Eating out

After a long long time. It was not on the cards.

But when the wife went out with her friends for lunch, the boy was upset that he didn't get to eat from a restaurant. So I took him out for lunch and the boy ate his favorite Pizza. He was so full that he did not want dessert.

Waiting for his Margherita Pizza

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.

Breakfast get-together

Some of the families in the apartment went for a breakfast at Prestige Golfshire.

It was good to be out and for a change, not to make and eat your own breakfast. We ate leisurely, chatted, the children after eating their fill, ran around and had fun. Thankfully when it comes to wearing masks and maintaining social distancing we are all on the same wavelength, including the children.

Get Togethers and Republic Day

It was time for get togethers. Since last March, all the meetings have been virtual. With the slow unlocking and apartments relaxing rules, we decided to meet with the wife's extended family who lived 20 minutes away last weekend. Wonderful dinner, lot of talking while the boy watched his favorite Just Add Magic. All grown ups and nobody in his age group to play with.

I watched my cousin's wedding being streamed live. Because of Covid and my back problem, I did not want to risk driving to Kerala to attend it in person.

It was Republic Day and there were events in the apartment with masks and social distancing. The boy participated in some games and was thrilled he won. After that we went with the ABAA family for lunch at nearby Wanderers.

The boy in action (in green)

It was then time to drive all the way across town to meet the wife's cousin and her 5 month old daughter at Alchemy Coffee Roasters. The boy was not interested in babies. The coffee was good. We chatted, dropped them home and drove back.

Trip

A road trip to Chennai to meet the in-laws and friends. The boy enjoys these trips as he has no rules at in-laws. 

We went out for lunch and he took his time to eat and explore the place. 

Waiting

...for food at Koramangala Social.

Annual day and marriage

The boy had his annual day at Chowdiah Memorial Hall last Friday. He participated in a skit dressed up as a kangaroo. He looked confident on stage and did not miss his steps. Post that we went to this Sattvam for dinner. Lovely place and what a spread.

"I got 2 and 3 stars from teacher for 2 books I wrote today. You know how I was able to write more? Because I have bigger muscles now" the boy said pointing to his muscles. It has become a common practice for him to ask us to check his muscles after each meal.

The boy has become a big questioner. He has questions about everything and followup questions to the answers. It is a good phase but sometimes it can get exhausting and you wish he would keep quiet. At the same time you don't want to shush him lest he stops questioning.

Another haircut done and his hair is growing very fast.

He dentified "Shape Of You" from the opening score. I am impressed.

We went to Café Myodo for lunch and it was the second time the boy ordered spaghetti pasta and did not finish it. We managed to eat a lot of it and the rest we  packed.

The boy has started asking questions about whom he can marry!

Xmas and NY

The boy had holidays for 18 days and that is a lot of work for the wife.

For Christmas, we drove to Hyderabad to visit Ia. Lovely roads!

The boy was thrilled to see Ia. They played, fought, made up and spent a lot of time in her tent. Apart from the usual places to eat, we visited the Hyderabad Kids Fair at Hitex. A lot of children's products and services. We picked up a reusable book from 1leaf. He loved the sunroof in Ia's car and wanted to buy a Honda City.

The boy was sad to leave.

The last week of 2017 whizzed past. We met friends in The Local and Windmills Craftworks and the boy loved it.

For the New Year program in our apartment, the boy participated in a dance.

Paw Patrol is his latest craze. He can sit and watch that for hours.

Some of the amusing things he says :-
"You are going to be in trouble"
"The hospital is not helping, I am asking the rocket to take you to God"
"I am going to buy 4 cars. Honda City, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Porsche. When Honda City gets dirty, I will drive the Lamborghini. When Lamborghini gets dirty,  I will drive the Porsche. When the Porsche gets dirty, I will drive the Bugatti. When the Bugatti gets dirty, I will wash the Honda City and drive it"

PTM

We had the boy's PTM last Saturday. His teacher says he has started expressing his anger. The boy loves his puzzles, coloring, chats a lot and is inseparable from his best friend H.
R&I with little I dropped in with an Xmas gift and the boy was thrilled. They screamed, shouted, ran around and opened the gift. Dinner was at Mainland China. The boy ate a some portions of Spring Roll and both of them had fun asking the waiters to come over by shouting "Excuse me!". We got home, the boy coughed badly and threw up the Spring Roll.
On Sunday morning we took the boy to Orion Mall as there was a Santa. We were early, the Santa was not to be seen, so we promised him that we will come back later. Off we went to Hosur and the boy actually lay down on the rear seat and slept instead of sitting with his neck at a weird angle and sleeping. On the drive back, he asked me how many hours I work. When I replied he remarked "That is big...a huge huge number" I was taken back by his response.
The boy has a new Spiderman water bottle - the recent new one was accidentally dropped by the school staff.

Below is the boy's depiction of traffic jam in the Outer Ring Road.

Eventful week

Dandiya night on Tuesday in the apartment complex. The boy did not want to go. But when he saw the other children and the ice cream truck, he immediately wore a Kurta and went down.

Dinner was at Barbeque Nation on Wednesday. He ate a little of main course and was more interested in the dessert.

Woke up after Thursday nap after throwing a huge tantrum. We did not let him sleep on Friday afternoon. The boy went swimming and he was the only one in the pool.

Saturday was at The Riverside Bar & Kitchen with friends. When was he done eating we gave him crayons and he was mostly quiet.

Sunday was a trip to Hosur to meet the grandparents.

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.

School hunt continues

We went to check the Auro Mirra International School for the boy's next academic year. I loved it. A lot of greenery and for a change, I could feel the ground beneath  my feet rather than some artificial covering of cement or blocks. We checked out the classrooms, the environment was lovely. I hope the boy starts in Nursery as he may end up being the youngest if admitted to Grade 1. The lady with whom we spoke to said she will get back to us. Keeping my fingers crossed.

In the evening we went to Aioli for dinner and Swensen's for ice cream. Excellent service and good food.

“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.

Family visit and dinner

After visiting the wife’s cousin, we went to Chianti for dinner last night.

This is in the food street that we have heard for a long time but never got been there. Being the weekend, the street was crowded. Thankfully we found a place to park and walked the stretch.  The food was good and the ambience, ok.  The boy found it hard to sit still till the food arrive. Since we had some of his toy cars, that kept him occupied. 

Behavior and ice cream

The boy’s screaming has become louder when he is angry. And he seems to have quite a temper. Most of the time he seems to be waiting to be ticked off and then starts crying for silly reasons. Sometimes it is very easy to get him off it - show him something new and he completely forgets about why he was upset in the first place.

We met some friends today for lunch at Fort Kochi and went to Häagen-Dazs for ice-cream. The boy and I ordered the same ice-cream (Summer Berries and Cream). I went out to take a call and when I was back, the boy started eating my ice cream after eating half of his!

Bath time improvements

The boy has learnt to rub soap on his own during his bath. And asks for his head to be shampooed.

Today it was lunch at Fort Kochi with I and family. He played with I, went up and down the escalator but did not let her hold his hand, which upset her.

PTM

We had the PTM on Saturday and the boy was all smiles and well behaved. He was beading the balls and carefully put them back after he was done. We finished in 10 minutes. All good.
Lunch was at Mama Mexicana. The place looks a bit dated. Service was decent. The boy didn’t seem to enjoy it. He had some Nachos and some French Fries. He was more interested in going up and down the escalator.

I took the boy to Hosur yesterday. He was chatting and asking questions on the way and did not sleep en-route. Ate well and after lunch he started getting impatient. We drove back home and the boy slept, reclining in the front passenger seat. After we got back home it was time to head to a birthday party of his classmate. The birthday boy was not keeping well and our boy refused to take part in the games and dance, preferring to stick to me or the wife. He got excited when another classmate dropped in and was playing with him.

The boy’s vacation starts today. Next Monday onward, his summer camp starts, which is 3 hours per day.

Vacations

We met I, R and their daughter Ia in Social and boy was actually social till Ia decided to hold his hands. Ia is around the same age as the boy and she started pulling the boy’s hands. The boy withdrew, there was screaming and Ia was upset. And the statement by the boy "I don't like Ia. She is bad"

After goodbyes we went to Decathlon and bought  2 small sized football for the boy. He is always running after the footballs and the basketballs in the apartment. He wanted blue, we picked up a bright yellow and we bought both eventually.

Last evening the boy had an extended afternoon nap and refused to wake up. The moment we mentioned that we are putting up the Christmas Tree, he was up and ready. He was thrilled by the led lights on the tree and insisted on switching them on.

Today morning the boy invited me, “Come, we will play football in the hall”. He has a 2 week vacation starting today.