Bittersweet

If somebody asked you -  "wanna two shoe" - what would you think they were asking for? Well this is what my daughter asked me from the back seat of the car today. I checked her feet, both shoes were on, so I was perplexed. It wasn't until I noticed her holding her nose that I realized she was asking for a tissue! I want to remember this moment forever, because she is just at the cusp of starting to speak in proper sentences. When that happens I know the last vestiges of her baby-ness will be gone!

To commemorate this bitter-sweet moment, here are my babies, both at two years and two months doing their "cheese" smiles for the camera. I hope I can always remember them like this - young, sweet and cheesy!

Don't call in Stacy and Clinton

This morning I decided to take my newly rediscovered waist out for a spin and put together this little outfit.  The outfit consists of the following: A sheer white dressy top from HM over a white t-shirt. (Sheer is not encouraged at my workplace hence the white shirt underneath), Black gap pants, and the piece de resistance - a black wide belt from Suzy Shier. I know big waist belts are so five years ago, but five years ago, I didn't have a waist. Although I have already been wearing this outfit for several hours in public, I am still debating whether the white neck bow and the big black belt clash or not. I really hope I don't end up on what not to wear.

Things I love about today

1. My son's "dance" face

2. My husband's tacos - yummmmm

3. The fact that my daughter is very close to being potty trained (pic is of her putting her doll on the potty)

I have a waist

Ok, so you can only really see it if you view me from the back, but you know what? It's a step in the right direction. It means that finally all the working out and eating right is paying off. Recently I made a huge change. I've started substituting rice with cauliflower at dinner time. When mixed with curry and daal, it makes a hearty meal. It was a huge sacrifice for me to make. I was born Bengali . We love our rice!

Top three funny things my son said today

3. My teacher says I'm learning life skills in play kitchen at school
2. Are there any guys in Bangladesh?
1. Daddy you have nice fur

Ok so he only really said one funny thing today but if I made that the focus of today's post then someone ( not mentioning any names) may get offended. Just to be clear my husband doesn't own any article of clothing that has any fur on it. Funny right?

Got yogurt?

I'm sure you all heard of the got milk campaign. Well my daughter's started her own campaign. I promise I didn't draw a nose and whiskers on her with yogurt, this is just how she like to eat her yogurt. She dives in, nose first!

Super hubby!

For those of you who personally know me, you might be aware of the fact that since My husband has been in my life, I've been struggling with my weight. It's not for the usual reasons:
I found my man and hooked him so I don't care anymore
or
Happiness make me fat!

It's way more basic than that! The man can cook.

For example - chicken curry with a side of mixed veggies, yummmmm!

Sun and snow

My husband and I are first generation Canadians - we both grew up in warmer climes and therefore unfamiliar with winter sports. For our first wedding anniversary we went for skiing lessons. I think the experience was traumatizing for my husband. Nevertheless, we decided to go sledding with the kids today. My risk averse husband picked the gentlest slope and we took turns sledding with the kids. So this is how people keep fit in the winter. After 1/2 hour we were pooped.



















We came back to our yard and built a snowman. Well my husband did, I found a dry place to rest my tired tush and watched!

This is my son's impression of the day - he drew a portrait of our family as snowmans.

Deflecting the negative

It's been another challenging day at work. I managed to survive it only because I knew what was waiting for me at the finish line.

Perfect end to a rough day

My sous chefs and I made brownies! I haven't had one yet, but just the fun of baking and the soothing smell of chocolate has made me feel better. It's the best kind of aromatherapy!

Bright and gloomy day

Mother nature is capricious today. One minute it is snowing, the very next minute the sun is out. There was even a moment where it was snowing whilst the sun was shining. Sort of reflects my mood today. It's been a roller coaster!

Heart is full

I am having one of those transient moments, where I can literally feel joy coursing through my heart and I'm awash with love. The cause of all this emotion is the way my daughter wakes me up. I awaken to the sound of little footsteps and badly aimed kisses. They usually land on the comforter instead of me, but they are so sweet. She's usually a daddy's girl, but for these few precious moments in the morning she is all mine.
Here is a picture of her that the day care gave us as a Christmas present.

Halooooom - Bengali for monster

Well technically it the name of a tiger in the Bangladeshi version of sesame street, but in our family it is the name we use for the things that goes bump in the night. Anyways meet my cousin-in-law Vicky. He's a handsome young man right? Well not according to my daughter. We were visiting my husband's aunt and Vicky came down from his room and my daughter burst out in tears. She wouldn't stop crying until he left the room and when we asked her what's wrong, she said "Haloom. " Poor boy he even went and put on a hat but she still cried.
I think she hurt his feelings.

How to determine ones age if you are a preschooler

Have I told you about my sisters kids? They are a set of boy girl twins, six months older than my son. They are immensely bright, cute as buttons and a little on the precocious side. My son is loves them dearly. Yesterday I was eavesdropping on a conversation they had.
My nephew: I am four, how old are you?
My son: I am four too.
My nephew: no you are three.
My son: No! I'm four!
My nephew: Why don't we check in the mirror to see if you are really four.
Shuffling noises as the two march over to the mirror. My nephew is a half foot taller than my son.
My nephew: See, look at that I am four and you are three.
My son scampers over to me wailing,:
Mummy tell him I'm not three.
My mother explained to the cousins that people can have different heights at the same age and that my son is four, my nephew accepted her reasoning, but had a doubtful expression on his face 😃

Doodles

I've had an exasperating few days at work so haven't really been in the frame of mind to write. Also, I am working on another extra curricular activity that involves writing, so my creatives juices have been a bit dry lately. No matter, there are other creatives types in my family and in this post I will introduce you to their work. Here are two pieces of artwork and the two mini artists that created them. Can you guess who is who and who did what?

Here is the reveal: My son drew a picture of a dream he had where he had a green pen that he had wires and took him to outer space and my daughter drew "petalsh". I know, her chubby still-baby hand in the corner of the picture is a dead giveaway

Notes from a lazy sunday

My son was singing a made up song - "a beauty loves meeeeeee"
I asked him what a beauty is and he said it was some type of girl. I fear he might grow up to be a bit of a Casanova. My daughter gave the song a bad review as evidenced by her repetitive yelling of " no singing". As you can tell, it's been a noisy morning!

Yummy lunch!

Today's blog is a photo journal as I am too full to type.

All you can eat Birthday Lunch at spring rolls

Birthday Afterglow

Yesterday was my birthday!


It actually started the night of the third, when prince charming a.k.a. my husband brought home a surprise mini chocolate mousse birthday cake!
This small gesture was thoughtful on so many levels:
1. I love chocolate mousse
2. It was a tiny cake in consideration of my fitness goals
3. We have a tradition on my family of origin of celebrating birthdays on eve of the birthday starting at midnight - it was so sweet of my husband to honor this tradition.

At breakfast my children serenaded me with happy birthday. My daughter's version featured herself instead of me. (It's always all about her =) )

When I got into work, I found a brithday present waiting for me at my desk. Another coworker gave me the cutest joke gift (princess parephanelia, that I will pass along to the real princess in the family - see paragraph above).

One of my closest friends took me out for the most delicious lunch ever. It was good food and a great time - Thank you Kim! When I got back to work there was a missed call from my mother so I called her back and she, my sister and my niece and nephew sang Happy Birthday to me slightly off key, but I loved it!

In the evening my husband took us out to a wonderful dinner at my favorite places in London, tokyo sushi. I wanted to take a picture of the food but it was so good that we gobbled it up before I had a chance. I was impressed with my son, he devoured a set of California rolls all by himself!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I was overwhelmed by all the sweet birthday wishes. Special mention to my High School friend, Alex. She wrote:

"Happy Birthday Dear Friend, may 2012 bring you love, happiness and health so that you can continue doing the great job you have been doing with your family!!! I am sure your parents are very proud of the great woman you ave grown up to be!!!!!!!"

The truth is that she is an amazing person, I am so lucky that our paths crossed and that she is in my life.

Another amazing  birthday wish was a voicemail from my sister in law Lax who had all the cousins on the phone. It is the type of voicemail that will cheer you up on the gloomiest of days so it has been saved so that I can enjoy listening to it when I'm feeling blue.



Happy 2012

How many of you believe that this is our last New Years ever? Judging from your Facebook posts, most of you are half heartedly joking about it. I don't believe in the hype, but I was thinking that if it was my last year here on earth, what would my new year's resolutions look like? Well there would be only one thing I would have on my list - make sure the people that are important to me can feel my love for them. If you are one of those people, watch out, you are going to get loved this year.