Gianna has given a new meaning to my life and her birthday has been so special to us. Just like her 1st birthday, we waited for her 2nd birthday with alacrity. Just 2 years back Gianna helped me realize my potential to do quite a number of tasks that I had never done in the past. Thank you Gianna…you bring the best out of me!
We started the day worshipping God…our Pundit ji recited “Shri Satyanarayana Katha” for us. This was followed by a small get together with our relatives . Gianna was the center of attention. She was excited to see the decoration that included many colorful balloons and Winnie The Pooh background. We could make out from her facial expressions that she loved every bit of the celebration, attention and presents that she received.
See you in 2 months!
Shobhit is leaving for US on 18th of this month and Gianna will meet him after almost 2 months. I am sure that they both will miss each other in their own ways. Although Gianna will have lots of new things to divert her attention to, but Shobhit will definitely miss seeing and playing with her, especially all the fun they used to do after returning home from office. Gianna would greet him at the door every evening and have Shobhit read books for her on the couch. Shobhit keeps worrying that Gianna may forget him during this time and asks me to show his pictures to her daily. Isn’t it cute?
What could it be like if you see something in real that you have only seen in pictures and dreams? Such was my trip to the scenic Poconos Mountains during fall season. The trees, maple trees in particular, had leaves glowing bright in all possible shades of yellow, red and orange and green. Some were displaying rarely seen fluorescent colors. It was a painting coming alive!
The whole drive-way was breath-taking and something that we never saw or experienced before. The aura of freshness filled our minds with imagination. It was so mesmerizing that it could not be described in words. Mountains, dramatic clouds, lush green meadows and clear lakes reflecting colorful trees enthralled us. One has to see it to believe it! I must say that the fall season in this part of USA is a painter’s dream!
Diwali time -
Diwali has its own charm and is my favorite out of all festivals. The houses are lit up with candles and lights. The reason be the fragrance of sweets and flowers, or the sound of crackers, or its significance of the triumph of good over evil, my spirits remain soaked in happiness and satisfaction.
This year we celebrated it with a small puja in our home followed by a treat of choley and pav made by me. Gianna’s mami brought her a lehnga and this was the first time when we dressed her up in traditional Indian attire. She was happy to see herself in this new look and as parents we were more than happy seeing her in lehnga choli with a small bindi on her forehead. I think the only thing that was missing on her were the bangles.
Picky Eater-
Gianna has always been fussy and picky when it comes to eating. Being her mother, feeding her a meal is not less than a nightmare for me. She nibbles every morsel of food and takes about three-quarter of an hour to finish it. Some of the food preparations that she approves for her meals include khichdi, vegetable upma and boiled potato. She doesn’t like fruits. She hates bananas so much that if she is fed with it forcefully, she gets goose bumps.
A very obvious reaction of force-feeding of any food that she dislikes is her tightly closed palms. To make her taste new recipes, is a task! Initially, she would not open her mouth because she doesn’t want to try it, and if by chance I manage to get some food inside her mouth, she immediately vomits it out. I have been constantly struggling with this since last one year.
She does like to eat finger foods and snacks. Some of her favorites are Gerber puffs, crunchies and cereal bars. To top her picky food habits, she would first examine any finger food carefully to see if it’s the same that she likes to eat. I see other kids of her age-group who are fond of trying what their mothers are feeding them, but Gianna stands out of that group. I just hope and wish that she gets better in her eating habits. Amen!
Head & shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes Head & shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes Eyes & ears & mouth & nose Head & shoulders, knees & toes, knees & toes
I Love dressing her up!
The best part of having a daughter is that you can experiment all your creativity and innovative ideas on her. You can make her a princess wearing a lovely gown and a crown, or you can give her a sporty look with a wrist band, sneakers and a hair band. On a casual day, you can make her wear beautiful hair accessories and colorful bangles. Whenever there is a get-together, a birthday party, or play-time with kids, new ideas of dressing her up start coming in my mind. Countless shoes, clips, blouses, skirts, necklaces, caps, hand and hair accessories and earrings; all these things trigger my creativity and put me in a state to try each permutation and combination. Gianna has also started to enjoy getting dressed up, and when I ask her, “How is Gianna looking?” she says: “NICE” in her very babyish voice.
10 Cutest things I love about Her
1. Gianna is afraid of the pressure cooker’s whistle, so whenever she get a hold of the pressure cooker lid, she holds it with both her hands and start beating it hard saying : “bhapp”. Poor lid!
2. Gianna has recently learnt that her mumma’s name is “Radha”, so whenever her efforts of calling me as “mumma” fails, she tries to call me with my name as “dadhaa”. I couldn’t help but cuddle her tight!
3. Whenever she feels that her very own buddy “Mr Mickey Mouse aka Minnie” is hungry, she feeds him with her empty sippy-cup. She sure is a caring friend!
4. Gianna loves cooking. The condition is that she cannot just stir the spoon in an empty pan. There has to be some food in the pan. No false cooking!
5. Though she doesn’t bother whether the room is tidy or a big mess, she is very particular about one thing, and that is, she wants all her animal toys to sit in a line by the window shelf. Hmm! my little organizer!
6. She has her own way of fighting back with us. So, whenever she feels that we are going against her wish, she shouts back saying: “attkaii”. Shobhit and I don’t know its meaning but believe me, ‘attkai’, makes us feel embarrassed. God save us from her code word!
7. She says “Fir se” (once again) or “Aur cheeye” (want more) whenever she wants something again. For example, if she wants to listen to a song that she likes, or she wants to have another cookie, she says “Aur cheeye”. If we are reciting a poem or counting numbers, she says “fir se” when we finish.
8. Gianna is very fond of bangles, though she doesn’t have the actual ones yet! So, in order to fulfill her liking she wears the plastic rings of the stroller.
9. Gianna loves eating M&M’s (Chocolate Gems, as we know in India). Whenever she sees at any such picture (like colourful dots, or colourful buttons) she says, “Aa-ma-num” (M&M).
10. Earlier, whenever Gianna used to be mischievous, we would give her a fear of Kitty cat (Maau billy), by saying, “maau aaja”. Now when Gianna is naughty and she sees that we are not liking what she is doing, she herself says, “Maau Aajau”. She knows how to turn frowning parents to laughing parents :)
Poem recitation by Gianna-
Ba Ba Black Sheep…
Me: Baba baba? Gianna: “baap peep” (black sheep)
Me: Have you any? Gianna: “woo” (wool)
Me: Yes sir yes sir? Gianna: “Tee ba sa” (three bags full)
Me: One for my…? Gianna: “Massaaa” (master)
Me: One for the…? Gianna: “Dame”
Me: and One for the…? Gianna: “Dame” (little boy)
Me: Who lives down the…? Gianna: “Name” (lane)
Johnny Johnny...
Me: Johny Johny Gianna: “pa papa” (yes papa)
Me: Eating sugar Gianna: “pa papa” (no papa)
Me: Telling a lie Gianna: “pa papa” (no papa)
Me: Open your mouth Gianna: “ha ha ho!” (ha ha ha)
I wish to share some of Gianna’s cutest pictures till date. I was looking at them the other day and realized how quickly time flies! Her first step towards me, her first time saying “mumma” to me, seems like it was just yesterday. Here are some pictures showing the activities Gianna loves to do.
A Visit to the Philadelphia Zoo
We made a trip to Philadelphia last weekend. One day was totally dedicated to Gianna and we spent that day at Philadelphia Zoo. We were happy to see that she recognized almost all the animals and loved touching the sheep in the petting zoo.
This was the first time that she actually took interest in seeing the animals unlike our prior visits to other zoo and wild-safari, where she did not take much notice of unusual wild habitat of rhinos, zebras, giraffes, etc. Her expressions made it evident that she was relating each animal with what she sees in her books.
She is blithesome and it is a delight to watch her cute acts every moment of the day. All kids have their own unique language and a way to express their feelings. Gianna knows how to use her actions to get what she wants. Even when her vocabulary is limited to few words, I think it is incredible how a she ensures that her demands come true!
We, as grown-ups, have so many aids like speech, expressions, gestures, actions, words, etc. to communicate. But babies, who don’t even know the meaning of words, yet are able to express themselves with their countable actions and movements.
Gianna also has her own set of words which she uses to communicate with us. For instance, she calls “mum-mum” when she wants water; she says “nhai-nhai” when she wants to have bath; she says “nee-nee” when she wants me to make her sleep; she says “cakin” to cake, “bookin” to books and “bikin” to biscuits; she says “pop” when she wants us to pop off her shoes.
In all, our little girl has now become quite smart and is learning to communicate with us when she needs something done her own way.
Shoo It Away!
The other day in an Arts & Crafts shop, I was in a separate section while Shobhit and Gianna were browsing other sections together. Suddenly, I heard a loud baby-cry from a distance. I could familiarize the voice and saw that Gianna was crying aloud and Shobhit was trying to pacify her. I speed up my steps, thinking hard what could be the possible reason of her crying. Shobhit told that he just saw a big fly hovering around Gianna...Gianna was startled just by the look of that fly! I had never seen Gianna like that before. She did not want to sit on her stroller for the rest of the day, for she was so scared.
I believe that Gianna is growing as she has now started differentiating between friendly and hostile beings. She has started understanding that not everything around her is meant to be played anymore…she’s learning...and I guess she’s learning well :)
Gianna is a toddler now. I still remember when I used to sing my self-made lullabies to soothe her in my lap. But now, she doesn’t even sit for five minutes in my lap. She just wants to run and run all over the house. She has become more playful now. She runs fast to her “papa-jii” whenever she doesn’t want me to cuddle her tight. And I love chasing her. The day passes by keeping up with her. She keeps herself and me busy with her shoes, her dresses, her toys, her utensils, her toothbrush, her books, her wagon car, her favorite finger foods, her youtube videos, her combs…the list goes on and on.
If we go out for shopping, no kids shop remains un-browsed. Despite of having so much stuff, we still can’t resist buying whatever that looks appropriate for her collection. Plus, there are so many things for girls in the market that it becomes really difficult to refrain from buying.
Shobhit makes silly faces for her and sings songs with meaningless lyrics that sound funny to her ears...and she smiles, giggles, and laughs, and then we laugh.
I believe that parents never get tired of silently admiring their kids, be it anything. Even a scribble on a piece of paper or filling up her scattered toys back in her store box, or wiping spilled water on floor, recognizing animals in her book…as a mother I just love praising her for everything.
Believe that’s how we encourage our kid and make her build confidence.
