Another trip

A quick drive to Chennai and back to meet up with the wife's friend and her daughter. The children loved the beach!

Christmas

The boy woke up at 6 and started hunting in the living room for his gift from Santa. I told him Santa may be on the way and he reluctantly went back to sleep. Later the wife discreetly placed the gift in the balcony and he was thrilled.

He had decorated the Xmas tree, written a letter to Santa and ensured the star was hung out.

The boy went indoor rock climbing and did well for a first timer.

Christmas wishes to his best friend

Hindi writing

Hindi writing by the boy. Getting somewhere.

Trip

We went on a 5 family trip to Bandipur and the presence of other children kept the boy busy. He accompanied us to 2 safaris - one was super cold and the other one rained out. Good number of sightings. He had an opportunity to use his binoculars and one of his lower tooth which was shaking, came off.

Reading challenge

And the boy joined the reading challenge in British Council Library.

Tooth X-ray

The boy's top 2 teeth were not coming out. An x-ray showed that the gums were thick. The dentist recommend cutting but we chose to go with a second opinion.

Diwali cleaning

The boy decided to clear up his toys and discard the unwanted ones. So many trucks and small toys. The working ones will go to his younger cousin. Rest of them are broken and so have to be junked.

Tooth

Another one on top fell. 4 in total so far.

Confusion

The boy seriously - "Amma, I do not know if I should join the Army, the Air Force or start my own band"

My mind voice - "Dude, stop throwing tantrums first and play football seriously"

The boy seems to throw tantrums at the drop of a hat. It just does not get better!

The boy participated in a make your own Diya and came up with the above lamps.

Cooking studio

And a birthday party at the Slurp Studio.

The children had a good time making pizza and cup cakes.

Goa

And the boy had a good trip to Goa. The drive was long both ways, but he say through it.

He did not fuss much about food and loved the beach. One particular day he went from the beach to the swimming pool and then to the bath tub.

Countries

and their Capitals.

That is the boy's latest craze. He has memorized quite a bit of them and was thrilled when he got this globe.

Drawings by the boy

Bangalore is a town

Rain Forest

Desert

Robot story

A big influence of Transformers and Black Panther!

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Card by the boy :-)

Junior Pilot – Introduction to World of Aeroplanes

The boy had a good time at the Junior Pilot – Introduction to World of Aeroplanes program at CforCat, Marathahalli. Initially he was a bit scared but Kv was there and at the end of 3 hours he came out thrilled and happy!

Conducted by Airytails, it introduces children to the world of aeroplanes. The children were given hands on experience about aeroplanes and they got to take home all the products made during the workshop. Age group - 4 to 7 years

Activities included the following :-

• Airport Set up Through Crayoning
• Wooden Puzzle to teach parts of plane
• Paper Plane
• Canvas Painting
• A Certificate was given to participants along with the materials

Self tattoo!

Homework

And the boy started getting some homework. He is very happy to do it.

Skating on Monday and Karate classes on Wednesday have started in school.

Birthday

The boy turned 6. He wanted a Lego themed birthday. The wife set to work. Decorations, caterer, return gifts, cake, all the bells and whistles.

The children had a good time. A lot of adults did not turn up and we ended up eating left over food the whole of Sunday :-) We had planned for 15 children and an equal or more number of adults.

The boy was happy. He excitedly opened all his gifts. The next day morning he didn't go for his football class and started building the Lego blocks.

The boy knew the Lego blocks are expensive so he was clearly told not to ask Lego blocks as gifts. Whoever asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he got around it by saying "I am fine with any gifts but my birthday theme is Lego blocks". Very subtle? As a result of that he got a number of Lego block set as gifts.

Ah came yesterday and told the boy to play with only the Lego set he gave as the rest were not good.

The boy gingerly asked Ah - "This Lego set would have cost you a lot"
Ah - "Don't worry, Mama paid for it"
The boy - "Oh! Then it is ok"

Homework

And the boy started writing down his homework.

Shopping

Took the boy shopping to Phoenix Mall.

He insisted he will not get bored and there was a promise of buying pastries.

The boy managed to hold on for a couple of hours before hunger kicked in and insisted on having a cake.

Class 1

And the boy goes off to Class 1. Just like that.

Time flies.

First time in a school bus, t-shirt tucked in, belt, shoes, backpack and all. Thankfully he has 2 friends from the apartment.

It is a strain on the wife. We have to be up by 530 am to pack his breakfast and lunch. The school is 10 km away.

The bus picks him up between 710 am and 715 am. School gates close by 815 am, he leaves school after 3 pm and he is home before 4 pm. In bed by 730 pm. Any delay in sleeping, it shows up in the form of crankiness the next day.

I do feel bad that he has to wake up so early and go through bumpy roads to get to school. So far he has been enjoying it. Although he keeps comparing his current teacher to his VNM teacher. I believe has to get used to being uncomfortable. If required we may have to move closer to school.

The food boxes have been coming back empty except for 1 day when the boy said the dosa was soggy (the wife asked him the meaning of soggy but he didn't know). And this is not the first time he is taking dosa to school. We have specifically told him to use the loo before he boards the bus and not to sit in the last seat.

The boy is excited and looking forward to skating, football, karate and music classes. And starting of this month, we also restarted his weekend football classes.

Swimming

And the boy has managed to swim with hand floats. He is not scared of water or the deep pool. It is not the ideal way to swim - his head is above water, he paddles with his arms and legs and moves forward.

Pench Kanha

Trip to Pench and Kanha

The boy had his second visit to a national park. He managed it well, didn't fuss too much. We went through 4 safaris. He got up early and was ready for them. Although half way through the safari he fell asleep.

M3 Graduation

Today was Graduation Day for the boy. He has moved out from M3. Next is Grade 1.

Over the last 2 years his school has been his second home. Correction - first home more like I think.

He has evolved, created an identity of his own and whatever I could wish for a child at his age, the school has provided (except learning not to throw tantrums at home which can never be learnt).

As he was on the stage today receiving the certificate, the parents were applauding and taking photos, it sunk in that the boy is growing and that he will move out of his safe cocoon of VNM which gave him an opportunity to be himself, know his strengths and grow.

I can't thank his teachers, the support staff, his classmates and the other parents enough for this wonderful 2 years.

And as I was folding away his uniform I realized that he will not be wearing this anymore.
There will be no having milk at 7 am followed by bath, rushing to gate at 745, waiting for Pasha to pick and drop him.
There will no observation sessions in school.
There will be no updates on Uolo notes and the eager wait to see the pictures from their events.
There will be no report card uploaded.
There will be no thrill of seeing the boy with his small wins - the first addition, subtraction, multiplication and the whole thing about fractions.
There will be no presentations, cultural day at school, music sessions with Ivan Sir.

Not at VNM anymore.

In another 2 months, it will be another school and a different environment. I believe the boy will adapt well.

I am already missing VNM.

Making reading a habit

We started borrowing books from British Council Library for the boy. Very good collection and the boy has been reading up all of them.

In the pool

The boy has been scared of water and most of his time in the swimming pool was in the baby pool.

Yesterday he decided to get out of his comfort zone  He wore the float and asked me to lead him into the deep pool. I was skeptical but he did well! Gently paddled with his arms and even asked me to leave him alone. It took a lot of work to get him out of the pool finally!

Holi

The boy came back after playing Holi in school and was sad that he was the only one without a water gun.

The school informed us at the last minute and there was no way we could buy a water gun at that time.

So we bought him one for the Holi celebrations in the apartment. The boy chose and he also put in half the money.

Cards

This would be last year together with his M3 school mates. All of them are going to different schools in Grade 1.

The boy created these cards for this so called M3 van friends :-) Scrawled a note, asked me to cut out some shapes and as a final touch he stuck the red thread.

Twigs

The boy has been collecting twigs. When asked he said he wanted to take it to the park. Reminds me of the birds.

Wild Kratts

His new craze! Paw Patrol moves to 2nd and Peppa Pig if there is nothing else to watch.

Meditation

I was working from home yesterday as the boy was not looking too good. He was tired but insisted on going to school. I was certain that the school will call asking us to pick him up. He came back home, had a mouthful of lunch and threw up. He slept after that.

In the evening, he came to the bedroom, sat on the bed, cross-legged, closed his eyes, hands in gyan mudra pose, started breathing deeply and proclaimed that this meditation.

No potty seat

The boy started doing potty without using his potty seat!

GP Presentation and Mehndi

The boy had Global Perspectives presentation in school. A lot of hardwork by the children and the teachers. They spoke so confidently in front of the parents and also danced to "We are family"

Ah had his Upanayanam ceremony. It was a grand affair with lot of family. The boy also opted to put some Mehndi on his hand.

Scrabble

And the boy has started on Scrabble.

The spellings are off sometimes but he is getting a hang of words.

Waiting

...for food at Koramangala Social.