A little overwhelmed

A2 can be very affectionate and vocal about his feelings when he is in the mood. I especially love it when he is in his lovey dovey moods. Everytime he says "I love you, Mummy" I revel in it. The other day were were cuddling up, one of those lovely Mom-baby moments when he looks at me and says "Mummykutta" I haven't been so affectionately addressed by anyone as far as I can remember. Not by my parents. Not V. I was overwhelmed to say the least. This little tyke has me by my heartstrings.

A sense of humour

A1 is almost five and I have started sending her to the play area on her own. I, of course, watch her from the balcony. There are a strict set of rules that she needs to follow. Stay in the sand pit. Come when you are called.
Don't follow other kids if they go else where. As I listed out the rules, I asked her to repeat them. She repeated all of them and followed it up with "Fish are friends, not food". It brought instant laughter to the both of us and we said a very chuckly bye at the door. V and I are not exactly known for our wit. But the genes do exist in our family, hopefully our kids have got them

A1 has a vivid imagination

A1 has a very vivid imagination. At times we have to differentiate between her reality and ours. Her make believe scenarios are very detailed. A few weeks ago she was playing with a particular friend of hers, a boy a few months older than her. The play seemed very intense with a lot of sand and leaves involved. After a while I walked over and asked them what their play was. A1 went into this story about how they were at a hospital that had new born babies and they were using the leaves to make milk for the babies. I asked her friend if that was so and he said "I don't know aunty. That is what she says". So much for that.
A1 has a Mommy animal and Baby animal game that she plays with A2. A2 to his credit plays along. A1 is truly maternal in these role plays and plays perfect Mom to A2.

Keeping pace with the kids

A1 and A2 have reached the stage where they are fighting as much as they are playing together. Both of them love carrying tales about each other. A2 has this plaintive way of saying "Achi no share ipad, mummy". He also has this "Achi no picha, mummy?" statement that he makes each time he is reprimanded for pinching A1. The tone says that it is a completely new concept that he has never heard of earlier.
A1 is more direct. She'll say her piece and then step back to watch. If no consequences are obvious, she'll press her point. "What's his punishment, Mommy?". And then stay around to make sure that her little tale telling has been aptly rewarded.

A2 is really getting on with his words

A2 is pretty vocal about his likes and dislikes. I think kids shouldn't learn the word "No" till they are adults. But it was one of A2's first words and he has used it with impunity

Some of the words he says now are
Lummy - Yummy
Lucky - Yucky
Daty - Dirty
Tash - Trash
Sink
Put
Cally me - Carry me
I go in a daddy car
Car tata bye - When he wants to go out in his car
Lets go baby - Hurry up
Mummy coffee no touch Aryan
Mickey mouse clubhouse
Mcenna queen - Lightning McQueen of the "Cars" fame.
Awesome, cool

A1's wedding trauma

V decided that he would treat the kids and show them our wedding video. I was not very keen cos I get depressed everytime I think about our wedding. Our wedding thankfully wasn't an indicator of our marriage :)
Anyway video was running. Kids watching, pointing out familiar faces. Come to main event and A1 runs out crying. V has no clue why. I was in the kitchen. I go into A1's room and she is lying in bed crying. I ask her if it is cos she wasn't there at the wedding and she says "This is my life. Daddy married Mommy. He should have married me". I was dumb struck. Called V and asked him to console A1. No amount of "You are here cos Daddy married Mummy" explanations worked. Finally "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on the iPad calmed her down.
We have had quite a few discussions with her on the topic. The conclusions are
1> While A1 loves Mommy, she would prefer that Daddy married her
2> The perfect solution is that when A1 and A2 grow up, A1 marries Daddy and A2 marries Mommy. Keeping it all in the family.

A2's vocab ... wow

A2 is talking up a storm.
He says four word complete sentences , Mummy Achi balloon potichu, for example.
Baby centre says at 2 years babies can string upto three words together. A2 is 20 months old now.

Some of his stock phrases are
No way Mommy no way: usually said at very appropriate times.
Oon why tell: Inspired by his Aunt, but is now his own.
Mummy Baare: Courtesy Dad who taught him this one.
Musasa Bike: Muthasha bike. His standard request to M Kochachan to take him on a ride on his bike.
Hello xyz: (said with his hands to his ear) His word for when he wants to talk to someone on the phone. xyz is whoever he wants to talk to.

I want that: what it says
Thycle: Cycle
Anthal: Uncle
Vee mommo ve: The "Lion sleeps tonight" song

He surprised me by using the word "Also" correctly.
Scenario: A1, A2 and I having lunch.
I had paused mid way with food in my hand talking to A1 when A2 says "Eat Mommy eat"
When I did, he said "Nice Mommy" and then "I also eat" and then ate a spoonful of his food.

Recently he asked the maid "Aunty what are you doing?" Wow

He has a very effective way of saying he wants something in his hand. He says what he wants and then touches his right index finger to his open left palm.

He can say his name now though he does stretch out the first syllable. He now recognizes himself in the mirror and in photos.

Sheela Ki Jawani

This song deserves a post of its own.
A2 first heard this song when we went to Bangalore. He was all of 9 months and he took to it the first time he heard it. Add to the mix a doting aunt who sang the song and danced with him and Katrina Kaif had a fan for life.
No matter how miffed or upset he is, this song always cheers him uo. So much so that when I was returning to Chicago and loading the iPad with videos for the kids, my Mom told me that if I had any consideration for A2 I would load "Sheela ki Jawani" Granmoms these days are so with it.
Today A2 had a late afternoon nap and getting him to sleep at night looked impossible. He kept shuttling between his Dad and me and it looked like a long night with him bawling away. None of the usual lullabies were working. Carrying him around didn't work either. Finally inspiration stuck and I hummed "The Song" and my little guy lay right down and was fast asleep in 5 minutes.

Back to the Windy City

A1 has thankfully lost her very bad South Indian accent since we got here. V complains that all the $$$ spent on her private school education were wasted with her India trip. The accent, man.
A2 has quite the vocab now
Happy toto: Happy Birthday to you. Specifically refers to the "Hum bhi agar bachhe hote" song which he loves. Generally refers to all things related to B'days like cake or decorations.
Honey: His word for the "Sheela ki jawani" song. By far his favorite. I don't think Ms Kaif had this demographic in mind when she grooved to this song but she has my gratitude. This song gets my son out his funk moods everytime.
Bow Bow: Specifically dogs. Generally all four legged animals except cats and horses. Grizzlies, goats and rhinos are all bow bows.
That: Cat and it goes Maaw.
Mena: Venda. His most used word. He knows it gets on my nerves so my little devil will call out to me and sing in his cutesy voice "Mena mena menaaa"
Tata: Translates to "Get me outdoors"
Mamum: Food
Bottal: Specifically milk. Generally used to indicate he is hungry.
Water: water
nonthity nonthithy: The song "Dorothy Dorothy". He tries the rest of the "Would you like to dance with me?" with "Happy toto meno" The words are off but the tune is there. Both my kids can sing :)
Haat: Hot
Chakit" Chocolate
Dish: Dishwasher
Aapu: Apple
Nana: Banana
Awn: On. His word for when he wants something turned on or opened.
Me: His response to any question beginning with "Who wants to" or sometimes even "Who.."
Ba: Translates to "Pick me up". I guess he gets it from us picking him up when we say "Ba"
Michie: Mixie. His favorite appliance in the kitchen. Anything that resembles a mixie immediately grabs his attention.
Na: Give me. I guess he gets it from when we say "Inna" when we give him stuff.
Aal done: All done. Mostly used when he cleans out his plate (Either by eating all the food up or dumping it on the floor) Also says it when he completes a task.


A1 and A2 are at the stage where they can play together for a little while before beating each other up. It is such a lovely sight to see them hugging each other. A1 is a very picky eater so getting him to eat anything is a challenge. But even after the most vehement "Mena" he will eat a couple of mouthfuls if his sister feeds him. A2 is also quite the tattle tale. Each time A1 does something she isn't supposed to (like bopping him on his head) he'll run to me or V with a "Mummy/Daddy.. Achi ..." At 16 months, A2 is quite the smart guy. He has seen us do the 1 2 3 routine with A1 and now he does it to us. If he wants us to do something and we don't do it fast enough (mostly when he wants to get down from his high chair) he goes "naan tu thi". He understands quite a bit now and can follow instructions. He makes up two and three word sentences like "Baby chaachi" (Baby is sleeping) or "Mummy chaachi mena" (When he doesn't want me to sleep)
A1 is growing up. Too fast sometimes. I miss my little baby. She loves helping me in the kitchen and that is one place she is ultra obedient. She helps me wash lettuce and rice, beat eggs, make ginger garlic paste. She is a bunch of contradictions. At times she is this very helpful empathetic person and sometimes she is a brat. She sings really well but a composer she will not be :) She tries making up her own words and singing them to her own tune and the effect is horrendous.
When I was pregnant with A2 and had these puking bouts, A1 was all of two and half, She would stand beside me, rub my back, flush after I was done and then lead me by hand to the bed. My eyes would well up at my sweet daughter. Recently after my Endoxan infusion I had a bad bout of puking and A1 was there standing next to me. As I splashed water on my face after I was done, she comments "You are wasting water". Where is my Florence Nightingale? That is what I want to know

Thank God for chicken biriyani

A2's first word was Achi. Since then he has gone on to Daddy, Mamma, Chitta and even Thanthi(for our maid Shanthi). He refused to say Mummy despite my repeating it like a mantra everytime he called me Mamma or Chitta.
Then one day I brought home some chicken biriyani from Richies and let him have a taste. He loved it but we thought it might be too spicy for him and K Chitta started feeding him chappati and my foodie son turned around and called out to me with a very emphatic "Mummy". And he continued to call me "Mummy" till I gave him some more Biriyani. I have been Mummy since that evening. Thank God for chicken biriyani :)

Updates from Bengaluru

The As and I have been in Bengaluru for over three months now. A1 lost her swank American accent and speaks with the typical South Indian accent now.
Her Vocab has increased though. She uses words like damaged and barely correctly.
Her pronunciation though needs some fine tuning
Moskeetal: Mosquito
Ominent:Omlette

A2 has started talking too. His first word was Achi. He calls me Mummy though A1 still hasn't lost her American Mommy. A1 says Daddy, Mamma and Chitta. His vocab
Bo: Bottle
Api: Ipad
Baal: Ball
He is a total foodie. Eats food only if it meets his exacting standards. He has four teeth on top and two at the bottom. And his toothy grin is the cutest.
A1 had a very innovative suggestion to deal with A2's naughtiness. "Mommy put him back in your tummy".
A1 and A2 are in touch with their spiritual sides here. A1 watches the Ayyappa serial and now that her mantra when she is in dire straits..especially when she has to go to the loo.. she goes Ayyappa sami ayyappa...
A2 is always around when Mamma lights the lamp in the evenings. He prays and is very upset if Mamma forgets to put the bhasmam on his forehead.