are so complex, they should seriously come with an instruction manual. Take Puddi, for example. She's a complete Chulbul Pandey, mad as they come and with a snappy answer for everything. And then there's the opposite side, soft as a marshmallow, soft as her pillow lips or her fat cheeks...
One night A had taken Chubbocks and Puddi up to bed and left them there, while coming back down to haul Bojjandi up. Chubbocks was fast asleep when A left them there. When he went back up, Puddi had put her head onto Chubbocks and was stroking his forehead where he lay. "He was tired so I'm just rubbing his head".
She's enrolled in Kuchipudi classes which take place within our gated community. I use the kids' park time to finish work so I said I'd leave her there and pick her up after class. Her eyes filled up with big fat tears...and this is the same child who doesn't get fazed while being left in ballet class, which takes place well outside and far from home. The same child who insisted on trying to light all the fountains and chakris at Diwali...go figure!
In other news, Chubbocks has now enrolled in tennis lessons and seems to have some aptitude for the game. He also had his second sleepover - his first was when he was 5 - too young - and enjoyed himself thoroughly. Though, as usual given his temperament, he vacillated for days before deciding to go ahead and would have backed out even on the day, given the option. In fact he asked me to go drop him rather than going to his friend's with the driver, which is the norm. But thankfully, had a great time, the same friend also came over and had a sleepover chez nous later, so my little boy is growing up!
Bojjandi meanwhile continues to be a nutcase, very active and full of beans. Chatty as soon as he wakes up, with long, long sentences, paragraphs rather , of chitchat. He's rather adorably enamored of me at the moment, so I get chortles of glee when I go pick him up from school: mama you came to pick me up yourshelf!; or, if I ever have a lie-in in the morning and come down late: Mama, I wash misshing you...I'm storing it up for the day, soon enough, when he turns his cheek away from my kiss!
Showing posts with label baby update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby update. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Long overdue updates
I have hardly been blogging of late, but decide it's high time I wrote down what the kids have been up to. Chubbocks has finished Class 2 with his usual effortless performance so far ( brags moi :)) and moved up to Class 3. He's now 8, supposedly grown up. But the boy is a marshmallow inside.
We were giving up our Photon connection because it gave us dismal connectivity. Chubbocks mounted a full campaign asking us not to give it up. Finally he came down to begging us that even if we disconnected it, we should keep the modem somewhere safe, "else it's feelings will get hurt." I was cleaning out the kids playroom recently and came across a box full of soft toys, which the kids have hardly ever played with. I had the maid put them into a bag, preparatory to giving them away. That night I found Chubbocks, soft brown eyes full of concern. "Please don't throw them away. They are my babies!" Now that bag has been transported into an attic, half the contents piled on Chubbocks' bed, with barely enough space on the bed for him to be able to turn over.
Puddi is another thing altogether. She's crazy about art and runs riot with paint, crayons and colour pencils. She spends hours every day quietly engrossed in making a new work of art. I get the distinct feeling she is artistically gifted, going by her efforts so far. She's also an enthusiastic performer on stage. Her puppet dance came in for an encore on the day that we had PTA meetings, and she performed with the same gusto as she had done on stage. Last week she had a ballet performance. Her bit was pretty minor, but she was hilarious. The child next to her had forgotten her steps and refused to stand up on cue. So Puddi just reaches over and hauls her to her feet, gesticulating wildly to remind her of the steps :)
She's also growing into a lovely sister and a great middle child. She's equally happy running riot with Bojjandi or with Chubbocks. She plays board games, argues with Chubbocks, has long arguments and nonsense conversations with him. They fight all the time and irritate each other, yet her eyes well up when he gets scolded. He gets rather hyper at bedtime and competes fiercely for who will get Abba to sit on their bed first, and she's so quick to give in to keep him happy! Then, with Bojjandi, she's riotously running and tumbling around the house and making him laugh. We were out for dinner the other day, and Bojjandi wanted a bite of her dessert. Not only did she readily agree to share but she maternally and responsibly told him to sit down neatly next to her and fed him with such loving care.
And then there's Bojjandi, the most mischievous, rascally urchin in our house. His speech, both in English and Hindi, has grown by leaps and bounds, and he rattles off long sentences, even paragraphs. His communication skills are terrific and he is easily understood by all of us at home, even if newcomers find it hard to figure him out. That's because his 'r's and 'l's are still 'y' sounds, which is adorable and I really want him to stay that way fro as long as possible.
He's like a dashing movie hero - dashing around the hosue at all times. One of the loudest voices in the house too. Very fond of opening the fridge and scavenging for anythign interesting that he can find, from dahi to chutney, chocolates to cheese. Stubborn as a mule, he still hasn't touched milk after we threw away his bottles six months ago! Assertive and more than capable of holding his own against either Chubbocks or Puddi. And when he gets really affectionate towards you - watch out. He'll come and 'kench' you ( pinch) realy hard, with a fierce expression and gritted pearly teeth. or launch himself at you like a missile and pound away with his chubby fists. He loves his Noddy scooter and his favourite thing is, at night after he's changed into pajamas, to come riding into the family room on the scooter, long, unruly curls blowing behind him, like those old-fashioned Bollywood hero-introduction shots :)
We were giving up our Photon connection because it gave us dismal connectivity. Chubbocks mounted a full campaign asking us not to give it up. Finally he came down to begging us that even if we disconnected it, we should keep the modem somewhere safe, "else it's feelings will get hurt." I was cleaning out the kids playroom recently and came across a box full of soft toys, which the kids have hardly ever played with. I had the maid put them into a bag, preparatory to giving them away. That night I found Chubbocks, soft brown eyes full of concern. "Please don't throw them away. They are my babies!" Now that bag has been transported into an attic, half the contents piled on Chubbocks' bed, with barely enough space on the bed for him to be able to turn over.
Puddi is another thing altogether. She's crazy about art and runs riot with paint, crayons and colour pencils. She spends hours every day quietly engrossed in making a new work of art. I get the distinct feeling she is artistically gifted, going by her efforts so far. She's also an enthusiastic performer on stage. Her puppet dance came in for an encore on the day that we had PTA meetings, and she performed with the same gusto as she had done on stage. Last week she had a ballet performance. Her bit was pretty minor, but she was hilarious. The child next to her had forgotten her steps and refused to stand up on cue. So Puddi just reaches over and hauls her to her feet, gesticulating wildly to remind her of the steps :)
She's also growing into a lovely sister and a great middle child. She's equally happy running riot with Bojjandi or with Chubbocks. She plays board games, argues with Chubbocks, has long arguments and nonsense conversations with him. They fight all the time and irritate each other, yet her eyes well up when he gets scolded. He gets rather hyper at bedtime and competes fiercely for who will get Abba to sit on their bed first, and she's so quick to give in to keep him happy! Then, with Bojjandi, she's riotously running and tumbling around the house and making him laugh. We were out for dinner the other day, and Bojjandi wanted a bite of her dessert. Not only did she readily agree to share but she maternally and responsibly told him to sit down neatly next to her and fed him with such loving care.
And then there's Bojjandi, the most mischievous, rascally urchin in our house. His speech, both in English and Hindi, has grown by leaps and bounds, and he rattles off long sentences, even paragraphs. His communication skills are terrific and he is easily understood by all of us at home, even if newcomers find it hard to figure him out. That's because his 'r's and 'l's are still 'y' sounds, which is adorable and I really want him to stay that way fro as long as possible.
He's like a dashing movie hero - dashing around the hosue at all times. One of the loudest voices in the house too. Very fond of opening the fridge and scavenging for anythign interesting that he can find, from dahi to chutney, chocolates to cheese. Stubborn as a mule, he still hasn't touched milk after we threw away his bottles six months ago! Assertive and more than capable of holding his own against either Chubbocks or Puddi. And when he gets really affectionate towards you - watch out. He'll come and 'kench' you ( pinch) realy hard, with a fierce expression and gritted pearly teeth. or launch himself at you like a missile and pound away with his chubby fists. He loves his Noddy scooter and his favourite thing is, at night after he's changed into pajamas, to come riding into the family room on the scooter, long, unruly curls blowing behind him, like those old-fashioned Bollywood hero-introduction shots :)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
What's a Bojjandi?
Thanks to everyone who wrote in with congratulatory messages. I would post individual replies except that Bojjandi has an uncanny way of knowing exactly when I'm logged on to the net and picks that moment to send up a wail.
Lots of people wanted to know what's a Bojjandi. A Bojjandi is someone who...
looks exactly like Edward G. Robinson when about a day old...
who gets super-excited and waggles his head on his spindly little neck before pouncing on his milk like a hungry eaglet...
who wants to poop and feed at the same moment, causing some confusion for his poor parents who don't know which end to attend to first...
who doesn't even fit into newborn clothes yet and floats around in them as if he's wearing a lifepreserver...
who psyched his family by turning onto his stomach this morning though he's barely 3 weeks old...
who's already got his sister and brother fighting over who gets to keep him in their lap...
who's also lucky enough to have his great-grandma in attendance...
who fits right in to a family that houses a Chubbocks and a Puddi...
Lots of people wanted to know what's a Bojjandi. A Bojjandi is someone who...
looks exactly like Edward G. Robinson when about a day old...
who gets super-excited and waggles his head on his spindly little neck before pouncing on his milk like a hungry eaglet...
who wants to poop and feed at the same moment, causing some confusion for his poor parents who don't know which end to attend to first...
who doesn't even fit into newborn clothes yet and floats around in them as if he's wearing a lifepreserver...
who psyched his family by turning onto his stomach this morning though he's barely 3 weeks old...
who's already got his sister and brother fighting over who gets to keep him in their lap...
who's also lucky enough to have his great-grandma in attendance...
who fits right in to a family that houses a Chubbocks and a Puddi...
Thursday, January 17, 2008
What are they thinking...
Puddi is at a very interesting stage of development right now. All her gears and wheels and cogs are constantly turning as she explores the world around her and tries to figure out how it works. These days, you only have to use a phrase once for it to stick in her mind, and I find myself amazed at the way she can call it to mind at apt moments. She recently learned to say 'Pata nahi' (I don't know). Yesterday the lady who's looking after her temporarily while our regular one is away on vacation asked her, "Where is Anuroopa?" Promptly, the little tyke says, "Pata nai". Puddi was visiting our downstairs neighbour when I got back from work last evening. While turning to leave, I said "Theek hai" about something. Immediately the little one pipes up, "Theek hai, bye, cheeeyuuu".
She's always up to something because she really wants to test her limits( and our nerves) - climbing on and off the sofa, the arm of the futon, the glass table in the drawing room, trying to jump while perched on a swing or on my parents' rather high bed...She loves water - maane, as she calls it - and one of her favourite games, after drinking as much as she wants, it to take some in her mouth and experiment as to what sounds she can emit. She also picks up whatever water glasses she can find ( all steel tumblers, thank god ) and carefully props them one on top of another, trying to check in which position they will stay upright and which way they'll fall down.
She loves books and runs around digging out books from Chubbocks' bookshelf all day. She carefully opens them - by now she knows not to tear the pages - and looks at first one page then the other to figure out what's written. She'll let out a laugh at an illustration, as if she finds something really funny about it. At night, when Chubbocks is having his 3 stories read out to him, madam cuddles up to me, having duly picked out a book or whacked one from his selection, and asks to be read to. I don't know how much of the story she understands or even how many of the words, and whether she is only mirroring Chubbocks, but it's fascinating to watch.
She loves music too. These days, Chubbocks is into watching the Krishna cartoon on cartoon network, whenever he's up that late. Puddi, if not otherwise occupied - i.e. gargling with water, running around the house like a loon, tumbling off the bed - also watches alongside, and loves the song which comes on afterwards. She can't not dance if there is any music coming from anywhere, and now tries to sing along to the show's tune while swaying her tiny body. Chubbocks has picked up the words of Bum Bum Bhole from TZP, and Puddi has learnt some of them from listening to him, so whenever he's singing, she also says, "ba ba doday", swinging her chubby little butt from side to side. It's fascinating to see, if we put on a music CD, that for each song she varies the steps and the way she moves her body - for some she'll just swing her hips, for some she'll try to jump, for others she'll raise her pink index fingers in the Bhangra gesture, and for others she'll move her arms up and down. All the more intriguing because I haven't started teaching her the typical song and action stuff yet.
She's been watching my parents do their daily puja and prayers and has learnt to do a beautiful namaskaara, where she lays her whole body down on the floor. She loves ringing the small bell at prayertime. Yesterday, she picked up the bell in one hand and the brass plate for aarti in the other, and rang one and made circular motions with the other in perfect imitation of dad, while singing her own prayer - a chant composed of la la la ye yo do da...
I know I went through this period of intense curiosity even when Chubbocks was small and I'm going through it with Puddi. I wish there was some way in which I could get inside her head, to understand how she's learning and processing everything she sees and hears, what she's making of it all, what she's thinking, what her emotions are as she goes through her action-packed day. There are so many books on the human brain and on adults and the way they think and feel - fiction and non-fiction. But I guess, limited by their ability to communicate, we have no such resources on toddler minds, and all we can do is stand back and marvel at what God has gifted to us.
She's always up to something because she really wants to test her limits( and our nerves) - climbing on and off the sofa, the arm of the futon, the glass table in the drawing room, trying to jump while perched on a swing or on my parents' rather high bed...She loves water - maane, as she calls it - and one of her favourite games, after drinking as much as she wants, it to take some in her mouth and experiment as to what sounds she can emit. She also picks up whatever water glasses she can find ( all steel tumblers, thank god ) and carefully props them one on top of another, trying to check in which position they will stay upright and which way they'll fall down.
She loves books and runs around digging out books from Chubbocks' bookshelf all day. She carefully opens them - by now she knows not to tear the pages - and looks at first one page then the other to figure out what's written. She'll let out a laugh at an illustration, as if she finds something really funny about it. At night, when Chubbocks is having his 3 stories read out to him, madam cuddles up to me, having duly picked out a book or whacked one from his selection, and asks to be read to. I don't know how much of the story she understands or even how many of the words, and whether she is only mirroring Chubbocks, but it's fascinating to watch.
She loves music too. These days, Chubbocks is into watching the Krishna cartoon on cartoon network, whenever he's up that late. Puddi, if not otherwise occupied - i.e. gargling with water, running around the house like a loon, tumbling off the bed - also watches alongside, and loves the song which comes on afterwards. She can't not dance if there is any music coming from anywhere, and now tries to sing along to the show's tune while swaying her tiny body. Chubbocks has picked up the words of Bum Bum Bhole from TZP, and Puddi has learnt some of them from listening to him, so whenever he's singing, she also says, "ba ba doday", swinging her chubby little butt from side to side. It's fascinating to see, if we put on a music CD, that for each song she varies the steps and the way she moves her body - for some she'll just swing her hips, for some she'll try to jump, for others she'll raise her pink index fingers in the Bhangra gesture, and for others she'll move her arms up and down. All the more intriguing because I haven't started teaching her the typical song and action stuff yet.
She's been watching my parents do their daily puja and prayers and has learnt to do a beautiful namaskaara, where she lays her whole body down on the floor. She loves ringing the small bell at prayertime. Yesterday, she picked up the bell in one hand and the brass plate for aarti in the other, and rang one and made circular motions with the other in perfect imitation of dad, while singing her own prayer - a chant composed of la la la ye yo do da...
I know I went through this period of intense curiosity even when Chubbocks was small and I'm going through it with Puddi. I wish there was some way in which I could get inside her head, to understand how she's learning and processing everything she sees and hears, what she's making of it all, what she's thinking, what her emotions are as she goes through her action-packed day. There are so many books on the human brain and on adults and the way they think and feel - fiction and non-fiction. But I guess, limited by their ability to communicate, we have no such resources on toddler minds, and all we can do is stand back and marvel at what God has gifted to us.
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