Water Bender

It is not good to waste water. It is also not good to waste a perfectly good rain!

Little miss Haana and I agree on this. I had just finished my breakfast and Bobby boy had just fallen asleep that the sudden sound of rain surprised me. I opened the front door and it was raining hard. Wonderful, wonderful summer rain. Resplendent with the fragrance of wet earth and of fresh green-ness. Pitter pattering rain drops in the front yard and park. 

Little miss Haana wanted to check whether she gets wet if she runs up to the front gate and back. Somewhat wet but not soaking. Would she get wet if she did it again? Somewhat. And again? And again and again and again? I had to get in on the experiment too. So, both of us together. But once was not enough. Except, this time we didn't head back indoors. 

Eddies and streams on every sidewalk. And puddles on every bend. We were both bare foot, feeling the sidewalk rivers to check which ones were warmer. One of us was jumping on the puddles, the crazy one! I was peering at the puddles checking if the bottom is muddy or just dark. Drenched now, the both of us. Holding hands in the pattering rain. Going farther in the neighbourhood. Still barefoot. But i'm cold, i told little miss Haana. 'You'll get used to it and then you'll adapt!', she told me and pulled me on. Deeper puddles were cooler, but I liked the eddies by the sidewalk the best, with warm water running to meet us. We headed towards the lake, it looked like a sheet of silver with pattering raindrops on it. "It looks so blue, and look, almost silver over there at a distance. Like an ombre", little miss Haana says. I had to ask her what am ombre means, and then I complained about her knowing words that I don't know! (She's been finishing one book every 2 days lately). "People must think we are crazy", one of us said. "But who cares!! This is so fun!", says miss Haana. It's in moments such as these I get the warm golden feeling, some part of this parenting thing is going well! Do what makes you feel truly happy inside. Not because its cool. Not because it fits in the plan. Not because.. Just because. Its what makes life worth living. Its what makes life full of living. The rest, all of the rest, is just stuff...

We find ourselves a deep puddle by our garage lane, and proceeded to practice our ninja warrior moves of a water bender/air bender/taikwando black belt with lots of sound and action, turning and splashing (mostly from little miss Haana). We came up with our secret water-bender hand shake,  although it took some convincing on my part for her to agree! 

Soon the rain was almost over and it was time to head back indoors. Completely soaking now! Raj had thoughtfully put out towels and bath robes for the both of us by the back door. A morning well spent. The little Bobby boy, who slept through it, was just waking up now. I promised him we'll take him along next time! :)

Pool Party

Yesterday after a long day (i'll cover that in another blog) little miss Haana got out of the house on her bike to play with her friends. Soon she ran back indoors to ask if she can hang out with her friends in their inflatable pool. I stepped outside to look down the lane and I saw it. A 4 feet wide inflatable pool in front of their garage. There were 3 of her buddies already in there rubbing elbows with each other. Rajesh and I looked at each other in dismay. 'Why did they do this to us', is what came to my mind. 

Normally, its summer, and I would be totally fine with her hanging out in their little pool especially since it meant i don't have to watch her the whole time. However, this was not a normal summer, not this year. And due to Covid, we had been trying to be more cautious and avoid certain settings. Being in a tiny pool with other kids up close was one of those settings. 

Little miss Haana had had a long day and had been looking forward to playing with her friends like a jail bird just released. Only to find out all her friends were playing a game she couldn't partake in. Poor thing cried and we felt for her, but there was just nothing to be done. She was pissed. No one was happy that evening. And unfortunately that included the little Bobby boy. 

That night Bobby boy was fussy for usually long, didn't feed well all evening. A phone call to the after hours pediatrics nurse gave us a recommendation to head to the emergency room. All of this made it even more stressful. Lots more of walking with him, driving with him, more walking, singing and finally he nursed and fell asleep close to mid night. Just one of those days. 

Next day, it was saturday. After breakfast, I asked little miss Haana if she wanted to sit in the bubble bath for our very own pool party. Of course she did. I decided little Bobby boy needed to have his first pool party as well. So we sat in our pool party, the three of us. Little miss Haana taught me how to make waves that will send the yellow ducky scoot to the other side of the tub! The boy sat on my lap, and initially, watched cautiously with knitted eyebrows as the bubbles floated up his tummy. But soon, his legs were cycling in the water and he even threw his arms that made tiny splashes. I figured if he's not crying or fussing, he must be enjoying it. 

The peak of enjoyment for little miss Haana and i came, of course, when we witnessed the fountain: the peepee fountain that is! We laughed and also cheered for some reason. But that was my cueue to head out of the tub with the boy. A towel dry, followed by massage and a tummy full of milk later, the boy was in sweet dreams of lala land! And i felt i somewhat redeemed myself of being the previous evenings' pool party pooper. Not that I will admit to it!

Discovery Saturday

We had ourselves an adventure this morning. But begin from the beginning..

Little Bobby boy was making noises that woke me up. It was 620am. Those noises are his way of saying i'm awake now. I fed him and he fell right back to sleep. This is usual for him when he wakes up for his first feeding in the morning (all fun and games happen after he wakes up again). Little miss Haana had said the previous night she wanted to go on a bike ride with me. I was pleased. I had started riding my bike about a couple months back as a way for her and me to get out and get some workout in this covid season, together. But soon she elected to bike ride with her friends instead of me(:-/) and I had started going on bike rides by myself since. So, I was super pleased there's some resurging interest in riding with me! 

I woke up little miss Haana and we were soon off on our way, down the neighborhood onto the bike trail. We went for a good distance, through ups and downs watching white and grey egrets dot our paths. It was a good ride! As we headed back home, little miss Haana wanted to stop by her cousins', who stays just a block from us. I waved at them and started on my way home. A little distance away i saw what looked like a greenish-grey rock smack in the middle of the concrete street. When i got closer I realized, it was not a rock at all. It was a turtle. And it was moving! But what was a turtle doing in the middle of the street?! I decided I will get it some help. I biked back home and woke up Raj. "There's a turtle in the middle of the road, we need to get it to safety.". I really meant 'You need to get it to safety!'. I yanked the little Bobby boy from his sleepy abode and swiftly hurrried back outside with the boy in my arms. Soon Raj was out too. The turtle meanwhile had moved closer to a small grassy patch and was quite possibly cringing at my interest. 

We decided we will take the turtle to the grass near the lake. But not before a couple curious kids had seen it up close. We knocked on the cousins' and both little miss Haana and her cousin, 3, were wide eyed with excitement. Of course Haana wanted to hold the thing too. And check out where the turtle buried his head. And check out its flippers. It was Discovery saturday, up close and personal!

The entourage, now, headed towards the lake. The big spectacle of releasing the turtle. We decided we should release him close to the lake on the grass. When Raj released him, for a few seconds nothing happened. Had he died? We wondered. He had slipped out of Raj's hand while on our way when he scratched his hand with his flippers to get out. But we needn't have worried. In a few seconds, it realized it was by itself and ran, instinctively towards the lake. Only to topple over at the ledge before hitting the lake. The animal rescuer by weekend, Raj, helped the animal on its feet again. And this time the turtle quickly dived into the water without further ado. 

We waited for a minute to see if the small turtle head come out of the water. But perhaps the turtle didn't want more interaction with well meaning humans after all. And so we all headed back home. Discover show end. :)

Feelings

Overheard little miss Haana, while little boy Bobby was crying while being tucked into bed: "Big boys don't cry, Bobby! You're a big boy. Big boys don't cry. Big boys talk about their feelings"...

(Me thinking, aww she's so cute !)

Let's Get One of These

This evening, mysteriously, the house was run over by these notes. They were everywhere, on the bathroom counter, on the mirror, on the shower door, in the bathroom, on the beside table, several over the stairs, on the walls, on the linen closet door, on the computer monitors..(they are everywhere!). 

Little miss Haana wants a dog. I might have unwittingly encouraged her too. I love dogs too. And at one point i agreed with her, i want one too. 

Growing up, i did exactly what she's doing right now - urge my parents to get a dog. I tried unsuccessfully to adopt a puppy off the streets, multiple times. And then when i was in 7th grade, we were visiting my aunt and she was fostering a puppy she got from her friend, and this time, i was able to get my parents to adopt it! His name was Lucky, and it was quite a ride we started on! I have to admit, in spite of good intentions my parents ended up with much of the work for Lucky. He was a run away dog, or at least, he had a significant phase where he liked to run away from home. I did shoulder the responsibility to go find him, run after him and catch him to get home. It was an unenviable task. My sister and I tried training him to fetch, sit, shake (hand/paw); even attack (we figured he should be an attack dog). He was a smart dog, probably too smart, that he was almost incorrigible. When he passed away, i think my mom felt the saddest. Even though she didn't want to get a dog initially, she was very fond of him. And she was so sad when he died. I had already moved out to live in the US, I didn't see him in the end. 

Now little miss Haana wants a dog. She's been treking all her neighborhood friends and mine that we are going to get one. They ask me about it. I tell them she's been telling me we're going to get one too! As much as i would like to get one, might have enough on our hands already!

The Ups and Downs

First the ups.

Little girl Haana got a red balloon from her dear cousin Varam's. We decided to play volleyball with it. Miss Haana and I took turns head bumping or foot kicking the balloon. Suddenly peals of laughter was heard. I had little Bobby boy in my arms and he was mighty amused with the balloon. I made him head bump the balloon again and again, and each time this little thing would break into a giggle! We laughed with him, moving round and round in the living room, me carrying the boy in my arms, head bumping or fist thumping the red balloon; and miss Haana jumping and ducking to salvage the balloon before it hits the floor. It was a fun game for everyone!

Later than evening after the boy woke up from his afternoon nap, little miss Haana and I gave the boy a performance of a lifetime. Late in the afternoon, when miss Haana was getting stir crazy at home, and it was still to hot to step out outsider yet, i suggested she show me some dance moves. She played the gonoodle app, that has videos of a group of teenagers singing and dancing to a foot thumping song, its videos intended to get up from the couch and get moving.  One of the songs sounded really fun, and I decided what can be enjoyed by one can be enjoyed more by two. Or three. So we set up the chromebook in front of our audience - the Bobby boy, and moved to the beat. I concede i do not move quite as much as the girl next to me. But the audience did not complain! :) 

Now the downs.

One of little Bobby boy's favorite play toy has been the purple monkey with a cymbal. This evening when i put the boy in the playmat for tummy time, he found the monkey, and as with all things dear to him, he proceeded to chew on the monkey. Except this time, he was trying to chew on the cymbal and my little baby skin on the upper lip got caught between the cymbal. When he bit into it with his gums, his skin got caught in the cymbal, and my poor baby screamed in pain. The skin above his upper lip all red and got a press mark. The boy was screaming murder. I picked up my little baby and knew he must have hurt himself in the mouth even before I saw it. I admonished the monkey, which is banished for now. My poor baby boy had big fat tears all streaming down his face. I felt so bad. I kept him close to me, filling him up with hugs and loads of kisses. The trooper that he is, he stopped crying soon. All of us felt so bad. Little miss Haana suggested maybe we put a medicine on his booboo. No, I said. Babies are tricky that way, you can't give them medicines normally. But in a few minutes as he breathed easy, so did the rest of us! Phew! 

Social Animal

Social studies books told me - man is a social animal. 

The little Bobby boy even more so. Once he is awake and fed and changed; he's in his happy place. Which means now he wants to talk! He wants to play! He wants eye contact, he wants to exchange smiles, to wants to gurgle and coo, he wants to be tickled and to laugh. He wants a participating audience. 

And while he likes to munch on the butterfly teether toy, a lot like his elder sister little Miss Haana, he is quite a butterfly himself too! 

Bear Eating

Animal rights activists may not appreciate this, but we have on our hands a bear eating boy.

Mr Bear initially became popular as the first friend of my sweet little Bobby boy. He can thank my dear friend Becki (his Becki nani) for gifting him :). 

But then at some point the boy decided any friend of his, especially a chocolate colored bear, must taste good as well. And so now, Mr Bear's nose and ears are often soggy slush-balls. The kind of thing you'll be sorry you touched! Miss Haana would say- "Eeeww! Baby drool!". :)

Perfect

There are times like today, when i think about my little miss Haana; and I am taken aback at how breathtakingly perfect she is.. so beautiful, so loving, so creative, so full of life.. so full of effervesence.. Indeed she's the most fun person I've ever known. She's her very own person, bubbling with 'pizzaz' and fiercely independent.

And when i sit for a moment and think of her, i am overwhelmed by how amazing a person she is. She's extraordinarily talented, way beyond her years. 

Together we laugh and we fight, we spar and makeup, sometimes we irritate each other and then blow air kisses to each other. I tease her at times, but I also nag her religiously. We cuddle in warm embrace at times and tackle each other while giggling uncontrollably at others. She dazzles me with her ingenuity, her engineering and her creativity. 

She's my pyaara bachha (loving/lovely child). And at times like these when i just sit for a moment and reflect on my life with her, due to her; I cant help but marvel at how she amazes me, brings in my life -  love unparalleled; and the heady, bubbling fizziness of life. I am thankful and grateful to have a wonderful child and an amazing beautiful girl like her. I keep wanting to put her in a glass enclosure, she's so precious, and so perfect. And while that is not possible, I take heart, she's a tough cookie too.