These are a few of my favourite things - Age 3.5

Zach is almost 3.5 years now and I thought it would be nice to do a post on all that he loves at this stage of his life.

The devil has become super naughty and full of mischief, especially at his Amumma's house where there is no dearth of people to encourage his antics and spoil him! And when they threaten to tell Mamma about his tricks he says no "let's keep it a secret!"

He's full of questions about everything right from knowing how an iron is made to  how do you spell didgeridoo?!  He loves Puzzles and books. His Aunty Sangeetha is constantly sending him unique interesting books from her store Treasure books.. He was obsessed with a book called "Snoring Shanmugam" for a while. And practically knew the whole book by heart. At the moment his favourite books are Gruffalo and Cowlick.  He also loves Tiger on a tree.
His favourite puzzles are Noddy and Scooby Doo and can do a 24 piece puzzle with ease. He is now working on 48 pieces and can do it with a little help.

He loves playing with his cousin Nithish for hours on end with a few conflicts here and there of course!

He is still not a big food person and just eats cos he has to. He still loves his morning oats porridge though. He likes prawns. Otherwise doesnt have any particular likes.
He likes jujubes and gummy sweets and since he isnt allowed to eat chocolate he loves white chocolate. 

Our little graduate!

Sunday 18th of March was Zach's annual day and graduation from pre-School. Yes pre-schoolers have a graduation these days. And quite justified considering what a feat it is. :)
Zach was part of 2 dance performances and did better than we expected!! Since his teacher had been complaining that he had been refusing to take part in the practices.
But he actually kind of did most of the steps. Was quite adorable watching the 2 and 3 year olds shaking a leg and making their stage debut in their snazzy little outfits!
At the end of the show they all had to put on little graduation robes and hats and receive their certificates and mementos.
Is it crazy to feel this proud of your child for completing his first year of pre-school?! :)
School closes on April 10th. But summer camp starts on the 11th and goes on for a month. So his holidays dont start until then.

Still waiting to hear the results of his school admission. :-\

The Darling City

So after 2 hectic weeks in Melbourne we arrived in Sydney for 2 even more hectic weeks.
Sydney was also pretty awesome in a different way. We stayed with Deepika Chithi who lives in a very happening location which is a 5 min walk to Darling Harbour. We did lots and lots of sightseeing, exploring and loafing while Deepika was away at work during the day and then when she got back we would go out for dinner at night trying various cuisines! Deepika Chithi was the perfect host constantly finding things for us to do and places to go.
Some of the things we did in Sydney:
- Did the opera house tour.
- Drank wine and ate the best onion rings and potato wedges at the Opera Bar
- Ate by the harbourside
- Visited the Sydney Aquarium ( A first for Zach) and Sydney Wildlife indoor Park
- Took the ferry to Manly beach
- Ate the BEST macaroons ever by Adriano Zumbo
- Wandered around The Rocks ( quaint old area of Sydney)
- Went for Masterchef live which was definitely THE highlight of the trip. Saw Gary, George and quite a few other contestants.
- Got to meet Kate Bracks (Winner of masterchef 2011)
- Visited Taronga ZOo.
- Went on a Sydney Harbour sightseeing cruise
- Went for Jersey Boys - The Musical (which was just brilliant and sooo much fun!)
- Lunch at the famous Doyles in Watson's Bay and checked out Bondi beach.
- Went for a stand up comedy show.

Phewww.. we did all that and some. Was definitely an action packed holiday with not a dull moment. We also met some of Deepikas friends and hung out with them a bit.
Zach enjoyed himself especially at all the kid friendly outings. He saw plenty of creatures in the land and sea variety and even touched a diamond python! :) I was too scared. He discovered tomato ketchup and his new favourite food became potato chips aka french fries! He also loved the strawberries and blueberries! Hmm.. unfortunately I cannot cater to his fancy likes back in India!

Constantly Buzzed! - The Melbourne Chapter

Ok so I obviously have lots of catching up to do with my lame attempt at blogging.
5 weeks have never flown by so quickly as they did on our very long awesome holiday to Melbourne, Sydney and a short stop at Singapore.
It was Zach's first international trip and I think I can safely say he had a blast as did we. His Amumma had gone ahead about 10 days before us. Zach, his Thatha, Dada and Mamma joined her later on the 19th of Sep. He was good as gold on both flights sleeping through most of it and only waking for meals which he was quite excited by. Even I was excited by the kiddy airline meals!
So Melbourne was filled with loads of ours and our parents friends and some family to entertain us and invite us for many yummy meals and take us around. Zach Olly and I stayed with Rithi, Sid and Penny whom Zach grew quite fond of. He went along with Penny for her play in the park quite a few times. And Zach also made some new friends in Thomas, Mathias & Maya.

So here's some of the stuff we did in Melbourne:
- Visited Healesville Sanctuary where Zach(and us!) saw kangaroos, koalas, wombats and more for the first time!
- Celebrated Rithi's 30th birthday with a wild Seven Deadly Sins theme party which I helped plan and decorate
- Celebrated Deepika's 30th at Rithi's with some friends and a homecooked dinner by my mother
- Souvenir shopping at Vic market
- A long lovely chilly walk down the pier at St.Kilda with Ivor and saw a baby penguin hiding in the rocks
- Had drinks at Ludlows on Southbank and checked out the Crown Casino
- Had brunch at Amici's on Chapel Street.
- Did a weekend trip down the Great Ocean Road. Stayed at Apollo Bay and checked out the Twelve Apostles
- Visited the National Gallery of Victoria
- Met lots of family friends we hadnt seen in a long long time.
- Zach got to play and bond with my childhood friend's son which I thought is pretty awesome. :)


I think that somewhat sums up Melbourne in a nutshell!

Oh and I forgot to explain the title. Zach caught on to Sid saying the phrase Constantly Buzzed" which amused Sid no end that he had to reinforce it to make sure he went around randomly saying constantly buzzed
That was not all, Sid also taught him to say "Calm the body!" so much so that at the Sydney Airport when some bubbly lady tried making conversation with Zach his only response was to repeatedly chant "Calm the body!!"

Can children be embarrassing or what?

Will post photos soon. Hopefully!

Off to the land down under!

In 5 days Zach will be making his maiden voyage on an aircraft to go visit his Deepika Chithi in Sydney! We are all super excited and have sooo much to do before we leave.
Haven't even begun packing and Olly and I have so much work as well.
I have no idea what its going to be like traveling overseas with a toddler, but I can only imagine its not easy!! We're going for a month. We'll be spending 2 weeks in Melbourne and 2 weeks in Sydney. On our way back we plan to stop at Singapore for 3 days.

Every morning this when Zach is getting ready for school he says to me I dont want to go to school, I want to go to Australia! :)

Hope to come back and put up a nice long post of our travels.

Zach's progress at School

So much for my high hopes of at least a post a week. Its been 3 months since my last post!
So Zachy didn't exactly take to school like a fish to water. The first few weeks were tears and drama filled mornings. But his teacher reassured us that once he got into class he was fine and was of no trouble. Had a parent teacher meeting and she said that he was absolutely no trouble at school and was very good!! Lucky her! She said that he understands very well everything he says.
Its slightly better now as in the fretting doesn't start at home, hes fine all the way until he has to let go of me at the gate and then starts the waterworks! I don't want to go Mama... You also come Mama...boohooo.. And they just pluck him away!
They send home his worksheets and art and crafts of the week every Friday. He always remembers what each activity was about and explains each to me very accurately. That is dabbing, that is paper crumpling, that is number 3 he'll say. Well one of these days Im hoping he will turn around and say bye happily when I drop him off!

Zach's first Day at Pre-school

Zach turned 2 yrs and 6 months yesterday, and today was he was packed off to pre-school. His first step into the big world outside. I was so nervous since yesterday almost as if it was my first day at School! Had a butterfly in the stomach feeling.

But it went fairly well I think. Managed to wake him with good mood intact, bathe him, dress him feed him and set off on time!
Both sets of grandparents were there to join in the excitement and anticipation. So off we went, Zach with his Mamma, Dada, Amamma, Thatha and Nana. He knows the name of his playshool 'EuroKids'. When we got there we were one of the first. Took a few pictures outside and before he knew it he was whisked off by one of the helpers without a cry.

Olly waited outside(one parent had to) till they called him in after about half an hour cos he saw all the kids crying and decided he had to join in too! He kept crying for me apparently. Anyway he calmed down and Olly remained in the class till it was time to leave.
Not too bad I think.! :) My little baby in school. I cant believe how fast hes grown.