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4 years ago I made this collage into a T-shirt for Sri's birthday..
Now its Sunny's turn..
How quickly the years are going by. This is the 7th year I'm celebrating Sri's birthday with him and there are times I wonder where the time went. I guess you don't see time when you are having fun ;-).
Happy birthday Sri :). Love you lots :)).
Sorry to have vanished from the face of earth for more than a month, but as you can guess things have been crazy busy for me. What you cannot guess is that we had been to India for a 5 week "vacation" :-D. We obviously celebrated Sunny's Naamakarana and Annapraashana there, so there were the usual functions, get-togethers and travels to and fro amidst ill-healths that spread from one person to another. Right now we are back in US and I am getting adjusted to a routine with 2 kids. Snugli will be off to school from next week, so things should be a lot more easier. I have so much to write but the stories will have to unfold quite slowly. Meanwhile to tide things over, its Snugli story time :).
While we were in India, Snugli was introduced to a concept she was quite unaware of here in the US - MONEY, thanks to all the relatives who gave rupee notes to her as gifts (she knew "cents" because thats what makes her favourite machine horse run, but not about notes).
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It all started when Snugli's great-grand mother (Sri's mother's mother) gave her Rs 500. She immediately grabbed it claiming it to be "my money".
Sri somehow convinced her to give it to him, but the next day she went and asked him for "her money". Since he had already spent it on something, he thought he could con her with a Rs.10 note. Her response?
"This note says 10. My note said five zero zero. This is not my money. Give me my money!"
Baap re!
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She soon got used to getting these 500s. After a get-together in Bangalore, we were looking at all the gifts when she claimed that one of the money envelopes was hers. She opened it to discover a Rs.100 note. She says -
"Ellaru 500 rupees kottaru, ivaru yaake 100 kottiddaare?" ("Everyone gave 500 rupees, why have these people given 100?")
God! I'm very thankful that that particular person was nowhere near to hear that statement!
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One day we were invited to an arshina-kumkuma, to which I took Sunny and Snugli along. Since they saw Sunny for the first time, as usually is the custom, they gave her a Rs.100 note. Snugli immediately cries -
"Where is my money!!!"
I could only shut her up by handing over the note that they had given Sunny. I wonder what will happen when Sunny becomes aware of "money" - I can already imagine a tug-of-war over a 100 rupee note :-D.
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There were many times where she wanted to hold her money while we were in India. While all the above instances were sort of embarrassing for us, what happened today was sweet to the extreme. Since we have been back, Snugli has very obviously been missing her grandparents and Bangalore as such. Today she saw a plane and this conversation happened -
Snugli: "Lets catch a flight and go to Bangalore"
Me: "Sorry we can't sweetheart. We'll go there next year"
Snugli: "Why?"
Me: "Because we don't have so much money to spend."
Snugli: "Don't worry. I have lots of money. Many 500 rupees to buy tickets."
Wish we could honey, wish we could :-\.
Snugli is the featured student for 2 weeks at her school and hence this is my punishment ;-) :-D - a poster featuring her and everything she loves :).
The things parents need to to when their kids are in school!!!
I don't really like this type of manipulating from the schools. How does it make me a good mom/parent if I am concentrating more on the poster than the kids? We were out of town on the weekend and the teacher suddenly dumped this on us on Monday (no warnings at all and it was needed "right now"). Moreover Sri, God bless him, doesn't have a single artistic bone in his body, so I came up with the concept, designed the template, got the photo printouts, cut them all out, glued everything together literally in 24 hours all with a cranky baby and an extremely inquisitive pre-schooler around. All this to please a few teachers because Snugli hardly paid any attention to it and I'm sure her classmates would have been the same :-p. I could have done a shabby job, but the perfectionist in me had to get it right :-p. Basically, I think it becomes a matter of pride for the parents.
I'm already ruing the day when Sunny will be all grown up. Proud of myself though :).
This happened about 3 weeks back, you know why I haven't been able to put it up ;-).
One day while I am feeding Sunny, Snugli comes and sits right next to me.
Snugli: "Amma, puttu baby amma hotteinda bantha?" ("Mom, did the baby come from mom's stomach?")
Me: "Huun." ("Yes.")
(Whenever she troubled me too much, I told her that since the baby came from my stomach, I had aches and pains all over and so she asks)
Snugli: "Amma, ninge hotte abbi idya?" ("Mom, does your stomach hurt?")
Me: "Huun."
Snugli: "Amma, ninge bennu abbi idya?" ("Mom, does your back hurt?")
Me: "Huun."
Snugli: "Amma, ninge kai kaalu abbi idya?" ("Mom, do your arms and legs hurt?")
Me: "Huun."
Snugli: "Amma, naanu Walgreens hogi medicine tharthene. Ninge abbi ella hothade." ("Mom, I'll go to Walgreens and get some medicine for you. All your pains will be gone."). Walgreens is a pharmacy store here.
:).
On a side note, typing a post on iPhone, moreover by left hand is HARD :-p.
As the title states, this is what happens at our house at nights these days..
* Snugli falls asleep
* Sri falls sorta asleep..
* I feed Sunny and put her to sleep.
* Sri and I start to cuddle.
* Snugli wants to go potty and Sri takes her..
* Sri and I start to cuddle.
* Sunny starts crying, I console her and put her back to sleep.
* Sri and I start to cuddle.
* Sunny cries again, Sri changes her diaper, I swaddle her and put her back to sleep.
* Sri and I start to cuddle.
* Snugli starts sucking her thumb. One of us gets up, removes the thumb :-p.
....
..
..
.
So on and so forth until both of us are so exhausted that we fall asleep as soon as we hit the sack - the cuddling all forgotten :-p.
Its as if they ... {horror music}... Its as if they KNOW! ;-) :-D
One thing moms with infants know is how difficult it is to burp babies. So whenever I get a successful burp out of Sunny these days, I involuntarily exclaim "Good job!".
I don't really have to tell you what happened next right?
One day Snugli after finishing her lunch comes to me, burps loudly and says "Look mom, I burped!" :-D.
Hehehee :))).
Today I complete 9 months date wise, the due date is still a week away and I have no end in sight :(. I am running out of patience and though I pull my tired body along, its like c'mon little one, its time :-p. I feel like a dullard half the time (not that I can claim to know "what" a dullard feels :-p), tired and achy all the other times. The only good thing is that I am able to go ahead and cook a few specialties of my own for my dearest family who are all here (before you jump on me for that, let me specify that I'm not straining myself too much). Its wonderful to have dad back here, but whats better than that is having Darsh. Last time he couldn't be here and this time he already has a couple of plans in place to visit his friends. Yet, its very nice to be with him whenever we do get the time. The best part is that he has never seen me pregnant before, so he keeps eyeing my stomach as if it has an alien inside :-D. Even refers to it as a basketball (yeah my stomach texture actually feels like that - all rubbery and strong). Kinda brings back my first pregnancy memories :-D.
Anyways that certainly wasn't why I'm writing this post. I have been meaning to write this one and a couple of other ones before delivery, but I'm not sure whether I can deal with the 2 other posts I planned. So glad to be able to put up this one atleast. This pregnancy as I have told you has been full of weird times. Where there were some really tiring times, there have been crazy times like me running around in my 6th month :-D. Don't worry, I was running in the swimming pool for exercize inbetween swimming sessions :-D. There have been astonishing moments other than these, especially thanks to having Snugli around. So lets wrap up the incidents.
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I think I have mentioned this before, but we decided to inform her the news as soon as the doctor confirmed. I was really insistent on that because I didn't want the news coming to her from others, even grandparents for that matter. 3 year olds aren't really supposed to have lasting memories, but you never know what impacts where :-p. So the first person we informed after the doc's appointment was Snugli :). I don't even think she understood, because there wasn't much of a reaction at all. After I repeated the news a couple of times her response was -
"Puttu baby bandre naanu hello heLthini" ("If little one arrives, then I'll say Hello" :-D).
Hehehee :).
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One of the things parents are worried about is the dreaded question - why? It happened once and thankfully I was able to escape without giving away the technical details ;-).
Me: "Amma hotteli puttu baby ideyalla" ("There is a little one inside mom's stomach.")
Snugli: "Yaake?" ("Why?")
Me: "Maththe nin jothe aaDlikke yaaradru bekalla ninge?" ("You need someone to play with you right?")
Snugli: "Huun" ("Yes" happily).
Phew, beeso doNNe tapthu (I escaped the swinging bat :-D).
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Once the little one started kicking, I tried to get Snugli to feel the kicks. But thats easier said than done with a hyperactive 3 year old :-p. Whenever I would feel movements, I'd call her and tell her to "Shshsh" with my finger on my mouth sign and try to keep her still. Her response?
"Amma enu sound keLtha illa" (Mom, I can't hear any sound")
I had to convince her each time that there's no sound with the kicks :-p.
Once she has been able to feel a few flutters, other questions (obviously) have risen :-p.
Snugli: "Amma, puttu baby yaake kick kick maadtha ide?" ("Mom, why is the small baby kicking?")
Me: "Puttu baby ge hotteli jaaga illa alwa, adhikke." ("The small baby doesn't have much space in mom's stomach, thats why."
God!
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I keep reminding Snugli that she needs to share her old rattles/toys with the little one and she has always seemed happy to (don't know what the reality will be :-p). One day, she suddenly comes to me with a big smile and a rattle in hand. She says:
"Amma, ee rattle puttu baby ge. Naanu puttu baby ge rattle shake shake maadthini, puttu baby ha ha ha antha nagthade" ("Mom, this rattle is for the small baby. I'll shake the rattle in front of the baby and the baby will laugh ha ha ha")
:).
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Now that she's aware that the little one either sleeps or kicks inside the stomach, this is something that happens regularly at our house :-D. One morning,
Snugli: "Amma, puttu baby enu maadhta ide?" ("Mom whats the small baby doing?")
Me: "Jojo maadtha ide." ("Its sleeping.")
Snugli: "Good morning aaithu, innu yaake jojo maadtha ide?" ("Its good morning, why is it still sleeping?")
Me: "Hotteli kitaki illwalla, puttu baby ge good morning antha goththagolla. Addrinda jojo maadtha ide." ("There are no windows in mom's stomach, so small baby doesn't know its good morning, which is why its sleeping").
Yeah, it hasn't been easy to have a quick reply ready :-p.
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One day I was eating some adike (arekanut), when Snugli madam wanted to know what I was eating. Since I wanted to avoid giving her adike, I gave her some jeerige mithai and told her I was eating the same. She immediately retorts - "Open your mouth and show me"!! Madam wants proof, hehehe :)).
Yet another day when I took her to the library, I parked the car in a different section than I usually do as the usual one was almost full. Her retort - "Why didn't you park there? There are still 2 spots open!", pointing to the empty spots available.
God! Most of the times, it feels like I have a grandma around who is always criticizing everything I do and proof-checking things. I told her that she was "nammane ajji" ("Our home's grandma") and her reaction?
"Naanu ajji alla. Naanu akka aagthene puttu baby ge." ("I'm not a grandma, I will be a big sister to the little baby.")
There's no outsmarting the little one, not anymore :-p.
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One evening, I was sitting with Snugli next to me when the baby inside kicked.
Me: "Hi baby, how are you?" to the little one inside (in English).
Snugli: "Amma, puttu baby 'Fine, thank you' heLlilla" ("Mom, small baby is not saying 'Fine, thank you' back") with a sad puzzled face.
I had a tough time convincing her that the baby is not going to be saying anything anytime soon :-D.
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Since about more than a month, she has become extremely adamant. Despite threats and bribes and severe consequences, hardly listens to us. Even her teacher was complaining that she doesn't even respond when her name is called. After my mom came along and now that my dad and Darsh are here, things have only gone downhill. Even if we scold her a little, she cries at the top of her voice and makes a big fuss with heavy drops of ears in her eyes. And you can imagine how grandparents are :-D. So yeah, we have tough times ahead ;-).
I have started preparing her for my hospital trip - saying that I'll be gone for a couple of days and that she has to be with her grandparents for that time. And though she can come and visit me, she'll not be allowed to stay there and so on. She nods as if she understands, but I know there's going to be a fuss. I hope it'll all be minimal. Plus one of Sri's cousins gave me this idea of the older sibling exchanging a gift with the new arrival - a ritual that kind of makes the older kid comfortable ;-) :-D. I thought that there would be no harm in trying it and so I went with her to shop for a small gift for the little one. We both wrapped it up today and had a good time decorating it :-D. Meanwhile, I have a secret gift ready for her (from the newly arriving baby :-D) which is something she has been asking for and hope she loves it :-D. So the gifts are all set to be passed to and fro :-D.
I'd be lying if I say I'm not worried about the whole transition. She still calls out to me for certain things, so I plan to make it a point to be there for those, but I know it can get a lot tighter with the various chores and stuff. I only hope I have the strength (I know I have ample support :-D) to manage it and cross everything in a smooth way. Lets see :).
As usual I have a hugggggggggge backlog of Snugli stories (they keep piling up since something happens everyday :-D, sometimes even twice/thrice a day), so I thought why not put some of them up for her birthday :-D. She imitates us day-to-day in mannerisms, words and gestures and its simply confounding :-D. For example, a few months ago, she kept repeating the phrase "Enu samachaara illa" ("there is no news") whenever she spoke to both sets of grandparents (which amused them to no end and hence they kept asking for more :-D). I'm certain she learnt it from one or either of us :-D. Whenever I would do something with my camera, she used to make a mock-camera with her Lego blocks (loves them and is always constructing "buildings" :-D) and would pretend to take pics. Now a days we have another point and shoot in place, which she demands to handle and I'm very proud to say, has taken several snaps of us with :). I usually have a habit of kissing her Good morning while waking her up. The days I missed, she'd demand "Kiss Kodu" ("Give me a kiss") :-D. She sings so many rhymes whenever we don't ask her to and becomes awfully quiet whenever we do :-p.
These days she likes making a big fuss out of small hurts - for example, she falls down and cries loudly at the top of her voice, just to be cuddled by me. And no matter that its me who yells at her and spanks her, she always comes to me with kisses and hugs. Sri is the softer one and he hardly gets anything :-D. I guess thats the bond between a mother and a child :).
Now lets get on with the stories :).
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One day, a couple of months ago, we were both having bread for breakfast. I don't really like eating plain bread while she does. So I put some pickle (Indian red chilly pickle not vinegar stuff they call pickle here) inbetween 2 slices and she immediately wants to know what I've put in it. I show her the pickle and her comment in English is -
"Mmmmm that is nicccce!"
Don't know till now where she learnt it from :-D.
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Summertime, as I've said before, we'd head to the playground now and then. But if Sri or me were too tired, we couldn't really say the word "park" aloud too much. because once she hears the word, then she would insist on going. So we would spell it out P-A-R-K. Guess what, she soon learnt to associate the spelling with the word and soon started saying "P-A-R-K hogona" herself :-D. We had to change the word to Udhyanavana, park in Kannada, which I'm pretty sure will be understood in the next summer :).
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Whenever Sri and I try to hide something from her oh-so-sensitive ears and talk softly, she comes and shouts at us "Hmmmm? Enuuuuuuuuuu? Enande?" ("Hmmm? What? What did you say?"). Hehehee, grandma wants all the details :-D.
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One day, I had made avalakki oggarane (a breakfast item with flattened rice - thick poha). I have a habit of using lots of veggies in my cooking and usually have carrots, peppers and edamaame (soya beans) in that particular item. I was feeding her, when suddenly she pointed to an edamaame and said "Edamaame Snigdha na nodthide" ("Edamaame is seeing Snigdha"). When I laughed, she ate the edamaame and said "Edamaame gulum maadbitte" ("I swallowed that edamaame") and grinned :-D.
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When we get out of the house, she knows most of the time, the general direction of where we need to go. There is an intersection about a mile from our house, where we go straight to get to her library and take a right for most other places. You can take a right and get to the library, but it'll obviously be a longer route. I did that one day and was promptly reminded by her highness that to get to the library I had to go straight and not take a right :-p.
Most of the times, when we are going for our weekly shopping or any of our eating expeditions, one of the regular questions we get asked when we reach that intersection is "Naana, straight hogbeka? Right hogbeka" ("Dad, do we need to go straight? Or do we need to go right?")!! Moreover if we go right, she knows that we approach a particular road (which is a freeway ring road around the city) and asks "New circle road hogbeka?" ("Do we take the New circle road?"). God!! Plus she can point to where her doc office and another library are once we are on the New circle road (you can't see the buildings from the road as such, but she knows the particular exits!).
Past couple of days, because of the slick icy roads, we took a different route while coming home (went straight instead of right at an intersection) and got to see lots of Christmas lights. Just today when we were coming home, Sri took our normal route of turning right and she says "Naana, straight hogu, Christmas lights nodbeku" ("Dad, go straight! I want to see the Christmas lights!"). They are becoming more and more brilliant, I tell you!
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While we are on the road, another thing she knows about are the traffic lights. We have taught her that red says stop and green means go. But you know that traffic rules aren't that simple. Here in the US, most intersections have free rights albeit you have to yield to the vehicles who have right of way (like free left turn in India - since its opposite lane driving here). So yeah, when we do take a free right, with the traffic light showing red, you can guess her question - "Amma, yaake hogtha iddiya? Red ide" ("Mom, why are you going? Its red!").
Similarly, if there is no green arrow but a normal green light, you have to yield to the vehicles in the opposite direction before you take a left turn (yielding means wait until there are no vehicles in the opposite direction. If you have a green arrow, then you have the right of way and don't need to wait for anyone). So yeah, you can guess again, when its green and I am not going but waiting, she literally shouts "Hogu, yaake hogtha illa? Green ide!" ("Go, why aren't you going? Its green!"). Hehehee, I still can't explain the road rules to her - I just say we need to wait, until the vehicles coming in front pass. But sometimes it can be stressful to say the least ;-).
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We have video calls with her grand parents every weekend (one set Saturday and one set Sunday). One day when we were connected to Sri's parents, they asked her whether she had her milk and when she answered affirmatively, her thaatha, paternal grandfather, asked her "What about some milk for me?". She replies instantly - "Thanthange naanamma ready maadthaare" ("Naanamma will prepare some for thaatha") :-D. Ensured several rounds of laughter around :).
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One good thing about Snugli (there are several good things about her :-D), is that whenever she takes something and plays with it, she usually remembers where she left it last. Once I was searching for Sri's mobile and knew she had been playing with it last. Not finding it, I asked her where it was and she told me it was on the table. I again searched and later learned that it was under a hat on the table ;-).
Well, one day, we went shopping and when Sri took out his wallet to pay, he found his driver's license missing. He asked me to take over the driving (since we didn't want to get caught at the wrong time and I had my DL with me) and once we reached home, searched at all the usual places in no vain. Remembering that Snugli was last seen playing with it, he thought of asking her about it, but didn't know whether she'd know the word for it. So he showed her my DL and asked where his was. She doesn't hesitate the least, goes straight to the computer table, climbs up and pulls it out of one of the floppy nooks! If she hadn't remembered, we wouldn't have found it for a long long time, maybe months together!
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Now that she goes to school, she is slowly, step by step, learning to speak English, especially with an accent. Most of times, she just speaks some accented gibberish but yeah, there are some times, when she really scares me that she's turning into a little Miss American :-D. Several examples:
1) Sri pretends to be ill around her just to hear her ask "Naana, what happened? Are you okay?" in perfect American accent :-D.
2) One day she asked me if I saw her toy and when I said I didn't (in Kannada), she says "I didn't see it either". I was shocked to hear her use "either" :-D.
3) One day, the DVD player remote was nowhere to be found. Since she is usually the one playing with it, we asked her where it was. Her response? "DVD remote? I don't know!" with the accent, the gestures, everything :).
4) There was a time, she would say "Oh my Gosh!" for everything. Don't know whether she learnt it from school or one of the TV shows :).
These are very small examples. She usually pronounces normal English words with accent, words which she couldn't possibly hear in school. Which makes me think that they learn the syllable accent, rather than the words themselves :). My in-laws are already worried that they'll not understand her anymore after a few months. Well, I have to admit to that worry myself :-D. Which is why I have started to insist that she speak either Kannada or Telugu at home..
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Talking of school, she knows most of her classmates (she calls all of them her friends) by name. I have heard her mention more than 12 children by name and she has about 18 classmates. Plus she tells stories about how one boy was naughty and was given a time-out, or about the cartoons they watched, or how they went to the playground and she fell or how she played "burger party" with a girl. I love hearing these day-to-day reports :-D.
Plus she loves school - we sent her only for half-day the Friday this week and she asked me about 10 times why she wasn't going to school and how much she wants to go there :-\. Even if she's ill, she wants to go. I'm very happy to see her enthusiasm for school, but a cynical part of me does wonder how long this is going to last :-D.
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The days she is at home, she's literally hyper active. I have to keep a continuous eye on her no matter what I'm doing. One minute, she's pulling a stool to wash dishes in the kitchen sink (or try and drink water from the dirty dishes!), the other minute, she's drawing on the walls. The next minute she's up on a chair trying to access something she can't and the very next she's jumping either on the sofa or on the table. One day, she locked a bathroom door and jumped up and down till I opened it, only to dump some toys in the sink and try to wash them! She loves the bathroom sink, insists on washing her hands herself and usually this hand-washing business lasts for many minutes until one of us shouts at her to come out of the bathroom :-D. Another day, a package arrived for Sri and she insisted on it being opened. I told her to wait until her dad came home (because I wasn't really interested in one of his technical toys :-D) and turned away for a moment. The next moment I see her trying to cut open the package herself with scissors! When I warned her, she put away the scissors, but turned the package up and down wondering whats in it. The moment Sri was inside the house, she brought the package to him and asked him to open it, the curious kitten. So you can see how exciting it is to have her at home :-D.
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Another thing I have seen her do in recent times, is pretend. Her imaginations is growing leaps and bounds and its fun to see her implement that with her toys. For example, I saw her take one of her teddy bears to potty the other day and say good job :-D (I immediately insisted that she do so with the toilet lid closed, because I was afraid of her dunking a stuffed toy in the toilet :-p). I have seen her give timeouts to her toys. The other day, she made her stuffed toy sit in her high chair, fed it some food from an utensil, made it drink water with her water bottle, wiped its face and got it down with a good job :-D. Whats more, I have even seen her giving bath to her stuffed cat toy in the bathroom sink (it was half wet by the time I found out). Fun times :).
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Snugli loves books. I still take her to the library twice a week and we make it a point to read atleast 2 books twice a week. If she's been very naughty, sometimes she gets a choice in punishments - either a timeout (sometimes replaced with 2 spankings) or no reading that day. She usually insists on the timeout or the spanking instead of the no reading :-D. Plus, recently I have even see her go through the books once I have read to her and go over some of the phrases or expressions herself - generally telling the story in her own few words :).
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Lastly, another thing these days she has an increased awareness of, is time. She usually associates the morning with sunrise (whenever Sri tries to wake her up in the morning and she can't see the sun yet, she literally shouts at him to leave her alone and that Good morning hasn't happened yet :-D) and the nights with sunset (which might not be too accurate since in winters the sun sets by 5PM here :-p). But thats not what I'm talking about.
Remember that she can't read a clock yet. Just 2 days back, she woke up after a nap of just 1 hour - slept at 1 PM and woke up at around 2PM. She was lying down for quite sometime and later played for a long time while I was watching something. Suddenly at about 4:30 PM she comes and tells me "Naanange call maadu. Kelsa idya antha keLU. 4:30 aaithu yaake bandilla innu?" ("Call dad. Ask him whether he has work. Its 4:30, why hasn't he come home yet?"). I called Sri and passed the phone to her, just so that she can pester him with the very same words I generally use ;-) (he's usually back home by 4:30 Pm or 5PM in the evening, and if he gets late, I usually call him).
I still don't know how she found out the time. There are digital clocks in the kitchen on the conventional and microwave ovens, but I don't think it was that. It was more of a body clock thing where she realized it was evening. But the "4:30" might have come from imitating me, because when it crosses 4:30 PM in the evening and Sri hasn't come home yet, I can usually be found muttering the very same thing she said :-D.
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And so the stories go on..
My fierce little warrior has been ill for sometime now. High fever on and off for 4 days got us worried and yesterday, we took her to the doctor and found out that she has some ear infection which is causing the ups and downs. Hopefully she should be alright today, but it has been sad to see her ill during her birthday week as such. Not at all the way we were expecting to celebrate her third birthday.
I keep repeating myself, but I can't believe she is 3 years old today. They grow up oh-so-fast. We are just hanging on, trying not to miss all the "moments" - the good times and the bad, the fun times and the sad, the frustrating times and the glad :). There have been lots of those and I know there'll be many more in the future. And thats what keeps me from looking back and makes me look forward :).
"Happy birthday and loads of love to my not-so-little-anymore Snoogli bear :)."
Lots of things going on with and around me these days, but I just don't have the time (more like patience :-p) to sit and even write it down. But today's story, I just have to post :).
I've mentioned before that we don't really allow Snugli to use the computer. One main reason for this, according to me personally, is that I don't want her to "grow up too fast". I mean these days, parents seem hell bent on proving that their kids are geniuses that the kids have access to everything, and hence I somehow feel that it takes away the simple enjoyments of childhood. Moreover I want her to spend time with her toys rather than stare at a computer screen or a TV screen for that matter.
The exception to this rule was today. As usual we headed to the library and reached there pretty early. The children section has some computer consoles and I wanted to see what kind of games they have and switched one on. Found a simple game on Disney (a connect-the-dots-by-knowing-numbers) and told her to spot the numbers while I scroll with the mouse and click. She grabs the mouse, spots the numbers and moves the mouse and clicks them herself! I was stunned, stunned stunned!
Believe me, we have never taught her how to use the mouse (and its certainly not easy for a beginner to control it). Once we came back home for lunch, I put the game at home and demonstrated the entire "action" to Sri. I can still see the look of amazement he had on his face! We both were like, "a mini software engineer in the making" :-D. My God! Where do these kids learn this from? It shows how much she observes each and everything we do. It now feels like she wants to grow up fast and I'm holding her back :-\. From now on, I've decided to allow her 1 or 2 games per day, after all she has earned it ;-) :-D.
Have a load of posts to shed ;-), but somehow time keeps slipping away from me, like this quote I heard recently -
"Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug." - John Lithgow.
One of the huggggge reasons for me not being aware of the time is that we finally started sending Snugli to a daycare/school since about 3 weeks back. Its more of a daycare than a school, I'm planning to search for a proper pre-school once she completes 3. Right now she is going thrice a week for only 3 hours each day. But the hours are from 8 AM to 11 AM and hence its been pretty bad for me as such. We changed our schedule to fit in with her school needs a week earlier - so we finish breakfast and all our baths by 8AM. Her school's lunch timings are 11 AM to 12 PM, so incase we plan to put her there for the entire day, we are also having lunch at 11:30 AM now. Which is all well and good except for the fact that my mornings are hectic to say the least. Yes I do get time for myself when she is away, but half of the time goes in cooking. And the morning work takes such a toll that all I want to do in the noon is lie down. I hope that as I get adjusted to the routine, things will be a lot better :).
Sending her to school hasn't been easy, it was pretty bad the first 2 weeks. Now she has adjusted to it, so things are a lot more smoother. So as I was saying, Monday August 16th 2010 turned out to be her 1st day of school :). The obsessive parents we are, we both went to drop her off at 8AM. She said bye and everything was fine till about 10 AM when her teacher tried taking her to potty and it somehow triggered something off (maybe because she isn't used to going with anyone other than us). She started crying for us and didn't stop until I got there (the place is just 5 min away from home). At first she just wanted to get out of there, but later she slowly confesses that "School chennagithu" ("School was nice") :-D.
Yet, the 2nd day, the hesitation started at the school door itself. She wouldn't let me say bye to her, so I had to sit in her class for half an hour (each time I got up to say bye, she'd come running and tell me - "Lets go" :-D). Then finally I convinced her that I had work to do and had to go. She did say bye, but later the teacher told me that she cried for me for a while and then forgot all about it. She did stay for the entire 3 hours that day (though she didn't go to potty :-D) which was certainly an improvement.
The 3rd day was the worse. She started crying while taking her bath and wouldn't stop. We tried not reminding her of the school, but she'd remember and tear up. Her big eyes would fill up with tears and her lips would start trembling. God, it was a struggle from bathing to feeding her breakfast. I stayed in the class again for a while, then got out. While I was signing out, she opened the door of her classroom and was bawling her heart out. I felt very bad leaving her when she was crying like that :(. I was totally upset the entire 3 hours and was wondering whether sending her at 2.5 years was even the right thing to do, basically second-guessing the decision. But guess what I find when I go back to pick her up? She was playing happily and her teacher said that she was fine just after 5 min (while I was stewing away at home :-p). She was even taken to the park to play and the children had a wonderful time playing with bubbles! That was it, I asked Sri to drop her off from then on (her school is on his way to office) :-D.
The 2nd week, once she started going with Sri, there was a 5 min crying period just before he left her there, but it was a lot better. On the 2nd week, 3rd day she had a cough and so we didn't send her to school. Despite Sri's protests, I told her that she wasn't going to school because she wasn't well. Come this week Monday, I tell her she has to go to school and guess what? She coughs dramatically (like the overacting old men in our old Hindi movies :-D) and says in a pretend-tight-throat voice -
"Cough bartha ide. School beda" ("I have cough, so no school")
My God! How fast they learn :-D. Sometimes she is so brilliant that I wonder whether all 2.5 year olds are this smart :-D. Anyways things have been a lot better this week, she even went to the restroom in the school with the help of a teacher. As for me, I somehow miss her quite a bit when she's not around. I keep listening for the sound of her anklets behind me and find myself wondering what she's doing (well, she misses me too as evident by the tight hugs she bestows upon me after coming home :-D). A part of me is obviously proud of her for adjusting so well so soon, but another part is saddened by the fact that I'm back to being alone (I've hardly been alone at home after Snugli came into our lives). I know I know that its only for a few hours, but well, there's no convincing the heart right? :).
Anyways, I have a camping trip post coming up (its been 2 weeks already since we went) and then we are out on another of our long drive trips for the long weekend. Lots and lots to write and don't know when I'll get to it. For the umpteenth time, where's a mind-reading blogger when you need one? :-p.
I've been meaning to write something other than a "birthday countdown" post for what seems like days. But have been busy - hopefully will get to one such post in a couple of days. Meanwhile thought of putting up a couple of pics of the local fair we get here annually (I wrote about it last year). Last year Snugli was a bit too young to enjoy all the bits and pieces and I wrote how it'd be different this year :-D. Well, yeah, it was different as in suddenly we were pushed into the role of spectators and she was the adventurer.
We made it 2 times to the fair this year and this post is mostly about the 1st time (the 2nd time my camera was already poof and the iPhone taken photos don't really count :-p). The first time we did take passes for all of us, because we thought she might create a fuss and its better to ride with her. But she was totally at home :-D.
That was her first ride on her own, ever :) (well, the boy eventually did sit beside her, so on her own as in without us :-\).
We did go on the caterpillar roller coaster ride together (same as last year :-D)..
And the giant wheel (or the Ferris wheel as its called here) later..
I don't really like rides which go round and round, so Sri went with her whenever required (yeah I conveniently dumped the honours on him, hehehee).
And then there was a helicopter ride..
A dinosaur ride..
A bike ride..
The standard merry-go-around..
And a racing car ride which was her "favourite" (she says its so to this day ;-) :-D).
There was also a plane ride (no good pics to speak of) and this dragon roller coaster which she loved.
Phew! I think she enjoyed 12 rides in all. Seeing her enjoyment, I "absolutely" "had-to" take her there once more and hence the 2nd time (I pestered Sri until we went :-D). The 2nd time, we didn't even buy passes for ourselves and bought one for her, thats it. I was ready to run out and get one in case she panicked, but well, our little girl is truly growing up. She went on 12 to 14 rides without even giving us a second glance. I cannot be more proud, believe me, but some part of me was actually sad to see her be so independent. It was difficult for me to let go.
Its not like she's totally independent, but that day brought home the fact that time is slipping away. And no matter how hard we try to hold on, time always gets the better of us. Fortunately or unfortunately, there's nothing you and me can do about it..
P.S: On a totally different note, the Perseid meteor showers are this week, supposedly peaking on Aug 12th night and 13th early morning. I have already seen a couple of meteors in my pursuits of Astrophotography (thats the post I have been meaning to put up, so will be up soon) in the past week and I will be up on Thursday with my camera trying to photograph the pesky things :-D. Oughta be fun :).
I don't even know where to start when it comes to Snugli these days. There are so many things happening each day that its quite hard to keep track of them :-D. And whats amazing is her ability to generate so many emotions in me. Sometimes she makes me angry, other times laugh, yet other times literally makes my mouth hang open in surprise. Its fascinating that such a little person can do so much :-D. We haven't yet decided anything about her playschool, but hopefully will finalize something soon :). Now onto the stories.
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Her questions are getting more and more atrocious these days. I know I have to grateful that they haven't crossed certain "boundaries" yet :-D, but sometimes its hard not to get frustrated at all the whys. This conversation happened after one of our video calls to my parents:
Me: "Ammamma Ajjange bye hELu" ("Say bye to Ammamma and Ajja")
Her: "Yaake?" ("Why?")
Me: "Avaru malgbekalwa adhikke" ("Because they have to go sleep")
Her: "Yaake?" ("Why?")
Me: "Avarige susthaaithalla adhikke" ("because they are tired")
Her: "Yaake?" ("Why?")
Me: "Avaru dina idi kelsa maadidranthe adhikke" ("Because they have been working the entire day")
Her: "Okay bye, See you next time, Good night, Sweet dreams"
Madam just doesn't stop her "why"s until she's fully satisfied with the answers :-D.
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One of the regular (I mean regular as in daily :-p) things she does is ask who gave that particular clothing item whenever she changes into any dress ("Idu Yaaru kottiddu?" It can be pretty frustrating for me since I have bought 90% of her clothes :-\). One day just before bath (thats when I pick out a dress for her) she comes and declares that she wants to wear a dress given by her Naanamma (Sri's mom). Since both her ammamma as well as her naanamma are fond of pampering her with clothes (to say the least :-D), I didn't know which dress she was talking about. So I started to point to dresses asking her whether it was the one. After a few items, she gets frustrated and tells me "No, Nannamma kottiddu red dress!!" ("The red dress that naanamma gave!!"). Well, thankfully there was only one red dress that she gave :-D.
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One fine day, I discovered that her baby lotion bottle was empty. Since its a daily ritual after her bath, she missed it and prompted me "Baby lotion! Baby lotion!". I told her that the bottle was empty and the next time we went to the store I'd buy some :).
Cut to a couple of days later. I was talking to Sri over phone, telling him to get a couple of groceries from the store on his way home from office. And Snugli literally shouts at me "Baby lotion, baby lotion!" and in many words tells me that I need to ask her dad to get it from the store :-\.
And this hasn't been a one-time story. One day I took Snugli shopping and she kept reminding me about baby carrots, buttermilk etc at each appropriate section. Sri keeps telling me that I don't need to write a grocery list anymore, hehehee :)).
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The next one happened when we were getting back from our trip to Milwaukee. Whenever we go anywhere, she has one standard question "Next elli hOgONa?" ("Where are we going next?"). So we told her that we were heading home to Lexington. Her reply?
"Illa. Beda. Restaurant hOgi mammu thindu hotel room ge hOgONa" ("No, no. We'll go to restaurant, have some food and then go to the hotel room")
Guess she really loved jumping on the bed and handling the remote in the hotel rooms :-D.
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After coming back, the very next day I returned to our normal routine of taking her to the library. While coming back, I took a different road back home than the one she is used to on a regular basis. I think you can guess her reaction..
"Elli hogtha iddiya? Lexington, Kentucky hOgONa, manege hOgONa!" (Where are you going? Lets go to Lexington, Kentucky, lets go home!")
I was dumbstruck! I had to struggle to convince her that we were going home albeit on a different road ;-). As you can see right now she can't see the difference between the town and home. For her, her home is in Lexington, so they are equivalent :).
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The very same day early morning I was a bit hassled and in a bit of a rush. So when she tried to stress her independence by grabbing onto the soap/lotion etc, I tried to convince her by saying "Ninge adu kotre late aaguththe. Ammange innu tumba kelsa ide kanda - innu ninna ready maadbeku. Amma ready aagbeku. Library hogbeku...." ("If I give you that, we'll get late. Amma still has so much work baby - I've to get you ready. Amma has to get ready. We have to go to the library...") and so on. Guess what she tells me once we get back from the library..
"Amma bega! Snigdha ge tumba kelsa ide - Innu dudhdhu kudibeku, Mickey mouse nodbeku.." ("Mom, hurry! Snigdha still has so much work - I've to drink milk, then see Mickey mouse.." and so on!
God save me! Hehehehee :)).
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Just yesterday (I don't really remember the context now), I was telling her how she was a big Somberi (lazy bum) and she corrects me saying "Illa. Snigdha small somberi. Amma naana big somberi" ("No, Snigdha is a small lazy bum. Mom and dad are big lazy bums" :-D.
True that, hehehehe :)).
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Her memory is growing by leaps and bounds. She has these flashes of memories - suddenly she remembers how she went on a scooter ride with my dad (during our India trip) or on a bike ride with Darsh. Yesterday evening she was narrating how she went to a boy's birthday (remembered his name too) and how she played with his elder sister there (remembered her name too!) and how they ate baby carrots and noodles together. All true :). But the birthday happened more than 4 months ago!
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Today morning I was in the kitchen when Sri started to leave through the front door. She tells him "Bye naana. Hogbeda. Innu Amma bye heLbeku" ("Bye dad. Don't go yet. Mom hasn't said goodbye to you").
I just don't know what to say anymore, hehehee :)).
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This happened after I posted - decided to add it here today itself than note it for another post. Yet another thing she is aware of these days is that I switch on a shower cleaner after both our baths. She never fails to remind me of it every day. Today was no exception. The conversation went like this:
Her: "Shower cleaner, shower cleaner!"
Me: "Ivaththu beda kanda" ("Not today baby")
Her: "Amma snaana aada mele shower cleaner" ("After mom's bath, shower cleaner")
Me: "Amma snaana beLiggene aaithu baby" ("Mom's bath was done in the morning baby")
Her: "Amma batte neeru biddu galeeju, adhikke snaana maadbeku" ("Mom's clothes are wet and hence dirty, so mom has to take bath")
Not to mention that my clothes were half-drenched due to her bath :-D.
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Last story of the day. Snugli is very fond of typing on the keyboard. And we are not at all fond of it :-D. Just yesterday somehow she managed to manipulate the PC into shutting down! So the rule in the house is that if she touches the keyboard, she gets a rap on the bum from a paddle bat (before anyone gets all riled up, its a very cheap and delicate bat and believe me when I say it hurts zilch :-p). And usually as soon as we get up from the PC chair she's on it. Again today was the same. I got up and she went to the PC chair. Sri called out to her "Paddle bat beka?" ("Shall I get the paddle bat?"). She says "Illa beda. Naanu muttilla innu" ("No Don't. I haven't touched it yet") :-D.
God help Sri and I :-D.
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There are so many such stories happening that I usually have to make a note of it to remind myself about it later :-D. More stories will be up as they happen :-D.
I have been wanting to write a post on Snugli for quite some time now. Well, better late than never right? Sadly, I can't put up photos for this one - I am yet to filter the 100s of photos I have of the India trip. But there are so many things happening with her that I can't wait for the snaps anymore :-p. So those will come later :).
Lets start off, shall we?
Thats about it for now. Phew :-D. More as they happen :).
No it isn't what you are thinking :-D. I thought I'll drag it out a bit, but in the time that I have to write the post, I cannot afford to drag stuff these days :-\. Still, you know I'll try my best :-D.
The story goes like this. I have been hearing about how good the kids programs are in the libraries here. So about a month ago, after getting all the details from the library, I headed to the nearest branch with Snugli for toddler story-time. She really loved it and had the time of her life (more about Snugli and story-time in my next post :-D). They have a preschooler story time on another day, so I thought I would take her to the library to both the hours (which meant twice a week). But there was an unanticipated problem.
We had only one vehicle. In bigger cities you have good public transportation, but thats not the case in our small town. There is only one bus route thats near to us (about 10 min walk) and it goes nowhere near the library. At first we thought we could manage with the SUV we have. But we were wrong :-p. The timing of this story-time sessions are such that its in the middle of nowhere for us, namely at 10:30 AM, so Sri can neither drop us when he is going nor pick us up when he's back home for lunch. We tried a couple of things; me dropping him to office in the morning going to library with Snugli, coming back home and then go pick Sri again. Didn't work; Also Sri going to office in the morning, coming back at around 10AM to pick us up. We dropping him off at his office, heading to library and then later picking him up when we drive back home. He again going to office and coming back for lunch. Phew! As you can see it was a bit tedious and multiple trips can take the excitement out of anything (atleast for us if not for Snugli :-D).
So we thought about it and decided to get another car - a second hand one. I did suggest a 2-wheeler (they are getting to be quite common these days), but it doesn't really make sense in winters here. Now that Snugli is growing up, I am planning to put her to some kind of classes soon and she'll have to attend them in winter too ;-). So we had to opt for a car. After about a month of research later, here we are. We zoomed in on a 2003 Toyota Camry last week, got the registration done last Wednesday (March 31st) and brought the car home.
So here's our new (well, old :-p) car. Its fourth-hand and older than our SUV, but it doesn't really look its age :-D.
Compare and contrast with our SUV..
Its actually a kind of Grey..
But looks almost the same colour of our SUV..
Its my first car ;-), though I have to say that I am not really jumping up and down with excitement (I did that when we bought the SUV, so feel kinda jaded :-p). Its officially my car, but since I am the one toting around Snugli everywhere, Sri takes the Camry to office and the SUV is all mine (unofficially ofcourse ;-) :-D) muahahahaa >:-).
There is a sweet ache in my heart. Time is flying so fast, that sometimes I want to shout at it to stop, to be more like a gentle breeze than a speedy wind, to take a breather and let me gather the moments that are scattering everywhere like petals from hundreds of blossoms. But does it listen? Do I even want it to listen? There is content attached with that sweet ache somewhere. Content to see the little bud blossom into a tiny flower, a talking walking tiny flower ;-), that occupies each and every moment of my existence. Do I want the little flower to go back to its budding stage? No. But it doesn't mean that I don't miss the bud :-\.
So goes the train of thoughts in my mind. Two years ago, I remember holding Snugli as a small squirming baby in my arms. You cannot imagine how much I miss that and as I even think about it, how I feel tears making their way to my eyes. It feels like so much has happened since then though it has been only two years. Yes, there are captured stills from different phases here and there, but I feel that I have missed to capture so much more. Many oh-so-many moments that I didn't manage to get hold of, that have now drifted away in memory so far that I cannot help but think of "if onlys". I know the moments are there somewhere within me, playing hide and seek, tormenting me since I know I can never discover their hiding place.
The infant in my arms has now grown into a toddler who still, thankfully, wants to be in my arms some days, though sadly, my arms now get tired more easily in the effort of holding her. Once unable to speak, now she has something new to say every minute of every hour of every day that she is not sleeping (well, there are exceptions in sleep too some days :-D). Just an year back, she wasn't even able to walk properly and now she runs and its not easy to catch a little gazelle who while making me feel out of breath, has more than enough strength to even laugh while running. An imp who is always interested in everything, so much that I hesitate to introduce a new activity just because I know I will get pestered again and again as a reward ;-).
As Snugli turns two years old, I celebrate my 2nd motherhood anniversary with lots of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Yet, there is still a part of me that wonders whether I am a good mother. Do I do everything that needs to be done, say everything that needs to be said and leave somethings unsaid when the occasion requires it? I can't say I do. Many a time I feel that I am ignorant, for Motherhood is such a vast subject that it can't really be learned by studying, can't be automatically gained just because I am literate. It has to be lived each and every day and sometimes I feel that I switch off, some circuit in my brain slacks and I do not live up to my true mother potential. As another year comes near, I can only hope that I am able to face up to the challenges of a troublesome two year old with more patience and more volume control ;-).
The sweet ache in my heart wrestles almost constantly with overwhelming joy, which in turn usually dominates and makes me forget all the aches and pains. Joy at how Snugli is growing up, gratification at the way we have been able to bring her up (nobody has any experience in parenthood until they have a child) and amazement at the miracle she has become in our lives. I had loads of doubts about how we will be able to teach her little things and somehow somewhere down the line, we got attuned by an inner instinct, so much that teaching isn't teaching but a natural way of bringing her up. But more amazing is her learning spirit. Its a miracle how that little brain processes and remembers, practices and sustains. Simply said, its beautiful :).
Happy 2nd birthday my little sweetu Snoogli bear. May you continue to be the miracle you are and brighten the lives of those around you. And happy 2nd parenthood anniversary to Sri and me. May the experience continue to be as rich and rewarding as it has been so far...
Snugli possssssssssssssssssssttttttttttttttttt :-D. Been a long time since I wrote a post about her. I actually thought that I'll let Snugster take over, but well, these days she yaps so much that I knew she'd be out of control, hehehee :)). Maybe some other time ;-). What are we waiting for?
I can't stress enough how overwhelming her each stage of growing up is for us. Its wonderful seeing her become her own individual. I was recently holding a 3-month old and it seems like ages since Snugli was that age - so lightweight (I can't carry her for more than a few minutes these days :-D) and so still and quiet, hehehee :)). Obviously, its all worth it and more :).
Yesterday we got all of our H1N1 shots done :)). Snugli's doctors had gotten only a few quantities and there was a registration process associated. We did send in the forms, but were informed that we better not wait and go in for the public clinics organized by the health department. And the extra advantage would be that even Sri and me would be able to get the shots if we went in to the clinic. We found that one was being held yesterday at a nearby high school and decided to be done with it. Sri read that usually for such clinics, there will huggggggggge queues, so we thought we'll head out as early as possible for the 9 AM clinic.
Its another story that we reached there only by 8:30 AM. We were outside the building only for about 10 minutes, but the queue inside was still pretty long. It was our first visit to a school here and it was nice to see the campus from inside. We were there till about 10:10 AM when we reached the nurses who were giving the shots (so the wait wasn't as bad as we had anticipated). Snugli was her usual self when she got the injection (cried for a few moments and then forgot all about it). For adults we had 2 options, a nasal mist with live virus and the usual injection with dead virus. Sri took the nasal spray and I went in for the injection. And that was that :). Snugli really enjoyed seeing other kids screaming when they were given shots, hehehee :-D (One little boy screamed and screamed and twisted and all that - I'm already dreading what'll happen once Snugli becomes aware of the whole injection concept :-D).
I was very much impressed with the way everything was organized. The lines were perfect, only wish they had some seating system since there were kids and old people there, but I guess chairs would have only made it more crowded. Even the volunteers were very helpful, giving info whenever we asked for anything. In addition, Sri and Snugli didn't suffer any side effects and everything is fine as per now. I did have some headache all day yesterday and still have an arm ache, but it should be fine soon :). We have to go and get a second shot for Snugli after a month (children younger than 6 years have to get a double doze to boost their immunity), so depending on her doctors, we'll have to see where we get it done..
Its been 2 months since the fair came and went and I still haven't written about it. Oh well, better sometime than postpone it again and again :-p. This is not the first time the Bluegrass fair is coming to town. Its been there for a long time and we have been there every year. Somehow all this time I never really felt like writing about it. One reason maybe that compared to the amusement parks we have been to, this fair is pretty small and the rides are also not that grand ;-). The last 4 years that we've been there, we have hardly ridden any rides. Yet this year's visit unknowingly turned out to be pretty special, you can guess why :).
We didn't know whether Snugli would enjoy the fair or if so, for how long, so we thought it'd be better to tackle it once she was fed and rested (:-D), so we went there after 4 PM. The fair is actually very close to our house (practically in the backyard :-p), but unfortunately, the road is round-about. But got there pretty quick. 
One of the first things we did was to put Snugli on the Merry-go-around..
Next we headed to the giant wheel or the Ferris wheel as it is called here..
Snugli enjoyed the ride and loved looking at things from that height. 
Once that was done, I wanted to take her on a small roller coaster that was there, but Sri was afraid that she might be scared.
I pestered him till he gave in ;-) and took her on it - its the caterpillar.
She absolutely loved it! The first round, I held her, but later I let her enjoy it by herself. She really liked the downs and her expression was as if she was on a swing ;-). When the caterpillar stopped, she made a fuss and actually refused to get down!! Hehehee :)).
From then on we enjoyed the thrills of a typical fair, the roaming around, the eating junk - boiled corn, softies (they are called cone swirls here) and funnel cake (this is like a big jalebi, only the floor-made swirl is not dipped into sugar syrup here, instead its covered with powdered sugar ;-) - here is a picture).
Usually the fair has some shows (in the earlier ones, we once saw a bird show - eagles doing the owner's bidding, etc and a cannonball show in which a person is fired from a cannon), but there weren't any setup on that day. But there was something new - a petting zoo. And I've told you several times about how Snugli loves animals. We went into a shed like place where she touched (more like grabbed-and-tried-to-lift :-p) sheep, goats, lambs, rabbits and a horse. But sadly since they were minting money taking photos, we weren't allowed to take any. But later we went into this barn where they had cows and we got to take this one :).
We roamed for some more time talking about how it'll all be next year, when Snugli would probably be able to enjoy the rides on her own (there were more than 10 rides just for kids, but not age/height appropriate for Snugli). And I'm sure it'll be lots more fun for her and a whole new trouble for us :-D. Anyways soon we said bye to the fair and headed back home. We did want to go another day, but simply couldn't make it before the fair shutdown for the year..
Hmm, anyways thats it about the fair. But thats not it about Snugli. So many things have been happening that I thought that I'd include a Snugli update in this post itself :). Well, its my blog ;-). I don't even know where to start..
1) Her vocabulary is growing leaps and bounds. Its simply amazing to see her brain process things and her speaking words she simply didn't even know till the earlier day! She can say so many words these days that I can't even count. She also started to string 2 words together - she says "Dood maani" (Good Morning), "Appy budday" (Happy birthday), "Yech papa" (Yes papa in the Johnny Johnny poem), No papa etc. Yesterday she actually strung 3 words - she said "Amma mammu khaali" (Mom's food is over) when she saw my empty lunch plate! Moreover, she understands most of the things we say (me in Kannada and Sri in Telugu), but its another story whether she obeys or not ;-) :-D. I have to concede that she obeys for 75% of the time :)).
2) Sometimes its difficult to understand her. As parents we are able to differentiate between the empty blabber and the actual words and translate it to our kith and kin, but sometimes some words stump us too. We have to make her point and somehow figure out the context and then in turn figure out the word. Recently I bought a Legos Duplo set for her (it has bigger blocks and right now she's only into putting the blocks in and out of the box rather than play with them, anyways) and she started referring to the box as "Chakki dabba". We understood the dubba (means box) part, obviously, but not the chakki part. I hardly give her chocolates so it certainly didn't mean chaaki. We pondered over it for 2 days, until Sri finally realized what she was talking about. During Janmastami I had made Chaklis, put them in a big box, kept them on the dining table and we told her that it was "Chakli dabba" :-D, hehehehe. Now we are trying to correct her to refer to the Legos box as "Lego dabba", but its still chakki dabba :-D.
3) Trust a 1.5 year old to destroy something you viewed as indestructible. A few days ago, Snugli erased all the data from my digital diary. I thought the "Delete all" functionality was complicated and very (over)confidently handed the diary to her many times for her to play with it. The fault is mine. I guess the probability of 3 keys being pressed in a sequence out of 100-odd keys by a 1.5 year old is not so low after all :-\.
4) Its strange how things change from one day to another. Till about sometime back, Snugli absolutely loved the slide and started to climb/slide on her own. One day suddenly it all changed and she was petrified to slide down. She'd climb the steps on the slide, but refuse to slide down! And she didn't really fall or anything. Its a sudden fear of heights that too only for the slide (she climbs down stairs at home without any fuss). I was simultaneously amazed and frustrated (its a new instinct generated in her, but its like a taking a step back for us) :-p. Well, now I have to sing songs and somehow distract her when she's sliding down and it usually works :-D.
5) A new thing we have introduced her to is drawing. As you can very correctly guess, the drawing is more on doors, chairs and tables than on a book. Thankfully I've gotten washable crayons, yet don't know how the washable part of it will work on walls and the carpet (she somehow has missed "drawing" on them so far). Also, I'm extremely proud to announce that one of the crayons has narrowly escaped from being swallowed by the little one, though unfortunately it did lose its tail to a bite from those powerful teeth :-D.
6) Another thing I've introduced her to is a show called Teletubbies (it used to come in Doordarshan earlier, don't know whether it still does - its that 4 different coloured alien like creatures doing all sort of things - I used to simply hate it earlier :-p). One of my friends told me that its targeted towards toddlers and that her boy enjoyed it, so I thought I'll give it a try. Well, it didn't work for a long time, she used to watch for 5 min then run away. Recently she's become very interested. She loves watching the thing - says 3/4th of the words from the title song, jumps when they jump and imitates them in a lot of ways. Whenever she wants me to put the DVD on, she says "Teli Tubby" (she doesn't get the wish fulfilled all the time ;-) :-D) She also says "lala" and "Po" (names of the characters), "Thump" (Jump), "Appai" (Up high) and dances to the songs. The video I have has a song called "Head shoulders knees and toes" in which they point to various parts of the body and she imitates that :-D. Its kind of fun to see her do all that but I'm also worried it may become an obsession (the worry started when she cried "Teli tubby" in her sleep yesterday :-D). Oh well, bring it on :-D.
7) On the PT side, things have improved a bit. She almost always poops in the potty now and sometimes says "Potty pee" when she wants to pee or when she wants her diaper changed. Not everytime, mind you, but its like once or twice in a day, and very rarely in the night too. We are really proud of her and ourselves for keeping at it. The awareness seems to be coming in and hopefully is in the right direction :).
Thats all I can think of right now. Will come back with more soon, I hope :).
Snugli has this habit of walking backwards blindly and falling into the laps of anyone who's sitting in her path. Yesterday this habit of hers literally gave me a shock. We were in the laundry room and I was transferring washed clothes from the washer into the drier. Now the laundry room is in the upper floor directly facing the staircase. She was blocking the door of the drier, so I asked her to move back a bit. The rest you can guess :-p. She started walking backwards directly towards the staircase. The moment literally freezed and my heart stopped. I jumped and caught hold of her right at the moment where her next step would have hurled her downwards in the staircase. Thank God! My heart was beating so fast and I almost felt like crying. The whole episode served as yet another reminder to why I don't take my eyes off her anytime she is near the stairs. Even now, thinking of that, I feel a chill going through me. That was one of the scariest moments of my life..
No wonder they call her category of age - the terrible twos!
