8 month old is a drama queen

The monthly newsletter is running a little late this time. Lil General completed eight months on August 18th.

The first thing that comes to my mind as I start reflecting on the past month is his increasing fan following in the neighborhood. Strangers stop by to look at him and comment "He is soooooooooo cute." Needless to say, they are mostly college girls or other kids between the ages of 5 and 10. They even know the time when he comes out for a walk and there a few kids waiting around the corner to say hello to him everyday. Oh, and then just about a couple of blocks away, there are 2 girls we always spot on the scooty who said, "Cute father and son." I was a little behind and I overheard them and smiled at them. They did not realise I was the wife and mother of the boys. The sheepish smile on their face said it all :)

The 24*7 entertainment channel never ceases to amuse and surprise us with every action of his. The modem is hanging on to its dear life, the antenna of the Netgear is already broken and I can still hear a feeble beep sound on the land line. The laptop unlike what I predicted has survived.

Vivek and I are slowly figuring out the Parenting manual. There are a lot of hidden costs in child rearing that is never told to you. For example, when you are at the hospital waiting for your turn, if your child pushes the ceramic vase on display and it breaks, you ought to pay for it. The child like LG pretending it did not happen or he wasn't the one to be blamed doesn't help. Yes yes, we paid Rs.100.

Our favorite dog who is by profession a stock trader, Buco Kidoo ha stopped hitting the floors. He was attacked by LG and has been in bed ever since. Buci, his girlfriend, tried rescuing him and has regretted that.

This was also the month when he sat with support for the first time and for a few seconds without support too. He loves sitting now and makes it seem so natural.

The drama queen has his way shouting for no reason with the croc tears always handy. Unfortunately, his parents were born two decades ago to read through his fake crying.

Waking up at 4:00 a.m. is second nature to him. There is a lot of chores to be done around the household - like mopping with his dear susu aunty, putting the soiled clothes from his basket into the washing machine, cleaning the music system and finally eating the wires. And he likes company at that hour, so we ought to be on our toes else be ready for the scratches on my face and the bite on Vivek's nose. This has earned him the name "gunda".

"Good morning kunju" and "good evening kunju" puts a smile on his face.

Holding and passing objects from one hand to another is easy, so is kneeling and half standing for the lean mean crawling machine.

Public display of affection, let me not even begin talking about it. He is very affectionate towards me, understands I am his mother probably which naturally gives him the license to pull my hair, remove my glasses, slap me in the face and scratch me on my arms. When I am sleeping, he loves to climb over me and sleep.

The sher ka bachcha doesn't cry if he gets a wound on his legs. He was bleeding after scratching himself on the knee in the bathtub and didn't shed a tear when Vivek applied Dettol.

He doesn't like eating from his cup or bottle anymore. Wants everything poured directly in his mouth, all at once. Will someone tell him there is no one waiting to have his Nestum?

New territories have been captured like the kitchen and pooja room.

Well, thats all I can recollect for now. More in the next edition in a few weeks....over and out!