February

The whole of last month was a topsy-turvy month – atleast most of it. The boy was sick with cough and cold. On one of the days, he ate only ice cream and he threw up that. For a week he didn’t go to school. We gave him Crocin, Sinarest and it finally wore off. He has become cranky, very cranky when he is upset. First he asks for me and if I am not around, he wants to go to Ah’s house and he knows it is not possible to go there so early in the morning or late in the night. Basically he wants things which he knows he cannot get / be done. 

On the bright side the boy had his annual day on 6th and was excited to travel in an auto rickshaw (his first trip) . Dressed in a veshti and bright blue shirt, he danced to the Pongal O Pongal song. It was a nice and cute sight of the tiny tots on the stage. He got a book “The Painted Crow” as a prize. A very nice speech by Dr Ali Khwaja from the Banjara Academy that covered some of the below points on parenting :-
1. Communication – means listening.
2. Once you give the child something, don’t take it back.
3. Don’t lie in front of them.
4. Parenting is not a popularity contest!
5. Pick the school that is comfortable for your child.
6. Punishment must be immediate and with a reason. Tell the child “I love you” after that.
7. Broken Gramophone record – the way to politely say no to the child. Be polite and nice and don’t scream.

After reminder from the teacher, he had his haircut on 14th without any fuss. He has been sitting and drinking milk in the morning as opposed to lying down. And he willingly closes his eyes when his face has to be washed with soap :-) The brushing teeth activity is a hit or miss. On some days he is willing and on other days throws a tantrum. On 24th he had his Vidyarambham done at Mookambika temple, Kollur. In fact he seems to love going to the temple and spending time there. Back home, he went to the post office as a part of his school trip the next day. He also posted an Inland Letter for us :) He has learnt to wear and remove shorts on his own.

He also started with his Flintobox (Educational Activity Boxes For Children) sets. Nicely thought out activity sets they are.

“Yuk!” That is his way of describing anything that he does not like. “I don’t like milk. Yuk… yuk….YUK!”.
“Aye, I say stop it” is something that he says when he wants us to stop doing what he does not like.

Silly girl

“Hey, silly girl”, the boy called out loudly to a slightly older girl when we were out. Good thing he did not get whacked.

At my parent’s place, the boy after eating lunch and ice cream, decided to gulp down salt to my horror. He drank water, retched and promptly threw up everything. Lesson learnt

During one of his talks he declared that he does not like the teachers in school, only his friends and aunties who help him.

Ambulums (Ambulance), aldeary (already) are some of the new words he has picked up. The boy managed to speak full sentences now. But more than the words, it is the action that he concentrates on while talking.

Choice of words

I need to be very careful about my choice of words. The boy has picked up “s*it”.

Ever since we started giving biscuits to dogs during the walk to school, it has been a ruse to get him ready in the morning. And it works. The wife has to carry the biscuits and I have to hold him / carry him as he is scared to give the biscuits himself.

Ah has taught a high five sequence - 1 high five below the sea, 1 in the face and 1 in the sky followed by “you are a monkey” statement. The monkey part he has got it right.

Snappy

The boy has been cranking since last evening, snappy at Aa and Ah. Today he woke up with a cough and cold, threw a big tantrum when I went out to buy soup for him. We did not send him to school.

Over the past week, he has been whining a lot during the nights. Mostly to go to Ah house or sometimes to paint. Initially we talked to him out of it, but it wouldn’t work. Best way was to ignore it or distract him. Off late he wants to do exactly what we don’t want him to do.

The boy has learnt to remove the diaper on his own in the morning - pulls own his pants, unstraps the diaper, hands it over to me or the wife and pulls up his pants again.

Dumbo!

“I want to go to in the bike” was an early morning statement. And when I offered to drop him to school on the motorcycle, he refused.

When his back itches he starts off, “Scratch my back, it is paining”. 

“So funny, no?”. “Dumbo”, “Dumbo Ah”, “Bad Amma”, “Bad Didi” are some of his current words. Not a good choice, he typically prefixes “Bad” to the person’s name he does not like.

The boy has learned to open the front door and let people in.

With an engagement in the family, it was full house with the MIL, SIL and the wife’s uncle dropping in. The boy had a good time and he was social. He did get bored at the engagement ceremony  and I had to carry him out. Once they left for their respective homes, he asked for them. Initially he cried and then forgot about it.

The boy loves eating pomegranates and papaya. When he went to our regular grocery shop, he insisted on buying a pomegranate and carrying it all the way home. On the walk back, while cupping it with both hands, the pomegranate fell down and rolled on the road. The boy ran after it, caught it and continued walking. The next time it fell down and he ran after it, he fell down and bruised his knees. Too proud to cry, he held back his tears, picked up the pomegranate and continued walking home, determined not to let go off it.

He got 2 bottles of bubble baths - Personal Care Raspberry Vanilla Revitalizing Bubble Bath, Childs Farm Bubble Bath and some fancy twisted straws, one of which he broke.

Bus ride

The boy’s first bus ride. I had to drop the car from the service center and test drive cars with AT options. So off we went and on the way back got into the big “Red” bus as the boy called it. He was in awe and looked around in wonder. As usual, some time into the journey, he fell asleep. The next day, he was awake. It was a challenge to cross the road. Total apathy from the motorists. 

Back home and in Ah house, the boy saw that crayons and paper were strewn on the floor. “What is the mess?” he asked mimicking B (Ah’s mother). He has become a parrot, repeating whatever the grown ups say. 

Some improvement in the use of his tricycle - he has learnt to pedal backwards freely. He struggles to pedal it forward.

Routine

The typical routine for the boy now is get up > milk > brush teeth > get dressed > school by 9 > home by 11:15 > bath > lunch > sleep > milk at 4 > play area > Aa/Ah house, depending on mood he may eat dinner there > home > change into pajamas > sleep by 9.

Last night, the boy woke up crying saying he wanted to go Ah house. The only thing that works in such cases is to ignore him, pat his back and let him fall asleep. He later lay on me for some time and slept.

The boy woke up with the biggest tantrum – no school. We didn’t send him to school.