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.

Arshi's heart warming messages

Ever since we started to use Skype with Nasreen baaji's family, I have felt the bonding between Arshi and Msyha grow so well. Arshi often has Mysha all hooked up. From the names of all the Disney princess to fairy books and posters - she just has a pulse on what Mysha likes. For New Year, she made a sister's special new year greeting. Have a look. I am so proud of you Arshi.

Book 10 - "The Saturday Escape" by Daniel Mahoney

This story is a lesson on not lying. It was Jack, the bear's favorite day - Saturday story hour day. But mama bear said he could not go till he cleaned up his room. Jack was so eager to go, that she shoved all the toys under the tent and headed out. He reached Angie - the rabbit's house. She said she could not go because it was time for her to practice her piano. He suggested to her to put her recital tape so her papa would not know. The rabbit agreed and they sneaked out from there and went to Meldon, the mouse's house. Meldon had to paint his windows, but they suggested that he hand the job over to his little brothers. Then all 3 reach the library and in the midst of the story they realised that they had wronged. So they set back to correct things.

Review: 5*
Review: Wonderful way of not being told to stop lying but correction thru' self realisation on hearing a story. Stories are powerful and this one had one story within another!

Book 9 - "Mine" by Kevin Luthardt

I love books with just pictures. No words; no wonder they say 'A picture can say a thousand words"

This story is a lesson on sharing. The story starts with a brown parcel reaching the home of 2 boys. The moment they see it, each one thinks, "Mine" and then dreams of all the things each fancies - car, drum, yoyo, lollipop, drum and more. When the boys finally open the parcel they find a dinosaur soft toy. Then one boy marches away with it saying "Mine". The other one not to stay behind give the boy a blow and takes it away from him. A fight soon following - Mine - Mine. And then the unforeseeable happens - the toy tears. Ouch! Both boys get a scolding from mama and and sent to their rooms as a punishment. When they are called back for lunch, they go to the dining table and to their surprise they see the dinosaur all sown up. The boys look at each other and realise their folly. They give each other the toy saying "Yours" and but finally they realise that its "Ours"

Rating: 4*
Review: Simple, effective and short!

Book 8 - "My Best Sweet Potato" by Rainy Dohaney

Usually I read Mysha atleast one of her story books (that we are take home) at the library itself and not surprisingly that one is often her favorite one for the next 3 weeks that she gets to keep her books.

This story is about a little girl "K" whose favourite toy "Wollyman" goes missing. Usually K did everything from eating, swimming and racing together with Wollyman and usually Wollyman said boring stuff like "You are my best friend" when his string was pulled. But one day after mommy put her in the washing machine, he would always say "sweet potato" in every sentence. On one of K's usual day trip out she put Wollyman on a tree. Little "Mac" the weaverbird saw her. He took fancy of Wollyman and carried it way and he became a good friend. But K? she had kind of lost her world. Then one day she puts pictures of Wollyman on all the trees and Mac sees here sniffing. He realises that Wollyman has a buddy and then puts it back when he picked it up from. K is very very happy to see her Wollyman and as she grabs him he says, "Lets go for a ... sweet potato"

Rating: 4*
Review: The little girl is almost something any girl relates to and with a toy is completes the picture. The emotions of having, losing and then getting back a toy is most wonderfully expressed. The title and the situation of "sweet potato" was a little weird though.

Book 7 - "Little Polar Lear and the Brave Little Hare" by Hans de Beer

This is a series of a Polar Bear "Lars" and his adventures... Mysha identifies "Lars" whenever she sees one of his stories...

This story starts with Lars hearing a whimper and finds a hare at a bottom of a hole. He helps him outside and consoles the scared hare. As they are walking to go home, they see a car and the hare gets all scared. But Lars is all excited because he knows there is some good food around. After grabbing some good bits of carrots, fish and bread, Lars get curious about the noise coming out of the chimney. So he bends down to see and falls right into the controls room. He is scared and even more so as he hears someone coming. Now Hugo comes back into action and thinks he must save Lars. He goes to the chimney roof and kicks in some snow that distracts the man for enough time for Lars to sneak out. Then Hugo and Lars run for their lives before the man can get them. Lars praises Hugo as a brave hare!

Rating:  4*
Review: I love the adventures with Lars. The pictures usually full page are great often covering expressions in great detail so you feel right in the midst of all the action. Sometimes they are bit long for Mysha's age though :)

Book 6 - "Day out with Daddy" by Stephen Cook

I always like to pick up books with real relations. It creates some special reactions and feelings. This one was with Papa! Mysha specially liked the page where Papa is termed as the wildest animal (Mysha loves the camel, elephant, chetah rides with Ilyas)

"Day out with Daddy" is about a son spending his day with Daddy when mommy had to go out of town. Each event is told from the view point of the son and is humorous. For example, Daddy is excited to wake up at 4 am and "dressing to go out" means running outside in a panty with Papa chasing behind and "special meal" is "Papa pizza". In the end mommy comes home and is so sad to miss out on all the fun that she says she will never leave us alone again.

Rating: 5*
Review: Simple and humorous story that will ring the bell with any child. The visuals are great and the simple pun intended lines that go with them, even better.

Book 5 - "Petunia" by Roger Duvoisin

This story is about a duck named Petunia who finds a Red book and remembers overhearing that "He who owns a book and loves it is wise". So she presumes she is wiser in the procession of the book and others start believing that too. In her false wisdom (real foolishness) she tells the rooster that her red comb is made of plastic, and tells the hen that she has six chicks instead of nine. She also tells the horse that he would have to pull out all his paining teeth becoz she has none. The final nail in the coffin was when she tells everyone that the box of crackers was candies. BOOM!!! She has a lot of unhappy barn mates! The explosion opens up the book and Petunia notices that something is written on it. It is then that she realises that one must learn to read to be wise...

Rating 4*
Review - Book with great detail and a lot of words. Not good for Mysha's age but nevertheless a great story and message. Visuals are simple sketches that convey and move the story forward.

Little bag of panties!

The other day Mysha was flaunting her Kitty bag while she was going down to play. I asked her what she was taking down and she softly said "Panties" :) With a smile beaming across my face, I asked her why she was doing that and she replied, "..because I like it". Well, what do u sau to that. I recently got her a pack of pretty panties and boy did she love them. Later Anna was telling me that one of the other maids asked her if she would share one with her and the prompt answer in this case as you may have guessed was "NO".

Sheila Ki Javani!

It was Rhea, not me!!! Well she was the one who showed Mysha the hot number "Sheila Ki Jawani." And now Msyha says that's its her favorite number.

The other day when Rhea came home with her family the two kids sat on our center table treating it like a merry go round and dancing to the tune of Sheila.

Arna's day with Mysha

Last evening we had Jagan, Hasika and Arna come over for dinner. I love families with kids of Msyha's age. The kids seem to play so well with each other in Mysha's room leaving us to have a good conversation. Mysha did truly have a good time with Arna and they ended it with a quick playtime at the piano.

Who's that?

On one of Mysha's daily evening playtimes, I happened to chat with one of my friends and lost track of time. When I regained alertness, I did a sweeping glance to see where Mysha was... I almost missed her... there she was, on the ground, behind the shrubs, with her favorite friend Niki. What exactly were there doing? A closer look and they were actually in their kitchen making some food (only with mud :))

Oh how I love kids' imagination!

Obbsessed with stickers

 Mysha's obsession with stickers is growing ... need some evidence?