . I think it has birds and animals. okey ?
Amma : I was melting like a ice. I told her a big YES.

I know she's imitating her teacher in the daycare.
She's growing up ...
I am so proud of her...

Swetha thevaillaya....

2008-09-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

The way swetha talks tamil is really sweet.

A Few samples...

She cannot say "naan" [ I] . She always say "neeya pannanum" instead of "naan pannanum"

If we donot respond to her or says "donot do this " - she will say " Swetha theva illaya , yemma ippadi pannra :-) I love these . Sooo sweet [ donot you need swetha ? why are you doing this]

She talks like "emma " "enda" to all. The way she tell really makes us fall on her feet.

She used to say " Amma venum, appa venum azha koodathu. Amma office pova , appa carla office poi lollipop vaangindu varuva[ donot cry for amma appa. Amma goes to office. Appa goes to office by car and get a lollopop] okey ....

When I pick her from daycare she used to say "amma vennum amma venum azhuden[ I cried asking for amma ..] and finished with "aamam " [yes ..] - it's so cure

I used to tease her by taking some of her toys or take some biscuits from her plate ...
She say " amma pannadamma ..... swetha pavam illaya ...." I am gifted to have her

After going to daycare she's talking in Tnglish. So funny to watch. Nobody can understand anything .But she never stops. Talking continuously with different kinds of expressions....eye catching ...

I can make chappathi...

2008-09-17T05:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we wanted to make chappathi. Bharat took swetha for a walk . I started making chappathis.I know if she's around, she'll slowly start eating the doughand nothing wil be left.When I heard the garage opening sound,I was scared.She came inside asking "amma enna pannra ". I told her I am making chappathi. Oh ! chappathiya. She asked me give her dough.Like usual , I gave her little to eat and said no more kannamma.If you eat more your stomach will pain. She said no amma. I am not going to eat. I asked what else you are going to do.She said naan chappathi pannren.Without waiting for a word from me .she sat in the bar stool , took the small round dough , dip it in the plain dough and used my roller and started making chappthi ..I donot have any words to explain. I did not wait . I went and took the camera and started shooting pictures.
Shes's growing ..... everyday... every minute..... I am so proud of her

Finger painting / cheerio craft

2008-09-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

This is a little bit relaxing weekend.Bharat is at home. We went to library for story time. On the way I just realized we need to go for the birthday party , went there ..... half day is over. Swetha and me slept in the afternoon. Laundry and other usual stuff. Sunday Ramshankar has come and I dropped them in the design center in the afternoon. Swetha does not want to sleep. So I put the tablecloth in the floor. Took some flour. Split it in two bowls , mix kesari powder in one and , yellow powder in another one and swetha did her finger painting.Initially she does not want to put her fingers inside the flour .She said amma yucky , yucky.After I did she started putting the fingers in the flour.Then we put the flour in the paper in the rainbow shape and she arranged with the colorful cheerios. She does not find all the rainbow colors. So it becaomes like a plain arch. Not the rainbow. Still some crafting / painting .... Swetha liked it

Happy birthday Ummachi[GOD]

2008-09-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

Swetha loves singing "Happy Birthday song "When swetha is at home , her one of the activities is arranging all the ummachiphoto and vigraham and keep her cake and knife from the play kitchen and celebrate happy birthday ... How innocent the kids are ...

Swetha's II week in Daycare

2008-09-16T10:06:00.001-07:00

Still she's crying in the morning. But bharat is dropping her at 9 instead of 7.So , she's having breakfast at home , lunch and snack in the daycare.She started coloring properly , writing the alphabets , little Math ...Her teacher has good comments about her, imitating whatever the others are doing ,taking the responsibility and doing things , cleanup ...Expecting her not to cry in the morning in the next week..

swetha's I week in daycare - Montessori

2008-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Swetha was going to the daycare for a year time in a home daycare between 1-2.After that she's staying with my in-laws at home and enjoying the independence. Now she's going to Montessori .In the previous daycare she enjoyed a lot. but only 6 kids and all are 1 week plus or minus in age. I was so worried about this transition. One of the main reasons is my husband is out of country , so I need to leave her early morning . I was so tensed. Whenever I was talking about daycare she used to say "amma venum no daycare".I took for the orientation and she played with the other kids. More than any moments in life , I was more tensed ..... Purchasing whatever she likes , snacks .... . I took off on sept 2nd. I left her in the daycare , she cried as expected and then they took care of her. The positive point in her is if she sees kids and know that I am not around , she'll stop crying and start playing.... I was more tensed sitting at home , calling the daycare multiple times to check how she's doing .. They said she's doing fine. I gave pasta for her which she likes the most. Evening when I went to pick her , she came calling me "MOM" and gave me a big hug and kiss. After that "No daycare .... amma venum ". She never leave me ... I took her to her favourite park , be with her always ... Everyday morning crying never stopped. But she likes rhymes , story telling, coloring ...

something about swetha..

2008-09-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Need to and want to write something about swetha
She's a toddler and she does everything related to the word "toddler"
She likes Books. Mostly she likes reading books only in the night
She loves to play with other kids with the presence of Mommy.
She's talking tooooooo much. perfect tamil and Tenglish
She's dancing , hopping, doing gymnastics ... what else you expect
She likes blocks but MOM has to do it and she'll watch
She likes puzzles ....
She started loving the soft toys.Otherwise Car, truck are her favourites
She likes putting nail polish. Cutting the nails and putting nailpolish is one of our regular weekly activity
She does all monkey things like throwing the glass after drinking water or juice , pouring water in the carptet .....
She prefers glasses to drink juice or water or horlicks [but at times when she want to be close to mommy she wants to laid down in my lap and want me to feed her with the zippy cup]
She loves putting coin in the chuck E cheese or in the temple[she needs mommy and daddy]
she likes story time and we are going to library regularly on saturdays [she likes getting stamps at the end]
she likes paintings ...
She likes to help mommy for household things , cleaning ...
She's a daily visitor to the evening park to play slide and swing...
She loves if anybody pampers her or admire her or praise her.
She like jweleries , indian dressing ....
She's not partially potty trained
She's a big fan of all DVDs and sings rhymes all the times and sometimes with her own words
Her favourite toy is "sofy kutty"[let me post something about that later]
She goes to Montesorri daycare
I put her in the swimming .First year she loved it , this year she's scared
Welcoming daddy and mommy home from work. When she hears the garage door open, she'll come out , give a big hug and kiss and hug smile.

krishna jeyanthi -2008

2008-09-12T05:43:00.000-07:00

I love this festival from my childhood.I always remember how we have celebrated the festivals with our grandma who's my inspiration. As Swetha is 21/2 years old , it's really fun to celebrate with her. Last year she wore krishnan dress and we had lot of fun.This time pattu pavadai for her .In the morning I took bath and made uppu seedai , vella seedai before she woke up. I told her for the past 2 days that this day is kutty krishna's birthday.I know she'll enjoy the day.

To avoid bad evening , I made swetha sleep in the afternoon and when she was sleeping me and MIL made vadai and appam and payasam.

After she woke up , I explained her today's kutty krishna's birthday and I told her kutty krishnan will come to our house to eat the prasadam. She said no amma swetha eat.... Yes she's our kutty krishna. Then I involved her in making krishnan padam. I kept krishnan's picture in the hall , and gave the prasadams one by one and ask her to arrange it , she kept one by one. Aval , butter, curd , seedai, appam, payasam , fruits .... Then slowly she started her work when we were in the kitchen . She ate half of the butter . Mixed aval in the curd and in the butter.Then she came and called me amma ... her mouth is full of butter..... I was supposed to scold her. But a Biiiiiiiig cutie smile from her made me give her a kiss. Then I told her to do clean up and kept some new butter. She sang the song cleanup, cleanup everybody clean up and cleaned the place . Then I gave her bath and put new pattu pavadai.She enjoyed it and come down and sang "Happy birthdaty to you .... happy birth day to kutty krishna ...." . Also she kept dora dvds. I asked her what are you doing.She said idhu kutty krishnakku , swethakku .... [this is for kutty krisna and swetha ...] . Then my FIL recited the mantras and she also did .Also she sang some rhymes for krishna . Then she herself along with us distributed the prasadam to neighbours. very nice and unforgettable moments.We will cherish each moment of it . Unfortunately my husband was in india for a business trip.We miss him. It would have been more fun if he were here.

I forget to tell. Last year her favourite was vella seedai. This year uppu seedai.

Krishnan Padam

Swetha arranging the thoran

Swetha singing Rhymes

Prasadam along with Swetha's DORA DVDs

last year pictures

Ammavukku nail polish poduren ...[Swetha doing manicure to amma]

2008-09-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

It happened one sunday night. When I was about to sleep .Swetha took the nail polish bottle and said amma kai kattu nai polish podalam [show me the fingers , let me put the nail polish]. I donot like it, but does not want to disappoint her and spoil her mood. So, I have shown the fingers and she properly applied nail polish. Free Manicure.See the link

Note : She loves caring amma like feeding me , putting nail polish , giving me medicines in the night ... Thank you GOD for giving me this precious gift.

I love you swetha kutty. I love you soooooooo much

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti0NBjUFREI

Swetha -Our life

2008-09-09T11:10:00.001-07:00

My daughter swetha is 21/2 years old and this blog is to share the life moments with her.

She was born on April 24, 2006. She’s our life. She transformed our life totally and created a new complete world. I and Bharat are slowly transforming ourselves into responsible parents and of course we are enjoying the parenthood. I still have so many questions in my mind including whether I can bring her up in a proper way. I know it’s not as easy as we write. But I trust GOD. Her life is with HIM I am only the media for HIM to introduce her to this world. I hope I’ll do my best and leave the rest to HIM. Please bless her to have a good life