It happened one night a couple of months ago. I was putting him to bed and he said "I love you mumma" and hugged me tight and gave me a kiss. Now he has said these words before but only on being asked to. But this time he actually meant it and it was spontaneous. I jumped with joy. The last time these words had the same effect was almost 7 years ago.
The downside to this (of course everything has to have a downside to it) is that every time I raise my voice, he says these very words and hugs me tight. In his mind it is the perfect way to get out of a bad place. And he is not wrong most of the times. Sigh.
1. Naman and I are sitting on the sofa and looking out the window.
Me: Do you see any aeroplane Naman? Where are they all?
Naman: Costco.
Me (totally not expecting the answer): Why?
Naman: To fill gas mumma.
2. I am doing dishes standing by the kitchen sink. In comes Naman with his yellow dump-truck in tow
Naman: Beep-beep, dump-truck is here. Move mumma.
Me: I can't Naman. I am stuck.
Naman: I know I know!
(Goes inside his room for a second and comes running all excited with his small Handy tow-truck in hand.He pretends to put the hook on me and says:).
Naman: pull mumma pull.
Deep in thoughts, staring out the window at work, my train of thoughts led to Naman (don't they always, now-a-days!!) and then it struck me, this idea that in a few years' time, I will not be able to carry my lil boy in my arms anymore! What a disheartening thought that is! Made me freeze for a whole second. Then I think back on how many times I have brushed him off in the past saying "Give me 2 minutes Naman, I will be done soon" when he comes to me with his arms stretched out saying "Mumma, up" (always when I am busy in the kitchen).
What a weird thing being a parent is - one moment you want your baby to be all grown up (feed himself, go potty on his own...) and the next, you are amazed at how grown up your boy already is to be saying things like "Mumma, no kissie please" which makes you languish for the times gone by - you want your baby back! Oh, how I wish I could have a mix of both these worlds, forever!
Dinner time, mumma is in the kitchen, pappa is with the kiddo reading one of his books. I think it was his fruits book. They come to the page with cherries
Pappa: Red Cherry
Naman: Ed Theyyi
Pappa: that's right, red cherry
And then he remembers something out of the blue and is eager to share it with us.
Naman: Addi (Ajji), pappa, mumma, Naman theyyi pick (he had just learned to use "pick" that day)
And then he promptly goes to where hubby keeps his laptop and demands "lat-pot opoo (open)" implying that he wants to talk to his Ajji over skype right then!
Hubbby and I were looking at each other, thrilled that our lil guy not only remembers our cherry picking outing with his Ajjji but is also able to connect and express it when we are reading about cherries in a book.
It is purely for moments like these that we need to create sweet memories. Any hesitation we may have had that day about driving all the way over to the cherry farm in the heat and getting sun-burned, good that we did not give in to our laziness. This moment totally made it all worth it apart from all the fun we ended up having in the farm!
- Started full time daycare all days of the week since Ajji left last Thursday
- Got into a real fight for the first time over a toy car and ended up with few scratch marks (couple of bad looking ones near the eyes)
- Continues to include "Addi" (ajji) in his stories and songs and asks about her on his way back from school.
- Composed his very first song :). It is based on "Wheels on the bus" tune and goes something like: "Pappa, Mumma, Addi, Nanna (he calls himself Nanna) hee-hee-hee hee-hee-hee hee-hee-hee tonn (town). It is so much more cuter when he sings it!
- Continues to be a poor eater and absolutely no interest in drinking his milk
- Has acquired a new silly sleep-time habit over the past couple of days : he needs to hold his "duddu pop" (milk bottle), opened, in one hand and the cap in the other hand. Doesn't matter if the milk in the bottle falls down and wets the bed and pillow. After hours of screaming and crying and trying to coax him to give up this habit, we have resorted to having a spare bottle at hand for him to lie down with. Looking at him sleep this way reminds me of drunkards that we see in movies who lay all wasted on the streets with the bottles in their hands.
- Bites anything and everything, we are attributing this to teething, hopefully its just a phase.
- His bath time is slowly but surely turning into a war-zone. These days he looks forward to his "hot bath" times and the moment we are in the bath tub, he starts "Mug kodu" (give me the mug) and there starts the tug of war, literally.
- Calls any small kid even 2x his size as "baby". That is so funny and cute.
- He loves "tow mater" from the cars series. That said, he loves all his cars, trucks and buses and anything on wheels.
There may be some tidbits that I am forgetting to note down here but every day is a fun, tiring day, oh boy!
Kiddo is not keeping well. Bitten by the cold and cough bug he is, for almost a week now. Just when my mind did a happy somersault with the thought that he was finally getting there in the "eating well" category, this had to happen. NO appetite whatsoever, poor thing. We feel so helpless looking at that little boy suffering from runny, stuffy nose and cough. Most certainly is the toughest thing to endure as parents. Hope and pray that he recovers soon.
He is doing good otherwise. 4 teeth (2 top, 2 bottom), inquisitive little brat he is. Loves his cars and trucks and animal books. No concrete words yet, mostly babble. Does not walk yet. He is a champion crawler and cruises all around the house. He does stand on his own for a couple of seconds but is not really confident. Will take him a month more to get his technique right, I would say. I wish I could share more of his antics. There are so many things I want to write down, yet no clear thought. I should update this blog more often, I will.
Friends, my prayers have been answered. Since my last post (http://naman-ki-ma.blogspot.com/2010/07/from-hand-to-mouth.html), Naman has miraculously turned into a not-a-very-fussy eater. Well, not really miraculously. Did a lot of thinking to answer the big question "WHY (does he not like to eat)". The villain, it turned out, was the bland food that I was forcing on him. Poor thing, even a glutton would go on a hunger strike when given no other option. Well, but how was I to know? Babies are supposed to thrive on bland food, right? But my guy is a desi baby all the way, seems to like spicy food with tons of ghee! Yesterday, I cooked brown rice pulao for him. I fried carrots and peas (organic of course) in ghee. Sprinked crushed jeera and cardamom. Added brown rice (reminder: soak the rice for 30 minutes before cooking next time), continued frying for another 5 minutes. Then transferred to a pressure cooker. Cooked on low for upto 3 whistles. Mashed this in a blender and voila! dinner is ready. Now, I HATE brown rice, hate the smell, hate the flavor and anything to do with it. But brown rice is infinitely more nutritious than white rice (http://www.mydesibaby.com/2009/12/switch-to-brown-rice-when-your-babies-are-young.html ) and I do want my son to get all the nutrition he can. With serious apprehension in mind, hubby dear (bade me from feeding this to him because of the twisted, contorted, gagged expression on my face) extended the spoon full of rice to his mouth and lo and behold, the little monster seemed to relish it and smacked his way through. Phew! What a relief! Did a lot to boost my confidence. Never has cooking for someone felt more rewarding and satisfactory (notwithstanding the "hmmm interesting" comments I occasionally gather from hubby).
Knock on wood, my little man seems to be less fussy about food ever since and it is almost as if he waits for dinner time to see what delicacy mommy has come up with today. Awwwwww :) Anything for my sweet cuddly bear!
