The Golden Words

Most moms would agree that the one real reason that they go through nine months of labour and childbirth is to hear the baby - be it the first cries, the cooing during the early weeks, the 'tha-tha-tha' or 'ba-ba-ba' during the initial months and await to hear the baby call out 'amma' or 'ma' or 'mom'. From time to time, my little girl would cry out Amm-mmm-ma and it gave me much pleasureto listen to what I term 'the golden word'. Whenever she called out Amma, Prashanth would pop in and teach her to say 'Appa'. Obviously he wanted her to address him as well and not just make me happy.
Last week, when Aditi was down with a bit of cough and cold, she had disturbed sleep during the nights. The tickly cough irritated her throat, leading to more coughs during the night. Eventually she would get up, all upset and demand to sleep with us on the bed. **Sigh**. On one such night, when she started coughing, I picked her up from the crib and put her on my lap to rub some Vicks Vaporub on her chest. The vaporub usually acted like a miracle and the cough always subsided. That night, Prashanth woke up and was examining her chest for any signs of infection. Aditi who was half sleep uttered clearly 'Amma' followed by a quick 'Ma'. Then she looked up at her dad who was still busy with the steth and said 'Aitipa' (short for 'Aditi appa') and pointing in his direction again said 'Aitipa'.
Both of us had huge grins and were overjoyed that our little one called out to us even in the midst of night. Its not too often that we get addressed as Amma or Appa and it certainly made us so happy that we spent the next couple of days telling the grandparents about it. Aditi hasn't learnt to say 'Appa' as yet. She would often address her father as 'Aitipa' or 'Yebbbbba' when shes too tired after lots of physical activity. The father is trying to get her to say just 'Appa' and the lessons still continue.

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I believe the purpose of blogging is to jot down incidents and happenings for posterity. Another small incident to indicate the the little girl does everything with a purpose. Last evening, after we returned from work/nursery, I gave her a bottle of milk. Then I gave her a biscuit as a snack and switched on the cooker. Aditi finished half of the biscuit and when I turned around, she was pointing at the dining table. I could hardly make out what she was trying to say and did not give much attention. Then she started putting both her hands under the table cloth. Atleast at this stage, I must have understood something. Yet, I proceeded to give her dinner and put her to bed. When we sat for dinner, I straightened the table cloth, when I found a biscuit piece on the table. That's when it all came together. The poor girl had left her biscuit under the table cloth and was desperately trying to look for it and I was so ignorant not to make sense of it. I have definitely learnt my lesson and shall try to comprehend what my baby says/shows in the future.