Mr Beasley

"Mommy he hit me" came a crying Manav to my bedside. I was trying in vain to catch a few more minutes of sleep as Arnav decided to wake up at 5:30 AM. I kept him in bed with me till 6 AM but then they both slipped out. I could hear the "Mercury and Venus, Earth and Mars....." the planet song in the living room. Everything was so peaceful when suddenly Arnav decided to strike hence a screaming Manav at my bedside. I had to get up.

"Arnav did you hit him?" I asked

"Yes" said a defiant Arnav

"Say sorry to dada"

"I want to build (Lego), not say sorry" Arnav pouted. After some pep talk he said

"Sorry Mr. Beasley" Mr. Beasley is a character in 'Bob the builder' and they have been having a good laugh just by saying his name, since the past few days.

"Now hug dada" I said

Arnav hugged Manav, but Manav said

"No, thats not good enough. He called me Mr. Beasley, I am Manav"

"Say Sorry Manav" I was determined to end this

Arnav said sorry and they hugged.

Next moment he was irritating Manav who was trying to build something.

"Arnav you said sorry and hugged me. Now you cannot do random stuff"

"Random stuff" said Arnav and giggled

I saw this wasn't getting anywhere so found a safe haven in the kitchen.

On way back from school Arnav was singing
"Ms Mary Mac Mac Mac dressed in black black black"
and Manav was singing his, what else, but the planet song. I joined in and he said
"Mommy it is not Nepchune (as in fortune) but Neptoon (as in cartoon)"
That is the first time I heard Neptune being called thus. But then whatever Ms Foley says, it stays. No questions asked.

Here Manav is reading the jelly bean flavors. He knows most of the 49 flavors by rote and can identify them by colors but some easy ones he can read. They read by phonics, for example when he reads 'car' he says "Kh- Kh-Kh- eh - eh - eh - rr- rr- rr, CAR" and there is that 'achievement' smile on his face. Arnav points to each flavor and Manav reads. Its a must watch.

"Manav what is this one?"

"It is toasted marshmallow"

"Toasted marshmallow" says Arnav and giggles. He loves rolling these new words in his tongue, feels like jelly beans after all. Did I mention I paid a fortune for these gourmet jelly beans from Costco, organic or something. But yes, they make good compliance treats(the smallest I can lay my hands on) and reading practice is a bonus.  

I had to click this one, they were so similar in their sleeping positions. After yesterday's napping fiasco I just slept with both of them in our bed and sneaked out when they fell asleep. Manav woke up and said

"Hey Mommy they are back"

I was a little surprised, I thought maybe he is still dreaming about the aliens or something.

"Who?" I said

"Michelle and her brother. They are back from China. They had been gone for a long time".

Ok that explains it.

I absolutely hate their playdoh play. This started as I was making rotis and Arnav asked for his share of 'atta' and got his rolling pin and board out. I let them play as that made the rotis possible for dinner. When I asked them to cleanup as dinner would be there in five minutes, Manav said

"Please bring the hourglass. When it is done call us"

During dinner Manav said

"I am holding my bag. I have to go susu"

I googled for the slang "holding my bag" but hit nothing of interest. Not sure then where that came from. But Arnav immediately left the table and brought his pink bag out. He also wanted to 'hold a bag'

Here he is cutting his strawberry with a plastic knife. They were using the knife and scissors with the playdoh so it kind of carried on at the dinner table. Using anything dangerous makes them feel powerful, but isn't that true for us too? Here you can see a little of the pink bag too.

After dinner I sat with them on the couch and told Arnav to scoot a little. He said

"Skit Skat Scoodle Doot"

I told them that Mommy will be gone on Friday and back on Sunday ( I am going to Vegas with two girlfriends, yesssss) and asked Manav if he will miss me. He said

"Yes, I will miss you but I know you will come back." and snuggled close to Papa.

Arnav clearly showed he hasn't followed anything.

They went to bed and Arnav put something in his mouth and said

"Look Manav, look"

"That is gross Arnav"

"Skit Skat Scoodle Doot" said Arnav

"You are irritating me. Mommmmieeeeeee" and this went on till I intervened. I delivered the usual long lecture woven around keywords like 'calm down', 'school tomorrow', 'imagine jelly beans pebble beach', 'hug and kiss' , 'snuggle, cuddle, nuzzle', 'love', 'big boys sleep by themselves', 'blah-blah' and Arnav sat up in the bed. I said

"Down Arnav. Lie down, it is LATE" my patience ran out

"I have to sit. I have to see what's going on. What's going on Manav?"

Nothing is going on. Nothing ever will. Everything stopped since you have been born. The earth has been rotating and revolving (stealing Manav's terms) but my life is a standstill yet moving at unimaginable speed. You have to be in the same shoes to experience this conundrum - a humdrum away from the humdrum, an energizing experience devoid of energy, insane sleep deprivation yet sleeping like a baby, worst wardrobe of the century but feeling glamorous and I could go on and on, just that I need to sleep now. To share early morning hugs with my sunshine and terrors.