A Day in the Life of Anvesha

For most of us, life revolves around a set routine, like having tea at particular time of the day, going out for a walk at certain time. This routine is true for even babies and toddlers. Activities that happen at about the same time and in about the same way every day provide comfort and sense of safety for young children. Framing a daily routine for babies is really important since they like a predictable world.

 We had always been so hard pressed when it came on framing Anvesha's daily schedule and often times I have stressed out when her nap time would move here and there Anvesha is 17 months old now !!!!! They grow so fast....  Although there is no such thing as a typical schedule for any child.... but this is how her day roughly looks like :

Wake up 7.30-8 AM... usually is in a playful mood earlier in the morning
Breakfast is usually an hour after she wakes up, mostly  9- 9.30 AM

I dress her up for the day and we play around a bit. If the weather is good I take her out for a stroller ride around the neighborhood.

11 AM- Snack time

I drop her off at the day care at noon where she spends the next four hours.

Lunch at 1 at the daycare. She gets tired by that time and gets her siesta. She is down to just one nap in the afternoon now. 

3 PM - snack time

I pick her up at 4 PM and we head straight to the park and she plays there for an hour or so. In between I offer her some light snack to munch on.

7 PM- bath time. We have changed her bath timings for summers. She loves playing with water and splashes water all over. 

Dinner is at 7.30 PM

By 9.30 she is off to bed into her own dreamland !!!!

There is always room for deviations ofcourse, like vacations or flu. We do try to mix things up sometimes, especially on weekends so that she learns flexibility and tolerance.

Father's Day Messages

" Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad !!!"- Ann Geddes

Its Father's Day !!!! and I wanted to pass on few messages.... I am not very expressive when it comes to speaking out my inner feelings, so I thought it would be best to jot down my feelings and document them in my post :)

My dear loving hubby,
You are so much more than just a husband. You are the 'father' to our lovely daughter.Your love as a father shows through your interaction with Anvesha. You are a fabulous father, a great husband and we love you for who you are. There's another amazing side of you that only shows when you are with Anvesha. As difficult as it's been sometimes, I know I couldn't do it without your support.Thank you for being such a fantabulous father !!!!! 

And here's one from your darling princess.....

Dear Papa,
Happy Father's Day !!!! You are the world's coolest dad. You give me ice cream to eat, and you also give me chocolates without telling Mamma...... Our secrets remain with us.....I love it when you come home from office and I come running to you. You are a great storyteller. I want to dedicate this special song to you today.
Love you lotssss... Aanu

For me, father's day will be incomplete without these messages......

Respected Daddy,

Its Father's Day and I want you to know that the past four years with you have been truly knowledgeable. When I came into this family you ensured I feel comfortable and loved. Though I wasn't the religious type earlier, but being with you taught me many  things that I will cherish forever. Thanks for being such a great teacher.

Dear Papa,

Our relation is 32 years old and though I haven't been very vocal, I want you to know that you are an amazing father. Even though we've had many disagreements you are still  someone I look upto in my life. Thank you for working so hard to give me the best education possible. No matter how old I get, I will always be your little girl.

Happy Father's Day !!!!

Berry Berry Sweet !!

Strawberries are in season and this also marks the onset of summers... Yayyy !!!! They are in fact sweet little nuggets of summer goodness. What better way of celebrating summer than go berry picking :) Strawberries being Anvesha's favorite, so we decided to pick strawberries out of all berries :) Last year around this time Anvesha was about 5 months old and we decided to wait for another year so that she can enjoy this country side experience.

There are plenty of "U Pick Farms" in Seattle. We decided to go to the Remlingar Farms this Sunday . It was a warm sunny day and we put in lots of sunscreen to avoid any sun tan. Anvesha was still sleepy as we pulled her out of her car seat. As we entered the strawberry fields, she was more than delighted to run around and squealed in delight on seeing strawberries.  At first the strawberries barely reached the basket as they went directly into Anvesha's mouth :) A curious child as she has always been, she was watching us pick the strawberries and put them in the basket. Few minutes later she decided to give us a helping hand. She would pluck the berries, throw them into the basket and clap her hands on her accomplishment !!!! She had tons of fun playing with mud too. For the next couple of days, its gonna be strawberries on the menu.... smoothies, snack items, strawberry pancakes.... or maybe some homemade  strawberry jam......who knows ????

It was an altogether different experience for her and I am sure by the age of 4 or 5, she would enjoy it all the more. It's also a great way to expose kids to the country side. Living in the city we often forget how much sweat goes in producing the fruits and veggies that we so easily buy from our local grocery store. But as of now none of this will make sense to her :) All that she can see is these red dew drops hanging in the fields !!!!

After picking around 5 Lbs of strawberries,we headed straight to the fun park. Anvesha enjoyed the train ride, pony ride, the mini giant wheel and we enjoyed having fun with her. By the end of the day all three of us were exhausted. It was a fun filled Sunday. What a way to start the summer !!!!

For the love of stuffed toys

The world is  better place and what makes it so are the soft toys !!! Fluffy, hugable, warm, soft, cuddly, cute.... these are just the few keywords to 'stuffed toys' :) They are really the cutest things to exist on earth.There's something about these cute  and soft plushies that girls, especially babies love them so much.These cute little fluffies come in different characters and various shapes and sizes.  The Disney clan of stuffed toys is always a hit amongst kids.

We had been collecting stuffed toys for Anvesha even before she was born !!! She has over two dozens of them now in different shapes and sizes and different characters as well.  She has developed a liking towards stuffed toys lately and I secretly admire her hugging and playing with them :) There are ones for the car seat, few she likes to go out with on her stroller... and how can I forget her bumblebee, her Donald duck, the huge Minni Mouse...... the list just goes on and on!!!!! I feel that every girl MUST develop a liking towards soft toys.... its like a tradition isn't it??  I remember hugging my teddy bear tightly while going to sleep. This was one that my father got for me when I was around 10 yrs old and I still have it at my parent's place... would love to see Anvesha play with it too :) Here's her collection of  stuffed toys

Girls are born with an innate habit of collecting them even when they grow up. They can just hug them and go to sleep and not worry about anything at all. As far as her favorite toy is concerned... well she loves all of them.... it must be hard for her to pick one out of the lot. We happened to be at ToysRUs the other day and our dear Missy was all over the place picking the stuffed toys.  At the time of check out we landed up doing some compulsive shopping of the ones she was holding.  Iam sure we will land up buying more and more as the time progresses. She loves to move around hugging them tightly :)

That's her at ToysRUs......

Oh So Adorable !!!!

We always wanted to have a daughter and I still remember the morning of Sept' 2012 when we had scheduled the "big ultrasound". Our prayers were answered when we found out its a "girl" :) For me, the best part about having daughters is that we have countless ways of dressing them up. Sun dresses, skirts, shorts, trousers, rompers, dungarees, lehangas, salwar kameez.....the list goes on !!! Not to forget the cute accessories- clips, hairbands, ribbons, shoes..... they look so adorable :)

I love dressing up and styling Anvesha. I have so much fun dressing her in those cute little outfits, especially when I know that I will not be able to choose her ensembles forever. In just a matter of few years she will have her own style statement, so I enjoy having my own real life doll to play dress up with :)

If you happen to pass by the kids' clothing section in any of the stores, it looks so colorful. Pink still rules the girl's section :) Needless to say, pink dominates Anvesha's wardrobe as well and I am so much over the color pink now that I have stopped purchasing anything pink for her.  Yellow, red, orange, blue, green...... anything but pink !!!!!  Its hard to resist this color as its my favorite one. I think we have exhausted Carters now and its time to look out for other brands... Zulily has some really cute ones  and with summers just around the corner, its time to stock up some cute sun dresses for her :)

I happened to re-organize Anvesha's wardrobe one day ( something which had been on my to-do list for long ) and couldn't help but admire these cute and lovely dresses. I have two favorites- the blue dress that she wore for her welcome party in India and the pink dress that she wore for her birthday party. I wish I could turn back time and go  into my childhood  so that I can wear them too ;)

Here's a sneak peek into Anvesha's wardrobe..... These dresses are just A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E !!!!!

P.S: These ones are just the few BEST ones out of the lot :)

On Mother's Day

I used to say I am a new mom with a little baby girl. But now I am a mom with a toddler... can't believe how time flies. I started this blog to write about anything and everything I could think of as I became this new person called "mom". I continue blogging to share the spirit and joy of becoming a mother- hoping it might help others like me who are discovering this all new aspect of their lives called motherhood. This is also my own way of recording all the sweet memories of Anvesha's childhood and everything else that I have learnt being a first time mom.

Thank you Aanu for giving me the most special role in my life and thanks Prateek for being my pillar during the rough times...... last but definitely not the least, thank you mummy for inspiring me each day to get better at this role. Even if I can be half of what you are, I would consider my motherhood a success !!!

This mother's day I make a promise to myself to be a good mom- not the best mom 'coz who knows what the best mom is anyways ??   I have come to appreciate how much harder it is to be a mom despite all the conveniences of modern motherhood!! I don't always get it right, but I am trying.... Being a mom is the toughest job on planet. There are always clothes to wash, meals to cook, stories to read, tears to be kissed away.... and it never ends there. It's hard to get up at 3 AM when your little one is crying and you are exhausted... its hard to take care of a fussy toddler when you have a cold too. I finally understand the value of mother's love and appreciate how hard our mothers have worked to raise us. Happy mother's day mummy.... thanks for being my guiding light !!!!

Here's a special mother's day note to my angel ( i thought I'll just flip sides and celebrate the reason I've been able to call myself a mother)

Dear Aanu,
Its mother's day and I want you to know that you are the bestest daughter in the whole world. I am so blessed to be your mother.I promise to always be there for you and be the mom you deserve. Thank you for the wonderful  mother's day greeting this morning ( courtesy  your dad ). Being your mom makes me the happiest person today !!!!
 Hugs n kisses.... Mamma

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there !!!!!

Let's Play !!!

Being a stay at home mom, I have all the time to entertain Anvesha. We both love to try new things to keep ourselves entertained. I love to play peekaboo and the "chase" game with her where I chase her through the house and tickle her all over... she goes splits and rolls all over the floor :) We love to play with the ball throwing it back and forth to each other. I try to involve her in the household chores like laundry, stacking the dishwasher and she loves to help around as well :)

She loves books and I read out to her a LOT!!!.  We go to the library and  Barnes and Noble for story times. She loves dancing, playing with her blocks, sliding on her slide, riding on her horse, playing with her ball ( she is so possessive about it )..... taking her new best friend- her caterpillar out for walks :) Seeing her with her caterpillar reminds me of the Hutch ad.... she loves to stack things up, empty up the cabinets which is frustrating for me but I let her continue anyway. That's the best way to encourage curiosity in this cute little enthusiastic cutlet !!!!!

I feel that it is MUCH easier to keep the toddlers entertained when the weather is nice. Past few days  had been very sunny and its beginning to warm up now with temperature hitting 80 degrees !!! Time to get those summer dresses out from the closet :) So each sunny day, this is how we spent our day together:

• taking walks around the neighborhood
• playing at the parks
• feeding the ducks at Bellevue downtown park
• stroller rides along the Bellevue Way

There are some really good kid friendly parks in the Bellevue/ Redmond area like the  Bellevue downtown park, Crossroads park, Grass lawn park. These parks offer a lot of activities for the little cruisers. Anvesha would squeal in delight as I pushed her on the swing and had great fun whooshing down the mini slide :) Here are the highlights from last week.

Anvesha loves playing with sand, picking up pebbles and leaves and I love showing her how they crush and crumble :) Being outdoors is a great way for her to learn and explore new things. This exploratory impulse- to go, look, touch and taste is what drives her to learn. She learns about 'fear', for instance while climbing a playground structure and about 'excitement', when she comes down the slide.  Unfortunately at her age she can't yet differentiate between what's safe and what's not. The challenge for me is to keep her safe without inhibiting her desire to touch, hold, shake or taste her world !!