Maybe it's time to rename Rian's blog from "bawltime" to "funtime" or "balltime" or "badbad ghanta time" :-) This month passed by like a sweet summer breeze. Rian is growing up very fast. Mommy and Daddy can hardly capture the memories that fast (ya ya, mommy's still lagging behind on the month 23 and 2 yr old posts).
Rian loves singing nursery rhymes, and listening to himself. His favorite thing with our iPhones is now to get into Voice Recorder and start recording his own voice! Using Daddy's famed parenting techniques (since Daddy's the natural parent) on how to deal with a two-year old, there is a technique to dealing with Rian now. Brushing has become a bit easier now that there is more routine to it. Mommy has discovered the conversations go this way:
Mom: Do you want to brush your teeth Rian?
Rian: No!
Mom: What does the "Good Habits" book say?
Rian: Brush your teeth twice everyday
Mom: Then let's go brush your teeth!
Rian: No!
Another approach:
Mom: Rian, in five minutes, we'll go brush your teeth.
[Five minutes later]
Mom: Rian, it's time to brush your teeth. Green brush, or blue brush?
Rian: Blue!!
Mom: Okay, let's go dear
For ~4 weeks now, Rian is bottle-free. At his 2-yr well-baby appt, his pediatrician told us to "just throw away his bottles". We started off and had a hard one week with the ceramic cup. A nice story about how we need to help Kayaan baby become a strong big baby and we need to give Rian's bottles to him in order for Rian to become Kayaan baby's "Rian dada" worked very well. We've now settled onto a sippy that Rian is very happy to drink from. No more bottle mess. Occassionally Rian also accepts a regular cup. Over time I guess as his co-ordination increases, and inclination to "pim" (spill) decreases, we'll move to a regular cup.
Rian's Mom and Dad have started major efforts towards Rian trying to eat by himself, not forcing him to eat if he doesn't want to. Dad and Rian have shared some wonderful dinners where all Rian wants to do is feed Daddy :-) and Daddy in turn gets to feed Rian! We have a major move back to the chair and dining table. I guess we have to think long term, even though Rian hates it now, and some days barely eats a bite or two for dinner, over time it will become a habit again, as he used to have all his meals on the table earlier. This has also led us to move our dinner time up to 7pm. Dinner is over by 8pm and we have an hour of exclusive playtime with Rian. I think Rian loves this time with Mommy and Daddy. Milk is at 9pm and if all goes well, Rian is sound asleep by 10pm.
Rian has his very first tent, and loves to hide in it, and do "kook" from inside. His collection of "boovs" keeps increasing, and now Mommy has become the supplier, with a new "boov" every week. (Shh, Mommy has a stock of them from her trip to Target). Our "Cars" themed boovs are increasing and we've collected so far: Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, Filmore, Doc Hudson, Chick Hicks.
The highlight of this month is definitely Rian's vocal skills, and how much he loves to communicate. We had this hour of non-stop communication from Rian post-dinner :-) Daddy was heard saying "Please stop now, my ears hurt!" Rian can also identify almost 90% of the cars on the road. He says "H for Honda, L for Lexus" :-) He also knows our friends and what cars they have. You can hear him say "Meher uncle has Mercedes boov, Hiral aunty has Hyundai boov, Gunjan uncle has bangle boov - Audi boov, Maushi aunty has Honda boov, Swati aatya has Toyota boov". Now now, if you're not in this aunty-uncle list, you know what you need to do: come home and play with our talkative little tot, hang out, and tell him all about your boov! Other cars Rian loves to point on the freeway or parking lot: BMW, Acura, Mini Cooper, Infiniti, Subaru, Nissan, Mustang.
Rian has started talking a lot more in Marathi this month. At his birthday party, he saw the ball going into the lake. Now he says ball kuthe gela? Ball panyaat gela. Daddy plays a finger game with him Ithun ghoda aala aala, thambla, ithun ghoda gela kuchu kuchu. He pretty much repeats that verbatim.
Rian loves to listen to his nursery rhymes - a mix CD created by Mommy. He has mastered many rhymes now. His favorite songs are Wheels on the bus and ABCD. One day this month when Cely was taking a day off, Amit and me were both surprised by Rian saying the whole alphabet to us in order singing this song.
Rian remembers his friends (playdates) very well now. He met Moksh and Shayona a couple of times this month, and he knows Moksh's Mustang boov so well, and the "mountain" hike we had with Moksh. Mommy and Daddy need to step up on playdates (and hopefully the hikes as well!). Rian also remembers "Kayaan baby, new house, big house..." :-) where he was just running and running (and then slept for 3 straight hours, wow!!). He also remembers Navya birthday in San Francisco!!
Sigh. Fingers crossed and all that. Let this stage last forever. Mommy and Daddy feel very proud of the little one, and his achievements this month.
Some memories from this month:
Rian remembers his friends (playdates) very well now. He met Moksh and Shayona a couple of times this month, and he knows Moksh's Mustang boov so well, and the "mountain" hike we had with Moksh. Mommy and Daddy need to step up on playdates (and hopefully the hikes as well!). Rian also remembers "Kayaan baby, new house, big house..." :-) where he was just running and running (and then slept for 3 straight hours, wow!!). He also remembers Navya birthday in San Francisco!!
Sigh. Fingers crossed and all that. Let this stage last forever. Mommy and Daddy feel very proud of the little one, and his achievements this month.
Some memories from this month:
