again!!!

God loooovees me… i never ever thought i would have TWO girls… the more it sinks in now… the more i get drowned in thoughts of future filled with laughter , fun and silly fights over clothes, accesories and make up … ha!!!  Not that a boy would have been any less exciting.. but a girl? a girl is absolutely adorable… a girl is sensitive.. a girl is calming… a girl is ……..well, lets just say, everything i wanted.

How has kunju reacted?

She loooves her sister…. atleast initially she realllly did. She had been looking at my bulge all those months and was waiting for baby to come out. Barney’s song ” i love you” was been sung every night holding my tummy. So when she came to the hospital and set her eyes on the little one, she was super elated. She wanted to hold, touch, caress, dress, undress, change nappy, and kiss her sis all over.

And now?

She has realized her territory has been invaded and its not such a cool thing anymore…  Amma, pappa, tata, tati are not just hers anymore!! The jealously has only grown in the last two and a half months months ( ya.. that’s how old my baby is now ) and its making its presence felt by physical assaults. More about all that in another post. For now, i am feeling horrible that i have been asked to drop baby back at the hospital by kunju 

pssst.. since i am bloggin after so long..i have completely forgotten how to upload pics. Will add them in once i find time to figure it out. i have some beautiful ones of both of them together…al snuggled into each other. AAh… i have two children and i did after all manage to gift kunju the bestest gift in life that i could- a sibling.  Thank you lord

.. with more ☺
I’ve been away… far, far away from the blogosphere for a little bit, but my dear friends and kunju enthusiast’s who wondered where I disappeared, I am back ☺
I intend this blog to be reserved as a beautiful space to record my kunju’s antics and the beauty of her growing years. Or things that i ponder about, but nothing that would later unnecessarily remind me of my restless, impatient self. And so, unless I am in a frame of mind to patiently gather my thoughts and present them just like I positively feel about them, I am afraid I can’t pen them down. Why I haven’t been in a frame of mind for the last few months? It’s coz I am in the 2nd best phase of my life that’s been slightly tough on me. Kunju is about to receive the best gift that god can possibly award her with. A sibling!! ☺
Yooo hoo!! You understood right, I am ( 5 months) pregnant now, and my dear kunju is quite oblivious to the approaching change in her universe.  All she registers in the middle of her mania, jumping around me and squashing herself hard on my bulge, while I am subtly trying to guard the growing bump is, “ mummy? Stomach? Baby ???”

I look forward to getting back with full gusto reporting on kunju’s masti and making up for the last few months, and trust me, there’s super loads of stuff I need to update about kunju.  So… I am back with more now.. and hopefully, back for good ☺

Two days back, kunju sat by the main entrance stairs and waited for me to get her mum mum ( lunch ). Since she was sitting alone, i called out to her from the kitchen, like always, to have a conversation while i was filling her plate with the delicious yummm food prepared for her. She suddenly started running and before i knew it, she kind off tripped on her slippers and fell straight on her face. I was hardly 2 feet away and picked up my loudly wailing kunju immediately telling her that it was ok to fall..never mind.. you should run careful.. and then, i saw..it was not just the shock of falling down that make most kids cry hysterically … her entire mouth was BLOODY.

There was no one at home.. not even my maid.. neither bridge… and she clung on to me tight crying out like crazy. I remained calm and kept patting her back and reassuring her that it was ok..she’ll be fine soon. My insides were hyper while i was pretending all was fine..or at least would soon be. Was her teeth broken? was there a big cut? was she hurt again the same place she was hurt as a baby? there was no way to tell, as she wasn’t prepared to face me, so i could look. My maid had gone downstairs and was to come up anytime. I made sure i dont take her next to any mirror lest her bloody mouth scare the wits out of her. And i was hoping my maid doesnt come back before kunju had settled, as the maid would react with a huge dramatic expression on seeing kunju’s bloddy mouth which definitely wouldn’t help. So, here i was, trying to pacify her and wondering quickly what i should do. Unlike my good old bombay, where i can step out any part of the day or night, wave my hand out and have some form of public transport at my disposal, KL is quite painful. We need to call for a taxi over the phone, and have to call a couple of agency’s to get hold of one. phew!! so.. how was i to rush her to the clinic if she had a cut or something. bridge was also far away.. and also busy with meetings. He was unlikely to even answer my call.. i would have to sms him…ooofhhh!!

Kunju wouldn’t hear any of what i was trying to tell her.. asked her to sit on my lap.. naaaaa!! no way.. she was just crying and wailing.. her head across my shoulders, me just left with no clue about the state of her mouth. I tried to wet a napkin to clean her mouth, but she is too smart even in this painful stage and immediately started reacting to the wet napkin saying that she didn’t want it. Great!! I strolled around with her in a calm manner, continuously rubbing her back, assuring her that IT was ok. Nothing had happened. Crying still at high pitch.

Then, ( this is why i adore the idiot box sometimes ) barney came to my rescue.. i quickly switched her DVD on.. and the minute she heard barney’s laugh, her crying stopped, she sat on my lap, and all was forgotten.. hain???? ya..you read right.. . i am not kidding.. all this drama happened for 5 mins till barney started. I could finally see her frontal, her eyes hooked to the TV, i examined her mouth, it was a cut on the lip.. and had swollen up.. but that’s that..no teeth broken..no major injury.. she was busy licking her own lip and i cleared her mouth with the same wet napkin that she threw a tantrum not long ago.. she was already hungry, and then this crazy unwanted fall happened. So i made her sit on the couch while i got plate… fed her small portions in the spoon careful about not touching her upper swollen lip. She ate without feeling pain while eating..a sign that it was really OK.

My maid turned up and i signaled her quickly to stay mum.. she couldn’t understand what i was saying.. then i told her in action that kunju had fallen and that she must not react.. She understood and played calm. Thank gawwd she hadn’t seen the initial bloody mouth status. SHe would have gone hysterical and shaken me up too. After this, i got thinking that the last time kunju fell , had a bloody chin with a cut also, nobody was around. I am glad it’s been that way and i am really glad that i was ALWAYS around at such times cause i think no one ( doesn’t matter if i sound too full of myself ) can handle it as calmly as i can. Everybody tends to panic, passing the panic vibes to an already frightened child which only worsens the whole situation. The child may not even be hurt very badly, but the red color streaming out from a tiny tot can be every unnerving and needs presence of mind to be dealt with.

Another reason i am happy that she fell when i was around, and not when she has been with just the maid. Any one such accident happen around just the maid, and the maid will feel bad, feel irresponsible, wonder if i am blaming her secretly, and stop kunju from running all together, in fear that she may fall again. hain?? I keep telling my maid to let kunju be, not over protect in fear that kunju might get hurt. “One doesn’t stop eating if one gets food poisoned, do we?” i try explaining to her.

Kunju seems to changing every 2 days. She has been knocking herself on the head at least 10 times in a day.. sometimes, she knocks herself, massages her own head, says ” never mind ” to herself and carries on.. hahaha..many times, she doesnt even notice the head banged against something despite the huge thud noise i hear. You won;t believe this, the angelic looking kunju has started pushing around sometimes in the play area. Now this is something most parents wouldn’t be happy with, but i am thrilled to bits, cause this tells me that she CAN stand up for herself. All along, she has been the one to let ALL the kids push their way through her to take the toy or the music instruments like shaker etc from the box and only then would madam quietly take it for herself.. Of course , i don’t encourage her to push. The first few times, i didn’t even realise it, i thought she was holding the girl’s arm to ask her to go forward and slide.. but i was caught off guard when she PUSHED her back and slid herself!! I said sorry to the other girl and her mom and told kunju that that’s a bad thing to do, but i was over joyed deep inside. Over joyed to know the different layers this quiet kunju creature can have. That she did after all have the fighter cock streak in her, something she has got to have inherited only from me bridge is too much of a softy and people’s person to fight, offend or sound harsh. Me on the other hand , i can be quite brutally honest and will fight all the way against anything that affects me in a negative way.

Whether she grows up to be a calm & patient person like her dad, or an outspoken , hyper person like me is to be seen. A perfect balance however, would be awesome.. no?

Kunju has done it again… Of the many joys kunju has brought to my life, she has re introduced painting and thanks to all the painting she was up to, i started on it as well

Here are some of the very first ones i made…

And what better than and Aum and Lord Ganesha to start with

I tried my hand at landscape…

and then, couldn’t help trying out a moon as well

Pls excuse the bad photography… clicked the pics in a rush.. on 2nd thoughts, maybe it will help camouflaging the errors in my painting job?? haaahhahah

Here’s another set of her firsts …

FIRST 3 piece puzzle…

First two chotti ( pony )

She has been sketching zig zags for a while..they all been mostly slightly wavy lines.. nothing beats this one.. this one was her FIRST proper jhig jheg, as she calls it… see how beautifully the curves move up and down..no more just a bit wavy…. no more almost a straight line and where else…the wall with the chalk…

i have always wanted to have a garden big enough to plant my own veggies… the idea of cooking everyday by simply picking up stuff available in the backyard is mind blowing, healthy, fulfilling and great fun. My favorite, Jamie Oliver of course, only reinforces that thought repeatedly with his books like Jamie at home and his shows where he takes us to his little farm, cooks instantly with whatever he finds there, and give us tips on growing our own veggies.

Where did i fall in love with such a concept? My childhood.. a year spent in Baroda, Gujarat, where we lived in a bungalow, something one can hardly have in Bombay. It had a huge backyard where my enthu cutlet mum lovingly grew all sorts of things. We had lemon, curry leaves, ladies finger, Tapioca, chillies, chikoo, mango, jack fruit, pomegranate, plenty of flowers like mogra , hibiscus, roses, raat rani, amongst many other exciting fuits, veggies and flowers. I used to help her water them all, watch her take great care of every plant..the hose pipe was a great toy for me and the water sprinkling out the best time pass. I would watch the excitement in her eyes each time a new bud bloomed into a ravishing flower, be amazed by the twinkle in her eye each time a little fruit showed up. It was very heart warming and it was a matter of great pride and to my mom to have a hara bhara ( lush green ) backyard. Till date, my mom’s affairs with the greens continue and she manages to grow whatever she can in little pots in our Bombay home. Even the few plants i have currently are largely planted by her, and she takes the efforts to rejuvenate them with various techniques in all her visits to my home. The few ones i have are lemon grass, pandan leaves ( local malay special plant that gives an awesome aroma to the food ) hibiscus, tulsi, and i had a sprout of palak with the seeds amma planted for me.

Kunju and i water the plants some days and she finds great joy in watering them.. firstly, it involves water, second, she can be in the balcony and pour water around. The palak shoots was her first plant and she was very excited… here is a pic…

Unfortunately, due to heavy rain, the shoots withered away. But never mind, i have a pic of her FIRST plant, and there will be many more plants she can grow if she wants to.

I am about to shift into my new home in a couple of months, and it has a tiny space for a garden. I am eagerly looking forward to grow my veggies, make it fun time for kunju who can also mess around in mud and water, and most exciting, see how the buds will open up and bloom beautifully for herself. No more just in books, just on TV, it can be for real, in front of her, as a result of the water SHE fed to the plants.

There are plenty of crafts also that can be done with materials one finds in the garden .. that will be an added advantage of having one. It will be nice to see her absorb elements from nature, learn to appreciate the simple things in life, relish the most thrilling things nature provides us so freely, in the form of rain, flowers, smell of the wet earth, snails, wiggling worms, sun, different patterns on leaves etc and feel the abundance of it all. Amen!!

It’s wonderful how kids see things.. with a different perspective… she already was into finding shapes into everything and her point of view ( POV ) never ceases to amaze me. It often takes me a while to figure out why she is saying a particular thing, and with a little concentration and quick thinking, i am able to grasp what she is saying or pointing at…

One night, she was as usual under the table playing the tunnel game… going in on all fours from under one chair, passing through many other chairs, in straight line or zig zag, sliding through in between the spaces and coming out of all of that to clap for her own victorious tunnel journey. Suddenly, she started saying ” koke.. koke!!” ( croak croak) and was jumping like a frog still in all fours. She looked at me, and said very confidently, ” FOG!! mummy , FOG!!”. I first agreed and said yessss, frog says croak croak!! You are right shona… encouraged her to jump some more on all fours like a froggy and got back to what i was doing. She called out to me again and this time pointing in the air, ” mummy…FOGGY!!” I left what i had in hand, went to her, and looked around for a frog’s image… didnt find any, so bent down to her level and asked her ,” what raja, what about a froggy?” she pointed quickly to what was in front of her , beneath the chair and repeated vehemently, ” FOGGG!!”

I laid down on the floor, got down to her hgt, to see what she was seeing.. and here it is..

You can see the frog face shape carved bit on the right of the image.. this was what she saw under the chair with the perfectly round screws jutting out like a frog’s rounded eye balls. Aah!! i was speechless.. made bridge also bend down to have a look and then couldn’t help clicking a pic to share it in the post.

I wish all of kunju’s maids who have ever looked after her could be reading this.. i am sure they would be most willing to pool in ALL their life time savings, spend for an international flight and fly all the way here, just to give kunju a thank you hug.

Since her birth, her typical clothing would be socks, mittens, the bundling cloth, cap and the napkin that would always lie beside her and I used to insanely, forcibly, hysterically INSIST that ALL her clothes be matched. I would try reasoning with them asking them if they wore a red blouse over a blue sari.. of course they would try to tell me, that the baby is too small. “so? poor little thing.. just because she cant revolt and stand up for herself , how can they be so brutal to my doll who deserves to be in ALL matching clothing…especially cause she is a girl” i would retaliate as politely as i could.

My mom would often chide me saying, “you are over doing it so much, just watch, she will never apply even the lightest shade of lipstick. ” Now, doesn’t that sound like a curse?? ha ha.. no seriously, all i was trying to do was to dress up my baby girl .. i understood that it was too much effort for them, so i’d make sets of clothing for the times when i wasn’t around pleading to them that they please please please don’t dress her up in a lavender cap, yellow socks, and red pant.. after all, she wasn’t related to Govinda , the film actor in any way right?

So, anyway, that was then, and since i have moved here, i have always taken care of the same and recently, with the growth of her hair, there was an additional excitement of doing up her hair, in matching colors of course Most of the times, i get out of the house looking absolutely undone, cause i have had no time after all that dressing up for her.. and of course, i dont mind that coz i am very good with make up in a moving car. I have had plenty of experience applying even my eye liner in a rickshaw driving on the dented roads of bombay , whilst looking in the rickshaw guy’s mirror.. hahaha.. so.. make up ( which rgt now basically consists only of eye liner and lip gloss) in a car with my own mirror is pure luxury.

I think one night all the women i argued with earlier on about matching her clothes came in her dream and made some sort of a deal. We went for dinner one night, and it seemed like she was representing them and taking revenge on their behalf. I dressed her in a smart red short mini skirt, red socks, matching top, a gorgeous hair band and was happy with my kunju doll… except that when i got her to the door step, she threw a huge fit . … it was like she was giving me a tamacha ( slap ) on my face .. how can a little angelic child of mine be hitting me? here’s how..

This was really like hitting below the belt…. she threw a huge fit insisting that she’d wear nothing else but the pair of sporty blue color floaters..( pls dont tell me you didn’t notice ) hello?? BLUE???on a red mini skirt?? and FLoaters???and it was a little big too ….now how was i to introduce fashion to my tiny tot… all my efforts of cajoling her went down the drain.. all my over the top expressions trying to make the matching sandals look interesting for her was vain, every gimmick was tried, every other shoe presented in the hope that she would let go of those big sized , BLUE floaters. But where was she about to listen.. the maids and my mom seemed to really have made a great deal with her… and she really loved them all, so she wasn’t about to give up.. i was definitely not about to extend this drama enough for her to throw a tantrum and THEN eventually have her way, and since i knew i didn’t have much choice, we quietly went to dine with those same mismatched blue floaters of hers. Boy!! was she happy or was she happy!!

All through the dinner i kept smiling at myself looking at how oblivious she was , but HOW happy she was with her foot wear.. it was hilarious… i could get flashes of images of my maids and my mom standing in true indian style with their index finger pointedly waiving at me , the other hand on their wide hips, smirking, sniggering, and happily telling me,” dekha!! serves you right !!” hahah… i couldnt stop laughing all though the dinner.. bridge was more than happy that his baby was taking her calls… and had grown up now

I mean, i was happy too… i am all for kunju selecting her own clothes, accessories etc and i ask her every evening before she goes down about which dress she’d like to wear, asking her which color tree she wants me to paint, which plate she wants to eat in.. which song she wants to listen to.. which color paper she wants to draw on.. if she wanted to sit on the sofa or sit on the floor… believing deeply that i am letting my child take her own calls, her own decisions, her life will be set if she can think and stand up for herself… but i never realized that there will be times when she will make some different choices too.. apart from the conventional ones.. it could be right or wrong, or simply the ones that might be unexpected… but perfect from her perspective.. that’s it then…. and it will interesting for us, as long as she is not harming anyone, we will stand by her , no matter what. THIS was certainly one of those..hahaha….

The funniest part is, my gut feeling tells me, when she grows up and sees this picture she will laugh at me saying i never knew to dress her up..she might blame me funnily , ” amma, couldnt you have dressed me something matching??? i look quite a MISS match here !!” hahahaa.. i really hope i remember to tell her the story.. and this post will hopefully help me remember it then. And she better be owning up to all her decisions and be standing by them when she grows up too.. we will be around when she needs us, we will be around watching over silently, waiting for her to grow up and realize for herself about some wrongs and rights in life.. and how sometimes, there’s just NO right or wrong, it’s only about being yourself, being happy in whichever way one wants.. just the way she was, on that blue floater day Here are some more pics of the masti she was upto that night …

thrilled about crossing the rounded bridge and other parallel tracks on her own.. you will see the bridge later in the catty pose..

happy to be sitting in a huge cycle stationed outside the restaurant… of course admiring her blue floaters.. ha ha!!

she suddenly decided she was catty and was meowwing around in the party section ( thankfully empty that night ) of the restaurant.

The status of the big blue floaters is that its hidden until its ready to fit her properly.. being mismatched is perfectly fine.. falling and tripping over things and risking injuries due to wrong shoe size is absolutely unbearable.

There are toys , there are books, there are cleaning instruments, there are friends, sketching and painting.. and then there is H2O. Kunju can make merry even with a small bowl of water… wiggling her little pretty fingers in them.. placing droplets on the floor making arbid designs…trying to somehow fit her little fist into the entire bowl… tapping the water gently to begin with, enjoying the small splashes and soon splashing it big time… making a huge mess… a happy wet mess

But i wondered if she’d like the sea…or if the vastness of it would scare her.. i was desperate that she loved beaches.. apart from hoping she lives her life enjoying the beauty of the sun rise and sun sets, i was hoping she could relish the calming sounds of the ocean.. the beautiful soft and coarse texture of the sands while holding her footwear in her hand.. the nothingness of being on a beach yet feeling so complete… the endless walk watching many others revel in the swirl of the waves… and of course enjoying it herself.

Her first beach experience was in Langkawi i think… she gaped at the entire beach at first.. ,me sitting with her on the shore and humming to her.. trying to give her space and time to get warmed up to the fun that lay ahead of her.. that she was so innocently unaware of… i handed her a bit of wet sand to which she promptly gave a YOICKK look…then on her own, started enjoying the same gooiness of the wet sand… slowly stared back at the tiny waves…and got extremely excited with the water… good lord..sooo much of it …. and of course the waves swinging in her directions.. that was it.. she loved every bit of sand play.. loving the sand melting away beneath her feet.. the free splashing… no longer restricted to a bowl , mug or even her bath tub… she had the ENTIRE sea to herself.. what else did she want….

this is her first swim suit and its a speedo.. my friend scolded me for indulging on a speedo for such a tiny tot.. but the thing is, firstly kunju is quite tiny..swim suits for her are not easily available… then i wanted something that will cover her up..not some slinky two piece that will expose her bare skin to the cold wind… so i was very happy with this sporty full suit.. also, it would not give her body irritations that cheaply made suits can give… besides, it was her first…had to be the best!!

She is such a water baby,she just waits for bridge to take her to the pool… here are some old pics of her fun pool time..

this is a wonderful and safe swim suit i found.. with an in built float… we have to just blow air into it.. and yooo hoo.. she is all set to float.. no extra fittings on her.. she is also happy.. i can also calmly let her splash around in the pool…

Check out her latest pic..clicked about a month ago on her way to the pool.. before she got into the lift… full happiness is happening.. and she is even happily ready to pose with a million dollar smile..

and some more poses… all set to splash into the pool…

awww… which beauty queen can beat that smile in a swim suit?? hahahah….

Taking it forward from mad momma … take heart, kindly spread the word ..thx

and its true.. pls see this article on patients who have already got aid.. cheers to the hospital!!