Bunny Spotters

I did mention there will be no weekend posts but little did I realise that weekdays will be a toughie as well. Just got a whole lot in my plate right now. We are house hunting, I have been busy sewing, reading some awesome books, having great time outdoors with the boys now that spring (break)  is official in Dallas, to mention a few. A zero dollar Kohls bill this month is proof enough. Many other things have been going on as well. Manav has this hectic soccer schedule with practice on Thursdays and Saturday morning matches. Caunteya is doing his year end madness at work ( read as working long hours) and I am really looking forward to becoming a regular in writing this blog. If wishes were horses.

Arnav has been talking a lot lately. He asks what seems like million of questions.

"Who is this?" pointing to a car in the picture

"A car Arnav"

"I know it is a car, but who is this?" he repeats patiently pointing to the same car. That is when it dawns to me he is actually asking "Whose car is this?"

and when I appropriately answer that question he gives me a satisfied

"Oh"

And this "I know it is X, but my real question is Y" has been going on for a while. We are finally beginning to understand the 'Y', still a long way off though.

One afternoon we ( me and the kids) decided to clean up the house. I have been very negligent in this aspect, sewing whenever I get a chance. Manav volunteered to clean the toy/guest room (I have a strong hunch this was so that he could play there) and Arnav and I took the boy's bedroom. We decided to hang the piles of clothes in hangers. Arnav got into one of those zones where he wants to do an activity, lacks the skills to do it and would not accept any external help to get it done.  

"There is some problem with this t-shirt" said Arnav amidst inconsolable sobs

"Oh, yes you are right. This t-shirt has collar, maybe you should try the Thomas one" I offered

"Yes, lets try again. Thomas is fine. He can hang on the hanger...chug chug chugga chugga" with teary laughter.

The incessant frustrated crying dominated most of the t-shirts. Some which he managed to hang precariously on the hangers came loose when finally hung in the closet starting a fresh round of crying and "There is some problem with this t-shirt" but finally we had all of them in the closet ( I should have got a picture of the awkwardly hung t-shirts)

One evening I was very cold and sat curled on the couch.

"Why are you like this Mommy?"Manav asked me

"Mommy is cold. We should light a fire beside her to keep her warm" said Caunteya

"No papa, fire is dangerous, she will burn" Manav shuddered

"We will put water in the fire" Arnav offered a solution

"Why Arnav, what would water do?" I was happy that Arnav was becoming worldly wise

"Water will clean the fire. And we will all say good job and have jelly beans" beamed Arnav.

I treasure the white curtains that are the only items I have splurged in the otherwise sparsely furnished living room. But Manav makes it a point to gather them in his hands and walk with them when he passes that area of the room or just cover himself up with them and feel the soft silk texture. This in spite of my long lectures to make him understand the danger that looms if the rods fell down due to his tugging at the curtains. On one such occasion I chided him

"Manav not the curtains. You will hurt yourself"

"Mommy these are not curtains. They are fluffy clouds from Mount Fuji" Manav walked away with this profound statement ( of course lifted from one of the library books where they were selling mashed potatoes for the Mt Fuji clouds so that kids would eat it).

Yesterday Manav scored a goal for his team 'Little Shooters'. This was an achievement as he has his own ideas about soccer. First of all he doesn't remember which side he should score and second he generally like running in the fringes around the mass of players and doesn't really do anything. When Caunteya demonstrated with a ball

"You need to take the ball from the other team and continue to the other side like this"

"Hey, Papa, if I took the ball from you, how would you feel"? Manav's question was genuine.

"This is a game Manav, you have to score to win" and some other long winded explanations which didn't seem to make sense to him. He is still in that stage where he is awed by the game, more by the soccer gear and behaves as if to be a part of the game itself is a big thing, playing it better will come later.

Getting ready to start the game

" Papa how can I kick the ball? "

So here was this game where "snatching" and "kicking" were legitimate and didn't warrant a timeout. I can see it has been very confusing. Still waiting for that "click" to happen in that little brain.

Watching the game

Yesterday Papa and the kids went out bunny hunting post dinner. The rabbits get out in bunches and munch on grass and the kids have a blast looking at these fearless creatures up close. They came back bubbling with news for me

"There was a baby bunny. Choto (small) bunny eating grass. Papa bunny and Mommy bunny were there but far away, baby bunny didn't run away" Arnav gushed

"There was a dog barking, I said shhh but still the bunny did not run away" he continues

"I said to the dog, stop barking or you will be in trouble, lot of trouble" Arnav declared

and then the climax

"But there is pink bunny on Lord Ganesh" and began giggling uncontrollably.

Actually on one of their while going to school trips Arnav insisted on taking this pink bunny (which grows when put in water) to school and Caunteya in desperation hung that bunny on the Ganesh picture on way out saying

"Lord Ganesh will take care of the bunny when you are at school"

and I showed Manav the mouse that always accompanied Lord Ganesh

"That is a honey badger Mommy, not a mouse" declared Manav

Today during our house hunting trip Manav was particularly whiny and just would not listen to us. He cried the whole way back in the car yelling

"I don't want to go home. Take me on a drive"

We got home and had him work on some joining-the-dots to distract him but in vain. Then suddenly he said

"Hey Mommy, guess what?"

"What? " I asked

"I have calmed down. I am not crying anymore." and sure thing he had

and one evening when he was crying a lot as I didn't allow him to wear his shin guards during a walk to the mailbox he said

"Can I stop crying now? Have I calmed down?"

The joining dots with an onlooker

Today during lunch he just wouldn't finish his last bit of rice and dal. He said

"Hey Papa, I will eat this much and you eat the rest" separating the rice into two parts

"No, I have finished my food, you have to finish yours" Caunteya replied

"Let us share Papa, you eat some and I will eat some" he made another effort.

Daylight savings has robbed us of an hour today and it is now tomorrow already. The boys will wake up fresh as a daisy while I will be a wilted dandelion to say the least.

Lil Helper

"I am tired" is an understatement. Am not sure if it is my waning energy or the boys' waxing enthusiasm for everything in sight (and not in sight). Today's post will be without any photos if I manage to publish the post that is.

Manav woke up at 6:30 AM and excitedly came up to me and said

"Mommy the duck has grown. Come see"

and I had to wake up too. Last evening, he had gotten this duck toy (from my neighbor) which if you put in water it keeps growing.

"Sharoon aunty promised it will grow. She was right. Look how big it has grown"

and the excitement continued with Arnav coming over and answering in the negative to Manav's question

"Look hasn't the duck grown up?"

"No"

"Come stand here. From here you can see. Can you see now?"

"Yes" still sleepy Arnav got it.

The duck made it to the school and back today. In the car Manav informed

"The duck is growing without eating anything"

"It must be eating Manav. You cannot see" I didn't want to reinforce the growing without eating theory. Eating linked to growing and becoming strong and being able to play sports is a central theme in this house. Important and most activities revolve around it.

"Its mouth is always closed. It is not eating Mommy"

I let it go, too  much discussion here will just end up reinforcing.

Today I picked them up early as Arnav had a dental appointment. I must elaborate the luxury of this kids' dental place. They have a high rise play structure similar to most of the Mc Donald's only bigger. Not to mention that Arnav insisted on completing the whole loop though his doctor was ready for him. Then you walk in to pick up a DVD, which you'd like to watch and the nurse puts it in the central DVD system and takes you to your room where the TV screen is right above the dentist's chair. So while you lie down and get your teeth examined/fixed you get to watch Diego saving his beloved animals. And if the doctor is using water and too much is squirting up for a clear vision of the rain forest above, you are passed on a pair of sunglasses. So Manav is quite right in asking

"Why didn't Arnav's doctor appointment last longer for me to watch a little more Diego?"

And I cannot help but contrast it to my earliest memory of dentist appointment in IGH, Rourkela where I ran away from the dentist chair even after he had administered the tall syringe full of anesthesia. The doctor did give an earful to my father about raising better kids.

The trip to Mc Donalds' after the doctor's appointment didnt go that well. Arnav refused to leave the play area and we had to force him out. And trust me forcing Arnav is neither pretty nor easy. He yells for all people to notice you forcing him and gets this immense strength somehow which makes it hard for even two people to strap him down to the car seat. This traumatic experience interfered with his afternoon nap but between me and Manav we managed pretty well. Yes, of course Manav didn't nap. Did I mention I am tired?

Few minutes into his nap time Arnav woke up again

"I want to go. I want to go" referring to the play area I believe

I told Manav not to make any noise and went to put Arnav back to bed.

It took a while as Arnav just wasn't going to fall asleep easily. When he was finally asleep I heard a distant "Done". It could mean only one thing - post potty cleanup request.

I went out of the boys' bedroom looking for Manav in their bathroom but was surprised to find him in ours instead.

"Hey what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to potty and you were putting Arnav to bed and the exhaust was too noisy so I came here"

If only he wasn't on the potty seat I would have hugged him tight.

"Oh Manav, that is so nice of you. Very good thinking. You are so intelligent"

"Yes, I didn't want to wake Arnav. He is cranky and you were putting him to bed. I am intelligent so I came here" reiterated Manav.

He patiently finished his homework while I spoke to the realtor, played with the computer Caillou alphabet game while I folded the laundered clothes ( less of folding and more of reading a book) and continued to be this sweet grown up son even after Arnav woke up.

"I will not throw those" declared Arnav sleepily pointing to the folded clothes on the couch.

"Arnav come I will show you how Gilbert is finding his bone ( or something like that)" Manav called out and Arnav bounded along.

Manav came to me and whispered

"I am just asking him to help me find the 'M's so that he doesn't disturb you. You can read your book"
And I could hear Arnav saying
"Good job Manav. I will give you one candy"

This arrangement worked pretty well till Arnav displayed his real elements and dethroned Manav from the chair and started operating the mouse. Before the yelling and screaming could go out of hand I whisked them off to the park. But not before Manav showed another of his "over-helpful" side for the umpteenth time today.

" I need to go to the bathroom" I said

"You go ahead Mommy. I will keep an eye on him" Manav said pointing to Arnav.

When I finally emerged from my interrupted stint in the bathroom I was aghast to find them "cleaning" the TV screen with a soaked towel. All my tender love for Manav vanished and I yelled. I then calmed down and explained how the TV and laptop just cannot have water anywhere near them etc etc when I saw the once folded clothes now all strewn on the floor. Then I lost it again. I took Arnav by his shoulders and reminded him in his words, that he wasn't going to touch the folded clothes. He continued to stare with big eyes, which made me madder then but now I feel that he didn't get any of what I was saying. Because they just don't understand words above a certain decibel level. Other than scaring ( possibly scarring) them it does nothing. Sometimes they are not even scared, they laugh, for them its funny to see a grown up doing weird things with their hands, hair and feet accompanied by yelling/shouting/screaming.

Park was not bad at all despite the fact that Manav took possession of a big stick and wouldn't part with it, decided to be a crocodile waiting at the mouth of the tunnel slide and mouthing a little dirt in the process and was swinging on the net of the goalpost.

Back home I reminded him that it was one Mommy and two boys ( Caunteya had his tennis match today) so he needs to help me as he had been doing during the day. He said

"Yes Mommy, what can I do for you?"

Then they got busy playing with the pots and pans and ladles in the kitchen. Manav was making dal and put lots of pots and pans inside each other and said

"The dal has to grow inside this. When it is soft then it is done. Till then you have to wait Arnav"

He opened his shoes and said

"Mommy can you please put them in the closet for me? I am cooking so you need to help me. Tomorrow when we go out and we come back then when I open my shoes and I am not cooking I will put them in the closet." All the while shaking his head for maximum dramatisation.

He was coughing and said

"Mommy may I get a cough drop please?"

I assumed it was cough syrup and said maybe later.

He clarified

"Ms Foley coughs like me. We are sick you see. She has something with two lines on it like a candy and when I asked she said it is cough drop. Maybe I should have some"

I just gave him some cough syrup and Arnav got none though he made an earnest effort in faking cough.

Manav slept off early as he didn't nap and I got to have a pep talk with Arnav alone. I said he did good at the doctor's office ( Did I mention that he opened his mouth wide just as the doctor entered the room) but was a very bad boy at Mc Donald's. Why did he behave like that, I asked

He said

"I wanted to go up one more time" referring to the play structure.

"Why did you want to go up again, when we talked about "last time" and Papa had to go back to office. Right?"

"I wanted to go up again because that would make me happy" said Arnav. A very valid reason with pretty invalid set of parents though.

Little things make me happy. I didn't have to brush Arnav today as he had the fluoride treatment and

"Mommy called the doctor and doctor cried

No brushing at night tonight.

That is today's highlight but in a positive light

Brushing Arnav has been a highlight of every night

Since his first tooth at fourth month, right?"

Good Night, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite.

Lego Cake and Skittles Mat

Not at all the post I want. But things have piled up and I must offload. If I wait another day there will be chronological issues. One thing is for sure, there will be no weekend post henceforth. Just not possible, too many things to take care of (read Manav's soccer match and our house hunt). This weekend it was my birthday. Woke up to the kids singing 'Happy Birthday' for me in bed. The entire song with sound effects. Then they went to 'build' my present. Came up with a Lego block cake

"Mommy your cake is getting differenter and differenter"

"Why Manav?"

"Because we are still building"

So every 5 minutes or so I would have to go check what my dynamic cake looks like.

The I helped myself to a slice of cake ( a block) and had to remark how mouth watering tasty it was.

"What is the baby jaguar doing on my cake Manav?" I enquired

"Just like Saachi's cake had the princess in it, your cake has jaguar" Manav clarified

Of course, I had forgotten how much I like animal themed cakes.

Arnav announced

"I have skittles for you on the cake" and pointed to imaginary skittles on it.

They got me so hooked I had to bake my own cranberry walnut bread for the birthday. Thankfully a couple of my girlfriends got me cupcakes in the evening and officially I could boast of a cake. I had to satisfy myself with wikipedia 'Birthday cake' search and as expected it turned up western culture links.

Saturday morning it was me and Arnav in the living room while Manav and Caunteya stole those special early morning minutes of sleep. We heard the unmistakable beep of a phone. I playfully asked Arnav

"Is that Mommy's or Papa's phone?"

"Papa's phone. Mommy's phone it is calls and Papa's phone it is email. " I now have this craving  for a smartphone. The birthdays and simple cellphones make me feel so old and bygone.

 

That is Manav's penchant for order and color coordination in anything and everything. "Group by" is another name for Manav. So he gets these Skittles on one condition that he will share with his brother 'after' breakfast. I divided the 15 skittles of course unequally - 7 for Arnav and 8 for Manav hoping they will never find out. But I needn't have worried as somehow Manav managed to take 12 of them as he insisted he needed all the colors to co-ordinate with the new mat that Mommy has on the dining table. The extra 3 reds colored ones were doled out to Arnav. That is when I learned Arnav has no concept of numbers and quantity. He happily had three while Manav devoured the 12 after breakfast. No questions asked.

Manav was still behaving so I asked

"Manav you are good sometimes but most of the times you are bad, why is that?"

"Because I like to be like that"

Then he comes running to us crying

"He almost broke my bone here, when he hit me" pointing alternately to Arnav and his bone on the forehead.

Even in extreme pain Manav never ceases to be dramatic. Drama is in his genes. Just like today when we were at the library checking out books and puppets, Kylie stepped in.

" I love cars, can I have one please?"

"Hey, I play soccer. You have to hit the ball into other team's goals. See." Chipped Manav, showing off his soccer book

"Yes, I play soccer too. It is so much fun" Kylie continued

After that they were inseparable. He followed her everywhere to the extent of both sitting with her grandpa and reading books for a while. Her grandpa remarked

"Are you aware that your son is very sharp? "

I was at a loss to appropriately answer this, so just smiled.

I have yet to figure out what attracts Manav - a new friend, the girl factor or that fact that she is white or all of the above or none of the above?  This has happened  quite often, hence my curiosity - in playgrounds, stores, school and now library too.

They have so much energy and in contrast I am going southwards. We are both growing up but are in the opposite sides of the sine curve of energy. I try wearing them out with long walks, long talks, runs in the fields, endless up and downs in the play area but while I am done, they've just begun. Now I see sense in my mother's wisdom in having babies when you are young. Though I still maintain that I had a helluva 7 years of non-baby marriage. Would not change that.

Over and out.

X and V are numbers?

One of the many pitfalls of being hasty is losing out on the real thing. One of the many good things about being a mother is you cannot afford being hasty, there is not enough time. I have this beautiful big clock in my living room which I, in one of my rare non-clearance shopping sessions had picked up for our then new home. Didn't realise that it would be an impediment to my 3 year old's learning to tell the time. It has all the kid friendly characteristics - it is big, the numbers are visible from anywhere and most important - its hung way above their reach ( or so I thought till I found them putting pillows on the backrest of the couch and trying to touch it, thankfully I foiled that attempt before completion and have threatened them enough to try again, or so I think). So what was wrong? Why was Manav having such a hard time telling the time seeing this clock, while he could actually tell time from a drawing clock in his classwork sheet. Of course the omnipresent digital clocks do not count. Manav doesn't even call them clocks, they are "bad clocks" not the way "real clocks" should be. I agree.

Ok, coming back to the point, the problem with this clock is it has roman numbers. So I was planning to get a new one with normal numbers and save time by not repeating "Please check the microwave or oven clock" (They are digital). As with other projects this has always been pushed below the milk-egg-bread shopping list, in short has never been fulfilled. So I was very very surprised when one day

"Manav we have your match coming up at 5 PM today"

"Mommy is '5' 'V'?" he asked

"What?" I didn't get that, yet again dismissing it as his silly talk making the rounds these days

" V, V for violin" he asserted.

Then I got it, he was referring to the clock.

"Yes, it is. How did you know that Manav?" I was thinking this guy is a genius, has mastered the roman numerals? Really?

" I counted it" pat came the simple reply.

"And VI is 6 and VII is 7 and so on. I know that Mommy"

The learning? Never ever think anything in the house is an impediment to learning, just that it might not aid learning as you define it. He/She will learn something else in the process. And of course never overestimate your child, he is not a genius, he is just a child and can figure things out better than you. Period.

Is my blog becoming too philosophical? Am I preaching? Am I deviating from the mission to make eager persons a part of my kids' life? Its just that I am the author, so some of me will show in the posts. And needless to say these days some philosophical version of me has surfaced. Lets proceed.

This afternoon ( or is it 'today' afternoon?, just don't feel like 'google') they came home to spaghetti and meatballs (read broccoli for Arnav). Since Manav has been insisting on pasta ( in any form Mommy, Mac and Cheese will also do) I thought this will be apt lunch. Arnav went and sat on the table waiting for his lunch while Manav changed into his soccer gear. Arnav then decided that he didnt want the table mat and created a big deal of noise about it. Manav was frustrated that he couldnt get his jeans out without getting his shoes off so whined and cried incessantly. This is the same after school scene everyday, only the reasons for crying/whining/noise vary. The main reason though is their hunger. So once the spaghetti was out on the table( I insist on warm food, so that takes a few minutes) there was this eerie silence, punctuated by their slurps to suck up the long noodle. Of course this serene silence remains for only a couple of minutes, once their initial hunger is satiated, the cacophony begins, this time laughter more than cries.

After lunch Manav chose to be Sammy and appointed Arnav as Sidney and I was Selfia. His best friend's (Sidney's) family in short. I dismissed it as another pretend game but couldnt have been more mistaken. Arnav had finished his potty and I was going to clean him when he ran away from the bathroom. I promised everything, jelly beans, TV whatever  but he told me

"Nothing Mommy, I don't want anything" with tears in his eyes. I was so at a loss to account for this behaviour and all this time Manav was trying to tell me something. I finally lost it and said

"Manav, please stop, I absolutely need Arnav to come back to the bathroom"

"Arnav come to the bathroom or I will have to force you now" I told Arnav

"I am NOT Arnav, I am Sidney" said Arnav tearfully from the living room.

Then everything made sense. I said

"Sidney, please come to the bathroom" and he promptly was back on the potty seat.

"That is what I was trying to tell you Mommy. You wouldn't listen. How would you feel if someone called you the wrong name? Mad or happy?"

"Mad Manav er Sammy" I said

"So? "

"I am sorry Sammy"

"Its ok Selfia"

And this continued till they napped. It was stressful to say the least and resulted in more tears and heated discussions till they finally slept.

Didn't have the strength to take them out so they practiced soccer in the living room. God save the neighbors downstairs.

Some serious play

And more tomfoolery

Then it was time to end the game when they were hitting each other more than the ball. TV is what I resorted to next but that too came to an end due to my feeling of guilt and I let them play in the dirt on the patio. Shovels and buckets and lots of dirt - a great formula for keeping them busy. The downside - you're busy for rest of the day/night trying to get the dirt out of their body from inconceivable places. A bath after dirt play is a marathon affair but a must.

I can hear them as I type

"Hello, Hi" calling out to passer byes

No response from some

"He's not saying Hi, he's shy. Hi Shy" Manav says giggling

"Bye Bye Miss American Pie" says Arnav and more giggles.

Thankfully a little later Caunteya came in. Manav in his all mud clad splendor greeted him

"Hey Papi" his endearment or that's what Dora calls her Papa, I have to yet find out

"Hello Manav"

"What do you do in office?"

"Work"

"How was work?"

"Good" I guess Caunteya was concerned that the dirt was now falling downstairs, hence the monosyllables

"My school was good too" went on Manav in his usual chirpy self, oblivious of all concerns and troubles.

Then we headed out to Romano's for dinner and it wasn't bad at all. Caunteya said

"You are behaving very well Manav. You are the best"

"You got it Papa" said Manav with a wide grin

On way back we picked up the mail and Manav asked

"Are they telling us to go to church?"

"No Manav" I said laughing. He was referring to the fliers that come in from the local church bearing sufficiently bright animations to catch his attention. So I had explained that they were just asking us to go to church.

It is just 9:50 PM on the big clock on Friday night and I am already all ready to crash. Yes, 'X' is 10.' And tomorrow at 10 AM Manav has his soccer match.

Soccer Madness

The boys have been just too difficult over the past few days. Or maybe its us who haven't been able to "focus and concentrate" on them. Manav has been riding high on this soccer fever to an extent that he seems to be blind and deaf. He only hears and sees what he wants to, he has cut off everything else from his world. This morning over breakfast his incessant chatter earned him a timeout. Arnav meanwhile made use of his airtime

"Papa are you a big boy or a baby?"

"I am a big boy" said Caunteya

"Then why are you using baby plate?" pointing to the quarter plate that I used to serve his toast.

"This is not a baby plate, just a small plate as I am eating a small toast" explained Caunteya

"It is a baby plate. Are you a baby?" continued Arnav and took the offending plate away.

Today I got some more books from the library and they were taking a look at them on way back from school. There is a picture book about three cats without any words on it. Arnav started reading the first page in which three cats are sitting on a tree looking down at fish jumping in the water

"Mommy cat said, go fish. But baby cat didn't go fishing. The fish swam away."

Pretty good story for Arnav to be telling as he hardly pays any attention to books.  

Lunch was feeding the kids while they played with their Lego blocks. Arnav said

"Mommy do you like this? This is a big tower with blue, red, yellow and green rectangles"

"I am building one with 22 blocks. That is Joshua and Ms Foley's number. It is 22 pounds" Manav said while eating his 'planets' (thats what they call the whole black olives that they devour everyday. 8 of them, no more, no less)

Somehow was able to put Arnav to nap but Manav just wouldn't. He was too excited with the shin guards, long socks and the general soccer gear. He said

"Thank you Mommy for getting me these"

and some more surprises

"I need to clean up." and actually did, putting the blocks back in the box and some stuff in the playroom as well and then declared

"I am ready for my homework" and except for the lowercase 'F' he did a good job with the matching, counting and writing numbers stopping only now and then to say

"Soccer players do that"

Then he just got bored wearing and removing his cleats and reading the 'L' and 'R' on the shin guards. Just flopped down wherever he was sitting and fell asleep.

I had to wake him up to make it to the game on time. And once on field it was no looking back.

No 10, hardly heard a single word of what the coach was saying. Too much going on.

They were supposed to knock off the cones with the ball, he did that and was pointing 'unknocked' cones to fellow players. Yes, the No. 10 T-shirt which they provided is way too big for him. It fits me perfectly though. We failed to convince Manav that the socks were not supposed to be pulled all the way up but doubled over the shin guard. He chose to wear them like tights.

Arnav played his own match on the side. He insisted on wearing another pair of cleats too big for him but was managing quite fine. Thankfully on Caunteya's insistence I had gotten an extra pair of socks. He chided me for kicking the ball to a car parked there

"Mommy don't hit a car. It will beep. It will go beep beep beep. Would you like that?"

Manav continued his on field maneuvers

Post match sips.

And for post match dinner we hit Subway.

Bonnie

Arnav walked into my bedroom carrying his "McQueem" t-shirt and demanded to be changed "NOW". It was 6 AM, not a bad time at all considering he slept through the night after crashing with me at 8 PM last night. After changing him I stumbled to the bathroom and Arnav chose to close the bedroom door. I came out and he insisted to open the door for me. Absolutely. I love chivalry. But when this task is being attempted with a bunch of color pencils in one hand and the cup that contained them in other hand, it is sure to go awry. I tried opening the door myself but was greeted with a loud cry

"No I will open it"

I waited for what seemed like endless minutes and then just opened the door and went out saying that the chai will "fall" if I don't rush.

Arnav wailed in full morning steam and Caunteya somehow pacified him. He came out and told me

"Mommy did you say your tea will fall?" with the quizzical one eyebrow up look

"Yes"

"If your tea falls you make it again. Is that clear?"

"Yes, clear Arnav" I said trying to contain my laughter

"If it falls again, you make it again" he made it extra clear this time.

My baby is gone, welcome BIG boy. When he reads this, if at all, he would love it I am sure. The growing up moment.

The tea was saved, but my oatmeal did spill....the beautiful design on the black cup - priceless

Over lunch Manav told me

"Avery vomited today. It was red. I and Daniel screamed blood but it was watermelon"

His homework quality if not anything else has deteriorated over time. He insists on putting his special effects on everything. Today he was coloring and there was water at the bottom. He started coloring it blue and I was happy. But when I came back I saw he had colored the whole paper blue, the house was blue, the girl was blue...everything was blue.

"Manav why did you do this? Why is everything blue?"

"Mommy while I was coloring the water splashed. So everything is blue"

Today evening we went out to a friend's house and they had a great time in their backyard. They absolutely love all the girly stuff that they get to play with. Arnav was wearing a pearl necklace and pushing a pink stroller with a pink doll and came over to me

"Mommy say Hi to baby"

"Hi baby"

He came back again, this time without the baby

"Mommy, don't say Hi, there is no baby"

How on earth did he know I was about to say 'Hi baby' as I hardly had eyes for the denizen of his stroller, being more interested in pep talk with my friends.

Manav was playing 'family' with THE girl. He absolutely adores her. She is just a couple of weeks older and gorgeous with huge non-black eyes ( Manav is sleeping, else he would have surely helped me with the eye color.) The 'family' game takes various forms with the younger kids around designated to be baby or puppy, depending on what the 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' want to do, whether they want to go out for a walk with the 'dog' or stay home and 'feed' the 'baby'. And of course all the drama ended in the kids running around the house. I missed my camera.

Back home, I decided not to glue them to the TV, trying to keep them off me. But the result was disastrous. They decided to 'clean' the kitchen island trying to 'help' Mommy and then started tearing the wet kitchen towel to multiple pieces and throwing down to each other as 'fish food'. And the fish were indeed gobbling the same up with alarming speed when I realised these kids needed dinner.

Of course the game ended with the usual wrestling duo on the floor. I must mention they did clean up with looming threats that Manav cannot go for his soccer game. This threat has been working pretty good so far. Earlier in the day, I had even pretended to call and talk to his coach Bonnie Phillips ( I had to mention her name as Manav just goes into silly peals of laughter repeating her name) and cancel his membership. Manav told me "Are you really talking to her or pretending?". Whatsoever, he did finish his lunch without further prompting.

After dinner Manav became very sober and picked up a novel to read. As expected Arnav made a beeline to grab the book but Manav said

"Hey, don't take this book. You will not understand. It is like Hindi and Bengali."

Not sure how Arnav let it go at that, but he did. Manav offered to read to him instead and flipped open a page and read

"Combine words and make composite words. Good job" and continued

"Only three year olds can read this. They can read this because they are older. Three year olds  can put together words. Three year olds can put together numbers. Three year olds can put together everything."

"Now which page do you want Arnav?"

"See Mommy I am sharing with Arnav" he smiled back at me

"Yes, Manav I feel so good when you share. It feels great when you don't do silly things and silly talks" I poured out my relief.

"Yes, I am not laughing saying 'Bonnie' 'Bonnie'" and both of us burst into those uncontrollable peals of laughter.

Try that, try laughing with a child. It is very contagious. It is the ultimate form of stress relief. The sheer stupidity of the reason makes the laugh pure, full bodied and teary. Though at the very next moment you might be ready to tear your hair, this is totally worth it.

Dallas Vegas and Last Vegas

"Open your eyes Mommy, I have to tell you something"? said Arnav at 5:30 AM.

"Mmmm....let me sleep please" I mumbled

"Noo Mommy please open your eyes"

I obliged

"You have your eyes open" said Arnav matter of factly.

Thus my day started, in the wee hours of the morning. They usually go back to sleep but not today(1st Mar, I haven't been able to publish this one). I have been very tired having hardly slept over the weekend so have been sleeping most of Monday. When I reached on Sunday, the boys were hardly able to contain their excitement. They were holding my hands as much as the seatbelts and my turning from the front seat to reach their back seats would allow. Manav could not stop smiling and Arnav could not stop saying 'Mommy' 'Mommy'. It sure felt good getting back. And yes, Arnav said Mommy is back from "Dallas Vegas" and Manav said it was "Last Vegas".

We reached home and Manav hugged me and said

"Mommy I am so happy that you are back" and showered me with tonnes of kisses. I was overwhelmed and found tears stinging my eyes when he added

"Remember when we were sleeping you asked me what you can bring for me from Last Vegas?"

"Yes" I was kind of getting where this was leading to

"And I said please get me dinosaurs, the one with remotes"

"Yes" Now I was convinced

"Did you bring that? The dinosaurs?"

"Manav, I didn't bring any dinosaur as they didn't have those in Vegas. But I did get you a racing car and a golf cart for your brother."

"Yayyyy"

And they played with some serious concentration

And shared some laughs

The other highlight is Manav has been enrolled in a soccer class. On Monday he went to a parents soccer meeting at YMCA. Before leaving he told Arnav

"Arnav be a good boy. I will be gone for the meeting. You take care of Mommy and don't trouble her"

"I want to play soccer" said Arnav

"You can play soccer here at home. I will play at YMCA"

"No, I want to play soccer outside" reiterated Arnav

"Yes, you can play outside. I will come back and watch you play. I have to now go for my soccer appointment"

Caunteya informed me that he was hyperactive during the meeting and couldn't stop hugging and kissing him. He repeatedly kept asking

"When will we play?"

and chose a number 10 T-shirt. The practice session is on Thursday, so hold your breath for that post complete with shin guards, cleats, long socks, shorts and jerseys.



Arnav got busy with writing on his legs

And the brothers shared the spoils of the sandwiches they made

Yesterday we went out for some 'soccer practice' and here is Arnav in big brother's shadows.

Before leaving for outdoors Manav and I had a big fight. He was insisting in wearing shorts and I was adamant that he wear trousers outside.

"Mommy you are not listening. I have to wear shorts" Manav cried

"You can wear shorts. We can stay indoors and practice" I said

"Nooooo. I have to wear shorts"

"You can wear short sleeves but long pants"

"They don't match. I have to wear shorts with short sleeves" Manav whined

I kept quiet, no use haggling.

"Mommy, you are not behaving. I will tell Papa to throw you out of the house." He has no clue who has that power, if at all.

Getting ready for the big shot to climb up the charts

While Manav attemped the tree.