Appreciations Galore !!!

No one appreciates me (us) better than Jillu.


I sing in my most baritone voice and Jillu says


"Nanaaa paadaraiyee" (You sing soooo well !) and my dear husband laughs out loud. Really, I sing so badly and she is the only one (currently ) to appreciate me :). She is the only person who has ever appreciated me for singing. All I have to do is sincerely attempt to sing a song. She realizes that and immediately says " Naanaaa Paadaraiyeee"


And then when i eat, "Nannaa saapidaraiyee" (You eat soo well!)


And when I blow her whistle,"Naanaaa oodharaiye" (You blow the whistle sooo well!)


and so on and so forth :)


you get the drift ??

Innocence at its best :).No one has appreciated me more and especially for singing :) and I relish as long as it lasts for surely, she is bound to stop doing that one day :(

Jillu talkies - 5

Jillu these days is becoming fiercely independent, adamant, stubborn etc etc etc..Wants to have her own way and wants to do everything ( i mean everything- even the stuff I do) on her own. This leads to some tug of war between the two of us and some strict talking from me. On one such occasion, when I was on my tirade (includes advise, preaching, teaching, scolding et all),  she told me very cutely

"Amma vum Jillu vum sanda podaraaa" (Amma and Jillu are having a fight!)

Me : #$%^&?????????

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When we were going out for our evening outing the other day, she suddenly told me, 

"Naan ammanamma irukken" ( I am naked!)

Me : (quite taken aback ! She was properly and very cutely dressed up and all that ! ) Illa da. Nee dress laam pottundu irukke! Dress laam illa na dhaan ammanam. Ippo kidaiyaadhu! (Basically explained to her that she will be naked only if she does not wear any clothes!)

Jillu : Avuthaa dhaan.

Me : yes!

And then we were on our way on my bike. And then Jillu suddenly exclaims

"Amma anga paaru, Jhoo ! Jhoo* ammanamaa irukku paaru ! (Ma, see there, the dog ! The dog is naked !)

Me : LOL!

*Jhoo means dog in Jillu's language

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The next generation takes a further step in luxury...

A lot of talking, thinking and singing goes on while she is sitting on her potty. Yesterday, when she saw me put on the bedroom fan for self, she looked up at the bathroom ceiling and told me

 "San illa". ( Meaning no fan. yeah, she has not yet got the pronunciation for the letter  "f" )

Me : Yenga illa? (where?, knowing very well where)

Jillu : (pointing to the ceiling) Bathroom la illa  (its not there in the bathroom)

Me : Ammmam. yenna pannanum? (Yes, what to do ?)

Jillu : Podanum (need to put on one!)

Me : Yedukku podanum ? (why?)

Jillu : Jillu ku.. pogardhukku...(For Jillu..)

Adhisayam , Annaaal Unmai (A wonder , but true!)

I never thought I would do this ! Get crafty and do art ! Participate/ contribute to a puppet contest ! For more details please visit the lovely blog with the Artsy -Crafty contest for March

Inspired by clowns and aliens, (Thank you, Uma) I rummaged among all the clutter that we had to see if I could make up anything for Jillu. And, not to my surprise, lot of unused things were scattered around the place. However, I was inspired by a chewed (by Jillu obviously) rubber ball to make a girl out of it.

Since the rubber ball came handy with a smiley, I had a ready made face. I just used my used rubber band for the hair and cut strips of another rubber band to make the wisps of hair on the forehead. Jillu's baby bangles made gorgeous hooks for the girl's ear. As soon as I was just fitting around loosely to see how it looks, Jillu loved it and immediately named her Dolly. So here, I (We) present  Dolly to you :)

So how does it become a puppet ? I used the cap of a specs holder as a base for Dolly. So now, Jillu can put her finger inside the cap and do puppet shows.

Now Dolly is lonely and has no one to play with ! And she wanted to go on a ride too ! (Just like Jillu does always)! When Dolly was scouting for a play mate, there came along this cutie elephant.

The elephant was absolutely simple to make and I followed instructions from here. 

As I already had a gray paper plate, I skipped the painting part and just reversed the paper plate. I used black bindhi for eyes.

And then we use our hands to make the trunk and it becomes puppet as well. I just loved this ! 

You will have to bear with the poor pic above as I was using my one hand for the puppet and the other for clicking shots.

So to get back to our story, Dolly was real excited to see the Jumbo (elephant) and was jumping up and down ! And the jumbo delighted her by giving a ride.. How ? Look here..

A really simple story right ? I am a very bad story teller and couldn't make up beyond this :( But I loved doing it. 

Jillu has seen the dolly. But she is yet to see the elephant. I made both, though Jillu helped me with the glue-ing part (rather she applied glue all over my dress :) ) for making the Dolly. 

Both can be easily made by 3 yr old kids, I guess

Plugged On!

Jillu has always had the habit of sucking her thumb. Now, always may not be politically correct. To be exact, she started thumb sucking when she was 1 month old :). I am not sure what happened exactly 1 month after she was born, but my sweet baby started tasting all her thumbs of both hands after 30 days and from then on , practice, preference and perfection has made sure that her right thumb is always "plugged" (our way of calling it) on whenever she is idle!

She is okay as far as she is occupied !. But the moment her hands are free, bang goes back her thumb into her mouth! Needless to say, she cannot sleep without the plug ! But good girl that she is, once she is asleep she removes it on her own without being aware of it. Its the needed catalyst for her sleep!

There are several schools of thought about allowing this habit to continue and i think there are enough articles on the net about whether to discourage the habit or encourage it, when is the right time to stop, if you want to stop it at all and so on and so forth. There is no children forum without this question being popped up ! The greatest concern being that if left as is, it might continue for ever as there are still some adults who secretly suck their thumb in privacy ! However,some Drs  also seem to think that forcefully stopping the habit may also lead to serious concerns.

We have not made any serious attempts to discourage her till now! (We believe in the school of thought that its okay till permanent teeth comes up and if the habit continues post that, then it might become a problem ). But we have made sure that she knows very well that its not done and its not accepted at all. I am planning to see if the habit goes away after she goes to school and if not, then do something to address the problem. 'Coz sucking gives her a sense of security and I don't want to take that away from her very soon.

When she was a baby, we used to say, "Baaaaaaaaaaad" whenever she put on her plug :). She would cutely smile and take her thumb away. Then we would say "Goooodd". This became a ritual and a very common one at that! After some months, we used to say "Baaaaaaad" and then she would say "Gooooodd" after removing her thumb.

Now, for the past month, it has been

Me : Mudiyaadhu (Can't)

Jillu : Mudiyum (Can)

Me : Mudiyaadhu (Can't)

Jillu : Mudiyum (Can)

and the argument continues !

Back ground : ( I told her : "Jillu, nee plug pottundaa chocie, bikkiee, grapes yedhuvum saapida mudiyaadhu. Pallu munnadi vandhudum. appram yedhuvum saapida mudiyaadhu" - You cant eat chocie, biscuits if you suck yr thumb. Yr teeth will start protruding and you cannot eat all these stuff!)

I added another dimension to it

Me : Jillu, nee plug pottundaa yendha school leyum unnna sethukka maataa (No school will give u admission if u suck yr thumb)

Jillu : sethupaaa (they will)

Me : yeppidi sethuppaa? plug poda koodaadhu solluvaa. sethuka maataa (nope. They will say u shld not suck yr thumb and if u suck yr thumb, they will not)

Jillu : sethupaaa..(they will)

Me : sethuka maataa (they will not)

Jillu : sethupaa (they will)

Me : sethuka maataa (they will not)

and the argument continues!

And now  the latest shortened version is

Me : ( I just simply say they will not) sethuka mattaa

Jillu : taking her thumb away with a plopping sound, tilting her head to one side, giving me a very cute and acknowledging smile, says "Yedooothutten! ippo sethukkuvaalaa? " (i have take my thumb away! now will they? )

Me : with her making such a pretty sight, I just cant say no to her! can I ? But then I just say to her 

"Nee plug podaati kataayam sethupaa" (They surely will if u dont put on yr plug !)

Edited to Add : She follows her Mama in this, I believe :) But neither her Mama's Mama nor others remember exactly when her Mama left the habit. :) But one thing is for sure. Her Mama did get out of the habit. So hopefully, she should follow her Mama in this as well.

A Messy Affair

Project : Eating On her own

Project Start Date : Late Feb 2010/ March beginning 2010

Status : In progress 

% Completion: 80% 

Implementation : 

Sits on the dining table itself and eats with her hands. Success rate is good so far. 90% of food goes in.

Post Implementation Steps:

1) A bath again ensures cleanliness

2) A mini bath for the care taker as well

3) A complete and thorough clean up the of mess (the surrounding area) 

4) If the mess is reasonable, then the washing is unaided - drags a chair near to the wash basin, climbs on it and washes hands.

Note : These take almost half the time of the project in itself !

Advantages : 

Good for the long run. 

On the way to being independent. 

Saves time

Intake is more

Good practice - will help when she goes to school

Disadvantages : 

See Post Implementation Steps

Pre requisites : Complete susu just before sitting down to eat

Assumptions : There is some one available to sit with her through out till she finishes. Better if that some one is also eating the same stuff.

Perceived Risk : 

The plate may just be toppled/inverted if not on watch

(A Small note : This risk has not materialized yet)

In thick and thin

Mustafa Mustafa, Eh Dosthi Hum nahein thodenge, Nagamum sadhaiyum, tyre um tube um , indha maadhiri list can go on and on...

Wondering where all this is leading to ? Seemingly related but un-related as well ? Yelllaam namma Jillu oda friendship pathidhaan ga.

This is a long pending post, but nothing (the status quo) has changed till date. 

Jillu's friendship with her beloved friend "I". She is 1 1/2 years older than Jillu. But the two of them have such a enviable rapport with each other. "I" resides in my my MIL's apartment.

The friendship is  such that

1) "I" calls Jillu her baby

2) "I" says she will take care of Jillu always

3) "I" scolds her own grandmom just becoz the poor grandmom asked Jillu not to suck her thumb

4) Jillu can never be taken away from I. We have to literally physically drag them away from each other that the scene will very closely resemble (sometimes even excel ) that from "Yek dhuje ke li Ye" or any such love story based movie. Imagine this, their their mom dragging their daughters away and each daughter calling the other's name as though its the end of life !. Need I say more ? 

5) Jillu cries (harder in fact) if "I" cries (for whatever reason)
6) I can get away with murder I say "I" did it ! (Read that as I can make Jillu do anything if I say "I" did it !)

The friendship is such that

1. We totally avoid going to my MIL"s place when Jillu is ill, for fear of spoiling her health even more ( Point #4 above). You wont believe till you see it ! For each meal break, the same scene is repeated !

2. We totally avoid taking "I"'s name in font of Jillu lest she asks us to take her there immediately, or worse, starts crying pronto!

And what finally prompted me to complete this post after a very long time ?

A call from "I" last night ! I dont need to mention the joy and the elation from this quarter. And after the phone call, needless to say, I was left holding the baby (pun intended) and it took all my power to distract her and to stop her wailing "Naan "I" kooda pesanum " :(

Unique connection

Apple Tree - A Graphics image of apples falling from a tree. This is part of the introductory clipping in all the Rhymes series - "Apple Tree, Knowledge Series"

(A Random image. Imagine apples falling from this tree :) )

The connection :

Jillu loves the introductory clipping and thinks the " The Apple Tree, Knowledge Series" mini song itself is a rhyme and enjoys singing it!

When we were in the midst of a drawing session, she suddenly told me "Apple Tree paaru maa". There were no drawings of a tree and hence I was trying to co-relate. She then pointed to a letter "Y" in the drawing book. 

On closer look, Y does indeed look like the drawing of a tree .

Jillu Talkies - Humor Contd

Me and Jillu are in the midst of a Drawing session 

Jillu : Amma, nee onu yeduthukko (You take a color pencil)

Me : OK...

Jillu : (Pointing to a page thats fully scribbled with various colors) Naan yezhudhirukken paaru, (a slight pause and then ) Naan kirukirikaen paaru.. andha maadhiri neeyum

I started laughing !

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Me : Nee yenna pannaa Appa maadhiri tall aaga mudiyum ? (What should you do to become tall ?)

Jillu : mm.. murukku, Chockate, Biscuit, yelllaaaaaaaaaaam chaaptaa dhaa taaaaaaaalll aaga mudyum

LOL 

(Generally, she would stick to the truth and say appple, banaaana, carrot etc etc.. but last night was a complete turn around :) )

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After afternoon's nap, my mom is trying to make her go susu and some seva is being shown in TTD channel in TV

My Mom : Jillu, vaa susu polaam

no response

My Mom : Jillu, vaa da kannaa

Jillu : watching TV suddenly proclaims " Ummmachi susu pooveela paathiyaa ?"

and what else could we do but LOL !

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Jillu Talkies - Humor

Jillu : Paati Jo kulikkka poirukkaa (Paati is taking bath)

Me : Aammaa da Kannaa (Yes, da)

Jillu : Naama poi paakalaamaa ? paati yeppidi jo kulikaraanu paakalaamaa? (Shall we go and see how she does it ?)

Me : LOL ...illa da chellam, adhelllam paaka mudiyaadhu.. paakavum koodaadhu (Nope. thats not done at all !)

(Usually, we engage her / distract her by saying "Naan yenna panrennu paaru" or "yeppidi panrennu paaru " when we are seriously engaged in something)

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Jillu : Idho irukka vera ammaa (pointing to me) (Here is some other Amma)

Me : vera amma illa, pattu. Unakku oru ammaa dhaan. Adhu naan dhaan (No  some other Amma. You have only one mom and thats me !)

Jillu : Innoru ammmaa. Ammaaam. (Another Amma. Yes !)

Me : (??$$%% ) Innoru illa, vera illa. Oru amma dhaan. Adhu naan dhaan, da. (Basically repeated the same thing. what else ?)

(I can't even guess where this originates from)

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After effects of krishna

Watching Krishna has had its own down side impact on Jillu. 

While all of us including Jillu, loved watching little Krishna's escapades and fun filled banter, we had not anticipated the tough questions it would pose so soon! 

The first indication (this is with hindsight! we didn't know then) was when she refused to go alone into a room (even for a moment) or anywhere else for that matter. This surprised us as she was never afraid (even of darkness) and used to wander around freely everywhere any time of the day.

Only when she started speaking and was able to express herself that we understood it finally ! Coz whenever she ventured alone to a room on any errand, she suddenly started asking us

"Boodham vara mattaa?" 

I was shocked when I heard her say that the first time! This is the after effects of seeing Krishna kill too many "Arakkans" ! When I asked her who told her about "Bhoodams" and stuff, there was no answer. When this became a habit (for she was repeatedly asking this way too many times and still does it by the way), we assured her that there was no such thing called bhoodham and they existed only in the TV and no where else! I don't think she is still totally satisfied with the answer for she still directs the same old question in spite of repeated re-assurances and still hesitates to go alone to an empty room! This was really a shocker because we have never used those terms with her at all even while explaining the happenings in the Krishna episodes (exactly to avoiding scaring her!but it has happened :( )

And then, one day, a related question propped up, which was more difficult to answer (in the sense, it was not expected and right into gray area too soon!)

I was putting Jillu to sleep and there came the question again !

Jillu : Amma, Boodham vara maataa

Me : vara maataa da chellamaa, Boodham laa TV la dhaan iruppaa

Jillu : Kichna ?? Kichna yenga ?

Me : ?? (What do i say to this ? "its too soon" screamed my mind, to be answering such questions ! when i am not sure of the answers myself !)

Kichna mela irukkaa da. Melerundhu Jillu va paathunde irupppaa yeppodhum !

Jillu : Kichna varuvaalaa?

Me : (??? now what ? OK. maintain consistency! dont confuse her too much !)

Kichna TV la dhaan iruppaa ma. Bhoodam um TV la dhaan. Jillu kitta vara maataa!

Reasoning - 2

I was carrying Jillu in my arms (like how we carry a baby) yesterday and generally fooling around and playing with her :). 

Then i asked her,

Shall i drop you down ?

Jillu : ahaan...(means no)

Me : yen ? keezhe podarene....dhop podarene (why ? let me drop you on the floor)

Jillu : Jillu paaavam la... avo paaavam la

Me : appidiyaa ? yen poda koodaadhu ?

Jillu : dhop uzhundhaa uvaa varum (will get hurt if you drop me !)