Mama? Pop pop.

He was sleeping on the bed, and started to wake. So I ran to him.

He was sleeping on his stomach with his cheek resting on the sheet. He half opened his eyes, and looking at me, said "Mama?" sleepily.

"Yes, Nani?", I said.

"Mama?"

"Yes, sweetness?"

"Pop pop."

"Pop pop?"

"Pop pop."

"Pop pop?" I said, with a laugh.

"Pop pop pop pop." with a smile and still half closed eyes.

Then he closed his eyes and contentedly went back to sleep.

I have no idea what we were talking about, but I am pretty sure we had a conversation.

Why Worry?

The Dalai Lama was here, in Bangalore, on Sunday. I didn't even know. I was doing mundane shopping (diapers, of all things), while I could have been hearing him speak.

I love him, for his honesty more than anything else, for not pretending to be something that he is not.

Oh well, maybe I'll see him some other time. As he said on Sunday (paraphrased): if you can do something about it, why worry? And if you can't, why worry?

Toddling and Waddling

Pranavi turned one year old. He is waddling around with his legs apart and his arms up, bent at the elbows. He is walking in the house, walking in the park, walking in the mall, walking everywhere, and he is thrilled about it.

About every five minutes, he brings us his little sandals. If we accept them, he sits on his bottom and stretches his legs. While we put his shoes on his feet, he helpfully spreads his toes so that there is always a toe or two sticking out of his sandal holes.

Once his shoes are on, he gets one of our shoes. He points at our feet and the shoes, trying to get his thick-headed parents to understand what he wants. When they say, "No! Don't touch shoes! Shoes dirty!", he goes to the front door and points to it, hoping we'll take the hint. When we ignore this, he'll bang on the door, cling to our legs (he's an excellent clinger), and so on, but his clueless parents only take him for outings twice or thrice a day.

If he had his way, we would be outside the whole day. The few times that we step out of our apartment and wait for the lift, he gets so happy that he runs around in circles, laughing, in the hallway.

He loves to dance. Especially with his sister. He gets along grandly with her, as she does with him. They giggle and play games together. She holds him and twirls and bounces to music. She even brushes his four teeth, and he sits uncommonly still as she does this.

He understands what we say, but like his older sister, hears selectively. He says many words, including "amma", "nanna", and "akka" for his mom, dad, and sister. He says "ba" for ball, and " brrmma" for balloon.

He is growing up fast, as one year olds tend to do.