The warrior princess diaries - X

So I haven't posted in almost a month and the world is supposed to end today. So I have to post. Something. Just in case.

We had a great vacation in the US in Oct-Nov. Of course, we were really really nervous about how Xena would take to such a long flight. Before flying off, I had posted on my Facebook an apology in advance to all passengers travelling with us, warning them of the turbulence that was expected as we were going to unlease mini-typhoon Xena upon them. Well, our little typhoon was mostly well-behaved and the long flights were not much of an issue, but hurricane Sandy did slightly affect our holiday. A few of the flights got cancelled so we had to adjust our itinerary a bit, but overall, it was fabulous. Xena got to spend lots of time with her cousins, especially my sister's two kids. What amazed me most is that even almost two months after the end of the holiday, she remembers "didi" and "baby", and always asks me where they are. I tell her the truth. Didi and baby are sleeping. She must think she has Kumbhkarans for cousins because whenever she asks for them, they're sleeping.

Of course, I went camera-crazy when I was there because who knows, when the cousins will meet next! This is my absolute favourite photo of Xena and Aishu. It's a total coincidence that they have similar tops!

It was Xena's first time celebrating halloween. Well, our first time too. I had taken along a ballerina costume for her, but it was sooooo cold we piled on layers on her until you couldn't tell what she was supposed to be. She didn't seem happy about that (see photo below). Trick-or-treating was really fun. Of course, I confiscated all her candy. And ate it.

Though it got really cold sometimes, overall I loved the weather. The weather is one of my favourite things about the US. We really enjoyed the lovely fall colours.

We also managed to catch up with some very dear friends in New York. I miss them. Wish they lived closer to us!

Oh, 17 Nov was World Prematurity Day. I wouldn't even have known there was such a thing if I didn't have a little preemie warrior of my own. There's a prematurity awareness ribbon too, and I did up this photo to celebrate the incredible fighting spirit of the li'l warriors.

In other news, she's still rejecting all solid foods. If she had her way, she wouldn't even drink any milk. One would wonder where she gets all the energy for her monkeying around. I, for one, strongly believe that she photosynthesises. We have tried everything, offering her every possible kind of food (she rejected even Kitkat; who rejects Kitkat???), totally starving her till she asked for food/milk herself (she chose to remain hungry the entire day) and enticing her with cutesy food. I bought animal-shaped biscuits for her, and what did she do? She examined each biscuit, made the correct animal sound (moo, baa, woof woof, meow, oink, quack quack, etc.) and handed it back to me, expecting applause. And I just noticed two days ago that she has tiny biceps. Great. I am sure she got them from all her 'Talk to the hand' gestures whenever I offer her food.

Her doctor suggested that we put her in playschool to let peer pressure make her eat. We have actually noticed that she does eat a bit when other kids are eating. So we went to some eight preschools and have finally picked one. She starts in January. They gave us the smallest uniform size they had, and well, two of her can fit inside that.

I am excited about her starting school. So far it's just been her and me, and I wonder how she will cope in a drastically different environment. She's quite friendly and social, so I am sure she will adjust well. As long as she starts eating, I'll be happy.

She's been up to all sorts of mischief. And what's really hilarious is the way she tries to copy us (except when we're eating; she never copies that!). She saw me accidentally drop a spoon and say, "Uh oh." She flung her penguin soft toy with all her might across the room, looked at me and innocently said, "Uh oh?" She also loves to wipe spilled water for some reason. In fact, wiping is apparently so fun in a toddler's universe, she asks me for water, spills it on purpose and then gleefully wipes it. Oh, and looks at me expecting applause. (Yes, I oblige.) So yeah, making her wipe whatever she spills is not a deterrent at all.

I try to find something new to do with her every day. Sometimes totally random things. Like walking around with her standing on my toes. The first time I did that, she thoroughly enjoyed the joyride, and very graciously invited me to stand on her toes so she could return the favour! If only, baby!

I have also started her a bit on the alphabet and though she can say a few of the letters, 'W' is her absolute favourite. I'd have thought it was the hardest of all to pronounce, but she loves it so much, she spots it everywhere. Even upside down. Yesterday, she saw the 'M' of McDonald's and excitedly pointed and said "W!!!"

She has now mastered shapes and spots them everywhere. Even I hadn't noticed there were so many heart shapes around us. She has pointed out what she calls "aht!" to me on milk bottles, T-shirt labels, ice-cream tubs, newspapers, toy packaging, books, and what not. It's amazing to see the world from a toddler's perspective. Yes, darling, there is so much love all around. We grown-ups are just too self-involved to see it. But we're lucky that we have you, to point it out to us and remind us.

So yeah, if the world does end today, I will have no regrets. I am thankful for everyone and everything I have, and particularly my little one who shows me every day how funny and amazing everything is.