Anvesha meets Santa Claus !!

You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!!

The holiday season abounds with traditions and photos with the big fat guy in red is right at the top of that merry list. We used to have Christmas parties in school where one of the teachers was dressed up as Santa and used to distribute gifts to all the children. I had always been very thrilled every year to get gifts from Santa Claus.

Santa photos are a tradition for many families, but they can be so pricey, I am glad we found a free photo with Santa spot at Gillman Village closeby. There is nothing worse than battling the mall crowds and then having to wait in line for two hours with a screaming toddler. I am glad we didn't have to go through all that.

Anvesha had her first formal pictures taken with Santa Claus and I had no idea how she would react to seeing Santa. I didn’t know if she’d be giddy and giggly or if she’d be one of those kids who is terrified of Santa and screams the entire time she’s on his lap. Judging from the pics, I’d say she was pretty chilled out on meeting Santa.

I’m happy I have a photo like the one above to frame and save as a treasured keepsake… I am also thrilled to have photos like the ones that follow....

Here are few pics in which Santa is guessing Anvesha's age ;)

 Are you 4 years old?

Are you 3 years old?

 Are you 2 years old?

This was a fun Saturday morning and Anvesha was all smiles after meeting Santa Claus and she was even more thrilled to get a candy from him. Santa is certainly a celebrity for kids and we love him too !!

Ho Ho Ho...... Merry Christmas !!!!

Sneak peak into Anvesha's room

I resumed my corporate life at Amazon after long gap of 5 years and it has been very time consuming and hectic at the same time. Although I try to be regular in my posts, there is only so much time in the day and sometimes things have to take a back seat. Unfortunately, it has been my blog.

We moved into our new house earlier this year and absolutely love the area and the neighborhood. New house also means a lot of opportunities to be creative with the interiors. Anvesha had been co sleeping with us and it was time to move her into her own room. I was happy to spend some time on creative matters, like setting up Anvesha's room. So, onto my post....

We selected the loft area to be Anvesha's room, it is adjoining our room  and has an open feel to it. Originally, when we moved to the house, this area just had her toys and was a play area rather than her room. Although I haven't done anything fancy, I wanted the room to look as colorful as possible, as opposed to just sticking to a single color theme- although the bed sheet and the quilt is still pink :), but other than that there are bins of assorted colors arranged in line opposite her mattress. We did not buy her a bed on purpose because this girl rotates 360 degrees while sleeping and there is a high possibility she might just trip over her bed :) There are bed rails available, but we still thought having just a twin mattress would have a warm and welcoming effect to it. There are body pillows arranged on the three sides, just to give a cozy look.

I love the three flower lamps on the wall that we picked up from Ikea. These lamps were originally put in Anvesha's room next to her crib, where she never slept :) I was planning to put up a giant wall sticker opposite this wall, but haven't decided on which one, maybe a rainbow- I am yet to find the best one.

Every time I go take pictures, I miss out on the best lighting- I am not a great photographer, so it takes time for me to select the ones I think are even close to being good enough to post. 

Anyways, this was a sneak peak into Anvesha's room. Nothing great, but just wanted to share this here, since this is her blog.

Anvesha learns to dance

It seems like just yesterday when Anvesha took her first steps. She, like most of us enjoys music and loves dancing. Off late I have seen her copy few dance steps whenever a song comes on television.So we thought it might be great idea to get her enrolled in formal dance classes. Whether it's ballet or jazz, dance classes for little girls are a perfect opportunity to build their motor skills.I also feel that if you know dance, and with that I mean formal dance, it gives you a wide opportunity to oversome your inhibitions and eventually turn into a social butterfly :)

Anvesha has a lot of energy and in addition to bursting her moves at home in spontaneous bursts of toddler dancing, she is now ready for fairly complex choreography. After doing some survey on which is the best dance school for little ones, we went for a trial class at Gotta Dance, just as to see how she enjoys this 30 minute class. She is almost 3 and can thrive in small classes in which the teachers are the only grown-ups in the room. Many dance studios, including Gotta Dance  allow you to watch your pint-size performer through a waiting-room window. The benefit of these “separation classes” is that children get the chance to learn more independently.

Anvesha entered the room and was thrilled to meet Miss Alex- her dance teacher and very gracefully followed all the instructions that were being given to her. Sigh !!!! I wish she did that at home too!. Most dance studios tend to have students wear leotards and tights- since this was a trial class we had Anvesha in tights and a top. She was all smiles towards the end of the class and didn't want to come out of the room. We had to drag her home and promised to come back the following week. We confirmed our registration towards the end of the class and bought her a cute leotard and dance shoes.

Here's my ballerina all set for her dance leason...