coffee juice

On a weekend afternoon, D and I were enjoying a cup of tea, as we usually do...

Ana knows it as 'kah-fee': the brownish liquid, usually hot, that Amma and Appa drink on and off, and refuse to share with her.

She knows she has to have some...

The other day, Ana kept insisting she wanted to try some from D's mug, as usual.

And, my heart leaped out of my chest when D actually let her try some!!

I was furious and was working myself up to a big lecture about why it is wrong and is irresponsible parenting, when D gave his characteristic smirk and said, "Calm down, it is just hot chocolate, with milk, no sugar added".

Phew!

Ana is getting ready to drink out of a cup. She has the mechanics down. She just does not quite know to keep the cup straight up, and so, ends up spilling while simply holding the cup.

However, she manages to drink out of it successfully if she manages to get it to her mouth before spilling it all over herself.

When she spills, she gets mad and dashes the cup to the ground. Which is where the little stainless steel cup my mom gave her works great. A few dents at the most, on repeated abuse, but otherwise holds up well.

But, over the last few days, I have offered her a straw with the cup of hot chocolate (chocolate Ovaltine®, usually) in milk and she seems to enjoy it.

The catch is, she knows chocolate, knows where we keep them, and when she remembers, she throws a fit until we give her some. So, the word chocolate has sort of become taboo at home, just so we can avoid reminding her about its existence...

As a result of some creative naming scheme, mostly on Ana's part, hot chocolate has now become coffee juice at home.

Around snack time, she seats herself in the high-chair, asks for kah-fee-doos, and relishes the whole experience: stirs it with her straw, uses her straw as spoon to drink some, actually manages to drink some through the straw, and when there is about a few drops left that won't come up any other way, she picks up the cup and does a bottoms up!