Coming back from India

I am back from India & no I didnt get the Shammi Kapoor DVDs as I had planned. The main reason being lack of time to go looking for it and also I observed when we were there that S has started making a fuss about eating even if we try to distract her with Shammi Kapoor or any one else for that matter!

Its always the same when you are leaving for India and also when you are coming back from India. Whether you get a days notice or you know months in advance the packing will always be done at the last minute. There always will be a struggle to fit in everything in the bags taking into account the weight limitation. While going its the presents/gifts etc and while coming back it will be the odd masalas/papads/eatables and anything that you think you wont get the same as in India (I bring back bottles of Silk n Shine conditioner everytime!) . Theres always something or the other that is left behind either because you forgot about it or the weight limitation. Its only been a month since I came back and I already have a list ready for my parents who will be coming shortly!

Thank You Shammi Kapoor

for making my daughter finish her dinner without any fuss and in record time i.e. 15 min flat!

Meal times are testing times for us, testing patience that is. S may be very hungry but she will still take her own sweet time to eat. Sometimes not even finishing completely. But again whenever her food is completely over, some of it has been spilled by her active hands, some spit out while trying to 'speak' something.

On Saturday, while channel surfing, GM came across the movie 'Teesri Manzil' and we had it switched on while we embarked on the task of feeding S. To my surprise she was completely drawn to the movie and while she watched wide eyed, I gave her spoons after spoons of her food and she ate without any fuss. Then when I paid attention, I saw that she was actually interested in watching Shammi Kapoor with those characteristic moves.

Most of the eating was done during the 'Aaja Aaja main hun pyar tera' song. But Shammi Kapoor was the only one who interested her. Whenever he was not on the screen and Asha Parekh took his place she would look at me questioningly. Sorry Ms Parekh nothing against you, but my daughter just prefers Shammi Kapoor.

Now I channel surf in search of a Shammi Kapoor movie before every meal. Maybe I should just get some DVDs on my next trip to India.

Harry Potter & the Order of Phoenix

I know I am a little, (maybe not so little) late in reviewing this movie now. But I only managed to watch it now. I am only glad that I got to watch it at one go instead of parts, as has become the habit nowadays with little S playing around vying for our attention.

Both me & GM are complete movie buffs. We can watch any movie at least once and then there are some which we see again & again. Earlier our count for the week used to exceed 8 even 10 sometimes. But these days its very difficult to manage even one movie in a week and even if we do its only on the weekend.

So we saw 'Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix' on Friday and.....I don't know if I liked this or not. If you see the individual movie its very good but when you have the other Harry Potter movies to compare it lacks the lustre.

Whenever we are watching a movie which is based on any book, it always happens that GM has watched the movie already and I have read that particular book. But in this case I haven't read any of the Potter books (I am intending to read them now). So I don't know if the movie completely adheres to the plot in the book, but its not substantial. The special effects and 'the edge of the seat' moments are still present and the movie manages to get you hooked completely but there still is something which is missing.

Coming to the actors, I really miss the cute little Daniel Radcliffe(Harry Potter), could not come to terms with the teenager version :) He is looking good and has acted well too but it did not work for me. Rupert Grint (Ron Weasely) lacks his usual effervescence and looks a little subdued. Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) happens to be the only one who retains her original charm in the movie.

To summarise it, as I have mentioned earlier, a good movie if you don't want to compare it with the earlier ones.

The First Step....

Oh yes! This time it is about my baby :) who is already 10 months old!

Time really flies....It just seems like yesterday when I shared the good news with everyone, flew back to India with my mom to have the baby, was pampered to the max by both our sets of parents, had a lot of functions, registered with the Hospital etc. I was excited, happy, nervous, apprehensive all at the same time about being a mother. And the same goes for the hubby, maybe a little more of each of the emotions, as he had to think about me as well :)

So it has been more than a year now and I was thinking about putting down the events on this blog but never got around to it since I had no time at all! Actually I didn't seem to have time for anything. The whole day just passed by and all I did was to run after my daughter S. But by now, I am used to managing multiple things at a time :) So as I write this I have her on my lap and I am trying to put her to sleep which is a major task by itself!

I have started reading books again and writing again. In fact I have just started a food blog as well. Its fun to work in the kitchen while S is playing there with all the utensils & empty dabbas and making a lot of noise. Of course its a lot of work to clean up the mess later on. She is constantly talking in her baby language as if she is telling me something, actually narrating & pointing here & there.

She had started standing up on her own last month & we were very happy about it. Then within the next 2-3 days she started walking with support holding anything & everything that came into her tiny cute hands, the sofa, table, chair, the wall or even our legs :) But last week she actually walked without any support. It was only 2-3 steps but she officially started walking! I had always heard about this being an exciting development but actually experienced it when I saw S walking. I had tears in my eyes, partly out of happiness and partly because of the sad realisation that my little baby has now grown up.

We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.

I had come across this quote somewhere long back and had liked it very much. But I am now understanding the real meaning and S is not even 12 months old! She already roams around the house taking those very cute, now I am confident now I am going to fall, baby steps and I have to keep running after her, telling her not to go into the bathroom, not to trip on one of her toys, not to touch the heater radiator, not to climb on the table or chairs & so on.

Now I am waiting for her to speak her first word ( In a language that we can understand :)) I wonder what that will be.....