The year of ‘The Princess & the Frog'

Sitting on the couch, on New Year ’s Eve, I can’t help but reminisce on the past months and want to capture some snippets before it is over. (Yes, our plans for new year celebration involve sitting in front of the couch and enjoying my brother’s cooking with Ken & Cathy who are our neighbors, friends & surrogate parents all in one.)

“This was the year of the princess and the frog” – Cathy’s words from her Christmas party rang in my foggy mind while I was attempting to wake up this morning. Why did those words get stuck in my head? Somehow they sounded appropriate for our lives this year.

Cathy, of course was referring to Diya & Aadi’s Halloween costumes this year. Diya had chosen the theme as she got to be the princess and Aadi really did not mind being a frog. The costumes suited them perfectly :)

As, I look back over the year, I can trace ‘the princess’ and ‘the frog’ over and over again. Here are some instances:

- Diya got into gardening this summer. She spent a lot of effort and focus on this and grew beautiful flowers. Aadi ate them.
- Diya is already reading fluently just 6 months into kindergarten while Aadi can croak only 3 words: 1) ribbit; 2) choo-choo and 3) car.
- Diya was a picture of perfection at Cathy’s Christmas party in her long flowing dress and impeccable table manners. Aadi ran around their house chasing cats – his tie askew and shirt untucked (yes he wore a suit !) and almost set fire to their house as he tried to hand me a burning candle.
- Diya is learning to control her temper and keep some patience. Aadi’s latest trick is to throw himself on the ground and bang his head on the floor at the first sign of being denied.
- Diya is now sleeping in a bunk bed being very careful to climb up and down from it. Aadi hopped on the bed so much that I had could not allow him on it even while I watched over him. I had to put him back in his crib right away. He tried to chew his way out of there.
- Diya shows her love for Aadi by kissing him. He reciprocates by pulling her hair.

It is amazing to see the change this year has brought in Diya as she matured as a big sister. As for Aadi, maybe our collective love and the thousands of kisses that we shower him with will turn him into a prince some day. I hope not too soon though, I wouldn’t mind if he remains a frog a little while longer. These years are too precious and they are going by too fast !

Happy New Year !!