Give me dudu...

It has been the most horriblest of days starting with a grumpy looking mama and a grumpier dada staring at me. I tried smiling, making those funny noises which they seem to love, tried hugging them, but absolutely no response. Dada did smile at me in the end and tickled my tummy, but mama kept on staring with a deadpan expression on her face. (I guess last night was a little too much for those oldies). Well, if she wants to play serious, so can I. So no more smiles and chitter patter for mama, I’ll play with dada. But what about dudu? Why isn’t she feeding me? I just love those times relaxed on the bed. I pretend to be asleep while she furiously reads her book. When she thinks I’m done and slowly tries to get up I start crying and latch on again. For the past couple of months I’ve been feeling so lazy to eat those dreadful ragi and oats concotions she makes. Even rice is also very boring. For me the easy life. No biting no chewing. Just lie back put up my feet and sip away to glory. Morning noon and night. No solid food. Only yummy yummy dudu.
Hey, but wait a minute. I know that expression of hers. Have seen her take it out many times with dada and chachan especially when they have been upto no good. It is that expression of her which means business. I can almost hear her eyes talking to me “Lady, this is it!”
And she looks at me and delivers the verdict. Bambi, now no more dudu. You’d better start having regular meals now!”
And cruella de ville walked away. I cried and cried , but no use. I knew it. When she puts on that expression, it usually means business.
So ladies and gentlemen, my good ole days have come to an end. I have no other choice but to eat whatever is being fed to me.
It’s a sad day in history today

Master of Disaster!

I told Mowgli the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before his afternoon nap. In my enthusiastic attempts at filling his mind with magic, I told him that there REALLY was a Chocolate land where everything is made of chocolate and you could eat the grass and the houses and what not. Also, it was not possible for big people to go there, but small children could go there in their dreams( this was an attempt to get him to close his eyes fast!). All went well, he dozed off, I completed a few of my pending tasks. AND then he woke up howling the place down! Apparently he had not gone to Chocolate Land and he wanted to go there right now!!!

'Joke'

Its the morning rush and somehow a dressed and fed Mowgli is hurried out of the door.
He stops at the door and looks at me "Mama, Mowgli entho forget cheythu."
I look at him mentally checking off things "What? Onnum maranitilla. Vegam poyko."
He started laughing " Mama... Mowgli JOKE paranjatha"
!!!!

@ 10 months

Dear Bambi sweetie,
You came like a light breeze… little did we know that it was the calm before the storm!










Did I ever mention that you were calm and content to lie still?
That you were a little angel?
Quiet and peaceful?
HO HO HO I was SO wrong!
You, my little lady, is trouble spelt out in big bold capitals! TROUBLE with the sweetest smile ever. In the beginning you were this chubby baby who would lie and smile at everything. No crying. No fuss for eating. No fuss for sleeping. Content. I was a little worried thinking that you will be late in all your milestones as your hyperactive brother had rolled over at 3 months and at 4 months you still showed no signs of doing so. I worried needlessly.

You rolled over just before we went to Kerala. And there was no looking back. You beat your brother flat in all the “milestones”. Started sitting on your own before 6 months, crawled faster , started walking holding on to chairs and now trying to stand up on your own. You manage to keep your balance for a few seconds and then plop down. What we all have found out is that you are fearless. Always ready to crawl anywhere and everywhere. Dark rooms, up the stairs, over the small step to the balcony; nothing is out of bounds. Cocoa to you is like a huge soft toy. Sometimes I see you resting your cheek on her tummy where she has the softest fur and other time you smack her on the nose and clamber on top of her. You charm everybody with that smile, but absolutely refuse to let anyone hold you. Even if you deign to go into somebody’s arms you keep checking that we are there nearby. Your reaction to most people is dependent on how Mogli reacts to them. Did I mention that you are a chatterbox? Chitter patter the whole day non stop! Right now your vocabulary is limite sto five words: Da-da, Tha-tha, Cha-cha, pa-pa and ma-ma. Morning to evening you keep on repeating different combinations of these in varying pitches and tones non stop. I shudder to think of the time you will actually start talking!
You were a sharp contrast to your brother in terms of eating well and sleeping 2-3 hours daily. Now its like his influences have seeped into you. The moment you see the spoon you start crying. The past two weeks have been horrible with me ready to give you away to the first person who knocks on the dorr. Cry cry cry is all you did. Cry coz you don’t want to eat. Cry coz you don’t want to sleep. Cry coz you are hungry. Cry coz you are sleepy. Cry coz your bad mama took away that crayon you had secretly stashed inside your mouth. Cry coz somebody looked at you. Cry cry cry.
And I am back to the old days with Mowgli. Put everything into a bottle and walk around the parking lot trying to squeeze some spoons into your tummy. Your dada did protest at this ‘inhuman’ treatment and gave his gyan on ‘101 ways to feed a baby with love’. I gave him the oats and walked away at rule number 2. He shut up after rule 3 when you refused to open your mouth to his sweet pleas. Your grandparents give me advice on how to feed you things that you like. (I’m this close to putting the crayons on your plate for a tasty snack!) The urge to wean you is getting stronger and stronger by the hour. (Just now you came to my chair and put your grubby hands on my lap and gave me your trademark grin ‘Ma-ma’ and then crawled away. ) You are a pro at smiling at people and then proceeding to do things your way. No tantrums and the like for you. Sweetly and slyly do whatever you want without the drama! God save anybody who crosses your path.

Your brother is your hero as of now. Times when I feel that your life revolves around him You wait for him to get back from school so that he can squeeze you till you are blue. He arranges his cars and you go disturb everything. Trying to do what all he does and if he tries to ignore you then go plonk yourself right in front of him and say Cha-cha cha-cha .

Visitors have been shocked at seeing Mowgli squeeze you, carry you around, manhandle you. But you remain smiling throughout. And there are days when I wake up to see both of you cuddled together and it makes me soooooooooo happy and loving and what not. ( though there is a parallel thinking process that goes ‘Wow! Why don’t they both just sleep like this in another room!’).

Your dada is like putty in your hands and I foresee a lot of favors being wheedled out of that giant humbug. I on the other hand am made up of stronger material and can see through you. So don’t try your fancy tricks at me, girl!
It’s different. A daughter from a son. Not different in that sense but different different. Do you understand? ( maybe you will when you have both. ) What do I want for you? I want you to work hard towards your dreams. Following dreams is not enough, you need to work for them and when the opportunity comes grab it with both hands. The world may still be skewed, but you don’t worry about that. I wish for you Passion. For the things you want and the dreams you’ll have. Passion for life. Passion to live.
We as always will always be there.
God Bless.

Love,
Mama

Resolution #1

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!
We were in Coorg and it was a very beautiful night. Close friends… Good conversation.. Yummy food.. Spirits… A very relaxed and content start to the new year. There is something wonderfully magical about a new year. Its like starting afresh yet again! Its all good intentions and plans and excitement at what the future holds. And mainly Hope. Hope that this year sees us doing better than the last. That this will be the year where most of our dreams will come true. That we will do full justice to every single day of this year.
Hope. Its a powerful feeling....

2011 was a materialistically good year for us. We made most of the home improvements that we had been talking of for oh so long. We managed to pay off a huge chunk of our housing loan. Got our house painted. Have a small balcony garden with plants that look green as opposed to brown. Good health all around. Families were fine. Everything was pretty smooth sailing.
2011 brought us our small ever smiling bundle of joy who conquered everybody's hearts. Two kids and the house has never known a minute of quiet.
Mentally it has been one of the most draining years I’ve ever seen. My motto throughout was “Dear God, please help me manage!” Manage the kids.. manage the house.. manage three meals on time… manage my office work.. manage the plants.. the dog and umpteen other commitments that seemed to sprout from nowhere. Constantly on over drive, doing something and at the same time mentally planning the next task. Days when I was so tired that I could barely stand and all I wanted was to just escape from this and go sleep somewhere in the hills! Realized that working from home is more strenuous than going to office. The only consolation was that I could work in peace and not get paranoid about what the maid was doing at home with the kids. I would crib about too much work to my mom and her sharp reply would be get rid of the plants and Cocoa. But how could I do that? I’ve realized that I want everything N.O.W. I cannot wait for things. Cannot wait for the kids to grow up and then have a well maintained house. I want everything together. And in the process of trying to do too many things I lose my calm with everybody else around. Makes me wonder whether its worth it. The BH helped a lot, more than ever. But me being stubborn me had to do things my way!
Anyways hoping that this year will see us more relaxed and enjoying life more and living it to the fullest.
Coz, if I count all my blessings, my cup runneth over and for that Dear God, Thank you.

you want to do this..

In Mowgli parlance, have is want. You want to read this book to me. You want to buy gems for me. You want to put Toy Story. You want...
I wish, I could also talk like this. You want to buy gifts for me. You want to cook dinner tonight. You want to sit at home and look after the two angels(imps!)
****************************************
mama, udit bite me.
why?
I donno.
What did you do?
I said I am sorry. appo udit bite me.
huh? why did you tell him sorry? what did you do?
after a lot of hemming and hawing and different versions of udit biting, the truth finally comes out.
Mowgli onnum cheythilla. varuthe kick cheythatha!!!
*******************************
Mowgli and my sister are playing cricket.
He sees her wet sleeve and asks" aye.. you did susu?"
"No! Mowgli. It got wet when I was washing my hand."
Innocently "Do you do susu in bed?"
"Sometimes". she says with a serious look.
" I too. Sometimes." says Mowgli with a conspiratory look. :-)
(Hahahha...its more like daily!!!)
****************************
Mama, Mowglinu ellam venda. Mowgli point cheythu kaanikaam. athu maatram mathi. okay?
okay mama? okay para mama. okay? okay?
All this when I have absolutely no intention of buying anything for him!
************************
Mowgli bites me really hard in the middle of the night. It hurts so much even in the morning. On asking him why , I get the answer. Mowgli mamane alla kadiche. Archit pandane ya!!!! ( So he dreamt that I was his best friend/enemy and bit him!)
**************************************
and too much of listening to kolaveri results in this.
mama, I know all the colours.
pinku.. whiteu... blackuu... blue uuu.. reduuu...
!!!