January: Rockets, blanket forts, and snow

The first half of the month I was still in India. Appa and I had all sorts of fun visiting family and friends in Chennai, Madurai, and Bangalore. We did a reverse triangle trip from the way we went on my first trip to India (back in October 2013). In Ayyamma's house there is even a swing inside! Plus it is big so I got to swing on it with my cousin Shukthika as I mentioned last time (check out the video). There were plenty of three of my favorite things on this trip: airplanes, trains, and fruit.

 

When we returned, Amma was really happy to see us. At the airport, I was so happy to see Thambi that after we went through customs and I saw Amma carrying Thambi I yelled "Thambi!", ran toward them with open arms, and crashed into them to give them a big hug (Amma still smiles remembering it).

As a family, we all got dressed up to go into the snow, drove into the mountains (to Brainard Lake), and went hiking in the snow. Actually I was going to try my new skis! I watched a video with some people skiing in it and was excited. I put them on in the parking lot, but it was super icy there, so Appa and Amma held my hands (/pulled me) as we went to the snow, but the conditions weren't quite right for me to try it out (instead I had Appa carry me on his back). We will try it out another time.

When I was gone, Amma says I grew some: physically (I'm kind of in between sizes right now) and in my language (I am very good at repeating new things). One of my favorite recent phrases is "dump it!" Like dump the blueberries and raspberries on my plate! Or dump the goldfish in the bowl. I can tell some good stories with this phrase too - like when the trash truck comes and stops and picks up the trash bin and lifts it up and then... (ready?)... it dumps it! Friday mornings are fun. Another few words I like recently are steam and engine, as in the steam that comes out of a engine on a train! Oh and I like to think that there are a bunch of rockets (sounds like rocket-ball) in the sky (though they might just be airplanes).

I like to read before bed under a blanket fort (using the big green blanket). Amma says it gets hot, but it is fun. I like to try and ride Mopy (my big stuffed dog). And I love to wear my safety glasses. When I have them on upside down, I say "Oh noooo, Flip it!"

I like to eat big scoops of peanut butter. And get it from the jar myself. I like to put raspberries on my fingers and then eat them.

I like to wear my hat backward. I like to sleep with Moosie, and he accompanies me daily to the McGregor's. There I continue to have a bunch of fun playing, singing, running, throwing, drawing, experimenting, hiking, listening, scooping, laughing, constructing, dancing, observing, climbing, and imagining. Stick together, big guys help little guys, be kind.

Thank you God for raspberries, trash trucks, and playtime.

December: Hugs, a gingerbread house, and India! (2.5 yrs)

I am a hugger. Amma loves this. I like to hug Appa and Amma and Thambi. And my friends at the McGregor's. Oh and Moosie! Moosie is a new addition to my days and nights (my first 'lovie' that I am attaching to - though Moosie took an extended trip in LA on the way to India, so it is fortunate that Amma found a replacement Moosie at Grandma's house). Anyway, hugs are nice to show love and excitement, share warmth, show that you're sorry and ask for forgiveness. All around great things.

I am also a tiger. Or at least I like acting like one: growling, tilting my head, and walking slowly toward Amma, picking up my knees. This works especially well when I wear my new pajamas that have tiger stripes. Tigers are adventurous and love to play.

I am a runner. I enjoy running in circles around the room (this goes well with the Mulberry bush song as I mentioned last time), or running from tree to tree when walking home from the McGregor's.

Some of my fun new sayings this month were: Cool, Yeahhh!!!!, and "Quiet!"(this last one is funny for Amma because when she is saying something or singing a song that I don't like, I just tell her 'quiet').

December was the season of Advent, culminating in Christmas, though we actually celebrated a little early since Appa and I were in India on Christmas day. We had a beautiful Christmas tree that I liked a lot - it had many shiny balls and sailboats to spin (and break, oops!). We went to church and it was decorated with a million (or so) white lights and everyone was singing good songs.

Amma and I made a gingerbread house over a few days. I love making the dough, where you get to knead, poke, roll, punch, stretch, and roll it (just like making the dough in my book Pizza Party!). I liked eating the gingerbread men cookies we made alongside the house, and of course after we finished decorating the house there was leftover candy!

Me, Amma, and Thambi Mano

I watched a few Christmas-themed movies: Mickey Mouse Christmas and Curious George's Christmas. And when we gathered with grandpa and grandma and opened presents, I got some fun things. Of course the book with Thomas the Train stories (nine of them!) was a hit, the boats for the bath were great fun, and I now have a Lego bear! Also I got some cross-country skis - right away I was trying them in the living room and I look forward to trying them outside in January.

I have fun playing with Thambi (and I am pretty sure that when he is walking we will have even more fun together). Now I bring him a toy if he is crying, get him dizzy in his new exersaucer, and lie next to him when he is on his play mat.

Time at the McGregors continues to enrich me. We spend time discussing time itself, planets, and rotation. We do a lot of singing, eat good (and new) food, play in the snow (building forts and jumping on ice), make music with water glasses, play tennis (at least experiment with racquets), grow little plants (I also like to read the book "The Seed" at home a lot), and create stop motion with strobe lights. We even all wear red hats when it is cold.

I'm getting into the zone where I may not need my afternoon nap. Translation: bedtime is still pretty tough. Amma and Appa were letting things be though since I had a 12-hour time-zone transition ahead of me.

Me on the plane heading to India

Finally, my big adventure this month was that I traveled to India! This was my third trip. Since Thambi is still so little, he and Amma stayed home in Colorado and I went to India with Appa. We went from Chennai to Madurai to Bangalore and met with family and friends. I loved swinging on Ayyamma's swing in her home, especially with Shukthika my cousin. And of course I loved the trains everywhere! I get back to Colorado in early January.

Ayyamma and me in India

November: Songs, movies, and the potty

SONGS stick in my head. Just like Amma. My favorite this month was Ding dong the witch is dead (which old witch? the wicked witch! Ding dong the wicked witch is dead). But you could also catch me going around the house singing Do you know the muffin man? The Mulberry bush song was a fun one because you can dance around in a circle at the same time and then it has an exciting ending (Pop goes the weasel!) One of my stories this month was about the house coming down in the wind and the dog.

Amma made up a very pragmatic song - "Every morning and every night, Kavi brushes his teeeeth." I guess it helps because I protest the chore a little less when we are singing.

Amma and Appa were pretty good at avoiding TV and movies with me when I was little (even if the occasional Wheels-on-the-bus YouTube did sneak in). Their goal was to avoid movies for at least my first two years. So having met that milestone a while back, they thought it would be okay to introduce the occasional movie (especially during strategic times). Soooo, this means I got to see a few fun movies! My first movies were Planes (zooooom), then Turbo (a story about a snail that wanted to go zoom), then Cars Too, all of which were animated.

For the past few months I was introduced to my little potty, sat on it regularly, and even pee'd a few times. But in November I did something that caused Appa and Don and Barbara to do a little dance and clap - the thing, of course, was my first few poos in the little toilet. I still use diapers, but this marks the beginning of the end.

As my language continues to expand, I'm using longer sentences. Example: man sitting (in the) chair.

Thambi continues to get bigger and more fun to play with.

Unfortunately, I've had some trouble sleeping. Especially when Appa travels occasionally for work. But we will soldier on.

I wore a few nice outfits this month - the first was for when it snows! I've got an integrated snow suit that zips from my feet to my neck and keeps me nice and cozy warm. Amma and I made tracks through the snow (kinda like a train). Another one was a beautiful Indian outfit that I wore on Thanksgiving (check out the middle top picture below, thanks Tonje!). Thanksgiving itself was a nice gathering of family at Eryn and Steve's house (I also got to hang out a little with my cousin Jayce who is my age).

Finally, a lot of fun was had at the McGregor's: drawing and drums, fire and seeds, Thanksgiving stories, always music and singing, sledding and running, exploring ice and melting snow, and the Wizard of Oz (this is where that song came from initially). "Get your shoes on and let's go see the world" is Don's call to arms.

Thank you God for snow suits, for Thambi, for books, and for friends.

Sleep, games, and words

The big thing this month was sleep. As in getting me to sleep more regularly. As I mentioned last time, we got a lot more regular about my sleep routine. When I sleep the whole night in my bed I get a sticker. For the most part, it has gone well (don't ask Amma or Appa about last night though). We will continue to work on it so it goes more smoothly.

Games are wonderful. I have a lot of fun playing 'choose which hand it is in' - like when Amma has something to give me and she puts her hands behind her and then I get to choose one. I prefer the left hand, but occasionally will go for the right. Then I try playing this with Amma or Appa and they think it is cute. I also like to hide. For example, I like to hide in the hall closet and surprise Amma or Appa, or get wrapped up in the shower curtain and surprise Amma. With thambi, for now our games consist of me saying googoo gaagaa to him, but I am sure they will get more elaborate over time.

I still love telling stories, and they are getting more involved daily. Especially ones that involve cars, trucks, and crashes. Or of course ones that involve trains and cabooses (one of my newer words). Some of my favorite words and phrases this month were: PUMPKINS! (both the kind on the ground and when you make them into bread, which I call cake), come in!, faster, and "no please" (Amma thinks this variation on 'no thank you' is cute), sorry, and hug (these last two sometimes go together). I'm becoming more expressive with sentences, such as "get it" (say, referring to a book on the ground or an apple), or "Va (come), sit down bed" (which I say when Amma is trying to sneak away before I am asleep). Appa keeps teaching me more Tamil words (like counting, through enje-5-up to batey-10), pointing out the nayees (dogs), etc. I expect to learn a lot more Tamil when Appa and I visit India over Christmas break.

Time spent at the McGregor's is really great. I now walk there on my own (most days), instead of being carried by Amma. I have good friends there. I love our excursions and singing and adventure modules (like space!). Of course we play a bunch of fun games. And there always seem to be freshly picked apples.
 
As a family, we went hiking (in the snow and in the mountains without snow), visited two pumpkin patches (and carved pumpkins), and visited the TRAIN museum again (which I don't have to tell you was great). We rounded out the month with visits from friends, dinner parties, birthday parties (I love singing the happy birthday song no matter the day), and a fun trip to the mountains with friends from Appa's high school.

Thank you God for this month, for family, and for pumpkins.

Throwing balls, dancing like Travolta, and creating stories

So lately I have been getting into playing with all kinds of balls. I definitely love kicking soccer balls around the house or outside on the ball field. I can even dribble! But my favorite ball to play with right now is a tennis ball. First off, they fit well in my hand. We can play inside with them, either kicking, throwing, or using the racquet (which sometimes I call a bat). Or outside on the tennis courts or just on the grass. Sometimes Appa throws the ball waaaaay up high which I love. I am pretty good at throwing the ball, and Amma says I've improved a lot with the racquet - I connect sometimes with a 'serve'. Most of the time I throw the ball overhand, but I've got a good underhand too (see the pic below).

Singing and dancing makes me happy. Sometimes I'll request a song, and my requests have moved beyond just the Wheels on the bus to ones like Baa baa black sheep, Monkey chased the weasel, Twinkle twinkle little star, or the ABC's. (And by the way I am able to sing more parts of more songs now, which is fun.) And associated with singing is dancing! This is encouraged by Amma and people like Kristin who comes weekly to the McGregor's for music class, or friend Nii Armah who teaches me (and Amma and tambi) African singing and dancing (a dondo pweep a dondo pweep pweep, you no go put you no go chop, tu man ge ley). I can throw in a somersault in the middle of a circle, and I dance like (and I quote) "Travolta in Grease with some withering moves" (per Don).

I try to connect to people through stories. The good news is that it is slightly easier for Amma and Appa to figure out what I am saying this month (maybe up to 15 percent of the intent gets across?). A few of my recent new or favorite words and phrases are spicy, catch it, dark, cool, careful (especially cute when said to Amma carrying tambi down the Sanitas trail), camping, shovel. I love to say moon and to point out the full bright moon. I am working on my numbers and months. I will repeat anything you say to me. And I am especially good at finishing the parts to Goodnight Moon when you pause and wait for me (like saying moon, house, mouse, brush, mush, Hush!, socks, etc.). I will also point out that the fire is hot even if you don't talk about it. My Tamil also continues to expand, like working on numbers up to batey (sp?, aka ten).


Thambi, my little brother, is pretty cute. I get excited to see him, especially in the morning when he is playing on the floor in his 'play gym'. I try to fist bump him, but he doesn't yet get the exploding bit yet. I guess I will have to teach it to him when he gets older. For now, I hold onto his hand or foot or kiss his head or pat his belly. Amma and Appa have to say 'gentle' or 'careful' less frequently now. And I like our morning walks to the McGregors where Amma carries me on her back and tambi on her front.

The main issue I had over the past few months was sleep (in that I wasn't going to sleep at a reasonable time in the evening). But over the past few weeks Amma instituted a more specific routine and talked to me about it (I even have my own sleep plan book complete with pictures). As a result, my sleep has improved dramatically! (It still isn't perfect, but is moving in the right direction). Right before I fall asleep sometimes I say things which reveal my thoughts - for now they are on things like dosai, or tunnel, or tani (water). Amma loves hearing this.

I am interested in people (especially the young kind) more than playgrounds. I like to offer others food before eating it myself.

Recently I have gotten really good at moving on my scooter - inside though since I haven't learned to brake yet. I can push off with my left foot and then balance very well on my right as I cruise down Appa's hallway.

I love to sing happy birthday and blow out candles. When we celebrated grandma's birthday I kind of thought the candles were for me.

I continue to love spending weekdays at Don and Barbara McGregor's with my friends. There we do all kinds of fun things. Like hear great stories from Don, or pick apples from the trees, or build train tracks, or do science labs, or go on mini-expeditions to pick apples or plums or grapes, or dance with scarves, or eat yummy food that Don makes, or learn new songs from Barbara, or play soccer or with tennis balls, or cook vittles on the fire. Occasionally we even have a treasure hunt in the back yard. Amma says I am picking up a lot of great things.

Thank you God for friends and Amma and Appa, for scooters and balls, for tambi and hiking, for seasons and corn, and for music and dancing.

Thambi and the McGregors

The biggest two events in the past two months are that I have a thambi now (thambi is Tamil for little brother) and I spend many of my days at a new house - Barbara and Don McGregor's house. Both things have meant quite a lot of change for me, but they are both really cool.

My little brother Mano (check out his blog here) is pretty cute. I like to give him hugs and kisses and point to his head and eyes. Sometimes I play with his feet. I like to lay down next to him in his crib or on my bed. I like to say 'Baby drinking' when Amma is nursing. And I do a pretty good impression of him crying (the baby on the bus goes whaa whaa whaa). Though he does take up a lot of Amma's time and as a result I play more with Appa (who has been around a lot more, which has been awesome).

The McGregor's house is just down the street (so we walk there in the morning and back in the evening). There are kids of a range of ages there - my age (two!), plus three- and four-year olds. This means that I get to learn a lot, have fun and hear all kinds of words and sentences. We play a ton and get to explore the creek and look for birds and snakes and fish. Some of the older kids help me learn how to help out and put things away. Some mornings we build huge train tracks with bridges and TUNNELS! I've taken some of my habits home, like wanting to sit at the big table now for food (and not much in the high chair anymore), or telling stories by sitting across the room and then holding up the book for Amma to see, or dancing zooming through the room holding clothes on hangers (a substitute for the scarves at the McGregor's).

Then there were also some medium-size events over the past two months: I no longer use a pacifier for naps or sleeping (no more 'frog'), I no longer have a bottle (as a result, my milk consumption has plummeted since I don't really like milk from a sippy or normal cup, either hot or cold), and I am working on sleeping only in my own bed in my own room ('working on' because it is still quite the long time and routine to get me to sleep and I still wake up a few time in the night).

You should hear me tell a story. They are pretty long and involved, complete with expressive hand movements, though they mostly consist of words that are hard to understand. But you might hear words thrown in there like tree or pear or wash and get the idea of that story. You might hear words like car or truck and crash and ouch and get the idea. You might hear words like baby and amma and drinking and 'whaa whaa' and get the idea. Everyone finds these stories really cute.

My vocabulary continues to expand. I can say quite a few things in Tamil now (apologies for the misspellings), such as: venum (more), kanne (where is ...), vannakam (welcome - this one is complete with hands together in prayer position), tani (water), va (come), mooke (nose), palum (plum), mambalum (mango), and of course dosai! (dosa). And in English I am connecting up a bunch of things too, like asking for the pear to go in my bowl, or saying I had an ouchie on my foot, or I want the bath water to be hotter. I can say a bunch of people's names too.

I found out that I love to shovel. Dirt in pickup trucks or mulch in piles. It is best when the shovel is my size, but I will go for bigger ones if needed. I got my first black eye - but no it didn't have anything to do with the shovel (I was just running through Appa's house and didn't see the cabinet approaching).

Fruit trees are pretty cool - I really enjoy picking the fruit from it and then eating it (after washing of course). Amma's apple tree went wild in July with apples galore. Then Appa's plum tree went crazy producing a bunch of plums. Right now Amma's pear tree just finished making a bunch of yummy yummy pears (which we eat about 6 of daily. Luckily Appa got a fruit picker to harvest all of these (which, by the way, is a fun contraption to play with).

We rounded out the time with some hiking with out of town visitors up in Rocky Mountain National Park, hiking around town, a family reunion on the Adams side (amma's mom's dad's family), a carousel ride in Nederland, a trolley ride in Denver, and a visit to the aquarium. We concluded the summer with another trip on the Georgetown train (yay!)

So as you can see, it has been a really big few months of my life!

Two years old!

Yep, it's official. I am two years old. And if you ask me how old I am I will tell you "two."

I can devour an entire mango, no need to cut it up (but you might want to take my shirt off beforehand). I like apples, especially picking them from out back and then crunching into one. Pomegranates, nectarines, and peaches are awesome. Basically any fruit you put in front of me I will enjoy.

I am starting to enjoy hiking on my own (like coming down from Sanitas), though Appa usually still carries me on his back. I love motions to songs, including the new one Amma made up for the song with the toy plane that I received for my birthday ('taking off for places we've never been, we'll be home for dinner then we'll fly again, zoom!'). Jumping is still super fun - including off of the living room table into Grandpa's arms (like tonight). I can do new things too, like hang from the bar above a slide before heading down it. I have been working on my skills on wheels - some on my scooter, some on my tricycle, and a little less on my new strider (balance bike). I have also been working on my skills with balls - like kicking big ones and throwing smaller ones, or swinging for medium size ones with a bat or croquet mallet - and I am getting better (today I even made a hoop).

My vocabulary continues to expand, and I repeat a lot of what I hear nowadays. Today one new one was "Percy" (as in Thomas the train and his friend Percy). On my birthday I was heard to have been saying "Happy" quite a lot. Ayyamma taught me the Tamil names for things like head and eyes and ears and teeth and nose - so I can point to them (if not quite say them yet). But I am starting to say some Tamil words like the word for flower or fruit, which is pretty cool.

I continue to love big machines of many sorts: Trains of course (including the new ones Appa got me for my birthday that run on their own and go through tunnels!). But planes too (which I used to call 'copters' for helicopters, but then moved into planes and now airplanes) - and I can spot them up high in the sky when I hear one. Trucks of all sorts (and I love my new truck books that help me name the different ones).


Appa took a quick trip to India this past month (where there are lots of cool trains), and Amma took a quick trip to Portugal too, so I got to see them on small screens when they were gone. This month included lots of fun times with Wendy, Leo, and Sebastian during the weekdays, and other fun with friends on the weekends. And of course at the end there were a few birthday parties with cake (happy happy!).

Finally, as I mentioned last month, coming up pretty soon are some big changes around here - my new little brother. Right now I can say baby and kiss Amma's belly (which she thinks is very cute). But when the little guy gets here I bet it will be an adjustment. I will have a new little friend!

Thank you God for my family, for life, for my two years, for trees to climb in, for wheels to glide on, for bright books to read, for monkeys and elephants, for friends with sound makers, and for mangoes.