Talking beyond Hi

Anirud has started talking a lot over the phone these days. Earlier he used to keep mum and just listen to the person at the other end, but these days he talks a lot, albeit in a language that no one can understand.

A Bad Hair Cut

For some unknown reason Anirud started crying while his hair was being cut. Any amount of cajoling didn't help and the hair dresser had to abort the attempt half way through. This is in total contrast to the previous time when he didn't move an inch that prompted the hair dresser to give a discount in the charge.

Hi!

Hi! - This was the ad slogan for Hutch mobile when they set foot in Chennai about 4 years ago. Now, this is the latest word in Anirud's vocabulary. A friend of Anirud's mom said 'hi' to him over phone and immediately he caught that word and was heard repeating that all evening.

Naughty? Nah...

Naughty is no more an apt word for Anirud. He has gone several steps beyond that in the recent weeks. He puts the vessels in the washing machine, hides the jar of the blender inside the medicine rack, switches off the laptop, pushes the chair nearer to the table so that it is convenient for him to climb on, tries to hop on from his cot to the bigger bed and the list goes on. The hunt is still on for a missing mixie(food blender) lid. Don't know what is in store in the coming days.

Habits

In the recent days, Anirud has started imitating the rest at home. Few of his favourite imitations are

1) If he gets hold of a towel, he would try to dry his hair even when it is already dry.

2) Whenever he finds a key, he immediately goes near the door and puts that into the keyhole trying to see if that fits.

3) On seeing others do the situps (thoppukaranam) before God he does that as well, but without his hands touching his ears.

4) Anirud would place his imaginary phone near his ear, tilt his head, hold the phone(?) with his shoulder and walk away talking.

Perhaps, this is how children develop new habits.

Self Eating

Anirud has been introduced to family dining, where every one would have dinner at the same time at the dining table. Of course, Anirud would be sitting on his high chair. On seeing others eat, he tried to do the same and in the process finished of half a chapathi, which is a decent quantity going by his recent food intake metrics over the last month or so. This appears to be one of the good ways of teaching him the art of self eating.

I hate YELLOW

For some reason, Anirud hates the colour book. He is fine to flip through the pages of any book and see the pictures, but he gets annoyed if the colour book is shown to him. Sometimes, he is sort of okay with the colour book as well, but there is a strict 'no no' for yellow colour. Only he would be able to explain one day as why Yellow became his nemesis all of a sudden.

Kick & You'll Get it Back

Anirud has got this bad habit of kicking people when he is in foul mood. As he hates food these days, he tends to kick the person who tries to give him food. Recently, he kicked the food bowl and the compliment was returned back in kind.

Poor Eater

Of late, Anirud has become a poor eater. It is a big struggle to make him eat any solid food, esp. carbohydrate rich rice and wheat food. For the last month or so, he is living on yoghurt and fruits.

Few more words

In the same lines of 'Yaanai', 'Karadi' (bear) turned 'Kaadi' and 'Vaali' (bucket) turned 'Aali' for Anirud.

Hee-Haw Hee-Haw

No one actually knows what Anirud means by saying this, but he has been chanting 'Hee-Haw Hee-Haw' quite regularly for several weeks now.

Filter Coffee please!

Anirud doesn't want Horlicks / Ovaltine / Complan. He has taken a liking to Filter Coffee. He gulps down more than half a tumbler of the beverage when he is offered one.

Early Learning

Anirud was standing at the window and was generally watching outside. As is common in UK, a young couple who arrived in a car stood outside the block of flats and did something that was more appropriate if it had been done indoors. Anirud saw that and when they moved a little bit away, he craned his neck to ensure that he got a good view of what they were doing. hmm.. that was a bit of early learning indeed.

Naughty

One of the easiest ways to manage Anirud was to leave the front door of the house open. He would stand right at the entrance, watching the passers by and often greeting the visitors of the other flats with a smile or cry, depending on his mood. Every few minutes he would come inside the house, check everything is okay and go back and stand at the door. Wanting to show that he is growing up, these days he has started walking out. Very often, he steps out and walks in to the verendah of the apartment. Since he knocks at our neighbour's doors, of late the front door of the house remains closed.

Cold

After several months, Anirud has caught cold. As it happens when he is not well, he dislikes food, unable to sleep properly and behaves in a cranky way. It would take a good 5-6 days to return to the normal cycle.

Trolley Mad

Anirud is so crazy about pushing the trolleys at the super markets. Whenever he is taken to super market, he insists on getting down from his buggy and wants to push the trolley. He doesn't mind whose trolley he pushes. The only trouble is that the trolleys are more than twice his height. Also, the vast space in the super markets gives him ample freedom to run around, and hoot at will that some one have to act as a steward to run behind him.

Away with the slippers

A lady was trying out new foot wear at the super market. Anirud, who was jay walking around that area found the slippers very attractive. He quickly went near her and ran away with her foot wear - one hand carrying one of her old foot wear and and the other hand carrying one of the new ones she was trying. Poor lady, she couldn't walk anywhere and it took a couple of minutes to rescue her things from him.

Yaayaii

'Yaayaii' is how Anirud pronounces 'yaanai' (elephant). This is the next sensible word he has spoken after 'amma'. The only other word in his vocabulary is 'baba' as in 'Ba ba Black sheep'.

Lo!

Having watched people talk over the phone, Anirud is mad over the phones. Apart from insisting on talking with anyone over the phone, he picks up anything (be it a wire, a toy, computer mouse etc.), gets that near his ear, tilts his head and says '..lo' (to be understood as Hello) assuming that piece of thing is a telephone.

Books Collection

Anirud's first book was the one that the local library gave when he became a member. He loved the colourful, thick paged book with huge pictures of babies doing various things. Now, he has got several books on varied topics like colours, shapes, objects and so on. Every now and then, he picks up one of those books, flips across the pages - something he loves doing, gives a quick look at the pictures and moves on. Anirud is yet to be taught that books shouldn't be stamped upon while walking.