A few days ago, a friend mentioned in an email that she’d been following the developments in my life through my blog.  That’s when I realized that I last time I’d written something about my daughter was over 5 months ago!

Time flies when you have a baby.  In a way that only a parent would understand.

The past 5 months have been exciting from a “fatherhood” perspective.  Pumpkin is now 21 months old, and talks like there’s no tomorrow.  My last post on her spoke of how her vocabulary was already over 200 words strong in spite of her being just 16 months of age!  But now, she’s putting entire sentences together and constructing combinations of words (coherently) without any one mentioning them earlier!  Repeating what you say is, of course, reaching dangerous levels.  So one needs to be careful each time she’s around. 

And, it’s not just words.  At less than 2 years, she’s already exhibiting a wide range of emotions and feelings : Joy, Sadness, Pain, Anger, Jealousy, Gratitude, Excitement, Anxiety, Loneliness and even Embarassment!

It’s remarkable to see how cognitive development progresses in a child… All the books and theories in the world are no match as compared to the real thing : The experience of a parent.

Sure, there are times when you feel like tearing your hair out… times when you feel you need a break.  I always tell people, after having a baby, I have developed a new-found respect for single parents… I don’t know how they do it.  But, most of the times, it’s more than worth it.

When I come back from a tiring day at work, and she runs towards me to give me her unconditional love (and a hug!)… all is well with the world, again.