Here comes..

Cookies, Milk, Stocking, Decorations...

All is set for Santa Claus to come down the chimney !

Thank You Notes !

On the eve of Thanksgiving in Saanvi's school, children were asked to bring something for which they are thankful this year.

Heard that children of that age usually say they are thankful for the candies, toys, dresses etc..

So we asked Saanvi, what is she thankful for..

Her response amused us and of course, delighted us !

Couldn't have asked for a better thank you notes..

" I am thankful for you for teaching us new things and making us smart "

These are the exact words and sentences. Only help she asked was help her with spelling of the words..

Needless to say both her class teachers were very happy to receive such lovely thank you notes !

Magical Days !

After driving for last 6 hours, body was begging to be rested.

Slipped into the bed & into sleep in no time. It was not long before I was woken up and saw she was wide awake.

Looked at the clock and it was 3:30 AM !!

I asked why she was awake ? She said 'Looking if Sun is out, Can't wait to go into Disneyland !'

With great difficulty tried to put her back to sleep.

How time flied ...

The little baby girl whom we called Saanvi in my palms looking around didn't sound so far away. It was just 4 years ago..

She brought in the joy and totally changed the way we viewed the world. As mom & dad, how our world changed. How we started viewing everything through the prism of her light...

Life's priorities & goals started centering around her.

From speaking few broken words to speaking non-stop on many topics, she grew tremendously in these 4 years..Talk about speaking about Dinosaurs, Space, Plants, Butterflies, Monsters, Moon, Planets, Cartoons...

In fact the idea of going to Disneyland for Birthday came from her.

Never seen her wait for anything as much as for this trip. Many of the mornings she used to wake up asking if it was August yet !

So no wonder the excitement reached pinacle , thus waking up several hours before sun himself on the first day of Disneyland visit !

Our previous visits to Disneyland were before she had arrived. Even as grown-ups, we remember the first time we entered into that magic kingdom with awe-filled eyes and got goosebumps when we met Mickey & his friends. Even as adults we felt that child-like wonder in our hearts.

This time it was different and like all things in life, it was an occasion to see Disneyland through a child's eyes.

The Sleeping Castle & those incredible rides started the Disney experience in a bright way.

Within Disneyland, we had a special surprise for her !

The fairy god-mothers-in-training in Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique transformed her into a real princess with a princess gown, makeup, hair, shoes & even had a carriage for some time !

How delightfully she enjoyed every moment she was the princess.

If getting transformed into princess was not enough, she also met other princess friends - Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella..

Every where she roamed in Disneyland, all the Disneyland people bowed her and called her princess for whole day !

Royal treatment indeed !

Meeting the Mickey Mouse & topping the day with the awesome fireworks sitting on papa's shoulder was phenomenal.

Next day was even better..

Her most favorite show - Mickey Mouse Club House had a live stage show. Happiness on her face seeing whole Mickey, Donal, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto,Sophie, Doc McSuffins, Jake & Neverland Pirates was incredible.

But nothing was as sweet as meeting her favorite Minnie Mouse. She simply looved meeting Minnie !

Most of the rides were fun but she didn't like couple of them. As soon as she came out of those little scary rides, she wanted to build a happy-funny-not-scary ride for her dolls.

She simply savored the World of Color show where water & light create magic..

But the best was yet to come..

Next day started with she wearing the special Disneyland 'Birthday' badge and first thing she met in morning was Goofy & Minnie again ! Both of them wished her & hugged her.

She got birthday wishes all around in Disneyland. Thanks to the 'Birthday' badge.

We had one more surprise up our sleeves..

Lunch was in a special place - Goofy's Kitchen !

Goofy, Pluto, Jennie, Jasmin, Aurora, Bear & Chip-n-dale came to her table to say hello and wish her birthday wishes ! Goofy's kitchen also had a cake for her birthday. With Goofy's Kitchen singing birthday song, she cut the cake..

Rides in monorail, boat, ship, old train, parade & more rides..The fun continued.

It couldn't have been better !

But the best memory for us was outside. After the tiring days in the magic kingdom , she used to slip into sleep exhausted. In her sleep, we used to see the cute smiles and pretty laughs on her face..

It was simply magical & beautiful to look..

Hope she will remember all the beautiful & magical memories forever.

On turning 4, Wishing Saanvi that the tomorrows will bring more smiles & more magic !

Movie time

Earliest memories of movie theater is the dark room where a huge screen on the wall mysteriously comes to life.

Loud sounds, rows & rows of chairs, squeezing in these chairs were all part of that movie memories.
Not to forget the sometimes annoying people in the theater and sometimes we annoying people in the theater.

We were sitting in our car with Saanvi & looking at the huge screen in front of us...

Movie was yet to start & all these movie theater memories rolled by as if they were some side reals.

It was an drive-in theater and Saanvi's first movie experience !

We were not sure if Saanvi would like being confined in a dark room for an hour or more. Add to that the needs of running around and stretching.

Drive-in theater was made for these situations !

Saanvi was super excited about this idea of movie going. After driving to the venue, it was time to park our car in a spot where the giant white screen was convenient to watch. Rows & rows of other cars were already parked.

Still there was time for movie to start and Saanvi used the time to run around and play with other kids.

We all sat under the hood of our SUV with legs stretched.

It was clear sky above...

The giant white screen came to life. Audio for the movie was anyways tuned to be coming from Car's Stereo.

Movie was about the fire-fighting aeroplane. It was nice to see an occasional aeroplane flying above us when we are watching a plane movie !

Saanvi watched movie most of the time. Watched it sitting, watched it sleeping & watched it standing. Enjoyed the pop-corn, rolls & juice during the movie. Also ran around a bit checking what other kids are doing !

It was a good movie experience..

Saanvi as CNN reporter !

It is Occupational day in Saanvi's School where she needs to dress up in the costume of her favorite occupation. She wanted to dress up as 'CNN reporter' !



Her favorite thing to do is say 'This is CNN' !







Thanks to my regular following on CNN :)

Remote Car

Here is a self portrait by Saanvi playing with remote car.

Its a remote car with flag on it and the little girl is controlling it using remote in her hand.

Restaurant

Recently we went to a restaurant and here is Saanvi's drawing inspired by that.

Big circle in the middle is the table and 4 arcs are the chairs. You can see the 4 people sitting there. Smiling faces seen all around are the people in restaurant.

And don't miss the plates on the table !

Welcome 2014

Here is a lion drawn by Saanvi wishing a 'roaring' year ahead !