Saturday 30 November 2013

Kerala Trip, Nov 2013

Dear Vedant,

We had a lovely, relaxing, so calm and refreshing holiday in Kerala towards the end of our India Trip. It was the best holiday in a longgg longg time. It was just the three of us spending time with each other, enjoying nature and peace. We went to this place called "Fragrant Nature" resorts in Kollam, 1 hour drive from Trivandrum.

The resort itself was so lovely, landscaped beautifully.It wasn't crowded at all. In fact, we used to sit in the same spot for our dinner each night and were usually the only ones. You got pampered by the boys that were waiting on us. At every meal time you would play the pretend games of "What do you want from a store?" and bring "stuff" to us :) You just started this on your own.

Papa wanted to read the newspaper and you went downstairs with one of the boys and brought it up to him. So cute :) Daddy's little helper. I did a lot of knitting in this trip. I was making a sweater with Avva for Baby Shreya. One day you held the ball of wool and pretended that it was a phone. :) You put it on your ear and said "Haan bhaiya, aap kahan ho? Mein to bheta hoon, aap milne aa jao!". It was hilarious!!! Looked like you were copying Papa :) Also, to my suprise, when we were talking with Avva on the phone you actually asked her to come to Trivandrum. I wasn't expecting that at all!

A lot of other things also happened in this trip. I had told you sometime that when you were small you were in my tummy. So you told me to keep your bholu in my tummy, since he is "small". :) So cute :) We also played a lot in the pool, you and I. The water was just cool enough and the weather was sooo good, not like here. We were so comfortable. We played in the "baby pool" and the big one, the kids pool was safe enough for you to just walk around in the water, make bubbles, splash around. It was perfect. There was a volleyball in the pool and once you threw it very far and said "Vedu ne chakka lagaya" :) Champion singh.

Other masti was going downstairs and seeing the kitchen. You wanted to see the big bartans etc. Also, yeah, once you wanted water and you asked the waiter for it. He didn't understand you. You chased him all over the floor until he got what you wanted and came back triumphantly! He was so amused with your "Excuse mes" repeated over and over.

We did not do much sight seeing since it was a trip to just relax, but loved what we did see. You really liked the Elephant ashram visit, feeding them, taking a ride. We went to a beach, you did not like it very much. You kept saying "Why is water loud?". I think the sound of the crashing waves rattled you a bit. Papa went for a swim while you and I hung out at the beach making sand castles.

Overall it was such a relaxing trip. I would love to do one such trip every time we go to India, will help you understand our country better too. Or may be you will go hiking when you are older with your friends :) Let us see!

Lots of love,
Amma

Additions:
Jan 26, 2014: You remembered that our driver in Kollam, Mr. Satish. You were watching Thomas and said "Mr Perkins is engine driver. Mr Satish drives a car". Quite amazing that you remembered that.

May 18, 2014: You saw a pic of a duck lazing around like Papa did on a boat in Trivandrum. You said "Duck is lying down like Papa". Again, I am amazed by what you remember. Kids have amazing brains and associations. Wow.



Wednesday 27 November 2013

E Handle he

Dear Vedant,

This was on our flight back from India to the US. You looked at the handle in the flight's restroom and suddenly said, "Handle is like E". It took me a few seconds to figure out what you were saying. And then I got it. It was so cute. You were so happy that I understood and at your own little genius :) I will love you always my little one. Stay happy.

Love,
Amma

Friday 22 November 2013

Cookie, Cookie and more Cookie

Dear Vedant,

We tell you from time to time, that "agar aap xyz karoge to amma will be happy.".You took this to a whole new level when you said this today - "Agar aap mujhe do cookie doge to mein bahut happy ho jaonga.". I had to ask you to repeat it to make sure it is what you said :) It was so cute.

It is amazing how kids pick up not only words but entire languages, expressions from us parents. Makes me think about all the stuff I say, how I need to be more careful.

I will also always remember your expression and body language as you said it. You were leaning against a sofa, kinda looking down. After you said it, you looked up at me to see my reaction - essentially - are the Cookies coming or not :)

Lots of love chotu motu.
Amma

Chennai Trip, Nov 2013

Dear Vedant,

We had a lovely long trip at Chennai too this year. It did not start all that well with both you and I being sick when we left Gwalior. Also, traveling from Delhi to Chennai on a late night flight that got delayed, when we were both sick was hard. Lesson for next time - no late night flights.




But we had sooooo much fun in Chennai. It was one of my longest stays in Chennai since, well a long time :) Also, since I was going after Avva's accident, I wasn't sure how much we will be able to do. We did not do much, did not even go to the beach once, which is a shame, but we spent a lot of time at home. Your routine was to go down with Avva/ Tata at least once a day to look at the Banana Tree. You loved going up on the "Chat" with Tata to hang the clothes and then watch the Cranes on the buildings near by. You would call them "Cranky" :) Also, since Avva and I were doing a ton of Knitting for Baby Shreya (thanks to Papa for bringing lovely wool from Gwalior) you wanted to knit too. One day you criss-crossed your index fringers and told me you are knitting :).

You also ate very healthy south indian grub. (Papa - note please :D). Lots of daal-chaval, rasam and sabji. Even some dahi chaval! :) It was kind of hard to keep you entertained after the full on masti of Gwalior where there were more people too (Baba, Dadi, Bua, Papa, Ani Didi) and just me, avva and tata here. It got a lot better on the last two days when Priya, Divya and gee had come over from Sydney.

I bought the Matching Game puzzle for you and you really liked that. It had vegetables/ Fruits and their plants/trees on the other piece, you liked pairing them. The best part of the trip was you getting pampered by everyone, especially Sahana pinnamma's husband, Satish. He would lift you up on one foot and take you really high. I don't know how he did that, seemed so hard to me. Chinnaina tried the same thing and he took you only a little high and you said "Bahut high to dusre Uncle karte hen." Hahaha

For me the best part of the whole trip was a little get together we had in a hotel with everyone. Luckily, Venkatesh bhaiya was in town so he was able to make it. As were Jyoti bua, fufaji and her kiddo. She brought a Tee Shirt for you and you wore it immediately. You were so happy in your new clothes :)

Stay happy. Hope to do more such trips back home. I miss Chennai. This time I got to meet Vidhya aunty, a really good friend of mine. Was really happy about that.

Lots of love,
Amma

Sunday 10 November 2013

Celebrating Diwali at Gwalior - 2013 Trip

Dear Vedant,

We are now in Madras, Chennai as it is known these days. We are spending time with Avva and Tatha. You are being pampered by them. You are also eating a lot of pappu annam and rasam :) Dad may not be too pleased!! :) Anyhow, I wanted to write about our recent time in Gwalior, where you were pampered even more silly!

Your day was usually the following: wake up, brush, one cookie, drop Dadi, go to a store with Baba, masti on choti chhat with Ani Didi/ Papa, bathe, lunch, story books with me, pick up Dadi sometimes, good afternoon ninnu, more masti in the evening, a cookie here and there :), dinner and bed time. You loved watching the cows from the house.

You also did Puja with both Dadi and Baba. You loved turning on the music in the Puja room the most. You also liked going to "Tulsi Mata" and lighting a diya there. Today, you recognized Tulsi pot on our chhat here. You said "Tulsi Mata he".
Another activity was "parking" the suitcases in your "garage". You loved wheeling the suitcases everywhere. This did get in the way of packing at times! More fun came from playing cricket and hitting "Chaukas" in the house. "Hot Potatoes" with Ani Didi was also fun. You also did a little bit of rangoli and then lots of flying paper planes.

When we were flying to Madras, I asked you what you liked the best about Gwalior home. You said "Choti chhat and Badi chhat". How cute :)

I am really glad we made this trip happen. It was great to see you enjoy Diwali in traditional Gwalior style. I hope you get many more chances to do this. We read the Diwali book over and over, so now you know that we pray to Ganesha and Lakshmiji for Diwali.

Sleep tight.
Lots of love,
Amma

Friday 8 November 2013

Up set - Down set

Dear Vedant,

This was so funny.... I told you "amma upset he", because of something your did. You heard me, kinda reflected on it for a bit and then asked me, "aap downset kab hoge?". You asked his question in all earnestness, expecting me to give you a logical reply. You were not being sarcastic. Oh my, it was so funny.

When you are older you will see the pun here. Sleep tight.

Love,
Amma