Kabir is now two and a half years old, and has certainly come a long way from the “Small Beginning” he made when he began speaking around a year ago.

It still takes us by surprise that, somewhere in the past one year, his vocabulary shot up so suddenly and significantly that most folks who meet him, find it hard to believe that he’s just two.  It’s almost as if he was accumulating all the words he was listening to, only to explode like a volcano one day with every thing that’s inside!

There are a number of things he says routinely, that are so typical and unique… and special.  Here are some of my favourite examples…

When he’s angry with someone’s behaviour, he’ll come up to them, make his best “angry” face and tell them in a stern voice : “I’m angee with you!”

Like Khushi, he also can’t pronounce any word that starts with an ‘s’.  So, “school” becomes “cool”, and “stand” becomes“tand”, and so on and so forth.

His favourite animals are dinosaurs, and his favourite movie is Ice Age 3 in which the most “powerful” role is that of the “mama dinosaur”.  So, he’s grown up with the thinking a “mama dinosaur” is the most powerful beast that ever walked this Earth.  And, about 1017 times in a day, he rushes at someone with one of his favourite glow-in-the-dark dinosaur models in his hand, threatening them with the words: “I’m a mama dinosaur, and I’m coming to eat you…”

The other day, he observed that he and I are both “boys”, so I gently corrected him saying, “That’s true, but I’m a grown up boy which is called a ‘man’.”  So he clarified, are you a “Papa man”?  I said yes.  He immediately added, “I’m a mama man!” in the voice he uses when he threatens us with “mama dinosaur”!!!

Speaking of grown ups, he struggles with the phrase and always ends up calling them “growm ups” !

Early on in life, he figured out his own name for a sleeveless shirt.  He calls it a “tickle tickle t-shirt” since it’s so much easier to tickle him in his armpits when he’s wearing one of those!

He frequently asks us what is our favourite colour, and God help you if you happen to answer that your favourite colour is something that you’re not wearing on your clothes!  He will argue with you that your favourite colour is not X since you’re wearing Y.  That’s that. (His favourite colour is “blown“, by the way.  Pronounced as “brown” with an “l”)

One of the things I really find amusing is his constant effort to figure out the world around him.  Almost every new thing we show him, or something he encounters by himself, is followed by an innocent question: “It’s for eating?”

Whenever we’re watching the TV or a movie, and he sees a really pretty girl on screen, he looks at me or his mama and says, “I like her.  She’s my friend.“  That usually means he’s taken a fancy for this one.  And, I have to admit, it’s always the prettiest thing in the entire cast!

Somewhere along the way, he’s also developed the habit of allowing me to go to office only after he tells me a secret in my ear.  What is it, you ask?  Well, it’s a secret!

Watch this space for more.

Read Also: A Happy Journey

If Memory Serves

A little background before this post:  My mom – the kids’ Dadi (i.e. grandma) – lives with us.  She is more than 70 years old and is often forgetful of things that were told to her not so long ago.  One day, on returning home from work, I learned from Khushi that Dadi had slipped and lost her balance while she was out walking with her.  Now, sometimes, Khushi tends to exaggerate things a bit, so I thought I would clarify, just to be sure.  Here’s how it went:

Khushi: Papa, did you know that Dadi fell down today when we were down?!

Papa: Really?

Khushi: Yes, papa.  She really slipped and fell.  You can ask her.

Papa: Oh!  And what will she say if I ask her about it?

Khushi: She’ll say no. 

Papa: Why would she do that?!

Khushi: Papa, you know Dadi doesn’t remember any thing… How will she remember this?!

Now, you know.

Babycenter posted an excellent article on “Ten ways to build your child’s self-esteem” in which it detailed simple strategies that each of us can use to boost our child’s confidence. 

The suggestions ranged from giving unconditional love to supporting healthy risks.  What I found most noteworthy, however, was how the writeup distinguished between “Praise” and “Encouragement”:

Provide encouragement. Every child needs the kind of support from loved ones that signals, “I believe in you. I see your effort. Keep going!” Encouragement means acknowledging progress - not just rewarding achievement. So if your child is struggling with a math problem, say: “You’re trying very hard and you almost have it!” instead of “Not like that. Let me do it.”

There’s a difference between praise and encouragement. One rewards the task while the other rewards the person (“You did it!” rather than “I’m proud of you!”). Praise can make a child feel that he’s only “good” if he does something perfectly. Encouragement, on the other hand, acknowledges the effort. “Tell me about the game. I saw you really hustling out there” is more helpful than saying, “You’re the best player on the team.” Too much praise can sap self-esteem because it can create pressure to perform and set up a continual need for approval from others. So dole out the praise judiciously and offer encouragement liberally; it will help your child grow up to feel good about himself.

Don’t give this one a miss.  It has long term implications for your child’s Life.

As readers of this blog would know, the Bachwani family tries to hit the shores of Goa at least once a year, sometimes twice a year!  It had been a while since our last trip, and so it was time to schedule another one.  Early in 2010, we decided to book us a 3-night stay slated for mid Feb.  And, as predictable as the Old Faithful in Yellowstone, a few days before departure, ill health struck… 

Khushi came down with a very bad bout of viral fever and cough.  A quick trip to the pediatrician confirmed that the bug was in the air and would  take 7-10 days to fully get out of the system.  She advised us to carry on with our holiday plans, since there was not much to do besides take the required medicines regularly.

So, off we went to our annual visit, fully prepared with a large kit of medicines for any eventuality.  What we did not plan for, however, was that Kabir would soon catch it from his sister.

The kids would alternate between having high fever (sometimes reaching 102!)  and no fever in the day.  There would be times when either one of them was “down”, and also times when both were sick or both completely normal.  The nights would keep both parents awake with both the kids coughing and choking incessantly. 

Of course, during the day, in bits and parts, it would feel like a completely typical holiday when we would head to a nearby Goan restaurant for some yummy food!  We even shot some videos on the digital camera on which you’ll see no trace of any thing unusual, just a family on a holiday having fun!!!

It was a very weird experience in a funny and tragic sort of way… Kind of like suddenly having your energizer batteries pulled out and pushed in, throughout the 4-day stay.  By the time we returned, both the kids were on their way to recovery, but the wife and I were fully “out”.  Guess, attending to all the ill health and not getting any sleep ourselves didn’t really help our immunity.  It took both of us nearly two weeks to recover from that.

But, we made it.  And, we would surely return to Goaaaah soon!

This one is about how to be a good partner to your stay-at-home spouse.  Steve at BripBlap has posted an excellent writeup on the subject that covers his ten tips on what you can do.  It not only includes a simple explanation of what each suggestion refers to, but also deals with the problems that ensue and offers solutions to them. 

What more can you ask for, really?  All that’s left to do is implement.  Here’s the list in brief:

1. Don’t ‘decompress’ for an hour after you get home.
2. Take care of chores without ‘dividing them up.’
3. Give the gift of break time.
4. Don’t be selfish with your own ‘me time.’
5. Remember you are less expert in your child’s moods and needs.
6. Back off.
7. Don’t bring work home.
8. Try not to undermine ‘wind-down’ time.
9. Turn it off.
10. Remember that this is a team effort.

Read the entire piece; it’s well worth the time.  In the end, you’ll surely be happier if you have a relaxed spouse and happy kid(s)…