Family Day

About 2 weeks back, our company organized a family day party at a nearby resort. I took my little one to the party. It was almost lunch time by the time we reached and she seemed to enjoy there. After playing some games, she got a mehndi design on her palm. Then one person started singing some songs holding the mike. That's when A told me that she too wanted to hold the mike and wanted to sing. I just brushed off her words, thinking she was just telling me. Then when she expressed her desire again, I took her words seriously and then told the organizers that A wanted to sing. The organizer then announced " A little princess named A will now sing a song. " My little one boldly went on stage held the mike and announced " Hi, I am Aditi, and I will sing a song." She started singing Laxmee baramma, Bhagyalaxmee baaramma.... and then suddenly felt so shy that she hugged me and told me that she will not sing further. Everybody started clapping and I couldnt believe that she actually held the mike and sang two lines.. She surely made me proud that day! Afterall she gave her first stage performance at the age of 2!!!

Stanley Ka Dabba

After a long time, me and V got a chance to watch a movie in theatre. On a weekday after completing work, we thought of spending some time together by watching Stanley Ka Dabba. This is a simple, honest, entertaining movie.. Though it is predictable at times the movie is enjoyable and in the end conveys a strong message. It was refreshing watch this kind of movie!

Bee Hive in my house

I went to Mumbai for a seminar on a weekend and on returning, found a big bee hive in my balcony. At first I couldnt believe that such a huge colony could be formed in just 2 days time. It was the first time i saw a hive from such a short distance and it was a site to see.. V was busy capturing its photos and videos. We kept our balcany door and windows closed, so that they dont accidentally enter our house.
My little girl seemed to be quite amused and would go to the window every now and then, point out at the hive and say "HuLu", meaning worm in kannada.
Every zzz sound would make me feel jittery as I thought a bee has entered my house. My mom happened to kill one when it entered our house and my little tried to play with it. Her next antic was to show how mom killed the fly - "pat" she would say and hit the sofa or chair to demonstrate. The uninvited guests stayed in our balcony for about a month. One day, when we were off for a weekend and returned back home, they were all gone..... My little one kept on asking where the HuLu went and I was releived.Their team building capacity is amazing!! They were able to build a huge hive in 2 days and also vanish off without a trace in another 2 days time... We humans definitely have to learn a lot from these busy insects!!!

Proud Mom

I cant help gushing around the antics of my little one. She will complete 16 months in the next few days and here is a small update on her
1. She is able to repeat the words i say like - Mamma, baby, akki, anna, chapathi etc. She is not able to clearly pronounce the words but make full attempt to speak clearly.
2. She is fond of travelling - i mean to say she like to go out of the house and roam around. As soon as I reach home, I have to take her out to the park for a walk and this has become a routine for quite sometime. She brings her slippers to me and sighs me to put it on and points out her finger at the door.After we step out, she knows to call the lift and press 0 inside the lift to go down. She smiles at me in a unique way trying to show that she has accomplished a big task. If i try to ignore her, she will scream loudly, cry and start rolling on the ground. She surely knows how to get things done from me.
3. She has a unique capability to get things done her way. At this age if she is able to do it then I must commend her. She knows how to behave with me, my dad, my mom and my spouse. She does everything my mom says to her and never troubles her. With my dad, she expects him to show her train (pronounced as taaain), show her animals, even big ants.
4. She is fond of animals and recognises these animals - dog, cow, buffalo, hen/cock, crow, butterfly and birds.
5. She starts dancing as soon as she hears good music. She twists her hands, shakes her leg and even sways her body. I think I should encourage her to learn dancing.
6. She knows how to hold a phone and pretends to talk over the phone. she pauses inbetween with a laugh, or a sigh, keeps looking at the phone in between just like us. If someone happens to observe her mobile manners from far, it would be hard tpo believe that she is just pretending.
7. She likes to watch TV and hands over the remote to me if she doesnt like the channel. She is fond of some ads and starts smiling and cheering even before we realise what ad is going to come.

Let me pause here for a while and continue later..

Little Big Girl

I don’t know whether it is necessary to use an oxymoron to describe my little one, but her behavior over last few days have really made me realize how fast my 14 month old baby is able to learn things and quite mature for her age.
Here are a few instances.
- After having a cup of tea or a glass of water, if I tell her to put the used glass in the sink, she promptly grabs the cup and carefully walks all the way till the kitchen and carefully puts the glass or cup into the sink and comes back cheerfully.
- She clearly understands what I tell her and promptly obeys my words like – switch off lights or fan (and yes! she can make out the difference between the two)
- She will bring in any stuff that I ask for – book, remote, toys, newspaper, towel and some clothes. If I ask her where are her clothes or diaper – she points out a finger in that direction and waits for my approval to bring it to me.
- She knows different animals too. Cow(as ambaa),dog(as bow bow)and hen(as ko ko)
- She folds her hands in bhakti whenever she sees a picture of God. My hubby was spell bound when he saw her folding hands and bowing her head as we were passing by a temple.
I could add a few more points, but got to get back to work now. I will soon find more time in add in more things.

Training on TIPS

Recently I happened to attend training on Team Building and Interpersonal Skills. I had attended a couple of similar trainings earlier also and this was one of them. The trainer was our HR director and we were about 20 members in all. The training consisted of different team building exercises and development of interpersonal skills through active listening, questioning, constructive argument, providing feedback, appreciation and summarizing. I was able to brush up some of my existing skills, develop new skills and develop rapport with some people with whom I was hardly interacting.
Some of the team building games we played were – Flying Eggs, Building of bridge, Win as many as you can and making a model for transportation of eggs. At the end we all got a certificate of participation,
The after effect of the training is that some people have started wishing me every morning and evening who otherwise would hardly notice my existence.

Milestone

My daughter recently achieved two milestones after turning one!!
One - She started walking independently. I wanted to see how long she can walk independently and started moving backwards, so that she can slowly walk and catch me.To my utter surprise, she walked almost 10 steps and seemed to be quite amused. She then surprised my mom by sprinting towards her. My parents said that her walking style was like her father. He too walks fast - as if in a hurry ( dunno whether to call this as Mumbai effect). She walked on 23rd July 2010.
Another milestone achieved after 2 days was she recognised my voice on phone and responded as if I was there in front of her and talking. My parents said, her face changed after listening to me and she heard me with great concentration and responded intelligently.