Avy's Tanzania trip

He used to chat with his aapoo( nana) and nani on video chat every weekend that is every Saturday and Sunday , so even after meeting them after a year he recognized them and became friendly the moment he saw them. Even my dad's driver Patrick and our maid Hilda , whom Avyaya used to call DaDa,became his pals.

Tanzania is a very beautiful city. Lush green and absolutely clean. Winters season was starting when we went there so we didn't need AC and even the fan was also kept on low. Wow!! Lovely weather and amazing people . Too good. Aah!! And shopping!! Did so much shopping yet I felt like going to the market again and again. Village Market, that's where I bought all my stuff. Paintings , clothes, accessories, show pieces.

Avyaya was pampered by his grandparents a looooooot!! MY dad bought a crate of soft drinks for him to drink and a huge box of ice cream plus  chocolates.
Also Avyaya behaves very well. Malaria is very common their so we need to take medicines to prevent it . For us it was weekly dose but for my little one it was one- fourth daily. We were quite worried as how will we give him the medicine as until now whenever we gave him any medics it was only sweet liquids one but this one was a tablet and a bitter one. When we gave him for the first time he chewed it we had a bit of coke and a piece of chocolate ready for him. We gave him coke immediately so that he can swallow the tablet and then chocolate to remove the bitter taste. And after two or three days he himself used to come to Aapoo and say DABAEE. He reminded us. Very cooperative and nice.
Mom used to make halwa for him every day... Every single day!! And that halwa was meant only for Avyaya and nobody else can take it. :) Avyaya would go to my mom and say NANIMA HAOWA.

Avyaya enjoyed his stay there . 

Avy's car

My husband is in Dubai on an official trip for five days. The day he went Avyaya was a bit shocked to see his dad going to office with a big suitcase with him. But then since it was a normal office time so he let it go. In the evening when we came back from our usual stroll from the beach he was still fine. Then by late evening little fellow started asking "papa aayeenyeee" (papa will come?) and the look he gave was so heart melting. Oh!! :(
I said yes he will come. He kept quiet . Then the entire evening he was quiet and played very less. Usually he will run here n there, scream , shout and be very naughty. Today he did nothing. I felt like crying. So I sat with him and started talking to him and gradually we started to play. He cheered up a little. And finally at night when his dad did video chatting he was fine. He spoke to his dad and communicated continously in his own sweet language telling so many things. Oh! I was so relaxed and relieved. Next day he got up and asked papa? I said papa will come. Then he started playing. Yesterday he was much better as he spoke to his dad on phone and at night again did video chatting.
He is not even two. And how much he miss his dad. He didn't cry nor threw tantrums he became very quiet. I realized that for children both mom n dad are equally important. They might not show much but one can really understand.

He spoke to his nana n nani on skype . He gets very happy when he is on video or he is being clicked. He will do all the things he knows. His dad bought a new peepee for him from Dubai. Now he carries his old peepee as well as his new peepee. He is playing with it since yesterday night and not letting it go out of his sight.

Annual Sports Day

Annual sports day was a fun day. Parents were also invited and we were so happy to be there. Watching Avyaya with his classmates was delightful and I noticed that he is a social person with friends.
They had many games within the class and the kids really enjoyed it. Parents were equally enthusiastic. For few hours we all forgot about our hassles and enjoyed watching our little ones. Their excitement was rejuvenating. There was laughter everywhere.
Avyaya is good with sports . At times he will lie down on the floor at home and starts push ups or crunches. He will dance even without music. I am glad he is coming out of his introvert nature. When he was around two or three years old  he never used to dance or sing. now ... if there is a good music playing even inside the car he will move his hands and head in rhythm. I am astonished and really happy as i have two left feet.😅. The credit goes to his school.they make the children say poem and dance on stage in front of parents and other kids which helps in developing the personality and reduces the  stage fright making kids more relaxed and calm.
Avyaya is still crazy about cars. few days back he was telling me..
mummy do you know Dubai police have Lamborghini, Bugatti ,Ferrari.. I am looking at his face in amazement!!!!! how do you know the names of all these cars????. he will say.. i know by myself!!!🙄
 couple of days back there was lunar eclipse . my husband sat with the marker and white board ,explaining Avyaya the whole phenomena. most of the things ,to my surprise, Avyaya knew. he was also very keen in knowing the details and asked questions. he is always keen in learning new things . I guess all the kids are at this age.
the more knowledge we can give the better it will be.

So much to teach :)

Its fun to see a child growing up and facing few daily challenges. couple of days back me and my kids had gone to one of my friends house for an occasion. There were other kids as well. We played a game which involved both Avyaya and myself. In that game the other team of mom and kid won. we were all clapping and cheering, but there was one person in that room who was crying his heart out. hiding behind me and hugging me was my little son(the elder one). 

what happened Avyaya? 

mummaaaaaa.... we didn't get the prize..😭

that's alright dear!!!!

NOOOOOOO.... we didn't get the prize...!!!!!

we enjoyed the game that's what matters. participation matter. We cant win every time. and its in good sportsman spirit to congratulate the winner.and be happy .( waah!!! i am such a wise person😊) 

nooooo... we didn't win!!!!😢 

then i had to tell him to stop crying as it doesn't look good . and there is no reason to cry!!!  this worked!!!! he stopped crying and started playing again. 

At times being competitive is good, it keeps us motivated. but setbacks can also be helpful. it helps us to be strong and have the attitude of doing it better. i think Avyaya is still too young to understand this. but i need to teach him . 

But it was a fun get together with friends where Avyaya met more kids to play with and I met pretty, jovial and lovely ladies. 

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Avy loves reading

When the kid starts to read its such a proud moment for any parent. Avyaya can now read well. he has developed the habit of reading loudly. now when we go to the market he would read the name of the shops and whatever advertisements they display. I am really very proud of him. Now at times, it gets a bit embarrassing when we go to night wear section and he reads out the various words written there, different lingerie. And he is excited to read the three letter word and screams in excitement "mumma..see i could read it .."
"huh!! what Avyaya ."
" See Mumma its written over there..( he reads it aloud) "
And then I have to find a way to exit from there ASAP😀. As people are giving mixed reactions. Amused ,Smirking and so on.
With the growing age his questions are also increasing. and they are, at times, too intellectual for me to answer. Sometimes he asks questions which are too difficult or too awkward to answer. When the kids starts asking you questions then I guess its the time to pick up the books and start the studies all over again. As half of the things I have already forgotten and other half I am not even aware of. I sit there with my face down and murmur... "will google it."(god bless its creators)
Parenting is really difficult. We go through our student life once again. we start studying again.
I am happy, Avyaya loves reading as its a very good habit. 😊😊

New place New school

We shifted to Dubai a year back. Its a good place if we look for school options for Avyaya. He joined Gems New Millenium school which is a CBSE curriculum school. He loves going to school and I have seen remarkable changes in him ever since he joined this school. He is more confident now and also his command on English language has become more strong. His basic knowledge about things is also amazing. He surprise me most of the time. For example, one day he was telling me all about our body .. as in the muscles , bones tissues and blood . wow!!!!! wasn't I proud of him! Then he knows about planets and moon and sun.
He made friends who are as naughty as him that's why he enjoy playing with them.

I am hopng him to become focused and concentrate mor eon his studies. he want to join army or thr police.... but not indian army or police but wants to join in Dubai. :) .

Avyaya's little brother Abhimanyu

now a new member in our family after 5 years .we named him Abhimanyu. Avyaya is super happy. Plays with him and takes care of him. I was a bit concerned as in if Avyaya will accept his baby brother happily or will he feel insecured. but avyaya is very sensitive and loves his brother. initially avyaya felt bit neflected which his classroom teacher told me. we were sgocked and tried to work on our behavior towards him. thanks to his teacher Ms Antoinette Lazar that we got careful before the situation aggrevated.
I am really happy how avyaya is behaving with the baby. sometimes while playing avyaya gets over excited and needs to be corrected.but otherwise he doesn't need to be told

First Day of School

so now my little Avyaya is big enough to start schooling. Today is the first day of his school. last two days we are preparing him for his first day. We bought this school bag,water bottle and lunch box. he was very excited to see all his belongings.he knew its all for his school. we asked him "do you want to go to school?" he readily says "yes". I guess more than him ,we were super excited. we as in avyaya's aapoo and nanima, his dadi,his badi dadi(my dadi),me and my husband. we celebrated this new phase in avyayas life and so in ours.
today I packed his lunch box, felt so grown up today. :) .dressed him up and then the cab came. my husband came from office too. he sat in the cab,gave us flying kiss and then went to school. we wanted to see how he reacts once he reaches the school ,so me and Krish went to his school. we reached before them. we saw him in the cab and how obediently he got down from his cab and went inside holding cab driver's hand. there were so many other parents like us who came to drop their kids. well... we went inside to sede if he is crying. but the door was closed but every once in a while the door would and we would peep inside. see his standing near the blackboard with bag on his shoulders staring in amazement at kids who were crying . 'why are they crying? what for?' must be wondersing. I still cant forget thje look on his face. eyes wide opened so is mouth and cheeks red. awww... very cute..

he came back at 3pm ..o god!!! so late. but he was happy and excited . he came back and had food then slept.
now its over a week. and i feel  he is adjusting quiet nicely. i was worried how will he cope up. but he is doing pretty good.
lovely

Little Avyaya wants to play :)

Lately Avyaya has started going downstairs to play with fellow kids. Amongst them one is Marcus who is 5 months younger than Avyaya and he is also Avyaya's play buddy. They Are very young  doesn't understand each other's language but yet they play together.  As Avyaya has fetish for cars which he calls  peepee, he will run away from the playing compound towards the car park and will touch each n every car parked. We literally have to drag hi back into the compound only to run back after him towards the parking area.  He would not ride the bicycle in an open area which he does in the enclosed area of our home. He will not play with ball, he will not play with peepee. He will only go and see the cars and jeeps parked outside .
Couple of days back , Avyaya was invited in Marcus' bday party. I was wondering how is he going to react, what will he do... So many ifs and what's and whys .. But when we went there I realized my little boy loves to be in the crowd ,enjoys the company of other kids and also attire same time he would play alone totally engrossed in whatever he is doing. He will not hog on cakes and pastries and juices. He would wait for me to give it to him.  His actions made me proud. All thanks to god. Nothing is my doing.

Avyaya's first trip to Tanzania

On 21st may 2014 , Avyaya and myself started from muscat to Tanzania . It's almost 7hours journey . I was paranoid as in, how will I manage my 2 years old super naughty son. I tried searching through net and also asked my friends and family members who had the experience of travelling with the toddlers.  I got some brilliant ideas. For example:-

Download some videos for your kid to watch while in the plane.

Take an empty bottle and 2-3 strips of stickers. Once in the plane , give them to the kid. It will keep him occupied for some time.

When air hostess starts serving drinks ask for an extra disposable glass , ice cubes and straws. Mostly the ice cubes have a whole in it so kids love to put the straw in it and pull .

Wrap small toys in a appear seperately like a gift. And give them to your kid one at a time. He will open the wrapper and play with the toy.opening the wrapper is fun game .

Take pencil colours or crayons along with asketch book.

These are few ideas I gathered. But I could use none. Thanks to the almighty! Avyaya was very well behaved and quiet the whole time.

He played with his toy cars and ate chips. Slept for an hour. And then played again.

2nd birthday of my little one.

Yesterday was Avyaya's second birthday . Since morning we were all busy with the preparations. We decided to have hawan In the morning so I made poori aaloo tamatar sa I and paneer matar . While kk went to the market and bought kk some decorating stuff and of course a peepee for Avyaya as a birthday gift. Around 11.45-12.00 noon pandit ji came with all the pooja samigri.by that time I was ready and so was Avyaya in his new yellow Tshirts n blue knickers.pooja hawan went very well. Avyaya took part in it as well. And was giving aahuti like we did. By two the pooja was over and offered lunch to pandit ji which he accepted. After lunch we all went to sleep and got up at 5 pm. Avyaya was still asleep and I decorated the room . Then Avyaya got up he played for a while. Then I bathe him and got him dressed for cake cutting. Our friends came with a big  peepee . Avyaya was very happy. He blew the candles , cut the cake and we all relished. Then all of us went to Begums . Where we had already booked the table. Avyaya was enjoying the day, I guess somehow he knew something special is there. :)
I taught him to answer if any one asks him how old are you? He will show index fingers of both the hands and say ...twooooo.
Happy birthday my bundle of joy.

Eating, skype , playing sleeping! :)

Now that I overcame my sadness which caused due to Avyaya's refusal to take my feed, I am so relieved to see him hugging me and sleeping.  The connection which I missed for couple of days has been restored , successfully !! ( missing connection! My assumption only!!) .  I did face a bit of problem for couple of days as Avyaya takes so much time to sleep. He wants his toy car, his ball and
his teddy bear with him. Though these things easily gets unnoticed and forgotten if not kept in the room. Out of sight out of mind !!!!
He is also learning to eat on his own, with spoon, by hand and with fork. His coordination is picking
up. Yesterday we ordered chicken ceaser salad which had lettuce leaves in it. I was astonished to see him poking the fork in the salad and picking it up still stuck in the fork and putting it in his mouth. Really!!!!!
If I say "I" he will complete it by saying "lub you". Lovely...isn't it?? He will get the iPad ,open the skype and say "nannni". Means, please call my nani (grandmother)I want to talk to her. We chat only on Saturdays and Sundays so at times it gets hard to make him understand that nani will come on
Saturday dear she is busy.
If he sees even the smallest of car picture. He will jump excitedly and say" peepee, peepee" even when we read newspaper he will search for the photo of a car and gets so happy if he sees one.
In the morning if he gets up before me , he will kiss me and hug me ... :) I wake up  overwhelmed with happiness.  After few months he will start going to play school and he will make new friends
there, I am so eager for that.
:)

Self-weaning ??!!!

Well !! Today is 7 th February and being a Friday it was a weekly off here in muscat , Oman . So my husband , Avyaya and myself went to the beach which is just 5 minutes walk from our place.

Avyaya always likes playing in sand and water. Initially he was too scared to even go near the waves but now he will drag me into the water as well.... :o . 

We went out shopping in the afternoon and then had a nap later. Ordered Chinese for dinner and which even Avyaya liked. 

My major concern came later at night when I realized that Avyaya is not feeding on my milk . He did that last night also and in the afternoon too. He had the habit of sleeping while feeding my milk. Which he didn't since yesterday night. OH MY GOD!!!!! I asked my husband to bring a warm milk in avyaya's feeding bottle. Thankfully he had some milk and after a  bit of  crying he went off to sleep. Then I sat and searched the net. " toddler stopped breast feeding suddenly ". I got various answers.like, he might be suffering from illness, teething or have I reprimanded recently. Did I???

Or it could be self weaning thing. Meaning he won't be taking my milk .. Which is good in a way but I did feel a bit of connection lost. I missed his hug while feeding. Missed big time. But I think it's good for him. It was my concern as how will I make him stop taking my milk. I was worried. Hah!! And now that he is not taking I m still worried. Never satisfied!! Goodness!!. I am going to wait for couple of days more. Let's see.

This is also the sign that he is growing up. I am happy for that. God bless him. :)