Thursday, January 17, 2008

First Day of School!!

So I started my first day of school last week (but have since switched schools after finding out that InBloom really wasn't Montessori at all.. what a disappointment!) Anyhow, here is a picture of me on my first day. I was so excited about it and mama, dada and I had been talking about it for weeks! I woke up early to have a nice full breakfast and we all walked together to the school (dada taking pictures along the way).

I now go to a real Montessori school a little farther away, but well worth it! The teachers are so much nicer and give me more freedom to explore. I'll post more pictures of my new school soon.

My Favorite Things To Do


Climbing the jungle gym.... I'm becoming really good at it (and quite fearless I might add)...












...Well, with one exception. Their slides are MUCH steeper than I'm used to... so I have to go down on my belly to make it less scary... little by little though... I'll get up the courage.













Building a tower with my blocks and then stacking them together again....













Putting on my "lipstick"...















Playing football with mommy... here I am chasing the ball...



















... And of course finger (or more accurately) BODY painting :-D

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Update

I've been speaking much more recently putting words I know together to make new sentences. I still have to listen carefully though when people speak to really understand what they're saying. If they speak too quickly or use words I don't know.. I just nod my head politely or stare off into the distance thinking of the next flavor of ice cream I want to try :)

My obsessions lately:

Everything princess - princess dresses, books, shoes, bracelets and even lipstick! (well, not really it's actually just mama's chapstick but I wear it proudly like a princess and even think twice about giving kisses because I don't want to smear my "lipstick"!)

Water - I love playing with water.. washing my hands, washing dishes with the sponge, brushing my teeth, washing my dolls hair... you name it!

Doing everything mama does - which lately has included washing dishes, cooking, mopping, putting on lotion and deodorant, and wearing skirts and dresses.

Books - could read one after the other all day long if I (well, mama) could :-D

Dancing and singing - of course! Since grandma bought me a ballet instruction cd, I like to dress up in my tutu and ballet shoes and do passets and sotets (sp?) And it's become a daily ritual that mama or dada put on music and I dance around our place happily like no one in the world is watching!

Play doh - I play with it every day! Usually I try to coerce mama into making Arielle the mermaid and her papa out of the play doh. I also make them blankets and pillows to sleep... and when I'm bored of that I just manipulate the play doh with my hands feeling the smooth texture and smelling its play doh smell (side note: not all play doh are NOT created equal.... the play doh made in india? doesn't smell quite as nice as in the States)

Play fighting with dada - I love "fighting" with dada!! it's so much fun and we do it almost every day! mostly it's just pillow fighting and tickling, but I love it.

New skills:


~dressing myself
~undressing myself
~saying the O God Guide Me prayer (and singing along to Blessed is the Spot)
~balancing.... on furniture, on playground equipment....
~eating by myself with spoon or fork
~turning on and off the lights when I enter or exit a room and pretty much do a lot of things on my own now
~introducing myself to new people (adults and children) and making friends easily


Still working on:
~expressing my frustrations using words and not crying
~using the potty (although I'm getting closer)
~eating vegetables and fruits (mama is thoroughly frustrated by now)


Friday, January 04, 2008

More of life in Bangalore

More random snapshots of our life in Bangalore. (on a side note: I've recently been calling papa "dada"... mama is unsure where I got it from.. but they think it's cute nonetheless) :-D I've also been demonstrating more of my rebellious side... testing the limits to see what I can get away with... I'll let you know what in another post. Still conducting my studies on the matter.

A local shoe shop :-D
You see many dogs roaming the streets... tired and probably hungry.. poor things!
Here's a look inside our living community... the white building on the right is an office building.. and on the left are the residential flats.
A cute little pond with many fishies swimming in it.

A big pool in the middle of the complex.. although right now it's closed because it's "winter" here... whatever that means (it's about 78 degrees!)A common sight around most parts of Bangalore .... motorcycles are REALLY popular!
Here is daddy's long commute to work every morning. We live in the building on the left. Work is on the right. It's tough dodging traffic in the mornings.. but daddy manages somehow.
Here's a peak inside our building complex... we live in a flat on the left.
Looking up from the middle courtyard of our building.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Life here

Here are some more recent photos of our time here in Bangalore.

Daddy and I riding in a rickshaw (which, by the way, we've become pros and brave the rides like the locals).

The view from the backseat....
Me enjoying a delicious chocolate ice cream :-D (dutch chocolate... check!)
MG Road... where all the shops and commercial area is...
Local selling corn on the street...

Mmmmmmm.....Enjoying an afternoon with Rixt and her friend Lalit... we saw some rose petals floating in a beautiful fountain in the mall....
Rixt and Lalit reading stories to me :-)
On the walk back home... we saw cows...
This is daddy's office building from the front... behind is where we live.
Me posing for the camera (with my fake smile... can you tell???)
The TGIFridays across the street (which we only went to once... probably the last time... food is not what we expected.. everything was "Indianized".. hmmm.. something wrong with that)
At Rixt's place for New Years....
A nice toy she let me play with (she's a trained Montessori teacher .. although she's not currently working as one)
We made new friends....

Her piggy... which I L-O-V-E!!!We found a GREAT coffee shop called Barista .... I dare say even better than Starbucks! Actually we found out that they're a supplier of Starbucks! And what's even better? Half the cost!
This is an expensive hotel nearby called Leela's Palace... $800 a night!!! They also have a galleria inside which is where Barista is and a nice little book store.