Our first picnic

Super Sunday

23 Dec is a day i'd like to remember for a lot of reasons. After a break of almost 8 unbelievably long months, we took a day off, our style. Totally Unplanned, get on the road and see where it takes us types. So, after a lot of ideas and discussions about where to go and what to do, we decided to just get out of home. 

Excited about the unplanned journey, I quickly packed a basic bag with snacks, water and a change of clothes for Tiny. And we set off on a sunny December afternoon. This car too, like our previous one, knows us only too well. It was almost like it had figured we needed a day of fun, something new, something we hadn't done before and drove us towards Mysore. This particular route has several options to choose from... WonderLa, Innovative film city, golf resorts, and places like chennapatna and srirangapatnam, closer to Mysore. We then started making a short list like A-grade parents (!!) of our options considering time, a place that'll be fun for Tiny and the stuff in my bag. We'd already been to the film city and we weren't keen on wonderla.. So it had to be the Eagleton golf resort. 

I'd never been to any of these resorts before so I had absolutely no idea of what one could expect. S was keen on trying his hand at golf, while I was pretty sure I'd be running behind Tiny, like everyday. Somehow the idea didn't quite excite me initially. It was almost 2 when we reached so we headed straight for lunch. And it was quite a disappointment. Rude & uninterested staff, boring buffet, and a noisy restaurant. Hmph..mood spoilers, i thought. But, I kept an open mind and decided to get it done with and move on to figuring out ways to entertain the kid and myself. 

Out of curiosity of what one does on a day out in a resort, we set out to explore. We found the park. I am the one that takes Tiny to the park every evening and it had been a while since S had watched Tiny play. He was as excited as the little one. Hand in hand,the boys set out to explore. Tiny played while S watched in watched in awe how easily and carefully he climbs the big slides, loves the swing and the merry go round and, left to himself, will sit in the sandpit all day! After an hour in the hot sun, we had to drag him out to go back indoors. 

Once back inside, we found a kids play room which was basically a HUGE ball pit. When he started school 7months ago, the ball pit at the entrance was the only motivating factor. It was familiar territory :) S jumped into the pit with him and they both played for a while. It was a first for S and he was a little boy all over again.  And then came the swimming pool!!!

The husband and the kid are water babies. Tiny needs to play in the water every day. It's his thing. And I don't even like to get my feet wet, let alone get into the pool. Despite Rules written on a big board insisting that people should wear swimwear to get into the pool, a group of ladies were splashing around in the baby pool fully clothed, with dupattas and all! One was in a burkha with the veil  covering her face!! S went off to buy swimming shorts for himself and Tiny. Thankfully the ladies had finished their jalakrida and got out of the pool in their heavy, wet clothes. Drying their hair, squeezing water out of their clothes back into the pool YUCK! They walked to the rest rooms, dripping water all they way! I was not sure I wanted Tiny to get into that water...but he was ready..he'd taken his shoes off and was struggling with his shorts while I stared at the women. The trunks came, boys changed, and jumped into the water. For about 2 hours....they were in there, splashing around, wading and just having soooooo much fun. I forgot about the dirty water and just sat and watched. Took pictures, recorded videos, worried myself sick that the kid will slip and break another tooth or hurt his head or break his nose (like S had done when he was young). I kept telling S not to go too deep into the water and he asked, " please tell me how much deeper can I go on a 2 feet deep baby pool?!" yes, I am scared of water and have been scared since I was about 7 years old! But I decided to let them be while I was safe on the bench under a tree. 

It was almost 5 when they got out of the pool. We headed straight to the cafe as Tiny hadn't had a  proper lunch and after all this play he must be hungry. I also needed some caffeine. We sat and before we could order, the little fellow put his chair next to mine, pulled out his jata ( a whole post will be dedicated to that) placed his head on my lap and fell asleep. Just like that. Within seconds. He was exhausted! 

We quickly finished our coffee and headed home. Feeling satisfied. Happy. 

Tiny is now fun size!

Tiny has crossed the 6-month mark..yaaayyyyy!!!! He's all grown up now and is just so much fun to be with. The fact that he's big enough to carry comfortably and yet small enough to fit into your arms makes him absolutely fun-sized. Precious precious days.

Tiny is now a real person, not just a little baby who will do as you make him do. He has a mind of his own and will do only what he wants, when he wants to. Hmmm.

Among latest developments, he now offers his hand (the correct one, mind you) when you stretch out a hand and say 'shake hands, Tiny'! Manages to pull his toes to his mouth.

 When you hold out your hands to him, he grabs your fingers tightly and pulls himself up to sit and then even STAND! Yes, he's able to stand, when supported. And he loves it :).

He also imitates actions..like if you are playing music and you happen to dance, he'll watch for a few minutes and start jumping up and down. He's trying to sit down, but still isn't strong enough to sit steadily. Maybe a few more weeks..desperate attempts to crawl are still on but not much progress yet.

Hes started rolling...tummy to back, back to tummy and just doesn't stop..and I have to share this... First time he rolled from his tummy onto his back, he was on a play mat on the floor and hit his head quite hard on the ground. He was startled for a bit and then realized it hurt and started crying. No one fussed around him much and he tried it again after a few minutes. It hurt again. He stopped. Then, that night while putting him to sleep, he tried rolling back and forth on the bed and figured it don't hurt at all..and that it was in fact a lot of fun and a easy way to reach out to toys. So now what he does is rolls only when put on the bed and doesn't even attempt it if he's on the floor! Smart cookie this one.

Tiny can now clearly distinguish between familiar people and others. Living in a joint family, he's used to having people around him and isn't usually very cranky when he sees new people. But one strange thing...every time I take him to my aunts house to meet my grandma, something triggers off a bad mood and he starts crying inconsolably. I've taken him there about 7-8 times in 2 months and this has happened EVERY single time!!! He also behaves himself when we have guests at home...smiles back at just about anyone who smiles at him and if the mood is good he even gurgles and greets them with an aaaa..ooo...etc.

Tiny, with a t-shirt stuck on his head, playing with the bedspread

In the 2 months that he's been in Bangalore now, Tiny has changed a lot. He's traveled to 2 new places, both road trips; started eating semi-solid foods and has developed a keen sense of taste, has started playing with toys and already has quite a collection, visited a dirt bike track and watched, with his jaw open and drooling all over, his dad and mama ride one of those bulky MTV's; been to a restaurant; celebrated his very first Ugadi and not to forget...watched the World Cup for the very first time in his life and watched us bring home the cup!! More about this soon..