Waiting for Jr.

Appu is awaiting the arrival of his new baby bro in July. I'm prepping him well ahead of time by regaling him with facts as well as made-up tales about his tiny companion-to-be. As a result, Appu's very very excited. He can't wait to meet little bro. So much that he constantly complains: "Mama, Junly venda, ippo venam.." July is too late, why can't baby come now? 

I had it rough in the first trimester, what with having to rush to the bathroom and barf after every meal. My previous pregnancy had a pretty similar pattern. So I had been expecting the whole nine yards to be less than pleasant this time, what with a two-year-old around. But guess who turned out to be mommy's biggest helper! 

If I even as much as start coughing, Appu would make sure he reaches the bathroom well ahead of me. The first time he did that, I wondered aloud why he'd just ran past me to the bathroom like a super fast bullet. Well, it turns out he was just rushing to bring out his little pink step-stool for me to sit comfortably. :) And when I am really sick and about to barf, it becomes a herculean task to make the pint-sized fella leave the bathroom. If I dare close the door on him, he'd of course stage a tantrum I'd remember for life. Of course he cannot reckon why I would want to shut the door - after all, all he just wants to make me feel good by patting (read hammering) my back with those tiny hands as I sit on his lil pink step-stool.

And if, overwhelmed by such luv, I start tearing up (damn hormones make me so emotional)  he'd bring in his face very very close to mine as if to thoroughly examine my expressions and coo: "Hmmmmm Mammmaa, endaa sad aaye?" (Mammmaa why are you sad?). When I begin smiling, he'd erupt into peals of laughter and then rush out to play...  

A toddler can be a bundle of contrasts; the little monster who was vexing me incessantly just moments ago can suddenly metamorphose into an angelic stress buster. There could hardly be a few things in life that are as gratifying and comforting as these ephemeral moments of absolute love from your tot. Now I couldn't be more delighted about having one more like him. :)

The Child is Father of the Man

We're nearing 2.5 years, and Appu's talk is slowly becoming more adult-like. He tries to reason like a grown-up, but his big boy talk is still peppered lavishly with babyish innocence, a combination so funny that these days I often catch myself laughing out heartily. Well, but not always. Of late, some other gems falling out of his little mouth are quick in shaming me to shreds...
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I keep bugging Appu with this question: "Appunu Achane aano Ammane aano kooduthal ishtam?" Who do you love more, Achan or Amma? 
And every single time, he responds thus:
"Achaneyum istham Ammaneyum ishtam" I love Achan and I love Amma.
And I would wonder how he's learnt to say that. Whenever I coax him to name just one of us, he dodges the question entirely. How on earth does he know that this is a question to be dealt with great tact, and that the nice thing to say here is that he loves both Achan and Amma just the same? I never knew diplomacy to be the forte of two-year-olds. 
So the other day, just for fun, I tried to coach him an answer. 
Appu, if someone asks you that question you must say: "Appunu Ammane aanu istham" Appu loves Amma more.
He looked away just for a moment and then said: "Achaneyum venam, Veenuuu..." 
We must include Achan too, Veenuuu...
Needless to say, I was pretty ashamed of myself!!
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Another morning, I was being rather slothful and reached out for a fragile porcelain cup instead of the usual unbreakable steel/ plastic ones to give Appu some milk. Now, Appu knew that the fragile ware was out-of-bounds for him. And clearly, that restriction had increased the allure of the cups in his little mind. Whenever we grown-ups drank from those forbidden cups, I always spied a longing in his eyes. So on that lazy day, as I poured milk into a porcelain cup, I thought, what's the harm in indulging my little boy just this once...
When I handed the cup of milk to him, he eagerly reached out for it, his eyes literally dancing with happiness. But just as quickly, he handed the cup back to me. 
Huh! I was quite surprised. What was going on? 
Appu soon made it all clear when he said: "Eee cup venda Veenuuu, potti povum." Not in this cup Veenuuu, it'll break...:)

"By Dr Suess, Random House, New York." Part 1

"By Dr Suess, Random House New York..." This is how Appu "reads" out the title page every time I open a book - any book, no matter which one, and never mind who the author is. That's how familiar he is with Dr Suess; things have gotten to the stage where he believes in the omnipresence of Dr. Suess as the rightful author of all the books in our house. And every time Appu says that, it gives me unfailing goosebumps, for I realize my little one is inheriting my adulation for Dr. Suess and his idiosyncratic verses; and as with all bibliophiles, I think that a love for books is the finest thing that your child could ever inherit. 


Dr Suess is such an adept juggler of words - whatever oddball characters he created and new wordage he coined, they never seem out of place, they always find resonance with his very young readers. So are his sketches, how brilliantly he gives expression to his verses with only squiggles and no-straight-lines! So today, while sifting through the mountain of Suess books that we read to pieces in the last two years, I was motivated to compile a list of Appu's favorite Dr. Suess titles. The below four are the very first ones that I read to him.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? 
Dr. Suess's Book of Wonderful Noise
Series: Bright and Early Board Books
Publisher: Random House, New York
An endearing book about the peculiar Mr. Brown who can imitate any kind of sound that prevails in this world: that of a bee, an owl, a clock, thunderclaps, and even lightening! It's a great read-along, which Appu enjoyed making all the right noises to.

The Foot Book
Dr. Suess's Wacky Book of Opposites

Series: Bright and Early Board Books
Publisher: Random House, New York

A silly book about all kinds of feet that you would meet in this world, whether big feet or small feet or his feet or her feet, or pretty fur feet, you pretty much have all kinds of feet covered in here. The book talks in contrasts -big/small, high/low, up/down, so it's essentially a book of opposites, delivered with a spirited dose of Suessian wackiness. Silly or not, one thing is for sure, Appu learnt to tell his right foot from left after reading this book.

Dr. Suess's ABC
An Amazing Alphabet Book

Series: Bright and Early Board Books
Publisher: Random House, New York

As expected, Dr. Suess's ABC's are a little different. Move away, old-fashioned Ant and Apple, for here comes Aunt Ada's Alligator. C introduces you to the Camel on the Ceiling, M to the Mice in the Moonlight, Z the zany Zizzer-zazzer-zuzz. Appu enjoys this book with gusto and is most amused by the Lion who lolls around with a Lollipop! It is delightful how Dr Suess chucks away the conventional avatar of the ABCs and, with great artistry, works his distinctive magic with the alphabets. 

There's a Wocket in My Pocket 

Dr Suess's Book of Ridiculous Rhymes

Series: Bright and Early Board Books
Publisher: Random House, New York

The cover describes this as "Dr Suess's Book of Ridiculous Rhymes" and the book is nothing but. Whimsical at its best, it has a little boy introducing us to the fantastical characters that live alongside him, very obliviously, in the nook and crannies of his house.


Did you ever have a feeling that there's a ZAMP in the LAMP?
---------------- And lo, even before I can finish this line, Appu sprints towards the lamp and yanks at it, yelling LAMP, LAMP, LAMP --------------------


And a NINK in the SINK?
---------------- Appu makes a beeline towards the sink at this point -------------------- 

Sometimes, I'm quite certain there's a JERTAIN in the CURTAIN.
---------------- Whoosh! In the matter of a split second, Appu gets behind the curtains to pose as a certain JERTAIN! --------------------


Though the book may seem weird to those uninitiated to Suessian idiosyncrasies, it is one complete entertainer at my place. Initially, it was a little concerning if toddlers of Appu's age would get spooked by the wacky creatures that kept materializing from the cupboards, from under the chair, and in the shower. But I didn't have to fret, because as it turns out, for Appu, this book is like an extravaganza that takes him on an jolly adventure right within the confines of his house.

The Peeing Pail and Other Stories

This morning, toddler dearest woke up before me and greeted me in bed with a cup of water that he promptly proceeded to pour into my ear. After being roused the hell out of my beauty sleep, I registered that I hadn't updated the little one's antics and activities here in over three months. Thus far, I wouldn't say twos are terrible, but they certainly are challenging. So here goes, a glimpse of how we've fared so far.

The Peeing Pail

Of late, Appu is obsessed about playing with water. He pleads every single day so I would open the wash basin tap for him. "Mamaaa, vellam ON cheyyy..," he'd say. When I oblige, he brings around a tiny orange plastic pail that we bought for Halloween trick-or-treat-ing. Now, this pail has a very tiny hole in the bottom. Appu would climb on his step-stool and fill the pail with water from the tap. Then he'd lift the pail high up, pointing with great glee at the water dripping from the hole, and announce "Halloween pee pee aaku nindee" or "Orange bucket pee pee aaku nindee." ( Halloween is pee-peeing/ Orange bucket is pee-peeing) When the water completely drains out, he'd say, in a very resigned manner: "Pee pee kazhiiinju" (bucket is done peeing). Then, he'd proceed to fill the pail again, and the saga of the peeing bucket is repeated endlessly until I drag him away. 

My Way or the Highway

He has a sense of entitlement about getting what he wants the way he wants it. At dinner time, we keep Appu strapped to his high chair. He can strap himself up to this chair, but cannot undo it. Sometimes, he is done eating very early and creates quite a ruckus to get down, so that he could climb into my lap and amuse himself with my plate. The other day, he ate in a jiffy, and got started with "Mama, thaazhe eranganum" (Mama, help me get down.) "No, not now," I ignored him. But after a while, his dad began to feel sorry for him. Dad generously offered: "Achan Appune thaazhe erakki tharam," (Achan will help you down) and quickly loosened the straps. But to our greatest surprise, Appu refused to budge. He stayed put in his high chair. "No." Appu said, "Mama thaazhe erakkanum," (I want Mama to help me down.) So saying, he picked up the loosened straps and strapped himself again, deciding to stay there until Mama is the one who undoes the straps! Hmph. Sometimes, the little'un really holds us at ransom, leaving us with no option but to give in.

Our 21st Century Fox

Appu is also turning out to be a story junkie and demands stories 24X7. Our story sessions tend to be very interactive, and he immediately calls us out if we happen to get distracted and veer off the story. One favorite is the Panchatantra tale of the fox who accidentaly fell into a pail of blue-stained water. Colored blue, the wily fox goes into the jungle and tricks the other animals into believing that he is something special. The story ends when the animals find out they've been deceived. Coming to the point, the other day we were looking at a huge wall poster of the world map. I told Appu that in a map, green color represents land, and blue color represents water. He seemed to internalize that for a while before he quipped: "Fox ee neela vellathilu veenu." (And the fox fell into this blue water.) Of course I immediately agreed with him, without contest.

Two Today, Happy Birthday!

Darling Appu,

I still remember the way we fawned over you on the day you were born, every movement of your tiny, delicate toes and fingers and mouth sending us into raptures. A peaceful baby, you fit perfectly in our arms and in our life, making us a picture of bliss. 

In the blink of an eye, here you are today, two-years-old, strutting a new-found attitude and ready to take on the world! You have almost outgrown our arms but here we are, still fawning over every single thing about you; yes, some things never change! 

On your birthday, dear treasure, we want you to know that you are the bestest thing that ever happened to us. It's an honor to have your awesome two-year-old self to complete our family, temper-tantrums and crying-over-nothing notwithstanding. Together, lets hold onto each other for the joy of it and ride the roller coaster of YOU being TWO. Let's rock it, son! Happy Birthday!

X0X0
Love Always!! 

Second Year - A Round-up

Chronicling the strides made by Appu in the past year from months 11 to 23. A snapshot of how my baby takes in the world around him and tries to make sense out of it all...
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11 months: The first time he reacted to and recognized a puppy that was walking around a sidewalk, waving hands at it and squealing in total joy (Aug 2010)

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When he was 14 months old, we noticed him trying to join the tip of his index fingers making a triangular shape. When we asked him what that was, and he said, "A." It was the time when he was just beginning to understand the alphabets, so we were amused he was trying to re-create the shape of A with his fingers. I was excited to see the way he takes in the outside world and tries to make sense out of it in his own way. 

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He loves to linger in the bathtub for a long time, splashing and secretly gulping a bit of the forbidden tap water. From around 20 months, whenever anyone goes to the bathroom, he'd make a dash for it and try to sneak in. So to deter him, we started saying "Vellam Kayinju" (No more water). Somehow, that got imbued that in his mind, and one fine day, when the tap went dry, he sang out of the blue:

kayinju vavvav kayinju

vavva kayinju vavva

kayinju vavvav kayinju

After a few days, he improvised the last line: 

kayinju vavvav kayinju

vavva kayinju vavva
kayinju vavva kaa kaa

Soon he was in a poetic spree, creating songs by the minute. If we prompt him by singing anything random, for example, car car car in a singsong tone, he'd sing back:

bus buss busss

caaar buss caaar

bus caaar busss

This random poetry streak continued throughout months 20 and 21. Of late, his song is an ode to tennis and cricket, complete with the right octaves and notes:

tennee ball cricketti

tennee ball cricketti


Another one about his dad's Honda car goes like this:
Acha car Honda car
Black black black
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He has a cool direction sense; I swear he is already better than me. He knows where the train station is. He came with his dad to drop me at the "choo-choo" train station, and after that it became the train station became Amma choo-choo. If I disappear for a while at home, he panics and searches the entire house thinking Amma has left on a choo-choo. And no matter which direction we are headed from, he knows where our house is, and will point it out one signal ahead of our house. "Appu vida, Appu vida!!!!!!!!!!!!!," he says, announcing his happiness before reaching home sweet home. 
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It's interesting to see how he identified the few things that he already knew amongst the potpourri of objects around him. His keen eyes often spotted the things we often miss out on.  At around 13 months, days after I had showed him the moon up in the sky, he somehow recognized the position of the moon from indoors even through the closed blinds of the window. Around that time, he spotted the star in the ToysRUs logo, which we had never noticed before. Another time we were shopping in the GAP store, and the boy screamed his head off pointing to the A in GAP. 
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I remember introducing him to his shadow one evening at around 22 months. I was skeptical for I had heard some toddlers are terrified of their shadows. To my relief, Appu's was excited - he started chasing his shadow, delighting at the fact that the shadow was running along with him. At one point, when his shadow moved behind him, he kept looking at it through the corner of his eyes with a highly bemused expression.

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Achan was getting ready for work one morning, and he was darn busy. Appu kept calling him, but Achan was oblivious to it and did not respond to Appu. "Acha, Achaaa," fell on deaf ears. So, to grab Achan's attention, Appu came up with something new. He called out - "Ayyy Acha-blue-shirt!" -as if to say- hey you the one wearing blue shirt, I'm talking to you!!
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We went to a Chettinad restaurant and ordered kuzhi paniyaram. We were seeing it for the first time and Appu was quite taken by the small fried balls..looking at it with affection, and calling it "kun.gu.gu." Back home, he bestowed that name to another favorite toy of his.
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Appu loves flags. We have a tacky poster of World Flags plastered on our wall. I just started showing Appu some flags as a memory game one boring day, but it caught on, and he identifies the flags of 47 countries as of now. If ever Mom and Dad get confused about similar looking flags like that of France and Italy, we have a ready help at hand.  

Crazy About Cars

It was way back in Aug' 2010 when Appu was 11 months old that we first noticed Appu's fascination for cars. We were viewing a rental property and as we threw open the doors to the balcony, we sensed some excitement brewing in Appu. His eyes had widened, and he shouted "Aaaaaah, Aaaaah" in a rising crescendo, his mood, manner, and volume reflecting the feverish excitement that was building up in him. It didn't make sense initially, the sudden histrionics in the otherwise calm and composed baby took us by surprise, but we soon confirmed that it was nothing but the cars in the parking lot overlooking the balcony that had so captivated him. Apparently, Aaaah was his first pronunciation of the word CAR. 


Over the months, it went from Aaah to Aaaw to Caaw and finally, at around 18 months, settled into Car. And thus began Appu's fixation with cars. It was devotion at its best when, as a 19 month old, he circled around a car to count its wheels - one, two, three, four. His fixation with cars also helped him learn colors, and now he accurately identifies blue, green, yellow, black, brown, white, red, orange, pink, purple, gray, maroon. While referring to cars, he started prefixing the car with its color, so began blu car, dead (red) car, yellu car, gree car, baak car, whyt car.  At around 20 months, he started recognizing the make of the car from its emblems, so from then on he began referring to cars as black honda car, white toyota car, red saturn car and so on.


He's not crazy about toy cars though, it's the real deal that excites him. While on the go, it is hard to pin him down on his car seat. If we let him, he makes a dash for the driver seat and demands that he drive the car - "Appu drive, Appu drive, APPU DRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE." And a meltdown ensues. At such times, we just have to give him a tour of the other cars in the parking lot to put the spring back in his steps. His favorite place of all happens to be, no guesses, a parking lot. We have to run to keep up with him as he shoots out like a bullet around the parking lot, moving from one car to another, reverently touching one car emblem after another, identifying its make and color, his eyes glinting to reflect not only the sheen and shimmer of the vehicle but also his sheer joy to be in the midst of many, many cars.