First taste of friendship!

During our India trip, M struck a special friendship bond with our neighbor-and-very-good-friend's daughter - who is just two months younger than her -K. 

It was such a joy to see the girls squeal in delight as they would meet each other every day. Their fights over toys and such were fun as they sorted out their own mess, requiring not-so-often adult intervention. The kisses and I love you's and good nights exchanged at the end of the day were ever so endearing!

M remembers K often though I feel the memory will slowly fade - like happens with most friendships huh - lost in the sands of time as we grow apart. We adults, though supposedly more aware, also often let relationships slip as physical distances seep in - it is sad. Anyways, I am hoping that M and K will continue to re-ignite their bonds and meet with the same fervor every time they meet!

Cheers to sunny days and bright smiles!

M at 27 months

I did miss posting updates at the 2 year mark - better late than never, huh?

We are quite comfortably settled in our Terrible Twos, and it is well, terrible, and ofcourse a lot of other things too!

• I cannot not mention that M is a great talker - she copies what we say - most of the times she gives us back, quite literally, in the right context. Her vocabulary is growing at lightening speed - her sentences are well formed, grammatically complete (and often grammatically correct) - and you know most of it, if you read the latest posts - looks like her conversations are going to to overshadow most of our posts on this blog.

• M has 16 teeth - a big achievement, considering she cut her first tooth somewhere after the 14th month. Four more to go for our cub.

• M's taste in food - varieties, textures etc. keeps changing. She doesn't eat much, as has always been the case, but I must give her her due - she doesn't shy away from trying new stuff. At present, her favorites are peas-rice, fruit loops with milk, chickpeas, blueberries, bread-butter, and bananas - and apple juice! She has been offered junk but doesn't seem to care much for it - she once in a while does ask for chips, chocolates, MnMs and the likes, I don't resist and let her have - I have seen she barely has a few bites of anything - so long so good, eh?

• She has finally taken a liking to her tricycle - she tries to pedal but is not able to complete one rotation of the pedal - I have not made any effort to teach her either - that has been parked for the summer (and for daddy, perhaps!). She plays catch with a ball, quite well. Loves hide-n-seek (though refuses to hide - she only want to "seek"). Loves the slides at the park (a big no to the swings). She has recently shown inclination for long walks while she's in the stroller - this after all these months and months of refusing to sit on it! Also, her highness likes the wind in her hair - she runs in the park with the cold breeze swirling her hair, and then she says, so delightfully, "Mommy, see how Manya is running with the wind."

• M is into a lot of pretend-and-play. I must do a separate post on this. She cooks, cleans, is even a doctor! (I think she needs the right tools now ;)) She also pretends to be characters from her favorite cartoon shows and books. She has quite a huge collection of soft toys and loves playing with them too - she talks to them mostly as I do to her. M also sings a lot of nursery rhymes and introduces a twist every now and then - this too in another post.

• While still on the playing topic, we are looking to upgrade her puzzles - she aces the simple wooden puzzles that require shapes, animals etc to be fit in - she does the shape sorter very well - except the heart shape - which "just does not go in", apparently! The stacking rings are also almost in order, and only yesterday she remarked, "I need more puzzles." :o:O

• Play dough, crayons, sidewalk chalks are the top favorite activities right now - we did some paints too but very messy!

• We have begun potty training with zero luck so far. She loves her Dora pot and stool but refuses to do anything at all. In her words, "it all gets stuck inside." Looks like this is going to be another summer project!

• She continues to be tall for her age and much lower than average for her weight but I have finally stopped fretting - her pediatrician quite encouragingly tells me, "she looks thin, because everybody else is obese!" Oh well, if you put it that way...

• Personality traits right now: mostly outgoing, yet selective when it comes to warming up (with children her age, she refuses to engage in any kind of talk or activity), loves talking, expresses well, quick to love, hug and kiss (I have a post coming up on that for sure), has a bad temper - I mean a really bad one - accompanied with a tantrum and lot of mean spoken stuff (I don't love mommy - I don't want to be with you, I don't want to behave properly - you get the picture!), adamant and stubborn - be it deciding what she wants for her meals or when she wants them, what she want to play, when she wants to nap, sleep, what she wants to watch/read, and so on - she clearly knows what she wants and often does not settle for alternatives easily.

God bless us.

(P.S. One thing that this motherhood has surely changed in me is that I tend to seek God a lot more than in those footloose days :p.)

The Great Indian Vacation round-up!

M's first visit to India was, as expected, very eventful. She thoroughly enjoyed the rather long stay at nana-nani's house - nani a clear favorite from the entire trip. She still tells me she wants to go back or that nana-nani should stay in Portland! 

We took almost a month to normalize sleeping and eating routines - Everybody had lot of fun at M's expense who complained about everything being "noise, hot, and sticky". She was on a self-imposed water diet for the longest time :). But once we were acclimatised, the true Indian in M came out - loving the noises - constant honking, ringing of the door bell, enjoying the cows and the dogs on the road (travelling without a car seat made road trips even more fun!), snacking on spicy stuff that had tears coming from her eyes but the mouth refusing to stop eating!

Her typical day routine included jumping and clinging on everybody - nana, nani, and mama as they struggled to get to work on time while trying their best not to upset an already whining, yet, very lovable puppy (M ofcourse ;)). Nana's daily puja and the conch blowing had her fascinated all through. Nani would get a joyous welcome everyday complete with hugs, kisses, and licks! (I am serious.) - the others came in after bedtime.

Weekends were a riot - mall hopping, endless shopping, eating out, some but of sightseeing, and lots of snuggles and cuddles with our adorable cub!

M met a whole new world of uncles, and aunts, and grandparents, and friends, and neighbors - and am so happy she got to meet so many people who matter to me. Lot of pampering but I am not complaining - she was thoroughly loved and the narcissist that she is, she enjoyed every bit of it. She had a taste of her first friendship - well, the closest a friendship can come to for a toddler - more about that in another post.

Thatha-dadi, Athai, uncle and the first cousins made M's Bangalore trip very memorable. She can still recite everyone's first names, and what each on of them did - for example, akka plays the hoop and has biscuit and choco - She mentions the latter everytime she has her evening milk! It was wonderful to see M instantly take to "akka" - as she went overboard with the kisses and the i love you's!

We came back with overloaded suitcases (what with all the stuff everybody insisted that had to get M - I got some too!), and slightly heavy hearts - and while we are thrilled to be back at home with daddy, et al. I can feel M misses the constant companionship of loved ones and the constant hustle and bustle around the house - so more work for me to keep her gainfully occupied!

(P.S. M as always kept us entertained with a string of one liners and funny phrases - trying to remember some of them and put together in another post!)

The Pursuit of HAPPYness

While I am still striving to do some pending posts, I cannot help but share how interesting conversations with M have become - she is all but 2 but quite the spitfire already. What certainly helps her cause is that she can now (quite delightfully) string words in to sentences which are complete and most often than not grammatically correct.

However, our initial joy is slowly being replaced by reaction that are more on the lines of seizures and cardiac arrests. Can you imagine I have already heard, "Mommy, I don't think I love you"!!! Can you beat that! She is TWO for god sake!

Here's something I shared on Facebook a couple of days back, and need to record it here for posterity.

I was in the kitchen when I saw Manya jumping on and off the couch. 

Me: Manya you will get hurt - how many times should I repeat myself - can you please behave properly!
After a minute or so she enters the kitchen.
Manya: Mommy, I want to talk to you.
Me: Yes, what is it?
Manya: "Mommy I just want to tell you that I don't want to listen to you and I don't want to behave properly - I want to be HAPPY."
And she marched back.

(And here I had been hoping I'd get to wait till atleast teenage to hear that from my daughter )

Our first international flight

Those of you who know of our first flight experience, would appreciate the fact that I was a bundle of nerves flying international - let me clarify - trans atlantic - Portland to Delhi - with two layovers and a two year old. That very well could be the definition of doom, hell or whatever.

I had prepared myself for the worst - I had two huge hand bags loaded with everything I could possible think of to keep M occupied. But most importantly, I was mentally prepared to face the worst - I had also grown ample thick skin for the co-travellers who wouldn't be sympathetic, and air hostesses who would hurry, and airports that would be child unfriendly.

So, this is the big lesson - brace yourself for a nightmare and whatever really happens will be better. In my case ,I was so pleasantly surprised - from this home to that, we were out and about for 30-36 hours and M must have fussed a cumulative of about 2-4 hours. It seemed a lot more then, but it wasn't much at hindsight. For the most part, she was such a cheerful trooper that a couple of times I could have cried at the brave face she put up - being dragged from one airplane to another, from one country to another, from one time zone to another, from one world to another. 

We did not meet any nasty people - everybody was very friendly, more than willing to accommodate us - the TSA guys willing to spend extra time with M convincing her that her monkey needs to go through security and she should let go, playing peek-a-boo with her while Mommy sorted out extra security thanks to all the extra liquids being carried; the random strangers at airports waving a friendly hi, helping with the stroller and luggage carts, picking up our bags from the baggage belt; our co-passengers who engaged M in play, even offered to make her paper planes and boats and get their hands messy with her play dough, flight staff that only had encouraging smiles - it is not such a bad world out there huh?

What ofcourse also helped us was - tonnes of finger food, juice boxes, crayons, markers, drawing books, sticker books, play dough, fav books, fav soft toy, bindi packets (the Indian influence ;), lotions and powder (to play with ofcourse), lots and lots of diapers and wipes (to kill time going to the washroom again and again to change and ofcourse wipes to "clean the airplane - don't ask for details ;)), and last but not way bit the least oodles of patience to answer all those questions - the same ones again and again - and to not lose it when she is losing it ;).

We did make it both ways and have our own backs to pat :D. Here are some memorable moments from he airplanes and the airports.

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M was so impeccably behaved in the 30 min flight from Portland to Seattle that the two flight stewards on board came together to applaud her and presented her with an Alaska Airlines badge! She ofcourse didn't realize what the fuss was about but got really excited when I told her this is what the Captain wears!

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Waiting to board a delayed flight from Seattle to Dubai, M walked upto the airlines counter at the gate and said I want to board airplane NOW. The guy was a little taken aback as to how to respond.

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In our longest flight ever - 14 hrs nonstop Dubai to Delhi - M lot her patience after the first 9 hours. She kept on pressing the Help button and after a while of my apologizing profusely each time, she very angrily tells one air hostess, "Manya wants to see the Captain - Why Delhi not coming!" Yes, I did hear a fit of laughter from all around.

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When we finally landed at Delhi after what seemed like forever, M and I hi-fived as the plane was taxing, and M comments, "yay, Delhi has come - Now I want to do potty". She did it right there as the passenger waited to deplane ;)

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On our Delhi to London flight, a guy was seating at the aisle seat and M tells him ever so rudely - "I don't want the man to sit here. Tell him to go away." I was so embarrassed - I told her you need a private jet then - and that opened a whole new can of questions :(.

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In London, we actually boarded the flight after the doors had been shut - I was all huffing and puffing with the running around and it was decided to keep the stroller inside the aircraft rather than along with the valet baggage because there was no time and so as I handed it over to the air hostess, her highness remarks, "Please keep my stroller carefully." The cheek!

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All through our return journey, I heard the following from M atleast 2.35 million times;

"I want to ride on the airplane wings. I don't want to sit on the seat. 

Does Captain love Manya? I want to ride the plane with the Captain. 

I want to hug the lights on the airplane's wings."

I am not sure if I'd actually prefer general crying over such arbit statements!

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At Chicago customs we realized, a bag had been left behind at London - I was talking to a couple of people about it, while M was patiently observing everything. After sometime, she very cutely says, "Mommy don't worry, London will send the package, I will take care." She is such a cuddly bear sometimes! 

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Waiting for the last flight home at Chicago, M and I walked into Starbucks - So, I ordered a hot chocolate for myself and asked M what she would have - I offered practically everything - muffins, puffs, crisps, sandwiches, all the junk everything and she looks around as says, "Mommy, I will just have a banana" - Oh my god, the gasps I got from all the people around! I did buy her the overpriced banana and to her credit she had about half of it!

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Finally, when we landed at Portland - I hugged M so tight - she had been better than I would have ever expected - we were still in the plane then, and she looked around and said to the people in front - "I need to go fast, Daddy has been waiting for sooo long." 

That was such a befitting closing awwww moment!

God bless us!

To the other end and back!

We are back at our post after our big fat Indian vacation that did last quite a bit. All's well - as well a toddler can be. I plan to slowly check off all my pending posts and might consider back dating some for sake of chronology (and so that when I am senile and old, I will have everything recorded in order :p).

One indication that we have travelled far and beyond, is that every day M asks when are we going to the airport next and where are we headed - when I tell her nowhere, she offers, "okay, let's go the market, mall or the doctor's"...Yes, I have to bring some kind of structure to her days - have some rotating activities, join a play gym, I am even thinking of sending her to a play school or something on her own - all that and more as the fogginess of the jet lag clears off.

Signing back in...

Welcome to the terrible twos, my love!

Dearest Manya,

So you are two - gosh, already! The tyrant that you have become, it is absolutely impossible for us to now imagine you as that cutest little pink bundle we got from the hospital two years ago!

And my my, what strides from your first birthday too - from gummy grins to toothy smiles; from an unstable hurtle to confident long marches; and from those almost-indecipherable babbles to long, complicated yet meaningful sentences that leaves us open-mouthed every single day!

What has not changed and remains essentially you is the bright cheer you bring to our mornings, the maddening rush and craziness you bring to our daily routines, the laughter and play you bring to our evenings, and the gentle soothing warmth you bring to our nights.

I feel like the typical filmy mom, as I add another candle to your cake and wonder at the lightning speed you are growing up - each day you become a little more independent, and tug at our hearts a little more tightly. But, don't worry, however, bollywoodish I may get at this motherhood thing, you know quite well how you drive me up the wall about a trillion times a day - running after you at nap times, convincing you to take in just one more morsel of food or sip of milk at mealtimes, convincing you that the mall is not available for shopping every single time "Manya wants", begging you to not put things in your nose or mouth at the first available opportunity, and finally what feeling like playing KBC/Who Wants to be a Millionaire - answering questions all day, "Who is that? What is that? Where is so and so? Why is it impossible? When will the market open? What is Manya doing? and the most dreaded of it all, "What is inside Manya's nose/mouth?".

And as I see you calmly smiling back at me through my (self imposed?) insanity, I know you are telling me, this gets worse. Terrible Twos, they say? Can it get worse, I think. My heart sinks a wee bit lower - ha ha ha! Okay, have I more than made up for all that sentimentality?

Oh darling, but mommy and daddy really love you - 'soooo much', as you yourself put it, and this world is a much much better place only because we have you to share it with.

Leaving you with these words from a lovely song...

"i'd like to show you a million things
i'd like to make the world for you a better place
but when it pours, it really rains, so
put on your boots, and let's play

it's a long long way to go now
i'll be there if you call
it's a long long way to go now
i'll be there if you call"

Happy Birthday, our little trooper!

[PS; Those wondering why this blog has been so quiet these past months, it is because mommy and daughter are holidaying in India and even though there are so many tales to be told, we are just not getting the time. We promise to be back with more :)]

First ER trip!

We'll be two years old soon, and our resume did look a tad bit non-illustrious without a single ER trip - or so my daughter must have thought. Otherwise, what else could have led to the "happening"!!

So on the eve of my birthday (yeah, what an awesome gift, huh!), I received a package - I promptly opened it up with M (something that both of us really enjoy - receiving and opening packages) - it had those packaging peanuts - styrofoam - that had come with it. And M was quick to start playing with them - she was counting each one and putting them in and out of the box. A harmless distraction to win me a loo trip in peace, I thought.

I did a mental check - no choking hazard I assured myself - they were too big to be swallowed - so off I went. I was gone for a minute or so, when I heard M come crying to me saying "nose hurt". And what do I see - her left nostril stuffed with small pieces of the styrofoam - she had ofcourse managed to break it down - small enough to fit that nose! I was alarmed but slightly - I lay her down and asked her to snort like a pig - she does it very well and we use the technique to blow her nose too. She did - and I was able to remove one piece. Another one was slightly further inside and I asked her to blow again - but she didn't and I think it was really troubling her because she started crying and in all those sniffles - the piece went higher up. 

And that's when I panicked! With M refusing to cooperate at all, an ER visit was the only option. Thankfully, we have a hospital walking distance from home - I called Vish to reach there from work - strapped M in her stroller and rushed. M's mood was ecstatic - the speed, the rush, the huge corridors, the bright lights, the pampering and coochie-cooing nurses and doctors - she was trilled and her discomfort forgotten - she was busy smiling and exchanging pleasantries! I was close to tears, by the way, and could only manage a "she put something in her nose" - the first time the nurse asked me what was wrong. And it is interesting to note, that M was quick to clarify, "packaging" she said - the cheek of the girl, I tell you! The nurse was like :o:O.

Anyways, once in the triage room, the doc quickly came and asked Vish and I to try CPR first - least traumatic apparently - and the pressure of air blown in would pop the piece out - I tried but M was mightily amused with mommy blowing into her mouth and she was giggling uncontrollably making the process futile. Vish tried but his beard was troubling her and she started screaming irritably. Finally the doc had to put some instrument in and force the styrofoam out - M hardly cried for all but 5 seconds (I was consoled more than her, I can assure you :P) - after that she waved a cheerful bye and thank you and was done, while Vish and I spent more time completing paperwork than the time the actual "emergency" had taken.

To cut her some slack - she was very well behaved and patient through all of that - and the paperwork did take a while!

But, it doesn't end here. What made me lose my temper completely was that once home, she tried to put tidbits from her dinner into her nose (something she had never ever done before) - I yelled at her and asked her "do you know what happens when you put stuff up your nose". Her highness excitedly replies, "go to doctor in stroller".

I yelled even louder and shouted back, "And what does the doctor say!".

Her highness replies, "Doctor says Manya prettiest girl ever".

I swear the fumes from my ears were visible.

At bed time, I was lying down next to her, when she tries putting her Minnie's tail into my nose and pushes her mouth into mine - I screamed, "what are you doing!". She very calmly says, "Manya giving seepee to mommy". (seepee=CPR)

We have now stopped talking about this episode completely as we realize all this seems like a big game for Manya and any conversation around that is more encouraging than discouraging. I understand, and two important parenting lessons learnt - you can never be too careful, and two, you cant make a big deal of whatever they do (rolling eyes). 

But, you and I, from one human being to another, do you pity me?

More funny one-liners from M

Many noses are coming and coming.
~ M describing her cold

Hello, This is Yohvikka. Why no package coming?
~ M trying to imitate me as I follow up with customer care for some deliveries.

Manya crying in the airplane.
~ M threatening to cry in the airplane if I don't give in to her demands.

Manya draws so well.
~ Self explanatory, huh?

First salon trip!

Her highness went in for her first salon trip today - technically, not her first hair cut because her first haircut was when I cut her hair at about 8 months (read the post here) - I cut her hair every 3-4 weeks from then on till she was about 11 months old. 

After that, she simply would not co-operate. And I let her be in the hope that one day it will grow long enough that she'd let me tie it or cut it. Well, the curls kept growing and falling all over her face and eyes but nothing would let me come near them - till a subtle change a couple of weeks back when she started letting me tie it ("all pretty pretty", she says) - but only when going outside. I did not feel confident taking her to a professional till Vish and I finally decided to just take a go at it - her hair was becoming quite a sight - an unruly one at that. Also our upcoming India trip during the infamous monsoon period seemed motivation enough.

I have been talking to M about a hair cut for a while, so I sat her down again today and explained to her what she could expect, and then when I finally asked her, so we'll go to get you a hair cut, she very boringly replied "okay". 

Okay it was - a non-busy Friday afternoon at the kids' parlor (Pigtails and Crewcuts) - a huge train track and cars and planes for seats - lots of mirrors, TVs with cartoons, our munchkin had enough distractions - but what I really found amusing was that when the guy starting cutting, all her attention was focused on what he was doing - very pensively she was observing his movements, our reactions - the plane and the cartoons all forgotten. She did not create a fuss - I expected her to be a little hesitant, but as always, her curiosity does get the better of her and which is good! Towards the end, she was beginning to get restless but she managed to stay put - she noticed the hair falling and some fell on her hands - which she promptly asked to be cleaned - "hair falling, very dirty" were her exact words.

After getting off her seat, she looked at all the hair on the floor, and was quick to issue her instruction, "Mommy clean it up" - Yeah, right, the world's cleanliness is my core job and competency! 

With a little encouragement, she managed to say a "thank you so much" to the hair dresser and also added "it feels good" - I think she was referring to the gel he put in her hair at the end. She got a small toy to choose from a chest, for which the "thank you" came unprompted (obviously!) and we were back home in (almost) no time!

I uncrossed my crossed fingers and hope that she keeps up this attitude in salon trips that shall follow :).