My two groovy babies

2015! It is that time of the year - to look back and take stock. And what a year it has been… Our lives changed forever. We added a new member to the family and now it is officially complete. Veer is now 4 years old and Vaasu is now 4 months old. Each are as different as chalk and cheese and I am amazed that these two humans that I produced are each teaching me life lessons. Veer is an amazing older brother and Vaasu adores his older brother and tracks him all over the place. Developmentally, Veer has become quite a debater. He has responses for pretty much anything and I affectionately refer to him as my “Question Bank”. Vaasu is also quite a politician. He needs an audience and he will begin talking and talking. He talks to the ceiling fan, he talks to the lamps, he talks to the phone (irrespective if there is a person on it or not) and of course, if someone is in front of him then he will treat us with smiles and wonderful speeches.

I am looking forward to the fun challenges that 2016 will bring to us and watch my babies grow.  I have modified Pete the Cat’s Groovy Buttons song so it now goes:

My babies, my babies, my two groovy babies – My Veeru, My Vaasu my two groovy babies

The new normal

3.5 months with a 3.5 month old! Our life has been so extremely busy for the last quarter when we are trying to get used to the new “normal”. The older V has been a trooper and as awesome a big brother! On a developmental front Veer’s conversations have become longer and sustainable.  His conversations are now longer than a couple of sentences and filled with detail. The other day he explained to me that he wanted to listen to the BeeGees. For a moment I was confused and asked him what the BeeGees were. He then proceeded to explain about the BeeGees and that they had long hair and they sang songs and they were really cool. He explained to his grandpa about Hannukah and all the intricacies and the draidel song etc. With respect to the little V of course his milestones are much faster. He has learnt to roll over from his back to belly, however he hasn’t figured out how to roll back.

What is in a name? Apparently everything

Veer: Mom, let us name the baby Eli.

Me: Why?

Veer: If we name the baby Eli then Ms. K can say his name. If he has a Telugu name, then she can’t say it.

Me: But she says your name and your name is a Telugu name.

Veer: But she says it as Veer (Rhymes with the way people say beer)

Me: Speechless!!!

Being 3.5

You know how it is, you just get caught up with your day to day life and think – “Ooooh I must put this in the blog and I must put that in the blog” and then when you sit down to actually write the said blog post all of them go straight out of your mind!!! The biggest change that we are experiencing is the major temper tantrums that come with being 3.5. Life is changing a lot for Veer and he is reacting in ways best known to him. Life is changing a lot for D and me too and we are learning with him, learning how to help him and learning a lot about ourselves in the process. Most people who know me will say that patience is not one of my many virtues. I am learning that I now possess it by the truckloads because a toddler can and will push your buttons!!!

So how do I deal with it – Very early on in his 3.5 years of existence I realized that the best way (that works in our household) is to calmly explain to him why we are in the current situation and how crying doesn’t help. I don’t believe in bribing or distracting him because I feel that I am just postponing dealing with the problem at hand. It has worked for me in that, for the most part, we haven’t had to deal with the same tantrum twice.

Another learning point for me is that we must pick our battles. You want to wear your Superman cape, two full sleeved t-shirts and jeans to school when it is 90 degrees outside??!!!! Ok!! Go for it. You will feel hot and then hopefully stop wearing them. But it ain’t happening. He still insists on dressing like he is either headed to a job interview or a trek to the Tundras depending on the day. I know Massachusetts really doesn’t have a summer to speak off but when you are out for more than 2 hours a day playing in the playground with a sandbox I can imagine that he gets hot!

With that being said, I am thankful for each day and taking it one day at a time and learning and growing with my little big boy J

Oh Boy! Oh Boy!

Oh boy!! We have entered that phase… Yes the phase where we “hate girls”.  Driving home from work and school the other day my almost 3.5 year old and I had the following conversation.

Veer: “Mom, I like Naana and Tata but I don’t like you.”

I said to him: “And why is that?”

Veer: “Because you are a girl and I don’t like girls.” A pause followed by “But I like C. She is so pretty.”

Me: “But I love you and I will always love you.”

Veer: “OK”

The freedom of speech… Have we crossed the line?

Have blog will express an opinion seems to be the attitude these days. I mean this is my blog and I am expressing my opinion on it, however I do have some regard for how I will be perceived and what my children will think of me when they read this blog many moons from today. I find that with the onset of social media people will do/say anything for a few more likes, shares or to go viral. Opinions on everything from how awesome it is to be a stay – at – home mom to how bad it is to be a working mom, to why someone won’t wear any jewelry to indicate she is married, to what to feed kids, how to raise kids, heck even if to have kids or not, the evils of schools, the benefits of home schools, the drawbacks of home schools, the benefits of schools, disapproval of all rules associated with having periods in India, the evils of arranged marriages, the evils of marriage in general, vaccinations pro or con, how a mother – in – law can never replace a mother etc!!!!

What I find appalling is how harsh, forceful and negative all of these posts seem to be. I am opinionated however I understand that for every situation there are multiple angles and what is expressed in the post most often doesn't take into consideration ANY other perspective except what is expressed by the author. What happened to decency? What happened to courtesy? Will these people writing these blog posts say the things they write in these blogs to someone’s face? Is it the anonymity that the web provides that allows people to say these things?

All I am requesting is that people respect multiple opinions and understand that most often than not people are doing things that work best for them in their life situations! And remember people there is a little thing called ETIQUETTE.

A winter round up

A lot has been happening in the past few months that are just not possible to compress into a blog post. Amongst other things, the New England area is drowning in over 100 inches of snow. We have had several blizzards of record breaking proportions all in the month of February. It has been a lot of indoor activities for us. Veer has taken an interest with doing jigsaw puzzles. Maybe it’s the diverse range of puzzles or the fact that he can do things with his hands. I thank his awesome cousin brothers who share their gently used puzzles. It works for me because it gives me an opportunity to do some cooking, or working (which I am doing from home during these said snow blizzards) and to bond with him (I love puzzles).

He has been asking if a specific friend can come home for a playdate. (Who are you and where is my baby?) . Now, we had tried a playdate with a friend about a year ago. For the most part it was parallel play and we parents spent an awkward evening attempting polite chit chat (Anyone who knows me knows that I am terrible at polite chit chat!!). Hence, I dreaded this playdate and put off coordinating it. Finally one long weekend, I gave in. I felt that it would take pressure off everybody if we met up at a play yard (and not homes) and it was great!!! The kids played together and we moms chatted while watching them. I think I see many more playdates in our future.

On the conversation front we have such hilarious conversations. For instance, one evening he told me that he doesn’t want to wear any clothes and then proceeded to spend the next half hour running around the house in his underwear! Another evening, he wanted to wear his Superman pyjamas, with his Superman cape, his Superman socks and Superman shoes to bed. LOL!!

One of my goals for the New Year was to do more child led learning.We are working on books that he picks to read and find that it is easier and less challenging learning time. I am also noticing that this child lead learning is helping him actually learn more stuff and less tears!!

Now I am desperately praying for warmer climes