“Mommy, I love you”. My toddler said so cutely that my heart melted into a gooey puddle. “I love you to the moon”, he added. Oh my heart! Sitting on the toilet seat he still looked so little. Given his chatter and tantrums, I often forget that he is not even 4 years old. Why does he always pour all his love out in the bathroom? 😛 “Mommy, can you hug me“. I stepped into the toilet and gave him a hug. Life with a toddler is full of weird funny moments.
My little one could say only 5 words when he turned two. And words like “mom”, and “dad” weren’t in his vocabulary. But somehow he knew how to say “aaninaso” referring to dinosaurs. You can imagine how worried I was when my baby didn’t reach his speech and language milestones. We would talk to him, use phonetics, and watch numerous youtube videos on speech delay. Thankfully, I had placed him in a long daycare by that time.
You won’t believe that within 6 months of joining daycare, his vocabulary increased to 150 words and kept increasing in the coming months. He reached the milestone pretty quickly. Maybe, he needed a social circle to start talking.
The day he said “mommy mommy” on his own, I felt like a Maa from Bollywood movie. Khushi k aasu flowing down my cheeks. Flowers started blooming in my heart and I could hear dhol-nagada play in the background.
Unlike those days, now we are constantly answering a barrage of questions. No one can guess that a year ago I was having sleepless nights due to his language delay. He can read very well. We read Disney’s Tangled, Marvel’s Spider-man collection, and Baby shark books many many times. We enact scenes and make-up new dialogues.
He is an expressive child. But that means I can also see a future where I will be facepalming at the words coming out of his mouth. 😛
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The other day we invited my Uncle’s family for dinner. When it was time to say goodbye, he sat in a corner making a sad face. “Why does everybody leave me and my house”. Damn! this boy is going to break more hearts than “Tussi Na Jao”.
He is a big nautanki. Acting and feigning at the drop of a hat. My husband would never stop joking that he got those traits from me.
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We were flying to India last October when I ran out of snacks mid-flight. This was our first flight as a family. I thought I had packed enough snacks for him, but alas! they weren’t enough. “Mommy, my tummy is empty”. “Look mommy look, I am hungry“. He would pull up his t-shirt to show me his tummy. I managed to give him some juice, which he spilled a minute later. Then spilled more juice two hours later. Well, it was quite an experience as parents.
All I can say is – to expect the unexpected.
If you follow my Instagram account – rajlakshmihb, you would have seen how he would photo-bomb my yoga pictures. He loves to be a part of the filming process. Already loves the camera and would be ready with his “cheese” smile that was taught by his teachers.
I am not immune to “Mommy guilt”. Chores, work, my never-ending list of life goals – they all can take a big chunk of my day. I try to spend quality time with him and yet when he sleeps in my arms at night, I can’t brush away the feeling of not having spent enough time with him. I also know that I am not the only one who feels this way.
Life with a toddler is indeed a rollercoaster ride.
I hope you are having a great start to the new year. Take care.
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Your little one is such a cutie. I love how he photobombs your videos. He wins more hearts than your yoga poses do, I guess. But, this drama and this nautanki, as you describe them, won’t last long as kids grow up in the blink of an eye. I’d say enjoy these precious moments Rajlakshmi. And enjoy these magical years too.
I hear you about the speech delay thing. We went through the same for our son while we were in the UK. And he too picked up words very fast, once he started going to daycare. Every kid will reach their milestones when they are ready. No two kids are the same, so relax and enjoy the parenting journey, Raj.
More importantly, don’t allow yourself to get bogged down by mommy-guilt. I think all moms go through it, irrespective of whether we go to work, or stay at home. It’s all a part of the journey. 🙂
Speech delay was really a scary experience but it also taught me a lot. Yeah now I understand that kids will reach their milestones at their own pace. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Your pics have got cuter and cuter with him in it 😉
I love his antics and the way you are describing them, I agree with your hubby!!! Lovely to read such happy mommmy-baby tales Raj!!
Thank you so much 😍
I love your posts and these are precious moments. If my daughter sees this, she’d say you asked me not to get on you while you did Yoga, look at him ma, he’s just all over his mum. I love him and such a cutie pie he is for photobombing your pictures. It’s so special to have them do that than pick the phone and click 100 same shots, I’ll tell you that. My own is going to turn 6 in a few months and I still have the mum guilt because I moved her to the bed right next to me among other things. 🙂 I’m glad you gauged his talking and put him right on track to socialize. I appreciate that in UK they start school as early as 3yrs unlike many countries. Though I was worried more than her that first day she went off to school amidst COVID, she never wanted to miss it for anything. 🙂
Lovely post and I always enjoy reading yours, Raj. Have a wonderfully blessed year ahead! <3
Wow 6 already. Fun times.
I had to clear my phone so many times because of all the videos I would take of my little one. Can’t bring myself to delete them even after backing them up. Thank you so much for visiting my blog. 😊
Awww he is such a sweetheart! I totally get your rollercoaster of emotions. It’s such a part of parenthood. Kids can be so embarrassing in front of outsiders. One has to be cautious of what they are picking up. 🙂 Traveling with them is another adventure. But you know, you will miss this a lot when they are all grown up and stuck to their gadgets. 🙂
You already know how I love it when he photobombs your pictures 😀
D is the best!
Precious moments indeed. Like they say, each child is different, but tough to not worry as a parent.