Me: Baby, you always become goalkeeper in your soccer class. Do You like it so much?

Shreyas : Actually, No body wants to be a goalkeeper, that is why I always become.

Me: Hmmm..     *with a tinge of disappointment*

But my little one, unaware of my thoughts went on to explain, "Everybody likes to kick in the goal but then there is nobody to kick ball out and I want to save my team that is why ...."

           Suddenly my disappointment transformed into respect...but by the time I could express, he, who was sitting in my lap all the time and playing with my ear-stud, pulled it hard and lost it for nth time again. I didn't know whether to hug or scold this child..

@5 years and 5 months of Shreyas

Not that my life is very exciting. After becoming jobless, most interesting thing I do is, i guess playing hide-and-seek with two little boys. With younger one hanging on me, making us resemble baby and mamma monkey..we play as a team. And elder one  throughout laughing uncontrollably, it is quite entertaining actually. Anyways, back to topic..what i mean is, most of the time I am quite content doing mundane things and rarely feel bored. 

        In my recent memory, the only time I was utterly bored and felt that I wasted three hours of my life is *koff..koff*  after watching "Jab tak hai Jaan" !

                    Told you..I suck in reviewing movies. What?

Why do children have so much "important" stuff to tell in QUIET AREA of library and in loudest possible whisper ?

     Anyways, I don't know what was causing those stern stares. 5 years old loud whisperer, 5 months old bawling baby or their hush-hushing Mommy. Ah, the joys of motherhood!

From home front

His eyes lit up and he throws his arms and legs in excitement everytime I walk past him, and I almost always have a moment or two to spare, and break into little jig to entertain his highness. This little 4 months old absolutely loves dancing, music and people. And did what no one else could do before..brought out a dancer in me. 

When I go to park these days, same one I have been going from last 5 years, I am able to appreciate the beauty which I somehow never saw before. May be because now less processes run in my mind at any given point of time. Multitasking has never been my forte.

When my kindergartner comes home in the afternoon, I have time to listen to him and join his excitement. Then, We play together, somedays it is hopscotch, somedays it's jump rope and sometimes he sits in my lap and we watch cartoons. "Caillou" and "Sid the science kid" are our favorites by the way. 

In the evening, I always have energy and enthusiasm to join my boys in park or meet neighborhood friends. Mostdays, we two adults in home have deep and long philosophical conversations and I have patience for that. In fact i look forward to that..I also discovered something new, even if I live in America, home feels good, if vacuumed and cleaned  everyday..hehehe..

            Of course, this is story of most days. Some days are total opposite..when I harass the boys for no reason *evil grin* but those days getting rare and rare!

Yeah, I quit my job last month when my maternity leave was over and totally loving it. It was a very easy decision for both of us, one with no second thoughts. But interestingly, It is evoking reactions in PEOPLE. Some disapprove and their eyes suggests it was an hasty act. I live in a place with excellent child care facilities, had work from home option and was getting decent salary. I don't offer any explanation, just smile politely. Some think, I am "sacrificing" my career for my kids. I don't join them either. I don't believe in sacrifices. Because if one is not happy from within, he/she cannot spread the happiness. Anyways, I don't think I can explain my reason in words so instead of trying to document..may be will just live it :)

On unrelated note, blogging on iPad sucks..I miss my office MacBook :\ 

All four of us on one lazy evening:

What my boys are upto..

First, busy building muscles..

Second, busy giving gyan on Gandhigiri around the world..

And third, busy talking and talking...

 and when no one is listening making faces like... 

Stay Fun!
D
@ 2 months 1 weeks of Ojas

Me: Shreyu, get down else Nana will be tired. 

Shreyu: No Mamma. 

Me: NOW..

Shreyu *little hurt*: But Mamma, Nana won't be tired.

Me: And why?

Shreyu: Because he is my super man.

Me: O Yeah Baby. Mine too 

And needless to say..our big boy came all the way home in Nana's godi. May be thats why grand parents are called GRAND parents..

And this is how Baap-beta sit in the evening and gaze into eternity..

Ojas - month 2

"What is his name?", Nurse asked in the hospital. "Jacuzzi..arr Ojas", I stammered. Initially, It was difficult to identify him with any other name, we were calling him Jacuzzi for past nine months. But, after two months we hardly call him Jacuzzi any more..Now, I call him Oju-Boju!

      And is there anything sweeter than a baby's smile? He smiled (real smile) on early morning of 4th of July to his very sleepy Mama and now is very generous with it. His highness loves to be carried around all the time and wants everyone to talk to him and as a reward he will coo and smile. So when not sleeping, he can always be found in someone's  godi.  

Also he had detailed scan done on his left ear and thankfully everything is alright. 

Some pics from month 2: 

  

      

And someone joked few days back: 

Mom of A girl:  Rani*

Mom of two girls: Maharani*

Mom of two boys:  Naukrani* 

No doubt, I am almost at my pre-pregnancy weight  :|

Much Love, 

D

Rani = Queen

Maharani = Empress

Naukrani = Maid

Because world looks more interesting when upside down ;)

Heard few mins back..

Nani* (teaching Shreyu shapes): And this is Right Angled Triangle. Now should we go and sleep? 

Shreyas: No! Lets draw Left Angled Triangle. 


Much love,
Disha

Nani= Shreyu's maternal grandma

learned it hard way...

 Why one should avoid kissing a baby on mouth? 
       Because the said baby may choose exact moment to vomit...straight into your mouth :|

Much love, 
Disha

The brothers -- (month 1)

"But Mamma ka petu cut kiya kya?" , asked concerned Shreyas when Daddy went to pick him up. Still trying to process loads of information came the obvious,  "But then how Jacuzzi came out?  Daddy being the daddy explained the "how". 
        Anyways, when he came to see me and his little brother, I asked him to give Jacuzzi  Ojas a kiss. "But wo to ganda hoga na.." he wriggled the nose. Only after watching video of Ojas being cleaned, he gave him a little kiss on the cap!
 

  
       After we came home from hospital, It became impossible to keep him away from his precious little brother. He loves him to the bits. One day, some one asked him "How is the baby? Cries all the time?" . He replied rather proudly, "No! He cries very little." A blatant lie. His  little dynamite brother keeps all of us on our toes and when his highness is not sleeping or hungry demands to be carried all the time :)
     And we don't know what we will be doing without Shreyas. "Shreyu get the diaper..Shreyu get the wipe.". we ask him hundred times a day and he gets it everytime with a lightening speed. Ofcourse, he is playing role of a big brother very well! Once he (almost) put ice-cream stick in Ojas's ear to "check" if he can hear. Numerous times tried to open Ojas's eyes to "help" him wake up. Everytime Ojas spits milk, he runs and clean him up with such an enthusiasm though it looks more like someone polishing a statue!  He does't know how to show his happiness and love for his brother so he jumps all the time around him like a monkey, dangerously close but careful not to hurt. No doubt, Ojas recognizes his big brother very well..

  I feel very proud of him though..I knew he will handle the change very well but was anticipating little insecurity, melt-downs, sibling rivalry.. He is just 5 years old, our center of attention till now and all my friends and websites also told me to expect that. But there were none, not a single incident till now.And I hope, it will stay like that.. 


 And this is how first month went by..Lets see how goes the second :)



    Babies two mornings ago..
                          

   Much love, 
    Mamma

My precious two this morning :) 

Love,
Mamma 
@ 1 month of Ojas

Pride

...in Nana's eyes when he attends graduation ceremony of his  little grandson. And why not, see... no one in our khandaan ever has  'graduated' from a preschool before ;)

Welcome to the world sweetie!

So Dearest Jacuzzi, Mamma started her maternity leave on Monday and you decided to make a very dramatic entry very next day (May 21st)! You didn't even wait for Nana-Nani to reach here. And darling, I am able to write your birth post only after four weeks of your arrival but you will understand how crazily busy you get with newborn.. when you yourself become dad one day :) 
   
As every birth has a story, and here is yours..

 "Your brother was born with an emergency  c-section and I was told not go for natural delivery ever, due to a medical condition I (was supposed to) have..So you were scheduled to be delivered on 06/06 via c-section. Even when I was wheeled to labor room and hospital staff messaged my doctor, came clear instructions "NO NATURAL DELIVERY". But defying the medical science, you decided to make an entry with natural and drug-free delivery. And yeah..Mamma didn’t die ;) . Well, there are some not-so fun elements as well. You were  born premature (missed just by one day) and had to go through series of more tests (and million more poking needles) and also had little high Jaundice so had to be under billy lights for a day. You absolutely hated those lights and it was heartbreaking to watch you under that. You also didn't pass hearing test on left ear and we have detailed scan scheduled in July. I hope it is just false alarm and everything will be alright. Other than that you are such a sweetheart, very alert and wanting to explore all your surroundings and smiling from the day you are born. You also started holding head for short period from pretty much from day one and already rolled from tummy to your back twice in last 4 weeks. " 
   
Though, there is much more to your story.. I will write it some other day. You are calling for me..probably you are hungry.

Few hours old you!

And yeah, we named you Ojas. It means Vigor. I hope you like it :)

Much love,
Mamma

All set to welcome!

So Mamma will start her maternity leave from Monday, dearest Jacuzzi , to sleep, dream and get ready for you. You are expected to come out on June 6th. But lets see, when do you actually pop :)

Nana-Nani are arriving on Wednesday and Mamma can't wait to see them. Ok, You too?

To welcome you, our awesome friends threw surprise Baby shower..

And so did Mamma's wonderful colleagues. Cake said, "Sleepless nights, Busy days. Here comes little dynamite". Haha!

Your little stuff is ready.
 

And so is big brother. See, he even has a "BIG BROTHER" T-shirt he is planning to wear when he comes to meet you. 

Even your (Gadgets-unfriendly) Daddy upgraded his phone so that he can take numerous videos of you.Yeah, you are right. We should donate our camcorder and SLR camera. Because all your lazy parents use is their phone to take pictures.  

Now only thing remaining:  to find a name for you soon or else there is real danger of you stuck with name "Jacuzzi" for rest of your life. Don't raise your brows at me..it was courtesy of your own brother!  

          Have a happy rest of your stay in Mamma's tummy and please behave. It is no fun going to bathroom so many times in the night when I am asleep but you are awake, and you kick hard on my bladder just to grab attention :P  

Much Love,
Mamma

As Shreyas turns 5

"You will always be my baby" and  typical of him he goes,  "What about when I am 10?"  Yes..20? Yes. 30? yes....60? "Hahaha..I will be gone by then." I say. He coolly put his arms around my shoulders and said with confidence. "No Mamma, I will put mehandi in your hair". Baby, If only Mehandi can stop people from aging and dying :)

           It seems like yesterday I was writing about his 4th b'day post and suddenly it is time to write about 5th, don't know when one whole year flew by but then when I think how much he grew last year, it was nothing less than one giant leap. 

Every year on Christmas, his preschool hosts grand christmas play..Every kid has to participate which brings ~100 kids under 5 on the stage. It is pretty big event, involves months of practice and needless to say treat to watch! Story typically starts with three friends narrating Christmas story and as they narrate it, various characters appears in background and move play forward. Last to last christmas, when Shreyas was 3 years old, all 3 years old were angels. Play started with little narrators narrating christmas story in hilarious way. I was impressed..Four years old, delivering their lines perfectly and each one of them had so many dialogues to say. But anyways, after a while my eyes were waiting only for my angel.. When time came, all three years olds arrived looking extremely adorable in their costume. All angels sang and danced except --mine. He didn't move a muscle, spotted me in the crowd and kept looking at me as if it was all my  fault. I felt bad, but how could I expect him to be a good performer. Heck, His Mamma can't dance even in front of err..4 people. And here was pretty large crowd. So I made my peace and never brought this subject again. Life was good once again!
        But last fall, his teacher dropped the bomb. Shreyas is going to be one of three narrators in christmas play. My kid..Narrator? Seriously?Saying giant-sized lines in front of err..giant-sized crowd? Why?  See, I love his school, I love his teachers and felt genuinely bad for them. If one out of forty angels doesn't sing and dance its okay. But if one out of three narrators refuses to say his lines it would be disaster for play. And I feel, Shreyas is pretty awesome the way he is..all kids are! Its wrong to expect kid to excel in everything and I didn't want to put him under any stress. Cherry on top, we were going to India and it meant he was to miss three weeks of practice. Well, we were back and his practice started, he loved it and hated it at same time. And ofcourse didn't leave any stone unturned to make my life miserable. "Mamma, lets plan a trip during christmas". "Mamma, I think I am going to be sick during Christmas." He came up with all kind of excuses to miss the play his 4 years old brain could think of.. I didn't want to put pressure on him and I also didn't want him to back out because it would give him wrong message. It was hard to keep my cool..specially as I was pregnant. Weeks went and finally the big day arrived. We were clearly instructed (by him) that we cannot watch him perform. "Sorry son, we cheated but we made sure that you couldn't see us." And I am glad we saw. Play went very well. He didn't just perform well, it seemed he was having fun doing it. All three of them actually. Those lights, stage, cheering crowd and applause..I was immensely proud and so grateful to his teachers. They brought out a side in him which I was convinced didn't exist :)

My 3 years old grumpy Angel (in Christmas play 2011) 

                                       

My 4 years old funny narrator (in Christmas play 2012)

 School Christmas play invite. 

            

Awesome preschool teachers..All I have for them is RESPECT.

He is very curious child and from "why there are only U turns and no A, B, C turns" to "why cat is spelled as "CAT" and not "KAT", to "From where babies come from.." to "why birds don't feel cold without blanket" to "why trees don't fall?" questions never stop. He also learned to read, write and add-subtract largely by himself. Little bit of exaggeration here though! Yes, we always encourage him, play board games and do activities with him. We try our best to satisfy his curiosity and converse a lot with him but not even once we sat with him formally to "teach". It always happens through an activity or play. His school also doesn't teach much till kindergarden (which will start next year). Yes, he still needs help with reading and often make mirror images for letters while writing words(very common in this age) but he is pretty good with additions and subtractions. Daddy used to play kids monopoly with him every night and that taught him to add and subtract without any of us realizing that he is learning something so complex while playing.  Earlier he needed all his fingers, toes, our fingers and toes to count but just in few days, he transitioned to add two digit numbers without any aid. He can even do simple divisions but yes often makes mirror images for "4" or "S" :)  

             

Like daddy, he too has no concept of time. My boys don't understand that time moves in linear fashion :\ Always among group of kids who reach school last. And guess who all other latecomers are..yep, his little friends. These kids are almost always last ones to get in and most certainly last ones to go out. No matter at what time I (or parents of his friends) reach to pick our little ones, there are always cries of "Can you wait for me?", "can you wait for me?" from rest of their gang. And finally when school closes at 6.00 pm we have to drag them home by 6:10-6:15. But they all look so happy and comfortable in school, It is like their second home.
          I wrote last year about his friends and friendships..If anything changed then its only that bonds became stronger and deeper. They are group of five friends (Shreyas, J, A, N and E) and in two different sections. Shreyas and his best friend J went on to be in different sections this year but they still are closest friends. Nonetheless all five of them are great friends. They are from different ethnicities and we try to arrange play dates for them once in a month on weekends as well. They are heading to different schools next year and I really hope we all will be able to keep them in touch. 

                           Bestest friends


 Not just school he has a large friend circle in our neighborhood as well. Gentle and caring, he is not just popular among his friends, he is pretty popular among their parents too..But sometimes that makes me worry. I don't really want all these praises go to his head, he becomes arrogant/over-confident or worst develops low self-esteem and becomes a people-pleaser when he grows up. So time to time I remind him in my own way: Not everyone in this world is going to like him and thats okay as long as he is not doing anything wrong. He shouldn't worry about others opinion too much. and also that "world doesn't revolve around him."  Daddy says, I should just enjoy him and not worry unnecessarily..but thats why Mommies do. No? :)    

                 

                                             All five of them ( N, J, A, Shreyas and E )


Yes, my baby turns 5 today and he is everything and more, I ever dreamt about having in my child. Parenting him is nothing but pure joy. 
    Strangely enough, I don't feel any expectations from him. If love can really be unconditional it is closest I feel my relationship with him. If tomorrow he adopts another religion, makes little money, doesn't earn big degrees, turns out to be gay or build his life away from me...I doubt anything will make me love him any less. All I wish is, this heart melting smile and sparkles in the eyes never leave his face.    

   

         
All excited to be a big brother in few days and he is already very emotionally attached with Jacuzzi. Convinced that he is going to be responsible for feeding, rocking to sleep, giving bath to his little brother and looking forward to that..His evil parents are even trying for cleaning poop and changing diapers but no luck so far..hehehe. 
      
Ending the post with picture of family my non-artist made in school: Four of us holding hands together.  

Wish you a very happy 5th birthday, Son! 

Love you :)
Mamma 

PS: And at 5 you want to be a fireman when you grow up :) 

Those few mins...

Those few minutes, 
when we sit by the window,

watching together as world goes by,  
talking sometimes and sometimes silent,

sipping our morning tea together,
content to be there and to be with each other,

Just you and me, for those few minutes, 

A husband and his wife.

Those few minutes, 

When I come to wake you up, 

we cuddle each other,  

you wrap me in your little arms,

and I soak myself in your baby breath,

We stay like that for quite some time,

Just you and me, for those few minutes,

A mother and her child. 

Those few minutes, 

when I lie down in the night, 

my thoughts only on you, 

I feel you and I know you feel it too, 

we silently talk to each other, 

and fall asleep together..in one body,

Just you and me, for those few minutes, 

A mother and her unborn child.

Those few minutes..is what I have and those few minutes...is what I want!

Much Love,

D

  

And when little kiddies goto make their own pizza..

On a school field trip to a local pizza place and when it involved bunch of excited four years old..trip surely had to be fun :)

I was amazed and proud to see, all kids were extremely well-behaved. Giggling and curious about surroundings as kids should be, but well behaved. Can you see sparkles in the eyes?

Every tap on soda machine was making them burst into laughter..and for some strange reason, us volunteers too ;)

Oh the excitement..when entry to otherwise forbidden places (restaurant kitchen) was also allowed. I loved the gadgets they were using in kitchen.

Giant refrigerator..

And some really cool tricks by their gracious hosts. Do check the video :)

Yeah..trying the tricks by themselves.

And time to do some work..All kids were given stuff to make their own Pizza toppings.

And after few mins in oven..Pizzas were ready. Aren't they looking beautiful.

Shreyas cherishing his pizza :)

And in the end of fun-filled field trip..little kids with their teacher just before leaving the place.