Accident prone

Tiny is a tough kid. He jumps, falls, brushes himself and goes back to jumping again. We've never fussed over him too much either. When there's an owie, we hug, kiss, cuddle, comfort him only till he feels better and then let him get back to playing. This is only when he,s not in trouble...and I mean serious trouble. He's all of 2 years and 8 months old and there's a list of accidents we've been through already.

Common and almost everyday.. Things we don't even bother much about and respond a kiss and a hug

- falls, bruises, scraped joints

Often, but not Everyday

- cut lips as a result of walking / cycling into walls or furniture. These result in a few drOps of blood and am on high alert. I usually try and soothe it with turmeric / ghee and TRY to restrict him from running too fast 

The irregular ones

When he was learning to walk, he'd lost balance in corners and hit his forehead on some piece of furniture. This has happened thrice already and he's got 3 cuts with visible marks on his eyebrows.

The horrifying one's 

- the first time was on a lazy Sunday morning when S and were playing with Tiny and the little fellow started this thing of bouncing off S's stomach. After doing it several times and with us laughing our heads off, he just started jumping and before we knew it, we heard a loud thud. He had hit his head against the foot of the cot and had slit his eyebrow from half tillthe end. We were so stunned and then the blod started flowing. He was crying and I couldn't think! S was comforting him as I jolted myself back into my senses and brought  a cold towel to press on the wound. Thankfully, the hospital was just 5 mins away from where we lived. Turned out that someone had expired and the staff in the ER was busy completing formalities. We waited, Tiny and S drenched in blood. By now, the little fellow had calmed down and was ready to get back to playing. He was smiling and gurgling at strangers who looked aghast at the sight of a bloody baby. Finally when we did see the doctor, they were thankful that the blow had landed on the socket and missed the eye. He needed to be stitched up, though! So now he sports a scar on a left eyebrow, in addition to the small cut marks he gets every time he walks into a piece of furniture.

- then the incident at the food court in a mall where he fell, face first, off a chair and ended up with a broken tooth!

Inspite of all this, he continues to play the same games, jump to and from places you wouldn't even step on, slide down head first from a big slide (!!!!) etc.

Tiny, till now

Tiny, till now.

So time is flying and Tiny is already 4 months past 2 years. He talks like he's been at it for ages. Every time he runs across the living room, am sure he's going to end up breaking something. Every time I get busy, am sure he'll find ways to make me stop whatever it is that am doing and run to him...either by being too cute and irresistible  or too naughty and intolerable. He' been springing surprises too often for me to keep track.

He's no longer the daredevil that he used to be even until a month ago. He's begun to get a grasp on how most things around him function.. People, places, things etc. it's fascinating to see how a child learns through observation and also by asking questions unabashedly. Unlike before, he doesn't warm up to strangers instantly.

Food -- He still doesn't snack in between meals and prefers savory south Indian meals / snacks to chocolates or cereal or breads! Has started becoming fussy about tastes and textures and spits out anything he finds yucky. Though, I see a little change..he's open to tasting Ice cream and jelly and even asks for repeats. :) He even enjoyed a spoonful of condensed milk while my brother and I were busy licking the tin clean. 

Memory -- is something that is driving me crazy! He remembers incidents, people and places from almost 4 months ago..and very clearly that too. Just last night he asked, "Amma where is Ajjibear (that's what he calls my mom)" I reminded him that she lives in Bombay. And then he starts talking about the lift, his blue cycle, Nikunj baby, meena Ajji,  Sanju aunty, the flyovers, and his favourite memory being a stray incident near Crawford market where a santro car was ablaze and he saw a fire engine in action! 

Love -- is expressed selectively. And is also used to manipulate and get things done his way. Like if he wants to play with the iPad, he'll give you any number of hugs and kisses. If there is nothing you can entice him with, you'Kll be lucky to even get a kiss blown in your direction. Sometimes, when he's in the mood, he goes about cycling across the hall singing " I loveoo Amma, I loveoo appa" but won't allow you to roll on him or hug him tightly and squish him! It's almost like,words speak louder than actions in his case:)

As the days go by, he promises to keep me realllllly busy while he just goes about with his business of growing up!