Happy 30th month,Baby!

Dearest Aadi
Will the wonders ever cease??
I am still amazed to see the non-stop chattering little girl,with endless demands….”I want…””I need….” In my mind’s eye,you are still the little baby,we brought home from the hospital.
But,I know that you are not a baby anymore.And I know that you also know that.But,you do a very nice imitation of a baby..a baby as you see it…a baby babbling,a baby crawling,raising its hands,
wanting to be picked up,a baby crying loudly,with its eyes closed..very nice indeed..And as if we don’t understand,who you are pretending to be,you tell us,”I am baby”.
Pretend play is your favorite game these days. You pretend to be- Mamma,Baba,Baby, your friend(mostly its Sanskruti),baby,our recent guests..and you assign a role to everyone around you,-your toys and people alike.And you pretend that a section of the living room is the kitchen..and the far end of the house is the Supermarket(Coles)..You go to Coles and buy me pretty fawers.You sit on your bike and tell Baba,”I take you office”.
Aadi,my love,you turn 30 months today…Two and half years… and living with you,its easy to forget how young you are.You chide us,when we are fighting-“No shouting No fighting here!” You watch out for us and our things..you protectively hug our bags,books,even shoes, close to yourself,to protect them from others-kids or adults,alike.Its so grown-up,the way you know your mind..sometimes,even we grown-up get confused,about our wants and needs.When,you throw a tantrum,befitting your age,its so difficult for us..to remember that you are all but a little girl.
You have just started liking jewellery..you love it so much..You like dressing up..No,I am wrong.You love dressing up.You are so quick,when it comes to changing clothes.I get tired of watching you.You change atleast 10 outfits throughout the day.I used to get irritated,when you would want to change clothes,every few minutes,bringing me even dirty clothes from the laundry,just so you could change your outfit..and everytime you changed yours,your baby of the day,would get a change of clothes too.But,I dont know,when,how,you became so independent,now you
do all the changing yourself,just come to me for appreciation.”Mamma,see..I am the pretty one”..
Aadi,there are very few places that are inaccesible to you.You pull chairs,up to the counter..you climb up the shelves in the cupboard,you climb up on the bed,to get a better look at yourself in the mirror(sure I taught you that..but atleast then,you needed me to put you on the bed)..you stand up on tip-
toes to reach something thats on the counter.Sometimes it is annoying,sometime,I just look on in awe.You are so self-sufficient..Once your dad told you,that the baskets in the supermarket are stuck and he can’t get them out.You just told him,”that’s ok,dont bother”..and went on to pull one out..telling him,”see I help you!”The look on his face-Priceless!
Patience is not really your best virtue,but I hear most toddlers are like that..But like I said,you make it very hard for us to remember that you are all but a toddler!
You are still very possessive about me..You always have one eye on your Baba when,he is near me.But,now,you are also possessive about him.If I snuggle upto him,you leave whatever you are doing and snuggle up between up.I love the way,you proclaim,”My Mamma,Also,My Baba”..But,sometimes you and Baba dont see eye-to-eye..its sad for me,but,I will leave that for you both to sort out..I am just going to enjoy my time with you..for,I know,one day,you are just going to be a daddy’s girl..I see it already,the way,you both team up,when we go out..or how you defend him,when I am mad at him.
Aadi,you are now fluent in both Hindi and english and attempt to talk in Marathi.Some people tell me that I am confusing you,by talking to you in all three languages…but so far,you seem very comfortable.And my love,you can translate from english to hindi and hindi to english.That to me is a big milestone.
You are talking perfect sentences in both languages.And big 5-6 word sentences…Boy!that makes me so happy.I may be biased..but you are my SUPER-STAR!
You love singing..and your great-grandma,thinks you have a very musical voice. and will be a singer.well we’ll see.For now,you are the happiest when singing “Pinkle Pinkle little star” and “rote rote hasna seekho” and the likes.
And you love dancing..all we have to do is play some music..or not..you find music in any thing rhythmic..and start tapping your feet.And you move so well,I am happy to see that atleast you don’t have two left feet like your parents.
Aadi,you are growing up so soon,its hard for me to keep up..But I love the edge that our life has,because of you..We are scared to blink,look away,because thats all it takes for you to get into some mischief or do something cute.
Today we baked cupcakes for you…and you baked your pretend cupcakes,all sweet..u even added imaginary essence too -I just smiled and looked away for 10 seconds…and the next thing I know is that you had grabbed and then dropped a bottle of Maggie Hotn’Sweet! See what I mean??
Ohh Aadi,what am I going to do with you?
In the last 2 and half years,since you came into our life,you have made us laugh,and cry,mostly happy tears,sometimes we cried with you..you have embarassed us and you have made us proud,you have annoyed us and given us all the more reasons to love you,in the next heartbeat..But there is absolutely nothing that I would change.Its just not possible to stay mad at you..you wont let us..you hug,kiss,cuddle,act like a clown,command us..you just don’t give up..till we don’t smile again.I hope that doesn’t change..your need to see smiling faces.I don’t know what will be going through your mind,when you read this..at 16?or later?May be then,you would be embarassed or annoyed with me.And then try to remember,its just the love in a fond mother’s heart coming to you as this letter.And since you are still reading,remember,we love you..even if we don’t approve of that boy-friend of yours!
With all my love,
Mamma