Choices!

Me: Do you want cherries or do you want an apple?
San: Apple!
Me: Do you want an apple or do you want cherries?
San: Cherries!
Me: Okay, Mumma is getting an apple for you.
San: Mummy, cherries!
Me: Okay, Mumma is getting cherries.
San: Mummy, apple!
Me: Choose one!
San: Mummy, bananaa!

And that's the first good conversation we had today. :-)

New words? You just heard it... err, read it! Banana! She started with a banananana though. :D The 'nanas' always used to confused her but now she has conquered them! :-) 'Sink' is the other new word in her kitty. She likes to put (toss) the used dishes (and her bottle) in the sink.

She likes going on walks cuz' she gets to look at the birds, the planes, and cats! At times, she stops to observe some busy ants without disturbing them. How thoughtful of her! :-)

Elmo still scores over everyone else, but Dora is catching up fast. How did Dora enter her fav list? Since the time she got a Dora t-shirt and came to know that it's Dora, she started liking the name Dora, and now she loves watching Dora, without forgetting Elmo. :-D I'm now in love with Elmo though!

Aaaaaaand she's gonna turn two after exactly one month... Gosh!

BTW, San's been asking me how a Zebra sounds... do you know? :-)

I can

I can hug you

like I want to hug forever

I can kiss you

like it is my best one ever

I can hold you

like I'd never let you go

I can talk to you

like I want to say everything I know

I can be what I am

like I don't know how to pretend

I can give my time to you

like to the time, there is no end

About the nighttime Moos and shoes

San's fast approaching two and my mind is already full of questions, worries, anxieties, fears, and a lot of other stuff! How am I gonna potty-train her? How am I gonna wean her from her beloved bottle? Will she be a shy child? How will she adapt to school? How will her friends be like? How will she handle bullies? Sigh! Yup, everything's gonna happen gradually and things will fall in place, and all will be well... but I can't stop thinking about it!

As usual, Elmo's her fav and she loves to sing the Elmo song. Her nighttime routine is set - after she finishes her milk, she asks me to sing the 'Old McDonald' rhyme by saying "Eeeyaa Eeyaa". She also tries to sing the first line - "O McNana....." :) :). Cow is her fav animal in that rhyme and she loves to see me do 'Moo Moo'! Oh btw, she calls me MOOmy at times! Wonder if Old McDonald's cow inspired that! :D And after this rhyme, she asks me to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', so that she can stand up and do the 'Up above the world so high' hand motion. Then she says Sorry (I don't know why, but it's cute!), talks about her friends, Papa, and a lot of other people and things. Finally, she gives me a hug, a good-night kiss, says Nay Nay, and tries to sleep... and finally sleeps. :)

What else? Now that she is able to open our shoe closet, she loves to try out our footwear. She even knows what I would wear when I have to go out, and offers to take that pair out for me... aww! :)

More? She wants all of Papa dear's time, love, and attention... and doesn't want him to share any of those with me. :( :)

Anything else? She absolutely loves picking up trash and trashing it... should I blame Elmo's friend Oscar for it? ELMoo!

Elmo tales and more

And now, we have some Elmo tales along with the Dolly tales. :D So Elmo has managed to beat everyone else and is happily sitting at the first place on San's list of favs. It's all about Elmo the whole day. She's even learned to sing half of the Elmo song... it goes like this: "ya ya ya yaaa... Emmo sooooooooooong" (accompanied with a major head shake). All she needs now is a Guitar and it'll fit perfectly in the whole Emmo song scene. :-)

So she loves Elmo, loves the Elmo song, and gets to watch Sesame Street while having her meal... what's the problem here? The director of Sesame Street has assigned a limited space to Elmo in the episodes cuz' he has to fit in Elmo's friends too! So as soon as Elmo disappears from the scene, San stops eating, and starts looking for Elmo. <sigh> And then, I've to make up stories to make her eat. "Take one bite and Elmo will reappear." "Elmo wants you to eat! How does Elmo eat?" "Look look, Elmo's here, and now eat!" "Oh look, Dorothy is here!" (she's Elmo's pet after all... works as good as Elmo!) Oh and Mommy just ran out of stories... and patience too. Phew!

Mealtime is struggle time. If Elmo isn't there, she doesn't wanna eat. If Elmo is there, she forgets to eat. So, we've to find ways to make her open her mouth and put the food in. And that, my friends, is the toughest task of the day!

What's new? If you ask her what her name is, she'd say 'Shaammi" (that's her version of Saanvi). Ask her what is Papa's name, and she'd say Micky. Ask her what is Mommy's name, and she might say Divu or just gibberish. :D

What else? Whenever she senses trouble (like when she's about to get a scolding or Mommy's in a bad mood), she starts off with her sugary Sorrys and ends it with a big hug. She breaks into the Sorry act at the slightest hint of a would-be-trouble. Now that's what being proactive means! :)