Like father, like son!

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Hutch

A tit for tat?

Today evening when Betu was not listening to me at all I tried to emotionally blackmail him by saying "Fir mumma chali jayegi. Aap Mumma ki baat hi nahi sunte." (Mumma will go away then. You just don't listen to Mumma).

Can you imagine what he would have said in response to that? No..no..its not what you are thinking. I'm sure no one can imagine this. He told me with the saddest expression "Fir mujhe aapki yaad aayegi. Fir main udaas ho jayungaa." (I will miss you then. I will get sad then.) :D

This is called emotional blackmail ka jawab with double dose of emotional blackmail! :D

He was so happy!

Today when I went to pick him up form his school, there as a nicely decorated Christmas tree along with a cut out of a Santa Claus. Looking at it, he asked me if we will put one at home too. I smiled but instead of directly telling him 'Yes', I asked him "Aapko chahiye?" (You want one?) He nodded and I could feel a little bit of doubt in his expression as if he was not sure if I will get him one. So I said "OK Hum bhi lagayenge." (We will also put one.) Ohh how I wish I had captured the ecstatic smile on his face then :)

On the way he asked me if we are going to the market to buy one and when I told him no I have got one at home, I could see a confused expression. As if thinking 'Is Mumma fooling me?' :D

Once we got home, the place I had planned to put it up was totally scattered with his toys and needed some dusting too. So I told him it needs to be cleaned up and he didn't need to be prodded again and he was at it. Putting things properly in his cupboard for toys, brought a dust cloth and wiped away the dust and kept saying in between "Main aapki madad kar raha hoon." (I'm helping you.) :D

Once the place was all set, I asked him to close his eyes and then got out the tree and the ornaments. He opened his eyes hearing the sounds of the poly bag. He was so so happy and helped me decorate the ornaments and kept 3 for himself to play with.

I've been getting a upper hand these days by saying that Santa Claus will get him a gift if he behaves good and acts like a good boy by not throwing his toys around and by putting them back once he is done. :D Its working good so far and now I 'm wondering what will I do once the Christmas is over. Hehehe....

I've promised him a big gift and he waves his hands way over his head and asks "Itna bada?" (This big?) :D

The first two pics are of the one at our house and the last one is from his school.



P.S. I just noticed that in this last pic, he himself is looking like a cutout standing just like Santa. BTW, these pics are from my new BlackBerry.

Suppise!!

Today morning as we sat together in the bed with his glass of milk, he asked me hiding his hand behind his back and asked me "Mere paas kya hai?"(What do I have with me?) I tried to guess and said "A ball?". He goes "No!!" and brings his miniature Harley Davidson bike out! So I make the most astonished kinds of expressions and say "Oh!".

He immediately tells me "Aise nahi kahte." "Suppise!!" "Aise kahte hain!" (You don't say like that. Suppise!! (Surprise). You say like this!)

Santa Koss and Chismas Tree

After making a Christmas Tree and painting a Santa Claus at school, he wanted one at home too "Mumma, hum bhi apne ghar mein chismas tree and Santa Koss lagayenge!". We have never celebrated Christmas at home. Not because we feel its not our religion or that we shouldn't. It just never happened. I only remember once decorating the Thuja tree with the ornaments that we had received as gift from somewhere. That was the first and the last time.

But when Anirudh wanted a tree at home too, I didn't say anything. Neither a yes nor a no. I just listened to him asking for it. He also didn't crib or fuss about it and it was all forgotten. But few days ago as I went to the Lajpat Nagar market to do come basic house stuff shopping like napkins, dustbin bags etc., I saw a small (artificial of course) Christmas tree in the same shop. This shop keeps lots of gift items also and party stuff. I saw the trees in different sizes and very pretty looking decorations too. I was reminded of Betu's request and was tempted enough to ask the price. The tree was for Rs. 20 only and decorations varied from Rs 5 a piece to Rs 25 a piece. Then I saw a box of assorted ones at a discounted price of Rs 40 which carried 10 ornaments. I went ahead and bought that too. So now I've a nice little tree with decorations too all for Rs. 60 :D

But I've hidden it from him and will decorate it next weekend at night so that when he gets up in the morning it will be a surprise for him. I'm wondering if I should buy a lil gift too and put underneath the tree as is the custom! I guess I will :)

The way he talks..ufff!!

Incident 1:
The other day I was making juice out of fresh apples using the juicer. And I forgot to put the cup underneath which collects the juice and starting putting in the sliced apples from the top and the juice started to flow everywhere. I didn't notice it but Anirudh who was standing nearby noticed it and tried to push me away from the slab lest my clothes get spoiled. At first I got angry thinking why he is he not letting me make the juice in peace and suddenly I noticed the juice pouring over the slab. I quickly got the cup and collected the juice from the slab in it lest it falls on the floor making more of a mess.

Once I was done, Betu chips in "Dekha na? Maine juice ki jaan bachayee!" (See, I saved the life of the juice!) I tried not to laugh and just said "Good job! Thank you."

Incident 2:
He wants to help me in everything I do. So if I'm doing something he will come over and say "Main aapki madad karoon?" (Shall I help you?) and he will not even wait for me to answer and will start at it. And if I try to stop him, he gets angry and says "Aap gussa kyun kar rahe ho? Main aapki madad hi to kar raha hoon." (Why are you getting angry? I'm only trying to help you.)

Incident 3:
One day he suddenly decided that he has to talk to his Chachi. At first I was not sure if I heard him right so I asked him "Nanmun ki Mumma se baat karni hai? (You want to talk to Nanmun's Mumma?). He goes "Haan..Swati se! (Yes..Swati se) calling his Chachi by the name. Me and Hubby had such a laugh but then had to control ourselves and tried to tell him that he's not supposed to call his elders by name. He got irritated and told us. "Nahi. Mujhe Dadi Dadu ne bataya tha.) (No, Dadi - Dadu told me). He was referring to the day when his Dadi-Dadu were teaching the names of all. So in his logic if you have taught him the names, why can't he use them :)

Incident 4:
Since Sunday (Dec 9, 2007) late evening his Bronchitis started acting up and he was coughing so bad all night and throwing up also that both he and me didn't sleep at all. So obviously I didn't send him to school on Monday. And he loved the time he spent with me yesterday. Playing, talking, coloring, writing alphabet and numbers, reading stories and books etc.

Since he was much better today I was getting him ready to go to school. As I took him to the washbasin to get his teeth brushed, he asked me "Mumma meri tabiyat theek ho gayee?" (Am I alright now?) and I answered "Haan" (Yes). So he very sweetly says "Thank you Mumma. I lub you Mumma." I was so totally floored by his such sweetness. He was saying thank you for taking care of him to get over the illness and making him alright.

These are the moments when I say "Thank you God for giving me such an adorable little child! Thank you so much!"

What an observant little guy he is!

Even hubby doesn't notice such little things! He notices what clip I'm wearing, what dress I'm wearing and even the earrings!!

I keep getting compliments from him about my dresses with "Wow! Aapki bress(dress) kitni achhi hai! Bootiful!" (Wow! Your dress is so nice. Beautiful!). But then he will also tell me when he doesn't particularly like my dress. He will make such a face and say "Yeh bress mujhe pasand nahi hai. Yeh gandi hai! Chee.." (I don't like this dress. Its bad. Yuck). And these are the times when I wonder about this adorable little child and his observations. And then I think that he is so much more observant than hubby dear is. Although I would prefer his observations only when he has something to compliment on...hehehe...

Today I had worn my silver danglers. We were on the way to drop him off to school with me driving and he sitting in the front seat next to me. We are waiting at a traffic light and singing the songs playing on the CD. Suddenly he stops singing, touches my danglers and says "Wow! Aapne yeh kaunse waale pahne hain? Yeh to bahut achhe hain!" (Wow. Which ones are you wearing? These are very nice!). I was so awed by his statement and said "Thank you" and smiled all the rest of the way to school.

Once I said thank you, he was back to singing the songs that were playing on the car stereo.

Did you know mosquito nets are fun?

If you didn't, now you know :)

Anirudh just loves the night times just because of the mosquito net that we put on. He things its game time! In fact he loves it so much that he tells us to put it even in daytime on Saturday/Sunday when we take afternoon naps. We usually avoid putting it in daytime being such lazy bums. But he doesn't let us be and we have to comply to his orders of "Machhar dani to lagayo!!" (Put the mosquito net up!).

And yesterday he was in such fun mood that he WANTED me to click him having fun with the mosquito net. The word to be noted my lord is 'wanted'. He usually completely avoids being clicked and in fact gets angry if we click him without his permission. So this was a big and a good surprise for me! :D

Here are some pics of him having fun in his machhar dani (Mosquito net) -






Did you notice how he's trying to pose different for every shot? What a brat he is!!

Come on! Lets dance to...

..."Dar ge khisko" and "Saamariya"!! :D

Didn't get the first one? Its "Dard-E-Disco" from the movie Om Shanti Om which again is pronounced as Om 'Santi' Om :D

Its still a long way to go before he can say 'sh' properly. Till then please make do with 's' :)

And what more, when any of his songs from Om Shanti Om or Sawariya or Goal are playing we are not allowed to sing along because "Yeh mere favourite songs hain! Aap kyun gaa rahe ho?" (These are my favourite songs. Why are you singing them?) and we are not even allowed to say that they are our favourites too!!

Mujhe akela chhod do!

Already? This early? Did I hear it right? I looked puzzled at hubby and he also had such a bewildered look on his face which left no doubts that what I heard was what he said "Mujhe akela chhod do!" when we were pushing him to switch off his DVD and come for dinner. *rolling my eyes*

I thought kids start demanding their own space in their teens. But hello!! He's not even 4!! Why are these children acting like such grown ups so fast? Why can't they be just tiny tots as they used to in our times, like we were? *rolling my eyes*

I just can't believe he said those words. And where the hell did he pick these words from? *rolling my eyes*

Complaints have started coming..already...*sigh*

Yesterday when I reached his school to pick him up from the daycare, his Daycare supervisor was standing right at the steps and on seeing me she went on and on at how naughty and a brat he's turning into. She herself was so surprised at his change of behaviour since she said he was the best behaved boy amongst the lot when she started working here 4 months ago.

But now he just doesn't want to listen to anyone. One minute he will be playing and the other minute he would whack a child for no reason. He refuses to share things with other playmates, gets angry if his demand is not carried out, will not sing in the music class and the list went on and on.

I just didn't know what to say to the teacher and told her you have the freedom and all rights to discipline him the way you want to. And I've total trust in the Daycare supervisor knowing her for so long now. She is really good with kids and lets the child do what they want to and not stopping them from doing activities just because they will mess up.

I spoke to Anirudh then and there and he nodded his head when I asked him if what the Ma'am said was right. And when I asked him to say sorry, he did say it but after bit of coaxing and cajoling.

On the way home in the car, I spoke to him about participating in the music class and singing with all the children and he told me he will. Later at home when I broached the topic again about him singing with the other children I got a curt reply "Maine haan bola to tha car mein" (I did say yes in the car) referring to our earlier conversation which basically meant why am I repeating things again and again. :P

He leaves me so speechless!

Everyday Betu will do or say something which will leave me totally speechless or awed! But with my aging memory I usually forget such incidents by end of the day to blog about them. But some incidents which I still remember I'm jotting down here -

Incident 1:
Friday evening after I picked him up from school and came back home, we had just entered the house and put down my bag that he comes to me, hugs me and tells me "Aap udaas nahi hona. Main aapko chhod kar nahi jayunga." (Don't get sad. I will not leave you and go.) And starts to smother me with his puchhas (kisses) and hugs all over my face and my shoulder, my hands, my chest and just about anywhere. This went on for about 30 seconds and I hugged him tight after that and told him "Main kabhi udaas nahi hongi. Mujhe pata hai mera meethu mujhe chhod kar kahin nahi jayega!" (I will never get sad. I know my sweetie pie will not leave me and go anywhere.)

***

Incident 2:
On Saturday, Dec 1, 2007, we had gone to his Nanu's place as he had organised "Sundarkand Path" at a nearby temple. And for prashad he had made arrangements for the traditional combination of suji halwa (semolina halwa) and kala chana (black gram). So as the puja was nearing the end I got up and started to serve halwa and chana so that its a easy situation when the time come to give prashad to all. Looking at me putting chana in one dona (leaf bowls) and halwa in another, he said "Main aapki madad karunga (I will help you). I knew the offer was more because it seemed fun to him rather than of helping me as such and I let him. And I was amazed what a good job he was doing with bare minimum spilling around. And that too was over when I told him to hold the dona over the main bowl of chana so that whatever spills, falls inside the bowl itself. By the time we finished giving prashad to all, he had helped us serve about 25 odd donas of chana. Everyone who saw him, went ga-ga saying "What a lovely little child he is!" "See how he is helping!" :D

Here is one pic of him serving up

***

Incident 3:
On this same Saturday i.e Dec 1, 2007, when we were returning back home from his Nanu's house, he saw a small Mandir(temple) on the way. Since he was sitting behind I didn't know that he had folded his hands and bowed when we passed by. And when he was done he glanced in the front (he was sitting in the back seat of the car and I was in the front passenger seat) to see if I had done so too or not. And when he saw I hadn't, he says "Aapne hath nahi jode? Maine to jode the. Fir Bhagwanji ne bola main very good boy hoon" (You didn't not fold hands? I did and God told me I'm a very good boy). I felt so awed and had a lil laugh at how he bestowed on himself the little adjectives from the God! And I simply replied to him "Sorry" and then did pranaam by folding my hands and bowing. And it was then that he was satisfied.

***

Incident 4:
Today i.e Dec 2, 2007, Sunday, we were going out to Ansal Plaza near South Extension, New Delhi and as I was locking the door, I dropped the bottle of water that I was carrying in my hands. Betu, who was standing just a few steps from me immediately piped in "Shabaash!" (Very good!) sarcastically just like the way I use it whenever he blunders something! It was just so hilarious to see him imitating the words we use and in the most appropriate situations! Its amazing how they observe and absorb whatever they see and hear and use them too!