it's my girls' world

Here she is at 2 years old enjoying a juicy tomato Glad to know that now she can still appreciate the good stuff!

We've been away-- visiting Toronto for a couple days while Darin was at a conference.... the girls and I decided to accompany him, hang out at the hotel, meet up with friends and family and enjoy the city... it was an adventure but the hotel was waaay more cramped than we anticipated so we spent as much time out of our room than in-- let's just say it was a single file room only...

Having a quick dinner while Daddy went to meet his two PMs!!!

Enjoying  some bread (this high chair was sanitized before)

Getting ready for bed!!!

On Friday, we headed to Ajax to meet up with our friends Arissa, Aaron and Amra... fun times with these two!

Aaron to Anjali: You're in my personal space

Dress up for the girls

On Saturday, we met up with Uncle Puran who was in Toronto for an official visit from Trinidad (he was here with the PM of Trinidad). Uncle Puran is my favourite uncle! I have many fond memories of our weekly Sunday visits to my grandmother's house, his famous BBQs and our vacations at his home. We were very thankful to spend the entire day with him walking around Toronto, shopping and having several meals together. Uncle Puran was just as kind to the girls as he was to me growing up. The girls were troopers too, being cooped up in a stroller for most of the day.

Meal #1-- shared by the 3 of us.

Guess who enjoyed it most?!

This is what happens when I tell her to smile!

Darin joined us for lunch at his favourite Thai restaurant!

The sights and sounds of Toronto!

This kid was exhausted1

A Vietnamese peaceful protest

Cheers!! Come visit us again soon Uncle Puran. Next time, bring Aunty Devi!

When I was a teenager, my cousin Shanel collected the most beautiful Barbies. She really took care of them, they were always neatly combed, pressed and dressed. Many were still in their boxes. When she outgrew them, she passed them onto my other cousin, sweet Roxy. Rox had a different way of playing with them. They were all given baths, hairstyles and stripped of their clothes. Shanel was not pleased when she saw her beloved dolls. I was amused but totally understood Shanel's POV.

Sooo--- guess which kind of girl my preschooler is? Yes, folks I have a bunch of Disney Princesses (ick), Fairies and Barbies in this house... Cass loves her dolls, they are her favourite toys but almost all are missing their original outfits, slippers, wings, hair-ties and they even have matted hair and a broken limb or two... We sometimes have to play doll hospital. Dolls have even been given haircuts.  When Ajee visited, she was very dismayed by the state of these poor dolls and spent many a night fixing their clothes, shoes and especially hairstyles... the neatness was shortlived though... in a couple days, the dolls were back to their decrepit state.

I really wanted to get Cassia an American Girl doll for her birthday (the Maplelea Canadian girls are way too scary looking for my taste). They are so beautiful with a very high level of intricate detail. My business brain totally understands why this brand has the following it does. I was planning to take her to the flagship American Girl store in NYC and let her choose one that looked something like her.  Slowly, we would begin to build her wardrobe and for each occasion I would buy her an accessory or outfit. However, I am afraid she is not ready for it and now I really highly doubt she will ever be....

There is always Anjali...

Ajee's salon

Pretty Dolls--- for now!

Guess who is 9 months old today!!! Our favourite baby girl is growing up too fast... I know I say this every month but seriously where is the time going?

Here are 9 things about you, Miss Anjali in your nine months :-)

1. Still sleeping strong--- 12 hours a night still! We will take it!
2. You love to go on 'adventures'... adventures in this case being the supermarket, mall and daycare to pick up your big sister... these activities rock your world
3. Still eating like a champion, you love to pick up your own food-- this month's favourites are blueberries, bananas, avocado and cheese
4. No crawling yet... you're trying but getting very frustrated and instead you begin to wail and roll to get to your destination
5. 4 teeth this month-- very, very cute!
6. Still a momma's girl-- you begin to wail for me the minute you see me... again, hope this changes this month
7. You've begun to growl- a big hearty bear growl especially when someone speaks gruffly or growls at you first... it begins in your throat and is the most absurd, cute, funny thing.
8. I may be biased but you already have a sense of musicality-- dancing around and banging stuff together...you love music class and "The Voice"
9. Your belly laughs warm all our hearts!! Cassia seems to make you laugh the most!

Seriously, how cute is this kid?!

... We had a lovely puja this weekend. The first in our home with our little family since Anjali was born.  My mother in law was here and worked tirelessly to help us prepare for the puja and the meal afterwards... yummy trinidadian food that our guests totally enjoyed-- all vegetarian but so delicious! I think we will plan our pujas at home to coincide with her visit  every year :-)

Here are a few very random shots...

All decked out

Yummy ladoos.. well yummy for everyone else..i don't really care for them.

Pretty Aunty Ammie

All smiles

Sistas

After the puja

Now for some surfin'

It's been ages since I've done one of these. In between life, visitors, birthday celebrations and planning for our trip, I've been swamped! Here goes:

1. This weekend, we have a puja or prayer meeting at home. We are really looking forward to it. We feel that we have so much to be thankful for in this past year and so many upcoming things to look forward to.
2. Darin's mom, Ajee is still visiting us and we all, but especially the girls are loving having her around. Cassia has gotten very attached to her as she reads stories, combs her hair and dresses her up. Every morning she wakes up with fear, asking me if Ajee is leaving today.
3. Anjali got her 4th tooth this last weekend (April 14th, the upper incisor). She is still gumming everything so maybe more are on the horizon. 
4. In my next life, I think I can be a travel agent! Between the researching booking hotels, flights and short let apartments, I am quite the pro. If only it paid better :-)
5. If anyone wondered what Darin's day is like, check out this article he forwarded to me. I know that his day is very difficult but this puts it even more into perspective. It takes truly special and dedicated people to do what they do. 
6. Cassia is now thinking about her '5' birthday and where she would like it and what she wants as presents for it. I am pointedly ignoring her. 
7. Anjali has started eating more 'real' food now that she has some teeth. Her favourites are watermelon, cheese and blueberries. 
8. Can you believe that we are planning another trip and I still haven't posted the remaining T&C photos? I am awful. 
9. I came across this blog post about our relationship with our parents and I think it is so true. What do you know about your parents, their lives, hopes and dreams? 
10. Although this weekend is supposed to be quite chilly, spring has sprung! We've retired winter coats, snow pants, sweaters and boots and we are busting out the spring fashions and colours. The other day, Cassia said she loves this weather, it's so nice, it's "50 a-breeze"- I think she means 50 degrees!

Pancakes- the breakfast of champions!

We love weekends in this house. They're filled with errands, chores and classes but in between, we always manage to fit in some fun. Some are hectic and some are lazy but we love ALL weekends anyways. This past weekend was even more special as Ajee visited.

Here's an iPhone dump showcasing  this weekend's activities.

My sweet Cassia with her best friend at another friend's party

Camping is lots of fun with this tent Dad made using Anjali's jolly jumper  and our duvet.

Waiting for 1.5 hours for dinner at Red Lobster

I am biased I know... but isn't she cute?!

Aunty Jo and Aunty Rachu came to visit. Note Cassia's wine glass too

Good night world!!!

Alright, she won't win any awards for penmanship just yet but this momma is pretty proud!

I was all by myself having a great old time before music class

when all of a sudden it became a little crowded! What's a girl to do?

Boy oh boy, this kid had a lot of birthday celebrations! From the party with her school friends on the Saturday to lunch with her grandparents on Sunday to cake in preschool on Tuesday to the actual birthday on the Wednesday, we were all birthday-ed out! On Wednesday, it's her day off from school so we spent the day doing Cassia focused activities.... take a look.

Her first gifts- her hamper with clothes-- not her favourite gift

Birthday girl's favourite breakfast- chocolate chip pancakes with bananas.  THe candles aren't showing up on the pancakes but they were there.

Getting ready for our day

Enjoying a Happy Meal for lunch

Sweet sisters We then went to Target where she got to choose some toys!

Then to the butterfly conservatory

Ajee and her girls

Daddy also came along

Anjali was so  captivated by the butterflies

My cutie baby!

Enjoying a popsicle

HEr favourite gift from Ajee- about 7 dolls. She took them to dinner

Ajee and Uncle Sunil came along

But we left Anjali home with the babysitter

Cassia's birthday cake as per her request when she had it here  Now the birthday is done, but cake is still around and we have SO many toys around! Hope you had a wonderful time Cass!