He wrote his first letter to a girl .." Dear M , I love you..play with me during recess"!! We made him change the love word to like :) Don't want him growing too fast..

Karate:

Started off early this month. I discovered a karate class two minutes away from home.

Since Arav is a very physical child and practices random karate at home I thought why not give it a try.

It started really well with Arav running into the class with full josh..for like two classes, and then he just did not want to do it. He would hide, get angry and sad all at the same time. So every tuesday and thursday I tell him bravery stories and courageous acts of people I know not of just to keep him interested.

Sometimes when I peep in to class, he is staring at the the fish tank. I think I'll give it another month, cannot get worse can it??

Change is permanent:

Well not being able to blog regularly does have it's benefits! I was able to understand how much Arav has grown mentally and physically just over three months.It is amazing that the experiences that he has had can bring about so many changes in him.

When earlier he was defiant about everything, he now looks forward to my approval.

Three months back he was three inches shorter.

Three months back he couldn't care less if Sundar was in the house or not..now he kisses (!!) him and hugs him.

I am looking forward to this and more when he turns five next week. Anticipating awesomeness!

What is going on in my four year old's life right now...

1. Playing with other children..he has moved from that stage where he would play by himself to playing with a gang of children. At the end of playing he brings all of them to our house and ends his day here. I have to step in and ask him to say goodbye to his friends. Everyday affair.

2. T.V.....even if I am not letting him watch he watches all that is there to watch in his friends' houses..
Robots, Spiderman, Superman, Ben 10..

3. Cars..he loves to visit the service centres just to watch the mechanics work on the cars. I am sure that he would love to pitch in and fix something.

4. On his own..he can wear his own clothes and pack his own food...I sometimes give him a couple of choices..and he is only too glad to make his own choices.

5.  He writes numbers and is right now trying to read signboards and other words in his book...

6. He talks a lot, asks a lot of questions..oh god, i need a seperate post to explain this one!

Montessori Math:

So Arav had started writing numbers from 1 to 10. In his Montessori school, math is taught in a very interesting manner. He learnt to count numbers by working on their quantities first with the use of  golden beads. Next he went on to learn the numbers' symbols from number cards.  The next step would be to relate to quantities using cards and vice versa. Now, he has learnt to write from 1 to 10, tens from 10 to 20 and hundreds 100 to 900 and also 1000. He has shown interest in every step.

Yesterday, after school, he came up to me and proudly announced that he did the change game with aunty. In the change game, children learn about changing heirarchies in numbers from units to tens, tens to hundreds, hundreds to thousands. Any child who has learnt the change game, would be able to form quantities, arrange them according to their heirarchies (tens, hundreds and so on ) and finally change the heirarchies as needed to arrive at the actual quantity. Finally they relate that quantity to symbols by using number cards.

All this is done with the help of solid materials which visually and physically helps the child to understand quantity and their relative symbols. Though heirarchies are complex for a 4 year old to understand, the change game helps them to grasp the concept and work on the material repetitively. So it is not just about writing down or rambling away numbers but more about understanding their quantities, symbols, heirarchy levels. Each aspect is taught seperately and then the learning is consolidated.

Now if only I had learnt math this way, my outlook on the subject might have changed...!

Shoe Story:

Arav owns exactly three pairs of footwear, of which two are of the same model. The other one is the normal chappals type.So ,though, there are a variety of shoes matching outfits and occasions, I decided to stick to floaters and chappals. I was merely looking at comfort and utility.

Yesterday we decided to get a new pair, after a real long time. At the shop Arav was so excited that he started to try on all the pairs, even the girls' shoes. I realized that he had been shoe starved. So I picked up a trendy sneaker for him , and he loved it. He insisted on wearing it even before it was billed. Then he decided to wear them after we got into the car. From then on, he has been wearing it all the time, pretty much. Has worn it to school today. I am sure he is telling all his classmates about his new shoes!

Bottomline: Must buy more shoes this year.

Not sure when he grew up. Arav used to do some pretty naughty and dangerous stuff which he now understands are not supposed to be done. I am writing down a few of the things that I remember, I am not sure how much I have already forgotton..:

1. Everytime a car passed by he would follow it to the parking lot, ask for the keys and lock the car. He  made many "uncle" friends that way.

2. I had to feed him and he used to refuse to eat otherwise.

3. Worried about him when he played. He was always running from me. (ok that still happens!)

4. Used to like climbing away to the terrace and then he would like to climb the ladder all alone to the tank.

5. Never sat in the seat while we were out in a restaurant. We had very little options that way.

6. Nap time everyday in the afternoon for 3 hours.

7. Used to pull the stethoscope from the doctor's neck just as he brought it next to him!!

8. Never bothered about running out the door without any clothes on!

9. When he was younger I had a tough time taking him away from another child's cycle.

12. Will take out all the clothes from the cupboard and he would sit inside.

13. Will climb the kitchen counter and open all the spices and throw it on the floor.

14. Enjoyed drinking water from taps and kitchen sinks..!

14. Used to remove his shoes and play in the park.

will continue to write as i remember..and as the situation changes!

Taking Arav out the last two weeks have been different from before..
He takes a lot of interest in his surroundings, questioning me constantly,earlier he may look at something and move on,but now he wants to know what it is?

This has extended to everyday life at home as well...

So we are hearing a lot of what is that? what is this? and sometimes we hear the answers to those questions as well..like he would ask..looking at a digger..
"What is that amma? and then a second later.."it ch a digger".

Arav is 21 months and 3 weeks.

The last couple of months, the quantity and the quality of naughtiness has increased manifold. Since every day there are numerous events, the naughtiest event of the day will be recorded.Atleast that should motivate me to blog everyday!

And today's event would be:

Well as usual I was in the cleaning routine, which is normally the ripe time for Arav to spend all that energy. So, Pintoo the "monster in a cute suit" opened the tap to our can of drinking water and drained quite an amount. By the time I reached ground zero and brought the situation under control, he was already eating leftovers off the dishes in the sink..Apparently he had grown an inch taller that week which helped him fulfill his mission.

I just marked this in his scrapbook...
April 27, 2008: Pintoo took a leap into manhood, he drank out of a cup all by himself...
At first we half filled the cup with water, which proved to be very disastrous because he would tilt the cup all the way and would enjoy getting himself drenched. So the next time we gave the cup filled with two tablespoons of water and it worked. He lifted the cup the right way and sipped the water very elegantly!
Suddenly drinking water is soo much fun. He takes a sip whenever he feels like and keeps the sipper back in place, like he's been doing it all his life!

These days he cuddles up to me and gives me a big kiss on my face..so big that it would look like he is having me for breakfast! And sometimes when I'm changing diapers, he puts his arms round my neck and pulls me toward him saying " hug"! Now who wouldn't want that hug!

After a month of unsuccessful attempts, Arav has finally understood the rules of the potty game. This week , he started to communicate to us if he wants to go potty! Lo and behold the deed is done in the bathroom..though we are still in pampers for the big one. In time.....

Right now, Arav can climb up the staircase real well by supporting himself against the wall.Climbing down has been a problem, we are working on that aspect.

Arav has been socialising a bit of late. "Vatch" was good fun. They ran and squeaked the entire time.Smiled at each other and for the camera, played ball for a few minutes and then continued their running. Vatch was exhausted by the time it was 10 ish..our man was not till he hit the road and he was out..and up only the next morning..!

Vocabulary Update:
Biscuit..vennum;amma..vennum;appa vennum;walking vennum;juice..vennum;mam-mam vennum;thani vennum;paal vennum;TV vennum!;music vennum;dance vennum;eemote vennum;potty vennum;no...veyndaam!
On a more sane level
Amma..I love you;Come, sit; nitesh..shake hand; clap hands; vaatch (vyas);mahika;johika;ice keem; sweetypie bike; donkey;ambulance;amma amma phone;hello;hi;bye bye;inge vaa..come;

Over the last three months, we as a family have gone through extreme bouts of exhaustion, worry and wonderment. Arav is budding into this non stop curious explorer and Sundar and I have to catch up...

There's not one but many milestones that have been already accomplished and it is not about to slow down...

Arav is 20 months and 5 days today...

Last December my niece Josh visited us and Arav was in for a lot surprises!

Josh is three and a half and is just wonderful to hang out with..! Josh and ladoo had a great time together..playing, dancing.....talking (most of which was done by Josh).

Some parts of their occasional conversations that I overheard :

Josh : Arav thambi, will you play with me , please?
Arav thambi : "Eeeeeeeeeee...."

Josh: I am not going to play with you Aravthambi, you are silly.
Arav thambi comtinues to grab Josh's toy.

Josh: Where is Arav thambi? I love Arav thambi dancing..
Arav thambi is busy shaking his booty to some music.

Vocabulary update:

Amazingly, pappu can now speak some sentences...

owen dah doh (open the door ) ; shut dah doh (pretty much that)
fan pottachu; appa pochu (for that matter any thing that stops running or moves out of his sight is synonymous with pochu)
And when he is really hungry or thirsty he goes, "Amma...mam-mam, thani, paal" in one breath.i guess he is really trying to say " Give me some food woman, I'm starved"

Some of the words that he is lately hooked on to:

Amma and Appa (very very clearly) ; car park ; keycar (car keys); slying boh (sliding board); park; lolly (lorry); butch (bus) ; dawgiee (doggie) ; lali..eh (chandelier) ; eemote (remote) ; singee (swing) ; pataatoe ; pattanee ; tapaathi ; mike dah mongee (his story book..mike the monkey) ; dohbehl (doorbell) ; and today moh-on (moron...sundar's road rage word while driving).