Rock-a-bye baby !

When Rish just turned 3 years old he had a bed-time book which had a song as follows :
"Rock a bye baby mummy's sweetheart
When the wind blows the cradle will rock
when the dawn breaks may light from above
Shine down upon baby cradled in love"

Every night he would ask me to sing this song and then make me sing it again substituting Rishab for baby and the third time singing it the original way but changing all the R's to L's and the fourth time changing the R's to Ls and baby to Rishab :) It used to amaze me how sharp he was to notice even if we missed a single conversion.

And now after 2 years, he suddenly wants me to sing a lullaby for him but of course does not want any variations to it. But he wants to be the one to sing a lullaby for Nish !!! He plays my role to Nish, asking him to lie down and putting the blanket for him and then singing the lullaby - some big brother moments :-)

And at that same age, he used to ask me to tell(recite being the precise word) his favorite story then "Jack and the Beanstalk". Slowly I refused to say this as he remembered the story word to word, and would keep correcting me line to line of that 10 page book with at least 50 lines. He would not allow me to proceed unless I corrected my mistakes making the whole story telling a 30 minute effort !

And now his current favorite is "Rapunzel" . And has again started correcting me here and there but only in the places where he feels significant ! Thank God for that !

Tonight brought me back all these memories and I realized I need to record them...

High Five

Dearest ladooo,
you always love when I address you this way :) and you are turning to be one slowly..I guess you are being less troublesome and stubborn with age. The one thing that you really need to work on is being patient and listen and follow directions well from others than from yourself.
Nish is really lucky to have you as an elder brother. you are one who can engage yourself very constructively for a significant amount of time be it doing some coloring or worksheets or just playing in the yard. your imagination is very wide and amusing to us. you suddenly seem to have grown so much. Right from gulping your milk down, cleaning yourself after the big job, soaping yourself , teaching nish occasionally,trying to be patient with nish for at least sometime before you give up and get mad - you are definitely growing.
you still love anything academic. I am a happy mom who has taught you the basics of addition and subtraction in not more than ten minutes :) when I was complaining that nish has no inclination to spell or learn phonics and you were so good at his age, I was amazed at you trying to teach him C-A-T, B-A-T etc with correct phonics just the way I used to , except that you never watched me !!! when we were teaching nish the phonics for "C" as 'K' you pointed out that we also missed the 'S' sound - the last I knew you doing phonics was 2 years back !!! and when we asked you for an example my mind was thing of cessation, cede etc and thinking how you can come up with something , you stumped us by saying "decide" in the next instant.
These days you amaze us by your sketches though you do not have the patience to color it well. I hope the karate class builds your patience and listening skills.
It is an effort to make you practice but I hope very soon you start loving it.
You are thrilled these days to go to school because Nish has finally joined school after a long wait from you..whenever you asked me that you wanted to come home for lunch/nap it used to pain me as I was not able to do that since nish was already handful for me. I enjoy putting you to sleep on weekends as it makes up for the weekdays and the nights as you prefer sleeping by yourself in your favorite car bed(making it easier for nish and me). I ask you the standard qs "do want to sleep with adi, kiss, hugs, pinches, tickles or punches" and you have a good laugh asking just for the good stuff and enjoy my kisses, hugs and tickles making me the happiest mom. and I admonish/threaten you for a second after that and you feel satisfied and sleep off. The rare occasions that you do not, you let all of us sleep in peace and quietly engage yourself.
Suddenly you feel you are the bigger brother and try to lift nish or help him brush/soap and sing a lullaby for him after asking me to sing it for you :)you even tell him "I am the older one. you can learn from me " !!
But the one thing that you have not outgrown is your picky likes for food..you are very clear and particular in what you want to eat as you were right from your birth!
I could not stop laughing when someone offered you soda saying that " I am not supposed to have it. I don't want it". If only it was chocolates instead !!!
you enjoy teaching all of us your newly learnt slokas and being the sloka teacher, nish being your ardent learner. you can also point out discrepancies very easily. while reading your temple handouts on Ganesha and Saraswathi you said very clearly that the picture has Ganesha's right tusk broken and saraswathi in pink when the theory stated that Ganesha had a left broken tusk and Sarasathi clad in white !
you love to learn new languages and keep asking us tamil equivalents for new words and remember it just once after we say and make it a point to use it as much so that you can remember. you are really our pride and a role model in so many ways. I hope and pray that you acquire a bit more patience and listening and then there is no stopping you. we are so lucky to have you and I feel truly blessed.
Love you lots laddooo....I guess by next year you will be able to read and comprehend my posts to an extent..

Blogger's block - go away

This has been one of the hugest blogging breaks I have ever had I guess...
The kids have grown so much in these past few months and I need to record them quickly before I forget. Guess I am being more productive and the kids too active for such a big break...but I will catch up soooon...

Not mall anymore

Nish gets very offended if we say he cannot do something because he is a small boy.Keeps telling "I am not mall boy...am big boy" But very conveniently uses the small boy card for everything he wont do like sleeping by himself or cleaning up !!!!

Whenever I scream at Rish he tells me " Don't shout ! Then Daddy will not put news for you. We will not take you to the park. you will be alone at home " ;-) Too much of copying us.

These days his favorite lines are "I CANT DO IT" "I DONT WANT IT" when he is angry and he says that in a very angry and deliberate tone. This is often accompanied by running away from the scene and a sulking face and chin touching his chest and head bent. Sometimes it is him on his knees and head on the floor. It is very very cute to watch but sometimes gets on your nerves ! 2 1/2 years and where did you get this attitude from ???!!!

He also dances in joy these days and since his actions are totally in sync with what he is feeling inside it makes it very sweet.

He also has loads of empathy. Even if I scold Rish for being mean to him and Rish is upset he very sweetly tries to cheer Rish up. And wants Rish to experience the joy he is enjoying with any toy / game whatever.

Today after a long time his I could see his sweetness than his stubbornness and I felt still he is at his cutest best. Slowly memories of his baby days are fading :-(
He is also very very clear in what he wants of himself and others and has the same clarity in expressing it and getting it done. And now also does quite a few things independently - potty (except for cleaning part we need to go) - wearing his underpants and shorts.

************************************

Rish on the other hand seems to be more childish and silly than what he was :-(
But he is in many ways easier to handle than nish especially that he lacks all the stubbornness of his brother.

I feel sometimes he is better behaved when we are not around. The other day I was taking a shower and asked Rish to dress himself and Nish and when I came out, both were dressed - ready to go :-)) Also sometimes I see him telling Nish not to do some wrong stuff and consoling him when he is upset. But when I am around I see the totally opposite reaction. Not sure if a 4.5 yr old has ways of getting back at their parents at such a tender age ;-) But his ego is at an all time high. He hates being suppressed and screamed at but I wish he equally resents doing these acts that lead us to act that way with him.

He is still a pleasure to teach. Just taught him maybe 30 minutes of time reading and now he can tell the time pretty well(except for when the minute hand is in between 2 numbers).

I am hoping for some magic when they turn 3 and 5 with regards to their behavior. Both are extremely bright kids but high on energy and disciplining them seems to be a challenge..They are such riots ! I saw a real change in Rish after his 3rd and I have heard 5 is also a magical number when kids change significantly and with their birthdays just a few months away, this is the only wish I have apart from an overdose of good health :-)

School Decision

Before I could reach the US, I wanted to complete all admission formalities and enroll Rish in his previous montessori. Nish I was still undecided. Thankfully, R's busy schedule and this getting lost amongst all the other happenings around us, I found a much better choice.
Once I came back, after a week's jetlag was seriously looking for some art and piano classes for Rish. Then I found a school which had a 4 hour schedule with 1 hr art, 1 hr music, 1 hr dance and 1 hr theater. How cool that is ? I know he will catch up on his acad. anytime and very fast, so was really happy. The next question was Nish. Luckily I found a church school on the way back from the arts school and it seemed a very friendly atmosphere. It is cheaper than the montessori, has a great social atmosphere, I get daily reports of what he did and I get to pick him for lunch..So in all, I am paying only for what I want. I have the option of picking him at 2:30 but since I pick Rish by 12:45, I do not want to deprive Nish of the piping hot fresh food ;-)
Till the morning they had to join school, I was contemplating sending them to the old montessori as I will get 3 days of 8:30 - 3 p.m for myself..There are a lot of pending tasks that i need to get to ! But my heart ruled my head and I went by that.
But the only catch is both will be home for nap and I need that break very badly to recharge for the evening....Trying to train them to sleep by themselves but it is very hard and hoping I do not regret the school decision for this reason !!!
Anyway, I am a happy mom when I pick them at noon, both because of the choice of schools and also the fresh food awaiting us at home :-)

Four going on fourteen !!!!

I am clueless how to respond / react many times with Rish. He totally baffles me when he reacts like a teenager to my requests. The only good part is the child in him is still alive and filled with so much innocence that makes me forget how he behaves other times.
Hoping to have a rocking time when he is actually in his teens....after all teenage tantrums do not last long and I have already seen the beginning :-P

Guilty....

Dearest Rish,
It so breaks my heart to ask you to sleep alone while I pamper Nish and make him sleep with me..The brat that he is, he will cry and make us all tear our head. The soft boy that you are (only at such moments) get threatened and oblige. When you ask me with such feeling "Why should I sleep by myself ?? " I have no answers. I am waiting for Nish to turn 3 so that I can make him do the same. It is more painful for me than it is for you. Maybe you will not even care about it a few years later or forget totally about it but just in case you feel being a first-born you have to go through it -
Nish is having years of hand me downs from you just cos he is a second-born :-D

Both of you are on my balance and for every act I feel I am siding with one of you I make sure there is some balance to it ;-))

India Trip and the aftermath

okay, I was so bragging abt. my second born being such a sweet kid and first born testing my patience at times ! Now it is total role reversal..Nish has become a total brat and a real rowdy but still knows how to smile and coo and make people forget what he did for a moment.

some interesting conversations:

After stuffing a mouthful of cranberries at my place, Nish threw up whatever he ate. Again demanded some cranberries and I said it made him vomit.
Nish : "Not canberries, mummy, mammu sollu mammu." (It is not the cranberries, but the food, repeat, food !"

I was upset with Rish for hurting Nish and in all seriousness said
"Rish, you should not hurt Nish. He is your brother."
Rish : "No, he is not ! He is my brother-in-law !!!"

Middle of the night Nish wails
"Mummy, I need you" I run from the other room and lie down next to him. Squeeze myself in the 1/2 feet gap, straining my neck and keep an inch of my head on the pillow. "It is my pillow.
It is my blankie. Mummy nee po".
The second I am at the door, wails, "Mummy , you are leaving me ! I need you"
And I go back to get back some more pinches, kicks and slaps..I wonder how he turned into such a monster !!

When we came from hyderabad to chennai, the kids were giving me such a hard time. Despite my parents presence, it was so hard to feed them, put them to sleep etc. Many I knew were worried how I would manage the trip across the globe with both and promptly called home to check if/how I survived ;-)
They were such dolls and Rish would sleep within 2 minutes of patting him and I would sleep in the process and Nish would follow suit. On our way to India they would keep grabbing our juices, not allowing us to eat and food was such a tension. I was coming up with all algorithms on how to eat and make them eat peacefully. Well, all 3 of us or both of them were able to eat at the same time without a murmur ! Rish used to thank me when I opened his pasta and slowly ate by himself till he came to the end and then finished off his juice !!! "

My kids truly amaze me and keep my crazy life sane !