My little Rock Star and My Little Chubby Cheeks

Moved!

2011-02-09T16:10:00.001+05:30

to http://mylittlerockstar.wordpress.com/

The optimist

2011-02-02T14:55:00.000+05:30

Venky is discussing the 3 piglets story with his dad.
(For those who do not know the story - 3 piglets make their respective houses out of straw, sticks and bricks. The big bad wolf is able to blow the down the straw and stick houses but not the brick house)

Venky - "Is our house made of sticks?"
Papa - "No, it is made of bricks. It is a strong house."
Venky - "Is our neighbor's house made of sticks or straw?"
Papa - " No. Nobody makes straw or sticks houses. All the houses are made of bricks."

Venky is disappointed!
Venky - "So, who makes straw houses?"
Papa - "Uhmmm... maybe the bird does. Her nest is made of straw."
Venky - "Then if somebody throws a stone, her house will fall?"
Papa - "Yes. Straw houses are not strong."
Venky - "Then what will happen to the bird?"
Papa - "It will also fall down"
Venky - "No Papa, it will fly away!" :-) ===> Happy ending!

We hear what we want to

2011-01-24T15:04:00.002+05:30

especially, from Tunmun. The story teller that she is, Tunmun is always making some sounds comprised randomly of syllables Na, ma. pa, ya ,da etc.

Tunmun says "papapapapapa" and Vibhu declares she is calling him
Tunmun says "mammah" and I declare that she is calling me
Tunmun says "Aaaaayaah" and Venky thinks she is saying "Bhaiya"

This is what takes the cake. Tunmun's part time nanny said that she can call her name - "Waheeda". WHAT? Tunmun can say "Waheeda???"
Turns out Tunmun can say "Aadaaah". There! she is saying "Waheeda" proved her nanny with a smile :-)

Milestone!

2011-01-20T14:49:00.000+05:30

Tunmun is crawling (and falling). My little girl became mobile on 18th Jan 2011. Mark the date dear grandmom, it is 5 days short of her 8 month mark. Now my grabber is going to bring the whole house down! :)

P.S - Grandmom is asked to mark the date because she had christined Tunmun as "Lodh baba". Tunmun had not taken her first roll till 6 months of age!

It's Different!

2011-01-03T11:09:00.000+05:30

Venky has been taught is school to spot out the different member from a group. Vibhu keeps asking him to find out " what is different " from a group (of usually 3 things). He is also made to explain why the thing that he picked is different.

It is a very interesting game as Venky often finds those things different that 90% of the adults will not and is also able to give his own logical explanation for it. Here are some examples

"What is different among Mommy, Tunmun and Papa?"
90% adults - Papa, becuase he is a male and the other two are female.
Venky - Tunmun, because she is small and other two are big.

"What is different among sock, baniyan and Tee shirt?"
90% adults - Socks, because it is worn on feet while the other two are worn on the upper half of the body
Venky - Tee shirt, because other two are inner wear and Tee is an outer wear.

"What is different among chicken, fish and cauliflower?"
90% adults - Cauliflower because other two are animals and cauliflower is a vegetable."
Venky - Cauliflower because fish and chicken are yummy and cauliflower is not!

We've also suddenly found out that Venky can do additions and substractions. "I give you 2 chocs and mommy gives you/ takes away another 1, how many do you have now?" kind of questions - Venky gives correct answers. We thought at first that it was his random guess that got right. But he did it again and again and again and again. He hasn't been taught addition/substraction at school yet and we have not taught him too. My rock star learnt it on his own :)

A house with kids

2010-12-27T12:20:00.000+05:30

has Donald Duck and Kangaroo in their beds

has diapers and coloring books in their shelves

has plastic fish, duck and frog in the buckets in their bathroom

has stroller, skateboard, cycles in their car park.

and balls of all shapes and sizes all over.

D D and D D

2010-12-14T15:40:00.001+05:30

Demanding Daughter is the one who wants her dad's specs and cries everytime it is hidden away from her.
Doting Dad is the one who gets the glasses removed from that frame and fitted into a new one but still wears the old frames without glasses so that the daughter can grab it and play safely with it.

Tunmun gets her favourite toy and Vibhu gets a bill of 3500/-
I did not know that such a big man could be wrung around such a tiny finger.

Conversation with 3.5 year old

2010-12-09T15:52:00.000+05:30

Conversation as it happened between Venky and Vibhu, on the way to Venky's school bus pick up point at 7.30 am

Venky and Vibhu meet our next door neighbor who is walking his dog.
"Papa, I am not afraid of that dog"
"Wow, you are a very brave boy Venky!"
"Papa, do you know why I am not afraid of the dog?"
"Because you just ate your breakfast and you are strong now?"
"No, because uncle is holding the dog's leash. It cannot bite me!"

A few houses down the line
"Papa, I am not afraid of this dog too."
"Why?"
"Because it is behind the gate of that house, it cannot come out and bite me."

Okey.. Vibhu gets the pattern now. Still more houses down the line, they come across a house with a pet parrot. The parrot's cage is hanging in the balcony.
"Papa, I am not afraid of that parrot too!"
"Because it is inside the cage?"
"Noooooo Papa! Because it is HERBIVOROUS !!"

Tunmun has her way

2010-12-03T11:50:00.000+05:30

Grab, grab, grab

and Sitting up and grab, grab, grab again.

Highest on the hit list is Vibhu's specs. She gets angry if Vibhu takes it off before picking her up. Today, Vibhu was rocking her to sleep. After she had closed her eyes for a while, Vibhu put his specs back. Tunmun opened her eyes momentarily and in her half slumber state grabbed it!

My girl sure knows what she wants. Signs of tough time in store for us!

Bedtime Story

2010-12-03T11:39:00.000+05:30

There was a poor but honest woodcuter. One day as he was cutting a branch of a tree, his axe slipped from his hand and fell into the river underneath. The woodcutter did not have money to buy another axe, so he started crying. The river god took pity on the woodcutter and appeared with a gold axe.

"Is this your axe?"

"No", said the woodcutter.

The river god came back with a silver axe.

"Is this your axe?"

"No", said the woodcutter.

The river god now came back with the woodcutter's axe

"Yes. this is my axe", said the woodcutter.

The river god was impressed with the woodcutter's honesty and gave him the gold and silver axe too.

Vibhu - "Venky, what is the moral of this story?"

Venky - "That we should be careful when we cut trees"

Rock Star Indeed

2010-12-03T11:28:00.000+05:30

A few days ago, we had a childrens' psychologist's lecture in Venky's school (Hi -Fi school, yeah!). Vibhu attended the session as I had to stay with Tunmun. The counsellor talked about 3 main issues with kids of this age (3 - 4 years).

1. Eating problems - Nopes, not my kid. He does fuss a little during dinner time, but that is more because he does not like eating rotis in particular. Venky is able to have a balanced diet over the day with cereals, veggies, apple and egg. Not to forget 3 glasses of milk :)

2. Hyperactivity - This means highly active destructive kids. Venky can probably be classified as super active but not destructive. He loves to run and jump around but is never on a breaking spree. He also cleans up after the play

3. Possesiveness - Big NO for Venky. Venky is always ready to give away even his last piece of chocolate. If anything, I am worried about his excess philanthrophy :)

So Vibhu just sat silent through the whole session while other parents put forth their problems. Later, he narrated the experience to me with a lot of pride. We have a rock star indeed! :-)

Chatterbox

2010-11-16T17:24:00.002+05:30

is what Tunmun has become.
"Ba babub" "Dayedaye" "Nananah" "MammmMammm"
Yup. She can make all these sounds. That's a lot of vocabulary for a 6 months minus 10 days old. And mind you, you are supposed to respond back. She loves it especially if you talk back to her in her own language. So, in between those sounds, comes the gurguling laughter. Aaah .. the joys of motherhood.
Tunmun wants conversations. When she's in a playful mood and is blabbering away, I often take the opportunity to do my own stuff. But as soon as I turn away, the blabber turns into crying. "Look at me Momeee. I am talking to you!" The only time I can turn away from her is when she is napping (which lasts full 15 minutes).Aaah .. the joys of motherhood.
So, that's my roly poly gullu pullu cutooo chatterbox. At full 6 months minus 10 days. Who talks and is almost sitting up. But rolling over? Naaah.. too much effort. She'd rather just talk.

Overheard

2010-11-11T17:12:00.001+05:30

Vibhu - "Venky, tell me a lie"
Venky (almost immideately) - "Papa, I don't suck thumb"
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Venky - "Papa, where are you going?"
Vibhu - "How do you know I am going out?"
Venky - "Papa, you are wearing jeans" (Vibhu is normally in Pajjus at home)
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Venky - "Mommy, do you know what Tunmun has in her mouth?"
I (panicking) - "What?"
Venky - "Rasgollas" (That's Tunmun's chubby cheeks)
I - "And what do you have?"
Venky - "Butter!"
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Since my Sleepyhead is not so sleepy anymore and is giving me a hard time napping and waking up many times at night. I am going to anti jinx her sleep pattern by changing the blog name. What is it going to be now - well, its there for you

Mostly Updates

2010-10-22T17:33:00.000+05:30

1. Tunmun's Annaprashan - Madame decided to poop right when the pooja was about to begin. And while she was at it, she emptied her whole stomach. Result? Poop leaked out of diaper and went all the way up till her back soiling her beautiful new clothes. So, right before pooja, we had to clean her meticulously. Give her a bath again. And wash her soiled clothes

2. Tunmun's Rollover - Madame is 5 months now. No signs of rolling over. She would rather just lie still and talk - already saying "da-da" now. And by the way, she gets bored if left alone and gets cranky. You are expected to talk back to her. Madame likes discussions even though she is quite opinionated!

3. Venky's mood - is going great. After a hard monsoon which had left him sick, Venky's temprament had taken a serious hit. He had gotten short tempered and cranky. So much, that we had started worrying if it had become his nature. But now, my rock star is back. That's my loving, caring and responsible boy!

4. My office - I joined back. Half time. So far, its going good. I don't have to be away from Tunmun for too long and it gives me my much desired break :-)

The other day, Venky cuddled up to me in the morning and held my had half asleep. After a while, I felt his hand missing. I my slumber I tried to search for his hand. Venky realized this and held my hand again. Role reversal is happening already :-)

And now I become a metric

2010-09-13T12:01:00.000+05:30

The parting words from my gynac after 6 week checkup were "Now go on, lose that weight". Yeah, I gained and gained during pregnancy and shedding seems no where in sight. The only exercise is taking the baby out on a stroller in the evening (which happened 2 times in the last two weeks thanks to the rainy rainy monsoon).

The whole Hyderabad has ongoing sales and I so want to buy new clothes. But what size should I buy? The one that I currently am or the one I hope to be in the next one year. Time and again I lament my lost shape and Vibhu gives me a patient ear and pep up speech "Its only been 3 months and you are feeding. You'll be back to pre pregnancy weight in an year. If anything you look good."

So, while I keep wondering about my weight .. just how fat am I? Should I trust the scales or the husband? We took Venky to see Ganesha idols across the city. We saw some small ones and some big ones. Finally we landed on an idol which seemed the largest of all but was not clearly visible. Vibhu took Venky for a closer look at the idol while I waited in the car with Tunmun. When Venky came back, he was super excited and said "Mommeee.. the idol was soooo BIG, tumse bhi jayada huge tha".

Well, I HAVE to lose this flab now!

Traffic Rules

2010-08-29T11:48:00.000+05:30

Vibhu and Venky were driving to his school. The road was fairly empty. They pass through a traffic signal.

Venky - "Papa, was the light green or red?"

Vibhu (irritated that Venky still does not know his colors) - "Don't you know colors yet? It was red!"

Venky - "Papa, then why did you not stop?"

Next time we were driving through an empty signal and the light was red, Vibhu applied the brakes right on time.

Colors

2010-08-27T15:08:00.000+05:30

I was waiting for Venky to learn to color, for that is one activity that can keep kids sitting and busy. That time has come. Venky is now on his 2nd Jumbo coloring book. Like all kids, he loves coloring. Finally he's found one activity that he can enjoy that can keep him in one place. But there is a catch. I should color with him! While he is coloring one page of the book, I should color the other! So much for my wishful thinking for peaceful FREE time!

So, here I am. Coloring pages after pages. Much to my surprise, I enjoy it just as I used to when I was a kid myself. Its true that kids color your life - literally! :)

Baby Breath

2010-08-16T12:09:00.001+05:30

After the feeds, I hold you propped up on my shoulders for five minutes, waiting for you to burp. Your face is so close to mine, barely inches away. I keep staring at you for I have never seen something so pretty. I revel in your baby scent for I have never known a smell so sweet. That moment is solely and completely mine. Those five minutes after every feed, they make the nausea, the labor, the sleepless nights, oh, so worth it!

Fast Forward

2010-07-27T18:19:00.000+05:30

Venky - "I am growing so fast, I will become 11 years very soon."

I - "Yes, you will."

Venky starts counting and stops only at 40.

"I will become 40 years very soon."

"When you will be 40 years old, you will also have a baby like Tunmun."

I had promised myself that I will not nag my kids to become parents after being at the receiving end by all the ladies of the previous generation. But I see myself not letting a chance go already!

"Mommy, what will you name her?"

"You will name her Venky." Secretly, I am thrilled at the prospect of him letting me name his babies

"I will name her Aditi"

"That's a nice name."

"And Tunmun"

"Tunmun"?

"Yes, like you call her Tunmun" Venky points to his baby sister.

"You mean, ghar ka naam (pet name)"?

"Yes, ghar ka naam."

"Do you know, what is your ghar ka naam"?

"Yes, house no 47 ....." And Venky recites our full address :). That is where our discussions on his future end.

The Night Owl

2010-07-12T14:22:00.000+05:30

is what Tunmun has become. For the past week she has been sleeping like a log during the day and been up all night. This has resulted into Vibhu and Venky shifting into another room so that Venky can be up in the morning to go to the school and me struggling with her alone till the wee hours of the morning. Sigh .. the joys of parenthood !

And Miss T, I am the one who rocks you throught the night, but you chose to give your first smile to Big B. That is fine. But that you smile ONLY at him is JUST NOT FAIR! I deserve at least that much for .. well, I don't want to cite the old hindi movie dialog "maine nau maheene tumhe apne kokh mein pala hai.", but heck, that's true! I've worked the hardest. Now c'mon, give me that heart melting smile of yours!

And please, please, please start sleeping during the nights again.

And the first smile goes to

2010-07-09T00:35:00.000+05:30

The BiG B. Who else ? While Vibhu and I were making funny sounds at Tunmun, she looked away in a 3rd direction. Venky came there and cooed "Hi choti behena" and lo and behold! He gets a smile!

Chuha Billi ki kahani

2010-06-28T12:29:00.000+05:30

Vibhu - "Venky, billi ko english mein kya bolte hai?"
Venky - "TOM".

No points for guessing what is chuha called in english.

The Realization of SELF

2010-06-19T13:22:00.000+05:30

I have heard that babies initially think that they are just an extension of their parents. Mother mostly. As they grow older they learn that they are independent entities - that is called the "realization of self". It manifests itself in the form of ego.

Venky as a toddler has put me to shame many times through his selfless acts. I have blogged about it here and here. He has taught me the most important lessons of my life. To forgive. To demostrate love. That a hug can take the whole stress away.

Venky is 3 now. He is slowly changing. We can see that he is developing an ego. Its harder for him to say sorry. If we schold him he sulks and walks away (as against coming and hugging us and saying sorry). Sometimes he shouts back. Its harder to pacify him when he sulks. Hugs and I love yous don't work easily anymore.

Today Venky was throwing a tantrum after bath. I asked him why he was angry. He said "Because papa is angry. I will not get ready till he remains upset." I told him that it was not the way to pacify someone who was angry and that he should go and hug papa and say sorry. Venky did go and hug Vibhu after that but did not say sorry.

Sigh. I have teach him now what he taught me. That love and affection should be prioritized above ego. That forgiving and letting go makes a person happier than holding grudges. Its going to be a tough task ( aren't men all about their egos?). Hopefully he'll be able to learn some of the values that he demontrated in his toddler avataar from me. That is, till his own toddler teaches him those!

Tunmun

2010-06-17T17:07:00.000+05:30

Tunmun takes after her dad. She is a sleepyhead. Anytime, anywhere - bam! They can sleep. When she is not sleeping, she is feeding. Its amazing that genes show up at such an young age ;-)

Jokes apart, fatherhood for Vibhu is incredibly easy this time around. I had an easy pregnancy. The delivery was normal too and Vibhu was not a bundle of nerves like last time. In fact he was totally chilled. We already had all the baby supplies from Venky's time. So, no running around either. And oh! she's letting us sleep!! Venky was such a horrible sleeper that Vibhu wanted to stick to having a single child. Oh, God! I realize that I am alredy comparing my two kids!!!

Motherhood is a lot easier too. I guess right expectations and experience helps. And like I said, she's letting us sleep (BIG KALA TIKA). Post natal recovery has been great. Vibhu was so impressed with my high spirits that he gave me a surprise gift. A diamond ring!! :-)

Venky is being extremely cooperative. It's great to see his natural affection for his sibling. He comes in an coos "Hi chotu baby", "Hi choti behna" once in a while in the midst of his play and gently strokes her hair and/or kisses her feet (we've told him that small babies can be kissed only on the feet).

The other day, some of our friends came over to see the baby. Their son who is Venky's age, touched Tunmun's cheeks. Venky was quick to tell him - "Don't disturb her, she is sleeping". Big bro keeping bad guys away from little sister!! She'll have a hard time as a teenager :-)

First Reactions

2010-05-28T19:17:00.000+05:30

May 23, 2010. I am in labor. Everyone is in the hospital. Venky is at home with the nanny.

12.18 pm. The little one arrives. Grandpa calls up at home to let Venky know.

Grandpa - "Venky, you have a little sister!"

Venky - "Haila! Now who will play cricket with me!?!"

Venky later asked me when his brother was going to come. Fresh from the memory of labor I folded my hands and asked him to spare me.

The empty nest syndrome

2010-05-21T15:10:00.000+05:30

Although it's a little early for the syndrome to hit us, we had a taste of it last night. We have been asking Venky to sleep with his grandparents for sometime now so that when the new baby arrives, he does not get disturbed at nights. Venky has been resisting it all this while.

After the arrival of his grandparents during this summer vacation, Venky is slowly warming up to the idea (thanks to the treats being promised to him if he does so). For the last one week, Venky has been promising his grandparents that he will sleep with them, but he does a flip flop once its bed time and sleeps with us. Yesterday, he took it one step further and said that he will finish his milk and story telling session with us and then join his grandparents to sleep with them. Well... we had no hopes that he will keep his promise.

So, Venky finished his milk as I read out two books to him and while I was on the third. He promptly snatched the book from my hands and kept it back - "We will finish the story tomorrow. Dadu is waiting for me!"

We were taken aback. One, he never lets a story go unfinished and two, he was actually going over to sleep with Dadu and Dadi. Before we could recover, Venky had already run away to their room. When I got up to switch the lights off, Vibhu said - "Don't lock the door. Venky will return soon." I too, had no doubts that he will.

We waited and waited and waited. No sign of Venky. Vibhu said - "I do not like sleeping without him." I gave him a lecture on being pragmatic and "letting go!", but I was feeling pretty much the same - almost like being betrayed. How could he not come back?!

I wondered if we were going to turn into nagging, possesive, interfering parents once he grows up, who go into depression once their kids leave home (empty nest syndrome). Once again it made me glad that we decided to have another baby. Hopefully, it will take the attention off Venky and give him some breathing space.

An hour later, Vibhu was asleep and I was about to doze off when the bedroom door opened with a bang and Venky walked in. He climbed up onto our bed and snuggled into my arms. What a lovely feeling it was! "Why did you come back Venky?" I asked.
"I did not like it without you.", he replied.

Vibhu woke up too. The way they hugged and cuddled, you'd think they've met after years! :-)
Venky then climbed on to his bed and slept and we slept with a smile too. Today is another day and we will try to convince Venky (and ourselves) to sleep with his grandparents again :-)

The beauty or the beast?

2010-05-04T15:48:00.002+05:30

No points for guessing what Venky prefers.

Vibhu, MIL and I are discussing the possible names for the forthcoming baby. Name options for both the boy and the girl are suggested and rejected. No concensus is being reached. Venky is getting impatient, he wants us to read him a story book.

Vibhu to his mom - "Suggest some names of Durga. SS likes Durga"

Venky - "I like Mahishasur!"

If only he could name his sibling! :)

ETA
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FYI fellow mommy bloggers- Indusladies is coming up with an ebook with a listing of all the mommy blogs on the event of mother's day.

3 years

2010-04-27T13:18:00.002+05:30

And where did they go? Three years ago, at this time I was such an overwhelmed mommy. Two hour feed cycle, nappy changing, the burp sessions -how badly I wanted to run away. But before I could make up my mind on that, you grew up!

And now you little man, you are even helping me around the house. You willingly carry the load for me - to the washing machine, out of the car, up the stairs. Most of the times the load seems a bit much for your size but you do it easily. And your dad tells me "he's a boy!"

Indeed you are! You play only cricket and football. You know when a ball is a spin or bouncer or wide. You know when you get LBW. You have never been even remotely interested in the soft toys. You started riding a cycle before you were one and broke your first cycle when you were 1.25. From then on, we only got you cycles that were made of steel. 3 years have seen 3 cycles. The latest one being a bicycle which you drive easily.

Its so tough to make you sit. Thankfully, you do like being read stories. So, whenever mommy wants to make you sit, she can read you one. Poor dad cannot even do that. Being with dad for you means jumping all over him. Climbing on him and treating him like a horse. God! Seeing you two play makes me tired!

You are amazingly sharing. And that is something that we have not made any effort to teach you. You are ready to share even the tiniest bit of your choclates. Including your favorite ones. I have already blogged about how you are ready to give away your stuff to your expected sibling.

I can go on and on. How you give a logical answer to every question. How you behave responsibly when you understand the gravity of the situation (like someone is hurt). How tolerant you are and that you have never cried while vaccination or while giving blood samples such that even the doctors are amazed. Even in sickness and pain you cooperate in taking treatment and medicines. You excude independence and pretty much bathe, dress and do your potty yourself. You never like assistance and get annoyed when it is forced upon you.

My baby is growing into a big boy way too fast. Before I became a mother I never wanted to have kids. You showed me a whole new beautiful world. The sheer happiness quotient of my life has increased many folds. The moment I meet you, all my stress is gone! Thanks to all your stories and witty answers I have a hearty laugh multiple times a day. Your dad says I've taken a 180 degrees turn. So much so that I changed my mind about having only one kid and now your sibling is all set to arrive!

Happy 3rd Venkoo. Looking forward to many more happy and fun filled times with you. And don't grow up so fast! :-)

Venky the Menace

2010-04-20T14:14:00.002+05:30

Mommy went shopping and bought expensive cosmetics.Once back, she put the shopping bag on the dining table and went into the bedroom to do something. Venky promptly examined its contents and then came smiling and hiding his hands behind his back. Mommy examined Venky's hands which smelt GOOD. Venky proudly said "Let me show you". Mommy panicked. She got visions of her Shehnaz Hussain creme's bottle shattered into pieces. Venky proudly showed how he had spread her hair conditioner all over the floor. The Shehnaz Hussain creme had been attempted to be opened but thankfully they pack it well. Mommy was just glad that her creme has been saved.

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Mommy shouted at Venky for cleaning up his scattered toys. Venky cried (but he cleaned up the mess). Papa felt bad for the "small baby". Papa took Venky in his arms and sweet talked him. Venky pulled Papa's new Reebok T Shirt and blew his nose into it.

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Dadi left her dupatta on the bed while she was having her lunch. Venky finished his lunch and en-route to the washroom spotted the dupatta. He promptly picked it up and flushed it in the loo! Thankfully one corner of the dupatta was visible and it was pulled out, else we would have had a broken bathroom.

An Obvious Answer

2010-03-25T11:56:00.000+05:30

I have to write the conversation in this post in hindi, else it will miss the impact

Hyderabad is getting hotter everyday. With temperatures soaring, we have been taking a quick bath right before bed time to cool ourselves. So, this is the conversation that happened yesterday between Vibhu and Venky

Vibhu - "Venky, nahaoge?"

Venky - "Haan."

Vibhu decides to tease Venky a bit - "Chodo na! Kya karoge naha ke?"

Venky (matter of factly) - "Pochenge."

We laughed for full 10 minutes :)

The Big B

2010-03-17T13:22:00.000+05:30

Venky is already one. In mind that is. He has to wait till June to be Big B for real. Yup guys, there's "good news". Venky will have a sibling come June :)

We started "preparing" Venky as soon as we learnt that I had concieved. Venky took the "news" like, well.... a "news". 'You are going to have another baby. Fine. Big deal !" No, that was not what he said. That is what his attitude was.

Now, Venky has pretty much internalized the fact that he is going to be a big brother. He thinks that my huge tummy is going to burst open like a baloon from my naval and the baby is going to jump out.

Venky - "Mommy. My slippers have become small. You can keep them for the small baby. Buy me a new pair."

He made us buy him a new pair. When we got home, Venky brought a plastic bag, kept his old slippers neatly into it and put it nicely into the shelf that is now designated for the new baby.

Oh, my non-possesive, sharing little rock star is ready to give all his stuff to the new baby. Only, he wants the new replacements! :)

Venky's toy bucket was overflowing. So, one weekend I sat down to sort out the stuff he was not playing with. Venky wanted to know what I was doing with his toys. I told him that I was keeping away the toys he does not play with for the small baby. Venky jumped in to help, and even gave away those toys that he still plays with. I was impressed, but I am still skeptical about his "sharing" attitude once he faces the reality. Lets see...

Me - "Venky what will you teach the small baby?"

Venky - "I willl teach him to brush his/her teeth. To drink milk from sippy cup. To eat on his/her own (Venky still has to do that BTW)..."

Me - "You keep an eye on him/her, okey? When you take him/her to the park, make sure s/he plays safely. If s/he is naughty, schold him/her and let mommy know. Don't let him/her go on the slide (Slide is banned for Venky also). "

Venky - "OK. But I can take him/her on my lap and hold him/her and slide slowly. Then it should be okey. Right?"

I loved the picture of togetherness Venky painted for me. That is exactly why I am having another baby. The answer to Venky question had to be an "Yes." My smartie thereby extracted the premission to get on the slide :)

I get the feeling that Venky will be a responsible, protective big brother. If its a sister for him, I am sure he will irritate her big time with his "protectiveness" during teenage. Good for me as a parent. I can just watch from the sidelines and grin :) Its like my job getting done without me having to do it.

If its a brother, he is sure to get a lot of hand me downs (I am already feeling sorry for the poor guy). I can see a lot of broken stuff in my house. The brats jumping all over the house. Me shouting 24*7 and going insane.

Either ways, I kinda like the feeling of being a mom of TWO :)

Pigs can fly too.

2010-02-23T10:03:00.000+05:30

As kids we used to often play this game called "Chidiya Ud". Essentially, two or more people should have their one finger on the table. One of the players is supposed to call out
"Chidiya Ud" (Bird fly)
"Tota Ud" (Parrot fly)

The other players are supposed to lift their fingers up in air in response. If the caller says something like
"Table Ud" (Table fly) - meaning an object which basically cannot fly, then the other players are not supposed to lift their fingers. If a player ends up lifting his/her finger, then s/he gets out and has to face punishment.

We recently taught this game to Venky. Its a handy game to keep the kids busy if you have to make them sit at a place without any props. One day, Venky and his dad were playing this game. Vibhu was calling out.
"Tota Ud"
"Kabootar Ud"

Venky's finger kept going up in the air.

"Snail Ud"

Venky lifted his finger again.

"Out, out! Venky is out. You lifted your finger. Snail does not fly." Shouted Vibhu.

Venky thought for a while. He then looked at me and asked.

"Mommy. Can the snail not fly if it goes on the aeroplane?"

I arbitrated and Venky stayed on in the game. How could I beat that logic? :-)

Perspective

2010-02-17T10:15:00.000+05:30

I've introduced Venky to alphabets. Although his pre school which follows montessory style does not recommend it, I thought it was time. We are going to put him into a regular school starting June. Since Venky got admitted in PP1, I am worried that he should be at par with the rest of the class. So, I have started with standing line, sleeping line and simple letters like T, O, H etc.

Through Venky, I am learning that ability to read and write opens a whole new world to you. A world which was there right in front of you and you did not know that it existed. Its a complete new found power. A couple of days after we introduced Venky to the basic letters, we were driving on the road. Suddenly, Venky started shouting "T, T, T Mommmy TEeeee" with so much of excitement. I realized that he had identified the letter 'T' on a hoarding. He had suddenly discovered the meaning of something he had been seeing everyday.

From then on, everytime we are on road, we are identifying T, O, H, L, Q and the matrix is expanding. The excitement in Venky's voice when he spots a letter is palpable. And we cannot help being proud parents.

The other day, Vibhu bought a cricket set for Venky (he believes that if Venky starts early, he can be the future Sachin T). Before teaching Venky the game itself, Vibhu decided to teach Venky the terminologies of the game.
"This is called a bat"
"This is the ball"
The Vibhu pointed to the stumps and said
"Do you know what is this?"

"Yes, Standing line. One, two, three standing lines!"

Venky then pointed to the bails and continued

"And this is a sleeping line!"

Heh. heh. Vibhu had his head in his hands but I was grinning ear to ear!

Reprimand of the day

2010-02-08T15:22:00.000+05:30

My FIL calls up to talk with Venky. After having done his conversation with his grandpa, Venky hands over the phone to me. I talk to him addressing him as "Papa". After I hang up, Venky comes to me with a lifted finger and a stern expression on his face.

"You call Papa 'Jaaneman', you call Dadu 'Papa', what's wrong with you? You should call Papa as 'Papa', Dadu as 'Dadu' and Dadi as 'Dadi' ! "

Yesss Sir. Point taken!

Its a battleground

2010-01-19T15:58:00.000+05:30

The game is on. Vibhu and me on one side and Venky on the other. And more often than not, the ball is in our court. After being duped and tricked, now we are being manipulated. Till now we have been able to save ourselves from the devil's traps (or so we think) but the day is not far when we helpless souls will be taken for a many rides.

You guys think I am panicking unnecessarily? And that my son is just a 2.5 year old innocent little kid? Well, listen to this story then... (you asked for it ;-)! )

Venky has to recite "Papa Chalisa" before he can get any favors from Vibhu. Now what is "Papa Chalisa"? Lets say Venky wants a chocolate.

Venky - "Mommy, I want a chocolate."
Mommy - "Only one chocolate a day. You have had one today already!"

Venky knows now that Papa is his only hope

Venky - "Papa. I want one chocolate."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that."
Venky - "Papa, you are so nice. You love me so much. You make me cozy and put me to sleep. You take me in your arms and feed me milk. You let me splash-splash water and bathe me. You take me out in the car. You also give me chocolates. I love youuuu papaaaaa."

This is followed by a hug and Venky gets a chocolate. Poor mom can only glare at the dad.

So, the other day we were planning to go out somewhere.

Venky - "Papa, I want to go out too."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that?"
Venky - "Papa you are so nice. You love me so much. You put me on the fornt seat of the car and take me out ....."

Like all the kids in the world, Venky is never allowed on the front seat. He is always belted in the rear seat. And like all the kids in the world he want to sit in the front of the car. Vibhu and I could only look at each other and shake our heads! Needless to say "Papa Chalisa" was followed by a tantrum to sit on the front seat.

Now what do you guys have to say? Little kid, eh? Should I run away before its too late?

And Venky got admitted to big school

2010-01-13T13:31:00.000+05:30

We did not have too many choices. Our priority list looked like this
1. Chirec - Close by. Recommended by most. Has goot student - teacher ratio for small kids. Focus on acadamics for big kids. Starts taking exams from class 6
2. DPS - One of the traditional schools. Focuses a lot on academics. Starts taking exams from class 1
3. Oakridge International - Hi funda school. Focuses on "all round development." Doesn't have too much data on academics. Mostly good for small kids due to high teacher/child ratio. Good for kids who want to do higher studies abroad. For higher studies in India - not sure. Fees almost twice as much as the previous two schools.

Chirec was the first to give out admission forms and call for "observation." We were more nervous than we had been during our own 10th board exams. Once there, we met 4 other couples from the same office that Vibhu and I work in. All applying for nursary. Given that school had clearly said that they were looking for "diversity" - we were among the least diverse of the lot. Venky made himself comfortable but he refused to make any conversation with the teachers there and simply ignored all their questions. Our interview did not go very well too. They only asked "So, both of you work. Who takes care of him.?"

I find that question so irritating that the irritation must've shown on my face. Well, you know, I obviously do not leave him on streets and go to work. I just can't stand people who like to question parent's commitment to their kids. "Oh poor child, how does his stay without parents!". Excuse Me!!!! How dare you judge my parenting skills. I obviously have an arrangement that I and my child is satisfied with. How dare you suggest that I don't love and care for my child enough!

So that was the interview with Chirec.

And then we got to know that DPS planned to close its nursary and PP sections and begin schooling only from class 1 as they don't have enough infrastructure. There goes our 2nd backup!

Next was Oakridge's "observation" day. Venky was in a good mood since morning. The waterfall outside the school's campus helped. Oakridge's had put some tri-cycles in their field next to the observation room for the kids to play with till they awaited their turn. So, by the time Venky went into the observation room he was in a great mood. He talked to the teacher. Identified all colors, animals and vegetables she asked him to. Put the beads in a string and had a discussion about "bournvita" health drink (which he has never tasted BTW). All in all, the observation routine went very well. The headmistress offered to take him in PP1 due to his rock-star performance and he was just within their age bar of 3 yrs for PP1 (for Chirec it is 3.5).

So, while we are still waiting for Chirec to respond back (interview happened more than a month ago), Oakridge's deadline came and we shelled out more money for Venky's PP1 admissions than what was required for our (mine and Vibhu's) entire education put together.

Venky is going to Oakridge starting this June. The bright side - he gained an year. Not so bright side - we are not sure about their focus on academics for older kids. We do want him to go to a good college in India and not abroad. Hmm.. so for now, we'll let him be there and take a call on changing the school when he gets older.

Thus begins Venky's 15 years of schooling.

The first in the series

2009-12-14T10:51:00.000+05:30

On the fore head. Right below the hairline. About 2 cm long.

Venky chose perfect timing. It was a birght, sunny Saturday morning. Vibhu left for his cousin's marriage in Jaipur. Venky and I had our breakfast and Venky played around with his football as I sipped my coffee. Our driver returned after dropping Vibhu to the airport and I decided to dismiss him for the day as I did not have any plans to go out. I was looking forward to a lazy Saturday with the TV remote all to myself :-).

I called up the bride to wish her on the wedding day. The moment I heard "Hello" from the other end I heard Venky give a loud wail from outside. I rushed out and saw his hand covered in blood. Then I saw further and saw his head covered in blood. The blood was running down in a stream down his ear. I panicked. I called out to my maid to get some ice. Then I asked her to find some cotton. Both of us could not remember where it was. My Tshirt and pyjamas were already covered in Venky's blood. I started getting desparate, I had heard somewhere that if the child loses a lot of blood he may go into to coma ( Probably it was the bollywood movie "Bhoothnath". I don't know if the information imparted in the movie was correct, but that is all I could remember at that point of time)

Our next door neighbours who saw everything from across the wall, came down running with the cotton ( Thank God, I live in India!). Once I pressed cotton on Venky's forehead, the blood stopped in sometime. I also saw a deep long cut. Venky had tripped while playing and hit his head on an edge. Our neighbors adviced me to see a doctor. Now that the blood had stopped I regained my composture. Venky had stooped crying too.

Our neighbors are a big joint Telugu family and one of the DILs (Shobha - Thank you so much), took out her car and offered me to drive to the nearest Apollo clinic. While on the way, I called up my driver and asked him to come back and bring the car to the clinic.

At the clinic, the doctor did the first aid and advised me to visit the main hospital as the cut would probably need stiching and it required an expert. Meanwhile my driver had arrived with car. I thanked Shobha for her help and proceeded to the main Apollo hospital.

I was more calm and could think better now. I remembered that one of my bachelor cousins lived close by. I called him and picked him up on way to help me out at the hospital (Thank God again that I live in India!). We went straight to the emergency section at the hospital where they saw the wound and called their plastic surgeon for an opinion.

We waited and waited for the next 2 hours. Venky started coming back to spirits and started demanding a "banana". The doctors had advised us not to feed him anything as he would be administered anesthesia for the stiches and he had to be empty stomach for that.

My cousin did all the running around to get the hospital formalities processed while I stayed with Venky. Venky cooperated will all the medical procedures (Oh! my rock star!) and was back to his chirpy self. Finally, finally the doctor arrived. One look at the cut and he says - "Oh! its close to the hairline, we'll just glue it up."

He then gave me further explanation - "The scar will be covered by the hair. To stitch, we'll have to administer general anesthesia to such a little boy. Its not worth it. He'll have a masculine scar to show off, its all right! :-)"

I was sooo relieved. All this talk of taking him to OT and anesthesia was really making me nervous. I quickly agreed. My cousin got the glue. The doctor applied it and we were done!

On the way back Venky (and the two of us) had his banana. We came home, had a huge lunch, after which my cousin left. Both Venky and I crashed soon after that slept for 3 hours.

In the evening Venky was back to his normal self. Back in spirits, back in energy. Everytime, I asked him if the cut was paining, he replied with a big "NO".

So, that was the story of how Venky got his first scar. I have 3 such scars (knee, elbow, other side of palm) and I have broken my shoulder twice. Vibhu does not have any. Probably that is why Venky to chose to fall when his dad wasn't around. Sigh! It all comes back to you in this life and for once, I am desparately wishing that Venky does not take after me.

Its tough to match up

2009-12-10T12:47:00.001+05:30

to the next generation. Only 2 years into the world and Venky is already teaching me that. And he is making me feel really dumb. Alright Mr. Darwin. You win. Evolution wins. GenX is smarter. Almost always.

We went grocery shopping with Venky. One of those Relaince fresh kind of stores. You know how they are. Hardly any spces between the aisles. Lots of people. Overflowing stock of goods.

Venky decided he was not going to behave himself. And while we were standing in long long queue waiting to check out, he kept picking up stuff and pushing stuff off the shelves. Finally Vibhu had to take him out and I had to wait alone to pay up.

Next stop was the Fruit/Veggie shop. We decided to teach Venky a lesson. So, only Vibhu got off the car while Venky and I stayed inside. Venky was told he cannot go to the shop as he does not behave himself. Now, Venky does not like not being taken to the shops so he cried. Softly and loudly. Pleaded I'll-behave-myself-I-promise.

Once Venky realised that there was no go, he sat quietly. I felt quite sorry for him as he watched his dad pick up the veggies from a distance with longing. However, I was determined to finish the punishment. Moments passed. Vibhu was in the check out queue now.

Venky - "I want to pee"

I - "After a while. Let papa come."

Venky - "I want to pee now."

I - "Can you not hold on for sometime?"

Venky did not answer and I thought it was not urgent enough and decided to ignore his request. But after 2 minutes he made the request to pee again. This time around I felt it was urgent.

I went in and took Vibhu's place in the check out queue and sent him to help Venky. Soon, they were back in the shop. Venky jumped around excitedly and Vibhu reported that Venky hardly pee-ed a few drops. Threre was no urgency and we had been fooled into taking him out of the car. Venky made a request that he knew would not be denied.

I am dreading teenage already.

Our 911

2009-11-26T09:24:00.002+05:30

The area around Venky's school is a mess. The drains are being laid and the road is under repair. Everyday we have to discover a new bylane to reach there. A few days ago, when Vibhu was driving to pick Venky up from the school, he tried to be adventurous and lo! his car was stuck in loose gravel that was laid down for the road repair. The more Vibhu accelerated the car, the more the wheels sank into the gravel. Soon, it was clear that there was no easy way to get the car out. Classic case of "stuck - in - nowhere - call - 911".

Only in India there's no "nowhere". Even before Vibhu could get out of the car, there were 20 odd people around him. Giving suggestions, pushing the car, digging the wheels out the gravel, some even brought tools to help push the car out. After 45 minutes of everybody's effort, the car was on its way. Most of the people vanished as soon as the car was out and even before Vibhu could thank them. Others just happily accepted whatever little money Vibhu offered them. Venky, Vibhu and the car reached home safe and sound.

We live in a country of 1 billion people. Our people are our 911.

P.S - Venky loved all the commotion and was super excited. He's desparately waiting for the car to get stuck again.

Leading Questions

2009-11-12T17:12:00.001+05:30

We usually drop Venky to his pre school on our way to office. One of us picks him up at 12.00 pm and drops him back home. His nanny takes care of him till we come back from office. When I/Vibhu are dropping Venky back, he is keen on keeping that parent with him at home. We usually tell him that the other parent is in office and needs to be picked up. This convinces him and he lets us go without a fuss.

One day, only Vibhu dropped Venky to school and I went a little late to office by the other car. Vibhu was the one who picked him up too. This is how the conversation went

Venky - "Has mommy gone to the office?"
Vibhu - "Yes"
Venky - "How did she go to the office?" (Since I did not accompany them in the morning)
Vibhu - "I came back and picked her up." (Vibhu had sensed the purpose behind this question)

Venky switches to other topics and they arrive home. Venky notices that the other car is not there.
Venky - "Where is the other car?"
Vibhu (in his gullible self) - "Mommy has taken it to the office."
Venky - "So she can come back herself!!! You can stay with me!!! :) "

We get a lot of such questions now - which have "purpose" behind them. Its becoming more and more difficult to bluff him and we are becoming easy targets :(

Bihari Babu, English Mem

2009-10-13T15:58:00.000+05:30

Venky and our little next door neighbor Keya, meet after a long time (first Keya went on a long vacation to USA and then we did to Ranchi). They jump around excitedly visibly happy to see each other. I try to make conversation with Keya and ask her "Where's your Baba Keya?"
Keya chooses to answer to Venky. She goes to him and says in a very accented English - "My Baba has gone to U.S". (Oh, I wish I could let you hear the accent. It was so cute!!).
My son, amused at her new found language skills laughs out loud and replies - "Humka Papa office gayen hain!"

Sigh. The way those two sentences were spoken was a delight to hear. The post misses the impact. :(

Back

2009-10-07T15:30:00.000+05:30

And the two weeks flew by. Came back to office with a pile of workload and a bad habit of napping in the afternoon. I am sitting in the office craving for a bed right now.

I had really forgotten what a big festival Durga puja is in Bihar. With "pandals" at every half a kilometer, conitunous bhajans on loudspeakers, decorative lights on virtually all streets and food stalls on side walks, 80%+20% discounts and crowd, crowd, crowd everywhere. Its been over a decade since I witnessed such festivity and how I loved it! I also took Rikshaw rides after ages. And the best thing about visiting sasuraal is that hubby and I can sneak out shopping and visiting relatives, leaving Venky with his grandparents. Heh heh.

Venky knows the story of Durgaji and Mahishasur now and listens to it during every meal. Sometimes we have to play act with either me or his dad playing the Mahishasur, the other playing Durgaji and Venky playing Durgaji's Lion.

Venky made friends with all the new faces, learnt to do "pranam" as against "hi" and returned with lots of new clothes. We were worried that he will refuse to go to the school after such a long vacation, but my smart kid happily waved goodbye.

I better get back to work now. How have you guys been?

An obidient kid

2009-09-17T11:02:00.001+05:30

is the one who stops bouncing the ball off the neighbor's car when told "Uncle gussa karenge".
A smart kid is the one who then walks off to his mom's car and starts bouncing the ball off it.

That's a 2.5 year old outsmarting me. Folks, this blog is on a 2 week break as we are on vacation. But before I leave, I have to complete this tag by Trish. You know what, this is the first time someone has really tagged me and am so excited about doing it. Here I go ...

The first alphabet of my son's name is 'V' - God! this is going to be a tough one

1. What is your(child’s) name: Venkatesh
2. A four Letter Word: Very (this is all I could think of)
3. A boy’s Name: Varun
4. A girl’s Name: Vishakha
5. An occupation: Vet (as in the doc for animals)
6. A color: Violet
7. Something you wear: Vest
8. A food: Veg Noodles (or any thing veg :p)
9. Something found in the bathroom: Vivel soap. (Really can't think of a common noun)
10. A place: Venice. I've taken THE romantic canal ride there. Long before Venky was born
11. A reason for being late: Very sick :p
12. Something you shout: VENKYYYYYYY STOP.
13. A movie title: Vaastav (this was some stupid Sanjay Dutt movie)
14. Something you drink: Vodka (I don't drink it though).
15. A musical group: Viva. I think these girls had won the Channel V competition and formed a rock band for some time
16. An animal: Vulture. Okey, that's a bird but belongs to the animal kingdom.
17. A Street name: Visp (I think its one of streets in switzerland Valais region)
18. A type of car: Volvo . Okey that's a bus. But its really getting tough to think stuff starting with V
19. A song title: Vada raha sanam ....
20. A verb: Vent

Phew. This was not easy.

I'll tag Bubble's Mom. Anybody else who wants to do it?

Quote Unquote

2009-09-06T20:27:00.002+05:30

I am pretending to cry while playing with Venky. Venky hugs me and says
"Mommy mat ro. Main hoon na!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venky is jumping on Vibhu's belly.
Vibhu - "SSsss. Bachaooooo."

Venky keeps jumping
Vibhu - "Ssssss. Pleeease stop him. I am going to break into two."

Venky continues.
Vibhu - "Sssss. Tumko ek pati chahiye ya do?"
Venky - "Mujhe Gan-pati chahiye!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venky is upset with Vibhu and is shouting at him
Venky - "Tumko bahar bhi jaane nahi milega. Park bhi jaane nahi milega. Sand mein khelne bhi nahi milega. Mommy se pyar bhi karne nahi milega!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I - "Venky, I am going to get ready. You wait here."
Venky - "Lipstick lagane ja rahi ho?"

School school

2009-08-21T14:20:00.005+05:30

As a kid I envied all the adults. They did not get homeworks. Their work was over as soon as they left office. While we, the kids had to spend the evenings and most of the weekend doing homeworks.

But the ordeal is far from over.

This is what Venky's diary read on Friday, 14th of Aug

" 15th August is our independence day and we have been trying to teach its significance to Venkatesh. Please make sure you show him the flag hoisting and the independence day parade to Venkatesh and send us 3 pictures of him pariticipating in the independence day clelebrations. We will use the pictures for a show and tell session with all the children. Please make sure that the pictures reach us by Monday."

"What the ...... DAMN!" These were exactly my thoughts when I read the note. This was a rather difficult assignment.

First, 15th Aug was a Saturday. That's supposed to be my wake-up-when-I-feel-like day. Since most of the flag hoistings happen by 8 am, that means not only I have to wake up early, I have to wake up EARLIER that I do on weekdays. Isn't it torture to make my sleep deprived self do that?

Second, show him the parade!!!! Where ? WHERE? TV is banned by the school (Yes, we watch TV only when Venky is sleeping). There are no parade's happening anywhere within the 10 km radius of my house. So, exactly where?

Third, the pics have to be sent on monday. Helloooo??? Saturday was 15th Aug so most of the shops would be closed. And sunday being sunday, most of the shops would be closed. So how do we get the prints in time?

Shucks! My worst school teacher was more considerate than this.

We toyed with the idea of NOT doing the homework. Then gave it up. I wouldn't be able to stand you-didn't-do-the-homework looks and polite inquiries from Venky's teacher and more importantly, we couldn't have let Venky feel left out in the show and tell session they were having.

So we woke up early on the Saturday, found an intitution where flag hoisting and parade was being done. Tooks digital pics. Seleted the best 3. Then ran around for rest 1.5 days to find an open studio which would do the digital printing. By Sunday evening, we had our copies and Venky took them proudly to the school on Monday.

The pics came out rather well. Here's one for you to see

Okey, I admit I am showing off. But the homework was hard work.

Its a GUY thing

2009-08-11T09:53:00.008+05:30

Moms teach their sons how to brush their teeth
Moms teach their sons how to put on their shoes
Moms teach their sons to put away the toys after the play is done
Moms teach their sons A,B,C,D and 1, 2, 3, 4 ....

You obviously got who's the mom here.

Dads teach their sons how to pee without touching ANYTHING (yup, including the organ involved) in the loo and to hold your body in a strange convex position such that the stream still falls where it is supposed to.

Yes, you read it right.

Venky demonstrated it first and then declared "Papa has taught me!" with a proud smile.

And while I was wondering in shock ..."But WHY???" Venky made another declaration - "I won't need to wash my hands now."

It IS a guy thing.

ETA - Vibhu could not understand what was funny about this. He went on to say "Only women can find this amusing ...". IT IS A GUYS THING

What does it take to love ...

2009-08-03T14:07:00.004+05:30

We have often heard about "Ma ki mamta" - A mother's love is unquestioned and unchallenged in our society. It is supposed to be the epitome of affection. But now I find myself questioning it. Again. Every time I challenge Venky, he proves he loves me more than I can ever love him. He always puts me before himself. And he did it yet again.

Last Saturday, Vibhu had to pick up something from the office. He decided to take Venky along as he loves going to our office and running around the water fountain there. Once Venky was informed that he was being taken to the office, he got really excited. He hurried up with his bath and finished his breakfast quickly. He jumped around the whole house waiting excitedly for his dad.

Just as they were ready to leave, I decided to pull Venky's leg. Venky always cries when we leave for office. That day, I was being left behind, so I did a Venky. I held him and asked him not to leave me and go. Venky said - "We'll go and come back very quickly mommy." This switch of roles had become interesting. I persisted - "Please Venky.. don't go". Venky did all the hugging and kissing he could do and kept assuring me that he'll come back soon.

Finally his dad called him to go. As Venky took unsure steps toward the car, I pretended to cry. Venky looked at his dad for help - "Mommy is crying."

Dad asked - "So, what should we do now?"

After a pause Venky said - "I'll not go."

Dad - "Should I go alone?"

Venky - "Yes. Come back quickly."

I cannot imagine the amount of self restraint it would have taken him to say that. A 2 yr old gave up something he wanted to do so much because I was crying. I felt so humbled and was ready to cry for real now. But I smiled and said it was okey for him to go.

Venky ran off happily with is dad and had a blast in the office, but as soon as Vibhu reminded him that I was alone at home waiting for him, he was ready to return. And ofcourse he did not forget to check on me once he was back home. :)

My son, if you retain half the will power you have right now, you'll grow up to be a fine man.

Supermom - Who, me?

2009-07-20T13:03:00.006+05:30

Well, I definately felt like one.

Vibhu was abroad for two weeks and for once, I had Venky all by myself. No parents, no ILs. Venky had been going to the pre schools for 2 weeks and was not fully settled.

Needless to say, life was on the run. This was my schedule
6.30 am - Wake up. Get ready. You have exactly 30 minutes to yourself
7.00 am - Gently start waking Venky up. DON'T get him in a fowl mood.
8.00 am - Brush and bath done (hopefully). Start his breakfast session (depending on his mood, this can take from 15 mins to 1 hour)
8.45 am - Start for school (dump the unfinished breakfast)
9.00 am - Drop Venky at the school and proceed for office

11.15 am - Drop what you are doing in office and start for Venky's school.
11.30 am - Pick up Venky. He wants to go home by auto rickshaw, but I have a car. Pacify him for 5-1o mins to get into the car.
11.xx am - Reach home. Venky doesn't want to go home now. Spend another 5-10 mins to take him out of the car. Then try to leave for office while he clings to me and the maid tries to pacify him.

5 pm - Hit the Gym! Yes, I didn't drop it! Am so proud of my self. :)
6 pm - At home. Take Venky to the park. Play football with him (he has an amazing kick for his age, I think I should relocate to europe so that he can build a career out of it)
8 pm - Start the dinner session. Can take upto 1 hour again.
9 pm - On bed. Story telling .. and dozing off around 10 pm

Vibhu is now back and is thoroughly impressed with me. So are his parents. It definately feels like an achievement and I soo want to congratulate myself. But then I read Sarikh's posts and well.... the halo vanishes. After all, I have just one kid AND a domestic help.

Sigh! I have a long way to go! :(

The moment of truth

2009-07-13T10:04:00.006+05:30

Venky and I are putting away the Lego pieces back in its box. Once its done, I pick up the box to keep it at its designated place. Venky shows concern

Venky - "Bhaari hai kya?" (Is it heavy?)

I - "Yes"

Venky - "Mommy nahi utha pa rahi hai?" (Mom is not able to lift it up?)

I (a little amused) - "Yes"

Venky - "Mommy buddhi ho gayi hai?" (Mom has grown old?)

I - "!#$%^&"

Sigh!

ETA - I was wondering how a 2 yr old managed to make that deduction. Apparently, his grandmom has taught him this logic. :)

My first tag (a stolen one)

2009-07-02T13:17:00.004+05:30

Nobody tagged me, I picked this up from PS cause I really wanted to do this tag. Sigh! I am an obsessed mother after all. So, here are 5 reasons why I love being a mom

1. When I come back from work, Venky is so excited to see me. He runs to me and hugs me tight. I don't think I can remember anybody else being so happy to see me ever. With Venky, it is everyday!

2. Motherhood has made me an emotional and sensitive person. People who know me from my "young" days remember me as an unemotional, pragmatic, self centered person. I have cried more number of times after becoming a mother than I did ever before.

3. Life is never boring now. There is always something to do, to take care of. With Venky around we are never short on laughs - he keeps doing / saying these adorable, cute, funny things all the time

4.On weekends, Venky wakes up first. I get to open my eyes to his soft sound and smiling face. He crawls into my arms and blissfully sucks his thumb for sometime. Oh, I love lazing on a weekend morning with a cuddly baby. It just makes the whole weekend perfect

5. I have made a new circle of friends. I was (am) such an introvert and asocial person. I really find it hard to make conversations to unknown people. With Venky's arrival, my social circle has exploded. Now I easily talk to other parents and get invited to their kids' birthdays.

Damn! 5 points are over already. But you know, I could go on and on and on.... :)

Pre school - Day 1

2009-06-23T11:36:00.007+05:30

I was nervous like hell. It was like going for a maths exam (Okey, not maths because I was good at it, but lets say... sanskrit exam or whichever subject you feared the most).

Challenge # 1 - Getting Venky (and ourselves) ready on time. I had to make sure that we get up at 7am to ensure that Venky reaches school by 9 am. That is quite a bit of an effort for one who not seen the 7 am sky for lets say.. a decade? Needless to say, I slept badly because of the tension. And woke up at 6 am. Tossed and turned till 7 am and then finally got up.

While I got ready, Vibhu handled waking up Venky. Venky wanted to sleep more and was terribly upset with Vibhu for forcing him out of the bed. His dada, dadi came to the rescue. By the time I dressed up he was in a good mood ( he was told that he will go to "school" and that excited him - isn't that a blessing!). So brush, shower and breakfast later (which went fairly smoothly and on schedule), the whole family was ready by 8.30 to take him to the school. Yeah, 4 adults (Vibhu, MIL, FIL & me) were to drop him to the school. I remember getting such a grand see off when I first went to the US. From the next time on, I called the cab. Sorry, I am digressing. So, we ALL got ready and left for Venky's school well in time.

Challenge # 2 - Waving goodbye. No matter how much we prepare Venky for our departure to the office, he always does a flip flop at the last moment. Although Venky's grandparents were to accompany him, I was wary about his reaction on seeing us leave. I tried to prep him by talking to him about it on our way to his school.. and lo, we were there! Venky hopped off excited (his 3 pre school visits had made him somewhat comfortable with its enviornment), and headed straight for the "jhoola". Dada, dadi followed him. We called him and waved bye. Yeah, today's child psychology - "inform" the child of your departure. I guess this days parents are the one who are made to follow the rules! I almost thought Venky'll will come back running and crying. But lo and behold, he waved goodbye. Traitor! Girgit! Dal Badloo! "Jaldi aana", he said. Hmmm.. okey, that'll unbreak my heart.

Challenge # 3 - Stay in school for 1.5 hours. Now, we were in office and Venky was in the school along with his grandparents. Grandparents were supposed to stay out of sight as long as possible and the teacher was supposed to handle him. At 9.15 am Vibhu pinged me on IM.

V [9:15 AM]:
my phone is in the car
call papa once

SS [9:15 AM]:
:)
arre rahne do na
itni jaldi kyon call karna hai?

V [9:16 AM]:
to find out if they are watching him on CCTV

SS[9:16 AM]:
we'll call at 10.30

tum toh Venky se jayada pareshan ho

its ok. Let them be
we'll call at 10.30 and then find out

V [9:16 AM]:

:(
ok

Dads these days I tell you! They've started behaving like mothers. And they've confused the moms which way to behave! So, I got back to work and then I got another IM at 10.38 am

V [10:38 AM]:
did you check?

SS [10:38 AM]:
what?

V [10:38 AM]:

on Venky?

I called my FIL now and found out how Venky behaved. Ofcourse I reported it back to Vibhu immideately. I wanted him to concentrate on work and not get fired during this recession. So,

this is how it went...

SS [10:45 AM]:
it went off very well
other kids were crying
he was not

V [10:46 AM]:
good

SS [10:46 AM]:
mostly he was on his own
he asked for his tiffin and ate

V [10:46 AM]:
they did not call papa(my FIL)?

SS [10:46 AM]:
all parents were just around
so they (my parents in law) were sitting in the office
but Venky came to them only once
and then kept himself busy
thoda classroom ke andar
and thoda bahar

V[10:47 AM]:
cool

SS [10:47 AM]:
some kids were just not leaving their parents

V [10:47 AM]:
hmmm

SS [10:48 AM]:
I talked to him (Venky)
he said ki maza aaya
and he is ready to go tomorrow again
so far so good :)

V [10:48 AM]:
awesome

SS [10:49 AM]:
I told you ki my son is a rock star :)

V [10:49 AM]:
hee hee

SS [10:49 AM]:
but you are one worried parent :p

V [10:49 AM]:
ok ok :p
bye

SS[10:49 AM]:
chalo bye obsessed daddy
think about work now :p

Hence proved - Venky is a rock star, Vibhu is an obessed dad and I am a happy mom!

Rules are for everyone

2009-06-18T13:52:00.008+05:30

Venky is jumping on the dining table

I - "Venky, neeche utro! Gir jaoge." (Venky, climb down! You'll fall)

Venky keeps jumping

Vibhu - "Venky, gir jaoge beta" (Venky, you'll fall son)

Venky gets more excited and keeps jumping

FIL - " Venky is a bad boy. Gir jaoge, neeche utro"

MIL says something too (to the same effect). Venky ignores everyone, gets excited at the attention and keeps jumping. Finally, after several threats, reprimands and requests we have to force him down from the dining table.

Venky gets upset with us for spoiling his fun and sits in my lap sucking his thumb.

I - "Vibhu, please put the blinds down."

These blinds are accessible only from the dining table. So, Vibhu climbs the table to pull the blinds down.

Venky - "Papaaaaaa. NEECHE UTRO. GIR JAAOGE."

:D :D :D

Lately, we've had quite a few of those coming our way!

From a material mom's heart

2009-06-17T13:28:00.007+05:30

The 3 week vacation in Switzerland did wonders. It was truly a bonding time - for Venky, us, and his dada, dadi. We have surely returned as a much happier family. It taught us that love and nuturing can really do wonders to a child. Venky had become such a good kid! No fuss over food. Taking all instructions. Listening to us and giving us his little hugs and kisses. He sat through the 8 hour flight without any tantrums. Everybody, from flight attendants to co passengers were all praises for him. I was such a proud mom :)

And a very guilty one too. Just being in our constant company made him behave so well. Just before we left for vacation he was so difficult with food and such a stubborn kid. I have to believe that the change in his behaviour was due to all the love and attention he was getting from us and his grandparents. We are now back in office and soon his grandparents will leave too :-( I wonder if that will change his personality in a negetive direction again. The mom in me wants to quit her job and stay home with him ... the woman in me does not. So, the quintessential conflict continues ....

Venky starts his pre school now. 9 am - 12 pm. With that and the afternoon nap, I believe (or should I say, I want to believe) that he will not spend too much time at home without us. I desparately want Venky to enjoy his school. That will take some guilt off me. But if he regresses, I guess I should be ready to make some hard decisions.

Venky has grown up (?)

2009-05-06T14:54:00.003+05:30

Now a days we like to prepare Venky a little for our impending departure to office. Soon after he wakes up, we tell him that we have to go to the office. He ususally says "No, Please don't go.." and we have to keep pacifying him till we leave. However, this ensures that he knows that we have gone to the office and will come back in the evening.

Today morning it took an interesting turn (As narrated by Vibhu)

When Vibhu told Venky that we have to go to office today, Venky said that he wants to come to the office too. To which Vibhu said "Venky will go to office when he grows up". After some more discussion on that, the conversation ended.

After a while, Venky said that he wants to pee. Venky is undergoing potty training so Vibhu told him to go to the bathroom and pee. Venky said that he wants to pee in his diapers. Vibhu replied "You have grown up now, go to the bathroom and pee". Venky was ready with the retort - "Venky is a big boy, he'll go the office!" and he happily ran to the bathroom without waiting a second. :)

10 Seconds of paradise

2009-04-28T12:16:00.004+05:30

It lasted only 10 seconds, but it will easily classify as the most wonderful moment of my life. Vibhu had taken off since he was not too well and stayed home with Venky. I came home at little later than usual and was informed by the nanny that both father and son were oversleeping their afternoon nap. I tried to quitely tiptoe into their room, but Venky woke up. He took a huge 'angdayee', flashed his widest smile and threw his arms wide open. As I went into his little arms, he kissed me and said "I love you". Such a dream come true! Now I know why everyone has kids! I just wanted to hold him and stay like that, but Venky was soon restless and wriggled out of my hold.

I was smiling all through the evening. Vibhu was having a tough time handling his envy. "This is not fair", he kept saying, "I was the one who stayed home with him".

As goes the old adage... Everything is fair in love and war :)

Bihar Calls

2009-04-19T22:12:00.005+05:30

We recently visited Didi in Delhi. That was quite a bit of culture change for Venky. For one, eveybody could understand what he speaks (his prime language of communication is Hindi). Plus a whole bunch of cousin sisters doted on him and gave him so much of attention. Venky was totally loving it. Till his sisters decided to take him to the apartment's park.

Venky found a slide and captured it. After a few minutes of play on the slide, he had company. Another kid who was twice his size and age and twice as fast joined him. Even before Venky could complete one trip, he finished two trips for the slide. Venky's ego was hurt and he decided that he could definately not let him do a 3rd round before him.

So, he pushed him (before we could react) and said "Mujhe jana hai!". The kid's nanny held him back and let Venky complete his round. But now, Venky was not ready to relent at all. He just wouldn't let that kid use the slide and was constantly trying to push him. After a while, the older kid stopped pretending to be mature and pushed him back.

That was quite a fall, and we thought that Venky will be wailing. But even before we picked him up, Venky was on his feet and pushed the older kid again. All this, without a frown on his face. Now, all the elders intervened and separated the kids. The older kid's nanny took him to another swing which he got interested into and we took Venky to the nearby temple.

Well, Vibhu was proud of his son's bravery (the fact that he took on an older kid and wasn't scared of him) and couldn't help hiding his joy. He was thrilled at the fact that his son was a true blue "Bihari" and not a "Murgi". I have to confess that I was grinning too :D

The Pampered Parent

2009-03-16T13:26:00.005+05:30

Yesterday, as we were preparing for bed, I slipped and fell. I had a laptop in one hand. So, intinctively I tried to save it, so I landed flat on my back. While I was gathering my senses, Vibhu shouted and asked if I was alright. Venky, who was playing nearby, also ran to me. I lay still for sometime to figure out if I was hurt and decided that everything was ok.

By the time I sat up, Venky had pulled a long face and was about to cry. He immideately pulled me into a tight hug. He looked very upset and on the verge of tears. I had to reassure him for a long time that I was fine. He just clung to me all the while.

Later in the bed, Venky put the pillow on his lap and asked me to sleep there. He then stroked my hair and cheeks as if patting me to sleep. He had noticed Vibhu checking my back to see if I was bruised. Venky checked my back too as asked "yahan pe chot laga (are you hurt here) ?". When I said "yes", he rubbed it and blew on it. Then he insisted on giving me gripe water and made me have some :D

Needless to say, I was enjoying all the attention. I have to confess that I pretended to be more hurt and bruised than I was (actually I was not hurt at all). After giving me the gripe water, Venky asked "theek ho gaya (is it alright now)?". I answered in affirmative but I guess Venky was not too convinced. To pep me up he said "Tum sundar ladki ho (you are beautiful), I love you." Whoever taught him that!!! Venky is still 1 month away from being 2 and most of the kids are not even able to frame sentences by this age. Such lovely sentences coming from him! I was ecstatic.

Venky followed it up by telling me the stories that I tell him in broken sentences. In fact I fell asleep before he did. Yesterday, I was a thoroughly pampered parent. I wouldn't mind a few such falls every now and then! :-)

Lessons in Love

2009-03-12T11:18:00.008+05:30

This incident happened almost a month ago. It keeps coming back to me and I think I'll always remember it. Nevertheless, I still want to jot it down.

At 11 pm , we are the most sleepy and Venky is the most playful. Probably because that is his most exclusive time with us and we are shower him with all our attention to get him to sleep. After playing, reading and cajoling him, I often have to put on my "strict parent" demeanor to put him to sleep.

That day was no different. Venky was in an extra playful mood and did not take my strictness to well. He threw a tantrum. Venky often uses his head as a weapon, and just bangs it on when he is angry. So, there came his head right on my cheekbone.

The sharp pain made me bury my head in the pillows. It actually took me a while to gather my senses. I could hear Venky beside me saying "mommy chot" (meaning mommy is hurt). Venky was able to realize that he had caused the damage and was trying to lift my head from the pillow.

I was too hurt and angry for his cuteness to pacify me and I pushed him back asking him to get lost. Now, Venky was howling with tears in full flow. Vibhu tried to console him but he would not stay with him. He kept coming back to me saying "mommy, mommy" and crying.

Vibhu urged me to pick him up and I reluctantly did that, still upset with him. That is when I noticed that there was a bump on his forehead. He was hurt too! Venky finally stopped crying in my lap and went off to sleep.

Later, when I discussed the bump with Vibhu, he told me that Venky had not bothered about his own pain at all. When both of us were hurt, Venky was only touching his forehead and trying to lift me up to see if I was alright. Later, when I pushed him away, he was crying because he thought that I was angry with him. Venky kept coming to me till I picked him up.

All this from a 20 mo old toddler. He was more concerned about my pain and anger when he was hurt himself. How does that make me feel? - Extremely guilty and humbled. As we grow up we unlearn to love others. We just start loving ourselves. How can I stop Venky from doing that? I guess first I'll have to learn from him and then teach him back.

For now, I'll just thank Venky for loving me more than I love him. Its hard to accept, but that's a fact.

This blog post is an entry for IndusLadies mother's day blog contest

Conversations with a 21 old

2009-02-25T10:23:00.003+05:30

Venky - "mommy"
I - "Yes..."

Venky - "MOMMY"
I - "Yes Venky"

Venky - "MOMMEEE"
I - "Yes Sweetheart"

Venky - "I Lob you"

:):):)

Outsmarted by 21 mo old

2009-02-23T11:36:00.005+05:30

Venky and I are reading a picture book.

I - "Yeh kya hai?"
Venky - "Butterfly"
I - "Yeh kya hai?"
Venky - "Dragon Fly"

Now we reach the "Beetle" page which Venky has never remembered so far

I - "Yeh kya hai?"
Venky - "Uhmmmm ....Book!" :D

The goodbyes are back

2009-01-29T13:01:00.004+05:30

Even since the separation anxiety struck (almost an year now), Venky hated us leave for office. As he grew older it was got more difficult to distract him. For the past couple of months, he would not let us out of his sight once we left the bed. Even after his nanny managed to pacify him into some play, he would immideately know when our car unlocked. Many times, I had to leave him wailing to the office.

Over the last week I noticed, he did not seem as anxious in the mornings. He did not run behind me when I got up to leave. In fact most of the times, he would be busy in his play as I quietly slipped out.

And today, there was a miracle. Venky figured that I was leaving for office. He said - "Teen Chocote lana, Banana lana, Apple lana" (Get me 3 choclates, banana and apple). Then he waved bye! As I reversed the car, he kept waving bye and even crouched to get a better view of me as I waved back. All this, with a smile on his face!

Needless to say, I grinned all the way to office:)

Terrible Two at One and a half.

2009-01-13T11:05:00.005+05:30

1. Vibhu comes home from office. Venky runs to him and throws himself in Vibhu's hands. And before Vibhu can realize, Venky pulls his glass and throws it on the ground (Thanks to the plastic lenses they are still surviving ater 50 such falls)

2. Venky aims all his balls at our TV screen

3. Venky always throws our cell phones such that they open up in 3 or more pieces (he has a toy cell phone which is a great imitation of the real one but never throws that)

4. Venky says - "X" Chahiye. (X is more often chocolate). I say - No. Venky falls flat on ground. Bangs his fist followed by his head. He throws everything that he can lay his hands on.

5. If I raise my voice at him by x decibel, Venky starts crying with 10x decibels and then I have to spend half an hour to pamper him back into the mood.

6. Venky picks up all the drying clothes from the clothes line and puts them into the flower bed.

7. Whenever Venky spots an open bathroom, he goes in and opens the tap. While I am closing that tap, he runs to the other bathroom and opens the tap there.

8. Venky pushes his toy bucket such that it falls and all the toys are scattered on the floor. Then he goes off to ride his bike

9. Venky pulls out bed sheets as soon as I tuck them in

10. Venky's favorite TV programme is "Air Crash Investigations" and his bed time story is "Aeroplane toot gaya - sea mein gir gaya" ( BTW, I am the one who is on the aeroplane in that story).

Phew!!! I want to excahnge. Anyone?

What's in a name

2008-11-20T19:12:00.003+05:30

Yesterday while we were trying to put Venky to sleep, our discussions wavered towards names and their meanings. Vibhu started telling me how some names can have more than one meaning and he used "Venkatesh" as an example. Vibhu said that if we break the word, it comes out to be Venkat & ish - this could mean Venkat's God OR God Venkat. While giving this expalanation, he said "Venkatesh" quite a few times. Everytime Venkatesh (our Venky) responded with some sound. So, the next time we tried to hear what he was saying properly. It turned out that everytime Vibhu said "Venkatesh", Venky said "Cha -da -lee" i.e. "Choudhary". Thereby, completing his name :).

Well, there can be no better explanation, isn't it? We never taught him that. We racked our brains to figure out how he learnt that, but we have no clue. Good news is that Venky now knows his full name and can say it :)

Learning the language

2008-10-03T14:30:00.007+05:30

Venky now has almost 200 words in his vocabulary. He is building is up from sheer observation. He definately know the names of stuff that he wants. Some of the more interesting ones are

1. Anda - egg. That's exactly what he wants for breakfast in morning. In fact you can hear the repeated chant of "anda, anda, ANDA....". Sometimes we've have had to give him a half boiled egg since he would not wait for it to boil completely.

2. Gana - song. As soon as Venky gets into the car for a ride, he points to the stereo and says "gana". I don't know where that trait comes from, since both I and my husband are not music lovers. As a result, we don't have any music CDs in our car. So we have to put on the radio. If you've been in Hyderabad, you'll know that all radio stations play Telugu songs during any decent hours. With no offence meant to Tollywood, while we don't understand the lyrics, even the music beat is a little tough to tolerate. Thankfully, there are no visuals in radio - at least we are saved from watching the latka, jhatkas of 90Kg heros and 80Kg heroines.

3. Baby - All soft toys are his babies. Since he is the only baby in the house, I don't know how he relates to them :). Venky pats them to sleep exactly like we do to him :)

Venky knows that there can be more than one word for the same thing/action. He brings his book and says "book" when he looks at me and "kitaab" when he looks at my maid. He also translates "dog" for them - "kutta". A couple of days ago - the little telugu girl asked me as to how he knows Telugu. I told her that Venky doesn't know Telugu. At that very moment he told her "kucho" and then looked at me and said "baitho' - sit.

Venky knows who is Tejoo (2 yr old boy, our next door neighbour), Kiya (1 yr old girl a couple of houses down and his "meal-mate"), Dada, dadi, Annama(grandmom - next door Telugu Aunty) etc. But ask him where's mommy and he points to his Dad. He interchangably uses mommmy and papa to address both of us whenever he wants. And people told me that the first thing a child learns is who is his mom! God help this generation!

The power of words

2008-07-24T13:47:00.005+05:30

Venky is learning the power of words ... and we are learning it with him. Gone are the days when he could only cry and sulk. Gone are the days when we would only guess and ignore. Now, Venky makes himself clear. Single word, no nonsense, to the point.
Here's an example.
Venky used to cling to me just before I left to office. He would cry hard to see me go. And I have to let you know that it felt really flattering. It convinced me that my child loved me with his whole heart and wanted my attention 24*7.
A few days back, Venky clung to me as his usual routine, and while I was strategizing on how to take leave, he came out loud and clear "GHOOMI" ie. take me out! Aaah.. so this is what he wants.
Okey, I gave him a ride. As the car stopped, he smiled at me and said "Bye" and got off without any tears.
Hmmph! It was love for "Ghoomi" that I mistook as love for "Mommy".

And yes, I have to give him a ride everyday now before I can ride to office.

The Biker Dude

2008-07-09T13:46:00.003+05:30

Venky championed his bike by the time he was an year old. That was really "his" toy. He cruised on slopes on it. He threw it, picked it up, pushed it and when it gathered momentum jumped to sit on it.
He really looked like a three year old performing such feats. And with all the rough handling ... the bike broke one day.

We rushed to get him another one 'cause we knew how attached he was with his bike, but Venky did quite like it. He has still to champion that one as it is a little different than the previous bike. He gets frustated every time he is on it.

Slowly my son.. this will come to you as well :)

The Frist Steps

2008-07-09T13:39:00.002+05:30

Venky had been cruising very well by the time he was 9 months old. I was pretty sure that he would start walking anytime in his 10 months. Vibhu was going to US right in that month and I had been teasing him that he was going to miss this important milestone.

So, we were doing the last minute packing as Vibhu was scheduled to leave by a late night flight, I heard Bina call me. When I rushed to the kitchen, she said that Venky was walking. Since, Venky still couldn't stand well, I almost disbelieved. By that time Vibhu joined me and Venky demoed his new found skill.. a couple of unstable steps :)

That one was especially for Dad! Vibhu had a winning smile on his lips

Between 5 and 15 months

2008-07-09T12:29:00.002+05:30

Yes, I stopped writing on Venky's journal @ 5 months. Why? Well.. here are the reasons in the order of severity.
1. I got lazy - Yeah! I did :( I started work and really didn't want to touch the laptop after that.
2. Accessing that baby journal was a pain - Yes some 5 click process
3. Couldn't share my writings - The journal had very restrictive access policy. C'mon... If I write , I want people to read it!

...And in the meantime my baby grew into a toddler. He started walking, running, driving the toy bike, taking simple instructions and conveying simple things... And I never wrote them down. I let many precious moments slip away from my memory.

But not anymore... this Blog is where I'll put them down. So all you folks in blogville .. welcome to a mommy's world

Crawling

2008-07-09T11:55:00.003+05:30

Ever since Venky's grandparents have come, he is hitting one milestone after another. He started saying dada, baba, mmmamm, he started sitting, he started on solid diets, perfected his rolling over and circling using his hands to reach his toys.
But what happened today was the least I expected. As usual when I came back from office, my MIL had news for me again. "Venky is crawling!!". Crwaling! CRAWLING!!! I really couldn't believe it. But my MIL demoed it for me immideatly. Venky was crawling indeed. Although the ratio of effot to movement is still quite high. But yes!! he is crawling.
After sometime Venky's dad arrived from office. This time I broke the news - "Venky is crawling". The reaction was pretty much similar to mine. Crawling! CRAWLING!!! :-D

Potty

2008-07-09T11:55:00.001+05:30

We had bought the potty long time ago (basically in exchange of some other product which did not work ). A couple of weeks ago my mom suggested that I should start using the potty. So finally today I decided to bring it out. I made Venky do a trial sitting to see if he was ready for it. Much to my amusement, he fitted perfectly on the potty and it looked more like a small chair meant for him.
Venky drank his milk and slept. Once he woke up, we did a Sri ganesh of the potty

Sitting!

2008-07-09T11:54:00.001+05:30

Ever since I put him on his car seat, Venky has preferred sitting to lying. He refused to take his pram ride lying, he even refused our laps. In fact it was easier to put him to sleep rocking his car seat than any other postion.

I always knew Venky is going to sit early. In fact I had thought he was going to sit before he was going to roll over (which happened only 20 days ago).

Since last week, I started encouraging Venky to sit on his own. He would sit for a second and go "dhum". Tonight when we repeated the excercise, I realized that Venky was sitting a second longer than a second... and then another second ... and then another.. By the time Venky fell "dhum" on his side it was good 15 seconds and Vibhu said - " I think you can put it into the journal enty now". :)

The Frist Fall?

2008-07-09T11:53:00.002+05:30

Ever since Venky was 2 months old, I made his daytime sleeping/playing arrangements on the floor to avoid any falling accidents. Today when I came back from office Bina reported that Venky had screamed loudly and cried with tears. He had his first fall!! Venky had dirtied his diaper and my MIL went to another room to get a new one. Venky took two somersaults in the mean time and landed on the floor. He screamed and had the whole house assembled around him in the next second :) Yes, my son had fallen down full two inches from the mattress to the floor :D I was not sure that it qualified for a "FALL" but after I heard the decription of the brouhaha he created, I decided that it did!!

Welcome GrandPa

2008-07-09T11:53:00.001+05:30

Venky loves shouting. When I say shouting it means literal shouting on the top of his voice. For almost two months his talking constituted of only one form - shouting. Then he graduated to an "AAeeyaa" kind of sound. He would often say "Aayeyaa" with the thumb in his mouth and it would come out transformed as words like "kachche" much to my delight.

Venky's grandparents arrived on 11th Oct. They showered him with all attention and found meaning in all his efforts. As with any doting grandparents (and to my amusement), they felt he was a very advanced baby.

I had a long stint with office on 12th Oct after a long time thanks to the peace of mind I had about leaving the baby at home under safe supervision of grandparents. As soon as I arrived home, my MIL told me that Venky has been saying "dada". I was amused again and had no doubts that she had heard what she wanted to hear :) But Venky cleared my doubts immideately and went on to say "da-da-da". A very apt welcome to his grandad :)

The first Roll

2008-07-09T11:52:00.000+05:30

The doc has been asking us since the last two visits ..
Does Venkatesh roll over?
Noooo... not yet.
Does he try to?
Nooo....

And so have been all our relatives and friends.
Venky must be rolling over now?
Nooo....

With Venky not showing any signs of trying to roll over, I was convinced that he is going to sit before he rolls over.

Finally I joined office part time on 1st September. This way I could take a break from all the diaper changing and still not miss my baby's development. Husband dear has offered to babysit during the time Iam in office

So, I got a phone call today from Vibhu. With Venky crying in the background, I thought he probably wants to know where to find diapers/changing clothes etc. But Lo! He says,
Our son has taken his first roll today. I put him back straight and he got upset :D

I was sooo.. happy (and relieved, we won't have to say those Nooo..s anymore). And sooo.. jealous. I get away for just 4 hours and he takes his first roll. I missed it :(

Once I got home, Venky treated me with another couple of rolls. My god! my baby mastered the technique in a day!!! :D

The Arrival

2008-07-09T11:50:00.000+05:30

Born at 5.40 am after 4 hrs of labor.

I suddenly heard someone else's screms admist mine. And then, I realized that I didn't need to scream anymore. The baby was out. I heaved a sigh of relief and said
"I can't believe I've finally delivered."
The doc laughed and started stiching me up. Suddenly I realized that I should find out the gender of my baby. Altough who cared, what the gender was. I asked the doc and she said
"It's a boy."
"Okey" I thought.
Then someone suddenly brought a tiny and extermely red face in front of me.
"This is your boy."
I noticed he was wrapped in a pink towel.

Welcome to next generation... Baby boys in pink :)