22 February 2015 - Mister Chatter Box!

               On October 26^th, 4 days after your first birthday, there were functions on your behalf at Jogibettu. You were named that day as “Aniket” with the help of the priest and officially we gave you rice. Your Divyatthe held you at the time of receiving blessings as per our traditional customs and you were sleepy and cried your lungs out. By the end of the day we all were so exhausted, but we celebrated

Deepavali together with the relatives. It was a beautiful end to your day. And on 25^th night, there were many close relatives at home helping with veggies for your naming ceremony’s lunch. So we prepared cake and celebrated your first birthday for the second time.

               You can now easily climb stairs up and down not reaching the top most stair nor getting down to the lowest stair. Usually you climb up and down holding something tiny in your hand, you climb up, throw that object down, go down and bring it up and throw it down again and repeat it 15 to 20 times without getting bored.

You also like sand a lot.  Your sister and you can go on playing in the beach for hours together without getting tired.

               On November 11^th, you climbed your cycle on your own without help. You give akka your hand to do "uddaaaaa biddatthu" and you laugh when she tickles. You keep talking the entire day and the only time the house feels quiet is when you are asleep. You repeat everything we say whether you know the meaning or not. Your ajji even tried complicated words to check if you repeat after her. You do try to say them all. If you are asleep and your sister is awake, she talks in a low voice and lets you sleep. But there can't be a time where you are awake and your sister is asleep. The minute you see her sleeping, you call her "akkaaaaaaa" as loud as possible until she wakes up. 

               Your vocabulary is very good compared to other kids of your age. There are 2 more boys of your age, we keep meeting them in functions and their mothers keep asking me what you do to compare with their kids. It’s been the same always that you are one step lagging behind in your motor skills. They already run everywhere and you have not started walking yet. But in vocabulary, you are far too ahead of them. They say only ‘appa’, ‘amma’ and you talk around 100 words already and also make sentences of 2 words.

               Here is a list of words you say now and know the meaning – appa, amma, akka, Aadya, ajja, ajji, doddajji, maama, atthe, baava, anna, thaal(car), peep(jeep), loli(truck), biku(bike), chichya(rickshaw), ele(leaf), mannu(mud), kolu(stick), naayi / bow bow(dog), mem(cat), umbe(cow), akki(bird), kaaka(crow), alli(lizard), chappal, chytthal(cycle), atthi(hatthi-climb), atthide(I climbed), chicchu(switch), faaan(fan), thaith(light), othu(hothu-gone), kantu othu(current is gone), jaayi(milk), jeeji(water), mum mum(food), gaaga(baaga-veggies), enne(oil), thale, kai, kaal, moonu(moogu-nose), nannu(kannu-eye), baai(mouth), allu(teeth), angi(clothes), nanana(banana), chacchakkai(bacchankai-watermelon), jooch(juice), peppa(paper), jojo(cradle), daadi(sleep), alli hopa(lets go there), puppi(kuppi-bottle), poon(spoon), pent(pants),

ganga(manga-monkey), kooka(koocha-let’s sit), kooki-adaa(hide and seek), dooda(donda-bath), dabi dabi(sit inside a tub), fof(phone), booboo(pain), thitthittu(kuttitthu-bang), cheeev(sweets), baby, peepi(flower), thaachi, alli opa(let’s go there), achim(ice cream), choket(chocolate), thaay thaay(thane thane-stand), thai thai(dance), jom(jump), jench(dance), thappa(bottu), dain dain(bells), beg(bag), ajeeee(ujji-hot), key, gaas(glass), etthi(carry me), thattatthe(namasthe), kattuvaaaana(katva-bigiva with action), on, open, kos(close), cheken(shake-hand), baabil(bagilu-door), khaali(empty), ille, battille, pip(clip), thauchi(thochi-throw), deda(beda-no), gaali(air), bale(bangle), bomba(tender coconut) and the list goes on.

               You have become ajja’s pulli. If it is not a time to sleep or feed, then you prefer ging to your grandpa than your mom. Ajja is your favorite and love to hang around with him. Few days ago, we were going somewhere in our car and met ajja on the way. He had come to drop ajji with us and he went back. There was no time to spend with ajja and anyway we were going to ajja’s place in the evening. But you didn’t know that and cried for 15 minutes. None of us could calm you down nor distract you with something else. Finally in the evening when we met him, you were happy. In a way, it is such a good thing to me, because I get some free time, giving you in ajja’s hands. And even he loves spending time with you and gets double energy and double smile on his face.

               You always like to stay outside the house. It doesn’t have to be going for a ride. Even spending time in the yard is fine with you. Hot sun doesn’t come on your way nor the chill in the early mornings. The minute you see the door open, you run outside and refuse to come inside even for food. Even before you started walking, you wanted to wear your sister’s shoes all the time. You used to throw a big temper tantrum if it fell off your tiny feet.

                 On 28^th January 2015, your height was 29.5 inches and you weight is still 8.5 kg.

                 Your sister has a puzzle which she calls ‘pizza’ and when she solves it, we clap for her. You have seen it several times and few days ago you kept a piece of that puzzle in the box and clapped for yourself with a proud smile. We had a good laugh looking at you.

               You pronounce ‘o’ as ‘au’. So thochi is pronounced as thauchi. When someone calls you Ani, you reply ‘au’ which is actually ‘o’ and then laugh. Sometimes you laugh aloud for your own reasons and we laugh looking at your joy and you get excited for no reason. If you see Aadya jump, you hold sofa and start jumping as well. Looking at you, even she imitates you and jumps holding the sofa.

               You are quite innovative. Use things for the purpose you are aware of. You use sticks to comb your hair, bottles to roll chapathi. You saw some hair in the bathroom and called it “meaow” thinking that it is a cat. You were lying down on my lap, remembered breast milk and didn’t know how to ask for it. You called it ‘bomba’(tender coconut).

Strange thing is that you don’t get tickled. People try to tickle you, you smile for them, but don’t get tickled. Your sister does “Uddaa baaninda boochu bitthu” to your hand and tickle you at the end. You laugh with her but, never move away from tickling.

               If ajji asks you, ‘what does the cat say?”, You tell her mewm. Dog is bobow, cow is umbe……, crow is kaakaa, hen is kokoko. You kaap saying ‘abbi pappaaaa’ with a particular tone all the time. One particular day, you kept singing it for more than 50 times and then next day you forgot it. After a week, it started again and after 15 days, we heard it again. 

               If we ask you to sing, you say “aaa aaaa aaa aaa” in a high tune and then we all have a hearty laugh. If we ask you to dance, you try to jump.

You like fried food a lot and also sweets, Chocolates and ice cream are your favorite. You also like those wild tiny berries we get around the house – like keple kayi, choori kayi, ajji budka and such things.

               When you don’t want something, you immediately say ‘deda’(beda). If I continue feeding you even after you said ‘deda’, you repeat it with a tone. And if I still continue, I hear ‘deda’ in a high pitch. Just to hear that funny tone and to watch the angry little baby, I pretend to be a deaf at times. If someone sneezes in front of you, you keep pretend sneezing for the next 10 minutes. 

               Like all other kids, peek-a-boo is one of your favorites. And you say ‘kooooo’ holding your ears instead of eyes. Because you know that if you close your eyes, you can’t see our expression.

               Since you have got your first 6 teeth now, we have started brushing them. You like the brushing time and even before the brush touches your teeth, you want to spit in the sink. You have seen your sister do that and you act as a grown up and try to spit though nothing come out other than the spitting sound ‘thoo thoo’.

               You carefully watch your sister all the time and we get surprised to see you do things after her. Few days ago, Aadya sand ‘a-b-c-d’ song, you said ‘e-g-g’. We laughed thinking that it was a coincidence. Your granny said, “oh! Even Ani know the song! Sing it again”. You immediately said with the right tone – ‘a-b-c-d e-g-g’! Also, a few days later, we heard you sing ‘nony nony yeh papa, nee nee nee na papa’! I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear ‘old mc donald’ a few days later!

                 Your mama and atthe have come from the USA on Feb 8^th, they have brought a lot of goodies for you – chocolates, clothes and toys. You loved them all, but didn’t recognize them. They were so eager to play with you and carry you. After the 3^rd day, you started talking to them and after a week, you became friends with them and started climbing mama’s head as well.

               You are so small compared to how your aged kids are supposed to look. You are 1 year and 4 months old, but still weigh 8.5 kg. So light to carry and your 0 to 3 month clothes still fit you. You are trying to walk these days. From last 2 to 3 weeks, you are constantly trying to walk and on January 25^th, we were at a wedding hall (Ashwin mama’s wedding) and you walked around a lot holding your dad’s fingers. On January 28^th, you walked a few steps without holding anything. And now finally you can walk upto 10 steps without any falls though you walk like a miniature drunk.