Letter from ammA

Hi, I am sharing this letter from my ammA. She is the biggest toy I own :)

My dearest rowdy,

It has been quite a ride after you came by. You were a little cuddly kutty who has now grown to be a goof ball. I enjoy your goofiness as nothing is serious or worrisome when you are around. But you are also developing this wonderful technique of taunting me. When you learnt "raara venu" song you learnt the words right. Now the creative bug that has bitten you is making you change the words. Singing the words wrong and checking with me for correctness just to see how I react is not what ammA enjoys :( Just for the record I have quote how you have been taunting me. "rajitha sadguna dana sheela" dhaane ma (Is it rajitha sadguna dana sheela ammA?) How many times have I told "no Madhura it is "rajitha sadguna jaya sheela" thinking that it was an honest mistake?

We have been putting a great effort to get you potty trained. I am so happy that you have cooperated and learnt well. You have been using the urgency with which I attend to you when you say ¨moochA¨ (pee pee) as a way of getting attention and taunting me. Like yesterday when you said " jetti moochA¨  (pee pee in underpants) I dropped the job on hand quickly to attend to you. Then sitting on the potty you slyly smile and say ¨jetti moocchA, pant moochA, shirt moochA, hairband moochA" (pee pee in underpants, pants, shirt and hairband) When I check your pants, I see nothing. I should have known when you said pee pee on you hairband :(

Keep your taunts and mischief coming. But dont forget ammA needs your hugs and kisses to keep up with you everyday as you grow. Happy growing pattu!

lots of love,
ammA  

Bird watching

It was a pleasant evening and I was all set to go down to the park as it was my consolation for being left behind by Paaduka. Paaduka and appA went tata without me :(

It was getting dark and gloomy suddenly and ammA told me that it is going to rain and we went to the balcony to enjoy the weather. There we saw a lot of birds flying in flocks and separately. I was excited just to stand in the balcony and watch everything going on. Soon the ground down below got boring since I saw only people going by, vehicles honking and car wash and repair shop making weird noise.

Sky above is so much interesting. "thapotaH... thapotaH" (Pigeon in sanskrit baby talk) ammA pAdhu (ammA see). ammA got excited :) ammA showed me a few parrots which I loving call "shuthaha" (Parrot in sanskrit baby talk) A couple of them were sitting on a tree near by and I waited and waited for them to fly but they were quite happy staying put. To make things interesting and happening I started seeing expressions in the birds :) "shuthaha chicchaa" (the parrot smiled) ammA played along. So now ammA and I were sitting down and and scanning the sky. "garudaH" paaru. kazhuthu white-a irukku (see the eagle. It's neck is white) ammA yelled! Why is that a big deal? But I played along now and said "woooow".  We saw a couple of them gliding close by. Then  we spotted a couple of hawks too. ammA said that they see something to eat and so they are flying around the area. I think I said it better "gadhudhada sonna mammu ikku. star cereal sappanum. madhuyaa oda share panna matten nnu sonna. " (The Eagle said "I found food to eat. I am going to eat star shaped cereal. I will not share with Madhura")

After all flowing water body (even though it might be filled with sewage) and a vacant piece of land with trees still attracts some feathered friends. High rise buildings are not bad too it takes us a little closer to the birds.

So ammA and I have something to look up to everyday :)

(Pictures) July 2013

more sweetness here

I am in charge

 I love playing jigsaw puzzles on ammA's phone whenever I get an opportunity. Her phone does not have charge and goes blank whenever she does not want to share her phone with me.  Wonder how my ammA and the phone get into a bad mood together!

Once when I was bored sitting in a shop with ammA, I pestered her to give me the phone to play a game. She said her phone did not have charge. This time I decided to explore the phone and find out myself. I turned it on and found that there was enough charge left to play. Poor ammA had no clue where to see to know how much charge was left. So, I shared my knowledge with her.
(showing the top right most battery icon) "ammA inga paaru (ammA see here) charge itthu (charge is there) game vilaiyaadalaam (I can play a game) passport podu (enter your passport- yes I think passport is the right word and not password)

I am the keeper of ammA's phone and have to tell her more about using it better :)

Notes from India

My new found freedom
I walk inside the car now! No more car seat and belt. I walk and choose where I want to seat and for how long. I have banged my head a few times when the car stops suddenly. So now I am understanding why it is good to sit in a place. Then again I am FREE :)

My biggest compliant
It's been 22 days since we took that long flight. We live in an apartment which does not look anything like the house which had toys :( That's pretty much what I probably feel but I have not been able to tell my parents. They brought so many suitcases and keep digging into them often to see if some toys are hidden away but NO luck so far.

My love
"ammA yaaro ding dong panna" (ammA, someone rang the doorbell) is my favorite thing to say repeatedly before I open the door even though ammA says not to. Now the house is latched high up so that I cannot access it.

"phone adichi ammA, pesu" ( phone is ringing speak ammA) and I force the phone to my ammA's face. "Ding dong and tring tring " sound brightens my mood  but ammA is hardly excited hearing it.

My fear
I refuse to walk on the road. I am startled every time a vehicle makes noise. There are loud speakers on the streets which scare me. I believe that being carried is the the safest mode of transportation.

My new friend
My new friend is a big person. Anthony uncle who comes to clean our house everyday enjoys my company and looks forward to meeting me. He enters our house wishes my ammA and next thing he asks is "kutti pAppa enga?" (where is the small baby?") I follow him when he is working and share tidbits of information about whats happening at our house.

My biggest puzzle
I enjoy playing with the car window. Whenever I feel like, I can "on kaathu (air)" by rolling down the window and "off kaathu (air)" by rolling the window up. Once we traveled by autorickshaw. It was like a roller coaster and I squealed when we went up and down potholes but when the traffic got better the auto picked up speed and kaathu(air) blew into my face. "kaathu off appA, kaathu off pannu" (switch off the air appA) but appA could do nothing. Our hair was flying and every one had there eyes almost closed. I can see that every one were finding it difficult but why did appA not "off kaathu". Wondering about the unsolved puzzle I slept on ammA's shoulder turning away from the "big fan"

My new role
I am a stress ball. I now understand that people in Bangalore are in so much of stress. When I go down to the kids' park to play, walk in the apartment complex, roam around in shops or just in any place of congregation, people just squeeze my cheeks. But they do it with affection is what ammA says! I feel like a mobile stress ball that people use often. Now I am getting used to my cheeks being squeezed and pinched and asking to shake hands.

My Rhymes Album

I can

I right now think I can do many things myself. My constant plead "nAn panren" (I will do) does not have any impact on my parents. They just think it is soo cute :( So I decided to demonstrate my capability.

 After so many trips to the restroom following pAdukA, I know what it is like to use the restroom. I ask my ammA to take me to the restroom to sit on the nice Dora potty seat, wait for five minutes, get down and pull a few sheets of tissue paper and throw it in the potty and flush. Isn't this a fine example of how I can do things by myself. Still not convinced?

ammA was lying down and was not sleeping, so I decided to help her sleep just like my parents do to me. I patted her a few times. It did not make any difference. I covered her with a blanket but she was still awake. Since these did not work, I used my own technique to fall asleep. I forced my thumb into her mouth to help her sleep. It works for me but ammA laughed and washed my hands! I had the right idea but my subject was not compliant. Oh well.... do you know about my diagnostic capability?

Once I got hurt banging my head against the wall while running. I started crying and everyone gathered to console me. I had to think of what I needed even when I was in pain. Crying I called for "iishh, iiish" (ice...ice..). Then it dawned on everyone to get me some ice. I know from observing appA and thAthA that ice and "pacchai marundhu" (green medicine) cures almost everything. So, I prescribe either of these when someone is no feeling well.

And so I think Machuya (Madhura) can !