Thursday, October 02, 2008

Wake me up when September ends...

Well, I have woken up. I wasn't exactly asleep in real life - in fact, I have been suffering from lack of sleep. Too many things have been happening, and I am trying to digest everything! More on them when the time comes. Many things have been happening on the work front, due to which the time I get to blog has gone down a lot.

Anyway, on to Puttachi matters. She turned sixteen months old about ten days ago.

If there is one thing she is, she is a perfectionist. I have always been the take-it-easy kind of person. As a result, I was hounded first by my mom and now by S~, and now it looks like I have to answer to my daughter. There is no escape. :(

If she takes things from one place, more often than not, she returns them to the same place. When she is eating, even if a tiny bit of food spills anywhere other than on her bib - on the high chair, on her leg, on her dress or on the floor, she insists that it be cleaned before she continues. If I want her to eat the rest of the food, I just have to clean it. I think I should be glad that she doesn't mind food falling on her bib. If she did, I would have needed a hundred bibs for each meal.

Then there was this time I was mixing her food, and she was dancing around me, impatient. "After this, let's add some ghee..." I said, and then realized that I hadn't kept the ghee ready. I looked back to see Puttachi go to the ghee, pick it up carefully in both hands and bring it to me. I added the ghee and kept it aside and continued mixing the food - and then I realized that Puttachi had closed the lid of the ghee container, and was taking it back carefully to its place! Phew!

Even in the middle of the night, she remains a perfectionist. She sometimes wakes up because of thirst, and I give her water from a steel container with a screw-on lid. As soon as she is done drinking the water, she points to the lid, and doesn't go back to sleep until I put the lid back on. And this when she is so sleepy that she cannot even keep her eyes open.

When we go out, if I take out something from her bag, like a handkerchief to wipe her nose, and if I delay putting it back into the bag, she starts dancing around impatiently until I put it back inside. Then there was this time when we were about to go to the park. I took the key, went to the door, and then placed the key on a chair, and bent down to slip her shoes on her feet. After I was done, I got up and took my bag. I had forgotten about the key. Little Miss Perfect goes directly to the key, picks it up and goes to the door, and holds out the key to me. What will I do without her? :)

She also likes being entrusted with work. She assumes a very busy air and a look of responsibility appears on her face, and she sets about the work with great seriousness.

She now speaks in little sentences, most of which can be understood only by me. Sometimes, she tries to tell me something with great passion, and I try my mightiest to understand - when I finally do, the poor little thing becomes so happy, that she laughes loud and claps her hands with delight.

When she learns a new skill, she knows that she is doing something momentous. Like today, she drank water from a steel tumbler all by herself without spilling a drop - and she was so excited that she wanted to go on drinking water!

She remains very friendly, and I don't know if all kids are like that, but from her behaviour with other children, especially in the park, I feel that she is a really kind and considerate child. I hope I am right!

She loves to sing and she loves to dance, and she wants to watch this a thousand times a day. She absolutely loves books (yay!) and sometimes, I have to literally drag her and lure her away from her books to go to the park. But once she gets to the park, it takes all I have to drag her back!

18 comments:

Unknown said...

yeah!!!!! i am the first one to leave a comment.. am i priveleged..?!! :) shruthi.. i love reading about puttachi.. and am hoping that my little one is growing up to be as sweet as your puttachi.. he has just turned 13 months... each time i read your post i keep looking forward to my little one doing something similar in the next couple of months.. you know ...sort of anticipating what he is gonna do.. crawl-cruise- stand- walk- run.. babble- mama-dada- amma adu kodu.. sort of sequence..!keep blogging.. love reading it all..and send me some pics of puttachi..along with you and S

Anonymous said...

Wow, little miss perfect is SO CUTE! Some more snaps please?

And she sounds just like my grandmom who had a habit of clearing the table before everyone had finished eating. :) My grandpa used to joke - if you were a teacher, you'd start correcting papers while the students were writing their exam!

(Family jokes usually sound funniest within the family, na?)

charu said...

hi !
the more you describe hyer the more I feel like seeing her!seems like she is a lot like V !does she enjoy the foam animals book ?
Charu

Anonymous said...

Hi shruti..I very recently came across your blog and have become a huge fan of Puttachi and your writing. I have been contemplating on managing a blog myself, but have been dismissing the idea as I doubt I will have enough topics/ideas to write about on a regular basis. But kudos to you..for churning out so many of them..and I am extremely motivated. Let me see what I do..
My best wishes to you and your family and keep up the gr8 work!

-Krithika

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

I am simply spellbound again. May God bless your family with all the eternal gifts.

Sumana said...

Wow a smart little girl. Isn't she? These little ones do a lot of observation too. Sometimes when my father in law takes him out for a walk and leaves the gate unshut, Little runs back to close it tight. This act surprises my neighbours and they keep telling me after i get back.

Anonymous said...

Nice post.

I would not bet, based on my own experience with my son, on Puttachi being the same as she grows. :)

My son was just like the way to you have described Puttachi. Happy,caring & sharing, perfectionist. But once they get into their 2's and 3's they develop a character of their own show their individuality. But then again every child is different and so is Puttachi. She might just turn out to be the way you expect her to be. Keep your fingers crossed! God bless the little one

Vish.
NY

rajk said...

Couldn't help smiling throughout the "miss Perfect" story!! That reminds me of how in the middle of the night when my son sometimes wakes up and asks for water, he won't have it if I offer it from the plastic bottle that I keep next to the bed. He wants me to go to the kitchen and get it the proper way in a glass!! Grumpy that I am from sleep at that time..feel like dunking that glass of water on his head!!

rajk said...

BTW, I love the song.."Wake me up..." You too?

Anonymous said...

hehhehehhe ;-))) WOW - she is a perfectionist indeed !! :D :D

praneshachar said...

nice one and an amazing daughter for a worthy mother and ...........
i am spellbound no words to express my happiness
puttachi have wonderful days and years to follow start reading the large volumes on you right from day one and u will realise how lucky u r and all credit at that moment will go tobe with you
pranesh

PeeVee said...

Oh no! It sounds like an OCD to me... hehehehe... but seriously... how did she turn out to be your daughter and my niece??

Veena Shivanna said...

Shruthi, Wake up- Sept is over :-)
Well, on puTTachi being a perfectionist.. reminds many kids behaviours I have seen.
Recently, this happened in a train. The kid asked her mom to give him something to eat and the banana came out of the bag, the kid insisted to throw the banana skin into a dustbin (and only dustbin and nowhere else )!

M S Raghunandan said...

JAGALUR Puttachi. genes that have been dormant for one generation, non existant in another showing up in a virulent form?

Just call me 'A' said...

Hi Shruti

I'm just a passerby and i happen to read this post. I am so mesmerized by your daughter's behavior that I sooo want a child of my own (and this is a BIG BIG thing for me)

Thanks
-A
NY

chitra said...

Hi Shruthi,

You should mail me a photograph of hers.

Please give her a hug from my side and tell her that I am a huge fan of hers.

chitra said...

Hi Shruthi,

You should mail me a photograph of hers.

Please give her a hug from my side and tell her that I am a huge fan of hers.

Mama - Mia said...

wow!

your Puttachi is giving a serious complex to my brattish son!! :p

seriously she sounds so cute and perfect!!! touchwood!!

hugs

abha

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