Another month bites the dust

Days are really flying by soo quickly and I cannot believe that I am all of 11 months. Dada started with this new school here very near were we live. This means I get to accompany mamma to drop him every morning cosily tucked in my pram. I really look forward to my newly founded routine of these morning walks.

However these morning walks were soon short lived afetra few days. I had started to sneeze and then developed a bad cold ,cough and fever ..that just wouldnt go away. My appetite too was fading away gradually. I really scared mamma and papa out of their wits and after a few the trips to the docters we ended the saga with a trip to childrens emergency unit at the hospital when one day I just wasnt in a mood to have anything at all and seemed really dull and sleepy.

After numerous tests the docters were convinced that it wasnt anything serious but just a nasty virus that would take its cycle of 7 whole days to go away. And that is what happened. I am now on antibiotics and recovering surely but steadily.

Fall is in the air and we went clothes shopping at Polarn o. Pyret and some others baby shops that mamma frequents, purchasing windproof fleece and overalls for the cold winters.

We also met up with 2 other moms for lunch at this place called Hermans that serves a great vegetarian buffe from cuisines from across the globe. It is situated at the top of the hill that overseas the Baltic sea. A great place,great food and a great view. Picture the madness of 3 women with strollers and not so quite babies in a crowded eatery joint on a not so warm rainy day. Not a pretty sight :-).We all got along fine - the baby closest to my age Akul spent most of the time sleeping, outside on the patio. I, of course, fought sleep to keep an eye out on everything.

We even celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi and brought home a little idol of lord Ganesh the lord of wisdom.It was my first ever Ganesh festival and I enjoyed watching everyone do the aarti everyday. I participated by tapping on Dada's head while other clapped on singing the aarti.

I have also began using the Potty seat these days, it is a new experience for me. Everyone seems to be impressed that I 'do' what I am supposed to do in the potty seat.:-):-) although I believe it is more by chance that it happens since they put me at the right place at the right time..ha..haa..!!!.

I have also developed a great interest in books these days. I love the fish and also also started to say 'iissh' whenever I spot the book with fishses on it. The ritual of throwing around onions and potatoes all around whenever mamma cooks continues..:-):-)All in all I am getting naughtier as days are going by and al totally looking forward to my 1st birthday in a couple of days..

Will keep u posted on the birthday celebrations.

A month full of activities..a fun month...

Mamma and I are so busy that the weeks fly by and we don't have enough hours in a day to keep everyone posted. The whole of last month was really hectic .....we were 'busy' having fun. Dada was on his vacation and so was papa during the last 2 weeks. So somedays we spent lazing around and all of us slept until noon ( a guy's thing they called it before I came along) and then went for long walks in the evenings..One fine day papa suggested we all get adventurous and explore the country side .We walked while dada cycled through fields and pathways and then through real roads and pebbled roads till we reached the other side of the subarb..there we had dinner in an indian restaurant and then walked all the way back. We all crashed as soon as we got home..we had to......in all we all had walked and dada had cycled for 6 kms that day.!!!!!

On other days we were up early to take a trip to the City Zoo or went swimming or simply met up friends mamma fixed Dada's play dates with. The trip to the zoo was really exciting. It was my first ever and so I didnt know what to expect. There were all sorts of different animals. ..from the huge Ananconda...to the little ..very tiny fist sized monkey..from the the huge crocodile..to the strong and sturdy elk , the moose, the bison, bear..the seal, lynx.....and yes lots of different snakes from all over the world. Dada actually touched the Boa Constrictor..a kind of python with his bare hands while it was fast asleep.. and also patted the hind leg of a huge black poisonous Tarantula...I was highly impressed. He is a brave boy...:-) Awww.. I want to grow up and be as brave as him..

The trip to the indoors water park was also great.. not so much for me though.. Mamma tried to put me in the waters but water all around me got me scared ..and I got a bit cranky..although normally I am quite well behaved when we go outdoors. The others had a lovely time though and I seeked pleasure seeing the others having fun splashing water all over and sliding through the huge curvy water slides

We had a lovely evening at Meenu's aunty's one day where we all met for a barbeque party. Mamma had made some yummmy Paneer tikkas.

I also thoroughly enjoyed playing with dada'd friend Ayush who had come for a sleep over at our place last week.The next day we met up 2 other families and drove over to Waxholm ..a nearby port from where we took a 2 hr boat ride to an island called Frihamnen. The weather gods were a bit upset that day and it rained for some part of the day . I was neatly tucked up in my pram beneath my rain covers so I was cozy and warm....simply having a delightful ride .... while mamma and papa had an adventurous, exciting ..and a tiring day pushing my pram all over the hilly island in the rains. Dada simply enjoyed meeting up his friends that day and running all over in the slush , puddles and rain splashing water all over himself and the others.

We take what we get .... here in Sweden ...which is situated far away from the equator we have an unsaid rule which says ' donot let go of any warm sunny day without having some fun'. So mamma made some quick lunch 2 days back when the day was really bright and shinning and we all had a small picnic at Haga Park

Oh..before I forget.. I learnt to crawl last month putting mamma's anxiety to rest. It was by accident I guess that I discovered the art called 'crawling' when I thought mamma was about to leave me all alone at home and go out for a walk that I suddenly started to crawl towards her..

These days I am called 'CHINKZILLA' the destructor... as I now have a tendency to crawl around to pull on electricity cords, hang on kitchen towels, pull out vitamin bottles from the drawers , pull out clothes from the cupboards, and knock over anything at my height. Sometimes when I get stuck under the chair, or between the dining chairs dada comes to my rescue and carries me back to mamma. The best place at home is the kitchen. There I love opening the kitchen cabinets to pull out utensils, and the drawers below to throw potatoes and onions all over for dada to pick up later. When sitting on my high chair, I also enjoy throwing my food, toys and anything else I can get my hands on onto the floor for mamma and Papa to pick up ... 100 times. And on top of it all, I have discovered my "voice" becoming very vocal about things I want, and things I can't have.

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Enjoying the Scandinavian summer

Well it is the peak of summer here in Stockholm and the city has come to life. Dada has his vacations now and that makes it even more fun. We create a ruckus the whole day long scattering toys all over the place, screaming with joy, and playing with each other. Of course we do converse with one another..the language is a bit differnt though. Dada speaks in his coherent hindi or english..and I speak in my language.. called the ' Chinku language'.. It comprises of screaming , cooing and gurgling back at him... oh yes the pitch varies though to show exactly what I mean. It comes across as funny to all those to see the scene although dada and me understand each other and continue with our play..while mamma and papa have a hearty laugh.

Mamma has gone crazy as the ' Summer Sale' is on in all of the shops here and I really dont understand the glee on her face when she gets a good deal on her favourite things.. that means dada and me accompany her to the downtown and the various malls every other day. Ah.!! now I know why papa says 'Women will be Women'..

The malls and our outings are not that bad .. since we do stop at parks on the way and play a bit. Mamma dresses me in real bright summer outfits and I see people pass a cute smile at me on the way. I also hear them say ' Gulligt' or ' Söt' which in swedish means ' How sweet and soo cute'.. :-) See my pictures to believe me.

We also went to one of the islands on the swedish Archipelago one saturday with Meenu aunty's family and it was a lot of fun. Meenu aunty has a little girl named ' Akriti' and it was her first ever outing this long. I couldnt get to play with her as she is only a month and half old now.. Although I did try to hold her hand and see her from close when we were in the ferry out .Once there Mamma and papa took a lot of pictures all over the place and I enjoyed seeing the ducks and the sea gulls.We have some pictures from that day too.

Dada has learnt to ride his bike without the support wheels and that is his achievement these days. He loves to show off when we go for our evening walks and I gurgle back in delight as I see him swishhh past us in full speed.

Papa was away to Brazil last week and when back he bought us lovely presents for all of us.

Like papa who I always hear saying ' Think outside the box'.... I too have found an unconventional way to move around... I dont really crawl. I can get up and sit without help and if I want something..I simply lay down and roll towards that object and when I reach it I sit up again. I love creating a big mess when I eat and it means a lot more work for mamma everyday. I also enjoy throwing my food, toys and anything else I can get my hands on onto the floor for mamma and papa to pick up ... 100 times. All in all I am enjoying the summers..and waiting for it to get better when papa finally takes some days off next week.

8 month old back in Stockholm after a 2 month long India vacation

I am back.!! Yes.. every good thing comes to an end and so did my marvellous vacations to India. We sure did have loads of fun. We went to Raipur for a while from Mumbai and I enjoyed thoroughly at Nana's big house there. I thought is was HUGE :-). Dada couldnt ask for more... he spent all day watching movies in the big home theatre Nana has built. We had a good time at Nidhi Mausi's wedding too.. Nana Nani were relieved that me and dada survived the 45 deg of scorching summer heat successfully .

After we returned safely to Mumbai for a few day I heared mamma tell me that we had to travel again..this time to Delhi to meet Baba, Dadi. A big surprise awaited us there.. PAPA was at the airport to greet us. Awww.!! wasnt it sweet of him . Dada and Mamma were estatic to see him ....... me ...well, (sheepishly) I have to admit I had forgotten him . I just kept staring at him when he picked me up and them wanted to return back to mamma. I broke his heart when I did that.. :-( but papa didnt give up..he was hell bent in trying to win me over and his persuasive ways did the trick. Ashi Bua and Phuphaji were in Delhi too with Rishabh bhaiya and little Annika too.

Annika who is 4 months older to me was celebrating her 1st birthday and everyone was excited to celebrate the occassion. I was a bit perplexed though. U know I love pulling everyone's hair, however everytime I tried to pat Annika's head , I couldnt find any hair on it to hold on to.. Everytime I did this, I would hear Mamma and Papa laugh out loud.. Then I learnt that Annika had got her mundan done. :-) Well, we had a good time at Annika's birthday party. She and me were both dressed in pink.I heared everyone complimenting Mamma, as she looked gorgeous in her new saree which Dadi gifted her.

Now I am back in Stockholm, enjoying the sun and the begining of the summers here.. It feels really great to be back. I miss Nana, Nani and Vinu mama though. ( sigh..) and they are really missing me and dada a lot ..or so I heared Nani say this to mamma on the phone...( sigh) ( sigh)...

Dada and me play a lot together..most of the times me asmused by all his antics laughing in delight. I loved it when he was dressed in his Superman outfit. We also try and play Cricket, Papa and me bowl to Dada and I laugh out aloud everytime Papa does that whilst holding me.

Ah..!! U know who I bumped into yesterday?.... The top international Swedish football player ' Zlatan'.. First the Queen of Sweden, now Zlatan...... :-):-) perhaps I bump into the US President Obama next..who knows :-)..I have my big beautiful eyes open :-)

Dada's 5th Birthday and a 7 month old moody me

This time I thought of delighting my adoring fans with some video clips of me rolling over ( from last month) and now sitting without support. I know...mamma should have posted my roll over video earlier...Well I kept her soo busy with my antics :-) that she couldnt find the time

Yes..!!! I have started to sit without support now..it was 1 days after I turned 7 months old when I discovered I could do that on my own. I am enjoying my newly aquired taste of a little independence

Another highlight of the week was Dada's 5th birthday celebration. Wow.!! We had such a blast. You can see dada getting his birthday bumps from his newly found friends here in Mumbai. There was 22 of dada's friends that made it for his party.. I must say I was impressed with him for being so popular.. They all played various games and danced to the hit bollywood numbers till their feet began to hurt. Dada had ordered for his favourite Pink Panther cake for his special day and after all the games and dances his friends savoured on some authentic south indian Idli chutney and the Chinese Schewan Hakka Noodles among various other yummy cookies and goodies ..He got quite a few lovely gifts to that day. I too was dressed in my adorable pink frilly dress Nana Nani bought for me and enjoyed every bit of the evening busy observing everything that was going on around me..We surely did miss papa that day and he was missed us more than ever. I wish he could come here to India and have a fun time with us..

I am headed to Nidhi mausi's wedding next week and then will enjoy in Nana's big house in Raipur. So wait for some more exciting news from me ....

Some more pictures of me (6-7 months)

Nana downloaded these pictures just now and I just couldnot break the heart of my adoring fans.. I couldnt wait until next time to post these pictures. So here we go.....U see dada dancing merrily in Eskay club , also in the other picture u see him eating up his favourite fruit ..the MANGO... not all mangoes but the ALPHANSO..:-) he only asks for those.

The rest of them are my pictures where u see me posing in my 2 pigtails. Aint I such a cutie pie..??

Chilling with nana nani...

Like I promised attached are a few pic from Mamma's birthday last month. Time is simply flying and I am having loads of fun here in India. I turned all of 7 months today.

A few days back we went to the 4th anniversary party of the premium Eskay club and resorts and enjoyed thoroughly. I looked adorable with my 2 pony tails and managed to turn a few eyes when I entered the huge Tennis court where the party was held. Dada danced and danced to the Bollywood hit nos till the music stopped and then got a huge Batman tattoo painted on his hands. He rode on the kids train and also jumped on the trampolines till his feet hurt . The food was delicious and there was so much to choose from. The next day Nani wanted to take me to the temples . We were fortunate enough to have gotten to attend the aarti at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple and then proceeded to the Mahalaxmi temple .Since these were the days of the Navratris, we bought a red beautiful saree for the Mahalaxmi devi and the family said a huge thank you to Mahalaxmi devi for having blessed us with a cutie pie like me :-).

Mamma is making the best of her time here, she is busy talking on the phone to her long lost friends or is busy visiting all of her favourite haunts and gorging on all the yummy food . I dont remember all but I definatly remember going to Yokos Sizzlers with the family and mamma was thrilled to savour the delicious sizzlers sizzling on the hot plate.

Dada says Nana is his best friend and is soo busy doing things with nana right from the time he wakes up in the morning. He also has made a lot of new friends here and plays till late in the evenings .. sometimes till 10.30 in the nights. He attened a birthday party last week where the dress code was all denim and I too accompanied dada with my short Denim skirt. I love going to walks every evenings and now people here wait to see me every evening with my 2 pony tails.

The latest development is my moving around all over by rolling on and off. I have realised that by doing this I move a few inches everytime and finally reach what I want to pick up.Mamma says it is now really dangerous to leave me alone anywhere as she puts me somewhere and I manage to reach some place else. :-). I love sitting and bathing in the bath tub and it seems to people as if I am enjoying in my jacuzzi.

Wait for some more updates from India in my next post ..till then adios

6 month old in India..

So much has happened in the last few weeks that my head is reeling. It was mommy's birthday on 17th March and she turned a million years old.. Dadi made mamma's favourite semai kheer. In the evening we went to an award winning Malaysian restaurant and gorged on the yummy food. Papa had bought mamma's favourite chocolate cake with rich dark chocolate filling with a dash of rum from N.K Stores, Stockholm's premium store and she cut it amidst her shy giggles and papa's funny comments. Well, u guys will have to wait till the next time to see the pictures .

Then after 2 days on 20th March we were on the plane seated in the business class, and I realised I was heading to Bombay, India.. Yippie...!!!!The highlight of the trip was that seated next to us on the way to Munich was ....guess who...........give up..?? Well it was the QUEEN OF SWEDEN..!!! She had her guard with her and we were the only ones seated in the business class section. I consider myself priviledged to have shared space with one of the World most important people. She spoke with mamma and said that dada and me were 2 brave, and very sweet kids.
I heared Mamma telling Nani and Nana said that dada and me behaved really well on the 8 hr long flight to Bombay. I am currently in Bombay with Nana, Nani and Vinu mama.. and that is the reason why I couldnt post any pictures of mamma's birthday.
The weather here is simply great. I am ONLY in my diapers all day long and enjoy every bit if it. Dada is soo busy playing downstairs with the kids until 10 in the night and he is simply thrilled to know that one can do that in India.. We go the park in the evening and I look fwd to it every day.Vinu mama simply loves to spend time with me and dada and the first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is to come and play with me..
Yes..one more thing...mamma was a bit anxious and so was my nurse back in Sweden ( when I met her 1 day before coming to India) since I wouldnt roll over on my own from front to back..and I eased her out of her worries when in exactly 2 days under Nani's practise of' No Nonsense Pampering' when she made me lay on the floor all the time and sat besides me to play ,I rolled over on my own.!!!!
I hadnt spent much time on the floor back in Sweden although I must admit I loved every bit of the pampering of always being picked up by Dadi Baba.
These days I simply LOVE rolling over on both sides as I realised I can reach out to many things when I simply roll over and pick up my head... Will post a video of me rolling over in my next blog.

Eating real food

So mamma has spent a lot of time and effort buying, cooking, and researching baby food yet one more time after a stint with dada nearly 5 yrs back... to no avail ONCE AGAIN..:-):-). I just don't like purees, or being fed with a spoon. Am posting a picture of me trying to eating the banana and rice cereal . It is an ordeal for mamma everyday, I create such a mess everytime. Each time my hair gets sticky and messy with food all over it and I have to bathe yet again after every meal. I enjoy the bathe though :-)

I love sitting on mamma's lap when she eats, that way I get to hold her food and also watch her eat. I try to put her glass of water in my mouth or hold her spoon of food when she eats, Of course I skip the salad or raitas with onions in it- you never know who you have to kiss :-):-).

Ah.!! I finally got over a nasty cold I caught 10 days back.I had a pretty tough time going to bed and woke up many times a night, since I couldn't nurse very well with a stuffed up nose.

Lots of exciting things also happened in the last few days. The family was invited to dinner to Preeti aunty's place and we had loads of fun. There was Rhea and Radhika there as well apart from Chinti and Vipul. Dada enjoyed playing the Wii and has been asking papa and mamma to buy him one ever since

Did I mention , the family also went to watch the bollywood flick Billo Barber and I really behaved very well and let them enjoy. Then we dined at a fine Italian Restaurant.

Last week mamma and me went shopping with Meenu Aunty. She has a baby in her tummy and wanted mamma to help her buy some baby stuffs, Mamma thoroughly enjoyed her day out and so did I. Am posting one more pic of me wearing a beautiful dress presented to me by Meenu Aunty.

A few days back Mamma took a print of my little foot on the clay she purchased from the baby art shop. Dada was really enthused about this activity and helped mamma roll and prepare the clay for the foot print. Then mamma helped him to engrave my name and the date on the clay . The clay will dry in 5 days, so dada is a bit patient right now..

I look forward to an outing each day and have begun to understand when all are getting dressed to go out. I jump gleefully each time the apartment door opens and let out a joyful squeal with a smile on my face. The blister on my lip is seeming to get better as days are rolling by which is a good news for everyone.

These days I love putting every thing I can lay my hands on in my mouth. Mamma thinks these are signs that I will be sprouting my teeth in a couple of months . Wait till u to see me smile !!!

Anna Prashan (22, Feb, 2009)

So I turned 5 months old and today was my Anna-Prashan ( ate the first morsel of solid food). Today marks another milestone in my adventures so far.

Mamma was all bathed and dressed at 6:30 in the morning all ready to start the preparations for this day. Note the picture of the plate full of food( Kadhi, Rice, Puris, Kachoris, Sabzi , Dahi wadas, and ofcourse Kheer) that was made especially for the ceremony today.

I wore the lovely frilly blue dress and also the gold chain and the chum chum payals to go with it all.. shopped for me by Nana Nani. Then when the muhurat was right Baba fed me my first morsel of solid food, which was the yummy( or so I heared dada yelling) kheer. Since I hadnt tasted it before I was looking forwad do so as I watched baba perform the religious ceremony while I sat on mamma's lap listening to the mantras.

It was a moment for the whole family... as they smilingly watched my innocent and yet funny expressions when the kheer touched my tongue and as I decipherd in my little head as to what do I call that taste dada said was 'yummy' whilst smacking my lips at the same time.

After that there was a series of pictures everyone wanted to take with me, and ofcourse I didnt let anyone down.

Dada was really thrilled as he was waiting for this day for a long time. He wore the blue kurta pyjama and the stol to go with it and wanted to hold me all the while during the ceremony and kept telling mamma 'Mamma chinku is looking beautiful today', before he fed me a spoonful of kheer too.

He now thinks he has a strong competition in me ,in his everyday race of 'who finishes dinner first' and has already started to gear himself for tomorrow. Ah!! he doesnt know I am going to give him a real tough fight everyday.... will keep you posted on who wins these races.

Time is flying

So time is flying by quickly.. and I am already four and half months old. I couldnt break the heart of my adoring fans and here are a few pictures of me...:-) In one picture, I am 3 and half months old and sitting on the sofa wearing yet another frock that Nani has stitched..'Aint I adorable...the other pictures are of me and dada in a mall today evening when I went with mamma, papa, dada and of course baba and dadi...Donot miss the little ponytail mamma has made with my long hair :-).I will post a better picture of my ponytail next time.

Dada, myself and especially Papa are basking in the pampering and all the special attention that dadi and baba are bestowing on us and we are enjoying it.

I squeal with delight everytime upon seeing dada dance on some bollywood songs that he sees on the TV and he actually enjoys entertaining me thoroughly. Mamma even captured me on video actually laughing one time seeing one of dada's dances.I think he is one good dancer...

A few days back poor Dada was sick with an ear infection.He scared all of all of us especially mamma when he woke up in the middle of one night with really high fever and moaned with extreme pain in his ear. He felt much better in 2 days when docters started him on antibiotics. He spent the rest of the week resting at home and playing with dadi and baba.

We were invited over to Nidhi Aunty's place for lunch last saturday. 7 month old Akul was eagerly awaiting my arrival as it was Valentine's day. He was asleep in his rocker when we reached his place, but looked quite debonair in his dark pair of jeans and a colourful sweater to go with it. Of course he woke up soon after and spent all the time after that gazing into my beautiful eyes. His mom thought I had a stiff upper lip when I didnt appreciate his necking and trying to kiss me on my little cheeks and showed my disspleasure with an angerfilled cry. :-):-) Poor Akul was really heart broken, but I have my preferences you see..

Dada's teacher told him to make beautiful cards for girls he loved and on Valentine's morning Mamma and me got a beautiful handmade cards from him....how sweet of him :-) He course got a bouquet of red roses from mamma

Papa decieded to celebrate that day by taking dadi , baba, me dada and mamma to our favourite Thai restaurant.

We were invited to lunch again today by little Anshi's mom and she made some delicious food. Later we went to the newly opened big mall and did some shopping for me.

Mamma has not been her cheerful self lately and I try to read her eyes to understand why...I think she is mentally fatigued and ready for a good break. We will see when that happens , but in the meanwhile I try to cheer her up with my coys and squeals and innocent smiles whenever I see her and it works ALL THE TIME. Her face breaks into a sweet smile and I get a lot of cuddles and kisses for my act..