cant believe we made besan laddoos at 10 pm....

milosh loves besan laddoos. The only decent store in the area is a little far. My mom also convinced me that you will never buy from store once you get into home made. She sent me a video and I was watching it tonight at 9:30. Milosh wanted to watch it too, and asked if I was making it tonight. I said no, I will make it after we get the right things from Indian store. "can we please make it tonight?" "just please"
now its hard for me to recollect when he asked me to please make something or so I convinced myself and here we are. Milosh was a big helper, stirring the besan all the time. There is something about the smell of that besan with ghee, which makes you nostalgic and takes you way back in memory lane :)
I was crazy about laddoos as a kid, expect no less from my son!
the smell and the licking of the leftover crumbs on our palms satiated us today. More reviews tomorrow.

Little bit long and a little bit short.

(Me driving the car with Milosh and Rhea to the Bothell Country Village for some Christmasy fun.)

Rhea: Stuti aunty, how long will it take to reach?
Me: About 15 min.
Rhea (very confidently and expecting an objective answer): The long 15 min or the short 15 min?
Me: (Stumped and not sure how to answer)
Milosh (helping me out): Rhea, it will be a little bit long and a little bit short.
Rhea: Oh ok.

Thank you to Milosh for settling this. Of course, when he is with Rhea, timing and waiting is not much of a concern  :)

Elves and the toymaker

I took Milosh to Kirkland Performance Center for a musical called "Elves and the toymaker" A super simple and sweet story. A toymaker and his wife had made a lot of toys which get all lost and stolen. The elves like to help people and surprise them. So they come and start to make toys at night. After two nights of getting toys, toymaker and his wife make coats for the elves and say thank you!

Here are some reasons why I loved the show:

• There was a lot of kids and they had lots of ways of interacting with the kids. They asked the kids to keep secret that the elves had done the good deeds. They made the kids sing and dance! Milosh loved it also - we exchanged smiles during the show.
• The theme was in keeping with the season - and the spirit of giving! They had even asked audience to get some toys to donate to needy kids; and during the show the elves asked the kids to put the toys on the stage! What better way to get your kids to learn to give! They became a part of the story!  
• The songs were fun - and they were original! The lady who was playing the piano had written the lyrics and the songs - and they were very very nice!
• The props on the set were made by elf#2 - who is also a carpenter. He explained a lot of things about how he made the rocking teddy bear, and how their sets are all made collapsible in a book.
• They had a QandA session at the end - and the kids got to ask questions from the crew - there were lots of questions about how they did this and that. Milosh wanted me to raise the hand and ask to show the backside of the door prop!
• There were two people who were constantly narrating the show in sign language - for those in the audience who could not hear. They also had special arrangements for disabled. Its really heart touching to see so much thoughtfulness about being inclusive.
• Last reason is that the show is right next to the library - where we could walk and get some books for Milosh. We got lunch from PCC after doing grocery, and then after the show spent some time in the library. Sunday afternoon well spent!

Milosh decorating the christmas tree

Anuj got a tree and some ornaments today (its our first real tree - the last time we did a small fake one which was as tall as Milosh at the time :)). Milosh is enjoying decorating it. We might put some presents for him under the tree! One of the presents that his daada daadi sent is still packed - and will be nice to add to the surprise. 

First nutcracker show for the family

I just realized we have not been in US for the last two Christmas. Suddenly Milosh is at an age that he can start to enjoy the holidays' festivities. And there is SO MANY things going on to soak in the festival. I want to show many many things to Milosh this year.

Its the first time we went to watch a nutcracker show. We all loved it - especially Milosh. He wanted to watch more. He loves performances. While there were no dialogues and the music was not too loud, the audience was really quiet - even though we went for the family show - that had so many kids. I learnt a lot about this famous tradition this year. The show was amazing, the music was great, the choreography was beautiful, the dances graceful - it was a perfect Sunday evening. I can totally see why people make this a holiday tradition.

It was more fun because we were two families that went together. After the show we went to Punjabi sweets in Kent - ate heart full of yummy desi food - let the kids eat one burfi, laddoo and jalebi; and also convinced ourselves to take home dabbas of 6 laddoos per family ;)
 

Milosh doing the lotus pose

He is learning a lot of yoga in his school! He has picked parts of Gayatri mantra too - check out his picture and video below.

Milosh's adventures in Bali

We just returned from a two week vacation in Bali, Indonesia. We had an incredible holiday. Milosh had a great time in Bali also and the adventurous side of  his personality became more pronounced this time! These are some of the things he loved the most:

• Swimming: This time Milosh's swimming improved drastically. We had private swimming pools (10' by 15'') for the most part. The first day he could almost do the width, the second day length and then there was no stopping him. He kept swimming lap after lap; and would not stop. He came up with lots of cute games - we would swim from two opposite directions and give high 5 or have our goggles collide; or kiss etc. Races that he had to win. He became incredibly comfortable with water - and very independent also. Very soon we were comfortable leaving him by himself in the pool without life jackets (we would be close by and keep an eye but did not have to be in the water) We even took him for open water swims in the ocean this time; and he even tried snorkeling! He got to see the fishes and beautiful corals, which he fondly calls "diving thins". Even in open water he did not want to wear a life jacket; and did not want any grown ups supporting his direction etc.  Most importantly, he LOVED swimming and would jump in the pool every chance he got. Also, thanks to swimming, he would fall asleep at 7:30 pm sharp - standing or sitting. 

Goggles high 5

Swimming by the shore

V for victory

Swimming by himself - in an infinity pool

• Monkeys: Milosh loves monkeys. The last time he had spent so much time with monkeys was in Jaipur, and instead of the forts etc he had wanted to sit and watch the "beautiful monkeys". Bali has a lot of monkeys and we had told Milosh we had got him from a zoo and if he does badmashi we might leave him with the monkeys. He kind of bought it ;) But for real, he was too comfortable with monkeys. He handed banana to the monkey, posed with it.  

Monkey climbing on Milosh in Monkey Forest, Ubud

Milosh feeding banana to monkey, Kintamani

• Bali Safari and Marine Park: Milosh is the most amazing 4 yr old - he supported his parents for diving. While taking turns we went diving and he mostly patiently waited. By the time we came to the end of our diving; we wanted him to enjoy a kiddie place and took him to Bali Safari Park. He enjoyed the safari, watched an elephant show but he most loved their water park. 

• Bali Treetop Adventure: This is probably one of the things we almost decided not to do because we wanted to reach Ubud sooner and because they needed shoes, but would have been a serious miss if we had not done this. We had no idea he has such an appetite for adventure - was not scared of anything; and was too adept in these circuits. Our fellow people were commenting - he is ready for army. Based on his height he was eligible only for two circuits, which he did many many times. He loved zip lining a lot! He was negotiating hard to be able to do the next circuits! 

• Dolphin tour: We planned a 2 day stay in Lovina, mainly so we could show wild dolphins to Milosh. We got up and loaded the little boats at 6:00 am, I was wondering if we will get to spot some today. Soon enough we saw scores of dolphins. We would all point in some direction - and say - there! And we would all look that way. It was a little game, dolphins would appear for some time and then disappear with no clue where they will come next. The dolphins did come real close to our boat a few times and while we did not see a super high jump, we did see them jump and leap many times. We had our heart full of watching dolphins. After about an hour of watching dolphins, we were all kind of done; but Milosh spelled it for us; when we pointed - look there, he would say "I don't want to see any more dolphins" 
• Feeding fishes: There were many places with little koi ponds but this one place we went to two times and Milosh spent a long time there waiting with his dad while his mom had some spa time. He fed the fishes. He was very excited to feed them, took good care to make the pieces really small; and soon commented - the fishes are really hungry (they would not stop eating and kept asking for more). We even tried putting food on top of lotus leaves and the fishes would literally crawl over the leaf to get the food.

• Turtle farm (Feeding turtles, taking pictures with snake, bird, bat, you name it): While his dad and mama went diving, his mami and I took Milosh and Jaadu on a glass bottom boat to turtle farm. Milosh loved feeding the turtles - he could do it for ever; and also posed with a lot of scary animals. While I typically stay clear of such photo type touristy places, Milosh really surprised me by enjoying it. When the guide asked me, I said no to taking pictures with snake etc because it might be scary - but there were tears in his eyes and he really wanted to do it, by himself and was not scared at all. 

• Time with his baby brother: Milosh loves his baby brother (his first cousin 2 years old). Most of the times their interaction is over Skype where he shows little cars to his brother. This time his brother came from India to Bali. Even though his brother was a little sick, they connected well and played a lot. Milosh would diligently make cars etc to cheer up his brother. They of course had their share of little fights - both wanting the same thing at the same time etc. But Milosh loved being around his brother, wearing the same shirts like him, everything :) 

Milosh was not just a co-operative kid, but a super fun travel buddy. He had minor stomach issues, which he got over really fast. Thank you Milosh for being an awesome travel buddy! I look forward to many more fun travels with you!

I can't hear you...

A new trick that Milosh has learnt. The moment he knows we are asking him to do something he does not want to do; or if he knows he is in for a pep talk - he immediately says "I can't hear you..." Sometimes he will even put his fingers in his ears to emphasize the not hearing. He has a knack of recognizing when he is going to get a pep talk - and immediately his fingers make it to the ears.

Reminds me of the time when my brother and I would tease each other and pretend to not see /hear the other person's reaction. I would even keep my eyes closed for the longest time - only to find his tongue sticking out to tease me - the moment I opened my eyes!

Anyway, as parents we have a lot of opportunities to say " I can't hear you" - when Milosh wants yet another toy, when Milosh wants yet another dessert; its a tempting strategy. But we get kicked and pulled and everything else.