For you UD

Dear most UD

It is not fair that I live so many many miles away from you.Where did that promise of "moving to the US at least for a short while" go ?
I hate the fact that I haven't seen you since May 2008 ( thank God for official India trip :)).I soooooooooooooooo hate the fact that I wont be seeing you this year when I come down to India either ( don't burn me- I will explain over phone).

You know what I hate most? That my Aghoo hasn't met her aunt UD yet and I wont be meeting your little panda anytime soon. Not fair at all!

When I need you most, when I want to talk to you ( like the last couple of days)- mundane things like time difference and work come in between us and I let the moment pass. When I finally wrap up my chores for the day and think about calling you, your work day has already begun. Its not fair you know!

I just wanted to write this for you - because I feel terribly guilty that I wont be visiting you and more importantly - your panda this time :(

There is always hope for a next time- illa?

Love,
me


PS:- my other blog is dead - so writing in this one..

Miss Aghoo at 18 months

18 months and she is still a teensie weensie one :).
Her vocabulary and her cognition is definitely growing by leaps and bounds.

Some words in aghoo-nese

baba- bubbles or baba black sheep
open- obvious:)
pie-pie- spy spy as in" itsy bitsy spider :)"
tap tap- clap clap as in " if you are happy and you know it clap your hands"
tha tha- give it to me

akkkkkkkkkka-  ukkaru as in I want to sit.
standddddddddddd- obvious
shan- fan or socks
fuuuuuuuuuu- shoes... her most favorite thing to wear..
change- diaper change :)
aaaaaga- egg

gaaaaaah- yogurt
ashaaaaaaaa- her day care provider
athaaaaaaaaap- Prathap, one of our friends..

Sahaaaaaana- one of our friend's daughter.. so any little kid is Sahana :)
come come- to walk or to go out..
aaaaaaachi- thachi as in sleep :)


Aghoo and I were both sick this week with stomach flu and stayed home . We had a blast despite the sickness- as I did not have to cook or rush to work. We went to the park twice a day and sang songs all morning.

We also had a scare where she pulled her elbow and we have to rush to urgent care. Thankfully, it was nothing.

A peek into the Aghoo household

Taking a page form MK's book, here is our daily schedule

6.30 am- Amma wakes up. Prays that Aghoo stays asleep with Dada, because Aghoo will not let amma do any work if she is awake.

6.30-6.45- Amma gets Aghoo's egg ready and puts it on the stove.Keeps cooker for rice and dal

6.45- 6.55- Amma brushes/ morning duties ( ahem) , while the egg and cooker are getting cooked and doing its job respectively.

6.55- 7.25 Amma makes vegetable/dal/sabzi or kozhambu/ snack for day care etc.

7.25- Aghoo comes down with dada and brushes her teeth

7.35-8.00 ish - Dada feeds Aghoo her breakfast ( Egg/ cheese/ rice with veggies) with Amma/chithi making appearances when dada is about to give up.Amma packs lunches for Aghoo and amma/ snack and milk for day care ready.

8.00- 8.10 ish- Amma sits down for 10 min to check email and drink coffee.. Dada and Aghoo are lounging about / playing respectively.

8.15- 8.35- Dada gives Aghoo her bath. Amma showers and gets ready. Amma gets Aghoo ready while dada showers.

8.45- Aghoo and Amma come downstairs and amma has her hurried breakfast while Aghoo again plays .. :)

8.50 - Amma and Aghoo leave the house.

9.00- Amma drops Aghoo at day care and goes to work.

5.45-6.00- Dada or Amma pick  Aghoo up.

6.15- 6.40- reach home/ Aghoo is given a face wash and changed. Aghoo gets a small snack.

6.40 - 7.15- Amma prepares dinner , while Aghoo plays with Chithi or goes to the park with dada. Dada goes to the treadmill if possible.

7.15- 7.45- Aghoo gets dinner from chithi/amma depending on the day..Amma finishes up dinner.

7.45- 8.15- Dada/amma/chithi eat. Aghoo walks around playing

8.15- 8.45- Amma cleans kitchen/loads dishes. Dada gives Aghoo her medicine and milk.

8.45- 9.00ish- bed time for Aghoo with dada. Amma starts cutting veggies/ fruits for the next day.

9.00-9.30 - Amma finishes cutting veggies/ fruits. Dada puts Aghoo down to sleep and comes down.

9.30- 10.30 ish- Amma and dada get some time to watch TV / catch up etc.

As you can see- every minute of our day is packed and one slight delay causes our whole schedule to go haywire like a stack of cards.

Life with Aghoo is fun and tiring :)

I have no clue how people with 2 babies manage time.

Tag time

So I picked this up from some random blog- going to do this in Aghoo's perspective.

I am
Very vocal about things I need.
Cute and at the same time a dictator!
impatient because I cant seem to order people around with my limited vocabulary of 10 or so words.

I want
to watch " baba"all day long.
to eat cheerios for all my meals
to play in the park 24/7. Who needs to eat/rest/sleep?

I have
the most beautiful smile ?( according to my mom :P)
more toys than a toy store..
8 little teeth

I wish
that my amma did not leave me at day care.
that I could play with water all day long.
that I could have a bow bow( dog).

I hate
EATING.
taking a bath
changing my dress


I fear
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

I search
for amma's tummy in my sleep
for my Violet as soon as I wake up/ get back home from day care.

I wonder
why I have to eat ?( see a pattern?)
why I have to sleep?
why amma has to go to work?( amma wonders about this too sweetie).

I regret
Hopefully nothing :)

I love
my Violet
the park
any bowbow..
water!!!

I always
give umma and say "bye" when anyone leaves the house.
cry every morning when I am put in the car seat :(
try to take away VC thatha's glasses- even through the webcam :)


I ache

hopefully for nothing here too..

I usually
wake up as soon as amma wakes up!
ask for "pahpah"(milk) as soon as I wake up..
pray to patti before I leave the house.

I am not
 as chubby as my parents would like me to be.


I dance
on demand
when "sheela ki jawani " is played.
when amma dances :)

I sing
on demand :)

I never

finish my meal!


I cry
when I dont get my way..
when "pahpah" isnt brought to me 1 second after I ask for it- seriously, why do amma/dada take about 2 minutes to get pahpah , warm it and bring it to my in my cup?

I need
to touch anyone with long hair..
to touch amma/dada's tummy when I am sleepy..

I dream
dont know.. hopefully happy things?

SK and MK- take it up if you want..

Raising from the ashes..

Many many things happened in the past few months - that I have had no time or the mood to pen anything.
Aghoo's dear dear patti ( my mother in law) passed away on May 14th. To say that it was a shocker is an understatement. We are trying to get back to normal( what ever that means) - Aghoo is a great distraction.
Aghoo's dada was really close to his mom - it helps a lot to have a walking talking 24 hr entertainment channel in the house.
My Prayer to her - Please watch over Aghoo and all of us aunty. We love and miss you :(


Since this is supposed to be a happy blog, I will not dwell too much on the sadness and move on...

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Aghoo can pretty much communicate very well with us these days. Words she says
Amma- Mom
Dada- Daddy
Ava- chithi ( my sister)
Thatha-both the grand fathers
mummummmmmmm- food
pahpaaah- Milk
popaaaah- thoppai.my stomach :P .. this is a tricky one as it is really similar to pahpaah ( milk ) lol!
puuuuuuuuuah- poo, as in flowers as in garden - so to go out :)
nah nah- No/I dont want it.
bummm- self evident :)
Iya- In answer to the " whats your name" question.
when asked " ***( her real name) pappa yaaru?" ( who is *** pappa?), She says " naan naan" 
baaaaaaaaa- carry me :)
vavava- come
bow bow- dogs/ cats/ horses /elephants- anything with 4 legs.

She can also show her head/nose/ eyes and thoppai ( stomach).She can imitate a dog( bow bow), a cat ( meow), a cow( maaaaaaaaaaaaa) and a duck (kack kack- her version of quack quack).

She also pretends to carry on a conversation on the phone- says " haaaaooo( hello), hmm , mummmumm, pah paaah.. :)".It doesnt have to be a phone- anything with keys- TV remote controller/ AC remote controller etc.

She can also show emotions- imitating how Aghoo pappa cries/ becomes angry or is happy :P

Aghoonoosh has such a strong personality and everyone in house tries not to be in her path when she is " angry"!

Aghoo went to India for the first time and had a ball with grandparents/ chitappa and various other thatha-pattis chithis etc.

I am hoping to be more regular in chronicling Miss Aghoo's tales from on- fingers crossed.

Day care and other things

Aghoonoosh has been going to the day care for 3 weeks now and has had the cold for 2 weeks :(. She seems to be having a lot of fun at the DC. She has a new habot- giving "ubbbbbbbbbbbbbba" ( flying kiss) to anyone she deems worthy.

Dada and amma beg her for "ubbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbba" all the time- sometimes she does them spontaneously and those times are the bestest!

She still wails when I drop her off at the day care- but apparently she calms down in a few minutes.When I pick her up in the evenings, she lets out this war cry and has a huge grin on her face :).She starts waving "tata" to Asha auntie as soon as she sees me LOL !

She now says "amamama" when she feels like it and calls her chithi " ava" :P
The other day , I was away on a business trip and came back home fater her bed time- when I went into her bedroom and picked her up,she smelled me for a minute and went "amamama" in this joyous/surprised tone, almost as if she was saying " hey- where did you go? and you are back!"


Dear baby,
Some words of wisdom from me
1)Always find joy in the small things in life- like you do now :)
2) Be generous with your love and give "ubbbbbbbbbbbba" to your loved ones often.
3) Drink lots of water and continue loving your fruits.
4) Everything happens for a reason - once you accept this, life gets easier.

5) There are always shades of grey- life isn't black and white

Love you loads babynoosh!

Day 3 of Daycare

This morning , Aghoo was cheerful in the car generally chattering and playing with her Violet.We went into the day care and Asha aunty was in the restroom. So , one of the other teachers tried to take Aghoo. She bawled her head off :(. I should have waited for Asha aunty .. Sorry baby..


I was told that she was doing just fine- 10 min later when I called. Aghoo ma- thank you being such a sweetheart and adapting to any change we throw in front of you..Love you loads!