In India, cold weather is merely a conventional phrase and has come into use through the necessity of having some way to distinguish between weather which will melt a brass door-knob and weather which will only make it mushy.
– Mark Twain

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Hwre! Dyma Nodi

nodi nodi

Pretty much every evening these days, as soon as we get home, D and I are treated to an imploring TJOML standing next to the TV and in a plaintive tone repeating, "dak-dak¹", "doddee²", "baaa³","ooh-ooh, doddee", "Amma, doddeeeee", "Appa, dak-dak"... hoping we would respond to her request soon.

Absolutely cute and maddening at the same time!

D bought Hwre! Dyma Nodi and Wil Cwac Cwac for TJOML a while back. And of course, we already have a 2-disc set of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, Vol 1., a gift from my parents.

¹ Wil Cwac Cwac
² Nodi
³ Nursery Rhymes (Baa Baa Black Sheep is the first one on disc 1 here)

Now, both TJOML and I don't quite understand or speak Welsh fluently. However, I believe she speaks and understands Welsh a little better than I do sometimes. She, of course, has an advantage: she is only 19 months old.

TJOML adores Nodi and Wil.

I have come to adore Nodi as much or more than TJOML does these days. Partly because it is a bit challenging but very rewarding when I pick up a few words here and there and put them together to improve my Welsh - the characters speak quite clearly; and partly because the animation is well done and appealing.

I have also begun to appreciate Wil Cwac Cwac a bit more nowadays, after watching closely and trying to make sense, because: in quite a few episodes, Wil's parents play pranks on poor little Wil!

If it wasn't obvious by now, Wil is a duck who goes to school, lives in an idyllic hamlet with his mom and dad, has fun with his friends - a turkey, a rooster and such. But, my frustration sometimes stems out of the fact that the characters speak Welsh like a duck or a turkey would speak Welsh and that complicates things for me.

Noddy is a character created by Enid Blyton. I grew up reading The Famous Five when I was little - I was particularly curious about Georgina who prefers to be called George. But that's another story for another day. Nodi is the Welsh version of Noddy, a boy who lives in ToyTown and drives a red and yellow car.

It must be quite a sight: TJOML cuddling in my lap, with a nice blanket around us, staring intently at the TV while our brain cogs can be heard for miles cranking away vigorously trying to process it all!

Hwre to Educational Entertainment!

Labels:

Monday, November 27, 2006

whither shall i follow, follow thee?

"ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo, ballo...".

Over the Thanksgiving break, TJOML has been saying this over and over, on and off, throughout the day while (un)dressing her doll Enid or while walking her tricycle or just while walking back and forth being a busy toddler.

Well, her Nana gave her a tape of some children's songs and we have been playing it selectively for TJOML as she doesn't have patience for the whole tape. Some are quite popular songs like "Three Blind Mice", "Are you sleeping", "Clementine" and such, and some are songs i haven't heard at all in my life and probably don't want to, for a good reason :-)

Anyway, one of the songs there goes something like this: "Come follow follow follow follow... follow follow follow me; whither shall i follow follow thee? to the greenwood, to the greenwood, to the greenwood, greenwood tree".

TJOML latched on to it and has been practising the song in her own way for the last several days. I hope she feels she has mastered it enough and decides to move on to another song - there is only so much of the cute "ballo ballo....." i can handle at a time :-)

Labels:

Thursday, November 23, 2006

cantores bach

What amazes me the most is TJOML's liking for music: she sings 'Twinkle Twinkle', 'Row Row Row your boat', 'Old MacDonald' in her own way - no clear discernible words really, but, the tune is close enough that in her tiny nasal sing-song it is easy to make out.

And she loves to sit on my lap or her daddy's lap, hold our hands and start moving back and forth singing 'Woe Woe Woe..';

The only words we can make out in 'Old MacDonald' is of course 'ee yaa ee yaa ooo'.

Her favorite since she was about 11 months old is 'Hokey Pokey' song - she loves to turn around when the song says 'turn around', and has to burst with a 'Yay!' at the end of each verse. It is absolutely adorable.

Too bad I don't have a working video camera to capture all this - it is incredibly precious and I am sure her grandparents will appreciate some edited down 10 min DVDs of TJOML in her element.

p.s: "cantores bach" (can-too-ress baakh) is what D calls TJOML sometimes, i think it means "little singer" in Welsh:-)

Labels:

canine buds are showing, finally

The upper two canines have cut through and I can see the tiny buds along with the red sore-looking gums around the two new teeth.

That's the good news.

The not-so-good news is that either the arrival of the caninies, or something unconnected, has made her moods rather pronounced - when she is happy, she jumps around, laughs, plays well, but, when she is upset, nothing seems good enough.

Maybe that's part of being a toddler. Maybe this is where tantrums start...

In any case, she seems to not wake up so many times and scream as much at nights for the last 2 days.

She does wake up early, calling out for me from her crib, and when I bring her over to my bed, she points to her diaper and in an anguished voice says, 'cheej bapoo, cheej bapoo' (change diaper) till I change her, and then she wants to get down from the bed and run around and play. At 5 or so in the morning, most days!

Labels: , ,

Monday, November 20, 2006

the talking clock

The sleepless nights are continuing unabated.

Meanwhile, TJOML simply refuses to go to bed without a fight these days.

Which in itself would be alright to handle because she still responds well to my rocking her and singing to her.

What is not easy to handle is her tendency to wake up at 3 in the morning, every morning for the last 10 days, after about 6 hours of nap, with a loud piercing scream. Patting and singing temporarily stops the screams, but, the minute I walk away from her crib thinking she is drifting off to sleep again, they start with renewed vigor.

Unwilling to bend over the crib in my half-asleep state, singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while rubbing her back, I reluctantly pick her up and settle her back in bed next to me every night (or rather, early morning).

Which in itself is not the issue, again. I love to snuggle next to my baby, no doubt.

But, she does not want to snuggle. She wants to sit up and talk. She wants to change her baby doll Enid's diaper right then. She wants to play with the kitties who happen to be snuggling with us, peacefully purring away. She wants to get going... no more lying in bed. Time's a-wasting...

I stay perfectly still, afraid to breathe hard, eyes closed, pretending to be totally asleep and unaware of Ms.Chatty, ignoring the impulse to scream out in pain when she endearingly twirls my tangled hair and pulls them by the tiny handful... but only for a few brief minutes.

Why only for a few brief minutes? Well, because, she leans over me, points at the digital clock on my nightstand and starts reading off the displayed numbers: 'sees', pause, 'aeth', 'naa'. And, her pauses drive me to open my eyes, look at the display and gushingly say, 'seven, that's a seven. suh-ven. can you say seven?'

Labels:

Friday, November 17, 2006

could it be canines?

Looks like it, so far...

Ana had her first tooth out on new year's day - at least the tiny white bud that we could see - after months of cutting teeth and sleepless nights. It happened to be her upper incisor on the right side.

Then in quick succession came the two lower incisors and other three upper incisors.

Gone was the cutest toothless smile I ever saw!

And, gone were the sleepless nights as well. She sort of breezed through her two other lower incisors, I barely saw them coming - one fine morning she seemed to have woken up with two extra bottom front teeth.

I was ecstatic. So much so that, I was beginning to worry something was wrong: why is she sleeping through the night? Is something wrong? I kept checking on her a few times a night just to be sure - but, there she was, apparently all the teeth that were cutting through for months came out pretty much back-to-back and she seemed to snore away happily through the nights for about 3 months.

Until the molars wanted to come out, that is. It just took a week or so, that's it - a tough sleepless week - but, her first set of molars were out and she seemed to take it in her stride and carry on being a busy toddler.

Well, now that she is 19-months old, (note to self: stop using months as Ana's age indicator), the sleepless nights are back with a vengeance.

From what little investigation she allows us while brushing her teeth, it appears that the canines might be making an appearance, hopefully shortly.

It is a good thing memory is short-term at that age. If I can remember all the pain I endured while cutting my first set of baby teeth, I would probably be a nervous wreck worrying about what Ana is going through.

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

music doth rear a savage beast

From when TJOML was about a few weeks old, till she was about 10 months old, she cried A LOT.

It became apparent that she was in quite some discomfort of sorts and her pediatrician dismissed it as colic. (Turns out pediatrician was not entirely correct about this colic diagnosis, but, that's another story).

While we were trying to figure it out, I sort of could not handle all her crying.

Initially I cried a lot with her. Then, when she was about 4-5 weeks old, I picked up some courage and started singing to her very softly while rocking her.

That seemed to have a positive effect, so I kept it up.

I am not a great singer, mind, I just have a good ear for music and I just happen to love music of all sorts - from carnatic music to western classical, from jazz to bluegrass, from classic rock to old Indian movie songs.

And I sang whatever came to mind.

However off-key and hoarse I sounded, TJOML didn't seem too picky, she indicated she liked my singing by stopping her crying in her tracks when I started my singing - be it the ABC song, or Can't Buy Me Love, or Ganesha Pancharathnam or an old Rafi number.

I kept it up happily, making up songs and words as I barely knew all the words to any of the songs. Things were getting back to 'normal': TJOML seemed happier and cried only when she really need to, and usually, even just reciting a few lines from The Lorax in a sing-song seemed to calm her down.

And then, thanks to Mother Goose, I had a seemingly endless supply of nursery rhymes for her, which I started singing to her over the last few months, to help ease her discomfort and frustration at being strapped in the car seat for an hour and a half (or more depending on traffic) commute to/from work/daycare.

It seems cruel to strap her like that for about 3 hrs a day on commute, but, c'est la vie...

Anyway, now, she insists on hearing about 70 rhymes within 10 minutes of getting in the car and is not happy if I play the CD or the tape.

With her little tiny fingers tapping together making the "More" sign, accompanied by a frustrated and whiny "Moaaa", "Moaaa", she expectantly looks at me to sing the nursery rhymes back-to-back without pausing too long to catch my breath!

It was sweet initially, but, of late, she has become mighty insistent and downright ornery about it.

I am now frequently plagued by nightmares of a pint-sized savage beast slavering at the jaw and coming after me tapping its fingers together screaming 'moaa', 'moaa' and asking for 'Mistress Mary Quite Contrary', 'Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater', 'Higglety Pigglety', 'Goosey Goosey Gander' and such like...

Labels: ,

Monday, November 13, 2006

play dough

play dough
Play Dough is awesome. TJOML thinks so, at least.

So, we decided to make some at home for her.

Found a very simple recipe on the web:

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 Tbsp oil
few drops of food color

Just dump all the above ingredients into a sauce pan and stir it over medium heat till it forms a dough. Knead well. Let it cool completely. And Voila!

When I was little, I got to play with clay and mud, but, not the fancy play dough. I rather like the level of messiness involved in play dough compared to "clay dough"...

There is something relaxing about shaping and reshaping and working the play dough.

TJOML seems pretty possessive about this batch I cooked up for her. After I am done shaping some for her, she points to the tupperware where we store it, watches like a hawk till i put all of it back and then she puts the lid on it and follows me to the fridge to make sure I put it away safely.

I think I will be making a few more batches in a few more colors. And it won't just be for TJOML;-)

Labels:

Friday, November 10, 2006

au revoir bouteilles

TJOML started using baby feeding bottle around 4 weeks out of necessity - I had to get back to work, but, I was consistently pumping and filling up bottles and freezer bags.

We had reserved a fairly sizeable portion of the limited kitchen countertop space for baby bottles, brush and other paraphernalia, plus the bottle warmer etc.

She started taking to the sippy cup at about 6 months and didn't care too much for a bottle except when at daycare.

Several months down the road, about the time she was weaned, she gave up the bottle entirely and didn't think twice about it, and switched entirely to sippy cup for all her drinking needs.

I, on the other hand, could not give up her bottle.

They sat there, all washed and sterlized, in a nice little box/rack, next to the bottle warmer for months on our kitchen countertop!

She hadn't used the bottles in almost a year, but they were still around because I could not bring myself to part with them. I don't know why.

Finally, we needed to reclaim the counter space and my obsession with TJOML's bottles was seriously getting in the way.

I worked myself up to it, told D about it and said we should get rid of them.

About Time, he said.

But, I could not pick them up and throw them in the bin. I simply could not. I let them sit there a few more days.

One fine Saturday morning, two weeks ago, they were all gone!

I was ready to start a battle with D about this. I worked myself up to a very militant mood and was ready to confront him.

Somehow, better sense prevailed. I exercised supreme will power and finally let go.

Au Revoir Bouteilles.

Labels:

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

What's in a name?

One restless evening, a few days before my due-date, trying to settle into our new home, I decided to draw a nice warm bath and get some much-needed rest: although it was a joint decision for me to work full time till delivery and then get back to work right after my 30-day maternity leave, I was feeling quite angry about it.

To top it, we had just bought a house in my mid-third-trimester and being sort of on a budget crunch and not having too many friends in town, we had to move all on our own. Plus the house needed some 'work' and some good thorough 'cleaning'. D did the 'work' while i did the 'cleaning'.

Aside: I must admit how impressed and proud I am that D managed all the labor-intensive stuff all by himself!! Since we weren't moving far from where we were then living, D made several trips in his sturdy old Freya until we had only the big things left that needed a U-haul.

I am digressing. Or rather, I guess, I am setting up the scene...

So, in the midst of all that, we didn't have much time to think a lot about the soon-to-arrive baby. Therefore, we never really gave much thought about Baby Names.

Getting back to my bath, where I started this story: I was sitting in the tub, pretty angry, pretty much clueless about what's coming, and casually decided to indulge in finding The Perfect Name for my Baby.

That's when it hit me: Oh my God, this is not an easy one!

I screamed for D from the bathtub; he came all ready to drive me to the hospital, when I told him how much I am afraid of (not)finding The Perfect Name for my Baby.

He looked at me calmly and said, "Baby is not here yet. I have to look at her before I can think about what name would best fit her. Why don't you wait till you see Baby first?"

Phew! Makes sense, I thought. I still have time, I don't have to think up a name right now. But, I can think of what I would not like and straight away eliminate them. That was easy. With that thought I enjoyed the rest of my bath, eliminated any name that started with B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, Q, U, V, W, X, Y, Z and settled down for another sleepless night.

About 5-6 days after TJOML arrived, when we had to take her to her first pediatrician visit, they stumped us by asking us the 'patient's name'!

I thought I could just use the same excuse we used at the hospital, 'Oh, we haven't thought of one yet', but, for insurance and such, the lady at the Reception refused to accept 'Cutelicious-est Baby Ever!'

We had to think up one fast, and since I knew what my mom& dad wanted to call the wee one (their first granddaughter), we decided to give that name, with the caveat that the name is subject to change shortly.

The lady at the Reception rolled her eyes imperceptibly.

Anyway, TJOML now has a beautiful name, albeit a very long name: one that I liked a lot (so did D), one that D liked a lot (so did I, but not as first name), one that my parents liked a lot ... put them all together and there you have it!

But, after 18 months, I think I can safely say that I can't think of any other name that would suit her personality better!

If ever she hates her first name because people butcher it (it is a Sanskrit name, by the way), she can go by her middle name(s), heheh!

Labels:

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

guess what this is?

finger paintingMaybe it's not tough to guess...

TJOML is quite the temperamental artist.

On days when she is inspired, she will daintily dip her fingers in the bowl of tempera paint and make precise strokes as if she knew exactly what she wanted to do, picking up different colors as she goes.

But on other days, she would just moodily stir the paints, dab a little on herself, try to see if blue differs in taste from red paint, then, tip the bowl upside down and smear the paint around a bit and then tear up her 8x11 cardstock "art paper".

Either way, she is a delight to watch!

This piece featured here was done on a fine saturday morning in august when the sun was shining and the backyard seemed like heaven and TJOML was fully inspired.

Fortunately, every piece she has produced so far has filled me with maternal pride. I managed to cut little pieces from some of her early works (circa age-12 months-to-15 months) and make them into cute-sy greeting cards and send them to family and friends for various occasions.

When I gave one such hand-made card for his birthday, featuring one of TJOML's early work, my dad-in-law honestly thought I did the "modern art" painting myself and just attributed it to the wee artist!

Now, I know: either that just shows how bad an artist I am, or how good an artist TJOML is. And I'd like to believe the latter, anyday!

Labels: , ,

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

The (not so) cute words are here!

The other evening, quite out of the blue, TJOML pulls the little photo album we were viewing together away from me, holds it, beams a triumphant "Maiiin", with a twinkle in her eye and an endearing smile directed straight at me! The precise look and smile that just melts my heart!

Then, next morning, for the first time, she shakes her head side-to-side and in a cute nasally tone vehemently says "NOUH!" even before i strap her on the high chair for breakfast, continues the high-pitched "NOUH!" till i set her down free. OK. so, no breakfast.

These two words (mine and no) popped out of her in correct context, out of the blue and almost at the same time that it was just so darned cute! I could not help but smile smugly. But not for long...

TJOML goes to daycare, so, I have little control over what she picks up there.

But, so far, at home we tried not to use the word "No" around her much. If we didn't want her to do something, we physically distract her while attempting some variation of "no" like "be nice/good", "we don't hit", "it hurts when you bite", "we don't pull mama's hair", "we don't throw food from highchair" etc.

And when we wanted her to take her turn in some interactive stuff, we would say her name and say its her turn, and when it's my turn, i usually say, "mama's turn" etc. So, she knew all along to just say something is her's without saying the word "mine".

Now that the words are planted in her vocabulary firmly, I am trying to find ways teach her not to use them so much!

Especially with potty training in the horizon, and me and her daddy asking her 'Do you have to poo-poo?', 'Did you go potty?' everytime we catch her rooted to a spot, grunting and straining briefly, her vehement 'Nouh!' despite the familiar stink from her loaded diaper sort of complicates things:-)

Labels:

Newer›  ‹Older