At a Loss for Words !

Who is at a loss for words? The obvious answer, which is Jillu, is not the correct one.

It is we, who interact with Jillu, are at a loss for words these days. For, she knows what we are about to say for any situation or scenario and says the exactly same thing before we even think of our response.

Like,when sees me taking my hand bag in the morning before leaving for office, she immediately says "Bye da Kannaa". The other one is when she is about to be given milk, she preempts me by saying "Go. Fetch your sipper, go". Another eg:  is when she found her play thing (which was lost earlier) and showed it to her dad and before he could say anything, she said " Oh, you have found it ". Another one is when I am feeding her food and she gets distracted and asks for something else,she immediately looks at me and says "Only if you eat food"

The list could go on and on and on and this post will become boring and too lengthy as well if I list all. So I, stop here, albeit reluctantly, though my hands itch to list more

Jillu says

Czechoslovakia !

Just when she turns 21 months old !

Perception of taataa

Dressing up a about to be 21 months old, very active toddler always takes some time. And it takes all the more time to dress up for the Golu visits. Cute Paavadai, bangles, necklace, etc. (Bangles is the easy one as she likes wearing them)

So to speed up the process, we enticed her saying "We are going Tataa. Get ready fast. etc" along those lines little knowing the trouble it would get us into.

The first day, the moment we entered the first house on agenda, we heard a huge wail. It took some time to console her and distracted her by showing all the Golu Bommai (Dolls). This was repeated at the next house again. I assumed that she was crying due to stranger anxiety plus the lack of the usual afternoon sleep. However, the next time when the same thing happened, I asked her "Why are you crying?"

Immediately came the reply "Taataa Ponum " (I want to go Taataa)

Oh, realization dawns! Visiting other's houses apparently is not Jillu's idea of Taataa. Taataa is beach, Park, malls, etc

Alien Chauffeur

Today, we (my mom, Jillu and I ) went to some of my relatives place for Golu. Since my husband had to go to office and I don't drive, I had hired a driver for the day and covered quite a few places.

Jillu felt it so odd that her dad was not driving that in the first leg, she asked "Idhu yaaru?" (Who's this?) pointing the driver :). I explained to her that uncle was driving the car as Appa had to go to office. But then, every now and then, she kept saying "Appaa ottuvaale " (Dad will drive na) along with the action of turning the steering wheel. She was so used to her dad driving the car that she found it difficult to understand or adjust to the fact that some one else was driving, i guess. We were all totally amused today as this was repeated for every leg of the journey.

Life is never dull with kids around :)

Either or Or, it is Or

Q : Do you want milk or curd rice now?
A : Curd rice
Q: Do you want curd rice or milk now?
A : Milk

**************************************

Q: Are you a bad girl or a good  girl?
A: Good  girl
Q: Are you a good girl or a bad girl?
A: Bad girl

Some really are, while some may not be

milestones ! But here is the list of things that Jillu does as of date today which are worth recording.

1) She knows when she has done something wrong and says "Chorry, Inime panna maatten"(Sorry, I won’t do it again). But it has to be noted here that "I won’t do it again" part does not work very well. It may happen the next second. But more significant at this moment is that she says it

2) Can remove her under garment on her own with no help

3) 65% Potty trained - remaining 35% due to not complete bladder control. I think she's too young for that

4) Started walking backwards

5) Identify known people in photos

6) Loves to read books. Has a dozen or more so books.

7) Knows 7 days of the week

8) Knows most of the English and Tamil rhymes that we have taught her by heart

9) Says Gymnastics. Getting closer to Czechoslovakia :)

10) Says please and Thank you

Music to my ears

The most sweetest and lovely sound for me, must be the voice
of my daughter when she calls me

"Amma"

She does it so cutely, that it makes me want to record it! My several attempts till now have been futile! I hope to succeed soon though.
That special tone is something that I cherish and relish, each and every time, every day

Toddler Kissing Patterns!

Different ways our 20 months old daughter kisses us.

1) Kadi muthaa (bites while kissing)
2) Killi muthaa (the usual way of pinching cheeks and kissing)
3) Nakki muthaa (she literally licks !)
4) Flying Kiss

My all time fav is #1 as I make her laugh by making several games out of it and we have fun!

Krishna Vijayam

Its our day for celebrating Lord Krishna today and here we all are awaiting our own little Krishna





Here she comes




There she is



already enjoying the "appichi" that granny has made


Our little Krishna enjoying the feast




How can it be complete without the below one?




Ofcourse, its Krishna relishing the butter :)


P.S:

Making of Krishna : I had not planned well and this kutti Krishna was made up within 10 minutes. All it took was 1 Duppataa for PanjaKacham, 1 pearl necklace, 1 rubber band for kudumi, white and red bindhi and there is a Krishna though sans peacock feather :(

Sugamaana Sumai

is when

my daughter lies flat, face down,
on top of me, full length,
at noon, night, anytime, before
she drifts away, to her land of beauty sleep




P.S : For those who do not know Tamil, Sugamaana Sumai is a popular phrase and roughly means a lovely weight to carry

If you have to go tata

from our home then,

1) you have to kiss her good bye on both cheeks
2) she has to kiss you good bye on both cheeks
3) you have to give her high-fives
4) you have to say bye, ba-bye, see you etc etc
5) you have to repeat #4 from the car park below for she will be standing on the window sill & watching you from the balcony

End - The ultimate goal

7 days of the week: Now, Jillu has mastered the names of the 7 days of the week. However, the dialogue goes this way.

Me: Sunday,...
Jillu : Monday, Tusday, Fiday, Saattuurrday....( the last one comes as a long drawn out shout with a rhyme)

Not that she does not know the ones in between... but in a hurry to finish it off, she usually deliberately misses those two.

Me: hey, what’s after Tuesday?
Jillu: Wednesday
Me: mmm, what’s after Wednesday?
Jillu: Thursday

Innocence

People, who have read this post, will know about Jillu's familiarity with Krishna and his anecdotes. Needless to say that her knowledge on Krishna has improved very much since the post and everyday she learns new things about him. The list could become a separate post on its own :)

She learnt some time back about the story of Yashoda devi seeing the world, earth and the universe inside Krishna's mouth. This was quite some time back and she often recites this along with others things that Krishna did during her "Kichna yenna pannaa? " bout.

But yesterday, suddenly, the routine changed. When I was putting her to sleep for her afternoon nap, she started talking usual stuff about Krishna and then came to this point

Jillu : Kichna vera yenna pannaa? Bhoomi kaamichaa (What else did Krishna do? He showed the earth )
Me : Yes, da chellamaa
Jillu : Amma, nee vai kaami (Amma, you show your mouth)
Me : Kichna vaai kulla dhaan bhoomi theriyum,Kannaa. Ammaa vaai kulla theriyaadhu (You can see the earth only in Krishna’s mouth, not inside mine)
Jillu : Book la padichen (I read it in the book)
Me : Yes da kanna. Book la Krishna dhaan kaamichaa (Yes, In the book, Krishna only opened his mouth to show the earth)
Jillu : Amma, nee vai kaami (Amma, you show your mouth)
Me : Said the same dialogues and then showed her anyways

{{Silence for some time and then again !}}

Jillu : Amma, nee Bhoomi kaami (Amma, you show the earth. Says this while trying to open my mouth simultaneously)
Me : (?????? where will I go for bhoomi now?) Jillu, Krishna dhaan bhoomi kaamippaa. Naan Krishna illai. Naan Jillu amma. Ammaa vaai kulla bhoomi irukkadhu.. (Jillu, I am not Krishna, I am Jillu’s Mom)
Jillu : Amma, nee Bhoomi kaami
Me : Showing her again, "paaru, bhoomi illa la? ok?" (See, you cannot see any earth. Right ?)
Jillu : Irukku (It is there)
Me : ???????????

Wonder what will happen if everyone starts seeing the bhoomi in everyone's mouth. hahaha

Yesterday's scare !!!

Jillu gave us (at least me for sure) a scare yesterday morning!!!

One second she was standing on the cot holding my mom and the next second she was on the floor crying like hell. In a split of the second, before we could realize what was happening she had fallen down from the cot.

She was in my arms and I was consoling her and it took me more than 10 seconds or so before I saw the big bonda /bulge on her forehead. It looked worse than it actually was, but at that time it was very scary. I massaged that area on and off and gradually it reduced.

I was scared more because she never cries when she gets hurt. She will just get up if she falls or gets hurt and carry on as though nothing happened. But yesterday, it seemed forever before the crying stooped and even then the sobbing continued. So, because she was crying so hard yesterday, my anxiety increased.

So just to pep her up, I said "Appa unna round kootindu povaa" (Appa will take you out for a round) and that is all it took to distract her and cheer her up :). But then she again started crying and I said “Round pogum bodhu azhuvaalaa? Jolly yaa ponum “ (You shouldn’t be crying while going out. You should be jolly while going out). She then caught on to the word “Jolly” and kept repeating “Jolly yaa ponum”

However much we keep an eye on kids, it is so hard to prevent them from getting hurt. We are somehow able to manage if we are ill or hurt but it so difficult and scary when our kids get hurt or fall ill.

Excuses for avoiding medicine

The last time Jillu was sick, the medication was a 5 day course. The moment she saw the medicine in my hand, she used to say " xx Varudhu maa" (I want to go Potty). She realized that Potty takes priority over everything else and will be immediately attended to and she will be let off the hook. The first few times we really fell for it and then when she said it every time, we caught on to the idea.

This time again, the medication is a 5 day course and the excuse now has changed to "Thaachi Thoonganum maa" (I want to go to sleep). It is so funny that these dialogues come the moment she sees the medicine in my hands :)

Obviously, needless to say that the urge to go potty or the sleepiness vanishes immediately, soon after having the medicines.