Author: nainadg

Blogging...Mommy Style
Bun365, Toddler

Sidewalk Chalk -ing

nainadg

Sidewalk Chalk PlayWe had a brief respite from the rain in the middle of the week. Bun and I played with some sidewalk chalk in the afternoon. He was only interested in the chalk for a little bit. The main attraction was definitely driving his “Dumpity Truck” and “Gween Garbage Truck” outside.  After we drove the trucks for a while he said “Fun- Whee!!!” Only his Whee sounds very stern.  Such a serious little man.

Now that he is 21 months, Bun is definitely getting into more artsy stuff, we have done quite a few fun little crafty things lately. In spite of the short time span spent sidewalk chalking (is that a word?) I think we are going to try it again next time we have lazy afternoon.

Bun365, Toddler, Uncategorized

Stinky Shoes

nainadg

One of the words Bun has learned this week is “Stinky”

It was because these shoes were a terribly buy and made his feet sweaty and stinky.

J would say “Stinky Shoes” every time he took the kiddo’s shoes off. And Bun would giggle

Bun now says “Stinky Shooz” every time he spots a pair of shoes. Any shoes.

Now, he says “Stinky” every time I take off his shirt to change his clothes.

When I change his diaper, He says “Stinky”

The LaylaB comes in from the yard, he says “Stinky”

Its the favorite word around here these days

Bun365, Family, Toddler

21 month Vlog

nainadg

One of the most entertaining aspects of  toddlerhood is Bun’s exploding vocabulary and his enthusiasm to try out his new words. His favorite thing is now to sing along to the songs we do at story time and gymboree- Happy Birthday (from Birthday parties attended) If you are Happy and you know it and Wheels on the Bus are big favorites around these parts.

His other favorite thing is to refer to himself as “Baby Avi” but I couldn’t get it on video tonight.  I just love his sweet little baby voice and how enthusiastically he say “Hooray”

*The first 8 seconds are bit wonky because of it being exported as quicktime, but it fixes itself quickly*

Books, Toddler

How Gyo Fujikawa saved me from the terrible two blues

nainadg

Last night I spend hours editing a big ole batch of photos. I was super excited to post them on my blog this afternoon and do an update on my happy life. But I just can’t do it this afternoon, because I feel anything but happy and putting up photos of me smiling at my kid just feels dishonest.

Toddlers can be demanding, cruel and rather unpleasant creatures and also the sweetest, funniest and loving ones in the very next instant. Why didn’t someone tell me this before I decided having a kid was a good idea. I guess I should have continued reading past the newborn section in the 8 million parenting books that I browsed back in the baby fever days.

But now that the Bun is finally napping I need something to take my mind off of my troubles so I’m going to write about my new find in children’s author/illustrator that I recently discovered. And so when Barnes and Noble sent me a coupon this month I decided to splurge on a new book for Bun. I was originally looking for “O What a Busy Day” but my local store didn’t have that one so I chose to get the A to Z picture book instead

*photo via Sycamore Street Press*

*photo via Vintage Kids’ Books my Kid loves*

And I’m absolutely  in love with her simple bright colorful illustrations. They have a vintage, timeless feel to them without crossing over into the cheesy territory. Even the black and white illustrations have so much character and pop. I looked her up on wikipedia and she was one of the first illustrators in the US who published books with multi racial characters, which is something really rare in vintage books. I’m so happy with our new find, I can’t wait to explore more of her books.

Bun365, Mommyhood, Toddler

An Impromptu Picnic

nainadg

Summer is winding down in NC and it feels like its going to be an early fall. This week has just flown by- doing nothing in particular but also things that take up a lot of time- grocery shopping, doctors appointments, ikea trips (2hr drive for us). But what I’m going to remember from this week is our impromptu picnic with some of Bun’s stuffed furry friends.

We took our lunch of pb & jelly sandwiches, cheese crackers and grapes and yogurt and sat outside, in the grassy area outside our front porch.

I think Monkey and Haathi wanted some of his yummy sandwich. It was rather rude of us to not give them any after inviting them to our picnic

 And then Bun  gave Haathi a big hug

But kept the sandwich for himself

Photos are kinda meh, but Bun and I still had a lot of fun. Also looking at the photo

Bun365, Love, Mommyhood, Toddler

True Love

nainadg

Seven AM. I hear babbling from the Bun’s room. J, is already up and checking his email downstairs. Still groggy, rubbing my eyes, I wander in to let the little boy out of his crib. He gives me a big grin, he is still lying down and not standing up as usual, ready to burst out of the crib. I sit down on the floor next to the crib and start talking to him about our day. He sits up, reaches through the bars, strokes my hair and says – “Mumma Peety (Pretty)”

Jaw on the floor. Heart melted and in a puddle on the floor.

Hello Charmer!

Travel

Philly {3}

nainadg

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Here we are sitting outside the steps of the Please Touch museum. We loved this kids museum. We have a litte one in Chapel Hill but this was 2 storeys and filled with absolutely super fun exhibits. Both Bun and I are very tired at the end of our play. I also love that the museum is housed in such a cool old building. Its a remnant of Centennial celebrations that were held in Philadelphia.

Here is the ultimate tourist photo for Philadelphia- Baby under the Liberty Bell.

Playing in front of Independence Plaza. We toured the building but that was an utter and epic FAIL. We had the meltdown of the century.

We rode the Ferry over to Camden New Jersey to visit the Aquarium and Bun finally got to see some real life Penguins or Pangangs in Bun speak

My seasoned ferry passenger.

These pictures are from the days we spent in Philadelphia visiting Independence Hall, Liberty Bell and the Aquarium. We also were able to do some shopping at H&M and eat some yummy chicken wings.

More Philly photos can be found at Part 1 and Part 2

Baby Boy, Toddler, Travel

Philly {2}

nainadg

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Eating breakfast outdoors on the terrace of our hotel. Don’t be fooled by the food on his plate though- Bun only ate the piece of waffle he is holding in his hand

Philly Skyline. Our hotel is the hexagon shaped building with the balconies in the foreground

Pretty details on the old Philadelphia Railroad building.

We had some delicious Roti Telur ( Puffy fried bread with chicken curry) at a Malaysian restaurant in China town

More yummy malaysian dishes. I want some malaysian right now….yummmm

We spent an afternoon at the park around Swann Fountain. The setting sun was beautiful and spray of the fountain felt heavenly

I’m not really sure what Bun is doing in this photo but he looks cute so I’m keeping it

Busssss! Bussss!!! Busss!!! (Think “Squirrel” from Up)

Classic Fountain Photo- Check!

Most of these photos are from our Day 2 in Philly, where we also explored downtown, Chinatown and visited the Philly zoo.

More photos at Part 1 and Part 3

Travel

Philly {1}

nainadg

Did I mention I went to Philadelphia recently? It was a birthday present from my parents and I had a wonderful time. It was a little sad because J wasn’t able to go with us since he had a conference in Maine but it was still wonderful to get away and explore a new city.

I was a little nervous about this trip because although Bun does well on airplanes, he had a rough time in our hotel in Columbus. However we had a suite this time so that helped a lot. I didn’t really bother with the pack and play and just did Bun’s bedtime routine and let him fall asleep on the bed on his own. He did such a good job falling asleep in a regular bed that I almost am considering a transition to a big boy bed at home. But thats for another day.

But here some of my fave photos from Day 1 at Philly

With Dee at the iconic “LOVE” statue in Love Park

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City Hall visible slightly in the background. We were in Love Park, right after a summer shower. The city looked absolutely gorgeous with droplets of water everywhere

Bun was mesmerized by the cars, buses, trucks, bikes.  The transportation junkie had found his fix.

Wind whipping through our hair. Although his face doesn’t show it in this photo, driving around in the big red bus with an open top was one of his favorite things.

Just love the colors of turquoise against the red brick. Society Hill Neighborhood

Walking along the city streets to dinner. With Babu. He is staring intently at a very erotic sculpture off to the side of the building, just outside of view.

View from our hotel room on the 23rd floor. We stayed at the City Center Embassy Suites which really worked out well for us. They were doing some construction and the scaffolding ropes are in the way. The fountain is Swann Memorial fountain depicting the three major waterways of Philadelphia. In the end distance is the very Neo classical looking Philadelphia Museum of Art and also in view is the Philadelphia Free Library.

Bun looking down at the world from Floor 23. He was scared and thrilled all at the same time. The balcony was one of his favorite places to play during the times we were actually in our rooms

More photos can be found at Part 2 and Part 3

Life, Love

Thirty

nainadg

30. 3.0. Wow! I did it, I turned 30 and have now been successfully alive for 12 days since then. Nothing to worry about anymore. Well there are new worries, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

When I was 16- 17, something like that, can’t really remember, but a long time ago anyhow. My friend Jessica {from the most rocking blog- Happier Still} and another friend Katie M were returning from an MUN conference.-We were cool like that, going to Model United Nation Conferences and all but anyway, on this trip-  I told them that I was going to die at 30. They laughed at me and said I wouldn’t die at thirty, but I kept insisting, I was so sure that I was going to die at thirty that if it didn’t happen on its own, I would be more than happy to do the deed myself. I was very morbid and I guess had a flair for the dramatic. Both Jessica and Katie told me that I’d be married and have kids and wouldnt’ want to die and you know what they were right they were oh so so very right.

Because I dont’ want to die. At thirty, my life is filled with so much love and craziness and laughter and life that now I really truly fear the thought of dying and leaving my peeps.

But enough with death and dying and turning thirty and all that. I had a wonderful birthday. I woke up to a big box of Godiva chocolates from J and when I went to go get the Bun from his crib he started singing Happy Birthday and I conveniently chose to ignore the fact that it is his favorite song and he sings it all the time and requests everyone to sing it all the time, so it really wasn’t for me.

For my birthday lunch my mom, Bun and I tried out this new Indian restaurant called Saffron and had some delicious Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Paneer , Lamb Nargisi, Seekh Kabob, Basil Naan and Mango Lassi. My mom and I went to the mall where my mom surprised me with a Pandora Charm bracelet and let me pick out two charms to get it started.

Bun’s face in this photo is priceless!

 

In the evening, we celebrated with cake and candles and more singing on “Happy Birthday.” This time Bun even added in Happy Birthday Mama, which was very sweet. After Cake and photos , J and I went out on our birthday date. We went out for dinner and a  movie, a real movie, still in theaters!!! This was very exciting because we have seen exactly two movies in theaters since Bun was born- Avatar and Inception. Its something I miss a lot- Going to big summer blockbusters was one of J and my favorite activities back in the pre baby days.

J picked a great new Sushi restaurant and I picked Harry Potter as our movie because it was in Imax and 3d. When you only see one movie every 10 months, it better have all the bells and whistles.  Our dinner was fantastic- Shiki Sushi was a new place for us and it did not disappoint. We indulged ourselves with Sushi and sushi and sushi and round after round of cocktails! We ate so much that we were worried we wouldn’t be able to stay up for the movie. The movie started at 9:15 and my bedtime is 10, but we drank some caffeine and very much enjoyed the 3d extravaganza. It was especially sweet of J to go to all out and celebrate my special night because he had to leave for a work trip at 6 am the next morning.

It was such a wonderful birthday and the best part was yet to come- a few days later I left on a birthday trip to Philadelphia with Bun and my parents!

The Big 30 was given its proper due. And I say bring on a 30 more because now I know that I have a lot more living left to do.