Today....

When I woke up today, I was feeling different. Charged up and excited {more than usual}. It was my day off from work, so I decided to make the most of every minute I spend with my daughter today. Be consciously present with her and do something new.

We did our usual routine of potty and brushing once she woke up. The kiddo was not letting me clean her tongue, so I bribed her (yes, bribing has started) with a bindi. She loves to put a bindi on, so I gave her one and told her that I will let her put it on if she lets me clean her tongue. She happily obliged and after I put her bindi on, she insisted that I put a matching one too. We did that and I clicked this picture of her :).

I then taught her how to help me clean up. The house was not dirty, but messy. Her toys and books and puzzles and blocks and balls were scattered all over. She did a remarkable job of helping me with few things. We were done in about 45 minutes.

I then fed her breakfast in the backyard, while she watered the plants (even though they get watered automatically through a drip system, she loves doing it herself).

I took the easel out, and showed her how to draw using chalk. She got the hang of it after I helped her draw a couple flowers. She spent 30 minutes "drawing". We have done this before, but today was the first time she held the chalk properly and did some real drawing herself.

She then had a playdate with her buddy Josh. They were born on the same day, and they had a great time together. She was more comfortable since she was in her house and with her toys, but she shared everything. I had a good time catching up with Josh's mom too. I get along very well with her. Here they are playing with bubbles - oh, the bubbles - who doesn't love them?

We had lunch while watching some videos as Josh was there and she was hyper+distracted. But, on the plus side, she ate more than she normally would. And enjoyed it too.

She went down for her nap without a fuss. I finished a ton of stuff during her naptime....true sign of a mommy :). Daddy was home by now and helped me cut veggies for dinner. He took care of her when she woke up - snacks, reading, play time while I completed some pending tasks.

We went to Costco for a quick trip (it's the closest store to our house) - she was so happy and excited to be out of the house {just like her mommy}. She spent the most time here....we both love this section:

We came home, fed her dinner, then put her to bed. She slept after few minutes of cuddling with me and my tummy :). I am giving her a bath in the morning tomorrow so we skipped that routine last night.

I managed to cook dal, chaval, sabji and roti (fulkas), along with oatmeal+fresh fruit for her. Three fresh home-cooked meals. I cleared a bunch of my mails. I had a long conversation with an accounting specialist on my American Express credit card which I had been wanting to switch to the one that gives me better cash back. I finally made the switch. We bought some more gifts to send in a parcel to the daughter's cousins.

I had a great stay-at-home mommy day today. This week has started off well, and I hope it only gets better :)!