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.........

Imitation Is The Way Of Life

Miss D is all in to imitation.Anything and everything that one of us do, is bound to be repeated by the little monster.She seems to know very well what happens during a diaper change.I lay her down and take a wet wipe and start cleaning,and if she spots a piece of paper or a wipe she picks it up and starts wiping herself.She loves to run in to the bathroom,which I try to keep closed all the time,while in there tears the toilet paper and nicely drops it in to the toilet.All this is OK and I can see the good that she is learning from it.

This is a tricky one-I am not sure if I should be teaching her to throw stuff in the trash.You know where this is going right........she has thrown her hair clip, some papers which were not trash, her pretty flowery hat and the worst(or the best,what ever way you want to take it) is a silver bowl which I use for pooja! I have caught her in the act every time, so was able to save most of it. Not sure what has gone in there with out my knowledge. I was imagining what would happen if she throws something important, like car keys with which she plays often, or cell phone(well, at least you can call and if you are lucky, hear it ring).Well, the important thing to remember when something is misplaced-look in the trash and I can imagine what an interesting and hygienic experience that would be!!!

She was on her high chair and dropped something and I said 'Oh Oh' and the expression stayed in her mind.Then she would drop something by mistake and say 'oh oh' and this happened a few times.Again on the high chair,she had a few things on her table and a napkin in her hand and said 'oh oh' and I did not notice her dropping anything on the floor and wondered why she said that.After a split second she has a grin on her face and drops the napkin that she was holding !

These kids are way ahead than what we think and things they learn is etched in their minds forever and they can make it work the way they want it to,depending on the situation.I can not stop, but tell the people I am close to every little thing she does and says.Sometimes I feel they may not want to hear everything that I have to say, but the 'mom' in me can't keep to myself the most adorable antics of my little Miss D.

Oooolalaaaaaa Tag

Have been tagged by Poppin for.............well, figure it out readers

Midnight Masala

Too tired and exhausted after the daily routine of doing mundane work around the house, taking care of the kid, cooking, catching up on email,making dinner, feeding.....the list goes on.........
Finally when its bed time, after a little reading, the one and only thing thats on your mind is SLEEP, then go ahead and sleep, comfy and cozy with the comforter on and the fan running with a nice breeze........
An hour into the night, after getting some sleep and having rested a little....wake up to a midnight masala.....works great being a little drowsy, kind of like 'where am I,is it a dream or real' feeling.

*Not going to work with new moms,since the baby's sleep schedule is bound to clash!*

SAHM-Common term in the blog world

I have read many posts on DesiMomz Club on SAHM Vs Working Mom,the differences, what has been the choice with many bloggers, why they chose what they chose, whether they are happy with the decisions etc.I think the question to ask is, if you are happy with your decision and if it is working out fine with the child, the husband and rest of the involved family.

We were a family of 5, my parents and my 2 older brothers.I have spent my entire childhood, with my mom always at home, taking care of us, cooking, helping us with our homework, teaching techniques to remember the difficult math formulas etc.Even though my mom could have gone outside the house and worked, she never did, thinking she would wreck the family order.After a while we got so used to her being at home all the time, even a few years of tuition and a little bit of teaching in a public school,was too much time away from her for the 3 siblings.So, that way we were very,very spoilt:-)

I grew up as not a very career oriented person, may be because I never saw my mom go to work, or may be because it was never in me.Got married at 21 and came to the US and enjoyed the first year with out doing much.Then I did a certificate program taking breaks here and there.Started my first job in 2003, worked for almost 3 years and then decided to plan for a baby.

From the time we started planning for the baby,I wanted to stay at home with my baby after birth until she was around 2 years old.I knew that for sure.This was in order to enjoy the time with the little one, and not go through the whole issue of sending her to day care,and me juggling with a job, the house and the baby.Knowing my mentality, I knew it would be next to impossible.Hubby was supportive of my decision.

I had to quit my job earlier than I thought,in my 6Th month of pregnancy due to a lot of sickness and weight loss until that point.She was born in march of '06 and it has been an amazing experience so far.I can not imagine missing out on all the wonderful things she has been doing and saying and just to have seen her grow from a tiny 6 pound er to a mischievous toddler(18 months).From the last couple of months,I have been getting restless to get back to work, to get back to doing something.I am going to be stressed out as a working mom, I know that, but I still want to be out there working, and not feeling left out once my daughter is out doing her own thing.Bottom of my heart, I am not put up to stay at home 'forever' and it does not make sense in any way to do that.Not only for the money, but just to feel the independence of working and having my own life outside the house and family.

For the most part I enjoy this time with her at home, but there are times when I see and hear about working moms, who are managing everything well and feel left out and feel the need to be on the other side.I know its matter of time before I get out to work.I am glad that I have this choice of staying at home with my little angel for now.

17 Month Update

Looking at my little daughter,and seeing what she has been up to recently is making me write this post.Not that I have been writing regularly,which I would love to but am not able to.....since I hardly get around to check my email and respond.The only time I sit in front of the computer is in the mornings and afternoons when she is napping.I don't like to browse in the evenings or night time when I can spend that time with hubby.

Going back to the reason for this post,I feel Miss D is doing/saying a lot of new things in the past month than any other other time.She has been picking up on almost everything we say.

Vocab:She can say around 15 words.She can immitate sounds of 5 different animals.She knows when to say 'akka' and 'anna'.If she sees food in a book,she tries to take a piece and put it in her mouth:-)She did that with strawberries.

Activity:She can point at different objects in a book when asked,and will say the names of things when pointed to.HORSE still remains her favorite.She climbs anything and everything and does not stop at that,she starts dancing after climbing either the sofa,or the coffee table or the bed.

Sleeping:There is a change in the way she falls asleep,a big one.Does not want to be rocked any more,ya....I can't believe it,I thought I would be rocking her until she went to first grade.She has her milk and lies down on the bed,sucks her thumb,and dozes off slowly turning and tossing.It is a big relief.

Eating:She has been a good eater right from the start and has not changed much.A good change is her fruit eating habit,she never used to eat fruits other than a banana once in a while,but from the last couple of weeks she has been eating water melon,strawberries and oranges.Her dad has never been and is still not a good fruit eater,so hoping she does not get that from him:-)

Dancing: I have to make this a separate category,since this girl just LOVES to move her body.It does not have to be an actual song.....it can vary from a mini song from a commercial or a ring tone from a cell phone or any other tune that has some music.Her current favorite is the song 'Tara Rum Pum Pum' from the same movie.

All in all,she is our main source of entertainment & does things the whole day that are way too cute:-)God knows how I would spend my day with out her running around in front of my eyes:-)Love You D !!!