(Pictures) December 2010

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Toddler talk

I am sure everyone wonders what goes through a toddler's mind and how they interact with each other. Well, we have some interesting topics to discuss and think about. Purvija and I gave a glimpse of the things we talk about and what we think in a brief conversation.

At Neha and Sanvi's birthday party...

pAdukA - school Santa pAtayA (did you see Santa at school?)
Purvi - pAthen (I saw)
pAdukA - pAdukA santa kitta azhudhA (pAdukA cried near Santa)
nee azhudayA? (Did you cry?)
Purvi - azhuden.. :( santa gift? (I cried.. did you get gift from Santa?)
pAdukA - santa socks gift kudutA.. (Santa gave gifts in a sock)

Purvija and pAdukA are distracted when they see cakes brought out.
Holding hands, pAdukA and Purvija are fixated on the colorful cakes.
pAdukA - vA cake sApadalAm (come, let's eat cake)

(Pictures) Oct-Nov-2010

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Logical Reasoning

Everything should have a reason. I ask my parents for reasons and do my part in giving them reasons for what I do all the time. Sample this incident :)

ammA - ippo pAl sApdu( have milk now ) Blue berry later

pAdukA finishes drinking milk and goes to play and comes back to the kitchen with a penguin soft toy.

pAdukA - ammA, penguin kku blue berry venummA pAvam (penguin wants blueberry)

ammA gives a few in a small cup. pAdukA comes back with an elephant soft toy.

pAdukA - yAnnai kku blue berry venummA (Elephant wants some blue berry)

ammA gives some more. pAdukA starts to force the berries into penguin's and elephant's mouth. Later ammA finds pAdukA eating the blue berries.

ammA - nee yen sApadara? blue berry penguinukkum yAnnaikkum (Why are you eating? Blue berry is for the penguin and the elephant)

pAdukA - penguin, yAnai pAdukA friends. share pannaradhu (Penguin and elephant are pAdukA's friends and they are sharing with me)

ammA is amused with the reason. A little later pAdukA brings the penguin to the pantry.

pAdukA - penguin share pannalai ippo. bad... time out... ammA, blue berry ellam pAdukA kaa? (Penguin is not sharing with me now. Time out for penguin. So ammA, are all the blue berries for pAdukA?)

ammA - ! (Can't beat that logic:)

(Pictures) September 2010

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Englipish...

My school has opened me up to a new language, English. I cannot hold back my new vocabulary. Here are a few examples of my English exploits.

pAdukA (pointing at batteries) - ammA, this toys no?
ammA - ??
pAdukA - this toys no? (with emphasis)
ammA - ahh... idhu toy ila vilaiyAdaratthukku. (This is not a toy to play with)


pAdukA (taking a candy) - This pAdukA take-aa?
ammA - Perfect Tanglish(Tamil+English) pAdukA :) You kku dhaan :) (it's for you)


appA lifts pAdukA's friend Rijul
pAdukA runs to appA and says "appA is pAdukA" "appA is pAdukA"
"Rijul no" and starts crying.

My favorite words/phrases which I use as often as possible
(1) are you okay?
(2) see you later
(3) come on
(4) take
(5) pAdukA help
(6) keen up keen up evvybuddy keen up (clean up)
(7) shhh... quiet
(8) no pushing, no hitting

Are you ready for an English conversation?

(Pictures) August 2010

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A better plan....

My Parents' plan

Drive to LA
Check into the hotel.
Give a quick shower for pAdukA
Visit Krishna umAchi temple (ISKCON)
Play at the beach
Attend wedding party

My Plan

Put up with the long long ride to LA
Jump on the hotel bed
Take a quick shower
Run out of the shower, fall and hit the mirror on the door
Cry due to a deep bleeding cut
Visit emergency room
Wait for one and half hours.
Get a teddy bear from a kind old man at the hospital
Get the cut glued (cool right! no stitches, just stick the skin together:)
Have many stickers on chin

Now you tell me which plan is exciting and which is boring and predictable.
ammA and appA, don't complain. I add an element of surprise to your
generally dull and uneventful plan :)

Stuffy nose

I have cold and hence a stuffy nose but it just got a little stuffier :) This is how it happened....

Date - July 30th 2010
It was just another day.. As usual ammA gave me my snack box of dried fruits for me to munch in the car on our way back from play school. I happily shared some with ammA whenever she extended her hand from the driver's seat. I told ammA what I did at school but I am sure she got only 50% of it :)Just when I got down from the car, I excitedly told ammA about my achievement. "pAdukA blueberry pottukA" (pAdukA has put blueberry) No response from ammA. "pAdukA blueberry mookula blueberry pottukaaa" (pAdukA has put a blueberry in her nose, pointing at the right nostril) ammA's reaction totally wiped the fun off the whole thing. She asked me "enna panna" (what did you do?) so many times that I had to tell her the same thing over and over. She panicked. Rushed me into the house, grabbed a small stick like thing, her reading light and forced me to lie down and started staring at my nostril!

I cried and resisted but she seemed to see nothing. Before I knew I was in the car and ammA was driving asking me why I did such things! I dozed off knowing that she will find an answer to that question sometime :) I woke up at the urgent care in front of a smiling nurse and a doctor. "Blueberry huh? How did you manage that sweetie?"
I cried and made it hard for the doctor to take a good look and also my cold/mucus was making it difficult for the doctor. The doctor asked ammA to blow into my mouth closing my left nostril so that my right nostril gets clear of the mucus and make the berry visible. With two nurses restraining me, the doctor then had a look at both my nostrils and found nothing! Doctor said sometimes it might end up in the mouth or if it is stuck deep in the nose, I might develop an infection and fever!

Later, I had lunch and enjoyed playing at the library with ammA and other kids. I could see that ammA was tense as to what was going to happen next. A pleasant message awaited us in our answering machine when we returned from the library.
Nurse Practitioner: "This message is for pAdukA's mom. We found a blue berry in the examination room in the evening and we believe it is your daughter's :) You blew it out of her nose! Don't worry about the infection or fever."

ammA.. you are good at berry picking :)

(Pictures) June 2010

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Sharing - easy said than done

"pAdukA good girl dhaane.. please share your toys.." this is what I hear all the time from my appA and ammA whenever I snatch toys away from other kids.

I am trying my best to not need the things other kids have with them but it is very hard. I found recently that I am not alone in this :)

I was playing with ammA's purse when she was on the phone. I lined up all her cards on the couch and was playing happily. After ammA hung up she saw me playing with her purse and came running and grabbed everything from me. She then said " ammA oda purse. pAdukA vilaiyAda kudAdu ( This ammA's purse. pAdukA should not play with it)

I had to remind ammA about sharing."pAdukA kku share pannu ammA. good girl thA ammA" (Share with pAdukA. good girl give ammA)

hmmm... sharing is no easy task after all and WE are working on it :)

They call me BP! :(

Over the last two weeks, my appa and amma keep calling me BP when I am talking. But, I just ignore them and continue talking, and they keep saying BP. After a while, I thought they were just saying that I was increasing their blood pressure. It is ironical that they should say this given how much they increase my blood pressure whenever they do not get me the biscuits or the toys I want.
I got the real shocker when I was watching Anderson Cooper on CNN with my father. They kept talking about some BP, and I asked my appa why they were saying my name. My appa explained that I was being called BP because I keep spilling words all the time and have no way to stop the flow :(

(Pictures) May 2010

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bowled... stumped...

Ball #1

"kAkkA kAkkA kaNnukku mai kondu vA..." A song that my pAtti taught me in India is one of my favorite. Just when ammA was expecting me to sing it as is, I added my personal touch to it.

"kesavan kesavan (my cousin) jibili(jilebi) kondu vA".

Isn't it much better than kAkkA and kuruvi bringing mai and poo (flower). Jibili is lot more fun :) and it will be great if Kesavan brings it as I can play and share it with him!

ammA stumped!

Ball #2

pAdukA - "kozhandai kku bisset kudu ammA... please kozhandai kku kudu"
(please give biscuit to the baby..)

ammA - "yenga kuzhandai ma?"

pAdukA - dho (pointing at herself)

ammA stumped again!


Ball #3

pAdukA(while taking bath) - ammA, soap yenga?

ammA (casually) - idhu dhAn (showing pAdukA's body wash)

pAdukA - noo... idhu bodybAsh, soap anga irukku (showing the bar of soap)

ammA clean bowled!

I have more balls to bowl... anyone ready to bat? :)

Mottai is cool

Early in the morning we navigated through a sea of people, most of them had shiny heads to have a quick darshan of SrinivAsar omAchi. Before I realized what was happening, my appA held me tight while a mAmA sprinkled water on my head and I saw my curly hair fall down. ooohh.. I have a shiny head myself now!

thAthA taught me to say "moTTai is cool" so that I feel proud about my new look. Well, I ended up saying "thAthA, moTTai school-a" every time, making him laugh. Could not resist feeling my smooth head and saying "moTTai school"

3 weeks later after teeny tiny hair has grown on my head...

I was combing thAthA's hair and feeling his head while he was eating. Oh.. this feels just the same way after I got my shiny head. Need to tell thAthA this..

"thAthA, moTTai school""moTTai school" Hope it was reassuring for him too :)

(Pictures) April 2010

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(Pictures)March 2010

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Rules of T20

Time to meet the kings :) Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI

(thanks to atthai and athimber)

Here are the rules to enjoy the match

(1) Befriend people sitting around you

(2) Stare at them especially when they eat, so that they share it with you

(3) Ask for candy when you get a chance

(4) Play with the props that they have on hand and make it yours

(5) Shout, clap and dance when they do

(6) Prompt your appA and ammA to lift you up and jump around when the stadium gets noisy

(7) Say "thookku" (means lift me) to your neighbors when they are dancing

(8) Learn well when people teach you to drum with plastic bottle

(9) Throw the bottle when they ask you to (when a wicket falls!)

(10) Start saying numbers when people shout 4 or 6.

(11) Fall asleep when you feel like no matter how noisy the stadium is

Cambodian Royalty

A..pane...I love to watch you standing on the ground and not so much travelling by you. Finally landed! phew! I have never seen my parents so eager, excited and relieved to see a complete stranger holding their name card at the airport. It was hot, humid and dusty. But wait a minute there was something better in store....

"Your baby has curly hair. She belongs to Cambodia! The natives have curly hair" exclaimed our guide's brother :) (The people of Laos, Vietnam and Thailand supposedly have straight hair according to our guide) This is the beginning of my royal treatment in an unknown country.

Scene on the road

I was sleeping in my stroller and my parents were offloading me from a tuk-tuk (rickshaw but the name is very kid friendly:) My head dropped awkwardly and 3 random people walking on the road came running to ensure my safety :)

Scene at the Cambodian palace

I was mobbed by 30-35 Cambodian girls who were admiring me and clicking pictures galore. Well, what can I say, "sorry your Cambodian Highness... I rule ;)"

On the way to a tourist spot

"Baby... very nice.. I give this bangle.." said a small boy selling bangles and bracelets. My ammA refused. "I give this bangle to baby.. no money... baby play" I gracefully accepted the gift. Later another small girl selling bangles thought that I had a big bangle and what I needed was a small one and gifted my a couple of small bangles!

In the parked car

I stayed back with ammA in the car while appA had gone to click a few snaps. I could not resist my excitement on seeing a small baby and before I knew, there were lots of kids around me who entertained me till appA was back. One kid introduced himself as my boyfriend!

At the airport

I was allowed to stand and jump on the luggage weighing area. The security sang "ABCD..." and "twinkle twinkle..." when she checked me at the airport. I was allowed to pass through the metal detector on the stroller (usually my stroller is scanned along with the hand luggage)

And how can I forget uncle Khom (our guide)? He lifted me, pushed my stroller and constantly called my name :) He is the one who translated people's comments about me from Khmer to English.

The warm and friendly people everywhere made my 4-day trip to the hot Kingdom of Cambodia very memorable!

(Pictures) February 2010

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Happy to me (Feb 20th:)

When Lakshya called to wish me, I was not there to answer the phone:( But I have saved her recorded wishes and am listening to it daily. Laks, "thankoo"

Here is the best birthday wish I got when I turned two.

pAdukA-isms

pAdukA - whassit? (pointing at a picture)

appA - tiger

pAdukA - whassit?

appA - pooh bear

Questions a couple more times and then..

appA - (pointing at the same picture) enna idhu (what is this)

pAdukA - cartoon !

pAdukA eating corn puffs

pAdukA - whassit?

ammA - puffs

pAdukA - no! whassit?

ammA - puffs

pAdukA - no no.. chips!

pAdukA watching her ammA eat.

pAdukA - sAdam

ammA is done eating

pAdukA - goo goo (means good girl) and pats her head :)

pAdukA (brings a book) - ammA, amunAn (book tiltled HanumAn:)

ammA starts reading and narrating the story

pAdukA - whassit (pointing to vAyu, HanumAn's father)

ammA - HanumAn appA oda peru vAyu ( HanumAn's father's name is vAyu)

ammA - HanumAn appa peru enna sollu ?

pAdukA - caillou (pAdukA's favourite cartoon character:)

ammA - vAyu ma... vaaaa uuuuuu

pAdukA - no no caaaaa uuuuuuu :)

While playing pAdukA falls on the book that appA is reading

appA (pushing pAdukA away) - Don't disturb

pAdukA - ammAsheee (ammA see)

ammA - enna?

pAdukA - pushshee appA

pAdukA - pushshee no!

pAdukA watching Tamil movie song along with ammA and appA

The hero in the song along with many other men dances with huge

flags.

pAdukA - mAmA marchee-aa?

(as she does along with other children in her play school)

ammA - pAttu ma idhu

pAdukA - alla (means "no" but in this case pAdukA's mazhalai turns out to be sentamizh:)

mAmA marchee

pAdukA - vEnmA vEnmA chockate

uwan uwan chockate

Neighbour - what a sweet kid, she is offering chocolate!

pAdukA - uwan uwan ( non stop)

Neighbor - Thank you, I have already taken

ammA - uwan means she wants :)

(Pictures) January 2010

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The Adult Play-Doh

From my experiments over the last few weeks, I am convinced I have seen the adult form of Play-Doh - something they like to call the "remote".
My parents love playing with this thing in their hand and every time they press something on it, something changes on the lighted screen in front.

It is amazing how frantic my parents can become if they cannot find one of these. I like to take one and place it at some odd place. And then, sit back and watch the drama.

First, both parents will go to every corner of the house looking for it. After a few minutes of hunting in vain, one will start trying to muck with the controls close to the TV and open up some booklets. Sometimes, each would be blaming the other. If it starts getting ugly, I try to calm things down, by asking for some milk or some such thing. One of them will even try to quiz me about it (as if I am going to reveal anything!!). They usually end up finding it, and I have been trying to move places a few times now. Maybe I should try the bathroom next time.

Note to other Twoers:

• There are usually 2-3 of these remotes, so you can pick any of them and make them go crazy.
• Best time to try this out is in the evening around 5 pm, and expect the action to start around 7:30 pm.
• When they ask you about it, pretend you have no idea what they are talking about.
• If you are under pressure for doing something bad, start saying "TV" again and again, until they start hunting for the remote. This works as excellent distraction.

Happy to you..

Best Wishes for the new decade
May all good come in a cascade
With peace and health as company
and friends and relatives in harmony
More charming memories to be made!