An eventful week

The holidays for us started with a lot of drama. Last Saturday Ari had been unwell for three days- the usual cough and slight temperature. He had been responding well to paracetamol/ibuprofen the previous two days, however on Saturday his temp stayed up (>38) inspite of paracetamol. He also looked unwell and lethargic and we felt he ought to be seen by a doctor.
It being the weekend, we called out-of-hours. They took our details and called us back in an hour. While Rohan was talking to them, I was urging him to ensure we secure an appointment and are not fobbed off over the phone. Suddenly the lady on the other end decided we needed emergency medical attention and called emergency services. It was the craziest thing. Ari wasn't critical, we were willing to drive him to the local hospital, but she insisted.
Emergency services agreed that his temp was too high (>39 at this stage) within the paracetamol range and suggested we take him to A&E.
We left Nidhi at a friend's home (due to the norovirus outbreak at the hospital) and were in A&E around 5pm. After subsequent doses of ibuprofen and paracetamol, his temp was still at 38.
We finally got to see a paediatrician around 10pm. He was not happy with the temp and decided on some blood tests. We had also been trying for the last 2 hours to get a urine sample out of our little man.
We were admitted to the ward, and finally managed a sample, which was all clear.
While we were waiting for blood tests, a senior consultant came in to look at Ari. She diagnosed an ear infection and instructed for him to be started on antibiotics. There would be no further need for an investigation. This was past 12 midnight.
We waited and were discharged at 1.40am.
Then Murphy's law came into action. Our car would not start. In our anxiety and hurry, we had left the headlights on and the battery had run down. Rohan decided to wait for the recovery services and I took a cab home with Ari. I had a shower and was in bed by 3am.
Rohan returned at 4am.
Sun and Mon, Ari continued to be lethargic, needed to be held by one of us all the time. He was now completely off solids for 4 days and bf less than normal. Sun night he was breathing quite loud and fast. By Mon afternoon we decided we needed to see someone again.
We were back at the hospital around 4pm, this was Christmas eve. We were confident of being sent home with our minds put to rest. The nurse checked him, asked a few questions about his cough and put him on an oxymeter? to check his levels of oxygen. She was not happy and decided to monitor him for a couple of hours. At 7pm they decide Ari needs oxygen and would be admitted overnight. They suspected bronchiolitis.
Rohan went home to get me some stuff, Nidhi would be spending another night at her friend's home.
In the middle of the night they switched off the oxygen to see how Ari would do without and he seemed fine.
We were discharged at noon on Christmas day.
He was lethargic all through the day but his appetite was back the next day. He has made steady progress, though he still coughs at night and wakes up unsettled because of it.
It was a worrying week for us. Our little boy who was practically born smiling and is ever cheerful had not smiled for more than 4 days. It was just not like him.
He is still wanting to be held much more than before and cries easily. Hopefully as he gets better he will forget this painful episode and be back to his original self.

Embarrassing conversations

In the changing room:

Me: How's this top?
5yo: Your tummy looks big.
Me: That's because I just had the baby.
5yo: You did not JUST have the baby. The baby was born in June!

On marriage

Nidhi at the dinner table yesterday "I am going to marry Jonas when I grow up"
Me: "Is it? Not Anish?"
Nidhi: "No, Roshni said she's going to marry Anish. That's alright. Isn't it good that I have two boyfriends."
Me: "Yeah"
Nidhi: "It doesn't matter if Jonas is from England and I'm from India. That's alright. Because if he plays in the sun, he'll become dark."
Me: LOL

Weaning Child #2

The funniest thing happened today. Ari woke up from his nap just as I was finishing dinner. I held him as I drank water and gave his sister her after dinner sweet. As I put the dinner things away, opening cupboards, closing food containers, etc, looking at me handling all this food I guess it got a bit much for him. When I reached into a box and got out an after dinner treat, he could take it no more. He instantly reached out for my hands and directed it to his mouth. The texture of the sweet however was unexpected and he took it out again. I knew then that I have waited too long to start Ari on solids. I'd assumed bf would be as smooth as it was with Nidhi. But as it turns out our little man was keen on our food for a while now. When mum was still here she commented on how he watches us when we eat. Though I noticed it as well I never gave much thought to it as I'd intended on exclusive bf until 5 months and then gradually introduce solids as I had with Nidhi. But he did not take to bf as easily. After month 3, his weight gain plateaued. This was not helped by the fact that he was more mobile than Nidhi was at the same age.
Anyway we're going to start with solids now and see how he takes it.

Mum of two

I guess it's about time to acknowledge the fact that I am now 'mum of two'. And perhaps not too late to start a journal on the littlest member of the house.

Ari is a little over 4.5 months as I write this. Comparisons with the first born are inevitable. Ari is a 'smiler', his sister was ever-grumpy. According to their father, a frown is the first sign of intelligence, in which case the brother will find it hard to live up to the standards set by his sister.

In physical development however, he leads by far. Nidhi was content to lie on her back until she was nearly 6 months. She din't even make an attempt to roll over before then. It was as if one fine day she decided, may be it's time to look at this world from a different perspective and voila, she rolled over.

Ari has been attempting it from 1.5months. Mum said he would roll over soon and I didn't believe her. He surprised me by rolling over from back to tummy at 2.5m. By 3months he was rolling both ways.

Now he rarely lies on his back. If we put him down, he rolls onto his tummy, raises his torso and tries to balance on his fours.

He is not a great feeder, again unlike his sister. 5 minutes is a good feed. However his weight gain is satisfactory, he is 'thriving' in doctor-speak.

He adores his sister. When she is around he has eyes only for her. he puts up with a lot of mishandling by her. She in turn wants to be around him all the time. It is delightful to see her speak to him, telling him things he can't do yet, but will be able to at an appropriate age.

Nidhi is doing well at school, we have the parent's evening next month when we find out more. Her handwriting has improved significantly with the daily practice during the summer holidays.

She has learnt to ride the cycle and enjoys it a lot. She is bottom of the class in swimming and this is our next area of focus. The 10 minutes that she gets during the group swimming sessions at school just aren't enough and we need to enrol her in classes at the local leisure centre next term.

Behaviour at home continues to be a challenge. The key to disciplining is consistency which I find so hard. Hopefully things will be easier when Rohan returns from project in India.

Oh to be a child again

Today Nidhi was, as usual, non-stop chattering, when we noticed her brother staring transfixed at her. When we mentioned this to her she says, "I wonder what a baby's life is like. I wish I could go back and be a baby again."

More on maths

It's a pity there is so much focus on reading in schools here, not enough on maths. Nidhi loves her numbers. Yesterday she watched programs on the computer for a long time. Finally she asked me
 "How long did I watch computer for?"
I said " 2 hours"
"How long am I supposed to watch it for?"
I said "Half an hour"
"So I watched it for three quarters more"

And today,
"How long did I watch computer for?"
"One and three quarters hours"
"So I watched it for 1hour and 45minutes"

Family day assembly

Last month Nidhi's school had a family day assembly. Parents, grandparents and other family members were invited to a special assembly, where the children of various classes sang songs. After the assembly, the parents were served refreshments, while the children went back to their classes. Then the parents were offered the option of being taken on a tour of the school by their child(ren).

Since I help in the classroom one morning every week, I generally know what the children get upto in school. But I thought Nidhi would cherish the idea of showing her dad around. So after tea we went to Nidhi's classroom. She was busy at play with her friend Roshni in the home corner. I went and suggested that she could show us around the school if she liked. She ignored me and continued with her play. Thinking that perhaps she did not understand what I meant by 'showing us around the school', I said that she could show her dad where she had lunch or did PE, etc.

She stood up, turned towards us, and said, "That big hall where you saw me singing just now is where we have lunch. The other smaller hall (where we had tea) is where we do PE." Pointing to a room behind us, she said, "That is the ICT room." Then swinging around and pointing, she said, "That is Ladybirds class, that is Caterpillars, and this is Bumblebees. And that room in the middle is the art area."

Satisfied that she had done what we wanted of her, she sat down and continued her play. We had been dismissed. :-)

One month to go

N: I can't wait for the baby to be born
Me: Why is that?
N: Because I love the baby so much.

Film night

Nidhi had a film night in school a few weeks ago. Till that day she had never watched any film, in a theatre or at home. She had no idea what it would be like, but wanted to go nonetheless. When I picked her up 2 hours later, I asked how it went. Her response:

"I was very happy when it was over because I knew then you would be coming. I missed you. Did you miss me?"

Math and time

Nidhi said her class teacher asked her what was one less than 1000, and one more than 1000. She answered both correctly.

She has a good understanding of time, even though she is not able to read the clock correctly all the time. The other day I was asking her to hurry up because we were getting late for school. She asked me what the time was and I said it was 7.55. She knows we leave at 8.30 so she said, "We still have 35 minutes!"

Today I had told her she can play a game for 10 minutes more. After about 4 minutes I said, 6 minutes are up, you have 4 minutes more. She said "I don't think it has been 6 minutes, it's probably 4 minutes" !!

If only..

We live in hilly town. Walking back home from a trip to the library, park and McDonald's Nidhi complains about the walk up the hill to our home.

5yo: I don't like to walk up hill. Why can't we go some place where going and coming back is downhill?

All you need

I am humming "All you need is love"

Nidhi hears this and says "That's not true, you also need food. And you need someone to help you do things, don't you? So why do you say all you need is love?"

So cheeky

Nidhi: Mummy, do you feel proud of me?

Me(smiling indulgently): Yes, I do sometimes.

Nidhi: Do you know that pride comes before a fall?

Me (smile wiped right out of my face)

Story #2 and other things

Another story she wrote during the Christmas holidays. Sentence capitalisation is mine. She added the fullstops on her own, after every sentence, after she finished writing the story. I helped her with the following spellings: elephant, naughty, anybody

Tiger and elephant were frends. They loved each other a lot.

They were naughty. They loved each other more then they loved anybody in the world.

Even God and Jesus.

God and Jesus was very upset with tiger and elephant.

***********

4yo: Mummy, how do you know there is heaven and hell?

Me: Because it says so in the Bible.

4yo: But Bible may be a fairytale

***********

4yo: Mummy, when will God talk to me or send an angel to me?

Me: When he wants to Tochi.

4yo: But when will he want to? I have been waiting for so long. I've been waiting for 4 years!

***********

I can't wait to see God!

***********

4yo: Who is God's wife and daughter?

Me: He doesn't have any.

4yo (angrily): That's not possible. Ok, maybe he does not have a daughter. But he must have a wife or how can he have a son?

Last post of the year: Nidhi's first story

(Punctuation and sentence capitalization added by me. Spelling is all hers)

One day Carla and Nidhi went out for a walk. We loved it. It was a windy day. There was rain. The sun was shining. There was a rainbow in the sky.

(The above was written sometime in November, the rest of the story below was completed during the school break in December)

Me and Carla got lost. We was feeling lonly. We misst are (our) mums. Just then we saw are (our) mums. Hoora! Are mums took us home.

Ure (Our) mums wre upset. Ure (Our) mums said "Why did you get lost?"

"I didint get lost."

"Don't tell lies."

"I'm not telling lies. Plese don't get upset with me. Ok. Kill ure (our) mums."

"They fired and shooded ure (our) mums."

(This was the end of her story. When dad and mum protested at the violence in the story, Nidhi amended it to add the following bit:)

They did all sots of tings. They didind get killd but they were badly hurt. They were bleeding. At last we seid sorry to our mums.

Time and distance

Nidhi talking to one of her friends at school

Nidhi: Which shop did you buy those ear muffs from?

Roshni: QS in Redhill

Nidhi: Is it very far?

Roshni: Just 5 minutes

Nidhi: 5 minutes by what vehicle?

Roshni: I don't know

Her prayer today

Dear God..I love you so much. And I love my mummy, and I miss my daddy. And my birthday is in 67 days. And Carla's birthday is on Thursday and she has invited me to her party. And I have made two cards for Roshni and Carla. And help Carla to be good and after her birthday to still be my friend.

And, I am very happy that there is a baby in mummy's tummy. And I don't like her to rest but still I let her rest. Isn't that very nice? Hallelujah!....... (sings Hallelujah from her nativity play at school.)

Thinking about it

In the few days following the news of the baby, Nidhi was probably constantly thinking about the future arrival and how it is going to affect us all. Some notable remarks are below.

*****

Sitting in the bath, Nidhi is singing nativity songs that she has learnt at school. She adapts the words to our baby

A baby is going to be born

A baby is going to be born

In June, in June (original words 'Tonight Tonight')

In this big house (orig. 'In the bright starlight')

A baby is going to be born

A cot (stable) is where it will be

A cot (stable) is where it will be

In June, in June (original words 'Tonight Tonight')

In this big house (orig. 'In the bright starlight')

A cot (stable) is where it will be

*****

Using the toilet one day, she calls out to me "Mummy do we have a small potty?"

Me: Yes, somewhere in the loft I think, an old one you used

4yo: You have to get it out for the baby, because the baby cannot sit on the big potty, it will fall in.

*****

4yo: Will you get a cot for the baby?

Me: What do you think, should we get one?

4yo: Yes, and I will sleep in the same room as the cot. So if the baby wakes at night, I can tell you.

*****

4yo: We'll get a cot and the baby can sleep in it till he or she is 2 yrs old. Then we can get a bed for it. And the baby can sleep in it till it is dead.

Me: (a little shocked) Yes, but before that the baby might grow up and move to its own house and bed.

4yo: Yes, unless it has an accident and dies.

*****

WE're doing the Advent Calendar and are talking about the passage for the day (Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac). I tell Nidhi about how Isaac must have been so close to Abraham's heart because he was born after a long wait of many many years. And how things are more dear to us when we have waited a long time for them.

She says "Just like I waited five years for a baby brother or sister"

*****

Dec 10, 2011

Today Nidhi wonders if the baby inside thinks it is going to be the first baby because it doesn't know it has a big sister.

*****

Dec 15, 2011

We are playing and I pat Nidhi on the back. She complains that I hurt her when I did that, so I rub her back. I feel her shoulder blade and tell her how I could feel this bone when she was in my tummy. She asks me where I could feel it and I point to the part of my tummy. She says then that her back must have been facing my tummy.

She asks if I could feel her head. I said yes, because she used to keep moving about. She says, it isn't moving, because babies cant move on their own, it must have been floating around. And I say yes.

*****

Dec 16, 2011

4yo: Can we buy bunk beds for the baby and me when the baby is older?

Me: Yes, sure. Will you like bunk beds?

4yo: Yes, and we can ask the baby which bed he or she likes to sleep on - the higher one or the lower one.

Me: Which one would you like? You can choose what you like.

4yo: No, we'll ask the baby because it is younger.

Tooth fairy

Does the tooth fairy's teeth also fall off?

Breaking the news

Me: Tochi, look at this picture. Can you tell what it is?

Nidhi: No, what is it?

Me: Look, haven't I shown you another picture like this before, on my mobile phone.

Nidhi: Is it me in your tummy?

Me: Yes, that's the one on the phone. This is not you. This is another baby inside the tummy.

Nidhi: Ohhhh!

Me: Whose tummy is it, can you guess? See, the lady's name is on the picture.

Nidhi (reading 'Bini'): So, is it your tummy?

Me: Yes

Nidhi: So, is there a baby inside your tummy?

Me (smiling): Yes

Nidhi: So, are you pregnant!

Me: Yes!

Nidhi: So you are pregnant. But you don't have to get married, because you are already married.

Heaven and hell

4yo: Mummy, when you die do you want to go to heaven or hell?

Me: Heaven

4yo: Why don't you want to go to hell?

Me: Because God isn't there in hell.

4yo: But how is that possible because God is everywhere!?

Beware when your child begins to read

I am reading a Jodi Picoult novel, and Nidhi standing next to me on the sofa is reading over my shoulder.

Suddenly she asks, "What's virgittiny?" (she pronounces 'g' as in 'girl')

I say, "What?"

She asks again, "What's virgittiny? Why did she lose her virgittiny?"

I close the book, turn towards her and say, "Err... because she wasn't looking after it properly!"

She cares for me

Today I was sitting in the armchair and Nidhi was on my lap. I wanted a glass of water but was feeling too tired to get up, as I had only just sat down. I sighed and said "Ah, Tochuten, when will you be old enough to get me a glass of water?!".

"I can get it now," she said, "if there is a glass not too high that I can reach."

She jumped down from my lap and ran to the kitchen.

"Yes, I can see one." she says, "It's near the sink".

She'll need a small chair to reach it though, so she comes to get it from the usual place near her desk. I am resting my feet on the chair, so I lift them up.

She hesitates and then looks around for the other chair (they are a pair). When she spots it she says "You can use this one, I'll take my timeout chair". The other chair had been moved to the corner of the room for her timeout not very long ago.

She carries it into the kitchen, gets the glass, fills it with water from the tap, and brings it carefully back to me.

I say, "Thank you Tochuten!"

She says "See I am old enough to do it for you now!"

And then she gets me another glass of water.

Last month Nidhi used to go cycling nearly every day after school. The town we live in is very hilly, so the roads are all slopes. Nidhi usually needs help when riding uphill. One day she rode to the park. I didn't play much with her as I was feeling tired and told her that. When we were riding back, she stopped when we reached the usual place that I help her ride uphill. She got off the bike and said "I am not going to make you push the bike because you are tired. I will walk with it uphill." And then she proceeded to do just that.

Odd and even

Rohan has taught Nidhi to identify odd and even numbers based on what they end with. So 0,2,4,6,8=even and the rest are odd.

I have recently been trying to teach her the concept that, while even numbers divide equally into 2, with odd numbers you are left with an 'odd' 1.

She easily identifies odd and even numbers based on the knowledge that daddy has taught. So daddy was asking her large numbers (>100) and she was getting them all right. And she was reasoning it on the ending digit.

When faced with the number 20, she said 'even' and then thought a bit and said "Because two tens make 20, so you can divide it between 2"

Numeracy

Nidhi loves sums and is always asking to do them. Yesterday she wanted to do them when she was getting in for a bath. So I asked her an easy one, "What is 6 and 4?"

Nidhi: "Noooo, give me a difficult maths. Give me the most difficult maths you know."

Me (thinking I'll end it with one question): "What is 65 and 35?"

Nidhi: "65 and 10 is 75, 75 and 10 is 85, 85 and 10 is 95." (pause) "So, 95 and 5 is 100. It's 100."

And we did this several times over ending with 43 and 37 = 80.

She's a genius!

Things they say

Oct 2, 2011

4yo: Mummy, when I grow up and get a husband I will not fight with him, like you.

Me: (thinking in my mind.. uh..oh!) No?

4yo: No, I will tell my husband that when I was a child I decided that I will not fight and argue with him.

Oct 11, 2011

4yo: Why did you tickle me?

Me: Because.... you looked like someone who needs to be tickled

4yo: Then next time I will kick you because you look like someone who needs to be kicked

October 18, 2011

Did God do Plan, Do, Review?

Her prayers

2011, Sep 27

Me: Is there anything you want to ask God?

N: Yes, I want God to give me a kiss, right now.

Tit for tat

Nidhi is very upset that I have taken away her computer using privileges. She cries back:

4yo: Noooo...., because you gave me punishment you are not going to use the computer for the rest of your life.

Me: Why is that?

4yo: In the Bible Jesus said " Do to others what you want you to do to them"

Emails to Amma

2011, Sep 13

i like you. my sunflower has grown so tall. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Misc

I am explaining something to Nidhi and she keeps asking more questions. Finally she says:

"Give me a reason that I can understand."

When we got back home from India it was night time. The garden was overgrown and looked scary to Nidhi. A few days later when she found out that daddy was coming home, she asked whether it would be night when he arrived. I said yes. She thought a bit and said:

"Nothing is scary when daddy is here in the night"

Things they say

4yo: Do you like me?

Me: Sometimes

4yo: Is now one of the times?

***

Going to bed one day, with her rag doll Piccolo, Nidhi says "I want a real person to sleep with me"

What's not ours

Rohan has been hard-trimming the overgrown hedge. When completed, he looks proudly at it and seeks Nidhi appreciation.

4yo (obligingly): Look Mummy, daddy has made the hedge look so neat!

Me: Yeah, and we have more space now!

4yo: How?

Rohan: Because the hedge was taking up a lot of space in the garden, so now we have more space in the garden.

4yo: Is that Doris's space? (Doris being the neighbour with whom we share the hedge)

Nuts!

At breakfast Nidhi is picking out various nuts from her muesli and asking me to identify them for her.

4yo: Which nut is this?

Me: That's an almond

4yo: And this one?

Me: That's hazelnut

4yo (stares ahead thoughtfully): Do the Indian squirrels eat coconuts?

The art of negotiation

I am downstairs when Nidhi wakes up in the morning and calls for me.

Me (entering her bedroom): Time to wake up!

4yo: Sleep with me for some time. Sleep with me for 3 minutes.

Me (hoping to negotiate): 1 minute

4yo: No, 3 minutes. (Pause). Because you said 1 minute, I am going to make it 4 minutes.

You can't win.

What parents are for

Rohan is away doing a sailing course on the weekend. Nidhi is talking to me while I am washing up.

4yo: Daddy has gone to the coast to learn sailing because you know Mummy, if daddy goes on the boat he must know how to sail. Or if he falls from the boat he will drown. And if he drowns then who will work and earn money for us?

Then you will have to work for us mummy.

But then who will cook for me?

You will have to work and do the cooking.

Yeah, she has it all figured out at 4!!

******

Nidhi has a very unemotional view of death as you can see above. Today she is contemplating about my death.

4yo: Mummy, will you be dead before I am dead?

Me: Yes, I think so

4yo: But that's ok. May be, when I am in the middle of 20 years then you will be dead, because then I don't need you.

Friendship

I like Carla a lot. But I am not going to marry her because a boy should marry her. Even though I like her so much as to marry her. (?!)

Room on the broom

Me and Rohan are sharing a hug when Nidhi appears around our legs, keen to be included. We are purposefully ignoring her.

Nidhi: I am a girl as good as can be. Is there room in the hug for a girl like me?

(adapting lines from one of her story books called Room on the broom)

More on God

Nidhi: Mummy, WHY did God want Jesus to die?

Me: As a punishment for all our sins

Nidhi: But then, why do you still give me time out?

***

Nidhi: Mummy, there are so many people in the world. Is there a God for everybody?

Mummy: God is very big, he can look after everybody in the world.

***

Nidhi: Daddy, can God do anything?

Daddy: Yes

Nidhi: Then can he make other Gods? Then there will be enough Gods to look after everybody in the world.

Thrice times

Nidhi is plucking blossoms from a tree in the garden.

4yo: Here, I got one for you

Me: Thank you

4yo: And I got one for myself and one for daddy

Me: That's good

After some time

4yo: Can I pluck some more

Me:Sure, you can get 2 for each of us. So how many will that be?

4yo: 6

Me: And if you get 3 for each of us, how many will that be (thinking this will be difficult)

4yo: 9

Me (impressed): And if you get 4 for each of us, then how many will that be? (certain that this will stump her)

4yo (without hesitation): 12

I don't know how she does it!

Getting married and other things

Nidhi: If I marry a man having a child then?

Me: That's ok, you can marry a man who has a child. As long as he doesn't have a wife already.

4yo: If I marry a man with a child then he will have two children.

Me: How is that ?

4yo: Because one child will be inside my tummy.

****

Daddy: Nidhi, before you go upstairs can you draw the curtains?

4yo: No, because I don't have white colour (referring to the colour of the curtains)

****

Nidhi was waiting for me to finish cooking, and take her out to ride her bike. We had been counting down every 5 mins from 50 mins. When I said for the second time, that she had to wait for 5 mins more, she protested saying:

4yo: But it has already been some minutes after 5 mins

Me: Ok, then 4 and a half minutes more

She was very quiet for a while, so I went to check. She was sitting, with her hands in front of her, like she was counting.

Me: What are you doing?

4yo: I'm counting two 120s and 30

Me: What? (not understanding the calculation)

4yo (repeats): Two 120s and 30

About God

Nidhi one day: When God was a little child did he go to school?

*****

I've just read the bible story about Jesus raising Jairus's daughter from the dead to Nidhi. She contemplates this for a while and then says:

"I want to be like Jesus. When I die and go to heaven will I be able to do all the things that God can do?"

How old?

Nidhi's previous key worker was very impressed when, early in September, after Nidhi started pre-school, one day she counted upto 30 unaided. Further, when the key worker (Dana) said that that was how old she was, Nidhi told her that her mummy was 32 years old and that her daddy was 33. I din't find this remarkable until this week.

This week is school half term and Nidhi has been very socially active. She's been having playdates with friends from pre-school every day. The pre-school mom who came on Monday was clearly impressed when Nidhi counted upto 100, to take turns for playing with the same toy. Her son wouldn't count upto 20 without making mistakes.

Then yesterday another girl from pre-school was playing with Nidhi and they were talking about their ages. The girl asked how old I was and Nidhi said I was 33years old and so was her father. Then Nidhi asked the girl how old her dad was. The girl said 15. Nidhi turned around and gave me a funny look. Today she said, "Her dad cannot be 15 because then he will be a child."

Given any two random numbers between 1 and 100, Nidhi can correctly say which is the bigger of the two.

Literacy and numeracy appear to be her strengths. When Nidhi started pre-school I was pretty certain she would be the brightest child in her class. I have been in to preschool to help several times in the last term and a half. As a result, I have had the opportunity to observe all the children. I have to say, I no longer consider Nidhi the brightest child in the class. They are all unique and all have their talents. Some are great at making friends, others are great at looking after each other, some have very good communication, some are very confident and assertive, some are just very funny the way they are, and the things they say.

They are at this lovely age when it's wonderful to watch them learn and develop. It would be silly really to try to compare or pit them against each other.

Taste of Bollywood

By choice, we have no TV. Nidhi has not watched any Bollywood movies or songs till date. Today I was humming an old Hindi song all morning. Wanting to get more of the lyrics I searched for the video and played it on youtube.

After a couple of lines of the song have played, Nidhi appears interested and watches the screen.

4yo: I like this singing. I like the song.

Me: :-)

4yo: But I can't sing it because the words are very different from what I know.

Me: :-)

After watching some more

4yo: Are they trying to get married?

Just for the record, it was a harmless song: Aisa sama na hota, from Zameen Asmaan, a 1980s movie.

Twice times

I'm reading a book to Nidhi and notice that she is playing with her fingers instead of following the story. I'm just about to show my irritation when she says "Four twos are nine". I look at her a little doubtfully and shake my head "Unh..unh". She looks at her fingers again and says"It's eight. Four twos are eight"

I'm amazed but say nothing. She did this a few weeks back when I was putting her to bed and she was playing with her fingers and said "Three twos is six". At that time I din't pay much attention as I thought it was purely guesswork or chance.

I don't know why she's even thinking on these lines (ie times tables). We have never touched the subject as far as I can remember.

I had a general chat with Liz, her key worker at pre-school earlier today. I did not talk about any of Nidhi's numeracy skills but Liz mentioned that numbers seems to be Nidhi's strength/talent. She plans to work further with Nidhi on numbers in the next half term. Will be interesting to see how that goes.

You can't win

Nidhi loves her fried egg sunny side up. Not surprisingly she loves runny egg yolk. I'm thinking of a quick dinner tonight since we were late getting back from the dentist.

Me: Would you like fried egg or fish fingers?

4yo: Fried egg. But don't give me 4 pieces of bread, just give me 2.

Me: Why?

4yo: Because by the time I eat 2 pieces, it gets over.

Me: What gets over?

4yo: The dip (she means the runny yolk into which she dips the bread)

Me: Well, you've got to eat the white part then. You can't just eat the yolk and leave the rest. I'm not going to make a fried egg. I'm making an omelette.

4yo: Ok, I'll have fish fingers.

No longer 3yo

4yo: Can God carry the world?

Me: Yes, he can do anything

4yo: Can he carry you, and me and daddy, and all the 6 billion people in the world?

Me: Yes, he can

4yo: Can Samson carry that?

Me: Hmmm... no I don't think so

4yo: But he was very strong. Can Samson carry 10 people?

Me: Ya, may be, but not the whole world.

4yo: Can God carry himself?

Me: (sigh!) Yes, I think so, since he can do anything

4yo: Even though that is impossible?!

Me: Uh..uh..

After life

3yo: Can we use toilets in heaven?

Me: Yes, I guess so. Why do you want to know?

3yo: Because daddy said we'll live in heaven for ever and ever.

Story teller

A story Nidhi made up during lunch one day

Once there were two girls. One was named Cherry and the other was named Chocolate. One day Cherry and Chocolate went to school. Their teacher said, "Cherry and Chocolate, both your names begin with 'Ch', so you both stand up."

But Cherry and Chocolate did not know their letter sounds. So they ran away.

About God

3yo: Did God make poor people and robbers too?

Cheeky Monkey

Me: Mummy loves you Tochutaen

3yo: Me too

(pause..)

3yo: I love myself too

When I grow up

3yo: When I grow up, I am going to marry Ben (boy at her pre-school)

Me: Not Wyatt? (another boy whom she does not like)

3yo: No, not Wyatt. I am going to make him sad and lonely.

Conversations with God 2

Nidhi, in the middle of prayer

".. and I am going to be a very good girl, so you will not have a chance to throw me into hell. .."

(Mis)Understanding English

I'm reading a bedtime story to Nidhi. In between she asks,

3yo: Why was the tail making a noise?

Me: Whose tail?

3yo: Big bear mother's tail.

Me: It wasn't making a noise.

3yo: Then why were they listening to it?

The sentence I had just read

"So, night after night, snug inside their den, the cubs listened to Big Bear Mother's tales."

Reasoning and numeracy

On the phone to Amma:
"If there's only 1 crisp left, I'll give one quarter to daddy, one quarter to mummy, and I'll take half"


***
3yo: How long will the payasam take?
Me: 15 minutes
3yo: Ok. How long will it take me to read the 'George' book (a book about a monkey called 'Curious George')
Me: 5 minutes
3yo: Ok. So, if I read the book, then it will still be 10 more minutes
Me: That's right
3yo (thinks for a bit): Ok. So I'll read the book 3 times and then the payasam will be ready


***
Me: If I make two sausages for each of us, then how many do I have to make
3yo (counts on her fingers): Two for mummy, two for daddy, two for me. That's six sausages.

Oh! to be a child

It snowed heavily in England today.

Me: If it snows like this we wont be able to go to school tomorrow

3yo: I want the snow to stop, because I want to ride my scooter to school tomorrow

Me: Um..hm

3yo: And I want it to snow on my way back, because I want to walk

You surprise me

We are playing 'doctor-doctor'. Nidhi is the doctor and picks up a notepad and pen to give me a prescription. She uses a whole sheet of paper, and writes letters all over the page, to prescribe 'P-a-r-i-s-i-m-o-l-l'.

That's her single-handed attempt at spelling Paracetamol.

***

Some of her remarks on the phone to Amma today:

"I want to get married in summer"

"Last night God disturbed my sleep"

***

Talking about her birthday

3yo: Can we have a party outside in the garden for my birthday?

Me: It will be very cold in February, Tochi

3yo: No, we can wear coats

Me: It will be cold. Everyone would like to be indoors, no one would want to be outside.

3yo: (getting upset) Nooo... I want to have a birthday in summer

How things were

I wrap Nidhi in a towel and pick her out of the bath. I haven't dried her completely, and as I enter the bedroom, I realise that she must be cold. Setting her down on the floor, I ask her to go quickly and stand in front of the heater.

As she is standing there, letting me wipe the rest of the water off her, she remarks: "In the olden days, when there were no towels.." .. pause.. "...and there were heaters, people used to dry their children on the heaters."

Aurangazeb

The monarch lay upon his bier,

Censers were burning low,

As through the loft arches streamed

The setting sun's red glow.

Still grasped he in his hand the blade

Which well-fought fields had won,

And Aurungzebe beside him knelt,

Usurper proud and son!

Remorse had stricken his false heart

And quenched his wonted fire,

With gloomy brow and look intent

He gazed upon his sire:

Can tyrant death make him afraid?

Hot tears burst from his eyes

As thus his grief found vent in words

To the warrior-train's surprise

"Father, thou wert the goodliest king

That e'er the sceptre swayed,

How could I then lift up my arm

Against thee undismayed,

How could I send thee here to pine

Usurp the peacock-throne

O had I perished in the womb

That deed were left undone.

See, all is changed that was estranged,

Awake my sire, my king,

See, soldiers in their war array

Thy son in fetters bring!

Thy rebel son who will abide

Thy word whate'er it be,

And fearless meet the wrack or steel

Rise up once more and see!

Thou wilt not hear, thou wilt not speak,

It is the last long sleep.

And am I not a king myself?

What means these stirrings deep?

O foolish eyes, what means this rheum?

I will not call them tears;

My heart that nothing e'er could daunt

Is faint with boding fears.

The past appears! a checkered field

Of guilt and shame and war,

What evil influence ruled my birth,

What swart malignant star?

Why did I barter peace of mind

For royal pomp and state?

Mad for the baleful meteor’s gleam

With worldly joys elate.

Remembered voices speak my name

And call me parricide,

The murdered Dara beckons me -

He was thy joy and pride:

And thus I fling the dear-bought crown,

But whither can I fly?

The awful thought still follows me

That even kings will die.

With dad

Rohan (to Nidhi): I love you more than there are birds in the sky

3yo (to dad): I love you more than there are cows in the ground

R: I love you more than there are stars in the sky

3yo (to dad): I love you more than there are moons.... umm... more than there are ducks in the river

R: I love you more than there are pebbles on the beach

3yo (to dad): I love you more than there is sand in my school

R: I love you..

3yo: (jumping in before he can finish): I love you more than you love me

Rohan and me are sitting and Nidhi approaches us menacingly.

3yo: I am pretending to be a lion (she pronounces it line)

Me: To be a what?

3yo: A line

Me: It's not line, it's lion

3yo: To be a line

Me: Lie-yun

3yo: I am pretending to be a lie-yern

Me to Ro: You try

Ro: Tochi, it's lie-un

{By this point 3yo probably wants to tear us both apart}

Since she isn't saying anything I ask: What are you pretending to be?

3yo: (pause) A leopard

Ironical

Me to Rohan, in frustration, at the start of the weekend, feeling hopelessly inadequate and unfulfilled in the role of homemaker: "I want to do something! I want to DO something!!"

Nidhi, at play on the living room floor, looks up at me earnestly: "You can play with me, for your do something"

Magical

Nidhi has started to read. It's truly magical.. the day your child picks up a book they've never read before and makes sense of it. She's always been very interested in books and alphabets. She learnt the phonetic sound entirely on her own. Sometime around the start of this year, she began getting curious about putting sounds together to make words and how to spell. I remember her trying to spell her friend Olivia's name = OLVA.

I bought a book, so that we would learn to read the 'right' way. We're about a third of our way through the book. While the book has given us a structure, I see, however, that Nidhi's reading of familiar books, draws from a combination of the following:

1. Her understanding of the story

2. Recollection of the words on each page

3. Her knowledge of spoken language structure

4. Alphabet/phonic recognition

Last week I got her one of those early readers from the library. But she seems to prefer her usual story books to "Ted in a red bed" (predictably, an easy read, but a nonsensical story). So, we returned that to the library and got several other regular books. I read the new stories to her a couple of times, and she's ready to read them herself.

The 'learning to read' book that I bought has a writing exercise at the end of each lesson. I have been skipping that so far. Well actually, we did the first few lessons - but a little differently! We traced the letter shapes on salt, instead of writing with a pencil. She enjoyed those, but it was getting messy at times. Maybe we ought to start those again.

Ain't it hard

Nidhi (contemplatively): It's very hard to kiss yourself.

Would you dare

After a bath, I'm drying Nidhi's hair, may be a little roughly. She says, "You're hurting me. You're hurting me! Be careful. You don't want to hurt your child, do you?" :-O

I think I can spell

Nidhi is on the phone talking to her grandma. I'm hearing only her side of the conversation, naturally.

3yo: Do you know about the owl who was afraid of the dark?

3yo: I heard it on the music system

3yo: The owl's name is Plop

3yo: No, his name is Plop

3yo: Plop, Plop, Ploppp....

3yo: No, P-O-P-E Plop

Isn't it logical

We're out working in the garden. Nidhi has climbed into a wheelbarrow and has been sitting in it for sometime. While I'm digging she asks:

3yo: If I fall from a loat (rhyming with boat) then?
Mummy: If you fall from a what?
3yo: From a loat.
Mummy: What's a loat, there's no word like that.
3yo: No, like height.

How do I say it

Daddy picks up Nidhi who is playing on the stair landing.

3yo: Get down, get down. I want to go down.

Daddy carries her downstairs.

3yo (obviously dissatisfied): I WANT to get down.

Daddy: We are down now.

3yo (struggling with having to explain to daddy who apparently doesn't want to understand): I want to get down from the 'carry'.

Conversations with God

We've been in the habit of saying prayers (usually the Lord's prayer followed by a blessing for everyone in the family) for a long while now. Lately I thought I must encourage Nidhi to make her own prayers. So I ask her to think of things 1) to thank God for 2) to say sorry for 3) to ask God for 4) anything else she'd like to say

Some of her prayers:

Dear God, Thank you for Saturday and Sunday so that we can have lots of sweets and chocolates (she is allowed sweets only on weekends).

Dear God, thank you for the places like hotels where we can go and stay and have lovely food. And thank you for vehicles like trains and cars so that we can go to far away places. (After the church weekend away)

(Is there anything about school you would like to thank God for)

Thank you for the outside so that we can play.

(Is there anything you dont like about school?)

Yes, I dont like the school building. No, I dont mind it. Actually, I like everything about school.

Thank you for making Amma so that I can talk to her.

Tidbits from India visit

Nidhi to Mummy who is emerging after a bath, having just arrived home from the airport

3yo: When you were taking a bath, I was talking to Bombay papa (her grandpa).

M: (a little incredulous) Is it?

3yo: Yes, I was asking Bombay papa a lot of questions.

M: (trying to imagine how that conversation must have gone) Is it? And what did Bombay papa say?

3yo: Bombay papa said "mmm"

Nidhi on seeing her grandpa in a lungi

3yo: Mummy, why is Bombay papa not wearing any clothes?

Nidhi watches me with my mother for a while before stating:

3yo: I saw that Bombay mummy is as old as you

M: And how did you see that?

3yo: She is as tall as you

When staying with my sister at Cochin I often borrowed her clothes to wear. One night I was in the dimmed out bedroom where Nidhi had been put to sleep. I was folding some clothes when I saw her watching me through half-closed eyes for a long time, saying nothing (v unusual).

M: What is it Tochi?

3yo: (eyes wide open) Mummy, who are you?

Conversations with a 3 year old - 4

Nidhi, watching a car drive away from our apartment block

3yo: Whose car is that mummy?

M: It's the people living downstairs, in No.1

3yo: What is their names mummy?

M: I don't know, I've never spoken to them

3yo: Why dint you speak to them mummy?

M: Because they're never around. They leave early for work, and come back late in the evening.

3yo (thinking about this): Are they men?

M: No, there's one man and one lady

3yo: But you are a lady and you don't work

M: I work at home, I look after you. I used to work before, when you weren't there.

3yo: Is it when I was in your tummy?

M: No, before that, when you were with God.

3yo: (after thinking for a bit): So, when I grow up and go outside all by myself, then will you go for work?

M: Hmm, I might

3yo (after thinking for a bit): So, the people in No.1, their child is not there

M: Yes, you're right, they don't have any children

The meaning of an apology

Nidhi is jumping on the floor yet again, inspite of being told several times that it disturbs the people in the flat downstairs

Mummy (with a lot of restraint): Don't do that.

3 yr old: I'm sorry, I wont do it next time.

M (beginning to explain again why she shouldn't): See if you jump, the aunty downstairs....

3yo: No, stop talking.

M: What?

3yo: Stop talking, because I said sorry.

Conversations with a 3 year old - 3

While waiting at an estate agent's office

3 yr old: Mummy, why do you have pimples?

Mummy: Because I'm getting old.

3yo: Why do you have white hair?

M: Because I'm getting old.

3yo: Why are you getting old?

M: Because people do, that's how it is.

3yo: Why, mummy?

M: Ask your teachers at school.

3yo (after a lot of thought and staring at mummy's head): When you are 34 yrs old will your hair be fully white?

M: &*^%$#@ (at this rate, probably YES)

After her 1st visit session at pre-school

Mummy: Did you enjoy school today?

3 yo: Yes I did

M: What did you like the most?

3 yo: Nobody took the toys I was playing with. All the children shared their toys with me. Everyone was very nice to me.

Answering the phone

Sometimes when Nidhi rushes to answer the phone at home, her dad would have picked up the parallel line in the other room. She listens in to a bit of the conversation, and then replaces the phone, and tells me who daddy was talking to and what they were saying. One day she answered the phone when her dad called home from work.

Mummy: Say hello

3yo: (replaces the receiver)

M: Who was it?

3yo: It was daddy and only daddy, and daddy was talking to himself.

Conversations with a 3 year old - 2

3 yr old: Mummy, what is "xyz"?

Mummy: Ask your daddy.

3yo: Why do you ask me to ask daddy?

M: Because daddy is smart.

(While 3 yo is digesting this information)

M: Who is smarter - mummy or daddy?

3 yo (very seriously): Me.

Conversations with a 3 year old - 1

(Mummy busy at work in the kitchen)

3 yr old: (has been quiet or talking to self for a while, and suddenly addresses mummy with a volley of questions): Why are you 32 years old? Why is daddy taller than you? Who is Aunty Phong? When you are 40 years old then? Is Amma (her grandma) 80 years old? (at an increasing pitch) Is Amma 80 years OLD? Is Amma 80 YEARS OLD?? WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING TO ME???

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!!

P.S.

We are almost fully potty trained now (except for outdoors, I dont know how to deal with public toilets; and night time). My laundry load is considerably lightened! :-)

Word associations

Our night time routine now includes story telling. We listen to thirsty crow, greedy dog and hare and the tortoise every night. Sometimes we tell the story together,
Me: Once upon a time there was a ..
N: crow
Me: He was very ..
N: thirsty
Me: He flew all around looking for ..
N: water
Me: But the only water he could find was in a ..
N: tall jug

Nidhi will nowadays associate random things based on a single word. While listening to the story of the greedy dog, for instance, when we come to the part where the dog is crossing a bridge on a stream, she will say "like Thomas" (from a book on Thomas the tank engine where he is crossing a bridge) or she will say "like while you were sleeping", and when I show that I dont understand, she will say "six deer jumped over a silvery stream" (from her book 'While you were sleeping'). Her memory continues to amaze me.

Weaning is proving difficult, as I had expected it would be. I am putting my foot down about feeding outside home, and am trying to reduce day time feeds. She has a healthy appetite and feeds only for comfort or to get my attention / time.

She enjoys peeling oranges. She was watching me do it once and I let her have a go. Initially the activity kept her engaged for a good 15 minutes, but these days she does it in under 2 mins. Of course, these are the smaller oranges (mandarins, clementines). She understands small and big and keeps pointing out the difference in things on her own - small milk (1 pint bottle) and big milk (2 pint bottle), for instance.

She knows colours red, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, pink, black, white and recently brown.

She understands the word 'belongs' which I thought was a tough one. Today at the restaurant, she pointed at her drinking cup and said "belong Tochi" , then at my glass and said "belong mummy" and then at Rohan's glass and said "belong daddy".

She has learned how to raise her eyebrows and has great fun doing it and making us do it. It had her squealing with delight for quite some time today.

Change is exciting!

I have been thinking of making a scrap book for Nidhi for a very long time. I have a few ideas but just dont know what kind of book to get , it must be one that will stand the test of time. Maybe I ought to give it serious thought and a good look-around to see what is available.

Already the first year seems like a blur and I seem to remember so little of what she was like. This blog is an attempt to capture it but a book is so much more personal and I can add bits that I cant do here (like her first painting). I think it would be wonderful.

So much has been happening these past few weeks. We are moving home (a bigger place) by the end of the month and I am gradually getting excited about that. Our home trip in January also nears and in the coming weeks we have to finalise lists and start shopping. Also on the anvil is a new job for Ro which sounds promising and not as stressful as the last one has been. And its hard to believe that N will be TWO YEARS OLD soon. And we have started thinking about the next one now and trying to decide about when is the right time. So much is going to happen in the near future, change is exciting!

Bibna aunty has a baby!!

Yesterday was such a happy day. Bibna has a baby boy born past noon India time via a normal delivery and from what I gather not a very prolonged labour, praise God.

Through the day I kept exclaiming what a happy day it was and when N gave me a strange look I had to explain it was because Bibna aunty has had a baby and that mummy is now an aunty. By the end of the day Nidhi was repeating the same thing to her dad :-)

She now knows to express herself so well. If I am on the phone for very long and she wants my attention , she grabs the telephone cable and goes "keep phone down". If daddy is reading a book and she wants someone to read to her, she goes and taps on his book and says "no reading, put it down". It is so charming that one cant help give in to her requests :-)

She wants to walk a lot when we go out and I dont like to deny her, I would hate being pushed around in a buggy all day. Today we walked a long way from Belmont Hill to Lewisham and she obediently held onto my hand and dint try to run onto the road at any time.

Her favorite song is Emerald City by The Seekers and her favorite cartoon is Charlie and Lola. She tries to sing along to Emerald City when it is playing and describes what C&L are upto while watching the program.

She now recognises numbers 1-5 and even pointed out the '1' in '10' today.

For some reason the past 2 weeks she has been acting fussy about emptying her bladder in the potty. I thought we were making good progress but now this. She runs to the farthest corner and protests very strongly if I suggest using the potty which is a far cry from when she used to follow me to the bathroom and pick up her potty herself when I suggested it. I'm not forcing her and am certain she will come around slowly. Maybe it is just a phase of asserting her independence. She refuses to sit on her chair for her meals, refuses to get dressed, to get undressed, to get into the bath, to get out of the bath, to sit in the buggy, so on and so forth. Yes, it may be all just a phase but that does not make it any easier when one is going through it!

A nasty fall

I have been about looking for nursery places for Nidhi since last week. This afternoon I visited another one, the closest to us and that was when Nidhi had her nastiest fall yet.

She is very uncooperative these days and determined to disobey. When we left from the nursery she insisted on walking up a ramp and around it to the other end which had two steps. I was patient the first time and then asked her to stop and get into the buggy. But she persisted in having another go and which point I started walking away. I turned just in time to see her stumble at the first step, bend forwards and fall headlong onto the floor.

A big swelling rose on the front of her forehead in no time and a long abrasion above the right eye. Fortunately she dint cry long and as soon as I put her down began to climb up another wall. Really!!

She's being having a blocked nose last few days which has now developed into a bad cough. This means we will be homebound for the next few days :-( I hope she does not need another course of antibiotics, she has had so many already.

daabi daabi shataba

I thought I recognised every word that Nidhi utters until she threw up, "shola agade". It appeared to be some nursery rhyme since she sang it along to a tune, but try as hard as possible, I could not identify it. I kept telling Rohan I know everything she utters but for the life of me I dont know what this is. And he kept saying it might be some gibberish that means nothing. To vex me further she added another rhyme to this - "daabi daabi shataba". And I worried that one day she would just stop saying them and I would never know what they meant :-(

But I neednt have despaired. A couple of weeks ago "shola agade" was revealed as "Solomon Grundy" when she sang (or at least attempted) the rest of the rhyme. How thrilled was I when a few days later Humpty Dumpty revealed itself similarly :-) I am now a content mom.

Nidhi is now almost attempting sentences. She makes new combinations of words that she hasnt heard from me before which helps communicate her thoughts and interpretation of things she sees. This is such a major milestone towards self-expression. So far, her communication was limited to labeling objects and events - daddy's slippers or daddy bathroom, for example.

Last week I got new books for her from the library and at her insistence picked up a Noddy book of patterns. The first page showed Noddy in bed and she said instantly -"Noddy sleeping". Today at church when Mary took baby Emma in for a nappy change, Nidhi on noticing them not around said - "Emma gone"!!

One and a half and some more

Nidhi now understands that "some more " means she can have more of what she wants. We hear a lot of requests for "some more this" and "some more that" several times a day. "mess" is what gets created when she is eating. "mummy cap" and "daddy cap" is request for appreciation (clap) when she does something praiseworthy. When daddy leaves the home he is going to "ofees", on a "train". On the days when he hasnt gone to "ofees" he goes "jaudding" (jogging).

She speaks so many distinct words now that it is hard for me to keep up. Several of them have funny pronunciations and she can get very frustrated if I dont understand what she is saying, as she has to repeat herself over and over. Today she kept going "sort..sort.." in the kitchen and I kept guessing smoke, steam, sand, until realisation finally dawned with "salt".

We had a day out in Finsbury park couple of weeks ago when she finally overcame her unease with sand. Until then she hated walking on it. At the sand pit in the park I showed her how she could fill the sand in a cup and pour it out, and then she was completely into it for hours. Getting her out of the sandpit when it was time to leave was a big struggle for mummy. Fortunately she is still quite easy to distract and settles quickly.

Nidhi turns one and a half today.

"Nice"

One of Nidhi's latest additions to her vocabulary is the word "nice". She goes "naaeeeese!!" after a mouthful of something we think she finds pleasant. But she can be rather generous with it as well. So a spoon of her ever favorite plain yogurt is "nice", a wee bit of strawberry sauce is "naaaice", a sip of water when she is thirsty is "nice", and a dose of unexpectedly bitter medicine is also, you guessed it, "nice!". How can one complain with such an angel for a daughter.

She has been spending longer periods this week, at play with her toys. The animal puzzle can engross her the longest, and she is also taking a lot of interest in pretend play with her plastic wok set. Though, she mostly just pretends to be stirring and drinking coffee out of a cup.

Getting some new toys from the library has been helpful to provide her with variety. I also am shortlisting a set of books to purchase since the good ones at the local library are always on loan.

N had a difficult time going to bed today and as a result of which I have been up late, but for now, sleep beckons.

More words

We've added more words in the past few weeks and several others that I missed listing earlier:

head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, neck, chest, tummy, betty butte (belly button), eybow (elbow), toes, knees, bat (back), neth (neck), hot, cold, tap, wate (water), curth (curd), nice, bye bye, shee u (see u), door, belt, moon, tar (star), flower, leaf, birdie.

Growing up oh so fast!

Since last week Nidhi has started qualifying objects when she refers to them. And so we have 'daddy towel' (no, we havent figured out the 'apostrophe s' part yet!), mummy shoes, nidhi shoes, and tanish (her local friend) cap.
Yesterday when we were reading a book about a mermaid and I asked if Nidhi had a tail like the mermaid, she said - "No"!
She counts from one to ten, but routinely misses seven, or mixes it with six :)
She sings several nursery rhymes, that are recognisable even to strangers (people remark about it on the bus and the train!).

I have several moments when I wish she wouldn't grow so fast, I feel like I am missing so much of her littlehood. AND I am at a stay-at-home mom, we are together practically 24x7x365, she even sleeps in our bed! But she is already combining words now, and soon she will be speaking in sentences and pronoucing words the proper way, and I am so going to miss her cute dialect and her baby pronunciations.

Of course there are moments when I wish she would just play with herself for a while so I can get some housework done but the wonderful times together more than make up for it. My best moments are when we huddle close together reading her favorite books over and over and over and over again.

Loud strange noises still bother us a lot, so the helicopter (or helicuppa) is still not a friend. I bought her a toy fish the other day and she calls it helicuppa, and actually they do kinda look the same, dont they :)

I've lost count of the number of words she says now but I am certain there are more than 50. Let me try listing as many as I can:mummy, daddy, amma, achacha, papa, ammama, aatee (aunty), uncke (uncle), cheta, chechi, baba (banana), maato (tomato), cadhet (carrot), oneng (orange), bothee(broccoli), potato, ice (rice), bed sticks (bread sticks), bidhet (biscuit), cheese, bed (bread), gaga (water), chair, bib, sofa, carpet, bath, tub, ball, baloo (balloon), cow, puppy, pussy cat, ayphant (elephant), capay (camel), tiger, beebaa (zebra), sheep, pig, cock-a-doodle-doo (yes that's how we identify the cockerel), chicken, duck, bee, butherthy (butterfly), annn (ant), horsey, birdie, hipopapapais (hippopotamus), airplane, helicuppa, wheeeee (for slide), potty, bed, waste, cap, coat, socks, shoes, towel, widtho (window), nappy, t-shirt, up, down, cup, feed, car, house, tissue, paper, ofees (office).

First words, first steps

Nidhi's vocabulary is rapidly expanding. Its another thing that few people would understand her! Her first word was 'bye', copying me one Sunday morning when I hung up the phone after speaking to my mom :) She calls me mummy, immy or mee depending on the urgency of the situation. Ro is daddeee or diddeee. The rest of the vocab includes - ba (ball), aapee (aeroplane), pee (pin), baboo (balloon) and ca (car).
Yesterday she took her first steps. When she knew I was thrilled by it she tried doing it again and again, even on the bed. I held her hands and made her walk the length of the room and delightedly told her that she was 'walking'. Today, when I tried asking her, if she would like to walk, she obediently crawled to where I was standing, stood up in front of me and held out her hands so that I could make her!!

A year already?

Nidhi completed a year on Feb 9th and we celebrated with a few close friends. As one of the mom's said, the first year is more a celebration for the parents than for the lil one, for you have survived!
The latest with Nidhi is that she is standing unsupported more and more and we are waiting for her to take her first steps. Her comprehension is very good, when she wants it to be. She has around 8-10 books and can correctly pick the one when I ask for it by its title. Is she a genius or not? :)
She has just one tooth so far, but fortunately no teething problems, except for biting me, which thankfully she has gotten over.
She has practically stopped sucking her thumb and am I so glad about that. I havent seen her do it since we moved back to London, at least that's something to cheer about. Other than that, her sleep is still erratic. And she is fussy about food. She does have a good appetite cos she can have bowlfulls of stuff she likes, BUT, she is very picky abt what she likes. This has even driven me to start a new blog, visit it here

Girl.. Interrupted

Yup, after a forced break of half a year I am back blogging. So much has happened that it is impossible to record it all in one post. Sad as I am on missing out on noting down the events of the past 6 months, I realise it was inevitable given the situation I was in. So instead of ruing over it let me get down to writing about the BIGGEST event of this period.
After a delightful 9 months, our bundle arrived on schedule and with little trouble to mama. Having finalised on St. Johns hospital and Dr. Annamma for the delivery just two days before I was due (yes, I ditched Manipal and will be only to glad to tell you why, if you ask) I got admitted on the evening of the 8th February. At 1pm the next day I was looking into the eyes of my baby, well, whenever she was awake at least! :)
Bubs completed 3 months on 9th of May. Her attempts to communicate began in the third month and she has progressed from aaaahs and oooohs to eeeeaaaahs and aaaaoooohs to aaaaeeeeiiiis and aaaaaooouuuuus to ammme, aggooo and what not. She drives her daddy and me just crazy with her baby talk. So far it seems to us that she is complaining most of the times :)
The latest development is grasping and holding the rattle when we bring it close to her fist. She also manages to raise and move her hand about, holding the rattle all the time, for more than a minute now. After a while the rattle goes straight to the mouth :) As long as it keeps her thumb away I am ok with it. Guess its time to buy her a few more toys now that she can hold them.
On the domestic front, I dismissed the cook after employing her for just a day. Mom is here now but leaves for Mbai next week. I am hoping to manage the baby care and the domestic chores all by myself. It may be challenging but I think its all a matter of disciplining oneself. Remains to be seen if those will be famous last words :)

Mama's unwell

That's me again. Down with sore throat and feeling feverish and weak since yesterday. The last time I managed to keep it from getting worse with rest and warm water. This time I guess I was a little lax. Woke up this morning feeling none the better. This means we are unable to keep our appointment for lunch at Jane's place which I was so looking forward to. Also, Ro has had to do all the flat hunting this weekend on his own. We need to move to a bigger place before bubs and my mummy arrive cos the current 1br is just enough for our needs. The thought of moving at this stage is unsettling no doubt, but it needs to be undertaken. Our hope is we dont have to move very far so that I get to keep the same hospital at least. We will know by next week.

I had another GTT this week and fortunately dint get a headache like the last time. Had also carried along some reading material so the two hours passed before I knew it. Coming up next week is the second midwife visit and the start of our antenatal classes.

I have noticed an increase in appetite lately. Earlier I needed Ro to polish off the leftovers. These days I am restraining him from another helping so that I can help myself instead :) Bubs' movements also have become much stronger. I can now feel them like kicks. Some movements are like waves like she is gently turning inside. Some are like rapid regular beatings like she is knocking against the walls :) We have even felt her head at times (at least that's what we think it is - smooth and hard). When we feel around for her however she immediately changes positions. My abdomen also assumes different shapes now based on how she has positioned herself inside. Being able to watch the movements on the surface is always pleasing and amusing.

I read that the baby assumes the birth position (head down) sometime towards the 36th week. Was wondering if they remain in that upside down position for the next 3-4 weeks until birth. That must feel strange!! Also the normal position for them to be born is facing backwards i.e. towards the mother's backbone.

No doubt the pregnancy is teaching me a lot of interesting things.

More news and celebration

Jimit's wife is expecting and due around the same time as me!! And Soumya got married yesterday and will be moving to Bangalore in a few months time.

I'm at 28 weeks and officially into the third trimester now. Foetal development facts:

Your baby now weighs nearly 2 pounds/ 875 grams and measures 14.5 inches/ 36.6 centimetres from heel to toe. Her eyes open and close, she sleeps and wakes at regular intervals and she may suck a finger or thumb.

Some experts believe that babies begin to dream by the 28th week. What do they dream about? No one knows for certain but the brain is active this week as well. The characteristic grooves on the brain's surface start to appear and more brain tissue develops.

Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of the hiccups, which are common this week and throughout the pregnancy. Your baby has them but is breathing in amniotic fluid rather than air. A paper bag can't cure her hiccups, obviously, but an episode usually lasts only momentarily. The sensation for you may be strange but not unpleasant.

Since your uterus is now up near your rib cage, you may now find yourself short of breath if you haven't already. Starting now and continuing through the last three months of pregnancy, you may be plagued by leg cramps, haemorrhoids, varicose veins and an itchy abdomen (tell me about that!!).

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

Yes, that's poor me! With my penchant for ignoring hubby-dearest's well meaning advice, this was an accident waiting to happen.

I always use one of our metal dining chairs to climb on, to get to all the beyond-reach places. Ro has told me several times that he dint think the chair was suited to carry one's entire weight standing up. Ho hum! My logic was - if it could take my weight sitting down it could do it standing up. And besides its metal after all! Aren't those things supposed to be sturdier than plastic? So it happened that when I needed something to stand on to reach above the wardrobe in yet another sorting exercise I went for the dining chair again.

To cut a long story short, Humpty was up there reaching to spread a cover over the top when suddenly the seat of the chair gave way - just like that, without warning! And down came Humpty with chair and cover and all.

Now normally a small accident like this wouldn't worry me much, it would actually amuse me. (Do you see the humour in silly accidents like this?) But now, being responsible for bubs' safety and not just mine is so much more frightening.

Hubby dearest heard the sound of the fall and rushed from the living room. I was trembling after the incident and was glad it happened when he was around.

It's funny how accidents happen in a matter of seconds, but in retrospect one tends to remember them like a slow-motion shot from a film. I remember now, falling face down towards the floor and just thinking one thought - "Am I gonna bump my tummy?" And lying there on my fours waiting for Rohan to pick me up just one thought again - "I dint bump my tummy. I dint break anything."

To count my blessings:
1. I happened to turn towards the right when I fell which means I had clear ground in front of me. If I had fallen in any other direction - to the front was the wardrobe, to the right was the wall & window and behind me was the bed!
2. The carpetted floor cushioned the fall of the chair and mine so that it seemed like a slow and gentle fall rather than a crashing one.
3. I landed on my fours, knees first - which werent hurt beyond minor bruises because of the carpet again.
4. I dint hit my tummy on my way down. Praise God!

To count our losses:
1. We are left with just one dining chair for the 2-seater table which means Ro and I cant eat together at the table any more until we replace the chair :(
2. Since we sat at these same chairs while using the laptop together that also is an activity which will be restricted from now on.
3. Not to mention the cost of replacing the chair altogether!!

Ro has been very understanding throughout. Not getting upset with me for ignoring his advice. Not getting upset for the damage and the resultant charges. In fact, even feeling a little guilty at letting me take up this work.

To conclude however it has been reassuring to feel bubs move around after the accident. I no longer mind the sleepless nights due to her constant kicking!!

100 days to go

Today its exactly 100 days to Feb 8th, which is my due date as per ME :) My midwife put it down as 10th Feb on my last visit and I'm certain she's got it wrong. I've checked online calculators all of which indicate that I am right. So I'm sticking with 8th Feb!!

I've got a list of probable names for bubs. Nothing which makes me go - "Yes, THAT's it!" yet. I think I'll make up my mind once I've seen her. You know, its as though her "personality" would tell me what she should be called :)

Got some great news yesterday - Shanta is pg as well, due in early June.

Had my first midwife visit at the GP today. BP is normal - 100/60, the same as last time. Weight is 60kgs, just a kg and a half since the last measurement. Totally I've gained 4 kgs. It may seem a little less but as the midwife said and from reports I've read, the weight gained is not indicative of the health of the baby. A normal gain is around 10-15 kgs during the course of the 9 months, most of which is in the last trimester. I still have a couple of weeks to go before I enter that phase.

I met this silly lady at the surgery today who kept insisting on telling me and everyone around how tiny she thought I was at 26 weeks. She seemed to think she was much larger at 25 weeks and was worried that she would have a difficult labour with a large baby. Well lady, I wonder how u missed noticing that u are larger than me all over and not just around the belly! Anyway not that she had me worried but just embarrassed.

My fundal height, which is the length measured from the top of the pubic bone to the top of the uterus, is 27cms. The fundal height normally matches the foetus' gestational age, within 1 - 3 cms. I am at 25wks and 5 days today so that seems normal, if a bit large. Measuring the fundal height is an indicator of proper fetal growth and amniotic fluid development. My midwife told me she would be focussing on this measurement more than the weight gain to check on my progress.

We heard the foetal heart beat again today. And felt around for foetal movements. The dip stick test for the urine was normal so no culture test is recommended. She has asked me to continue drinking lots of water. Iron supplements she does not recommend insisting that my Hb of 12.1 is a very good count. I discussed about the jittery baby condition in India due to lack of Calcium and she left it up to me to decide. Said she hasnt come across or even heard of this condition here.

Overall I came away satisfied with the visit. The midwife seem genuinely interested in handling the pregnancy as a normal physical condition and not as an illness requiring treatment and supplements all the time. All the same, she was sympathetic to my concerns of ethnic and cultural differences which necessitates some intervention. I guess we need to check with an Indian gynaec after all just to put our worries to rest. Meanwhile I will continue to ensure a balanced diet.

I wanted to sneak in a bit about our weekend away but this post seems to be getting too long already. More on that in the next post then.

The odds are better

I've completed 29 revolutions around the sun yesterday. That's nearly 3 decades and almost half my life!! Been a good ride so far, hmm, good and getting better.

Somehow I've always liked the odd birthdays more than the even ones. For example, dont u think 29 sounds better than 28 and 31 better than 30? Well except perhaps sweet-16 and officially-an-adult-18 :)

Our angel completed 23 weeks today and here's some cool foetal development facts:
Your baby now weighs a little over one pound/ 500 grams and measures about 11.4 inches/ 29 centimetres from crown to heel. Her hearing is well established and she can make out a distorted version of your voice, the beating of your heart and your stomach rumblings. Loud noises often heard in utero, such as the barking of a dog next door or the roar of a vacuum cleaner, probably won't bother your child when she hears them outside the womb.

Bump is growing each day and I wish I could put up a latest picture soon.

The miracle of birth

This post is to record all the amazing things I've learnt as a result of this pregnancy. Things about my body, about the baby, about the MIRACLE of bringing a new life into this world. Some facts are medical, some are not, some are brow-raising, some are mundane. But I've recorded them for posterity anyway. I hope u enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed learning about them.

Note: This is in no specific order and may appear random at times. That's because I'll just be putting them down as they occur to me. Isnt that the whole point of having a blog? :)

• It is believed (I dont know if this is a medical fact) that a pregnancy changes a woman's immune system so that the body does not reject the baby as a foreign object (which it is, as it is composed of half the partner's genes). This may be why pregnant women are more prone to infections and are advised to avoid someone having the sniffles :)
• The digestive system and processes in pregnant women slow down inorder to absorb the maximum possible nutrients from the food that the mother consumes. This is why pregnant women typically have digestive ailments.
• The amniotic fluid in which the baby floats is responsible for carrying nutrients to it and the waste products away. This is circulated every 30 mins and hence it is very important to keep up the fluid intake (especially water) during the course of the pregnancy.
• The internal body temperature is a couple of degrees higher for pregnant women. They are therefore advised to avoid hot baths, hot showers and over-exercising to prevent the baby from over-heating which can be harmful.
• Vitamin C boosts the body's absorption of Iron, while Calcium hinders the absorption of Iron.
• The baby is called an embryo from conception to 8 weeks. From the 9th week onwards it is called a foetus. At 24 weeks the baby is considered 'viable', which means it has a good chance of surviving outside the uterus if it is born.
• At about five months of gestation the baby is covered by downy hair called lanugo which is fine, soft and usually unpigmented. The hair supposedly insulates the baby in absence of fat and is usually shed before birth.
• Babies at birth are covered with a white cheesy substance called vernix. Vernix is composed of sebum (oil of the skin) and cells that have sloughed off the foetus's skin. Vernix comes from the latin word for 'varnish' and performs the same function for the baby, i.e. protecting its skin from the amniotic fluid.

Disclaimer: I do not vouch for the complete medical authenticity of the facts on this post.

It's a GIRL !!!!

:) I've ALWAYS wanted to make that announcement, and since we know already I dint want to wait until Feb. I realise I've been referring to 'her' in all my posts but we got the definite confirmation only at the scan last week (5th Oct).

This was our second and last scan and, like everyone told me, the last time we get to see bubs this way - the beating heart and all. I did think the first scan was more exciting cos we dint know what to expect and we could see all of her in one screen. She also had a whole lot of space to move around and made these big movements. This time however we saw her in parts and though we could make out she was moving around it wasnt as big as last time. But the motions I feel inside me now more than make up for all that loss of excitement at the scan. Now even Rohan's been able to sense them several times :) The results of the scan are that all is normal and she's growing in there just fine, praise God.

I set off the smoke alarm the other day at home, no, not a fire in the kitchen, just a "smoking" egg strata. At first I just couldn't place where that LOUD beep beep was coming from. I thought I'd set something off in the oven by turning it off all of a sudden. I thought the oven was gonna explode or something (jeez!). When I finally figured the source I panicked at the thought of not being able to shut down the sound in time and having my front door broken down by security staff or worse, firefighters!! Nothing all that dramatic happened, and I managed to shut it off by pushing my fingers into all possible buttons on the alarm. So much for a relaxing snack!!

My second test's come out normal (what's going on here?) so I dont need to start on any antibiotics, which is a relief.

Nothing else has been happening except that the days are getting shorter here and I'm already dreading December :(