Our life, a Jigsaw: 2007

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Da da da, ta ta ta, bla bla bla

The chirpy little Jiya added a few consonants today to her tiny repertoire of oohs and aahs :)

Food battles!

Ahh!! The food battle!! I picked it and I lost it BAD!! From not eating a morsel till the idiot box was turned on and no-one else but Mary Poppins sung to him "A spoonful of sugar lets the medicine go down" (he even chose the right song for mealtimes, huh?!) to even screaming on top of his lungs and actually throwing a fit and the plate off the table (!!!) if I tried to put as much as one bite in his mouth.
Well I have written about it ample number of times, but this is not another sob story because finally something seems to be working. At a friend's suggestion, I have started saving his food for later. If he says he's had enough, say at lunch, I tell him its okay if he wants to get up but then "No dudu (milk), no cracker cheese, no kaju mimish (cashews and raisins)" till he finishes this meal when he gets up from his nap.
It took him a couple of days to realise what was going on. He's in a habit of devouring a glass of milk as soon as he gets up from a nap and given the crabby mood that he is in at that time, I think twice before picking up a battle at that time. The first day when I told him that he had to finish his saved lunch first, it was met by a full blown tantrum, screaming, lying on the floor, crying, running like a zombie. I distracted him by showing him his recent pictures as the computer was on and reminded him what I had told him in the afternoon. Some more crying and blowing fists in the air followed. I went to the kitchen and busied myself. After 5 minutes of thoughtfully contemplating his odds and mine, he silently sat down to eat. After a bite or so, he meekly said "Mummy, help karaoon", finished the food and then drank his milk.
Ever since, I remind him when he tries to get up in the middle of a meal. If he can take some more, he usually asks me to help him finish it right then. If he is genuinely full, he then eats it whenever he feels hungry (he starts by asking for cracker cheese or goldfish, though and has to be reminded that the meal is not finished yet) But he normally does finish it with some fuss within reasonable limits. A couple of times, his dinner time gets pushed to later than usual because he has finished his lunch in the evening. But still this is working better than anything else has in the past.

Bal Hanuman

Last night we were watching the movie 'Bal Hanuman' with Vansh. The Hindi was too tough for him to understand. So when Lord Brahma asked Indra Dev "इस बालक की यह दुर्दशा kisne की?", he asked me "Mummy, kaun hain? Kya bol rahe hain?" (Who are they? What are they saying?) I explained to him "Yeh bhagwan ji hain aur yeh bol rahe hain ki Hanuman ji ko owie kisne ki?" (This is God and he's asking who hurt Hanuman ji?). What resulted was a sudden spate of questions :

"Mummy, blue waale bhagwan ji kya bol rahe hain? Yellow waale police uncle kya bol rahe hain? Bal numan ji owie aa raha hai? Numan ji fly kar rahe hain? Police uncle pakad ke le jayenge yellow waale bhagwan ji ko?"

(What is the blue colored God saying? Yellow colored uncle is police uncle, is it? Is Hanuman hurt? Is he flying? Is police going to catch the yellow colored God?)

Boy oh boy!! Talk of generalizing personal everyday experiences to others around. When he gets over excited around Jiya and starts pressing her tummy too hard or pulling her arm a tad bit vehemntly, even after being reminded to be gentle, we warn him by saying that Police uncle does not spare those who harm their little sisters and takes them away. On several occasions, as a result, when he hears a crying child in the building corridor, he makes up a story "Police uncle girl ko leke ja rahe hain. Chhoti sister ko owie kiya." (The police uncle is taking away the girl because she hit her little sister.) Taking it one step further to apply the story to Gods in heaven sure was hilarious for us.

Pretending to be a parent!

Lightning McQueen, Winnie, Teddy and Doggy are assigned a few toys by Vansh and are told "Toys share karna, no shouting, no pushing, OK!"

Getting to be someone's parent is so much fun, hanh!! :)

"Baby Dot and Stop"

We did this simple craft last night. Vansh enjoys using the scissors to cut. He's not yet perfect at it but he's surely getting the hang of it. He puts his thumb and fingers in there right but has to be reminded to keep his wrist straight and not tilt it sideways. And I pre-cut about 2" wide strips of colored construction paper which he then cuts into small pieces. We then took a tree template and started to put glue on the branches and the tree trunk and in order to avoid its over use, we kept repeating the phrase 'Baby dot and stop', Vansh's version being "Baby says Stop!" :) and then we stuck the leaves - green, yellow, orange and red and the brown pieces on the trunk. In the end, we had a lovely colorful tree and a beaming jubilant Vansh.

Figuring out the intricacies of speech

Its funny and fascinating at the same time when you see a child learning to speak. First they start with the major words, overlooking the finer details. And now a days Vansh is trying hard out to figure out those intricacies right - the का, की, को, ने, et al.

So these are a few samples of how his sentences sound these days

"Vansh ko laptop close kiya ko" - the correct version being "Vansh ne laptop ko close kiya"

"Cherry O khel raha hai Vansh saath papa saath"

"Pani piya Vansh ko"

"Owie (a word commonly used when it hurts somewhere) aa raha hai finger ki"

Funny yet intriguing nonetheless!!

The good old days...

Received this one as a forwarded e-mail and it indeed put a smile on my face amidst all the stress involved in raising children today. Read on ...

_____________________________________________________________________

How did one survive growing up in the 80's, 70's and before?

We had no seatbelts, no airbags and sitting in the back of a ute was a treat...
Our baby prams had the most gorgeous lead based colors...

No such thing as tamper proof bottle tops...
Opening kitchen cupboards was a breeze as safety locks were unheard of...

Cycling was a breath of fresh air - no saftey helmets, knee pads or elbow pads, with plenty of cardboards between spokes to make it sound like a motorbike...
and we were fearless on our bikes even when the brakes failed going downhill...

When thirsty we only drank tap water, bottled water was still a mystery...
We kept busy collecting bits and pieces so we could build all sort of things...

We were showing off how tough we are by how high we could climb trees and then jumping down..It was great fun...
We could stay to play for hours as long as we got back before dark, in time for dinner...

We walked to school or sometimes we even rode our bikes...
We had no mobile phones, but we always managed to find each other...
How? No one knows...

We lost teeth, broke arms and legs, we got cuts and bruises and bloody noses...
Nobody complained as we had so much fun, it wasn't anybody's fault, only ours...

We ate everything in sight, cakes, bread, chocolate, ice cream, sweet sugary drinks, yet, we stayed skinny by fooling around.
And if one of us was lucky to find a 1 litre Coca Cola bottle we all had a swag from it and guess what ..nobody picked up any germs...

We did not have Play Stations, MP3, Nintendo's, Video games, 99 cable TV channels, DVD's, Home Cinema, Mobile phones, Home Computers, Laptops, Chat rooms, Internet, etc ...BUT we didn't get BORED because we had REAL FRIENDS!!!!

We called on friends to come out to play, never rang the doorbell, just went around the back...
We loved being let loose in the big bad world ...without bodyguards...
We played with sticks and stones, played cowboys and Indians, doctors and nurses, hide and seek, soccer games, over and over again...

When we failed our exams we were given a second chance by simply repeating the same grade, without visiting psychiatrists, psychologists or counselors...such were the days...
We had freedom, success, disappointments and responsibilities...
Most of all, we learned to respect others...

Are YOU from that generation?? If that's the case, pass it on to all your friends from the same era...

May be this message will help them forget the stress that surrounds us these days...and just for a few moments put a smile on their face as they remember what life was really like in the good old days...

acting BIG and loving it :)

Talking about acting grown up, here's a few things Vansh has been saying to Jiya these days.

-Jiya often grabs her feet and puts them in her mouth. Many a times, her socks remain there and out comes the foot. To this, depending on his mood at that time, this is what Vansh has to say

*good mood* - Jiya kya karti hai? (in a sing song voice) Muhn mein nahin daalo socks, chhee chhee hai. (JIya, what are you doing? Don't put your socks in your mouth. They are dirty.) and tries to put them back on.

*grumpy mood* - Jiya!!! mat dalo muhn mein! Gussa karoon!! (Jiya, don't put in your mouth! Should I scold you?) and snatches them from her hand.

- At times, she does the same with her clothes thus revealing her tummy. To which, Vansh would go "Pssst! Jiya aise nahin karte!" and pull her dress to cover her belly again. Look who's being a protective big brother, eh!

- Often times, Jiya is not able to hold on to the toys we give her for very long and drops them on the ground from her bouncy, to which Vansh says "Jiya, mat fenko toys" (Jiya don't throw the toys) and hands it back to her.

He so loves being able to boss someone around :)

Acting all grown up :)

Now a days whenever I call Ashwini in office, Vansh too wants to talk to him. For that matter, Vansh wants to talk to anyone we call. At times if Ashwini happens to be in a meeting or just generally busy or may be driving, I tell Vansh "Papa abhi busy hain/ drive kar rahe hain, baad mein call karke baat karenge/ghar aane waale hain, phir baat karna". One such day, Ashwini called back after some time. When I handed the phone to Vansh, he scrunched up his eyes and sounding like a grown up, said
Vansh -Papa busy ho, meeting mein ho, hanh?
Ashwini -Nahi beta meeting mein nahin hoon.
Vansh - Nahin? Drive kar rahe ho?

At this I couldn't control my laughter any more and burst out laughing which made him all conscious to which he stuck out his tongue and started laughing himself.

Code Language :)

This happened a couple of months earlier. A very common way of parents of kids aged two and three to communicate with each other on touchy topics like candies and juices is to spell out the word. For instance, if I want to ask Ashwini if he would like to have a chocolate I would say "C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E. khaana hai?" This is to avoid getting into a tiff with Vansh on giving him one too. Now one day we had a playdate at our apartment and there was one mom with a daughter Divya who is Vansh's age and another one with a daughter Riya who is slightly older than Jiya. So I asked Divya's mom "Would Divya like to have J.U.I.C.E.?" because I was not sure about her stance on the same and the other mom goes "Woh kya hota hai?" and it had both of us in splits. It also so happened that just a few minutes back she had been asking us about snacks and finger foods she could start offering to Riya and she thought we were talking about another one of those. Still laughing, we told her about our code language till the kids get the hang of spellings :))

Main busy hoon ...

There are many a times Vansh wants to be played with, especially ever since we introduced him to board games. He would lay down 'Cherry O' and pronounce "Vansh orange khelta hai, Mummy red khelti hai". And on several such occasions I have to tell him "Beta, mamma abhi busy hai. Abhi aape aape khelo, main thodi der mein aapke saath khelti hoon." (Mom is busy. Play by yourself for some time and I'll join you in a bit.) Last night he was sitting on Ashwini's lap while he was working on his laptop when I asked him to come and brush his teeth. "Main busy hoon" pat came the reply. Huh!! Kids sure know how to give parents a taste of their own medicine, right!!

Wednesday afternoon feedings

Wednesday afternoons, usually become a little challenging when we return from ECFE at about 1:30 and it is already Vansh's naptime and he still needs to be fed (yeah FED, which boy doesn't feed himself at close to 3 years) and so does Jiya. So I have a hungry and sleepy 2 year old (now thats a DEADLY combination) and a hungry infant (she is smart enough to take her nap during the parents' class - oh yeah she's had enough of complaining moms and dads!!). Well today was different in a very pleasant way because I decided to take-out Chalupas - a current favorite with Vansh, from the Taco Bell drive thru. This ensured one happy kid out of two. Now to take care of the second who flails her arms to be picked up to be at the table and then goes chomp chomp chomp, I handed her a Parle G biscuit instead. Let me post pictures to let you see what happened next.
and 5 minutes later, I have a triumphant and happy second kid as well!!
Icing on the cake, they both napped simultaneously for two hours straight!! Wow! It couldn't have gotten any better than that! God please don't let such scenarios be jinxed just because I am writing about them.

Literacy

That was the topic in the parents class at ECFE. And I had been waiting quite eagerly for it. Which Indian mother wouldn't ?! As much as I hate it, but the competition out there beginning right from getting a 4 year old into a 'reputed' school and a never ending process from then on, gets to me at times. The almost inhuman pressures of 'studies' when a kid should actually be chasing cats or hiding behind bushes call for an entire independent post on them, so let me not digress and share some useful pointers from the discussion we had today. I do strive for making it lots of fun and that being the focus rather than the learning at this point of time.

- Nothing new in this one, the beginning of getting children to read is to talk, talk, talk to them. A child who is interacted with for about an hour every day enters Kindergarten with a vocabulary of 8000-10,000 words, which is the approximate vocab a child has to have before he can start reading. We, very fortunately have a former reading specialist among us (someone who helps children who have difficulty reading due to a disorder or other reasons, get over their difficulties and start reading) and she pitched in with very meaningful comments from time to time. Its always better to talk to the kids in context, which means even though its good to show flash cards and books with pictures of animals but real learning takes place when we are out there on the road or the grocery store or any lace for that matter and talking about things that we are looking at or may be recalling them from those flash cards.

- Books - There were several aspects of this one.

Get them interested from a young age. Make visits to the library or book store frequent.
Let them choose their own books and have them own some books.
Its okay and common for children to have favorites and wanting to read them over and over again and it actually builds and strengthens brain connections. (There was a time when I felt that Vansh only wanted to read books with cars or trucks in them and I wanted him to read about other things as well. So for a few days, I removed all cars and trucks books and only had books about animals or other things. And Vansh showed zero interest in those and didn't want to read at all. So for us, I had to let him have his own likes and dislikes and read about whatever he chose to because right now its more important to get him interest in reading.)
While reading, encourage them to think and talk about what they think is going on in the picture. Connect stories to what's happening in the real world.
Have exaggerated expressions; add sound effects for getting them more interested. (Cars vrrroooming and things falling with a boom bam tadaan and a heavy looking man talking in a heavy tone of voice are some of Vansh's favorites)
Read yourself and let your child watch and pay attention to the value your family places on reading.

- Just as exaggerated expressions and sounds get them interested in books, exaggerated movements of hands and feet are precursors of writing skills. So making big imaginary circles, jumping ropes with those big hand movements, drawing large O's on an easel or the ground are actually things which help develop that part of the brain which ultimately helps a child write. This was pretty insightful. In fact do drop in more suggestions, if you happen to read this, on getting a child more interested to write.

Jiya oh Jiya...

... How I wish time would stop right here, with you being just the perfect size for our hugs, the perfect sight and a stunningly lovely one at that for our eyes, the perfect sing song voice which is music for our ears, the perfect baby smell which pleases the olfactory nerves like nothing else does. To top it all you are so generous with your hugs and kisses for us, Wow! we can't believe you already know how to take out that 'puchhh' sound too when you open your mouth the widest you can and scoop in our cheeks. Not to forget the "You are the best mom/dad/bhaiya in the whole world" looks you give us when you think we are coming near you to play with you. Of course we have to stop right there to do just that. Everything else can wait. We are head over heals in love with you, our gorgeous little darling. We love it when you roll over and over till you find yourself stuck in a corner and then cry for help as also when you scream to be picked up and sit with us at the table for the meals and actually force us to feed you bites of chapati, aloo, dahi, chicken even. Yes my dear, 5 months and you have had it all. Another favorite is bouncing on mommy's knee on 'The Grand Old duke of York' or watching her perform 'Tick tock I am the little cuckoo clock' for your pleasure or better still bhaiya dancing just for you on 'Lets get on the bus'. And we love to do it all for you our sweety pie. Cuddling you and squeezing you close and rocking you are our favorite activities these days. We are enjoying you so very much.
Well darling, just felt like penning down all that you are upto these days, hoping I'll be able to relive these moments by reading about them.

Do you know who I like to pretend I am ...

...PAPA. My Superstar!!

Meeting other parents

Every time I meet parents of children, like aged or older than our own, I think about how important it is to keep meeting them. Each parent has so much to offer in terms of experience in dealing with particular situations, a different perspective to look at things, putting anxieties at rest which I might have, providing creative ideas for little problems we face everyday which make such a huge impact on the temperament of the child and ultimately are the difference between a good smooth day or a tough bumpy one.
A few days ago, we went for a MOMS club activity at a friend's house and another boy whom Vansh doesn't meet very often was playing with a big car. Naturally Vansh wanted to play with the car immediately. He does that many a times and what I tell him is that he has to either wait for his turn or play with another toy depending upon the toy and the situation at that time. What that other boy's mom told both of them was that they had a choice of playing together with the car, demonstrating how they could roll it forwards and backwards to each other OR take turns if they wanted to play alone with it. Showing them what to do together appealed to both of them and they played away happily rolling it to each other. A simple solution, yet so insightful. At times, our own reactions become so mechanical that such incidents help us to get new ideas of tackling everyday situations.
Another platform where I meet parents on a regular basis is ECFE. I am lucky to be in a particularly smart group this year and also to have a great parent educator who facilitates very fruitful discussions. A couple of moms with grown up children (10, 8, and 6 years old) is an added bonus! (Did I tell you I am in awe of moms who have older kids - I believe raising children through the years brings you more wisdom like nothing else can) So yesterday I voiced my concern about how I limit TV time for Vansh as also the content that he watches. And yet many a times when I tell him no more TV, he just sits there and does absolutely nothing, making me wonder won't it make sense if I let him watch that phonics Leap Frog video by way of which, even though not the most appropriate way of learning, he'll learn something and won't really be 'wasting time'. I was glad to get a new dimension, to learn that in those quiet times he was actually figuring out how the world around him works. It was then that I realised that it was indeed true. Every now and then in these quiet moments that he spends, he comes and talk s to me about random things, his friends, how he shared with someone and shouted at someone else, his visit to the doctor for the flu shot, things like "Papa शाम को आते हैं।", "Candy Satday (Saturday) खाते हें।" and the likes. In fact other parents told me I was lucky that he didn't demand to be played with at all times and spent some time quietly thinking. Ahem!! (collar up :) Sure did some good to my spirits.
Hmm ..Indian friends here are going through 'seasonal depression' in the -15 degrees and 2 feet of snow outside. It has been a while since we got together for a playdate and enlightened talks about kids' tantrums and activities and eating battles et al. Am looking forward to that again.

Lots of snow and not much to do!!

We had over a foot of snow over the weekend and its snowing some more today. Huh!! It can only get more cold than this at the North Pole, we are absolutely convinced about that. Its hard to while away time, especially in the evenings. It gets dark at 4:00, its obviously impossible to go out and you keep wondering what to do till bedtime apart from half an hour of dinner, say. We play boardgames, read books, play with building blocks, take Vansh for cycling in the corridors and even rides in the elevator and there's still time left. Huh!! One of Vansh's ways to idle away time is to switch on the lights which we put up on Diwali umpteen times a day, and
pronounce Happy Diwali!

Dhing tika tik ... :)

Click here if the video doesn't play in the above window.

Getting busy ...

Huh!! Filling in after a long time. Vansh's terrible two's get so much to me at times. I have to lie down myself when the kids sleep in the afternoon to pull myself together and go on for the rest of the day. And weather is partly to blame too. As winter strikes big time with temperatures now being sub zero on a regular basis, confining us indoors, its tough to know what to do with the physical energy of a 2 year old and to find the time and the energy to keep up with him. Well we have decided to take him to a couple of indoor gyms a couple times a week to channelize some of it. Anyways, this too shall pass.

On a brighter note, I have several things to be happy about. For the first time in the 4 years that we have been here, we went shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and boy was it thrilling, one because we were shopping for the kids and two because it was so crowded and that always reminds me of India. We shopped for some kids' clothes and toys and got some pretty neat deals and that brings me to the second thing or rather discovery that I am happy about. We bought 3 board games for Vansh and he has been so interested in those for the whole of the past week. He takes them out several times in a day and plays with them all by himself. His favorite is Hi-Ho Cherry O where he puts the cute little cherries, apples, oranges and blueberries on the respective trees, spins the spinner for a number and then picks the corresponding number of fruits from the tree and puts them into his basket.

Last but not the least we have a budding photographer who is getting better with every passing day :) So now mom can get her picture with Jiya even when dad's not around or dad and mom can get their picture taken too, all they do is ask and we have a more than happy son who complies :)

As for Jiya, she is chilling out. Getting bigger and smarter by the day, she sure knows how to get everybody's attention and loads of it. The tough time between 4 and 6 months when they realise a lot of things like the fun they can have when sitting in mom or dad's lap and playing with toys or better still be carried around and look at things from a moving perspective but are independently not capable of doing those, that's what she is going through right now.

I also started a few solids in the long weekend. She did very well with the rice cereal for about 4 days before I introduced moong dal to her and now that's all she wants to have. She shuts her mouth tight and actually pushes my hand away if I try to feed her pureed carrots and bestows the same treatment to the cereal after a few spoons. I didn't even know that a 4 something month old could actually do that. And last evening when it was moong dal again, it sure was party time.

Hmm, so all this is leaving me with lesser time and more work on my hands.

To each his own!

Huh!! I have finally concluded after several attemts and most of them failed ones at that, that Vansh has no interest in painting, coloring and the like, basically anything that would render his hands "un" spic and span is not worth the trouble and the mess. So while I excitedly made a mental note of a couple of activities involving finger painting with shaving foam and painting using straw and thread a few days back and enthusiastically set the stage for each one of those yesterday and even did them myself, ranting and raving about the amount of fun I was having all along, Vansh couldn't care less. He engrossed himself in playing with my cell phone. There was nothing a mom with her hands dirty with shaving foam could do about it, remember!!(Once he even senses an opportunity, we can rest assured he'll grab it, another example being, get a little over lovey and cuddly with him and without a single millisecond's delay, he'll make a request to watch his favorite movie 'Cars') Hmm ..so no interest in the shaving foam, let me try the painting with the straws and the threads, I thought. Vansh immersed himself in the toy catalogs, an n number of which suddenly ram in the household with Christmas round the corner. (No cellphone this time round, mom's hands were not dirty enough!!) After listening to my constant "Wow's!! and what fun!!" here's what he decided to do: After all I was having so much fun

After a while he did decide to paint just a bit using a clothespin and sponge piece, so that the paint remains as far from his hand as possible till this happened and that was the end of it!

Well, pretty discouraged at the end of it all, I still tried to look for that silver lining by remembering this story title 'Animal School' I had read earlier in the day :

Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had to create a curriculum that would satisfy everyone, so they chose four subjects: running, climbing, flying, and swimming. All the animals, of course, studied all the subjects.
The duck was very good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He received passing grades in running and flying, but was hopeless in climbing, so they made him drop swimming so that he could practice climbing. After a while he was only average at swimming, but average is still acceptable, at least in school, and nobody worried much about it except the duck.
The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there that was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write, "Cheating is wrong," five hundred times. This kept him from soaring, which he loved, but schoolwork comes first.
The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in the winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn't open then.
The zebra played hooky a lot because the ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.
The kangaroo started out at the top of the racing class, but became discouraged when was told to move swiftly on all four legs the way his classmates did.
The fish quit school because he was bored. To him, all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that because they had never seen a fish.
The squirrel got an A in climbing, but his flying teacher made him start from the ground up, instead of from the treetop down. His legs got so sore practicing takeoffs that he began getting Cs in climbing and Ds in running.
The bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to Doctor Owl for testing. Doctor Owl said that the bee's wings were too small for flying and they were in the wrong place. The bee never saw Doctor Owl's report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway. I think I know a bee or two, how about you?

So I guess now I'll just let him be and play with cell phones and laptops all he wants, hoping that one day he'll end up as a 'product designer' for Apple or if he wants to look at all those catalogs and become a toy salesman one day, thats fine too!!

Updates ...

Wow!! All the cliches about time just flying by come so true with kids around! Just a month and a half before 2008 begins. Vansh is just 4 months away from his 3rd b'day and Jiya, well, everytime I get used to saying she is these many months old, she grows some more and its time to say the next number. A few updates on what the kids are upto at this time :

- Vansh is so into giggling all the time. All day long and I mean it. And when he's not giggling, he's either listening to Miss Nadi's CD (his ECFE teacher - he listens to that as if someone's going to test him on that one) or having a meltdown. Jiya being so enthusiastic about him giggling all the time is the biggest re-inforcer I guess. He has been referred to as Mr Giggler on several occasions and not without a reason. Watch another one here.

- Playing with toys is passe. Its mom's pots and pans, well it has been for a long time, but now he likes to put them on the stove (while its off, Thank God!!), ask me to put bits of cookie and stir up to make "hot sabzi"; wants to heat something in the microwave all the time and when there's nothing to heat, just set the timer for 5-6 seconds and listen to it go 'peep, peep, peep, peep' and then giggle some more.

- As he continues to string words into sentences, guess what he says when he wants to play exclusively with dad or chat with grandparents with no interference from mom - "Mummy kitchen बनाऊं" Whether its 9 in the morning or 9 at night doesn't matter - mom's rightful place when there are others to entertain him is the kitchen :)

- Loves to ask for what each of the road signs say. Recognises STOP, NO PARKING (P with a slash), SPEED LIMIT and EXIT signs where they occur. Keeps showing us trucks and school buses as we pass them and counts correctly upto 3 or 4 if there's a fleet on the road. The latest he has learnt is we use the ''indicator" when we turn.

- Favorite book at this time - Sheep in a Jeep and My Car, favorite songs - This is Daniel Cook, Here we are, Lakdi ki kathi, Mere paas aao mere doston, favorite movie - Cars, hands down, favorite activities - photographing everything from people (friends visiting us is his field day) to his cars to soft toys; and GIGGLING.

- Some everyday coversations sound like this -

Vansh - Papa, office aa gaye?
Ash - Haan beta
Vansh - Car parking kiya?
Ash - Haanji kiya
Vansh - Ashutosh uncle saath car gaye the
Ash - Haanji, Ashutosh uncle ke saath gaya tha
Vansh(very pleased), after a moment, giggle giggle giggle

Vansh (on hearing the sound of the coming Garbage truck outside) - Arbage truck!!
Me and Vansh together - Wow!! Bye garbage truck!
Vansh - Arbage truck jaana hai (meaning - I want to go outside to see the garbage truck)
Me - nahi beta, baahar ab bahut thandi ho gayi hai. Hum baahar nahi ja sakte
Vansh - Haaaaaan (in a sing song tone)!! Bye arbage truck!
*Giggle giggle giggle*
(And this same conversation takes place each and every single day)

- Funny words/phrases used - "कलौजी आ रहा है for खुजली हो रही है।" "Calapitata" for "caterpillar"; "alacome" for "Welcome"

- I also noticed a lower right hand side molar today. Was expecting that for some time as hands had been finding their way into the mouth quite often again. That makes it a total of 17 teeth now.

As for Jiya, boy is she getting strong. At her most active best, she pulls my hair with one hand and specs with the other, leaving me surprised and laughing at how naughty can a 4 month old get.
- She now likes to stand holding on to our hands, though only for a few seconds, but she wants to do that all the time. Make her sit on your lap and she'll hold on to your fingers and just slide down so that you have to straighten her and she grabs the opportunity and upright she goes. And laugh out loud.
- When sitting in her bouncy, she now leans forward and searches for Vansh when he is out of sight.
- Discerning her cries is getting more complex because boredom and attention have been added to the previous list of hunger and sleep.
- Is mouthing everything given to her, has swollen gums and is drooling. However relatively the discomfort is less as compared to Vansh had when he was teething or perhaps she is much more occupied to realise that.

Food, sparklers and giggles this Diwali

Diwali was fun this year with a couple of friends, lots of finger licking food (and a chance to boast about all the home made mithais, gujiyas, samosas, pakoras, et al - 4 years in the US is sure to make you a certified halwai) and best of all 'patakhas'. All the kids - Vansh, Arunabh, Yuvraj and even Jiya had so much fun and so did we. We chatted (and ate) so much that there was no time left for games we had thought we would play. Among other things, we spoke about the funniest things kids say, one of the best being "I want to go to disneyland.com" (Huh!! Gone are the days when we told our parents "We want to go to India Gate or Children's Park). Vansh had such a great time with his friends - he went on giggling (surprisingly even after everyone left instead of his usual sureshot meltdown on such instances) till he finally slept at 1:30. He also found several live subjects for practising his photography. He is getting fairly good at it. Shall post his accomplishments in a separate post. The diwali pics for now -

We wish you all a very Happy and Sparkling Diwali!!

Guess what's my first food ....

गुजिया :)) ... नाचो गायो, ख़ुशी मनाओ, गुजिया खाओ, आज दिवाली है!!

Festivities in the air!!

Oh I absolutely love this time of the year ..Diwali is going to be here soon. Apart from other things, to me it means eating 'kaju-kishmish' and the yummy mitahis till my tummy hurts; going to the market on the slightest opportunity to see all the crowds (Oh! I miss India so much!); new clothes of course; leaving on all the lights in the house which looks so bright and sparkly; the small little things which all add up to make the day BIG!! I am so excited even while I write this. Even though things here are so different from what they are back home, still I am enjoying hustling about to put the house in order for a change (I now shamelessly proclaim that I clean the house only when we are expecting company); finishing up the piles of laundry to make it look spic and span (again for a change); making gujiyas and matthis and singer ki mithai; squeezing in an extra 10 minutes to buy some maida and khoya before taking Vansh to school; writing "Give Vansh a haircut" in Ashwini's to do list before Diwali and then going ahead and doing it myself (we have totally lost hope of getting him a haircut from a professional, with all his howling and screaming, till the haircut we give him actually embarasses him.); planning the potluck and games for Diwali night. Oh! Another interesting thing that happened this year - till last year Vansh was too small to enjoy sparklers and firecrackers - so we didn't really care either. This year, however, he had a great time on 4th of July and on Dussehra with those. And we had no idea that they are not available year round here. As a result we blew all of ours on Dussehra because everyone was having such a nice time. Very luckily and interestingly, I thought of asking our MOMS club group via our yahoo group whether anyone had any left over firecrackers and fortunately got a bunch of those to have fun with on Diwali night :) Now I am just praying for the weather gods to be kind enough to let the kids enjoy those

A few more pics from Halloween last week. Surprisingly, Vansh was not scared of the larger than life size dressed up dogs and strange characters and actually went ahead and shook their hand and even posed for a picture. May be Miss Nadi, their ECFE teacher, dressing up like a clown in front of them and going back and forth putting on and taking off her colorful wig and red nose helped him see that its actually just normal people who dress up like some one else. Big crowds still frazzle him though leading to a troubled look on his face evident in most pictures. He also befriended a lady fire fighter to ask her all about her big flashy red car :)

The idiosyncrasies of our quirky little toddler.

When I have had a good night's sleep, am having a peaceful day and I am smug at having the skill of PATIENCE under my control on one of those exceptionally rare days, I fascinate at how a child's mind develops. What does he think to think in that very particular way that he is thinking (!!!) (so now you know that today is not one of those good days when I think clearly!) Basically, I wonder why does Vansh always climb on his booster seat from the left side; insist that I be the one who hands him his milk and Ashwini be the one who feeds him pizza; would only and only hop to the bathroom for brushing his teeth and refuse to be carried or simply walk there howsoever tired he might be and many more such little quirks!! I know kids at this age love and take comfort in having the same routine each day. And for a cautious kid like Vansh, that holds especially true. Till some time back, he refused to taste chocolates and ice-creams because they didn't look like anything that he is used to eating. We can see his discomfort in the midst of big crowds and loud music etc. After a while of observation, it sends him searching for some little buttons in the corner that he can press and be on his own or off late find one friend whose hand he can hold and play with. But carrying it to the extreme of doing a particular thing in a set way and not budging from it at all is nothing short of intriguing. Here are a few more of his quirks

- After hopping to the bathroom for brushing, he has to first take off his pants to pee, even if he has done that 15 minutes back; press his toothbrush himself to light it on (he has that fancy little totthbrush which lights up for one minute to make sure you are brushing long enough); pick up his little toy alligator to brush his teeth and then lets us brush his own. Try to change a tiny bit and be treated to wails of life being so unfair!!

- He'll count 1,2,3, ...10, go before hopping on to his booster seat for a meal and if he realises he has gotten up from the wrong side, he'll get down and climb up again from the left side.

- Once he's done eating, he has to have the plate and food removed from in front of him.

- He has certain seating arrangements for the family and gets upset if its out of order. So much so, that he doesn't really appreciate when I or Ashwini sit on the chair at the dining table where his grandfather used to when they were here for 2 months!!

- His reaction to different songs is different. 'This is Daniel Cook' - his latest favorite CD - he'll dance on the first three songs, ignore the next two - would just go and sit for some time or play with some toys and would come back again to dance at the exact moment every time - about 3 seconds before the 6th song is about to begin. Bizarre!! While listening to his ECFE teacher's CD, he would sit absolutely still on his rocker with Winnie, his teddy bear and just listen to it like that.

- Off late he's into wanting to operate the microwave himself when it needs to be used and the time for which anything needs to be heated has to end in a 0. So it has te be 40 or 50 seconds that he'll heat say his milk for and not 45.

- The latest is that Ashwini can't pick up Jiya because mummy's 'godi' is for Jiya and papa's is for Vansh (thankfully, there's one which is understandable to a great degree).

Huh!! Perplexing indeed!

Would appreciate comments from parents in similar situations to know we are not the only ones.

At 4 months, Jiya

- is so into blowing raspberries all the time. She loves being talked to and thats what she does in response to us talking to her.
- her movements are much more controlled now and she's able to grasp a toy when its handed to her.
- holds head steady when held upright.
- now looks for a change of toys and her placement and position after some time. Gets bored, that is, doing the same thing.
- is becoming best buddies with Vansh. No one entertains her and makes her laugh like he does.
- loves listening to music now. And almost does a jig in her seat at times when it starts :)
- weighs 12 lbs 5 oz and measures 24-3/4 in.

Happy Halloween!!

... to all little trick-or-treater's out there. Even though we do not know the actual significance of the festival but are taking it as an opportunity to have some fun :) Vansh is a pirate and Jiya a little pumpkin this year. We had a halloween party last week. Vansh was happy running around in his costume with a few more of his dressed up friends. Yesterday a few of the kids' friends were over for a playdate and we decorated paper pumpkins. At ECFE too, its dress up day today. In the evening, we shall also go to the closeby mall for some music and celebrations and some trick-or-treating. We also have a Happy Halloween picture outside our apartment door which we got from the apartment management yesterday to put up if we want to give out treats to the other kids. Vansh thought putting up his creation alongside would be a good idea. I still have to explain how to trick or treat around but am pretty sure he'll catch it immediately, what with all that fascination for 'lollipops' these days. He'll do everything in his might to get so many of those. More pictures follow...

Fun at the MOA

Jiya is all into blowing raspberries with that naughty twinkle in her eye when she is excited. She loves being talked to and refuses to lie down on her back for more than 5 minutes. She loves being propped up and catch on all thats happening around her. She was way too excited when we visited Mall of America this Saturday, squealing with delight on seeing all the action. She couldn't stop doing that even after coming back. Here's a link to a video.

Vansh had the time of his life in all those trucks and airplanes and cars rides!! He just couldn't get enough of them.

I am a busy boy!!

My day begins with beating eggs and toasting the bread for breakfast.

Unloading the dishwasher and stacking the dishes comes next!

I sweep the floors and make sure to leave no corners unbroomed!

Laundry comes next on my list of tasks. Sorting whites and colors is what I have to pay special attention to.

Chopping onions and tomatoes for the meals! Heating up the dishes before serving is one of the easy ones!!

I know you are exhausted just by looking at me work so hard. But that's just half the day!