The "Things" on my bed: Pretty Things

Today I opened my new 'Catalog' magazine to get Mysha on the dinner table. Alas!!! Mysha just had to set her eyes on all the pictures of the "pretty things"- lipsticks,  nail paints, etc. and she insisted she have all of them for herself. When I asked if she meant I purchase all of them, she clarified saying that she wanted to cut them and keep for herself. I requested that she not do that since my magazine was new. In response she insisted that I see / flick the pages soon till the end so that its not "new" anymore. Well at the end of it she sure did cut off what she wanted! Soon it was time to sleep and the "pretty pictures" made it to her bed. Today I will sleep with them she declared.

Mysha's singing bonanza

Well it was one of those days when Mysha obliged us with her sweet voice. This time around it was with actions ... Bravo !!

Red day party at Arsheya's place

It was just one of those lazy weekend's after coming from India, when we got a invitation to Mysha friend, Arsheya's personal party. Arsheya's papa has taken her daughter's request seriously and the duo has planned out the whole evening down to the party dress theme! Mysha was in her RED best and the girls and boys had a gala time coloring, making their own cards and paying 9 pins too!
Here's saying CHEERS to the gang!

India trip: Ira's naming ceremony

India trip: Mamu ke ghar

Yet another day was spent visiting cousins, but must I say that yet again it was spent in loving care. This time around, Mysha had not one but two cousins to play with. And Mehek accompanied us too to complete the kids gang :). Taaha was such a well behaved boy for his age and Sarah such a loving sister. Sarah was proudly showing off all her things so I asked everyone to adorn a piece or two for a photo... what a sight they made I must say!

We were just wrapping up to go home when someone suggested we should go and check the swans. That was enough to get Mysha excited so off we set to a near by park where the kids checked out the swans but more that had good fun running around. Just caught them sitting after some heavy duty catch-n-cook.

India trip: Dinner time

Well how could we have finished our India trip without a family dinner? This time I insisted on Indian Chinese .. ymmm. We all were dressed up so a photo session was definitely due. The kids, nani, bhaiyya, bhabhi, anna were all there. Where is nanajaan? huh?

India trip: Delhi belly

This time around we had to go to Delhi... we cudnt miss it for anything:) After all Mysha's favorite Fuphi and Arshi baji were there. Oh, how much Arshi cared for her. She carried her around, shared sweets with her, fed her, drew with her, played Barbie till she said 'I cant play this anymore' and ofcourse sulked in jealousy that her mama was not giving her enough attention.

As for Fuphi, she gave Mysha the tightest of hugs, made great food for her, gave her Arsheya's barbie playing sofa-cum-bed and plenty more. Mysha could not have had a more loving time. To top to all, she also got to burst some fire crackers in the freezing Delhi cold and got to apply special mehendi at the corner shop!  

India trip: Munal's wedding

This year we had a loooong trip planned to India. Right at the start was Munal's wedding. We stayed in the middle of all the activity so it was extra fun. Mysha liked her guest house room and everytime we went out she insisted we go back to the comfort of her guest house. It was fun to be with Munal while she was getting ready for her big day. Indeed the church wedding and the lunch later were splendid. Here's wishing Munal and Reuben a long and happy married life!

Quotable Quote: Dead?

Mom: You know Avanee aunty is in the hospital, actually ICU...
Mysha: Has she died?
Mom: You dont say that. It's a bad sign. You should ask, 'When will she be well again?'
Mysha: You mean like Sleeping Beauty gets up again?

Can I do it please...

'Can I do it please' is the first phrase I usually hear as soon as we enter the library. The opening in the wall that says 'Book Drop' is where Mysha is headed straight. One by one she pushes the books in for return and waits for the BEEP. I just stand back as she enjoys her ritual.

Mysha's wall climbing experiment

When Ilyas said the other day that Mysha was not a very sporty person, I retorted back asking when was the last time when we took her out for an sporting activity. The answer was very clear - we had not for a very long time. Last weekend Vini suggested that we take Nandika and Mysha for wall climbing .. hmmm... I was not sure how Mysha would take that, but there was no harm in trying. It was clear at the end of 1 hr - Mysha was clearly not sporty, yet - evident from the way she rested her feet on the wall supports, but she sure was fairly determined for her age. She led the way to the top, in two attempts. Nandika on the other hand was truly a sporty girl with feet reaching out to the supports very well, but she took her while to get used to the challenge.

Diwali at Aditi's house

Today had an invitation for a Diwali party at Aditi's house. Once we were at their place, Mysha was not to be seen at all - so engrossed were the kids in playing with each other. Coincidently I had to pick up Mysha's Diwali dress today as well and once she set her eyes on it, I just could not keep her from wearing it. Glad I didn't catch her in her complete dress ensemble in this picture. Will reserve that for the condo Diwali bash :)

Arna's Bday

It was a lazy Sunday and as usual I was rushing to take Mysha to her painting class. When I called to check with her friend who comes along, I was shocked to be reminded that it was Arna's b'day party and I had completely missed remembering it. Thankfully the party was in the condo so we were able to catch the event. Any guesses on the theme? ......HAWAIIAN it was.

Doing ironing duty

On a recent trip to a mall, Mysha fancied a ironing kit. Since it was not super expensive and looked kind of useful, I added it to the shopping bag. Little did I know the craze that would follow. Mysha shared quite a few afternoons with the maid making sure that her clothes were ironed well and PERSONALLY looked after :)

Qay Sara Sara

"When I was a little girl, I asked my mother..." Oh, what beautiful lyrics of the song "Qay Sara Sara". All credit goes to Mysha's fupfi who introduced Mysha to the song. On more than one occasion, she sang the whole song for Mysha over skype. Finally today I searched the video on YouTube and boy the number of times Mysha insisted she saw the video. So enchanted was she with the song that instead of her normal lullaby she insisted I sung this one for her :)

Snow City and Science Park

This weekend it was time to meet Ria, Ryan and Joicy again. This time it was at Snow City. Despite being tucked far away into Jurong, we felt it would be still quite worth it. Boy, were we disappointed! I carried 3 pairs of clothing for Mysha but still was not confortable. Ryan was even worse off and stuck to his grandparents. The only thing that brightened up Mysha was the thought of a snow slide and she did indeed have fun coming down the slide on a pair of black tubes. But after that, we were just out in a jiffy.

With the tickets to the SnowCity, tickets to the Science Park nearby were also included. We went in having really low expectations, but it was definitely worth a dekho. All the kids had fun toying around with all the exhibits. After spending 2 hours there it was time to head home. Just then as expected Mysha started her kalmah, "I want she to come to my home". Over the days Mysha had grown fond of Ria and wanted her to come home. We decided it was better that I went over to their place instead. After a nice 2 hours of casual sitting around, tea and dosas we headed home for a close.

Ah it was perfect, but alas - a high fever the next day had us back to reality

Cycling on East Coast - I am not tired

Continuing with our stints with Ria and Ryan, Sunday evening we ventured out to East Coast Parkway. Mentally prepared to cycle we headed straight to the rental stand. We got each a cycle including Ilyas, Joicy, Sanman, Ria, Ryan and myself. Did u notice anyone who did not get a cycle? Well ofcourse, it was Mysha!!! We decided against letting her ride her own cycle because she was too small to cope up with the "crowd". She cuddled in on Ilyas's cycle with a baby seat. After 2 km of cycling with stops and starts and even a Ria-Ryan dash we survived to the main ledge overlooking the sea. When Ria and Ryan both complained that they were tired, Mysha's spontaneous reaction was - "But I am not tired"

Wild Wild Wet

Joicy's niece and nephew are in town, but when did we say, we need a reason to celebrate ;) Yesterday was indeed a day to be "wild wild wet" at the water park at Pasir Ris. Ria was at her sister-best taking care of Mysha and making her have good fun. There were water slides coming down from heaven to the pool below - red, green, yellow n pink - Oh boy were they fun! That was till be discovered that there were slides coming down from three story high !!! We screamt our lungs out in the big float with all of us - Ria, Ryan, Mysha, Joicy and I - scrambling for grip somewhere on the float still keeping an eye on the steep path and curves below. And the crowning glory of all was the big bucket of water that would come down in a downpour with a bell signaling all to gather under it (and some others to run for cover ;)) Mysha enjoyed the big splash more that three times over. And the best part is that she survived it all without a cold the next day !!! BRAVO !!! Thank you Ria, Ryan and Joicy

Art class commences

Mysha had started going for Art classes on Sundays. Well nothing elaborate, just craft work to start with. After a couple of sessions, she came home with a craft work featuring an alien; just that the alien was not in the common green colour but in her favourite pink colour. Howz that?

Colouring perfected...

Well, not quite perfected but this was the first time I noticed Mysha actually trying to colour within the boundaries of the drawing. When I exclaimed in amazement and asked her who guided her towards this, she surprisingly mentioned "Dadi". I spent the next 15 min capturing the moment :)

Book 15 - "Diamond in the Snow" by Jonathan Emmett

This story is about a mole who experiences his first winter. When he sees an icicle, he thinks its a diamond and tries to rush it home, but it disappears in his hand. The mole thinks it is a MAGIC diamond. Then his friends the rabbit, hedgehog and squirrel tell him all about icicles and show them the tree from which it had fallen. In one of the last pages of the book, the beautiful tree of icicles is lit against the golden morning sun and the view is do splendid that indeed they all agree that it was MAGIC.

Rating: 4*

Review: Pictures are great. The beauty of winters and snow is shown very well. The emotions are covered well too. Great book to discover the pleasures of nature.

Book 14 - "The Daddy Mountain" by Fieffer

As I mentioned before, I love getting books that have a family connection. This one is for Papa and I knew it would be an instant hit. I think I have practically read it each day of the 3 week loan :)

The story is about a little girl who climbs on her Daddy all by herself and finally lands up on the top of his head. The story goes thru' the steps and the "catastrophe" and the final victory. The book also has a double page that opens up showing the girl on top of Daddy.

Rating: 4*

Review: Pictures through not elaborate, convey the messages quite effectively. The double page picture in the end adds to the effect. The story rushes at parts though and is slow at some. Could have been more crisper.

Book 13 - "A piece of Chalk" by Jennifer Ericsson

I was not sure Mysha would like this book, but it turned out to be one of her favorites.

The story is about a girl with a box of chalk who draws on the driveway. Each page leads us thru' what she draws. Sample page goes, " I take a piece is chalk; a brick red one; Red is the wall; stretching from side to side". And so she draws the whole picture, but the rain come down and all her colour run into each other. At first she is sad, then she figures she has a rainbow at her feet and she also still has the box of chalks to draw another picture.

Rating: 4*

Review: I like the way the book adds attributes to colors "spring green, fiery orange". The rhyming tone of the book also helps the child read along. I think the few pages at the end could be shortened for a crisper ending.

Book 12 - This way Ruby by Rebecca Harry

I picked up this book just because it was so colorful and with cute little ducklings!

The story is about a family of 5 ducklings. The smallest one of them takes things really at her own pace. Her name is RUBY. One day when Mama and Papa ducks are snoozing, the ducks set out to explore the river. All the other ducks breeze pass the river, but Ruby looks around and ponders at the sights she sees - the waterfall, the fishes, the lotus, the toads, the willow tree, etc. Suddenly there is a storm that gathers and all the ducks run helter-skelter. When they gather they seem to have lost their way. Then Ruby comes to their rescue. She confidently traces the way back past the willow tree, toads, lotus ...

Rating: 5*

Review: The pictures are fabulous. The story is short and zippy. Ruby makes a perfect hero.

Book 11 - Princess Prissy Pants Wishes Her World Pink by Ashley Evans

Well you could guess why Mysha picked up this book - it was PINK in color. It's one of the lessons that all girls need I feel - why their whole world cannot be PINK!

This story belongs to a girl called PrissyPink who wishes on her b'day that her whole world be PINK. And PINK it is, as God grants her wish. Then the problems ensue - The paraders fall into the river as they can't see where the road ends, the traffic is in a mess, Prissy herself runs into the wall and over her cat. Then its finally dawns on her that she is missing all her colors - the blue skies, the rainbow, her pussy's white fur - and finally she unwishes her wish and her whole world is colorful again!


Rating: 3*

Review: It is a great topic to cover with a girl. I wish though this book did not use rhymes because at times I felt the book lost its crispiness in trying to make things rhyming all the time.