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December 20, 2006

The beginning of the "Look Mommy" saga.

You know how some kids call "Mom, mom, mom" a dozen times and their moms will slowly tear themselves away from the conversation with you and answer the thirteenth "Mom" with "What?" Well, I did nt want to be that kind of a mom. I had planned to answer my child immediately and give all my attention to my child instead of some stupid conversation. But of course the whole motherhood thing happened to me for only one reason and that is to prove me wrong and also to accept being an idiot and beg for forgiveness from every mother I have (mis)judged!

Long story short, Ashu calls me around 300 times everyday. She is awake 12 hours of a day so do the math. And she has started talking as if shes making it up for being quiet the 9 months in the womb and 18 months outside. And its neither Tamil nor English. Its some gibberish language but the irony is I understand every word. She will connect the horse she saw on the road , the J for Jump in the ABCs, a pony in a cartoon show on TV and a horse picture in the book and spin a story. Since I am the one who showed her the horse and the ABCs and the pony and the horse picture, I ll get what shes saying 5 minutes later. And since Socks, Horse, Stars, Os(Oswald the octopus), Spoon, ... everything sound similar, 5 mins is a record. If she points her feet, she means socks. If she jumps, its a horse. If she points up, its a star. If she does neither, then its Os. And the funny thing is shes getting frustrated trying to make me understand. Today I gave her some puffed rice in a small bowl and she pointed to the bowl and said "solthomowquyhska ma"! I am like "What?" and she patiently points to her bowl and says "solthomowquyhska ma"! Have to give it to her. At least she is consistent in her gibberish. After a lot of action from her side, I get it. She wants a Spoon! I just hope there was a "please" hidden somewhere in that gibberish sentence. Anyway, so I give her a spoon and she goes away mighty pleased with her communication skills!

So where was I? Oh yeah, the calling part. Today I had the TV on mute and was channel surfing. Ashu was sitting on the floor facing me and playing with her toys. She calls me:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Yes dear? Tell me!
Amma?
Tell me?
Amma?
Yeah?
Amma?
Hmm?
Amma?
(Silence)


5 mins later:

Amma?
Yes dear?
Amma?
Ashu?
Amma?
Ashu?
(giggling) Amma? Amma?
Ashu? Ashu?
(more giggling) Amma? Amma? Amma?
(Silence)

5 mins later:
Amma?
(Silence)
Amma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmma?
(Silence)
Ammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaa?
(Silence)
Comes near me, touches my face and calls Amma.
What?
She points to the floor.

And I see this:

She has arranged her books on the floor, it seems. And she wanted to show me. This was the first time she did something like this and more importantly she wanted me to see something she did and knew that I ll be proud of. I went speechless for a second. And guilty the next. And snatched the camera next. I also gave her lots of compliments and she blushed. And then I came to blog about it. :)

ps. This IS a huge thing for me especially since I only see mess on the floor day in and day out and something like this which is remotely similar to order just choked me up! And do you see the neat intervals between the books and how the back cover of one book touches the front cover of the next? *wiping proud tears of joy*

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thatz so cute... I am so proud of her..

Anonymous said...

:D awww!

Anonymous said...

I've got a daughter abt the same age as Ashu...and reading abt Ashu is delightful coz my lil one does the same things...butof course, I can't put it down as well as you do. My kid loves some of the fast songs on Sun Music and dances when they come on. When the song is over she will show the missing sign with her hands (wring her hands). The other day I didn't notice that there was a song...and then she calls me amma..amma..amma...and shows that something is missing. I kept asking her what is missing...she tried telling different things and I did not understand. Finally she points at the TV and dances and shows that that is missing!!!

The Inquisitive Akka said...

Sheer genius pa! :) Really chweet!

Anonymous said...

very cute.. it was a nice read. had me smiling all the way. like the name of ur blog.

Anonymous said...

So nicely written Boo :) Sweet

Kowsalya Subramanian said...

Super. I have also experienced the same pride followed by guilt very often. What happened? you seem to blogging sporadically these days?

Kowsalya Subramanian said...

"solthomowquyhska ma" --> "Soon tha ma ashukku ma" :)

B o o said...

S - You have no other choice! ;)

Shub - Indeed!

Mayuris Mom - Thanks for coming by and for the comment. This phase is really wondeful no? Its a challenge every day trying to understand what shes trying to say. And the happy face she has afterwards makes it worth it!

B o o said...

Inqui Akka - Now thats too much! ;)

Thanks for coming by, The Analog Kid.

Thanks WA.

Kowsalya - Wow! You are my official translator now on! You are a genius on Baby talk, I say! ;)
>> What happened? you seem to blogging sporadically these days?
<<

Im just going blank these days. Battery needs to be recharged in the form of Swiss Visa! ;)

upsilamba said...

that was some post, Boo!!!!
hugs to Ashu.

Something to Say said...

this is my first time here - so how old is Ashu? And i can so totally relate to the child-speaking-gibberish-and-only-mom-understanding
and to the mess being created all day...o yeah and calling out to mom 3000 times a day....

Anonymous said...

sounds like Ashu is restoring order to your chaotic life...and it all starts with her neato book arrangement :)
Well written post!

Anonymous said...

I missed you guys! :-( Been reading your last few..er quite a few, actually..posts..and I realized how much I missed reading 'em!

I hate my work-life. I officially hate it for not giving me time to check up on my favorite blogs.

And, YAY! to Ashu for the architectural wonder! :-)

B o o said...

Thanks Upsi!

s2s - Welcome. Ashu is almost 20 months now. (The baby ticker is in my photo blog for the exact figure ;) BTW, 3000 times? We are getting there!

Kodis Mom - Thank you. Order? What order? You mean this is all I can expect?!! ;)

Priya - Good to see your comment! Lifted up my mood! :)

Anonymous said...

She is growing up fast. That was an adorable thing for her to do. Enjoyed your post :) Keep writing!

Anonymous said...

Boo....she's so cute! Sooo cute! I had so much of fun reading this post. U have every reason to shed proud tears, for its perfect formation!!

The Visitor said...

Sorry Boo, I haven't been following your blog for some time. Anyway this is an unconnected comment:

My wishes to you, Ashu and HD for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

hi boo..
i've been a regular reader of ur blogs.. you write it so well, but this is the first time i am writing a comment. So cuuute Ashu is and the way she has arranged her books is so sweet again :)
my daughter is 16 months old, so i too can feel how delightful is motherhood at this stage. :)

B o o said...

Thanks Poonam.

Tharini, even while I was writing the post, I thought of you and knew you would understand especially after the "reached the century" post! :)

Thanks Visitor. Missed you.

trs - welcome to the club of "parents going ga-ga over their kids silly antics"! :))

B o o said...

Tharini - I meant the post in your blog. (Reached the century.)

mommyof2 said...

awww.. sooooo cute.. Im so pround of her too:-)give her lots of hugs & kisses from me:-)

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