16 September 2014 - 2 Years Old!

We went to temples today because it's your birthday! You were born on the 15th in the USA, but it was the 16th in India. So we were confused whether to celebrate your birthday on 15th or 16th here in India. We ended up celebrating it on 15th with Kachodu ajja and ajji. And went to temples on the 16th. But we are waiting for your dad to arrive to have a big real celebration.  

None of us can believe that you are two now and I can not update my baby diary with all the small details any more. Even your brother is growing up and you are creating a million stories to enter. So from now on, I have decided to write down a few points that I remember when I update the diary. Here it goes :

They were showing a temple on TV one day and we watched "Abhisheka" of the God. The little head on my lap immediately said "Aww.. Chaami did chi chi" (God urinated!)

When we put clothes for drying, you love to recognize whose clothes they are and you say "ammandu", "ajjidu", "Aadyandu". Few days ago, your granny was putting her white skirt for drying, you said "ajjandu"! You had thought that it was ajja's mundu!

You like one of Aniket's shirts a lot and the minute you see it in the cupboard, you pull it out to play. You wear it as a cap and walk around with a funny smile.

Since your brother has started frog jumping now, you have found a new game by hiding objects in his clothes and send them to me through him and if he does the job right, you tell him "baavaas" (supposedly shabhash) for his achievement! And also you like to name the objects he touches, may be to teach him the names. I see the big sister!

You imitate everything you see or everything you hear, including your grand father's snore! So he loves to pretend asleep now, just to hear his grand daughter's adorable snores.

You like to climb everything - windows, gate, chair, furnitures, top of the car! It is quite scary these days because without our knowledge within a few seconds you reach the top of the car. If it was only so much, I wouldn't have worried much, but you try to roll on top of the car as well!!!

As I had already said, you have made it a habit to hold my "karimani" while sleeping. Later on you wanted it even at night if you woke up and then you wanted it whenever you felt scared or sad. And later on you wanted it even during the day and all the time. On May 29th, you were fighting for it and it got cut! You cried and so did I because it is my "mangalsootra". I decided not to wear it for until you come out of that habit and kept it away.

One day you tried to throw a torch through the window and I stopped you. You got angry, pinched me and I pretended to be crying, I showed my hand to you and said "boo boo". You peeped at me, didn't say a word and climbed the bed, reached the cupboard, pulled out an ointment, gave it to me and said "babbu aaku" and walked away!

You surprise me over and over again with your vocabulary. I have given up the idea of writing down the words. You amaze me when you give back words I had taught a month ago from nowhere in the right context! My cousins get surprised listening to your vocabulary every time they talk to you, though they meet you every other week.

You eat well, but only if you are sitting in front of a video song. So whenever we go out or if we attend some function, that day you fast! The other day, at a pooja, your Divya atthe and I tried to feed you showing you the vehicles and dogs. But the minute I put some food in your mouth, you spit it all over your Divya atthe!

You love video songs so much and though I am sad that you eat only with the songs, you learn a lot from them. Not that you know many songs, but also, the names of the animals, uses of many things, way of living and hundreds of other things. Few days ago we were out on a walk, somebody walked next to us carrying a rice bag on their head. You called them back and said "beke beke tharakaari" thinking that they are selling vegetables! They didn't understand what you said, just smiled at you and went. The video song effect!! Also you never stay calm when you play. You continuously keep singing songs, unfortunately we don't realize which song you are singing. Sometimes, a few words in between sound familiar and we recognize the song. It becomes a problem when you want to watch a particular video song, you try to tell it to me and I don't realize what you are saying. I feel bad for you, I try to observe as keenly as possible at your actions and try to make sense of your words. But sometimes you throw temper tantrums because I don't understand the song you are talking about! But I am much better compared to other family members and usually I do the translation for them of the Aadya language to grown up language. Sometimes when others don't understand what you say, you try to tell them in different ways. For example, when your grand father didn't understand that you wanted your toothbrush, you told him "besh", "allu", "cheem cheem", "thikku" and many such related words with action. Your song "koovaaless theeyooyee" took a long time for me to realize that it is "QRS TUV"!

You trouble your brother sometimes, especially if he takes away your mom or if he grabs things that you are playing with. But when none of these are happening, you love him a lot. Few days ago, when an aunt (Ramya) came home and when she was leaving the house, she was still carrying your brother when she said 'bye' to you. You got really scared that she is going to take away your brother, you literally pushed me towards her and said "amma.. Ani hothu, hogu, thaa" (Ani went, go bring him)! Sometimes your anger is for genuine reason. Like the other day you made your chinky boy (doll) sit on your rocking chair and went to get some food for him. Meanwhile your brother came and pulled chinky boy off the chair. When you came back with food, chinky boy was on the floor, you directly went to your brother and slapped him. Can we blame your brother? He is just 10 months old! Can we blame you? You didn't hit him for no reason!!

You like to apply your video songs with anything familiar to you. When you saw a huge vessel full of Payasa in a function and saw the cook turn the spatula in it, you went to him and told "row row row your boat"!

On June 11th, your head circumference was 19.5 inches, length was 34 inches and weight was 12.5 kg.

Your granny had lifted her saree till her knee for household chores and you saw her skirt and said "Oh! ajji is wearing chaddi today"!

On June 10th you first answered the question "what is your name?" We all clapped when you said "Aadya" like stating a definition. You were so happy that you kept making us ask you for your name.

When you are not supposed to do something, we usually change your attention. You know it quite well and now a days if I try to take something away from you (like soap or breakable objects), you try to divert my attention by showing "see fan!" or "see there, a tree"!

You used to sleep with me since you were born. But just before your brother arrived, we had to make it a habit to sleep with your granny. Because I didn't want you to see me nurse your brother and get bonded with your brother. So you were sleeping with your grand parents and I was always guilty about it. Since June 7th on wards, now you are back with your mom! Both you and your mom are now happy though your grand parents miss you.

After you got a blood test done for the allergy you have with mosquitoes, you got a colorful band aid on the prick mark. You thought that it was a tattoo and said "aahaa haa"

You try to imitate your brother now. Once again there is a crawling Aadya now, who struggles to cross "hosthilu", stays there hitting it. Once again Aadya is back to talking "ba bba bbaa".

When you want to jump on the bed, you do the preparation by yourself - take away the pillows to clear the space. You also love to clean up your toys if someone is there to clap each time. Once all the toys reach the toy box, if the clapping person still stays back, you empty the box again on the floor to start cleaning up all over again.

I usually call your granny if you come inside when I feed your brother. Because I don't want you to feel curious about it. It has become such a routine now that the minute I look at you coming in, you yourself call "ajjiiiiii, Aadyana kakko (karakko)!" (Ajji, take Aadya from here)! You still don't know the usage of me and you. So if you are talking about yourself, you use your name. Like instead of saying "I want banana", you say "Aadya wants banana".

We go for walks every evening at 5.30 pm and you wait for it from 3 pm itself. You meet a few akka when we go for walks, play with them for some time and then I drag you back home when it gets dark.

You can't easily pronounce every word though you them well. You get confused and call 'gida' as 'diga', 'keppate' as 'kettape', 'rikshaw' as 'shikka', 'shree kripa' as 'shee paka', and the list goes on. And there are few words that don't sound like the original one at all. Like 'chakko chaai' is butterfly, 'neelimi' for onion (neerulli), 'toppeti' is laptop. There are similar words in your dictionary as well like 'oLele' and 'koLele', one is 'iruve' and the other 'kudure'. 'fy fy' and 'sy fy', that is flying and spider.

You say 'mashing' for washing machine and few days ago when I was sleeping after dinner, you kept your head on my stomach and you heard my stomach growling. Immediately you lifted your head with surprise and said "there is a mashing in amma's stomach". Then you wanted to hear everyone's stomach and you concluded, including even ajja and ajji, all have mashings in their stomach!

I found some lakme's red nail polish at home and put it on your nails when you were asleep. When you woke up, you were so happy that you showed "banna" to everyone you saw until even the last bit of nail polish disappeared from your nails. So on your birthday, some mehendi and red nail polish was a great success in making you happy.

We went to your mother's school a few days ago with your grand father and you saw the school bell. We had to immediately run back to our vehicle because you started crying as loudly as possible that you wanted to ring that bell. If we had stayed there for little longer, either the students would have got disturbed from your cry or they all would have run home hearing you ring the bell!

Now a days, you are quite aware of the permanence of your brother and you have accepted him as your family. In most of your plays, there is a presence of your brother and the other day when you saw 'bal Ganesh' video song, you called yourself as Ganesh and you said that the mouse is your brother!!

The big sister now keeps watch on her brother and if he starts crawling towards the bathroom, you call me "ammaaaa.. thamma hothuuu, hoguuu"!

You talk to your doddajji for almost an hour every day sitting in her room, the speciality of this conversation is that she can not hear. Its fun to over hear you both and she somehow guesses what you say and talks about her medicines to you. You nod your hear and reply as though you understand her very well.

It's such an entertainment to let you on your own and watch you from far. You do all the actions and pretend plays are awesome with your dolls. You talk to them and talk constantly when you are let alone. All the conversations we had earlier, gets repeated and the new words that you have learnt along with a few laughters here and there. Even a few old conversations we had a few days ago come in between as well!

Your dad has sent a potty trainer seat for you, and it looks so cute. You started using it for the right purpose since you turned two exactly. You call it "Aadya tholet".

Your grand father had bought a tricycle for you 4 months ago and so far we had to push you whenever you wanted a ride. On September 11th you started riding it on your own. We were so happy to see you ride it and though your dad is far away in the USA, he was on a video chat when you rode it and even he saw you ride it for the first time. When we all clapped for you, you wanted to ride it even more. You went in a straight line and we had to turn you around when you reached the end and the entire day we had to do so!

30 July 2014 - Milestones after Milestones!!!

               There are so many things that has happened after I updated my blog last time. You can now sit on your own, roll on your own, crawl on your own and you eat solid food! You laugh as though you got tickled with your loud voice and you love to see attractive colors and play with those toys. We get to see all the emotions in you now - you get angry, you get irritated, throw temper tantrums in your own way and spread joy to all of us as well. You have learnt to communicate well now - you clearly express what you want and what you don't like.

               You now babble constantly, communicate a lot. At time you give that piercing scream and shriek your lungs out! On the other hand, now you can understand our emotions to some extent, you cry when your sister cries and smile back at us. Peek-a-boo is your favorite game to play, makes you laugh. You don't put things in your mouth now and that is a good development. Your sense of humor is getting better day by day and you can easily laugh now. 

              You love to do "aane aane" rocking back and forth and when we reach the end part of falling down, you recognize the tone of our voice and start smiling and you yourself bend to fall down.

               On May 2nd, you sat on your own. On May 6th, you started to crawl in a new way. It is like a frog jump and fun to watch, whether it is a crawl or frog jump, it anyway makes you move further and I can call it a next milestone.

               Whenever you see a toy, the first thing you do is to turn it over. You always want to see what is under it and try to discover it more by poking and putting your finger in if you see a hole under the toy or try to unscrew to take off the battery or slap the toy. More than the toy with its purpose, you are interested to discover more from it by flipping it to see all other sides. Your sister used to play with the tags of every toy when she was of your age.

               Since you have started frog jumping now, your sister has found a new game by hiding objects in you and send them to me through you and if you do the job right, she says "Baavaas" (supposedly shabhash) to you! And also she likes to name the objects you touch, may be to teach you the names.

               After you started frog jumping you are always on the move. Sometimes, the walls don't give you way! It is sadly a lot of fun to watch you sit in front of the wall and cry that it is not getting out of your way!! Your constant struggle to crawl is so strong that at night, in sleep you keep folding your legs to crawl and lift your body with your eyes closed!

               Your sister troubles you sometimes, especially if you take away her mom or if you grab things that she is playing with. But when none of these are happening, she loves you a lot. Few days ago, when an aunt (Ramya) came home and when she was leaving the house, she was still carrying you when she said 'bye' to your sister. She got really scared that she is going to take away her little brother, she literally pushed me towards her and said "amma.. Ani hothu, hogu, thaa" (Ani went, go bring him)! Sometimes her anger is for genuine reason. Like the other day she made her chinky boy (doll) sit on your rocking chair and went to get some food for him.

Meanwhile you came and pulled chinky boy off the chair. When she came back with food, chinky boy was on the floor, she directly went to you and slapped you. Can we blame you? You are just 10 months old! Can we blame her? She didn't hit you for no reason!! Few days ago, your sister was on my lap and when you came there, you instantly got angry, pushed her off my lap and sat there as your private property.

               On June 11th, you started crawling properly. When you completed 9 months, your height was 27 inches and head circumference was 17.5 inches. Your first haircut at a Parlor was done on June 8th at Bekur and your ajja held you for the haircut. You didn't cry much, but gave a confused look when you heard the sound.

               Your first meaningful word was "atthe" on May 29th and your Divya atthe was right there to hear it. I am sure that she was happy. You always love to take bath and the minute we take you towards the bathroom, you start swinging your hands and give big smiles with excitement. If you are left alone, you try to go to bathroom every time. 

               Vehicles are already your favorite and you immediately turn to the sound of it and stare at any vehicle till it disappears. If the person carrying you is blocking your sight, you push us aside to see the vehicles. If you are left with a vehicle, you try to discover its wheels and if you are inside you always want to hold the steering and push the audio buttons.

               Your voice is quite loud and if you are in a good mood, you make people turn to look at the noise maker! You talk to them "tha tha thaaaaa". Wires and ropes are other favorite items, but the first place goes to any electronic items, especially cameras and cell phones. We can't even fool you by giving its covers, you throw them right on our faces!

               Your great grand mother likes to carry you and walk around all the time, she never keeps you down. Even you like it when she takes you around. So even you like her a lot, give her hundreds of smiles every day. But the problem is that you are getting used to it so much that you want to be held all the time, which becomes a problem, when we are at Bekur and your doddajji is not there to carry you around there.

               You give such a funny expression when you taste a new food and the very first bite of each meal bounces back on me. I have got so used to it and now when I feed your first bite, my hand automatically stays back near your mouth to catch the shooting food.

               The problem now is that you don't let me take your photos, the minute you see the camera, you want it.                               

                You can now look at the direction we point at and want to be let alone, you want to be independent. You want to climb the stairs and pulling the nose of those who carry you seems to be your favourite thing to do. You grab my nose, pull it and bend over my cheeks and give a kiss that makes my cheek drip! And then laugh as though you got tickled. Who can resist biting this kind of a baby?

What!?!? A frock on me!!!???

30 April 2014 - Already half a year old!!!

               You had missed your 4 month vaccination since we were in India and we had thought that you can get it once we go back to the USA. But since our trip got cancelled, we got you vaccinated in Puttur with 3 different visits. Dr. Shreedevi Vikram is now your new pediatrician. The vaccination chart is slightly different than what we had in the USA. So we had to call the doctor in advance to make sure that all the vaccinations you need to get are ready. This time your maternal grand parents were there with me to empathize your pain. We all felt the pain seeing you cry. Your sister too! Though she sometimes troubles you, she can't see her little brother cry. You weighed 7.5 kg on April 1st and 7.75 kg on April 30th and we were all happy with your weight gain. I had worried that you are not getting sufficient milk, but now the worry has gone.

               You like to stay on your tummy now, because with that position you get to see and discover everything. You scratch things that make noise. The most beautiful thing is to see you widely open your eyes when you see things that are new to you. For us, they might be the most common things, but a sound-making plastic cover for you is an amazing object. And you give that awestruck expression.

               What your sister never did and you always do is put things in mouth. You try to taste everything - my cheeks, the floor, papers, leaves, flowers, clothes, everything. Even after sweeping the house clean, you find a tiny bit left somewhere and I find it cute when you scratch that tiny piece with your little index finger and somehow lift it to your mouth. So we keep an eye on you all the time now.

               You try hard to crawl these days, but still have not got the trick! You lift your entire body and stand on your hands and toes for several minutes and then fall on your tummy. Every day you take hundreds of push-ups, but not yet confident enough to take your hand off and keep in front.

             You make several noises and the most common one is the noise of a motor starting. And whenever you do that, you drool all over the floor and make bubbles in your mouth! But none of your 4 grand parents get disgusted if you drool on them.

               You love to hold your toes and put them in your mouth. Seeing you do that, even your sister now reaches for her toes and puts them in her mouth. Sometimes she even tries to taste your toes to see if they are tastier. She gets tempted to carry you and hug you. But you get irritated when she does that. But you always watch her and follow her with your eyes wherever she goes. If she laughs, you too smile, if she is crying, you too give a sad expression.

               What makes my life much easier is that you sleep well at night. You just wake up for milk, drink, and go back to sleep immediately. You don't stay up at night and that gives me some rest.

               On March 20th, we all went to Mumbai and stayed at your atthe's house for 10 days. Your cousins thoroughly enjoyed your company and you too liked seeing them play. Every evening we went for walks and you loved seeing around when kids played.

               Your cradle has turned to be a stroller now and your sister loves to make you lie down in it and take you around. You love her rocking chair as well.

               You stare at us if we are eating something crunchy and you literally drool! Though we have not started solid food for you yet, we put tiny bits of what we eat in your mouth and you love the new taste. Every time you taste something new, you give a very funny expression whether you like it or not.

               You react when we call you and you place your most adorable hands on our cheeks if we bend closer to you. You laugh at funny noises and now smile easily. You hold toys, pass them from one hand to the other, roll on both the directions without any effort now. You constantly vocalize now and that makes everyone come closer to you and talk to you even more. So far for your sister, 'thamma' just existed, but now she has started to take more interest on you and tries to play with you. She tries to pass a few toys to you to check if you take them.

               You have started liking peek-a-boo, and I know that it is going to be a favorite play for many more months. You often bring your hands together and keep holding them. You take 2 or 3 naps during the day, but they are just half an hour each. You keep turning round and round in the same place now and that is adorable.

               

A Day From My Life When Aniket Was 3 Weeks Old

Have no time even to open my blog! Sorry, this is how busy I am now with you and your sister! Will update this page when I get time in future, if I remember how my day went.

1 May 2014 - 1 Year and 7 Months Old

               You have reached the toddlerhood, so that means, I get to hear new words like "no!" and mood swings. Mealtime is a mess! Also I get those wet, sloppy kisses and get to see you rock for those nursery rhymes. Nobody can resist this dancing baby! Your weight gain has slowed down. All those rolls of pudge is disappearing from your arms, legs and chest!

               Your curiosity has doubled my work. The drawers get emptied every now and then. You want to see what is there in cupboards and inside boxes. You stand on your toes to peep at things that you can't reach! You love to empty each and everything - boxes, bags, dustbins, purses. Removing batteries from a torch, pretend eating with spoons and bowls, pretend feeding amma, pull down the piles of neatly folded clothes, empty boxes, put key into a lock, wear elders' sandals and walk, pull the zip and open a purse - these are some of your favorite pastime activities.  

               Meanwhile, you have started eating less both because you are lost in playing and discovering and because of the hot weather in India. You only keep drinking milk (jaayi), tender coconut (bombi) juice (joochu) and water (jeeji). It has become difficult to feed you solid food now. You are losing all that baby fat as well. And the mosquitoes here are taking away all your fat and also making you get a million rashes all over you. We have tried all the possible medicines starting from Ayurveda to Allopathy. None of the leaves are taking away the rashes, nor the ointments are removing those scars! The other day, when you roamed around, you recognized "sambrani" leaf, pulled out one, squeezed it and rubbed on your legs and even on your eyes and then screamed that it burns! Another reason for the rashes is that you sit on the ground all the time, love to play with mud and never come inside the house. When it is very hot outside, you forcefully shut the doors to keep you inside the house. You understand that it is "ujji" outside, but still you cry to go out. The minute you see sandals (Chappi), you want to wear them, then you want me to wear my sandals and then you cry to take you out for walk! The walk is supposedly to see 'umbe', 'peepi' and 'bus'.

             Now a days you communicate a lot and understand so many things. Sometimes you give me a shock with your new vocabulary. I keep trying to introduce you a new word and you seem to ignore. But after a few days, from nowhere you use that word in the right situation!

               You cry if you don't get what you ask for or if mom doesn't let you do what you want, but the next minute if we divert your attention, you start smiling or singing. You love to experiment and when I say not to do something, you don't stop it unless you test it by yourself. Things like throwing a cup or climbing stairs without holding. Your memory is not well developed, so sometimes even after getting hurt from something, you repeat the action. You banged a door keeping your finger in between and after you are done with crying, you went to do that again!

               But after you touched "oodu batthi" at Bekur and got a boil on your tiny finger, you didn't go to repeat it. You learnt that it is hot and learn't the word "ujji". There after every time I said "it is ujji", you didn't go to touch it.

               You sometimes show separation anxiety and throw temper tantrums. Especially when I carry your little brother and walk inside to feed him and somebody takes you out to divert your attention, you cry for me and if you get very angry, you even roll on the floor. And as soon as you see me, you come running for me and ask me to carry you. This makes me feel terribly guilty and walking away from you carrying your brother is the most difficult thing I get to do several times a day.

               Sometimes you demand for things you are not supposed to ask and get angry when I don't give it to you. You throw temper tantrums, so that you get what you want. Another favorite play of yours is now crawl and walk backwards. You don't stop it when we tell you to stop. Even when I show my serious face and say "no", you still continue to walk backwards laughing aloud!

               I am trying to stop bottle feeding, even you like to drink in a tumbler or from a water bottle. But when you are really thirsty, you cry for only your bottle. Tumbler is just for you to play and when you are done playing, all of a sudden you pour the remaining milk on the floor.

              When your brother was 1 month old, you had just began to walk steadily. Sometimes you held some random objects and walked for balance. One day when I changed his diaper, you grabbed the used diaper and started walking. Your granny held your hand, directed you to the bathroom and made you throw that diaper into the dustbin. When you did that, we all clapped and you liked it. The next time, once again it repeated and there after, the minute I changed your brother's diaper, you came running to take the dirty diaper and throw it in the dustbin and get claps and give a smile of achievement.

               On the 17th February 2014, you climbed stairs on your own for the first time at my Puttumava's house. You liked it so much that you kept climbing the stairs and getting down for 2 hours and I had to stay right behind you the entire time with my arms stretched to catch you when you fall down.

               You had been into the habit of holding my 'thaaLi' and 'Karimani' when you go to sleep even before you were one year old. But after your brother was born, you kept asking for it even more. Those two days when I stayed at the hospital, it gave you the sense of security. There after, every time you saw him with me, you immediately asked for my 'karimani'. Later on you wanted 'karimani' to sleep, to eat and every time I carried your brother. In India we had to visit so many places and it was dangerous to give you my golden karimani when you walk around. So your Jogibettu ajja got an artificial one for you with the same shaped 'thaaLi'. Because if the shape is slightly different, you throw it even in sleep and get angry. That's why you don't take Bekur ajji's 'karimani'. But when you saw my original one, you started throwing the artificial one and asked for mine. I stopped wearing it for some time and when I started wearing it again, you once again wanted only my original karimani. I tried so many things to stop this habit, but nothing works. Still whenever I carry your brother, you need my karimani, to eat, you need it, to sleep, you need it, when you get hurt, you need it, when you see strangers, you need it, when you are scared, you need it. And I don't know what to do!

               You like to push toys, pull, drag things on the floor like - chairs, teapoy and other heavy things. You use all your energy for this hard work and even sweat! But you still want to do that to burn the calories!

               You love to look at yourself in mirror and you give that shrunk nose smile at your reflection. You don't try to touch the mirror baby now, you know that it is you. And when we video chat with your dad if I maximize your picture, you start dancing and talking even more. More than you talk to others, you talk to yourself!

               You are now 19 months old and these are the words in your vocabulary now - 

Relations : appa, amma, thamma (thammeeeee - when you are in love with your brother), ajja, ajji, maama, etthe (atthe), anna (any small boy), baaba (baava).

Body Parts : thale, kannu, memme (moogu), kemi, baayi, kaayi (kai), kaalu.

Animals : taami (our dog - used to call taati till 17th month), bow bow, pucche, miyaav, ambe (loves cow the most), kaake, kaa kaa, kokkokko (koli), aange (aane), akki (hakki), fish.

Vehicles : bus, loli (lorry), kaa (car), baiku (bike), beeshi (JCB), shikka (rickshaw), jeepu (jeep), chuku chuku (train). 

Other words : mum mum, jaayi, jeeji, joochu, bombi (bonda), oppa (kiss), peepi, ele, chaami (was chaachi till 17th month), aay (hi), biddudu (biddatthu), jaanji (jenu), dumma (fall), chappi (chappal), kanthu (current), baabe, paapu, baby, badhabadha (bada bada goni - song to turn around), tata, bye, thikuthe (brush), cheemcheem (rub her teeth with finger), aapan (open), kos (close), aku (haaku, thegi is also 'aku'), thaa, baa, leth (light), fan (was 'fa' till 17th month), office (was 'off; till 17th month), aan (on), aaf (off), penthu (pants), ka (karimani), ujji, thotha (scratch), paaapa (kondaata), daadi (sleep), donda (bath), daabi daabi (bath in tub - learnt after the rhyme - "every day when I make my way to the tubby, I see a little fellow who is cute yellow and chubby, rub-a-dub-a-dubby rub-a-dub-a-dubby"), thochi, thachi, chichichi (pee), oppattha (oppa idda?), ahaha (if something tastes good), be (beda), na na na (when we poke her tummy, this is after the mobile application Tom cat), aathu, kaali (empty), cap cap cap (clap), thukuthe (hatthutthe), thenku (thank you), boobi (boobu), baabu (medicine), tappi (hat), baLe (bangle), maLe (rain), biddatthu (fell down), hello, jump, keetha (key kotta), phone, balele/banana, bashaath (shahabas).

Songs you sing :
1. A-A-Apooo B-B-Baaal C-C-Kaat D-D-Dolll (Was only till ball till 16th month)

2. Baa baa baashee (Baa baa black sheep).

3. Udaaaa........the the the (high pitch), appa, ajji, ajja, aayda (Aadya), ethu (Keth - Aniket). mum mum... jaayi... daadi... ichi chi chi chi... (laugh) - (udda baaninda boochu bitthu).

4. Jaajaa ji (Jaala ketthi)

5.Ve-ve-ve (The wheels of the bus - baby cries ve ve ve).

6. Tinka tinka, avai wa, appe aai (Tinkle twinkle, how I winder, Ap above the world so high) - with action.

7. Kaachi kaachi (You can't catch me - 5 little monkeys swinging on a tree). - with action.

8. Daadi daadi ooooo (Daddy daddy, I love youuuu).

9. Wo wo wo yo bo.. Whaaaaay!!!! (Row row row your boat.. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream..) - with dance.

10. Beke beke (beke beke tharakaari) - walks around with something on her head - supposedly tharakaari.
11. Dance for kalla bekku bandithu, atta itta noditu, sutta mutta thirugitu, dubba bidditu - bend the knees and walk, turn around and fall down.
12. Baala ollevru nam missu (keep hands on your waist and shake it).

               We went to Kaniyooru and got your ears pierced at Udaya doctor's clinic on the 3rd February 2014, you look beautiful.

               You have got many gifts from everyone in India. Almost everyone gave you money and I had to take their blessings instead of you. Your sodara mava gave you clothes, masks and other things. You liked slate the most and you scribble a lot. Now a days you say that you are writing "Aadya" and draw circles and lines. Your sodara atthe gave you clothes, cars, a soft toy and a music toy. Ajja-ajjis have given golden chain, ear rings, clothes, toys and their gifts are never ending. Your Shaila atthe's sisters gave you a soft toy too. Your Pavithra-Chaithra-Amritha atthes have given you toy phone, doll and bangles. Your Pilya ajji has given you clothes and clips. Roopa doddamma has given you clothes. Your great grand parents have given you clothes. Your Savithri ajji has given silver anklets. And the list goes on. When your Chaitra atthe's mom (Shaku ajji) gave you money, you beautifully said "thank you" to her. For now, you love the 3 wheeled cycle your grandpa got for you and your brother sits happily in the seat behind yours.

               You liked dogs a lot in India, called Taami as Taati. You used to pinch his ears and say "key kotta"! Poor dog, used to let you do whatever you wanted to do. Taami even used to come close to you ans sit wherever you went. After he died, you kept asking for Taati every now and then. Every evening you wanted to stand near the gate at Bekuru to see the umbe return to its house. One day you even made me carry you and walk behind an umbe almost till its house. On the way, some neighbors tried talking to you and gave you some biscuits and chocolates. I said, "no, thank you, she doesn't eat them" and even before I completed that sentence, you grabbed all of those things. I asked you to give it back to them and you refused to give it back. When we went a 'pooje' at Barlaya's house, you stretched your hand for 'oota dakshine' and were happy to get money!

               You said "chaachi" for chaami in the beginning and now you say it right. What made me get surprised is that you recognized that it is chaami wherever you saw a photo or a statue. You started doing Namaskara with hands in USA itself and took your hand around the Deepa and touched your forehead. Later on you noticed us and started doing Namaskara standing on your knees and touch your head to the floor. You like to hear Shankha. And the other day when the power went off, your granny got "Chimini deepa" and you took your hand around the fire and did chaami! In Bangalore, when you went to a temple with granny, you did "sashtanga namaskara" saying 'chaami' and then turned to your back and continued to lie down there saying "daaadi" in front of the huge crowd! You even put mud on your forehead (prasada) and say chaami.

               Aniket looks very happy and starts smiling the minute he sees you. Doesn't take his eyes off you when you are around. You too love him so much and when he is in his cradle, you go and rock him even when he is already asleep. Sometimes that wakes him up. You love him, but when I take him, you don't like to share your mom with him, that's when he gets a few beatings on his head. The first place you hit him is his head or sometimes you pull his hair hard. Aniket grips everything he gets and sometimes even your hair when you go close to him. You get angry and pull his hair. If he hits you by mistake when he is playing, you hit him back.

If he grabs your toys, you first pull it off from his hand and then hit him several times on his head for taking it! Sometimes it makes me emotional to see you both smile at each other and to see that intimate bonding of sister and brother. You are a baby and yet you try to take care of your little brother sometimes.

When he wakes up from sleep crying and if I am yet to reach him, you go to him and talk to him or you touch him, rock him if he is in his cradle. Which mother can stop tears seeing this?!!

                When we went to Mudipu (Your mava's house) in January, we went to terrace in the late evening. The lights were on. For the first time, you saw your shadow. You tried a lot to kick it off and to push it away and take your legs away from it. Pushed me to go away from my shadow as well. Lifted your leg and noticed that even the shadow lifted its leg and you were so innocently amazed. You even got angry and the play with shadow went on for more than half an hour and we had no energy left to laugh for any longer!

               You repeat so many words after us, if some words make sense to you, you repeat it many times. You try to imitate us all the time and even our voice and tone. I had been asking you "mum mum maadtheya? huh?" and realized that I was adding "huh?" at the end only after you started saying "mum mum maadthe, huh?"!

               Now you have the habit of walking on the tip of your toes may be to increase the speed of walking. But your Jogibettu ajja says that you are practicing to wear high heeled shoes in the future. You like to sit on the aracanuts in the yard, throw them around and run behind kittens. You liked the sprinkler water at "thota" and wanted to get drenched. You show the door lock and tell me to open it and there is no way that I can fool you now. Whether you want to go out or not, you always want the doors to be open.
               You have the habit of saying "purka" every time you make that sound! When we went to a 'pooje', you did it and said aloud. I was little embarrassed and didn't repeat the word. You thought that I didn't understand it and said aloud over and over again until I said "Yes, you did purka"!

               You know that you get to see appa in the laptop and now every time you see a laptop, you remember him and ask for appa. He has sent you many toys and diapers through amazon. But you don't let your brother touch any of your toys nor his. All the toys are supposedly yours! The other day, when we were sitting in jeep, and a person with white full sleeved clothes passed by in his bike and you called him "appa". I said, that is not him and you pointed at him, called him 'appa' and then looked at my face as if to say, appa went there and call him back. You recognize him when you see his photos. Yesterday, you looked at the laptop and said "appa". I said, you can't see him now, he has gone to office. And you asked "kantu??" (No current to see him?)

               When you are not supposed to something, I say "aaga!". You know what are the "aaga" things, the minute you start doing the restricted things, you keep repeating "aaga" as you continue to do it. Things like drinking dirty water at bath time. If you don't like me take away things you are holding, you tell me "aaga!" with your firm voice.

               You like to smell tulasi and peepi. And you like it when Bekuru ajji does "Ukkaachi" for you and you let her stop even when she is tired. For some time, you loved playing with big hands, especially Jogibettu ajja's. You kissed it, rubbed it on your face, put it on your legs and tried to put it to sleep and it was fun to watch, grandpa felt proud!
               We had gone to Mumbai for 10 days and you enjoyed the trip. Your first train journey was to Bangalore, you were sleepy when we got in. You got scared and cried for an hour and even at night woke up several times and cried. Mumbai journey was not that bad since it was the second train journey. After this trip, you called me "Umatthe" for many days, because your baava called me so.

               Suhas took your artificial karimani and asked me if Aadya is going to marry Aniket in future and I said, siblings don't marry. He asked if cousins can get married and I said sometimes they do. He immediately took the 'ka' and told you, "Aadya baa, aanu ninna marry maadthe!"

               Every day in Mumbai you waited till evening and ran to the play area with baavas and liked it so much that you didn't want to come back. I was getting amazed over and over again to see you get along with other kids, try all the rides and enjoy it totally even after a few falls. After the play time, you played with baavas in water while taking bath. You and your baavas and granny sleep together in a row. At Mumbai, you never asked for a cradle, slept when baavas slept and ate when baavas sang for you with action.
               You had seen your Bekuru ajja shave and in Mumbai you got a piece of plastic that resembled razor and tried shaving. Got a few scratches all over your cheeks and chin. When I had dinner, you sat on my lap and Ashoka mava asked me to give you some pickle. You liked it so much that you wanted to keep licking it. You even like to eat raw mangoes, like the sour taste. Banana chips are your favorite and also ice cream.
               Along with ajja and me or with ajja and ajji, you had bike rides to Uppala several times. But your first bike ride sitting in the front was with Ashoka mama on March 28th, 2014.

             Your Jogibettu ajja had been asking for a kiss from you from a long time and one day finally you kissed him, that too was on his lips! He was all happy and said, "Uma your daughter is an American girl for sure!"
               When you had a hair cut at Uppala, you cried from the beginning till the end, but the new hair cut looked nice on you. When you went to the press, you tried all the buttons on the printing machine and the photocopy machine.
               The other day, I was reading a news paper and there was a picture of a bore-well truck that looked more like a bus. So I told you, "see, a bus!" and you corrected me, "loleee" (lorry, not bus)!
               Your brother has started saying "ba bba bba bba..." and since may be he is teething, he folds his lips when he says that. You looked at him one day and there after every now and then when you see him, you fold your lips, imitate him and say "ba bba bba bbaaa..." and then laugh looking at my face! You take away the powder bottle every time I put some on your brother after his bath.

               Peek-a-boo is still one of your favorite games. You never seem to get tired of it, but we do. In your nursery rhyme video collection, when you saw "Molly had a dolly" song, you pointed at the dolly and called it thamma. You were jumping few days ago saying "jump jump jump" and I brough milk for you to drink. And it became "jaay jaay jaay"!
               You were roaming around the house at Bekuru in the evening and after some time, you brought all those treasures you collected to play with later, and kept them all in a corner. Your hand full of treasures had : a little shapeless stone, a dry leaf, a broken lid of a bottle, an old washer's outer ring and a chendupulle (dry baby coconut)! 

               One day you were holding karimani and after sometime, I couldn't find it. When I took you to put you to sleep, you asked for it. I said, "you had it and now it is not there, see mom's neck, it is missing, where did you keep it?" She got down from the cot and walked around it to the cupboard. I followed her and she pointed under the cupboard, looked at my face and said "ka!" I bent down and found it there!

               Your Jogibettu ajji has bought a doll for you and you do all that I do for your brother. You put it to sleep on your lap and since you don't know how to rock it on your legs, you put it on your lap and shake your hit. It is such a fun to watch it. You pour powder on the doll as well and hug it. You even put diaper rash cream to it. The other day, we even found you in the corner of the house facing the wall. When we peeped what you are doing, we found you with your shirt lifted and the doll's face on your chest! :P

               You are just like your dad. You don't like ghee, buttermilk and curd. You had even vomited when I fed you with curd. You came and told me "mum mum maadthe" when I was drinking buttermilk, gave the glass to you. You took a sip and made a dirty face, gave the glass back to me and walked away. Not even one single person finds you resemble me. Each and every person has told me that you look like your dad.
               I had been lightly hitting your head every time you coughed and now a days, you hit your head yourself when you cough. You love to imitate phone conversation. You pick land line phones at random as you walk and talk for a while with conversation starting "hello.. and in between you say "appu appu" a few times, laugh a little, talk and then say "bye" and keep the phone. Sometimes you just leave it hanging and the other day when somebody said that he could not reach us through the land line, we realized that it is hanging.
               There is a ball at home that gives light when you hit it on the floor. Every time you want a light in it, you search for your brother and you hit his head to get the light! God knows how these older siblings get such ideas right from this age! But when your brother cries, you tell me, "thamma kootha" (kooguttha) for me to go and attend.
               When your ajji left you at the yard and went to 'thota', you cried that you want to go with her. But she had left you at home to save you from mosquitoes. You wanted to go, stood in the yard, cried a little and then told to yourself "ajji office!" (ajji went to office, so I can not go).
               The new thing now is asking the same 3 questions over and over again. The 3 questions are : thamma? (my answer is thamma - daadi), pucche? (my answer is pucche - hothu), kantu? (my answer is current ille). You asked that questions 50 times each few days ago. I was tired of answering. After you slept that I was finally saved. But the next day as soon as you woke up, you started with them again. And today is the 4th day, the questions seem never ending!

               We went to a studio to take your passport photos for the visa extension. And you sat as he instructed. But the minute he lifted his camera to take a shot, you lifted your hands and did 'namaskara'. He came to you, put your hands down on your lap and again when he went and lifted the camera, you too lifted your hand and did 'namaskara'. He had to try 4 more times to get a shot with your hands down!
               Whenever you do something good, you say "bashaath" (Shahbas!) to yourself and give a proud smile! You have two self discovered words : ashika (means keep brother down from my lap) and keethu (leave you in front of a tap and let you play in water).
               I feel sad that I have left so many stories of yours while updating this diary, you are not giving me time to recall them. And even as I type, I got to keep an eye on the girl who is smiling at me, keeping her head between her legs and standing upside down right now!