Puppy Birthday!

I mean, Happy Birthday, Pup! I should have published this post yesterday, but turned out I had other things to do!!
Don't ;) yet...
It turned out to be quite a day!
Started out at 7.30 with me calling Pup to wish him. 37! Wasn't it just a couple of years back that we celebrated his 30th? No? Hmm...
Anyways, He answered the phone in a groggy voice from his hotel in NY City. He was in NY for a couple of days meeting with clients. He was just waking up after a long night of Cut-throat Pool with his colleagues! The girls and I took turns wishing him, and then my parents (They are visiting from India for a couple of months).
Fast forward to 2.30PM...Pup called me from LaGuardia to let me know he's getting on an earlier plane and should be home by 4.30 - YAY!!
So I wrapped things up fast at work and headed out to pick up T1 and T2 from school. They were both as excited as I was.
Thanks to my mom, we had some awesome food awaiting us including Rasa-Wangi (an eggplant daal, if you will) and "kan-kan" paayasam (or saboodana kheer), two of Pup's favorites!
We then headed out to my sister, Sis-S's place for the night. More awesome food :)
T2 slept on the way over to Sis-S's house, and T1 was having fun with my nieces, P and A2 (A2 is visiting from India - She deserves a separate post - coming soon!). Seemed like T1 and T2 would not miss us, So we decided to head out to watch a movie. Terrible movie it was! Pup was joking that they could have wrapped the movie in 5 minutes! Seriously!!
Anyways, we got back to Sis-S's place close to midnight and T1 was still up watching a movie. Then, she said that she had something to show me - I thought it might be another card for Pup...Instead, she showed a big bandage on her knee!
Rewind to about 10.00PM. They were returning from the Tennis court, and when stepping on an uneven surface, T1 slipped and fell on her right knee.
Both my girls are delicate darlings (sigh!) and all she needed was the sight of blood to keep her wailing for a really long time! Poor sis-S and bil-K!! She must have scared them out of their wits! Sorry guys!
They brought her home and cleaned up her wound and tied a loose bandage around her knee...Thanks!!
I was quite upset when I saw the bruise...for the timing of it - Being Pup's birthday and also because she has Stanford 10 exams next week (ok, I know she's only a Kindergarten-er, it's not like its the SATs...), but still...its her first one of this kind...
Ok! Who am I kidding? I know the real reason is the guilt! For being selfish and wanting to go out to watch a movie...I seldom take up my sister's offer to baby-sit my Ts, cos I worry too much about things getting jinxed...Irrational Fear? Paranoia? Whatever you want to call it...!

T1's obviously still hurting from the pretty nasty scraping. We took her to her Ped. first thing in the morning, who wanted us to x-ray it just to be sure her knee is OK! Which we did. She's mostly ok now...with some Motrin to help reduce the pain...

Anyways, I'm sure it was definitely not how Pup expected his birthday would turn out to be! Sorry Hon! I'll make it up to you...I will take care of the laundry this weekend ;)

Karma Chameleon

Nothing to do with Boy George, here's a glimpse of how T2 can change her colors in a split second!
This happened yesterday...I woke up after snoozing the alarm a few times like I always do. Soon T1 woke up, her usual joyous self. I brought T2 to our room and let her lie down for a few minutes - she needs some transition time to wake up (like mommy, like daughter)!
She asked if she could sleep for 5 more minutes, I glanced at the clock...and said yes. It was only 7.30 and we had some cushion!
Soon T1 and I were almost ready and T2 still did not want to wake up...
She complained that she was sleepy and wanted 5 more minutes (Was she snoozing me??)

It was 8.00 already, aka time for PlanB! So, I got all silly and whooshed her to the bathroom like I do often times. She usually loves it. But not today, No siree!
And then it started - just out of the blue came her high-pitched crying.
It started off so high that there was no sense in trying to reason.

I reluctantly left her in the bathroom crying.
I heated up milk for all of us and threw a couple of our favorite Fig and Flax waffles in the toaster oven.
I thought I'd give her some time to calm down, and she did...if only for a minute!

So I braved it back to the bathroom and she wanted her blue blanky. That's a good sign, I thought. The sight of Blue-blanky usually mellows her down.
I asked her what letter she wanted her paste as...
This is another brush-time routine - it's usually "C" for Caterpillar, after her favorite book, "A Very Hungry Caterpillar".
She really wanted to trouble me today, cos she decided she did not want a letter, she asks for me to draw Piglet if not Pooh!
Draw Piglet or Pooh on her brush with her paste?
No kidding! I could almost see a smirk in her 3-year old face. I find it hilarious on hindsight...

It was about 8.20 by then, and I somehow managed to convince her that I'll write a "P" instead. She agreed!! WOW! That was easy!
I thought too soon that her tantrum ended.

Next, she simply refused to get off of the potty to brush her teeth. Gimme a break now, sweetheart! I had to whisk her again and brush her teeth through her screaming.
It was actually a bit easy cos her mouth was open all the time :)

Through her crying, she gargled and then I bathed her, again more crying.

And suddenly the crying stopped. That's it! Just the way it started - no warning!
Like the aftermath of a storm, she was completely calm and gave me a bright smile.
She changed her colors faster than a Chameleon...

She loved the dress I had picked for her (more because she got to wear stockings, I think). She wanted a big huggie. She got 10.

In the next ten minutes, we were out of the garage after getting dressed, drinking milk, taking Vitamins, and having a spoonful of Pankaja Kasthuri, all buckled up and ready for the day!
Slowly I broached the reasoning pep talk...and she nodded her promises to me briskly...

A Good-Weird Feeling?

Have you ever had the strange empty feeling when the kids are not around, yet feel relaxed at the same time?
I'm not talking when they are away at school (or pre-school)...something longer - a few days perhaps?

It happened to me a couple of years ago...

My sis-U and bil-A magnanimously offered to take T1 and T2 with them on a road trip to the Berkshires.
For a whole Week! Some guts they had to even make the proposition!
Of course my parents were going with them too...
...but still offering to take 2 year old T2 and 5 (almost) year old T1 was a gutsy move on their part! They have two girls of their own, S1 and S2 (6 and 3 at the time).
We had no idea how T2 would react to not seeing us for a whole week.

We had quite a few years alone before our biological clocks started sending alarms to have a baby. Time and again, we miss that carefree life, just like anyone else. Now we were given a chance at that for a few days.

We took them up on their offer and drove with them to the Berkshires, stayed overnight and then took a train back home.
The strange feeling started soon after we got on board the Amtrak train! We terribly missed our darling girls and any conversation we had seemed to find a way to end up being about them!
At the same time we were able to value our time alone.
Having an uninterrupted conversation or meal felt very unrealistic...We stopped at Target on our way home. There was no pressure to rush back home like we always do. I cannot even explain what that felt like! I almost feel guilty writing about it.

Before we knew it, the week ended and we were back on the Amtrak. Strangely, it was T1 who was asking for us every once in a while (when she wasn't at the pool or the mountains or a show or a hike or making up silly songs with S1 and S2...).
We were really worried about T2 giving them a hard time. She apparently had taken very well to my bil and he was her designated "ootufier" (yeah, made up that word - the one to feed her). She wanted my sis for everything else, but gave her a cold shoulder when it was time to eat!
I think it turned out not so bad...!
Thanks guys!!

Overall it was a good time away from each other, but we were all SO GLAD to be back together. The whole week gave us a mixture of feelings - of missing, being missed, solitude, and not to mention the Guilt...but I think it made all of us appreciate each other so much more, even if it was only till the next time-out!

Summer Daze

Yes, the Summer Days are coming soon and with them they bring in a whole lot of daze!
I’m talking about the daze I’m in while planning for summer camp!
It’s not even funny! The hours are 9-11AM for good Tennis camps (what is that supposed to mean!?!), or 5-6 hours a day for other speciality camps.
Some of them don’t even offer aftercare, and the ones that do, offer it for an exorbitant amount!!!
Of course, there are the county camps which cost the least AND have great hours.
But we weren't totally thrilled with them last year. They are managed by older teens for the most part, the kids spend a LOTTTTTA time playing in the scorching outdoors and come home B A K E D! There's also the marks (literally) from "pityriasis alba" to think about...!
Also, they stay in a mixed age group setting, which comes with its own set of pros and cons.
The best pro about it was T1 became very independent and responsible during the brief time she attended the camps last year.
That was a huge change for us!!

But the downside is she also learned language and words that she shouldn’t learn yet!
We’ve still not heard her say the real taboo words, at least not when we’re around!?
It’s not just bad language, it’s the “I may be five, but I’m running 25” attitude and the body-language that comes with it.
I’m not ready for that – not yet!

For now, we have decided that we will keep the County camps as a last resort.

This year, we have narrowed down to two different mostly-indoor camps. A few of us have planned to sign-up our kids together, so they won't be alienated. Both camps are a little out of the way, but I hope it works out better than last year!

Maybe in another couple of years, I'll know exactly where to sign-up and just have to be prompt when the registrations open!

And A Partridge in a Pantry…!

…That’s how “The Twelve days of Christmas” ends, at least according to T2.
As much as she amazes us with her knowledge of things as a 3-year old, she amuses us constantly with her baby-talk!

Ever since I wrote the Stay-At-Home Post, I’ve realized how much I dwell on the sighs and sobs of motherhood. Also, I haven't yet written an exclusive on T2 - bad me.

So, I’m going to take a moment to think back about some of T2’s clowning around before she gets all “growed up” on us…
I see it happening already when I see her mature comments –

“I can’t believe we’re going out again”

she sighed, when we stepped out of the house for the nth time on a frenzied Saturday!
Or, when the other day, when she heard a song on Radio Disney, she cried out loud,

“That’s the Jonas Brothers, amma!” SAY WHAT???

Then again, she sings about a partridge in a “pantry”.
We’re finally at a point where we can bravely eat out and come back in one piece…(Spewing out some anti-jinx “Thoos” here).
The other day we were dining at a relatively quiet restaurant when all of sudden she sang out loud:

“Two Turtle Ducks, and a Partridge in a Paaaantryyy!”

(If you haven’t heard it before, the song actually goes – “…two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree…”

She can talk about a lot of amazing things, but gets stumped when she’s asked a question.
Her classic answers include “Snack” (Question: What did you eat for lunch today?) and “I’m fine” (Q: How old are you?)

Have you heard toddlers mix up the contexts of “you” and “I” by precisely reproducing what we say to them?
Both T1 and T2 have kept our laughing bones busy so often with questions like “Can I help you?” (Can you help me?)
T2’s timeless one when she was about 18 months old was

“Can I you me?” (Can I have what you have?)

The most unique gibberish from T2 is the way she adds a “T” –
She loves to add a T to words – brush = brushT; wash = washT; juice = juicT
But then, a few months ago she heard a rumble and said all terrified,

“Appa! I hear HUNDER!!”

Ever since V-day last month, she loves wishing us "Happy Valentine's Day!"
It's become synonymous to "I love you"...
When I get back from work these days, I get greeted with a beautiful smile, a big huggie, and she says,

"Amma, I'm so glad you're back...Happy Valentine's Day!"

In your own words, Happy Valentine's Day to you too honey-bunch!