Ramdom musings

* Have you ever tried to explain the child birth process to your husband? If yes, let me know how that went ... if not try it and let me know.
I tried to explain the same to BP and most part of it, he gave me a blank look. I am sure he didn't know any of the body parts I was trying to explain him. (but for the obvious ones). When he did come out of the blank look to ask a question, it would be something like "What is the difference between Baby kicks and Contraction?" ... now that would end with a blank look on my face.


* On a completely different note, ever seen the tension on the face of the parent when they are trying to get their child (especially a pre-schooler or kindergardener) to school? Visit a near by school if you haven't .... the parents are dragging their child with a tensed look at the watch and trying to reach the school gate on time ... the child on the other hand is in his / her own world, bright and cheerful enjoying the morning sun asking simple question (only to the irritation of the parent). The sight is just hilarious.
Of course don't forget to see the victorious look on the parent once they manage to get the child on time.

Narada in the making ...

Its official .... Cantaloupe is becoming a "Narada"

Last night when we were hitting the bed, after rolling over a couple of times, she came to me and said, "Amma, its so hot. Can you please turn on the fan?". And I obliged.
The next minute she turns towards her dad and says "Dadda, amma has turned on the fan. Don't you think, its getting rather cold and your nose is going to hurt as well ... right?"

BP and I looked at each other and said in sync "Cantaloupe you better decide if you want the fan or not! Don''t play tricks on us"

Now now... what does she expect from her parents!!

ps: BP is not too fond of fan and I am more than happy to enjoy the cool air from the fan ! We usually negotiate on the usage of fan :)

Dino and Sea animals

The school which Cantaloupe goes to has been teaching her stuff that I probably learnt in my middle school (perhaps not even as part of my prescribed curriculum). So what is that she is learning ???

The month of february, the kids were introduced to various famous Presidents of America. She clearly recognises George Washington, Abrahim Lincoln and the like ... she also can speak a few words about them. Hmm ... time for me to learn some American History coz, I knew the stuff she talked about and had one or two sentences to add to her knowledge bank. OK ... my knowledge seems to be pre-school level ... I am so ashamed ... before I can embarass my self any further, better use "Google" to good affect.

Cantaloupe has been talking about various Dinosaurs lately ... Tyrannosaurus, Apathosaurus, Trycerotops, Stratosaurus ... are my spellings are right here .... I don't know. Wonder how she manages to pronunce them let alone remember them!! I was shocked when she asked me one fine day, "Amma which is your favourite Dinosaur?" My answer was "Uh!!" and before I could remember my science classes ... she said, "My favourite is Tyrannosaurus Rex ... do you like him too??" ... "Ah ! I found my answer" I thought. "Yes dear... he is my favourite too" I mumbled.

She has learnt about "Transportation" ... Finally one topic I can hold a decent conversation on. But the pictures drawn by a three year old are pretty impressive. I appreciate the teachers for their efforts in helping the kids draw and come up with a "Transportation workbook".

Since last week, she has been learning about Sea animals. Today when I went to pick her up, she was in the middle of her art work and requested me for sometime. She wanted to complete her art before she left school for the day. When I asked her, why she was so particular about completing it today, she said, "Today is the last day we learn about sea animals. We will not be doing the art work on sea animals from tomorrow". I am beaming today to know the commitment / interest my little one has shown towards her school work. I never force her to do stuff at home. Of course, I teach her and have her read books ... but I am hardly pushy. We read when she wants to ... we draw when she wants to ... and we write / sing when she wants to. But she does realise that she needs to do some activity like sing / read / write / draw sometime during the day. Usually it is sometime around 7:00pm in the evening. Of course there are days when she is in no mood for any of the above ... those days we just end up playing with her toys.

One thing I am learning is that, its time I brush up my knowledge on some subjects.

A little music in life

Music has been such an integral part of me. I love music ... thanks to my parents who introduced music into my life quite early ... when I barely could talk. OK... that was in the form of lullaby... but based on what my family have to say, I started talking (meaningful sounds / words) when I was about 8 months. By 12 months, I could sing decently for my age. I sang on stage when I was 3.5 yrs for a singing competition. The competition was for the age group 6 - 10 yrs ... but I was enthusiastic and my parents did not want to discourage me and requested the organisers to allow me to sing ... and so I did! Though I did not win any prizes, the judges were impressed with my enthusiam and I was awarded a special prize.

I started training in classical music not to regularly from mom. Soon she realised that formal training was best suited for me coz there would be better commitment from me. At age 10 I started Carnatic classical music. I attempted learning veena and flute for a couple of months ... but soon gave up and just continued vocal. I found a great teacher, who was as much dedicated in teaching as much I was in learning. She was young and friendly ... had been married for 2 years and had a year old son at the time. I was almost part of their family .... the more I discussed / learnt music from her, the more I started appreciating the depth of music. She often encouraged me to go to concert to expand my music knowledge. I continued to learn music for until graduation.

Why all of a sudden am I talking about all this... coz, I talked to my mom last night and she mentioned that she had a special present for Cantaloupe for her birthday this year. Guess what it is ... she has bought a "Shruthi Pettige" (the Tanpura box) for Cantaloupe ... I was so touched, I almost cried. It brought back all the wonderful memories I had with my music teacher and my tanpura. I only hope my daughter shows interest and enthusiam in classical music. She sure enjoys music ... lets see her interest in classical music.

Crazy 8 Tag

Amma has been tagged couple of times, and she has not been so good with all the tags. So when Moppet tagged me, I got excited on my first tag.
So here goes...

8 Things I am passionate about:
1. Appa ... I lovingly call him "Dadda" these days. (Yes, yes, yes ... I am daddy's little girl !!)
2. Amma ... these days called "Mamma" (I know amma is already frowning seeing her name second ... but then she really knows me and it should not surprise her)
3. Ghatu ... He is my favourite toy / brother
4. Cantaloupe and Watermelon (no wonder mamma named the blog after my favourite fruit)
5. Coloring (amma thinks I pick odd colors ... but then whats the fun if I don't color atleast 5 colors on a car??? Amma always wants me to color green for leaves, red for apples etc .... but then I choose red for leaves and green for apples ... can't amma think of Fall colors and Green apples???)
6. Visiting the library
7. Jumping ... you ask where ??? .. well anywhere but the trampoline!!!
8. Sliding / Swinging endlessly in the park

8 Things I do that drives Mama crazy:
1. "Why" questions from me ... well if amma says something like, don't eat the banana yet, I need to know why. And then she gives me some answer like it is still raw, but never says why it is still raw. I guess amma does not have answers to my smart questions.
2. My sleeping habits ... I have always been a kid with less sleep. Even when the doctor suggested average sleep of 12- 14 hrs, I'd sleep 11 hrs a day. These days 9 hrs of sleep is more than enough for me. I sleep in school for almost 1- 1.5hrs... so I just cannot sleep before 10:30pm... but amma just doesn't get it.
3. Brushing my teeth ... its hard enough to brush once a day, but I am expected to brush twice.
4. Applying Moisturizer ... this one I do intentioally ... I love my parents crazily chasing me all over the house
5. I hate skirts / frocks ... it HAS to be pants and thats it. I don't care if amma has spent a fortune on all those girly frocks.
6. Story telling sessions ... actually this one is linked to No.2 Since I cannot sleep early I end up perstering amma on reading me atleast 1o bedtime stories.
7. I hate bread / bun and prefer only "South Indian breakfast" ... this one amma is to blame herself, its her genes.
8. Clean up after dinner ... I think food left behind on the mat / table / high chair is just indicative that I had dinner by my self .... wonder why she gets mad.

8 Things I say often:
1. Amma amma amma
2. Dadda is not listening to you ?? (to amma) OR Amma is not listening to you ?? (to dadda)
3. Right amma?
4. Appa / Dadda is late today
5. How was your day amma?
6. Am I behaving OR Am I a good girl today?
7. Lets play
8. What day is today?

8 Books I've read recently:
1. Panchatantra
2. Jataka tales
3. Prahlada
4. Dora : Storytime collection
5. Cat in the Hat
6. Outer space
7. Barney's eater eggs
8. My truck (this one, I am trying to read by myself )

8 songs I can (and do!) listen to over and over
1. On the good ship ... lollipop
2. Wonderful things about Tiggers
3. Krishna ne begane Baro
4. Ee meri zohara jabbein (Hera Pheri-2)
5. We'r going on a trip (little Einstein)
6. Anku Donku (Kannada - "Aapthamitra)
7. Vandemataram
8. Sho fly don't bother me

Friends (mine and amma's) from the blogworld ... pls do this blog ... its really fun !

General updates

Recap of events in the Cantaloupe household over the past few days:

• My project ended as predicted on 13th Feb. Had been to the office to return my laptop / badge and clean up my desk. (there was absolutely no items to clean up ... my desk was just ready to be occupied!! Wish my house was as clean ... sigh!) Felt strange going to office after almost 4 months ... yes, had been working from home. The commute of 1.5hrs each way was costing a lot of precious time of mine and I had decided to work from home. Thankfully no one seem to complain ... of course they wouldn't ... I worked sincerely ! Three hours that was gained by "No commute" proved precious. I could not ensure Cantaloupe had the breakfast and was dressed just the way I wanted her to be for her school. It also meant that I could complete all the dinner prep work before Cantaloupe was home ... resulting in uninterrupted time with her till BP took in charge.

I was a busy bee when I was working and looked forward for a long weekend or a family outing. Strangely I am home now looking for my next client assignment, and it feels I have all the time in the world. I just cannot sit home like this ... I hope I start working soon.

• My sister started her first job ... we surprised her with a cake and gift the night before she started work ... she was touched!
• Finally watched Taare Zameen Par ... liked the movie ... but somehow with all the talk about the movie, my expectation were sky high and I felt the movie did not live upto my expectation. Had I gone without pre-notions, I would have definitely enjoyed it better I guess. Cantaloupe watched starting parts of the movie (I am sorry dear for putting you through this) and she was so involved and touched. A cheerful little girl suddenly looked quiet and pityful around the time Ishaan was sent to boarding. (of course she understood the movie in parts ... ) She could not stand the separation of the child from his parents. She started crying uncontrollably and just wanted the movie (torture for her) to stop. BP tried his best to cheer her up ... but no luck. Finally I told her that Ishaan would go back to his parents and that he was there at the boarding to collect his prize for his drawing. As you would imagine, we watched the second half of the movie in parts ... since we had to take care of Cantaloupe. But she was only satisfied when Ishaan was given his prize at the end of the movie. I just cannot believe my little girl has grown so fast !!!
• Now that I am home, I have been preparing delicacies almost everyday!! Cantaloupe is more than happy to have them :) As always BP never says anything ... this man has never complained or appreciated food. He only cannot tolerate spicy food ... so as long as the food is not extra spicy, he just treats food the same. No complaints ... no appreciation.... hmm... is that good??? I don't know.
• Dad is thoroughly enjoying his work. He is so happy and satisfied with the responsibilities he has got upon his return to work after retirement. Its not everyday we see, a person getting the same responsibililties and powers he enjoyed before retirement, after returning back. (and mind you, he took a break of over a year, before he was requested to join back. I am glad he visited us during his break and spent the summer with us)
• Congratulations to all expecting moms in the blog world... summer promises to be a baby season !

Moi Memoir

Noon has tagged me … I must thank her for this. I usually do not read my posts … once they are written, they are done. But Noon’s tag led me to go back the memory lane which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The tag says:

"Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better."

Family: Here is the post on how me and Cantaloupe spent our time when my parents visited us last year.

Friends: One of my good friends had a baby last year. Here is the post: I am ashamed to admit that I have not met these friends in a long time … though we have been in touch over the phone. Reminds me, her mom will be leaving in 2 weeks, should plan to meet her soon.

Myself: I crossed my fingers and hoped people did not stop visiting my blog after reading this post of mine.

My love: I write very little about BP and my relation … Cantaloupe gets all the attention. But I did write sometime back about how BP and I found each other. This post really really makes me nostalgic.

Anything I like: Here are more details about myself.

I would love to hear from Pixie, Aryan’s Mom, Poppins, Kodi’s mom and Cee Kay.