Blossoms Visit

 

The books the boy bought during this week visit.

Blossoms Visit

Books Out

Books In

Percy Jackson

 Movies and the book. Current craze.

Birthday haul

 Yesterday was the boy's birthday and he got these books as gifts.

Another year older

The boy was so excited that he woke up at 530 am thinking it was morning. He could hardly sleep. After lying down quietly for some time, then chatting for some time, he finally woke up at 630 am. Milk, reading and he couldn't wait to open his gifts. He had told "books" to whoever asked him what gift he wanted for his birthday. Below is what he got.

Star Wars is his latest craze and Lego is one of his favorite pastimes. His joy knew no bounds when he got the below.

Even more thrilled, when he got this Lightsaber!

He got a Carrom board. Yet to handover the below Chess set to him. Ah beat him in Chess and he was determined to practice and win.

There was a get together at home planned with 4 other children from the apartment during the weekend.

Blossoms

Another visit and this time along with Ah. 

I took this opportunity to have coffee at the iconic India Coffee House. I had always wanted to visit this place. Growing up, I had my cup of coffee/tea from shops like these. Simple and satisfying.  

More books from the The Bad Guys Series by Aaron Blabey. And with 2 boys, the stop at The Pizza Bakery for dinner was inevitable.

Book shopping

A quick visit to Blossoms in the evening to return some of the old books. With the coupons (from the old books), the boy purchased a bunch of The Bad Guys Series (by Aaron Blabey). This was followed by dinner at The Pizza Bakery. We passed it while walking back and it was hard to wean the boy away from it.

Einstein on Fairy Tales and Education

 

Secret Seven

We were not sure if the boy was ready for this. Among the large number of Bad Boys and Magic Tree books that we picked up from Blossoms this time, we also picked a Secret Seven and a Dragon Masters (Tracey West)

The boy read the Secret Seven slowly but loved it. More than him I loved it! Took me back to my school days when I read them - along with Famous Five, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, The 3 Investigators - whatever investigative/mystery books that I could read.

Laptop

 When did I have access to a laptop? A good 6 years after I started working. 

And the boy? In Grade 2. Well versed with Zoom, knows how to Annotate, want to set a virtual background, loves Ninjago (started watching the series seriously this year) and a lot of reading using Raz-kids and British Council Library online.

Making reading a habit

We started borrowing books from British Council Library for the boy. Very good collection and the boy has been reading up all of them.

New books

for the boy...

1) Peppa and the Big train
2) Georges New Dinosaur
3) Peppa Pig: Recycling Fun

He has also learnt to count backwards!

February

The whole of last month was a topsy-turvy month – atleast most of it. The boy was sick with cough and cold. On one of the days, he ate only ice cream and he threw up that. For a week he didn’t go to school. We gave him Crocin, Sinarest and it finally wore off. He has become cranky, very cranky when he is upset. First he asks for me and if I am not around, he wants to go to Ah’s house and he knows it is not possible to go there so early in the morning or late in the night. Basically he wants things which he knows he cannot get / be done. 

On the bright side the boy had his annual day on 6th and was excited to travel in an auto rickshaw (his first trip) . Dressed in a veshti and bright blue shirt, he danced to the Pongal O Pongal song. It was a nice and cute sight of the tiny tots on the stage. He got a book “The Painted Crow” as a prize. A very nice speech by Dr Ali Khwaja from the Banjara Academy that covered some of the below points on parenting :-
1. Communication – means listening.
2. Once you give the child something, don’t take it back.
3. Don’t lie in front of them.
4. Parenting is not a popularity contest!
5. Pick the school that is comfortable for your child.
6. Punishment must be immediate and with a reason. Tell the child “I love you” after that.
7. Broken Gramophone record – the way to politely say no to the child. Be polite and nice and don’t scream.

After reminder from the teacher, he had his haircut on 14th without any fuss. He has been sitting and drinking milk in the morning as opposed to lying down. And he willingly closes his eyes when his face has to be washed with soap :-) The brushing teeth activity is a hit or miss. On some days he is willing and on other days throws a tantrum. On 24th he had his Vidyarambham done at Mookambika temple, Kollur. In fact he seems to love going to the temple and spending time there. Back home, he went to the post office as a part of his school trip the next day. He also posted an Inland Letter for us :) He has learnt to wear and remove shorts on his own.

He also started with his Flintobox (Educational Activity Boxes For Children) sets. Nicely thought out activity sets they are.

“Yuk!” That is his way of describing anything that he does not like. “I don’t like milk. Yuk… yuk….YUK!”.
“Aye, I say stop it” is something that he says when he wants us to stop doing what he does not like.

Shut up!

That is something new the boy picked up (I think from Aa) and uses a lot.

In the last one month there has been a spurt – in his activities and the words spoken. The boy is very active at home but in school, he is very shy. Every day, when we pick him up, the teacher asks him to walk. He walks half way (till he sees the tractor) and then insists on being carried - he clings to our legs.

We had the PTM today. The boy was very shy this time too and the teachers said he is generally obedient and good at school. He lost out on stars for one feature - listening to teachers. The teachers say that is because he is growing to being on his own now.

The Brush, Brush, Brush book has been delivered and it does help him with brushing his teeth. Dora's Puppys Big Surprise  and The Very Hungry Caterpillar are his favorite books.

Time

It is hard to get some time to your own. The moment the boy is up, he wants one of us around him all the time. The moment I head towards the door to leave home, he starts crying. I have resorted to sneaking out and jumping over the balcony if required.

The boy has a very bad cold and one of his eye is watering because of the cold. 

Peppa's Busy Day and Dora's Puppys Big Surprise are the latest additions to his list of books.

Raincoat

The IL’s (grandparents) left before the boy woke up. He created a fuss when he found out but then settled down. 

There were rains, he wore the raincoat and loved it so much that he wanted to wear it in the house.

The Potty book that was delivered is proving to be helpful, reminding the boy where to go potty.

Swimming Diapers

The boy's swimming diapers are finally here. Huggies Little Swimmers Disposable Swimpants, Size 3-4 (7kg-15kg/15lb-34lb). 



Picked them up from I and R today. It was nice to meet them and their daughter Ia who is older than the boy by a couple of months. 

Also ordered the Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar books for the boy.

Sleepless nights are back...for now

The boy usually wakes up in the middle of the night (2-3 times), has his milk and goes back to sleep quietly. The last 2 nights - he just did not go back to sleep. He has been very cranky and I walked around rocking him. Put him back on the bed, he cries, wakes up again and the cycle continues. Needless to say, my morning routine has gone for a toss. The wife, who generally leaves home for work at 815 am has been leaving only after 845 am. I hope it gets back to normal soon!

The boy's first book has been delivered - Bedtime (Touch & feel book).