2021 !! Katham Katham!!

I have always been fascinated by the idea of recollecting the events of the whole year during the end of the year, and ever since I started this blog, I wanted to document them every year. But then there is always the demon called "procrastination" and my-ever-loving friend "laziness" who convince me every year to skip this, except for 2 years (where the zeal to write overpowered these guys). This year again, I am fighting the demons and hope that this post sees the light of the day.

As far as the year is concerned, 2021 started good, turned silent, hit the wrong chord bang in the middle of the year, and continued faltering almost till the end, but managed to not end disastrously (for which I will be eternally grateful). My life this whole year was an exact replica of how the world was. Confused. Worried. Anxious. But at the same time, thankful and grateful for the privilege, people and the support around me.

The year started off with Athiboy's first year birthday celebrations, and then a quick 2-day trip to Mangrove Bay Camp - a place off Chidambaram where we went on stand up paddles in the Kollidam River. It was the first trip with just the 3 of us and we all really enjoyed it.

As the restrictions started relaxing, we all hoped things would be back to normal. Around March, my mother's foot's condition worsened and she could neither walk for long, nor take the stairs. So we started scouting for a new house for them and after a lot of back and forth arguments, and a whole lot of convincing, we shifted them near my home. Just when it seemed that things had started to settle down, we got the biggest blow. My parents tested positive for Covid. Luckily, they'd both taken both the vaccine doses - so the infection was not severe, but the mental stress was too much to handle for everyone. The whole of June got lost in Covid and recovering from it. In my experience, Covid is as much a mental stress to the care taker as it is for the infected person. It is torturous. I wouldn't want anyone to go through this. 

If there are two things that were a sweet surprise to me this year, it has to be my birthday and Ultimate Frisbee. Birthday surprise was my little brother (not-so-little anymore) gifting me a mobile phone. For years, every time I buy him something or give him money, he used to tell me that one day he'd get me the latest mobile at his expense - which, even though I'd listen to him say, but would eventually ignore. This year he totally surprised me by getting it when I least expected it. Definitely one of the star highlights of the year. 

Next, Ultimate Frisbee! It is a mixed gender sport, played with a disc. It is intense, but lovely. V has been into this sport since late 2019, and has been convincing me to join him ever since the kiddo turned one. The awareness about this game in India is very less, and even lesser in TN. There are only a handful of people who know and play the game. So, after hearing V talk about it day in and day out for close to 2 years, I thought I'd atleast go see it once before I turn down his request to join. But the moment I got some sense of how the game worked, I started liking it and wanted to know more. There is a whole lot to learn from the game, and I am definitely looking forward to it in the coming years. 

The final challenge of the year came in the last 2 months, which were on a whole different level. For the first time in 4 years of marriage, I had to take full ownership of the running the house as my mother-in-law became a little sick. It was only at this time that I truly understood how big a task it is to keep the house functioning as it is. I understood what my mother and father had been doing all these years, I understood how much my mother-in-law toiled all these years. It was a challenge to juggle between office work and the household chores, but I tried to do smart work, and my mind was always looking for ways to get things done quickly and parallelly mostly by planning in advance, and not shying away from asking for help whenever I felt like I needed some.  

Lastly, a few things about Athi! This is possibly one of the best phases with him. He's an energy bomb, his excitement is contagious. He runs about the house repeating all that we say in his mazhalai. Loves car rides, thatha paati, reading books, toy cars, balance cycles, bike rides. Dances to the tune of quite a few tamil songs. Is a die hard Rava Kesari fan. Can't imagine him growing up and going to school, but at the same time, can't wait for him to grow up soon. 

Hope 2022 would be a great year for everyone. Happy New Year!!

20 Months

Dearest Athiboy,

I skipped the 18 months timeline for my post, hence, writing this now when you arw almost close to 20 months. Time is literally flying, but only for you. When the whole world is almost in a standstill because of Corona, you seem to be growing and learning new things. This phase of your life is truly engaging and joyous. Watching you do all the things that you have learnt by observing us, is a real joy. 

After about a month or two walking around with the Nadavandi you switched on to walking on your own. Well, special thanks to V, as he was the one who initiated it, by making you stand a foot away from me and letting you go, so that you'd just do a thathakath buthak walk without support and reach out to me. (It reminds of the way people helped me swim in Nagala during one of the treks). After we kept doing it for a couple of times, you got the hang of it and started walking around. For the first 2 weeks, you'd walk only when you wanted. Neighbors in the apartment would literally beg you to walk while in the mottamadi (in the evenings) but you wouldn't budge, and would simply go around crawling on the floor. Slowly but steadily you understood walking was more fun and less of an hassle than crawling and you shifted on to walk. There was no stopping you then. These days, you run like crazy from one room to the other in the house, in the car parking and the mottamadi, anywhere and everywhere. There still some slight unbalance and  you do fall quite a few times everyday, but that will only stop you for 2 minutes at the max, when you demand an ice pack, and then you are back at running again. Your energy levels are unmatchable. 

Fishes are something that you really enjoy watching. You demand that the lights on the fish tank (at home) be turned on every time you look at it. You also mimic trying to feed them food, the way Thatha does everyday. Observation skills on point! There is a small fish pond in the apartment complex that my parents live in, and you have never missed to stop and admire them, every time we go to visit them. Also, fish is probably the first set of words from your mouth after amma, appa, enna, etc. And yes, its not fish, its ish for you, F is silent. (or rather F is hard to pronounce)

If there is one thing that can make you sit down in one place for more than 5-10 minutes, its got to be the books. We have a decent collection of books for you, some bought and some gifted. You seem to enjoy flipping through those, and by now, are able to identify quite a few things. We have almost established a night time book reading routine. I am glad you like books. There is a whole world out there in the books which I really don't want you to miss, and I wish you'd like books as much as I do, as you grow.

If there are two things that have not changed almost since the beginning, it has got to be your love for Bathing and Drums. Both of them are your utmost favorite things. There have been numerous times when we have taken you to the bathroom to get only your hands & legs washed, but ended up bathing you. And what more, these days you demand you need your bath tub while bathing. We got you a small bath tub when you were about 4-5months old, and always bathed you in it. But there are days when we'd want you to have a quick bath, so we don't use your bath tub. But in the recent days, you have made sure we always use only your bath tub while bathing you. If not, you keep calling out "ab...ab...", pointing out to it all the while until we bring it over and put you in it.

As for Drums, its something that comes naturally to you, and something that you enjoy seeing / listening to. Our latest favorite is the Violin & Flute cover of Ottagatha Kattiko. The joy on your face when you see that thumbnail on the TV and realize that's the song we are going to play is unmatchable. You have also started enjoying songs like Life of Ram, Unnaku enna venum sollu, for the visuals, especially the fishes, birds, amazing locations. 

We have finally put an end card to our breastfeeding journey at about 18 months. The weaning itself was quite challenging initially, but slowly everything settled in. Thanks to you, for liking bottled milk and a huge thanks to mil who was more than happy to have you sleep with her so that we wean. 

Your food choices are almost similar to my very own, only difference being your indispensable love for curd. I am not much of a curd person per se, but you seem to li(o)ve curd. Its always curd with idli / dosa / upma / rice or anything for that matter. Its your first and only choice. The way you lick it off the plate or cup is so adorable (except for the fact that I have to bathe you once more for all the mess you create and become). Your fruit intake is quite low, but that's matched up with an overflowing love for carrots and potatoes or any vegetables for that matter. Carrot, I guess owing to its bright orange color, seems to be your favorite in veggies. Till now, you are not much of a fussy eater, and mostly happy with whatever we feed you, which is a real savior for us. There have, however, been days when you refused everything but curd, but thankfully they were just short phases.

You love bike and car rides, and don't think twice before jumping into the arms of anyone who offers to take you for a ride. We did go out to a lake sometime last month. Though you love bathing at home, you simply refused to set your foot into the water there. I think we might need to take you there more often to help you like that place and enjoy the waters. A friend had a small inflatable boat which he had brought to the lake, and you loved sitting on the boat with V and rowing around in the water. From that day on, whenever you spot a boat or a raft or anything floating in water with a person, you immediately assume it to be V and point to it and call out Appa - its been a kannula thanni vechunda moment for V.

Lastly, thank you so much for coming into our lives. Your little antics and actions make our every day interesting and joyous. Its really wonderful seeing you grow.

Love,

Amma

N for New Address

Change is inevitable. But we as humans always detest change, right from miniscule things like changing the brand of coffee we drink, or the paste we use to brush the teeth to the big ones like changing jobs or homes. 

My brother and I decided that we need to move our parents to a new home owing to my mom's increasing knee problems. My dad was hell bent on rejecting all our proposals of changing homes. He kept giving one or the other reason to avoid it. It took us close to 2 months with a lot of cajoling and convincing to make him agree for the move, and finally they shifted to the new home, much closer to my place (not that they were too far away earlier, but this new house is even more closer) last week, and have slowly started to get settled. 

All the while when I was engrossed in convincing my parents for the move, my neighbors were planning their move back to their own house which was demolished and reconstructed. I don't know how or why, but this neighbor was never just a neighbor to us, they were more like family. It was a family of 6, split in 2 houses in our floor. S Akka & her husband, with their parents, sister and a daughter. Akka is the dynamite of the house, the most caring and ever ready to help and sharing all our joys and sorrows. There was never a day she'd skip telling us her dinner menu and asking if we needed anything at all. 

They came here when I was pregnant, and spoilt me with all sorts of foods and homemade delicacies. Any food they prepare or receive, they always used to reserve a portion for me. Well, those were the pregnancy perks, I guess. And once I gave birth to the little boy, he became their absolute favourite. No day would passby without her giving the little one a loving squeeze and taking him to her home and making him play there. 

Can't really keep track of the number of times she has given rasam or the entire breakfast of idli or dosa or upma for the kiddo. I mean, they were just too close to be called neighbors. Everytime we had any guests, my MIL would make it a point to introduce S akka, and explain them about her, and she also did the same when she had guests over at her place. 

The odds of having such a neighbor in a city such as a Chennai where everybody is hurrying around with their work is almost negligible. And I think we were really lucky to have S Akka as our neighbor. 

The void that she has left in the whole apartment is literally eating us all, especially in the evenings. The sight of the locked doors and the silent pathways are making us feel very lonely and dull. I personally miss the smile that she flashes everytime she walks past our door. S Akka and family will always be missed.

I hope we do have some family or someone come occupy the houses soon. May the silences be broken by the hustle and laughter of people and kids.

15 Months!

Dearest Athikutty,

Given that you have turned one, I thought I would write out only one post per year going forward, but so much has happened in the past 3 months that I think I should probably record it now else I am sure to forget all of them by the end of the year.

So, just like I mentioned in the earlier post, you started sitting up on your own just a few days before your birthday. There was no stopping you after that. Slowly in another week's time, you learnt to crawl. That promotion from swimming to crawling happened when we went to our friend's home to meet their little munchkin. You were very excited and were your absolute best self when we were there, not sure if it was the joy of seeing a baby who was younger than you or that you had so many new toys to play with. You had one hell of time rolling around their home, pulling out and playing with anything and everything. This was officially your first play date and it turned out really well.

In the next few weeks, you kept trying to crawl and when you fell you continued your old swimming, but slowly swimming vanished off and you started crawling like a pro. Fast forward to one more month, your Nadavandi came out of its hideout as you started walking with it around the house. These days you refuse to let go off and want to continuously walk around with it all the time. Paati has to literally hide it under some clothes or put in the closet to stop you from the non-stop walking. 

You remember quite a few things and names, and are able to point it out when asked for. Giraffe, Zebra and elephants are some that you know and recognise from the pictures. You recognize every one at home by their name and when asked for who is where, you point out them rightly. Slowly getting to understand questions and answer them too. Great job kid. You like watching the crows and pigeons fly by in the terrace, and you get super excited when you spot an airplane, and keep watching it until it disappears into the clouds. 

Your naughtiness has increased manifold. You crawl up to the water dispenser, stand up with the support of its stand and open it up and, when the water starts falling into the floor, you give a laugh like you have achieved something great. You love water, oh so much! Time and again you ask for a bowl of water and keep putting your hands into it and play. Bathing still continues to be your absolute favourite activity and you refuse to come out of the bathtub without a mini-tantrum. 

You seem to enjoy and get excited playing with dogs. We went out to one of my friend's home and she had a dog named Casper. Casper didn't really fancy playing with little kids, but you never let it go. You kept touching his feet, and constantly chased him around the house. Then, we met another dog named Milo at your cousin's apartment, whom you totally loved. You kept poking his nose or trying to touch his eyes, and Milo, instead of getting agitated, was very obliging to all your seshtais.

V got a baby cycle seat for you which he latched on to his cycle. You love your rides in it as your thatha and paati push you along in it for an evening walk around the nearby streets. You also went on a ride with V once to your cousin's home. V says you totally enjoyed the ride. Hopefully, we do more rides in it in the future.

Our first trip with just the 3 of us happened sometime in February this year. It was a 2 day-1 night trip to a resort at the mangrove backwaters near Chidambaram. We went on a stand up paddle ride and you loved it and enjoyed watching the birds on the mangroves, spotted fishes jumping in the water. I was initially a bit skeptical about taking you in for the ride, but you were so well behaved and enjoyed it throughout which came as a surprise to me. Looks like you enjoy nature and we'll make sure you get to spend a lot of time with it. 

Lastly, your love for cars and especially, the steering, has gotten so much that you refuse to let V drive in peace, you literally beg him to let you handle the steering. Also, whenever someone says the word 'car' at home, you start making a brrrrr....brrrr...brrr..... sound and act as if you are driving it trying to turn the steering. Its such a joy to see you observe and imitate whatever that is happening around you.

Thanks to Corona, work from home is still continuing and both V and I are able to spend a good amount of time with you. Even with this, its only the thatha and paati who majorly take care of you, and you don't mind it all. You are happy as long as there is someone around to play with you. But you are in that stage where someone should be watching you all time, both to stop your naughty activities and also to save you from bug mishaps, because you tend to slip / fall quite a few times everyday. Looking forward to more adventures with you. 

Love,

Amma