Second Birthday Updates [UBC Post 24]

I don’t know if I ever wrote about the little one’s first birthday here, but it was quite chilled out. We had no plans except that we will bake cake for him, wear same colour T-shirts and just have a relaxed, funfilled day. And yeah, lots of balloons. We had exactly the same plans for this year too.

The only change was celebrating it out-of-town. We have not gone out-of-town for a while (say 8 months), so it provided a perfect opportunity to make a trip. We chose Lavasa [there will be a separate post for the trip] so that we wouldn’t waste too much time on the road.

Birthday Cake Disaster and Decking up the Place

I had a premonition about this. It was bound to happen. Once I make a lot of noise about something, it would anything but go smoothly. I had told everyone and their neighbor about how I was going to make a rainbow cake. And when I finally got down to making the much anticipated cake [mind you I already had a practice session. Read more about it here], at 2 am I realized that the cake was not baking properly at the centre while it was sort of burning around the sides. Initially, for some time, I kept on believing that the cake was not burning but that was the brown colour that I had added in the cake. When the cake finally came out, it was anything but satisfactory. I was a little disheartened. We were supposed to leave for Lavasa by 10 am [as 12 pm was the check-in time]. I did not have the patience or energy to make another cake at that time. I was getting numb with sleep. Moreover, since the little one was sleeping, I was doing all the mixing and beating in the balcony [yeah, mommies would know what I am talking about. You don’t mess around a sleeping kid.]

This is how the
Final Birthday Cake looked

I decided I will bake another one in the morning. Somehow. As I said I had the premonition of this happening, and therefore the good sense of getting 2 sets of 200 gm Maida [all purpose flour] and sugar for the cake.

I woke up at 8.15 am. I was waiting for my cook to prepare breakfast for us before leaving, while I also had to bake a cake. It is difficult to do too many things together in the space we have in kitchen [though my kitchen is really quite big. I think about 10 ft X 8ft]. But psychologically, I feel uneasy. I was anyways not feeling too energetic. But I still went about the business. Did the whole thing again. Read about the procedure of baking Rainbow cake here.

Let me also add that my stuff were yet to be packed. My husband is excellent in such situations. Anyways, he is always the one who does the packing. I just give my stuff to him. Since I was occupied with baking the cake, he packed his and little one’s clothes and other necessities. He also fed him his breakfast and kept him engaged in one thing or the other, as I had a lot of stuff on the kitchen floor as well.

After I put the cake in Microwave, I went about packing my stuff and getting ready. The cake baked till the last 10 minutes of us leaving for our trip. But it turned out well in the end. I was prepared to buy a cake if the second one had not worked out. I am not fixated about such things.

I was carrying the icing material with me to do the icing at night. As per plan, I did the icing after the little one slept [in Lavasa] at night. Hubby gave me company as he decorated the apartment suite we had with balloons. Our son, as other kids, just loves cakes and balloons.

The room decked up with balloons

We retired to sleep again at 2 am. When the sonny boy woke up in the morning, he was super-thrilled to find balloons all over the place. Orange is the first colour that he started identifying, and it is the colour he prefers.  Hubby had kept a few balloons for playing but unfortunately, none of those were orange. So, he had to pull out orange ones from the décor. Ha ha!

So how old are we? We are 2!

The Birthday boy also loved his cake, which he wanted to attack like the way he did on his first birthday. We had to stop him and get him to cut it. We also wore our White T-shirts; which had the number 2 and our names at the back, and a little number 2 on left handside in the front. We wore them the entire day. It looked cool, and felt special. And because of all this, our son also remembers now what is 2 and how old is he. 

Apart from these, we just strolled outside, played with blocks inside the room and just had a relaxed time, as intended.

My main task at hand is to make the birthday album as early as possible or it will remain pending like all the thousands of photos of last 2 years. 

Letter to My 2 Year Old on His Birthday [UBC Post 21]

This is a letter to my son who is going to turn 2 in three days. This letter is meant for my son but I thought it will resonate with every parent, no matter what age their kids are.

*********************************************************************

Dear D,

I never finalized a name before you were born. A part of me was superstitious, while the other part never found any name that sounded perfect for my baby.

When you were born and I chanced upon this name, it immediately felt right. It signifies star. You have been and will always remain the star of our lives, the centre of our universe.

I cannot believe you are two already! Two years is a long time and then not really. It is hard to remember how life was without you. But no matter what, it wasn’t this beautiful!

This letter is not about the milestones you have crossed, because how does it matter whether you started walking at 1 or 1.5 years. This letter is a celebration of our life together in the last two years.

It is unbelievable how much you inspire me every day, and in how many ways. I never felt the need before but now, I want to be perfect. I want to be someone who you could be proud of. I want to be that place in your life where you can always come when you need unconditional love, understanding and warmth.

Every day is special and every moment is precious with you. There are more than hundred reasons to be thankful for this day. Let me count some.

I am thankful for every single day I get to spend with you. Your curiosity, your innocence, your quest for learning, your determination to master every skill make every day challenging as well as blissful. I am just glad I don’t have to rush anywhere else. I feel privileged to be able to live those moments with you.

A child giggles with all his heart, without any care in the world. I am thankful for those giggles which fill my home and my heart with joy.

his year you are going to start playschool and your world is going to expand. Till now, we were your world – mom and dad. But as you cross the threshold of home for school, your world is going to change forever. I am the world for you today, as you will remain mine; but as you grow up, make new friends, learn new things, there will be a world beyond us. It is incredibly exciting as also it is a little sad for me. Let me be thankful, therefore dear one, to have enjoyed those moments in life when we had each other’s attention all the time.

I have been guilty sometimes of feeling irritated when you pull me from all sides for attention. But sweetheart, even then, I never take those times of togetherness for granted. I know this time is special and it is never going to come back.

I have so much more to say. But this is all that I will say today. Because words can rarely articulate what a heart feels. And I am afraid I would go on and on.

I just hope I can remember the finer nuances of our daily lives, the fun we have, the many adorable things you do. I hope I can hold the beauty of these moments in my heart forever. I hope I can remember much more than a photograph or a video can ever capture.

Happy 2nd Birthday, my Star! May you live a life of happiness and contentment.

Lots of Love!

Mumma

The Long Story of the Last Weekend [UBC Post 18]

The other day I was planning to put a fullstop on all the unplanned shopping that I do. I am not a compulsive shopper but I do buy a few things on impulse. And with a toddler around, I cannot be behaving like a kid, can I? If I need to teach him value of money, I need to demonstrate that from my own actions. So, I had decided no more buying on impulse. And more importantly, I needed to stop buying more books. I get several for reviews already. I am not able to even do justice to them and yet I keep buying more.

Image courtesy: facebook.com

But when I went to the Mall recently, to shop for a few clothes for our little one who is going to be 2 the coming Sunday; I was welcomed with SALE on practically every store. I know, once you get inside the store the items which you end up buying will never be on SALE. Now I can’t really say my purchase was unplanned but the plan sprung up only the day I was leaving for the mall. I wanted an all-purpose smart jacket which will dress up a normal Jeans and T-shirt / shirt. Many

stores did not even have jackets because they were running ‘End of Season’ Sale on Summer clothes. After going through a couple of stores, I finally liked something at Allen Solly. I loved it. Though I would not say I can wear it all the time but it is extremely smart. Have a look.  I got it for flat 50% discount, so for around Rs 2400. Do you blame me?

Now, for the birthday shopping; all 3 of us wear same colour t-shirts every year (actually this is only the 2^nd year) on our son’s birthday. Don’t ask me why! We just do. It looks special. And it was my idea! 

First we wanted to get sweatshirts considering the weather, which is going to get colder with passing months. But it is extremely tough to find the same colour ones, even black and white. Kids’ clothes are always full of big bright prints. We wanted plain t-shirts or sweatshirts. Anyhow, we finally settled for white Polo T-shirts, since it is supposedly the easiest. It wasn’t. Many stores did not have polo T-shirts for women. We went from one corner to another and from Ground Floor to the Third, only then we found t-shirts of correct sizes which were plain, and which weren’t astronomically priced. We have also got it printed. It has the number 2 and our names. I did not want to print a direct message. This looks lovely. Hope it looks good when we wear them together :-)

The actual price of the left one is Rs 250,
while the right one is for Rs 399

Now, now, I also found that there was ‘Upto 70% off’ at Landmark and I was in no condition to check out that sale though I wanted to. So, guess what, I told hubby on Sunday morning, I wanted to go to Landmark. If I had learnt driving, I would not be dragging the entire family on such trips. I would rather be alone while buying books. But we went there, and he left me off the hook, taking the naughty toddler with him. Bless him! I had a relaxed time at Landmark. Several books were on ‘3 for 2’ offer but it works only when you choose same price books and that too will give you only 33% discounts. It works for a few niche books. But there were also books for 99/-, 199/-. 299/-. I had picked up a Rs 299/- book only to find that it was originally for Rs 325/-, so it wasn’t even for 10% discount. I finally picked up 2 books at fabulous discounts. Check out the picture. 

I had read a chapter of 'A Very Strange Man' by Ismat Chugtai in The Greatest Show on Earth. It is supposed to be a fictionalised story of Guru Dutt. You can see the cover page. The second one, 'Salaam Bombay', was on my wishlist for long. I am delirious with joy. But I also saw a few books on the discount table which I have bought on low discounts. Did not feel very good about it. 

June Photo A Day : Day 17: Centred

This picture is from my little one's first birthday. I was very clear, I wanted no party. At one year, a child does not enjoy a party and in fact, there is pressure of getting ready at a particular time and look after the guests. I wanted no such thing.

My son had to be the centre of all our attention and affection. So, the day was spent leisurely - a visit to the temple, lots of balloons all over the house, home made cakes, and dinner at a village-themed restaurant. I am going to stick to it more or less on his second birthday too. Birthday Parties may be evaluated when his friends (he needs to make friends first) can come without their parents.

Different Strokes

My last post was on 19th Feb, so I should quickly round up on what I did all this while:

- IGNOU Creative Writing Classes started and ended. Attended only 2 classes out of 4. Yet to read all the materials which they have sent. We need to write a Project for this course, either a novella, 8-10 articles, 8-10 short stories or poems.
- Bought every possible “Creative Writing” or “Writing” book that I could locate in Crossword and Landmark and also bought one online. Needless to say, yet to read all of them!
- I wrote my first short story, not out of interest and because I had a story inside me, waiting to come out; but because in one of the classes, we were given a subject to write a short story, that too in only 20 minutes.
- My search for a GOOD creative writing course continues.
- One of my best friends came down from Mumbai on one of the weekends – had long chat, went for movie and book shopping. Glad to get back to girlie days.
- Discovered a terrific Book Sale, and ended up buying 6 books!!! Typical of me.
- Spent most of my free time, searching for random books and comparing prices on different Online Book Shopping sites. This is my current favourite pastime.
- Made Book Wish lists on a couple of sites.
- Saw “Race” with friend. Interesting movie but unpredictable in a bizarre way.
- Mum-Dad came for a few days. Just like old times. Bhaiya also joined, and all of us celebrated Holi together. Did not really play Holi.
- Everyone loved our new place, but of course it is rented and not bought. The rates have gone far beyond our budgets.
- Bought entire bedroom set for our Bedroom – Double Bed, 3 door wardrobe, side tables and a dressing table. All in Dark Brown color. Looks amazing. Also bought a slider bed for mum-dad’s room.
- Had also bought a book shelf last month for all my books. (I love it. I love opening it and standing in front of it, in awe. I really own some wonderful books.)
- Went to my home town for my brother’s Griha pravesh. Bhaiya, Gagan and I went together. It was fun! Our first train journey together, wherein he slept most of the time.
- It was exciting to show Gagan Jamshedpur. It was all about paani puris, litti, the first mall I ever saw “Kamani centre”, Bistupur, JSR heat, XLRI and small town appeal! The Damad impressed his in-laws with all the work. He did most of the work when my parents shifted. I’m proud of him!
- My best friend lit up to see my gifts for her – a nice photo frame with one cute pic of her daughter and one pic of both of us from my marriage; and another gift was a coffee mug with her daughter’s pic on it. I am really proud of myself for thinking of such wonderful gifts for her. I admit, the mug’s idea was Gagan’s actually.
- Celebrated the most wonderful birthday of all times. He gave me a beautiful and extremely functional purse, a book, a watch; and a coffee mug with my pic on it and a lovey-dovey message. As Monica says, “I know, I married him for a reason!” He also bought me a shirt and a kurta. And yeah, a quintessential Birthday Cake, with a cute Teddy bear candle!
- My in-laws arrived from Delhi on my Birthday, with some more gifts!
- Went for “U, Me and Hum” with Mum. Bonding time for saas and bahu!
- Some where in the middle, booked a sofa and just received it day before yesterday. It is awesome.
- My “doing-up-interiors” mission is on.
- It is really a task to fight every time somebody wants to hang a calendar like old times! Come on, it is so not stylish!
- That brings me to this day – its 11.40 am and I have not started any work so far. So adieu and will comeback shortly.

I’m here to stay. Taking inspiration from some lines I heard somewhere –
“I keep coming to this Blog, because most of my life is here”

I sign off, with these awesome lines from “The Notebook” inspired “U, Me aur Hum”:

I got a feeling incomplete in my heart,

Don’t wanna go it alone though we can never be apart,

We can never be apart,

U make me feel complete coz you are a piece of my heart

You are the one for me I knew it right from the start

Yeh, we can never be apart,

We can never be apart, we can never be apart.

Apne rang gawaen bin, mere rang mein ghul jao

Apne rang gawaen bin, mere rang mein ghul jao

Apni dhoop bujhaye bin, meri chhao mein aa jao

Oh chalo yoon kare,

Tum, tum bhi raho, main, main bhi rahoon

Hum, hum bhi rahein

Oh tum, tum bhi raho, main, main bhi rahoon

Hum, hum bhi rahein

Teeno mil ke saath chale

Saathi janam janam, u me aur hum.

U me aur hum, U me aur hum.

Apne rang gawaen bin, mere rang mein ghul jao

Apni dhoop bujhaye bin, meri chhao mein aa jao

Jaise baadal paani ka, yaarana hai

Jaise gul aur khushboo ka, dostana hai

Oh jaise baadal paani ka, yaarana hai

Jaise gul aur khushboo ka, dostana hai

Waise hee rahein hum tum

Waise hi jiyein hum tum

Tere mere haathon mein, koi bhi pinjara na ho

Ek duje par apna,

Haq toh ho kabza na, ho har haal mein,

Tum, tum tum bhi raho, main, main bhi rahoon

Hum, hum bhi rahein

When my heart goes on,

Misses a beat, I know its gotta be you girl,

You sweep me off my feet

Sweep me off my feet, oh you sweep me off my feet

And when the blood from my heart

Rushes into my brain, it sends a message to me

To say you are driving me insane,

You know you are driving me insane, driving me insane

Love gives your heart the power, to open up and flower

Calling it every hour, but its refrained, its refrained

Ek din toh who lamha, bhi aana hai

Dono me se ek ne, chale jaana hai

Ho! ek din toh who lamha, bhi aana hai

Dono me se ek ne, chale jaana hai

Baatein yeh sabhi hum tum, jaan lein abhi hum tum

Oh dono mil ke saath mein, aise jeena seekh lein

Taaki jo peeche rahein, usko na ho mushkilein

Oh chalo yoon jiye, agar main na rahoon

Ya tum na raho, hum, hum hee rahein

Jaise saaya saath chale, saath rahein hardum

U me aur hum, U me aur hum,

U me aur hum, U me aur hum,

U me aur hum, aur hum.