Move over Rudolph!

Move over Rudolph - this holiday season Dominick, the Italian Christmas donkey, is the rage. M has been singing this on auto-loop all day and we have been hee-hawing with her.

Letter to Santa from a minty new 6 year old

(Lesson well learnt: Always have options ready.
Lesson to be learnt: All options need to be practical.

And as for how dot com savvy Santa is - that remains to be seen.

Oh, and also, recess used to be my favorite thing at school too. So many lunch break and cafeteria moments come rushing back!)

A Magical Vacay!

So guess who finally talked us into a Disneyland vacation! Enough travel and blog sites out there to give you the complete picture. Here's what I learnt.

- 5 is the perfect age for Disneyland (the one in CA) - old enough to be up the whole day - no naps. Young enough to be strapped in a stroller and rolled around. Understands delayed gratification - patience - wait to enjoy - She also knew most of the characters and references and had a total blast.

- 4 days is the perfect time to explore both the parks without overdoing it on a single day! The monday after thanksgiving is a great time to plan your Disney vacation!

- M continues to be the best - most pleasant, most patient travel companion. Knock on wood. She is a delight to be with and an excellent observation power! SHe makes vacations extra fun!

- And finally this child's lust for travel is going to burn a big hole in our pockets!!! Cheers to the bets of times!

(Fun fact: Vish and I first visited Disneyland exactly 10 years ago - down to the month!)

We have a beach babe!

Vish and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in the beautiful islan of Maui in Hawaii. There are enough brochures and online sites to give you all the details of this toutist extravganaza. But the biggest takeaway - Manya is in love with tropical sunshine, sea and sand. She had a blast and was the best travel companion ever! Here's a toast to many more beach vacays with our travel savvy babe!

First taste of friendship!

During our India trip, M struck a special friendship bond with our neighbor-and-very-good-friend's daughter - who is just two months younger than her -K. 

It was such a joy to see the girls squeal in delight as they would meet each other every day. Their fights over toys and such were fun as they sorted out their own mess, requiring not-so-often adult intervention. The kisses and I love you's and good nights exchanged at the end of the day were ever so endearing!

M remembers K often though I feel the memory will slowly fade - like happens with most friendships huh - lost in the sands of time as we grow apart. We adults, though supposedly more aware, also often let relationships slip as physical distances seep in - it is sad. Anyways, I am hoping that M and K will continue to re-ignite their bonds and meet with the same fervor every time they meet!

Cheers to sunny days and bright smiles!

The Great Indian Vacation round-up!

M's first visit to India was, as expected, very eventful. She thoroughly enjoyed the rather long stay at nana-nani's house - nani a clear favorite from the entire trip. She still tells me she wants to go back or that nana-nani should stay in Portland! 

We took almost a month to normalize sleeping and eating routines - Everybody had lot of fun at M's expense who complained about everything being "noise, hot, and sticky". She was on a self-imposed water diet for the longest time :). But once we were acclimatised, the true Indian in M came out - loving the noises - constant honking, ringing of the door bell, enjoying the cows and the dogs on the road (travelling without a car seat made road trips even more fun!), snacking on spicy stuff that had tears coming from her eyes but the mouth refusing to stop eating!

Her typical day routine included jumping and clinging on everybody - nana, nani, and mama as they struggled to get to work on time while trying their best not to upset an already whining, yet, very lovable puppy (M ofcourse ;)). Nana's daily puja and the conch blowing had her fascinated all through. Nani would get a joyous welcome everyday complete with hugs, kisses, and licks! (I am serious.) - the others came in after bedtime.

Weekends were a riot - mall hopping, endless shopping, eating out, some but of sightseeing, and lots of snuggles and cuddles with our adorable cub!

M met a whole new world of uncles, and aunts, and grandparents, and friends, and neighbors - and am so happy she got to meet so many people who matter to me. Lot of pampering but I am not complaining - she was thoroughly loved and the narcissist that she is, she enjoyed every bit of it. She had a taste of her first friendship - well, the closest a friendship can come to for a toddler - more about that in another post.

Thatha-dadi, Athai, uncle and the first cousins made M's Bangalore trip very memorable. She can still recite everyone's first names, and what each on of them did - for example, akka plays the hoop and has biscuit and choco - She mentions the latter everytime she has her evening milk! It was wonderful to see M instantly take to "akka" - as she went overboard with the kisses and the i love you's!

We came back with overloaded suitcases (what with all the stuff everybody insisted that had to get M - I got some too!), and slightly heavy hearts - and while we are thrilled to be back at home with daddy, et al. I can feel M misses the constant companionship of loved ones and the constant hustle and bustle around the house - so more work for me to keep her gainfully occupied!

(P.S. M as always kept us entertained with a string of one liners and funny phrases - trying to remember some of them and put together in another post!)

First holiday with first cousins!

My sis-in-law was in town with her two adorable kids (btw, the only first cousins M has!) for a little more than a week, and not only was it a much welcome change from our mundane routine but it was also awesome to see the kids have so much fun together. Needless to mention, Manya was spoilt rotten with all the attention from her doting athai/bua, and her anna/bhaiya and akka/didi, who just couldn't get enough of kissing her. The days flew by so fast and now the house is yearning for the squeals of laughter and spontaneous outbursts of energetic running around. Sigh! All good things do come to an end, don't they?