Unveiling some of the cutest pictures of Gianna…

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.

Mumma, I want this! No, I want that!

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 :)

It’s All About “HER” -

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.

“Minneee” Mania

Our visit to Niagaras was a good break for all three of us. After coming home there were lots of home activities due - cleaning the house, buying groceries, meeting doctor, unpacking our baggage to name a few. Gianna has developed some new interests since past few days. She likes to cook food when she is in the kitchen and pluck leaves while she is in the park.





She has developed a special love for Minnie mouse which has increased so much in past few weeks that she likes to see “mickey mouse clubhouse” while eating, carries her Minnie mouse when she is sitting in car, she likes to see only “minnie’s” pictures in the “minnies-mickeys” books, and in fact sometimes call everything that she wants, with this name “minniee”. That’s too much of “Minnie” everyday and everywhere.



Gianna turned 18 months on 22-June-10. We took her to the Bronx Zoo to celebrate her special day and to make her meet some new friends. She enjoyed seeing the lions, snakes, monkeys, giraffes, however she was more amused to see the turtles (even the fake ones ;-) )



She is due for her 18th month regular medical check-up, and this time it includes her vaccination also. It gets very difficult to see your child bearing the pain which starts when a needle in inserted in such soft skin. It becomes all the more difficult when I have to take her all alone (no papa along).



Gianna and her “Papajeee” aka “Pappi”



Shobhit always wanted our first baby to be a girl :-) Shobhit and Gia share a chemistry, a chemistry of “naughtiness”. Today the credit for all her “shaitanis” go partly to her dear “pappi” aka “pappaji”. When shobhit is not working on computer, his favourite passtime is to click Gianna’s pictures and talk to her. On weekends, when Gianna finishes eating her food, Shobhit is the first person she looks for cleaning her mouth and for getting her out of booster chair. She tries to emulate him. She waits eagerly in the evening for her “pappi” and when she hears the door bell, she goes to the door to greet him.



Shobhit, as a father is very careful and protective for her daughter. He like any other father wants her to get the best of everything in this world. She wants her “pappi” to play hand puppets with her. He likes to make bubbles for Gianna. They play peek-a-boo and hide and seek, and sing rhymes together.

May 2010, An eventful month!

Like every year first four months of this year have passed so quickly. With lots of resolutions yet to start, lots of ideas still in mind, I try to accomplish the maximum on a daily basis. It’s been 9 months since we came to USA and during these months of my stay, I met some of my close cousins and my best buddies. America is so organized unlike India and I enjoy being here. New Jersey, the state where we live in, is known as “The Garden State” and the natural beauty, gardens, greenery truly justifies this name. I simply admire and appreciate the effort these people put in to maintain such beautiful plants and trees.

Month of May was quite eventful. There were so many birthdays, anniversaries, and catching up with friends and relatives.

It started with Shobhit’s birthday. We celebrated it with pastries, flowers, yummy food, and ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I had to keep Gianna out of the room while I was decorating. She wanted to touch and take each and every flower that I had put on the table as a part of décor. Such a curious cat!





Gianna has started going out in the park now. She loves to play in sand, likes to sit on swings, pluck flowers, watch other kids playing, touch other children’s sand toys and what not! She is now getting familiar with some of the faces regular to the park. This li’l swthrt is very very observant. Her sudden unexpected moves, activities and thinking astonish me almost every day. I think the kids of this generation are really smart. Everyday our house is a mess and I clean it almost every hour.







We had some wonderful time with my cousin, who visited us for two days. Gianna took a day’s time to be-friends with him. For him, Gianna is a complaisant child, but before he could see Gianna’s true colours - her shouts, her climbing up and down on sofas and tables, throwing remote controls and cordless phones now and then, sitting in her wagon car, scattering all her toys on the floor and many more - he flew off to DC.



Gianna had her very first visit to the sea beach last weekend on 15th of May. Thankfully, it was a perfect sunny day. Edison is a place where weather is so very unpredictable. One day it’s sunny and other could be full of heavy showers. One has to refer to weather channel and forecasts before making any plans for holidaying. The sea looked vast and deep blue. Some people were sun bathing, while others were enjoying their private yachts rides. Kids were playing with their sand toys, and my Gianna was dazed to have a very first view of the ocean. To our surprise, Gianna was not scared when the waves first touched her feet. The water was ice cold but little Gianna was enjoying it to the full.



The beach has a 2 mile board walk renowned for its vast array of amusements, shops and eateries. There were numerous game shops along the beach boardwalk and those cuddly stuff toys hanging in there were the inspiration for us to play those games and win to collect more and more of those plush toys for Gianna. She was thrilled to get so many toys all at the same time.






We had our fourth marriage anniversary on the 22nd of May. Such occasions are good excuses to buy expensive gifts from your husband without them asking any questions…hah! All three of us went to New York and Gianna was very cooperative this time unlike our other trips where she had thrown all her tantrums. She got a good change from her same toys, same rooms, same furniture and of course the same mumma



And finally, in the last weekend of May, we planned a trip to the beautiful Niagara Falls.



Despite of some of our concerns for Gianna’s eating (as she doesn’t eat properly once she is out of home) we planned to visit Niagaras with alacrity. Sunny weather, eminent windmills, dense forests, small lakes, magnificient mountains, beautiful valleys, boundless pastures, meadows and farmlands. It was breathtaking beauty and an aura of freshness all along the way to NIAGARA FALLS. The falls were pristine and were beyond my imagination. A great delight and feast for eyes. Loved each and every moment of it.









We wish to visit the magnificient falls again...!!