Category: Growing Up

Ria had her first haircut today… We had been wanting to get Ria a haircut for some time now, but were apprehensive about whether the hairdresser would be able to handle such a small kid, and that too such a hyperactive one. I had read about salons specifically for kids, but wasn’t sure whether there was one in Mumbai, and didn’t seem to find one. Then today, while talking to friends (Rohini and Yogesh, who have a small kid as well), we discovered that not only is there a chain of kids salons in Mumbai (Ruff Kids Watermelon Kids Salon), there is also a branch in Vashi. Of course, we immediately decided to go there and get Ria’s haircut done. Vardhan also needed a haircut, so all the four parents and the two kids headed to the Ruff Kids outlet at Sector 17 Vashi. The place was nice and cheerful, with a yellow car as a seat where the kids can have a haircut, as well as a proper chair with harness, a small TV, etc. The hairdresser guy was good as well, skilled, patient and able to work around kids’ tantrums. Ria’s haircut started with her sitting in the yellow car, but then she started bawling the moment the guy started running the clippers over her head. Then Imtiaz picked her up and the haircut continued that way, and eventually we took turns picking her up and holding her hands and head. Kiddo bawled loudly in protest all throughout, but stopped wailing the moment the haircut was over. They have her an Alpenlibe lollipop and she happily went about licking it, haircut episode forgotten. Then it was Vardhan’s turn, who, being slightly older, wailed even louder, asking his parents to take him back home and asking the guy to let him go and so on. Finally the ordeal was over, and both kids now have nicely trimmed hair. Checkout the pics here.

… thats what she is. We (me and iak) are working at our respective desks, and in she walks, with a smile that spreads happiness and cheer. Comes up to me, asks to be picked up. I pick her up, she gives me a few kisses, smiles and coos, looks at my laptop screen and comments in some undecipherable but serious sounding words about what she sees, then moves on to her dad. Repeats the routine there and then asks to be put back down. Yes, she does believe in bonding, but not forever. She is one free bird who enjoys moving all around the house, playing with her toys and her nanny, dancing to music, tearing paper, investigating everything around the house, in short, doing her own thing. And every once in a while dropping by at our desk and saying hello. She is such a sweetheart! Life is beautiful with this angel around.

Shopping for kids’ stuff at mothercare is always a happy experience, they have reaaaallly adorable clothes for the little ones (of course when you need utilitarian stuff like body wash or avent sippers then too its one of the best places to go to, but the clothes are superb). And if there are bargains to grab in to form of a sale, you just have to go there. The sale started today, and we were there to check out the stuff, and bought loads of clothes for kiddo. Kiddo had fun too, playing with the staff around the store, who put her into one of the walkers they have to entertain kids. She can walk pretty well on her own now, so inside the walker she happily ran around, and made them run behind her as she rammed into the clothes hanging around all over the place. She enjoyed them chasing her and then deflecting her to a different direction. Finally, tired of the whole exercise she slept off by the time we reached the billing counter. While there, I remembered the mothercare sale around the same time last year. We had been to Hiranandani hospital for one of my checkups after Ria’s birth and also for her checkup with her paediatrician. I was done with my checkup and we had to wait for Ria’s checkup. Thats when my doc told us “The mothercare sale is on, go check it out in the meantime …” (yeah she is a really sweet and warm person in addition to being an amazing doctor) and thats how we had been to the sale last year … between my checkup and hers. Its been a year since then …. time flies 🙂

Today we went to get my specs fixed… she broke the backup last evening and now I am running on the backup of the backup which is a decade old but thankfully still usable(not for nothing am I into server administration, security and business continuity planning). At the opticians she threw a tantrum and they gave her a “her sized” pair to play with

By now Shubham optics has done close to INR15000 worth of business on account of Ria breaking my glasses…. hope she grows up soon or else those boys will close shop and go retire in the Bahamas and I will have to start looking for a new optician 🙂