She is naughty

We have a twin mattress that my mom and dad want to get rid off. We have put that in the bedroom downstairs near the baby crib and mom uses that as her day bed. Every night before going upstairs, Reethi goes for a diaper change. Invariably every time, she wets the bed before the change and makes Santhi paati sleep on it. Paati has nothing more to say. 'Yes honey! u have made my bed a nice cooler place to sleep'. She is very naughty!!!! and she does this only when paati changes the diaper.

The Birth Story of my baby sister

Had been busy for days cos of the new arrival we have now in the family. She has made everyone's lives hectic in the family. Before telling her adventures, I have to quickly update you about her birth story.

Mom was with her full spout up and well past her due date waiting for her to come. And all of us in the family were waiting to have her be born on the days matching to their birthdays or stars as most of our birthdays and stars fell in the month of July and August. The first tension was to go past all the bad stars and that came near her due date. They were gone and all the good set of stars were going past as well. Mom and I were eagerly wating to have her to be born on Avittam or Poorattadhi, but she gave a big wedge.

Then came Roopa Athai's birthday, the 3rd of Aug when mom was in labor. But the little pumpkin made a contract with President Obama and Queen Elizabeth who have their birthdays on the 4th of August. What can I say about her? Isn't she a ruler?

A crash course on America's Geography

My grand parents are here and they got me a jig-saw puzzle on America Map for my birthday. That evening I built the puzzle with the help of Uppili thatha and mastered almost all the fifty states. When Mom builds the puzzle and asks me 'Get me Wyoming or Utah', I can grab them and place right where mommy points. The best part of it was, each state has a picture famous for it. For example, Tennesse has a Guitar - meaning Country music. Florida has space shuttle etc. And I associate each state with the picture on it and that adds my General Knowledge. In three or four sittings I mastered all of the states. Am now working on Continents of the World.

My first outdoor adventure

When I was on my first year, my mom used to wonder at my skills, the speed and the zeal I picked up things, and called me 'Wonder One'. Then I started to give trouble at the age of two. There was a hiccup in all my activities like eating, sleeping, playing and reading. It was terrible for her. She called me 'Terrible two'.

But when a child becomes 3, she is no longer a baby. I am nearing 3 and have started to show some traits of it. Yup, all my baby things are fading away and am becoming matured these days.

I can eat and sleep on own. I am potty trained - means I can pee or poop on my own without assistance, placing the potty seat and step stool, grab the tissue, wipe myself and wash my hands all by myself with clean soap and water. I am able to brush my hair and suggest new hairstyles for each of my outfits. Also, my grooming sense has improved a lot, that I can do my nails and eyes without much mess. When my mom was about to name me 'Terrific three', my notoroius activities also have started.

When she asked me, 'Honey! can we have a haircut?' I told her, 'Bring the scissors, I'll cut your hair.' When she said 'Honey! I am tired. I cannot drive the car.' I told her 'Gimme the keys. I can drive it.'

One evening Amma, Shibi and myself went to the park and Shibi was lost in the hiking. She was coordinating with him on the phone while I silently took the car keys and went into the car and locked from inside. She dint realize it for a while and was giving him directions to stay safe as it has started raining. Then she tried to open the door, but could not open it as it was locked and the keys were in. She tried to give me signs to press the unlock button. All her cues were beyond my ken and was unable to hear her either. Worst was the case that I sat on my car seat and strapped myself. Are u feeling like watching 'Dunkston checks in'? She felt like a ring master in the circus. She called the police and they rescued me in 10 minutes. Now tell me. What can she name 'A terror at three'?

Are we Pampered or Spoiled?

Having a toddler home is way too much for parents. They exploit them right from potty seat to bedroom. Well! who exploits - the parent or the tot? Its both It was first my dad to get me the Barbie step stool, and my mom to get the Elmo Potty seat. Then I started to ask them for more. Isn't it a luxury to have a one stop shop like ToysRus with all the niceities in just one single store. My collections grew with Pony and Thomas Tooth paste, Dora underwears, Princess Umbrella, Disney Tables and Chairs, a specially designed Monkey theme bathroom. Watches, stickers, Shoes, and swim suits all were customized. Some of them were gifted by my parents and some were brought through my pesterings.

And it went to the extent of having a special Nickelodean Dora Episode with me as a costar with Dora. Yes Its Dora, Diego and Roma. Believe it or not, I acted with Dora and Diego to save the Baby jaguar who was in trouble. I am fascinated to watch the 30-minute video with Dora calling me Roma here and there. Stop by sometime to have a look at the video and my mom would tell you how we made it.

Papi - ¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Mom was cleaning my toy room and got a bunch of birthday decorations. They had balloons, Scented candles, birthday princess badge and some decoratives. Balloons are my favourite and I asked her to blow some for me. I choose pink and red colors and finally got a blue and told her I need one for a boy. She had an idea and blew all the blue and white ones and tied them together. It looked like a Saphire moon.

We decorated the dining hall with the balloons and arranged all the scented candles in a plate like a flower and decorated the dining table as well. I picked a pink card and a wrote a wish for daddy. Appa entered home from work and had a surprise. We asked him to light the candles. I pinned the princess badge on him. We sang Happy Birthday to you Appa...

My card goes here.

We are sorry Appa, you cannot avoid PINK any more.

We love you. Have a pinkful Birthday - Roma

iHola Mami! Happy Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's day Tea party in the Fellowship hall last friday. I gave lot of gifts to her. A flowerpot, A placemat with my handprints on, and a keepstake for her. I also surprised her by singing these songs for her.

1. I love her and she loves me

Mommy is her name O

M-O-M-M-Y

M-O-M-M-Y

M-O-M-M-Y and

Mommy is her name O

2. You are My Mommy, My only Mommy

U make me happy Everyday

You never know that How much I love you

Please dont take my Mommy away

That morning we baked Muffins and all the parents shared the muffins we made. We had a wonderful high tea that evening and departed home happily.

Pool Fun - Cont...

Pool Fun - Summer 2010 Swim Lessons

This has been my long awaited fun activity and had been asking mom to take to swim lessons. My cravings grew even more whenever I read 'Lets go the Beach with Dora' and pretend to swim by kicking my arms and legs on the air while lying on mamas lap.

Since a week, Mama had been inculcating 'You are going to swim with Ms.Andrea', and I became even more enthusisatic and couldnt wait to go to YMCA. I wore my Disney mermaid swim suit and a matching mermaid flipflops. My hair bands were also matching to my suit.

I was very much excited to see Issac, my class mate in the school. He is also my buddy in the Music class. I was more than ready to swim. I was the first person to call for, and asked to sit on the wall. Then Issac and his brother were called and then a sisters joined them.

We had a funny start with splashing water all over, and then Ms.Andrea gave general instructions on how to swim. I swam with her with my float on and off, on my front and back, with kickboards and marshmallows, blowing bubbles in the water, taking a dip by holding breath, jumping into the water, doing spider man move by holding the wall and climing up the stairs and then jumping into the pool back. I did very great and was very comfortable with all the three instructors.

Ms.Stephanie praised me a lot for doing so wonderful. Believe it or not, I was the youngest kid in the class. The other younger kids had their older siblings accompanying them. But I did very well with out anyone. I was not even eligible for this course, since I am not yet 3 yrs old. But Mama gave a strong recommendation that I have already taken a baby course in Swimming last year, and more zealous than anyone. They said they might even reject me, if dont cooperate. But I did so well, that they couldnt say no at all.

Mom took several videos of all the excercises, but unfortunately they are too large to upload. Pls see some of the pictures taken during the session.

Sri TRS Lecture on GNB

Every morning when I wake up I ask Amma if we are going to see Ms.Cathy that day. If she says No, then the next question I ask her is 'Are we going to Kovil?'. Paavam Appa cannot say 'No' for it. Think about him. He already travels 5 days a week to nashville and an extra trip for me on Saturdays.

I like spending time in the temple, cos I see a lot of Indian Faces smiling at me when I walk into the Praharam. Also these days, I am finding out the ommachi idols perfectly and tell a small Bhajan on that ommachi. Mom was surprised to hear me sing 'Lingashtakamidam Punyam...' infront of the Lingam Sannidhi.

Last week, after we had been there to the temple, we went to the Global Education Center to listen to a lecture of Sri.T R Subramaniyam on the veteran Musician Late Sri.GNB. This year is the centenary year for GNB and Nashville celebrated its centenary celebrations with Sri TRS by his lecture followed by Dr.Radha Venkatachalam concert.

For a change I listened to the lecture very quietly and slept off halfway during the concert. But before doing it, Amma noticed me singing Nalina Kanthi phrases inbetween when she paused for the violin artist to play (Summa oththuu oothinen)

Dr.Radha Venkatachalam is a Pallavi Specialist and sings a pallavi for almost all of her concerts. This time she sang a Pallavi on GNB on the Kanda Thirupuda Talam, in the Raga Suruti. 'G N Balasubramaniya Guru Devar Padame Paninthe anuthinamum'. This is supposedly the first pallavi with the English letters G N. As Sri TRS quoted, it is going to be the History making Pallavi.

After the concert, I ate Bakoda and Samosa that they kept for refreshments and came home to have dinner.

Caterpillar job

Last week Ms.Cathy brought a jar with lot of little caterpillars. They climbed all the way to the top and started to hang from the ceiling. Yes they were under the chrysalis stage and built their cocoons, the Pupa. Ms. Cathy then changed the cocoons into a butterfly habitat. We would see butterflies hatching anytime next week. Isn't an amazing science project to demonstate Metamorphosis?

Also last friday, she got a lot of White carnation flowers in a flowerpot and we poured coloured water in it. Mine was an orange water. When we went to school the following week, we were surprised to see the flowers changed their colors. Ms.Cathy told that plants, leaves and flowers drink water too.

Field Trip

This was the first time that Blue Room children were taken to the Magnolia House for a field Trip. The Building was just located across the Jacob's Ladder and we walked to the building holding the Knots of a big log rope. What a March? We followed Ms.Cathy on the cross walk and Ms.Suzan welcomed us in the Magnolia House. We were asked to say 'Good Morning Ms.Susan' and she was very happy about it.

Ms.Susan was very friendly and showed us two nests that the birds have constructed in the building. She also demonstrated how the Mommy and Daddy birds build their nests before laying eggs. They carry straws and twigs and in no time they construct a house warm and cozy enough for the eggs to hatch. She also pretended to break eggs on our heads. We behaved at our best in the Magnolia house. She sang songs about birds, let us play with the frogs. She also sang a silly song about the frogs. It was such a fun.

Ms.Cathy appreciated us for our best behaviour in the field trip and we soon came back to our class room, washed hands, had lunch and had a nice long nap. I enjoy going to Field Visits. Just cant wait for the next trip to come.

I am a proud Iyengar. Are u?

It is with a sad heart I have to say that some of the valuable customs and traditions of Iyengars are slowly fading away. Pop and Corporate cultures have weakened the strong roots of such conventional traditions. Practices like taking oil bath, going to temple, learning slokas are fading away. Healthy choices are replaced with junk foods. Pastas and Speggatis have replaced Sevai. Pizzas and burgers have replaced Thavalai Adai.

Although I am not full-fledged in knowing these practices, I have started to learn some and practising them on a regular basis and would like to pass them on to my future generations.

I have started to eat Sundaikkai, Veppapamboo rice calling Black and white mammu, the Zebra rice (Megna Kept the name). I loved the Mangai Pachadi made on the New Years day. If vethakuzhambu is made I cannot miss thairsadam and have it as a side dish. Pulikaachal can a be good substitute for it on Non-vethaikuzhambu days. Amma said, they are the staple food of an Iyengar and take pride in loving them. I would love to learn them and make them on my own and pass the torch on.

Rolling Coins

We had lot of pennies acummulated in a box and Mama wanted to get rid of them and have change. She went to the bank and got sleeves to roll them on. Oh my God, Rolling Cents! What a laborious task? We had nearly 700 coins of pennies. Mom counted in fifties and game them in a bowl and I stacked all them up onto the sleeve. I loved doing it. Mom was also reminded of her childhood memories of staking 25p and 50p coins.

We rolled 13 and mom got $6.50 exchanged from the bank. And she put them on my piggy bank, since I helped her doing it. It was a lot of fun.

Who likes Shopping?

It has been a long while since I stopped by. I had been busy for days together. Before pulling anyone's legs I shall try to have you answered these couple of questions.

1) Who takes more time to dress up? A man or a woman?

2) Who takes more time to shop? A man or a woman?

But its contrary in our household. My dad always takes his own time to dress up even on weekends. He dresses up like a CEO even to throw garbage in the dumpster. Believe it or not we are almost 3 women and together we take less time in shopping than him. Last weekend when we had been to the Mall, he took 2 hours to choose a shirt. My question is What is there to think when the choice left is only Blue color? The worst part is he dint buy anything after spending 2 hours in browsing. Improvising rules like 'Every half an hour of his time spent on browsing = money spent on something for us' also does not seem to work. Worst is the case that the lessons learnt by anyone is NIL. He does the samething whenever he goes to the Mall and we do try to give him company patiently as usual.

Fortunately that evening we had a delightful Dance concert in temple to soothe our headache. It was performed by three professionals and the first half was Mohiniattam and then the Bharathanatyam on the second. We dint understand the Mohiniattam part, but totally enjoyed the later half. They rendered on the theme 'Shivashakthi'. 'Ommachi and Demon were dancing on Thodi' - those were my words after the concert. Yes I mean the Mahishasuramardini doing vadam on the demon dancing to the beats on Thodi Raga. I have to say its just more than awesome. Something unthinkable and a flawless professionalism in each of the individuals.

Can I become a Lyricist?

Mom offered to give me animal crackers but forgot about that in the midst of her work. I immediately opened the pantry and started to sing in the tunes of 'Are u sleeping?'

Here are animal crackers, here are animal crackers

Gimme some, gimme some

Give them in a paper bowl, give them in a paper bowl

So we can eat, so we can eat

She was just stunned listening to me composing my own verses to the tunes of the commonly sung rhymes. It was her job, that she used to write creative lyrics for the common cine tunes. She started this venture at her age of 14. I started it before three making the old saying true 'Kutti 16 adi paayum'.

Also when appa was looking for his regular fish oil pills (matharai), he asked amma where they are. And I started to sing

Where are matharai?, Where are matharai?

.....

Appa was over excited listening to me sing that and interrupted me, I dint complete my poem, Otherwise u could have read another cute little poetry from a little pie.

Hit the Century and still on the field

Do u wonder what this little kid is talking cricket jargons? thats cos of my recent craze on IPL. Well I have started to read 100+ words by spelling letters and can spot the word in the next second when someone spells it. Am still going on in my journey. Kudos to Vidya aunty and Ajay who have been my inspiration.

Also I am identifying Thodi and Mugari ragam anywhere when its being played. Be it Alapana / Keerthana/ Swaram /Neraval, I could get the hang of it. I am doing it in a fraction of a second. Mom tested me playing ragas immediately one after the other and I am doing Perfect. So Mom has given me a title 'Thodi Padmalakshmi'.

Roma Vs Mama

Do you wonder how do we spend time when we are together at home. Let me dramatize a sample scenario of one of our evening times.

"I was eating strawberry. Mom thought I am hungry and brought me paruppu mammu to eat as it was supper time. I said 'No' for it and she ate it herslef, as she dint want to waste. Next I saw her preparing Rasam Mammu for me. She placed the plate on the dining table and sat on the chair. I told 'No its my Chair' and kicked her out of the chair and started to eat mammu. I finished half and told her 'I want deetha'. She game me some water and I proceeded. After some time I told her it was kaaram and asked her some Ghee. She poured in some and I played with the mammu and left the spot to play Mouth Organ. Again she dint want to waste it and ate the rest. Next I saw her preparing Thachi mammu on the plate. Who in the world would say No for it? I threw away the mouth organ and sat on the chair and ate some and went away. She started to eat the rest. Am I not a good baby? I had my supper well isn't? Now I asked her for Scissors to do a project. She shouted at me telling she wont give it. But why is she making unnecessary scenes when I am too good at home. I gave a complaint to Appa."

Did you read that? Now read her version of the same story. Here she goes...

"Gosh. I was already running late. Still lot of work to do, to end the day. I was terribly hungry. Decided to eat first and then feed my little one. I brought my favourite Dhal rice with Vethai Kozhambu as side dish. My little toddler stopped by and asked 'Is that Paruppu mammu?'. I said yes and offered her if she wants some. She vacated the spot. I finished eating them and went for the secound round Rasam rice. I placed the food on the table and was about to sit, when the little pumpkin kicked me out of the chair and started to eat my food. I thought it was Ok, as there came some means that she could eat. I took rest on the other chair. But she asked me to bring Water first, then Ghee. She wouldnt let me sit in a place for some time. She had couple of spoons of Rasam mammu with ghee and went away. I finished eating the rest brought curd rice. Again she came to trouble and started to eat from my plate. But dint complete it as usual. Just munched some and went to play. Atlast I resumed eating my dinner. But the little pie dint give up yet. Now asked for Scissors. I shouted at her for not letting me eat peacefully. It has been an hour since I started eating."

Now I cried on my high tone and started to complain to Appa. Appa is a patient and intelligent person. He is the Judge Judy of our home. He has a way to convince both of us. He doesn't have a choice either. He solved the problem by giving me the scissors and letting amma eat peacefully too. But the reward for it is scoldings from her. You know why? I cut opened all the diapers that she kept to give for the day care.

Hmmm... This is what happens when three of us are home together.

Mommy's little helper

Mom was cleaning the kitchen floor. She sprayed disinfectant and was wiping it off with the towel. I grabbed a towel from Appa and cleaned a corner along with her. Similarly I started to arrange spoons and laddles at its appropriate places when mom takes dishes out of the dishwasher. When she cuts vegetables, I throw the skin in the trash. Am I not her little helper?

She wanted to improve her knowledge on Geography and posted a big world map at our living room. She was telling Appa that Satish athimber is leaving to India tomorrow. I asked her where India is and she showed it in the Map, saying Satish Athimber is going there. It was painted in orange colour. I spotted a pink Zambia and told I want to go there. She playfully taught me to identify about 10 different countries and for each country I named one of my friends going there like 'Sophia goes to green Australia, Cathy goes to orange Madagascar, Lauren goes to green China' and finally when amma wanted to go to Greenland, she spotted Greenland. I cried immediately 'No Its Pinkland'. Why is it called Greenland when its painted pink? Is she confusing me?

Cute little ways to annoy people

I like to remember people by names. Mom usually says if one can remember people by name, then they have a very high self esteem. That means I carry a real good self esteem. I ask the names of the people that come on the TV, walk on the streets and expect mom to know everyones name. She is quite tired about that and manages to create names like Edward, Jonnathan for unknown people.

One morning I was rushing up to school and mommy was straping me round the car seat, when our next door neighbour started to school too. I asked mommy who she was. She said she is our neighbour. I immediately yelled 'Good Morning Neighbour' and embarrased mommy totally.

That evening she took me to Olive gardens and I asked her about the server and the sweeper women who they were. Mom dint take risk this time. She diplomatically said they were the employees of the resturant.

I told you already that I am learning about cars these days. Mom taught me Hyundai car several times standing at the logo and shouting Hyuundaai at the top of her voice. She has taught that umpteen times and I kept my mouth shut and didnt even repeat it once. She was tired and taught that I could not pronounce Hyundai. One evening we were watching the news on CNN about the new Hyundai Plant opened up in Huntsville. When they showed the logo I immediately yelled 'Mommy this is Hunday' in American accent (and thats the way to pronounce it) . She was thoroughly annoyed. She gave a comment 'What won't u learn anything taught in Indian Accent?'

Topsy Turvy

I am quite tired of the tests that mom gives and wanted to do something different and decided to test her on one of the topics that she usually does. I wanted to be fair with her, gave it on her comfort zone - music and from the syllabus "Golden Harmony - by Ranjani and Gayatri'. This is the CD that we are currently listening in the car.

I sang a line 'Sadashiva Param' and wanted her to continue siniging the line. She sang 'Sadashiva Chandrasekara...' in Gowri manohari which was wrong. She argued with me that there is only one such song in the CD that has a line Sadhashiva and thats 'Gowri Manohara'. After squeezing her head for a long time, she gave an other answer 'Shankara Sadha Siva' which was also wrong, an out-of syllabus question (another CD) and neither does it have 'Sadhashiva parama'.

Then the topic faded away, Poor me could not argue with her any longer. But after another hour I was humming 'Thaye Tripura Sundari'. She realized that in the anupallavai comes 'Samagana Magizh Sadhasiva paramenum' and accepted her defeat.

No wonder she prefers to play the Dharumi role always. Question kekkarthu romba easy illa?

Cars, Dogs and More

We had been there to our friend's home last weekend for a lunch, and Gita Aunty gave a tour of their home. When she openend the garage, I intantly told Amma 'Mama this is a Honda car and this is a Toyota'. She was astonished listening to me and asked Mom how come I could get know all these. Mom shared her secert with her.

At our home, No time is a waste time. Our parents try to make use of all the hours when I am awake. Spring is just around the corner n its pretty warm and sunny during evenings, and mom does her evening walking round the apartment after I am home from the school. She stops at the top model cars and teaches me the Car Brands. I do revision every other day whenever I get a chance to walk with her. I mastered about 10-12 brands of car in a week. Lexas, BMW and Benz are my favourite. Now I am going crazy with cars.

Pets are just as common in this country. Almost all of friends have a doggy with them and I wanted one too. Appa got me a pink fur doggy for me, for the valentine's day. My music teacher named him Pooky. When I went to the music class last week, We learnt a song on doggies and she asked us the names of our pets. When she asked me, I said 'Yes I have a pet' and showed my pooky to her. She placed him on the parachute and pooky had a nice parachute ride the other day. I read about doggies these days and could identify about 8 breeds. Besnji, Poodle and Maltese are my favourite. But when it comes to 'German Sheperd' I say 'Bid Red Clifford'.

Am I not a diamond in the rough? Mom thought she should introuduce letter sounds to me. She placed some of the two letter words (flash cards) on the table and asked me pick cards like 'is, it, an , as' etc, and I did it. I have a tinge of these sounds innate. Now I am working on sight words and started to read some already.

Missed the hat-trick but won the game

As decided, I did not go to school today. Mom had an appointment at 1.00pm for sonogram and Appa had to got to Nashville for work. But he said he will make it before noon. Mom gave him a call around 12.00 and there was no response from him as usual. She gave several calls since then, but he didnt respond. We lost hopes. Mom and I started to the OB-office and were there on time. But still no calls and no show from Appa. Finally the technician called us in and we went inside.

I was very upset in the room as I was scared that they are going to do something for me. The lady asked me to sit on the couch but I refused to do it. Had Appa been there, he would have carried me. I had no choice and stayed with Amma in her seat hugging her tight. Both of us were very angry with Appa for not turning up. The technician went ahead and showed us the baby on the screen. She started with heartbeat, head, arms, legs, feet and finally the sex of the baby. The baby waived hands for both of us. She copied the session on to a Dvd and we were good to go out. Mom got dressed up and we opened our door. To our surprise we saw Appa there.

He looked even more tensed. But we were not at all angry upon him for we had a very happy news in the dark room - proving to be a kutti Roma. Mom and I were on cloud nine and appa was quite relieved seeing our faces. I was literally dancing for I ever wanted a baby sister. Mom promised to buy cup-cakes for me to celebrate this. We had a formal discussion with the doctor and directly went to Kroger to buy cup-cakes. I was very sleepy on the way home, as I missed my nap. Mom took me to the bed directly and I was wide asleep...

My grandma has a younger brother (big sister-little brother combo), my mom has a younger brother (big sister - little brother), and I wud have hit the hat-trick if the sonogram proved otherwise. Anyways, I took rest for the rest of the day for having won the game.

Whose Mommy is she?

One day I was playing ball and told mommy 'You are my Mom'. She said yes and was doing her work. Then I interrupted her again and said 'You are not Sophia's mom. You are my mom'. She understood my cues, came to me and told 'Yes honey, I am mommy for both u and the pappa in my tummy'. But I said 'No.You are My mom'.

She explained saying 'Jayashree Aunty is mommy for both Varsha and Vibha, Vidya Aunty is Mommmy for both Aswin and Ajay, Radha Athai is mommy for both Vishwak and Sashu and so you should share your mom with a baby brother or a sister.' I gave no reaction.

She showed her big tummy telling that she got a baby inside. Then, I leaned backwards pretending to have a big tummy and said 'I have a baby too'.She said that I am having a baby brother/sister in her tummy. But I convinced her saying she has a 'Mommy Sister' in her tummy and I got a 'baby sister' in my tummy.

She understood that she is at odds with me and decided to take me for Ajay's Bday party. There she held her friend's little baby boy Aditya. I was so possesive at the sight and started crying.

My parents understood that I still dont understand the concept of having a little baby home soon, and decided to take me for the ultrasound session tomorrow. I am bunking my school for this. They think if they could involve me in every activity in regard to the hospital visits, I could get the hang of it.

Early Childhood Music Ministry and More...

Mom has enrolled me into the Family Music for the spring Semester. Its a Parent-Child class and Ms. Becky (Becks) is our instructor. I have Issac, Elsie, Audry and Sam as my buddies. We sing, dance, jump and play while we learn music. We also get to play a lot of musical instruments during the sessions. So far, I have explored Maracus, Drums, Tone Blocks, Sticks, Cymbals etc. Some of the songs are just a piece of cake but some are quite difficult. Anyways we have the Music Cds and Books to practice them at home. Mom often plays it during bedtime. And before we leave, we have a Jack-in-the box game or a parachute playing. We have to pop-out of the box when the music Stops and run under the parachute while the music Stops. I think this is to improve the rhythm sense. But its a lot of fun.

I have begun my formal training on "Saralivarisaigal" with amma. Everyday I practice for about 15 minutes with the sruthibox and mom teaches one new excercise everyday. Some of the comments that I got from her are

1. I sit only on her lap and not on the floor
2. I am impatient during sittings and want to see letters like P,Q,R,S on the scale display screen (It displays only C,D,E,F,G,A,B)
3. Switch on the 5th string button to produce an annoying sound
4. Starting trouble on all excercises.

Gimme some tips to break the ice. I don't tend to exhibit my talents when asked to do so. People think I am shy but I am not. And the some of the positive comments that I got are

1. Perfect Sruthi Sense
2. Able to identify and sing 2nd and 3rd speeds
3. Good sense of rhythm for my age.
4. Quick grasping on verses for Ive mastered most of the verses of narayana hari in just 3 sittings..... (I dint listen to the recorded audio or follow the lyrics from a book)
5. High sruthi - (6-61/2 Kattai) and Mama cant coup-up... Hurray

I am quite excited about the week ahead. We r gonna have 2 important things. One is the Day light saving starts and I can go to YMCA for playing. and the other is I will know abt Baby brother/sister I am going to have. I will be happy if I have a brother and more happy if I have a sister. Let me keep my fingers crossed.

Remember folks, I may be busy during the weekend. So keep reading all the older posts once again, I will catch u all next week. Bye for now.

Where do I learn from?

When Mama's friend was dressing up, I saw her keeping a red thilakam on her forehead, and I instantly told mom that she is keeping 'Narayana Nethi'. Both of them were stunned hearing me say that. Mom has no clue where I got this from.

When she was doing dishes in the kitchen, I pestered her to sing 'Atma Nivasi Ram'. She started singing without noticing what I was doing. Suddenly something made her turn her face instantly on me. U know What I did? I started to play beats for the song on the Jendai Melam, which my Uppili thatha gave. On the other day, I also mocked playing a violin with a spoon and a fork for a carnatic song on youtube.

My parents are listening big words from a little pod these days. Some of the new words that I learnt during the week are Hibernation, Migration, Skiing, Skating etc.

I love my Appa

It took so long to say this for we were like a Cat and a Rat all these days long. But things change slowly. Isn't it? I have started to become a daddy's daughter these days.

He leaves to work before I wake up or as soon as I do, and so I miss him in the mornings but plays Uppu Mootai on his back as soon as he is home.

When Mom was in the Music Practice sessions, I was very hungry and he fed me with Idlies. :-) And u know what, thats when I started to have idlies. Otherwise I wud prefer Dosas. (So the food's taste really change when fed with love and care) He took me round the temple and we were walking in the hallway and had enough fun until she came back.

During the weekends I dress-up on Veshti(Thundu) and Cheechii as he does and recite Ramayanam along with him. He teaches me all the verses word by word with patience. Isn't he cho chweet?I sleep on his arms nice and tight during nights and hold his shirt while he wakes up. Oops! Am I getting too sentimental? Here we go.The annoying thing that he does is cleaning dirt on my nose.

Some tidbits

1. After AJ has been moved to the green room, I am hanging out with Sophia. We are like two little magnets, one driving the other and repel each other when brought into contact. Yes us both hangout together whereever we go, but keep on fighting all day long. Our teachers found it very hard to picture us together, for we were ever fighting in the classroom.
2. I have started to do correct usage of numbers while I speak. When mom was eating mixture I asked her 'What is that?' first then realized the number and asked 'What are they?'. Hurray!!!
3. I have learnt the difference between Reflection and Shadow. A reflection is something that u can see your own image clear or obscure. But a shadow is just a dark shade of ur own image. Sometimes it could look quite different. For example, when I went near the wall with my pony tails on, I saw a Mickey Mouse.
4. Did you notice a difference in my mom's hairstyle. We all asked her why is the change for? She gave several reasons. But I found out the actual reason last week when she was talking with her friend. Evertime whoever sees me say that I look like her. To reinforce that, she has cut her front portion of her hair and wears dresses matching to mine and makes sure to keep the Same Bindhi that I keep. Isn't she crazy? Sometimes we dont know who is a mom and who is a kid.

Crazy Week

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday and we have a very crazy week ahead in the school to celebrate his birthday.

Dr.Seuss was an american writer and cartoonist who has written a lot of Children's books. So we have a lot of fun activities planned for this week. Some of the fun stuffs that we are going to do are wear a crazy hat, wear pajamas to school, wear dresses inside-out, wear socks that dont match etc. I am really excited about them. Mom and I have already made a crazy hat by ourselves with a paper plate, a bowl and a cup. Isn't it crazy?

Pre-Trinity Composers Music Festival in Nashville Hinde Temple

Aren't we matching matching?

Yesterday we attended the Pre-Trinity Composers Music Festival in the Nashville Hindu Temple. My parents tried to make me sing Bhaja Govindam on the Stage. I even went to the stage with my mom but refused to sing there. I dont know if I am Shy at times or I just dont have mood to sing. But my parents are working hard to change this behaviour of mine. They want me to be enterprising all the time and want me to utilize the opportunities given. These days I am getting trained to sing along with the Sruthi. My mom wants me be serious during learning and tells to sing in unison with the Sruthi. How should I do that? I dont listen to any distinct sa, pa, sa from the Sruthi box. All I hear is a 'ding ding ding Boing' sound. Gosh I am going nuts!

We are like Yashodha and Krishna

When I came home from school, I asked Mom to give nail polish. She gave it and I did on my right hand and she did the left for me. Could you make out the difference? I have learned to paint nail polish these days without making a mess. Mom was stunned at my performance and gave me lots of kisses and was busy in the kitchen making dinner.

I was very silent and did not trouble her at all and let her do her work. Dear Thathas and Paatti's! Have you started praising my glory? Yes I could hear sounds like 'Very Intelligent girl.... Samathu....etc'... Mmmm.. Dont praise me yet. Mom knows that if I am silent, I have a job waiting for her. Yes.. I made mess all over. I painted my hands with the nail polish and she had toiugh time to remove it. Want to see???

Picture Day

I am very excited today. Because I had my portrait pictures taken in the school. Last time when they took me pictures I cried and dint cooperate well. So this time, I prepared very much to smile and got myself pictured on several poses. The photographers congratulated me for ever smiling during the session.

Next thing is we made Orange Juice with Ms.Cathy in the School. All of us peeled one orange each and then Ms.Cathy belended them on a juicer. The Juice was yummy.

I have started to ride three-wheeler bikes on my own. We have 2 hours of outdoor play time everyday. But when the whether is bad, we ride bikes on the Fellowship hall (a large hall empty most of the time). So I learned to pedal up and down and riding bikes these day. Its a lot of fun.

Bubbles Bubbles here and there

My recent craze is playing Bubbles. Its very easy. Dip it, Blow it. You can be busy for half an hour without troubling Amma or Appa.

Cakes Cakes Everyday

Whenever my grandparents send parcels from India, they send a lot of cakes with that. I like all kinds of Indian cakes - Mysoor Pagu, Milk Cakes, Cashew Cakes, Almond Cakes etc. And when they send, I give samples for my parents and eat the rest all by myself. Sometimes when I freak out for dinners Visa aunty and Radha Aunty give Cakes for me to take home. I finished them all last weekend and asked mama to make some more. She said 'No. They are Junk'. :-( But the truth is she does not know to make any.

So, at the drop of a Hat Appa and I picked an Instant Cake mix from the Grocery Store. I opened the packet, poured some milk to it. And stirred it on the stove for 5 mins. Appa helped me pour the mixture on a greased plate. To my surprise, it settled in half an hour to form nice soft cakes.

Appa and I enjoyed the cakes that evening. We gave nothing to Amma. Afterall, she is grumpy.

Remember folks, If you are tired of making cakes at home. Try 'Gitz Instant Halwa Mix'. Its easier than a 2 minute noodles. Thanks to Gita Aunty. She gave the recipe.

Pony tails everyday

I like to dress up good and go to school neat and trim everyday. When I was very young everyone used to ask me whether I was a baby boy. I was so pissed of about these comments and decided to create identity of my own. I asked mama to make pony tails from then on.

That was the best picture Mama could take of my back.

Did you look at the partition -vagudu on my back? Is n't it a nice straight line? It took several months for her to train herself .

But these hairstyles dont stay for a long time. The hair bands break off after sometime I reach the school. But Ms. Cathy fixes them back again. So I come back from school neat and gay too.

Eating Experiences & my gift to Daddy

I had trouble eating solid foods when I was young. My Parents, Grand Parents and even Pediatricians worked with me a lot to make me eat solid foods. All in vain. I was very stubborn and kept my mouth shut for solids all the time. My Radha Athai used to narrate how I used to keep my mouth closed during feedings.

Then my parents thought the best way to make me eat is to send me to the daycare where I can see other children eat. I started going there ever since I was 19 months old. Ms. Kelly was my teacher. I used to create a lot of mess during lunch time. I annoyed her a lot too. But she worked with me very patiently. I started to eat on my own slowly. She did no magic, but gave me some space, respected me, believed me and gave me a very long time (abt 8 months) to improve. Ta-da that worked. My teething could have been a factor too. Now I am a good eater. Idly, Dosas, Chappati, Puri, Adai, Vadai, Idiappam, Bread Toasts, Pizza, fruits, vegetables, Paruppu Mammu and Thachi mammu are my favourites. I eat very well in the daycare. But I trouble mama at home. She is after all my mom, not a teacher.

Second thing I like about Ms. Kelly was she created a movie for my dad as a gift for Father's day. He was quite emotional after watching it and gave me lots of kisses. I know you are most excited to look at it too.

Ranjani and Gayatri Concert - MMU 2009

When I come home from School, I have snack real quick and then help mommy making dinner for the evening. I have made rasam several times these way. Mama keeps salt/ rasam powder/ Tamarind paste/ cut tomatoes on the table. I add all these ingredients according to her instructions on a vessel. She adds water to it and keeps it on the stove. She takes care of the seasoning part. Ta-da Rasam is made in 15 mintues.

But when it comes to dinner time I go through the hall round and round. She comes behind me for every spoons. Sometimes when she is tired, she has a nice way to make me sit at one place. That's by switching on the Ranjani and Gayatri MMU concert on youtube. I like two of the songs very much. 'Orarau Mugane' and 'Saka Maza Narayonu'.

The latter is a Marati Abhang. I dont know Marati and neither my parents do. So its kinda tough for me to sing it. But I tried the tamil song on Reeti gowlai. Wannu listen???? Here we go.... Remember dont make fun of me. I am still too young to handle delicate ragas.

Ride with me on the Dinosaur train.

Dinosaur Train is one my favourite shows on PBS Kids. Every morning mama and I wake up early, have milk, have shower, dress up ourselves and sit before the TV at 8.30 to watch the show. My friends Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don explore about a dinosaur in the cretacious time period and at the end of the show a Paleontologist discusses about its features. Mama and I love the show. It ends at 9.00 and then I go to school. Would you like to ride with me on the Dinosaur Train? All Aboard!

Count with me in Spanish

Learning Spanish is very easy if you are a consistent viewer of all the Dora / Diego episodes. She taught me numbers, colors, animals and some words in Spanish. I love the way she counts the stars - iStreya. Would you like to count with me?

The Best use of my car ride

We live in a place called Cookeville, where there is nothing much to freak out. My parents always want to travel during weekends. Wouldn't they think about me? I had to be tied in the little car seat during the ride. I have wondered several times on how to make best use of these weekend drives. I started to listen to the Bhajan CDs which I got from India and mastered most of the songs from them. The Song that has Captivated me the most is Adhi Shankara's "Bhaja Govindam". Listen to some of my Bhajan recitations.

My Heart is a Pump - Make some sense on Shiva's Thandavam

We have "My heart is a pump" as the theme of this week. Ms. Cathy said that our heart pumps all the time to circulate blood to our body. She said it pumps slower when we sleep and faster when we run. She also said it pumps faster when we are angry and slower when we are happy.

When I came down from School Mama taught me about Shiva's Thandavam. Shiva dances to the Kanda Nadai beat (faster beat) when he is angry (Thaka Thakita, Thaka Thakita) and dances to Misra Nadai (relatively slower beat) when he is happy (Thakita Thaka Dimi, Thakita Thaka Dhimi).

Now doesn't it make some sense on why Shiva cut Baby Ganesha's head while he was angry? When he danced to the faster Kanda Nadai, his heart was pumping faster without enabling his brain to think. Thats why ke killed Baby Ganesha in a Haste.

Projects that we do in the School

We do a craft project each week according to the Week's theme and bring them home by the end of the week. Some of my projects are Turkey Greeting Card for Thanks Giving, Native Indians Tribal dress, Christmas Theme Wall Hanger, Snow Man with Cotton Balls, Bird feeder, Sensory Caterpillar etc. Ms. Nikki, Ms. Billi and Ms. Cathy would work with us on projects to make us successfully complete them.

One of the projects that I did recently was the Card Holder for Valentine's day. Please have a look at it.

Sheemaro's Bal Ganesh

My Thatha and Paati have sent a lot of Indian Mythological Videos for me to watch. I love Bal Ganesh and Hanuman the most. Because I remember watching them with my cousin brother Saashu when I was in India last year. Saashu would pretend to be the Ganesha and I would pretend to be the Mooshika and both of us would take a ride on our Thatha's back who would play the Nandi role.

But these days, I play the Ganesha role. Cos, I have a little brother / sister on the way to take over Mooshika's place.

Everyday after watching, my mom would ask me to narrate what I saw on the video. I told her several times that Ganesha would do ice skating on the Icy Kailasha Mountain. But she is not convinced with my answers. She excused me that I am too young to narrate the stories. After all I am 2 yrs and 8 months. So she decided to test me by asking questions about the Video. Would you like to play the audio file to listen to one of the tests that she gave?

Valentine's day Celebration at school

I celebrated my second Valentine's day last friday. Ofcourse I dont remember what I did the last year. But this year I had great fun with my friends. Ms. Cathy decorated the class room full of pink and red hearts. We had designer table cloths on our snack tables with candles lit on them. That was lovely. I wore a pink dress with heart designs on it for the party. I had muffins, Donuts, Cupcakes (my favourite), fruits, gummies and chocolate milk for snack. I got 19 valentines from my friends and teachers. I have saved them on an heart-in card holder, which was my last week's project.

My best buddy Ajay was transitioned to a different class room 2 weeks before. I gave my valentine to him with a special note on it saying that I miss him in the blue room. Now he has invited me to his home to play with him.

After coming home, I dint have my snack or supper through out the evening. But I munched all the chocolate treats I got for the day. Wasn't it fun? I love Valentine's day. I wish I could get lot more next year.... Yeah!!!

On Sunday, the Valentine's day, Mommy made Milagu vadai (lentil fritters). I had 2 for break fast, 3 for lunch and 2 more for dinner. Wasn't it a grand feast???