JilluYennaPan

And as Jillu is

2011-12-05T09:30:00.001+05:30

about to complete 4 years, she is now eagerly waiting for the new arrival in the family.

Jillu is about to become a big Sis very soon.. May be in a month or so !

Needless to say, she is excited and has 1001 questions! Already a proud sis !

Her repeated statements
"I was born first right ? So I am the elder sis "
" Paapaaku akkaava dhaan romba pidikum" ( The baby will love the sis the most !)
" I shall take care of the baby once I am back from school"

and thus the list goes on..

Kaakaa Nari Kadhai

2011-11-30T11:53:00.001+05:30

Adaptation....

Jillu : Paati, Paati, Nee romba azhagaa irukkiye! Mahabharatham lerundhu oru kadhai sollen !

(Grandma, you are looking so beautiful ! Pls tell me a story from Mahabharatham na )

And its Official !

2011-11-24T11:13:00.001+05:30

Yes ! Its Plugged OFF these days :)

For those of you who do not know whats a plug, its simply thumb sucking :). To know more about it, read this post.

Atlast, Jillu has stopped the habit and I have been waiting to make sure before blogging and making it official :).
Its been a month now since she sucked her thumb. So I guess its pretty safe to say that she has indeed left the habit. We have also got her a couple of gifts (games) to mark the occasion :)

The whole thing started prior to the Pooja holidays. I was planning to apply the bitter nail polish on her thumb during the holidays so that her timings is not affected (she just cannot sleep without it). So from 15 days before the holidays, I kept telling her that "one fine day, when you wake up, your thumb will taste bitter and 20 days from that day, your thumb will go into your stomach and you will lose your thumb".GROSSSS ! I know. But I had to do something ! I knew just applying would take me nowhere! She laughed it away and went on her way till the holidays. But I kept issuing the warning every day.

And then, 2 days into the holidays, I applied the nail polish on her thumb early in the morning when she was sleeping. I was just relying on the surprise and the secret factor. And it worked ! MY GOD ! Poor thing ! She was confused and also a bit scared when she realized that what Amma said was true and whatever Amma said was indeed happening ! And then the frequency of plug started to reduce day by day as she found her thumb bitter whenever she woke up from sleep. But as days went by, and when Jillu found that the thumb was indeed in tact and showed no signs of vanishing into the stomach, the fear factor went away and I started to lose the ground I had gained.

And then luck favored me ! I should not say luck really, because Poor Jillu suffered ! But its indeed a blessing in disguise. She had severe mouth ulcers and could not eat anything, let alone, put plug. And thats when the habit really stopped. In the week that she was suffering from mouth ulcer, she did not put the plug even once. And all of us used it to our advantage and told her "See, the boils came because of plug. The moment you start again, its going to come back". Poor Jillu had suffered so much (only curd rice every meal, no variety, no talking which I think she found the most difficult :), and so on) that she didn't want to risk again.

And now its been a month and she has been clean till now. And I hope this continues and is for ever.

But, her drifting off into sleep has taken a major blow and I am finding it very difficult to put her to sleep. Earlier, she would put the plug and would be off to sleep soon. But now, without that, she is struggling to get into a proper position, wriggles this way and that way and takes for ever to sleep even when she is sleepy.

Hopefully this is also just a phase and shall pass soon !

HOPE ! HOPE ! HOPE!

Jillu Talkies -12

2011-11-14T11:44:00.001+05:30

After a long gap, read how and what Jillu talks these days :)

She was unusually quiet for a while in the hall and came running to me in the kitchen suddenly. I got suspicious and asked her

Me: yenna pannittu vandhe? (What did you do ?)
Jillu : Onnum illa. Naan paavamaa summaa ukkandhuttu vandhen. (Nothing. I just simply sat like a paavam girl )

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

Naan periyava aana udane, coffee pottu tharuven, dosai vaapen, naane mehendi vechupen
(After I become bigger, I shall make coffee, dosa etc. I will even keep Mehendi myself)

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

She saw one half of the beautiful butterfly cup that she had broken last year. I was using it for some other purpose in the kitchen. She looked at it and asked

Jillu : andha cup naan udacha udane nee yenna panne yenna? (What did you do when I broke that cup?)
Me : naan timeout kuduthen ( I gave you time out)
Jillu : yen ? (Why?)
Me : pinna yenna paanuvaalaam? (Then what else should I have done?)
Jillu : inime panna maataanu chumaa vitturukanum! (You should have let me go free assuming I wont repeat again!)

Another small item

2011-10-08T07:39:00.000+05:30

that I have been wanting to complete for a very long time got done this week. :) Yet again, a very tiny and simple matter but I kept postponing !

From the time I saw this entry in the hall of fame art blog, I wanted to do the same for Jillu knowing it would do wonders for her if I displayed her work. Did you notice the post date for that entry ? Yeah. It dates back to May of 2010 and I saw the post on the day it was posted :)

But here, it is at last a similar creation hanging in my home for Jillu now :)

And she was really overjoyed :) Now she keeps asking for "good and fresh " white paper every time so that it can go up on the board there :)

A new beginning

2011-09-20T17:29:00.000+05:30

And no.. I am not talking about this post which has come after a long time and the redemption of the blog from the slumber that it has got into :).
Instead this post is about something that I have been meaning to do for a long while (read years) and finally got it done. Its not something great and time consuming. Just a very simple task, yet I was just postponing.
And without more ado, here it is,

Yes, a pot plant (Karpooravalli). Living in an apartment, i cant even think of backyards and garden. But still wanted some greenery in my house, so wanted to grow some plants that will grow from my balcony itself. Just a simple thing, na ? but its taken me years to do it.

I bought it couple of months back (July end) and its coming up very nicely :) Jillu has the daily task of watering this plant. I was so happy that I at last managed to do it, that I wanted to blog and record it immediately. But its taken me more than 2 months to blog about it :)

I donno anything about gardening and growing plants. So wanted to start with something simple. Now that the plant is thriving, I am planning to add a couple more to make it colorful.My balcony does receive some sunlight during the hot days. I was thinking about rose. One red and one yellow. How about it ? Any other suggestions?

P.S : And Jillu does take this task very seriously. "Adhu yenna nambi dhaan vandhurukku". (the plant is dependent on me).

Jillu Talkies - 11

2011-02-08T15:03:00.000+05:30

Dinner Time

Jillu had completed her main course. As is the norm, I gave her her habitual cup of curd (which she lovvvess and usually insists on having it herself)

Me : Jillu, eat your curd.

Jillu: Amma, please, you feed me

Me : No da. Can you please have it yourself? You usually do that, right ? And it is something that you love. Amma has some work. So, please go and have your curd.

Jillu : No, ma, you have to come.

(this goes on for a while and Amaa becomes slightly irritated)

Me : Jillu, Dont make trouble for having curd. If you want, you have it. Otherwise, its OK. you need not eat. OK ?

Jillu : Appo, naan yeppavum patneeyaa irukka vendiyadhu dhaanaa daily? (Then, should I remain hungry at all times daily?)

Me : (@#$%^^&&&&&&&&& staring at her aghast at such vocabulary, usage and delivery).

(Recovering after a couple of seconds) Yes da, Amma does not feed you at all daily. Thats why you say all this (and closely watching her reaction now)

Jillu : Illa. nee yenakku mammu thare daily. (No, you do give me food, daily )

Amma : (atleast some what slightly relieved now)

Play Time

Jillu is pounding chana (udaicha kadalai/roasted grams) while Amma is busy preparing dinner. Pounding chana is something that she loves to do, an activity learnt at school and followed at home as well. She has to pound the chana, distribute to friends and eat the rest herself. At home, normally, she gives a very small (negligible) amount to me and consumes the rest :)

That day:

Jillu : Naan unakku romba kutti, small dhaan tharuven. Nee yenna kaeka koodaadhu. (I will only give you a very small portion. You should not ask me more)

Me : Then I will also give you only small portions of sugar and complan daily. You should not ask more. (She generally asks for the plain complan powder and sugar when I am mixing her drink and needless to say, she asks for "BIG". I normally avoid the sugar but giver her a small portion of complan )

Jillu :(now doing a complete ulta and says in a sugary tone) Naan unakku small big tharen, seriyaa ?

(I shall give you a small big portion, OK?)

Me : Could only laugh :)

Jillu Talkies - 10

2011-02-04T14:45:00.000+05:30

Dinner time and the little madam has had her share of food and is content.
Next is her Mom's turn and she is having hers amidst various distractions in between (What else but running behind this cute toddler?)

Kutti Madam gets restless and

Jillu : Amma, nee yenna panre ?(what are you doing ?)
Me : Nee sollu (You tell me)
Jillu : Saapadariyaa ? Amma unakku pasikkudhaa ? (Are you eating ? Are you feeling very hungry?)
Me (ahaa ! OK, she is so understanding! Now I can have my dinner in peace!) : Yes, da chellam
Jillu : Amma, nee saaptadhu porum! Chaapdaadhe ! vaa ma! vandhu vilaiyaadu! (Mom, you have had enough! Dont eat! Come and play withe me!)

Gyaan (III)

2011-01-19T23:38:00.000+05:30

Her current obsession for dressing is pants ! Anywhere, everywhere and always, she wants to wear pants ! All the frilly frocks, non frilly frocks, skirts are all sleeping in the cup board safely.
This leaves me to find devious ways (even cahooting with Jillu's close friend's mom - "hey Jillu, your friend "S" is going to wear a frock today and she has asked you to wear a frock as well to school today" ) for making her wear anything other than pants!
Today, I took rest and let her go her way ! So naturally it was pants and tops again!
As usual she rushed away after getting dressed and I called her back !
"Jillu, come here. Bindhi is not yet done. Come on, fast !"

and then came the Gyaan !
"Amma, pant pottundaa pottu vechukka koodaadhu ! Asingamaa irukkum" (Mom, we should not wear bindhi while wearing pants ! It will look horrible!"

THE FASHION GYAAN !

Now, we are moving

2011-01-13T15:17:00.001+05:30

on to Tattoos.
She didn't know the word day before yesterday.

And yesterday, she had seen, learnt, pestered me for one and retired to bed at night proudly sporting a mickey mouse tattoo !

What's next ? :)

What she has been upto and Why i dont get the time to blog!

2010-12-22T14:35:00.000+05:30

Hi Friends !

Its been a long time isn't it ? Hope all of you are doing great !!!

Life has been too hectic chasing this toddler !

1. She powders her face with so much of talcum powder (behind my back , of course) that she can easily win a place as a clown in any touring circus unit

2. And with that makeup, she liberally pours water in the middle of the hall and is found actively swimming (yes, right there in the hall) ! All this when I am busy just for 2 mins!

3. I find my pair of house slippers down in the car park one day ! Apparently she had thrown it out of the corridor grill!

4. I never knew my soap (bathing soap) could be put to use in so many ways. I found her cleaning the bathroom tiles with my soap one day ! And at other times, she uses the same to wash her panties !

( She just cannot be dragged away from the bathroom, water, soap etc etc)

5. Yet another day, in 30 secs flat , when I was not wise enuf of her whereabouts, she had emptied half of some anti allergic cream all over the bed (mind you, just when I had removed the bed spread for a change and was about to put on the fresh one!)

The list is definitely not exhaustive, but indicative for sure :)

Needless to say, most of my time is spent in picking up, err, cleaning up all the mess that she manage to create :) and trying to invent ways to engage her time usefully and productively !

She is a little bundle of energy to be watched all the time :) As there are not many (actually, not even one kid) in the apartments that we stay in, its real boring for her and all that pent up energy does not find a release ! To keep her occupied and to get her in touch with kids of her age, I have enrolled her in a music class ! It is more of a sloka class rather than music ! Its twice a week and thankfully, she loves it !

Next week is a busy week for all of us :). With the weekend and the new year and more importantly for us, Jillu's birthday is around the corner as well :)

She is going to be 3 years and time really flies !

Advance wishes to all for the upcoming festive season and the holidays :)

Enjoy !!!

Jillu Talkies - 9

2010-11-02T10:08:00.003+05:30

I Bedtime talk
Jillu : yennoda friend a irukkiyaa?? (Will u be my friend?)
Me : (silent)
Jillu : Ammaa
Me : hmmm?
Jillu : nee yennoda friend a irukkiyaa?? (Will u be my friend?)
Me : sure.. irukken da kannnaa. (After a pause..) Friend na, yeppidi da irukkanum ? yenna pannanum? (sure. What do friends do? what should i do to be your friend?)
Jillu : Jolly ya irukkanum...yen kooda vilaiyadanum (We have to be jolly. You have to play with me)
Me (completely zapped by now): Appidiyaa da chellamaa? sure da. Amma ippo konja naalaa busy yaa irukkrn la. Adhaan vilaiyaada mudila. But function apram, sure a unnoda vilaiyaadaren, okvaa ? (Sure, kannna. I have been busy these days and thats why I am unable to play with you. We will surely play lots after the function, OK vaa?)
Jillu : OK

II
Jillu rubs her fingers over the kolam (Rangoli) outside our home and applies the powder over her forehead like a kumkum or veebudhi.
I chide her for the same, citing all reasons for not doing so.
Me : Velila kolam yellarum medikkaaraa da, chellamma. Adha azhukellaam nee thoda koodaadhu.uvaa varum
(Everybody walks over the kolam. So you shouldn't be touching the dirt. You will be sick)
Jillu : Naan medhikala paa ( I didn't stamp)
Me : Nee medhikala, but mathavaa medhikaraa ( I know u didn't, but others do)
Jillu: Yen medhikaraa? (Why do they walk all over it?)
Me : (Ahaa, nallaa maatinen !) theriyaama medhikaraa da, chellam (They do it unknowingly da, chellamaa)
Jillu : Appo, naanum theriyaama medhikanum (Then, even I want to stamp unknowingly)
Me : ?@#$@#

III
"hey, balloon, parakkaadhe.. Nann tight a pidichindu irukken... parakkave midiyaadhu...Amma, neeyum tight a pidichindu irukke.. naanum balloon na tight a pidichindu irukken , illa? Ahaaa...nnoooooo.. Balloon, Balloon, parakkaadhe...apram Police pidichittu poyidum unnaa.."
"Hey, balloon, dont fly, I am holding tight, not possible to take flight, Amma, both you and me are holding the balloon tight right? Ahaa.. Noooooooo..Baloon, Balooon, NO, dont, otherwise, Police will catch hold of you"

Jillu's talk with the balloon while me riding my bike and Jillu standing in the front holding a big balloon

Jillu Talkies - 8

2010-10-12T22:52:00.001+05:30

Jillu (out of the blue) : I want to...(a pause) cricket
Me : huh? what?
Jillu : I want to.. cricket
Me : yenna venum ?
Jillu: cricket paakanum (want to see cricket)
Butler English has started :)

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

"Naan yen felsh la dhaan vechen" (I kept in my felsh)
"Yenakku dress felsh lerundhu dhaan venum" (I want a dress from my felsh only)

P.S : felsh = shelf

******************
Random talks about Jolly was a mystery for some time
"Romba Jolly yaa irukku illa ?" (Its jolly time now, right?)
"Amma, ippo romba Jolly yaa irukku"
"Amma, yeppo Jolly aagum?" (When will it be Jolly?)

All these @ various instances when we were playing or riding in a bike. So the assumption was obvious.

And then,
"Appa, yezhundiru. Jolly aachu paaru. yezhunduru" (Dad, get up. See, its Jolly now. Get up) in the morning :)

Oh Oh ! Now I get it :)

The downpour

2010-10-07T14:45:00.002+05:30

of the Whys, the Whats, and the Where's have started. And the "How" is yet to commence.. siggggghhhh.. and I am already feeling drained (??)
Why is it so bright?
Why does the sun rise ?
Why does the sun set ?
Why are the lights switched on/off?
What does the Dosa batter do inside the vessel?
Why are you making food ?
Why is the baby sleeping?
Why is she (her friend from school) going home ?
Where has the puddle of water from the rain gone?
When will rain come next?

and on and on and on......
While some can be answered, some remain lost. And I try to do my level best.

She has grown up so much (in all ways) in the past couple of months. She understands so much and her communication has grown leaps and bounds...

But as a sign that she still is a kutti girl, she continues to believe that she will become small one day when talks of other babies and toddlers come her way. Like when she said "Naan kutti aaana udane, indha thottil la paduthuppen" (I will lie in this cradle when I become small)

And here are some more Jillu talkies for you to savor...

The microwave oven door has been left open (for a purpose, obviously). She notices it and says
"Ammaa, yen tharandhu vechirukke ? Mooden konjam" (Amma, why have you kept the door open? Close it na)
I obey her and she says
"Veeeery Very Good"
   *****************
During the usual bedtime routine, I ask her to say a small prayer (as is the norm) and these days she says
"yenakku ummaachi pidaakaadhu. Unna dhaan pidikkum" (I dont like God. I only like you) which was a shocker when I heard it the first time.

   *****************
Jillu : Unga appa peru yenna? (What's your dad's name)
Me : Mukundan
Jillu : hey, yen thaatha perum Mukundan (hey, even my grand dad's name is Mukundan)

   *****************
And her current hair style is to be called "Dora oda mushroom cut" (Dora's mushroom cut) because she insisted on a Dora cut while I wanted to try out a different one :) So we (I) named it "Dora oda mushroom cut " :)

And no parental bias or a motherly bias, she behaved like a pro this time in the saloon. Not a single hitch or a cry or a protest. Total cooperation and I was soooo glad :)

The cute little helper

2010-09-25T00:10:00.004+05:30

courtesy schooling !

Beans cut into little pieces

The above is a result of Jillu's hard work while I was busy on the same job as well. She cut around 7-8 individual beans and that with a broken cake knife !

The break

2010-09-21T15:50:00.005+05:30

was unexpected, unplanned and proved to be very slow, frustrating and endless. Life was in a limbo for close to 6 weeks. And it was a time for many firsts as well.

For, as a starter, my husband was diagnosed with chicken pox. Life came to a standstill, with Jillu being sent to my mom's place, me taking care of him, shuttling between the houses and balancing Jillu's demands for me being with her. And he got it bad and it took nearly 3 weeks for him to get cured. And Jillu was missing school as well. I couldn't send her as the commute logistics became complex.

It was the first time that she was staying away from me at nights. The first 2 days(nights) Jillu was okay and everything went on well. But after that, post a short but intense outburst, we realized she had been keeping things to herself and was missing me, I started to spend the nights at my mom's place whenever possible.

And then, just on the day he joined work, I got it as well. And this time, we kept her in my place but sent her to school. To keep her occupied and away from me. Her dad dropped her in the school, MIL picked her up and took Jillu to her place and my dad brought her back home just before bedtime. This routine allowed only a very minimal time with me at the same time giving her the feeling that she was staying with me.
She even stayed a night at my MIL's place and there was a time when I hadn't seen Jillu for close to 36 hours. This was a first too.

This month has been tough for everyone , but esp Jillu. She has become very insecure and is being clingy. I guess it will take some more time for her to recover.

When her dad was ill and I used to visit her in my mom's place, she asked me such questions that I didn't think a 21/2 year old was capable of asking. Questions that were a dagger straight to the heart. Even though she understood the situation, she often came up with stuff like (that too, out of the blue)

Unakku yenna pidikave illaiyaa? (Don't you like me ?)

Nee yen yen kitta pesave maatengara? (Why are you not talking to me?)

I was obviously shocked and it took a moment for me to recover, answer and set her right. These obviously showed her insecurity more than anything else.

Both of us are doing good now and back to normal. Holidays have commenced for Jillu and school reopens in 2 weeks time. I am looking forward to spending time with her :) before she goes back to school.

And hopefully to get back to posting more of JilluYennaPan and continue recording her progress...

Thank you, everyone !!!

2010-09-16T11:27:00.000+05:30

for all those who called, mailed and left messages in the blog asking for more JilluYennaPan. It gives a very warm and nice feeling when people check up on you, na ? Thank you, again.

The break was unexpected and unplanned.

I will be back soon. My net connection will go down any time now and will be down for the next couple of days, just when I wanted to write a post :( . So just thought will say a quick hi to all :)

Take care and stay tuned in. Will be back once the broad band connection is all set properly

And Jillu is doing absolutely fine... leaving you with one of her songs...

Krishna madi methaiyadi (Krishna's lap is like a bed)
Aadi vilaiyaadammaa (play along nicely in the lap)
Aadum vari aadi vittu (Play as long as you want)
Alli vizhi moodammmaa (and then drift off to a peaceful sleep in his lap)
Krishna madi Methaiyadi

Adaptation from an old Tamil song where the original version calls for the child to sleep in her Athai 's (Aunt, Bhuva) lap.

And Jillu does not stop there, she goes on with

"I" madi methaiyadi (remember I ? Her buddy friend?)
"Yasodha" madi methaiyadi (Krishna's mom)
"Arrakan" madi methaiyadi (All the raakshash'a in Krishna)
"Amma" madi methaiyadi (thats me of course)
"Appa" madi methaiyadi

and so on and so forth :)

Wah Re Wah !

2010-08-12T18:34:00.005+05:30

"Wooowwwwwwww ! Beeauuuuuuutiful "
was the exclamation on sighting our little beauty dressed up so prettily (even if I say so myself :) )

Occasion : An important Family function
Attire :
Paatu Paavaadai, with pretty blouse
Pearl necklace adorning the small neck
Matching bangles jingling all the way
Matching Matching Pottu on the forehead
And Matching Matching slide to hold the hair back

All these were an awesome combination and admired by everyone .
But the first person to endorse the fact was none other than our own little angel, Jillu, who exclaimed
"Wooowwwwwwww ! Beeauuuuuuutiful "

while standing in front of the mirror immediately after getting dressed and ready!

Her Gyaan (II)

2010-08-09T10:39:00.000+05:30

Remember her earlier Gyaan to all and sundry?

The phase is back now with me as the primary target!

Jillu to me : "Summaa thannila vilaiyaadaadhe. uvaaa varum"

Translation : Don't play in the water always. You will be sick

Now, did you imagine me being on a vacation and splashing in a swimming pool when you read these words? Or playing in the beach ? Or getting drenched/even dancing in the rain ?

But, no ! nothing so exotic ! Any of them would have been wonderful and fabulous !

I was the recipient of such Gyaan (in what a tone, my goodness!) only because I was washing used vessels at the kitchen sink ! It was very clear that she minded me being occupied at that time when instead I could have been playing with her !

II)

I was grating vegetables and stopped abruptly when I felt when my fingers were in danger of being cut. She saw me examining my fingers and asked

"yenna aachu? uvaa vaa?" (What happened? are you hurt?)

Me : "Konjam light aa" (Yeah ! slightly)

Jillu : Adhukku dhaan mollllllllllllaamaaaaaaaa pannanum! (thats why you should do it slowwwwwwwwwly)

All I could do was stare at her ! Again, what a tone! perfect Gyaan tone :)

Of sweet and precious vocab !!!

2010-08-03T14:25:00.002+05:30

She drinks "Clompan", not "Complan" :)

When we go to Pizza hut, we eat Chizza !

When we finish a meal or a drink, we say "Chinish pannitten"

The first in the list for bribe is always "Binky Bar" (Milky Bar)

She does everything so geautifully :)

The next in the line is a visit to "Engine" (its the "MGM" in the MGM Dizzie world amusement park)

The "Germs" box (The Gems box) is her current most treasured asset

She always asks me "Have you taken the "kas-vees"?" when we venture out.

Any guesses as to what is Kas-vees?

Jillu Talkies - 7

2010-07-29T14:14:00.001+05:30

It was dinner time and as is the norm these days, she had a couple of mouthful herself and started being playful which is a sign for me to pick up where she left and start feeding her!

mmm...Sigh....Romba polambareno? but then where is the girl who ate 75% of the food herself? Choligache.. poyindhe.. gone...gone..gone...

But then the sigh turned to "Awwww" when she said

"Ammaa ootti utaa kaaramaave illa da. Jillu vaa saaptaa dhaan kaaramaa irukku " (The food is not at all spicy if Ammaa feeds Jillu. It is spicy only when Jillu eats herself)

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

Lunch time after school and Jillu was having her habitual cup of curd post the main course. Her Paati was indulgently looking on and asked Jillu

Paati : Are you eating curd? what about me ? i want some curd

Jillu : normally says "unakku vera irukku. idhu yendhu" (This is mine. there's some more for you) but then today just stares at her, shakes her head and concentrates on her treat.

Paati : Yenakku vera irukku illa, fridge la? (There is some more in the fridge for me, right?)

Jillu : (instantly). Illa. unakku 'R' street* la irukku. (No. its there for you in 'R' street)

*'R' street is the street name where Paati resides and thats how Jillu refers to her Paati's home.

My knight (?) in shining Armour

2010-07-27T13:01:00.000+05:30

What was a regular interaction turned into a beautiful moment :)

Hubby was slightly annoyed for a very silly happening and he was chiding me (in a slightly raised voice?)

Before I could respond or react, our girl steps in and says in a tone matching his

"Hey, appidilaam solla koodaadhu. Bad Manners ! " (Hey, you should n't say like that. Bad Manners!"

and both of us burst out laughing !

Surprise, Surprise !

2010-07-21T14:28:00.002+05:30

A very light smile playing on the lips,
The tone being contrite,
The look being apologetic,
The gesture being spontaneous,
The word uttered instinctively,
She said softly "Sorry."

I was bathing her this morning and in a split second, both of us moved simultaneously (at least I didn't expect her to move) and we both dashed our heads together.

And to my astonishment, she said "Sorry". I simply froze for a few seconds. It was not the word that got to me. It was the manner in which she carried herself at that moment while saying Sorry - I was amazed. Just the way adults apologize when we dash against someone unknowingly.

From where did she learn that ? Such a perfect presentation? I haven't taught her that far.

God Bless you, Jillu.

Edited to Add:
Forgot to mention the basic point. Looks like I have to wake up soon :). This is not the first time that she is saying "Sorry". She has been saying that for a long time now. This post was triggered by the manner in which she said it today :) - the spontaneity and the fact that she knew to say so when we accidentally bumped into each other.

P.S : But Jillu, if you could please extend the good behavior at home to outsiders as well. Currently, we are the sole beneficiary for all your sweet "Thank yous ", "Welcomes" and now "Sorry". It would so nice if the rest (visitors, relatives and your friends) are at the receiving end as well :)

Dola, Dora and what not?

2010-07-18T02:14:00.001+05:30

"Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

Our home has been resonating with this so called song these past 2 days. It starts slowly and reaches the crescendo with the last "Dola". I am still doubtful as to whether she says "Dola"or "Dora". When I heard her sing this the first time, I asked her who had taught her and she told me her Aunty at school had taught her!

I was naturally curious and wanted to know which Dora song they had taught her ! She was singing with so much gusto and enthusiasm. I was also surprised because I thought the school wouldn't be teaching Dora songs and also, I didn't think there were any songs of Dora.

"Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

Nee Paadu (this is Jillu asking me to sing)

"Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

(this is me singing (trying) to sing just like her)

"Hey, appidi illa. Appidi paada koodaadhu. Ippidi Paadanum - Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

(this is Jillu lecturing me that my lyrics were wrong)

Me : "Adhe dhaana naanum paadinen"

(frustrated. Iva paadardhe, for sure thappu. Idhula yennna vera correction.- There is absolutely no doubt that she is completely incorrect in her lyrics, on top of that she is correcting me)

To add to the frustration, the Dad gains the upper hand

He sings "Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola : Adhu dhaane? correct dhaane? "

Jillu : Nodding heavily, Amaam, Yes.

So, naan "correct dhaane?" kaekaadhadhu thappaa?

So we all sang along with her "Dola Dola...Dora Dora"

And yesterday, when I picked her up from school, I asked her Aunty

Me : Did you teach her some Dora song?

Aunty : looks perplexed and looks weirdly at me.

Me : (brain working actively to avoid that one thing) Something that goes Dola, Dora.

Aunty : (Still thinking me crazy ) we sing so many songs....

Me : (Ahh.. there you go, you are making me to do it. Please dont make me). No. She says you taught her. Dola, Dora

Aunty : No. I didnt teach any Dora songs.

Me : (Grrr.. there's no other way now. A big Sigh....So, here, I go, making a fool of myself)

"Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

Aunty : zapped for a second. She stares at me, I stare right back at her unabashed and then I see something click in her. She laughs and sings....

Any guesses?

Come on...

...

She sings

"lakadi ki kaathi kaathi pe ghoda
ghode ki dum pe jo maara hathauda
dauda dauda dauda ghoda dum utha ke dauda"

And I laugh aloud too :) For even I have heard of this old Hindi children song:) Jillu has caught the last line and goes ""Dola Dola Dola Dola - Dondi buckie Dola"

But I guess she has got the tune right :) otherwise the Aunty wouldn't have recognized it as well :) I should be proud of that mmmm ? LOL :)

Her logic....

2010-07-15T11:00:00.001+05:30

Reverse logic :) Did I say that? sssshhhh.... Never mind, but still her logic :)
Jillu wanted to go to temple all of a sudden and I said, why not ? lets go!
So, out came my bike and we were on our way ! Out of the blue, madam says "Stop" and "I want to walk" in Tamil.
Me : illa da. Konjam dhooram. Jillu ku kaal valikkum (Its a bit far and your legs will pain)
Jillu : Ammaam. Unakkum kaal valikkum. (yes, Your legs will pain as well)
Me : Yenakku vallikaadhu (My legs wont be in pain)
Jillu : hey, chummaa sollaadhe. valikkum (hey, dont say just like that. It will pain for you as well)
Me: Unaaku dhaan daa valikkum. nee chinnavo illa. unakku dhaan valikum. (No da. Only you will be in pain as you are still a little girl)
Jillu : Ammaam, nee chinnaa aaana udane, unakkum valikkum (Yes, it will pain for you also when you become little!)
Me : ??? LOL :)

It has been a long while

2010-07-12T14:12:00.001+05:30

since I posted here. Jillu's school timing and schedule is keeping me on my toes :) leaving me no free time for extra activities. Her nap time is taken up for my other house hold activities. So have not been able to login at all. She has started enjoying school, so that is one hurdle off the way, now :)

Just thought I would quickly peep in today and try to re-surface and say a hi to all. I am operating on a trail basis, see what works best and trying to get to a regular pattern so that I get some free time for myself :)

I am hoping to continue (to blog and blog hop) in the same manner sooner than later.

In the meanwhile, there will be updates now and then, as time permits like now :). So don't forget us, friends :)

I will sign off right now with one of Jillu talkies

Jillu watching one of the ummachi channels with her paati as usual and

Jillu : Patti, ummachi appa yaaru ? ummaachi appaa yenga irukaaa? (Who is God's Dad? Where is God's Dad?)

Paati : ????????(and then recovering quickly ) ummaachi appaavum ummaachi dhaan (God's Dad is also God)

Me : grinning wickedly from the sidelines

A welcome sign !

2010-07-03T21:25:00.000+05:30

At the end of the first uninterrupted (100% attendance), 3 1/2 hours (full time) session a day, 5 day week,

Jillu exclaims suddenly today (Saturday)

"I want to go to school "

There were hiccups and starting trouble on the first 2 days of the week, but her Aunty vouches for her settling in well once she's in.

And today's sudden proclamation is certainly a bonus.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, Jillu.

Hope you settle in well and may all the coming years of growth / learning be full of fun and joy.

Of Mushy Talkies

2010-07-02T17:28:00.001+05:30

Jillu is such a joy to be with, always. Sometimes she robs me of my speech with utter delight and makes me float on cloud 9. These are moments to be cherished always and to be looked upon with fond memories down the years; that makes me appreciate life all the more, motivates me to enjoy to the max (while she is still young) and make each moment matter.

I. One day, all of a sudden, she did a Googly Woogly Woosh to me and exclaimed,

"Nee very very good girl" (You are a very very good girl)

Unexpected compliment from unexpected quarters! I was zapped for a second ! Didn't know which surprised me more - the action or the words ! But, only for a second ! And then, I was grinning from ear to ear and could only return the compliment :)

II. Another day, we were generally fooling around and

Me : Nee pattu kutti, da

Jillu : smiles and giggles

Me (thinking of the above incident, but really not expecting much) : Naanu ? (And me ?)

Jillu (to my astonishment, she was able to coin the words and reciprocate as well) : Nee chellllllla Kutti :) in a sing song voice...

Needless to say, there's been a lot of self-indulgence (pina, oru vaati sollittaa, vittuduvommaa yenna? I initiate such talkies often ) post this and Jillu delights me every time by obliging :) Just making hay while the sun shines :)

Jillu's script for Milk advertisement...

2010-06-30T09:58:00.003+05:30

I love this ad :). Loved it the first time I saw it :)

Yesterday

Jillu : (after drinking her milk ) "I have finished my milk"

Response : OK.. SO?

Jillu : (showing a shelf beyond her reach) "Yennaala yetta mudila" (I cant reach there still)

LOL :)

Has she really understood this ad ? Or is this the out come out of my too much prep talk about growing up like Appa only if you drink and eat well ?

I guess there's no doubt about the answer, mmm? :) I don't even think she has seen this ad let alone understand...Looks like I have to re work/re phrase my prep talk dialogues :)

P.S : But, No. She does not drink Cavin's milk :)

Smiley Chat :)

2010-06-24T12:17:00.002+05:30

Appa has been abroad for the past 10 days :( she misses him most in the mornings. More often than not, she would ask "Where is Appa?" immediately after getting out of bed !

And how does she communicate with her Appa? Her PC skills have vastly improved from this to traversing between applications, opening up pics and chatting with her dad. Want to know how and what she chats with her Appa?

This is how :)

She has learnt to click the smiley, choose one from the various options and send it to him as well :) The moment she sees the chat window, she says "Naan appa oda pesanum. Appa ku smiley anupanum :) " (I have to speak with Appa and I need to send him smiley )

And the excitement when she gets smileys in return from her Appa has no bounds:)
isn't this cool ?

3rd week of school - contd

2010-06-23T16:11:00.006+05:30

Monday : As I said in the previous post, she was howling when she went in, in spite of the park offer right after school. After a tense 2 hours, I was waiting anxiously at the gates and saw no other parent. So, I gathered she was the only one being let off at that time. And as the clock ticked away past the hour, I slightly relaxed. And then, a couple of minutes later, the Aunty came, followed by Jillu and she was looking normal. Apparently she had stopped crying once she went into her class room and was alright post that :)

What next ? We headed straight to the park from there :) Thankfully, the weather (Chennai weather, that too an hour before the noon, mind you!) took pity on me and the sun was nowhere to be seen ! Thank you, God :)

Tuesday : Major milestone - Full time : 3 hrs and 15 minutes session

Same story on Tuesday as well. She saying NO to school, me consoling, getting ready and then again crying at the school gates. The only difference was in the additional bait : Milky bar along with the park. I thought that she would fair a lot better if some one else dropped her at school instead of me, as she always started crying hard just when she realized that she was about to part from me at the gates. But, as the dad is out of town, that was out of the question and it had to wait till the next week.
And fortunately, the same pattern continued at the school. She had settled down once she went to the classroom. And when I went to pick her up, she was playing with mud in the ground and was happy. So thats that. She was cheerful for the first time when we returned home and even answered positively when I asked her if she would like to go to school the next day !

But my reprieve is short lived as the rest of the week is off (Govt declared holiday for 3 days + weekend) and she gets a long break and we have to repeat the routine all over again :( nothing can be done, of course ! sigh..
I am mentally preparing myself for the tough rigmarole next week, for surely, the momentum would be broken due to this long break ! Hopefully, she should settle down completely in the next 2 weeks and by then it would be a month since she had started school ! My ! Time does fly, right ? :(

P.S : She got the milky bar on Tuesday, but not the park! The God had decided that enough was enough and the Sun was very cheerfully expressing its glee on being allowed to perform its duty more than perfectly :(

2nd week of school - 2 hr sessions

2010-06-21T16:30:00.001+05:30

2nd week : 2 hour session daily.

For the first week, read this

Tuesday : I had prepared her saying that she will have to remain in school after snacks time as well as Amma was taking grandma to the Dr and hence Amma would be late in picking her up ! She seemed OK to the idea and accepted it well. She was perfectly fine.

Wednesday : I became confident and didn't prepare her again. Only the bare minimal, thinking she will do fine. My mistake. She was not too happy in school that day and had cried for some time.

Thursday: She bunked school owing to a family function and that was a BIG BIG mistake. She repeatedly said "School venaam" (dont want school) right through evening till i put her to bed at night.

Friday : WORST DAY TILL DATE : The one day break had spoiled everything ! In spite of the usual pep talk and all that, after i dropped her at the school gates, she started crying even before she reached the inner gate. I heard her cry outside and her wails tore me apart. Her Aunty requested me to leave immediately and I did so, not wanting to make matters worse. I thought she would have been alright once she was inside, but no. It seems she was crying the whole of the 2 hours. When I went to pick her up, she saw me before they opened the gates, and I heard her wail to the security waala "Time aaachu. Amma kitta ponum" (Its time. I want to go to Amma). It was incredible! I mean, she was reasoning with the guy, even in her misery and she managed to wail at the same time ! And it was such a heart-wrenching sight!

She calmed down only after she was in my arms!

Weekend :

Again, start the preparation from the start. In various other angles. Combine anything and everything to school:) Various outings were linked to her Aunty saying "yes" :) A chance video of a cousin sister dancing gave birth to a story of learning and dancing at school. And so on and so forth :) One minute, she would be okay and say yes. The next minute she would revert to type and say "avulukku school laam vennaaam" (No need of school for her).

3rd week

Monday :

Show time. Even though she woke up as usual and we went by our routine, I was not convinced. As a last minute bait, I told her that I would take her to the park direct after school, instead of coming home straight, if and only if she did not cry in school. She did not seem too receptive to this !

Worse, she started to cry at home itself right when we stepped out of the house. At least, on Friday, it started only at the school gates. My mom and I consoled her and I continued talking to her through the entire journey. The moment we got down from my bike, she started howling, clutched me hard and just did not let go. Her Aunty gently disentangled her from me and carried her on her hips like a baby.

And in fact, it was again a 2 hr session for her today vs 3 hr session for other toddlers who had settled down!

And then it was my turn to be tensed as I spent the next couple of hours wondering what she was up to and how she had fared.

Did she cry ? Or did she go to the park as per Amma's promise?

Stay tuned to this space for the updates !

JilluYennaPan completes 1 year..

2010-06-19T22:37:00.001+05:30

Happy First Birthday :) .. to this blog :)

When I started this blog a year ago, I did not anticipate that I would be so regular in blogging and in fact would say, did not know what I was getting into :) This blog was born impromptu purely for recording all of Jillu's activities and talkies that I might forget later.

Even though the blog was primarily started for record keeping, this blog means a lot more to me now than just that. It has given me so much pleasure, earned me so many friends, earned Jillu so many friends, opened up an entirely different world out here in the blogo-sphere. And this would not have been possible without you readers:)

My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for travelling along with Jillu and me and making this a wonderful and beautiful journey that will be cherished for ever. May the journey continue with the same spirit in the days to come :)

And isn't it fitting that Jillu (and I) got to meet and spend wonderful time with some of her blog aunties and their lovely kids today ? Totally coincidental :) but, what an apt and lovely co-incidence! Thank you ladies for a fun filled day :)

Of Bonding talkies and B meets

2010-06-18T18:04:00.002+05:30

I was about to write about this in my other blog but,

Me proposes,

Jillu disposes

and how did that happen ? When I went shopping today and called my mom to check on something from the shop, this transpired

Jillu on the phone : Amma, where are you?

Me : Am in the shop da kannna

Jillu : What are you buying?

Me : I am buying for Jillu da (actually it was a multipurpose shopping)

Jillu : V..... kum vaangindu vaa (Buy for V also). She pronounced his full name correctly, mind you :)

Me : !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh! Ok daa kannnaaa..

After this, I decided to delete my draft post on the blogger meet from there and moved it to this blog :) and just who is V ? V is the cute toddler whom she befriended in the blogger meet last Saturday. The bonding was so quick that it was so surprising. She talked about V after coming home and she still talks about it. When I made her dinner the other day, she even said

"This is what V ate that day" :) she remembers V ate that, but does not remember the dish's name :)

The meet was my first blogger's meet and I loved it. There was no awkwardness, no not knowing what to say, which are my usual traits when I meet people for the first time. But it felt like I knew all of them yet still didn't know them. It was a totally different experience. It was a lovely meet, girls :), one I wouldn't mind repeating 'n' times.

Netrum, Indrum, Yendrum

2010-06-15T16:36:00.000+05:30

Then, Now and Ever...

One of her Passions...

- Doesn't get bored of it all !

- "Naan thodiakanum ga" (I want to scrub) is the daily standard dialogue to the maid

- And the maid and I oblige daily

The next inevitable milestone

2010-06-14T17:32:00.003+05:30

has commenced.

Jillu has become a preschooler. We have enrolled in her a Montessori school. We have spent the past 3 to 4 months preparing her (brain washing, drilling, ore ore build up) for the school. The build up could be any of the below or all

- you will have lots of annaas & akkaas (brothers and sisters) to play with

- lots of play time and activities - Jhoola, slide etc

- Daily taaataa

- Make lots of friends and bring them home

- Draw, Color, Paint, et all

- Learn ABCD, etc

And also that

- Amma/Appa/Others will not always be there with her in the school and the said people are just for dropping and pick up (this to a lesser extent when compared to the above)

After months and months of such talk, she was looking forward for June 7th (the first day of the school). When she was queried about her plans for school, she would say June 7th even before the name of the school. In fact, she still says even today "June 7th, school ponum la" :)

Day 1, Monday :

We left early on day 1, went to temple, witnessed the "archana" and then proceeded to the school. The school was particular about arriving 15 mins early as they wanted to let the kids play outside first, bring them in the mood and then take them inside for the regular stuff (Its totally a different matter that kids play inside as well and as its a Montessori, learning happens the play way method:)). I like the idea very much and in fact try to leave her early every day so that she can play, adjust and gets the same routine everyday.

To get back to Day 1, it was only for an hour and I was allowed to be with her for the whole hour that day. While she was playing outside, i went out of her sight for a couple of times just to gauge her re-action. She was okay for a few minutes and then her eyes would start searching for me. "Ammaa....."

And then we went inside, got introduced to her class mates, the "Aunty" sang a song, some play and then it was time to come home.

Day 2, Tuesday :

1 hour of school, but we had to drop her and go. No lingering in the premises. (The whole of the week was only for an hour)

The teachers aka the Aunties receive each kid warmly (by name) at the school gate and take them inside. I had told Jillu that I would be dropping her in school, go to the tailor, (just like I did when I left her with her best buddy "I" at her home the last time) and then come back to pick her up. At the school gate, when it was time for me to leave, I was waiting with bated breath for her reaction. She didn't cry. But she didn't go in as well. Was just standing there with no reaction. Then the "Aunty" gently took her hand and led her inside and she went away slowly.

We chose to cruise along the 4 streets of the neighborhood to while away the hour and pick her up. No point in going back home, if they happen to call us in between (they said they would if she cried hard). The hour was up with no phone call. But then, it didn't mean that kids were not crying, as we observed after the hour was up.

They were being brought out one by one, some crying hard, some whimpering, but there was no sign of Jillu. When I checked with one of the "Aunties" I was told that she was on her way. The suspense and the tension was killing me. And I couldn't ask how she had behaved because Jillu's Aunty was not present at the gate then. Seconds and minutes passed slowly...

And then, she came, a tiny figure carrying her snaks boss (snacks box), walking ever so slowly, with the same neutral expression, just the way she went in. Had she cried ? What had happened? Did all the build up work? or not? But, she was looking dull for sure.

An anxious me to her aunty : How was she ?

Aunty :she was just fine

Me : She didn't cry ? She didn't ask for me at all ? (disbelief)

Aunty : No. In fact she was saying "Azhaa koodadhu"("You should not cry") to other kids who were crying !

Me : caught between joy, pride and delight that even our extra coaching of pacifying other kids (we suspected she could start crying if she saw other kids crying) had worked so beautifully and (dare I confess?) a slight let down that she hadn't asked for me even once ? but then, the pride over played and I scooped her up in my arms :). I never once thought that she would say what she did (what we taught) to the crying babies!

We are so proud of you, baby :).

Day 3, Wednesday :

We came back home and returned to the school to pick her up. She was fine and no issues

Day 4, Thursday :

The dad dropped her (Mom didn't go for the drop) in the school and Mom picked her up.

Me (to the aunty) : How was she today?

Aunty : No problems with her. She has been fine.

Day 5, Friday:

Appa and Thathaa dropped her :) She was elated:). Amma went along with Thathaa for the pickup

I was waiting for Jillu's arrival with no qualms, at peace, unaware of the happenings and then was shocked to learn that she had cried for me and then thrown up as well. :(

Apparently, she had wanted to go home immediately after having snacks (the class is dispersed after snacks time), had put on her slippers, taken her bag and started to leave. On being told otherwise, she had started demanding and crying for me :(

Day 6, Monday :

Again an hour's session only due to the weekend break :)

Same routine as Friday, crying for me during snacks time. Not sure of the difference in the routine the last 2 days. The only set back I could think of was her cold (too many climatic changes) ! But I guess, each kid is different and settle in differently.

Staring tomorrow, the duration has been increased to 2 hours. Well, I am preparing her for the extended session as I type,but I am not sure how well she is going to manage.

Will hope for the best and post updates as they progress!

Jillu, you are doing great! We love you, sweet heart and are proud of you ! God bless you !

Just what would you do

2010-06-10T21:46:00.003+05:30

when your almost 2 1/2 years toddler does this (almost as a full time job) in a men's show room when you are out there to buy shirts and trousers for the dad ???
I mean, apart from thanking the stars for the shiny and tiled, clean flooring ?

Jillu Talkies - 6

2010-06-09T14:17:00.005+05:30

Sunday, Hair bath time !
The house literally reels with her refusals to even enter the bathroom ! (She normally does not mind taking her usual daily bath! But hair bath is special ! ) And then somehow, I make her go inside and she starts crying soon after. I tell her
"Why do you cry now ? Do not. I am not washing your hair right now. Thats later. I am only bathing your body presently."

Jillu : "Thalaikku thekum bodhu dhaan azhanum, ippo azha koodadhu" (Should cry only during hair wash, not now! )

Edited to Add :
P.S : She said it as though its a rule and a must to cry during hair wash
   ****************************

She takes my cell phone (on those odd times when I keep it at her reach) when I am not watching and then loudly exclaims
"Avo nice a yeduthutaa" (She has taken it unnoticed!)

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

She was having her food today (pappu mammam - Dal rice) in her high chair and I was going about my chores !
Suddenly she called me "Ammaaaaa"
Me : Yenna da kannaa?
Jillu : Avo padutharaa.. Nee ooti udu (She is being trouble some ! You feed me !)
LOL !!!

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

Of Cheeky Talkies

2010-06-03T08:26:00.001+05:30

Amma checks with Appa before starting for monthly groceries shopping "Cash yeduthundaachaa?" (Have you taken the cash ?)

Immediately Jillu parrots "cash yeduthundaachaa?" several times :)

I asked her what "Cash" meant as it was a new term for her. The reply was a very very sheepish smile first :). On further insistence, she gave a very knowing smile (she knew she didn't know) and replied "Appa vechundu irukkaale adhu dhaan " (Cash is what Appa has with him!)

Amma was ROTFL

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

Jillu was generally fooling around with her dad and she slapped him on the arms suddenly.

Appa: (crossly) Haven't i told you before not to do that ? Thats a bad habit
Jillu : Appa. naan adikkala. Thattinen. (I didn't beat. I just tapped)

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

Jillu takes her dad's comb and combs her hair (knowing very well that its forbidden) and declares to all present "Idhu veshamam" (This is being naughty !!!)

Her Priorities

2010-05-31T15:29:00.002+05:30

One morning last week, I was preparing lunch while planning to toast bread for breakfast for Jillu.

I checked with her first and she said okay for the bread.

I was doing multitasking and preparing food for lunch as well ! She was at the back of me totally, running with me from kitchen to the fridge and viceversa, demanding to show her what I was doing (which is the norm). And just when I took out a half-coconut from the fridge, she said

"hey, adhu thengaa. Yedukkadhe ..." (hey, thats coconut, don't take it) and when I look at her questioningly she clarifies further

"yenakku bread kuduthuttu, nee thengai odai" (You break the coconut after giving me bread)

P.S : I was running a bit late in the kitchen, but didn't realize she was that hungry :)

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

Sometimes, kids tend to eat or ask to eat whatever we (the elders) are eating. My mom always says this and I am reminded of this whenever Jillu asks for something that I am having during my meal time :)

And sometimes, I also share a bowl of fruit with her. If its something that she is not very keen on, then I first start having it without offering it to her :). She automatically comes to me, peeps in and is interested and asks for more :)

At one of these instances, when I had a couple of mouthful consecutively, without feeding her, she says

"Nee yenakku tharave illaiye...neeye saaptundu irukkiye ..... yenakku ?" (You have not give me at all...you keep on eating.. for me ?"

And this comes even when she is well fed already :) If one were to listen to this dialogue with no background whatsoever, I can't even blame them if they think me as a bagaasuri or a female version of gadothgajan :)

Roles Reversed - 3

2010-05-28T12:33:00.000+05:30

Last evening, Jillu was at her most co-operative best ! She let me prepare dinner with literally no intervention at all ! Both of us co-existed peacefully, so to speak :)

At the start, both of us came to a mutual agreement - that she would do her puzzles and I would cut the veggies, but I would sit along with and beside her ! She even chose the place where we would go about her business. And so it was that mother and daughter were sitting on the pathway to the bedroom (Thank god, there was no else at home then) and each of us were doing our stuff with amicable chatter.

After a good 15 or so minutes, I had to go to the kitchen for an errand and thought would cut the remaining (only very little) stuff then and there.

Jillu saw that and didn't like our agreement being broken even for a second

Jillu : Amma, inga vaa. Inga vandhu cut pannu (Ama, come here. come here and cut the veggies)

Amma : Varen da (coming )

Jillu : Inga vaa. Yen pakathula ukaandhu cut pannu (Come here and sit beside me )

Amma indulges her and comes back with all the paraphernalia

Silence reigns for a few secs as both of us resume our work. Then,

Jillu : Adi*

Me : ??? What ?

Jillu : Adi .

Me : Adiyaa?

Jillu : Amaam

Me : Yaaru Adippa? (who will beat ?)

Jillu : Jillu

Me : yaara adipaa Jillu? (Whom will Jillu beat ?)

Jillu : Unnai (you)

Me : Aiyoooo..

Jillu : Ammaam. Nee kitchen ponineena, naan unnai adippen (yes, if you go to the kitchen, i shall beat you)

Me : ?????????????

Just who is the parent and who is the kid here ???

* Adi means beating someone

Her (non-) Preference !

2010-05-26T15:41:00.000+05:30

I didn't realize how many times I had to get hold of my kid's chin in a day! and I never would have but for Jillu !

I hold her chin while

1) helping her brush her teeth

2) washing/cleaning her face during bath time

3) combing her hair

4) dressing her up (keeping bindhi and stuff along those lines)

While these are the daily basic stuff, there are of course other times, when I have to hold her chin as and when the situation demands! And what does she say each and every time ?

"yen chin a pidikaadhe " (Dont hold my chin)

Just how am I supposed to do all this without any holding her chin ? Esp #3 and #4 ? I have tried, but its too difficult :( I hear this dialogue so many times in a day :(

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

And she doesn't like it if I (or any one else for that matter) leave my hair (braid) in front. It has to be at the back ! If she sees it on my shoulders or in the front, then her dialogue would be

"adhu appidi irukku paar. seriyyaa pottuko." (See, its like that. Wear it properly)

It really irritates her and she cannot stand it. I can see that so clearly in her face. And, if I don't comply, she will come to me and do it herself!

Poor Jillu ! Sometimes, she doesn't realize that I do it intentionally just to irk her and get that reaction out of her :)

Do any of you have such similar stories to share ?

"SO, What is your name ?"

2010-05-21T10:59:00.000+05:30

We have been playing the name game now for some time and its great fun :) Each time, the routine takes a different route and is too difficult to explain ! At least for me. But I am going to try here :)

It all started with me asking her "What is your name ? " and thinking to train her in English :)

There are too many permutations and combination thats confusing even to me (hilarious nevertheless). The new ones are always good, but there are also certain routine interactions that are funny and that never fails to bring a smile to my face :). Here are some first timers and some routine ones!

Version 1 :

Back ground :

Me : What is your mother's name ?

Jillu : (blank)

Me : What is yr Amma's name ?

Jillu : Lavanya

Me : "Mother" na Amma. "Mother" is English. "Amma" is Tamil. So what is your mother's name ?

Jillu : (blank still)

Her take on it later:

(this is the std version now from the above prelude :) )

Jillu : What is yr name ?

Me : My name is Lavanya

Jillu : SO, what is your name ?

Version 2 :

Jillu : What is your name ?

Me : My name is Lavanya

Jillu : what is your ... what is your ....(a pause...thinking very hard).. what is your...

Me : (patiently waiting, knowing what she wants to say, silently encouraging her to say mother, Come on Come on, we have played this many times)

Jillu : What is your.... (a tiny pause and then blurts) Pankaja Paati's name?

Version 3 :

And on very good days, it goes like this

Me : What is your name ?

Jillu : My name is Jillu

Me : What is your Appa's name ?

Jillu : My name is Sriram

Me : What is your Amma's name ?

Jillu : My name is Lavanya

And sometimes, when she doesn't like my answer ( god only knows why, after all i am stating only facts and names and names can't be changed after all !), she shouts and scolds me

"Oy, appidi sollaadhe" (hey, don't say that)

And what is the final conclusion ? That I should never even dream of taking up teaching !

Thermocol Crafts

2010-05-20T15:26:00.002+05:30

Here's our entry for the May Artsy Crafty challenge !

I had some thermocol packing material that came along with TV or Music system. Don't remember which one ! I thought I will use that to come up with some thing !

After great scrutiny (yes, it was too haphazard and could not be used as such!), I spotted a mini staircase form at one end and my mom spotted a sloping area at the other end.
So we combined both to make an

Indoor Thermocol Slide!

The staircase and the sloping portions were separately carved out, refined and joined to form a slide ! I used the back of a gift wrapper for the slide and the steps and the proper side of another ordinary gift wrapper for the body !

The view from the back side

Jillu had great fun with making the dolls play on the slides :) which made me want to make some more and i took the next obvious step !

2. The Thermocol Jhoola

From the left over thermocol cut various lengths and made a swing out of it !

This time I wanted to try out a different texture, so applied water colors on the thermocol!

While I was busy making these, Jillu was busy chasing bits of thermocol pieces and colouring the left over pieces and asking me for the umpteenth time,

"Amaa, nee yenna panre ?" (Amma, what are you doing ?)

"nee Jillu ku yenna panre ?" (What are you doing for Jillu ?)

Of Rainy Dailogues !!!

2010-05-19T11:57:00.000+05:30

Its raining in Chennai ! Can you believe ? A wonderful atmosphere (after the unbearable sultry heat) :) We need the lights on even during day time today :) And our girl is on a spree with rainy dialogues in spite of feeling under the weather for the past 2 days! Yep! again down with cold and wheezing :(

She sees the rain and starts singing contextually "Mazhaiye Mazhaiye, Po , Po, Po" (the tamil rhyme equivalent to "Rain Rain go away " ) and then goes on to sing the original version as well !

And then, when her dad says he is going to take bath, she says

"Appa, nee mazhai la JO kuli " ! (Appa, you take bath in the rain!)

and we are all zapped ! As far as I know, she didn't see anyone getting drenched and I tried to find out the same from her. But no amount of asking and nagging helped ! (normally i get an answer of some sort or the other)

So am bound to think she thought of that on her own !

Her Gyaan these days !!!

2010-05-17T14:53:00.000+05:30

" Nikkadhe. Ukkaru. Nindhaa kaal valikkum. Ukkaandhaadhaan kaal valikaadhu"

to whomsoever is standing near her! And she does not rest until we sit ! How is that ? :)

Translation : Do not stand. Sit. Your legs will pain if you stand. Only if you sit, they shall not pain

Jillu Talkies - Humor 4

2010-05-14T16:33:00.001+05:30

Its become a daily habit to Dhrishti suthify Jillu at night before bed!

Last night :

My mom was doing the rituals with Karpooram (camphor) and I was carrying her ! She was as usual reaching out to the flame and I was dissuading her !
And then, I told her "Jillu, Say Goodnight " ( I meant Say to Patti, of course!)
But, Jillu says with her customary salute "Good night, kalpooram !" in a sing song voice !

Jillu talkies - rhymy vocab !

2010-05-12T15:10:00.005+05:30

Several Months back :

Me : Jillu, plug yedu. Apram chocie, bikkie yellam saapida mudiyaadhu (Jillu, remove yr plug. Otherwise you wont be able to eat chocies or bikkies)

(If you are interested to know more about Jillu's plug, this would tell you more )

Jillu : Mudiyum Mudiyum (can can )

Me : plug yedu, Apram unnaku yendha school um kidaiyaadhu, chocie yum kidaiyaadhu (remove yr plug ! otherwise you wont get into any school and wont get any chocies as well!)

Jillu (in all earnest) : Kidaiyum Kidaiyum * (get get)

After a split second of shock, we were all ROTFL on her usage :)

And thus was born the Tamizh word "Kidaiyum" in Jillu's house hold.

Current Status :

The word is still widely in use and in fact used for all scenarios and situations by Jillu :) An addition to the Tamil language dictionary !

* For Readers not very familiar with Tamizh : There is no word called "Kidaiyum" in Tamizh. She said "Mudiyum " when I said "Mudiyaadhu" which is a correct usage. But she spontaneously said "Kidaiyum" when I said "Kidaiyaadhu" which is not correct . She used "Kidaiyum" in the same way as "Mudiyum" rhythmically. The correct usage would have been "Undu".

Readers, please excuse my bad translation here. I hope I have conveyed the essence of what she said and did!

Random titbits

2010-05-10T16:01:00.002+05:30

** A real self Dabbaa (boasting), if you can ever see one :).

"naan yevalo azhaama chamathaa udambukku kulikaren theriyummaa ?" Yen kitteye indha dialogue when I am giving her the bath ( Am taking bath without crying. See, how good I am )
"Ava yevalo azhaagaa vechirukkaa paaru " (See, she has kept it beautifully)
"Ava yevalo chamthaa chaapadraa paaru " (See, she is eating like a good girl)
ad so on and on and on,

** The time is always 9:45 for her.

"time aachu. mani 9:45 aachu. seekiram" whatever may be the actual time then :)

** When we open the door to let some one (well known people like dad, grandpa and others) in, she goes "vaanga vaanga, ulla vaanga" (Come in, Come in ) in her most base voice. Its so cute to hear that :). But she doesn't do this with guests :)

** Knows her enemy real well !

One day, everyone was concentrating on something in the TV and no one was listening to her.

Another day, her dad was delaying her tataa by asking for a few more minutes, because he wanted to get some updates from news/ may be scores and was watching TV

In both the cases, her action was the same: "March to the TV right royally and press the "OFF" button in the TV straight without bothering with the remote

Color, Color, Which color do you choose?

2010-05-07T18:36:00.004+05:30

Jillu's art using the Microsoft Paint Application

Her latest craze : "Naan color pannanum Amma." (I want to color, Amma)

The fight for the PC has started before the fight for the remote :)

P.S : She chooses the color with the mouse on her own :). And do you notice the circles and the lines in between? She has learnt to choose the shapes from the tools and play with them as well

Movie - Debut

2010-05-06T12:27:00.002+05:30

What did Jillu do on her first visit to the theater to watch a movie ? (well, it was not that she asked to go..)

- Sleep, Sleep and Sleep. From the movie start, right through the interval, till the end. Woke up on her own when the credits rolled.

And the end result : She still is oblivious about movies, theaters and the likes, thankfully :)

And why did her family subject her to this last week suddenly when they have avoided this for this long?

- Full day current outage in their locality. What will the mom & the grand mom do? Except look for escaping the heat at-least for a few hours? forced to hunt for some peace and A/C mainly. The only question her Mom asked at the counter was "When is the next show? and do you have tickets for the same?"

Shameless, I know, but...

You can't cheat me !

2010-05-05T16:32:00.008+05:30

Jillu's family buys drinking water - the famous water cans! Well intended, yes! But, God knows how pure it is and one can never be sure ! The family's vote is yet to be cast on Aquaguards and RO's and others available in the market. But I shall reserve this analysis for another post.Coming to the topic,

It has become a normal practice for Jillu to hand over the cash for all transactions that happen in her presence.
Usually, the delivery boy comes home and delivers the water can once we order on the phone. Yesterday, as a deviation from the usual, a different boy, not the regular one(I have not seen him before, may be he's a new guy, or may be he's not) came along with another guy who seemed to be either a supervisor or owner ! Lets call him the supervisor for now!

The boy kept the can inside and left after taking the previously emptied can! I gave Jillu the money and she hurried after the boy outside, only to note that the boy was nowhere be found !

The waiting supervisor, naturally , extends his hands towards Jillu to receive the cash! Jillu, instinctively, withdraws her extended hand, takes a step back and looks towards the stair case, obviously still searching for the boy who actually delivered the can ! And she refuses to pay the waiting guy!

The supervisor was highly amused and the money was parted after I explained the scenario in simple terms to her !

She's on the right path

2010-05-04T11:39:00.005+05:30

for now ...

She made my day last Saturday :)

TV channels on Holidays and Special occasions air nothing but film after film through out the day !!! Saturday, being May day, was one such occasion.

My husband was as usual watching some film in the TV and needless to say, a fight scene happened ! These days, you need to search for the story in between the fight sequences and it goes to a point when one forgets why certain fight happens and between who. Yes ! this happened recently to my mom and I had to explain to clear her confusion ! sigh! Why can't people think above violence and make better movies? sigh again !

But getting back to the topic,

when Jillu saw the fight, she immediately told her dad

"Avulukku idhu pidikalai. bayamaa irukku. maathidu" (She doesn't like it. its scary. change the channel) . Yeah ! she still doesn't know to say "I" and "Me" :)

and then the dad could do nothing but change the channel. When Jillu saw a song in the other channel, she immediately said

"idhu nalllaa irukku" (This is nice)

I was so elated when this happened ! I always ask my husband to change channels and not to show her violence ! It does not always happen for some reason or the other and I am so glad that Jillu knows now to voice her thoughts and fear aloud and get what she wants !

Since Saturday, she has been re-iterating it and even last night she said
"Sandai venaam. Vera paakalaam" (No fight. we will see something else) for a mini fight in a tele-serial!

Jillu, I hope you remain this way and always support Ahimsa ! God Bless you!

And the most talkative award goes to...

2010-05-03T15:08:00.006+05:30

None other than Jillu !

yep ! she talks, talks and talks ! Non stop from morn till night ! Everything that she talks makes sense if you get down to her level. Mostly, we understand all and try to reciprocate. But some, we just don't get it !

She was talking all through the trip (we had been to a week's vacation) non stop! So many questions ! Her curiosity and inquisitiveness was literally transparent ! Only, after a certain stage it gets very difficult to answer the same kind of question for every situation!

Apart from the non stop chatter, She has also got the habit of asking "What" for everything these days ! I donno from where she got this idea ! Imagine being asked "what" for every single thing !

You give her cheese, she asks "What cheese?". You respond "Amul cheese", she still asks you "What Amul?" in Tamil

You show her the beach, she asks "Yenna Thanni ?" (What water?), you tell her "Beach water", she asks you "Yenna Beach?"

You give her milk, she asks "Yenna milk?", you tell her "Aavin milk", she comes back with "Yenna Aavin ?"

get the drift ? Imagine this for every single thing that happens to her through out the day!

I thought only we were the lucky ones to be exposed to this somewhat sweet torture, but no! she has gone a step ahead and started doing this to strangers as well !
The carpenter who had come to our home to do some quick fixing during the weekend has run helter-skelter and he's yet to return to complete the pending work !

Jillu : Nee yenna panre? (What are you doing?)
Carpenter (busy with his stuff) : Naan yen velai panren (I am doing my work)
Jillu : yenna velai? (what work?)
Carpenter : Naan ottaren (I am patching up)
Jillu : yenna ottare? (what are you patching up?)
Carpenter : paste ottaren (I am applying the paste)
Jillu : yenna paste? (what paste?)
Carpenter : Yemmaa, idhukku mela yennaala badhil solla mudiyaadhu ! inime pesineenaa naan yen veetukku unna thookittu poyiduven ! (I can't answer you beyond this ! if you keep talking, i shall take you to my place !)

P.S : No, that dire warning did nothing to stop the little devil ! The same trend continued and sometimes, even the same set of questions were repeated again :)

A mad rush again!

2010-04-20T15:50:00.002+05:30

This time again, its the last minute rush!

I am reminded of many sayings in Tamil
- yevalo kuppara vizhundhaalum meesaila man ottradhu dhaan ottum
-chattiyil irundhaa dhaan aapail avarum
and so many others. (non-Tamizhians, please excuse me. All these roughly means that basically that you need to have inherent talent in you in the first place to do well and that I am trying out stuff (art) that does not come easily to me and it shows :) ! )

However, not stopping with the March entry, I have gone ahead with April and here's our entry to April month's Artsy crafty challenge! And today is the last day !

There will be some words which you will be familiar with, but will not know great details about it. Do you know of any such words? "Papier mache" was one such word for me. Knew it, but didn't know much about it as well ! As usual, google became the "Aabath baandavan!"

So, this is my first attempt at papier mache and did the basic stuff for the first time!

So, here's the papier mache chair!

I prepared the form for the chair using just card board strips. Cut out appropriate lengths of cardboard and stuck them together to form the chair.
This was followed by 2 layering of papers. I wanted to do 4, but due to lack of time, stopped with 2.
After allowing to dry, I used acrylic paint to color the chair!

Recipe for papier mache paste : Mix 1 cup flour with 1 cup (may be even less) water to glue consistency without forming any lumps.

There are still lots of rough edges in the corners and they need to be smoothened out! But one has only so much patience at midnight :) That was the only time I could manage and the result shows :) It took me 1 hr for preparing the chair and 1 hr each for the 2 layers of paper mache and 1 more hr for painting. The rest of the time was basically for drying

Now that I have completed one, hoping to try out more and come up with better ones than these hopefully!

I actually wanted to make beads and a necklace/bracelet out of them as a second attempt and then present that to the challenge, but didn't find enough time for that ! But anyways planning to try it out in leisure.

Dear Jillu,

2010-04-16T22:46:00.002+05:30

You are 2 yrs and 3 months old and you are growing up too fast for me! Crossing each milestone too fast as well ! While I enjoy each and every thing that you do, I find that I need to grow up as well along with you and these are my thoughts at this point in time

http://a-peep-into-my-world.blogspot.com/2010/04/dear-jillu.html

Jillu Talkies - Humor 3

2010-04-14T16:08:00.002+05:30

Paati is watching her one of those serials and Jillu is happily lying on her lap.

The Scene in TV :
The camera first focuses on Lord Venkateshwara. Its a big picture of him and then goes to reveal that its a pic hanging on the wall of a house. Jillu is avidly watching this. Next, in comes a mid-aged man (a parental character in the serial, obviously), positions himself partially in front of the picture and then starts talking on his mobile

And my dear lovely Jillu says :

"hey nagaru. naan ummachi paakanum " (Hey, move. I need to see the God!)

Celebrations time !!!

2010-04-13T21:06:00.007+05:30

Wonder what all the noise is about ?? Can you guess ? Its actually double celebration time!

First, Jillu has been awarded :) Yes !
AJCL has awarded the beautiful blogger award to this blog :). and I am thrilled for Jillu. Chotu's mom is known for her beautiful writing and her words always has a beautiful and soothing effect on me. So, I am even more thrilled to get such an award from her and all credit goes to Jillu as this blog is totally driven by her alone:)
Thank you, Chotu's Mom :)

I pass on the award to
Satish : His poems in Tamil are so very beautiful and I love reading them.
AJCL : I wish to award you too, as I already said, I love your writing. (Is there any rule saying you cant pass on the award to the one who passed it to you ? If so, please ignore it :) )
Swaram : Her blog always cheers me up :). She has a way of writing that makes me feel as though she is standing in front of me and talking to me in person. Each one of her posts has something good and something to make me smile :)

Second, I have been awarded too. Want to know what it is ?

I would display this in my other space as well :)
Thank you, again AJCL. I am so glad to have known you and am just waiting to meet you guys :).

And I pass on the award to
CG, ssstoryteller, Varun's Mom, L_R, Pattu's Mom, Swetha

Last night

2010-04-11T15:35:00.002+05:30

@Dinner...

My dad was having his dinner and she was as usual all over him and troubling him. At the same time, she's her most hospitable self when he is having dinner, encouraging him to have more, urging me to serve him more, instructing him how to eat and so on and so forth.

Last night saw a lot of stuff in addition to the above :)

At first, she offered to feed him :). We somehow managed to convince her otherwise :)

Then, she was standing on the chair (my dad was sitting ) behind him and generally making a nuisance. We told her to get down and let him be in peace.

She got down, stood near the chair, held one of the chair legs and told my dad

" Naan unna pidichikaren. Nee labakku nu saapiduviyaan. yenna ? " (I will hold you and you will gobble up the food. Ok ?) as though he was throwing tantrums for eating :)

"Yeh thaathaa, nee yen mammu ondi saapidra ? kaai thottundu saapidu" (Why are you having only rice ? eat along with veggies)

After he finished eating,

"Nee yenna paduthaama saaptiyaa?" (Did you eat without troubling me ?") My highly amused Dad said "Ofcourse"

"Nee good girl la saaptiyaa ? " (Did you eat like a good girl?) to which the rejoinder was "Naa good boy yaa saapten " (I ate like good boy)

Cricket fever

2010-04-07T16:21:00.001+05:30

If you hear Jillu saying "Wooooowwwwwwwwwwww" (Yep, thats how elongated it is :) ) when she is watching TV,

There are sure shot chances that she is indeed watching cricket in the TV (Yes, the IPL season has got to her as well !).
However, there are no sure shot chances that it is a 4 or a 6. The "Wooow" could be for anything, even for a dot ball :). But if you ask her how the umpire will signal a 4 or a 6 or an out, you will be surprised, for she will show you those correctly :). She learnt these many months back.

When I was about to flip the channel for a moment last night , she (loudly) tells me

"Naan cricket paakanum. Maathaadhe" (I want to watch cricket. Don't change!). Sounds as though she is very knowledgeable right ? Appidiye yennamo cricket laiye oorinaa maadhiri oru pechu :)

and then when the game is on, she asks me,

"Naama anga polaamaa? "(This question is being asked for everything she sees in the TV these days. Temple, cricket, boating etc.) So cricket cannot claim exclusive rights for this :)

No title is going to do justice...

2010-04-05T08:39:00.004+05:30

Jillu, lately, has been up to crazy things. Regular readers of Jillu will know that she is getting to be really independent and wants to do everything herself. But no one (including me) could believe that she could go to such extent.

The other day, I was sitting in front of my PC and doing my usual stuff that I do. You have the right to ask: "what stuff?" as I have not even updated her blog for so many days! But if you do ask, I may not know the answer :)

Jillu, these days, can be left alone for a couple of minutes away from my prying eyes and as I said, I had just sat down at the PC. I was doing my stuff and I could hear her doing her stuff in the hall with her play things. And in the background, I heard the cooker blow the first whistle. Me thinks, OK 3 more to go.

Half a minute goes by.

Jillu comes running to me and says

"Cooker whistle vandhudhu. Adhaan" (The cooker whistle came. Thats why)

Me : (distracted) hmmmm

Jillu : (looking seriously at me) cooker whistle vandhudhu. Adhaan (The cooker whistle came. Thats why)

Something in her tone made me look at her this time and what i read in her face raised alarm bells all over my head (and body)

Me : "Adhaan ? yena panne ? (Thats why ? so what did you do ?)

I didn't wait for her reply but rushed to the kitchen to see that the gas stove has been switched off after the first whistle !!!

Edited to add : Now, she has taught me that I cannot leave her alone even for half a minute. A bitter lesson to learn, I tell you. And it is so scary !!! My mind conjures up thousand and one images and scenarios that could go wrong when she is near the gas ! My whole body just shudders thinking about it ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........

Appreciations Galore !!!

2010-03-31T16:15:00.000+05:30

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

2010-03-26T10:22:00.002+05:30

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

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

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

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

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

2010-03-24T15:16:00.001+05:30

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!)

2010-03-20T17:27:00.002+05:30

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!

2010-03-20T09:23:00.003+05:30

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

2010-03-17T14:38:00.000+05:30

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

2010-03-13T15:44:00.003+05:30

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

2010-03-12T08:05:00.002+05:30

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

2010-03-10T12:51:00.003+05:30

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 !

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

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 :) )

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

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 !

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

Jillu Talkies - Humor

2010-03-05T17:17:00.003+05:30

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)

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

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)

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

After effects of krishna

2010-03-03T15:03:00.002+05:30

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

2010-03-01T08:55:00.001+05:30

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 !)

Jillu Talkies - What we don't understand !

2010-02-26T13:38:00.000+05:30

Sometimes, when we dont understand what she says, she tries to explain it to us so cutely :). It is so endearing to see her trying to explain to us what she meant !

These happened many months back.

- We were traveling in the car and Jillu had seen some colorful decorations in a store. She told me "Sar amma". I was clue less and was just staring at her trying to comprehend what she was saying. Then she tells me ( in a tone that says, "idhu kooda theryaliyaa unakku?" types )

"nachathiram amma". She had indeed exclaimed "Star !"

- In a similar fashion, when i didn't understand her saying "gift", she helped me understand by saying "Happy Birthday Ammmaa,, adhu " :).. what a co-relation ! :)

- And the other day (this was way long long back), when my dad didn't understand "chakram", she told him "kicha vechirupaale, adhu. Changu, chakkaram, andha chakram! " :)

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

These days, she doesn't bother to explain it to me :(. She leaves me to figure it out myself ! I think she is fed up of explaining stuff to me :).. or may be the poor girl didn't know how for such instances :)

The other day, last week or so, Jillu kept telling me

"Clip pannu ammaa". I did not understand at all. She kept repeating "Clip pannu ammaa". I was such a dud ! In spite of me sitting in front of the PC, i didn't get what she was saying! and then like a tube light, i understood it very late. She was asking me to use the mouse .:)

"Click pannu Ammaa"

And then, lately she has been calling me "Amma gundu". I was mystified ! As to where she got that word and idea from and also becoz, who likes to be called a "gundu" ? :). I kept chiding her and told her that she should n't be calling me (and anyone for that matter) that way ! Seemed to have no result and she was not at all perturbed. And then , after a week (too soon, eh ?! ) or so, suddenly i realized what she was saying ! She was just saying

"Amma gondu" as she has heard us calling her, for she has become one after i quit work :)

The scribblings

2010-02-24T12:01:00.000+05:30

on the wall have started (in serious vain) ! As of yesterday !

Yellaam 'Pattu' mayam !

2010-02-23T08:09:00.000+05:30

Jillu has been fascinated with "pattu" (mardhaani/Mehendi) all along !

Right from when she was a baby, she has been able to identify it and now that she is growing up, she's associating all kinds of things to "pattu"

The other day, she had her Polio drops and the nurse marked her little finger with a dark ink. Soon after, Jillu said to everyone who would listen to her

" Yenakku kaila pattu ittu utturukaa paalu "

(or)

"Yenakku kaila pattu yezhudhirukkaa paalu"

Yesterday, she was watching Krishna and her observation was that

"krishna inga pattu ittundu irukkaa" pointing to his lips and it was left to my mom to correct her that it was indeed lipstick and not "pattu " !

Self Dabbaa

2010-02-22T15:48:00.000+05:30

You should really hear Jillu praising herself ! Its not to be missed at all !

When she is playing with her puzzles and stuff

"Naan yevlo kkkasssshhhhhta pattttu vechuruken paar " (Look! I have kept it with such difficulty!). The emphasis on "kashta pattu" is to be definitely noted!

When she is having her food,

"Avo chamathaa chaapadraa paar" (See! she is eating like a good girl!)

When she has finished having her bath

"Avo azhaama jo kulichaa. Chamathaa kulichaa. sooooo-per a kulichaa" (She took bath without crying like a good girl! )

(And in the mean while, looks like I have to overlook it, even if her claims are perfectly false at times !)

And suddenly out of the blue she would say

Jillu : Avo chamathu

Me : yaaru ? (knowing well , who :) )

Jillu : Jillu. Avo jillu pattu! Jillu kuttttti! chittu! (endearments we generally use to call her )

M e: ????

Idhu Podhumma ? Innum konjam venumaa ? (Do you need more ?)

ROTFL !!!

2010-02-17T16:12:00.001+05:30

Back ground : Some Carnatic music (Keerthanai) was being telecast (combination of song and dance) in one of the Bakthi channels in TV.

Scene :

My mom and me were chatting about something and suddenly we hear Jillu singing "Bro che vaa " (another Carnatic song). We both turn to look at her and then at each other. She had her eyes squeezed shut tightly, was shaking her head both sides and singing a series of carnatic songs known to her with no pause. At first to me, she looked like she was imitating a blind person, but then realization dawned, i looked at my mom , she looked at me and both of us crumbled with laughter.

Jillu was simply trying to imitate the singers, the way she has seen them close their eyes, enjoy and sing (mey marandhu paadardhu :) )

And when we hadn't even recovered from the first bout of laughter, she again made us laugh so hard, almost to tears (probably encouraged by our first reaction) by singing "Baba black sheep, have you any wool" in the same way again, eyes squeezed shut with a shake of her head as well.

I really wished I had kept the handy cam ready then. It was such a cute and lovely sight and such a spontaneous moment with so much laughter that I am unable to do justice to it with this simple write up! I am laughing even now when I recollect the incident to do this post !

God bless Jillu !

Mixed Bag

2010-02-16T12:53:00.000+05:30

Jillu sings..

அ, ஆ , இ , ஈ , உ , ஊ , எ , ஏ, ஐ , I ,J , K, L , M, N, O,P, Q.....

LOL :) Poor thing ! English ,Tamil renduthuleyum "I" vandhaa, confuse aagama irukkumaa yenna ?
(There is an "I" in both English and Tamil and hence no wonder that she is confused! )

Complaints

2010-02-14T13:55:00.000+05:30

After reasoning, now on to complaints:)

A couple of days back, I was in the kitchen and she was with my mom in the hall. My mom was combing her hair and they had their usual interaction (dialogues) with regards to when she can get hold of the Parachute (hair oil) container. Soon after, she came riding to me in her tri-cycle and told me , no, make it complained to me,

"Ava yenakku thara maatengaraa" (She is not giving me")

Me : Yenatha? (what?)

"Yennai ya. Paati yenakku yennai ya thara maatengaraa" (Oil. Paati is not giving me the oil)

And then after some time, she again came back and told me

"Thala valikkudhu, paati thalaikku yennai thadavittaa" ( Paati applied oil on my hair and its paining )

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

This afternoon,I was feeding her, her usual pappu mammam, and there was a guest as well then. After a couple of mouthfuls, she said No to me and pointing her outstretched palm towards the bowl, she complained to the guest

"Adhu kaaramaa irukku" ("That is spicy" - but when in fact it was not)

and all of us burst out laughing :)

I take back what I said

2010-02-12T14:24:00.001+05:30

in my previous post's comment section :)

This morning Jillu, on her own, made it clear that she understood very well indeed.

As usual, she took a mobile, placed it near her ear and started talking (err... shouting actually) immediately,

"yeppili irukke ? nallaaa irukkuriyaaa? " (strangely, the mazhalai is surfacing in places where it was not before :) )

silence...then she said

"mmmm" silence again.. then

"ok" (The talking happens only on a silent phone. She mostly wouldn't talk at all if someone was actually on the line. After a lot of cajoling, the person at the other end may at the max eventually get a Hi or something similar )

then she kept the phone down and told us

"Varaalaam "

My mom : Yaaru?

Jillu : "Geetha paati pesinaa. Raghu thaathaa pesinaa".

"Endu perum pesinaa"

Me : Yenna pesinaa?

Jillu :"Varaalaam"

Me : Oh !

Jillu : aaero plaaaaaane la varaalaam

Me : Yeppo ?

Jillu : Saayangaalam (thats the only thing she knows :) doesn't know morning, night etc.. anything and everything happens in the evening )

2 mins la varaalaam

Saturday, Sunday, Monday la varaalaam

Me : ???????

Jillu Talkies - IV

2010-02-10T15:03:00.000+05:30

Jillu's thaathaa and paati have gone to stay with Jillu's perippa. Jillu needs lots of people around her always. She will be thrilled and shouting when there are people around her. Give her an option of us vs toys, there will be no doubt as to what she would choose any day. Given that, she did not like her grand parents leaving at all.

Below are snippets related to the topic.

Initially, she did not like the idea at all.

Paati : Jillu, Paati V kitaa poga poren? pogatumaa? (I am going to V's house, Shall i go? )

Jillu : Naanaam (nope)
Paati : yen? (why)
Jillu : silence...

After some days, she learnt to articulate better..

Paati : Jillu, Paati yenga ma poga poraa? (Where is grand ma going ?)

Jillu : oooyes (U.S)
Paati : naan pogatumaa ? (Shall i go ?)
Jillu : Naanaam (nope)
Paati : yen? (why)
Jillu : Jillu kitteye iru (You be near Jillu)

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

After some serious counselling and explanantion, after several weeks, she slowly got used to the idea..

Me : Paati yedhula povaa US ku ? (How is paati going to the US?)

Jillu : aeeeerooooo plaaaaaane la
Me : Paati yaar kitaa poraa? (who is there?)
Jillu : Annaa kitta poraa, (Brother)
Me : Vera yaaru irukkaa ? (who else ?)
Jillu : L perima irukkaa
Me : vera? (who else?)
Jillu : V perippaa irukkaa
Jillu : avaa kitta poyittu, paathuttu, vandhuduvaa (Will go there, see and come back)
Me : Ammam, da (Yes)
Jillu : Hi sollitu, vandhuduvaa (They will come back after saying Hi)
Me : (??) Ammaam, apram varuvaa.. konja naal kazhichu varuvaa, okvaa ? (They will be back after some months. Not now)
Jillu : OK

The sweet little Charmer!

2010-02-08T08:37:00.001+05:30

She knows when she does something wrong ! Even before judging my reaction, she is well aware of it. If not, then my reaction will leave her in no doubt ! And then she tries to charm me out of my mood instead of saying "chorry amma, inime pannna maatten" (Sorry, ma. I wont do it here after) which has been her usual practice till now. But these days, as a sign of growing up, saying sorry is the last resort if nothing else works.

The other day, when I took her out on the bike to the veggies market, I took her after several sermons of do'd and donts and that I will take her only if adheres to all of that. And she did behave beautifully the whole time when we were out there. However, the moment we entered our apartment (now that the taataa is over), before i could park my bike, she took off without heeding to me and ran to the gate and hence almost to the road.

If it was before, she would have said sorry. But now, she tries everything possible to change my mood.

"Amma, amma, amma............" she says that for around 10 to 15 times continuously.

I remain silent just staring at her.

She angles her head sideways, keeps both her hands at her hips, goes all wide eyed, shows all her pearly little sharp white teeth and says "Ammma, he he he he he.. siri", "nee siri" (Amma, he he he he, smile, you smile na)

What can one do when faced with such a little charmer :). But still I held on, and just marched ahead carrying all the vegetables bags. She trotted after me and said "Kudu,kudu, kudu" (Give) in her special tone ("kudu" shortly even shorter than warranted, repeated in rapid succession) that she always uses when she asks for something and i could not hold on any longer :)

Yesterday, she threw the mike on to the floor when we were chatting on the PC. She came up with a very different approach then.

She says "Onnum aagadhu, amaa" (Nothing will happen, Amma) and then pinches my cheeks and kisses her little fingers.

Idhellaam yenga poi mudiya porudho? (I donno where all this will lead to ? )

Tagged by Satish Uncle :)

2010-02-03T16:08:00.001+05:30

1. What is your current obsession?
Framing the obvious fact into a question.
Appa, nee jo kulichittu vandhutiyaa?
Amma, ne paathiram thaekariyaa?

2. What are you wearing today?
T-Shirt and shorts

3. What’s for dinner?
Ammaa tharuvaa

4. What’s the last thing you bought?
yelnir

5. What are you listening to right now?
naan thaachi thoongaren

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
Satish maama va paakanum :(

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Isha kitta (Isha is my dear and dearest friend)

8. What are your must-have pieces for summer?
Yelnir

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Naan Isha kitta Ponum

10. Which language do you want to learn?
Yellaam

11. What’s your favourite quote?
Apidinaa?

12. Who do you want to meet right now?
Isha, Isha, Isha

13. What is your favourite colour?
Green..(Current time fav)

14. Give us 3 styling tips that work for you.
Dora cut, Capri and short top

15. What is your dream job?
School ponum, Isha kooda, A B C padikkanum

16. What’s your favorite magazine?
Yedhuvaanaalum paravaa illai, kizhika mudiyum

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
Yelnir. Baaki paisaava kizhikalaamaa?

18. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
Apidinaa????

19. Is exercise a part of your daily routine? If so, what kind of exercise is it?
Odi pidich, Out pannanum. Ozhinjikiriyaa?

20. What kind of haircut do you prefer?
chonnene, Dora cut

21. What are you going to do after this?
Ammaa kittaa ponum

22. What are your favourite movies?
Kishna Leelai, Jai Shee Kishna, Nymes (Rhymes CD)

23. What inspires you?
yedhu venaaa

24. What do your friends call you most commonly?
Chaathvi

25. Would you prefer coffee or tea?
Complan

26. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
aaaaaaaaahhhh...oooaahh. wail..azhuven..

27. What makes you go wild?
when i don't get what i want and when things don't go my way

28. Which other blogs do you love visiting?
amma bog check pannuvaa

29. Favorite Dessert/Sweet?
any sweet.. ammaa yenakku innum ace keem (ice cream) tharalai

30. Favorite Season?
yelllame

31. If I come to your house now, what would u cook for me?
Ammma cook panni tharuvaa

32. What is the right way to avoid people who purposefully hurt you?
azha vediyadhu dhaan

33. What are you afraid of the most?
Boodham

34. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
he he heee...sirikaren...

35. What brings a smile on your face instantly??
Seeing Isha, kishna title song, dhaakshai (dry grapes), thaathaas (grand -pas)

36. A word that you say a lot?
amma/appa yenna pan

37. What is that one thing that keeps you going.
aarva kolaar

38. Whats one thing that you used to love that you left
keezherundhu yellathaiyum vaayila pottukardhu

49. What are your hobbies?

Ammaa kaal kattinde nikardhu, water tap tharandhu vidardhu, Shoe a thottu kai ya dirty pannikardhu, show case, TV case glass doors a bang pannardhu, door handle a abuse panradhu, cell phone thooki podardhu, Thodaikardhu, and so on and on...

I tag
Chotu,
K,

Varun,

And yen amma idhellam (below rules) cholla chonnaa... so neengalum unga amma appa kitte sollidungo, ok vaa ?

Rules for those who are tagged:
Respond and rework – answer these questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own, and add one more question to the list. Then tag others :)

And yen ammma version ku inga kick pannungo...

Jillu talkies - Part III

2010-02-02T14:12:00.000+05:30

Jillu's conversation skills has vastly improved and she now can hold a small conversation with anyone, if they put their mind to it. She is also becoming wiser about causes and consequences.

Below snippets from last night are classic examples,

She was playing with her parrot (The parrot literally parrots whatever we say in the same voice as well ) and suddenly it stopped talking back. She fiddled with the toggle switch for some time and when nothing worked out, looked at me all wide eyed and said,

"Ammma, battery pottiyaa ?" (Ammaa, did you put the battery?)

*********

Jillu : Ammaa, Alai paayudhe paadu (Amma, pls sing "Alai Paayudhe" song)

Me : Ammaaku thondai valikardhu da.. paada mudiyadhu kannaa ( Amma cannot sing as her throat is paining)

Jillu : Thondai valikardhaaa? naan pidichu vidatumaa ? (Oh, shall i massage your throat?) and then goes on to squeeze my throat with her little hands

Me : (wincing from the pain) its ok da, kannna, thank you, paravaa illai (Its OK, leave it)

Jillu : Naan muthaa kudakaren, seriyaadum (I shall kiss and it will be alright) and then suits action to the words by caressing my throat and then kissing her fingers

*********

Jillu grandma (my mom): nee jo kulichiyaa inniku ? (Did you take bath today?)

Jillu : mmmm

Grandma : azhaama kulichiyaa? (did you cry then ?)

Jillu : azhala,, inga paaru (showing her eyes).. thanni varala paaru.... naan azhalai (No I did not cry, see, there are no tears in my eyes now)

Then after some time, nee azhariyaa ?(are you crying?)

Grandma : illa da kannaa, naan azhala...(No da, I am not)

A Day of many firsts !

2010-01-31T09:52:00.000+05:30

Yesterday was a day of many firsts.

Jillu has been sick for the past week and she is on the slow recovery now. Yesterday morning saw her waking up bright and cheery and I was so relieved to see that. Not sure if it was a co-incidence or just that a case of her wanting to release all the piled-up energy, but yesterday saw her do many things (mischief /naughtiness or rather "paduthals" :) ). Usually it comes in small doses at a single time and she can be controlled. But not so yday. Everything that could happen, happened yday.

Morning Dosage
I was inside in the kitchen and suddenly I heard my husband shout my name. I jumped. He shouted "Jillu has gone downstairs. Run".She had walked out of the flat, went down the stairs and near to the apartment gate all alone while both of us were not watching. Thank god for the watchman at the gate , if not, she would have run to the road. The irony is that this happened only because our door was open as Jillu's dad was standing right there near the door, talking on the phone and giving directions to our home for a visiting guest(its always closed to avoid exactly what happened yday). She had run while his back was turned and he saw her only when she waved "taataa" to him coolly from the car park.

Evening
she did everything that is doable in a span of 30 minutes that I did not know where to start and what to dicipline her for. At the end of the span, packaged provisions from the kitchen were under the cot in the bedroom, her dad's cellphone lay on the floor split into two parts (snatched away from his hand and thrown deliberately on the floor-she had stopped doing this some time back). Trying every few seconds to switch off the UPS and the PC. Need I go on ?

Dinner time
She literally tricked me. She had a few mouthfuls and I think had decided she did not want it. She insisted on me giving the bowl to her so that she could have it herself. She normally manages a couple of mouthfuls herself. So, a gullible fool that I was(yes, I deserve the title because I should have known better from the day's event till then ), I gave it to her not judging her mood and not anticipating what was coming. Once she had the bowl, she simply with no hesitation just inverted the bowl and all of her dinner was on the floor.

Rhymes Combo

2010-01-24T14:28:00.004+05:30

This combo is little Jillu's creation. Nowadays she keeps singing aloud just like that and this rhyme is something that came up new. She looked to be making up then and there while she was singing with no pause and with such ease....

"Menmaiyaaana dosai...

kutttty, kutty dosai...

Father had a dosai.."

Any guesses on the original rhymes ? Its pretty simple :)

Update :

Answer to the riddle : The 2 rhymes that Jillu combined on the fly are these :

1)Dosaiamma Dosai

2) Inky Pinky Ponkey

Chennai Girl and lifeunderthesky: Congrats on getting it right.
Chennai Girl was the first to get it right.
Jillu conveys her sincere and heartfelt thanks to all for playing the guessing game :)

Hide & Seek

2010-01-22T07:00:00.002+05:30

Would you like to play Hide & Seek with Jillu ? I will definitely guarantee a unique, fun filled and hilarious experience. But only if you play by her rules :)

Stage I :

You ask her to go and hide somewhere. She runs away and the moment you start saying "Jillu yenga kaanum" (Where is Jillu?), there she will come whooshing back to you in lightning speed and look at you so ecstatically and expectantly that you end up saying "Dho irukkaale" (Here she is!)

Stage II:

You tell her that you shouldn't come out of the hiding place and that she should be hiding till we come and find her. Then, you make someone else hide her. Then she is wise enough to say, "Kanna moodu" (Close your eyes). And if you just close your eyes, she says "Kaiyaala kanna moodu" (Cover your eyes with hands) and will point to a wall, so you got to cover your face with your hands against the wall and close your eyes while she hides. And then when you start searching for her, 5 seconds into the search, she will again be in front of you in a flash :). But mind you, you have got to say, "Dho irukaa daa"

Stage III:

The next stage is she will point to the place where she hid the last time and will tell you in all earnest "Ippo nee inga ozhinjukko nae. okvaa" (Now, you please hide here. Ok?) . And this will play in a loop

And the last one:

This is the latest. We both are on the bed playing, and she simply jumps up saying "naa inga ozhijukkaren" ( I am going to hide here) and goes behind the curtains right in front of my eyes without even asking me to close my eyes :)

Sherlock Holmes

2010-01-16T16:27:00.001+05:30

in the making ?

A couple of days back, Jillu was generally creating a ruckus in the morning when her dad was about to leave for office. So, to distract her and make her listen, I said "Appa kilambiyaachu. Office poyaachu". (Appa has left for work)

Jillu immediately did a cursory check in all directions to see if she could spot him from where she stood then and when she could not find him, immediately went to the hall, peeped out into the veranda, and said " Appa innum pogala. inga dhaan irukkaa". (He has not left. He is here!)

Any guesses?

She had just checked for the presence of his slippers in the veranda.