S first play date

Today S had her first play date. She is very friendly with N, a girl in her school ( N had comes for her birthday etc) and us moms decided to let S and N bunk their park outing from school today and instead play at home. Before you accuse me of making S bunk school, I was anyway not keen on sending S for the park outing because its really hot in Mumbai now (38 degrees plus) and the scheduled outing was for 41/2 hours which assuming an hour for travel, plus some time back at the school for snacks, would still mean close to 21/2-3 hours in the sun. S has just recovered from a long spell of cough and cold and I didn't want to risk her getting a sunstroke or fever from being in the sun for too long, especially with the packing and shifting over the next few weeks. Plus I take her to the park nearly everyday so she won't be missing much.

So instead, I took S and A (now I try to take A everywhere along with S so that S gets used to having A with her , and sharing my time with her, and really soon I won't have much choice anyway) to N's house in the morning and the kids had a great time. S and N played continuously for 2 hours- from blocks, to train, to clay, to make up (pretend of course), to cycling (S saw N cycling on her own and got motivated to try cycling on her own) to scooter to tea set to drawing with crayons. They also ran all over the house, throwing a ball at each other, jumping on the bed and generally were very excited to be with each other. For once S did not ask me to come and sit with her and was comfortable playing in another room away from me. Usually she would ask me to come and sit with her while she is playing with someone else- even if children come to our house to play! She even ate two dosas- the first she ate on her own, but then i fed her the second as we were getting late for home and for A's lunch.

A had a nice time as well- she chomped on the chocolate stick that was given to her, examined all the toys (some with her mouth also) kept looking at what S and N were upto, went up to them and played with their toys and once in a while would come and sit on my lap. She missed her nap time in the morning and I was quite surprised that she didn't get cranky till we reached back home (I guess so many new toys, children playing, and getting a lot of attention from everyone).

It was overall a nice experience, I loved seeing S so happy and A so comfortable. I didn't have to run behind the children much and was able to speak to N's mom. S and A have both started becoming more comfortable at our friends (who have kids) places also - or rather happily make themselves comfortable with their toys and snacks!

Sigh- just when the kids are getting settled, we'll have to move! I hope S makes some nice friends in her school at Zurich.

Look See

We went for our Look See to Zurich early April. My first impression of the place was strongly positive. We were extremely lucky with the weather, as it was sunny all the four days I was there. Before the sun came out and after sunset, if we were walking on the streets, it was cold enough to require a thick jacket, cap and muffler, but during the day, expecially if you were sitting in the sun, you could even get away with a light sweater. I had gone fully prepared for snow- with thermals, thick woollen gloves etc for me and for S and was pleasantly surprised.

The trip itself required a lot of planning and coordination. We decided to leave A behind, because it was going to be a hectic four days, and managing two youngs kids in a hotel room, their feeding etc while trying to see houses, see the areas etc would be a struggle and we had the luxury of my parents volunteering to come and look after A. Thank you so much Ajja and Ajji, so sweet of you to come to Bombay leaving your house empty and putting up with the demands of my maids, and so many other inconveniences just to look after A (and especially so that she would be in familiar surroundings) so that we could comfortably go and see Zurich. I am totally pampered and happy to admit it!

The flights itself were uneventful- we were travelling business, and the seats were fully reclining, and being a night flight, we got a good 6 hours sleep on the flight ( a big bonus after many sleepless nights with A). The first day we walked around Zurich city centre- there's a main road- the BahnoffStrasse which starts from the railway station and is the Oxford Street of Zurich, so to speak. It leads up to the marina where the cruises start. After a leisurely stroll, with S in the pram, we had an early Italian lunch (my elastic bands were off a few days before out trip so I could eat some proper food after ages) and managed to get some rest in the hotel before setting off in the afternoon to see flats. The flats on the first day were disappointing - the first one was very close to a railway station and we could hear the trains stopping and starting every 10 mins. The second one did not have car parking, and the rooms on the top level were too short for the hubby.

The next day was a Saturday, and none of the real estate agents work over the weekend so we had the next two days for sightseeing/shopping etc. Saturday morning we took the train to Utliberg. Its about a twenty five minute train journey from the main Bahnoff and we the last 10 mins are really scenic as you start entering the alps. The last stop is on top of a mountain and the view from there is amazing. There was a kids playground also at the train station and S had fun on the swing and slides, though she had to be careful as it was slippery with ice on the floor. We had ditched the pram, as the climb to the top was on on a track and S refused to walk so the hubby and I had to carry her all the way up! So we ended up going only some of the way, to the nearest restaurant about a 15 mins climb from the train station, though there are higher points about an hours trek away. Maybe when the kids are older! The one we went to had a huge tower which we could climb and get a great view of the Alps and of Zurich. We we went 3/4 of the way up and I suddenly got scared (I've found after my accident I get scared to climb/walk too much --hopefully this feeling goes away with time) and refused to climb up anymore. But the view was good enough - we could see the mountains on most of the sides and the city/lake on one side.

View from the tower

We had lunch at a restaurant at the base of the tower- it was an open air restaurant overlooking the mountains and it felt amazing to sit out in the sun, with the chill breeze, great view and nice wine. There were two couples at the table next to us, and they were having some wine tasting session I think as the bartender was sitting next to them, opening bottle after bottle of wine, and they would take a sip from their glasses and put it away. By the end I'm sure there were more than 100 glasses on their table and they must have been more than a little tipsy. Lunch was also good- there was more than 1 veg option on the menu and the ravioli was nice and fresh (again a pleasure to eat after so many days of liquid diet). S had her steady diet of fries!

View from the restaurant

After lunch we went back to the hotel for a long siesta, then at night we went to a colleague's house for dinner. They had two kids, and S immediately took to the elder kid after her offered her playdough to play with. She was happy for the toys and children's company after 2 days of househunting and boring (for her I guess) sightseeing and was quite reluctant to leave. As usual she did not eat anything even though there was a large variety on offer (found out that there is a lady who prepares Indian food in Baden, which tastes like home food, so that's helpful when we have guests, only we have to go all the way there to pick it up and its about 45 mins away!).

The next day, we went for a cruise on Zurich lake. We had to walk through the Bahnoffstrasse to reach the marina where the cruise starts, and the main street was completely deserted. No shops are open on Sunday! The cruise is for 11/2 hours and takes you on a round trip to the main areas on both sides of the Zurich lake (known as Golden side and Silver side). There were some really lovely houses on the lake on the Golden side and many parks and restaurants overlooking the lake-it seems they are packed in the summers. We saw the Lindt factory on the Silver side, couldn't smell the chocolate, but it seems it emits a nice chocolatey smell in its surrounding areas.

View of Zurich lake from the cruise

The cruise was beautiful, but S got quite bored - I really think we have to make an effort to make her more patient- here in Bombay she is entertained 100% of the time, she needs to learn to keep herself entertained also for some time in a day. Hopefully, when she doesn't have a choice in Zurich (like when i need to cook, or feed Aditi) she will learn! She was tired also and slept in the pram as soon as we got out from the ship, and slept all the way on the walk back to the hotel.

We had time for a small siesta (not me since I had to cook and feed S!) and then set out for tea at a family friends' place. They had a beautiful house in Zumikon and after seeing that, and seeing their kids playing outside in the garden, I felt quite tempted to agree to houses- so far I was against them because a) I'm a scaredy cat and would get quite scared in a large standalone house when the hubby is travelling and b) the extra work involved in maintaining a house! S even climbed a tree in their garden after seeing the elder son climbing a tree, and the road was a private road so the kids could go cycling down the road. Lovely.

Diner was in a Swiss restaurant in the hotel itself. I was looking forward to a fondue which I thought was a Swiss national dish, but they didn't have that on the menu, but I had a lovely puff with vegetable filling in a cream sauce.

Monday was hectic househunting day and we were scheduled to fit in 7 places that day. We fell in love with the first place we saw which was an independent house in Zumikon- very close to S school. It was in a nice quiet locality (ok all places in Zurich are quiet, but this wouldn't even have much traffic) and had a beautiful garden and heated swimming pool. The hall opened out into the garden and from the kitchen I could see the garden. I could imagine putting in swing and slide and S and A playing the garden, while i watched them from the kitchen! After seeing that house all other flats paled in comparison, and we half heartedly went through the motions. A couple of other places we liked (though a distant second) was a large flat in the English quarters which a huge hall and lovely terrace, and an appartment in Dolder (Zurich Hill) which is a lovely area, and the flat was huge with a master bedroom the size of our hall in Bombay! We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Audi showroom and the hubby was very disappointed to find out that there was a 5 month waiting for the Audi SUV! Dinner was at an Italian restaurant in the old city, a colleague of the hubby joined us and gave us the low down on what all formalities we need to complete as soon as we land up here. S had an early dinner in the hotel itself and slept as soon we reached the restaurant (on my lap there and in the pram on the walk back- love the child's life I say!).

The next morning, S and I took the flight back to Bombay. I was a bit apprehensive about keeping S entertained on the flight since it was a day one, but she was amazing (touch wood) and after a couple of Tom and Jerry sessions, slept for a couple of hours, then again Tom and Jerry, playing with a 8 month old baby a couple of rows ahead and numerous feeding sessions by me (how will I managed both kids alone in the flight??) we survived!

A was happy to see us and did not give me the cold shoulder I was worried about. My parents said that overall she was alright, but quite grumpy and was much more cheerful once we were back. We missed her too, next time we'll take you with us dear. S was overall not so thrilled with the trip I think and told my parents that we have only one room in Zurich!! I was quite happy, and keeping fingers crossed that we get the place we liked.

Addendum: We didn't get the Zumikon house - they gave it to someone else :( and even the English quarters flat with the terrace which was the second choice came back saying that they would need more time for renovations and lease possible only in July, which is too late for us, but we got the Dolder flat :) I like the flat, and somehow felt it was the safest while the hubby was travelling since it was in a cluster of appartments, but it doesn't have a lift and is on the second floor. We really need to work out the logistics on two young children, prams and groceries on this!

Turning the other cheek

The other day S came back home with a scratch on her cheek, and when I questioned her she admitted that another girl bullied her from time to time- something pinching her, sometimes telling her she's very small, and today scratching her. I got really upset, and the next day whne I dropped S to school I told the teacher in front of S and the whole class, that the girl was bullying her. She then asked the girl not to do that anymore, and I also told the girl not to, in front of everyone. After that I've not heard any more instances from S. When it comes to kids, I am not a believer in turning the other cheek. I taught S to push anyone who tries to hit her, and make her practise on me once in a while. While i strongly teach her not to hit anyone I don't want her to be a pushover. So imagine my surprise when I went for the open house today and the teacher tells me that S was telling her friend N to hit another boy - "usko maro" were her words. And when the teacher asked S what she said, she just kept quiet, and when the teacher asked N she said S had asked her to hit the boy!!!

Well this is a first, talk about firing from someone else's shoulder. N is taller and bigger than S, but I don't know why S was interested in hitting the boy and why she wanted someone else to do the deed for her. When i asked her she was evasive, am going to keep a keener eye and ear on the goings on at school from now.

A turns one!

Happy birthday darling. A turned one a couple of weeks back. We are such lazy parents, we still have not bought her a birthday gift . But she was lucky to have all her doting grandparents over to celebrate her first birthday. We cut (S blew the candle and cut) a small cake for A and ate yummy dal vada which my MIL made.

Darling A, a year has passed by in a flash. It feels just like yesterday that we rushed for the C-section (you were taking your time inside and probably wouldn't have come out till the 40th week!) and now you're walking all over the house, fighting with your sister and charming your way into everyone's heart!

You can say Mama (but that usually refers to just about anything) and have also recently started saying Pummm (?) You love the cheeselings which Ajja gives you and have started saying Cheese. You go to the kitchen and point at the breadsticks and the cheeselings and insist that we give them to you. You run to S's pink bottle and drink the water quickly from the straw if it is partially opened. You love putting cream (Ajji's influence) and will sit down, take cream from my hand and rub it all over your legs. You love the bathtub, and playing with all the shampoo/soap bottles (the bathtub toys are passe for you).

You love going to the park and after your evening meal you are eager to be dressed and keep restlessly going towards the door and indicating that its time to go to the park. You enjoy the swing and the roundabout (very slowly), the slide (the small one if its Mummy and the big one if its Daddy) and rocking vigorously on the horsey/ducky! You'll then sit on the grass and wait for Akka to finish playing on the slides/in the mud etc. If we buy a balloon after the park you have to have one as well, but will still reach out for Akka's balloon (still highly suspicious that you're getting the short stick). Actually you love going out anywhere and often come with me when I go to pick up S from school. You'll smile and wave at strangers and are quite cheerful to be out and about.

You love to climb up on top of the sofas- right to the top, giving a few breathless moments to your mummy. Your latest trick is to stand on top and dance, and do you love to dance- if we play any music channel, or some channel suddenly plays music you'll dance about. You love being flung up in the air by daddy, or spinning round and round and will complain vigorously when the fun stops. You want all of S things- including her scooty which you are far too young for, sweetie. You don't like to sit in one place for long, but don't want anyone else to sit on my/ajji's lap and will complain loudly if we take S onto our lap. You've taken well to the musical bonding class, and even started going and picking up instruments and putting them back (and yesterday you didn't put a single instrument in your mouth!). You watch the other kids sing and dance and try a couple of movements yourself.

Your night sleep is as troublesome as ever and am sure you are responsible for more than your fair share of white hairs on mummy's head! Last few weeks have been a mix of sleep training with parental presence with some success, and some nights where I just give up and take you on my lap, or give you to the maid (at 4:30 in the morning!). I hope you started sleeping through the night soon !

Mummy is still spoiling you with only baby foods, am starting soup with limited success but given your troubles in the earlier stages, I still feel its good enough if you are eating well, why nix it?

Dear A, next year is going to see so many changes- a new city, maybe a playschool?, getting used to mummy 24X7, mummy's cooking, sitting in a car seat, cold weather and hopefully a lot of travelling with daddy. Here's to a happy 2nd year.

Travelling with a fussy eater

Have I mentioned earlier that S is a fussy eater. Of course I have, and my patience was sorely tested in our recent look see to Zurich. Breakfast took an hour to convince S to finish her milk (still in a bottle!) and eat two slices of toast. Lunch at any restaurant was mostly refused even if it was pizza/pasta . Sometimes she would have some fries though. We would then have to come back to the hotel and make her lunch- I had purchased and carried a small rice cooker and hand blender with me which turned out to me the smartest thing we did. Yes it sounds so silly, to carry a mini kitchen with you what with the rice, dal and rasam powder and salt also having to be carried and an hour being spent each day in cooking up meals for S, but I've always had this problem, I cant stand to see S not have a proper meal. Left to her she can happily skip meals and be cheerful/sleep properly etc, but after one skipped meal I get all jittery and worried. So it was either Maggi or dal rice for her lunch and then again dal rice for her dinner. The icing on the cake was when we went to a colleagues house for dinner and S refused to eat anything though there was dal, chapatti, sabzi, rice everything on the table. I guess she is just too stubborn and I am just too worried. I was a bit apprehensive about the flight back as that was a day flight and with difficulty she had half a chocolate doughnut for breakfast (c'mon which kid does not like chocolate doughnut), cucumber and 1/3 of chapati for lunch!!!, turned her nose up at the fries on offer and finally 3 mini samosas in the evening. I managed to give her milk twice and made all sort of promises that I would make her a more varied eater before we finally shift (don't see that happening!). But yes, travelling with a fussy eater is difficult, but if you just resign yourself to the fact that you need to prepare what they usually eat and carry the stuff with you, at least it saves a lot of shouting and screaming and general tension!

On the positive side, I had my elastics removed before our trip to Zurich and was pleasantly surprised to find that most restaurants have at least one veg dish (not just fries) and while I couldn't eat most of the amazing bread, cheese or chocolates there, I had some really nice ravioli, spaghetti and puffs.

Happy Birthday Dear

S turned 3 a couple of weeks back. This year we decided to have a party for her. Partly because we would be moving out of India soon and it would be much more difficult to organise the parties abroad. Partly because last year we had done nothing (just a cake cutting) and i felt we should do something now. But mainly because S has started enjoying the company of other children and I thought she would enjoy the party. Initially we had wanted to combine the two children's birthday and have one big party, but I didnt want to celebrate A's first birthday in advance, and we were travelling to Zurich for the look see immediately after her birthday and my hubby was returning only after 10 days (and no point in celebrating a birthday after two weeks!). So we decided to keep both the celebrations separate.

For S birthday we called only our close friends and their children whom S keeps seeing regularly and knows; S close friend from school and the children from downstairs who come with us to the park regularly. Basically people and children S knows well. I wanted to do something special and entertaining for the kids at the party, and I thought we could have some games on the terrace but the age group was too diverse (two children aged 6, one aged 11, two aged 3 and the rest under 2) and most of them would not appreciate party games. A couple would have probably understoon and played the games, but hardly a quorom. I toyed with the usual suspects- a bouncy castle (then i had visions of children bouncing off the terrace, so no!), magician (again most kids too young to appreciate) and finally i gave up and said we'll just kick some balls on the terrace, do some bubbles, and maybe take the scooter and bike up and play for a while. Then as luck would happen, I happened to sit next to N (S's best friend in school)'s mother during their sports day and it turned out that she was a puppeteer and did puppet shows for events. She said the age group for the puppets was 2+ and she could customise for all favourite characters of children. I immediately signed her on and also asked her to bring N along for the party (when i asked S later what she liked best about the party she said that N had come!!)

The week went in preparations- I took S along to chose the cake- this time we went for taste over aethetics- last time for S first birthday I had got an elaborate 3 D aeroplace cake made by a specialty shop, but didnt find the taste too good. This time I went for the tried and tested Dutch Truffle by Birdys despite their limited cake shape choices. S went through all the designs and chose a pink (no surprise) face. Viewed upside down it looked like an angry face, but it was just an egg shaped face design. Some of my friends thought it was some famous cartoon character and broke their heads trying to figure it out, but it was just a shape! Then we had the return presents, and I wanted to chose appropriate gifts for each age group. Then the prizes- i thought we'd have a couple of games, but in the end between the puppet show and the cake cutting we managed to have only one game. The decorations came from the Party Hunters shop very close to our house - we had Barney triangle streamers, A happy Birthday centerpiece hanging from the lamp, balloons and a Barney pinata. We also had Barney paper plates and paper cups. I had bought a story book and Dairy milk chocolate for S to give at school to her classmates, and Barney covers for them! I chose Barney as Dora (S favourite was not available) and I personally don't think too much of the Princess theme (and of course it would completely put off the boys who came for the birthday party!)

My in laws were there for S birthday and that was a nice surprise for her. On the birthday day, the hubby went with S to buy her birthday gift and got her a skateboard with a pull out handle. You can initially hold the pullout handle and kick off from the ground and put both feet on the board and move, and later put back the handle and use it as a skateboard. At the beginning S was quite reluctant to use this, but now she loves it and keeps skateboarding (with the handle) all over the house- its difficult to get A not to also ask for her turn on the skateboard!

The birthday afternoon went in putting up the decorations, balloons, getting the cake and the puppeteers spent half an hour getting their stuff organised. At 5:40 we started the puppet show, which went on for about 45 mins. The hits were Nemo (song in which we had to recognise Marlin and they showed different sea animals to music), Barney (where they blew bubbles from inside the box and the kids had fun trying to catch the bubbles) , Dora (where the kids had to find Boots) the Three Little Pigs (with the Big Good Wolf instead of the Big Bad Wolf- S still keeps mentioning this!) and the Aesop's fable with the lion and the mouse. The kids were mostly riveted to the puppet show and some of the adults too (I enjoyed it!)

Then we had the cake cutting and snacks. We had made aloo tikki, cutlet and sandwiches at home and got puffs from Candies. There was of course the usual chips and the in laws had got sweets as well. Apart from the bright pink, the cake was quite nice - S happily blew the candle and ate the piece i cut for her, and then continued to eat more pieces of cake (caught on camera!). Then she asked me to give some to N (!) and they both sat on the sofa happily together eating the cake and chips and refusing any of the other stuff (why did I bother!). I couldn't eat anything because of the wires, and drank lots of juice instead. The kids were running between the hall and the toy room and after we burst the pinata, stuffing themselves with sweets (forgive me parents!). We then had one game- where the elder kids had to put as many crazy bands in one minute on themselves and parents had to put on the younger kids in the same time. We had three winners (since there were so many prizes) but the main attraction were the crazy bands which S and A still continue to play with. They are really cool, of various shapes and colours.

S and A had a great time at the party- even A was quite enthralled with the puppet show for some time and S was taken away completely by it. After the party they happily spent the rest of the evening unpacking gifts, rolling around on the mattress on the hall floor (for the children to sit on for the puppet show) and playing with the balloons.

Happy birthday dearest S. You've become such a big girl suddenly. You come and tell me what you did at school, whom you played with, show me that you've eaten your tiffin (now you enjoy some variety in that), show me what activity you have done, but still insist on me carrying you to the car from school! Your friends also greet me at school saying what they played with you that day at school. You love going to the park. You can climb the tallest structure now, and love to keep climbing new things. On the bars which go in a semi circle you can go more than halfway and then want me to catch you while you swing from the middle one and hold you while you climb down the rest and finally jump down. You want to be swung fast but don;t mind giving up your swing if other people are waiting in turn. You like to go on all the slides, but face inwards! You love the seesaw and are waiting for company to go on the other side (just a little while more till A gives you company my dear). You love to run up the mountain and down the mountain and generally all around the park. In Joggers park the rabbits are your favourite and at Patwardhan park you like the wet sand as you can easily make shapes on it.

You love the musical bonding class and keep asking when it is. You dont mind A coming along for it, and bring her instruments each time during the class for her to play. You like the teacher and have started singing and dancing along with most of the rhymes. You love to read books and have books read to you. You like to listen to stories- Aesop's fables, Panchatantra, Barney, Noddy etc, but have started carrying baby books with you (maybe you dont want to share with A?) You love your bubble bath and will happily play in the water and ask me to go and do my work. When you are done with playing with the bubbles you'll call me to come and give you bath. You are a fussy eater and only eat some very specific things, but at least dont give trouble for those things. Rasam rice is your favourite and then Maggi. You like pasta and pizza sometimes and love snacks like popcorn, banana chips, chips etc. You and your daddy can eat snacks all day. You love your Ajja and Ajji and the fact that they adore you completely. I love you my sweetheart, and hope you settle down into the new life in Zurich and enjoy each thing as you do here.

Time for a new wardrobe

You may start thinking that its time for a new wardrobe when one of your closest friends has the same shirt as you, and your daughter points this out to you everytime you wear that shirt.

Then comes the stage when your daughter starts pointing at more of your clothes in the cupboard and asking whether the said friend has those shirts as well.

But you know you really need a new wardrobe when you go to visit the dentist and "he" tells you that he has the same shirt you are wearing!

Addendum: I finally got some much delayed shopping done today. People I know please don't go to CWC and buy the same clothes as me. Happy to report that I finally managed to fit into S size shirts- there has to be some benefit of not eating for 4 weeks right!