Arundha Vaalu

Very often we call Anirud an 'arundha vaalu'. Its literal meaning won't make any sense, but it is meant to convey that he is someone with lot of pranks in his kitty. We were trying for quite sometime to get Anirud a good looking shoulder bag, but we managed to find one just recently. It looks good when it is put up behind his back. It comes along with a harness using which his movement could be controlled. Already he has become the cynosure of many eyes when he walks around sporting that bag.

Trike & Toys

Anirud got a new 'Winnie the Pooh' trike, which he enjoys that like anything. Ever since we got the trike he has been living on it. Though he doesn't know how to pedal that, there is a push handle with which we could push the trike around. We took him around once and ever since he has been pestering for more road trips. Not just a trike, Anirud has got an 'Abacus', a 'Thomas and Friends' train, 'Winnie the Pooh' pillow on account of his birthday next month.

Habits

It takes lot of time, effort and patience to make a kid learn some good practices. We struggled for more than a month to make Anirud sleep in his cot when he was about 6-7 months old. Several months later as he learnt to climb out of the cot, we took him to our bed and that is it. He never goes back to his cot again. Same with the self feeding. After weeks of training, we gave in coz his illness and it is difficult to make him get back to his old ways. More than the cot issue, we are very keen about his self feeding habit.

Potty

Potty training is about to be started and we have got the necessary stuff like potty, trainer pants, trainer toilet seats etc. Next few weeks/months is going to be either interesting or taxing, depending on our moods and how we look at the situation.

Lala

We tried to see if Anirud could identify the miniature soft toy of 'Lala' character (of Teletubbies) at the 'Toys R Us' shop. Within a second of seeing that, he screamed out 'Laa Laa' and made an 'ekkuuv' sound like the character would do it would in the telly. The next day, when that day's episode of Teletubbies ended, Anirud was so very disappointed that he started crying.

Late Riser

Of late, Anirud wakes up at around 9 am or beyond. We are responsible for that as we have been putting him to bed only late. This triggers so many problems that he is unable to nap in the afternoons, so that he ends up being cranky in the evenings. We are trying to change that habit a bit by putting him to bed at 9:15 pm and waking him up by 7 am. This suits every one, but it remains to be seen as how long we manage to follow/enforce this new routine.

Stunt

Upon seeing a stunt scene while watching a Tamil movie in the telly, Anirud mocked the scene by lifting one of his leg, shouted few 'aah.. hooo's and rolled on the floor with false pain.

Harness

We got Anirud a child harness, that lets him walk freely beside us without we having to hold his hand all the time. Anirud enjoys that every bit that he is allowed to wander free in the high street and supermarkets. These days he prefers this harness to the buggy coz of the above.

Cold Again

Anirud has caught cold again. As his nose gets blocked, he is unable to breath properly as a result of which he suffers a lot without being able to sleep during the nights.

Apology

As Anirud was adviced by his mom to take care of his belongings when he inadervently broke the magic eraser board, he made it clear that he didn't like any advice by trying to hit her with his hand. He was asked to apologise, which he didn't. Soon he was made to sit on the table from where he couldn't get down and we made it a point not to talk with him unless he apologised. He tried his best to grab our attention, but when nothing worked he sheepishly said 'soiieee' (Sorry!). He does appear stubborn, but we are hell bent on making him learn the lessons of life that are due at that stage.

Questions - aa?

Anriud repeats almost everything we say. His pronounciation is not clear, but understandable to some extent. Most of the times he picks up the key word, suffix it with 'aa' and make that a question. For example, if we were discussing something on cars, he would turn to us and ask 'car-aa?'.