In this smile, you can just see the dimple coming out.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Got the tree up
This year, we got a bigger tree, About three feet taller than the one we got last year. Shopping for the tree was, as allways, quite a strenuous experience, as we had to walk across the whole of Thomson, look around, select the tree, and it was such a hot weather. But finally, we found a nice tree, ordered it for delivery and then on the way home, stopped for flowers. The carnations in Thomson are usually very beautiful.
Anjali went with me in the cold room, she wanted to be carried as it was too cold, and carrying her is like carrying a teddy, it warms you up nicely. She picked the carnations, "pupple" and then chose the white ones with purple edging, Then she wanted candles, so we got a packet and then she wanted to find out what the fertilizer was for. She was very interested to find out that the fertilizer was mum mum for the plants and that plants ate little brown round pellets.
We then wanted to go home, as it was so hot. But we happened to pass by goodwood florists, and there were lots of interior decorating fountains on display. There, Anjali went crazy. While I sat and stared at the bundle that is naught but energy, she ran from one fountain to another, touching the water, trying out the mist creator, exclaiming at curtains etc. At some point, she found a cat sitting in the shop, and a little dish, whereupon, she promptly decided that the cat needed water. So she made trips from the fountain to the cat and while the cat stared balefully at her, dumped "apa" in front of the cat for it to drink.
Then she wanted to carry the cat home "meow meow, anniya, caie, home", but ofcourse that's not an option.
Not yet anyway.
However, we wonder if we could get her a small fish tank with a couple of fish. She had a grand time with the koi pond at the botanical gardens, but then she might end up dumping all the fish food into the tank at once and then what would happen to the fish? Or what if she tries to put her hand into the pond and fishes the fish out, thinking that it is some kind of pooh toy in the bathtub?
Maybe we'll get a live tortoise. But that will drive patti crazy.
It was close to one pm when we left the Thomson road and caught a bus. She was so exhausted to the point of bring almost cranky, whereupon husband tried to quieten her by asking her to swing from the handles in the bus, which she did, for about three minutes, before her eyes glazed over and she fell asleep, still holding on to the handle bars and hanging in mid air.
"Get a bottle of milk ready when we get home, before putting her to bed", said husband, wisely. Otherwise, she will not sleep properly, she's a bit hungry.
Accordingly, when we reached home, I prepared a bottle of milk, sat on the bed and gave it to the imp, who drank her milk in her sleep. As she was drinking, I noticed that her pants were damp, presumably from all the fountain water and decided to change it as well as her diapers.
She lay still until we took the diaper off. When we put on new diapers, she rolled over and decided to get up. That was about half an hour of sleep.
The tree got delivered on Sunday morning and here's the imp with the tree. If you think her dress is cute, there is a story behind it. But thats a story for another day.
Anjali went with me in the cold room, she wanted to be carried as it was too cold, and carrying her is like carrying a teddy, it warms you up nicely. She picked the carnations, "pupple" and then chose the white ones with purple edging, Then she wanted candles, so we got a packet and then she wanted to find out what the fertilizer was for. She was very interested to find out that the fertilizer was mum mum for the plants and that plants ate little brown round pellets.
We then wanted to go home, as it was so hot. But we happened to pass by goodwood florists, and there were lots of interior decorating fountains on display. There, Anjali went crazy. While I sat and stared at the bundle that is naught but energy, she ran from one fountain to another, touching the water, trying out the mist creator, exclaiming at curtains etc. At some point, she found a cat sitting in the shop, and a little dish, whereupon, she promptly decided that the cat needed water. So she made trips from the fountain to the cat and while the cat stared balefully at her, dumped "apa" in front of the cat for it to drink.
Then she wanted to carry the cat home "meow meow, anniya, caie, home", but ofcourse that's not an option.
Not yet anyway.
However, we wonder if we could get her a small fish tank with a couple of fish. She had a grand time with the koi pond at the botanical gardens, but then she might end up dumping all the fish food into the tank at once and then what would happen to the fish? Or what if she tries to put her hand into the pond and fishes the fish out, thinking that it is some kind of pooh toy in the bathtub?
Maybe we'll get a live tortoise. But that will drive patti crazy.
It was close to one pm when we left the Thomson road and caught a bus. She was so exhausted to the point of bring almost cranky, whereupon husband tried to quieten her by asking her to swing from the handles in the bus, which she did, for about three minutes, before her eyes glazed over and she fell asleep, still holding on to the handle bars and hanging in mid air.
"Get a bottle of milk ready when we get home, before putting her to bed", said husband, wisely. Otherwise, she will not sleep properly, she's a bit hungry.
Accordingly, when we reached home, I prepared a bottle of milk, sat on the bed and gave it to the imp, who drank her milk in her sleep. As she was drinking, I noticed that her pants were damp, presumably from all the fountain water and decided to change it as well as her diapers.
She lay still until we took the diaper off. When we put on new diapers, she rolled over and decided to get up. That was about half an hour of sleep.
The tree got delivered on Sunday morning and here's the imp with the tree. If you think her dress is cute, there is a story behind it. But thats a story for another day.
And the nominees are...
Anjali Curic for
1. Most glamorous costume
2. Most original costume
3. Most beautiful smile
4. Most elegant look
5. Most chic hairstyle
And the winner is Anjali curic, for all five categories
1. Most glamorous costume
2. Most original costume
3. Most beautiful smile
4. Most elegant look
5. Most chic hairstyle
And the winner is Anjali curic, for all five categories
Bathtime with Anjali
Also features is husband's haircut for Anjali. I would have taken a video of him doing it, only thing is that I have having Anjali on my lap as she slept peacefully through her afternoon nap. Husband can moonlight, I guess.
Anjali, when she woke up, didnt realize that her hair had been cut. But at night, when she was sleepy, she started to run her hands through her hair and was plenty surprised to find that somehow her hair wont hold.
Back to the bathtime, this is only five minutes of a whole sequence, which starts by making bubbles, putting bubbles on Anjali and then on mummy, putting bubbles on pooh and snoopy and squeezing them (take queesh) and other stuff. The whole bath time takes between 20 minutes to half an hour and the bottom line is when she has to eat, and i ask her to come out to the kitchen, she says "no no, here!", here meaning the bathroom.
Anjali, when she woke up, didnt realize that her hair had been cut. But at night, when she was sleepy, she started to run her hands through her hair and was plenty surprised to find that somehow her hair wont hold.
Back to the bathtime, this is only five minutes of a whole sequence, which starts by making bubbles, putting bubbles on Anjali and then on mummy, putting bubbles on pooh and snoopy and squeezing them (take queesh) and other stuff. The whole bath time takes between 20 minutes to half an hour and the bottom line is when she has to eat, and i ask her to come out to the kitchen, she says "no no, here!", here meaning the bathroom.
Pooh and Snoopy
Snoopy is totally retro. We didnt control any of the colors. looks totally like a work of Picasso's art, doesnt it.
cheese cloths, no no anniya and other stuff
At home, we use old veshti cloths for a lot of things, from putting babies head on them for small babies, to filtering whey when making cheese.
I hadnt made Cheese for a while, not since returning from Romania, because there was so much cheese around the house. But, on saturday, i wanted to make mamaliga, and as it goes well with homemade cheese, I made some up fresh on friday. Anjali was watching me wtrain of the whey using a veshti cloth.
She pointed to it.
"Pattiya idi!"
Huh?!?
And then it dawned on me, that patti probably uses the same kind of cloth to make idlis.
Just got it confirmed with patti.
===
Today was the first time that Anjali said rain.
"Anjali, what is falling from the sky?"
"Apa!" said husband, enthusiastically
"ain!" said Anjali
What?
"ain!"
=====
Anjali says some 10 new words a day. And watching her say them is very cute.
"Anjali, where patti and thattha will go after you go acasa?"
"'mu gan sthoes" (Murugan stores)
"Anjali, Paramagama"
"Pattathiye, teeya!"
"What do you want to see on teeya?"
Anjali puts her leg on her head
"Whats the name of the song?"
"Shenniya"
========
As she grows, she gets more bossy, and expresses her wishes very well too. Its common for us to hear things like
Daddy shiere (sit here)
Daddy Daddy change
Daddy new shirt
Teddy bear diapers (when Anjali doesnot want to wear diapers)
Baby Okka (while asking a baby on the street to sit down with her)
Baby daddy caiie (baby's daddy is carrying her)
Anniya daddy caiie (Anjali's daddy carry her)
"No No Anniya" is still the most popular phrase, that is used whenever we attempt to help her with anything whatsoever. from putting on her shoes, to taking off her pants, to taking off her diaper to opening the bathroom door. She gets terribly frustrated if she cant do it, but will still not accept help from us. Butt if we encourage her by saying that she can do it, she kind of laughs through her tears of frustration and tries hard. So I guess thats the way to go, even if it means waiting ten minutes in front of the front door for the imp to put on her shoes.
=======
Anjali, do you want to watch Auckland on Tv?
"Auka Auka!"
We turn on the tv and as all the stuff with Anjali is burnt into one dvd, the first video is of her doing shuffling when she was a baby.
"no no!"
We hit skip track
"no no"
And finally we end up at the Aukland track.
"Pia Pia!!"
Ok, hit fastforward until we reach Piha.
Piha gets finished and a small segment with Anjali mopping the floor comes on.
"No No! Geesher"
Ok, fastforward again until the geyser comes on.
"Apa shot" (Apa hot)
I hadnt made Cheese for a while, not since returning from Romania, because there was so much cheese around the house. But, on saturday, i wanted to make mamaliga, and as it goes well with homemade cheese, I made some up fresh on friday. Anjali was watching me wtrain of the whey using a veshti cloth.
She pointed to it.
"Pattiya idi!"
Huh?!?
And then it dawned on me, that patti probably uses the same kind of cloth to make idlis.
Just got it confirmed with patti.
===
Today was the first time that Anjali said rain.
"Anjali, what is falling from the sky?"
"Apa!" said husband, enthusiastically
"ain!" said Anjali
What?
"ain!"
=====
Anjali says some 10 new words a day. And watching her say them is very cute.
"Anjali, where patti and thattha will go after you go acasa?"
"'mu gan sthoes" (Murugan stores)
"Anjali, Paramagama"
"Pattathiye, teeya!"
"What do you want to see on teeya?"
Anjali puts her leg on her head
"Whats the name of the song?"
"Shenniya"
========
As she grows, she gets more bossy, and expresses her wishes very well too. Its common for us to hear things like
Daddy shiere (sit here)
Daddy Daddy change
Daddy new shirt
Teddy bear diapers (when Anjali doesnot want to wear diapers)
Baby Okka (while asking a baby on the street to sit down with her)
Baby daddy caiie (baby's daddy is carrying her)
Anniya daddy caiie (Anjali's daddy carry her)
"No No Anniya" is still the most popular phrase, that is used whenever we attempt to help her with anything whatsoever. from putting on her shoes, to taking off her pants, to taking off her diaper to opening the bathroom door. She gets terribly frustrated if she cant do it, but will still not accept help from us. Butt if we encourage her by saying that she can do it, she kind of laughs through her tears of frustration and tries hard. So I guess thats the way to go, even if it means waiting ten minutes in front of the front door for the imp to put on her shoes.
=======
Anjali, do you want to watch Auckland on Tv?
"Auka Auka!"
We turn on the tv and as all the stuff with Anjali is burnt into one dvd, the first video is of her doing shuffling when she was a baby.
"no no!"
We hit skip track
"no no"
And finally we end up at the Aukland track.
"Pia Pia!!"
Ok, hit fastforward until we reach Piha.
Piha gets finished and a small segment with Anjali mopping the floor comes on.
"No No! Geesher"
Ok, fastforward again until the geyser comes on.
"Apa shot" (Apa hot)
Friday, December 12, 2008
Ways to entertain a toddler: Part 5
63. Peg boards or 'Hamma' beads keep little fingers occupied for ages at this age.
64. Make a home- made obstacle course in the living room or garden. Use chairs to crawl under, ropes to jump over, balls to dribble or throw into a bucket - use your imagination.
65. Ask your child to cover a piece of paper with colourful patterns, then help her fold it to make a fan.
66. Cut out a fish shape from a sheet of newspaper, about 30cm (1ft) long. Make a tube out of the rest of the newspaper. Move the fish along by beating the tube behind its tail.
67. Play dressing-up. Old hats, scarves, shoes, beads, shirts and any other cast-offs will do..
68. Take your child to buy a comic from your local newsagent.
69. Make a garden in a seed tray. Fill it with soil and add plant cut-offs and flowers. A small container lined with foil and filled with water makes a pond.
70. Make magic potions! Fill plastic bottles and pots with water, food colouring, bubble bath, glitter, petals and stir. Remind your child that she shouldn't taste it.
71. Go on a bug hunt. Look under stones and leaves.
72. Do crayon rubbings. Coins work well, as does bark.
73. Put on some lively music and tidy her bedroom together.
74. Lay the table together - yes, it's a chore for you but it'll be more fun if your little one helps you
75. Play going to the seaside! Help her find her swimsuit, sun hat, bucket and spade.
Ways to Entertain a toddler: Part 4
45. Make a playdough sweet shop. Use different colours and shapes to make lollies, chocolate bars, candy bars and fruit drops.
46. Be sleeping lions. Your child must lie still for as long as possible! Or play musical statues. When the music stops, they must freeze!
47. Put 20 household objects on a tray. Show them to your child for 2 minutes, then hide them. See how many she can remember.
48. Ask a friend over. At this age children love to have a companion and are easier to entertain.
49. Make a paper-bag puppet with buttons for eyes and wool hair.
50. If round at Granny's, get her to sing songs and play games from when she was young. They may seem outdated to you, but your toddler won't know the difference
51. Play hide-and-seek but pretend to be a bit short-sighted when it's your turn to do the seeking!
52. Play hunt the teddy. Take it in turns to hide it in the house.
53. Make biscuits - Let her roll the pastry, use the shape cutters and help with the icing and decorating.
54. Hide toys that make a noise behind the settee. See if your child can guess which one she's hearing.
55. Play car games. If travelling to relatives, play games along the way such as spotting the red car, bike, sheep etc.
56. Paint designs onto each other's hands using watercolours.
57. Thread tubes of pasta on to lengths of string to make some pasta jewellery.
58. Play dolls' hospitals. Provide loo-paper bandages and a few plasters, then line up dolls and toys as patients.
59. See how many small objects you can fit into a matchbox.
60. After a birthday or Christmas, save the cards and cut them in half. Give your child one half of each card and spread the others around the room. See if she can put them back together.
61. Play a board game. Board games are something to get the whole family involved. Something like snakes and ladders will be easy enough for your tot to play as well.
62. Make an alphabet scrapbook. Cut out photos from magazines for each letter of the alphabet.
Wayys to entertain a toddler: Part 3
27. If you've got a lot of shopping to get done, break up the trip by taking her to see Santa in his grotto. Most department stores will have one and it'll be worth the queues to see her face light up.
28. Paint a butterfly. Fold a piece of paper in half, then open it out again. Paint one side of the fold, then close it up again. Open it up to reveal your butterfly pattern.
29. Collect things such as twigs, petals, stones and leaves and put them in a bucket.
30. Play traffic lights. You're the policeman and she's the car. When you shout 'red', she has to stop; 'green' means go.
31. Let her help with writing Christmas cards, get her a rubber stamp with her name on, or just a picture that she can stamp on each card- it'll keep her involved for hours, and let you get the job done.
32. Have an ice cream 'factory'. Put a scoop of ice cream in a bowl and let her choose a topping from a variety of things set out.
33. Play buses. Line up chairs in pairs and fill the seats with dolls.
34. Make a tent. Just drape a sheet over a couple of chairs.
35. If it's been raining, put on your wellies and jump in puddles!
36. Go to the library. An unending supply of books - for free!
37. Make some streamers or decorations. They're easy to make - all you need is some glue and coloured paper and string. She'll love hanging her finished ones up on the tree too.
38. Settle her down with a story tape or CD or pre-record yourself reading her fave books.
39. Make a hat. Cut a strip of card to fit round your tot's head, then get her to decorate it.
40. Make cards for someone in your family - get your tot to draw her own picture on the front and buy some stickers to decorate.
41. Construct a rocket by covering a loo roll in foil. Make a cone shape to attach to one end and add orange streamers to the other.
42. Write a letter to a relative. It's one thing to make a phone call, but it's something else to write something. Although it won't happen immediately, when she gets a reply, it will make her day.
43. Do some dusting! Kids really love to copy Mum (just mind those expensive knick-knacks!)
44. Go swimming. Lots of leisure centres have special children's sessions when they have extra equipment such as floats, balls and little watering-cans.
Ways to entertain a toddler: Part 2
11. Do some magic painting! Draw a simple design on paper with a white candle or crayon. Make up watery paint in a strong colour and let your tot paint the paper to reveal the lovely designs - she'll be amazed.
12. Play 'Follow my leader'. Your toddler has to copy everything you do. Jump up and down, pat your tummy, sit down, stand up, walk up stairs, put your slippers on your head. The sillier the better. Once she's got the idea, let her lead you.
13. Trace a toddler using an old roll of lining wallpaper. Get your child to lie on it and trace her outline! Then let her colour or paint it (if you're feeling brave!).
14. Read some stories together - the more you read, the more your child will get interested in books. Doing funny voices will make it even more fun.
15. Put on some tunes and play musical bumps. Tell her she has to sit down as quickly as possible when the music stops.
16. Make a letterbox! Cover an old cereal box in red paint or paper. Cut out a slot for letters and make pretend envelopes. Your child can write on the envelopes, stick on pretend stamps and post them.
17. Dig out your old home videos. She'll love it if there are people she knows - more fun than watching endless Postman Pats!
18. Go to the park. Take a ball or a ride-along toy. You might find other mums to chat to.
19. Make up thick poster paint, then paint your toddler's hands. Get her to make handprints all over some paper. When they're dry you can make a special birthday card with them.
20. Slice some potatoes in half and cut stars and other shapes into each flat surface. Dip the potatoes into saucers of poster paint and let your toddler use them for printing.
21. Make a collage. Toddlers like sticking things. Use sweet wrappers, scraps of material, foil, cotton wool - anything really!
22. Make cakes. Your toddler will love stirring the mixture and make sure you tell everyone very loudly what a great help she's been!
23. Give her dried pasta, a sieve, bowl and plastic jug.
24. Have a dolls' tea party. Use a picnic rug and real food.
25. Make a mask. Draw an animal's face on card and cut holes for eyes. Cut out some ears and stick them on the top. Let her colour it, then attach a straw so she can hold it in front of her.
26. Save the packaging. If anyone in your family gets given a large present, keep the box. It's true that at this age, they are often more fun to play with than the gift inside.
Ways to entertain a toddler: Part 1
I found a great website with tips on how to entertain toddlers. Am posting them up here to make sure that I dont lose it or the site doesnt get removed
1. Let your tot help with the washing. Show her how to sort the coloureds from the whites, and then let her stuff them into the machine.
2. Turn the living room into a cinema! Put dolls and teddies on a row of chairs. Take money for tickets, then show a DVD. An interval with a chance to buy a snack is popular!
3. If you've got a lot of washing up to do. Get out her plastic tea-set, a bowl of soapy water and a tea-towel to put it all on. Then let her wash up on the kitchen floor whilst you do yours.
4. If it's a cold day, put some sand from the sand-pit in a washing-up bowl and hide mini treasures. A spoon makes a good-sized spade and a sieve's fun, too.
5. Create with playdough. Give your toddler shaped biscuit cutters and a rolling-pin and show her how to cut out 'biscuits'. A garlic press is fun for making squiggly bits.
6. Use a packet of coloured sweets such as Smarties to play a sorting game. Sift the different colours into separate bowls.
7. Dig out a basket of old 'baby' toys. She'll be keen to play with them, as she hasn't seen them for a while.
8. Put on some music and have a dance. Book/CD combinations such as The Animal Boogie (from Barefoot books) are great standbys for beating boredom! Look at the colourful pictures together, then get up and join in the dance.
9. While you're wrapping presents, let her play with some shiny paper - the more crinkly and sparkly, the longer it'll keep her occupied
10.. Make a photo album together. Find some family shots and a notebook and help your toddler glue the pictures in.
In the morning
7.15am: Anjali wakes up
Mummy Mummy - Anjali Anjali game for five minutes
7.20am: Paavu
Daddy gets paal in a bottle and Anjali drinks it up lazily. Daddy meannwhile grabs a shower and gets ready for work.
7.35pm:
Daddy's out of the shower. Anjali just finished her paal and is lazing around mummy.
7.40pm:
Mummy: Anjali, Mummy must take a bath and get ready for work.
Anjali: No no
Mummy: Do you want to go to patti's house?
Anjali: Pattiya
Mummy: Who will go to patti's house
Anjali: Anniya
Mummy: Ok. lets get up, mummy will bath and we'll go
Anjali: No No
I ignore her and get up.
She gets up after me, grabs the tip of my nightgown and drags me into the kitchen, babbling from left to right.
I suddenly get a bright idea.
Mummy: Anjali, mummy must take a bath, lets take pooh and snoopy into the bath and give them also a bath
Anjali is content, and takes pooh and snoopy, following me into the bathroom. of course, her clothes come off
I dump pooh and snoopy on the bathroom floor and proceed to take my shower in record speed (its 7.55am) and then turn off the shower
Anjali (extremely indignant): Mummy!!!
Mummy: Yes baby...
Anjali: Bath!!!
Mummy: Mummy just finished her bath
Anjali (still indignant): Pooh!! Shoopy!!
Mummy: Oh right, i forgot. (grab pooh and snoopy from the floor, open the tap and chuck them under the tap for a couple of seconds before thrusting them to Anjali). ok here you are, they have taken a bath
Anjali takes pooh and Snoopy carefully and still looks shell shocked at my behavior. Took about three minutes for her to forget it and do something else.
Mummy Mummy - Anjali Anjali game for five minutes
7.20am: Paavu
Daddy gets paal in a bottle and Anjali drinks it up lazily. Daddy meannwhile grabs a shower and gets ready for work.
7.35pm:
Daddy's out of the shower. Anjali just finished her paal and is lazing around mummy.
7.40pm:
Mummy: Anjali, Mummy must take a bath and get ready for work.
Anjali: No no
Mummy: Do you want to go to patti's house?
Anjali: Pattiya
Mummy: Who will go to patti's house
Anjali: Anniya
Mummy: Ok. lets get up, mummy will bath and we'll go
Anjali: No No
I ignore her and get up.
She gets up after me, grabs the tip of my nightgown and drags me into the kitchen, babbling from left to right.
I suddenly get a bright idea.
Mummy: Anjali, mummy must take a bath, lets take pooh and snoopy into the bath and give them also a bath
Anjali is content, and takes pooh and snoopy, following me into the bathroom. of course, her clothes come off
I dump pooh and snoopy on the bathroom floor and proceed to take my shower in record speed (its 7.55am) and then turn off the shower
Anjali (extremely indignant): Mummy!!!
Mummy: Yes baby...
Anjali: Bath!!!
Mummy: Mummy just finished her bath
Anjali (still indignant): Pooh!! Shoopy!!
Mummy: Oh right, i forgot. (grab pooh and snoopy from the floor, open the tap and chuck them under the tap for a couple of seconds before thrusting them to Anjali). ok here you are, they have taken a bath
Anjali takes pooh and Snoopy carefully and still looks shell shocked at my behavior. Took about three minutes for her to forget it and do something else.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Anjali and Sophia
Six months up the pole with Anjali and Sophia. Its funny. I weigh as much now, when I am nearly eight months up the pole, I weigh as much as I did when I was six months with Anjali.
Anjali's favoriite words
Out
Mummy
Daddy
Ho Hia
Ho Hia Out
Ho Hia Bath
Ho Hia play
Ho Hia boo baa
pattiiya
thattha
tortoise
coo (and two coos)
open
coshe
at the top three places
3. Self
2. no No Anniya
1. No no no no
Mummy
Daddy
Ho Hia
Ho Hia Out
Ho Hia Bath
Ho Hia play
Ho Hia boo baa
pattiiya
thattha
tortoise
coo (and two coos)
open
coshe
at the top three places
3. Self
2. no No Anniya
1. No no no no
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Tantrum tip
When kid throws a tantrum, quietly leave the room and busy yourself with something else, preferably someting like her other toys, play with them, talk a little louder than usual with the toy and totally ignore her, She'll eventually come to what you are doing.
Anjali threw a major tantrum yesterday because she wanted to sit in the sink and play in the water, immediately after her bath. Sink play usually means that she gets all soap sudsy, with dishwashing soap and would need another bath. I told her no, she began to scream, and I just left her and went to the bed room, sat on the bed and began to play with her toys and talk to them.
Imp came, tried to cry a little more, saw that I was not paying any attention to her and then climbed on my lap and began to play with the tortoise again.
Anjali threw a major tantrum yesterday because she wanted to sit in the sink and play in the water, immediately after her bath. Sink play usually means that she gets all soap sudsy, with dishwashing soap and would need another bath. I told her no, she began to scream, and I just left her and went to the bed room, sat on the bed and began to play with her toys and talk to them.
Imp came, tried to cry a little more, saw that I was not paying any attention to her and then climbed on my lap and began to play with the tortoise again.
Typical conversations
Mummy!
Anjali!
Mummy
Anjali!
Mummy Mummy
Anjali Anjali
Mummy Mummy
Anjali Anjali
(Satisfied and giving a hug) Mummy!
(Satisfied and giving a hug) Anjali!
=========
Anjali with two tortoises hugging
Me: Lets sing tortoise song
Imp: Daddy
(Daddy is sleeping, opens one eye, grabs tortoise)
Daddy: I am a tortoise, I am green
Imp: Other!
(Daddy grabs other tortoise): We are two tortoises, We are green
Imp: mummy Mummy Up.
Mummy: Why?
Imp: Here, (pointing at foot of bed some three feet from where I am)
Mummy: Ok (Lifts as much of the bulk as possible and plonks it down)
Imp (absolutely content, sits on mummy's lap and watches green tortoise concert that daddy sets up)
Why she cant sit three feet to the left I dont know.
============
Things that leave me open mouthed
"Anjali, this is a dragonfly, (looking at the pooh animals encyclopedia) It is blah blah blah"
Anjali very carefully looks at the picture, looks at me and says "thattam!"
No idea who taughht her that. patti says she might have mentioned it in passing some three months ago.
More on the animals book...
"Anjali, these are crickets, this is a baby cricket and a big cricket and a cricket nest"
Anjali does the dance sign.
"What song do you know about crickets?"
Dance sign again. And then it strikes me
"There's a cricket match in town"
Imp: Tooodaie
"I'm off to see it I'm on my"
Imp: ouay!
I tried to explain to her that is was two different things, but I am not sure that she understood.
Anjali!
Mummy
Anjali!
Mummy Mummy
Anjali Anjali
Mummy Mummy
Anjali Anjali
(Satisfied and giving a hug) Mummy!
(Satisfied and giving a hug) Anjali!
=========
Anjali with two tortoises hugging
Me: Lets sing tortoise song
Imp: Daddy
(Daddy is sleeping, opens one eye, grabs tortoise)
Daddy: I am a tortoise, I am green
Imp: Other!
(Daddy grabs other tortoise): We are two tortoises, We are green
Imp: mummy Mummy Up.
Mummy: Why?
Imp: Here, (pointing at foot of bed some three feet from where I am)
Mummy: Ok (Lifts as much of the bulk as possible and plonks it down)
Imp (absolutely content, sits on mummy's lap and watches green tortoise concert that daddy sets up)
Why she cant sit three feet to the left I dont know.
============
Things that leave me open mouthed
"Anjali, this is a dragonfly, (looking at the pooh animals encyclopedia) It is blah blah blah"
Anjali very carefully looks at the picture, looks at me and says "thattam!"
No idea who taughht her that. patti says she might have mentioned it in passing some three months ago.
More on the animals book...
"Anjali, these are crickets, this is a baby cricket and a big cricket and a cricket nest"
Anjali does the dance sign.
"What song do you know about crickets?"
Dance sign again. And then it strikes me
"There's a cricket match in town"
Imp: Tooodaie
"I'm off to see it I'm on my"
Imp: ouay!
I tried to explain to her that is was two different things, but I am not sure that she understood.
Friday, December 5, 2008
a dialog
Anjali wakes up in the middle of the night.
"paau!"
"Ok Anjali, daddy will get you paau"
"Mummy!"
"You want mummy to get you paal. Ok. Stay here and mummy will go and get"
"Caie!"
"Mummy should carry you and get paal?"
"Stay there" (this from daddy as he gets up to get paal)
"Mummy will carry you and we'll wait in bed for daddy to get paal."
"mummy paau! waaa"
When the paal came, she quietened down and drank it.
"paau!"
"Ok Anjali, daddy will get you paau"
"Mummy!"
"You want mummy to get you paal. Ok. Stay here and mummy will go and get"
"Caie!"
"Mummy should carry you and get paal?"
"Stay there" (this from daddy as he gets up to get paal)
"Mummy will carry you and we'll wait in bed for daddy to get paal."
"mummy paau! waaa"
When the paal came, she quietened down and drank it.
More stuff about Baby Sophia
For a long time I have been feeling guilty about the fact that I have not been giving baby Sophia as much musical exposure as I did to Anjali. I remember sitting for long hours in front of the altar, or on the floor, listening to good, religious music, or piano and feeling the kid kick in the tummy. And I would never forget the day when, around Chinese new year, I went into a cafe for a quiet lunch, only to be interrupted by a group of lion dancers, who came in with their drums. Anjali, who was probably playing on the right side of the tummy jumped and ran to the left, as far as possible from the loud music, where she snuggled until we finished our lunch.
Being eight months up the pole I decided that the only thing to do, since I would not get any proper time to listen to the kid dance in the tummy when I was at home and busy with Anjali, was to let the music play in the office. So I hooked up a couple of speakers and put them in low volume. I guess the motherly desperation shows when I snuck one speaker under the table for it to be closer to the belly.
Sophia and I tried various music genres, starting with mostly stuff that i used to play for Anjali - Vatsalyam, Mozart etc. While she kicked more than usual, I still felt that she wasnt kicking as hard as Anjali used to, a fact which worried me a little, especially since the doctor expressed concern that she was a smaller baby than Anjali was. So I tried other genres of music, from Ghazals to Sitar music to stuff that I had used with very good kick effect with Anjali. Still the response, while there, was not as big as I had gotten used to with the other imp.
"She dies not like Sitar music!" husband exclaimed, when I told him what had happened.
Then, I tried on violin, and I swear, the kid went crazy. Now whenever I put on the Kunnakudi album she jumps up and down like as if she is on a roller coaster.
I remember that Anjali used to be very responsive towards vocal music - religious songs and vedas that were sung. Now sophia responds to the violin. Life's miracles never cease.
Being eight months up the pole I decided that the only thing to do, since I would not get any proper time to listen to the kid dance in the tummy when I was at home and busy with Anjali, was to let the music play in the office. So I hooked up a couple of speakers and put them in low volume. I guess the motherly desperation shows when I snuck one speaker under the table for it to be closer to the belly.
Sophia and I tried various music genres, starting with mostly stuff that i used to play for Anjali - Vatsalyam, Mozart etc. While she kicked more than usual, I still felt that she wasnt kicking as hard as Anjali used to, a fact which worried me a little, especially since the doctor expressed concern that she was a smaller baby than Anjali was. So I tried other genres of music, from Ghazals to Sitar music to stuff that I had used with very good kick effect with Anjali. Still the response, while there, was not as big as I had gotten used to with the other imp.
"She dies not like Sitar music!" husband exclaimed, when I told him what had happened.
Then, I tried on violin, and I swear, the kid went crazy. Now whenever I put on the Kunnakudi album she jumps up and down like as if she is on a roller coaster.
I remember that Anjali used to be very responsive towards vocal music - religious songs and vedas that were sung. Now sophia responds to the violin. Life's miracles never cease.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Linguistic development?
Although newborns can distinguish speech sounds from all human languages, the ability to discriminate non native speech sounds drops substantially after about six months (Stager and Werker, 1997, Trehub, 1976)
Why then, does Anjali stare at me when I speak in sanskrit and at patti when patti speaks in english and at daddy when he speaks in Tamil?
Why then, does Anjali stare at me when I speak in sanskrit and at patti when patti speaks in english and at daddy when he speaks in Tamil?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
pretty with daddy
Jurassic Park
Geyser and Blue pool
Pohutu (I think thats what its called geyser)
Baa baa
Two smiles and a pretty background
Walking along the beach
A nice scenery
Uphill
PonsonbyThe fact that she has more pictures with daddy is because daddy carried her more than mummy (that is daddy's claim :P)
Pretty with mummy
Overlooking
A pretty scenery
Kiss on a hill
And on the way up
Under the bridge
Against the sails
A boat on Ponsonby
Pretty as a picture (some photos removed accordiing to thattha's request)
Pretty in a new ammamma dress
Pretty girl
All dressed up
Admiring the water
Friday, November 21, 2008
patti matta
Yesterday I asked Anjali
"Anjali, who will do circus till 12 midnight?"
"Annie, Amma, Adi'
"Will patti do or no?" (patti kooothu adipaala maatala?)
"maata!"
"Thatha?"
"maata!"
After a while, she got very amused by how excied we were about her saying maata that she went around saying "patti maata"
She understand what it means too, after a while we asked her
"Anjali, who will do circus till 12 midnight?"
"Annie, Amma, Adi, Patti, thattha"
"Will patti do koothu?"
"Yesh"
And thattha?
"yesh!"
(this is one of the few yeshes that we get out of her. )
"Anjali, who will do circus till 12 midnight?"
"Annie, Amma, Adi'
"Will patti do or no?" (patti kooothu adipaala maatala?)
"maata!"
"Thatha?"
"maata!"
After a while, she got very amused by how excied we were about her saying maata that she went around saying "patti maata"
She understand what it means too, after a while we asked her
"Anjali, who will do circus till 12 midnight?"
"Annie, Amma, Adi, Patti, thattha"
"Will patti do koothu?"
"Yesh"
And thattha?
"yesh!"
(this is one of the few yeshes that we get out of her. )
Thursday, November 20, 2008
more developmental updates
What is nice to see is Anjali's ability to string words together. Before, when I used to tell her
"Come here"
she would say
"Here"
So imagine my surprise and delight when i told Anjali yesterday
"Come here"
and she repeated
"come"
and a millisecond later
"here"
Its the ability to string two words together. I guess she will be talking sentences really soon.
I am also really excited when she changes a sound for a word, like meow meow becoming cat, woof woof becoming dog or puppy and o ac ac becoming butter (its butterfly)
I have more or less lost my alone time with Anjali... Of course, a watermelon cant keep up with a duracell bunny, but husband is starting to walk me to patti's house in the morning, and patti and thattha walk us back half way home where husband picks us up to walk the rest of the way home. I am not saying that I am complaining, but I do miss the few minutes that we have alone on the road, when i get to do things with her that are mommy baby secrets.
For now Anjali has a big red tub that she bathes in, and she has designated a tiny blue bucket for ho hia to bathe in.
She also has this very annoying habit of pretenting that there are ants in her shoe and taking them off, on the way back home. And whats more, once she has convinced us to let her take her shoes off (we mostly do due to the mixture of tantrums and sheer muleheadedness), she asks all of us in turn to take off our shoes. Then we become a set of barefooted people walking on the streets, stopping at puddles and splashing in them.
And yesterday she had this funny idea that is would be fun to dunk her shoes into a big puddle of water. And then she asked for mine and husband's. We gave them to her.
She amused herself for ten minutes.
"You know, i think this is just the beginning", said husband, forewarningly.
True enough, she next wated to take off her shirt and dunk it in water.
But there I drew a line.
And luckily, both for us and for her, she didnt insist.
"Come here"
she would say
"Here"
So imagine my surprise and delight when i told Anjali yesterday
"Come here"
and she repeated
"come"
and a millisecond later
"here"
Its the ability to string two words together. I guess she will be talking sentences really soon.
I am also really excited when she changes a sound for a word, like meow meow becoming cat, woof woof becoming dog or puppy and o ac ac becoming butter (its butterfly)
I have more or less lost my alone time with Anjali... Of course, a watermelon cant keep up with a duracell bunny, but husband is starting to walk me to patti's house in the morning, and patti and thattha walk us back half way home where husband picks us up to walk the rest of the way home. I am not saying that I am complaining, but I do miss the few minutes that we have alone on the road, when i get to do things with her that are mommy baby secrets.
For now Anjali has a big red tub that she bathes in, and she has designated a tiny blue bucket for ho hia to bathe in.
She also has this very annoying habit of pretenting that there are ants in her shoe and taking them off, on the way back home. And whats more, once she has convinced us to let her take her shoes off (we mostly do due to the mixture of tantrums and sheer muleheadedness), she asks all of us in turn to take off our shoes. Then we become a set of barefooted people walking on the streets, stopping at puddles and splashing in them.
And yesterday she had this funny idea that is would be fun to dunk her shoes into a big puddle of water. And then she asked for mine and husband's. We gave them to her.
She amused herself for ten minutes.
"You know, i think this is just the beginning", said husband, forewarningly.
True enough, she next wated to take off her shirt and dunk it in water.
But there I drew a line.
And luckily, both for us and for her, she didnt insist.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Duracell bunny
Looks familiar??
A bit like a photo of Anjali??
This looks a bit like a maniratnam movie (after all it was shot in the dark), but tutu really enjoys herself on this bridge.
How many people climb bridges like this?
Surely the engineer has not designed it for this purpose...
why i need to throw all my pattern recognition algorithms into the garbage bin
This was husband's advice when he pointed to Anjali the moon in one off the chinese paintings at the temple. Anjali pointed to the moon in all the subsequent paintings.
We were looking through a newzealand travel guide and there was a logo with a small pastel engine on it. Anjali pointed to it and said "coo". Husband tossed the page to me and asked "Can you find the train there in three seconds?"
I couldnt. Not in three seconds. But could in five seconds.
We were looking through a newzealand travel guide and there was a logo with a small pastel engine on it. Anjali pointed to it and said "coo". Husband tossed the page to me and asked "Can you find the train there in three seconds?"
I couldnt. Not in three seconds. But could in five seconds.
tantrums and behaviors
Anjali's tantrum level is going up (Does she have my temper by any chance? If so, watch out world.)
Last evening:
Anjali eats thair, spills a bit on the floor.
Thattha asks her to get a cloth from patti to wipe the floor.
Anjali gets wet cloth to wipe floor.
On the way to the floor, Anjali spots Chitra doll on the floor. She puts cloth on the floor, picks Chitra doll to put her away
Patti comes in, sees cloth on the floor, instinctively picks it up, wipes the floor and takes cloth away.
Anjali finishes whatever she was doing with Chitra doll, turnjs around to clean the floor and finds cloth missing.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
What on earth? No one understands what the crying is for, and when we finally figure it out, patti brings a cloth out for Anjali to wipe floor with.
The new cloth is dry and is different from the old one. Imp takes one look at the cloth
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Patti brings back the old wiping cloth. Imp takes it, cleans the floor, smiles, babbles and all is beautiful in the world again.
====
This morning Anjali wakes up a bit early. i give her her milk.
She drinks it and leaves 20 ml in the bottom.
"Who will finish the milk?"
"Adi!"
Daddy is busy in the other room. I dont think twice about it, but open the bottle and drink up the milk that remains. Suddenly, the floodgates open.
(Pointing to bottle) "Aaadi.... *sniff sniff* waaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Adi comes in to see what the trouble is about, sizes up the situation, takes imp to the kitchen to show her his own bowl of milk that he has warmed foor cereal. imp is satisfied and alll is beautiful again.
=========
Baby ho hia's scan just got over yesterday. She weighs a couple hundred grams less than what her sister weighed at that age. Doctor pointed it out and said not to worry, babies pick up weight towards the end, and could be because I run after little imps far too much. I am not too worried either. Besides baby ho hia's scan is at 31 weeks and Anjali's was not until 33 weeks or so. Seven more weeks to go. Gosh!!!
Meanwhile the kick counting stuff has begun and the whole thing is starting to seem pretty real. Husband said when we found out that Anjali was a girl that finding out that she is a girl makes it all the more real. I guess baby ho hia was real much sooner in that sense, but getting the kick counting chart makes it closer.
Anjali is still not willing patti to call the baby Aditi, and christened her Shree maa. She wants Aditi for herself.
And she still insists that Adi carry ho hia and mummy carry Annie, but has agreed to mummy carrying the baby *pucin*
=========
Meanwhile , the baby is showing a lot of characteristics different from Anjali. Anjali, in the thoppai, used to kick actively whenever husband talked to her. Ho hia, on the other hand goes all still, and when he stops talking kicks a couple of extra kicks. Maybe they will complement each other.
Last evening:
Anjali eats thair, spills a bit on the floor.
Thattha asks her to get a cloth from patti to wipe the floor.
Anjali gets wet cloth to wipe floor.
On the way to the floor, Anjali spots Chitra doll on the floor. She puts cloth on the floor, picks Chitra doll to put her away
Patti comes in, sees cloth on the floor, instinctively picks it up, wipes the floor and takes cloth away.
Anjali finishes whatever she was doing with Chitra doll, turnjs around to clean the floor and finds cloth missing.
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
What on earth? No one understands what the crying is for, and when we finally figure it out, patti brings a cloth out for Anjali to wipe floor with.
The new cloth is dry and is different from the old one. Imp takes one look at the cloth
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Patti brings back the old wiping cloth. Imp takes it, cleans the floor, smiles, babbles and all is beautiful in the world again.
====
This morning Anjali wakes up a bit early. i give her her milk.
She drinks it and leaves 20 ml in the bottom.
"Who will finish the milk?"
"Adi!"
Daddy is busy in the other room. I dont think twice about it, but open the bottle and drink up the milk that remains. Suddenly, the floodgates open.
(Pointing to bottle) "Aaadi.... *sniff sniff* waaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
Adi comes in to see what the trouble is about, sizes up the situation, takes imp to the kitchen to show her his own bowl of milk that he has warmed foor cereal. imp is satisfied and alll is beautiful again.
=========
Baby ho hia's scan just got over yesterday. She weighs a couple hundred grams less than what her sister weighed at that age. Doctor pointed it out and said not to worry, babies pick up weight towards the end, and could be because I run after little imps far too much. I am not too worried either. Besides baby ho hia's scan is at 31 weeks and Anjali's was not until 33 weeks or so. Seven more weeks to go. Gosh!!!
Meanwhile the kick counting stuff has begun and the whole thing is starting to seem pretty real. Husband said when we found out that Anjali was a girl that finding out that she is a girl makes it all the more real. I guess baby ho hia was real much sooner in that sense, but getting the kick counting chart makes it closer.
Anjali is still not willing patti to call the baby Aditi, and christened her Shree maa. She wants Aditi for herself.
And she still insists that Adi carry ho hia and mummy carry Annie, but has agreed to mummy carrying the baby *pucin*
=========
Meanwhile , the baby is showing a lot of characteristics different from Anjali. Anjali, in the thoppai, used to kick actively whenever husband talked to her. Ho hia, on the other hand goes all still, and when he stops talking kicks a couple of extra kicks. Maybe they will complement each other.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
counting till twenty?
I am not sure if I should be astounded. Anjali, last week was able to count till ten very nicely.
She still cant articulate eleven and twel but if you ask her thir... she goes
teeteen
hoteen
hiteen
sheteen
seteeen
eighteen
nineteen and
toty
I am impressed and yesterday, for the fun of it, I tried going up from twenty one. She stopped what she was doing, watched me very carefully articulating my words, looking for patterns, and what was interesting was that she stopped paying attention when the game reached around 50, I think she has already gotten the pattern. Hope to report more on this soon.
More developmental updates
1. Anjali can say most colors: boo, gee, pink, yeow etc. But sometimes, she picks the wrong colors, especially orange for yellow etc. But she always gets the blue right and sometimes the green
2. She insists that she goes to sleep at tooo (god save us!). And that the old man in puss in boots had tooo sons and tooo cats.
3. The dress that I am currently crocheting is supposedly for ho hia, even though I have told her that it is for Anjali.
==============
4. Sibling rivalry takes a very interesting twist. Patti wanted to nickname Anjali Shree Ma, but somehow the name never caught on. Only patti used it off and on. Patti wants to name baby so aa Aditi. But Anjali wants patti to call her Aditi and baby to be called Shree ma. She is very clear on it.
Anjali, what patti should call you?
Aditi
I thought patti should call you shree ma?
baby!!!
=================
5. She doesnot like me to carry babies. We went to visit a tiny baby last weekend and Anjali started crying when i picked up the baby. I gave the baby to patti and she stopped crying immediately. later patti asked her if we could take the baby home and she said "Yesh" (she is very selective about for what she responds Yesh). So we asked her who should carry the baby and her reply was "Patti, Adi". Who should mummy carry? "Anniya!"
Can mummy carry ho hia?
"No. Adi"
Anjali, let mummy carry Ho hia pucin?
"pu" (after much consideration)
and Anjali?
"mu!!"
==========
Anjali has started eating her toes again. i told her not to eat them
"Ho Hia"
Yes. Ho Hia will eat them. and Anjali? can Anjali eat her legs?
No.
Why? because Anjali is
"big!!"
Correct.
"Annie!!" (Lifitng her legs into some totally contorted position such that her toes touched her head)
Yeah yeah, Annie can touch her toes to her head.
Annie shows off by lifting one leg and then the other to her head in some express train sequence.
Very good.
"Ho hia?"
"What Ho hia must do?"
"mum mum"
==========
Husband says that if no one from CPS is around, we should give Anjali a1ll the clothes that needs to be handwashed. This was after she decided to dunk her towel in the bathwater last night and wash it. then she asked for "other!" I scouted around the house and found one of Anjali's frocks and a small hand towel, both of which also got dunked in water.
Anjali likes to give her toys a bath. And cry when she washes them, so that we can tell the toys not to cry and that they will become ceen when they are washed.
She still cant articulate eleven and twel but if you ask her thir... she goes
teeteen
hoteen
hiteen
sheteen
seteeen
eighteen
nineteen and
toty
I am impressed and yesterday, for the fun of it, I tried going up from twenty one. She stopped what she was doing, watched me very carefully articulating my words, looking for patterns, and what was interesting was that she stopped paying attention when the game reached around 50, I think she has already gotten the pattern. Hope to report more on this soon.
More developmental updates
1. Anjali can say most colors: boo, gee, pink, yeow etc. But sometimes, she picks the wrong colors, especially orange for yellow etc. But she always gets the blue right and sometimes the green
2. She insists that she goes to sleep at tooo (god save us!). And that the old man in puss in boots had tooo sons and tooo cats.
3. The dress that I am currently crocheting is supposedly for ho hia, even though I have told her that it is for Anjali.
==============
4. Sibling rivalry takes a very interesting twist. Patti wanted to nickname Anjali Shree Ma, but somehow the name never caught on. Only patti used it off and on. Patti wants to name baby so aa Aditi. But Anjali wants patti to call her Aditi and baby to be called Shree ma. She is very clear on it.
Anjali, what patti should call you?
Aditi
I thought patti should call you shree ma?
baby!!!
=================
5. She doesnot like me to carry babies. We went to visit a tiny baby last weekend and Anjali started crying when i picked up the baby. I gave the baby to patti and she stopped crying immediately. later patti asked her if we could take the baby home and she said "Yesh" (she is very selective about for what she responds Yesh). So we asked her who should carry the baby and her reply was "Patti, Adi". Who should mummy carry? "Anniya!"
Can mummy carry ho hia?
"No. Adi"
Anjali, let mummy carry Ho hia pucin?
"pu" (after much consideration)
and Anjali?
"mu!!"
==========
Anjali has started eating her toes again. i told her not to eat them
"Ho Hia"
Yes. Ho Hia will eat them. and Anjali? can Anjali eat her legs?
No.
Why? because Anjali is
"big!!"
Correct.
"Annie!!" (Lifitng her legs into some totally contorted position such that her toes touched her head)
Yeah yeah, Annie can touch her toes to her head.
Annie shows off by lifting one leg and then the other to her head in some express train sequence.
Very good.
"Ho hia?"
"What Ho hia must do?"
"mum mum"
==========
Husband says that if no one from CPS is around, we should give Anjali a1ll the clothes that needs to be handwashed. This was after she decided to dunk her towel in the bathwater last night and wash it. then she asked for "other!" I scouted around the house and found one of Anjali's frocks and a small hand towel, both of which also got dunked in water.
Anjali likes to give her toys a bath. And cry when she washes them, so that we can tell the toys not to cry and that they will become ceen when they are washed.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Anjali at the IEP walk
At the start of the walk...
Thatha caie up hill
Go by self
Standing for photos
Cute girlie
I enjoy the walk, but "no dhess peese"
Pretty waves
With mummy at the debrief
the du bunny
After spending five hours walking torugh some of the more rugged paths in singapore and blabbing her way while running through the tree tops, Anjali came back home on saturday evening. But not before bossing around a little puppy and telling it not to go home.
Once she reached home, she went straight to the bathroom to take her evening bath. We thought that with such a short afternoon nap and so much of exercise we would sleep by ten.
After so many months, I should have known better. And that Anjali would want to play.
And play she did.
First, she got the milk bottle and took two sips. Then she ran into the laundry room and decided that throwing the go stones that husband had washed and dried because of a previous pee incident would be amusing. At the end of the story, we had go stones all around the laundry room.
At that point, I was too tired and asked husband to help me to keep an eye on her while I rested a little.
"Ok", he said, stepping into the laundry room.
I lay on bed and closed my eyes.
"buck mop, buck mop"
Husband was chortling.
"What's happening?"
"Come and see!"
I was supposed to be resting, so I rolled over in bed just so that i could see the laundry room door.
And stared.
"I thought it was hidden?"
"I thought so too, but guess I didnt hide it well enough."
The imp had gotten out the mop and the bucket, which after the last round, husband had hidden behind the laundry room door. She was now mopping the floor.
ofcourse, mopping was hard work and Anjali got tired. And me, in a futile attempt to get her to bed
"Anjali, would you like to drink more paal"
"mop".
And after a few seconds, we went tearing into the kitchen saying "ammamma ammamma"
Husband tore after her while I lay back on bed, puzzled. She knows that ammamma is not in the kitchen. Afterall, a watermelon in the middle of the bed that waddles and talks is not hard to miss.
Thirty seconds later, I heard a bang, followed by a louder chortle from husband.
"boom boom boom", the imp said.
i craned my neck out of the bedroom again. The imp had somehow opened the broom cupboard (causing the bang when she closed it), and taken out the dustpan. She was brooming the living room.
But not for long. She came careening into the bedroom.
"Ammamma... up!"
Ok...
"Boom"
I took the boom.
"Anniya!"
"What anniya wants?"
"mop"
And she took the mop and walked the house, while I broomed ahead of her.
Totally exhausted by then, I sat on a chair and tried to sweep. But no, she was too clever for me.
"Up! Boom!"
Ok fine.
How is the house Anjali?
"deety!"
"And after you mop, how it will be?"
"ceen!!!"
She slept at 12.15am.
The next day, I asked Anjali "Are you a duracell bunny or an energizer bunny?"
"Du"
Once she reached home, she went straight to the bathroom to take her evening bath. We thought that with such a short afternoon nap and so much of exercise we would sleep by ten.
After so many months, I should have known better. And that Anjali would want to play.
And play she did.
First, she got the milk bottle and took two sips. Then she ran into the laundry room and decided that throwing the go stones that husband had washed and dried because of a previous pee incident would be amusing. At the end of the story, we had go stones all around the laundry room.
At that point, I was too tired and asked husband to help me to keep an eye on her while I rested a little.
"Ok", he said, stepping into the laundry room.
I lay on bed and closed my eyes.
"buck mop, buck mop"
Husband was chortling.
"What's happening?"
"Come and see!"
I was supposed to be resting, so I rolled over in bed just so that i could see the laundry room door.
And stared.
"I thought it was hidden?"
"I thought so too, but guess I didnt hide it well enough."
The imp had gotten out the mop and the bucket, which after the last round, husband had hidden behind the laundry room door. She was now mopping the floor.
ofcourse, mopping was hard work and Anjali got tired. And me, in a futile attempt to get her to bed
"Anjali, would you like to drink more paal"
"mop".
And after a few seconds, we went tearing into the kitchen saying "ammamma ammamma"
Husband tore after her while I lay back on bed, puzzled. She knows that ammamma is not in the kitchen. Afterall, a watermelon in the middle of the bed that waddles and talks is not hard to miss.
Thirty seconds later, I heard a bang, followed by a louder chortle from husband.
"boom boom boom", the imp said.
i craned my neck out of the bedroom again. The imp had somehow opened the broom cupboard (causing the bang when she closed it), and taken out the dustpan. She was brooming the living room.
But not for long. She came careening into the bedroom.
"Ammamma... up!"
Ok...
"Boom"
I took the boom.
"Anniya!"
"What anniya wants?"
"mop"
And she took the mop and walked the house, while I broomed ahead of her.
Totally exhausted by then, I sat on a chair and tried to sweep. But no, she was too clever for me.
"Up! Boom!"
Ok fine.
How is the house Anjali?
"deety!"
"And after you mop, how it will be?"
"ceen!!!"
She slept at 12.15am.
The next day, I asked Anjali "Are you a duracell bunny or an energizer bunny?"
"Du"
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