Grandma's Visit

Miss D had a fabulous time during her grandma's(hubby's mom)visit the last 3 weeks.She recognized her in a few minutes after seeing her and from then on it was fun,fun and fun for the two of them.She was confused as to how to address her the first few days,the last she had seen her was around 5 months back,when she was not saying a lot of words.She started calling her aunty:-) and it took her about a week to say 'naini' (short for dad's mom in Tamil).From then on every morning as soon as she woke up,I had to tell where 'naini' was,what she was doing.She was happy all day,playing with her.

Her grandma would read to her,built stacks with her,ran behind her,where ever she pulled her to.They would sit by the front door,and get entertained by what is happening outside.Miss D black mailed her by throwing tantrums to get candy everyday,which she never knew existed before !If it was time for her to take a nap or a diaper change,she would run and hide behind her 'naini',which was the cutest.She doesn't do that with her dad,its such an unique relationship they build with their grandparents.She got anything she wanted with her.One day she took her naini's saree and pulled it back and forth all the rooms, rolled around on it,played pikaboo with it and just spent a good 20 mns playing with it.We took some pictures of the two in a portrait studio,to remember this special 3 weeks she spent with her grandma.

I was feeling bad for them on the day she left.She sure missed her grandma,asked a few times in the morning and then again in the evening.It repeated the next day.Thankfully she is not of the age where she knows the separation too well.Hubby and I felt her pinch,and tried to spend more time with her than usual.

We have to understand and accept that its part of our lives now,since we are away from home.The pleasures of spending time with the people we love are limited and we have to make the most of it.Waiting for our India trip early next year,more so to see Miss D with her other grandma(ammama).

Amma.....not Mommy

Miss D:Mommy.......
Me: Not Mommy,call me amma......

After a few minutes....
Miss D: Mommy......
Me: Mommy illey.....amma koopidu(not mommy, call me amma)

This is the scene from morning till night at home form the last one week.

From when she began to say her first words, she has been calling me 'amma' and her dad 'appa'.I was very happy that she called us that and never introduced the word 'mommy', since I really wanted her to call me 'amma'.All of a sudden she picked up the word mommy either from seeing something on tv or from her favorite Bina akka,who calls her mother 'mommy'.She used it on me a few times here and there a few weeks back and I was amazed at how she learnt it on her own and knew what it meant.It was cute.

Then it became more frequent and I started correcting her.From the last one week,all she is calling me is 'mommy'! She has completely stopped saying 'amma'.I correct her every time, she says it for my sake and then goes back to mommy.Sometimes she does not even say it for my sake, just plain refuses to hear me!:-( She gets mad when her dad tries to correct her.An other reason may be that I call my MIL 'maami' ,so she hears a similar sounding word and wants to use it even more.We all try to correct her every single time she uses it, but it does not seem to be going anywhere........

Its not a big deal, amma,mom,mommy,mummy.......they all mean the same and nothing will change between us if she calls me by the other,but somehow I have this thing in my mind that she should call me 'amma'.May be because she has always called me that and I don't want that to change, or may be because I want her to say it in our mother tongue.

General Update

Well,its been way too long since I wrote a post and finally decided to write an update.No specific reason for not writing,just did not give it top priority.Used my 2 hours of free time everyday for catching up on mail etc.Every time I read other blogs and about other babies,I feel bad that I am not writing about my little kutti girl.

She is all 19 months now and has become a big time talker.I see a big change in the last couple of weeks,she has picked up on so many new words and repeats pretty much every thing we say and that makes it a challenge for us,to not utter any 'no no' words in front of her:-)I am totally, totally enjoying this chatter of hers and its so, so entertaining.Her paati(hubby's mom) and her periappa(hubby's brother) are visiting from India for 3 weeks as a sudden plan.She had not seen her paati in almost 5 months,so we were curious to see how she would react.She cried for 2 minutes when she saw them walk in to the room and approached her and soon she was extra comfortable with her paati and started giving her one book after another,asking to be read.So,we think she remembered her very well and in couple of minutes every memory came back to her.

She loves to take walks in the development,and name everything on the way and repeat it to her appa after returning.The most exciting thing for her is when she has company of other toddlers,kids,teens.....yup,she can play with older kids.She just becomes crazy happy when she meets her favorite akka(hubby's cousin's daughter),who I will call B akka.They live around 20 minutes away and we meet them every weekend and sometimes during mid week.She has seen her since the very beginning and does not even need me when her B akka is around.

I see how happy she is with people around her at home and especially with her paati.This is what kills me,when I think she is not getting that precious grandparents company all the time.Its so limited,feels like we are denying a big part of her growing up.I am so thankful that we have great neighbors who have kids her age,it is a blessing.I set up a play date with 2 of her friends this coming Monday at my place,looking forward to that.

Well,hoping to write more often.........