Why Diya Can't Finish Her Breakfast?

(Alternate title: "Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyo Aata Hain ")

It's about 8:20am on a Monday morning.

Ankur had to leave early for work.

I was rushing to get change Aadi's diapers, feed him a bottle of milk and get him ready for dropping him at the daycare.

Diya was supposed to finish her milk and cereal by that time - so that when I was done with Aadi, we could run out of the house ... by 8:35am, get Diya to the bus stand ... by 8:38 am (that's the precise moment when her school bus arrives), drive like a maniac ... for the next 20 min to drop Aadi at his daycare,  and still make it to my morning meeting ... at 9:00.

Which means that Diya had 15 (luxuriously long morning) minutes so finish her cereal.

Instead when I came back to the kitchen I found that Diya's bowl of cereal was untouched. She was busy making a car out of cereal on her spoon for Aadi!

The situation does not really change much even if her breakfast already comes decorated!

Wheels On The Car Go ...

Aadi never gets bored with cars. Or choo-choo trains. Never ever.

He can play with a car for hours and hours. He carries one to his bath, needs one to sleep, plays with one during lunch or dinner, and holds one in his hands all the while during his play hours.

In fact, he seems to be always mesmerized to see the wheels of a car go round and round. I think that he cannot get over the fact that round things can roll.

Aadi had just started speaking out a few single words. His most favorite ones are "Caa..." and "Wow". And he always uses those two together in the only two word sentence that he knows!

Can't wait to take him to Cars 2!

Momentary Lapse of Attention

This happened one afternoon when we were trying to make the kids sleep in their new bunk bed. 

Ankur was busy with folding the laundry. I was in the basement trying to justify the $$ we spent on my Korg KARMA keyboard. Ankur heard Aadi waking up after his noon-time nap and was waiting for him to come running and say "Mamma!!". 

Instead, there was complete silence. 

Ankur suddenly had a bad feeling about it and ran to find out where he was. She found him in the study. 

Aadi was grinning from ear to ear with immense satisfaction. He just finished trying out what his Didi taught him a few days back. He could now do face painting all by himself. What an accomplishment!

We didn't have the heart to take photos of our newly replaced carpet.

Money

It has been quite a while since my last post. It's not that nothing funny or interesting happened in the interim period. In fact, every day Diya or Aadi does something which absolutely deserves a blog entry.  It's just that I have been plain lazy. (It's so easy to think that I'll write tomorrow ... and then keep repeating the same thought every day ... until all the beautiful memories fade away, and there's nothing more to write.)

Anyway, this incident took place yesterday ... and I had to get back to blogging :)

I picked up Diya from her Adventure Club after work around 5:30pm and was driving home. Diya finished updating me with all the cool things she learnt that day. Then she asked, "Baba, I hope you are not very tired today, and can play with me".

I was mildly surprised by her tender thinking. I asked her, "Why do you think I will be tired?"

She replied, "Well, you must have worked pretty hard today. I know, Mamma and you work very hard every day so that you get the money". I realized that she's uttering back the same answer I give her when she asks me why do I have to go to work.

Then, after a pause, she asked in a concerned tone, "So, did you get some money today?"

It was not a paycheck day, so I truthfully answered, "Not today, darling."

"Buy why?!"

"Well, we are paid every other week."

She seemed to be satisfied for a while. Then she asked, "Baba, can you tell me something?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me where do the people get the money who give you the money?!"

I kept quite for the next minute (the first 30 sec to suppress my laughter, and the next 30 sec to think about what's the simplest reply to her question). We were almost home, and I was not able to think a 1-2 line answer. So, I decided to play a joke on her and end the topic. I replied, "Well, you know every (other) Friday those people give us some money. And after the weekend, on Monday, we give them back their money."

She thought for a moment. Then she said, "You know Baba, I don't really understand how will that work out. Well ... whatever ... Mamma is already back!" And she ran out of the car as soon as parked the car.

I think I have to pay for that over smart reply someday. Eagerly waiting for that "delicious" moment :).

Who is Your Favorite Family Member to Eat?

What a weird question, you might think. Apparently not so for Aadi. Let me explain ....

This weekend was highly unusual … the kids slept in late. It was past 8:30am and I had started to wonder if I was indeed daydreaming. I opened one eye, checked the watch, pinched my cheek and went back to sleep – count (and exploit) your blessings while you can.

Soon enough I heard rustling (instead of screaming – how strange !) and I found Diya padding in with Aadi in tow …. complete with blanket, pillow and a miniature Lightning McQueen. The kids wanted to cuddle and laze around a little while longer … who am I to counter God’s will?

We (I) pretended to ignore the stinky diaper and foul breaths and decided to soak in some quality time with kids in the morning. But, I guess, our growling stomachs took over our subconscious minds and Diya and I started singing – “I like to eat eat, apples and bananas”. Aadi joined in as well but was having trouble saying “bananas”. So I tried to break the word up for him into “baba” (means Father) and “nana” (Grandfather) both of which he speaks easily. We practiced saying baba and nana several times. Once Aadi was comfortable we started the sing along again. All three of us chorused – “ I like to eat eat apples and ________ (here Diya and I paused to give Aadi the spotlight and finish the line”. He took a breath, gave me his brightest smile and yelled “MAMMA” and launched himself in my arms for a hug and a slobbery kiss !!

I guess Baba and Nana were not delicious enough for him, he wants to eat his Mamma. :)