Nithya's Nest

My semi-classical dance performance

2012-01-22T23:03:00.000-08:00

I started learning Bharatanatyam dance in Fall 2011. As a part of the class, we learnt a dance bit for the song 'Radha Kaise Na Jale' from the movie Lagaan. We got to perform this dance bit in our school's annual performance, with the whole nine yards, i.e., with costumes, and on stage. Here I am all dressed up in my lovely costume.

We were appreciated for our dress and our dance(maybe), especially when we did our dandia work.

Snow play at Tahoe

2012-01-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

Just before the Thanksgiving weekend started, I acquired something new, i.e., I started wearing glasses. Check out my new look.

We went to Tahoe over the Thanksgiving weekend. It was good that we were not serious skiers or snowboarders, because it did not snow at all then. The weather was sunny and warm and there was no snow to be seen on the slopes. However, we did find a small patch of snow to play in. We enjoyed sliding down the small slope in our little saucers.

We tried to play with the snow a little bit, even though the snow was too hard.

We also enjoyed by rolling around in the snow.

Some art work and Thanksgiving program

2012-01-17T00:10:00.000-08:00

We do a lot of fun art work in our class. All of us had to make blue collages by cutting out blue stuff from magazines and newspapers. This is how our collective work looked.

We all had to think of a rhyming sentence of who we would eat 'green eggs and ham' with and the place where we would eat it. My sentence was to 'eat it on a rug with a ladybug'.

We also drew artwork to celebrate 'Red Ribbon Week', i.e., saying No to drugs. This was my submission, showing a good road and a bad road available to us, where the good road had roses and rainbows (good things) and the bad road had scary rocks and insects.

The posters were displayed thus:

We prepared for our Thanksgiving celebration program by making our own native Indian dresses with pillow covers. We decorated them with paint, made a headdress and a necklace. We all got our own Indian names - mine was 'Floating Cloud'.

We all learnt some Thanksgiving songs and performed for our parents.

It looked cool.

My teacher dressed up as an Indian too.

Fun stuff at school

2012-01-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

We do a lot of fun stuff at school, apart from learning in the class. We were taught the importance of staying fit a keeping healthy at a "fitness run" on my birthday. The run was fun alright, but it would have been "funner" if the temperature was not so high!

We were taken to a Pumpkin Patch field trip where we learnt all about the growing pumpkins. I had fun wearing my class "froggy" shirt and going all by myself with my friends.

We had 'Red Ribbon week', Oct 24 - 28, celebrated, which had messages to say "no" to drugs. I had fun dressing up according to the themes.
Monday: Too cool to do drugs - wear sunglasses

Tuesday: Turn your back on drugs - wear your clothes backwards

Wednesday: Give drugs the slip - wear your PJ's to school

Thursday: Sock it to drugs - wear mixed socks

Friday: Lei off the drugs - wear Hawaiian clothes

Celebrating Deepavali 2011

2012-01-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

We managed to celebrate Deepavali on three different occasions this year. The first was at our combo Halloween and Deepavali party.

We bought sparklers, bhoochakrams, flowerpots and snakes.

We also had a celebration at PV uncle's house where they had giant sparklers and other cool stuff. On actual Deepavali day, we lit crackers in our backyard and had fun.

Halloween parade 2011 and T-or-T

2012-01-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

We had a beautiful parade for Halloween in school. Everyone in school dressed up and walked a few rounds along with his/her class. I had fun hanging out with my friends and showing them off to my family to came to see.

My teacher dressed up as a cowgirl.

We finally got to go for trick-or-treating on Halloween day. We were joined by my friends A who dressed up as Goldilocks and R who was a princess.

Our decorating talents at Halloween and Deepavali

2012-01-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

Our family has always been big on artistic pursuits and making art by ourselves. Since Thatha and Ammamma were here, Amma and me got additional impetus to decorate our house for Halloween. We set out spider webs and spiders on our porch.

Thatha and Ammamma made these little scary monsters from corn husks.

The pumping carving efforts from our group party can be seen below:

For the actual Halloween day, we decorated and carved a few more pumpkins thus:

With my help, Amma actually made a gave out diyas for Deepavali to everyone who visited us for Dasara. We made them out of clay and painted designs on them.

Halloween 2011 dressing up

2012-01-16T22:14:00.000-08:00

It was fun to dress up for Halloween. After a long search, Amma bought this Spanish princess costume for me.

She said it suits my personality. I loved dressing up in it and showing off some dance moves.
Neehar and Nanna complemented my dress by dressing up as Spanish pirates.

Amma changed her look and became a 70's Bollywood girl. Look at our sportive Thatha and Ammamma, dressed up as a Rasta man and a Banjaran girl, respectively.

We had a Halloween party with my close friends and here is how they dressed up.

The adults did okay too.

After a long.... gap

2012-01-16T21:59:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted on my activities in a long time, but I have tons of experiences to share and photos to post. So, bear with me and hang on while I post on all my activities from Oct 2011 to Jan 2012, over the next few days.

Visiting Gilroy Gardens

2011-11-21T00:00:00.000-08:00

I love going on rides. So, we went to our closest park, Gilroy Gardens. This time, we took Thatha and Ammamma with us. This time they also had a lot of Halloween decorations throughout the park.

Visits to Napa Valley and Golden Gate Bridge

2011-11-20T23:51:00.000-08:00

Golden Gate Bridge has become a favorite photo spot for us. So we dropped by there to take a few pictures when the weather was good.

Then, after Thatha and Ammamma came, we took them to Napa Valley. I'd been to Napa Valley before, but I loved seeing the grapes again.

Dressed up for Dasara 2011

2011-10-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

We dressed up in new clothes for Dasara.

Neehar and me got some cute photos on our banister posts.

We did Saraswati Pooja with some of my books. We also did Aksharabhyasam for Neehar.

But finally I was waiting only for the Prasadam.

My Bommala Koluvu and special appearance

2011-10-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

This year, my Ammamma and Thatha brought lot of enthusiasm and lots of dolls from India for me to put 'Bommala Koluvu' for Dasara. It is a traditional dolls arrangement where we put dolls in any pattern we like. We made the steps out of boxes and decorated the area beautifully.

Ammamma, Thatha and Amma helped me (or rather, I helped them) and we made these beautiful sections.

Since the occasion was so special, I had to dress up special. Amma and Ammamma helped me dress up in a beautiful traditional dress and all my finery.

Amma stitched the dress and Ammamma brought all the jewelry from India. I wore a saree with jadagantalu, paapidi pindhe, vankeelu, puvvula jada, gajulu, vaddanam and necklace.

But nothing is ordinary when Nithya is involved. So I had to do monkey bars wearing my saree and even flip upside down!

We had some perantaalu over for my Bommala Koluvu the next day as well. This is how I was dressed.

My fifth birthday party

2011-10-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

We had a party for my birthday a week after my fifth birthday. My Thatha and Ammamma came here for the party. All my friends also came to my party. We had a fun teacher teach us a few Bollywood steps for a Hindi song and we did a final performance that all our parents loved.

I had a pretty 'Hello Kitty' cake.

My fifth birthday!!

2011-10-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

I recently turned five. I had a blast with all the festivities for my birthday. I went to school in this party dress.

At school, I had a celebration where I gave a book to the 'birthday bookshelf' at school.

I got a crown and lot of good wishes from my friends and teachers.

At home, I helped Amma make a chocolate cake and some chocolate cupcakes.

Then came the best part, we frosted them. I ate the batter, chocolate chips, frosting and the final finished products and loved the sugar.

I finally cut the cake which had a picture of me.

I later got mehndi on my palms and got this gift in the mail I love my Leap Pad. Now I don't have to bother Amma and Nanna for their iPad or iPhone.

Hanging out by the pool with new friends

2011-09-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

We have my "usual suspects" friends over at our home all the time. But recently we had some friends that we don't meet very often come over to our place. I had a lot of fun with them too.
With Ananya, Aditi and Advait

With Simone, Julia and Kimberley

Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja 2011

2011-09-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

We did our Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja this year with lot of devotion. I helped Amma make our clay idol and arrange everything for the Pooja. We did the Pooja and had these family moments together.

Camping trip with Bhargavi

2011-09-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

We did another camping outing with my friend Bhargavi's family.

They were camping for the first time, so I enjoyed showing them around. I helped them pitch their tent.

Then we played around, running all over the place.

We picked acorns, pinecones and leaves, and even did some coloring activity. I rode my bike for some time too.

Off to Kindergarten!!

2011-08-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

I started actual school last week, going to kindergarten. First, there was the business of getting the required supplies list and buying them.

Then, getting the bag for the "right" look. I chose the bag gifted to me by Veena Mamayya and Sravanthi Atha.

Finally, going into class.

I loved my teacher, Mrs.Ferguson.

Rakhi Celebrations 2011

2011-08-25T23:48:00.000-07:00

Rakhi celebrations were good this year too. First, we started off on Rakhi Pournami morning - my friends Ananya, Advait and Aditi had come over with their families for a barbecue lunch and pool party. So, we did a group Rakhi tying. I did the bottu

and tied my Rakhi - a Rakhi with a Krishna picture.

I even did a harathi for Neehar.

Later that day, I tied Rakhis from Sravyakka, Lalla Akka and Lasya.

Neehar loved all the attention. He gave me a huge ball as present. Even though we have a Tom-and-Jerry kind of relation,

I love my little brother!

Varalakshmi Vratham 2011

2011-08-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

Amma and me like doing the Varalakshmi Vratham Pooja every year. I like the dressing up for it part of it. This year was extra special because Amma surprised me by putting in a long hair extension (savaram) and jada gantalu for me.

I love having long hair. I dutifully eat perugu annam every day because Amma says "Perugu Annam thinte juttu peruguthundhi". Anyway, I loved wearing all the jewelry, flowers in my hair etc.. Overall, I rocked the look.

Psst.... Amma is not bad too!

I did the pooja with utmost devotion.

Amma made me pray Varalakshmi Devi, "Thalli, naaku buddhi ivvu, allari thaggelaa choodu. Andharu santoshamgaa unde laga choodu", the first part asking God to help me be less naughty and the second part to keep everyone happy.

We are a happy family, as seen in this family photo we took when we dressed up for J.Mamayya's wedding reception.

I'm not sure if the first part of the wish is coming true, though :-)

Camping with veterans and celebrating Amma's birthday

2011-08-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

This time, we went camping with our veteran batch, i.e., Adi uncle's group.

We went with them for our first camping and have been hooked ever since.

We were packed for camping, using up every inch of our van space.

All of us kids hung out there by the fire pit where it was warm.

We climbed trees

and generally behaved like monkeys.

The campground was in a park which had a lake and boating activities too. So, Nanna and me braved it and went on a row boat with the others.

Amma and Neehar stayed on shore. After the boating, a few of us played in the mud this way.

We celebrated Amma's birthday at the camp with a lovely Mango fruit cake.

With all these activities, who wouldn't enjoy camping? When can we go camping again?!

First camping for this summer 2011

2011-08-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

We really wanted to go camping and found a new special campground called Schoolhouse Canyon. It was about a 3 hour drive from home. This time, we went with our Attha's families.

We enjoyed setting up our tent and playing in it.

Our campsite was apparently a very special one, with a tree stump with a carved smiley face on it.

We did not find it very special, but our site had a lot of visitors, who found something in it!
We did smores on campfire

and enjoyed playing in the mud with leaves and twigs. We ate an unlimited number of chips supplied by Abhi Mamayya

and stuffed parathas that Amma brought from home.

We did a few visits nearby. We played for a while in the Russian River beach.

We also went to Korbel wine cellars where they had this giant inflated champagne bottle. They had a lot of toys there for us to play.

Flight into a Gold Rush town

2011-08-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

We decided to fly into our favorite Gold rush town of Columbia to show Neehar a taste of flying. I thoroughly enjoyed my first flight to Columbia and could not wait to go back and see the sights again. I enjoyed the flight

and talking in the headset with Nanna, but Neehar kept pulling his headset off and trying to pull mine too.

Then we went into the town where the first person who greeted us was this perfectly dressed sheriff.

We went on a stagecoach ride and got stopped by highway robbers not once, but twice!

The robber even declared that I was a brave girl since I didn't flinch while informing that I had no candy or crayons on me.

We bought feed and fed these chickens.

Fathers' Day 2011 fun

2011-06-25T00:03:00.000-07:00

We are back home and got to celebrate Fathers' Day here. Nanna cooked on the barbecue and ate corn, stuffed tomato, burger, fries, etc..

Our swimming pool invites us in the summer heat. I got comfortable in the water first.

Then I splashed around with Neehar.

I then took a break and bonded with Amma on the swing set.

Finally, we went into the pool and I swam by myself, with the help of my trusty noodle.

Spending time with my Thatha and Ammamma

2011-06-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

We spent some time with my Thatha and Ammamma. We rode all around the town in Thatha's car. He let us do this.

They took us to many places, including the beach, aquarium, a movie and lots of shopping. We had a party for Ammamma's 60th birthday at a hotel. I dressed up in all finery

and helped Ammamma cut the cake.

Amma dressed up okay too.

Thatha is a cool guy, but an innocent. He put us up on his shoulders, not knowing what we would be up to.

New things to do in Vizag

2011-06-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

There are new malls all over Vizag. We went to one of the malls to see a movie and there we found this kids' play area. It had lot of cool activities. We rode this toy train,

a cute carousel

and may such rides. I played the 'Whack-a-mole' game and won quite a few credits.

We never thought we could visit The Taj Mahal without leaving Vizag! We had a fun time walking around this Taj Mahal replica made of wood.

Vizag attractions we visited

2011-06-23T23:54:00.000-07:00

We went to a lot of places in our Vizag stay. It is impossible to visit Vizag and not visit the beach! We went out to the beach early one morning.

Though me and Neehar were initially annoyed at waking up so early in the morning, we later enjoyed it very much.

I got fully wet and did not want to leave the water.

We went to see the Aquarium, Matsya Darshini.

We saw a lot of fish there

and finally came out of a shark's mouth.

We went up the Kailasagiri hill top. I played a lot in the play area

and even took a horse ride.

We also took a train ride

and then, the mandatory picture at the foot of the Shiva Parvati statues.

Fun at Bamma's home - 2

2011-06-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

Bamma has lots of good trees and plants in their backyard. They have lot of flowers and fruits. And... some insects too!

I had lots of fun plucking mangoes, trying to eat them and sitting on the mango tree.

You can see my gorintaku in this picture too.

Fun at Bamma's home

2011-06-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Once we reached Bamma's home, it was all fun. Varun Anna and Lalla Akka were there to provide me with non-stop excitement and activity.

Bamma put home-grown and ground gorintaku for me and Lalla Akka.

I wondered if staring at it makes it go redder.

Started off India trip in Chennai

2011-06-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

We started off our India trip by landing in Chennai.

We had good fun at the hotel we stayed. We explored the lobby fully, and even tried to open some decorative trunks.

We went o visit our Pratap Thatha. There, we had fun playing with Preetham Babai and Amrutha Atha.

Amrutha Atha was very nice, she even let me plait her hair.

Neehar's birthday party

2011-05-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

It was my brother Neehar's 2nd birthday party and I had a lot of fun dressing up. Initially, we thought that Nanna may take us on a plane ride. We dressed appropriately and went to the airport. But it was too windy and we were left with just the photos :-(

Neehar cut a SpongeBob cake in the evening and we went out to a restaurant.

Then, we had a party at a restaurant where all our friends came. I dressed up in this beautiful dress that Doddamma and Pedananna gave me.

I wore all my finery. I even got gorintaku and nail polish!

We all dressed up nice and here is our family photo.

I was naughty, playing with the toothpicks and saunf that I found there.

Easter Egg hunt

2011-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

We were invited to an Easter egg hunt at our friends, Pranav and Pallavi's place. They hid a lot of eggs in their neighborhood park. We all held our baskets, stood in a line, and took off when they said "Go".

I collected a lot of eggs.

Then, Pranav counted who got the maximum number of eggs. I didn't, but I was close!

We all got lollipops to eat later.

Pallavi let me borrow her hat and pose for a picture.

Neehar and I shared our joint collection.

We also had a neighborhood egghunt that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was so inspired, that I setup an egghunt in our play tent for Neehar.

A cold, wet, fun-filled Holi 2011

2011-03-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

I am a veteran at playing Holi. I've done it in previous years already and I know how exactly to play with colors and water guns. However, this year, the weather was wet and cold. It rained in the morning, but our spirits were not dampened.

We decided to dress up warm and play Holi anyway.

We had a great time playing with the water and colors.

Our family ended up like this at the end of the play.

Dance performance

2011-03-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

In my second dance session, I learnt bits of two songs - 'Love me, love me' from the Hindi movie 'Wanted' and 'Apdi Podu' from the Tamil movie 'Gilli'.
We had a performance at our dance school. I dressed up in a nice South Indian style, but was told that the performance was postponed to the week after. I nevertheless did my best practice and had a photo with my friends.

Then, the week after that, again I dressed up and performed very well.

My teachers Ms.Selvi and Ms.Lavi were very happy with me.

They gave cupcakes to all the performers.

I had a good time overall.

Dressing up for get-togethers

2011-03-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

We recently had a get-together at home to give farewell to my cousins Nishika and Ritwik who were leaving for India. So, we dressed up all fancy.

Then we had a nice dinner with my other friends, Pranav, Pallavi, Shreyas, Sonali, Pravin and Navin.

This is how we dressed up.

Having fun in SFO

2011-02-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

We are loving going up to SFO for celebrations, these days. We recently celebrated one year of being a family of four on Jan 22. We went to have lunch at a fun vegetarian restaurant Greens. I tasted the potato griddle cakes and even some cherry almond quinoa.

But I loved drinking the water more.

Then we made our obligatory visit to Golden Gate Bridge. We ran for a bit in this park.

And a trip to SFO is not complete without a visit to the Ghirardelli Square.

Snow play at Soda Springs

2011-02-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun on our 3 day weekend at Reno. We started off the trip with a lot of ecitement. (Of Course, I can never get a "normal" photo).

Everything was covered in snow as we looked out of our hotel room window. I did the corny "falling on to the ground" photo.

I also wanted to capture the beauty outside in my palm :-)

We went to the Soda Springs kids snow park. I started playing right after we parked in the parking lot.

I enjoyed a lot there. I played with the snow to my heart's content - burrowing in it,

eating it, feeling it on my face, etc..

I enjoyed the snow tubing a lot. I did it the whole time we were there, about a hundred times or so,

until I was really tired and sat down just to chill.

Valentines Day celebrations 2011

2011-02-22T23:34:00.000-08:00

I had a good time celebrating Valentines Day at school. I dressed up in red

and bought valentines for all 23 of my classmates. Some of my classmates gave me valentines too. I kept looking at them over and over.

Now couldn't let a photo opportunity go by without making funny faces, right?

And a Valentines Day photo session is incomplete without a winking photo.

Then, when Nanna called up while returning from work, I told him what my teachers told me about this day. "Daddies bring mommies lots of flowers". I heard him say "Oh No! Now I am forced to go to the florist" - but did not understand what he meant. He finally came home a bit late, and brought this bouquet.

Getting pampered by Doddamma and Pedananna

2011-01-27T00:05:00.000-08:00

My Doddamma and Pedananna, visiting us from New Jersey, pampered me a lot.

Doddamma tried to bring a semblance of order to my hair.

She fed me and Lasya noddles, and also played word building games with us.

Santa's house visit!

2011-01-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

We set up our Christmas tree and Santa Claus visited our house on Christmas.

He got presents for all of us, and that too, the ones we asked for!

It was really cool. The best part was that he could speak Telugu too. Amma told me that Santa knows all languages and he speaks the language of the house he goes to. He just visited for a little while and left soon, because he had to go to other kids' houses to give out presents. He also surprisingly left his Santa suit behind as a souvenir for us. I wonder how he managed after that!
He left a lot of presents for me too, I opened them with Nanna's help, though Neehar kept butting in.

Dressing fun at family reunion

2011-01-26T23:16:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of fun dressing up during our family gathering. One day, we all dressed up in complete traditional Indian wear.

On Christmas day, we all got a souvenir Junkys(that's the name of our group) meet T-Shirt.

Another day had each family dressing up in a particular color. Our family had pink.

Well, whatever the color of dress, I had to eat my regular food with Nanna.

For the New year eve party, we all dressed up in Black or Whites.

But I couldn't let the opportunity go when I saw Nanna sitting on the floor. I made him carry me horseback style.

Enjoying with my cousins

2011-01-26T23:01:00.000-08:00

We had a grand family reunion at our place. Six of Amma's cousins came to our home and stayed over for a week. So, there were kids too and I had a great time hanging out with them. My cousin Sanjana came from Omaha. I made a train with her, watched TV together and played a lot of pretend princess games with her.

I also hung out with Lasya a lot, and we had some creative differences during our play time too :-)

I did not have much one-on-one time with them, but I managed to play with my cousins Rohit, Ritwik from Somerset and Drona from Omaha.

My Sravyakka and Suraj Anna were a lot of fun too, though they willingly shut themselves off in another room to do their school home work. Who does that, these days!?

Srinu Babai brought a fun game 'Guess the cartoon character'. Our gang had a lot of fun playing it.

Picture with Santa

2010-12-16T00:41:00.000-08:00

I was not happy that Amma did not get a picture of just me and Santa chatting in my class. So, I pestered her to take me to Santa so that I could get a proper picture. I wore this lovely dress.

Neehar dressed up too. I loved his dress too. Isn't it fancy!?
On the way, I kept asking important questions about Santa. "Is there a North Pole near our house?", "Where is Mrs.Claus?", "Can I get a flying reindeer for Christmas gift?", "Why does Santa ask Amma and Nanna's permission for getting me the gift I asked?", "No wonder Santa is fat, he eats cookies in everyone's house" etc.. etc.. I could see relief in Amma's face as she parked the car at the mall. I don't know why.

Santa was cool. He let me sit in his lap and talk to him, even gave me an activity book.

Can you believe this little boy who cries when Santa tries to pick him up?

I told Neehar, "Silly fool, be nice to Santa, or you won't get any presents"!

Christmas program at school 2010

2010-12-15T00:25:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas program at school. Unlike last time where, truth be told, I did not learn many of the songs, I did well this time. I sang all the songs and acted alongside.

My friends and me were very excited when Santa Claus came in suddenly.

He asked each one of us what we wanted for Christmas and chatted with us. I loved it.

Finally I got my picture taken with my teachers, Ms. Nichola, Ms.Gaelen and Ms.Priya.

My first Bollywood dance performance

2010-12-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

I've been learning dancing, Bollywood style, for the past few months. My teacher is Ms.Lavi.

She taught us the steps for the song 'Prem ki Naiyya'. I enjoyed the whole experience a lot. I loved going to the dance school on Thursday evenings. What I did not like too much was that Amma made me practise the steps a lot of times at home. She would watch my practice session and point out every mistake that I made, and more :-(

Anyway, we got our costumes, accessories, and it was time for the dress rehearsal.

We did good and finally, the day of the performance dawned.

We gave a good performance and I enjoyed the entire experience. Amma already enrolled me in the next session which starts in Jan.

Thanksgiving weekend with family

2010-12-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

We kicked off the Thanksgiving weekend with a quick trip to San Francisco. We took some Golden Gate Bridge pictures.

Then, we went to Ghirardelli Ice cream shop and had their world famous fudge sundae.

We had a Thanksgiving dinner with my cousins. This is how we dressed up.

Thanksgiving activities at school

2010-12-01T23:57:00.000-08:00

We made this pilgrim bonnet at school.

Here are some drawings I made at school. They are of: Teepee, "Eating gives energy", coloring vegetables, Native American Indian (clockwise)

Here are some more drawings, of: Farmer Frank, Turkey, Cornucopia and "Fruits and Veggies"(clockwise).

I got a haircut but no one noticed :-(

2010-12-01T23:42:00.000-08:00

Bye to Bamma at the airport

2010-12-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

Bamma left a couple of weeks ago. She will stay with Babai's family for a few months. We went to the airport to say bye to her.

We spent some time in the coffee shop there and I made a nuisance of myself by grabbing sugar packets and stirrers.

My latest craze is to strike a dance pose whenever the fancy takes me.

First Dentist Appointment

2010-11-09T16:17:00.000-08:00

Another first, this year! Today, I went to the dentist and got my teeth cleaned for the first time. Amma forgot to take pictures there, but I was given a seal of approval for my brushing technique. My teeth are in very good shape.

Amma made the appointment when she saw a couple of my cousins who are my age, have cavities. But good for me, I did not have any.

I was a very good girl at the cleaning, so the doctor gave me a dental kit and a tic-tac-toe game. Thank you, Aparna Aunty!

Deepavali celebrations 2010

2010-11-09T16:12:00.000-08:00

We went to my friends Pranav and Pallavi's house to celebrate Deepavali. They have been hosting the Diwali party at their house every year for the last 5 years. We go there ever year. We were dressed up to the nines.

This year, the new addition is fire crackers. We found a store that sells them and took them there. I had a lot of fun lighting up the sparklers and also watching the light fountains go up.

Finally, 2010 Trick or treating

2010-11-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Oh No! Wear the genie costume again? NO!!!! But, for candy, we have to do certain sacrifices.......I got ready with my little brother Neehar.

We went around the block for trick-or-treating, admired decorations and collected candy.

We also had pumpkin decorations of our own.

Our Halloween party at home

2010-11-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

We had a Halloween party at home and I had to dress up in my genie costume.... again! I got my other costume out and put it on.

But no one liked my Dora costume and they pestered me to change to my genie costume.
Okayyyyy, people! I changed and even entertained everyone with my dance.

We lined up all my costumed cousins, i.e., all the carvers, for the pumpkin carving.

We kept busy for an hour

and this is what we produced.

2010 Halloween at school

2010-11-05T16:03:00.000-07:00

I had a fun time dressing up and going to the Halloween parade at school. I just couldn't wait for the day.

We had a parade in our playground where we sang a song while playing musical instruments and walked in a single file.

Then we all posed for a picture against the wall. Look at all my classmates.

Then we had a small show in our classroom, singing scary songs with our teacher, Miss Nicola.

200th post and....

2010-10-16T00:50:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that I haven't actually seen a movie in a theater until now? Well, now I have. 4 years old and I get to see my first movie. Of Course, this is not my first cinema visit. The irony of the situation is that it is my brother Neehar's first movie and he is not even 1 1/2 years old.

It was 'Toy Story 3'. Neehar enjoyed the movie more than me in the beginning. The loud sounds and big pictures did not scare him at all. I had to be pacified with lollipops, popcorn, etc.. Neehar even dozed off 20 minutes into the movie. Finally, I started enjoying the movie quite a lot. Buzz Lightyear is my favorite character. Then, 20 minutes later, the movie was over :-(. We have to wait until the next cartoon movie comes up.

My 4th Birthday PARTY

2010-09-27T23:40:00.000-07:00

We had my birthday party at home this time. We invited all my close friends and had a blast. In the morning, I wore a pretty pink dress and looked like a princess.

As the day wore on, I played in the jumper, swings, etc.. and my hair became wild, I lost my bottu, etc..

But I had so much fun! It was cake time - I had a mango flavor Dora cake.

To my surprise, Dora showed up for my cake cutting. I was very happy, but she left soon, as she had other kids' parties to attend.

Then, we all changed and jumped into our pool. As it was a very hot day, the pool was perfect. Nanna made snow cones for everyone afterwards and we all enjoyed it.

My 4th Birthday at school

2010-09-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

At my school, my birthday was celebrated the day before my actual birthday. My teachers Ms.Nicola and Ms.Gaelen "spotlighted" me.

They told the entire class about me, my likes and favorites, had them sing the birthday song, etc..

They even went around me in a circle.

I loved all the attention.

Neehar arrived at my school with Amma and Bamma to participate in the celebrations.

My 4th Birthday!!

2010-09-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

I turned four, last week. I got a lot of greeting cards, emails and animated greeting cards from my friends and loved ones. Thank you all for the wishes.

I wore a beautiful red and green dress. I got gorintaku on my palms too.

Amma baked a colorful princess crown cake for me.

I got a princess balloon and a princess tiara for the cake cutting too.

Nanna and Amma gave me a lot of gifts, but the big one was the Dora ball pit that I love playing in.

Western Day at school

2010-09-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

We had 'Western Day' at school. all of us dressed up as cowboys and cow girls, even the teachers! Last year, this was how I dressed up and celebrated. I wore my jeans, hat and bandanna.

We made a cool vest in school and drew on our own Wanted poster.

Swimming in our pool

2010-09-27T17:12:00.000-07:00

I love having a pool in the backyard. Nanna and Amma have friends over to our place frequently to enjoy Nanna's barbecue cooking and our pool.

This summer has been good with a lot of such gatherings. I got to try out our pool a lot of times.

I am now quite comfortable with splashing around by myself when I have my swim noodle

or an adult with me.

I even introduced Neehar to the joys of getting into the pool.

Getting a piggyback ride is always fun, even in the pool! Thanks, Teju Mamayya!

My fashion portfolio and a few funny faces

2010-08-28T00:11:00.000-07:00

No story here - just a few decent shots and a few mischievous face shots on Rakhi day.

Rakhi celebrations

2010-08-27T23:18:00.000-07:00

Now that I have a little brother Neehar, Rakhi is extra-special for me. In my first year, I tied a Rakhi to my Suraj Anna.

Now, I am doing all that a big sister should do, taking care of my little brother, playing with him,

feeding him yogurt rice,

and even helping Amma in her chores, such as picking Gongura leaves.

So, on Rakhi day, I got my stuff ready, including the Rakhi that Sravyakka sent. We dressed up a little special for each other(and for photographs :-)

I put kumkum for him,

blessed him with Akshintalu,

tied the Rakhi

and gave him a haarathi.

He wasn't too excited to sit in one place while I did all this! However naughty you are, Neehar, I love you raa, bangaari!

Hanging out at a Kidzone

2010-08-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

We visited a place called Kidzone in our Tahoe trip.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself, though I could see that all the adults were really bored. I played with the toy trains for a while,

and then with the triangle building blocks.

I checked out some rocking horses

and an old-fashioned telephone too.

I played dress up with costumes of cowboy, horse, and a ladybug.

Then, I played in the art zone with painting for a while.

Summer fun trip to Tahoe

2010-08-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

As the summer holidays were rapidly getting over, we decided to go to Tahoe for a weekend. My buddies Shishir, Siddhu Anna and Bhargavi along with their families joined us.

We all had fun playing cards, dancing, eating, etc..

Celebrating Amma's birthday

2010-08-12T00:28:00.000-07:00

This year too, like last year, we had Nanna's office picnic around Amma's birthday. I got my face painted with a skull design and a heart design air brushed on my hand.

After that, I played in the sand box to my heart's content.

On Amma's birthday, we took her to a kiddie park and zoo. I enjoyed it a lot, though Neehar slept for most of the time there. I brushed some goats with a brush.

Then, we bought 'barn owl droppings' which is tasty food for the other animals. I fed this to some ponies, sheep and goats.

I enjoyed riding some kiddie rides all by myself.

Amma took me on one scary ride

and Nanna took me on another.

Later, we had Amma cut a small cake. I got a hug and a piece of cake.

Fun at Singapore Airport and Pump it up

2010-07-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

We were walking all around in Singapore airport. Then we spotted this Football 2010 mascot. I had to have a photo with him.

We also saw a giant football that I tried to kick.

Back home, we attended my friend Sonali's birthday party at Pump-it-up. I had a lot of fun playing on the inflatables.

We also had a pizza and cake party.

Off to see a wedding!

2010-07-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

I saw a traditional Telugu wedding for the first time. Not just that, I attended all the pre and post wedding functions. I had a lot of fun, wearing nice outfits and jewellery.

Ammamma put mehndi designs for my palms and feet.

She put whatever I asked for, as long as I asked sun, moon or stars!

I also had my first train journey, when we traveled to Ongole for the wedding. First, I got a picture with the luggage and the bridegroom, Veena Mamayya.

I loved trying out the upper berths on the train. I even got to share the middle berth with Amma for sleeping, one night!

As for the wedding itself, I had a lot of fun. But no one bothered to take many pictures of me. They were mostly concerned with photographing the bridal couple. Here I am all dressed up, posing with my cousin Lasya.

Here, Amma spoilt what could have been a good picture. Neehar has fingers in his mouth, as usual.

Aah, finally, a good one! I collected all the thermocol balls and colored beads that the couple threw over each other during the 'thalambraalu'. I was engaged in this activity for over three hours. After I finished with this glass, I started collection in a big basin.

My baby bro is here!!!

2010-06-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have a little baby brother now. Not too much of a baby, though. He is 13 months old and his name is Neehar Prasad. Check out his blog at http://neeharp.blogspot.com

He is quite cute at times, trying to pull my hair, rub my cheeks, hold my hands, etc.. But can be quite a nuisance too - he completely monopolizes Amma's time. She is forever feeding, changing or putting him to sleep. He also puts his fingers in his mouth and rubs my cheeks with those fingers! Little boys can be quite dirty, ugh!

Anyway, I am glad to have a live doll for me to play with. Welcome, Neehar!!!!

Hanging out with twins

2010-05-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Do you have friends who are twins? They sometimes look alike and have the same birthday! I have two sets of friends. One set is my cousins Nishi and Nikhi in Singapore. I met them in Jan. They let me play with all their toys.
We had snacks and milk together and they also insisted on giving me a bath all by themselves. It was a lot of fun.
Another set is my friends Siri and Sireesh. They play and fight together. It must be so much fun! But they both were never in the same photo. Here is Siri in a pink dress and here Sireesh is grinning in a red shirt.
My friend Nimalan also has a baby brother and sister who are twins.

My first field trip at school

2010-05-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I got to go to a field trip with my class. It was to my favorite place, the local library. First, our class assembled in front of the library. We got special T-Shirts for the occasion. Our teacher, Ms.Nabila gave us detailed instructions on what to do and what not to do inside the library. Then, we made lines to go inside.
We were given a tour of the library, and then it was story time. The nice library lady read us two stories.
To cap off the experience, I got my OWN library card! Then even took a picture of me with the card (I was clinging to Amma so much that she had to be in the picture). I got a magnetic photo frame, a reading magnet and a bookmark. I checked out some books with MY card.
There was picnic on the library grounds and for an anti-climax, we had to give back our T-Shirts to our teacher :(

Happy Birthday, blog!

2010-05-08T16:14:00.000-07:00

My blog turned three this week. I am glad that we still have readers at this point! Over the last few days, we had some celebrations in this context. Amma made this small strawberry cake.
My new friend Ananya joined in on the fun along with her parents.
Amma bought this crate of strawberries and forced us to eat them for 3-4 days. Then, when there were no takers for them, she made a cake and some mini cup cakes.

That too got old pretty fast. She made strawberry "burfi" and milkshakes. I believe some puree is still sitting in the freezer!
Now that it's "that" time of the year, I leave you with my changed looks over the last three years...

Mothers day celebrations at my school

2010-05-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

My new school (Community center pre-school) had some fun activities for Mothers' Day. Our teacher brought lot of stuff to eat with tea and juice, and invited all moms to come and join her for tea. I too invited Amma there.

Amma came and was surprised with the vast array of goodies arranged there. Here, some of the moms were relaxing and having tea, while I sat with my teacher, Ms.Nabila.
We also made some surprises for moms. I gave the fan I painted and my handprint to Amma. She liked them very much and put them up on our family room mantelpiece.

Getting back to my favorite activites

2010-04-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

After our long stay in India, we came back home. I started on all my favorite activities again. First, we invited some of my friends to hang out at home. We all got our popsicles and ate it in our backyard.

It was a beautiful day to sit at our poolside.I started going to swimming classes, all by myself now.
I like the teacher, especially when she takes us for a ride on the noodle.
I am okay with putting on my swimming cap, but I am afraid of my head getting mistaken for a ball.

Fun stuff I did

2010-03-15T02:49:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Valentines Day here. Nanna sent some flowers and a cake from us to Amma. Amma and Ammamma spent a lot of time trying to find a container to put the flowers in. Now, don't even ask me what we finally used!
I am good at hiding in places that no one would look for me. Here, I hid in the bottom shelf of our cupboard, behind our suitcases. To make myself comfortable, I took my pillow with me.
Thatha strung a hammock in our balcony. I sometimes hide in it, thus. I take food with me, just in case I need to stay for a long time (and no one looks for me).Here, I joined in a nursery school. Bought a school bag for it, water bottle, got my school uniform dress, etc.. Now, where is the fun part in this - you ask me? Then, I dropped out! After going there for 10 days, and just after Amma paid the entire quarter's school fees, I refused to go there any more. When someone attempts to take me to the school, I cry, scream, make a huge fuss and create such a ruckus, that everyone around decided that it is better to allow me to drop out, than try to make me go. I just did not like that school!

Traditional Pune sight-seeing

2010-03-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

We boarded a 'Pune Darshan' bus to take us to all the traditional must-see spots of Pune. We were shown almost 20 places. Though I did not understand much of what the guide uncle said, I enjoyed getting off the bus, running around, touching stuff in museums that I am not supposed to touch, (pestering Amma for bathroom breaks) and coming back on to the bus.We saw Tilak, Kelkar and Ambedkar museums, Shanivarwada and Aga Khan Palace, zoo, Japanese friendship garden with its koi pond, Shinde Chatri, Chaturshringi, Dagdu Seth Ganapati, Lal Mahal, Swargate temples, etc..

Having fun in our apartment play area

2010-03-14T03:28:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out with my Thatha and Ammamma. In their apartment complex, there are four apartment buildings and there is a play area, swimming pool, gym and recreation room in the middle. I am totally enjoying the play area and pool. I spend most of my time there. The swing set is my favorite. I play on every equipment, every day. Finally, I say bye to the stone family decorating the lawns.
Sometimes, we go to our favorite restaurant. It is my favorite restaurant because of the ride available in front of it. The others go there for the food. You noticed my new haircut?

Visit to exclusive Ross island

2010-02-10T02:09:00.000-08:00

Ross island in the Andamans is exclusively managed by the Indian Navy. It is possible for civilians to visit during the day, but overnight stays are not allowed. Since Babai made it easy for us, we went there and stayed overnight.It is a very beautiful island, and it has interesting structures around. There are mysterious looking abandoned war bunkers, tunnels and abandoned houses. Lot of the houses have huge tree roots grow through them, taking the shape of the entire house!
There was this coconut tree that grew angled on to the walkway.Now, to the most interesting part - there are hundreds of deer living on the island. We took snacks for them and fed them for over two hours. They ate bread, puffed rice and even bananas from my hands. They just would not leave - they swarmed all around us for food. I had lots of fun.

Visiting Havelock's beautiful locales

2010-02-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

We visited an Andaman island called Havelock. We also stayed in a beachfront, idyllic cabin resort that was icing on the cake. Varun Anna and me relaxed in the hammocks.It has beautiful beaches that are very unspoiled and unpopulated. We had a great time hanging out and playing in the water. I went slightly native and relaxed on the fishing boat.We had a coconut water drink break in a structure called a Nicobari hut. Of Course, we didn't drink all these coconuts by ourselves!We were so full that Pinni gave us a ride on a cart! We were fooling around.Then we went for lunch in this native setting restaurant.In the evening, we went to the famous Radha Nagar Beach, which is Asia's best beach and rated one of the world's top ten beaches. We watched this beautiful sunset there.

Hanging out with my cousins in Andamans

2010-02-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

We had a great time in the Andamans. We went there to visit my Babai's family. I played a lot with my Varun Anna and Lahari Akka. Their house has a huge backyard which overlooks the ocean. They have a cool swing there.
And a park in front of their house. We also had some pillow fights.

Bhogi Pallu function

2010-02-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

I had my Bhogipallu function at Thatha and Bamma's house. Amma and Nanna bought matching outfits, but not for me!

I got some new dresses for Bhogi and Sankranthi.

We had all our relatives over to bless me. I had Bhogipallu from Amma, Bamma, Ammamma and all others.

Bhogimantalu, Gangireddulu

2010-02-06T11:42:00.001-08:00

As it is Sankranthi time, all the Pongal festivities were on in full swing. I had a chance to see Gangireddulu, Haridasu, etc.. I insisted on giving money to every such 'artist' and so we had visits very frequently in the days before Sankranthi. I wanted to ride a gangireddu, but was not allowed to.We also set up our Bhogi manta early on Bhogi day. I lit up a few sparklers, torches and wires on the occasion.

Mandatory Vizag beach visit

2010-02-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

If we visit Vizag, we have to go to the beach to visit. This time, we tried something new - I took a horse ride and also got mehndi in my hand from a girl there. The last time I got designs on my hand was in Mumbai Juhu beach, and it was a stamp.

Trip to Annavaram

2010-02-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

We all, our family and both sets of grandparents, went to Annavaram to see the temple there. I collected a lot of prasadams and flowers by the time I came out of the temple after darshan (and a lot of kumkum)!

There is a sundial there. When we went there, there was no sun, so I sat on it and pretended that it was a horse. There are also a few cows anointed as 'Ashta Gomatha lu'. I patted them.Finally, I pestered everyone and made them buy flowers for me and I posed with this penguin trash can.

Thatha Ammamma's Gruhapravesam

2010-02-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

I am having a lot of fun on my India trip. I've been here for just over a month and I met a lot of cousins, uncles, aunts and friends and mainly spent time with my grandparents. First, we attended Thatha and Ammamma's gruhapravesam in Vizag. I made sure I could see everyone, by sitting on the chairs stack. Then, I joined in the fun by putting rice into the paravannam and also doing some pooja with ammamma.I met a friend, Mrudula, at the evening party. We played a lot together.

Christmas decorations in our downtown

2009-12-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

We visited our downtown area for seeing the Christmas decorations they put up there. This year I enjoyed it a lot, because I knew all the characters there - Santa Claus, elves, snowman, Nutcracker, and my favorite, gingerbread man!There were a lot of decorated Christmas trees and I couldn't resist becoming a part of one!I went on a carousel ride and climbed on a zebra, for a change.

Bay tour by flight

2009-12-27T00:02:00.000-08:00

We had a four day weekend. So, we had to go on a flight one day. So, we took a flight over the San Francisco bay. I first helped Nanna set up his stuff in his pilot's seat.Then, I helped maneuver out the plane from the parking space. It was a beautiful day. We saw two planes, a big plane and a small plane, landing at San Francisco airport from over the water at the same time. It was a cool sight to see. We followed the planes for a while to see if one would overtake the other, but they were even.We flew over the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge, the cool Bay Bridge, Alcatraz island and the entire city of San Francisco with views of the bridges and the city. We enjoyed all the sights and returned home.

Christmas celebrations 2009

2009-12-26T23:44:00.001-08:00

We set up our Christmas tree this year with our usual decorations. This year, however, we decided to go environmentally friendly and did not cut a tree. We bought this fake tree and decorated it. It was fun putting up all the ornaments. We put it in our "den" room whose window faces the street. So, it is quite nice when the tree is all lit up and can be seen from the street. Every day, I plugged in the lights.

I got a lot of presents from Santa this year, though I am naughty at times. Thank you, Santa! I got a Princess play set with books and a CD, a baby pretend play set, a board game and a tool set. I alse overheard Amma and Nanna saying that Santa gave me more presents but Amma and Nanna are "keeping them safe" to give them "when need arises". I did not quite understand it, but I hope the need will arise soon!

We had some sparklers left over from Deepavali that I lit up for Christmas. I enjoyed lighting them.

Some views of our new house

2009-12-26T23:12:00.000-08:00

We did not do all our unpacking yet, but we are quite settled into our new home. Here are some photos of the house. Uh oh, looks like we did not take many useful photos - hopefully some time soon... In the meantime, here is the view of the house entrance.Some photos in our backyard, by the poolside. Then, I am sitting on the kitchen island. Notice our modern appliances? And here are the stairs to go upstairs. That's it. That's it?? Everyone knows we take less pictures, but this is too less even by our standards. I guess the other rooms will have to wait until we get new furniture for them. I'll try to take more pictures when I can.

Christmas program in school

2009-12-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

We had a fun-filled Christmas program in school. We sang a lot of songs, danced, and finally had a group photo with our teachers.
Then, there was a surprise guest, amidst bells jingling, Santa Claus came to our classroom!! We were very excited. Everyone got a turn to tell Santa what he/she wanted for Christmas. I cannot tell you what I want, for if I tell you, my wish may not come true. He gave me a candy cane, that I immediately opened and ate, while hanging out with my friend Nimalan.I love Santa!!

What's new? A house!!

2009-12-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

We have been busy the last few days over buying and moving into our new house. The new house is just 1.5 miles away from the old house. Amma and Nanna were very happy when the finally signed the documents. They worked hard at packing all our stuff into boxes. I tried to be helpful, as is my general nature, but they shooed me everywhere I went.We had a small "paalu ponginchadam"(milk should be set to boil over in the new house to ensure that prosperity abounds in our home) ceremony yesterday.We first entered our home together, put our God photos inside, and then set the milk to boil. It did boil over!!Then, we had our movers move our things into the new home. Now, it's boxes everywhere.

Boo! Trick or treat?

2009-11-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

Boo! I did go out for 'trick-or-treat' ing down the street. I would go, ring the doorbell, and as soon as it would open, yell 'trick or treat'. They would get scared and give me candy. Then, I'd say 'Thank you and Happy Halloween'. I enjoyed looking at all the decorations everyone put up. Amma and Nanna, we should put up some decorations next year.

There was a scary doormat that made funny noises when I stepped on it. I did not step on doormats again.

I loved giving out candy to other kids who came to our house. Finally, this is how much candy I collected.

Pumpkin carving at Pravin's house

2009-11-01T23:05:00.000-08:00

We went to Pravin and Navin's house for their annual pumpkin carving party. Last year we got introduced to the concept and so we had a simple design then. This year, we got more adventurous and did a funny design. Amma let me help her out with cleaning the pumpkin initially and also carving the pumpkin. The end result was good and we were very proud of our Jack-o-lantern. Here, I am admiring our pumpkin among the row of pumpkins.

Halloween celebrations at school 2009

2009-11-01T22:45:00.001-08:00

I had a real fun time in my school in the Halloween celebrations. We sang songs in our class, and our teachers dressed as witches and angels performed a skit for us. It was lot of fun when they made a witches' brew and lot of smoke came out of it! I was thrilled to see Nanna come for the first time to see my school and see my parade, along with Amma.

Then, along with all my friends, I went out walking in the parade in the play area. I took pictures with my class teachers Miss Alina and Miss Varsha. Miss Nancy who helps load us up into cars also stopped by for a picture.

A witch needs her black kitty cat for her magic to work, right? I found one in my best friend, Sareena.

An old, A new, A borrowed and a blue for Halloween

2009-11-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

As everyone remembers, I had the same costume for Halloween the last two years. Nanna tried to say that I could wear the same costume this year too. Amma and me did not like the idea and gave it away when Nanna was at work.

This year, we collected not one or two, but four costumes! I decided to try all of them. First, there was the lovely mermaid costume(Something Blue) we got from my cousin Nishika. We even went to our local Disney store Halloween celebration, where I hung out with a lot of Disney princesses and other characters.

Then, I decided to wear my pumpkin witch costume(Something Old) to my school parade. We got this costume from my buddies Mira and Megha. I participated in all my school activities. wearing this costume.We had our annual pumpkin carving party at Adi uncle's place. I thought it was appropriate to dress up in my monkey costume(Something borrowed) that I got from my friend Vandya at this occasion. All my friends at the party and their parents got a kick out of a monkey carving a pumpkin! Another look at the costume with a baby monkey hanging at the back.Oh! don't think all my costumes were borrowed! Amma bought this genie costume(Something new) for me too. I wore this for my actual "trick-or-treat"ing. Note my chic bag.

Fire crackers for Deepavali

2009-10-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

We did not do anything much for Deepavali at home. Just spent it lazily. In the evening, we went to Vijay uncle's house for their annual Deepavali party. I lit different types of sparklers - yellow, red, green and star variety. Vijay uncle had decorated his house with lovely lights and LED diyas.

My drawing skills

2009-10-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

I like to draw, color and paint. I am getting better at it. Next time I will post pictures of how well I color :-). For now, here are my latest drawing masterpieces. I love drawing on my table.

Notice the face and the car that I already drew.

The face I drew is Amma's - do you see the similarity? Amma didn't see any!Then, I drew a sun, traced my hand drew my nails on it, drew a spider and a picture of my family. Amma, Nanna and me! Amma did not agree and refused to take a picture. I cried, threw a tantrum and made her take the picture.

Dasara celebrations 2009

2009-10-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Within a week after Thatha and Ammamma left, Dasara came rolling in. As is the tradition, I woke up early, took a good long bath, washed my hair, and wore my new clothes ...... in my dreams! In reality, this is what Amma and me were doing at 8 am on Dasara day.We dressed up well and did our Saraswati pooja. I brought my new books to the pooja. I was real serious about the prayers this time. Now that I am going to school, I need all the help I can get with respect to studies.

In the evening, we went to my friend Shishir's house, where he got his Aksharabhyasam done. Now that he is all set to study, we gave each other hugs and he gave me a present.

Cowboy and Cowgirl day at school

2009-09-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Cowboy/cowgirl day at my school. So, I dressed up accordingly. I got a lot of compliments at school for my outfit.
Did you ever see a cowgirl holding her school bag? Or running with it?

I am "Quick Draw" Nithya here.

We made a cowboy hat and a sheriff badge at school. We also drew our pictures on a "Wanted"poster.

Ammamma and Thatha left! :-(

2009-09-25T17:40:00.001-07:00

Ammamma and Thatha left for Kuwait yesterday. I miss them so much, after spending almost 6 weeks with them. They played with me, spoilt me, took my side when Amma was scolding me, took me for walking and a lot more... Thatha let me climb up and play horsey on him, even though his knees were paining.

We went to the airport and said bye. They wanted to take me with them but I did not want to go without Amma and Nanna.

Finally, I said bye and once we came out of the airport, kept pestering Amma and Nanna about going to Kuwait for a visit.