When we named her ADITI, we wanted it to signify someone who's blessed with as much patience and prosperity as Mother Earth. I think there is also a hidden meaning in her name for the word - NAUGHTY. how else can u explain the non-stop mischief she carries on with all the time.
Ever since our samaan has arrived i realised one thing. Aditi has grown quite tall. i find that all the things that were unreachable to her two months ago(when we were packing in Muscat) are now available to her with ease. anything higher than that she climbs up the sofa and tries to reach out for. Somewhere in the earlier posts on this blog i had noted down than Aditi opened the draw on the lowermost level of our TV-stand. Now she is standing up and happily reaching out for the objects placed on top of the TV stand - a beautiful Ganesh and a few knick-knacks. Most of the breakable things i had r still packed or sent back to India. And whatever little remains, Aditi seems determined to destroy. She gnawed off the glittery things surrounding the Ganesh before we spotted her and rescued the idol. Now Ganesh is hiding behind the TV - I have to peep behind the TV to get His darshan in the morning.
To keep her occupied, i rush thru my household work and try spend as much time as possible with her. Nidhi comes from school and after lunch goes straight to play with her. whenever Santosh arrives from office he tries to spend all his time with Aditi while nidhi and i get bz tackling schoolwork. All this interaction with us has left her in no doubt that she is as grown up as us. u can see it in the nonchalance with which she imitates us - be it talking on the phone or combing her hair or trying out her Nidhika's hairband. she even places Nidhi's lunch bag around her neck and walks off towards the front door saying 'daai, daai' (bye, bye) waving her hands enthusiastically. sometimes when enthusiasam reaches the peak, she waves both her hands, looking very much like a little bird flapping its wings.
when we go out we put her in the stroller. as long as the stroller keeps moving she's fine but the minute we stop at an aisle inside the shop to look for something she wriggles out. we have tried every possible way to strap her in, but she out maneouvres us. as one shopkeeper exclaimed to her 'r u an escape artist!' :-( if we put her back in the stroller she will try to stand inside. i don't think one has to see this in order to understand how dangerous this is. so the person pushing the stroller(me or santosh, nidhi can't manage) has to keep out a hand and hold her while we move the stroller. the minute we stop she'll jump out again and go straight for the place where she can find a bottle or something breakable. she will then take two of such items, one in each hand and proceed on a wobbly walk down the aisle. Our heart misses a few beats until we can catch up with her and take away the things she is holding. the remarkable thing is that she will hand over her things with a smile and when u turn arnd to replace them in the shelves, she would have already moved on to finding the next breakable or tear-able item she can reach. Nidhi had only her father wrapped arnd her little finger, Aditi has all three of us. this is the only explanation i have for why we continue to take her out whenever she go shopping, rather than the more sensible option of one of us watching over her in the car or at home while the other buys stuff.
When Aditi first learned to smile(when she was a little less than 45 days old), i didn't have a blog. so i couldn't capture the moment in words, but i find that those magical minutes have survived in my heart. To put it in simple words, everytime Aditi looked at me and smiled, it lit up my very soul. There was no guarantee when or why she would oblige us and this made her smiles all the more precious. The same applies to being called Amma. You r in the kitchen either cooking or cleaning and Aditi is in the bedroom having a power-nap after having seen her sister and father off to school/office. suddenly u hear a soft voice calling out 'Amma'. you wait a minute although ur heart is fluttering coz u know it will happen again. And soon enuf, 'Amma' in a slightly louder and more insistent voice. You rush to the bedroom and find a little form looking a bit rumpled and tousled, tangled slightly in the blankets, but sitting up nonetheless, looking towards the door waiting for you. Ah.... what wouldn't i do for this little baby of mine. :-)
if santosh/nidhi were writing this blog i am sure they will also have some such thing to share abt how Aditi has captivated them. Why else do we tolerate all her naughtiness i dunno.
Just today Santosh was telling me he loves the way she goes on reverse gear. Soon enuf i had an opportunity to observe. Aditi would pick up a bottle or a toy and if she feels she needs a lap to park her bum, she will walk towards the person (me or santosh or nidhi) sitting on the floor. When she is two steps away from us she will turn away from us and then walk backwards until she reaches us and happily plonk herself on us, trusting the one she has bestowed herself upon to cradle her/comfort her/fuss over her.
When she drinks water from her bottle lying in my lap, sometimes she chokes up a bit. i immediately blow over her head or pat her a bit on the back or 'thadavufy' her chest until she settles down. Aditi is so fond of this action of mine that many a times she does such a thing wantedly. u can easily catch her at her false, forced coughing up and then her naughty little smile when she finds me fussing over her. i let her get away with it only for that naugty smile that pops out n the end. such a nautanki she is.
when i was unpacking things in Nidhi's room, i came across all her dolls. immediately i gave them all the Aditi who was hovering nearby(Nidhi was at school). Aditi squealed with such excitement, she started hugging all the dolls and carrying them arnd and playing with them. now from past two days she has learned to pat them to sleep and today we found her saying 'o,o,o' while patting them and making them sleep. some of the dolls r as big as her and it's so endearing to watch her carry a doll and sway to and fro patting it affectionately to sleep.
One of the first few things Nidhi learned was to 'show' her tongue, teeth, eyes, nose, etc. Now it's Aditi's turn and she has learned to show her tongue and her hair. She has also learned to identify lights and if u ask her 'where is the light?'/'light enge?' you will be lead to the nearest bulb/lightsource and little fingers will then point upwards to guide u in case u happen to miss the bulb by any chance. if u r carrying the said baby then the little one will lean towards the light switch and try to flip it back and forth to demonstrate the flow of light. Lesson learned? Then move on to the next one, where Aditi will sit facing u holding ur hands in her little palms facing each other. She will then push them together and teach u to clap your hands. she seems to think her mom is a weak student and i find her helping me the most with this lesson. i am happy to be a weak student as long as the teacher teaching me derives such an enormous pleasure in training me. Thank you, Aditi.
And if all the above she does is not enuf i have often caught her in tip-toes, and by that i mean the tippest of toes exactly like a ballerina, trying to open the front door handle. The lock is just above the handle (and unreachable as of now) but i am dreading the day when she grows taller, or worse, the door is left unlocked by chance. God help us!
