Stay at Doctors'

AFter the signing, we went to pick up C. She was very happy and running around. Aunty said that she didnt miss us at all! She ate whenever she felt hungry. It seems she also raised false alarm of Kakka two times!
I think this is the first time we left her with others and C took it very well.

Leaving c with Doctor'

We are signing the papers for the new house today. We didnt know what to do with Chantel during this time. It typically takes around 2 hours and C cannot sit in one place during that time. We thought of leaving her with Jasmine, but it takes 35 mins to go to their house and then we thought of leaving them with Mohit but later decided to leave her with Doctor aunty and Felicia.

camping - chocolate

During the retreat:
Sneha told us the C has been eating chocolates and whether it was ok. C had a huge chocolate on her hand and was having a blast. It is a fault on our part, because whenever we go to this tamil gathering, somebody or other is taking care of C or C is playing with the other kids, and so, we dont go after her and watch her all the time. I think we have to change this.

camping - drive back crying

Last weekend we went for the Tamil Retreat. Chantel was quite new during the retreat. She was still afraid of the water.
During the past months, C does not cry while in the car at all. She thinks its fun and keeps looking outside the window and quite satisfied. However, On our way back from the retreat she started crying. We had to stop the vehicle on the way at Mcdonalds

First dress from amma

Today D stitched her first dress for C. Daph had adorned the frock with laces and frills. Chantel was quite happy running around carrying it. and she would not give it back. However, when daph told C that we would dress up C in the new dress, she promptly handed over the dress. The dress looked good and daph was very elated about it. After sometime tho, c started complaining the dress is "kuthi" because of the frill/edge treatment.

Hurt

Whenever C gets hurt, she comes to us and tells us "kal". Either D or myself has to "thadavi vida vendum". She also expects a kiss sometimes on the hurt part. She still keeps sucking her lower lips. The lips has become too large that it cannot become any larger any more!
She is tall enough for her head to barely touch the bottom of the table. However, she has to duck under the edge of the table to come out. She somehow manages to get under it but does not know to come out. She tries once or twice and then starts crying for Daph to come and help her out.

climbing

C has started climbing on things, as if it were here lifetime goal. When we put her on the dining chair, she wants to climb on to the dining table and empty the salt/pepper shaker. If D leaves her on the potty for a minute, C would hold onto the potty water tank, and then climbs onto the washbasin and sits in it. She goes on to play with the water tap and water. We are concerned that she might slip off the sink when she climbs up. We try to keep the toilet door closed all the time.
She climbs up and down the stair without much problem. But does it one riser at a time. The new house stairs may not have a gate, but has carpet treads. However, the new stair is gonna be steep and higher...

Hug and High Five

I taught C the word Hug and High Five. She calls hug as ug. She does not come and hug us on her own, but whenever we say "Hug" she would spread both her arms really wide and then hug us. Quite interesting. Some time, especially when she is not very happy, she would not do this even after many requests! That goes for 'Kiss' too. The other day when I told her I would take her out only if she kissed me, she did it in an instant!
Nobody understood the highfive thing...but whenever we say high5 and lift our arm to her, she would slap our palm with hers...

Frock

C is learning new words day by day. The latest one is the "frock". She has not mastered the pronunciation of the word yet, but quite close (she omits the "r")
I am also trying to start teaching her some English sentences "What is your name?" "Chantel" along with Tamil equivalent "un pair enna?" "Yazhini". C is getting quite confused, and D is not happy either!
She says her name as "Chanta" and she proudly points to herself when saying that.

Lessons on Eating

Story per daph:
Yesterday it seems Chantel was asking for kadalai (lelaai) and daph her some. She asked for MMs and daph gave her too. C put that in a plate. and placed it on the dining table and then pulled up the chair, climbed and and sat on it. She ate the kadalais and the mms out of the plate, sitting on the dining chair, herself!!!
Good thing is that she is learning to do all these things herself...especially when we are not teaching her enough!

missing appa

Daph told me that C missed me very much yesterday. I dont know the reason but when I returned home from office, she came running "appa". But thats that. 1 minute after my arrival C went back to what she was doing.

Missing amma

Yesterday Daph went to groceries leaving C and myself at home. C was sleeping when Daph left and so was not aware of amma's absence when she woke up. Surprisingly she didnt cry. I started playing with her and later she played some music. She didnt show any signs of missing amma. However, when amma returned after an hour or so, C ran towards her calling "amma!", etc. That was nice.

Diaper

C has realized that whenever we make her wear a diaper (she says paper) she was about to go out. She would constantly ask us to put diaper, thinking that this will make us take her out. She also thinks "combing the hair" (thalaich) also has the same effect.
Another thing is the shoe. Yesterday when I reached home, i saw C's shoes lying on the stairs and Daph wanted me to pick and bring it up. However, C was standing at the top of the flight, and saw me coming towards her with her shoes. C got really elated thinking that I am gonna make her wear the shoe, and we were going out. However, D got the shoes and promptly put it away in C's closet and C started crying really hard.

Sun burn

May 12th we went to the bridgeton sports complex to see our office participating in the baseball tournament. We didnt get sunblock lotion, mat, nothing. The temperature was around 85 degrees. We must have been sitting on the sun for 30 minutes and both C's cheeks started showing sunburn signs. It looked bad. However, once we were out of the sun and back in the car, the reddishness went away and it was not a sunburn after all!!! May be there is something in the sky here in the US that makes this. While in India, we had not seen many baby's sunburnt in 30 minutes or may be they do now!

Tissue

C still has lot of runny nose after the fever. We use tissue paper to remove the phlegm once in a while. C also started taking the tissue and started wiping her nose by herself. She does not know to blow the nose yet. We tried to teach her in vain.
She also wants to use the tissue in the bath room. After every time she goes number one, she would ask for a tissue and would not get down the potty without that. She would use it to wipe it but would not let it go into the potty easily. We have to tell her so many times to "podu" and then she would do it unwillingly!

paci

Yesterday C went to daph and asked "Amma...paci...amma...paci" in a typical beggar tone...(I dont know why D would not give C anything to eat!!!!!!!!)
It is quite surprising because we didnt teach her this word and she has somehow picked it up. Thats nice.
She also understands the terms appa, amma properly now, and if we ask "appa engey?" she points me and says "Tho"...

Athai leaving

Athai left last Tuesday and we thought C will be crying a lot. Does not look like it. We dont know whether this is good or bad. However, D is quite upset.
C is missing being in the outside. Athai took her along to the garden and for small walks.
We have not yet made her listen to Athai over the phone. Last time in August, C started crying when she heard athai's voice.