We celebrated Shimpa's birthday at home this time, as it was a week day and she had a dance class in the evening.




This card below was made from butterflies which were bought with Deepti chachi from Itsy Bitsy on their recent visit and flower cutouts. We later got eyes from Shimpa for using these for *her* card :)


Keya has started getting really interested in didi's and mummy's art stuff now. So, it was only appropriate that she make a separate card as well. We used didi's stamps for these ...

For Shimpa's birthday, I planned with Kashvi that we will get some flowers and cake and put it in the car the night before. She got really excited and immediately went and told Mummy, "You don't go to the car in the evening!"

When we actually got the flowers, we put them in my cupboard instead. And again, she was not able to contain herself and asked Shimpa not to look into the closet now! Her such innocent actions just bring a smile to our faces.

And as for Keya ...

She has a really sweet tooth. When she woke up on 18th, I asked her to go to Mamma and say "Happy to" to her. She went to Shimpa and asked for "Happy to cake!" Luckily, we did get a pastry slice which was promptly given to keep her pacified :)

Kashvi and I made a faceless doll from corn husk and some leftover Christmas raffia. After we were done, she came up with the idea of adding wings to the doll to turn it into a fairy.

Kashvi was running a temperature and skipped school today. She utilized part of the day to make some cards for Megha bua and Chintu chacha's upcoming birthdays.
The first one uses corrugated paper for the pot, die cut butterfly and flowers in different colors and sizes. Sentiment is stamped on translucent paper and glued to the vase.
The second one uses the same corrugated paper for the pot, some leftover flowers from an old card making kit and hand written sentiment on translucent paper.

Kashvi made this card for her Leena mami's birthday using fake gem stones in flower and leaf shapes on handmade printed paper. We matted it with pink cardstock to match the colors of the flowers.

We are very non sporty parents. Neither of us has any inclination to play ..and this worries us as we want our kids to enjoy some sport, atleast in the early years. Both the girls like to spend time in the play area, and Kashvi is a good runner ..but we feel this is not enough.

So, when Kashvi expressed a desire to learn basketball in a class offered here in Springfields, we were both encouraging and apprehensive. She already takes Bharatnatyam twice a week, and adding three more days of basketball would make all her weekday evenings quite hectic. We are also concerned that she might not last too long as she sometimes tries to wriggle out of her Bharatnatyam class these days.

But we have given in for now, and she started her class yesterday....the only girl in a batch of ten kids. Her friends Dhruv and Wayhek are in the class so she'll have company. Keya and I went to watch her play... she was doing warm up with the other kids :)

We tried the whole potty training game with Keya some time back, but though she would sit on it for a while, she was not able to figure out what to do. So, we decided to give it a break.

These days Chintu, Deepti and Shagun are visiting us and even though Shagun is just 7 months old, they have started putting her on a potty and she is able to use it.

Looking at her, Keya figured it out! She asked me to take off her diaper, got her potty and sat on it. I helped her by reading her a book and she was able to go pee-pee in it! And she did it again today once. We are so happy! :)

Kashvi has learnt how to tie her shoe laces from her friend. That is a big milestone!

I dont remember at what age I learnt, but I remember papa spending good amount of time with me on it. I still remember some of my cousins who needed their parents to do it for them till much later.

She still struggles with it a little bit but its sweet to see!

This weekend, I took off the training wheels from Kashvi's bi-cycle and we tried two wheel bi-cycling.

I had really pumped Kashvi up, and when going down, she asked me what she will get if she learnt how to bi-cycle today itself. It was then that I realized I had to reset her expectations! I promised her, that it did not matter when, but once she learns how to bi-cycle, I will get her something :)

She doesn't know it yet, but that something is going to be a wrist watch. She has recently learned how to read a watch and it will be a good gift.

Predictably, our first attempt was hard! It is not easy to imagine back and remember the binary act of bi-cycling. And, it was very tough for me to come up with small incremental lessons to get there. Looks like I will have to do some online research on that.

For now, I have put her traning wheels back on, and raised them an inch - that way she can practice by herself. Kashvi, however takes any failure or indication of it very badly. She was initially very upset that I was putting the training wheels back, but now that I explained it to her and showed her that I have raised them, she is fine.

Keya likes to watch hindi songs on TV. And she is increasing her assertiveness along with her language skills.

Keya has learnt how to tri-cycle! She can also manipulate the handle to the desired direction and is enjoying this newfound skill around the house.




I recently got Keya a rag doll from the US. She is slowly endearing to it. She feeds her food with a spoon, pretends to change her diaper, makes her sit on a potty (and does not herself - we are dedicatedly trying these days!), reads her a book, puts her to bed and during diwali pooja made me put a tika on her forehead and tie kalava on her hand! But, the best part I like is when Keya is going out with us somewhere, she goes to her doll and says a loud and loving "Bye" to her!


The refrigerator has become a constant center of tantrums. Her most common demand is "Cheez!" - which is a problem because of her daily dairy limit. Tonight, I gave in to her after 10 minutes of "Open!" and "Cheez!". She took out a block of cheese and then she saw some chocolate. The cheese went back in and out came the chocolate!

I recently created an email account for Kashvi. I am planning to send her at least a few mails a week to keep her engaged.

When I come home from office, Keya becomes so happy she finds it difficult to express her love. Her gait gets a lift and she runs into my arms. Last Thursday she spent 30min without uttering a word, just being contented to be around me - she'd come snuggle, run away and then come back again.

Some cards Kashvi made for her teachers using handmade paper, 3 D paint, markers, circle punch and decorative edge scissors.


Some diyas she painted in acrylic.

Friday was the last day of school before Diwali and Kashvi had some Diwali celebrations at school. She told us that her teacher had asked her to wear a sari. And on Thu in her Almanac along with the other instructions of what to get for Friday, there was also a statement about wearing a sari and a crown.

However, it was immediately apparent to Shimpa, that this was of her own making!

As parents, we have this rule with Kashvi that she should always tell us the truth. And it does not matter how good or bad that is. We strongly encourage this by ensuring we don't censure her for what she tells us. Wearing a sari was not a big deal, but that she thought of going about it this way was very concerning. Shimpa got very upset with her.

Sadly, even after she got caught, Kashvi's only focus was that her sari for the next day does not get canceled. That is something that really frustrated both of us.

She got a lot of lectures and scolding. But, looking at how badly she wanted it and not wanting to spoil the festival for her, we let it go.

Kashvi got her test results this Saturday. We were glad to find out that Kashvi did really well in the tests - even in Hindi; despite the sick leaves she had to take this session. And though we are not making a big deal of it, we were delighted to know that she stood 1st in class :)

It was good talking to her teachers too, we did not know that she is their pet student till now. It is good to understand the level of the class and teacher's expectations. In some cases we were pushing her harder than needed.

Kashvi got a pat on the back, and a brownie point for it.

And though, I was inclined to give her the weekend off, no such respite from mom!

To make Kashvi sit down to study is sometimes a herculean task. But once she does and gets into the mode, she is a good student and picks up things really fast. It is fun to teach her to do new things.
And Keya, in her classic copy-cat act wants to "study" exactly the way didi does. She has taken over all of Kashvi's last grade books. She scribbles in a notebook when Kashvi is writing in one, and a workbook when didi is doing that!
Here both of them on Karvachauth day.

I like to try out different ideas to stimulate Kashvi and Keya's minds. My philosophy is that this will help them become more imaginative and creative individuals when they grow up.

Another picture by Kashvi using pencil colors.