Bournvita

And the boy has taken to drinking it!

He was also on the stage today (a late Diwali program in the apartment), dancing to Lakdi Di Kathi. Considering he is not a big fan of going in front of people, he did quite well.

Birthday!

Not the boy's. Mine!

A landmark birthday as I officially enter the 40's club.  The boy was keen to cut the yummy cake baked by the wife. After his afternoon nap, he went straight for it. No lunch. I then took the boy outside to the park in the vicinity. Last time we were here, he was hesitant with the large number of children around. But this time, he was comfortable.

In the evening, the sweet couple AA dropped in and we went to Phobidden Fruit for dinner. Nice Vietnamese cuisine. Not very spicy. The boy started with some bits of Spring Rolls, Momos and finished with Noodles. Good ambience and a nice way to finish the day.

Onam

We had the Onam (harvest festival) celebrations in our apartment yesterday. The wife was pretty good in the Kaikottikali but the boy was not at his usual self. He refused to wear the traditional attire, skipped breakfast, ate only chips, threw a tantrum during the sadya (feast), which continued when we went to Ah/Aa house and again continued till we came back home. He calmed down only after I took him for a walk and was ready to eat dinner - he wanted pizza. His energy levels went high after that, he was his cheerful self and slept late.

“I am in a call”

Yesterday there was a bandh called because of a river water sharing scheme ruling not in favor of KA and we were stuck at home. I played with the boy in the morning, in the afternoon I slept briefly when he slept. He came and woke me up and I dozed off for some more time. There were rains in the evening and the boy wanted to eat poori and channa. No other option but to go to the nearby hotel and he wore his rain coat, ready to go. 
Back home, he closed the bed room door and proclaimed loudly “I am in a call”. I have done that before and the boy has picked it up!

Lunch outing

Lunch at 3oh3. Nice ambience and friendly staff. The food was very good. We had ordered pasta for the boy, I ended up eating his leftovers again and stuffed.

Splash pool

Yesterday the boy had splash pool at school. Initially he was hesitant but then loved it. He was all bubbly and smiles when we went to pick him up.

Today he had rice with beans and pomegranate. Weird.

Silly girl

“Hey, silly girl”, the boy called out loudly to a slightly older girl when we were out. Good thing he did not get whacked.

At my parent’s place, the boy after eating lunch and ice cream, decided to gulp down salt to my horror. He drank water, retched and promptly threw up everything. Lesson learnt

During one of his talks he declared that he does not like the teachers in school, only his friends and aunties who help him.

Ambulums (Ambulance), aldeary (already) are some of the new words he has picked up. The boy managed to speak full sentences now. But more than the words, it is the action that he concentrates on while talking.

Dumbo!

“I want to go to in the bike” was an early morning statement. And when I offered to drop him to school on the motorcycle, he refused.

When his back itches he starts off, “Scratch my back, it is paining”. 

“So funny, no?”. “Dumbo”, “Dumbo Ah”, “Bad Amma”, “Bad Didi” are some of his current words. Not a good choice, he typically prefixes “Bad” to the person’s name he does not like.

The boy has learned to open the front door and let people in.

With an engagement in the family, it was full house with the MIL, SIL and the wife’s uncle dropping in. The boy had a good time and he was social. He did get bored at the engagement ceremony  and I had to carry him out. Once they left for their respective homes, he asked for them. Initially he cried and then forgot about it.

The boy loves eating pomegranates and papaya. When he went to our regular grocery shop, he insisted on buying a pomegranate and carrying it all the way home. On the walk back, while cupping it with both hands, the pomegranate fell down and rolled on the road. The boy ran after it, caught it and continued walking. The next time it fell down and he ran after it, he fell down and bruised his knees. Too proud to cry, he held back his tears, picked up the pomegranate and continued walking home, determined not to let go off it.

He got 2 bottles of bubble baths - Personal Care Raspberry Vanilla Revitalizing Bubble Bath, Childs Farm Bubble Bath and some fancy twisted straws, one of which he broke.

Get out!

I got a kick at 430 am with the comment “Get out”. The boy mumbles in his sleep and has picked up more words - “Get up”, “Get it”..

Today we went to visit my parents. There was a park in the vicinity and I took him there. He was not comfortable when other children came to use the slide and moved away.

We also moved from Enfagrow A+ Nutritional Milk Powder to Himalaya HiOwna kidz.

Fancy dress

We went out for lunch to Fasoos today. The boy ate a large portion of Chapati Chole wrap and the Chocolate Lava ice cream. He has a fancy dress completion next week. We have to come up with an Indian freedom fighter by this weekend. Which is a challenge as he does not like anything on his head - cap, turban.

And the boy got 3 stars in the Pet Animals Oral Assessment.

Enfagrow and the equation with Ah

We have started on Enfagrow A+ Nutritional Milk Powder (2 years and above) for the boy.



The boy had Friendship day at school today. He had a take a fruit for his friend. We don’t know to whom he gave his Apple but he got 2 fruits in return.

His equation with Ah is strange. In his house, the boy does not play with the toys that Ah asks him not to, even when he is not around. And once he is done playing, he puts all the toys back and informs Ah's mother B and asks for the next set of toys. Nothing of that sort in our house. When we ask him to put the toys back after playing, most of the time his retort is "No". Ah patiently puts up with him most of the time and at other times, he gets a wack on his head. 

The boy was running with Ah, when he tripped, feel and bumped his forehead. He cried, with "no ice no ice" in between.

In the oral assessment on Water Animals, the boy got 2 stars.

Metro ride and distraction

Yesterday, we took the boy for his next ride in the Metro to visit the MG Road boulevard. This time around, he knows what a train is and was excited to see it pull into the station. He sat in it patiently, gawking at everything around him and wanted to ride the escalator more than once. 

MG Road boulevard has 2 levels. The lower level, which is at road level, has a play area, art galleries, open stalls, fountains, open displays , an auditorium and a eatery. The upper level, which is primarily for walking also features the upper floor of the eatery. The boy spent time in the play area, ate a cup cake from the stall and had a good time running around.

On the way back, we went for dinner to Cafe Thulp with IL’s. The boy created a ruckus because he wanted to eat with knife and fork. He drank water melon juice and polished off the French fries.

Distraction works big time for the boy to get him to do things. If we tell him that it is time to brush his teeth, the retort is “Noooo”. But if we tell him that we are going to use his tooth brush and use the new tooth paste, he runs to the bathroom and is ready by the wash basin to brush his teeth. 
The same approach works for school. When we bring out the school uniform, it is a vehement “No school, no school!”. But if we tell him that we are going to wear his uniform and go to school, he is ready to be dressed and go to school.

Photo and second day of school

The school needed the latest passport size photo of the boy and off we went to take one. Unlike last time, he was ready and smiling. Although he did not have the patience to wait with us to collect the developed photos. He wanted to leave.

All his books (9 of them) were covered and labeled including his shoes.

The used diaper bag does not smell anymore thanks to the boy using the potty seat. What a relief! Although he does confuse us with potty and peeing.

Yesterday we went to meet my parents. The boy was given samosa with sauce (he loves tomato sauce) Picked a piece of samosa, dipped it in sauce and licked the sauce off the samosa. While we rolled our eyes and urged him to eat the piece, he kept repeating it – dipped the samosa piece in sauce and licked only the sauce. 

Second day of school today.


The boy did not have a clue when we dressed him up in the uniform. Most of the books had to be left at the school. He wanted to wear the school bag, so we took the books out. I think he got an inkling of what was coming when we reached school. He started crying as soon as we left him at the gate. He was fine till we went to pick him up after 40 minutes. The moment he saw the wife, he started crying again.

Lifts and Shoes

We had to make a visit to Fortis Hospital yesterday. The wife’s uncle was admitted and since he wanted to see her, we had to take the boy along. He was thrilled with the lifts, went up and down it, walked all over the cafeteria and wanted to eat what others were having. As he result he ended up eating portions of bagel, corn sandwich, ice cream and drinking juice.

The boy has learnt that he has to wear shoes if he wants to go outside.

The Nanny returns

A the Nanny is back. The boy is taking time adjusting to her. He was whining throughout the day. 

Gone are the day when the boy used to eat a lot of vegetables. He is becoming very choosy. On Saturday we went to meet our parents. The boy did not eat much.

We attended a birthday party of one of the children in the apartment yesterday. The boy was thrilled playing with balloons and running along with the boys. 

For dinner we went to this wonderful place called Aioli BBQ & Grill Smoke House
They claim to be the only restaurant in India dedicated to the Indian Armed Forces. The cuisine was Mediterranean Fusion. We found the service very quick. The pita bread was soft, tasty and went well with the hummus. The boy ate most of the pita bread and loved it. The Love Valley mocktail was very sugary. The place was empty and we had a lovely time. 

He fell off the bed today morning in his sleep. I lifted him, felt him all over, he was ok. Rocked him and he went back to sleep. 

Chilis

Last night we went to Chilis for dinner with the wife’s cousin AB. Nice ambience and we chose the upper floor as the music was muted. The open ground floor had it playing on high volume. The boy ate portions of taco and french fries. The moment he saw an older girl he went “Diddiiii”!

Pickle love

For lunch, we gave him a pinch of mango pickle along with rice and he wanted more. 

He wanted more of only the mango pickle. 

While the boy slept, the wife went for her pottery class and the sweet couple AA stayed to give company. We watched the India Vs Pakistan World Cup Cricket match, took a walk outside and after they left, the wife got home after nearly 3 hours of class. She was super starved and off we went to Paranthas and Dosas for dinner where she gulped down the food and the boy decided to spread curd all over his legs and the table.

On the bright side, the boy has finally started calling the wife "Ma" instead of the earlier "Da"

Valentine’s Day

A the Nanny bunked again. 

We decided to head out for lunch. Picked a place called Hanoi in Phoenix Market City, Whitefield. The mall had a lot of couples walking around starry eyed with the lady holding flowers J (Isn’t every day a Valentine’s Day?) While we waited for the food, the boy wanted to be out so I walked with him. We started off with the Nem Cuon – Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls. I felt they were dry. The boy loved the Vietnamese Jasmine Rice with Thit hoac rau xao trong nuoc me chua – Vietnamese Tamarind Gravy (how does one spell it?) and we were not done until he finished the elaborate ritual of spilling rice all over him and on the seat. The dessert was a bit of a letdown - Che Thai – Vietnamese tropical fruit sweet – I could taste coconut and jack fruit. The boy did not like the taste. Reminded me of a Falooda when I saw it in the menu and ordered. The wife refused to taste it.

So we headed to KrispyCreme for dessert. I was surprised to find Filter Coffee on their menu. Once that we went to Hamleys and the boy wanted to lay his hands on all the toys at the ground level. We managed to save the staff the trouble of cleaning up and exited.

Get-together

A family get-together - good food and merry company. I love them!
The boy loved the tortilla chips, ate a portion of the lunch and slept. The wife’s pottery classes at Clay Station started and I took this opportunity to drop her at the bus stop and get back before he woke up. Later we went to pick her up and one more family visit. 
Dinner was at Pathankot, the boy insisted on eating the rice on his own. It was a supreme mess! Back home, parked my car in the basement and the battery conked! 

Nestle Nan Pro4

We started on Nestle Nan Pro4 for the boy last night when he wakes up crying, hungry. It is easy to prepare compared to regular milk and I guess more nutritious.  Very easy to prepare – add warm water to 2 scoops of powder in the feeding bottle, shake well and serve.

Breastfeeding has been stopped for now.