15 Months - Project list.

Sorry to all of my readers for not putting any updates for a long time. It was a really busy week for me. I have started working from home. With Aisha running around the home, I don't get time for blogging. I'm doing a job for the first time after Aisha's birth, and that makes me a inexperienced working mom. I still don't have any idea about how to manage my time. I hope I'll get into the schedule within a few weeks, Insha allah.
I'd like to put a schedule to my blogging too. May be once or twice a week. I'd like to get some advice from mothers on this. My working hours are 11 pm to 2 am  and 2 hours in the afternoon, when Aisha sleeps. I'm sleep deprived and very exhausted!
Its almost three months after Aisha turned one, and Masha Allah, her developments are getting faster. There is a lot of things she can do now. Just take a look at our project list for the year.

In our garden

Fruits.

Aisha's granddad brought a bunch of banana and two jack-fruits from the orchard. Aisha loved the bananas, plucking each one and eating it until she was full. She didn't like to eat the jack-fruits, but loved to see it and touch it, to feel the pricking sensation from its peel. 

 Another of Aisha's favorite is tamarind, she loves to chew the sour tamarind for hours. I'm afraid that tamarind will cause harm to her digestive system, so I don't give it to her. But she finds small pieces of tamarind shells or veins and chews them.

Sometimes I feel my mouth watering when I see her chewing the tamarind! Aisha also loves unripe mangoes, and she yells for one when she sees them anywhere. It seems she likes the sour fruits!

Child proofing.

Houses in India are never child proof. My hubby's home is no exception. Since there were no kids here, nobody bothered about child proofing the home. But with Aisha we have a different story. I have to put obstacles in every dangerous places, so that she cannot reach them. Aisha has learned to cross some of the obstacles, but still it takes some time for her to reach her goal. I haven't moved the barriers since I can pull Aisha away from the dangers before she can jump the barrier.

 This is our back door, through which Aisha can easily get out of our home. I just put a wooden sofa table at the door to make sure she doesn't go to the door when I'm busy in the kitchen.

 There is a lot of wire under the TV stand, and Aisha scoots to the place when it is left open. I covered it with a cardboard box, and placed chairs on its side to prevent her from pulling the box. Still, she plays on the switches of the TV!

Staircase barrier. I tied a chair to our staircase, but Aisha still manages to move the chair  making space for her to climb the stair, but that gives me time to catch her before she reaches the first step.
I close the door of every room in our home, or else she climbs on the beds and reaches the shelves or windows near the bed. Aisha also knows to switch on the pedestal fan in our kitchen, and I have to double check that the power switches are always off.
Is your home childproof?

Gardening.

I'm now sure that Aisha has definitely got a green thumb. In my last post, I told you about her love for the greens. But today, she went out all the way to dig a hole in the mud to plant some trees..
It all started when Aisha broke the stems of some of my MIL's plants. I took a twig, dug a a hole in the pot and planted the stems. I never thought she was watching me. After sometime, I found her with a stick digging a hole in the sand. I was surprised to see how fast kids learn to imitate the adults.

MIL is now having a difficult time watering the plants, with little Aisha to 'help' her.

Water and fire always fascinate kids, and sometimes adults too. So, no wonder Aisha being curious about water. She loves to touch the droplets of water that hangs on the leaves after MIL has watered them.

Thursday Terror.

Aisha pushed a glass of water from my hand when I was giving her water to drink. It fell down, thank God, on a piece of cloth - it shattered but never got spattered.

Toys.

Yesterday we went to the hospital to take her vaccination, MMR. I expected her to yell when the nurses held her hand tightly, but to my surprise she never cried. she was watching the baby next to us cry when the nurses came to inject the medicine on her hand. She just watched the process curiously, with a small whining when it was all over. What a brave girl! Aisha is always full of surprises.

We decided to give brave little Aisha a surprise with some toys. Her granddad, D,  bought some toys for her. She was happy and thrilled. D always pampers his grandchildren with toys. As for me, I don't buy any toys for Aisha as there is more than enough toys in our house. I think we can build a 'toys' house' in the near future.

 Aisha loved the piano and the bead-drum more, because they make sounds.

And do you want to know how she went to bed? With the bead-drum in her hand!

I wonder what is she dreaming. May be about a little princess playing with the piano... with angels to sing to her music... kids playing on merry-go-rounds... in a garden with so many flowers.... butterflies and humming birds fluttering around to sip the nectar... One of the butterflies comes and sits on her palm... Aisha shouts in joy... Sweet dreams my little love.

Girl with the green thumb.

My Mother-in-law,M, is very good at gardening, she has got a lot of flowers and other plants in her garden. She knows almost everything about watering, fertilizing and the season in which the seeds or stems are to be planted. On the contrary, I don't know anything about gardening, making me a bad at it. The main reason why I don't have a green thumb is - I don't stay at a place for more than six months. So naturally, I cannot plant anything, water it and fertilize it to see it grow into a big tree. After one or two months of hardwork from my side, the plant grows healthy and then I have to leave the place. The plant dies. I'm ashamed to admit that there isn't any tree on planet earth that I have planted. May be, one day, when I get settled somewhere, I'll grow so many trees around my place, Insha Allah.

Caressing the plants.

I don't know yet how Aisha is. But she loves the green. She feels the flowers (sometimes pluck them) and leaves in our garden. She loves to see the bees and butterflies that visits the flowers, and calls them by a beckoning gesture with her hand. Aisha loves to see the palm leaves dance in the breeze. She stares the leaves shivering in the wind.
When M comes to water the plants, she joins her. The end will be a fully drenched girl if I allow her to continue watering. With the fever recurring almost every week, I'm afraid to give her the complete administration of watering the plants.
Some snaps of Aisha in the garden on a pleasant evening.

Helping M.

Watering all by herself.

The busy bee.

Aisha is getting more independent everyday. That sounds good and bad. The good part is that I don't have to be near her always. she has found he own ways to keep her happy and busy. The bad part is I have to be alert always. One moment of carelessness and she might have mouthed something, grabbed the knife from the shelf, slipped out to the garden or anything. The list is always endless.
Aisha can now climb the stairs all by herself. She can reach the first floor of our villa in no time. I don't have to carry her upstairs now, but I have to make sure she doesn't climb the stairs without adult supervision. Hubby and my in-laws often advise me to keep her away from the stairs. But my theory is to allow the kids to do what ever they want. They should learn it. They will slip and fall, but that is how life is. Can we learn to climb a tree without falling from it? I want Aisha to learn to take the risks in her life.
There is a great difference in the way that I was brought up and hubby was brought up. My parents are muslims and very religious. But they are never strict beyond a limit. I travel alone, take decisions myself. My parents have taught me to be independent. But that is not the case in my hubby's home. Even though not as religious as my parents, my in-laws are strict and usually don't allow their children to take the risks. Hubby calls it 'more caring and more protective'. So, with Aisha too they are more protective. They are very careful and don't want her to fall down and get bruises. They never allow her to climb the cots, window panes or the stairs.
When Aisha is with me, I allow her to do anything, and she falls often. She cries for a couple of minutes, stops and then resumes her duty. I allow her to climb down to the garden, pick the pebbles and throw them. I allow her to pluck the grass, explore the thorny rose (Alhamdulillah, the thorns never pricked her), catch the dragonfly and chase the butterflies. The other day, when exploring the garden, I found a snake slithering among the fallen leaves. As I'm not that brave to allow Aisha to watch the snake, I took her indoors quickly.
How do you bring up your child? Do you allow them to take the risk or are you protective about them? I would like to get some advice on this.
Some snaps of Aisha.

Adorning herself with her granny's necklace.

Pick it up, and throw it inside the house.

Behind locked bars, staring at the world beyond our compound.

Feeling the soft petals.

Great Granny

Aisha's great grandmother, or her Dad's grandmother, is living with us. Granny is in her 90s, has got Alzheimer and doesn't hear anything unless we shout in her ears. But she has got very good eyes-sight. With Alzheimer, she can't remember anything, and sometimes she refers herself as a girl. She is almost like Aisha, except that she can speak well.
Granny doesn't know that the lady in the mirror is her reflection. She takes is for another person, sometimes her school friend, sometimes her mother and sometimes it is a thief who has come to steal her Jewellery.

Aisha and Granny.

Aisha too doesn't know what a mirror image is. She too takes it for another baby, kissing her and saying good bye to her. She pokes the eyes, licks the face and tries to pull the hair. When Aisha goes near the mirror, there are two grannies and two toddlers in their world. Granny asks Aisha to stay away from the girl inside the mirror, "or else the girl will poke your eyes." She says.
In response, Aisha shouts at Granny's reflection. Aisha usually shouts and makes hand signals when she is near Granny, like the way we do when we talk to Granny. She imitates every thing.
Granny loves Aisha, and I think Aisha has brought some laughter to her usually bored life. Granny has got nothing to do all day, and can't do anything. Just eat and sleep. Aisha gives her nothing-to-do hours a break, pulling her handkerchief, her bedsheet and her hand. Aisha kisses granny and cares her hands and legs. Granny is also very careful about Aisha. Although she doesn't know her son (my father-in-law), my MIL and me, he refers to Aisha as 'my daughter'.
I sometimes wonder at their relationship, only they understand them. The very young and the very old. A huge generation gap. But still, they enjoy each others company more than anyone.

Hair Cut

 I trimmed Aisha's hair yesterday for the ...er... 5th or 6th time. Unlike last time, she sat still and silent. What a good girl, MashaAllah! Kisses for her for being so patient.

Before trimming.

My hair ( most of my family members have the same type) is straight and soft. It was thin when I was small, but grew luxuriant with me. Until my teens, it was lustrous but then hair-fall started and now its thin again. Aisha inherited her Dad's hair and is completely different from mine. Its curly and coarse. I decided to cut it because of the heat here, and her head sweats often.

After Hair cut

 With her hair gone, she looked different. Everybody says she looks a lot more like me now, I think that is because her hair is straight now! She resembled her Dad with the curls.

A comparison.

And the blame goes to...

Kids are sometimes naughty, lazy, stubborn, selfish. Sometimes they are good, hardworking, kind and sociable. Their likes and dislike vary a lot. Some kids dance to any bit of music, some of them like to sing their own songs, some of them are quiet. What makes them different?
In India, I live either with my in-laws (dad, mom and granny) or with my parents. So, usually when Aisha does anything, everyone has got a reason for that particular behavior. The main reason being inheritance. My MIL, DIL or granny put the blame on my hubby while my Mom and Dad blames me! It often goes like this:

- - - - - - - - - - -

me: Mom, Aisha hasn't started teething yet!

Mom: Oh, don't worry, You too started it late!

*********

Aisha is dancing to the rhythm of the blender.

MIL: She is like her aunt (hubby's sis), dances to every sound.

***********

I scold Aisha for thrashing her toy on the floor.

Dad: Looks like she inherited her uncle's manner of destroying his toys.

*********

Aisha can't sleep without the fan or a/c, like me they say! With the cold I can't sleep it now. So its either me and Aisha staying awake all night or me alone staying awake.

- - - - - - - - -

So that is how the story goes. Blame the genes.

Kisses to great granny.

Trying to wear a hijab with a small towel.

Did you see her praying? And helping Mamma in the kitchen to burn the wood-burning stove with a dried coconut leaf? Watch it.

Aisha just started walking only yesterday and today she is running, Masha Allah!! I feel happy to see her run, but sometimes I fell sad to see her growing so fast. Soon she will get into the adult world. Its all like the feeling you had when you are waiting for a tour from the school. You feel all excited and thrilled util it is over. I was patiently waiting for the day to see her walk, but now I want to hold the tiny little Aisha once more, a girl who couldn't do anything but suck and sleep. She is now exploring the world which her feet would take her.
On a sadder note, I have caught a bad cold, blame the weather here. There has been a tornado in some places in south India, bringing storms to Kerala too. I used some home made medicines and Alhamdulillah, I'm getting fine.
I'd like to put the medicinal coffee I made, which is good for cough, cold and throat pain.

Ingredients: Dried Ginger - 3 to 4 pieces of 1/2 inch length. Pepper seeds - 1 table spoon. Coriander seeds - 1 table spoon. Fennel - 1/2 teaspoon. Shallots (small onion) - 2 to 3 numbers. Holy Bail leaves* - A bunch. Sugar** - 2 tablespoon. Coffee powder - 1 teaspoon. Method: Smash items 1 to 6.  Add four cups of water in to a pan, add the items and bring it to boil. Simmer it for a couple of minutes. Add coffee powder and sugar. Serve hot. *Not necessary. ** Jaggery/ Palm sugar/ Sugar crystal (kalkandam) is better than sugar.

This is a sweet and hot drink, and a little spicy too. You will love it, and crave it when you have a cold.

That's all for now. Wish you a happy week ahead.

Happy New Year

May God make your days ahead more brighter.

God bless you with...

Happy days.

Peaceful nights.

Small giggles.

Cherish-able moments.

Beautiful places.

Smiling faces.

Laughing eyes.

Sweet songs.

Memorable cuisines.

Friends and family. 

Whispers.

Faces that brightens when they see you.

Time and money to share.

Breeze.

Snow.

Rain.

Flowers.

Hugs and kisses.

I Love You.

Another New Year.