CARS CARS CARS

Mummy white car mein chalein?

Papa white car mein jaate hain? Kabhi kabhi red car mein jaate hain?

Ashutosh uncle red car mein jaate hain? Mohit silver car mein jaata hai? Pranay black car mein jaata hai?

Hum green car mein chalein? Okay! Vansh green car mein ja raha hai. Keys le li mamma?


Vansh is talking about cars A-L-L D-A-Y L-O-N-G !!! No exaggerations !! 'He is obsessed' sounds like an understatement. He wants to drive a car, that not possible he wants to sit on the driver's seat and pretend to drive. He even goes to the extent of saying that we go inside the store to shop while he'll sit there doing that. Not satisfied with the time for which he can do that, he pretends his plates, lids of boxes, forget all the round things, even the books are imagined to be steering wheels. He insists on letting him open the car door with the keys, he takes his toy keys (well actually Jiya's baby keys) and just tries to fit them in the wall pretending them to be car doors.

He keeps thinking about the same things for 15 minutes at a stretch at times. I know that because just yesterday after he had his lunch and was in one of his deep thinking sessions, I asked him what he was thinking about. He said "Vansh ne galti se car ka darwaaza band kar diya tha." (Vansh had closed the car's door by mistake.) I assumed he must have done that just a little while back when he had gone outside with his dad to look at him while he did a little paint job on it. And I simply said Okay! He repeated the same sentence 4-5 times before Ashwini took him inside to lay him down for his afternoon nap. I went inside the room after no less than 12-14 minutes, he was still laying awake, still in the 'deep thinking' mode and he repeated the same sentence "Vansh ne galti se car ka darwaaza band kar diya tha." when he saw me. This to me is surprising. I didn't imagine before this that kids this young are capable of holding on to to a thought for so long. He also surprises me by actually telling the right color of his friends' car which I might not have noticed but when I do notice the next time we meet, I realize that he indeed was right. And the latest mantra occasionally heard in the house and especially outside is

"H is for Honda, T is for Toyota!" 'Acura'te indeed!

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The idiosyncrasies of our quirky little toddler.

When I have had a good night's sleep, am having a peaceful day and I am smug at having the skill of PATIENCE under my control on one of those exceptionally rare days, I fascinate at how a child's mind develops. What does he think to think in that very particular way that he is thinking (!!!) (so now you know that today is not one of those good days when I think clearly!) Basically, I wonder why does Vansh always climb on his booster seat from the left side; insist that I be the one who hands him his milk and Ashwini be the one who feeds him pizza; would only and only hop to the bathroom for brushing his teeth and refuse to be carried or simply walk there howsoever tired he might be and many more such little quirks!! I know kids at this age love and take comfort in having the same routine each day. And for a cautious kid like Vansh, that holds especially true. Till some time back, he refused to taste chocolates and ice-creams because they didn't look like anything that he is used to eating. We can see his discomfort in the midst of big crowds and loud music etc. After a while of observation, it sends him searching for some little buttons in the corner that he can press and be on his own or off late find one friend whose hand he can hold and play with. But carrying it to the extreme of doing a particular thing in a set way and not budging from it at all is nothing short of intriguing. Here are a few more of his quirks

- After hopping to the bathroom for brushing, he has to first take off his pants to pee, even if he has done that 15 minutes back; press his toothbrush himself to light it on (he has that fancy little totthbrush which lights up for one minute to make sure you are brushing long enough); pick up his little toy alligator to brush his teeth and then lets us brush his own. Try to change a tiny bit and be treated to wails of life being so unfair!!

- He'll count 1,2,3, ...10, go before hopping on to his booster seat for a meal and if he realises he has gotten up from the wrong side, he'll get down and climb up again from the left side.

- Once he's done eating, he has to have the plate and food removed from in front of him.

- He has certain seating arrangements for the family and gets upset if its out of order. So much so, that he doesn't really appreciate when I or Ashwini sit on the chair at the dining table where his grandfather used to when they were here for 2 months!!

- His reaction to different songs is different. 'This is Daniel Cook' - his latest favorite CD - he'll dance on the first three songs, ignore the next two - would just go and sit for some time or play with some toys and would come back again to dance at the exact moment every time - about 3 seconds before the 6th song is about to begin. Bizarre!! While listening to his ECFE teacher's CD, he would sit absolutely still on his rocker with Winnie, his teddy bear and just listen to it like that.

- Off late he's into wanting to operate the microwave himself when it needs to be used and the time for which anything needs to be heated has to end in a 0. So it has te be 40 or 50 seconds that he'll heat say his milk for and not 45.

- The latest is that Ashwini can't pick up Jiya because mummy's 'godi' is for Jiya and papa's is for Vansh (thankfully, there's one which is understandable to a great degree).

Huh!! Perplexing indeed!

Would appreciate comments from parents in similar situations to know we are not the only ones.

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