Well, it's been over three months since we moved into our house.
Once Again has been shouting himself hoarse (actually he left two comments on the subject but that doesn't sound as good does it?) to get me to post pictures. I have been dilly-dallying because I wanted everything to be just perfect but I have come to realise it never will be, so I might as well get on with the show-and-tell. There are still things to be done and some things that were done have started to come undone but here is the first round of pictures anyway, imperfections and all.
Given that this is a mommy blog and Ayaan is the star of the show, I thought I would kick this off with his room, which is also my favourite room in the house.
This is what you see of his room from the door. Sorry for the dark picture but for this one, I had to directly face the windows and the sun was streaming in. The windows are full length French windows (with a full length grill that keeps Ayaan safe but the same cannot be said of numerous toys that have met with an untimely demise after being thrown from this very fifth floor window). We wanted to do some wall-paper in his room but decided to limit it to the wall behind his cot – I think that way the room looks more spacious.
This is where he sleeps, with his Noddy for company. The cot used to have a lot of other stuff in the past – bumpers, bolsters and stuffed toys – but not any more since he can use them to try and climb out and also he’s getting pretty big now and there’s not too much space for much else, once he is in. The space below his cot houses his booster seat, which is a useful foldable chair that can be strapped on to any chair – we use it when we take him out with us to a restaurant.
This shelf started out as a place to keep the baby monitor (extreme left) – near enough to pick up his voice and other sounds but far enough from his cot to be out of Ayaan’s reach. Next to that is a little cross that should actually be nailed up but we haven’t quite got around to it – it’s a gift from my mother-in-law and it has a cute little poem on it about God and creation. Then there’s a coaster, a bottle of bubble liquid, a couple of books and one of Snow White’s finest gifted to Ayaan by Jai’s cousin, Sameer.
This is one of the imperfections that I have been harping on. We don’t have a toy chest and/or a bookshelf for him yet so everything is just dumped in this corner in that large, ugly laundry basket. I am not having much luck with finding something either. I think having a separate bookshelf and a toy cupboard would really crowd things up so I am looking for something that would work as both and yet look good in a kid’s room. Any ideas?
This is where we read. Depending on the time and his mood, Ayaan will sit either on the chair, the stool, the potty or the floor. He is usually pretty specific about where he wants you to sit as well – pointing imperiously and saying ‘Sit Domm!’ The chair and the stool are a typical North Indian informal type of furniture called Moodahs. They are made of cane and rope, I think. These are kid-sized versions of the same.
And finally, there is the wardrobe. The right side has his clothes and linen, the drawers are full of his books and the left side of the cupboard is just piled high with random stuff that I have no other place for. One of the flaws of the house is that we don’t have any real storage space so we have to use the tops of all our wardrobes to store rarely used stuff. That big grey bag on top is Ayaan’s travel cot that faithfully follows us when we travel to maintain the sanctity of Ayaan’s sleeping schedules and habits. Next to the cupboard is his beanbag, presented by my mother-in-law. He loves flinging himself on it.
That brings me to the end of my first episode of my series of showing off our very own house. Expect to be bored by more soon…
