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!

Our first picnic

Super Sunday

23 Dec is a day i'd like to remember for a lot of reasons. After a break of almost 8 unbelievably long months, we took a day off, our style. Totally Unplanned, get on the road and see where it takes us types. So, after a lot of ideas and discussions about where to go and what to do, we decided to just get out of home. 

Excited about the unplanned journey, I quickly packed a basic bag with snacks, water and a change of clothes for Tiny. And we set off on a sunny December afternoon. This car too, like our previous one, knows us only too well. It was almost like it had figured we needed a day of fun, something new, something we hadn't done before and drove us towards Mysore. This particular route has several options to choose from... WonderLa, Innovative film city, golf resorts, and places like chennapatna and srirangapatnam, closer to Mysore. We then started making a short list like A-grade parents (!!) of our options considering time, a place that'll be fun for Tiny and the stuff in my bag. We'd already been to the film city and we weren't keen on wonderla.. So it had to be the Eagleton golf resort. 

I'd never been to any of these resorts before so I had absolutely no idea of what one could expect. S was keen on trying his hand at golf, while I was pretty sure I'd be running behind Tiny, like everyday. Somehow the idea didn't quite excite me initially. It was almost 2 when we reached so we headed straight for lunch. And it was quite a disappointment. Rude & uninterested staff, boring buffet, and a noisy restaurant. Hmph..mood spoilers, i thought. But, I kept an open mind and decided to get it done with and move on to figuring out ways to entertain the kid and myself. 

Out of curiosity of what one does on a day out in a resort, we set out to explore. We found the park. I am the one that takes Tiny to the park every evening and it had been a while since S had watched Tiny play. He was as excited as the little one. Hand in hand,the boys set out to explore. Tiny played while S watched in watched in awe how easily and carefully he climbs the big slides, loves the swing and the merry go round and, left to himself, will sit in the sandpit all day! After an hour in the hot sun, we had to drag him out to go back indoors. 

Once back inside, we found a kids play room which was basically a HUGE ball pit. When he started school 7months ago, the ball pit at the entrance was the only motivating factor. It was familiar territory :) S jumped into the pit with him and they both played for a while. It was a first for S and he was a little boy all over again.  And then came the swimming pool!!!

The husband and the kid are water babies. Tiny needs to play in the water every day. It's his thing. And I don't even like to get my feet wet, let alone get into the pool. Despite Rules written on a big board insisting that people should wear swimwear to get into the pool, a group of ladies were splashing around in the baby pool fully clothed, with dupattas and all! One was in a burkha with the veil  covering her face!! S went off to buy swimming shorts for himself and Tiny. Thankfully the ladies had finished their jalakrida and got out of the pool in their heavy, wet clothes. Drying their hair, squeezing water out of their clothes back into the pool YUCK! They walked to the rest rooms, dripping water all they way! I was not sure I wanted Tiny to get into that water...but he was ready..he'd taken his shoes off and was struggling with his shorts while I stared at the women. The trunks came, boys changed, and jumped into the water. For about 2 hours....they were in there, splashing around, wading and just having soooooo much fun. I forgot about the dirty water and just sat and watched. Took pictures, recorded videos, worried myself sick that the kid will slip and break another tooth or hurt his head or break his nose (like S had done when he was young). I kept telling S not to go too deep into the water and he asked, " please tell me how much deeper can I go on a 2 feet deep baby pool?!" yes, I am scared of water and have been scared since I was about 7 years old! But I decided to let them be while I was safe on the bench under a tree. 

It was almost 5 when they got out of the pool. We headed straight to the cafe as Tiny hadn't had a  proper lunch and after all this play he must be hungry. I also needed some caffeine. We sat and before we could order, the little fellow put his chair next to mine, pulled out his jata ( a whole post will be dedicated to that) placed his head on my lap and fell asleep. Just like that. Within seconds. He was exhausted! 

We quickly finished our coffee and headed home. Feeling satisfied. Happy. 

Tiny's first trip to Mysore

A day after he turned 6 months, Tiny made his first trip to Mysore. To the place where I was born. To the house where my grandparents lived, and then my mom, till she got married and then me for the first few years of my life. My earliest memories are of this home and the the people I lived with there. He also met one of my favourite aunts..in fact my favouritest aunt!

Some pics of the house:

The original Home

Same place as above, about 25 years ago (that's me!)

With a bit of the lovely garden

And the Bougainvillea  

The lovely driveway 

The driveway and me with my one of my first pets, 25 years ago 

All the loving from my fav. aunt

Look forward to many many more such fun trips to Mysore!