We are all ill

The last week we have all been sick. It started about 10 days ago. Neil's ear was red and had a little bit of fever. It never got serious, only once or twice a day we would notice his ear to be red. Then later he caught cold. He had runny nose, and fever. The fever was not too high, but he was extremely cranky. He had trouble swallowing. He threw up quite a few times, especially after eating. He had trouble breathing and would wake up during the night. Lisa's time was mostly spent cleaning after him, comforting him, and staying up at night.
To add to the problems, Lisa caught flu really badly. Friday evening she was okay, felt a little tired. But within two hours, she had high fever and so much fatigue that she could barely move. The whole of Saturday and Sunday she was bedridden. I too caught the bug on Saturday, but not so severely.
Now Neil is almost alright, just a little bit of cough. Lisa is recovering, and besides cough that makes her voice croak, otherwise she is okay. I seem to have spared the severity. Just mild symptoms of tiredness and sore throat.
But when all three of us were not feeling well, it felt really bad. Thankfully we seem to be getting out of it now.

Neil is getting more intelligent

Neil loves to go in our backyard. The main attraction for him is the water hose. He also plays a lot with the game that Vija and Ruchita gave him. It too has a water container with a water powered wheel.
Recently he has started showing signs that he is going to be neat freak. He likes to do things in a specific order. Keeps his things back (if he is in the mood). The other day I showed him how to clean our Roomba. Now he is always after me to clean it. When I am cleaning it, I throw away the dirt saying "kachara". He too, merrily chimes after me "kachara"... About three days ago, I took him to our front area, where we have a couple small trees. I showed him how to pick up dry leaves, and put them in the dirt basket. Also, I showed him how to clean up the area with a hose. He loved spraying water everywhere and removing small dirt.
Yesterday when I took him out for another "kachara" session, he was more interested in the water. There was no hose, but he kept pointing to the faucet, and saying "paayee, paayee". I said not today. The next thing he did was really amazing. He went to the base of the tree, and picked up some dirt. He promptly dropped it. He showed me his hands and said "haat dhoo", and pointed to the faucet again. He was trying to force me to open the faucet! I knew kids were intelligent, but this is outright sneaky. Wanting something and asking me to do it is pretty straightforward. But when I say no, he knew that making his hands dirty means I will wash them, and hence he will get to play with the water. Wow. He is just 21 months old.

wa wa wa wa...

Back in India, Vaijumavshi worked a lot on Neil's potty training. When we came back here, we have continiued the effort. He is still not independent, but needs to be taken to the potty. We try to reward him by various means. Flushing is a big reward for him. He asks for it, and we let him - to celebrate his success. Also, when he comes out both of us say to him "wa wa wa wa..." and clap. He gets thrilled by the recognition, and his tiny chest seems to fill up with pride.
From yesterday, he has started returning the favor to us. Whenever either of us comes out of bathroom, or he hears the sound of the flush, he comes to us and says "wa wa wa wa..." clapping with his tiny hands. It's hilarious!

Playing with wire and Hi Five

I have always wondered what kind of toys to buy for Neil. I think adults have no idea of what children would find as fun. We think that some fancy gadgets will appeal to them and spend a ton. Some of them work, but most don't. I think children love to play with whatever catches their fancy. So far Neil has enjoyed playing with utensils a lot. One of his videos (I must upload it sometime) shows him opening a drawer and throwing out small steel bowls one by one. Nowadays he seems to like throwing a ball back and forth to me. I guess the best thing children like is a playmate - then they can play with anything. Organized sports and rules come later. Well, it's not that simple. Even the games that he makes up, he has some rules that he has in mind. For example, when we throw ball back and forth, I ask him to go "back there" and throw. He goes to the edge of the carpet, meticulously lines up his feet just behind the carpet line, and then throws the ball. No one told him to do so, but he invented this rule all by himself. Anyway, getting back to the point, here is Neil playing with me using nothing but a chord... Then he goes and says Hi-Five to Lisa.

Cholu Cholu...

Ever since he was just a few days old, Neil loved a nice massage with oil. Vaijumavshi used to massage him by putting him on her legs, he would lie quiet and enjoy. I tried putting him on my lap, he enjoyed that too. He would lick my lap. He did the same thing when he was on the leg, he would lick the knee. When Aai was here, he had grown up - when she massaged him, he had started moving about a little. It is not possible to massage him every day, but we try to do it twice a week. Now that he is 21 months, he has grown up enough to understand the pleasure of it. Sometimes he brings the oil bottle and says "cholu cholu". When lisa massages him, he lies down quietly like he is getting a treat. The clip shows him returning the favor.

These shoes are too big!

Since he loves to go out, he loves to wear shoes. He likes to play with them, and tries to wear them himself. Nowadays, when I put his shoes on, he brings my shoes and tries to put them on my feet. The clip shows him trying to wear my shoes. These are my sneakers, and they are really heavy. And he was trying to wear them on top of his shoes. It was hilarious.

Short sentences

Neil has started to speak in short sentences. Some examples are ' Rajesh basaa' ( sometimes, 'Rajeshbasa'), 'Rajeeeesh, utal, light, buttton' , 'chiuchi chiuchi daa oo' ( chiutai chiutai daar ughad), 'Dol-lol-lai, chajz' ( roomba charge), kim haataa ( cream haataavar), 'daa bonda' /daa manda / daa anda ( daar banda.), ooti ek don teen (ushi padali / ushine udi marli)

Yesterday Rajesh was eating cheese sauce with his sandwich when Neil came and asked for a piece of 'paav'. Rajesh offered him a taste of the cheese sauce which he liked. Later he asked for more by pointing at the sauce and his plate saying ' te, ithe, aala aala aala', meaning "put it here".

He has become a chatterbox, he tries to immitate many of the words we say. Just about eight months ago, he could not say anything except "ba ba ba" and "ma ma ma..."

However he is developing a bit of "bobadepana". There are sounds he can make, but chooses not to. For example he could say "bbanda" with a very emphatic B. But now he says "nanda" or "manda". He could also say "Mona" but now he says "Nona". Vaijumavshi used to teach him how to say "Rrrrrrrajesh" because he always calls me "Jajesh". So he practices "TrrrrrRajesh"...