Saturday, July 28, 2007

At Sweet 16

Joyce is 16 months today. She is trying to pick up words. From the sweet little girl she has become that irritating little cricket which around you keeps mugging you with that stupid sound. When I am around she believes my hip is the most happening place. Saturdays and Sundays she hunts be down to every nook & corner of the house.

1. She is almost WEANED. ATLAST. 'Almost' because, days when I am lazy to boil & wash & sterilize I just breastfeed her.

2. At 14 I mentioned she goes and calls her dad as soon as I start putting the plates on the table. Now she starts pulling the cushions down from the chairs, climb them, then climb the table, will leave space for the plate and side dishes and will reserve herself a nice spot, from where she can send everything crashing down with just one kick.

3. Climbing, reaching out for things at different heights is her favourite sport right now. She is mostly found on top of the dinning standing at the edge and yelling out to me to catch her. I don't have time to go get the camera, I rather save her or its my CDs, DVD player, TV, cellphone, handbag etc that will be at stake.
4. When I scream at her, she points a finger at me and blabbers. Maybe she is saying calm down mom, who knows.
5. She can hum tunes when the song is on. She loves the "Bonney M"s I think. In the car, she will get on to my lap, turn the volume knob for a 20 from 9 and clap her hands and smile. I will need ear plugs or a sound proof room looks like.
6. She will smile at the camera and so the actual expression is missed many a times.
7. She loves to play with the ball but as soon as she starts, the crazy mom and dad are kicking it around in the house, and she is tired finding it for us from under the bed or sofa or whatever it is.
8. She will pick or pluck a flower or leaf or even a twig and bring it to her nose and inhale it.

9. She can pour water all around. I let her play around in the tub for a while before I bathe her. She aims the water at herself but not quiet on target yet. She also helps me water the plants and wash the balcony. Just give her a mug and she will follow me around doing the same.

10. Sleeping. phew!! She will test my patience before she sleeps. On the bed, she will keep moving her little butt and head from one direction to the other searching for that perfect spot like a dog, sometimes she will let her legs hang outside the bed, then decide against it and get back in.

11. I think she is a little slow on the talking thing. A few things she says,
App - was meant to be apple but in Joyce's words it is anything that is round.
tar - which is star, which could be anything on my T-shirt since thatz where I first showed her a taaar.
bow bow - thatz the dog. sometime even the cat is.
na na - is what she calls the children in building. I tried didi and bhaiya but nana stuck on.
Mumma - Every body in the family is Mumma, sometimes there is a Mummy too. Instead of Dada that we have been sticking our heads out and teaching her, theres an occasional baba.
vavo - When the stage is all set for her to go to bed, she will put both her hands to her tummy and ask.... vavo vavo?
che che - She will put a finger to her nose, make that piggy face and tell us she has just done the job, or if she just passed gas.
kllas - Its my mom's hindi, Khallas, for everything that is over. We tried undoing the killer-khallas but its here to stay.
Illa - In mallu means, no. so anything missing, not found is all "illa". That according to my mom was my favourite word as a teenager.

Lots of blabbering. Different pitches and tones. You can almost make out if she is asking or telling you or just annoyed by your lame response.

19 comments:

Sunita Venkatachalam said...

Cute updates ! Err.. Why the bottle though? You can try the glass and spoon, you know - it helps because you don't have to sterilize.. Try it!

Poppin still calls anything round and red or heart shaped as Appta (Apple) :)

NainaAshley said...

She's adorable! Enjoy the cuteness!

Just Like That said...

Lovely pics, esp the one of her sleeping. Totally drives home her 'searching for a spot like a dog' LOL.

Nice post, has been a while since you were regular in your posts, glad you're freer now. :-)

Sunita said...

@poppins:she is used to sleeping while sipping so the bottle but I should try what you say.Thanks
@Naina:Oh! right now she is just busy getting on my nerves with the constant shrieking & screaming for no rhyme or reason.
@jlt: Thanks!! She is asleep in less than a minute after she finds her comfort position.
@HHGM: No, I dont judge people who cho-chweet kids, I do it myself. I meant the kinds of my age :).

Poppins said...

Sunita, how do I reach you? I need an email id !

Pushpa said...

ahhhhhhhhhh...all i can think of is the time when u n joyce had come over n that one more time i can just hug her...cho chweet her words really

Unknown said...

How cutelovely pics..., and kids can be so embarassing sometimes too... Brat tells the world in loud tones "AWww Chee, maine paad kiya..." in a public situation...

Anonymous said...

I don't know if Moppet is slow in the talking dept too, but she doesn't have many recognisable words either. What she understands is of course, much more, and I'm sure that's the case for Joyce as well.

Fuzzylogic said...

The jumping,reaching and pulling stage is as delightful as it is exasperating at times. These little explorers are always on the run:)The pics are lovely and Li'l Joyce seems to be enjoying herself!!

Sunita said...

@pushpa: And now i am waiting to meet you with mumu :).
@karmickids: :)..yeah these are probably the lesser of the evils they can anounce in public.
@mm:Oh!! My maid's grand daughter can address everyone in their house so I thought err...so may be not ..that one is just a little fast :).
@fuzzy:yeah she is enjoying doing everything that anoys us.

Ar Ar Ar Arrrrr said...

Kids are cute....arent they??
Aww....I just love em when they are abotu to start talking and try to speak out words.

I absolutely love em.

Joyce is cute....hugzz to her.

Artnavy said...

she is adorable and i think will get along really well with anush

i avoided the bottle for anush- it is simple really- or try a sipper

adieu- before u bash me up for unsolicietd advice!!

Sue said...

She is not slow to talk at all. My brother started talking after he was nearly 2 1/2. And even then it was lisping baby talk for a long time.

That is slow.

She is keeping perfectly to the average age for babbling away. Good going, Joyce!

timepass said...

Pretty pics especially the first one where she is sitting on the dining table..

Rohini said...

Ignore me if I sound preacy but if she'd got a reasonable number of teeth, you shouldn't let her sleep with a bottle. Read this

Sue said...

Rohini's right. If she needs to help her sleep, try to be around before she is completely asleep, and when she is nodding off, replace the milk with a bottle of water.

That helps rinse the mouth out a little.

Sunita said...

art, rohini, sue: Advice taken with immediate effect. The bottle was just a way to wean her off but she does not sleep while she is sipping so probably makes sense now just to have her drink it off a glass before bed, brush her teeth and off to bed. Thank you guys.

Sunita said...

@arz00n:I keep repeating a lot of words because it seems a lot time that she might just say it since she is observing me with a frown but nothing much happens and then we hear her say something suddenly probably on the bed when she is playing with her leg or hands. Its great to hear them pick up words.
@timepass:Thanks
@Sue: Actually there are a couple of kids around our place a month or so younger than Joyce and their vocab is a lot richer than Joyce's so I was under the impression she is a little slow but it doesn't bother me the least.

Pushpa said...

and I read this AGAIN...its absolutely magical ain't it...will keep u updated about Mummu