My pink ummbina

Ah!!! she meant an umbrella, but that's what she calls it. Ever tell her that its raining so we can't go out and she quickly retorts back saying, "But I can take my pink ummbina" .... now what do u say to that ?

Mysha's work

On this lazy Saturday morning, I saw Mysha school packet lying in the living room. I promptly opened it to see what Mysha had made that week. Seeing me open the bag, Mysha got all excited and screamed, "I will show you", so I let her. She laid out all the paintings she made and excitedly told me what colors they were ...

I'm a little teapot

Mysha has a new song now in her repertoire - "Im a little teapot, short and stout". Since last Friday, she has been singing it every now and then, with all the actions. Its quite a cute sight :)

Evening at Bedok Reservoir with Dolly and Shushil

Yesterday we planned an evening with Dolly and Sushil again. This time it was at Bedok reservoir (next to their house). Mysha had great fun in the play area and obviously was with Dolly all the time. Back at their home, Dolly gave her a 100 piece puzzle and play dough set. Mysha was delighted. After a evening full of play and fun, we had great home made dinner (thanx to Dolly). When it was time to go, Mysha refused to budge. So we told her to stay there. She promptly agreed and told me to leave the bag and bottle behind! So we decided to walk to the door in an attempt to make her realise what she was up to. But she was firm with her decision. She and Dolly when inside and she chose what bed she would sleep on what what stories Dolly would ready for her. Clearly she didn't need us.

FireWorks

Mysha came running to me and said Mama I want fireworks. I said, "yeah we enjoyed some good fireworks the other day...", but she meant something else. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to dadi's room, pointed to the cupboard and insisted that she wanted fireworks. I was still so clueless but I opened the cupboard all the time insisting that you can't have fireworks inside. Then I saw something inside and I instantly knew what she meant. Sitting under the blanket was the packet of hand held fireworks (fuljhadi) that Dolly had given to her. The next half and hour was spent, as you must have guessed, lighting each one of them...

Mysha and Nandika

The other day Vinita insisted we come home, so we planned out an evening together. It was one of the most relaxing evenings I had for quite a while. Mysha seemed to enjoy herself with Nandika so much that she barely came to us. She played with her kitchen set while we had tea and cake. Later in the evening, we all enjoyed a quite walk inside the condo

In Phuket

We decided to go to Phuket for the short break that I had between the P1 and P2. I could guess Mysha had a great time with the amount of singing that she did (I notice that she sings aloud when she is happy and in a good mood). Three of the best moments I liked were:

Here she insisted that she sit right into the basin. As usual, no amount of cajoling helped, so I just gave in.

In the play area in the resort, Mysha had a good time playing with the toys. She seems to enjoy putting things in order! Ducks please line up, no excuses.

Here Mysha had a day long tour in the Phang Nga bay. She was sporting enough to sit in the kayak with us infact she was singing (indicative of her happiness level) so much that we had to ask her to shut up for some peace (for us and fellow travelers)

More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/ssundke/Phuket11Mar10#

Bangle bonanza

Normally Mysha is not the kind to open cupboards & drawers and strew things around. But this day, she saw that my cupboard open as I was taking out something. She opened the lower drawer and to her delight she found a box of bangles. No amount of cajoling and distracting helped taking her attention away from that treasure. She insisted I give her the bangles. Finally, I gave in. But I was wrong in assuming that I could get away with giving her a few. She didnt budge till I gave her each one of them. Look at her trying to put all the bangles on herself!

Celebrating CNY

Mysha's school had a CNY celebration. Since I had only one lecture in the morning, I decided to accompany Mysha to school, even though she was not performing. The program was kinda cute. Just posted some videos to enjoy. On Mysha's part, I'm proud that she could sit through even though the lions were dancing right into her face. The program ended with the customary salad tossing.

A packet every Friday...

... arrives home from Mysha's school. Its her work in the week - exploratory and creative - as she learns how to use her mind and hands. As I open the precious trove, one paper after another, I experience a sense of curiosity, not knowing what to expect. Sometimes I feel a trifle disappointed at just seeing some scribblings on paper.... Should I be?... obviously NOT.

A little of her work...

Aditi's b'day

It was the time of the year when Aditi turned three. I remember that Aditis' was the first b'day Mysha attended after we moved to Singapore. The b'day song she knew from then on always include Aditi, till she realised that she could stick in any name in the song! The kiddi party was fun with Mysha getting to navigate on ladders and thru tunnels, playing with bubbles on the route and of course the cak e and the return gift!

Shoe in Lace

Every tried those toys that help get your child acquainted with zips, buttons, laces, etc? They sure throw up some interesting scenes. Mysha, insisted that she put her leg into the cloth shoe designed to teach her how to tie laces. Other times when she unzips the baby suit she peers for a moment to see what is inside ;)

Our very own kite

On the weekend, Ilyas actually bought one of the big and colorful kites from one of the 7-11 stores. Mysha was so excited that it was difficult to roll it back and keep it once we had opened it (yes, surprisingly it can be folded).

Dolly and Sushil were going to come on the weekend so we thought we would spend a quite afternoon flying the kite. Well as you can see in the pics, Dolly and Mysha had a good time helping Ilyas and Sushil fly the kite.

Its working!!!

Its Friday now and guess what Mysha actually came back home from school "dry" - Does that ring a bell?
Thanx so much Mysha for keeping up with the challenge of going to the toilet. Love you.

Wet days in school!

Mysha's school is into the third week now and after consulting with fellow mummies, I decided that the school should participate in mysha's toilet training! So for two days now she has gone to school without diapers... But clearly something is not working, cause second day in a row she wet herself on class and had to be changed:( I'm going let her take a week to adjust before quitting. Let's hope she adjusts.


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A lesson on "sharing"

Of the many values that parents try to give children sharing happens to be frequent one. Soon you realize how much you have grilled this into her when she starts to give it back at you. Nowadays whenever Mysha wants something that you are holding she will come and try to pull it away from you and if you resist she would say "mama share" .... How is that for a lesson!

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Push-up time

It was just one of those active Sunday mornings on which I decided to do some exercise. Of course Mysha would not be far behind! She imitated me while I was trying some pushups. One, two, three go...

Impromptu visit at Khushboo aunty's house

Saturday I was home early from classes, so decided to take Mysha for her evening time out. Most of the time was spent playing on the swing. Towards the end as we was walking home, we ran into Chintan (colleague from office) and Khushboo. Khushboo as usual was very warm and insisted that we come home. I agreed. She gave Mysha just a few toys (a doll as tall as here :), a small puppy and a car) and that was all that was needed for her to keep occupied. Such a sweet doll my daughter is ... thank you God. I had a warm evening and savored every piece of kanda bhaji and paneer pakoda that Khushboo made for us :) On Mysha's part, she was content with her apple pieces!

School starts

Today it was Mysha's first day at her new school, Casa Dei Bambini Montessori school. The day was supposed to be a light day of just 45 min accompanied by a parent. Firstly before we set out of the house, we told her we are going to aunty's house since the word "school" was not taken too positively by her. Once there she just played around with some of the apparatus and seemed to enjoy herself. Before we knew it was time to go home and as we were headed out, Mysha spotted a cute little tea cup set that was I guess used to teach the children how to pour out liquids. She took the cups and headed out of the classroom fully intending to take it home. It took all the teachers to try to stop her but at last she agreed only when she was given a finger sized doll to take home!

Jacob Ballas - Children's Play Garden

Whilst I'm on my leave before I join college again, I thought I will take Mysha to this garden called Jacob Ballas, which I had heard about a lot. It was a nice little cozy garden I must say. Out of the many things you could do there, Mysha really enjoyed the orange slide that came down from heaven (so big for her age) and a play and learn area to explain photosynthesis with a durain tree. It was so funny to see her pumping here way to see the durain light up! After we moved out of that area (u must have guessed it was difficult) we played in the sand pit. When Mysha and I were busy seiveing the sand, Mysha suddenly had a shower of sand all over her. Another girl playing near was digging up for her palace :) An apology followed...

Though Mysha enjoyed the sand she was frequently attracted to the screams from the near by fountain area where kids were playing with water. I had to really try to distract her away from it after the cold she had caught from the barrage fountain play. More snaps at http://picasaweb.google.com/ssundke/JacobBallas12Dec09#

New pram

After much speculation we finally got Mysha a new pram. Does she adore it or what!! She is so big now that she uses the pram as her toy. Ever since we have bought it she keeps toying it around in the house, with her little Pooh sleeping inside. She can buckle him in, but when it time to unbuckle she screams all over the house for someone to help her. The other day at tired it outside and I must admit it is quite a help .. don't know why we shied away from it for such a long time

Kite flying and water splashing at Marina Barrage

I had heard a lot about the Marina Barrage that creates a reservoir right in the heart of Singapore. And hats off to Singapore that makes it a tourist destination too. Wednesday was Mysha's day out at the barrage. After a quite walk down the barrage we headed straight to the green roof. Mysha had awesome lot of fun running around on the grass and watching people of all ages flying kites. But the most enjoyable part for her was the water play area where the fountains played peek-ka-boo :) She got all drenched up for sure (and a cold followed soon!) Check out more snaps at http://picasaweb.google.com/ssundke/MarinaBarrage30Dec09#

PIANO!!!

Ilyas had been looking out for a piano for a very long time so on last weekend we decided to check out a place where there were some sale offers. We liked a Korean brand called Samick so much that we bought it right away :) Mysha knew about the piano thanks to Ilyas's iPhone, so you can imagine her reaction when she saw a real one. This piano came with a 2 seater player seat, but Mysha insisted that she have it all by herself and would not let anyone near it. Every now and then, when I hear a really low or high note while Ilyas is playing his tune, I know Mysha is at one of the corners trying to drive Papa away!

Play - Farmer, Fox ...

Sunday we planned for a play again. This one was called the "The Farmer, the fox, bird and the cookie". It was all about a lesson on "sharing" where the farmer, fox and bird in the end land up sharing the cookie. Mysha, Arhsiya, Rhea, Aditi all seamed to have a good time following the play. At the end of the play the kiddies caught a picture with the performers. I also bought a book (called "The Leaf calld Nip that flipped") selling at the play. It came with a free bright yellow teeshirt with Tick,Tack,Tock (the unofficial names of the performers in the play) written on it.

In Bintan

On the weekend we planned an overnight trip to an island in Indonesia called Bintan. It was one of the most serene, calm and picturesque beach places I have seen for a long time. Mysha is well versed now of what a beach place means ... sun, sand and water. Seeing Ilyas jump into the water, she wanted to do the same. I hurriedly changed her into her swimming costume so she would not wet her clothes. It was difficult to stop her to pose for this little charmer shot... all she kept saying was "mama come ..."