Back Home - Home sweet Home !

I write to you all as i traverse from the Indian ocean through the Atlantic ocean to the land of the free USA- @ 3am in the night up with a toddler busy playing in full swing both of us jet lagged yup ! So.Back in April 2014 we flew 24 hours to make a visit to our folks to India, it really feels like a decade spent there... A 2 months vacation in the peak of summers after 4 months of brutal winters in north america aahhhh definitely was worth it,  besides i do'nt ever think i've had this vacation time after my school days and in busy India every minute counts.

So the trip was a combination of Bangalore and Bombay. Although ive travelled with the sunshine boy all by myself last year when  i joined Hubby here but let me tell you all those who fear about travelling with a toddler and those stories of restlesness, tantrums etc etc playing out in your kid came true and Hubby and me witnessed the real 'Terrible Two's inside an aeroplane up 6000 feet in the sky. Yes Yes i know i know i hav'ent forgotten terrible two is a negative word for me and does not exist in my life s dictionary:))  but trust me when you are up in the sky and you cant even jump out or pull your hair bcos you have these super co operative and friendly co passengers (punn intended here) you just had to put up an artifical smile on your face to defend yourself for the acts your toddler plays. 

So  the little sunshine was in his best form screaming and screeching his lungs out if he did not get what he wants. So i carried these puzzles - colors, alphabets and numbers which are like foam material and it has to be placed in the puzzle board its a 3A size drawing book kind of thing...my boy is used to sitting on the floor at home and he gets really busy putting and fixing these puzzles whilst i used to appreciate his motor skills and skype folks showing them how smartly my boy does it ...the sunshine boy wanted to do his way in the narrow aeroplane he sat down on the floor when the plane was about to take off ...goodness me :@ silly me why did i ever give him those puzzles now when the plane had to take off i could have rather asked his Dad to read him a book ` ` arghhhhh!! the air hostess gave me an ultimatum please pick him up and buckle him the plane is taking off screeches screeches his Dad did the honors of buckling him up and putting him in the seat next to him ..did not work ..ultimately took him in his lap and diverted his attention outside the window ...spotted a few bridges which are by default a 'London Bridge' I(remember i told you about the nursery rhymes thing in my other blog and his connection to it in real life :)) he got diverted and kept saying see 'London bridge' !! 

Then he saw these crew members come with their trolley to serve dinner and to him it looked like a train he kept saying 'kooo chook chook choo' he wanted me to pull out his' Thomas the  tank engine' a miniature toy version of a engine and he literally got on to his paws and started crawling behind the air-hostess and their train trolley with his train in his little palm riding it under every passengers seat :)). trust me i laughed and enjoyed all of this whilst the Hubby was paranoid and i had to put up a face too to match up with his emotion ;) but seriously i thought whats wrong with me these are things you have to pen down bcos 'A child who does not play is not a child' afterall the poor baby was actively playing little did he know aeroplanes fly and its not a playground. so again i want to reassure myelf... yes  i disagree on 'terrible two s' its rather 'active baby' stage you see ;)

@airport whiling away time !

Has a duck in his hand!!

I dont even know where to start from about the India trip. I kept posting a lot of pics in the name of Bbombaydiaries# i got a chance to meet my school friends, college friends, work friends, all my bestie girlfriends and so much Me time too shopping shopping shopping thats' me time' shopping for sunshine i love it totally...everyday was so interesting.. meeting so many people, different and new set of activities, a lot of talking oh yes did I tell you sunshine  is talking a lot and just repeats what you say earlier it was joining two words like' Mumma sit' 'Mumma go'  although sunshine is a chatty kind but his so called 'american english acsent' suddenly got noticed especially when he started chatting in tamil. People were laughing it out hearing his tamil. His favorite pass time was to spot a few ants on my Mom s kitchen window and he and his Maasi (my sister) would play this ant story. he'd repeat whatever she'd stay. Big ant, Kutti ant(small ant), where ur hiding, and a few giggles off track... we spent about 2 weeks in Bangalore meeting Hubby s folks, sister, brother in law and Sha & Ka ... they are ten now the bubbly twins my sister in law s kids!! Sunshine boy totally loves them and did not let them sit for a minute. play play and only play he drained them off totally. He did not allow them to play with their friends too and they had to cook stories that they are not at home ;@

not letting them eat :)

Awesome Threesome!!

wake up call !!

Did i tell you these kiddos have a cute little Great Grandmom, yeah shes this soft ,cuddly, gentle and calm types always patiently watching and laughing over sunshine s whimsical ways !!unfortunately this sunshine did not co - operate in clicking a picture with her.

Thats her - and V is blessed to spend time with her..

 We got her a cute greeting card where he scribbled with crayons i was more excited than sunshine i love crayons the oil pastels !! i have a huge fascniation for oil pastel crayons. when i was young my parents bought me the 12 or 24 colors but i had a dream to own the 56 colors the big one and the first thing i did in this trip is went to the same stationery shop and got the 56 colors camlin oil pastels for sunshine im going to teach him the art of using crayons i was really good at it!!

I must say Kids are so so attached to their grandparents its just lovely to see them enjoy together..even though hes visiting my folks and Hubby s folks after a year he remembers them and connects so well. He is so attached to my sister its a saying  'Maa -si Maa jasi hoti hai' Moms sisters are like Mom!! At times sunshine would be cuddling my sister and if i enter the room he'd say Mumma bye ' :) he loves his time with her he even cries when she'd leave for work and equally excited and welcomes her back in the evening with cuddling and hugs.

Always a Maasi Boy in Bombay !!

 In fact i was fearing what is going to happen when we return back he is just so full up with his routine and used to the crowd being around but to my surprise he did not really cry he was confused a bit at the airport and in the midst of the flight kept saying 'Patty house' couple of times but i told him we are now going to see Daddy we are going to 'our home' The upper toddler understood it all.' Emotions ' the toughest word in my life s dictionary. its so hard to handle emotions the happy and sad sometimes all clubbed i wish i had the 'emoticons' that i have on my phone here id just paste all of them . its just so heart breaking to see the little him look out for them, imagine that they are coming back with us, pointing out to someone and say 'Adoo Patty' meaning there she is (Patty is my Mom).

 sob ..sob ... handling those emotions ...phew...but anyway this time i told him the truth and it made me feel good too. Truth pays, it does. So we flew homeward bound 22 hours and 7800 miles to see a 'Happy Daddy' at the airport eagerly waiting for us. Nothing can beat the feeling of being together with your family after a longggg vacation and driving homeward bound  - ahhh Home sweet Home!!

Home sweet Home

As i'am sipping my early morning 3 am coffee all jet lagged i read the two frames i nailed on my wall besides my table. it truly meant what i was feeling currently:

It reads:
'Family ties are precious threads no matter where we roam
they draw us close to those we love and pull our hearts towards home'

Wall art!!

So i treated myself in Mumbai with some keepsake shopping stuff for my Home sweet Home....scroll down to the last wall art its the best :)) !! Happy Travelling #  travel blogsspecial#

The 3am coffee only at home sweet home

My Mumbai keepsake (although id always call it Bombay)

Mumbai Chaiwala special!!

And then finally my best keepsake - a gift for the Hubby ;))!!

sincere respect to the most convenient mode of transport the AUTO RICKSHAW!!