Dude with the attitude!!

Today was the kids first classes at the temple. Signed up Ashu for language class and AJ for shloka class as they said the child has to be minimum 5 to be in language class. The classes were in different buildings. To start with, we were late due to bad planning from my side. Anyways, adichu pidichu we went to the class and AJ and i went to Shloka class and they were teaching jai jagadish hare song.. He was just sitting like a kozhakkatai and looking around without repeating. On nudging he repeated couple of words and went back to kozhakkatai mode. After the class was over i took him over to the other building where B was waiting for Ashu's class to be over. As soon as Ashu came out i asked him and he said it was good and he said we were all laughing when someone said something wrong. On hearing that Mr. Kozhakkatai said, even my shloka class was good Ashu, i did great!! After the classes we went to the temple and he was talking loud and i said, shhh! we dont use scream in the temple, we have to be quiet. After doing Pradakshanam, we sat down for a while and people were singing songs. One guy started singing and there was absolutely no shruti and it wasn't very good. He was quite loud too. AJ was staring at him for few minutes and turned to me and said this is temple, can you ask him to be quiet (Thankfully softly!). So, we decided to leave. We saw Roma on our way out and he was very happy to see her again after the shloka class. It was funny to watch them both. They were just looking at each other and smiling non stop. No chit chat.
After the temple, we went to do some shopping and both kids were hyper and running around. So, i showed them the CARS Wii cd and said if you get 50 good choice points they will get it. AJ said Sorry mommy for my bad behavior so far and i said, "Good, you just earned one good choice point" And he goes "sorry sorry, now do i get 2 more"! Ha..nice try dude!!

Bummed!!

Mom returned to chennai yesterday and i am sooooo bummed. I ha..........te the distane between US and India..Wish it was more like Singapore and India. I was so upset and Ashu cried so much after we returned home from the airport and AJ kept blabbering now who will make vada for me and also went and asked ashu why paati went back to chennai. Poor kids. Made me feel worse :(

One good thing was my friend's dad was there to help and amma didnt have to travel alone.

St.Louis

We hardly had any time to plan for the labour day weekend. It was so hectic with AJ starting the school and B travelling again. B returned only on thursday night and we decided to get up on saturday and go somewhere. Saturday morning we decided to goto St.louis as it was only approximately 5 hrs drive and we could do one day for amma and one day for the kids. We went to the gateway arch on sunday and amma liked it a lot. The kids loved it too. .It was crowded so we had to wait for couple of hours to get in the tram, so we were just whiling our time in the museum there. Ashu is the only one who found it interesting :-) B and I were experimenting with the camera and amma and aj were just following ashu. Finally we got on the tram and the kids were quite thrilled about it. They were also super fascinated to be on the top of the arch and see the city. So was amma :) This is B and I's second trip..so we were just neutral :) The last time we came we went to a science center and found it quite intersting and we took the kids this time and they both loved it. the science center is quite big..We could not cover a whole lot, but we have the membership to the science center that we could use in some of the locations nation wide. We could go back sometime, if we want. Ashu loved it there as they let him try some flight simulation stuff and he thought it was pretty cool. AJ thought whatever Ashu thought was cool, was cool too :)
We also watched a movie about Hubble at the Dome theater. Both kids had been to IMax several times, but not the dome kind.So, they were quite excited to see the movie screen go all the way to the back of the theater like a dome, ofcourse. But, after 20 minutes AJ lost interest and was saying things like, OMG the sky is gonna spit stars on us now..etc. etc and was talking non stop. Atleast he was little quieter so no one really realized he was talking. I kept feeding him popcorn to keep him quiet!

When we returned and we were close to nashville AJ asked where we were and i said near our house and he said turn the car, we have to go back to the Gateway Arch. Yeah right!! :) In the genes, i guess coz Ashu used to do the same. As soon as he saw the exit to our house he would scream turn the car back to the new house with the pool. He used to think every hotel we stayed in was our new house :D

Llama Drama and school admission

Of all the books the kids have, i have a special liking for the Llama Llama books..and this reminds me of the llama drama :)

Drama 1 : Eating food :

AJ has been at home for over a month now and he was fine till Ashu started school. Now he is bored at home without ashu. He doesnt trouble amma a whole lot, but when it comes to eating..it's Mahabarath war. He just refuses to eat at times and then amma gets tensed and calls me and i have to tell him he is a big boy now and he has to eat and then he eats. This drama happens everyday. It is funny that when amma brings him lunch, he says no immediately and gives a kaikeyi pose :-) One day, amma couldn't reach me and she told him that if he doesnt eat he will goto Gau's house and he said fine...after sometime he ate the lunch..i guess he was really hungry by then. After eating the lunch, he got scared that amma would goto gau's house and told her...you are not gau's paati, you are my paati. you gotto stay here :) After that this drama happens frequently too.


Drama 2 : Going to school
===================

This is more dramatic than the previous one. This is about School. We made the mistake of taking AJ to Ashu's school for PTO. AJ fell in love with the school and was sooooooo upset when he saw only Ashu's name outside Ashu's class. He started crying saying that they did not write his name. I said it is 3rd grade and they will write his name in his new class in the new school. Pat came the reply, i dont want new class, new school. I want to be in 3rd grade in this school. I distracted him and got him home. I thought he was done with that, but everyday in the morning, he cries so much that he wants to goto 3rd grade in "That" school. Sivaji Ganesan range-la azhugai. And he also declared that they should move Ashu to 2nd grade and put him in 3rd grade. In the meanwhile, we were looking at preschools for him and shortlisted two and decided to go with montessori as it is nearby and also got good reviews from friends who send their kids there. We took him for his interview last week and we had to stay outside. God knows what they asked and what he answered as he refused to tell us anything. He came out and the teacher said he did fine and he got the admission. The director gave him the lunch box in which he needs to bring his lunch. He opened it and asked her where is the lunch?! Before he started with any more questions we rushed out ;-) Anyways, on the way, i tried asking him in different ways to get some scoop on his interview. Nope..the boy didn't want to spill anything out! :P Once we reached the house he said he was very upset with the school and i asked him why. He said they took me to primary school, but i want to goto 3rd grade!! Again i distracted him somehow and after a while he said, he was missing montessori already! The next morning both B and i had to leave early so we sent Ashu by school bus. His first ever ride on a school bus. Ashu was excited and just when he was about to leave, AJ woke up :-O He was totally ticked off with me and B and was crying so much... for not sending him to "that" school in the school bus for 3rd grade. After trying several tricks and realizing nothing was working, i said, but you are gonna start Montessori next week. He said yeah that's only montessori but i want to goto Elementary school!! 3rd grade in elementary school..by bus. Thiruppi thiruppi "That school" or "Elementary school" or "3rd grade". Reminds me of Simbu from Vinnai thandi varuvayaa..."Ulagathula evlo ponnu irukkarthe naan yen jessi-ya love pannen"...

Ashu kutty turns 8

Happy Birthday Dear Ashu and wish you many more to come! May God bless you!!

Today is Ashu's birthday but we started celebrating from last evening. We got a small cake and cut it yesterday. It was funny how aj's eyes were all set on the cake..only on the cake. When Ashu cut the cake, B asked me to wait before feeding him so he would get the camera ready and aj kept his mouth opened going aa aa and i didnt even notice and i gave the cake to ashu. B did the same thing. My mom was the only person who noticed aj going after the cake and asked us to give him. I asked B to take a pic and aj said Give it already! :D It was hilarious!

Paati gave him a starwars game and he was totally surprised and too happy :) (Ahem!! my idea ;-)) AJ gave a small gift..the helicopter kind of game. Ashu was surprised with a gift from AJ and i was surprised that AJ actually gave the gift to him without claiming it to be his! :) Last week when bobby was here she got two toys - one for each and after bobby left aj went and asked ashu which one is his and Ashu pointed to his toy and AJ snatched it and said..na uh..this is mine. you play with the other!! So, you can understand why i was surprised when aj actually gave the toy to ashu :)
B and I have ordered a Wii cd for him. It was his choice :) We have not planned anything for his birthday yet as we have not recovered from the move yet. This weekend being a long weekend, we would probably do something the weekend after this. Something that he will enjoy with his friends.
I first thought of combining his birthday with house warming..we are nowhere closer to that!! B is travelling this week and mom's leaving next weekend. There is no way i can pull the house warming party now!!

Ashu-ism: My bro n sil called him in the morning to wish him and when my bro asked him what he wants Ashu said "I want you to get up and come here" :-)

Lots of wishes from relatives and friends made his day a happy one :) Balaje had to travel to columbus and i took the folks to the temple all by myself for the first time. I took directions from google to avoid highway in the dark and the GPS promptly routed me thro' a highway. I had to take it since i missed the turn before the highway as per my directions..anyways, it was not too bad. But, GPS has duplicate addresses for the temple and i just guessed and went with one and luckily it was the correct one! AJ must've heard me rambling about it to my mom and on the way back he whispered to Ashu "I think we are lost!" Grr at him :-) Also, B asked AJ why he went to the temple and he promptly replied saying to eat laddus. Additional health tip provided by AJ to B was "Laddus are healthy as they have lot of protein" :-)

It was around 9 when we came back after a Great Dharshan! :)

I said Ashu-ism now here is one Aj-ism. I had left a small piece of cake from yesterday for Ashu. Ashu said he will eat it after he comes from school. The little dude promptly had it for breakfast and then apologized to ashu saying that he didnt know it was his!!! Second kids!! I am the only exception, i say!!

TIRED!!!

Is all i can say now..I was (and still am) totally sleep deprived, work is extremely hectic and i dont know i how i survived the move.
I had to work when the packers were there.. It was pretty bad as we got the crappiest packers ever. I had to tell them each and everything and it was quite hard to manage them, along with the calls i had to take. And inspite of me telling them what to take from the basement and garage 1000 times they left those things. I was dead tired when they left and didnt bother to go down and check when they left. I assumed they would've taken them all. It made the next day even more hectic for us. The internet was not on yet on the new house so i stayed back at the old house till 6.30 (had to work till 6.30!!) and left. Mom and kids stayed back with me and B went to the new house to unload and set as much as he could. He did pretty good. Kitchen had all the basic things and made it a bit easy the next day. Mom and I set the kitchen 90% in the next couple of days. Still cant find the rest 10% of things!! When we unpacked i was furious, they had done such bad packing...Quite messy!!

Kids actually enjoyed this process in a way, because we were not paying any attention to what they were doing and they were watching as many shows as possible. AJ was a little confused. The packers packed off the kids room first!!! He came and asked me for something to play with.. i said they packed off everything and he looked little upset,but when i said we will open them and play with them in the new house his face brightened a little. But, he was a little in the polambal mode the next day as he couldnt find lot of things!! Basically,he couldn't make a mess...and was pretty upset about it i guess!! =)

Ashu was extremely upset before the packers came and was in tears. He kept saying i was in this house for 5 years and have to leave now. I felt so bad. AJ didnt know how to express and i thought he was fine with the move, but once they started packing he was pretty upset.He started screaming..these guys are breaking my house. hehe. He just followed them to every room and kept screaming they are breaking breaking..they probably were ticked off. After a while they created a cardboard slide to take big boxes downstairs and let them both slide and AJ went to one of the packers and said.. now i like you, you are nice after all! :-O
Ashu cried again when we actually left, but once we got into the new house the kids were both excited. The new house is more spacious and they were running around and having fun. Slowly, i dont see them talking about the old house. Life moves on. AJ infact went and told B that he likes this house and not the 1775 house (our old house#) :P
Vinod was here for the weekend befor the move. It was fun..Kids had lot of fun with him and i was chatting with him till 3.45 one night and 1.45 the other..and i lost my voice for couple of days. It was pathetic when i had to speak over the phone during my meetings on the monday he left...Vinod got a bulb from AJ. AJ said Vinod is my big brother and not little brother. Ha!! Revenge..Sweet Revenge! :) But, too bad he stayed only for 2 days :( Also, we couldn't take him anywhere fun (except shopping) as B was down with fever and we were kinda busy with the shifting too :( Next time, Vinod!! :-)

After he left, AJ went out to look where he was and then came back and said Vinod anna is gone..He has gone to knoxville. Knoxville because the last time Balaji left, he left from knoxville and all of us went to drop him there.

Last at daycare!

Last friday was Aj's last day at the current daycare. I felt kinda sad when i left. I have been going there almost every day since ashu was 2.5. The teachers are so nice and i know them for years now. They are more like friends than my kids' teachers. AJ loves it there too and when we left some of the teachers almost cried when they said bye to AJ :(

Hope the new preschool is as good.

Now for the next 2,3 weeks he is going to be at home with my mom. When Ashu and AJ are together...My mom needs all the luck in the world now!!