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We just got back from a trip to the mountains yesterday and it is amazing how much Sophia has grown.

She sits by herself, crawls at amazing speeds, and her most favorite pastime is to hold things up and stand. It is really wonderful to watch her.

She has also learnt to recognize my voice and crawl towards it. She pees all over the good carpets in bunica's house, spends hours in the garden crawling

The house is also full of saliva as it drools all over the place when she babbles

and the most exciting acheivement of all: she can turn to bunica, tatasile, daddy and mummy when we ask her where the respective people are...

Anjali

Anjali is letting the dog slobber all over her. She probably needs three baths each day

 

red feet and hands

On Monday it was mess time again. Somehow we end up doing mess play in the playground every Monday.

I took downstairs a box of corn flour, three bottles of food coloring and a lot of water. There were about eight kids, each one took turns spooning corn flour into an aluminium tray, and adding water to mix them together. Then the kids put their feet in the corn flour to go all around the play ground.

I then suggested using color. Sharon and Pooja, I think, took the whole thing in spirit, and before we knew it, a while box of corn flour mixed with a load of food coloring and the whole playground floow was full of a rich brown (is it liquid, is it water) thing and about six children, including my own, were having fun, and the floor next to the puddle was littered with colorful foot and hand prints.

Of course, there were some kids who stayed on the periphery, looking in with a mixture of disapproval and longing (their parents didnt allow them to play) and others who dove right in, got their hands and feet full of paint and pretended to be monsters. For better measure, I had brought along some paint brushes and some of the children who didnt want to get their hands dirty, quite literally, used the brushes to paint the trees and furniture. Sophia walked along  (helped by daddy) and made quite a beautiful set of Krishna feet.

What was more fun was the cleaning up. We brought down two full tubs of water and poured the water down. Sneha took a coconut mat and used it as a broom to sweep the water into the drain. Anjali, in her own helpful fashion, poured the water into the drain directly.

Oh, the teapot is full of tempests

"I kicked necklace"

You kicked someone because they didnt give you a necklace?

"I kicked school necklace"

"did you say sorry?"

"i said sorry"

Husband laughs

"Adi, I am having a discipline moment"

"She is so cute when she says that she said sorry"

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Later..

"Anjali, did you cry in school today?:

Yes

Why?

Nichlas pulled me

(So it is Nicholas and not necklace. Well, atleast it is better than lion)

What did you do?

I kicked him.

Did he pull you first or did you kick him first?

He pulled me first

(Is this considered to be acting in self defence, and so goes with less severity? Husband says its ok to hit back if kids hit her first, refer to where Lion (Leon) pushed her and she scratched him. Patti also says that it is ok to hit back if someone hits her. I dont quite know how to deal with it)

Anjali, Nicholas is two months older than you. (I remembered Nicholas from the time I used to sit in Anjali's class)

(Husband) So he is a big boy, so you can fight with him (Is this good advice?)

(Anjali) Nichlas is small (He is actually shorter and thinner than Anjali, so she is scientifically accurate)

(The short of the story was that teacher had seen Anjali kick Nicholas and had asked her to say sorry. "I dont want to say sorry, was the reply". So the imp had broken down and cried a fair bit. Then she said sorry)

Advice, anyone on how to handle things like this?

weekend moments

Anjali says that garfield is her baby (Garfield is a baby doll that we got for her, dont ask me why it is called garfield).

So she goes

"I am garfield's mummy. Where's garfield's daddy?"

Patti is at a loss as to what to answer her.

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Anjali's first why:

Patti: We cant go through that door, its locked (while coming back from Sudha aunty's house)

Anjali: yen?

(Runs after patti saying yen)

I was so excited. Her first why.

Shree Valli says that the whys are not going to stop for a while now. I am looking forward to it.

For the record, she hasnt asked any more whys since yesterday

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patti takes a cloth to put Sophia on the floor from the hammock. Anjali takes the cloth, runs with it, puts it on the bed, and puts garfield on top.

"Thats my baby"

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We took a coconut shell to the mannu playground yesterday evening. We had a gala time, but when we came back, We left the coconut in the playground.

Much later, we finished all the shopping and loaded up ouor stuff in the bicycle.

"Where's my coconut?"

"I think we left it in the playground"

"I am very sad!!"

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Anjali and Ananya had a load of fun at Hort Park. Swati took this cute photo where the two of them were drinking from (almost identical) barney bottles and having a frangipani behind their ears. I am waiting for Swati to send the photo to upload it.

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We took the kids to the nature park yesterday evening. We put Sophia on a cloth on the grass while Anjali played in the sand.

In thirty seconds, Sophia had her hands in the grass. Most of my occupation involved taking her from the grass and putting her back in the cloth.

Even then, when my back was turned for a split millisecond, she had snatched a stick and almost put it in her mouth.

And this was the girl, who, a month ago, would sit absolutely happy in a cloth on grass.

We are beginning to put her on the slide down in the playground. She is enjoying it.

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Saturday morning, we took the kids to the swimming pool after Sloka class. The wave pool is perfect for Sophia, as we can just put her in the shallow end. She goes on her hands and knees and splashes the water.

All the family lies down with their bellies in the water, like a bunch of hippopotamus.
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The one way to make Anjali eat weird mummy food is to watch stuff on You Tube. I am a bit ashamed of myself, we played very hungry caterpillar and brown bear brown bear before we could get the potato bread and vegetables in the system.

I was more clever on Sunday, I decided to give her the mushroom pilaf when she was in the mannu playground. And that went in fine.

the fights begin

Of all the toys around Sophia (and trust me, there are a good number), she has to crawl and get the one that Anjali is holding in her hand.

Anjali, of course, has to defend her toy, and so she snatches it from Sophia and sits away. Sophia then tries to grab again, resulting in one or the other of them bursting into annoyed tears.

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Sophia is doing target practice these days. husband says that if the target it a bit within reach, she crawls and gets it. If it is too far away, she goes backward.

At the brunch yesterday, she was target practicing with everyone's lunch plates. She caught Ananya's plate.

A tempest in the school teapot

Anjali has been going to school nicely and regularly for the past few months, and it was only a matter of timie when something interesting came up on that front. I was right.

Two days ago, Anjali came up to me

"I pushed lion"

"Who did you push?"

"I pushed Lion."

"I see." (Knowing her vivid imagination) "You pushed the zoo lion?"

"No. I pushed the school lion"

"The school lion?"

"Yes"

Then I remembered that patti and Anjali have been talking about a new boy in school. I guess his name is Leon.

Yesterday i broached the subject again.

"Anjali, did you play with Leon?"

"He pushed me"

"Did you push him?" (I know my daughter)

"No. i scratched him"

"you scratched him?"

"yes"

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I asked patti about it this morning.

"Whats the story about Leon in school?"

"He pushed Anjali, she scratched him"

"Then what happened?"

"Teacher asked you to cut Anjali's nails. It seems he has marks where she clawed him"

I suppose I must be all stern and advice her about not behaving like that.

So why did I burst out laughing?
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aham tvayi snihyaami

Aham tvayi snihayaami tvam mayi snihyasi
vayam santosha kutumbham smah
ahm hhvaam hug dadaami kiss api dadaami
vada tvam mayi snihyyasi iti

(what song is this?)

At the civil service club pool

We loved the Jurong pool when we went a few months ago. There was a shallow wave pool, a river, any number of slides, a jacuzzi, a kids pool and everything. But we had a couple of qualms. Firstly, it was too crowded, secondly, it was way too hot, and thirdly, it was too far away

Of course, when we went to the Jurong pool, it was in the hot afternoon. I was heavily pregnant with Sophia, it was a public holiday and therefore exceptionally crowded.

Yesterday evening, we took the kids to the civil service club pool. Its just across patti's house, which makes it an ideal destination for Saturday afternoons and even some weekdays. There are trees all around, so we dont have to worrk too much about the sun, and there are very little people there (atleast last evening there were just a handful of people, it may get a bit more crowded suring the weekends)

They have a wave pool, a river, a big slide, a kids' pool with a  swing in the water, a slidedown (which they allow me to slide), a jacuzzi a plunge pool and evverything. Some pools even have (you wont believe it), a waterfall with foot therapy stones against the wall (are we supposed to get a shower and a backrub?)

Anjali went crazy with the environment and the pool. She was a bit scared of the wave pool (it was  "raining" and she didnt want to get water on her). But once the waves came in earnest, she sat at the edge of the pool and enjoyed the laps. She was initially afraid of the big slide down, but later had good fun going down it. She was initially a little afraid of the swing in the water, but later refused to get down from it. And toward the end, she wanted to go in the 1.5 meter pool.

"I want to do lot of" (about the slide down)

Sophia's reactions were more mixed. At her age, she is more vital and in tune with the sensations. The water was cold, her previous swimming session was nearly three weeks ago (what with Anjali getting a flu and husband's hand wound and everything)

Her initial reaction to the cold water was to cry. Then I took her in the jacuzzi where the water was warm and we spent a good ten minutes swimming along. Husband then took her to the depths of the wave pool which she really enjoyed as well. Anjali and Sophia had a water race which Sophia won (that is because husband was carrying Sophia and he is taller than me in the depths of the pool and navigation is easier)

It was after her swimming bout when husband took her to the changing rooms. Anjali and I were playing a while longer, and suddenly, as the pool was about to close, we heard a distinctive baby cry. Make it a baby wil, at the top of her voice. We ran down the rocky tunnel that seperated the lower and upper levels of the pool. Sophia was crying - at the top of her voice.

We rushed to the changing rooms, showered as quicly as we could, and ran out. I took Sophia in my arms.

Immediate calm.

I handed her over to husband so that I could dress Anjali.

ten seconds and then pandemonium until i took her back.

We took a taxi home. And while I took her in my arms, crying, from husband, she quietened instantly, relaxed, and slept.

She slept until morning.

soda and water

We did the soda and water recipe yesterday (1 bottle of ENO salt and one bottle of water. We tried different batches and Anjali really liked to watch it "boil")

A couple of kids in the playground also joined in.

lights, camera, action

I had my 30 seconds of television fame on Saturday, when some of us got around to judging a Science show on TV. Husband and i got clearance to bring Anjali along to the studio. Sophia, ofcourse, was too small, and we prudently decided not to bring her, as (we found out afterward), the studio was small and with bright lights. She would have gotten irritated. Sophia therefore opted to spend the evening with thattha and patti and consequently thattha bragged that he was the one who took care of her and she ws a piece of cake. (We left at 2.30, and she slept fom 2.45 to 5.45. Patti then had her Gita class at 6pm, so thattha took her for a walk. For Sophia, if she took a walk, she would be eternally happy. When they got back from the walk, we were back)

Anjali was quite fascinated by the studio. She napped while on the taxi and was sleeping through the judges meeting, so she was just awake when we got into the studio. To make her day, they were doing camera testing, and the camera man gave her some time when she was put on the giant screen tv on the ceiling. husband pointed to her the camera on the crane that was moving back and forth and such.

They whisked me off to the make up room. The imp, after the make up was done, came around the room chanting "Mumy, where are you?" (I was right in front of her nose) and then after we finished the make up "Mummy, you are very bootiful".

To the TV show's credit, they did something with my hair that actually made it stay put, and they took about two minutes to do it (Uma aunty battled with my hair for one hour before my wedding and used copious amounts of gel before it could stick)

The show recording was quick, and Anjali sat on my lap while we were judging (we were offstage). One of the content managers quipped that I ought to have her with me while I did the experiment on stage, that would show the audience that researcher balance family and work. Well, a lot of people (echo thattha would have been glad if Anjali appeared on national tv, but that was not to be.)

Later, I asked Anjali, "Did you like going to the tv station?"

"Yes"

What did you like most about it?

"I like to see you sitting on the chair" (is this because at home, I am generally harried or that I am sitting down on the floor or the bed?)

What was I doing on the chair?

"You take the stick and put on the fire and ...."

Well, I'm sure she enjoyed it.