India Trip – Chapter 1

“Grandparents are people who have silver in their hair and gold in their heart”

Our trip to India is dedicated to Gianna’s Grand Parents


What children need most are the essentials that grandparents provide in abundance. They give unconditional love, kindness, patience, humor, comfort, lessons in life.
We reached India and Gianna’s Dada, Dadi, Nana and Nani were waiting to welcome us, especially Gianna.



To my surprise, on reaching at our home in India, Gianna passed a warm smile to her dadi-dada and nani-nana with whom she was meeting after more than a year…she did not forget them AT ALL. She happily interacted with them and loved showing her toys to them. The grandparents were super excited too and embraced her with all their love and affection.




“Dadi-Dada Sab”

That’s how she addresses her dadi-dada whenever she tells me that she wants to go to her dadi-dada. Gianna likes to call her dadi as “dadi-ma” and dada as “papa” (this is probably because we all call him papa). Gianna is very much attached to her dadaji and loves to be with him as long as she could. She does not want to stay away from him for long. Dadaji teaches her bhajans. Gianna loves standing near him when he recites hanuman chalisa every morning. One of her favorite interests is to drink the jal ‘holi water’ from the small glass that belongs to the pooja area...apparently, its now her water glass.




One of the cutest things that I noticed recently is that she loves to show her new toys to our pet dogs (Sunny and Sherry). Wondering how innocent these kids are. Also, surprising is to see both our dogs showing their acceptance for Gianna in the house, they don’t bite her.



Gianna loves her dadi’s dressing table. This act of her reminds me of my childhood when I used to stand up on the chair in front of my naniji’s dressing room’s mirror and would love to explore all her cosmetics. She has shuffled every drawer and every corner of the table that I am sure that it will take some days to re-arrange the things back in their proper place.






We are noticing quite some changes in her:

1. Gianna is behaving quite independently here.

2. She has started speaking three words sentences. The very first sentence that she spoke early morning at 5pm was “mumma pani dedo”.

3. She does not stick with me every time. Her attention mostly remains diverted to the two dogs, swing in the lawn, dressing table, new plush toys, etc. What more could she ask for?



4. She has not shown any anxiety to the new place. It looks as if she is aware of each and every corner of this house.

5. She now tries to eat snacks on her own with a spoon.

6. Her eating habits are still not very good. She is eating one or two meals less than what she used to have in the US. So that’s a worrying point to me till date…Wishing that her eating habits get better soon.

7. She has started eating while sitting on a small chair instead of a high chair. I would call this as an achievement.

8. The strange part is that she has not remembered any of her books which she never used to leave reading a single day.

9. She has become very talkative and extremely naughty. Guess that’s how kids should be.

10. Gianna is not taking much of a time to be friends with our cousins and other relatives.



Overall, an independent Gianna is what we got in this India trip.
I'm now looking forward to an equally enriching and rewarding trip to her Nani and Nana's place.

Gianna’s 2nd Birthday (12-12-2010)

A very Happy Birthday to my darling daughter!



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?

A drive to the spectacular Poconos Mountains -

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…

Click picture to enlarge

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)

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.