Junior turns ONE !!

Oh my Sweet little Junior ...
what can I about someone whose smile just brightens the day for everyone in the house... about someone whose attention everyone seeks... who is barely one but has all of us including your stubborn sister tied to your little finger.
I still remember the day you started growing inside me .... this may sound crazy, but some how I knew I was pregnant way before I took the pregnancy home tests. Your dad was more keen about having you than your stupid mom who was scared of losing her sleep which she had barely gotten back. But the moment I realised you were going to come into our lives, my whole spirit was lifted and I was happy. This was going to be my last pregnancy and I wanted to enjoy every moment and I did.
You were a good kid inside me and did not trouble me much except when I forgot about you and organised a fun fair community event and over stressed myself when I was 32 weeks pregnant. Boy ! Was I scared I'd deliver a pre-mature baby at that time !! But you were fine and arrived just 5 days before your due date on 20th May at 12:49 pm. I was really alert when they operated me and pulled you out ... but once I got a glimpse of you and they took you for clean up ... I fell asleep. It was only after blissful sleep of 20 mins that I got to see you and I fell in love with you instantly. You were the most beautiful baby I had ever seen ... I still remember those lovely red lips and little eyes. Your dad and I argued about your eye color. You dad thought they were green just like his brothers ... and I hate green eyes ... and furiously shot back that they were brown. I am so glad you have such lovely eyes.
My mom, still maintains that you were the loveliest baby she has seen thus far .... an honor she had bestowed on your chikki (my sister) thus far :)
You were a great baby from the beginning .... a very happy and cheerful one ... you started smiling / responding very early and those dimpled simples always attracted people. In fact your chikkappa named you "Smiley".
I can see how different kids of the same parents can be ... while you adore your sister and almost worship the ground she walks on, you are very different from her. I can see that you have clearly inherited the love for pets from your daddy ... who I must add is very very proud of you for that. (he is tired of this grumpy mother of yours who is refusing to get a pet home)
You love music ... anything from carnatic classical to nursery rhymes to bollywood songs. But then you expect the music to be played everytime you are fed ... now that is proving to be challenge to change tracks for every spoon that I feed you. You are a very picky eater now and that is bothering me endlessly. It doesn't help that friends and family have commented that the once chubby you is now more like me. (I am extremely skinny and I am called Kaddi meaning stick). Its not that you do not know how to eat .. you had mastered eating chapati when you were 6 months ... you were fed rice when you were 6+ months ... and you enjoyed eating it nevermind you had no teeth to chew :)
Your first 6 months led all of us to wrongly conclude that you were a sweet little angel who just loved being by yourself and smiled at every single person in sight. The day after you completed 6 months, you turned out quite different... you learnt to sit by yourself , crawl, identify objects, switch to your daddy's side from being mommy's darling. babble, demand things when you needed .... it was as if someone switched on a button and you were a different person overnight. Your chikki who was in India during that period and came back after a long 3 months vacation could hardly believe the naughty little kid she was seeing was indeed you !
You have been a great baby thus far. You easily got adjusted to sleeping in your room in your crib. You refused the bottle but mastered to drink with a sippy cup from Day 1. You love parks, dogs, flowers, library, butterflies and birds.
You love your sister as much as she loves you. Please continue to brighten our spirits with your smiles.
God bless you !

Lots of love,
- Mommy

Weekend that was ...

It was a perfect sunday here. Bright and sunny and I started mother's day rather early... woke to the bright smiles to my dear daughters. I almost felt honored to share the day with Junior first birthday. Her actual birthday falls on 20th May ... but per Hindu calendar, it was her birthday.
My darling ... the constant babbler ... the one with the warmest smile and cutest dimple in the whole wide world turned one. I don't want her grow so fast. I want to believe that she is not yet one ... she is still my little baby who will depend on me for everything.
We went out in the morning and bought her a very cute green polka dot swim suit. We headed out to the pool in the after noon and she had her first swimming pool experience. And boy ! She had a blast or what ! Everytime her God, her sister stretched her arms and kicked her feet (attempting to swim) the birthday girl jumped in joy. Tried to splash the water on everyone as if to say, I can do exactly what you are doing. Thankfully I remembered to carry the camera and recorded the important event. It was so hard to get her out of the pool ...
Later in the evening, we went out to cold stone and she got her first taste of Coldstone ice cream. The sucker for taste that she is, relished it just the way it should be. I had prepared special dinner which she enjoyed as well. I am so glad she appreciates good food just like her mom.

And oh! I watched the Amazing race and Apprentice finals. Both kids were asleep by 9:00pm and I decided to use the rare time to watch TV. Amazing race was ok ... but the Celebrity Apprentice was a stretch and waste of time. I could care less about who won. (and yet watched)

Study time for Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe and I have formed a routine of sorts now. 7:30 - 8:00 pm is STUDY TIME !!
She drops everything she is doing when I announce it is study time and obediently sits in the room after the gathering the books I ask her to.
We both say our prayer and invariably begin with an art. I ask her to draw something, usually something she has learnt in school that week, like a butterfly, spider, lady bug, house fly , bee etc etc.
Once she is done with the drawing, I ask her to tell me things that she knows / has learnt about the insect. She says 2-3 sentences sometimes... other times weaves an entire story around the bug in spotlight. I think this sets the right spirit for her to get going with her maths / phonics. We try to do different activities during this time ranging from a short dictation to addition to subtraction to patterns to crosswords to Kannada reading / writing. Some days go more smoothly than others and she really shows a lot of interest in doing her activities. Other days she needs some nudging, then some encouraging, then some more encouraging in the borderline of threatening and occasionally yelling :( Yelling is rarity ... but it has happened. I am working on it. But no matter what we sit together for atleast 30 minutes and spend quality time learning something. I think its important for her ... she is going to be 5 and will start Kindergarten this september. I am told that homework for kindergartners is close to 30 mins. Knowing Cantaloupe, getting her to sit in one place and concentrate on one activity at a time a big challenge and hence I am just trying to gear her up better for kindergarten.
I am glad we have a start .....