Bad Boy

Little Bobby boy has been told not to throw things. It can be dangerous. He's been told not to throw food. A rule he thinks is at his discretion to observe or not. 

The other day the little boy was done eating but still had some good on his high chair. Rest of us were not done with our dinner, so no one was getting him off his high chair. The boy was fidgety. He took a morsel of food, twisted sideways and threw it down with purpose. Then he peered down to see if it landed where he aimed it at. Papa was sitting next to him on the counter, he saw the deed but was not impressed. Before he could say anything Bobby boy removed the entire tray and threw it down too, with all its contents. Pieces of food travelled far and wide. "Bobby!!", I screamed, "No throwing! Look what you did!". The boy quickly switched to pensive mood. I knew by now pensive mood means nothing really, he'll still be up to the same things he would've, except now he'll look like he's really considering alternate options, except no alternates are being seemed quite right. 

But now he had 2 pairs of eyes glaring at him! He looked down pensive. Then looked up at us, and gave us his toothy smile to melt us. The 2 glowering pair of eyes met and couldn't help laughing!

Bad boy Bobby!

Family Dog

My little Bobby boy likes to keep his plate clean. He is generally curious and will taste anything he is curious about. He's also generally good with eating. 

But he also believes that anything he doesn't want to eat at that moment must still be cleared off from his tray. So once he's done eating, he sends all the remaining pieces hurtling down to the floor. Then the looks down from his high chair to make sure they didn't somehow get stuck somewhere, and did after all make it all the way to their destined places on the floor!

We have tried to tell him "No throwing food", in many different ways and tones of voice, but it has never stuck. He just looks at us with interest, with careful observation, then without batting an eye lid, sends the food on its way down. 

Since he's mostly eating solids, most times, his food is actually tasty too.. cheese, pancakes, grilled cheese, dosa (rice and lentil crepe), steamed carrots peas beans etc. When I crawl under his high chair to pick up the bite sized pieces Bobby boy threw away, I find myself occasionally popping them in my mouth. This has generally been a satisfying experience till it occured to me, clearing up the floor of fallen off food is generally the job description of the family dog! 

I am (being) the family dog!!!

Throwing Game

Most games that kids force their parents to play are a drag. Especially after repeating them a million times over. 

These days little Bobby boy's favorite play is to throw things and watch them tumble down. Certain things like his burp cloth don't go without a fight. They are really good at holding on to the bed. Those have to be dealt with with persistence. Others like the yellow dino is easy peasy. Just take him by the hand or head to the edge and send him in his way rolling in a hurry! 

Then there's food too. When telling Bobby boy repeatedly not to throw his grilled cheese down on the floor, little Bobby eyes regard us with interest and mild curiosity. Twinkling eyes blink at us. Holds the gaze with focus, and then, without blinking, throws another piece hurtling away towards the floor! 

No boundaries. No regard for anyone else. No repercussions. And nothing anyone can do anything about. This must be paradise for him! :-/

Green Monster

If you see a little baby with a bright green face, and you're about to scream "Monsteeeeerrrrr", pause. It might only be Bobby. To start him off on solids, I made him have some avocado. As I put a tiny sliver in his mouth, he grimaced  slightly and immediately spit out a bunch of green drool. I used the spoon to collect the green drool and shove it back in his mouth. This went on for a few times after which i figured he probably ate at least some of it. We did this with a few more spoonfuls and then most of Bobby's face from the nose down was green. He tried repeatedly to grab hold of the spoon, deciding the spoon looks more enticing and must be tasted instead. In the end, to his delight, i handed him the empty spoon for him to feast on! Yeah to solid food! I suspect more work heading my way!

Gummy Bears in Child Lock

Food is a touchy topic. It just has always been so.

These days if Miss Haana doesn't want to eat what's for dinner I tell her to go upstairs and sit quietly alone while we finish our dinner. If she wants to do anything else she needs to finish her food first. 

Yesterday when I said that, the little bitty girl decided to go and sit upstairs instead. Usually she starts to go upstairs but then hangs around on the stairs and sulks. But this day she went upstairs without a fuss. In a few minutes she came back with the new bottle of gummy bear multivitamins, and asked me to open it and give her one. I reiterated my rules, if she wants to eat or drink anything she needs to eat her dinner first. In a few seconds she vanished upstairs again. I didn't hear from her or see her around for the next couple minutes. Then I got curious. What's going on?

I decided to find out, so I quietly climbed up the stairs. Still no sign of her. No noises. I went inside the bedroom, and found her sitting with her back towards the door. I stood in the doorway to watch what she was up to. Little Miss Haana had the bottle of gummy bear multivitamins in her hands and was diligently trying to open the bottle to help herself to the goodies. She kept on twisting the cap, it kept on rotating without opening. It had a child lock on the bottle. After watching her intently at work for several seconds and nowhere close to giving up, I entered the room. 

She looked up at me and have me a beseeching look. I told her- Gugu, this bottle has been made by people who knew little kids very, very well. They knew when mummies tell little kids not to have gummy bears, sometimes the little kids don't listen and instead try to open the bottle themselves to eat all the gummy bears. So, they made a bottle that only mummies can open and little kids can't. Little Miss Haana replied in earnest. "No, no, I'm not going to eat the whole bottle. I'm only going to eat one. That's all. Only one." 

Her earnestness did win her that gummy bear. And with dollops of patience she finished dinner too.

Better

Can't believe I'm actually posting this, but as Miss Haana would say: "Here goes.."

Yesterday while picking up Miss Haana from her day-care I asked the usual stuff- Did you have fun today? Did you play with blocks? Did you play with everyone? Did you finish your food? ... Answer to each question was a repetitive yes. So I decided to shake it up a little.

I asked - Did you like playing blocks better or cars? 

Blocks.

Did you like Didi better or Kanha?

Didi.

Did you like Aunty better or Uncle? (The lady's husband was home that day).

Aunty.

Did you like Anika better or Anisha?

Anika.

Did you like duddu (milk) better or khaana( food)? 

Duddu (no surprise there).

Did you like cheese better or yogurt?

Cheese.

Did you like...

...

...

We went on and on for quite some time till I don't know why I just couldn't resist it:

Do you like Mumma better or Papa?

Papa

!!!!!!!!!!!

"Oww Guguuuuu! Mumma is sooo saaddd!!"

To which the little girl replies:

Mumma, it's okay Mumma. Are you alrite Mumma? It's okay!

:) 

It's A Tough War

We're in the dark phase of food rejection once again. I keep getting this déjà vu feeling - like I've been here before.

Anyhow, its been causing major heartburn to all the involved parties. Miss Haana has figured out she needs some arsenal to stick to her guns (of not eating) and still avoid getting into trouble (stern/mean looks followed by time-out). And I have to say- her arsenal works like a charm!

Just at the point when we're getting mad at her and finally loosing it, she says something totally unexpected - she puts together phrases and words she's not used together before, like: "No, thank you!! No thank you Papa! Thank you!" or like yesterday's "No problem! No problem". And we usually look at each other wondering where she picked that from and admit defeat by breaking into a smile. It's a tough war this one! And we parents are not in a good spot, I must admit.

Oh No

We've entered another exciting phase.
My little baby Suhaana can now say 2 to 3 words together- sometimes on cue, sometimes impromptu.

I'm not entirely sure when it started, bug I noticed last week.. She was calling herself "Good girl". Today when she wanted a cup of water, she demanded "water cup".

But the funniest came when I was trying to give her her dinner and she was less than enthusiastic about it, and she looked away from me in dismay and said "Oh no, food!!"!! I laughed for several minutes after!

I'm told my troubles are just beginning..

Wiper Blades

You know good wiper blades when you see them in action. I saw one today and I knew it was good.

I was at the day care lady's to pick up Suhaana this evening. Her older daughter, 10, and I were talking about cell phones and photos. (Both her daughters are incredibly sweet, loving and cute. Both dote on Suhaana. Suhaana enjoys their company thoroughly.) Soon we started looking at photos on my phone. There are 846 mostly of the little girl. We were sifting through them, commenting, laughing, giggling at how much more hair the little girl had before we got her haircut, how cute she looks, how she was wearing Rudolf slippers etc. And then we stumbled upon this video from maybe 6 months back. I didn't even remember about it. And here's how it goes:

Suhaana is sitting on her high chair. And Papa is trying to feed her. A spoon filled with food bravely starts on the treacherous journey towards the little baby on high chair. As soon as the spoon is within a feet from her, severe shaking of her head begins- dodging mechanism or wiper blades in highest speed and motion?

Soon Papa is deciding to really give it a twist. Now, it's just his hand moving towards the little girl on high chair, as if to feed her, but no spoon, no food.

Result? Same as above. Fully-functional-well-oiled-in-warranty-wiper-blade movements to dodge whatever it is that might come close to perhaps feeding her!

We had so much fun watching the video.. And I was surprised and thankful some phases have passed!