Boots and her Tink party.

Yesterday, Pats and I spent the day together after ages.

Boots 5th birthday is coming up. I personally don't understand her mad hurry to grow up, but kids these days no - they just don't get it. She insists she's a 'growed' up girl now. My precious!

Boots was torn between wanting a Hannah Montana birthday and a Tinkerbell party. The craze that is Miley Cyrus has pulled a nerve with Pats & me. Over the December hols, we all spent2 days at a hotel. The girls made a huge game out of running between hotel rooms and insisted on passwords to get in. The passwords? 'Miley Cyrus' and 'Hannah Montana'. Which were yelled out repeatedly till the door was opened. *sighs*

Thankfully though, Boots zoned in on wanting a Tink party and Pats and I were elated. Not that we have anything against the Cyrus family or Montana franchise...but our girls are still girls - for this year at least! We spent most of yesterday hunting and shopping for birthday decorations, give-aways and this, that and the other. We've done in many times before, but it was nice yesterday after ever so long - just Pats, Boots and me.

Boots was mighty helpful - and never forgot to mention to us that we were shopping for HER birthday, so she HAD to help with everything and was NOT to be shushed and moved to the side. So, she was literally in the middle of us at all times. Lol....theres was this instance where Pats and I were searching for something quite seriously and were checking all the possible hooks in the aisle of a mondo crowded shop. Boots, was helping.

Then suddenly, she looked up at us and said, " Can I be in the middle of you?" Pats and I couldn't help laughing, coz in the middle of all the commotion, heat and noise, our little one still felt that today - her world was the three of us and her gorgeous party.

We had a great breakfast first thing in the morning - hot wadas, a masala dosa and filter coffee.

If you're Indian - you know the feeling : )

If you're not, you totally need to experience it - make an Indian friend in a hurry, or call me when you're in town!

All in all - a lovely day. Pats, I heart you.

Coffee?

In times like these

Hi all : )

I'm missed blogging these past 2 weeks. But immediately after the wedding of the year, my boss went on leave and now, I've got a tough November ahead of me.

Virtual 'feel better' hugs are welcome.

Since I'm short on time, I've decided to take a leaf out of Chili's book & convert my space to a photo blog for a bit. I think it may be easier - let's see how that goes.

Day 1 - Pic 1

- Boots -

- Diwali 2009 -

I took a few pics this Diwali. As I did, I realised how much I've seen Dora & Boots grow over the past 3 years.

When I met Dora she was 4. So small, so clumsily cute. She turns 7 next month. SEVEN. Goodness.

Boots has gone from being the toddler who made the most adorable mistakes with words like 'friend' (which became pendu) and 'smell' (which translated to slom), to a confident little 4 year old.

I am blessed to see them growing up.

This image is of Boot's bangle adorned wrist - taken this Diwali. She was so proud of her many, prettily colored choodis (Hindi for 'bangles') and insisted that I take a picture.

For you, Boots. In memory of a Diwali you may not remember, but one of the many I will not forget.

Till later.

Just a swimming class

Recently dude and i did a little babysitting for Dora & Boots.

We spent all of 5 full days with them. We did a lot fun stuff together and it was great. Scrapbooking, watching cartoons, going to the park, bedtime stories.

We also did the 'real' stuff, like homework and meals and going to bed on time and a dozen classes that the girls attend, from swimming to ballet to tennis to kathak (it's an Indian dance form, you can read more about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathak).

When we took Dora to her swimming class, we sat and waited by the pool till she was done. Boots stayed with us and kept herself amused with wooden benches, my handbag and the water cooler. She's got some imagination, that one!

Dora's swimming class takes place in a huge pool, divided into 3 parts. The first, for Dora's age group, is children learning to swim and getting the right training to be confident swimmers. The second, for slightly older children, is I suppose, a more intensive training class.

The third was for babies. Literally. They were in diapers and each baby had a parent with them in the water as well. it was all about getting the child comfortable with water and getting over the fear of suddenly being dunked. (SO been there!)

It was amazing to watch. The class progressed with the parents singing 'row, row, row your boat' and the kids being swished about in the water. The giggling and gurgling and occassional wailing, was fun to watch.

Dora's turning out to be a wonderful little swimmer. I was proud as I watched her, a cute lil bundle of blue, with bright pink goggles and a swimming cap (is that what you call it? It's super tight to be a cap, it's like it latched onto her brain!). She'd suddenly pop her head out of the water and look for us and wave excitedly, a huge grin on her face.

The experience at the pool, watching Dora, keeping an eye on Boots, watching all those parents and kids...made me think.

Parenthood is a big, no scratch that, HUGE deal. It's not just about taking care of them as babies and feeding them, burping them and all that other stuff. They grow! You still have to keep them entertained and then, shiny, jingly jangly baubles, won't help. There's education and friends and good influences and bad influences and a gamut of things I hadn't really thought of before.

No, it's not my biological clock ticking, for those heavy thinkers amongst you - thank you very much.

It's just that at that moment, at the pool...I was suddenly in awe of parents everywhere. For the efforts they make, the dreams they dream, the sleepless nights, the constant love, support and backing even when they might just want to whack you silly. I mean, it was a swimming class for heavens sake.

Parents sacrified their Saturday morning to come and swim with their kids, in the desert sun (only the seating was shaded) and they had brought healthy snacks, creams, hair ribbons, all to make the experience more enjoyable for their kids. It was just, a swimming class.

We had a blast with the girls.

I have to be honest, I don't envy parents. I was a bit unnerved at all the little add-ons that parenting seems to entail.

But I do think it's awesome to be able to see our Dora & Boots finding their element in this world.

The future holds a buttload of talent.

At last

We've finally settled in.

Well, almost. We've still got bits and pieces to do here and there, but it's home now. For once, we're both brimming with decorating ideas. Mine involve little black men, with drums and ropes. His involve....well, nails and paint, but hey, who's complaining, I used 'him' and 'decorating' in the same sentence!!

It's great to have the internet up and running again. Oooooh, and cable!! Right now, it's all about the IPL, Sachin ala re ala and all that. I've got my feet on the bean bag and laptop on my lap (who'd have thunk it). The lovely little pleasures of home!

My kinda sorta niece is going to start her very own special activity soon. Her elder sis (yes, my other kinda sorta niece) has ballet to call her own and she's a lovely little prima ballerina.

For the little one....will it be gymnastics? Karate? Swimming? Horse-riding? Basketball? We've all got our favorites for her - what we each believe she'll be good at and obviously, what we each have a personal inkling towards. I'm sure she'll find her happy soon enough and make it her anytime best friend, the way we all did.

Mine was in writing. I didn't care who liked it or who didn't, whether i used the big words or the slang - it made me happy. I can't wait to see what she chooses as hers. What a joy to watch a child find herself...so slowly, but surely.

Both girls, my Dora and her little Boots, are the apples of so many eyes. Spanning continents literally. We all love them both, in equal measure.

When the gang gets together, a few years from now, we'll be talking about the two of them. The funny things they said, the words they couldn't pronounce, the happiness that singing ABBA songs gave them and how much it made us laugh, the way we all shared secret glances when we watched our Dora dance, how pretty they looked in their flower girl dresses...we'll be talking about it all.

And it'll all be whilst we're sipping hot coffee and glancing at the clock to make sure they're back home by curfew.

*grin*

These darned sands of time.