Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
She behaves like a total I dont know what to say
Anjali likes to get carried by Husband. But only if he carries her like this
Typical conversations everyday
Imp draws away busily with a blue marker. She finishes drawing in the paper and decides that the floor makes a good canvas.
"Anjali, what are you doing?"
"aw!"
"Can you draw on the floor?"
"No."
"Where must you draw?"
"peper"
"Can you get a paper and draw on it?"
(still not bothering to look up) "No!"
"Where do you want to draw?"
"foor"
=========
Imp draws on the floor and gets some ink on her feet by accident. She scrutinizes it carefully and then
"Othe"
And draws on the other leg.
==========
"Pee!!"
"You want to pee? lets go to the potty."
"No."
"See.. Amma is coming with you."
"Amma" (points to potty)
"Anjali, you you want to pee?"
"Amma"
"What amma must do?"
"Pee!!"
"No, amma does not want"
(Anjali catches sight of the sink and a mug on the floor)
"Apu!!"
"Ok, you pee first then I will give you apu"
"AAAAAApu!!!"
"Ok Anjali, if you use your potty, then I will pour apu on you"
Imp promptly sits on the potty and finishes her business.
"Apu!!"
==========
"Anjali, did you go to the chinese garden today?"
"Um"
"What did you see there?"
"bu"
"You saw a bulldozer? What did you do?"
(makes complicated undefinable actions with her hhands) "brrrrmmmmm"
"Ah. You drove the bulldozer. Who helped you drive?"
"Appa"
"Did you drive the big bulldozer or the kutty bulldozer?"
"ku!!" (with fingers scooped together)
==========
Anjali, what did Athai buy you?
"soo'
and
"deSh"
And
"tho"
And
"othe" (showing the other leg)
"Anjali, what are you doing?"
"aw!"
"Can you draw on the floor?"
"No."
"Where must you draw?"
"peper"
"Can you get a paper and draw on it?"
(still not bothering to look up) "No!"
"Where do you want to draw?"
"foor"
=========
Imp draws on the floor and gets some ink on her feet by accident. She scrutinizes it carefully and then
"Othe"
And draws on the other leg.
==========
"Pee!!"
"You want to pee? lets go to the potty."
"No."
"See.. Amma is coming with you."
"Amma" (points to potty)
"Anjali, you you want to pee?"
"Amma"
"What amma must do?"
"Pee!!"
"No, amma does not want"
(Anjali catches sight of the sink and a mug on the floor)
"Apu!!"
"Ok, you pee first then I will give you apu"
"AAAAAApu!!!"
"Ok Anjali, if you use your potty, then I will pour apu on you"
Imp promptly sits on the potty and finishes her business.
"Apu!!"
==========
"Anjali, did you go to the chinese garden today?"
"Um"
"What did you see there?"
"bu"
"You saw a bulldozer? What did you do?"
(makes complicated undefinable actions with her hhands) "brrrrmmmmm"
"Ah. You drove the bulldozer. Who helped you drive?"
"Appa"
"Did you drive the big bulldozer or the kutty bulldozer?"
"ku!!" (with fingers scooped together)
==========
Anjali, what did Athai buy you?
"soo'
and
"deSh"
And
"tho"
And
"othe" (showing the other leg)
Friday, October 31, 2008
Overheard
"Anjali, do you want to get dressed?"
No
"Do you want to go out?"
No
"Do you want to put on shoes?"
No (each no is accompanied with a vigorous shake of the head)
===
"Anjali, remember Melody aunty?"
"Um?"
"What did Melody aunty have in her thoppai?"
"papa"
"Where did the papa come?"
"Out!"
=========
"Where is amma's papa?"
(pats the ever growing watermelon)
"Thats right"
"boobaa"
"Who will drink from the boobaa?"
"Annie!"
"No. Annie is a big girl. Annie will drink from the bottle"
"baa"
"Correct. And the baby will drink from the boobaa. Who will drink from the Boobaa?"
"bebe"
"Very good. Who is the good girl?"
"Annie!"
"Annie is a very good girl. Now do you want to kiss the baby?"
(Obligingly comes and butts her head against the watermelon)
"What the baby will drink?"
"paal"
(Hang on, something is wierd!)
"Where the baby will drink from?"
"baa"
(Ok...)
"And who will drink from the boobaa?"
"Annie!!!"
(UhOh!)
No
"Do you want to go out?"
No
"Do you want to put on shoes?"
No (each no is accompanied with a vigorous shake of the head)
===
"Anjali, remember Melody aunty?"
"Um?"
"What did Melody aunty have in her thoppai?"
"papa"
"Where did the papa come?"
"Out!"
=========
"Where is amma's papa?"
(pats the ever growing watermelon)
"Thats right"
"boobaa"
"Who will drink from the boobaa?"
"Annie!"
"No. Annie is a big girl. Annie will drink from the bottle"
"baa"
"Correct. And the baby will drink from the boobaa. Who will drink from the Boobaa?"
"bebe"
"Very good. Who is the good girl?"
"Annie!"
"Annie is a very good girl. Now do you want to kiss the baby?"
(Obligingly comes and butts her head against the watermelon)
"What the baby will drink?"
"paal"
(Hang on, something is wierd!)
"Where the baby will drink from?"
"baa"
(Ok...)
"And who will drink from the boobaa?"
"Annie!!!"
(UhOh!)
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Filed information
Anjali is playing around with a map of Paris that husband brought back from his trip.
"Amma?"
"Thats a map of paris."
"Pa."
"Do you remember who went to Paris?"
Anjali thinks for a couple of seconds, staring thoughtfully at the map. Then...
"Appa"
"Exactly. How did appa go to paris?"
"ooooo" (that means plane)
"Amma?"
"Thats a map of paris."
"Pa."
"Do you remember who went to Paris?"
Anjali thinks for a couple of seconds, staring thoughtfully at the map. Then...
"Appa"
"Exactly. How did appa go to paris?"
"ooooo" (that means plane)
sleeplessness and grudges
Anjali slept a grand total of nine hours yesterday, from 12 midnight to 7am and then from noon to 2pm. We expected her to sleep early last night because of this, but guess what? She is sticking to her schedule of not sleeping before midnight.
Last night there was a fight between father and daughter. Two fights actually. the first one was over a packet of biscuits. They were colorful and shaped like fish and apparently contained cheddar, so i bought them for Anjali. when we opened them, we found that they were over salted. I tossed them in a tupperware and kept them on the kitchen counter, but never really bothered with them.
Lately though, Anjali has taken a liking to the biscuits. She would stand on the edge of the kitchen counter and say "bi". i would open the box and hand over one tiny biscuit, which she would take. "Amma", she would say, implying that Amma must take a biscuit. "Adi!" and then pass a biscuit to Daddy.
But daddy was getting a bit worried about Anjali eating unhealthy oversalted biscuits. And yesterday, when she wanted three biscuits, thhe told her,
"ok Anjali, you take one more and then i'll put away the biscuits". she took one more. Husband tried to put away the biscuits, but the imp refused to accept it and so the tantrum began.
it didnt stop until I went in to mediate.
Husband took the opportunity to hide the packet of biscuit. This morning, I found it on the top rack of his clothes cubboard, and deciding to play safe emptied the whole tupperware into the dustbin.
Already she was miffed with husband over the biscuits. Imagine what happened when, as Anjali was happily playing with water in the sink, I called husband to take over watching Anjali as I couldnt stand too long.
it was 11.30pm. Husband picked the girl up rather unceremoniously and tried to dump her in bed. That started the second tantrum. Which didnt stop for atleast ten minutes.
I came in with a bottle of water.
Drink some water.
Anjali stopped crying, looked around the assess the situation. Would she be allowed to play? She seemed to decide not.
"Waaaa"
"ok, cry away, but your throat is probably parched. So drink some water and then cry."
She settled down to drink water, by the end of which she decided that she was tired and fell asleep.
This morning, she was still holding a grudge against husband. When he was in the bathroom, she kept calling
"Aaadi"
"Appappa"
And when he came back
"Anjali, give me a kiss, I am going to work."
No response.
"Anjali, give daddy a kiss"
No response.
"She is upset with Adi", i told patti, explaining the situation
"Dont be upset with appa Anjali. Appa scolds you because it is good for you. You know how much thattha used to scold mummy. He scolds mummy even now. and then mummy cries waa waa."
"I didnt scold her" Said husband.
"No you didnt. you just chided her. and she is not used to being chided by anyone else, especially not you. lets try again.... Anjali, you want to do buffalo with mummy?"
Anjali promptly turns around and butts her head against mine.
"You want to do buffalo with daddy?"
No response.
So daddy had to pick her up and rub noses against her and make her smile, and you could see that she was enjoying all the attention.
She's probably going to milk it for all it is worth.
Last night there was a fight between father and daughter. Two fights actually. the first one was over a packet of biscuits. They were colorful and shaped like fish and apparently contained cheddar, so i bought them for Anjali. when we opened them, we found that they were over salted. I tossed them in a tupperware and kept them on the kitchen counter, but never really bothered with them.
Lately though, Anjali has taken a liking to the biscuits. She would stand on the edge of the kitchen counter and say "bi". i would open the box and hand over one tiny biscuit, which she would take. "Amma", she would say, implying that Amma must take a biscuit. "Adi!" and then pass a biscuit to Daddy.
But daddy was getting a bit worried about Anjali eating unhealthy oversalted biscuits. And yesterday, when she wanted three biscuits, thhe told her,
"ok Anjali, you take one more and then i'll put away the biscuits". she took one more. Husband tried to put away the biscuits, but the imp refused to accept it and so the tantrum began.
it didnt stop until I went in to mediate.
Husband took the opportunity to hide the packet of biscuit. This morning, I found it on the top rack of his clothes cubboard, and deciding to play safe emptied the whole tupperware into the dustbin.
Already she was miffed with husband over the biscuits. Imagine what happened when, as Anjali was happily playing with water in the sink, I called husband to take over watching Anjali as I couldnt stand too long.
it was 11.30pm. Husband picked the girl up rather unceremoniously and tried to dump her in bed. That started the second tantrum. Which didnt stop for atleast ten minutes.
I came in with a bottle of water.
Drink some water.
Anjali stopped crying, looked around the assess the situation. Would she be allowed to play? She seemed to decide not.
"Waaaa"
"ok, cry away, but your throat is probably parched. So drink some water and then cry."
She settled down to drink water, by the end of which she decided that she was tired and fell asleep.
This morning, she was still holding a grudge against husband. When he was in the bathroom, she kept calling
"Aaadi"
"Appappa"
And when he came back
"Anjali, give me a kiss, I am going to work."
No response.
"Anjali, give daddy a kiss"
No response.
"She is upset with Adi", i told patti, explaining the situation
"Dont be upset with appa Anjali. Appa scolds you because it is good for you. You know how much thattha used to scold mummy. He scolds mummy even now. and then mummy cries waa waa."
"I didnt scold her" Said husband.
"No you didnt. you just chided her. and she is not used to being chided by anyone else, especially not you. lets try again.... Anjali, you want to do buffalo with mummy?"
Anjali promptly turns around and butts her head against mine.
"You want to do buffalo with daddy?"
No response.
So daddy had to pick her up and rub noses against her and make her smile, and you could see that she was enjoying all the attention.
She's probably going to milk it for all it is worth.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Of crocs and alligators and maternal instincts
Husband borrowed a national goegraphic dvd for Anjali to watch. it was a documentary on the everglades, and the first bot was about crocodiles and alligators. For a while, I sat with Anjali, watching. There was a bit about Alligators laying eggs and carrying their young in the mouth.
As Anjali watched, i explained to her what was happening, how the mama alligator took care of her young. There wasa a scene where a young alligator is almost caught by a heron, but the mama alligator was nearby and chased the heron away. Then Anjali saw a show of affection, where the mama alligator kissed the baby.
Another baby was not so lucky and as it explored, wandered away.
"See Anjali... the small alligator us going away from the mama"
A fish swam up from the water and gobbled the alligator
"ammamma", she cried, hugging close to me.
"amma is here."
"*sniff sniff* ammamma!!"
"Dont worry baby, amma is here, and amma will not let you far away."
"sniff sniff"
"The baby alligator got eaten. But remember, we saw the other alligator whose amma hugged it?"
Anjali turns around to hug me.
"Thats right. So its always safe to be with either amma, appa, thattha, patti, bunica, tata sile or someone you know well."
As Anjali watched, i explained to her what was happening, how the mama alligator took care of her young. There wasa a scene where a young alligator is almost caught by a heron, but the mama alligator was nearby and chased the heron away. Then Anjali saw a show of affection, where the mama alligator kissed the baby.
Another baby was not so lucky and as it explored, wandered away.
"See Anjali... the small alligator us going away from the mama"
A fish swam up from the water and gobbled the alligator
"ammamma", she cried, hugging close to me.
"amma is here."
"*sniff sniff* ammamma!!"
"Dont worry baby, amma is here, and amma will not let you far away."
"sniff sniff"
"The baby alligator got eaten. But remember, we saw the other alligator whose amma hugged it?"
Anjali turns around to hug me.
"Thats right. So its always safe to be with either amma, appa, thattha, patti, bunica, tata sile or someone you know well."
Lighting sparklers for Diwali
Diwali this year was a nice day. simple and sweet. With Anjali's new penchant for staying awake till late at night, we couldnt expect her to wake up too early. So we woke up, did the prayers and lit a few sparklers. then we waited till Anjali got up to get the sparklers out properly.
At first she was a little afraid of the sparklers. then her independent streak came across. she would only hold the sparklers that she lit herself, and after a while, it was more fun for her to light the sparklers than to watch them burn, so she would light them and give them to daddy or mummy.
It was a bit dangerous, Anjali going so close to the fire, as she wanted to play and not just watch, and as husband said later, if any of our parents saw what we were doing, they would have taken the baby away and grounded us for a month, there were times she was one cm away from the fire and her clothes too.
"What would have happened if her clothes had caught fire?" he asked, as we were throwing the brunt sparklers away.
"It would have made a great material for the blog"
later, when we had lunch at patti's house, i told Anjali, "Get the sparklers from mataji's room."
Anjali toddled off. A minute later, i had forgotten what I had asked her and she toddled back. In her arms were all the sparklers that patti had keps at the altar. About ten packets. Her arms were full.
She took them to thattha and said "out!"
What a pretty pooh!
Guess who made it?
Yup. right it one. Well. Anjali made about 75 percent of it, Husband and I made about 25% One of Anjali's additions is pooh's red tummy tattoo. And the tri colored face. Pooh now sits on the kitchen tile.
Yup. right it one. Well. Anjali made about 75 percent of it, Husband and I made about 25% One of Anjali's additions is pooh's red tummy tattoo. And the tri colored face. Pooh now sits on the kitchen tile.
Bananas dont grow on trees
She got distracted by the camera, but when she heard that bananas grow on trees, she vehemently disagreed, picked up a plastic tree, looked at it and said, no bananas here, so bananas dont grow on trees.
So much for a proof of concept.
So much for a proof of concept.
she simply refuses to wear clothes
I honestly tried, with three different clothes and even threatened her that she doesnt go oout. But its a no no with the clothes. A bit of the allepey song with gu and coco (kolkota) and Aj (Ajmer) etc. You can hear husband in the background brimming with pride.
Quotable quotes
You see her all the time, so you dont realize how fast she grows. but when you compare her with the furniture in the house, the furniture keeps getting smaller and she keeps getting bigger.
Not only does my computer get occupied, i get booted out of my chair as well.
Not only does my computer get occupied, i get booted out of my chair as well.
New crochet top
I must admit that even i am surprised at how pretty this came out. I guess the red edging adds another dimension to the pattern, as does Anjali. The basic pattern came from this website, and got modified just a bit according to my intuition. Its a light crochet sweater, mostly for putting in her bag to wear when she goes in the aircon.
http://emeraldmooncreations.tripod.com/id15.html
Ganesha has a serious case of pokku
Incase you are wondering, its red playdough. She puts pottu on ganesha, prays and does namaskaram. So how can we say no?
Friday, October 24, 2008
A muddle of linguistics
I was going off to work this morning.
"Amma, Aham idaanim gachaami"
"Ok" (patti understands Sanskrit well enough, but is not too confident in speaking)
A couple of seconds later as I was picking my bags...
"Darvaaza bandh karo"
We cant use Tamil or English, as Anjali would drop whatever she is doing and run after me. And I feel bad about slipping off without saying anything. Telling her punarmilaamah feels better than sliding out unnoticed or saying bye bye and getting clung too. (I know it is wierd logic, but still...)
We have a policy of not getting the yogurt related food until Anjali finishes with her other food. This is in the interest of nutrition and self preservation. So yesterday, Anjali was eating her soup with me and when i finished my soup, I told patti
"Aham idaanim dahi annam na nayami. Kimcit kaalam anantaram neyishyaami"
The imp, pausing with the spoon half way to her mouth stars at me in deep interest.
"Say it again", said patti.
But I would rather not. i need a secret communication language, atleast lets maximize the secrecy factor.
"Amma, Aham idaanim gachaami"
"Ok" (patti understands Sanskrit well enough, but is not too confident in speaking)
A couple of seconds later as I was picking my bags...
"Darvaaza bandh karo"
We cant use Tamil or English, as Anjali would drop whatever she is doing and run after me. And I feel bad about slipping off without saying anything. Telling her punarmilaamah feels better than sliding out unnoticed or saying bye bye and getting clung too. (I know it is wierd logic, but still...)
We have a policy of not getting the yogurt related food until Anjali finishes with her other food. This is in the interest of nutrition and self preservation. So yesterday, Anjali was eating her soup with me and when i finished my soup, I told patti
"Aham idaanim dahi annam na nayami. Kimcit kaalam anantaram neyishyaami"
The imp, pausing with the spoon half way to her mouth stars at me in deep interest.
"Say it again", said patti.
But I would rather not. i need a secret communication language, atleast lets maximize the secrecy factor.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Cross my heart
"My name is Madhuri, I'm from..."
"Aie"
"Allepey.. i speak..."
My name is Natwar, I am from.."
"Shi"
"Srinagar?.. I speak..." (its still ok...)
My name is Shamsher I'm from
"Aj"
"Ajmer..." (For the record I dont know where Ajmer is)
My name is benjamin, I'm from
"Pa"
"Panchim..." (I understand that's somewhere around Goa)
"My name is Ranimai, I'm from"
"Che"
"Chennai..." (there's a kid in the backkground doing Bharathnatyam, and Anjali everytime she sees the picture wants to find Nethru akka's arangetram invitation)
"My name is Arundathi, i'm from"
"Gu"
"Guwahati" (Atleast I remember enough primary school geography to know where that is... Though the pictures show a kid picking tealeaves, and luckily i didnt generalize it to ooty or Srilanka )
"My name is Jamshhedji, I'm from"
"pe"
"Panchgani" (still dont know where it is, though i remember Sharukh khan getting a scolding from Gayathri joshi for saying that its a river. But Anjali always liked the sound of Panchgani, so thats ok.)
"My name is Bindiya, i'm from"
"Ia"
"India!..."
"My name is Anjali, I'm from...
"Si"
"Singapore. I speak many languages, and I'm just like you"
No. I am not kidding. No, I dont have a video, but would love to get one.
Kid knows the cities of India, I dont know them. Better get a map and study before she starts asking me questions and discovers I dont know where Ajmer is.
"Aie"
"Allepey.. i speak..."
My name is Natwar, I am from.."
"Shi"
"Srinagar?.. I speak..." (its still ok...)
My name is Shamsher I'm from
"Aj"
"Ajmer..." (For the record I dont know where Ajmer is)
My name is benjamin, I'm from
"Pa"
"Panchim..." (I understand that's somewhere around Goa)
"My name is Ranimai, I'm from"
"Che"
"Chennai..." (there's a kid in the backkground doing Bharathnatyam, and Anjali everytime she sees the picture wants to find Nethru akka's arangetram invitation)
"My name is Arundathi, i'm from"
"Gu"
"Guwahati" (Atleast I remember enough primary school geography to know where that is... Though the pictures show a kid picking tealeaves, and luckily i didnt generalize it to ooty or Srilanka )
"My name is Jamshhedji, I'm from"
"pe"
"Panchgani" (still dont know where it is, though i remember Sharukh khan getting a scolding from Gayathri joshi for saying that its a river. But Anjali always liked the sound of Panchgani, so thats ok.)
"My name is Bindiya, i'm from"
"Ia"
"India!..."
"My name is Anjali, I'm from...
"Si"
"Singapore. I speak many languages, and I'm just like you"
No. I am not kidding. No, I dont have a video, but would love to get one.
Kid knows the cities of India, I dont know them. Better get a map and study before she starts asking me questions and discovers I dont know where Ajmer is.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A lot of wierd logic
Last evening, Anjali was walking back home with husband and me. As we entererd the house, the imp looked at me and said
"tei"
"Excuse me?"
"tei"
What is tei?
The points at my left, in the vicinity of my hair.
"tei"
I turned around.
"What do you want to say baby?"
(points at my ear) "tei"
"What is in my ear? Earring? Do you want to say thodu?"
"tei" (pointing to her own ear).
"Oh. Atthai! Atthai bought you earrings"
"tei" (pointing to my earrings)
"Athai didnt buy mummy's earrings. Atthai bough Anjali's earrings."
========
"Anjali, where did you go with patti today?"
"doto"
"What did the doctor do?"
(Anjali puts right palm on left elbow and presses)
"The doctor checked patti's pressure? I see"
"I eee"
"What medicine does patti take in the morning?"
"beepee"
(To husband) "How does she know that matharai means medicine?"
"No idea, she has taken enough medicine for flu to know what it is."
"But her medicine is liquid and tamil for liquid medicine is marunthu."
(to patti) "did you tell her that matharai means medicine?"
"No. I speak to her mostly in Tamil."
So how did she know?
"Anjali how does patti take the medicine?"
(puts fingers in the mouth miming eating)
"And then what does patti drink?"
"apa"
==========
In the pharmacy yesterday, Anjali wanted her shoes removed. Patti refused, pointing that everyone else was wearing shoes, and why she wanted her shoes removed?
Anjali insisted, and so patti removed her shoes.
And then we found the reason. An old man was sitting on a chair, with one slipper on, and one leg on top of the other.
We dont care about all the people, we go for highly individual tastes.
=====
At the end of the zoo trip, both Anjali and Ananya received bookmarks from the zoo staff. After a while, Anjali put her bookmark in her mouth. This was very uncharacteristic of her (she usually does not put non food items in her mouth unless she is hungry)
"Anjali, can you put the bookmark in your mouth?"
"nuuu"
"So why are you putting?"
(points to ananya) "bebe"
So Ananya put hers in her mouth, probably to explore and then Anjali imitates. She is really big at imitating... daddy exercising, babies crying, crawling, her own actions as a baby that she watches on video, highly individual individuals on the street (like old men taking off their shoes)
=========
Anjali gooes out off the house
"soo"
'Ok, put on your shoe'
"amma"
"yes, those are amma's shoes"
"amma. pu"
"You want amma to put on shoes?"
"amma!"
Amma pputs on shoes
"patti!"
"Yes. Those are patti's slippers"
"Annie!"
"Ok, Annie, you want to put on patti's shoes"
Anjali puts one hand on the shoe rack, rubs her feet, puts on one shoe. Then she rubs the other feet and puts the other shoe on.
"Anjali, why are you rubbing your feet? What you have in them?"
"deety!"
======================
A convenient twist:
"Anjali, when amma goes to office" (vigorous head shake here) "who will you stay with?"
"patti!"
"Will you cry?"
"waa"
"will you cry? Yes or no?"
"nuuuu...."
well... it wont be long before she catches on, already I am using Sanskrit with patti to say things like I am going to work and I am hanging up the phone. It wont last. What will probably happen is that the imp will learn Sanskrit.
"tei"
"Excuse me?"
"tei"
What is tei?
The points at my left, in the vicinity of my hair.
"tei"
I turned around.
"What do you want to say baby?"
(points at my ear) "tei"
"What is in my ear? Earring? Do you want to say thodu?"
"tei" (pointing to her own ear).
"Oh. Atthai! Atthai bought you earrings"
"tei" (pointing to my earrings)
"Athai didnt buy mummy's earrings. Atthai bough Anjali's earrings."
========
"Anjali, where did you go with patti today?"
"doto"
"What did the doctor do?"
(Anjali puts right palm on left elbow and presses)
"The doctor checked patti's pressure? I see"
"I eee"
"What medicine does patti take in the morning?"
"beepee"
(To husband) "How does she know that matharai means medicine?"
"No idea, she has taken enough medicine for flu to know what it is."
"But her medicine is liquid and tamil for liquid medicine is marunthu."
(to patti) "did you tell her that matharai means medicine?"
"No. I speak to her mostly in Tamil."
So how did she know?
"Anjali how does patti take the medicine?"
(puts fingers in the mouth miming eating)
"And then what does patti drink?"
"apa"
==========
In the pharmacy yesterday, Anjali wanted her shoes removed. Patti refused, pointing that everyone else was wearing shoes, and why she wanted her shoes removed?
Anjali insisted, and so patti removed her shoes.
And then we found the reason. An old man was sitting on a chair, with one slipper on, and one leg on top of the other.
We dont care about all the people, we go for highly individual tastes.
=====
At the end of the zoo trip, both Anjali and Ananya received bookmarks from the zoo staff. After a while, Anjali put her bookmark in her mouth. This was very uncharacteristic of her (she usually does not put non food items in her mouth unless she is hungry)
"Anjali, can you put the bookmark in your mouth?"
"nuuu"
"So why are you putting?"
(points to ananya) "bebe"
So Ananya put hers in her mouth, probably to explore and then Anjali imitates. She is really big at imitating... daddy exercising, babies crying, crawling, her own actions as a baby that she watches on video, highly individual individuals on the street (like old men taking off their shoes)
=========
Anjali gooes out off the house
"soo"
'Ok, put on your shoe'
"amma"
"yes, those are amma's shoes"
"amma. pu"
"You want amma to put on shoes?"
"amma!"
Amma pputs on shoes
"patti!"
"Yes. Those are patti's slippers"
"Annie!"
"Ok, Annie, you want to put on patti's shoes"
Anjali puts one hand on the shoe rack, rubs her feet, puts on one shoe. Then she rubs the other feet and puts the other shoe on.
"Anjali, why are you rubbing your feet? What you have in them?"
"deety!"
======================
A convenient twist:
"Anjali, when amma goes to office" (vigorous head shake here) "who will you stay with?"
"patti!"
"Will you cry?"
"waa"
"will you cry? Yes or no?"
"nuuuu...."
well... it wont be long before she catches on, already I am using Sanskrit with patti to say things like I am going to work and I am hanging up the phone. It wont last. What will probably happen is that the imp will learn Sanskrit.
Annie!!!
Thatha was eating dinner last night and patti bought out a pot of yogurt to give thatha.
Little imp, who was sitting down and watching said
"annie?"
"This one's from the fridge and is cold. I'll give you from your pot."
"ANNIE!"
"Yeah, Yeah, I'll give you.", said patti, and took the pot away.
"Annie!! ANNIE!! AAAA..... NNN... IIII...EEEEE!!! waaah"
"Anjali, what do you want?", i asked.
"*sniff* tha! *sniff*" (tha means thair)
Patti came back with the unrefrigerated yogurt and tried to give her yogurt with a spoon.
"Annie!!"
"Yup, its for Annie"
But Annie wanted to eat the yogurt herself and took the spoon from patti to drink the yogurt. Cute, but she ends up looking like krishna with yogurt all around the mouth, and on her dress
And the floor
And she does not relinquish her hold on the spoon or let other people help her.
@
http://members.tripod.com/~kimira_1012/
Little imp, who was sitting down and watching said
"annie?"
"This one's from the fridge and is cold. I'll give you from your pot."
"ANNIE!"
"Yeah, Yeah, I'll give you.", said patti, and took the pot away.
"Annie!! ANNIE!! AAAA..... NNN... IIII...EEEEE!!! waaah"
"Anjali, what do you want?", i asked.
"*sniff* tha! *sniff*" (tha means thair)
Patti came back with the unrefrigerated yogurt and tried to give her yogurt with a spoon.
"Annie!!"
"Yup, its for Annie"
But Annie wanted to eat the yogurt herself and took the spoon from patti to drink the yogurt. Cute, but she ends up looking like krishna with yogurt all around the mouth, and on her dress
And the floor
And she does not relinquish her hold on the spoon or let other people help her.
http://members.tripod.com/~kimira_1012/
Monday, October 20, 2008
linguistics
Two days ago, we took Anjali out for a walk. On the road, we saw a frangipani tree. She picked a flower and said "ca".
"car?" i asked.
She shook her head. "Ca!"
"But where is the car?"
The took the flower and put itt behind her ear.
"Ca", she repeated.
I was puzzled for a while, and then it dawned on me.
"Oh! kadu. You want to put it in your ear!"
"ear!"
One thing that makes life interesting when your kid is communicating in multiple languages is that she has (or had) single language answer to multi language questions. For example, water was always apa, wet was always iaa (iram). But now, she is learning to answer a question in the same language, for instance,
"Anjali, cat te iubesc?"
"mu!!" (thats mult!)
"Anjali, how many hands do you have?"
"Too!"
However, sometimes, like the situation above, she tends to pick an answer in a different language. Then it takes a while for us to understand what she wants to say.
For instance, she keeps pointing to her drawing stuff and saying "ow"
We are still not sure whether she is articulating "Draw" or "Om", because patti taught her to draw "Om"
Well, we know what she needs, so its alright.
But what is amusing is Anjali's expression when patti speaks in english, or when husband speaks in Tamil. She stares at them as though something totally unnatural is going on. I'll try to get a video if I can.
A lot of new words have gotten added into Anjali's repertoire including "dirty" - even if there is a speck. She should read Horton hears a who, "bubba" for bubbles, "bi" for biscuit, "ca" for cat, as opposed to meow meow.
"Is Anjali a boy or a girl"
"ga"
"Is daddy a girl or a boy"
"bay"
"Is mummy a boy or a girl"
"ga"
And so on. She gets them all correct!
(There is a secret to getting it correct, but I am not telling!!)
"car?" i asked.
She shook her head. "Ca!"
"But where is the car?"
The took the flower and put itt behind her ear.
"Ca", she repeated.
I was puzzled for a while, and then it dawned on me.
"Oh! kadu. You want to put it in your ear!"
"ear!"
One thing that makes life interesting when your kid is communicating in multiple languages is that she has (or had) single language answer to multi language questions. For example, water was always apa, wet was always iaa (iram). But now, she is learning to answer a question in the same language, for instance,
"Anjali, cat te iubesc?"
"mu!!" (thats mult!)
"Anjali, how many hands do you have?"
"Too!"
However, sometimes, like the situation above, she tends to pick an answer in a different language. Then it takes a while for us to understand what she wants to say.
For instance, she keeps pointing to her drawing stuff and saying "ow"
We are still not sure whether she is articulating "Draw" or "Om", because patti taught her to draw "Om"
Well, we know what she needs, so its alright.
But what is amusing is Anjali's expression when patti speaks in english, or when husband speaks in Tamil. She stares at them as though something totally unnatural is going on. I'll try to get a video if I can.
A lot of new words have gotten added into Anjali's repertoire including "dirty" - even if there is a speck. She should read Horton hears a who, "bubba" for bubbles, "bi" for biscuit, "ca" for cat, as opposed to meow meow.
"Is Anjali a boy or a girl"
"ga"
"Is daddy a girl or a boy"
"bay"
"Is mummy a boy or a girl"
"ga"
And so on. She gets them all correct!
(There is a secret to getting it correct, but I am not telling!!)
__________________________________________________
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Anjali and Ananya at the zoo
At the start. with the macaws
Will Anjali let the sea lion kiss her?
nope, only mummy gets kissed.
I drink my own thair!! Keep away!
Fruit bats at the fragile forest. Better watch carefully, I need to imitate them at home
Anana!
A meow meow? No. its a lemur
Playing in the rain
raindrops and roses
sticking our legs out!It was nice to see Anjali and Ananya together at the zoo. They took a bit of time to warm up, but later ran after each other, doing mostly parallel play with their respective parents, but the play was nonetheless enriched by the presence of each other. the highlight oof the day was their playing together in the rain.
Anjali does not like me carrying Ananya though. And she doesnt like Swati to carry her (Anjali) either. She is really an ammamma girl. Wonder what we will do when the new papa comes.
Note to Self!! Make a book once Swati sends her pictures
Friday, October 17, 2008
talks a lot but...
Just wondering if kids who talk a lot continue to babble. Anjali has suddenly started speaking proper words... has a growing vocabulary of something like 50 words and increasing... but a conversation with a colleague suddenly gave me pause. His daughter holds babble conversations. And then I stopped. Anjali doesnt babble. Infact, she doesnt talk if the word she utters doesnt make sense. I mean, we get things like Baa baa and o ac ac, and ooo followed by dancing around the living room, but they mean stuff to us and to her. For a while she was saying sha la la sha la la... for a long time, which I thought was babbling, but turned out that she was asking for the china chiru kiliye song. Yesterday, she was in West Mall and said "ba ba". and we were looking around all over for sheep, but turns out that she saw a balloons on a shop ceiling.
Here are some dance photos. We took her home from patti's house after four days (husband came back from Paris yesterday morning), and she got all excited.. as I guess she missed her toys and books (she has an entirely different set at Patti's house and probably an equal number of stuff in both houses, but then...)
So she came home, said "aw" (which means draw, and puts marker all over the living room table and chair arms... I have told her not to draw on the upholstery, so its ok), then she got me and daddy to draw with her. (Something cute. She opens the markers, draws and puts the caps back. The correct color cap on the correct marker. This just happened yesterday. Its a definite milestone and I am very glad). Then she came to the bedroom, found her playdough and wanted to make meow meow. At some stage, the playdough got all over the floor and we usually wait until she gets to the next activity before cleaning up the remnants of the previous one.
The next activity was, if I am not wrong, putting coins in the pooh, book, followed by taking a bath. I took the time given during the bath to clean up the house a bit... it was dusty from inhabitation. And then there was the milk and finally bed.. and all this within about 1.5 hours.
Between this and that, we need to see how to come up with a set of shelves for stacking Anjali's books. They are all over the place and I feel that they can be used a lot more effectively than they are currently getting used.
A more exciting news.. two of the tulips I planted from Amsterdam have grown. Maybe we'll have flowers after all, despite the weather.
Here are some dance photos. We took her home from patti's house after four days (husband came back from Paris yesterday morning), and she got all excited.. as I guess she missed her toys and books (she has an entirely different set at Patti's house and probably an equal number of stuff in both houses, but then...)
So she came home, said "aw" (which means draw, and puts marker all over the living room table and chair arms... I have told her not to draw on the upholstery, so its ok), then she got me and daddy to draw with her. (Something cute. She opens the markers, draws and puts the caps back. The correct color cap on the correct marker. This just happened yesterday. Its a definite milestone and I am very glad). Then she came to the bedroom, found her playdough and wanted to make meow meow. At some stage, the playdough got all over the floor and we usually wait until she gets to the next activity before cleaning up the remnants of the previous one.
The next activity was, if I am not wrong, putting coins in the pooh, book, followed by taking a bath. I took the time given during the bath to clean up the house a bit... it was dusty from inhabitation. And then there was the milk and finally bed.. and all this within about 1.5 hours.
Between this and that, we need to see how to come up with a set of shelves for stacking Anjali's books. They are all over the place and I feel that they can be used a lot more effectively than they are currently getting used.
A more exciting news.. two of the tulips I planted from Amsterdam have grown. Maybe we'll have flowers after all, despite the weather.
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Well Well.. what next?
Anjali, where is the baby?
Anjali points to mummy's tummy.
then she taps the tummy. Anjali, dont tap baby, you must rub.
Anjali rubs the tummy.
You want to kiss?
Anjali buries her head in mummy's tummy.
Anjali, what the baby will call you?
"Akka"
Cool!
A couple of days ago, Anjali opened the fridge and took out the box of truffes (no idea how she knows there are chocolates in them). Since she obviously wanted the truffes and since I didnt want to give her the whole thing, I cut one into half, and put it into a bowl, intending for her to eat half and for me to have the other half. Anjali, smarty pants that she is, stuffed half in her mouth and took the bowl away. So, what was I to do then?
"Anjali, the baby in mummy's thoppai wants some chocolate. Do you want to give the baby some?"
Anjali takes the chocolate and puts it on my belly.
"Good girl. Now, if mummy puts the chocolate in her mouth, it will go to mummy's thoppai and the baby will eat it."
Anjali shakes her head vigourously.
I took the chocolate and ate it.
Extremely puzzled, disappointed and reproachful look.
Anjali points to mummy's tummy.
then she taps the tummy. Anjali, dont tap baby, you must rub.
Anjali rubs the tummy.
You want to kiss?
Anjali buries her head in mummy's tummy.
Anjali, what the baby will call you?
"Akka"
Cool!
A couple of days ago, Anjali opened the fridge and took out the box of truffes (no idea how she knows there are chocolates in them). Since she obviously wanted the truffes and since I didnt want to give her the whole thing, I cut one into half, and put it into a bowl, intending for her to eat half and for me to have the other half. Anjali, smarty pants that she is, stuffed half in her mouth and took the bowl away. So, what was I to do then?
"Anjali, the baby in mummy's thoppai wants some chocolate. Do you want to give the baby some?"
Anjali takes the chocolate and puts it on my belly.
"Good girl. Now, if mummy puts the chocolate in her mouth, it will go to mummy's thoppai and the baby will eat it."
Anjali shakes her head vigourously.
I took the chocolate and ate it.
Extremely puzzled, disappointed and reproachful look.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
The baby in the belly
I am worried about this baby in the belly. The cravings are getting from weird to downright bizzare. With Anjali, it was just cravings for healthy stuff - apple juice, tomato soup and the like. With this one, it is pepsi, and coffee and doughnuts and fried Romanian bread (as opposed to the healthy covirch) And now the cravings are for fried idlis and pani puris and dahi puris.
Husband says that he really needs to have a few words with the baby when she comes out.
Bu is meanwhile still convinced that it is a boy because of all the wierd symptoms that are totally opposing to Anjali
Husband says that he really needs to have a few words with the baby when she comes out.
Bu is meanwhile still convinced that it is a boy because of all the wierd symptoms that are totally opposing to Anjali
Everyone knows more about Anjali
"Eid is here on a crescent moon night"
"Anana!"
"Friends we meet"
"Anana, Anana ANANA!!"
"Ok ok!! Twinkle twinkle little..."
"tar"
"How I wonder what we.."
"Up."
"Right. Up above the world so higgh. like a diamond in the sky!"
"Ky!!!"
======
Chinna Chinna Asai
"Aa"
Muthu
"Mu"
Muthu Asai
"Aa"
Vennilavu thottu
"Tho"
Muttham ida asai
(does a flying kiss).
No one taught her this. Honest. I cross checked with patti.
=======
At 10.30 at night, Anjali does fruit bat business on the bed. After a while, she gets tired of it, and tried to pretend to be a weight lifting champion and carries the pillow high.
"Anjali, Are u Hanuman?...Jai Hanuman jnana guna saagar..."
Anjali drops out of bed, drags mummy with her, makes mummy switch on the living room light, crawls under the dining table, takes out the Ramayana book and asks for story, at close to 11pm.
King Dasaratha had everything. What did he not have?
"Baby"
So he made a fire. And then what did he pour into the fire?
"nei"
Then the god came and gave him
"paa" (that is payasam)
and it goes on and on, until Kumbakarna wakes up and then gets hit by arrow and falls again, and how many heads Ravana has
"Te!"
And what is on each head?
"Meow Meow" (A moustache)
And finally Rama and Sita getting on the throne and living happily.
says on the back of the Ramayana book that he who reads it frequently gets blessed. But I am sure that you dont have to read it at 11pm at night!
"Anana!"
"Friends we meet"
"Anana, Anana ANANA!!"
"Ok ok!! Twinkle twinkle little..."
"tar"
"How I wonder what we.."
"Up."
"Right. Up above the world so higgh. like a diamond in the sky!"
"Ky!!!"
======
Chinna Chinna Asai
"Aa"
Muthu
"Mu"
Muthu Asai
"Aa"
Vennilavu thottu
"Tho"
Muttham ida asai
(does a flying kiss).
No one taught her this. Honest. I cross checked with patti.
=======
At 10.30 at night, Anjali does fruit bat business on the bed. After a while, she gets tired of it, and tried to pretend to be a weight lifting champion and carries the pillow high.
"Anjali, Are u Hanuman?...Jai Hanuman jnana guna saagar..."
Anjali drops out of bed, drags mummy with her, makes mummy switch on the living room light, crawls under the dining table, takes out the Ramayana book and asks for story, at close to 11pm.
King Dasaratha had everything. What did he not have?
"Baby"
So he made a fire. And then what did he pour into the fire?
"nei"
Then the god came and gave him
"paa" (that is payasam)
and it goes on and on, until Kumbakarna wakes up and then gets hit by arrow and falls again, and how many heads Ravana has
"Te!"
And what is on each head?
"Meow Meow" (A moustache)
And finally Rama and Sita getting on the throne and living happily.
says on the back of the Ramayana book that he who reads it frequently gets blessed. But I am sure that you dont have to read it at 11pm at night!
Monday, October 13, 2008
More vinegrettes
Gosh! How does Anjali know that amma is on the phone? She comes to the phone, talkes and cries when i say bye and want to hang up.
Husband's in Paris for the week, and if we ask Anjali where daddy's gone, she says Pa.
=========
She's still on the wake up late, sleep late (last night she slept at 11.30pm) mode. After her 10pm milk, she walks around the house, wakes everyone up, sits on bed and reads (kumudam, of all the books in the world), looks at her baa baa book, where the press button duck has gotten lost somewhere and so she says "oo ac ac" (that apparently means that there is supposed to be an old Mc Donald duck out there and where is it?), says "out" a couple of times, refuses to get carried on the shoulder, says "out" and "up" another ten more times, and then finally cries, drinks milk and goes to sleep.
========
Anjali is sitting in the potty
"Ammamma?"
"yes baby?"
"baby!"
Later..
"Ammamma?"
"Yes baba?'
"baba!"
A couple of seconds later..
"Ammamma"
"Yes darling?"
"darga... appa!"
"Yes. Appa calls you darling."
========
Mummy: Sa sing the sunflowers... Re ring the red roses...
Anjali.. Anana
Mummy: Yes. Ananya bought you the book... ga go the gulmughers
Anjali: Anana Anana
Mummy. That's right. Me murmur the marigolds...
Anjali: Anana Anana
Mummy: Are you going to let me sing?
Husband's in Paris for the week, and if we ask Anjali where daddy's gone, she says Pa.
=========
She's still on the wake up late, sleep late (last night she slept at 11.30pm) mode. After her 10pm milk, she walks around the house, wakes everyone up, sits on bed and reads (kumudam, of all the books in the world), looks at her baa baa book, where the press button duck has gotten lost somewhere and so she says "oo ac ac" (that apparently means that there is supposed to be an old Mc Donald duck out there and where is it?), says "out" a couple of times, refuses to get carried on the shoulder, says "out" and "up" another ten more times, and then finally cries, drinks milk and goes to sleep.
========
Anjali is sitting in the potty
"Ammamma?"
"yes baby?"
"baby!"
Later..
"Ammamma?"
"Yes baba?'
"baba!"
A couple of seconds later..
"Ammamma"
"Yes darling?"
"darga... appa!"
"Yes. Appa calls you darling."
========
Mummy: Sa sing the sunflowers... Re ring the red roses...
Anjali.. Anana
Mummy: Yes. Ananya bought you the book... ga go the gulmughers
Anjali: Anana Anana
Mummy. That's right. Me murmur the marigolds...
Anjali: Anana Anana
Mummy: Are you going to let me sing?
Pei, Apu and Annie
Yesterday, I finally found the time to put together the photos from Romania into a nice Album. For a long time, i was deliberating the mode of presentation. The initial idea of ring bound books didnt appeal because of the sheer number of pictures, there were 120 of them. So I would have to make atleast 12 books, as I dont like giving Anjali small thick books.
After much deliberation, I decided on one of those contact sheet albums, where the number of photos on each page can be changes, and we can add our own captions. This was a better idea because Anjali is already outgrowing her single page picture books and now likes to look at multiple pictures (her favorite are the Winnie the Pooh encyclopedias, where she identifies everything from truffle mushrooms to Taiga forests (I still dont know what they are:P))
Yesterday a friend of thatha's came to lunch and got truffe chocolates. So i told Anjali that they were truffes (as opposed to chocolates, as I wanted to see what she would do). She went straight for the Winne the pooh book (which unfortunately was the wrong one, the one with the truffle mushroom being in our house and the nature one in Patti's house). So I explained to her that it was the wrong book and then asked her what she does with the truffles. She imitated kissing (We have a game where Anjali kisses all the things in a book that she likes, namely bears, truffles, Christmas trees, Taiga forests etc, and mummy has to kiss the stuff she doesnt like, namely mosquitoes, lemons etc, because they are bleh bleh.)
Anyway, back to the Romania book story, I got the photos in, but hadnt had time to add captions yet. But Anjali wanted a bit of new entertainment, so i got out the album and she got interested in the pictures. She had a good time identifying everyone - Bu, Tata, Athai, Anna etc, and shook her head vigorously whenever we pointed to Alfred uncle, and insisted that we turn the next page (incidentally, she refused to kiss the photo of Alfred uncle, but kissed Bu and Tata and the rest)
But Anjali's favorite story was that depicted by the photos of her baptism. She turned the pages and stared intently at them. here's the conversation that followed.
"That's the priest from your Baptism" I said, somewhat cautiously.
And then,
"Where's the priest?"
Anjali pointed to the man in gold.
"Good", i said, turning the page.
"Pei."
"Excuse me?"
"Pei"
"Oh priest". I turned the page back. "Here's the priest. What the priest did?"
"Apa".
"Who did the priest put in Apa?"
"Annie"
"I see! the priest put Annie in Apa. Where's the Apa?"
Points to picture of Anjali being dunked in Apa.
"Ok. So what did Annie do then?"
"Waah"
That was the point where I couldnt keep a straight face anymore.
After much deliberation, I decided on one of those contact sheet albums, where the number of photos on each page can be changes, and we can add our own captions. This was a better idea because Anjali is already outgrowing her single page picture books and now likes to look at multiple pictures (her favorite are the Winnie the Pooh encyclopedias, where she identifies everything from truffle mushrooms to Taiga forests (I still dont know what they are:P))
Yesterday a friend of thatha's came to lunch and got truffe chocolates. So i told Anjali that they were truffes (as opposed to chocolates, as I wanted to see what she would do). She went straight for the Winne the pooh book (which unfortunately was the wrong one, the one with the truffle mushroom being in our house and the nature one in Patti's house). So I explained to her that it was the wrong book and then asked her what she does with the truffles. She imitated kissing (We have a game where Anjali kisses all the things in a book that she likes, namely bears, truffles, Christmas trees, Taiga forests etc, and mummy has to kiss the stuff she doesnt like, namely mosquitoes, lemons etc, because they are bleh bleh.)
Anyway, back to the Romania book story, I got the photos in, but hadnt had time to add captions yet. But Anjali wanted a bit of new entertainment, so i got out the album and she got interested in the pictures. She had a good time identifying everyone - Bu, Tata, Athai, Anna etc, and shook her head vigorously whenever we pointed to Alfred uncle, and insisted that we turn the next page (incidentally, she refused to kiss the photo of Alfred uncle, but kissed Bu and Tata and the rest)
But Anjali's favorite story was that depicted by the photos of her baptism. She turned the pages and stared intently at them. here's the conversation that followed.
"That's the priest from your Baptism" I said, somewhat cautiously.
And then,
"Where's the priest?"
Anjali pointed to the man in gold.
"Good", i said, turning the page.
"Pei."
"Excuse me?"
"Pei"
"Oh priest". I turned the page back. "Here's the priest. What the priest did?"
"Apa".
"Who did the priest put in Apa?"
"Annie"
"I see! the priest put Annie in Apa. Where's the Apa?"
Points to picture of Anjali being dunked in Apa.
"Ok. So what did Annie do then?"
"Waah"
That was the point where I couldnt keep a straight face anymore.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Anjali's exercise routiine: Day 1
This is the first time Anjali tried to exercise with her father. She did a longer routine yesterday
Will Bunica believe?
Husband wants Bu to believe that we wash this girl in the sink. Will Bu buy the image?
(Well, we do wash her in the sink from time to time. :P)
(Well, we do wash her in the sink from time to time. :P)
The Indian Warrior
One that draws not only on the floor, tables, an TV remote (no surface is safe), but also on herself. Her fingers are permanently ink smudged. One fine evening she was happily drawing on her hands and I told her
"Anjali, if you draw on your hands, Patti will have my blood."
And she said,
"bloog"
How could I not let her draw after that?
"Anjali, if you draw on your hands, Patti will have my blood."
And she said,
"bloog"
How could I not let her draw after that?
conversations
Suddenly, Anjali's talking and understanding are growing too fast for me to keep up. Here are some of her quick conversations
Anjali, Who calls you Mottu?
Thattha
Who calls you Sri Maa?
Patti
Who calls you Gundoos?
Amma
Who calls you bag of tricks?
Appa
Who calls you Puyut,u?
Bu
Bunica?
bu cu ca. (Incidentally, Bunica has not called Anjali puyutu since she was in Singapore, and that was around 9 months ago, and we are very mystified as to howw she remembers.)
===========
Anjali, to manunce lemon?
(shake head)
Deci?
um?
Cum este lemon?
bleh bleh.
Cine trebuie sa manunce lemon?
Appa.
Si amma pot se manunc?
shake head?
Deci?
bleh bleh.
====================
Anjali, cand merge tu la schola, pui geant pe manut,a si ce spui?
Bye Bye
(This is one of the things she says in three languages)
Yesterday evening, Anjali was playing with her playdough and then she got up, said "bye bye" and walked out of the door.
Anjali, where is your bag?
Anjali looked around. No bags in sight. Undaunted, she turns around, finds the bucket of playdough, slings it over her shoulder (as high as it can go) and says "bye bye"
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More conversations coming up.
Anjali, Who calls you Mottu?
Thattha
Who calls you Sri Maa?
Patti
Who calls you Gundoos?
Amma
Who calls you bag of tricks?
Appa
Who calls you Puyut,u?
Bu
Bunica?
bu cu ca. (Incidentally, Bunica has not called Anjali puyutu since she was in Singapore, and that was around 9 months ago, and we are very mystified as to howw she remembers.)
===========
Anjali, to manunce lemon?
(shake head)
Deci?
um?
Cum este lemon?
bleh bleh.
Cine trebuie sa manunce lemon?
Appa.
Si amma pot se manunc?
shake head?
Deci?
bleh bleh.
====================
Anjali, cand merge tu la schola, pui geant pe manut,a si ce spui?
Bye Bye
(This is one of the things she says in three languages)
Yesterday evening, Anjali was playing with her playdough and then she got up, said "bye bye" and walked out of the door.
Anjali, where is your bag?
Anjali looked around. No bags in sight. Undaunted, she turns around, finds the bucket of playdough, slings it over her shoulder (as high as it can go) and says "bye bye"
=======
More conversations coming up.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A larger role
Husband says that Anjali should be given a larger role in the forthcoming concerts. It is because she is an excellent pantomimer. Yesterday, she half acted, half sang the whole Anjali Anjali song. I hope to put up a video of this soon.
One of Anjali's favorite books is the Disney Encyclopedia with Pooh and friends. There are three in the series, Animals, Nature and earth. I bought the earth one for her a month ago. It covers various aspects - Tundra, Grasslands, forests, water etc. There is a page with information about Hawks in the book, with three pictures on one side - a hawk sitting on a perch, looking and flying. Ask Anjali howw the hawk sits, and she kneels down. ask her how the hawk looks, she bares her teeth, makes her eyes big and peers at you. It amuses Husband to no end.
By the way, what are Taiga forests? Anjali can identify them from the picture. Me, I have no clue what they are.
One of Anjali's favorite books is the Disney Encyclopedia with Pooh and friends. There are three in the series, Animals, Nature and earth. I bought the earth one for her a month ago. It covers various aspects - Tundra, Grasslands, forests, water etc. There is a page with information about Hawks in the book, with three pictures on one side - a hawk sitting on a perch, looking and flying. Ask Anjali howw the hawk sits, and she kneels down. ask her how the hawk looks, she bares her teeth, makes her eyes big and peers at you. It amuses Husband to no end.
By the way, what are Taiga forests? Anjali can identify them from the picture. Me, I have no clue what they are.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
reflections on travelling as a mother
On our trip to the mountains in Romania, husband was sitting in the front seat of the car with Alfred so that the back seat was free to hold me, Anjali and Anjali's gear. Once in a while, he would point to something nice passing by - cows, sheep, a beautiful stream crossing, a bridge, a train, a mountain path. More often than not, I would glance out of the window, exclaim over the sight, and then go back to Anjali, who needed a good bit of entertaining especially because she was getting bored in the car.
Here are some things that mom's should expect when taking an infant (or perhaps even an older child) on long trips
1. You will never get to watch a movie on the plane (though they had an excellent selection in the one we were travelling with). This is because you are constantly singing, juggling, drawing, etc and when the kid is sleeping, you dont dare to take a couple of hours to watch a movie because she is liable to wake up at any moment and then you are in for it.
2. There is always a chance that you will need one or more changes of clothes. Anjali barfed on me no less than 5 times during the trip to Romania - twice on the plane, twice during the mountain trip and once just after we got back to Bu's house. On the plane trip, I had one change of clothes, so ended up in Bucharest airport smelling strongly (despite my efforts to wipe most of the barf with wet wipes). There were issues with customs and so I didnt have time to change before getting in the car (the choice was to wear husband's T-shirt)... so that was an additional two hours before I could get somewhere to change my shirt. On the mountain, my spare clothes were in the trunk, so I just stowed away the T-shirt and pulled the sweater on. That's one nice thing about going in the mountains, there are always layers. What is very interesting is that when husband carries her and she wants to barf, she usually cries until I pick her up and then she barfs on me.
3. Take a spare set of elegant clothes. I had to borrow my sister in law's top and make do with one of my more elegant skirts for a dinner when Anjali decided to pee on my saree.
4. Hard situations will be even more harder as you are coping for two people. When we were climbing up to the top of the mountain, we decided to take a telecabin. This one was amazingly fast and crossed almost 2000 meters in ten minutes, which meant that Anjali had to cope with a quick change in air pressure. She didnt like it at all. To make matters worse, the telecabin is usually crowded. That was both good and bad, bad because she couldnt run around, and good because other people could distract her, like the nice lady who gave Anjali a small packet of biscuits and showed off her many rings.
5. You will notice the small differences between home and the foreign place more acutely than the larger and more exotic differences. Examples include how the leaves get blown away by the autumn wind, the number of dogs on the street, the cracks in the pavement, the way the houses have a small window near the ground for the basement, the way the birds fly etc.
6. You cant sit for more than ten minutes to eat a meal at a restaurant. It is recommended to take the kid running before the meal is served, so that when the meal comes, she can sit and eat with u - atleast for the first course. After the first course, usually her hunger abates, and either husband or I had to take turns taking Anjali out while the other ate. The worst was in Brasov, where the restaurant opened directly to the street and didnt have any doors. Anjali ran faster than lightning from table to outside. But thankfully, the street opened to the town square, which had many people but no vehicles.
7. Be careful about luggage. On the SIN-BUH trip, we overpacked Anjali's gear, and took about 10 books for her, and close to ten cans of baby food. Unfortunately, Anjali is not the kind who looks at books one by one. She likes them spread around her so that she can cross reference information. So the only toy that we used, with the exception of a couple of books, was her magnetic drawing board. Then there was the trip around Amsterdam, where poor husband had to lug around all the baggage, which included bottles of baby food, books and toys. On the way back, we were extremely blase, opting to give Anjali plane food and just packing two bottles of baby food for "incase".
8. Dont take for granted that eating habits remain consistent across four months. When we went to Langkawi, Anjali loved Heinz food. Egg custards and fruit salads and lentils etc. But then at that time, Anjali was just over a year old and didnt have such developed taste buds. Now Heinz is bland. She is used to salt and sour and spice and wants them all. The Heinz doesnt go in properly unless she is veritably starving.
9. All the same, the trip is more fulfilling with a kid. Exhausting, yes, but very fulfilling. I have no clue why, especially after listing all the reasons why it is so troublesome. But strangely, if given three choices - stay at home, go somewhere without Anjali, and go somewhere with Anjali; going with Anjali will take first choice.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Everyone knows about Anjali
Sudha aunty finished her walk yesterday with a armful of flowers. Seeing Anjali, she came and said,
"Here are flowers for you".
Anjali took a flower. Then
"Amma"
"what does she want?"
"She wants you to give me a flower also"
"Ok. Here you are". Then...
"Thattha"
Sudha aunty was running out of flowers. So she picked up a leaf from the floor and said
"Here's the pretty leaf. Give this to your thattha"
Anjali shook her head, stuck up her nose and walked away.
-----------
At the doctor's for patti's *oua*.
"Patti has a oua. So we must go to see the doctor. Anjali, you mustnt cry at the doctor. he is only checking patti".
At the receptionist...
"pa.. oua, Paa oua"
"Yes. paa has a oua."
At the doctor...
"What a cute baby. let me get her a chocolate"
Doctor comes back with the chocolate. then...
"Paa"
"What does she want?"
"She wants a chocolate for the grandmother"
"Ok. i'll go in to get another."
Another chocolate given to patti. Then...
"thattha?"
"One more for the grandfather"
Once all her companions were sated with chocolate Anjali was happy and ate hers.
=======
Anjali saw a baby cat in the playground. she followed it around for a while and then went to play in the slide. The cat, after a while, also began to play in the slides.
After a couple of rounds, Anjali came to ask me to slide with her.
"Ammamma?"
"Yes baby?"
"Up!"
"Up where?"
(points to slide).
I slid down.
Anjali ran around a little and then saw the cat sitting at the foot of the slide
"Meow Meow?"
"Yes Anjali. Thats the cat".
"Up!"
"Who must go up?"
"Meow meow."
The meow meow ignored her and licked its tail.
We thought it was hungry and got a small packet of milk to give the cat. Anjali watched very interestedly as the cat slurped some of the milk. then it lost interest and wandered away. She then wondered why it went away without drinking.
"Paa"
"yes. There is paal there"
"Meow Meow! Paa.."
"Meow Meow is not hungry any more Anjali. it will come back and drink when it gets hungry."
"Here are flowers for you".
Anjali took a flower. Then
"Amma"
"what does she want?"
"She wants you to give me a flower also"
"Ok. Here you are". Then...
"Thattha"
Sudha aunty was running out of flowers. So she picked up a leaf from the floor and said
"Here's the pretty leaf. Give this to your thattha"
Anjali shook her head, stuck up her nose and walked away.
-----------
At the doctor's for patti's *oua*.
"Patti has a oua. So we must go to see the doctor. Anjali, you mustnt cry at the doctor. he is only checking patti".
At the receptionist...
"pa.. oua, Paa oua"
"Yes. paa has a oua."
At the doctor...
"What a cute baby. let me get her a chocolate"
Doctor comes back with the chocolate. then...
"Paa"
"What does she want?"
"She wants a chocolate for the grandmother"
"Ok. i'll go in to get another."
Another chocolate given to patti. Then...
"thattha?"
"One more for the grandfather"
Once all her companions were sated with chocolate Anjali was happy and ate hers.
=======
Anjali saw a baby cat in the playground. she followed it around for a while and then went to play in the slide. The cat, after a while, also began to play in the slides.
After a couple of rounds, Anjali came to ask me to slide with her.
"Ammamma?"
"Yes baby?"
"Up!"
"Up where?"
(points to slide).
I slid down.
Anjali ran around a little and then saw the cat sitting at the foot of the slide
"Meow Meow?"
"Yes Anjali. Thats the cat".
"Up!"
"Who must go up?"
"Meow meow."
The meow meow ignored her and licked its tail.
We thought it was hungry and got a small packet of milk to give the cat. Anjali watched very interestedly as the cat slurped some of the milk. then it lost interest and wandered away. She then wondered why it went away without drinking.
"Paa"
"yes. There is paal there"
"Meow Meow! Paa.."
"Meow Meow is not hungry any more Anjali. it will come back and drink when it gets hungry."
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