10 Pounder

My little Bobby boy was not a 10 pounder when he was born. In fact, he was just 2 ounces over 6lb. Tinier than little miss Haana when she was born (at 6lb 14oz). Like all newborn babies he lost weight in the days just after his birth. And when we left the hospital, he was even tinier at 5lb 14oz. But now, the little Bobby boy is steadily getting bigger. He's all of 8 months old!

The other day, when I left little Bobby boy on the floor for a minute, he scuttled on all 4s to explore new territory. Did i mention the boy is an explorer? Immediately, he headed towards the very thing he's been repeatedly told not to go to. The dumbell weights. And by the time i got to him, he was pulling a 10lb dumbell on the carpet towards himself. By the time I pried his iron grip loose from the weight, the 10 pound dumbell was clearly shaken up from its slumber.

My Bobby is a weight lifter! 

Keep Him

Little Bobby boy is a climber. And he's an explorer. During the day that is alright. But at night, when he's up in the bedroom, he can get challenging. It is past 9. He is tired, so is everybody else. He should be fixing to sleep. But instead he constantly tries to climb up the pillows, tries to climb the headboard. Then, he runs over towards the far side of the bed. Miss Haana or I, lunge and grab hold of his foot before he makes a run for the edge of the bed and takes off bungee jumping to the floor below. Without the bungee, that is. Then, once that attempt is crushed, he sits up, taking stock of the situation, sticking his thumb in his mouth. He zeroes in on one of us, sizes us up with his thumb, and chooses which one of us will he try climbing on to next. 

Today little miss Haana had had enough of all these manoeuvres. "Watch him, I'm going to brush", I said. 

Usually when that happens she tells me, 'Put Bobby in a cupboard'. Then i remind her we don't have a cupboard big enough for bobby. Then we agree that we must build one first thing tomorrow. 

Today, however, she said, "Put him back in your tummy"!! 

"But he's too big now!"

"Then return him". I've told little miss Haana she came from a clearance sale at Kroger. Little Bobby boy too!

"But he doesn't fit in the packaging any more!. Besides Papa threw the packaging. Anything that could be of slightest importance or use, Papa immediately throws  it out. Anything that is of absolutely no use whatsoever, stays at home for ever!"

She nodded in agreement. "Why don't we make new packaging for him".

Right about now i caught sight of the cheeky cheeks, when the boy turned around trying to grab my hair to stand up on the bed. 

"But then how will i get these cheeks, if we return him! And the bottom too"

"And the sweet nosey too", she added. 

We looked at each other. "We'll keep him!"

"AWW!"

We both lunged to grab hold of him into a confusing, violent hug. He's used to it by now. No complaints. He must like us:-)!!!

Journal Jar - Proudest Mom Moment

There are aplenty proud moments as a mom. When little miss Haana comes up with creative ideas to implement, how she conducts herself, how she's friendly, open and loving to others, how she may lie to me sometimes when but i ask her if she's lying she says yes, how she's independent, she's so loving and compassionate, so caring, so loving. And then there is the 7 month old Bobby boy. Already scuttling about quietly and quickly from place to place. Always pulling up and standing holding whatever he can get, already holding and picking things with his fingers and thumb - even tiny things like a green pea, already holding 2 toys - One in each hand together, always climbing up always exploring! There is so much to be proud of. He tracks little miss Haana, watches her whenever she's around. 

Once when Bobby fell of from the bed and was crying, little miss Haana was crying too. She was so upset and scared if Bobby got hurt. Wondering if he'll be ok. 

He doesn't complain when she squeezes his cheeks or "pats" his bottom or gets into his face to kiss him. She does complain when he tries to eat a book she's reading. Their bond of siblings 8 years apart, is so sweet and full of love. I think that's my proudest mom moment, even though it is not really just a moment. And saying i'm proud seems to imply i take credit for it. I feel their bond speaks of who each of them is. Wonderful, amazing, full of love. 

Journal Jar - I am Happiest When

Today i picked out a strip of paper from a Journal Jar that little miss Haana made for me, and in it, it had a theme for a short journal entry. 

Today's theme - i am happiest when...

I am happy hanging out outdoors on a mild balmy day. I am happy laying in grass on a sunny spring day and watch cotton puff clouds travel the sky. I am happy watching lady bugs. I am happy watching butterflies. I am happy when i paint. I am happy when i create something out of nothing. I am happy when i help another with no strings attached. I am happy hearing from family and friends. 

But i think i am happiest when i'm around my loved ones. Bobby boy and little miss Haana have made me happier than i thought possible. The selfless love that I receive in my life, I am extremely fortunate to get. It has given me this understanding that love is the most important thing. It belies all odds, all logic, all equations. Love just is. I am happiest when i have love around me.  

Journal Jar

Little miss Haana made me a journal jar. It's a jar she painted and decorated. Inside it, there are strips of papers, each paper has a theme for writing a ahort journal or note. She also made and kept put a small notebook and a baby pen in the jar for me to write my journal entries in to. 

I'm supposed to take out 1 piece of paper and write a journal entry on that theme every single day. Obviously I've been falling on that duty. She made the jar sometime in August, and I don't have many entire in that journal inside the jar. But I've decided I will make it up now. I'll write a journal entry on my blog so I don't lose it. I'll start tomorrow. 😊

Tum vs Aap

There's no down side to learning a language. There are so many cultural nuances that are lost in translation.

I've been trying for little miss Haana to learn Hindi for quite some time. I've tried a phone app that helps with learning the language (which did work initially, but then the excitement waned); and I have tried to threaten to send her to weekend classes (she likes her weekends to be full of playdates, some screen time, her own projects, friends and play time. Would it not be a tragedy to lose some of the weekend for a class!). Lately I have started speaking to her more often in hindi than not. And it has been paying off. Her hindi vocab is steadily increasing even though I can hardly ever hear her hindi accent with a straight face! :-D

Recently on our walk little miss Haana said something to me like "tum idhar ao" (you come here)and I thought it was an opportune time fot embarking on this Hindi lesson -

Unlike English, which has just one word for referring to the other person - you, regardless of who that second person is. Hindi, is a more respectful language, and has different words depending on whether who you're referring to is equal to you, or is older or more respected. In case of referring to a person that's your equal, like a friend, or referring to someone younger, you refer to them as "tum" or "tu". When you refer to someone that's elder or referring respectfully, you say "aap". So "aap idhar aaeeye" (come here <respectfully, politely>) instead of "tum idhar ao" (come here) or " tu idhar aa" (come here <even less respectful>). 

"So, you should be saying 'aap idhar aaeeye' instead of ' tum idhar ao' to me", I told her, driving home the lesson. 

She listened without interrupting and then immediately responded, "But you're not just my mom you're my friend. So i don't want to say 'aap' to you".

I don't think she got my message, I thought. But wait, she said I'm her friend!!! "Awww!! I'm your friend!!" I said,as I melted all over! As is usual, she hopped along to avoid me clutching her into a forced hug!

Well played! 

Tough Cookies

Today on a walk with Bobby boy and little miss Haana, i noticed something on little Bobby's right cheek. A pesky, vile mosquito had just sat on his cheek. Little boy was oblivious to it. I immediately shooed it away with an angry wave of my hand. Few minutes later little Bobby boy's right cheek had 2 small red bumps. The little boy was unfazed. Little twinkling eyes were calmly looking around and looking up at me from the stroller. "Bobby boy!", I said with exasperation. "Did the mosquito bite you? Why didn't you complain earlier?!". Two twinkling eyes regarded me with some interest and batted eyelids. Little miss Haana jumped over him to inspect the mosquito damage on the baby cheek. "Poor thing!". But no issues from the boy. 

My little Bobby is a trooper. He's a tough cookie. When he was just born, in the hospital, they had to do a blood sugar test for him every few hours for the first 2 days. Every few hours they would poke him with a needle to do the test, and for most of the times, he wouldn't even complain. I used to be so surprised. Here I was flinching at the needles and he waded through them no problem. No complaining. He's a tough guy. 

My little miss Haana is a lot more vocal in her complaints but she's a tough cookie on the inside. Many times she's been in situations where other kids may be bullying or trying to hurt her. She does feel it then, but then she just brushes it off completely and moves on. She's resilient like that. She's emotional and compassionate, and is also very independent and goes her own way. She's a strong tough one. 

My two tough cookies.