My nest is best

"Mommy Mommy, come look what I found"
has been the latest most uttered sentence since we moved to this new house winning by a big margin over
"Mommy please let's go out and play NOW"

Manav, with Arnav at his heels has been constantly "exploring" the backyard, front yard, all rooms, bathrooms, garage and more. Most of the activity is centered around the backyard though. And when it is a "wet" (because of the rain) backyard the priority is easily explained.

"Mommy see here is a mommy snail and here the little one is the baby snail" And sure enough there were these "concentric circle" snails wedged between his fingers.

"Mommy hush, there is a bird over there" this is the second most common sentence. Birds are such a common sight and the frequency of their spotting and Manav asking me for their names has made me a Google "birdwatcher". So we identified the blue jays, American robins, great-tailed grackles and the common pigeons, doves and sparrows. The boys figured out that if they stay indoors and "follow" the bird from the formal dining, kitchen and into the family room always keeping an eye on it through the drawn up blinds it works much better than following them outdoors as they "always fly away" and "come for a short time" there. But whisper they must lest it gets frightened and flies away robbing them the chance of watching them up close.

"I am digging" Manav made this his prime job throughout the weekend. Armed with a garden spade Manav "dug" wherever his eyes fell on.
"Mommy look there are ants below this rock I dug" his happy eyes seemed to convey that he can handle their bite as well. Well not quite, as I learnt in the next moment.
All protocols about having a pair of "outdoor" shoes and another pair of "indoor" slippers were soon forgotten and they were seen without any footwear more often than with. And we just went to Costco and bought the "Swiffer" instead.

More protocols are in the making and will be dispensed soon as we figure them out. Some work in progress are:
"We will not jump and climb on the new furniture. It is strictly for seating"
"We will not walk into the house with mud on our feet( and hair), we will wipe them first on the new debri-catching doormat that Mommy bought"
"We will drive our toy cars on the rugs and not on the wooden floors"
"We will not jump from the ledges that adorn the house and should house decorations"
"We will not check and try out all the millions of light fixtures we have in this house as we have ample sunlight"
"We will not ice-skate on the wooden floor"
"We will not climb up the attic stairs now, only when Arnav is not around"
and so on.
We are just in the process of adding a positive connotation rather than the negative "will not" but it is not working out quite and we are running against time. We have to deliver before this house becomes a means of substantial additional income (in addition to rent) for our landlord.

This evening brought lightening, thunder and rainfall. I asked Arnav
"Are you scared? "
"No Mommy I am not scared. I am Arnav"
"I am very scared of lightening and thunder. Can I sleep in your bed tonight Mommy?" Manav chimed in
"You can talk to me Manav if you hear thunder" Arnav said making me wonder if he actually knew the meaning of "scared". Guess I will never know as by the time I find out he would have actually added "scared" to his vocabulary. Yes, that brain of his is making the connections and that too at a breakneck speed. And we are always working against time.

Pictures are coming up as soon as I figure out where I packed my camera. Till then we are finding our way in the maze of boxes and rooms and having a decent exercise in the process. From chaos to normalcy to elegance is the theme.

Summing up in Manav's words
"I love my house, I love my nest,
In the whole wide world my nest is best"
of course omitting the next sentence in which Mommy bird cries out
"Nooooo, we need a new and better house"

Wildflowers and Doctors

The wildflowers are everywhere. Picture this. Two boys on their bikes and Mommy walking alongside on the sidewalk. Every few minutes the older boy alights followed by the scampering younger one. Not a single dandelion can remain "unblown" till of course they see a whole field of them swaying in the breeze. Yellow small flowers,( here I have to acknowledge google for names and information on wildflowers) probably desert marigolds appear in a clump of four. Big boy says
"Mommy look it is a family. Mommy, Papa, Manav and Arnav" pointing to the individual flowers
"And here there is grandma and there, over there is grandpa"
"Arnav no touching or plucking them. Plants hurt. You can blow dandelions only"
Then they chance upon an entire field of blanket flowers dotted with a few black-eyed susans, iceland poppies and bluebonnets.
"Mommy look this is like a microphone" pointing to a grey-headed coneflower sans the petals and proceeds to sing "Mamma Mia" using the same. I missed my camera. I can give you a glimpse of my gerbera though

After umpteen other stops midway, chasing bunnies, squishing bugs, alerting for dog poop, surprising the crow like birds, waving at other bikers and more flowers they reached the park. Finally Mommy could rest in peace on one of those benches or so she thought when
"Mommy can you buy me one of those? I am so tired pedalling a bike" pointing at a girl riding the Razor motorcycle and zipping past the gaping boys. The story ends here though seeing her flying hair even I wished I had a toy like that. But I can't spoil my own kids, can I?

Earlier in the evening the boys pretend played doctor. Manav had chanced upon my breast-pump accessories which I had marked for trashing and found good use of those. Arnav complained of chest pain. Manav took out the thin tubes and wrapped around his forehead and said
"Beep, Beep, Beep. Now that it has beeped it is done"
Then took out the suction cups and put them on Arnav's chest and told him to breathe hard
"Oh, with my stethoscope I can hear your chest saying that you want to susu."
"Oh Mommy, I want to susu." Arnav said and promptly went to the bathroom.
"Thank you doctor, you are so good. Now my chest is not hurting" Arnav thanked Manav. Manav tapped him lightly on the shoulder and said
"No problem"

"Doctor, I got hurt here" Arnav came back.
"Now this is the last check I will do. Did you hurt your knee?" Manav asked
"Yes, I just got this boo-boo. See I cannot move my leg. See it is moving so slow" Arnav said shaking his legs.
"Ok, let me check it out with....." Manav started fumbling in the accessories bag
"Ok, I have to put an injection. Here .....and band-aid, band-aid" Manav pretended the band-aids after the injection.
"Doctor here too" Arnav showed another place for band-aid and was rewarded.
"Thank you doctor, no more boo-boo"

Then they moved onto their homework. Manav does get some from school while Arnav works on Manav's previous day's homework, which has already been corrected and graded by his teacher.
"Mommy, look I colored purple" Arnav tells me excitedly
"It is so pretty Arnav. I like it" I say with eyes still on my computer screen.
"Don't say that. Don't say you like it" Arnav's words make me look at him
"Why? " I ask
"Because I am not done. Let me finish then you say you like it" Arnav pouts with his traditional arms crossed over chest stance.
Lesson learnt. If you are not paying attention to their remarks and sitting there like a figurehead (mom) that's what you will get back. Blame the childrens' "not listening" skills to yourself.
Then some more lesson. Arnav walks over with his "completed" sheet and says
"Is it pretty?"
"It is very pretty Arnav. I like it" I am genuine this time around.
Lesson is - whatever you do they will always come back to you. They will forgive you in nanoseconds and love you unconditionally. Till what age this holds true is a tough question though.

Manav is doing a great job with his homework especially coloring. He sits with his coloring sheet for a long time and painstakingly mixes, matches and colors all the time making up stories.
"The bird landed on a green field"
"The flowers are a pretty blue and pink. The bird likes it so is singing"

Philosophy aside, it is tough being with the kids whole day with a break of 2 - 2.5 hrs in the morning. My "inebriated" brain is no match for two "making millions of connections per second" brain of these kids. The worst part is they look up to you to answer their queries and believe what you say so you can't lie. Its having a mirror all day reflecting your activities,
"Why did you eat after brushing your teeth?"
"How did this chocolate wrapper come in the trash?"
"Why did that boy touch and take the candies to play with in the store?"
"Why does a giant squid has popped out eyes?"
"What is the meaning of resist "?

Now that they are asleep and I have had a breather, I have good answers to all these questions but at that moment all I can muster is
"Its ok. We'll find out later. Lets finish our lunch" or something like that.
I promise to be a better mother tomorrow as they promised to be better boys tomorrow. Well tomorrow is better.

Hello and Goodbye

Growth is relative. Perception of growth needs a base for comparision. I know the kids have grown when I chance upon an old photograph or pair of onesies or the newborn diaper. Otherwise they are still little. And I know the Lima beans that Manav planted has grown as well but at a faster rate when I see the beans hanging from the branches. Every morning Manav wakes up and checks the growth and says the same thing
"Mommy Mommy come look, there are more"
"Mommy the spiders have built a web on the other plant" pointing to the hibiscus shrub and sure enough there is a barely noticeable spider web there.
"Mommy I am making the flower straight" trying to tug the sun facing tilted yellow gerbera towards him.

Everything is so green, you can hardly see the beans until you look closer

The boys have gotten comfortable with falling asleep on their own in their room. Manav does show up on our bedside sometimes but instead of climbing up between us he says

"Mommy, my hands are so cold. Can you come tuck me please?" rubbing his palms on my cheek

and another day

"Mommy, why is Arnav here?"

"He has been coughing too much" I reply

"Oh ok" and goes back to his room

and again

"Mommy I need to go to bathroom"

I nudged Caunteya and told him to take Manav to the bathroom. Caunteya takes him back to his room and puts him to bed. Next I see the bathroom light on and Manav on the potty. He is really on his own now.

"Can you tuck me in please? My legs are always out of the blanket" is a common statement most of the time.

And when he wakes up in the morning he checks with us

"Did I sleep all by myself?"

and feels very content when there is an affirmative from us.

Today when I kissed him goodnight he said

"See you tomorrow then"

and Caunteya tells me, Manav told him earlier

"Papa, I hope I don't come to your room today. It is a weekday" We have a pact that we can sleep in each others' room only in the weekends.

Arnav has been sucked into all this growing-up game. I cannot imagine Manav at 2 years 9 months sleeping all by himself. But then Manav donned the big-brother cape also at a tender age. So all's fair. What is not fair is this hollow feeling that while falling asleep they no longer need us by their side.

The other day Manav got up from his potty with an aghast look.

"Mommy I got susu from my bum. Girls do that. How did it happen to me? I am a boy" He was almost teary. They share a bathroom at school so guess he got the idea from there.

"Maybe it was not susu, it was your poopy. Remember your tummy was hurting" I tried to placate him.

I know this is getting kind of gross but I had to mention as Manav was really very very concerned with this unusual occurrence.

We didn't end up buying that 16 inches bike for Manav. He needs to put on a couple of more inches to be able to manage that bike. Thankfully we got an used 14 inches bike so now both boys ride their "Big Boys Bikes". Today I told them to ride the bike inside the house as I was busy packing and couldn't take them out. They marked all the boxes area as "construction site", loosely packed articles as "stop signs" and the kitchen as "one way" etc and played for a while. Arnav got stuck someplace and Manav came over to help. He said

"Arnav try your best to control the corners. When you come near corners you go past them, not bump into them." with great stress on the words "past" and "bump". He also showed off a live demo of how he deals with corners. It was very precise and neatly executed audio and video.

Since the past couple of days Manav and Arnav have been busy making rhyming words. During one such creative session at the breakfast table Arnav said

"Have you ever seen a racket wearing a jacket?"

and Manav added

"Have you ever seen plants wearing pants?"

"Have you ever seen a door sitting on the floor?"

and many more which I cannot remember now. This is in lines of the silly songs that they hear so often. But the above are their own.

We are all caught up in the upcoming move on Saturday. Then there is the much awaited Memorial Day vacation in the weekend after. There is promise of lots of fun. But first we have to get past the move. And we will since the boys have been a lot of help in packing. They counted and labelled the candy jars with the number of candies appropriately. They took out stuff from the semi-packed boxes and tried getting into the same boxes multiple times. They have so far packed and unpacked their box of cars at least 20 times. They have expressed delight in moving to a house with "backyard" but in the same breath have expressed sadness to have to drive down to meet their friends here. Manav said

"When we pass by this house we will" and sang out in the tune of 'wheels of the bus'

"Wave Hello to our old House,

Our old house, our old house

Wave Hello to our old house

And then say Goodbye"

Yes, Hello and Goodbye are the two sides of the same coin. Goodbye for now.

Vinegar and Baking soda

Blog Moment, is a moment when something happens and you feel, aaha this is what I want to write about when I write next. And when you are ready to write after hours, days or weeks you have completely no remembrance of these episodes. This is precisely the phenomenon I am experiencing and the reason is also clear. I as usual have "millions" (as Manav would say) of things on my mind and these days add another "million" due to the upcoming move. So I will pen today's post trying to rack my brain to unclog memories and right after the post experience a surge of "conversations". So technically I should begin writing after I complete a post. 

Manav is doing some science experiment at school. He explained it thus. 
"There is vinegar and baking soda and when you mix them the balloon sucks up the air and blows"
This was enough to trigger memories of my father lighting a candle, placing it on a water filled saucer, putting a glass cup over it and magic - the candle goes out and the water is sucked up the glass. Wait, not over yet. When Baba (father) holds the saucer upside down, the glass is still stuck with the water inside. With audible gasps breaking out into vehement claps me and my brother would beg for an encore and my proud father would grudgingly oblige. I guess it is the novelty of anything that mesmerises us and as soon as we get to know the real science behind it the magic wears off. I am reliving the magic via my kids as possibly I cannot experience the "first time" again for things that have already happened. Or can I?

When I asked more questions on the experiment Manav came up with a clever reply
"How about I let you focus on driving and not talk?"
and that did shut me up.

Arnav is becoming quite a talker now. A typical conversation with Arnav would go like this
"Arnav, did you throw the marker here?"
"Maybe" with a cool shrug
"You know that you're not supposed to play with markers."
"I think so"
"I don't like it when you are not listening"
"Me neither" and little man walks off.

The other night for some reason he kept on crying and wouldn't sleep. I cuddled with him and said
"Ooh my baby, what's bothering you shona?"
"I am NOT a baby anymore" pat comes the teary reply
Caunteya tried to lighten the moment by saying
"Jaldi so ja. Abhi batman aayega, tera bhai"
"Nooo Manav is NOT a batman, he is a ice-hockey man" another round of tears.

And today afternoon when I sent him for nap, he complained
"My tummy is hurting"
"It's ok, calm down, breathe and rest a little, you will feel better"
"I think the sun can help. I am tired of sleeping. I am sooo cranky" Arnav cried.
Manav also resorts to this "tummy hurting" syndrome quite often. Guess that is where Arnav learnt it from. So we tried water, food, rest everything when Manav remarked
"Maybe the oreo cookies and come ice cream will fix it. Let us try"
And when he had both
"See it worked. I cannot believe it. I think my tummy needed some cold thing"

Arnav is my cuddle bundle. Today he tells me
"Mommy can you please give me the squeeze hug" and I gladly did
The other day I smothered him with kisses and he said
"Mommy don't kiss me so hard. Then my back will hurt like you"
Manav on the other hand is more Caunteya oriented and is a little conservative with his affection towards me and I guess it is mutual.
Today Arnav was running behind Manav and both were crying aloud. I was concerned and when Manav stopped, Arnav just leaned over and kissed him on his arm.
"Awww, you are such a mean brother. He just wanted to kiss you"
"I didn't know that" Manav said and fair enough. Arnav is very very raw with his display of affection .

There is a deluge of "why's" from the boys and it is killing to say the least. Almost 90% of their sentences begin with why.
"Why does Snow White need a prince?"
"Why do you put that on your face?"
"Why do you want to be pretty?"
"Why can't I be a girl?"
"Why is it subzi? Why not subzi mandi?"
"Why did the rainbow disappear?"
"Why did you say why?"

Today I reminded Manav for the umpteenth time that when Mommy is on the phone he has to behave and not yell. I completed yet another difficult phone call and Manav explained
"Arnav pretended to be a ball and I had the baseball bat. So I hit him and he cried. I tried to stop him as you were on the phone, but he still cried."
He is now besotted with baseball and knows the baseball anthem "Take me to the ball game", courtesy Ms Foley.

When Arnav is angry he just crosses his arms and pouts. Sometimes he says
"I will not give you any jelly beans." or
"Just leave me alone"
Manav tries to intimidate you with his meanest remark. The other day he said
"I will not cook and feed you when you grow old"

Manav donned his office clothes and shoes and carried his laptop to "office" while Arnav managed with just a shirt over his shorts. I requested for a photo op and Arnav said
"Sure, you can" and posed for me
"I am very late. I cannot stop for pictures. Once I am back you can take some pictures" was Manav's reply
Then they spent considerable amount of time on their laptops till Manav had to come home for "tea". I finally convinced him to undress and "work-from-home" as he was sweating with those layers of clothing on.

Handsome Arnav posing

Manav is getting better at his alphabets though there is miles to go.

Roll Number 44

Trio of events unfolded on Friday. I received the Mother's Day gifts at school. It coincided with the staff appreciation week end date so I handed over the hand sewn apron gifts to the teachers. And I chopped off my hair. Manav said
"Mommy I didn't recognize you".
Here are the pictures.

The afternoon naps are getting longer. They sleep like logs and I am torn between waking them up so that they sleep on time at night or letting them sleep in lieu of a few more minutes of peace before the storm. Arnav woke up and appeared in the living room driving his truck. Then we started talking. Manav yelled from his room
"You guys are too noisy. You will wake me up"
"Shhh....dada is sleeping." Arnav chided.
"Manav you need to wake up now. Your homework is waiting" I said in an effort to pull him out of bed
"Mommy, do you know how hard I worked at school today? I need to sleep" Manav said and then went on to start the boombox to doze off while listening to music. That's how they sleep at night these days.

The boys were playing with the pennies after their afternoon nap. Manav wanted to collect 100 pennies to trade for a dollar in the bank. He would line them up and start counting only to forget the number till he counted last. After what seemed like ages amidst frustrated whining and keeping Arnav away from jumping around the "penny train" he finally reached 100. Meanwhile he sent me on a google trip saying
"Obama's roll number is 44"
"Who said that Manav?"
"Ms. Foley" enough information to prompt a google search. And I discovered that Obama is the 44th President of USA.

We replaced all the crayons and markers with washable ones in anticipation of our move into a new house. I did not expect this to be a learning curve for the boys. Arnav takes off the cover and has a tough time locating it again. So Manav said
"Arnav let me show you. The small side goes on the bottom while you are using the marker and the big side is used for closing the marker." There is very little difference though between the "big" and the "small" side so Arnav keeps faltering and there is more whining 
"Arnav you keep saying no, no I don't want omelet, that is why you are not strong. You cannot put things together." Manav somehow manages to keep the whining at bay.

Today Manav insisted on buying his own Nike socks for tennis. We didn't find any at Walmart so he bought the Walmart brand instead and also added a t-shirt and shorts set. Arnav went around the store trying to find out "something to buy" and loaded the cart with more socks, t-shirts, shorts and underwear. We didn't buy any of those and worst - Arnav didn't notice. Makes me feel more guilty.
"Mommy you can join us. I will teach you tennis. You have to hit the ball over the net" Manav said
"I will teach Mommy too. Both of us will teach Mommy" Arnav chimed in but I stayed back to work on dinner while Caunteya "coached" the kids in the tennis court.

It being a weekend we all piled onto the big bed to sleep. They sleep by themselves in their own room on weekdays. From left to right on the bed it is Manav, Caunteya, Arnav and me. Arnav kept on reiterating
"Mommy I like you" and nuzzled and kissed me umpteen times.
And when I stepped away to leave as they dozed off Arnav murmured
"Don't go" which still sounds more like "Non't go".
That made me linger a while longer and I couldn't help wondering till when will he cling to me like this. Till when will he think I am the centerpiece of his life. Till when will he be this devoted to me. Till when will Mother's Day bring along such cute gifts. Till when will Manav wrap himself around me when Caunteya is mad at him. Till when? I am reminded of what Manav said a few days ago
"Mommy baby birds don't know how to fly" in a I-cant-believe-it tone.
And my babies are slowly but steadily spreading their wings ready to fly.
"Non't go".

Flower Pot and Hand Prints

Two things happened on the same day . Manav received his soccer medal and he got his 4 years' check-up done. Yesterday afternoon we went for his check-up. He asked me
"Will they injure me?"
"Why would they do that Manav"?
"They do that, to keep the germs away, you know" he said rolling his big eyes and then it struck me
"Oh you mean injection?"
"Yes, yes, injection. That does injure doesn't it?" he corrected but made it sound as an afterthought.
"I am not sure, we'll see" I dismissed it honestly
At the checkup, he behaved like a grown up 4 year old. He aced his vision and hearing tests. Answered and did everything the doctor asked him to. He was very happy....until the "injury" happened. He was poked 4 times and he did cry. I had to take Arnav out for a walk. When we came to the room, Arnav said
"Let us get him a lollipop, then he will feel better" and we did.
Then he pointed to Manav's thigh and said
"Mommy look stickers"
"They are NOT stickers, they are band-aids" retorted a tearful Manav
In the car Manav said
"Arnav if you want shots you have to come to Dr Guetersloh's office. The nurse will be very fast, if she is slow it will hurt you more"
"Yes, I will come to Dr. Gueterslot's office"

And evening brought the much anticipated soccer medal award ceremony complete with pizza and juice. The whole gym was packed with little ones and their parents and it was a chaotic ceremony. Manav beamed with his medal.

Arnav wanted to try on the medal while we were driving back. Manav grudgingly obliged

"When you are done you give it back to me because this is my medal" he said

"Here, you can have it" Arnav returned it back

"Did your neck hurt Arnav?" he asked

"No"

"It will. This is a medal for 4 year olds, you are 2 year old, it will hurt you" Manav said

"Mommy this looks like a stethoscope" Manav observed and with this connection the two events ended.

We stopped for the mail on our way back.

"Mommy can I have my card." Manav said

"What card Manav?"

"Remember Ma sent me a card for my birthday?" My mother did send him a birthday card from India which never reached

"Oh, that one, I think that is lost"

And while we were talking Caunteya came in with the post and handed over the card to Manav. He was literally shaking with excitement as it was too pure and sheer a coincidence. We opened the card and he kept slapping his forehead, clapping his hands and saying

"Oh, thank God this card reached. We thought it was lost. Mommy see it also has a letter. Arnav you will get your card in July. Don't take mine"

While I put him in bed last night he said

"The doctor said I have to sleep by myself right?"

"Yes, Manav. You are a big boy now"

"Ok, I think dinosaur will do the trick" and brought a polar bear, dinosaur, his puppy, his borthday card and the pinwheel the doctor's office had given him to sleep with.

After a couple of minutes both the boys walked into our bedroom

"Mommy you didn't tuck me well. The legs are coming out" Manav said

"Mommy you didn't kiss me well." Arnav said

After more tucking and kissing they did sleep off. Manav came to my bedside at night and said

"Mommy my legs are again coming out of the blanket. You will have to tuck me in"

I checked, it was 3 AM, I just pulled him on the bed and we slept. I know I should have walked him back to his room hence the confession. Today he did get a bigger blanket, let's see.

While Caunteya was brushing him, Manav said

"I am not swallowing paste Papa. Some toothpaste hides in the teeth even when I spit it out."

Will mention another incident and call it a day.

"Mommy I have made something for you for Mother's day and it is a surprise. You can guess it but I cannot tell you"

"Is it a card?"

"No"

"Is it a flower"? "chocolate?" "hand prints?" and some more and I got "No" in reply to each

"It is something you keep the flowers in"

"Oh, a vase" I said triumphantly

"No" he said

After a few more tries both of us were getting frustrated so he mouthed the words and I said

"A flower pot !!"

"Yes, I painted it pink and wrote Mommy from Manav in it. The 'N' is a mistake there as I wrote too fast. I am sorry. You cannot see it now. The paint has to dry off. You can take it home on Friday. You cannot wait to see it right?" he gushed excitedly.

"Oh, Manav. I cannot wait to see it. Thank you"

And he beamed.

There I don't feel all that great letting out the surprise and secret but I had no other option but to continue with the guessing game. He wouldn't have me not guess it. When I asked Arnav what he made for Mommy, he was clueless. Though I pretty much know what he did as on way back from school today he explained to me

"You dip your hand in paint, put it on paper and done" and those are the unmistakable tiny hand prints that I will get. I will confirm my guess soon.

Yes, Mother's day it is. And thanks to their teachers the boys have gotten me great gifts over the last couple of years and I cherish them. All I ask for is that they remain this devoted to me always. As for me I have no choice and the only time when I am happy without one. I am committed to loving them all my life since the moment I saw them for the very first time.

100 pennies

Royal marriage, death of a terrorist, tornado wrecking havoc, elections back home or whatever the big news is Manav and Arnav are oblivious to any. Their world is the one uncomplicated haven to which I have the luxury to retreat whenever I want. Join me now in one such journey leaving behind your complicated world.

On way back from school today, Manav said almost in tears
"Mommy when you are old I still cannot drive."
"Of course you will drive Manav, don't worry about that"
"No Mommy, when we come to the corners I won't know whether to go straight or turn" he cried
"You will know all the routes Manav, or you can use the GPS. Don't worry" I comforted him
"I don't want you to grow old Mommy" he finally sealed it.
"Ok, Manav. That will take a while, so for now we are fine" Maybe Manav will invent the immortality potion.

Cars are great conversation places. Especially ours since it doesn't have any great music or a DVD player. So we talk. Here are a few, over the days:

"Mommy, why do boys bow and girls pull at their skirts after a show?" Manav asked and I always ask the source of his question and this one was from Diego's and Alyssia's performance

"Mommy if you have 100 pennies in a ziploc you can exchange it for a dollar" courtesy Ms Foley

"There is air in the tires?" When Caunteya said he needs to fill air in the car
"Yes"
"Oh yes, without the air the car's tires will get squished as Diego's tires got squished" Manav self explained.

"If you go that way you will be born" Arnav said pointing to the route where we had earlier shown  the kids the hospital where they were born.  

"Mommy, if you take one of your dangerous sewing pins and prick a balloon it will pop. We should try that" Manav dreams big.

Last night we all piled into the "big" bed at night to sleep. They were already tired from another nap-less weekend evening and we were sure they will fall asleep in no time. But they kept on talking. Caunteya said
"We need to rest now. Lets stop talking and sleep"
"Yes, the brain is not working any more" added Manav
"Why, not working?" asked Arnav
"It gets difficult to think any more" Manav went on
"Why, it is difficult?" asked Arnav
"It has been such a long day" Manav sighed
"Why long day? " Arnav continued.
Caunteya joked something about packing Arnav and his "Why's" away to which Arnav retorted
"I will not talk to you any more, I promise"

Today Manav changed into his Nike socks, shoes, white t-shirt and got his bat and ball out for some cricket. Arnav said
"Oh you are Minnesota and I am Grasshoppers" Grasshoppers are the soccer team at YMCA and Minnesota were playing ice-hockey once on TV.
"Arnav, we are not playing soccer nor ice-hockey. It is cricket, ok, cricket understood?"
"Ok" Arnav said

"Mommy look you have to hold the bat like this, see this finger that I always bite (jutting his thumb out) and this one (forming a V with the thumb and the pointer) this has to be in line with the back of the bat (pointing to the intersection of the fingers)" Manav showed me
"Now you have to keep your eyes on the ball" he said when I bowled.
"Mommy, doesn't matter what bat you hold, the line of the ball is very important" he continued coaching
"What is the line of the ball?" I asked
"See where the ball comes from and falls, that is the line" he said
He had already delegated Arnav to be the fielder and once did let him bat only to show him how to field. He seemed to be in a jovial mood
"See you hit some, you miss some. I am not crying" Manav said
"You are a big boy. Big boys don't cry" Arnav said

Weather played spoilt sport hence we were stuck in the house all evening. Manav put on he Nike socks in his hands and said
"I have Polar Bear creature power" and went on to rescue baby animals just like Wild Kratz. He said he wanted to play with a neighbor. When I said he misbehaves with that kid Manav said
"He is not a seal. I will not hurt him. I am a polar bear, I just eat seals for food, I will not hurt people"

We read, played some, made phone calls etc. and when Caunteya came they built some with Lego blocks. They built things which they called "vacuum train", "shooting gun", "microscope" which led to the discussion regarding intricate differences between a microscope, telescope, magnifying glass and a binocular. Thus empowered with knowledge beyond their years (or so I think) they ended their day while I stretched it for dwelling in their world a wee bit more.