Nidhi learns to button

For the last half hour now Nidhi has been doing up and undoing the buttons on her pyjama top. She first learned to do it up and came to me every time to undo them so she can practise it again. So I taught her how to undo them also and now she has been at it non-stop for 30 mins!! And with so much absorption and focus - its so cute!

Virgil Brigman back on air

It took a friend asking me about my blog for me to visit it again recently. I enjoyed reading the older posts and noting how much N has grown and how much I have forgotten of what she was like.

The last couple of weeks have been tough. N was very ill and has us very worried with what the doctors suspect was swine flu. It isnt as bad as it sounds in that there is a lot of it going around now and the situation is difficult to contain. Well she is better now but I have been having a very bad cough and conjunctivitis for the past week. Plus Rohan has been having a persistent sore throat / cough for more than a month. Wow, I need a holiday - now!

N has been picking up so much language that I feel she is limited only by what we/I expose her to. My conversations with her tend to be repetitive unless I have opportunities to sit down for a chat which isnt really that often. The other downside is that I am the only one who really engages her in conversation as she still isnt that close to daddy.

Her questions however can be so exasperating and I wonder if there is a support group for parents whose children talk too much!

We have a children's bible for her, the stories from which she enjoys. Sometimes I see her leafing through the pages by herself. So, we have been telling her from the creation story that God made everything. The other day she asks me :

N: Who made mummy?

Me: God

N: Who made daddy?

Me: God

N: Who made tochi?

Me:God

N: Who made God?

Me: ??@!

She recognises all the alphabets now, she learnt them almost all by herself, I dint even realise she was interested in them. However she has no interest in learning to read words and hence I am not introducing it to her.

She can easily count upto 20, sometimes upto 30, 40, or even 50, if she is in the mood. Anyway, it gets easy after 20, doesnt it?

She loves nature trails and so I try to take her out without the buggy when possible - whenever we make short trips. The road is downhill from where we live and the pavement is fenced so it is a safe path to let her explore. The path is treelined and has lots of interesting things to observe in every season. Currently she enjoys picking pebbles and twigs and seeds that the 'birds left behind after eating the berries'. She loves spotting beetles on the wall or on the leaves or ants in our path. Occasionally we see bees flitting from flower to flower, feeding on nectar - all very exciting.

She loves riding the trolley in the supermarket but unfortunately I dont get to take her that often since I cant push both trolley and buggy. R takes her during his weekly grocery shopping trip and that is something she looks forward to.

She can ride her tricycle pretty well now but hates it when it goes fast on slopes.

She is looking forward to school, and knows its going to happen 'when I turn 3yrs old'. However recently she expressed doubts when she found that 'mummy and daddy are not going to stay with me when I go to school'. I am now trying to convince her about how much fun school here is going to be and that all her friends are leaving their parents behind when they go to school!

Notes - Speech and Language

I attended a speech and language session for toddlers aged 2-2.5yrs last Friday. Nidhi's speech is not a matter of concern as she is doing well for her age. I went along just to find out if there was anything I could learn and was happy that I did - not only did I learn of new things / ideas to use but I also understood things I was not doing quite right and the proper approach to follow.

Some thoughts that were shared during the session -

Learning through play - All play provides opportunities for learning. You do not need to sit downfor an instructional session to learn about colours, numbers, counting, language. Do not make it academic. Children learn most through conversation so keep it interesting, varied, and at their level.

Child led - Always be led by your child's interest. Ask a child to do something your way and watch it lose interest quickly. Dont instruct and ask, instead, observe and comment on what they have done to engage them. e.g. Dont ask of a child - "What are you making?" which a child wouldnt know how to answer, as at this age most play is without prethought or purpose. Instead say "Are you making a house/mountain/ball?"

The child knows best - Children know better than we do how to play. We have forgotten to think like 2yr olds. Our adult brain sees specific patterns, rules, of game playing. Children are creative and imaginative. If your child enjoys an activity dont shy away from something you think is too advanced for their age.

Flexible - Dont be restricted or restrict a child to the way you think a game is meant to be played. If they are enjoying a game/toy different to its purpose or method, let them (or risk losing their interest again). As long as they are having fun, invent games around what they are doing. Dont restrict their creativity or exploration.

Language skills - Focus on increasing their vocabulary, rather than introducing alphabets, numbers and reading. Build language to enable them to express their thoughts, feelings and ideas. Build on their existing conversation ability. e.g If they say "bus", respond with "yes, a red bus", "a big/noisy red bus" and so on. Build on this by using that as a subject of a conversation. e.g. Talk about how a "cow" eats grass, gives us milk, etc.

Chat times - Find quiet times when you can sit down and talk face to face. Get eye contact and talk about anything you can think of , for instance what you see outside the window, in the park, at play. Make remarks and encourage them to respond.

Environment - Make them aware of sounds in their environment - airplane, machines, birds, police car, train - more opprtunities for conversation, expression and exploration.

A happy child will learn. A child who is happy, interested, enjoying, leading is what you must aim for.

Bye bye blog

With three unpublished drafts, I've realised I'm rarely ever going to have the time to update this blog. For all updates on Nidhi I'm moving to a diary - close at hand always whenever I think of something noteworthy.

So bye bye for now, until I begin to find uninterrupted time again (...ha..ha!)

The terri(ble)fic twos

Nidhi now 'reads' several of her favorite books out. And they aren't small ones I might add. Her favorites are 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' and 'Platypus'. But she surprised me by remembering lines from newer ones like 'Handa's Surprise' and 'Big Bear Little Bear'.

She unknowingly says the funniest of things when she wants to get her way like this morning when I ate a tablet she asked what that was and I said it was medicine. So, of course she wanted the medicine too. So when I told her that one has medicine only when one gets sick she says "Tochi wants to be sick!"

When I tell her that she can have/do something at a certain time, she will insist that it is that time. or example if I say "You can eat bread sticks in the evening", she'll go "It IS evening" (with the emphasis!!)

One day I was washing up in the kitchen and she was seated at the dining table having just finished her lunch. I heard her say something over and over again so I went to investigate. She was staring at the pot of yogurt in front of her and repeating "And where's 3 and 4? And where's 3 and 4?".

It was a 125gm pot.

I wonder if anyone else ever wishes that their toddler never grows up. This is the most wonderful phase of N's life yet - so full of innocence and charm that I dont want her to lose any of it.

Of course again there are days when you just go ' Oh, I cant wait for you to grow up!'. N is asserting increasing independence now. She wants to do everything herself and if we attempt to help will protest loud and strong. Daddy helped her take off her pyjamas when she wanted to use the potty and she threw such a fit he dint know what was wrong until I told him to put her pyjamas back on and let her take them off herself!!