Happy new year

This year has been very good for us. For sure next year will be great. Sanjiv will be in N2 class in his preschool.
Update about his activity for this year is as below.
He is very talkative.
He ask less question but commands a lot.
He gets mad and upset if we don't listen to him. And goes to a corner and say ' I am mad at u and I don't like you'.
After the initial dislike towards school he finally started to like going to school.
Given a choice will like to be at home though.
His communication in English is changed from zero to excellent. This is best learning curve for him this year.
Now he communicates well in English and Tamil.
Upgraded from baby swimming pool to main pool with life jacket on.
Goes by his own set if rule.
Finds new reasons to not to brush his teeth.
Still prefers to see Disney junior & nick junior channel. Lucky for me.
Learnt to put on his clothing by himself.
Loves to eat fish and chicken. Still McDonald chicken nuggets is his favorite.
This year he learnt about existence of Santa Claus. He claimed that since he is very good boy, Santa will bring him brown guitar, smiley sticker, Mickey and train sticker. And Santa did bring him that. The twist is, he expects Santa to get him presents for new year as well. I told him that Santa will come only on Christmas.
Overall his progress over the year is very good.
With a happy note " Happy new year to all".

First painting class

He went for a proper drawing class last weekend...he seemed to enjoy it but his teacher told me that he didn't want to sit for long...So will be sending him again only after few months...
The best part was, he cleaned up the work place after he finished drawing. He was very particular that things has to be kept back from where he/teacher took it. So, when he was not sure where the glue/colors were, he got it clarified and kept them back at the right place. I was very proud to see him do that. Hardly he does that at home and I don't think I would expect him to do it at home all the time.

Lesson learnt

Today by mistake I poked Sanjiv's eye while bathing him. I felt so bad and immediately I asked for forgiveness. Even after asking sorry, I didn't feel good. I told 'I am so sorry. It was by mistake'. The way he responded was like a matured adult. Or even more. He said ' Amma it's ok. I was playing. You didn't do anything'. At that moment I regretted how I have behaved at times when he has hit me with something while playing. I have lost my temper many times. I feel shame of those times. Another lesson learnt.

It feels so nice when you are offered lift to ride in your three old 's bicycle :)-


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Sanjiv's creations

This is Taxi....
Now don't ask me why the lights are bigger than the taxi body....
Maybe this model is designed for Indian roads.This way the scratches on body can be reduced.

Lantern for mid-autumn celebration....

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Negotiating or Bribing

In order to get most of the important/regular job done, I need to do some negotiation with my son...You can even call it bribing..Like, to make him drink his milk/eat, need to switch on the TV. To make him stop doing something, I need to bribe him with some other things mostly gems..To get him out of the pool need to negotiate really hard. With that kind of negotiation we can close million dollar deal....
Yesterday morning in order to get his big stinky job done, i was trying to negotiate the deal...He got up bit late...so I didn't want to him to sit on the top of the commode for ages..so I told him, finish your export job as quickly as possible then I will let him have bubble bath for 10 min....so he got his work done pretty quickly and also came out of bubble bath in 10 min...In the night, just when he was about to sleep, suddenly he said, he wanted to go for export job...I was like for a moment 'NOW' ?...then i said ok come...after making him sit, he said, 'Amma can i have bubble bath'...that's when it stroke me...he was planning to have bubble bath.....i had to get it straight...I told him clearly that bubble bath will be only on Saturday's and no exception will be entertained...He understood that no way I am going to give in, he said he doesn't feel like going anymore and he was too sleepy....Kids !!!!!!!!!

Updates

Yesterday, when we came back from Movie around 9.30pm,both the lifts in our lobby were not working.The security guard told us that it will take atleast 30 min for it to be fixed. Sanjiv hadn't had his dinner nor evening milk. So, I insisted that I will take him home by stairs. I had all the intention of carrying him. But my strong boy refused to be carried and he climbed all 12 floors.....

Now-a-days Sanjiv gets into the pool by himself and tires to swim wearing his life jacket though. Maybe we should try to put him in swimming class before he gets too used to life jacket....

At school they are teaching him traffic signals...so at home to make him do anything we have to first say 'Green' and to make him stop doing something we have to say 'Red'....And in car he was said 'Daddy it is Yellow, slow down'...Hmmmmmm I like it...

I dont know from where he learned this, Murali was driving and he was holding the steering wheel with one hand....Sanjiv immediately said this with little demo, 'appa hold like this with two hands'....

More updates to come....Stay tuned....

Hong Kong Disney World Resort

As his 3rd birthday gift, we took Sanjiv to HK disneyworld resort. He had more fun than usual as he had company of our friend's son. Both of them had a blast. Both of them were also equally naughty.
He enjoyed the park but not in the true sense of enjoying Disney. Maybe he should be bit older. He enjoyed it just like he enjoys any open space. We got excited seeing all the Disney characters esp, the beautiful Cinderella and sleeping beauty and also the Mickey gang...but he got very scared on seeing the characters. He refused to stand alone with the characters to take a pic. As usual he enjoyed the rides, esp the merry-go-round...Firework show was able to make him sit glued to ground for 20 min....
Over all the trip was good....

Happy birthday my son.

Happy birthday Sanjiv. 20th Aug 2008 was the first day my eyes saw u, my hands held you, my skin felt your breath. It is 3 years but still I can exactly tell how I felt seeing you for first time. I will remember and recall those moments on all your birthdays to come. I will even tell that your kids. I was speechless, I was tensed, I was afraid to touch the most beautiful thing I have ever seen , I was crying, I was smiling, I was breathless. I was experiencing all the emotions related to happiness. Today It was nice feeling to hug you. To get a kiss from you. I wish to spend all you birthday by getting a kiss from u as the first thing in the morning. Love you son. Have a long and wonderful life. Be happy.


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Happy star birthday

Today it is his star b'day. Happy birthday. And he would like to celebrate by going to Murugan temple and cutting cake.


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Cake selection.

The b'day mood is all set. He choose this year's b'day cake.



Wait untill aug 20th to see what he choose.

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New toy

Look how busy he is with his new toy rather his grandpa's new toy.






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Bond with teacher

As usual I went to drop Sanjiv at school. As soon as we entered the class, his teacher was not to be seen and another teacher was handling the early comers. She informed me that his teacher was on sick leave and will be coming back on Monday and today she is the one who will be taking care of the class. As I was about to leave, Sanjiv came and asked me ' Where is my teacher ?'. I told him what I was told and then he reacted to it in the least expected way. He started to cry that he wants only his teacher..he refused to accept the new person as his teacher and insisted that I have to be around. She is not new face. He has seen her as another class teacher. It is nice to see the type of bonding he has developed with his teacher Ms Nicole. He trust and believe in her. Which is the most important thing and that kind of bonding gives a nice comfort to me as a parent. I wish that this bonding between him and his teacher grow stronger and lead him to right direction. 

Zero....

As they say Zero is most important invention in the number system, I didn't bother to teach a three old about Zero...Even though 0 is important but it is not something u will begin counting with, I ignored it....I was sure that he knows to count from 1-20....and knows what is numbers and alphabet
Today morning while driving me and my hubby were discussing on something and this Zero word popped up.....The so long silent listener, our son Sanjiv immediately said Zero....in a teasing way I asked him, "so what is Zero dear"...Immediate response...not even a seconds delay...'mama it is number'...luckily I was driving and Murali was sitting beside Sanju & could have not see my face going dhoooom.....One more lesson learnt, never never under estimate your child....As a child they learn from everyone and everything they come across...and use it when necessary.
Curious to know from where he learnt that, I asked him, who though u this...in a cool manner, he said, 'My teacher'.... I felt happy that he is enjoying his school which got reflected in his words My teacher....

Sanjiv has finally started to go to swimming pool....doesn't mean that before he didn't enjoy..it was just that he never liked to come to deep pool...he always loved to be in baby pool....few days back he agreed to wear life jacket and jump into deep pool....and now the challenge is to get him out of the pool....
yesterday he and his dad got into pool few minutes before me...as I was about to get into the pool,heard Sanjiv scream 'amma I am here, be careful, watch out, the pool is deap'...hmmmmm..I simply told him not to worry and I will definitely take care..

Order Please......

"Chicken, Corn and Milo please"...
The sales person from McDonalds gives me a questioning looks...
With a smile, I just say 'Yes, just small change, Milo without ice'...
The doubt was because, the order was placed by Sanju. He didn't even wait for me to place the order.
Now-a-days, the moment we reach the counter, he starts ordering...And it is always the same order...
Now he clearly knows if we are in McDonalds or some other restaurant...and he differentiate McDonalds chicken nuggets from any other restaurant nuggets...he prefers only Mcdonald chicken nuggets.
Definitely there is something about McDonalds that attracts kids....And he is not so keen on the toys...

Racial Harmony Day

Singapore provides a good platform for children from different nationality to learn and live together.  To mark this culture most of the schools in Singapore have Racial harmony day celebration.
This is first year for me and Sanjiv to take part in this celebration. His school had Indian, Chinese and Japenese cultural activities. It was nice to see the kids and teachers wearing dress that represents their country and culture.
You can enjoy the day captured through my camera lens at
https://picasaweb.google.com/aswathi.b/RacialHarmonyDay?authkey=Gv1sRgCJqG8LDw_PqF9AE#

Bread maker

Who wants piece of the bread I made ?







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Location:Jurong West Street 41,,Singapore

Weekend helper

What a handy person I have at home.








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Word of Aprreciation

It is a nice feeling well someone comments on how nice a dress looks on you. And it is much more nice when you get such comments from your son.  For first time, I got to enjoy this. I was wearing a simple cotton Kurta yesterday and for some unknown reason, Sanjiv loved that kurtha. He looked at me and said, amma very nice.He hugged me, generously gave me few kisses. And after we came back from dinner, he didn't let me change the dress. Looks like now I have to take Sanjiv while I go shopping.

PS: This blog was due since Jun 25th.

Photos from 1st sports day

All set for sports day !!!

Balancing on a wooden plank

Filling water by leaking cup

His favourite one

Finally some rest...

Ready to receive his gift

Final act for the day..On the way to have some lunch...Bye

Surprise statements

In past two days these lines from Sanjiv really made me say woh !!!
I showed him cruise ship and immediately he said 'amma you have life jacket in ship'.I was completely speechless after that.
Then I showed a rocket toy thinking that he will learn a new word. Then came a sentence from him at rocket speed 'amma you go to moon in rocket'. !!!
It was a lesson for me. My son has grown to a level where I should talk to him in sentence and not in words.

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Icecream

I scream, You scream for ICECREAM !!!!!!!

Budding Artist



Before the touch of the master



 Ready to be blessed by the hands of the budding artist



  

Get Set Go !!!!

Work in progress.Look at his espression !!!





The Finished Product...Frog out of dirty pond :)-

 

One medicine for all

Sanjiv is playing a good doctor role now-a-days. This handsome and smart toddler doctor has just one medicine for all the problem...A kiss..Yes just a kiss. You bang unto a wall or his by-cycle runs over your feet, be it small hit with his plastic bat or big pain full hit by his basket ball, you will get a kiss from him and then word of consoling. 'Mom you are ok. Happy. Sanjiv kissed'. And you are expected to smile back and say 'I am fine and happy'. Else you will get another kiss. By second kiss you have to say you are happy else, nothing . He gets back to what he was doing...

My Job

Today morning I took Sanjiv to brush his teeth. He asked me 'Can I have the brush'. I gave it to him wondering what mischief he is up to. He started to brush his teeth...Woh...that was my expression. Then seeing how good he was brushing, I tried to tell him, first Sanjiv next amma. Like a bullet out of gun, he immediately responded back 'No amma, it is my job'....Hmmmmm.. I was happy that he was becoming independent but then looking at the way he was brushing, I was also worried that soon his teeth will start to look like yellow lentil rather than milky white....In the end I managed to convince him that it will be first Sanju's job and then amma's job to brush his teeth...Lets see what happens tomorrow....

Rapido, Bonda

Sanjiv has started a game on his own.I think it is Dora effect. In car, when ever we overtake a car he shouts Bonda and when ever he wants us to go fast he say Rapidoooo...Nice way to keep himself and everyone in car fully entertained :)-

Safety Patrol

I called my dad to check whether he has reached school to pick Sanjiv. While on the phone, I heard Sanjiv saying something. I asked dad what is he saying as I wouldn't hear him properly. He was in stroller. I was quite surprised to hear that he was complaining as my dad crossed the road when the signal was red and didn't wait for it to turn green....He is doing the good job of safety patrol and I am happy....Hmmmm later I have check with my dad on why he crossed the road in Indian style :)- :)-

Boss, The Mottai Boss

All set for his new looks

Apology for missing in action

First accept my apology for missing in action. No blog doesn't mean my son was not in action...He was too much into action that kept me busy and away from blog :)-
The main culprit is our India trip...From 27th May- 7th Jun we were in India. After the India trip, Sanjiv is having a new hair style..very soon a photo will be posted to introduce his new hair style. This blog is more to break the silence. A detail travelogue and photos to follow..Untill then keeping guessing his new looks...

Next phase

I would say that now me and Sanjiv have reached next phase in our life. Last week for first time, Sanjiv was in school for whole day (8.30Am to 3.30pm).
 He is taking first step to be
     Away from home for this long,
          Away from known environment,
                 Away from comfort of home,
                                    comfort of doing thing his way,
                    Away from TV,
              Away from bossing around.
      Away from being cuddled.....
At work I used to be at peace that he is at home. Being safe.At home no one minds if I call every hour to check if had his drink, food/sleep. But in school, I am 100% sure that they will not appreciate this behaviour of me. So, I have to control the feeling of picking up the phone and calling school to check how he is doing.
 I keep saying to myself, that he is doing just fine. He is in safe hands of the school management. I just wait for my helper to reach school around 3.30 and let me know that he had finished his lunch and had good sleep. He hasn't fall down and still in same shape as in the morning.
Lastly but the important thing is, he is enjoying being in school for whole day...He enjoys going to school now more than when he was just going for few hours....So we have decided to send him for whole day...
For first time I am happy that I had decided to continue to work..Otherwise I would be bored mom at home...

My first art work

Look at my first creation.



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I love Lindt

I love Lindt dark chocolate.










We have copy rights on these photos. Lindt company please contact us to use these photos.

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Long due photo update

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On my way to sleep

Look how much precaution he takes to sleep. Seat belts on- check. Helmet on- check. You never know in case he falls from sleep.






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Green Chilli

There are some habits that the kids pick from you. It can be good habits or the ones that you will not be proud to acknowledge that kids got it from you. One such latter habit that my son got from me is, peeling the skin off the lips. God only knows from where I got this habit. I wipe the blood off my lip and still continue doing it, esp. when I am lost in thoughts. My son does the same and the mother in me stops him doing that. We all threaten him that if we see him do that, we will apply green chilli on his lips. Whenever I stop him doing that, I send out a secret prayer that he should not say 'Amma I got it from you'. Luckily he is not old enough to say this. But you still never know. But I try my level best not to get into the act of peeling my lip skin in front of him. One day instead of using green chilli to stop him, I told him, look your having blood on the lips. His response was 'don’t worry amma,see amma no blood, I wiped it off'.Hmmmmmm.So back to threatening him with green chilli. One day he saw me doing it, and you should have seen the glow on his face. Yeah now it was his turn to straighten me up. He didn't miss the chance. He came running to me and said 'No, see green chilli, I will put it on you lip’. I have to just say sorry and stop doing it.
I don’t know what bliss we get from it, but we still continue doing it, secretly though.

Sleepover

This is first time Sanjiv's  friends stayed at home for over night.
Look how comfortably they are watching tv.








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Dora

This is his new craze. He can see the same episode of Dora 'n' number of times. Last two days,some where around 2 in the early morning he cried.  From deep sleep with great difficulty I woke up and asked him what happen. With tears rolling down to neck he replied 'Amma Dora'....I swear, had he been any older I would have given one on his butt for doing this. But at this age, I simply had to say 'No'. One day he won but yesterday I was stubborn not to switch on the TV. I didn't want this to become a habit. He cried for few minutes and then finally  understood that I am not going to budge in and he slept.
Today morning, I clearly told him that he can see Dora  for only 2 hours in the morning and then no more Dora.  I have to start to cut off him TV time.

Endless train of questions

Now this endless train of questoins has started off in my house. Sanjiv now ask "What is this", "Where are you", "How to use it".
What is now remaining is 'Why'. I know that day is not very far....

Touching words....

Sometimes the real innocent concern he displays makes me feel guilty more than anything else...Yesterday night me and Murali had to go for our monthly grocery shopping. So in the night around 7.00, we told him that "appa and amma have to go to doctor as amma is having fever". Very nicely he said 'Ok amma go carefully'.
Once we were back, he was still awake to see us. Upon seeing me, he immediately touched my forehead and very sweetly asked me 'amma no fever, doctor gave injection' ?...I felt proud of him and  how much he cares for our words at the same time I felt ashamed of the lie we told him....
We should try not to lie to him for these silly things and also no emotional lies in future...

No & Yes

He uses these two words in his own style...The other day he wanted my iPhone to play some game. I told him 'No battery, so you can't play Sanju'. He still took the phone from me and looked at it. As if he knows where to see battery life. Then very calmly he said 'Yes battery'. Simply to put it, what ever amma, I want your phone.

I am not hungry

"I am not hungry" this is immediate response we get from Sanju the moment you say food. He is ever ready for chocolates and ice cream but no space for any other healthy food. I don't know from where he gets all those energy without any intake. How I wish my car can run like him without any intake...
He is just proving that he is growing up. Now along with saying that he is not hungry, he also confirms it by saying, mummy touch my stomach, see it is full.Hmmmmmm

Little Mind @Work

Amma's desk @SAP

Please don't disturb me

Cookie Man

Tummy ache

In the morning, as soon as Sanju wakes up he needs milk.So the routine is first I give Sanju his milk and then after 10 min take him to to bathroom for all other activities. In that 10 min, usually he is out of bed and starts to play with something or other. Today morning, after giving him milk, I went to run some errands.When I went back to bedroom, he was still on the bed(TV was on). I asked him what happened, he replied with an innocent face 'Amma my stomach is paining'..and then a smile...I asked him, 'Oh where baby', then he lifted his shirt and said 'come, touch here '...As I went to touch him, he started giggling and laughing.....
I sent a silent prayer that he should not learn that he can use this as reason for not going to school....i know those days are not far.

Updates - @ 2.5 years

I want to give an update on his developments as he has turned 2 and 1/2 years as of Feb 20th 2011.  
• Can say
    o 1-14,
    o 7 days in a week without any mistake
    o 4 seasons in a year
    o 12 months in a year (Usually forgets June,Oct and Nov)
• Can sing a,b,c,d, till Z and then end it with 'now I know my a,b,c next time wont u sing with me' .
• Rhymes he can sing
    o Baa baa black sheep
    o One two buckle my shoe
    o Johnny Johnny yes papa
    o Hickory dickory Dock, mouse went over the clock
    o Inscy Wincy Spider (can sing this with lots of help)
• find all the games relevant to him in iPhone and and also use them
• match the Shadow and real picture of 26 animals and also name them correctly. It is funny to hear him say hippopotamus.
• Identify the colors in rainbow.
And many more.....

Neither me nor my parents can remember when I did these things. For sure, I didn't do it even when i was 4 years old.

It's for you

Now-a-days Sanju has these sweet words on his lips...'It's for you'.  He uses it pretty nicely. Below, I have narrated small game we played yesterday and see how well he has used these words.
Yesterday, he plays the role of Chef. Looks like this something they are playing at school.
Yesterday he took one of  his stacking cup and then it went on like this
Sanjiv:  'Mummy, you want coffee, juice,tea'.
Myself:  'coffee, please'
Sanjiv: enacted mixing milk and sugar (he doesn't know there is an important ingredient to make coffee)
Sanjiv: 'Amma, coffee, its for you'
Sanjiv: giggles
Sanjiv: Nice ?
Myself: 'Very nice'

Sanjiv: 'Thanks amma'...

How bad of me, I didn't even say thanks when he gave me the coffee and he said thanks even for an appreciation. I am proud to say that I am learning these etiquette's from him. He is the best teacher I have come across as he doesn't fail make a positive impact on me daily....

Amma 'you don't know'

For past few days, when ever Sanju wanted to show us something, he says 'Let me teach you' . I thought he picked this line from us, as we tell him 'Come let me tell you, how this works'.
But today morning, I was taken back when he said 'Amma you don't know, let me tell you how to use this puzzle'.
I have seen few parents initially feeling very happy/proud when they hear kids say this. They take this to be funny. But later on it irritates them a lot and even feels insulting esp when their kids say it in front of others.
I definitely don't want to go through this cycle.
So, immediately I replied back saying 'Kanna, amma knows how to use it but I am excited to hear it from you'. The point is, I want him to know that we encourage him to share his knowledge but at the same time, he should also know that we know about that already.

Note: I am actually thrilled to know he knows how to play with simple puzzle and can handle certain gadgets without any help

Adventurers news letter

'Adventurers' is name of Sanjiv's class.
I get two newsletter for the school, one for the school and another for the class.
Let me try to post one of the news letter from Sanju's class as it has featured him and me. :)-

Here we go....click on the link below to view the news letter. Let me know whether you are able to access it or not.....
News Letter Term1 - Issue

I just realised that even my office has such news letter and I have hardly read them...Maybe I should read them as well.....

Carousel ride

For the first time, Sanju went on the carousel ride. He loved choosing which animal to ride on and also enjoyed the ride (but I had to be with him and to tell the truth I also enjoyed it). It was really a good merry-go-ride. In between the ride, he wanted to change the animal he was riding on. First he choose to ride on giraffe, but then the operator told me that giraffe doesn't go up and down. After requesting him to choose another one, he made up his mind finally on zebra, then he wanted to ride on rooster. But for this time he got to ride on only zebra. Lets see what he will ride next time.

My Bunny celebrating rabbit year

My Bunny...This Rabbit is always lucky for my family....

Lion dance to welcome rabbit year

Celebrating my b'day....

This is long due update....Snaps from my b'day celebration on 15th Jan mid night....

Making the wish on behalf of amma......

I think this was some 4th time he was blowing out the candle