16 months into motherhood

This is my first attempt to recall all that I have learnt from my little child in the last 16 months. You brought so much joy to daddy and me on the day I knew I was carrying you. It was a Thursday and the famous WorldCup football match between England and Trinidad and Tobago. We were sent off early from work to watch the match. Your father usually picks me up from the bus stop near the Tesco superstore, and though I reached early, I went into Tesco to do the weekly shopping. As I went past the medicine counter, somehow my eyes rested on the HPT kit and without a second thought, I bought it. We returned home, dad made some tea and I went off to wash and change. I wasn't nervous or anxious, but I was too overjoyed to say anything when I saw the pink lines on the test stick. I came downstairs, had my tea and watched the match. I was nervous about telling your father - I do not know why. I decided that if England won the match, I'll tell your father otherwise, I'll wait till the weekend. As luck would have it, England won the match and I sheepishly told your dad. He was happy and excited - which I tell you I did not expect, and went off to get some multivitamin and Santogen -that I used throughout and even after you were born. I could not wait to tell your maternal grandmom the next morning.

When you were born, I did not even know to hold you. You taught me persistence when I was struggling to feed you. You taught me to be patient as I moaned away at the long hours you were stuck to me all the time. Night times for the first 2 months were typically a nightmare - You taught me to accept the good and the bad. When we were in desperate situations, you were the ray of hope. One look at your sweet face and any problem would melt away. You taught me to smile with your sleepy-dreamy smile - when I would be all worried about your input and output. I still cannot believe you were the little baby - who looked exactly like my grandmom -with a round face and brows full of furrows - that came into my life 16 months ago.

You showed me how to hold a book upside down, vertically, horizontally and at every angle other than 'normal' and how to enjoy a book in every direction. Each of your milestone has amazed me no less and now you are onto the climbing phase - sofa/chair/tea table/bed. We were surprised to see you climb a flight of stairs on our holiday in Paris - you were 10 months old then. But now you can climb up and down - oh you are growing up so fast!

You taught me not to be lazy on a weekend - you wake up at the crack of dawn - always on time and my repeated requests to you to sleep a little longer only end up in me getting out of bed and playing with you.

When you act naughty, I try to be clam. I try not to yell at your name and many times these days, I find myself just shutting up and completely ignoring your act. I tell you that its not right to do so , but just in a normal voice. The other day, your daddy raised his voice a bit and you started weeping. You still do not like anybody - especially your daddy or me yell at you. You don't mind if we tell it in a normal voice. I have definitely learnt to be calm.

You've taught me the importance of time and to work in little batches and still play or continue my conversation with you. To be honest, I'm still working on this. I can multitask, but not with you. But I have changed from being always bound by time to work as little or much as need be. Sometimes I tell myself, I am lucky to have you bring this other side of me. These days I am a little more relaxed about everything I do.

You are choosy and picky about your food. You tell me that its okay if you ate a little less someday and that you would be alright. But me being your mommy will worry unnecessarily over the quantity that you've had. You like cheese and yogurt and would have that for breakfast,lunch and dinner. Your fascination towards cornflakes and then cheerios was very short-lived. You still love anything green - so I am happy about your food colour sense(if that's a term at all)

Recently, you taught me to dance. Oh and that scene comes to mind instantly. I remember how I was sitting on the floor trying to read a book with you and you pointed to my hands. Immediately I took them away from my lap so that you could sit. But you kept smiling and bent down to hold my hand. You lifted your left leg first and then your right and kept nodding your head at the same time. This is popularly called the 'dancey-dancey' at home and we are ever-ready to 'dance' with you dear child. But not to dance to your tunes all the time.

Your love for the mobile phone or hand-held hasn't diminished at all .You still love the phone to bits. Only now you have learnt to hold it and speak to it. You started off one day saying 'Aditi, Aditi speaking' and now you have imaginary conversations and talk a lot, most of which we are yet to comprehend. You love to go and stand near the patio doors and watch your shadow. You try to catch the shadow only not knowing that its really you. You've started walking backwards and sometimes fall over objects/toys/books.

Every morning before I can even dress you up completely, you run to the mirror and love to look at yourself and smile. But can you please wait until I've finished dressing you up. Its a struggle these days to dress you up for you do not want to wear certain clothes and want to make your own choice of clothes.Your recent love for mommy's bag drives me nuts because you want to hang the bag around your neck and you do not know how to remove it. You cry for attention and if I remove the bag from your neck, its back on your neck in less than 5 seconds and you are crying again. You love your books - now you are fascinated towards the ones that make noise. The Duck book that goes' Quack,Quack' and you shout 'Buk,Buk,Buk' with it. The Car book that makes 3 different sounds and you love it to bits. But I guess I'll do a separate post on all your toys and books. now let me add some pictures and hit Publish on this post sitting in the Drafts folder for a long time.