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. :)

Best Birthday Ever

Suvo and Diya planned a surprise party for me this evening for my birthday. It was just us but it was beautiful. It really was a big surprise because there was no way for this to come together. We had earlier planned that we will attempt to go out for dinner with the kids – nothing too fancy, someplace close by, it would have been challenging but we had decided to give it a try.

Aadi and I are sick – I had fever all night and all day today. Diya is coughing too and Suvo is starting to sneeze as well. It has been raining nonstop since yesterday and it is very cold and windy. I could not even make it to work. We decided to drop the dinner plan.

Suvo got home from work and picked up Diya from school. Suvo looked quite beat up but Diya’s eyes twinkled. She came to me and told me – “Mamma, we went to the store but did not buy anything special – okay”. She was trying hard to suppress her smile. I was too dull to register. I asked Suvo if I should go pick up Aadi (since he looked so tired). He was happy to oblige. On my way out, Diya came running and said – “Mamma, drive very slow” … I thought she was concerned about the slippery roads … but then she added “don’t come back too soon”. Now something clicked but before I could put the pieces together my reflexes yelled at her to go back in the house or she will catch a cold standing in the garage without a jacket.

It took me longer than usual to bring Aadi back as he was still finishing his food at daycare. Diya was hyper excited when we entered home. Aadi was throwing a fit as he wanted a longer car ride and did not want to come home yet. Diya asked me to close my eyes and instructed me to come with her. I left Aadi rolling on the floor and followed her. She screamed “surprise” and I opened my eyes to candles, lit up fire place and dancing strobe lights !!! Happy Birthday !!!

Diya was in her red princess gown all dolled up. Suvo was busy cooking in the kitchen. They had bought a chocolate cake, a bunch of cupcakes with “happy birthday” signs on them and arranged in a tray with candles burning all around. Diya had decorated the family room with all her art work on the walls. She also had selected several gifts for me which included several pairs of earrings – one set was all bright blue, another pair looked like hanging quarters and there were some other fancy ones. There was also a lipstick, a candle and a box of mini oreo cookies which she claimed for herself. She and Suvo had bought cards. Her card had a little dangling paper bird – there was a huge fight as Aadi wanted the bird for himself. Suvo’s card said that I was his wife as well as his girl friend.

I changed into a sari by popular request. Aadi checked out my sari and my jewelry and exclaimed wow many times and then started to pull at these to dress himself up – so we changed him into a kurta. Only Suvo ran around the house in his shorts and vest cooking and arranging and taking pictures. Diya started getting restless about cutting the cake. We patiently waited until Suvo could free himself from the kitchen. Meanwhile the kids danced to Boney M (our favorite evening activity).

Finally, Suvo was done cooking and changed and we cut the cake or cakes. Aadi wanted to play with the knife and the candles but in the end satisfied himself with the plastic “happy birthday” signs from the cupcakes. Suvo announced to Diya that he was going to put on music that “Mamma liked when she was a little girl” … hmmm … what music? He surprised me with a song that I knew I liked but could not place …. It was “All out of love – from Air Supply”. I used to love this song back in college. How did he know about it? I do not remember ever telling him that.

Soon Aadi got tired and hungry and needed a change of diaper, meanwhile Diya managed to burn her leg with the strobe light (yes it gets that hot). A lot of crying ensued from both Diya and Aadi. We quickly changed gears (both literally and figuratively) and got going on feeding, changing, calming and dressing the kids for bed. That done we cleaned the kitchen, did the dishes and had dinner with “Dil to bachcha hai ji – from Isqiya” playing in a loop. Not so surprising end to a lovely evening.
All in all, one of my best birthday celebrations – one that I am not likely to forget.

End of a Tiring Day

Sobering end to a tiring day ...

After an exhausting day at work Aadi served me a glass of red wine.

The off-white carpet in the basement drank it all.