"I am 15 months young"

When I was a teenager, I visited a well known doctor at his clinic in Chennai. After the routine examinations, as he was about to write the prescription, he asked me how young I was. I must admit that it struck me only after a little while that he was asking my age(how old I was). We are used to hearing the common phrase - 'how old' that the reverse doesn't strike us immediately. Thats the story of the title of this post. Now some updates on the little one.

I need not hire a cleaner to help me with the dreaded cleaning chores. My little girl goes around with a broom and imitates us in a typical fashion of her own. Be it the dining area or the patio, she roams with the broom and pretends to clean the entire place. She is upset if I dont hand over the broom to her when I'm trying to clean the place. That said, she's still a bit scared of the vacuum cleaner and prefers to stay away when it's in use.

She does two very sweet things that i'm yet to capture on video. Whenever I sit on the floor, she does an above turn with her back facing me, walks backwards towards me and sits on my lap. This is something both of us look forward too, and the very manner in which she turns around and sits down is fascinating.Talking of sitting, when she has to sit down, she puts the palm of her arms on the floor to support her, then bends one of her knees and then slowly brings the other to the floor.Until then the arms are still on the floor supporting her. It reminds me of the way my grandmom would sit on the floor using hands to support herself.

She loves outdoors. The front of our house has been blockpaved recently and we can safely let her do some walking around in that area. She loves to go around in circles outside until she's bored or tired of the walking. Walking has actually been replaced by running these days.

At 15 months, she's turning into a picky and fussy eater. The baby who gulped down anything that was offered to her now refuses food most of the time. This started about 3 weeks back and is getting worse by the day. Initially I could distract her with her favorite food, but now that seems very difficult too. For now, the husband is very supportive and helps me deal with her patiently, otherwise its a struggle when it comes to feeding. My MIL wisely told me last year that the child will eat everything when young and tantrums start around 18 months. This is turning true in Aditi's case. Any suggestions/comments/help on this one welcome.

Also I am becoming adept at doing one handed jobs for she wants to be carried all the time. People tell me its just a phase and it should go away in a while. We wish and pray that it goes away soon. Sometimes its difficult to believe thats she's completed 15 months. Her personality is changing every day and her face is loosing its babiness and getting more mature. She can speak a dozen words clearly and babbles a lot more. She can sing the tune of nursery rhymes with us. Her favorite song still remains the one she's been hearing for the last 12 months - a Ganesha composition, which still puts her to sleep.

She's a happy little child who's excited to go to nursery each day and comes home with the same enthusiasm and bringing more joy into our lives each day. How I wish time stays still and she remains like this forever.