Mover & Stayer
I take photos of K&A sleeping almost every night. Plan to do a photo book soon!
Lately, I have been noticing that I have a ‘Mover’ and a ‘Stayer’ at home. Guess who is who?
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Both go to bed in the same position, with their heads towards the window and feet towards the door. However, within an hour or two of their dozing-off, Kabir starts to change position. He spins and flips, rolls over and somersaults (maybe!), ending-up in a completely different position….often with his feet on Aseem’s body.
Aseem, on the other hand, is always on his side of the bed, with the maximum movement being a left-to-right rollover, still waking-up in almost the same position on the bed.
So, let me present to you- Kabir ‘Mover’ Sharma & Aseem ‘Stayer’ Sharma!
Karma, Redemption & Responsibility Lesson
Kabir’s reluctance to get out of bed each morning, reminds me of myself. It seems like payback time for all the grief I gave Papaji and Mummyji when I was a young boy. Karma ha ha ha!
School for K&A starts at 7:00 am and with the awful traffic we have to navigate to get to school, we should hit the road no later than 6:10 am. Wake-up time should ideally be 5:10 am, to allow for enough time for morning ablutions, dressing-up, packing lunch, and eating breakfast. The struggle to hit that time continues. 🙂 However, it was getting worse, with K&A not getting to school until after 7:15 am. After about a weeks worth of late entries to class, we received (on March 07) what I had been dreading all along – an email from Kabir’s class teacher. 😦 Teacher Maria Laura very kindly reminded us of the school schedule and requested assistance in complying with it. Ouch! That got us trying different tactics such as getting as much ready as possible before going to bed the night before – lunch, snacks, clothes, shoes, bag, etc. The following day, we were in school at 6:40 am. Victory!
Now, to continue the trend is another story. It has been good so far, but sometimes, in haste, K&A forget forks/spoons or their water bottles. Both remind me of it in the evening. I feel guilty, but taking advantage of the situation in helping them learn responsibility, K&A have agreed to prepare a checklist that we would paste near the exit or in the kitchen, and before they go sit in the car, ensure that everything on the list is checked-off. I am hoping we can prepare the checklist this weekend!
You may have noticed that Aseem doesn’t even get a proper mention in this post. That’s because he is so efficient when it comes to eating, sleeping, waking-up, and getting ready for school. I wish I was like that growing-up. I wish some of that efficiency would infect Kabir. Enough of my karma coming back to haunt me….please bhagwan! 🙂
A Date with Rosaura
Feb 15, 2016 – Week #2 Day #1 of the 2016 school year.
Kabir and Aseem are both LOVING school!
Kabir was extra-happy over the weekend, because starting today, he was going to be receiving homework. Yes, you read that right! Happy to have homework! May this work ethic and love for learning stay with him for a lifetime and may it color Aseem’s happy-go-lucky outlook on everything. 🙂 🙂
Aseem was playing in the school play yard in the morning when he bumped into something and somehow bit his tongue. With a bloody tongue, he was taken to the school dispensary.
Today was also Kabir’s first swimming class in Preparatory. A combination of the unseasonally strong cold winds and cooler pool water gave Kabir an ear ache. He was also taken to the dispensary.
Date with Rosaura
That is where both my boys had their first date with Rosaura, the school nurse. 🙂
I don’t fancy both my guapos getting hurt the same day, but I don’t mind if they see her often, as long as it is for small scrapes and bruises.
I’m sure Guriya won’t mind either. 🙂
First Day of School in 2016
Today (February 08) is a very important day for Guriya and I. My google eyes, Aseem, starts ‘big boy’ school today! He joins his brother, Kabir, who is setting a high benchmark for Aseem to emulate…even raise the bar for their younger cousins – Mira, Ianko & Samir. They themselves have excellent examples in Tanya & Mehul, to follow at school. Knowing that Tanya and Mehul are there, calms our anxieties. Another blessing is that Aseem will have the same class teacher that Kabir had last year. Teacher Daniela is the kind of teacher we wish every child should be blessed with.
Aseem starts in Pre-kinder (section B), and Kabir progresses to Preparatorio (section B)
School starts early – 7am, and the plan is for me to drop them off in the morning, which means a 6am start from home, considering the traffic. 😦 Aseem’s classes end at 11:30am, after which he stays in the play/day-care (tallercito) at school until Kabir finishes classes at 1pm. Every Tues, Wed & Thurs, Kabir joins the after-school program activities. Tues – Playing & Learning; Wed – Boy Scouts; Thurs – Music. On those days, school ends at 3:05pm. They then get on the school bus to get back home.
Here starts the exciting, challenging and fun journey for our beloved boys to getting a formal education, realizing their dreams of becoming scientists, astronauts, artists, photographers, teachers, marine biologists, tennis players and much more. Long walk to the actual graduation! Here is a video of Kabir and Aseem walking to the classroom on their first day of school!
Education never ends, and we sincerely pray, wish and hope that our boys grow-up to be kind, generous, courteous, charming, fun, joyous, successful and honorable gentlemen.
We are so proud of Kabir and Aseem.
Kabir’s Special Gift for Birthday #5
Tuesday, June 09 2015
On his 3rd birthday, Kabir had received a balance bicycle from the Drs. Alfaro-Gonzalez family. Kabir and Aseem actually started using it a year later.
In the past few months, Aseem has wanted to ride it too, because he wants to be “big boy” too 🙂 but, more often than not, he has to be content with his tricycle.
And, Kabir was getting his balance so well that we decided to get him a bicycle for his 5th birthday. His Dadu-Dadi apparently were thinking the same and subsequently shared that they wanted to bring along a disassembled bicycle for Kabir from India! They insisted on buying it for him. We saved this trip to the bicycle store for the evening of his birthday. We picked-up Kabir and Aseem from the daycare and drove straight to the local cycle store, Ciclo Guilly. The selection of kids bicycles was sadly limited at the store, but Kabir quickly choose the one he wanted. We asked the guy at the store to take-off the training wheels and add a kick stand. Kabir literally rode it inside the store for a few yards.
We got back home and of course he wanted to ride his special gift from his Dadu-Dadi. Aseem was delighted too, for he got to ride the balance bicycle uncontested. 🙂 All of us had forecast 2-3 days of running behind the bicycle holding it steady while Kabir got the hang of it. But, lo and behold, Kabir rode it perfectly at his first attempt. First Ride. Unassisted. Awesome!!
I could not be prouder of my guapo, more so, because I think I did not learn to ride a bicycle until I was a near teenager.
The benefits of a balance bicycle are now obvious to us and we are now #1 advocates of it. I’m sure we’ll end-up gifting it to a number of Kabir’s & Aseem’s friends who haven’t yet learned to ride a bike.
4-5 baar Happy Birthday
Tuesday, June 09 2015
Kabir turned 5 today. We celebrated on Sat, June 06, but again got together with family for a small celebration. Towards the end of the day, Kabir came up to Guriya and I and incredulously asked “Sab mujhe 4-5 baar kyu Happy Birthday bol rahe hain?”
He was excited and took in all the attention with the bubbly enthusiasm and innocence of a 5 year old. Oh, the bliss!
Burst nahi, Explode!
June 01 2015
Kabir is now going to school in the bus. He leaves at 6am every morning. Aseem too wakes up before Kabir leaves for he wants to wave bye to his brother. It is then my play-snuggle time with my googly eyes. I then give him a bath and dress him for school, followed by breakfast while I prepare lunch boxes for both the brothers. Every day after he sits in his car seat, he asks his dadi for amla candy. 🙂 I drop him off at the daycare before heading to the office. This is our usual routine, with his cute and happy personality enlivening the start to the day.
This particular day, he is in his car seat waiting for dadi to bring him amla candy, and playing with his balloon dog he had gotten the previous day. Here’s our exchange:
Me: Beta, balloon ko ghar mein chod do. Aap ghar ke toys school nahi le ja sakte, aur car mein aapka balloon burst ho jayega.
Aseem: Papa, balloon burst nahi hoga, explode ho jayega! (Exaggerating with his hands for good effect)
Now, I know he is a smart and intelligent kid who doesn’t let it on, but I had never expected him to know this word, for I have not spent as much time with him as I did with Kabir, teaching him new words…in general, trying to light the fire for thirst to learn…maybe, I don’t need to. Maybe, I’m giving myself too much credit, for every child is curious and has an innate desire to learn. Regardless, I was amazed and proud in equal measure of what he had just said in perfect English.
Mera googly eyes! 🙂
Papa, you are ALMOST welcome
Kabir has now started kindergarten at St. Paul school and leaves for school pretty early at 6am in the school bus. A few weeks ago, Kabir was having his breakfast and I was getting his lunch box ready. Aseem had just woken-up and was sitting next to Kabir at the table, still half-asleep. 🙂 I was preparing a sandwich to send to school for Kabir, when I had the following memorable exchange with Aseem.
Aseem: “Papa, aap kya kar rahe ho?”
Papa: “Beta, mein bread garam kar raha hu Kabir ko bread aur jam bhejne ke liye. Aapko bread achi lagti hain? Chahiye?”
Aseem: “Papa, jab teacher school mein bread deti hain, tho saath mein ‘jalea’ bhi deti hain.”
Papa: “Beta, jalea kya hota hain?”
(I know enough Espanol to know that jalea means jam, but since I discourage K & A to speak Espanol at home, I asked him that question.)
Aseem: (Sounding matter of fact) “Papa, jam ko Espanol mein jalea kehte hain!”
Papa: “Oh! acha. Thank you for letting me know, beta.”
Aseem: (Feeling a sense of disappointment in my Espanol skills) 🙂 “You are ALMOST welcome, Papa”
He gets down from the stool and walks away. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
I think he has heard me say ‘you are most welcome’ and was trying to repeat that, but his sense of timing and dialog delivery were just perfect, making this episode one to remember for a lifetime! 🙂
Kabir’s 4th Birthday “Sea Animals” Party
This post was in the draft version for way too long 😦
Papa ki jaan, Kabir, is becoming a big boy 🙂 We celebrated him turning 4 on Saturday, June 07, 2014. This year Kabir wanted a sea animals themed birthday, and I started doing my usual research on pinterest.com. I found a bunch of ideas including banana & grape dolphin snacks and shark teeth photo booth. I started a Whatsapp group for the family to share these ideas, which worked great for getting my photo booth suggestion shot down in double quick time :-p I focused on creating a cute little invitation card for the birthday party, with the following result.
Guriya and I finally settled on this photo booth. It was all Guriya’s idea and my execution, with a bunch of creative input from Kabir’s Dadu-Dadi, Nanu, Sheena masi, Gunjan aunty, Mummy and Papa.
We had a whale pinata and an elmo birthday cake. This year, we had a special little guest, Lucio, taking a crack at the pinata and posing with the photo booth while taking his first steps. 🙂
Gunjan did the banana-grape dolphin snacks, which looked so adorable that guests were in awe and almost hesitant to eat them. 🙂
Guriya had been insisting on getting a payaso for the party, which I thought was too early for Kabir to really enjoy and appreciate. Boy, was I wrong! Not only did Kabir enjoy the show, he was enthralled by it, and had a beautiful smile on his face the whole time. Aseem and Priya stopped fighting for a while and gave the payaso their undivided attention too! That was proof enough of what a wonderful idea this was. I love my wife! 🙂
We even had our “copo girls”! :):) Everyone had a good time in the pool too.
We had a memorable time and it was fun to see adults and kids alike enjoying the photo booth.
On the day of his birthday (June 09), we filled the ceiling in Kabir and Aseem’s bedroom with helium-filled balloons, and watched their beautiful expressions of joy and happiness. In fact, Aseem woke-up first and when asked why we had balloons in their room, groggily said with a sleepy smile, “kyu ki aaj Kabir ka birthday hain”, and then leaned over and touched Kabir wanting to wake him up. He adores his elder brother. Kabir and Aseem played with the balloons and jumped on their beds trying to pull them down from the ceiling. We then took them to McDonald’s for a breakfast (less) & play (more) time. Later in the evening, family got together to again cut a cake.
Can’t wait for Kabir’s 5th birthday. This time around he wants a space themed birthday…rockets, astronauts, planets… I can’t wait to see how it turns out! 🙂
Aseem & Priya’s First Movie in a Cinema Hall – Rio 2
Date: Friday, April 17, 2014
Time: 09:45 pm
Location: Cinemark @ Multiplaza Escazu (Costa Rica)
Movie: Rio 2
Rio 2 was going to be Aseem and Priya’s first movie in a cinema hall and no less than a 3-D version with glasses!! A momentous occasion for the family to introduce the two youngest members of the family to cinema halls. We found the only slot that was showing this movie in English, despite it being a late night show. There were about 20 people in the audience, including us 13 – Kabir, Aseem, Priya and their Dadi and Nanu-Nani, Sheena, Adolfo, Radha, Mehul, Tanya, Guriya and I!
We all settled-in the seats with booster seats (double booster seats for Priya and Aseem :-P) for Kabir and Mehul, with “tubs” of popcorn, well before the movie began. But, when it did begin, to our surprise, it was in Spanish. Sheena, Guriya and another lady in the audience were soon at the ticket counters demanding an explanation. When the representative finally came-in to talk to the audience and apologize for the goof-up, he offered a full refund or a 40 min wait for them to switch to the English version. We, of course decided to wait for the extra 40 mins, for it is not easy to coordinate plans for everybody. Sheena also negotiated a free refill for the popcorn and drinks, and free tickets for another show during the next 30 days!
When the movie finally started, the kids were thankfully, in fine fettle and gamely put-on their 3-D glasses. Kabir was super curious and intermittently took a peek without his glasses. We all had expected Priya to sleep for it was very late, but surprise surprise!, she was not just awake all through the movie, but applauded loudly at some inappropriate moments in the movie… ha ha ha. Oh! the innocence of babies. 🙂 Who did sleep towards the end of the movie was Aseem and Radha loved holding him in her arms.
Everybody enjoyed the movie and had a wonderful time!
D&G and Baby Sharmas 
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