Dear Gabdu

wall-e-ball

2010-01-24T20:07:00.002+05:30

Gabdu is now 4.5 and her bro Golu turning 15 mnths old soon. I have been missing in action but really need to document all the interesting stuff that the kids do and say and so here I am hoping to stay and update regularly
Gabdu and papa came up with the topic of volleyball for some reason and so Gabdu asks what is Volleyball and papa is thrilled to explain hoping his daugther is finally showing some interest in sports. So he explains- volleyball is played with players of two teams throwing the ball from one side of the net to the other.And before he could get into a deeper explanation of number of players, techniques etc, she interrupts with .. papa it shud have been throwing the ball across the Wall na .. why is there a net? Papas bewildered expression prompted her to elaborate.. Net hai to Netball and Wall ho tho Wall-e-ball :))

Little thoughts and questions

2008-08-23T09:27:00.002+05:30

Well back after quite a while... but could not but help thinking how I would miss out on remembering all the little things she says unless I actually put them down...
a) She was playing with the doctor set with patti and suddenly she found the scissors and became a barber and was pretending to cut pattis hair. So as we sat down for dinner she asks .. Mumma jaise Teacher ka student hota hai aur doctor ka patient waise barber ka kya hota hai?It took me a while to grasp what she was saying ...and to find the answer !! Barber ka cilent I had to say ...
b) Looking down from our window she spotted the quasi-slums and turned to me and asked "Mamma wo log aise bahar kyon rehte hain?Unke pas humare jaisa ghar kyon nahin hain?" I had to say wo thode poor hain aur unke pass thoda kam paisa hai isiliye ... so she then asks me "Aur phir hum kyon rehte hain achhe ghar mein"?
c) Went to Shriyas place and they assembled the tent for the kids ... Tanvi was not there when Shriyas mum took the tent pieces out from the almirah. So when Tanvi saw the tent she asks " Aunty where did you take it out from". She pointed to the small shelf from where she had taken the pieces. So Tanvi looks at the shelf again thoughtfully and asks "Show me how will it fit there?Wapis daal ke dikhao. Ye tho itna bada hai"
d) Speaking to Maria ... and she was saying how Roshini descibed the tikka on the hair that some kids wore to school on traditional day. "It was a sleeping line with a triangle at the bottom " . Tanvi was not with me when this conversation happened so out of curiosity I asked her if any kids wore anything on their head she said yes ..the boys wore a standing line with the oval at the end . I guess she was talking abt the feathers they wore as krishnas. I found it extremely amusing that the kids had such desciptions of things in terms they had been taught at school!!

There are sooooo many more things but will update after a while

Sunny days

2007-10-17T14:41:00.000+05:30

Well, so now that sunny days are here Gabdu, Mamma does not take you downstairs in the heat even if say you have a holiday at school simply because it seems too hot on some days.. So today after returning from a field trip when you said "Mamma Neeche Chalein" .. I told you "Nahin Beta bahut dhoop ho rahi hai" .. and then as an afterthought to ensure she does not protest unnecessarily next time if need to go out in the sun with her, I added a sort of disclaimer.."Jaa sakte hain hum dhoop mein lekin Cap pehen ke" .. so pat came the reply " Mamma Bal (Hair) not enough? Only Bal pehen ke nahin jaa sakte?" Kids come up with the most interesting stuff don't they?

Mr Fix it

2007-10-12T09:42:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, you begged me for "5 min - i will watch tv for 5 mins mamma" .. Well thats my fault really cause when I heat your food and you seem cranky because of hunger or bored for any reason, to keep you out of the kitchen( i am a hyper mommy - what if the tongs to reheat rotis fall on u accidentally, what if the hot dal katori slips from my hands - so well I try and keep you out of the kitchen when only you and me at home), I say " Beta why don't u watch mickey/stanley or whatever on disney channel for 5 mins " And the rule is "No tv while eating " so technically you get to see tv for 5-10 mins every 2-3 days . So anyways you said this and so as you were neither cranky nor bored, I tried to reason with you so that you could do puzzles to keep yourself occupied while I heated food for our lunch. So I said "Gabdu, Aapki aankhen kharab ho jayengi tv dekhne se .." and gave 2 seconds for u to digest that and said " to ab to aapko tv nahin dekhna na?" You said "Dekhna hai" so I asked " Phir aapki aankhen?" and you say" Koi baat nahin Mamma, Wo tho papa fix kar denge " !!! Again I guess because to postpone fixing ur toys or putting fresh batteries in noisy electronic toys, I typically say " Papa aayenge - fix kardenge " so... I guess its all my doing anyways !!

Also, the other day we were going thru your playschool activity book and there were questions like
Who flies the plane?
You say - Pilot
Who drives the truck
You say -Truck driver
Who Drives the car ?
Pat comes the reply - "Papa"

IMAGINATION THAT SPELLS TROUBLE

2007-10-10T13:59:00.000+05:30

You are a lot into pretend play and role reversals these days .. I mean its always been a favorite for a long time -may be more a year or so but now its very pronounced and often amazes me. Often it helps me see exactly how I speak to you and how it comes across to you ...So we often have these role reversals where Mamma becomes Papa, Papa becomes Gabdu and Gabdu becomes Mamma .. Your favorite role is playing Mamma as Mamma tries to discipline you, control you etc etc so its best to show her how it is to be on the other side by making her Gabdu :-)))
And you can come up with interesting observations and imaginary stories .. like looking at a hole in papas tee-shirt when he was putting you to sleep and saying " Papa aap ka shirt phat gaya kya .. Mamma ne pull kiya kya ? Koi Baat nahin, mein aap ke liye market se naya le kar aaoongi ok? theek hai?"
My God ! Mamma ne pull kiya kya ? wonder where that came from ! Sheer imagination !
Also you bring info from friends at school and add your own imagination -like " Arnav Malaysia gaya ...mere liye chocolate lene gaya .. lekar aa gaya" with only the part abt Arnav going to Malaysia being true!
Need to write a detailed post on the pretend play you do and stuff you come up with..

MUSICAL EXPRESSIONS

2007-10-10T13:51:00.000+05:30

Gabdu, you have decided to come up with some or the other song for most stuff we talk to you abt - esp bollywood songs and esp when you are on the pot :-)
Few notable and funny ones have been
a) When Mamma says lets go downstairs Gabdu, you say "Go Jhonny go go go"
b) The other day Patti was mentioning " I went to Judge an elocution competition"- and though you took a fraction of a second in trying to find the word "Judge" in ur mental dictionary, you suddenly started with "A-A-Ashiqui mein teri J-J-Jayegi Jaan meri" ... It took us a second to figure out what made u sing that song and once we did we could hardly stop laughing
c) In Pooja auntys car when we were on our way to drop Arshu.." Beta Arshu to Paari Paari Kardo"( As in give hugs and love to Arshu", you misheard it and the outcome was " Sajana ji mein to Vaari Vaari re Tu Hi to mera Sansar hai"

In case you read this later and wonder where you picked up the songs from - they are primarily from mamma who keeps singing without realising you pick up the tune and words so easily and also from the music that plays in the car when we go out on weekends !

BLOGSTIPATION CLEARING ;-)

2007-10-10T13:47:00.000+05:30

Well, Mamma has had so much to write but somehow never got down to writing it .. was afflicted with blogstipation I guess ( Such a nice term coined by some blogger- captures mammas state very well). So I decided to feed some fodder to my thoughts to clear the blogstipation and looks like just thinking abt it helps :-)
So mamma will hopefully go on a overdrive in the next few days and write all abt stuff that you've been upto for the past 6 months ! ( God I can't believe I have not updated stuff since then esp since so much has been happening !)

I understand music

2007-04-27T14:21:00.000+05:30

Well, Gabdu, the game we played a week back or so turned out to be full of surprises!! The game involved mamma humming a tune and you had to identify the song. Actually it was not even intended as a game. Mamma was humming "Chalo mana ganga jamuna" and you started singing the words of the song. So then we did this for abt 15 -20 songs ( Rhymes, Bollywood Music, Bhajans etc) and you identified all of them. Kids sure have an amazing sense for music as well as dance. Wonder where this disappears as we grow up !Heres hoping you continue having an inclination to music and dance just as you have right now

Sleep/Potty Training , Tooth Brushing and other updates ;-)

2007-04-24T14:37:00.000+05:30

Gabdu,

Been intending to post this for long but keep getting lazy. When Nanu Nani were here there were lots of milestones/changes/updates that happened - heres a quick list of the one between Jan and now

1. You dropped one of ur two naps around Jan end or so which wud be around 18-19 months. Also you have started sleeping quite easily for ur only nap which is around 1.30 pm everyday, No more rocking/feeding/coaxing/begging/crying etc etc. You usually take a 1hr nap and wake up and after that it depends on whether mamma gets lucky. You could get up again after an hr or every fifteen minutes and eventually have a total of 2 hrs of sleep in bits or sometimes its 3 hrs with breaks every 30 minutes. How I wish this wud improve too.
2. You started speaking full long sentences and using words whose meanings are a little difficult to visualize as in words like Bhi, Gussa ( which u say Bussa for some reason), Dard, Khujali etc etc.This happened again beginning of 2007
3. You started climbing the steps leading to slide finally around Jan mid. Its a major milestone because we felt we would have to keep putting u at the top forever because u showed no inclination to climb !
4. You started to eat your fruit lik grapes/apple etc mostly on own if given in a chotta plate.You started using the spoon to have dahi and some solid stuff occasionally
5. Watching Aarushi Didi you wanted to drink water Aapi aapi and so you drink comfortably off the steel tumblers without spilling. You drink water on ur own but for some reason milk drinking requires quite some coaxing if aapi aapi so we just hold the cup for you to drink.
6. Your dislike for the tooth brushing reduced as you saw aarushi didi do it every night. So its pretty much a done thing before sleep. We are yet to introduce it as regular feature for the mornings.And did I mention 4 of ur teeth ( all incisors)sprouted around 18-20 months.The molars and premolars seemed to be sprouting from the looks of swollen gums for the past 3-4 months but looks like its just our imagination 'cos it can't take that long ;-). So on last count you have got a total of 8 teeth
7.You dropped from multiple night feeds to a feeds only after 4.30 to 5 am with water sessions in between if you woke up. This happened with sleeping with Nanu Nani for abt 4-5 days just before they left ( They told you I was at office if you woke up asking for me;-)). It had improved ur sleep quite a bit till there was some reversal because you were a little sick and also because mamma was at times too tired to put u back to sleep any other way and nursing while lying down was easiest.Anyways now we have started working towards changing it and for past 4 nights you have gone without "Mamma walla Duddhu" for the night and the first after wake up feed.But then you are quite a fighter and keep asking for it and keeping us as well as urslef sleepless for long periods in the fond hope that mamma papa will eventually give in. Lets see how that goes ;-). As of now only the late evening (7.00 pm ) feed is to be dropped which is quite an achievement!! So applause for both mamma and you !!
8. You can remove ur underwear urself so depending on ur mood and if u decide to be nice to mamma you often inform me abt 'susu' and we do it on the commode which has now a smaller seat that we put for u if you need to use it.Apart from 1-2 max accidents a day we mostly do susu on that but potty is a diff challenge and you insist that u will do it in the "front room" as u call the living room and in ur panties. Hopefully this will change too

i think this covers the key updates I wanted to pen.More later

Luv
Mamma

One,two,three,four,five

2007-04-14T15:27:00.001+05:30

One, two, three, four five !

Once I ate the six alive :-))

Well, I count all the time. I know till 10 in English and Hindi.I don't understand the fuss abt counting to a specific number. I know if there are more than one of anything one counts ..like while putting back my toys,taking y crayons out, when seeing pictures of say 2 dogs,picking flowers, climbing, and also before throwing the ball etc.But I like to stop whenever i feel like and not because I have counted right. Like i would say "Teen biliyaan" when there are two or I would go on till 10 if asked how many. Thats the fun of counting ... heard of random numbers? Well I pick mine and use it. Anyways till yesterday I would say one, two, three, four,five,seven, eight, nine,ten and dutifully and carefully skip the six.. always !This was for a good 3-4 months. It was good fun to see my parents wonder why I could never include six ... anyways I decided to surprise them by including six in my numbers !!

Visit to Doctor Uncle

2007-04-14T15:17:00.000+05:30

Well, so finally mamma got over her fear of taking me the doc for vaccination of Hib booster and DPT booster which has been due for God knows how long !! The reason was primarily that Mamma got hyper abt the shape of my head after the head shaving. Well, you see she could see the contours much more clearly and so thought the bumps in certain places were weird. Also she could clearly see my anterior fontanel was not yet closed. This was after 2 months of calcium and lots of sunlight every morning, so she got worried . All the more worried after reading most fontanels close by 18 mnths !Thankfully doc said it shud close soon and the contours on my beautifully shaven head are fine :). Also finally got the vaccination done as we visited the doc again. I was quite brave. While most kids wud dread going to doctor uncle, I wanted to enter his room everytime the door to his room opened to let some other kid in. Of course I got quite suspicious when he wanted me to lie down for the vaccination. I mean its a very vulnerable position for attack right? I hate it when he asks me to lie down. Anyways mamma papa had prepared me abt the vaccination and this time around I was comfortable with the docs thick moustache too, so I got myself distracted my froggie over my head, and before I knew it the doc had vaccinated me ! I cried as it hurt a little but as soon as they let me get up, and the doc offered me 2 marie biscuits ! Can you imagine !2 MARIE BISCUITS !, I forgot all abt the pain and even smiled !And then kept repeating doctor uncle ne Guddu ko biscuit diya till we got out. This was to ensure everyone thot my mom cooks badly, does not give me these biscuits ever and that I can be conned easily. Oh what a way to turn a doc visit to be very exciting :-)

Head S(h)aved

2007-04-13T14:18:00.000+05:30

We have finally managed to get your head shaving done this sunday ( 8th April). Papa had his haircut and thatha took you along to watch that happening and you wanted your hair cut done too ! We have sorta been preparing you abt this hair cut thingy and making it sound really exciting so I guess you really wanted to get it done. So on the next day we asked you " Barber Uncle ko bulayein aapke hair cut karne ke liye?" You said "Haan" . We asked again t reconfirm "Abhi" and you said "Haan". I guess we were very tense abt it and you were hardly bothered or even excited !!So barber uncle came at 11.20 am or so and we sat you on the bed. He tried using his white bedsheet around your neck to collect the hair but you removed it irritatedly and we were quite definite that this was going to be as harrowing a experience as your ear piercing!So I told the guy jitna hota hai kar dena baaaki chod dena. Wo zara bhi roye to stop kar dena etc etc .We had asked him to get that machine ..did not want to risk the razor !Surprisingly for the first 3/4 of the shaving you sat quite still only occasionally irritated with hair falling but brushing it off. Then when there was just 1/4th of you head with long hair and the rest cleanly shaven, you decided to move ! We thought we wud have to see you with part of your head shaved and the rest with long hair because we know that once you say no there was nthng we could do. Thankfully you did not say no- and with our timley intervention with a new CD playing on the laptop,you were ready to even stay still.So well, you were saved embrassement of having just one side shaven off :). Anyways all in all it took around may be 5-10 mins and was very quick and hassle free for all of us. I am yet to check what needs to be done with ur hair. Nani says put in the sea but Patti not very sure so we waiting for Patti to get back or may be we will just do a mini visarjan !Your first hair was smooth silky thin and curling at the ends .. lets see how the next crop is gonna be :)
After your ear piercing and the way you cry for even trying on shoes ( have not yet managed to buy shoes for you that I could try on at the shop and pick up based on ur foot size( or may be just once initially)), we did not expect it to be so peaceful. But looks like toddlers have it in them to throw surprises all the time, like screaming for the most innocuous stuff like trying on clothes,trying a shoe and then being so peaceful for a thing like a hair cut !
Anyways all said and done it was a close shave for us and for you ( not as close as razor wud have done it but a close shave nevertheless;-)

Games I play

2007-04-11T13:32:00.000+05:30

a) Hide and Seek

Names I use interchangeably for this game
a) Peek-a-boo
b) Chuppa-Chuppi
c) Guddu Kahan Hai?

All I understand of this game is seeing the person and screeching and laughing loudly and then running in the opposite direction
I often tell Mamma to hide saying Mamma chuppo and if I can't find her by just running behind her I just stand making the hand gesture and saying Mamma Kahan hai
and then Mamma calls out and I find her and I feel extremely thrilled and sometimes say phir se and at other times I say "Guddu Chuppega" and run and then wait if Mamma is not right behind me- I basically want her to know where I am going right?
I mean what if she cannot find me ! And if Mamma pretends to be searching for me high and low though I am right in front of her - I promptly tell her "Guddu Ye raha !". I love this game. Its all abt screaming and laughing..right?

b)Catch Catch

Names I use
a) Catch
b) Pakado

Well I dunno why this is called by a different name -isn't is smthng similar to the peek-a-boo?I mean its similar with all the running and laugther and screaming
I love catching Arnav, Aarohi and Arsh. I guess Arnavs too fast for me so I often just give up!Off late I have figured that in the building lobby where mamma papa often run around the area to play with me, I can actually catch them faster if I run in the opposite direction
Its great fun to do this- I mean I have figured that what goes round comes round !! And shh... its much easier - that way they do all the running and I catch them easily !

c)Lip reading:
Also sometimes play a modified form called Secret!
Basically Mama tries to say smthng silently and I try to read what she is trying to say... Its good fun and I mostly figure out all familar words - sometimes I guess very quickly from the context! I mean if Mamma says "Atthai" then I am almost sure she will say Chennai next so sometimes even without seeing her lips I say Chennai !!
I love it better when Mamma murmurs in my ears . Its so ticklish and so damn funny !!I dunno yet how to tell a secret in the ear but because I know its a murmur - I often murmur meaninglessly !Mamma also uses these games when i read a book and tries to tell me what the picture is when I am unsure or guess incorrectly !

d) Pretend Play
This is smthng I really love !Gives me a chance to be in control of things and behave adultlike and ape the elders.
I make "Bhaiya" ( the ragged doll - why do we kids love the oldest and the most ragged of the dolls) sleep, make him clap hands, walk, jump,sit on a chair, do potty, scold him etc! I try changing his clothes also occasionally. I am often so involved in pretend play that I would rather say "Bhaiya ko susu aaa raha hai" when I would like to go or "Bhaiya ko Paani de do !"

e) Bat Ball

I can play this with just about anything - and in any manner. It all started when nanu nani got me the first bat ball. I then decided it was more fun to play bat ball by swapping ... so the minute i meet utsa or arshu, we swap bats and balls. Slowly I figured out that one can actually hit the ball wit the bat (was that supposed to be what bat and ball are meant for). Of course each kid has to play with a one ball and one bat- we do not play cricket like the way elders do - so no concept of some one throwing ball and other person hitting etc .We just throw it ourselves and then sweep it away just the way the jhadoo does. More often we all just carry our bat and ball and run behind someone else !
Now the second part of the fun starts - i play bat ball with the rolling pin and a small ball, with spoon and mustart seed / black pepper, with balloon stick and plastic pieces of other toys, with play-dough ball etc. etc.
Also mamma does not seem to understand how to hold the bat when I improvise on what the bat is- Mommy the broader part is the right side down and the other narrower portion to held !I often have to correct Mamma by saying Mamma Ulta - seedha Karo !

f) Slide/See Saw/Swing

I like swinging - the first few times, i couldnt sit, and fell off two three times. Then suddenly one fine day, i started sitting in swing myself. I sometimes ask mummy or pappa to sit and seat me on their lap, and swing me ... And sliding is some fun, provided someone puts me on top. Mummy pappa are making me climb the slide steps - i can do that, but the question is why , why should i put so much effort going up only to fall down the slide ...

g) Play dough

Names I use
a) dosa

I love pinching out little pieces and pretending I am making something !I also try to press it against the moulds and say ye dekho kya banaya ! Bunny or whatever .. But mostly I make my parents do the hard work of making something and let me tell you that they are pretty sad at it and they stick to the moulds instead of trying anything different or creative !

h) Imitation - the monkey ( and parrot business)

Well I love to repeat anything and everything irrespective of whether it makes any sense or not to me ! Also I love making faces that different folks make - I have a face a week that I pick and choose that I keep going for the week, making my parents a tad worried abt whether somethings amiss with my lips/eyes/nose etc !! I love the look on their face say when I pout or make a silly face !
Also I love remembering some characteristic sound/face/statement by various people and then keep repeating it oodd occasions ( like middle of the night /middle of lunch or any random time with no context) - saying"Pappu Uncle kaise kare hain" and then doing the action/sound/statement associated with that person. If I go wrong I correct myself saying " Sorry Pappu uncle nahin Sunaina aunty karti hain " or some such amazing statement !

Remember - Imitation is the best form of flattery !
i) Dandiya

I like playing the dandiya - basically twirling a stick of any dimension, and hitting it on some other stick of someone ... So i exchange bats and beat arshu's bat .. or i just beat two ladles in the kitchen ... calling out "dandiyaa re thathaa dandiyaa re"
I often use my bat/spoon etc for dandiya ! I have taught arshu also this and we often play this variation of using the bat instead of cricket or any such mundane stuff that adults try to teach us

Ulta Chor Kotwal ko Dante !! - Pearls of wisdom from Gabdu

2007-03-29T14:52:00.001+05:30

Gabdumms,

Some pearls from you in your usual chatty times that are typically before sleep time

a) Mamma Guddu ko Tang kar Raha hai. Guddu Ro raha hai !! ( This is when you troubling mamma in resisting sleep and when Mamma is close to tears !)
b) Mamma - Guddu ko Calcium do ! ( To which Mamma says nahin kal lenge because you are close to falling asleep and though mamma has indeed forgotten to give you calcium, mamma can't just afford to let you get active again by giving switching full lights on and giving you an excuse to wake up. Moreover Mamma lazy to get up and get the calcium !!) So you promptly sit up when Mamma says "Kal Lenge" and say with a severe expression ! "Doctor Uncle Ne kya kaha tha - Mamma Guddu ko calcium do !!"
It was an amazing comic as well as embarassing moment for Mamma
c) Ankit Mammu had come over to see Aarushi didi and when he was leaving he was trying to put on his shoes standing .. so it was quite an effort. So you end up making an observation " Ankit Mammu Shoes pehen rahe hain ! Shoe tight ho raha hai !!"
d) Mamma is bathing you and because of your newfoud obsession with "Guddu Swimmming Karega" meaning wanting to sit and splash in the tub, Mamma ended up wet so Mamma says " Guddu dekho Mamma Gilu Gilu ( wet) ho gayi ! Aise Mat karo" You continue your splashing and say " Mamma dress badal lo"
e) Topping this list is the way you tell Pappa or Mamma angrily if we try to talk to each other esp in Tamil or English or actually even in Hindi.. you loudly interrupt us with a " Pappa Mamma ko Nahi Baat karo" Grammar completely wrong and yet conveying ur pt of " I am the center of attention and the world" emphatically !
f) Of course you don't let Pappa give you water/sit you on the potty and other such stuff saying Pappa "No" and hitting him. I feel sorry and jealous of him at the same time. You vehemently say "Mamma karegi !"

The list goes on but I think these are like top 6 !!

Luv
Mamma

Dahi Kahan Gayan

2007-03-26T21:36:00.000+05:30

Gabdu,
you do come up with most hilarious interpretations of whatever we say or shud we say the "holes" in the way language is used are exposed with your interesting interpretations
I take you every morning at around 9 am for soaking up some sunlight both for you and me..So I told you the other day as I have said many other times " Chalo dhoop khatein hain Guddu"... so when you were refusing to come to the areas where the sunlight was ample, I said "Beta phir dhoop kaise khayenge ?" and you showed the eating action with all sounds to go with the eating :)

It was so funny that after that I think I let you play in the shade !

Today as we were having our dinner ... there was " Guddus Dahi" that Mamma was trying to feed you. So naturally there had to be "Papas dahi" and "Mammas dahi" also by induction. So you asked " Mama ka dahi kahan Gaya?" As I was already done with my food, I said " Mamma ka dahi peat mein gaya". After couple of minutes I found you pulling my top and looking in from the top standing next to me and Saying "Mamma ka dahi kahan Gaya? Peat mein Gaya" !! It was so hilarious to see you trying to find Dahi under my clothes near my stomach !

I can't remember other stuff right now but there have been so many such instances and you really bring a smile on our face even at the times when we are exasperated, most often by some naughty thing u've done !

Luv
Mamma

Home Alone ( With you ;-)

2007-03-24T14:01:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

Mamma has quit her job end of Feb to spend some time with you. This happened after quite a bit of soul searching.
Now, let me tell you this before you jump to any conclusion, I am a confused person, and am not very clear on whether
I want to be a SAHM or a mother who also works outside home. I guess I want to be everything but then the hours and capability is limited
However, the thought process that went behind this decision ( which might itself change depending on how things go..)
a) I feel I have a good 30+ years ahead of me to work, so I feel in this long stretch, 3-4 year break shud not hurt "career" or whatever I think of it.I feel I do not want to get old and then feel that all I've missed out on small moments of your growing up. I do not want to live these moments later say with my grankids because we really dunno what lies ahead
b) I feel that as a parent its my duty to take care of you and its the grandparents privilege to enjoy playing with you without becoming encumbered with the responsibility of taking care of you full time. They've brought up their respective kids and now its our turn. The least we can give back to them is to take care of our kids. That being said, I am blessed with in laws and parents who are ready to support me even if I feel I cannot manage at home and need to get back to work
c) Also somewhere deep down I feel I am anyways not giving my fullest attention to either career or family while working - so anyways I am slowing down my career, so why not take a break and concentrate on one thing at a time
d) I needed a break to think abt how we going to work out things going fwd. I mean it cannot go on like this right, both mamma and papa working outside home, grandparents and say maids to help at home. So need to I guess sit back and think of how to strike a balance such that I can spend enough time with you and also do something constructive and have something of a so called "career"

Now that I've spent abt 2 weeks after Nannu Nani left for Noida all alone during the day with you at home, I really admire SAHMs for their patience. At least at work you get to eat your lunch peacefully ;-) and take breaks. Here there is no concept of a "break". Your sleep is so pathetic that I cannot even think of a nap, and moreover I have other things to finish off when you are asleep. If I try to read the paper, you tell me "Mamma paper Mat padho" and if I don't comply I could soon have pieces of the paper to put together to read in addition to having to calm a screaming baby.
Also, it is extremely difficult to keep you occupied and engaged with stuff when at home. We go down thrice a day to play so that leaves abt 6 hrs or so of play time at home and its really difficult to keep thinking of new stuff. You need new stuff and so does Mamma because though you could at times be engaged in repeat reads and plays ( for 1000 times also!), its sometimes plain boring for Mamma
Mamma plans to start doing crafts with you...Also the luxury of talking to friends is gone...even on the phone ! You want to hold the phone and talk to whoever is on the other end and its embarassing to tell friends who often call long distance to talk to you for sometime and then hardly talk myself and hang up saying I'll call later .

One of my friends asked me the other day - so hows Gabdu feeling now with you at home. Frankly speaking I don't think it makes too much of a diff to you. You pbbly were happier with Thatha/Patti, Nannu/Nani as you got to see many more people around !But yes it does make a diff to me. I feel satisfied that I am able to spend good time with you, see your antics and activities and also not be "dependent" on anyone else to take care of you

Despite all that I've said above, I can say that I am in two minds ... may be its easier to have someone help and take care of you. May be its better for everybody- you me and everybody else. Not sure ...Also I am considering getting a maid for say 8-10 hrs so that you have someone else to play with too.Why I am procrastinating on that I am unsure... pbbly unfounded fears of getting dependant on a maid, not giving you enuff time because there would be someone else to take care of you and general distrust abt the way maids handle kids
But I am seriously considering 4 hrs a day work from home option and if that needs to work, I will need some help. I dunno if I am just being a control freak by not letting cooks and maids for you in the house yet

So the upshot is - I am unclear, confused as always abt plan ahead but as of now I am happy I am with you and not regretting being at home despite having sudden panic attacks during the day abt " what am I going to do?"

Will write you a less muddled letter some other time but for now this is what I am feeling...

And actually this is when the "break" feeling is not fully there ... its just like a vacation as of now

Luv
Mamma

Big Boss

2007-02-15T11:08:00.001+05:30

Could not resist putting down the kind of control freak you are and recording the kind of details you observe and make us comply with after reading this post from Madmomma . As I try to recollect all the stuff you control us on .. lemme start with the beginning of the day to the night

a) As Papa gets ready for office and wears his full-sleeved shirt while still donning his boxers, you scream papa "pnyjama" ( your term for Pants and a gabduspeak for pyjama) and cry if he delays it even by a second. Ideally you would want him to remove his home wear and don office clothes all simultaneously. You do the same as Mamma gets ready... and god forbid if Mamma decides to wear her night pyjamas below a office kurta !If you change you change all else leave it as is. Once Papa ready you start waving bye and telling him shoe and drop his bag from the deewan and tell him to take it ... And as if thats not enuff you say bye, give a flying kiss and then go ahead and bang the door on his face if his taking too long at the door and not proceeding to work ! Ditto for Mamma ... and Dupatta ! Man ! I've never seen anyone so passionate abt the dupatta .. I can not even try wearing and walking around in a salwar kameez without the dupatta on. You search thru all rooms/all clothes that you have access to /high and low and find Mammas dupatta and give it to her and make her wear it. And to add insult to injury, you say "Mamma dupatta theek se" if the dupatta is sliding off one side or is not sitting right on the shoulders esp when we in the car ! Its so annoying dear ... I mean I dunno where you've picked it from because no one in the house speaks so .. but yes I have to admit that Mamma also has such OCDs abt doing things a certain way, keeping things in the right place etc !Is the genes or is it just something that all toddlers do, I wonder ! Reading Madmommas post and comments, seems like toddlers use this as their weapon against we control-freak mommies who tell them eat this, do that, sit there, don't do that, wash your hands etc etc :))). Nani has a good laugh when she hears you control mamma .. says things come a full circle and that theres more fun to come :-)( Ah ! How I wish I had not troubled Nani so much and how wish that i wud stop doing it at least now)

b) You piddle and for some reason if we do not realise we suddenly find you running for the pocha and trying to clean it yourself !! This is your way of telling us we getting lazy. No delay allowed in such matters !

c) When Papa tries to put you to sleep you tell him "kandhe pe lo " , "Papa Uttho" "Papa Adu Godi" "Papa Bhaito" and so on in no predictable order, making him go thru rigourous exercise regimen as designed by you !

d) When Mamma tries to sing to you various rhymes and songs as she puts you to sleep .. You wud quickly change tracks in random order and insist we sing one two lines of that song before you decide you want another one !So it wud go smthng like "Brown girls Tralalala" ..and then " Ringa Ringa" and then "Namo Namo" and then suddenly "Dosai Maav Dosai .." and "Crazy Kiya Re" ... "Tic Tac Toe .. " and "Sa Sa Sare !" .. All languages /all types ... you decide the tracks ..you are the DJ of the music that puts you to sleep !!

e) Clothes !! Oh .. don't even get me started on this ! In short for past few weeks its been exasperating !You have some idea formed in your head of matching pairs of full sleeve tees and pyjamas !( not necessarily colour coordinated but actually stuff that goes well with each other) based on what Mamma has put on for you in the past. However in the winter given the number of clothes to be washed and dried there are missing pairs very often and like every elder, i occasionally think - how does it matter - baccha kuch bhi pehen ke ja sakta hai .. Man ! What a tussle it is and needless to say we know who wins always .. YOU !! As Mamma tries to forcibly put on one leg into the pyjama you skilfully wrestle out the other one ..making it impossible to force or decide for you ...

f) If theres a deal in feeding you like "Ek Chammach Dahi .. Ek Chammach Dal.. Ek Gassa Roti " .. well who wud think a toddler wud notice as you slime in 2 gassas of roti in between in a bid to hasten the feeding process .. but no !You scream murder and purse your lips and say Mamma Dal or Dahi or whatever your favorite item is ..You can twist the terms of the deal to your liking but no one else !

g) Yesterday Nani said lets make pasta just like that in the evening and then decided against it. But well who could change things once you've heard them . You refused to have anything else and insisted Nani make pasta and Nani had to make it despite the fact that she was not very familiar with the steps !

h) You pick up tiniest particles lying around and head for the dustbin !Also if you happen to dribble milk or any food item and it dirties your dress or floor .. you tell Mamma .. " Mamma kerchief Saafi Saafi !"

Oh my god !! WHat a Control freak and dictator I have as a daughter.. so much so that we often forget who is the parent !

GabduTalk

2007-02-08T17:28:00.000+05:30

We were giving you Shelcal ( the calcium syrup the doc has prescribed for you) last evening. There was a picture of a mom holding her son on her hip. So you said "Baby Mamma ki Godi mein" and stopped .. so I prodded you " Baby Mamma ki Godi mein kya kar raha hai?" You looked at me - and thought hard and said " Baby Mamma ki Godi mein Adu Godi kar raha hai !" Now Adu is a word that you've used for Godi since you were one and now that u've learnt Godi also, you typically ask us to do "Adu Godi" which is essentially pick me up.It was so funny to hear you say " Baby Mamma ki Godi mein Adu Godi kar raha hai" for the lack of better options to express yourself !You sure know how to get out of a spot don't you?

Need to let the Sun Shine upon you

2007-02-07T17:49:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

I am rather ashamed to tell you that this week when we visited the doc for your MMR vaccine, he did a complete checkup and asked me in a rather strict and unapproving tone whether or not I had given you the calcium dose and vit D he had prescribed in Sept. I had not :( because you kept falling sick of and on and everytime I wud ask the doc, he wud say start it after the child gets ok. Bad excuse I know :( and so I am unable to come to terms with the fact that I did not pay enuff attention to it . Imagine my horror when he said your fontanelle had not closed and you had open wrists .. not that I knew exactly what that meant but I knew that I had screwed up :(. I asked him what it meant and he said .."Calcium deficiency - can cause Rickets "actually he did not even say a full sentence - he looked disapprovingly and said "Rickets" like I mean how could you educated folks not know abt it :(( . Frankly speaking it never crossed my mind that I need to take care of your mineral/vitamin requirements and that deficiency cud happen at any strata of the society. I associated the deficiencies with malnourished kids and I know I am wrong abt it :(. Anyways thankfully the doc told us abt the fact that there is a calcium deficiency and so I have started on regular doses of Calcium and every morning Nanu takes you downstairs for playing for abt an hr. I overlooked the important factor of sunlight and though all ur grandparents stressed on it, we kinda did not pay much attention to it. Anyways I am praying and hoping that with this, the deficiency goes away and everything is fine . Also read abt the fact that when child breastfed and mother does not get enuff sunlight( Vit D) that could also cause a deficiency .. so need to make it a pt for us elders also to spend some good time in sunlight. I mean come to think of it even mama papa hardly get any sunlight :(
I hope everything turns out fine and I am really sorry I omitted taking care of these things and i hope anyone reading this will also ensure they and their children get enuff sunlight

luv
Mamma

Mums the wor(l)d

2007-02-06T16:42:00.000+05:30

Gabdu has started for some strange reason calling her Nani Mumma, Mummy and all the other variations of Mum occasionally. Ok .. not a strange reason but pbbly because I call Nani "Mummy" and so she has made the association. I am amazed that I actually felt jealous that she was doing this or may be jealous is the wrong word - shud I say possessive of my title of mummy ! Its just a name and shud not matter and yet somewhere deep down I wished she wud not do that ;-). I kept correcting and telling her that she is Nani ...;-) .The title is just a very tiny bit of the experience of motherhood and yet I feel the word wraps around it a zillion emotions and so I cling on to it possessively demanding that it be only my right to be called so .. Wonder how our moms feel when we start calling our MILs by that name ...and yet they tell us to address them that way ...In fact I cannot forget how difficult it was for me to call my MIL mummy .. I felt strange and felt robbed of my mother ..I cud not bring myself to call her mummy.. Even now though its been 5 years .. I still find it difficult to call my MIL mummy when my moms around because to me my mothers just one ! Hmmm .. wonder how I will handle gabdu calling her MIL mummy years later ...

I dunno if I am being stupid and over sensitive but I really kinda like the indispensability of me being mommy ..which I know is not fair to her yet I love it when I am the one who gets showered with kisses and hugs rather than say pappa. I am the one she comes to when she is sleepy, cranky and basically in need of anything. Thats a unique status. Of course this comes with its own negatives - expect to be required merely in the background when she is busy playing with her thatha, patti, nanu, nani,atthai etc but dare you move away from the room - u get caught and have a toddler crying as if you have beaten her up, your entry into the house is often met with crying rather than the happy reception accorded to papa ... Those are the times you sometimes wish you cud loan that title out to someone -or may be not ;-)

Crush(ing)News :-))

2007-01-31T15:00:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddams:
Lots of things happening in your life
New words, new sentences (full ones) ... and new friends ... well not exactly ..
It is a commonly known fact that you have found your crush - your first crush .. Arsh ...
Well, it is like this - when you see him, you run to him and are ready to play with him. You run with him, scream and screech, and have a good time.
The other day, you were sitting in the lobby of the neighbouring building- and refused to budge from your seat even when mamma pappa were pleading with you to play with them. Then came Arsh. He came on his cycle - the moment he saw you, he jumped off his cycle, while it was not yet stationery. And you jumped off from the chair - seeing him, you could not wait a minute. Then he came and took your bat and ball, so you went to his maid and took his bat and ball, and then the two of you took off, running and playing with each other.
You play with no other kiddie than Arsh and he plays with noone but you. And you guys get along really well ..
Mamma pappa are sure this relationship is just going to take off !!!
Love pappa

When Words became sentences ...

2007-01-31T14:11:00.000+05:30

Dear Laddu,

You have started making such interesting sentences that well .. it makes us feel so amazed ..
Every parent must be seeing this happen and yet each i am sure finds it so amazing .. the process of the infant who could only cry to communicate to one who could pt and make wild gesterures for to a toddler who could say words to finally a toddler who could speak full blown sentences and recite rhymes !! Truly amazing.. Amazing the way kids of your age pick up language by just hearing stuff in context ..
You now say things like to cite a few examples

a) Duddhu peena hai
b) Thatha Patti dadar gaye
c) Patti kaise sulati hai? ( Question you pose to urself - followed by an answer) Patti Namo Namo gake sulati hai
d) Khujli - Macchar ne Katta

You recite the rhyme
a) Are you sleepy brother john almost fully
b) Nila Nila Va va
c) All the answer pieces of Johnny Johnny ..Yes papa ..
d) Round and Round the garden like a teddy bear !!
e) Chanda Mama Door ke ( This one you almost sing with the tune !!)

Wonderful phase .. its like music to hear you and at the same time spells trouble 'cos you can repeat any sentence we say clearly and sometimes a private conversation that Mamma Papa think they are having may become public ;-))

Luv
Mamma

Tit Bits :-)

2007-01-25T16:47:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

The topmost thing on mammas mind is accomplishing night time weaning and getting down to max of 2 regulated feedings ( by regulated i mean quick and continuous 10-15 minute nursing session as opposed to how it is now with u taking breaks and coming back at ur ease and screaming murder if Mamma asks if u are done and she can shut shop :-)), a day.
As I sit thinking abt it, I am looking back fondly on the nursing sessions we have had in the past. Abt how you literally do a joy of dance if Mamma says Chalo Beta when you say "Diddhu" in ur cute baby voice with a question mark.You hold Mamma and lead her to the bedroom these days and say leti leti and do a "Hu Ha Hu Ha " with a naughty and happy glint in ur eyes if Mamma complies with ur wishes. And everytime Mamma asks u " Duddhu Bas?" you look up while drinking and briefly disengage and demand "Aur Chahiye " with all the "its my birthright" tone .. and then continue without waiting for my response...And if Pappa dares says "Guddu Duddhu Bas - papa Godi?" to start his process of putting you to sleep you kick him so badly - that ouch it hurts badly ( when U laugh;-))). Even his presence anywhere close by spells danger to you and you think his sole purpose is to take you away from ur milk ! You give him glares and often kick him very hard with the slightest hint of him opening his mouth assuming he is gonna try to disengage you. And sometimes , if and only if you decide ( YOU are the supreme authority) you will say "Mamma Bas" and then as if to ask Mamma to hurry up if Mama is continuing to lie down without shutting shop as we call it, you say "Bandh Kar Lo !".And you have learnt to say this side that side and flip your back and wait eagerly on the other side for Mamma !

And I also remember the number of times you have bitten me and when mamma said "No biting" you often did not understand said "No biting " and continued and when Mamma said Ouch you realised the pain and wud start wailing loudly saying "Mammma no biting" !! And when Mamma is in pain for any reason and Mamma asks you to disengage saying "Beta Nikalo" you promptly do that which is sooo sweet and understanding !

Hmm ... so feeding you has given me fond memories for life but at the same time I have many back breaking tales also which I wud reserve for some other letter to you

luv
Mamma

Parenting Choices & Dilemmas

2007-01-25T12:09:00.000+05:30

Putting down some dilemmas and confusions and many of the disagreements say between me and my mom ( She feels I pbbly go too much by a rule book !)

Let the child taste variety of stuff - junk/chocolates/tea/sweets and so on
(or)
Ensure child has milk without sugar, don't let them taste tea or chocs 'cos they cud take to it - hoping that this is the mantra to ensure lifelong healthy food habits -

but the question if they can't eat now when can they? .... ? Tough Choices

Let the child co sleep and feed at will until he or she self weans, don't let them cry ever

(or)

Let them cry a little and so get them into the good habit of not feeding in the night which works well for everybody - better sleep for mother and child

Travel if u need to with the child , and let the schedules for sleeping etc go out of the window for a temporary period when you do this and don't worry as its just once in a while ...

(or)

Travel almost negligible as kiddo sleep getting affected and schedule of eating/playing also not kept

Wash every toy tonnes of time everytime it touches the floor

(or)

Wash occasionally when they are dirty and leave the rest to be taken care of by the improved immune system that is happening as they are at it

Boil water and keep separate spoons and utensils for the child that rewash everytime before you use it even if they are already washed

(or)

Let the child start having the aquaguard water all of you have...

Let the child try out shutting the closet and reopening and try to see the electrical switches that have been duly covered by putting on and off

(or)

Don't let ur child anywhere near anything even remotely dangerous and keep an eye all the time- every second .. don't let them play in the sand as they cud get infected ... and so on ...

Diapers

(or)

No diapers

Let them without their underwear for sometime

(or)

Let them be free for sometime at least as the grandparents say

TV - strictly no

(or)

Ok to use while feeding or ok for a short while

I could go on and on with the choices . I am not saying I have chosen one or the other in all these choices but don't you agree it often becomes difficult to make some choices and decide which end and exactly where on the spectrum you want to be given that there are as many opinions as the number of people and the feeling of gingerly holding responsibility of shaping a childs future always at the back of your mind ...

What are the choices you are still unclear on and keep changing .. what are the non-negotiable ones - do let me know in case you drop by

Higher Emotional Sensitivity?

2007-01-24T12:39:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddams,

I guess kids of your age have not only a higher attention to detail and more observation but also higher emotional sensitivity. How else would one explain how easily you have grasped please and sorry ? How else would one explain the hugs I get from you and a gentle tap with a worried face asking me "Kya Hua Mamma"?
Nani was mentioning how you came to Nanu Nani and said Sorry Nanu Sorry Nani umpteen number of times and they were like its ok beta but what happened only to discover minutes later that you had dropped their ironed clothes that were to be worn for a reception on the floor !! Amazing grasp of the concept of sorry !
Mamma is trying to cut down on the night time feeds for the better interests of both of us and early last morning when I said no "Duddhu Bas", you said "Please Mamma" and melted my heart and got what you wanted ...
Nanu Nani got you a small pencil box to keep your color pencils that you have started scribbling in and you spent some time figuring out what it was and played and then suddenly said Nanu thank you !!
We saw this puppy at Bhandardhara and you said Mummy and cried and kept crying even as I held you and looked at the puppy and said Mamma Mamma - which I interpret as your realisation that the puppys mamma was nowhere to be seen
Patti was off to board the local train on July 7th - day of the blasts in local trains -when papa messaged mamma abt the incident and so Mamma tried frantically to reach Patti and then put on the television that showed the people crying etc while papa headed to the station to get Patti back - you wailed and wailed as the images on the screen flashed across - guess they were disturbing and you sensed the tension that was going on in mamma and papas minds .
You are the first one to feel Mammas mood changes and look and ask "Kya Hua " and the worried look on your face is amazing ! Of course there are times when we pretend to cry and u seem to understand and insist we do it again and again and laugh!
You sense the tension if papa and mamma have any arguments and well that kind of ensures our arguments are short because we can see you disturbed !
When Mamma walked away from the bedroom the other day to leave you to be put to sleep by papa but instead of wishing both of u good night or silently walking away , said "Good Night honey" ( to papa) and you cried loudly waving and saying good night honey to show your displeasure at being ignored !
Its amazing to see this and see how you grasp all these intangible concepts ..
How I wish all of us retained this till date and were not as insensitive as we are to various things that happen around us
Wishing you retain your senstivity/sixth sense/understanding or for the lack of better words whatever this is forever even as you grow up

What would this make mamma ?

2007-01-23T14:59:00.001+05:30

Taking up i2w tag-a very interesting one - I have taken a slightly humorous take on this and i guess speaks volumes abt my current state of mind :)

If I were an animal/ bird: A sparrow- small,active, able to fly and yet commonplace and bird-next-door types :)
If I were a vehicle: Bicycle (Gents ;-)- needing pump to fill air regularly ( or shud I say boost my ego), needing the right balance and effort to manouvere,needing enough effort to mount ( and if wrongly executed injuring the rider badly)
If I were a comic character: Hobbes :) Visible only to some ( Calvin) and so party to all the mischief and yet escaping punishment:-)
If I were a city: Calcutta- sleepy and unshakeable( from its slumber). Take it or leave it attitudeIf I were an art form : Painting - Open to interpretation and often admired without being understood :)
If I were a colour: Red - Bold, Assertive and Calling for attention ;-)
If I were a filmstar: Shahrukh - Popular, Witty and Sarcastic despite being slightly ugly and stammering my way thru interviews - shows the confidence :-)
If I were a vegetable: Karela (BitterGourd) - Selectively liked, Good for health despite the taste - appearances and experience with taste buds all deceptive - does real good to the system :-))
If I were a fabric: Cotton - Needing the ironing out ones in a while ;-)
If I were a gizmo: A waterproof watch - Strapped firmly to the user, and needing to be looked at and checked every now and then ;-))

Edited to Add : oopsie I guess I did not read the purpose of this tag and I copied ArtNavys If I were a.. thinking we were to complete each - nevermind - will put down my true style ( which is often none) soon again

Why Do You Breastfeed?

2007-01-16T12:38:00.001+05:30

Why Do I breastfeed?
Time and again, friends and family have said various things abt continuing/discontinuing breastfeeding. Most people think the importance I attach to it is unnecessary and Nani thinks its become a little bit of an inconvinience for her daugther. Well I have been breastfeeding till now - ( Gabdu is almost 18 months old) and now its down to 2 -3 feeds in the day ( one in morn and one in late eve) and multiple comfort feeds in the night. I know I need to get the night weaning going soon - not because I think its wrong/or right but just because I feel both me and Gabdumms as well as papa need better sleep and I think it will help to night wean and only feed her first thing in the morn and last thing in the night. But as I get the process going for weaning in general by the time she is 2 years old, I feel the need to put down reasons why I breastfeed and the reasons that don't really figure in my list of why I do breastfeed
1. The foremost reason I have been breastfeeding is not because of all the gyaan on whether it makes the IQ of the kid better or how harmful formula is but because I believe that if breasts do produce milk they must do so for a good reason and I believe that nature shows us the way. All mammals feed their kids so why not human beings2. Because it gives me alone time with my daughter cuddling and being with her. So I just love doing it.. Being a working mother this is my opportunity for some me time with my daugther. I love the way her face lights up when I am ready to feed her "Leti Leti kar ke". How can I deny her smthng that makes her feel so thrilled !
The reasons that do not really contribute to my strong inclination to breastfeed but nevertheless are good brownie pts for breastfeeding
a) Its easy- less sterilisation and less headaches of packing n bottles on a trip.b) Its quick comfort for my daughter when she is in pain or angry or just plain needing mammac) It has helped me loose my post pregnancy weight pretty quickly
Anyways I do plan to wean by 2 years for primarily my own conveniece and I do not in any way look down upon anyone who does not breastfeed, breastfeeds for longer time or for that matter shorter ... i think each mom does whats best for her kids and family and its best to leave decisions to the mommy 'cos mommy knows best

I can take my shoes out

2007-01-15T14:11:00.000+05:30

Well, for the past two days you have mastered the art of removing your shoes on your own..which is oh so cute but also is exasperating because I cannot make you walk no matter what because you simply remove your shoes on the way and just look at me and I have no choice but to carry you as I cannot imagine letting you walk barefeet ! Actually may be I shud let you ! Smartie pants that you are !

The other major milestone I think we are gonna hit very soon is potty training 'cos you promptly remove your undies or at least attempt when you need to go and then go on the floor ( I am talking abt potty here !) and as one lump touches the floor you stand and move to another place and squat while instructing mamma to "Saaf karo" . And did i mention we do have a potty where you could sit comfortably and go abt ur business ! Anyways its good to see you be aware of whats happening but I do dread being on the road - i mean imagine if you insist on taking off ur undies/diapers in public and going !!! :))

More milestones

2007-01-10T11:08:00.000+05:30

Quick updates starting what you've learnt starting say Nov beginning(15-16 months)
a) you are easily able to extend your arms out of the arm holes of your clothes making it easier for all of us to dress you
b) You have begun to sometimes kind of sleep on your own ie if we give around an hr to blabber and climb all over us, with dim lights and mamma and papa lying next to you. In any case overall its much easier to put you to sleep as you sleep readily putting your head on shoulders of the person putting you to sleep. The memories of sit ups and much tougher times are fast fading away making a tough day when you refuse to sleep seem tougher.
c) You can technically drink off from a tumbler/glass/katori on your own but of course we don't let you do it too often as you promptly wet yourself
d) I've moved you to the sippy cup for milk too and there was practically no struggle theree) You can lift some food with the spoon but to feed others and not urself :)
f) Scribbling/Writing/Drawing has begun starting Nov. You have your own colour pencils and a book where you scribble and also ask people to draw various objects and subjects for youg)You speak the language quite well now- I mean sentences like Nanu Nani Aa gaye !! , Papa ka Pant ( grammatically incorrect:) , Guddu ka Bottle, Aur Chahiye, Woh Wala, Yeh Wala etc etc . You surprise us because most usages were never taught to you but you've just picked them up hearing others speakh) You hold the bat so well for batting ! its a diff issue that it hardly ever touches the ball
i) Running quite fast
j) Learning to Jump - almost
k) Starting Dec mid - you slide on the slide quite okayly, Finally hold the swing and are climbing the stairs ( crawling up) and have figured to some extent how to get down stairs too
This is like a long list but I think there are other milestones I've missed out, but will update those laterI need to be a little more regular in recording the happenings so that I can fondly look back on them without loss of detail :)
LuvMamma

Happy New Year

2007-01-03T14:39:00.000+05:30

Well dear, Wish you a great year ahead and I hope its a great year ahead for us as a family. I think the year that went by was definitely a very happening,significant and happy year for us and most of it was because of you.Of course there were sleepless nights, hospital trips and meltdowns due to your quick temper( and mammas to match yours and make matters worse) and high needs but then there were milestones, growing together and watching you learn to communicate in a language we understood ! Well dear thanks for making our day every day of the last year and hope you do so in the years to come toBecause you happen to be wee bit small to make new year resolutions, here are a few I think you shud have
a) Stop being such a tantrum thrower ( if theres such a usage :))b) Stop being obsessed with Mammas milk and get weaned off completely by the time you are 2c) Stop being so stubborn and do my own thing person. Be stubborn abt doing what mamma tells you to will u?d) Sleep better or shud I say sleep ( and thru the night?). Also sleep on ur own without like a prolonged session that is makes me pull out my hair every single day?e) Continue to amaze us with what you can learn and how you love us unconditionallyWell , I've run out of stuff and so might as well spend some time making and breaking some resolutions for myselfSo heres wishing you a very happy new year yet againluvMumma

Talkathon Candidate:

2006-12-18T14:41:00.000+05:30

Well kiddo I can see you participating in such events from whatever age you are legally allowed to do so :)Read in the papers that the average number of words women speak is 20,000 and the men about 7,000. Well seems like kids can surpass these and need to be given a separate category !You love to talk esp in front of other folks. And in the past two months you've picked up so many usages of the spoken language that well to put in short, its amazing !Previously it used to be one word or max two words in combination. And mostly nouns that we had taught you specifically. Now you pick up almost anything we speak and not only do u repeat it promptly in part or full, you internalize it too ! And end up using it in some context again! We need to be really careful abt what we speak and the language we use for anything we speak abtBut thankfully you've graduated from being an intensely negative person to a balanced one - lest you get angry abt how I look at u, lemme explain ! You were till may be oct primarily using nahi no etc for vehemently saying no when u wanted to and a vigorous nod when you wanted something. Now you say yes and no very clearly. You are able to communicate quite clearly. Its not yet fully formed sentences but mamma gets to know what happened during the day quite well from the conversation we have in the evening. Now if thats not communicating, what is ?The other day I asked you " Kaun kaun mila tha neeche khelne ke liye" you said "Mukund Shriya" the names of two toddlers a little younger than you. So I asked what Mukund and Shriya were doing. You said Walky Walky ( which means walking in ur language). I asked patti whether Mukund and Shriya had started walking ! She said yes ..Amazing isn't it !You know so many animals from their pics that it amazes me ! Panda, Kangaroo and pata nahi kya kya ! I can distinguish a Kangaroo and a dog and your dads taught you Okapi ! Now did u know thats an animal ! I didn't ! And to worsen matters he promises to show you Okapi in his kiddy book and gets u so desperate to see it that mamma has to frantically turn pages to find the darn animal she's never heard abt !You know two three words of most rhymes and can identify the page of the book they come on and in fact for some you know even the full line " Ringa Ringa roses !" and if prompted you continue tooIdhar, Udhar , yahaan , Wahaan , lo , do etc I thought were difficult words ( in terms of concepts) but you seem to be quite familar with them !You say stuff like Paani gir gaya ! Papa Office Gaya and pata nahi kya kya !And the best part is the hand action that goes with stuff like "Clip Kahan Gaya ?" you shake your hands so cutely. Also in the morn when you wake up and walk to the kitchen and don't find mamma there you put out both ur hands indicating where and its so cute !You've got a cap fetish as of now .. cappie or cap as you call it depending on ur mood . Its good for us as winter is in and we'd better keep u warm when you go downstairs Hmmm .. I've got sooo much to update on the so many amazing things u are upto but I guess I will continue laterAnd yes you do amzing dance moves now ... Sitting all the way down twisting as you move down and moving ur hands and then slowly twisting again and standing !And in between all these amazing growing up stuff mamma wonders why you refusing to grow beyond a 1 month old in the sleep department !!. It kind of averages out stuff does it not?
LuvMamma

Sums up what I am feeling now

2006-12-12T15:01:00.000+05:30

Here are two quotes from articles from some blogs/or net - I forget the links that are so apt and exact in mirroring what I feel strongly at this pt in time

a) Parenting is a privilege not a sacrifice

b) Be involved in your work ( ie office work), and attached to your home.- Sums up the professional/personal life balance quite well don't you think so

Gabdu, my letters to you have not happened for a while now due to the thoughts that have been wreaking havoc in my mind :). Finally I however have made up my mind and there is much less of restlessness and uncertainity now that I know what I am doing ...and all I want to tell you till I elaborate more on this is that what I am going to do going fwd is my own decision, and its not for you but for my own happiness ( See you've got proof to ensure I do not land the blame on you later :)

Luv
mommy

Brave girls and copycats

2006-11-23T17:55:00.000+05:30

Dear guddams:

Last week you were not well - doc told us it could be pneumonia. Mamma and pappa admit that you were really brave. You had medicines like some Expectorent even though it tasted awful. You did not crib when the X Ray was taken with you standing - I dont know why the Lab guy made you lie down , and upset you in the process, when mamma pappa told him he could take X Ray with you standing. You took Crocin even though it tasted sickeningly sweet. You really were a darling, you lost all your edge on Monday and Tuesday, but from Wednesday, with fever down you were quite cheerful ...

On Sunday, before the illness came in, pappa saw you and your boy-friend (Arsh) cavort. It was too cute. First of all, when Arsh saw you, he came and greeted you with a smile. Then, you attacked his cycle and pulled out his bat and ball. When he protested you refused to ghive it to him, and if he snatched it, you created a ruckus. His maid gave him a ball for himself, which if he dropped you picked up and gave to him. And when you jumped and ran around, Arsh imitated you. When you screamed, so did he and when you babbled, he repeated what you babbled. When he sat on a chair, you also went to sit on the chair.You guys had a great time together - really made for each other ...

Love,
Pappa

Motherhood

2006-11-13T11:06:00.000+05:30

Heres a nice fwd I saw in my mailbox a couple of days back. I can more than agree with most of these pts !
What changes when you have a baby? A better question may be: What doesn't change? Read mom Rebecca Woolf's list of post-baby differences:
1. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
2. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms. ( Ok I have not smelt roses yet but yes I've seen the birdies & the puppies)
3. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.
4. You're less self-involved and more self-motivated.
5. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.
6. You respect your body ... finally. (Hooray for baby-making!)
7. You have stronger opinions and are stronger willed.
8. You respect your parents and love them in a new way. (Hooray for grandparents!)
9. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.
10. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child. (Hooray for the tooth fairy!)11. You lose touch with the people in your life that you should have banished years ago. ( well at least you stop caring abt how someone wud feel hurt if you don't call them & wish them on their birthday !)
12. Your heart breaks much more easily.
13. You think of your baby 234,836,178,976 times a day. In fact, you're so busy with this that you forget everything else.
14. Every day is a surprise.
15. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
16. You think before you speak.
17. You become a morning person. (Hooray for watching the sun rise!)
18. If you have a son, you no longer curse men. (Hooray for all men!).. ( Well dunno abt this one !)
19. If you have a daughter, you hope she won't endure your same heartaches
.20. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

Toddler Perceptions :)

2006-11-09T11:09:00.000+05:30

You are right now in an interesting phase of learning and also more importantly figuring out stuff based on what you've learnt. Its really interesting to see your interpretation of stuff we say and things you see. Like your papa was mentioning that when you saw a long haired guy at Noida, you said Aunty but as he came closer you kinda seemed to realise and said Uncle :). Its really fun to see natures miracles at work. Wonder how the brain starts to intrepret & piece together information based on what the baby sees, hears, feels & senses ...Two days back, as you woke up & walked into the kitchen, mamma asked you to take off pyjamas - "Pyjama uttaro, papa se kaho pyjama uttaro" & the outcome was hilarious you looked straight, walked to mamma & started pulling down her pyjamas !! :). Need to specify the noun ( not even the pronoun ) for every action clearly to send the message across I guess. :). Also the same evening when mamma put on her spectacles,( which you insisted mamma put on because u knew we were likely to put on television & mamma does put on spectacles while watching tv), you exclaimed Nani :)) And looked again & yet again said Nani. I guess you meant mamma looked like Nani with spectacles on:).
I have many more interesting titbits( actually some of them really are tit-bits ;-)) to record but will sign off now .
Also Guddu, I think we need to ask papa to write more often . What say you?

luv
Mamma

Long awaited post after a long vacation

2006-11-07T14:50:00.000+05:30

Well, we celebrated diwali with Nana Nani at Noida and had loads of fun. You bonded instantly with Nani at the
airport where she was summoned urgently inside the terminal as you had pooped on board and the journey to Noida wud
take another 1-2 hrs and it would be complete torture to let you sit in ur poop till we got there. Actually you
were very well behaved on board - I mean you pooped and still stayed still and did not create a ruckus. Your dad
and me have come to a conclusion that you are the most well behaved child outside. Either you've set ur standards
real low by being a tantrum queen when with us at home or you really are a model child. I give you the benefit of
doubt and choose the latter ...Anyways ..so on board .. u were really good .. I mean all we had to do is to keep
asking the air hostess to give us some water in those cute little flight bottles like a thosand times. We looked
like we had a serious health problem or were stocking up for home as we did not have good water supply !You wud say
"OPEN" and we had to quickly guzzle the water down ( to prevent wet accidents when in flight and then leave a teeny
weeny bit at the bottom to satisfy you so that you cud drink and feel happy). And wonder whats so nice abt the
water or the container it was in on board that each time you had the water you said nice. Made us wonder if we were
not giving you enuff water.Eventually you tired off the game and started munching on the bottle itself !Also you
slept for abt an hr on flight so we cud quickly have our food in flight ( wud be pity to lose out on the free food
on board). Anyways so you bonded instantly with Nani at the airport and even asked her Nanu ? with that intonation
of a question ( or whatever the term is). It was very sweet and thrilled nani to bits !Well so we changed you and
walked out ( as in you walked too) so that Nanu cud see his granddaughter walking out, but we cud not find them .
So anyways when we found papa and nanu, you were quite silent and in Mammas arms so well I guess u missed making
the first impression on Nanu :). Once we reached Noida you were so excited with a new place that u kept walking up
and down and running for the next 2 hrs and slept eventually at 11 pm :).Basically you got adjusted to Noida pretty quickly and were comfy with Nanu Nani from the moment you saw them. No crying no nothing. That was nice. Diwali was good - we had the lashmi pujan and u had fun watching papa light the flowerpots, ground chakras and the sparklers. You loved watching them ...You were introduced to lots of new food like singhada, bathua,singra and lots of sweets . Also you loved eating at the dining table with the full family .. You learnt many many new words .. Bithao, Utaro, oopar, kholo, khao, chahiye and many others i am unable to recollect right now. We visted many of mammas relatives and you had great fun at every place esp with the kids !You loved the toys Nanu Nanis place had in each room and yet the kitchen was your favorite hang out place. You loved the swing downstairs and went on the merry go round, slides etc in the park. You got ur first set of proper shoes !Yippee! You had the fun of wearing the winter clothes ( not the real warm ones but at least the sweater, full sleeve tees and pyjamas/leggings) though winter hardly had arrived there ..You slept on the double bed with mamma papa but were always with Nanu Nani for the first 2-3 hrs of ur sleep as mamma papa wanted to watch tv :-)). Mamma papa got to go out 4 times !! We left you with Nanu Nani for abt 4-5 hrs and managed to catch 2 films in these 4 trips ( Don and Jaan-e-man). You learnt to stand on the stool and dance and kinda jump. Learnt 1-2-3-4-5 (almost).The only flip side was u fed like 100 times in a day when mamma was available :) and woke up like 20000 times each night :). You wud wake up every morning & say sweetly "Papa open door Nanu Nani" :). You met Mahi and Shreya and had great fun !Papa took great care of u thru the trip and mamma really had a great break. Pappa wud put u to sleep evryday, feed you many times and bathe u most of the times !You saw puppies with papa in ur morning jaunts with papa. You saw birdies and more dogs in the township and loved it. You even had a chance to see a puppy in the balcony next door :). Out trip to Meerut was good adventure as we were not allowed to take the vehicle inside and had to travel by bus and rickshaw and you enjoyed every moment of it !come to think of it , you were very very well behaved throughout !!I am running out of steam so closing this post here and will take it up some other time . All in all, all of us had a gr8888 time during the vacation!

Word Building :)-

2006-10-12T12:30:00.000+05:30

Literally.. I mean u say like tons of words. babycenter July 05 board had a poll on how many words kiddos of ur age speaking and it ended at more than 20 words. So mamma thot she wud put down the various words u speak and see whats the count for ur vocab.Heres the list

Eatables& Related
Cheese, Dahi, Pappati(for Chappati), Appurr ( For apple), Juice, Duddhu ( for Milk), Aaaloo( for any veggie), Paneer, Daal, Rice,Cheeko,Paani,Khana, Bitta for Biscuit,Carrot,Sugar,Bottle,Bread. And the word Nice for anything thats tasty :) . Poon for spoon.Hot and Cold. The count is 21 words !

Names(friends, toys, dolls)/Relations:
Mummy,papa,Patti,thatha, Nannu,Nani, Mami, Aunty,Uncle, Atta( for Athai),Arsh, Arnav, Sheeya for Shriya, Aarhi ( for Aarohi), Didi, Baby, Bhaiya,Ishaan, Utsa, Bai,Dolls& Toys- Noorie, Candy, Teddy, Munny( for bunny), Monkey,Mbo( for Jumbo), Meow, Bowwow,Mickey, Minnie,Boat,Babusha for Babushka,Anu,Birdy,Ball,Bat,Ananya That makes like 37 in this category !!

Other stuff
Do (for give), No, Nahi, Addu ( for lifting u up), Godi, oopar for up, Gaya for gone, Bye, Allo for hello, Phone, Soi for sleeping, Kaun for who, Sha(d)ow,Itty ( for Itsy Bitsy),TV,Car,Book,Eyes,Nose,Bus for enuff, Susu , Potty,Towel,Shoes,Open,Car,Auto, Office, Dadar,Noiaaa(for Noida),Aapi, Kangi, Bib, Abba for Dabba,Dhoi,Cheddi( for underwear), Dress, Saree,Pant,Brush 39 words!!

Wowowowow !! You say abt 97 words and I am sure I have missed many !! Also u do try to say sentences like papa office gaya!! Bottle dedo etc !!
Go Girl !!! U have hit the centuryin terms of number of words

More later

luv
Mamma

more words ... and some showing off

2006-10-08T16:32:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddams:
You have progressed in your vocab.
Now you know how to recognise clothing: "Pant", "Cheddi" (for your underwear), "Papa" for pappa's stuff and "Mama" for mamma's stuff.
Of course, you havent moved out of old stuff either - Nonia for Noida, Daaaaada for Dadar and Aw-ficcce for Office.
You are getting off beds and sofas with ease - now the next thing we are awaiting is your getting on to them.
Last week, actually last weekend, was the second Dandiya downstairs - you enjoyed yourself ok'ish. But then the mext day you got fever, which went away, only to come back two days later. Some worry for mamma and pappa as you went on a hunger strike with liquid diet (dudhu diet) only ...
Thankfully, fever, weakness and lack of appetite are away, and you are coming back.

Last night was your first night a a good restaurant - we went to Hyatt Regency Stacks, the Italian eatery. You sat i your high chair and had carrot and breadsticks while mamma pappa had the starteres. Once the starters and soup were alsmot done, you erupted and insisted on roaming all around the place. Not even sitting on mamma's lap. Net net, you had an hyperactive sesison, while mamma pappa ate alternately. Once we returned home, you went to sleep almost immediately. One thing is certain - you are a SHOW OFF ...

Love you
Pappa

When Poosh became Spoon

2006-09-27T18:22:00.000+05:30

Well , so u said spoon instead of poosh .. and guess what mamma told u while handing it over - here take the poosh :)) . So looks like u'll be speaking our language and we urs in a few days and hence still have a communication gap . Ah yes ! before i forget a critical milestone u achieved .. well u picked ur nose yesterday and well no furtive "teerithumulli" looks yet from u but soon u shall find that its a gaffe to pick ur nose in public and u shall do it only when u think no ones watching :))
Other new stuff
Clearly saying Thank you
Saying Ayesha for the husha busha or whatever portion of Ring-a-ringa roses !
Bib
Badda has now become abba ( for Dabba)

Interesting to watch u learn the language we speak :)

luv
mamma

Dandia beats

2006-09-24T00:29:00.000+05:30

Guddu:

Today you went for your first dandiya - and you enjoyed yourself.
First of all, you wore a ghaghraa choli that nana nani had got - u looked very cute in it.
It rained and delayed your entry, but once you landed there, you started enjoying.

But all the fun started after Arsh came. You started going to Pooja aunty and dancing with her. You danced with Arsh, pushed him and shoved him, and even treaded his toes. Of course, he was dancing on his own, with no concern. But if you fell or bent or did anything whacky (which you did off and on), he did the same.
You two formed a comic pair - and we enjoyed seeing you two interact, and dance. Arsh was clealr spending time wooing you and you were behaving pricey.
Next week is the main dandia - and we will be ready for that too!

Pappa

Vocab updates

2006-09-22T12:10:00.000+05:30

Heres what u've been saying newly last week

Shriya ( for Shriya - ur friend who is abt 3 mnths younger to you)
Bead ( For Bread - actually u pbbly say bread but because I think its very difficult to say that I assume u missing the "r")
Pamana ( for Banana I think)
Papaya ( For papaya)
Bitta ( for Biscuit)
Botty ( for Bottle)
Potty ( For Potty)
Aappy ( For doing stuff on ur own - aaapi aapi)
Hot ( For hot stuff)
Nice ( For nice eatables - and u say it so selectively that I really think you know the concept of "Nice")
Monkey ( For Monkey from ur Animal Safari set)
Kangi( For Kanghi as in comb)
Shaow ( or smthng like that for Shadow - U just love Shadows of Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Itty ( For Itsy from "Itsy Bitsy")
Eaa Eaa( You actually almost seem to know the complete rhyme - I mean u say Eaaa Boww Eaaa Moww ... :) - For the rhyme old man donald had a farm ...)
Can't recollect more but u speaking like tons of words !!!
Oh yes and Thanku ( For Thank you whenever u give some one anything)
You said Cut Cut today.. when u asked for the knife from Mamma
Also u said Pehno when u gave mamma the Apron to wear .. did u mean Pehno ( as in wear in Hindi)
To say the least I am thrilled to bits that u speak many words :)
Easier to understand u
luv
Mamma

Baby's Night Out

2006-09-18T16:33:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddu:

Last weekend, you came with mamma pappa to Mulund, to mamma's colleague's (Archana) place. You slept well and we left cheerfully at 5:30 PM for a drive that would be around 45 minutes. Just when we left, Archana called and told us it had rained a lot at Mulund - we thought, ok, 45 minutes will become 60 minutes and went on. We drove and it started raining, it rained and drizzled and rained, we drove on and reached halfway by 6:15. And then the tarffic was jammed - it stayed jammed, and we had to turn back, take a fresh route and go on. We did not want to turn back as it would have been a painful trek back. We reached at 8:3PM - three hours for a 45 minute drive - amazing na ...

But what really was amazing was you - you were the best behaved baby ... no tanturm at all. Mamma and you in the back seat. You had a biscuit and some fruit - then you kept asking for biscuit calling it "bitta". You pottied also, and stayed put in your diaper without a murmur. Baby, you really showed us you knew that we were in the middle of nowhere - no cribs nor cries, just sat back and babbled, whimpered a bit, but overall ok. Then we reached Mulund.

Special concession for you because of your good behaviour - mamma pappa allowed you to stay up late .. really late ... Once we got to Arachana's flat, you settled down to doing masti - you looked around, were offered toys and started playing around. You happily began playing with Radha, even sometimes, pushing her. You walked around, had dal rice, played with Radha's toys as if those were yours, and tried to impress Archana ... And finally, after 11:45 we left.

At 11:50, the back seat of the car had one person awake (mamma) and one tiny occupant fast asleep (YOU !!!). We reached home by 12:30 - you slept throughout the drive, then through the rest of the night and, thankfully, some part of the morning ...

All in all, we saw you enjoyed the play session. And you behaved so well during the entire trip, mamma pappa thouroughly impressed with you.

Love
Pappa

Jab main chotta baccha tha....

2006-09-13T10:50:00.000+05:30

Last nite mamma was trying to remember the earliest memory she had of her childhood and was asking papa too. Ok ..in case you have doubts, mama papa were not always like this but grew up to be what we are today .. yes I know its difficult for you to fathom but we were infants, toddlers and tiny tots too. We cried too and we were naughty too ..I know u will take quite some time to come to terms with this truth and pbbly may not even come to terms with u. To tell u the truth I find it difficult to imagine nana nani or for that matter thatha patti as ever being little kids !! Nanu tells me he was so naughty that a scar on his head is because of some scuffle he had with his elder bro. He regales us with tales of his funny teachers and well frankly speaking to this day I think he is making it all up and he always was a papa and never went thru a childhood !!! :))
Anyways so coming back to the earliest memories we have. Well I remember coming back from LKG( lower Kindergarten as it was called then...and which was right below mamma's first home at 9, 1st Avenue- oh and its name was Shalimar if I remember right), and having chappatis with dollops of white butter which melted the moment it touched the mouth .. Yuummmm !!Also I remember a green water bottle ( that nanu nani had got from Delhi) that I took to standard 1,which some kid accidentally broke and I took her to nanu ( on a saturday) and told him that she broke my bottle ! I also remember it had a cute sticker of a rose on it ...So well I think the earliest I remember is at abt 3 -4 years old. Similarly papa also remembers his stay at Tanzania the best and he remembers it quite well actually. I will leave it to him to tell u abt it later .

But the pt is ... can I get away with anything right now because u will not really remember this later ? *wink* and *evil grin*

luv
mamma

p.s: the title of the post is a popular jingle from an ad in papa mammas times - Jab main chotta bachha tha badi shararat karta tha... phir bhi meri chori pakdi jaati, jab roshan hota bajaj :)

Drive Carefully: Bumps Ahead

2006-09-11T11:16:00.000+05:30

Or shud I say watch what you speak because copying ahead... Gabdu, you can now say so many words and well on Saturday morn you actually made a quasi sentence or used a phrase- said "Bottle Ded0".You said it twice and did not repeat or make any more phrases later but its a milestone nevertheless ...You repeat everything mama papa say. You say "tee" for tv , "Bush" for "Books", "Moosh" for spoon, "Daaaddu" for Jhadu. You say "Aunty","teddy","Hanu" ( short for Hanuman) so clearly and now say "itsy" when u want us to sing itsy bitsy spider for u.You also say"two" quite often after mamma says "one" ... so seems like u are all set to count. Mamma papa really need to be careful abt how we behave and what we say in front of u. This morning u went around waving ur index finger and speaking gibberish with so much modulation like u were giving instructions or scolding some one. You went on and on for good 10 mins all over the house !!! This I guess u picked up from mamma scolding u many a time ... to sleep or not to do masti etc !! Instead of getting scared or correcting urself, you have started imitating mama :) Its very cute but mamma papa need to take this as a cue to be very careful abt what we say or do in front of u. We visited infinity mall on saturday eve and u had a blast at landmark bookstore which had a kiddy section with all toys. You went berserk in the soft toys section with all the teddys ... saying teddy teddy as u went around picking and examining several. You got ur first quasi lego ( read cheap) set too. In short u had a wonderful wonderful time at the mall ... and so did mama and papa ( u were ready to have milk from the bottle and also had something to eat so mama was not too worried for one...)
You wore two ponytails yesterday with ur denim shirt and white skirt and looked so endearing. Mama papa did not take a snap but we will definitely take one the next time u are in that outfit
And yes, finally, you have ur upper middle incisors coming in ( sprouting ) !! Mama cud feel the sharp edges when mama touched that area ... wow my kiddo is finally gonna have two more teeth . Hopefully u can bite and eat more stuff now... ( but pls do not bite mamma when u drink milk ..ouch !! even the thought makes me wince !)
Thats my update for the weekend ..
Oh.. and yes u have started preening urself in the mirror .. and look so cute doing that :) . You have always admired urself in the mirror but now its like turning this way and that way to check urself out ... ooh fashion conscious !!
Okie more later
luv
mamma

Until you came along....

2006-09-07T15:27:00.000+05:30

I thought I was a career woman and very ambitious,

I never knew how to hold a little baby,

I never thought I wud luv to kiss and hug a baby with a runny nose,

I never thought I could do so many situps,

I never knew I cud manage to think, walk and work with such less sleep( 8 hrs + was the norm b4 that),

I never thought I wud not go mall hopping or movie watching because it wud ruin ur sleep or food timings,

I never was thankful to papa for anything( but he gave me his best gift ever with u),

I never observed dogs , birds, nature and everything else around me the way I do now,

I never thought that anything and everything around the house cud be used to play !,

I never thought I wud think twice b4 planning to visit Nana Nani when I needed to be there( but with you I chose not to go when nani nana left for Noida and are now having to setup everything on their own without the littlest of support from anyone :( ..),

I never thought I wud look at poop colour, smell and consistency and clean anyones butt !,

I thought the toughest part of being a parent was the pregnancy !,

I never appreciated my mom and other moms the way I do now,

I never thought I wud be so dependent on others,

I never thought I wud take to the kitchen so regularly and do so much housework while being a working mom,

I never knew the meaning of unconditional love as clearly as I do now ...,

I thought I was very modest and wud not dare to bare my breasts in front of anyone and everyone,

I never knew there is always so much to learn abt parenting ,

I never knew that parenting choices are dilemmas and have deep impact on how the child grows up to be...,

and

I thought I was "boss" at home :)

Ok guddus I am running out of stuff now, passing the ball to papa to play on ...

Ganapathi Bappa Morya

2006-09-04T13:51:00.000+05:30

Gabdumms ,

This weekends highlight was pandal hopping. We( twice you went just with pappa) visited abt 7 pandals and you enjoyed urself thoroughly seeing Ganapathiji and saying Jai each time religiously. Did I tell you that we had our own gannoji also this time ( for the very first time)that papa brought home. This means that we will be getting Gannoji home every year during Ganesh Chaturthi. Apart from this new and nice beginning, the last week ( or may be last two weeks ) have seen many more new wonderful beginnings on various counts from you. You can now feed urself tukdas of chappati if given in a plate or given in ur hand. You have learnt to get off from the bed/sofa and any other high place. You have learnt to say "Auto" for the autorickshaw. You also say Aunty very clearly now . Uncle is still "Anna" though. Papa showed you all your toys and you could call each one ( almost) by name or at least first syllable of its name. You also learnt first syllables of urs,pappas and mammas names as well as the places where nana nani and thata patti stay.
And the best new thing that u surprised mamma was with almost sleeping on ur own ! True you have not done a repeat performance on that again, but there is still a glimmer of hope that sleep and nap times will no longer be wrestling matches and exercise sessions. On Friday, ie on the Sept 1st, mamma kept patting you and singing to you as you lay next to her and you drifted into dreamland in a matter of minutes.
You are surprising mamma and pappa with newer and newer words that you learn ... these are words we have mentioned only in passing and not revised /revisited with you but u still seem to know them very well . We are still to figure out why you call the spoon "mosh" though. You love saying "car" and making mamma race up the car on the tough terrain of ur arms and legs :)
Its so much fun to watch u play with the other kiddies downstairs. You seem to have the right amt of aggression as well as friendliness :). All of you seem to want each others balls and bats and don't seem to care if someone takes away urs . Also all of you are nakalchi bandars ( copy cats) reaffirming that the monkeys and apes are top floor residents of the family tree of human beings :)
Well seems like my lunch time is running out, so I shall update u a little more some other time

luv
mamma

doll names

2006-08-30T17:45:00.000+05:30

Guddu:

These are your doll names - no doll goes nameless - of course, apart from a mass of balls which can only be called balls :-)

Soft toys
a. Reindeer is Rudolph
b. Plump rainbow coloured bear is Kaloo
c. Bear that nani nanu got from USA is Teddy
d. Chubby Baby Doll that nani nanu got from USA is Baby - you gave this name
e. Barbie-like Doll that nani nanu got from USA is Anupama !! (mamma is the culprit)
f. Tall ragamuffin doll Doll that nani nanu got is Candy
g. The other tall ragamuffin doll gift is Noorie (mamma again the culprit)
h. The gift dog is BowBow - you gave this name
i. Singing doll is Angelica
j. The penguin is only called Penguin
k. Two squeaky baby toys are Bebo and Booboo

You know all these by their name and even call for some of them (Moo for Noorie, Anu for Anupama, Bowbow for Bowbow, Baby for Baby) by their name

You love them all, and love beating them up also ...

More dolls to come, baby and i am sure, lots more names also ...

Pappa

This day, last week...

2006-08-29T10:52:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

Last week mamma was to attend meetings at the client site. It was sudden and unplanned .. And well at the customer site mamma cud not pump as the meetings were all day long , mamma cud not leave them and moreover I am sure it wud not have been very easy to ask the client who met me for the first time for a secluded room where mamma cud pump. Well... so it finally happened...mamma has stopped pumping ... In a way it was good that it happened suddenly and in an unplanned fashion, as that way mamma did not feel too bad.. Also it expedited what was gonna happen 2 -3 mnths down the line anyways ... But somewhere mamma feels bad too for substituting the nourishing and protecting mammas milk for the cows milk ( which I am sure is best for the calf but not so sure if it can be anywhere close to mothers milk for human babies).
You have adapted beautifully and its been a relatively hassle free transition to cows milk for the 4 pm feed u usually have ( abt 5-6 oz). So to that extent u have not contributed to additional guilt around this. However , like I always feel weaning is more for the mom than for the kid .. so somewhere there is a feeling of sadness and loss for mamma ..
To transition to cows milk and to wean is a very personal decision for each mother but it is a very big and not so easy decision as such ..I mean I know for sure that mothers milk is the best ... I don't need scientific evidence and books to tell me that simply because I know that it is there in the first place for this purpose and every mammal nourishes its little ones with its own milk and its only in humans that a substitute comes up.At the same time there is a nagging fear that a mother may be making the child too dependent on her by not letting the child have an alternative source... so what happens if the milk dries up and so on .... The questions are endless and the social pressures on this count also are immense .. most people seem to think its boorish to be nursing ur child esp beyong 1st year. I plan to continue till u self wean or till 2 yrs, whichever is earlier ... So lets see how it goes ...
Anyways the upshot of this post is to tell u that mamma has hung up the pump and so u now take one substitute feed whereas the rest are still mammas duddhu :). So the nice thing abt this is no more sterlisation of pump and bottles giving mamma a good additional 15-30 mins with u and pappa . Also mamma can spend the 30 mins at work actually working instead of pumping which means the late hrs at work if any can be avoided ... so yippppeee :)
Don't ya worry ... I will get over my sadness over this by loooking at these positive things !Meanwhile I shall let ur patti have a blast at feeling less dependent on mamma and having her way in feeding u cows milk :))
luv
mamma

Milky Ways :)

2006-08-28T16:28:00.000+05:30

Dear Duddhuobsessed,
You have learnt to say "duddhu" since the 26th Aug and you say duddhu so cutely ..sometimes uttering diddhu sometimes duddu :). And you have taken this as an opportunity to ask for it every now and then . So on Saturday and Sunday you must have been nursed at least 8-10
times ( ok may be a little less than than say 7-8 times!). Also for quite sometime now you've taken to pulling up mammas clothing in ur desperation to get to ur milk :). Hopefully with the word to communicate that , mammas vastraharans wud be minimised but the downside is that u wud just say diddhu whenever u feel like and mamma wud find it so cute and be totally disarmed with ur cute look when u say that and be ready to give u ur favorite natural pacifier that u cud get more dependent on it !
And for some reason diddhu also equates with soyi soyi .. so sleep and milk are like bundled products for u that go hand in hand
Sigh ! Just when we thot communication wud make life simpler, we realise that it wud never be that life wud get simpler .. it wud only get more complicated .. and thankfully more exciting and adventurous and wonderful with u
luv u
mamma

play time folks

2006-08-26T23:34:00.000+05:30

Dear gabdu:

You have begun playing big time ... you love going down and running around. Today pappa and mamma took you down, with your bat and ball. You held the bat in your hand and brandished it at all and sundry ... and even whacked mamma with it ...
You love looking at the bigger kids playing - esp. football. And when they play, you stand and shout at them.
You also love seeing the doggies and you shout at the dogs too.
And you hate coming back home after you finsih playing.

Today, pappa took you in for a bath and while you did not mind being bathed by pappa, you became hazaar upset once pappa removed his glasses and poured water over himself. You cried and looked betrayed. Even after pappa came out of the bathroom, you pointed out the action of pouring water over one's head and thulped pappa properly :-)

Nowadays, Arsh is your dream boy - you wake up saying Arsh and sleep saying Arsh. You can be silenced with the word Arsh. But when Arsh comes face to face, no reaction ... is it shyness ? (wink wink) ... Whatever it be, it is very cute ...

Love you,
Pappa

Babys Day out :)

2006-08-18T15:51:00.000+05:30

Kuttu,
There is one thing you always love ( apart from "appur " or apple of course ;-), and that is being out and watching the world go by :) . You love being downstairs esp when there are like dozens of kiddies playing. You love the attention the grandmas and mommies or other kiddos give u and you love to "speak" to them at the the top of ur voice in Tanvispeak (copyright :) - language that you speak in). You are ready to leave mammas hands and run behind a much bigger childs cycle as u try and explain to mamma that u want to ride that one. You love the balls other kids play with ... and your ball .. well it is of least importance to u and you let the other kiddos play happily with it ...
You fall many a time but u are so excited when u are downstairs that you don't really care .. you hold mamma only to get up and then run away in the opposite direction.. we have a good tug of war .. and u cry when mamma takes u back home as if u are gonna be jailed !! You don't even seem to get hungry as such !
Its fun to watch u mingle with the other kids.. yesterday u admired a talisman "Jijju" or someone was wearing and u spoke to a "biya" on the cycle ! And not to mention the fact that u like boys more than girls ( I did not know that this happens so early on !!)
You smile at strangers knowingly and as if they are ur long lost friends ! I am sure u bring a cheer to many a dull evening of the oldies downstairs ...
Its fun to watch u become independent and deciding where u are headed on ur own but it tough too for mamma to see her little one who was once attached to her womb with an umbilical cord now heading out in the big bad world without as much as the support of a hand !! Ok thats mamma going overboard .. but it is really interesting to see how my completely dependent infant is now becoming an independent toddler
Luv
mamma

An Eye for Detail

2006-08-18T10:53:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdumms,
As grown ups we often lose the curiosity to explore and forget to enjoy simple things by viewing them in a different light. With you we are getting to explore the world anew and learn things afresh. You hold the caterpillar that sings the numbers and colours upside down and turn the wheels and bang the battery cover in an attempt to open it ... unlike us who try to press the shoes on the caterpillar to make it sing ... You find the objects you know even if we do not spot them .. for example you find babies even if they are in the faded background of a picture ...You say "Biya" and mommy looks like .. now where is biya beta .. there is no biya ...I ask you to pt to the biya u are talking abt and there u pt me to the corner of the newspaper where there is a child in the faded background of a picture showing something else. You spot balls even if they are say spheres forming some other design ... its amazing to see how you identify stuff and the eye for detail that you have. Its so amazing to see you do "Jai" to any God /Goddess even if mamma papa do not explicitly tell you that there is an idol there... You spot a bow bow even in a moving car and say excitedly bow bow bow bow .. and I look at u like u are crazy and then see a dog thats somewhere on the sidewalk way behind ! I let u taste cheese just once and I think you saw me take it out of the side shelf of the refrigerator just once and the next day patti told me you were asking for something from the fridge from the very same rack ! ( patti thought you were asking for honey as she did not know abt the cheese) ... Also you don't forget even if u've been told something weeks back .. I mean we think kids need repitition to learn but I think we are a little mistaken on that count...
You open and close the lid of a bottle and can go on endlessly as it is so fascinating for you to see that ... oh such joy in simple things in life that we elders take for granted ..
You were so scared of the bowbow when it started yelping ... you asked mamma to put it off .. but then few seconds later you asked mamma to put it on again ... and got scared yet again and asked her to put it out .. Its amazing to see you wanting to know what happens each time and slowly overcome ur fear ...
We watched birdie everyday to show you birdie... I mean I don't think I have noticed a bird sit and then fly away in a long time and now with you mamma gets to watch all these things long forgotten
You practice your words every night even ur sleeep and make combinations and extensions of words to hear how they sound...
You notice mammas changed earrings even if no one else notices ... mamma gets all the attention that she craves for from you ..
You give mamma her dupatta in case its lying on the bed ...
You help mamma dry the cothes ...
Well the list is endless and darling you fill up every big void and the tiniest of crevices ( or shud it be chinks) in mammas and papas life ....
Its a pleasure to see u discover and learn and grow ...
Its a self discovery for us too in some sense ...

luv
mamma

Tough Choices

2006-08-17T14:17:00.000+05:30

Mamma read an interesting article on overprotective parenting. We need to ensure as parents that we do not unknowingly and unwittingly hinder ur development by being overprotective and extra careful. How else would we see u walk with complete confidence? True, you would pbbly have a few falls and even hurt urself ... but that does not mean we kind of hold your hands at every step and don't allow you to walk independently right?That wud stifle ur development. We need to ensure that while we try to protect u from falls by being alert, we shud let u walk and do stuff on ur own.For example if you are working on replacing the lid of a bottle , unsuccessful though you may be couple of times, we shud not immediately get down to helping you for there is no pleasure greater than discovering things on ur own... thats the joy of learning .
In fact seeing Shriya on ur birthday party made me feel like its not merely genetics that manifests itself in the behaviour of the child but its the behaviour and attitude in parenting that shows up in the attitude of the child.Shriya was as bindaas as her mom was ... to put it simply. Her mom was not too concerned when she fell off and said "Oh well .. this happens all the time" and Shriya reflected her moms attitude by giving a damn to the fall ..
Mama and pappa need to loosen up definitely... but its so difficult to draw a line .. I mean how cautious is too cautious and how cautious is overprotective ? Who decides this? I guess this is something that is subjective but what the results are in terms of the childs learning and ability to cope with life and its vagaries will definitely vary depending on the choices ...
Thats the crux of parenting ... tough choices ... and choices that wil shape and mould the childs future .. as good or bad ..

stranger anxiety - 15 steps to overcome it

2006-08-16T21:20:00.000+05:30

Guddu:

Yesterday was Independence Day - and we all stayed home. Amita aunty came home to visit you - she was seeing you for the first time ... Here is how it went:
1. You wake up and come out
2. You see aunty and she sees you
3. Three people laugh in the room, one cries aloud - no points for guessing who cried
4. Aunty tries telling hello to you from a distance - only glares from your side
5. Pappa moves guddu to the same sofa as aunty
6. Guddu continues to glare
7. Guddu sees gift - well wrapped nice item - some curiosity but lots of caution - still no overtures
8. Aunty offers the gift paper (and the gift) to guddu - no response
9. Aunty removes cellotape on one side of the gift paper - some interest from guddu
10. Demand by guddu for gift paper to be removed - demand complied
11. Gift opened - pretty set of four cars
12. Lots of interest, gist and also Aunty look interesting
13. Aunty allowed to touch guddu and show the cars
14. Aunty accepted as "aankh" and bonding starts
15. Full fledged bonding
Total time from step 1 to step 15 = 30 minutes
After that you were inseparable from Aunty and you asked for her even in your half sleep state

It was nice seeing you first scared, then cautious, then bindaas and finally enjoying ...

That is for this posting, more later ...

Pappa

Crafty Mommy

2006-08-14T14:21:00.000+05:30

Well ... mamma is forever browsing weblogs and other web pages for the so called "craft " info to get really crafty :) The idea is to create and make stuff myself for you ..The idea is so exciting ... I mean making something with my own hands .. and not picking up stuff off baby shop shelves .. creating something unique for my daugther and not going for what is mass produced ...Well this idea is really captured my imagination ..and well to put it simply I want to gift wrap my love and present it to you daily in new forms by the way of craft. Gives mamma a chance of creating and getting to know her creative side ( if at all it exists) and also gives me great opportunity to spend quality time with you when you grow up and we do crafts together ...
Hmm .. well wanted to put down my thoughts even if the whole idea does not fructify into any useful craft and instead just ends up being hours of browsing the web and piling up every bit of waste at home with the idea to use it to create something nice out of it ... But just wanted to let u know we thought of it because as they say its the thought that matters...Papa is also into the craft thoughts so as of now we form one big happy crafty family( sounds like the fox family ;-)

The other thing mamma and papa are upto is finding innovative methods to make learning process for you fun... so well as we played "chuppana" with you yesterday, we discovered that we cud teach you the name of a new object by hiding it away from you and asking you where the object went. This would teach you the name quickly and easily without the usual pointing and asking routine that may become tedious for us if not for you ...

hmmm... well have a lots more to update you on ( your star birthday, your dolls and all the other stuff you play ) but that will have to wait for later

lots of love
mommy

wrestlemania

2006-08-13T21:35:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddu:

Today you wrestled with pappa, at last ...
What happened was u were sleeping with mamma on the side and didnt notice pappa on your other side. Then you woke up aroiund 4:00 and pappa saw you awake and spoke something to mamma.
But, that made you turn around and look at me - giving me a naughty and deliciously cute smile, full of impishness. Then that wa sit - no more sleep for you.
Pappa took you away to put you back to sleep, but you would only say "mamma", "pappa","bowbow", "baby" and also permutations like "mappa","pabow" etc.
So pappa and you ditched all pretence of sleep and pappa lied down and you sat on pappa's tummy. Then you beat pappa on his chest with your chotu chotu hands, and jumped up and down as if astride a horse ...
In the middle you pottied and piddled, then came back and continued the game. You enjoyed a lot. But pappa enjoyed the most - first time you came and played with pappa on your own.
Of course at 5:00 or so, you put your head on pappa's lap to sleep, but by then it was time to get ready to go out.

Pappa loved this session and wants more ...
Love you, pappa

Standing on your own

2006-08-08T12:34:00.000+05:30

This weekend on 5th Aug to be precise, you have started ( ok you did it twice only :) to stand on ur own, without pulling up on anything.
Also you have been walking more and more and a crawl happens only either early in the morn when you just wake up or when you are really desperate to reach something ...
You have also started to almost try to run !! When mamma does pakado pakado .. you almost break into a run
New words added
a) Eyes
b) Dahi ( almost there- dai is what you say)

And your latest obsession in food items - the running hot ( or cold eitherways:) favorite is the boiled pear :))

Also mamma has decided to let u try and feed urself more often. Mamma needs to loosen up and let you try to feed urself. Mamma tried it with great caution this weekend, by making u sit on a newspaper and feed biscuits and apples . Biscuit you managed to eat ( which you have been managing for I think close to 3 months or even more !!) but apples were eaten in more of a pretend play :)) .

What else - oh yes u almost close ur eyes when mamma asks you " aankh kaise bandh karte hain". You want to see us so you don't close them fully :))

And your answer to "Guddu kaise giri" is "Maammmm" for "Baaammm" which mamma keeps saying

Also you want to "talk" on the real phone all the time to papa

Two nights back you did "Papa japam" and "Bow bow japam" reciting papa and bowbow for abt 2-3 hrs in sleep or out of it . Papa feels thrilled I am sure but I know better when u say the two words together :))

Hmmm... so thats for the updates on what u've been upto

love
mamma

Your birthday ...

2006-08-05T18:58:00.000+05:30

Guddams:

Let us start from the very beginning - mamma and pappa wanted to organise a nice party - with friends (campus, college, office) ... but then mamma had a good point - we were doing that party for us and not for you. So mamma had a brainwave to get people whom you would love to play with - kiddies of your age !!!
So that was it - we decided we would invite only bachchaas in the 6 m - 18 m range + Arsh (ur, hmmm, first , hmmm, crush ... well well well). The party would be nothing but a play session at home for 1 - 2 hours with party grub for the elders and apple / marie biscuits for you and your gang.
We decided the following:
a. party at 5:00 pm, after all the guests would have woken up from their seistas, and ending by 6:30, before dark
b. the dining area (actually,drying area) would be the venue - one gadda would be put on the floor with the bedsheet containing sun, moon etc. motifs.
c. guests would have all the house ke toys at their disposal on the gadda
d. guests would be encouraged to crawl around the house and explore
e. cake in the front room - which would have all the party decor
f. kiddie and cartoon posters in our middle bedroom which is where we nowadays sleep after your gravity-challenging feats from the bed

Then we got down to the task.
Mamma made a lovely invite which read very nice - pappa, as usual, does not recollect the full text
Mamma pappa ordered a Bugs Bunny cake from Birdy's. The snacks were to come from Andheri West Mewan's.
Mamma tried making the "Happy Birthday" dangler at 12 in the night two nights before your bday - but it was so tough we packed the idea
On the night before the BDay, Mamma and Pappa hung up the decor - the Happy Birthday Danglers on the front room window and the kitchen door, the shiny balls on the walls and the curtains, face masks of Mickey, Tweety and a clown on the walls and the curtains, lots of general shiny danglers and paper festoons.
Then came the D Day - balloons were missing !!! pappa could not blow them nor could mamma, so pappa got balloons blown at the tyre repair shop. lesson for pappa: get ready blown balloons, and big ones - these were cute but very small ...
Finally at 5 pm the cake came and all was set - and in walked the first guest ...

Utsa came in first, all of 6 - 7 months. She and you fraternised very little and you went inside ... then came the next set - Shreeya and Mukund. Then the fun began.
Shreeya, Mukund and Utsa occupied the gadda and you sat at the fringe - lording over them as they were anyway younger to you.
And, of course , before pappa forgets you wore a pretty pink and white frock which Nanu nani had got from udaipur. You also wore your gold ring that they had gifted you.
Then, we had the three of them playing on the mat, and then came Vriddhi (18 months old). She was very happy playing with herself and alone with some balls and toys. She was very cute and peaceful.
Meanwhile, Shreeya had assaulted Mukund and made him cry, then she attacked you and took your clip and pulled your hair and made you cry. Mukund had to be escorted to the front room window for boosting his spirits, while mamma picked you up and calmed you down.
Arnav and Aarohi came in the last just around 5:45 or so - they hung around with one another and their mom.
Pooja and Arsh did not come by 6:00 so we got the cake cutting at 6:00 in the front room - and it was then that mamma discovered your ring was missing !! Damn painful, na ...
Anyway, the party went on - cake and snacks for the parents / grandparents / junta - the guests had mashed stewed apple, cheese cubes and marie biscuits. Then they all filed out one by one. Mamma and pappa had bought books as return gifts for the kids (except the twins who got a bucket and a book) which we handed over to them.
The kids enjoyed the party - you had an ok time ...

And then came Arsh ... He came in with his naani and maid. He first came in and saw you. Mamma had just put on some tapes and he swayed to it.
Then the fun began - you went inside and got your cycle along. And our man pushed you along in it. He pushed the buttons and played the music. He danced, he did namaste to you, then kissed you (pappa was looking helplessly !!! - kidding ...)
Then you and he had a gala time, playing with one another - you in your cycle, he standing around.
Then his naana and mom came, we all kept eating and chatting. Then around 7:45 or so, the party came to an end - they left ...

Ok, before I forget - your thathaa paati, periya paati and raju mama were there, and so was the mythili paati from chennai and karthik chaachaa from dombivili - from the family side ... At 8:30, except your paati, everyone else left ...

And we concluded the day .

I think it was a wonderful idea - pappa and mamma could have done better in terms of making it grand. But, you enjoyed yourself quite well - and did not feel pained. 100/100 to mamma for the idea !!!

The ring, by the way, was found at 6:30 itself, it was just under the gaddha.

Mamma pappa enjoyed putting up the party - and we want to do more parties like this for you. What pappa enjoyed the most was that everything was done by mamma pappa - themselves, no event managing, no outsourcing - that just made it all the more personal for us.

We love you guddu, and we will celebrate all your bdays in real style and with lots of fun for you and us

Pappa

Running between the wickets

2006-08-04T12:11:00.000+05:30

Gabdumms ,

You are walking and marching ahead on full steam ... I mean from ur birthday u are really "into" walking so to say .. you take off voluntarily and walk till u drop literally :). You took your first steps on July 1st or so but now its like walking and walking . You pushed Arnavs cycle around for quite some distance yesterday till mamma picked you up because she felt you wud get tired.
You had such fun walking downstairs holding mamas hands .. and mama was equally excited and proud ...
You keep moving around the living room from sofa to deewan..deewan to table and back to deewan .. running between the wickets is what mamma calls it
You are now able to ask for specific food with words ! Its getting really exciting now as you are able to communicate quite a bit .. you say "Paa" when u want water .. its the short form of "Paani". You say "Appp" for "Apple". You say "Anu" for your doll Anupama and "Noo" for ur doll "Nooorie". And the favorite toy of the week is "Boww" - a electronic puppy that was ur birthday gift. You are ready to go to papa in ur middle of the night wake ups if he mentions "Bow"

You now can identify nana nanis photos, thata pattis photos and of course mama papas photos.

You even came close to saying "Offf" today for "Office" when I asked you where papa has gone ...

Your my little smartie pants ( Its no surprise of course given that u are mammas little daughter :)

Luv
Mamma

First Crush

2006-08-02T15:32:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdumms/Dabadumms,

Well .. thats how you roll ur tongue at times ...:))
Anyways so looks like your first crush is already here .. we won't know whether its really a crush or just some sisterly affection you have for Arsh till you are able to tell us abt it but we will give you the benefit of doubt and assume its your first crush :)) ( Am I giving papa the heebie-jeebies already ?;-)

Well so Arsh has visited our place coupla times ( may be like 2-3 times) before your birthday. And its always been the case that you've been trying to impress him and hit off a conversation with him while he is busy exploring ur play area and testing your toys in his mouth !!( Well ... this is the only time a girl will be behind a boy as when you guys grow up it will always be the other way round !). Also you have this special love for his mommy right from the beginning .. I mean even in the hey days of ur stranger anxiety , you wud be ready to go to Arshs mommy !Well girlie ... you sure seem to know how to get ur boy :)) .. Anyways this is what has convinced us that you are definitely behind Arsh. Also when u cud not crawl , just to impress him you rolled and rolled all over the room and reached to him, when you cud crawl and he cud stand , you even tried to stand !! And now on ur birthday again you took the support of his shoulders ( !!!) to stand ... awww !
Anyways so on ur birthday you did not find any kid as interesting as Arsh. But as soon as Arsh arrived you became quite active...and then Arsh took you around on ur new cycle and even showed a few dance movements to prove what a fine gentleman he wud be growing up to be ...Theres about a 30 min video coverage of the two of u prancing around with each other oblivious to the rest of the world

And now when patti has brought home some photographs that thatha has clicked, there is one with Arshs back showing and when mama told u its Arsh you have even started saying his name " Asssssh " . I am sure papa wud have preferred and felt better if you called it "Asss" right now ...

love
mommy

names and names

2006-07-26T20:25:00.000+05:30

Gabdu:

Pappa just remembered how your name was kept.

First of all, mamma pappa used to refer to you as Bubbles or Krithikka - that was much before you were born. Surprising na, we seemed to expect you to be a baby girl !

Then, once you came out, the serious name hunt began. You got the heavens down with you when you came - it poured 100 cm the next day.
So we thought Barkha, Megha or Varsha would be good starting names. In fact your ticket to Chennai with mamma and naani was booked as Megha.

But we then switched it as we didnt think it reflected you yet
So it was Manasi, Tanya, Tanvi, Saanjana, Maanya ... other names also came up - Pranali, Ananya (which pappa and mamma then turned down) etc.

Finally on Aug 15, 2006 - it was your naming day - and we wanted Saanjana - but the grandparents did not assent - and so it was Maanya versus Tanvi. Mamma was equal to both - pappa thought, thought and then chose Tanvi. Thus were you named Tanvi.

But, even today you are only Gulu, Guddu, Gabdu, Gullumathi, Betaa, Baaboo ...

Love you baby, love you tons

Pappa

Flap flap - the year flew by

2006-07-26T15:42:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddu:

It is a year since you came to mummy pappa. And life has not been anywhere how it was then.

1. For starters, we think of you only - our waking, eating, playing, sleeping is around you - and I am so happy it is so - we seem to have become healthier ... we eat at home mostly, eat early, eat regularly, watch very little TV and almost always are on our feet while you are awake.

2. You started as a poor little pootie-pie, crying all the time for grub (which yuou wanted) or sleep (which you did not). You then become a cute little baby that could look around, grab and grasp stuff. Then you turned turtle, and started fighting to reach for toys. Then came the army crawl, then the crawl and finally the standing up and cruising ... Seeing you grow this was has been so wonderful ...

3. Along the way, we started hearing only wails from you, then some silly sounds as if you were humming (esp. while feeding), then words like "akkai akkai", "byebye", 'baby' ... and now full words like "biyaa", "mummy" ... Your voice is indeed more musical than that of any thing else.

4. You have come from baldness to lots of hair. In fact as a baby when pappa saw you come out, all he did was just clap :-). Then when he first held you, he could only say "aaiyy" as if he were thulping you.

5. Pappa loves feeding you (whenever he does it) and putting you to sleep (it feels so nice being a pillow for a small thingie like you, that attaches herself to pappa's shoulder). Then when you are asleep in pappa's arms, mouth abit open, you look so cuteeeeeeeeeee. Pappa just loves playing with you - jhaank, pappa kahaan hai, one little piggie, reading books ...

6. We remember you catching colds when you were quite small and disliking the doc when we went to him, also falling thrice from the bed ...

7. Your first birthday party was a grandhit - mamma had a brilliant idea of calling only kids of your age group (7 m - 18 m) so that you would be able to play well with them. We had Shreeya who was the youngest and was bullying you, even pulling your hair. Then, Mukund was weeping when Shreeya bullied him too. Vriddhi played silently and enjoyed hersalf, being the eldest of the gang. Arnav and Aarohi played with each other, and Arsh spent time wooing you, taking you around on your cycle and chatting up with you. That brings me to your cycle - you love it and Pappa Mamma love you in it too. The cake was in the shape of a bunny and the decorations were nice - so it was good ambience, good fun for you.

Pappa and Mamma love you a lot - we thank God every day for you - we love you, baby and wish you a very very very very very happy birthday and another exciting fun filled year of adventure ahead

Pappa

Other stuff over weekend

2006-07-17T14:09:00.000+05:30

We got two sets of footwear for you this weekend- one pair of squeakies and one pair of sandals .. hope they give u the enthu to start walking. You seemed to be pretty proud of walking in your squeakies ...
We wanted to get you the type of tricycle the other kiddos in the complex have.. we made you sit on one - you were so happy and contented that we had a tough time getting you off it .. Hmmmmm we gonna buy that for you definitely...
You are becoming naughtier by the day and your eyes are filled with naughty looks and mamma papa just love that ...
did I mention that you start undressing mamma in public and anywhere in case you hungry/sleepy and need milk !
Wish you wud be a little more discreet darling
You were sick last week so became even more clingy -- hoping that will improve but one thing i've noticed is that if we do not force you and instead give you stuff you want for a short time you are quite ok... basically seems like you hate being bullied and forced just like mamma and papa ..
You've started to repeat and say words ( typically half or first syllable of the word ) -
a) Daant
b) Paati
c) Nanu ( which is nunu with complete pout :))
d) Guddu
e) Birdie
f) Bas
g) Bathroom ( you say battth)

That way

Luv you sweetie
Mamma

last week ...

2006-07-17T11:41:00.000+05:30

Guddu:

Last week was more learning for you .. First of all, you were not well - poor thingie - fever, cold and cough ..
But, touch wood, you got over that ..
And then restarted your "school of touch-feel-learn"

i. So, now, you know who is "guddu" - you point to yourself with all the vehemence that you can gather ...
ii. And, your interpretation of a lino's noise has changed from "mmmmm ..." to one resembling an elephant's trumpet.
iii. Today morning you fed mummy bread :-) You have yet to figure out that you can feed yourself too
iv. You know what penguin is - and you make a dancing gesture for that !!!
v. And what a birdie is - you make a flapping gesture
vi. You know how to hit and scold mummy - you thulp her if she scolds you !! :-)

Another cute thing - the other day, you smothered pappa with the packet of baby wipes - and held it there for almost 5 sec - and you looked so cute standing over pappa with the wipes packet in your hand ...

Love you
Pappa

Nearing the 1 Year mark

2006-07-14T10:49:00.000+05:30

Hi Guddu

You are nearing the 1 year mark and on 25th July 2006 you will be a year old ! Its amazing how time flies by and how independent you've become...
I wud luv to write to you how this year milestone is a mixed bag of feelings for me ...however I shall save that for a later time when I can sit calmly, collect my thoughts and write something beautiful to you
Meanwhile I would want to update this site with what you've been upto as I would not want to forget all the important milestones you've acheived

a) On the 1st of July you took your first 8-9 independent steps while we played left right left and you walked back and forth between mamma and papa. However looks like after abt 2-3 days this game lost its charm and you wanted to graduate to running without learning to walk first. This of course caused you to plonk down as your feet would not be able to catch up with the rush of your excitement and I think this kind of took your interest out of this little game of left right left :). You like to play by your own rules and girlie that is not really possible all the time...Anyways to mamma you've already acheived the milestone of walking before your first birthday so yipppppeee to that

b) I forgot to add that you can stand independently examining interesting stuff for long enuff periods of time ...and you constantly practice to bend and pick up stuff and stand again. You are now doing the sit ups mamma papa and nannu have done many a time to put you to sleep.

c) You have learnt to get off carefully from the 8 inch mattress that we sleep on ... and you've figured chaaddo and uttaro and played that game with mamma with great excitement yesterday.

d) You have for the past 2-4 days started calling me mmmmmuuummmmmmmmi .... and its really music to the ears and though your first word was papa I think the wait for hearing you call me mummy was well worth it. You say papa tooo when you are desperate to get papa to pick up stuff for you or when you go looking for him around the house. You say thata when u feel like ...
Of course baby and bye bye you've mastered to perfection...You also say "daaan" for "dant" which stands for teeth in hindi.

e) You are able to spot balls all over newspapers and magazines and anything circular is a ball as of now and you raise your hand to the head to say ball and sometimes say "ba". You also are able to imitate gestures in pictures - like putting hand to mouth , saying "Jai" and you have an uncanny sense to spot all pictures of gods and do "Jay" to them. I mean even when we have not taught you. Makes me believe that kids have that special sixth sense that elders forget to use as they grow up.

f) You've been down with viral fever for past 4-5 days and so you are ona hunger strike. Hoping you wud get better soon and eat better and be able to be more comfortable without the running nose and the bad cough

g)Papa has got you a nice cute little new toy which is a penguin that goes around walking and turning itself from all walls and its sort of seems to a perpetual machine which wud go on for ever unless the battery goes down or we switch it off . You just love the toy

h) You are becoming sort of a book worm . You just lovvvve books and keep asking us to show you the pictures and tell abt the story ... You know at least one character in each book ....

i) You are able to stack rings ( not necessarily in the right order) easily for the past 2 months or so

Hmm.. I think there are many more updates I am missing out on but will soon write to you again abt those.

More later
luv
mamma

Walking

2006-06-30T17:21:00.000+05:30

Guddu:

When are you going to start walking? Can't wait or that to happen ...

Right now, you walk with support of things - basically you cruise around .. and when you see something you like (more likely, something you should not be having) you move twice as fast .. and while crawling, it is quite amusing to see you crawl so fast ...

You dont like to walk with people pulling you up - you have a mind of your own, i must say ... but when you do walk with us holding you, it so cute ... When you dont want to be made to walk, you just plonk yourself down and ask us to pick you up instead - you really know how to show when you dont want a thing to happen ...

Another thing is you decide to tiptoe at times, though mostly you walk properly, you going to be ballerina or what ?

Having learnt how to stand up with support, you have also learnt now how to sit down slowly instead of plonking on your butt :-)

Good so far, but much more to happen ... go, baby, go ...
Papa

documenting your learning

2006-06-27T14:11:00.000+05:30

Now you pick your foot up and show it when papa asks "This little piggy".
You have learnt to roll your tongue and say "lzlzlllzzzzzzz". Its so cuuute !! Now you can pronounce Tamilzh I am sure :))
Mamma and Papa are revising rhymes and reliving childhood with you
Its soooo much fun
Guess what, we still have not finalised anything for your birthday ...and its coming soon right around the corner. So mama papa must finalise something sooooon !

Blowing Kisses and taking your first steps

2006-06-26T11:37:00.000+05:30

Dear Clingumathi

Did I forget to tell you in the previous two posts that you have learnt to pucker your lips and make the kissing sound and you give kisses on the cheek to only mamma ... and no one else !! :))
Mamma is so kicked when she gets these pucchis from you - of course mamma needs to wash her face immediately if this happens when you are having your curds because then it is a curdy pucchi.
You stand quite well without support now for abt 20-30 seconds . previously you did it accidentally when we made you clap etc but now you do it of ur own volition!You took three steps !! in pursuit of the small tumbler that nani gave for you to drink water from.

We went to bombay blues for dinner yesterday and you had great fun ! You really enjoy being outside and being surrounded by people ...You are a happy baby most of the time but hate being put to sleep .. and we are wondering when will it be that it becomes a little easier for us to put you to sleep ...
Also your jiddiness is increasing and thats a cause of worry ....Else you are the best on all counts :)
You completed 11 mnths yesterday and mamma really wants to write a nice letter abt all the beautiful moments in the past 11 mnths but I think that will have to wait for a time when mamma has more time on hands ...
luv
mamma

updates for this week

2006-06-23T15:23:00.000+05:30

a) taken abt one step sometimes unknowingly
b) Dancing for any music :))
c) You know where is your tongue:)
d) You know the bathroom
e) You know how patti coughs :)
f) The biggest of them all - you look at a comb in the book and comb your hair .. isn't that neat ( we'll never need to get u a real comb then :))
g) I did not mention it in previous post but mama also got u a little potty or shud I say pee trained by taking you to piddle every 2-3 hrs and immediately after you wake up .. is working well in saving us some nappies and getting you a little closer to getting potty trained

Visiting Mammas birthplace

2006-06-21T11:11:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

Between 8th and 18th we were all at mammas birthplace. This would pbbly be our last visit to that place as nannu has retired and nanu/nani will be moving elsewhere in abt a mnths time.
You had great fun there to say the least. You perfected your cruising and also stood many times for as much as 20 seconds on your own without support. We went daily to the tsunami park where you just loved to cruise and also babble with the other babies. Basically you had a wonderful time there and also got to walk in your first pair of squeaky shoes...which you loved the first day but kept removing after the very first day from one of the feet ! So you got to walk barefoot also in the park and as we had anyways let you walk barefoot we also let you crawl there !Also you had great fun at the dining table with mamma as you were allowed to mess around as the danger of you hurting yourself at the table was minimal. Also it was very comfortable to feed you at the dining table while eating myself. You also learnt and perfected the noise the lion makes ( the sound varied depending on how tired or active you were ;-)). You learnt the following there
a) Kanghi kaise karte hain - ie how does one comb hair - and you so smartly comb your hair at the back... the stylish hair combing :)
b) Maalish kaise karte hain - You rub both your knees like a little old lady :)
c) Daant kahan hain? - You put your finger between your lips and show your teeth
d) Lion kaise karta hai and cooker kaise karta hai are the best of course ... :)

You saw a number of cows, dogs and birdies at mamas place and were particularly excited abt seeing cows when we were returning from an evening walk . After that the cow also started making sounds like the lion ( ie the sound you made for the cow :)
It was just tooo funny
You perfected playing jhhhaaank with nanu and nani .. bending to hide yourself behind the table /the walls etc ... and making a cute noise to draw attention to the fact that you were hidden or that you were out of ur hiding place :)

The best episode was you begging for your photo that was put up on the refrigerator .. you begged each of us who walked across and stood and rapped at the fridge beseeching each of us to get the photo down. Finally mamu decided enuff was enuff and said give her the photo and you crawled away at top speed with your prized possession and kept standing and giving it to each of us. Similarly you fell in love with opening and closing dolls within doll in the babushka .. and asked each of us to open each layer....

You loved cucumbers and papads at nanis place.

You slept with nanu and nani for 5 nights ! This was the first time for mamma to not sleep with you. We thot this would improve ur sleep but you woke up more than usual or at least as much as usual and as it ruined everyones sleep mama papa decided we shud start sleeping with you so that nanu/nani and mammu do not get tired !

You crawled and crawled all over the house finding either nanu or nani when I would tell you to go and find them .. "nanu ko dhoond ke ao" and you would crawl in search of nanu !

You were in love with nanis ring ... so much so that she bought you one for ur birthday. You loved wearing it and removing it!

You had a wonderful time walking a lot with support at the tsunami park

Your atthais had come down and you had a wonderful time with them and the kids. You ate lunch with atthai while playing with water in a cup ... that kept you busy while you a ate some reasonable qty of food !
You enjoyed with all ur cousins and kept everyone entertained and happy because you quickly knew how to identify each when they were called by name

You entertained them with dance too !

Hmm ... I think I have some more things to write abt the fun u had but for now will post this and edit it as I remember stuff

luv
mama

Quick updates

2006-06-06T11:47:00.000+05:30

Here are the quick updates in case mommy forgets these milestones:

a) You stood for abt 10 seconds on ur own when mammu was here this sunday ( 3rd June 2006)
b) You have kind of figured how to sit slowly by bending your knees instead of just plonking down...though u still do that many a time as you simply lack the patience
c) Mammu has thot u do a hi-fi and also to make the sound of a lion. You were totally in love with mammu when he was here. We will be meeting him soon again after 2 days :)

More later
Sorry mama has been unable to really post detailed stuff ...

wordsmithing

2006-05-23T10:25:00.000+05:30

Gabdu:

You have started saying "papa" and "baby". You already know who is papa, but the last weekend, you actually said "papa". Having finished that first word, you went ahead to "baby" - which you pronounce as "bay-bee" - the American accent :-)
Of course, you say "ay-bee" and "bay-bee" indiscriminately now - even when you just want to cry you say that ...

Another thing you are doing is bending over your toys while you are sitting - especially Kaloo and Tubby. Similatly, you bend over your books. As if you were mugging with total concentration. Very cute it is ...

Now you need to take your next steps - literally. You are still wobbly, but you cruise around holdking stuff. Now is the time to start standing and try walking ... Like that !!!!

Papa

Whistle Blower ?:)

2006-05-16T14:15:00.000+05:30

Gabdumms

You have started to sway cutely to music . Makes me feel good that you've got the rhythm because you seem to be taking after papa in looks and I was worried that you wud take after him in music and dance too and that got me worried ..:)

And you can now imitate a whole bunch of sounds . You make the razzzing noise ..tch tch noise and can also tell us how the whistle on the pressure cooker goes off ! Of course just to ensure we don't get to excited you do not imitate papapappapa or mamamama etc!

You've become much more clingy and mommy is not exactly excited esp with the bad back ache shes having...

Will write a detailed update later but wanted to put these down lest I forget

-mama

what is up ...

2006-05-11T11:23:00.000+05:30

This is what is up:
1. teeth - nice ones coming out, sadly pappa cant see anything yet :-(
2. pointers - you point to everything that you want, communicate through pointing, even act by pointing. today you woke up and crawled, when you saw the light in the kitchen, you crawled around pappa's legs and pointed to kitchen, bcoz you know mama is there !!
3. tasting - you are putting your tongue out when someone gives u soemthing to eat, as if you want to check the taste before eating ...
4. chucking - you chuck kaloo, tubby, teddy, dolly and booboo out of the bed, the pram, the sofa, everywhere - and then look at them fallen down. dont know what pleasure you get from checking them out after they have fallen, but you look too cute doing that !!
5. blabber - babababa , mamammama, nnannnannaa, etc. etc. meaningless, cute and so nice to hear - pappa's jijaji = your phuphaji had once told mamma and pappa when he had come over that "those who say the cuckoo (or the veena, i forget which) sounds good havent heard a child". So true !!!
6. putting kaloo and dolly to sleep - pappa has seen you take dolly or kaaloo or teddy on your lap and pat them, as if putting them to sleep. cute na - you chuck them and manhandle them and then try to put them to sleep ...
7. crying reception and send off - whenever mamma walks in or goes out, you cry - it is a standard procedure - you will not smile when she is moving in or out of the house ..
like that
more later
pappa

Updates

2006-05-09T14:02:00.000+05:30

As I am unable to write a nice letter to you detailing all the nasty things you've been upto, due to lack of time, I shall give u the latest updates

a) You've got two tiny bottom teeth coming in finally !! After teething forever from the day you were born ( and biting mama like a blood sucking devil), you seem to finally getting your teeth
Quarter of the right( my right - your left hahahah) lower central incisor tooth is up already and the left one is coming up soon too and surprise surprise, you are not really giving mama a hard time while feeding ! Ok I hope now that I have said this, I have not jinxed myself !

b) We have all moved to the floor sleeping for the day and the night. Last night papa me and you all slept in the living room on the floor and thank god for that.. 'cos in the middle of the night you were found near papas legs !

c) You almost seem to have started saying mamammama .. typically when u need me desperately. I don't know if this is coincidental or you really call out for me but I am giving myself a benefit of doubt ... so yippppppeeee !! You say mama ..amammma :). Ok may be not - will update you when you really do it a little more consistently

luv
mama

Some people NEVER learn

2006-05-08T11:34:00.000+05:30

Thats us guddu, we never learn. You've fallen twice already and we still have not learnt not to put you on the bed to sleep and worse still leave you lying there alone. You fell off again today and mama is really sorry abt this . I really hope all is ok and again I pray to God that if at all any harm comes it comes my way because I've been stupid and idiotic. I can stand people who make errors but can't stand people who don't learn from their mistakes .. so upshot of this is I cannot stand myself !
Anyways more later
luv
mommy

Drunk on Liquid stuff

2006-05-04T14:04:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

Its a bad summer and there have been many things happening over the past two weeks .. As mentioned you fell off and then you had fever which ended with some rash ( the doc said it was some sorta measles - some enthema or 5th disease or some such name). Anyways pt is after some n doc visits and a number of medicines prescribed, the dreaded rashes just disappeared on their own in 2days without any medication :). So yes as I was saying it is a bad summer and I know liquids are what everyone wants to have but suddenly you are interested only in heavily pureed stuff or liquid stuff . Suddenly when you shud be eating more solids and graduating out of pureed stuff and chewing stuff, you are having some 2-3 tspns of solids and ready to live on curds and dal ...We had been attributing it your illness two weeks back , then we felt one tooth coming up and attributing it to teething . Suddenly that tooth has decided that its fine the way it is and has not made its appearance completely and we not sure if u are teething and yet you insist on subsisting on liquids
And despite having so much liquid, you are suddenly shitting bricks. Pardon the language but thats the right phrase for it. As much as I hated your watery stools that ran out of the nappy into the bedsheet and beyond ( or shud I say under), I am shocked by your stools now. They are pelletised and rolled like a ball . I am sure it must be quite difficult to eliminate those and I would rather have you poop semi solid stuff thats easier on you even if its a little difficult to wash.
Mental note : Need to start offering more water to you ...

Oh and you've begun cruising quite well ...
We have bought your first set of frilly undies .. and are hoping you move completely out of nappies to these frilly soft comfortable panties. That of course means that you need to be potty trained soon ....I intend to try a new potty this weekend and begin this process

You are as careless as ever , leaving both ur hands unsupported ( and leaving caution to the wind)when you are standing holding on to the table and ready to crawl off the edge of the bed (as if you are some sorta superman or smthng !!)

You seem to have political aspirations as you use mama as a jungle gym when on bed and stand to view yourself in the mirror , raise your hands to wave to the person in the mirror and say "Haaeey" . You do the same to teddy and wally etc in the bedroom

You love being chased by patti ... and go into hajjar giggling and laughter when she is trying to catch u when you crawling

We visited papas patti ie your periya patti and thata and you loved their company and really enjoyed instead of being a spoilsport that you were last time. You even cried when we left the place as I am sure you did not want to say bye and wanted to stay on there...

Thats that
More later

luv
mama

Not too bad a deal

2006-04-28T18:26:00.000+05:30

Gabdu,
There are times I feel that the world is unfair when typically only mommies eat the leftovers of their children, which in your case is always almost the whole amt we start with. But then dearest mommy knows how to turn things to her advantage. And then it does not seem too bad a deal. Like when last nite papa bought icecream on ur 9th mnth bday, mommy insisted that its ur budday, we need to get one for u as well. Then I popped in a li'l bit in ur mouth while u were sleeping and then silently ate it off saying :"hmmm .. I guess I'll to have to eat whats left as usual :)"

luv
me

P.S Your dad did not like this little figment of my imagination that really did not happen - in the sense that I did throw the idea but it was rejected and we got only two icecreams - so no I did not cheat you of yours .. and for ur dad - what the world without a little bit of dreaming and imagination :)

Gold Diggers

2006-04-26T16:56:00.000+05:30

Thank you for letting me experience the pleasure of digging someone elses nose :) and finding it as pleasurable as hunting for gold in my own :)

9 months back - in retrospect ...

2006-04-24T19:29:00.000+05:30

Hi guddamma:

It was nine months back that you came to us.

I remember how it was - basically you should have come, by due dates etc., in 3rd week of july - but u refused to move out. Then came papa's bday - again no action; finally mama's bday - and again no action. Then we went to doc.
Doc admitted mamma that night and we waited ... mamma was given a suppository to help dilation and softening of cervix to induce birth - but not much effect.

Papa went for brekker to home, and came back - by then doc had come and wanted to meet papa. So papa met doc along with nanu; doc basically said there was no point waiting as we had waited long enuff - so best to do a caesarean as it would avoid any risk from waiting. Once he said this, we felt no point taking risk - so we agreed to the operation.

And then it happened all in a hurry. First, papa and nanu came back to tell mamma - on the way we met thatha who had also landed up; while we were telling him, the nurse came and started getting mamma ready... and u know what, we hadnt yet told mamma. Papa then rushed in and told mamma who was in a daze on what was happening.

Then, mamma was wheeled up to the operating room, while papa waited outside. Papa had already asked doctor to be allowed to be present at the time of the operation. So, doctor called papa halfway through - mamma was lying down, anaesthesised below waist but conscious and eyes closed.

Papa saw the doctors open up mamma more and more - then pick out something with a flat tong like thing- papa saw you then for the first time as your head bobbed out. Then again it went in, and then they picked you up, head out, then the body out and you were held by your feet, connected by the umbilical cord to mamma. You started crying in a sec; then doc woke up mamma and asked her to see you.
Mamma saw you, then asked whether you were boy or girl – doc said girl and took you away.

Haan, one more thing, papa clapped when he saw you come out.

Papa then went out and saw you on the weighing machine – you were bluish grey and crying like no tomorrow :-). Papa then stepped out, and told thatha who told nanu, and then they called up nani and paati and told them; then called up big paati at dadar and your mama-ji in USA, and told them.

So that was the story of your being born and coming to this world.

Love, Pappa

9 Months

2006-04-24T18:10:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,
Now you complete as many months outside mommys tummy as you spent inside cuddled up :)
I am sure its been good fun outside though it was much more safe and secure inside mommy. Actually even mommy misses the time you were inside when you were always with mommy ..not away even for a minute or a millisecond .. be it with mama walking, mama at work , mama in auto, mama in kitchen or even mama sleeping .Anyways thats besides the pt. The pt is that you have come a long way and so have we . Thank you for showing us that life is more than just working and getting back home ...Thank you for the zillion smiles you've put on our faces from the time you've arrived...Thanks for making us be parents .. its an experience we would not have known without you
Oopsie I am thanking you way too much and I think I should stop :)
Will post your 9 mnth letter from me later when at home or a little more relaxed
Happy 9th mnth budday :)
Luv
Mommy

Updates on what you've been upto

2006-04-20T12:49:00.000+05:30

Guddu,
You are growing up fast and getting smarter by the day. You now point to stuff when asked where smthng is. Previously you would merely turn in that direction. You've now become much more specific :). You now know birdie and bow-bow too .. and you point and coo when you see them . That is so terribly cute and endearing.Not only are you getting specific abt showing stuff, you seem to have a mind of your own when it comes to eating your solids too.You want to eat only with us and you know exactly what you want off the plate. Anything else gets thrown away and spilt if we try and force feed you. I am amazed that you recognise the colors and smells of various foods so well ...I mean you insisted on going on having curds and in the middle insisted for a quick bite of kichadi. pointed to dal in between and got that. And we just could not fool you even once ..we tried sliming in kichadi with curd on the top and you shook ur head and made a grunting noise and pushed the spoon away and grunted asking for curds. You are the lord of the house now ! You are the almighty that controls all living beings in the house. You have the veto power on every single action of every single individual person in the house. Hail Hitler :) !!!
You pt in direction where you want us to head ... I mean everything is decided by U. You are your own master .. but don't you think its a wee bit too early to have this privilege ? I mean we did not get this kinda privilege till we were out of college !

Anyways now you confidently hold the centre table and stand so there is no way we can eat without feeding you whatever we are eating else you wud resort to much more destructive means like attacking the plates directly and making a mess !!

Dearest .. you are growing fast and everyday u are a newer person I find difficult to catch up with ! And no .. I don't mean slow down but how I wish I could enjoy every minute fully and be able to relive all these moments at a slower pace again and again ..

After your fall mama feels u have grown up even more . Suddenly you seem much more mature . guess its mamas guilt that making her feel that way ...

Anyways more on u over the weekend
Will ask papa to write more often too

luv
mama

No Confidence to handle you guddu

2006-04-20T12:21:00.000+05:30

Guddams seems quite ok in terms of her bahviour and movements etc but I am still shit scared ..
The scene keeps replaying in my head and I am unable to come to terms with the fact that she fell in a split second and before I could react she was on the floor screaming. Those first few minutes were like complete hell that day.
Guddu,
Mama is extremely sorry for being careless. I mean how could I let u stand without my arms around you to hold you in case you leaned or lost balance ...
Also guddu, I really wish you would be a little more careful.
Of course I would not want you to be not as active as you are ...
I mean actually sorry .. you are fine ..just the way you are
Mama just needs to be more careful thats it...
Okie will post pleasanter stuff on what masti you have been upto in my next post
luv
mama

Fall ...

2006-04-19T12:28:00.000+05:30

Dear God,
Gabdu had a fall last evening because of my carelessness. She stood holding the bedstead and toppled over when she lifted her leg. She has got a bump on her head and also a scar with blood. I am very very scared. I pray to you that all be ok with her and let no harm come to her. If at all, let all harm come only my way.
Thanks

All the consonant sounds you make till date

2006-04-12T16:31:00.000+05:30

Dearie
Forgot to tell you but you now say bababababab, nanananana, tatatatata, mamama ( of course this is the least of the mentioned consonant sounds !! )
We now waiting for you to address us as papa and mama
luv,
mama

Week of bonding and of many other events

2006-04-04T16:02:00.000+05:30

Started writing this on April 2nd
Dear Gabdu,
Have been quite busy and hence unable to update you on what u've been upto. Well you've had a wonderful time with papa the whole of last week and with nanu on weekend b4 that.
So lemme start with last weekend. Nanu arrived on 22nd of March for an official trip to mumbai ( pbbly his last official trip as he retired on 31st March ). We had all gone to pick him up at the airport and guess what ? As usual the flight was delayed. You loved the crowded airport arrival area where there were like a zillion people almost standing one on top of another thanks to the renovation work on at the airport. Anyways so you were quite amazed looking at the ocean of people at the airport. You smiled benovelently at folks who were not even looking at you. That was pbbly when you showed the first signs of getting over your stranger anxiety ( ok if not completely .. at least to a certain extent).Also this was the first time you took to performing if I may say so .. 'cos everytime after that we've observed that in malls and anywhere outside, you smile and clap and wave and attract loads of attention .. people find u cute and want to pick you up and we hear wishpers of - "how cute" .. going around. And the moment we step out of these "public" places to get back into the car, you start screaming as if u are not being fed and are being tortured. Papa likes to shield you from the evil eye and picks you up and takes u away from the stares when you start attracting attention.
Anyways so back to the pt when Nannu came visiting... well lots of developments happened
a) You did not cry ( no hint of even a whimper) when nanu took you half asleep as soon as he arrived at the airport
b) We thot a) above was because you were sleepy. So just to prove us wrong you woke up in between and nannu put you back to sleep with situps at the airport..Then when we were getting back home you woke up and peacefully played in the car with nanu .. What is it that clicked between you and nanu I wonder...
c) You looked up at the fan when nannu asked you where is fan . Also this is the first time you actually recognised who is nannu and who is papa by turning to them when asked "papa kahan hain" and nannu kahan hain. Of course when asked where mumma was you drew a blank :).
d) you laughed and played like crazy crawling from papa to nannu and back for abt 1 hr in the evening
e) you stood up at the bedstead and also walked 2-3 steps to reach nannu
f) Hmm .. you had an infection in the ear :( and we all went to the doc and he asked us " I don't know why people harass the child" and he warned us that we may need to use antibiotics for the infection :( Sorry darling but we should have waited for you to grow up and decide when to pierce your ears.
g)As if this was not enuff, when nanu left mama tried some of your old jhablas on you and one of them had some lose threads which got caught in your earring and you screamed in pain. Idiotic mummy did not remove the dress and change you and so it got caught again and you screamed in pain again and also had some blood around the ear piercing area. :( sorry abt this
Your patti was away to attend your meena atthais marriage ( hopefully you will meet her sometime soon ..) so papa took the entire week to take care of you. So monday to wednesday he took care of every little cry and need of yours. In the process he got to see the real you closely and is now even more in love with his daughter .. Also you got to play with papa full time and freak out with him and now you are real close to papa. I will be copying papas senti letter to you from his diary soon to this place
Anyways the other big thing that happened was the entire pani puri plate fell on you and the contents spread on ur face hands , legs and all over your body :( in the mall. Mama ran to the washroom and literally bathed you and then as I had not carried a towel or cloth with me to the restroom, I wiped you with my dupatta. Thank God nothing entered your eyes. Thanks to the maids in the restroom who made you laugh as u were shaking from the shock of everything having fallen over you. It seemed to papa and mama that it was deifinitely the evil eye at work because u were the cynosure of all eyes at the mall and all of us were enjoying ourselves thoroughly till this incident happened
Btw its like the 13th of April as I complete this letter and you caught a bad throat infection last week and had fever too. Dunno if this was due to the incident in the mall...
Anyways you are much better now. You chatter non stop and are comfortably able to pull urselves up at the cane sofa and take steps.Also u says baba when saying bye bye couple of times making me record this as first occurence of words from you
The highlight of this week is gonna be papas turkey trip and trying to potty train you.
Ok dearie.. guess this post has taken ages to write to high time to send it across to u..

luv
mama

Sleep – and how to go about that !!!

2006-03-23T14:25:00.000+05:30

Dear Guddams:

There are ways of going to sleep … and there are ways of putting you to sleep … and the twain never meet.

It all started when you were a month old – you would sleep only at your will, only after 05:00 AM, only after feeding etc. etc.

Then you got tired of this and wanted to get some excitement – so you would sleep only on the shoulder and after some 500 sit-ups … mamma, naanu and pappa have got trim thanks to you …

Then came the next phase – lap rock … we had to shake our lap enough to strengthen the thigh muscles – and then you would sleep with the rocking …

Just when that seemed to be settling in, came the nursing-to-sleep phase. You would sleep at night lying down and nursing with mamma lying next to you. Of course, this was for night time sleeping with mamma. With pappa, it was in the form of holding in the hands, swinging around and listening to “So gaya yeh jahaan” belting out.

And now you are in a mixed phase. Sometimes, you sleep when pappa narrates a story to you. Sometimes, when you are lap rocked, and sometimes with situps … sometimes with a song and sometimes with a nursery rhyme. And sometimes, the good old nursing … no guarantee which will work and when. That is the suspense … Of course, you have once surprised mamma pappa by sleeping ON YOUR OWN!!!!! That was in a movie hall, while watching Rang De Basanti …

Any which way you go to sleep, you look hazzaaar cute when asleep …Love you, guddams …
Looking forward to more adventures on your daily trips to and fro dreamland …

Pappa

Piercing Cries

2006-03-20T11:51:00.000+05:30

Hi Gabdums ,
Mama has been pretty busy and so has not been able to write to you. However want to update you quickly on what you've been upto. Last week Nana nani were here .. so u've been having great fun. You seemed to have missed them on the day they left and over the weekend decided to scream like a banishee at the drop of a hat. The cries pierce the silence of our home and shatters any peaceful moments that we care for ... Actually not just the weekend , you've been like this from wednesday( 15th March- your first Holi with Nana Nani ). I guess the ear piercing that was done on that day made you irritable and you've decided to get back to us in this fashion( if not literal ear piercing the best you cud do is render ear piercing war cries).

Anyways .. so we think you may be teething... But then you've been teething right from birth when you decided to bite off mamas nipple and drink some blood ( is that why you've got so much strength and scream like a demoness at times ?)..So everytime you are cranky ( which you've been from your birth), we decide you are teething and you have not teethed till date .. Looks like those pearly whites are gonna surface much later than they ought to

So coming back to ear piercing , nana nani held you tight ( thank god for that -'cos I would not have dared that) to ensure the ear piercing was as quick and painless as possible but you were extremely upset because you wanted to see the guy and see whats happening and wanted to turn your head. You felt constrained and cried helplessly and we all felt we were torturing you . Nana nani were feeling like villans as they were given the task of holding you and Nani was pretty positive you wud hate her ( thankfully you did not harbour any such thots ). Almost all of us were in tears and we felt that may be we shud have waited till you grew older and given you a chance to decide on ur own. I am going to ensure that apart from smthng I strongly believe in ( sorry but I decide :)), I will not let you get forced into any tradition or custom that you do not understand. Anyways you had ur first bite of ripe banana after the ear piercing in the hope that you would find succour in food but I guess you were really upset and had to be shown toys etc to calm you down. All said and done, you are a brave girl 'cos you did not cry too long and you seem to have cried more because you felt mama papa betrayed you than because of the pain
Sorry abt that ..

Also you decided to not recognise thatha and cried everytime he tried to talk to you. Wonder why you were behaving that way. Thatha was quite upset that you were going to everyone else but crying at the mere sight of his face. Thankfully you made up with him over the weekend and he was quite happy..

Okie more later

luv
Mommy

Accident Prone Weekend

2006-03-14T11:38:00.000+05:30

Dearest guddamma,

As papa has mentioned , you have had an accident prone weekend .... fall from the bed and fall after fall all over when sitting and playing.... We are so glad you did not hurt yourself too badly .. and praying that bhagwanji is always kind to us .. Mama, Papa shud remember to always be thankful to bhagwanji for having you and for the protection he always gives to you and us ..

And then, as they say you need to fall to learn .. so every kid falls and eats paper ( :-)) to grow .. but then seems like you never learn from your mistakes .. do u .. I mean even after you fell off the bed, you head for the edge all the time and want to touch the floor from atop the bed. You clap your hands when you are holding on to the table and standing .. Either you have complete confidence in our reaction times to ensure you don't fall or you are like your papa( ok ..just joking .. before either of you takes offence), completely lacking common sense. How on earth can you even think of clapping when you are holding on to smthng ...

Anyways its getting to be great fun to play with u as you grow older as you are now a bundle of energy and also are constantly making conversation with us ( with your babbling) ... Both mama and papa are just waiting to get back home to play with you each day.
Also, you've become much closer to papa now.. and you are actually going to him... ( wonder why one wud do that .. but oh well .. whatever..). As I tell papa, I am just waiting for the phase when you wud just want to go to him and stay with him and cry when he moves out of ur sight etc .. its gonna be fun to watch what I experienced some time back :)) hehehehhehehhaaaaww ( evil laughter in anticipation !!)

As nani says you are the "billi ka billotana" i.e; kitten when you busily play with me when I lie down and u climb over , claw me .. eat off my tummy ( wonder what there to eat there) .. drool over me .. fall while trying to stand holding me and then sit up again and start all over ... its such a wonderful time the two of us have together ... and its a special bond we share at that time .. I just love it ... Am telling papa to videograph it sometime so that we can watch it later together :)

Okie thats it for now ...

luv,
mommy

Self praise, some falls and lots of balls

2006-03-14T11:22:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu:

What is with this self-praise phenomenon. It is great you are sitting up - but do you have to clap your hands everytime you do it. I know it is a great feat ... but you are in a self-praise mode of unbelievable magnitude .. You clap hands whenever you get nto a sitting position, whether it is from lying down or from crawling or creeping or even when you fall down from a standing position! Anyway, you smile so cutely when you clap - and you clap properly with both palms open( not clenched fists). You also clap with the stacking rings in your hand !!! Summer is here and you are wearing sleeveless jablaas, girlie frocks and the works - all in all, looking hazaar cute ... Pappa is hazzaar happy to see you gamboling around when he comes back and then you show so much excitement and when I call you, you actually crawl / creep to me !!

Last weekend was a weekend of some accidents for you - sorry for that ... first of all you fell off the bed - thankfully, no harm done - scary however !!! We will now put some hazzar pillows around you when you sleep so you dont slip off .... then you fell while sitting, nicely hitting the head to the ground on your way down to Earth - you were pulling at the Ocean Wonders Hoop and lost your balance ... and finally, you ate off a bit of paper, while papa was busily putting away his camera - papa is very careless na !! sorry .... :-(

Anyway, last weekend also saw new toys - a BIG ball, inflated with a car pump ... and a bat which is as big as you but which you like banging against the floor with ... and three more nice balls ... basically enzoy !!

This week, we should be getting yours ears pierced (hopefully) so you can complete the makeover to a "girlie" look !!! So much for now, more later when papa remembers stuff ...

Weird Playtimes and weirder games

2006-03-09T15:21:00.000+05:30

Guddams,

Did you have to wake up at 5.30 Am this morning to practice sitting up and not go back to sleep till 7 am. I used to tell ur patti that its ok if she does not sleep as long as she does not cry ... but now I am not too sure dear .. I mean 5.30 Am is a wee bit early don't you think so? Oh and btw it rained this morn ...unexpectedly .. its not the monsoon time yet but then from the day you were born...the rains have lashed various parts of the country u've been to till you were 4 months old ..all unexpectedly either in terms of the time or the amount of rainfall .. So anyways , I wondered if that was the reason you woke up early .. I mean is it like babies sense some weather changes earlier than the rest of us? Or is it that I am just trying really hard to find some excuse for ur perpetually changing sleep pattern? Hmm I think its the latter combined with mommys imagination getting overactive with less sleep..
And what may I ask is so funny and exciting abt holding an object when in your pram, taking a hard look around the pram area and dropping the object carefully to a location where mama finds it the most difficult to reach or worse still dropping it into the dirtiest area of the floor? This is your latest game, (which you had discovered when you were 4 mnths old, but thankfully quickly forgotten or got bored of ...),that you've started playing since abt a week back.

And whats with putting everything into your mouth and examining it ? Do you know you can just hold it and feel it... and that taste is not the only sensory perception for an object !!
And seems like you've outgrown the taste of all your toys and ours as well ( by ours I mean our phones, remotes etc) , 'cos now you've taken to licking ( !!) the floors ... I mean this is not the subtlest ways of telling mommy to keep the floor clean !! You spot the tiniest bit of food, the tiniest speck of dust on the floor and are ready to put it in ur mouth ...Yes ..now mommy has to keep the floors clean at ALL times !! And no slippers on the floor .. they need to go right into thr shoe rack .. Don't you think you are a bit too young to shoulder so much responsiblity !! Fitness, cleanliness .. what next ? I am dreading the next responsibility you'll take upon urselves

Anyways heres hoping that you sleep better tonite ( and so do we)

luv
Mommy

She Did it !!

2006-03-08T15:58:00.000+05:30

Dear Ludlums,
This is what I told your dad when you pooped after a days gap way back when you were abt 3 months old. We never knew that poop could generate so much excitement for parents. You had not pooped for a whole day when u would normally poop like anywhere between 6 to 8 times and when you did not do "IT" the whole day it was really worrying. The doctor told us it was very normal for a baby to not pass stools for abt 5 days and it was of any concern only if they went beyond that. However, we could not bring ourselves to think that you wud be comfortable not having pooped the whole day .You seemed troubled. I am sure we imagined it because you cried all the time anyways but on that day we conveniently attributed it to you not having pooped. So as Nana Nani left for work they prayed that you would have motions and wished me all the best. I checked your nappy hopefully for even a hint of a dot everytime u became still or farted ... but no nthng happened (On any other day I would check your nappy nervously hoping "not another time please.." in the fear that I wud have to brush and wash another dirty nappy). Finally I put you down for a nap and went to have my lunch. I was away for 45 mins and you had still not cried .. It was amazing because your sleep span usually was 30 mins, so I tiptoed into the bedroom to check if everything was fine. I find you wide awake and smiling ... It was as if smthng was wrong.... so I just happened to check your nappy and wow !! guess what .. found that you had pooped ... Never understood why babies cry all the time and then smile when they are pooping (they pbbly find it funny that mommy needs to do extra laundry because of that ...). Anyways poop you did and I immediately called your papa and declared " She did it !!" and we were so happy. Later we wondered What kind of achievements of kids to parents celebrate ...There was happiness and celebration and relief the moment nana nani got back too
Amazing how the contents of the nappy of your child are so critical to us as parents. I never imagined I would be counting the number of times you piddle and poop and checking the color,odor and consistency ( yes you heard it right) of your poop and feel excited, happy, sad , concerned based on that. I mean even today when I get home I check, has she done potty.. how was it .. was it good ( ohmigod ! whats so good abt potty !!!), what was the color ..was it a good qty and so on ...
Its funny how life changes suddenly with a kid ..and things that never concerned you or crossed your mind become so critical ...
Oh and yes ... it was raining till you were abt 4 months old wherever we went ... so it eons for nappies to dry .. so guess what papa would do .. dry your nappies with the iron . Then we found ironing does not seem to remove moisture.. so we started using the hair dryer ... !!! Talk abt innovation ...
Hmm ...and Nani wud "SSSSSS" you with your feet over a dust pan to get you to potty without dirtying a nappy and you would ensure you pottied right next to it dirtying the dust pan and the floor and sometimes the walls too...I would run with you to the wash basin to get you to pee and you wud always ensure my happiness of having saved a nappy was shortlived by not emptying your bladder completely and then bringing out the residual amt on mommy or in the nappy immediately .. The rebel that you've always been !
The countless times that mommy and nana have tried to protect their shoulder with a layer of cloth to ensure their clothes don't get soiled .. you wud choose the time when we shift you from one shoulder to another to not only pee but also poop !! It was like a revenge against prevention ...:)
Anyways this is to tell you abt the most exciting bits of parenthood :)
LuvMama

Lo-do :)

2006-03-08T12:02:00.000+05:30

Dear BalluRam,

Guess what ? You've figured out the give and take of life already .. so when mommy says "do( hindi of give) you handover that spongeball to her and then when mama says "lo (take) " you happily grab it from her. Its an exciting game you've just learnt and lemme tell you its equally exciting for us too. Thats the reason we keep repeating the terms and wanting you to play and I am sorry if it makes u feel like some performer ..:). But tell me smthng, why is it that you do not want to sleep even when u are really sleepy .. You keep rubbing your eyes and pulling your ears and are clearly sleepy but you always fight away sleep as if you are afraid that you will miss out on smthng if you accidentally fall asleep.And then when you wake up you cry as if you are upset abt the fact that you accidentally fell asleep :). Why is it that if there is a toy on the bed, you want to play even when u wake up accidentally in the middle of the night. I know its fun that you are an active baby and have so much curiosity .. but then you need sleep too to grow well and recharge your batteries ... and for godssake ! mama papa also need sleep :) .. I mean how do u expect us to be able to give our fullest to you if we are so sleep deprived . These days mama papa are so sleepy we don't even realise how many times you wake up in the night and which of us puts you back to sleep each time. I dunno whether its just sleepiness or the number of nightwakings making us lose count of them . We have arguments in the morning abt whether you woke up 10 or 11 times ( ok there are some times when its abt 3 or 4 times .. but thats rare) and whether you nursed at that time. We switch sides in the night based on which side I nursed you from last and at times the only proof that you woke up in odd number or even number of times is the side i began sleeping on and the side I ended up sleeping on ! Talk abt the analytics that goes into analysing your sleep pattern.
Btw papa is extremely elated because now he no longer needs to keep his access card of work or any other object to lure you in his direction. When he arrives from work these days you just do the fast Army crawl and get to him . You also follow his voice and reach the room where he is changing, and then I have to hastily pick you up before you actually see papa changing :) not that you mind or understand it :)
Mama has a relatively light work day and so is hoping to get back soon to you ... and hug you tiiiight

loads of luv
Mommy

Creepy Crawly

2006-03-07T14:57:00.000+05:30

Dear Bandrooo,
Oh well, don't ask me why I have changed your name. I have not ... its just one of the many names ( shud I be saying pet names) we call you by ... Mama calls you guddu, guddams and also all the borrowed names that nannu calls you by ( bandroo, ballu ram ). Papa calls you gabdu ram...
Well, you've completed 7 months abt 10 days back .. and on sunday you started to sit up on ur own ( you've been sitting when we put you in sitting position since end of 6 months - but this is sitting up yourself from the crawl position .. I am sure you know the difference - it must have been much easier to be put in the sitting position :). Also the Army Crawl that you've been doing is now slowly becoming the normal crawl. You started out with creeping on ur tummy at the end of 5 months and moved to the super silent and fast Army Crawl ( the one the snipers wud do when in hiding and moving towards the enemy camp) very soon but could not go completely on ur knees while keeping ur tummy way above the ground. I guess you have ended up doing this now as you want to stand up and explore and to stand up you really need to be able to sit up first though you often come to the kneeling position, pull the collar of my kameez down ( ouch it hurts !) and want to stand ...

Its funny to watch you practice it as if you are afraid you may forget it ... but good that you've already learnt that practice makes perfect :). Papa found you trying to break the barrier of pillows( that we build around you on the bed when we leave you sleeping alone) in ur sleep ( shud we call it sleep crawling:)). Thats really scary... We are wondering whether we should start putting you on the floor at least for your naps to avoid any mishaps...
You do the crawl and when you sit up you have a proud smile of an achiever and we all clap and u smile even more broadly ...Reminds me you are a Leo who loves attention :)

Yesterday, you held the bed stead and stood up !!! It was the most amazing thing to watch .. And guess what? you went straight for the bookshelf behind ... your curiosity amazes me ...
You looking over my shoulder to find papa, don't you. This is one game you love .. moving side to side looking over mamas shoulder to find papa and then laugh out loud .. its like a modified Peekaboo. And why may I ask do you play where is papa only with papa - looking over his hand and then under his hands with the eyes of a keen detective and then finally pull his hands out from over his eyes and smile with the look of "Elementary, My Dear Watson "?

We are trying to move your bedtime to a reasonable time for kiddies .. say 9 pm or so ..but you always manage to stretch it much beyond that and the closest we've come to that and so rarely is 10.15 pm or so. But darling, you know that mama papa and you .. all the three of us sleep so much better if you sleep earlier and mama finds it much easier to handle the household tasks by waking up earlier .. so will you try and sleep as soon as you are sleepy instead of making papa do sit ups for like an hr .. I know you want us to be in shape but surely there must be some other way to do so ..?
And why may I ask do u start waving bye even if I am just saying a bye to nana nani on phone or just describing to patti how you wave bye ... :) It is so cute to see you do that .. but it does break my heart in the morning when u wave a bye to me so happily when I leave for work .. its almost as if you can manage so easily without me .. I know baby .. I need you more than you need me ...

Like I tell people who mention weaning... I dunno when I will wean you off my milk .. but I am definite its a weaning more for me than for you ...

Ok lemme sign off as I am at work and there are other pressing tasks that i need to finish quick so that I can get home to you pronto !

Luv
Mommy

Dear Gabdu

2006-03-07T14:47:00.000+05:30

Dear Gabdu,

This blog is for letters from mommy as well as papa ( may be occasionally) to you. Why do we want to do this ? Well, you are growing up fast and there are newer, more exciting things you are doing everyday and we don't want to lose any of these moments. Years later when you grow up, become independent and move on in life... we want to be able to look back fondly on all these memories .. Also I am sure when you grow up you'll have a thousand questions on when did I walk, was I always such a bad girl, were u always so mean to me and so on .. so we want to be able to have a quick reference to answer your questions :-) We want to ensure the two of us don't give you different answers to the day on which you started crawling... because I am sure if you do, you will wonder what kind of parents we are :). We also want to be able to emotionally blackmail you when you grow older and pbbly have your own kids and don't listen to our pt of view abt raising kids :)
We are also capturing tons of photos for this task :) ..
So ..hmmm .. I guess those are the primary reasons why we want to write to you regularly and update you on what you've been upto. I know right now you don't understand more than ayeee... and akkkkaaakkaaa .. but we are hoping u'll master the language soon and be able to read these letters :)

Luv
Papa and Mama