My little Pumpkin is 33 months old now, and such a treat!

As a father, I continue to be amazed at how her verbal and cognitive skills have developed, over the past year or so. 

When she was about two, she used to say “kweet” instead of “cute”, and “keem” instead of “cream”!  She also couldn’t pronounce any word that started with an ‘s’.  So, “school” became “cool”, and “stand” became “tand”!  That was also the time when a healthy mix of Hindi and English also started to emerge at home: “Listen my baat” was an oft-heard phrase, and so was “I’ll sit akili” (alone)!

After her first week at playschool, when we asked her what her teacher’s name was, her nonchalant reply was, “Ma’am”!   Soon, she started adding new forms of verbs to her vocabulary, a good example of which was “I just do-ed it”.  And, a sense of future started to develop: “Next time, I want to go there only”, and “When I become a big girl, I want that lipstick – the red one”!

When she was about two and a half years old, she also made up an imaginary friend – the fluffy chaddar bhoot! (chaddar = bedsheet and bhoot = ghost) – her own version of Casper the Friendly Ghost!  Soon after, she made up another one who was simply called the plain bhoot – only, this one wasn’t so friendly and would come to see if she’s being naughty!  These days, full-fledged conversations with both “bhoots” are the norm, except that she’s not so friendly with the plain bhoot!

Soon, her fertile imagination also started coming up with intriguing names for her soft toys (and her self)!  Until then, papa and mama had suggested names for all her toys, ranging from “Geoff the Giraffe” to “Chintu the Chick”.  Now, she insisted her new camel be called “Doby-Doby”, and that she be called “Scovy The Dovy” in a specific, sing-song manner!

A few months ago, when I’d wear something nice, she would remark: “Papa, you look so pretty!”.  Today, that’s evolved to “Papa, you look so handsome!”

It’s not just trivial things; there’s so much care and concern in her mind for her loved ones… If we’re out on a drive, and she sees an obstruction on the road, she’ll instinctively say, “Papa, be careful”!

Many parents wish their children never grow up, and complain about how fast they actually do! 

Me?  I’m happy to be a part of this fascinating journey, every step of the way… It’s been a happy journey.

P.S. For the longest time, Pumpkin’s name for plain old “sugar” was “happy journey”!  The practice has its roots in my mom’s superstitious habit of giving us a little sugar for good luck, and wishing us a Happy Journey, whenever we leave town.