Day 4 - Puttachi at Six.

Many people ask me why I don't put up Puttachi updates frequently any more.  There were many more LOL-worthy incidents when she was younger.  The way her mind worked, the funny things she said.... not that there aren't any now, but she's - let's face it - growing up!  And updates about a big little girl are not as much fun, or of interest to a general audience, as those of a little girl.

Anyway, Puttachi turned six last month, and at least for myself, I need an update post.

At this age,  this is how she is:

Her nature -

• Still very sweet.
• Vocal about her feelings
• Very empathetic - cries during movies, actually seems to feel my pain if I stub my toe.
• Very very very lavish with the hugs and the cuddles and the kisses. She likes nothing better than cuddling up to me as soon as she wakes up in the morning.  Had a luxurious time indulging in this during the summer holidays, but have limited it to three minutes now that school has started.
• She's started showing spirit (more on that in another post)
• Enjoys humour, loves jokes.
• Loves to laugh.
• Always in high spirits (90 pc of the time)
• She still loves to talk, and does the talking for both S and me all the time.  

Reading 

• Has to be the single greatest skill she has learned in recent times - and I don't mean just learning to read - I mean loving to read books.  We are members of JustBooks, and we cannot seem to borrow books fast enough for her.
• I have had to drag her away from books, apply time-limits, and have even had to admonish her when she reads at the dinner table.  (Sounds familiar, huh, Amma?)

Sports and Games 

• She's been learning badminton for the last 8 months or so, and seems to enjoy it.  I'm glad I put her into an organized sport - something that will compel her to exercise regularly - her stamina has increased.
• She loves the water- and though she cannot swim yet, she enjoys splashing about in the pool 
• She doesn't enjoy jigsaw puzzles as much as she used to, and she loves board games.   She also enjoys word games.  She is still in love with her little tricycle.
• She's crazy about the swing - we have a big wooden plank-swing inside our house, and she and her friends really have fun with it.

• Increasingly plays by herself - is happy doing things on her own.  Still plays with dolls, and talks to them all the time.  Makes up elaborate stories that she enacts with her dolls, that go on and on for days.
• Enjoys making tents with dupattas and bedsheets and setting up her family underneath them

Music

• I've been trying to teach her the basics of classical music.  The initial progress was slow, and then she picked it up quickly and sings pretty well.  But it is really hard to get a routine going when your teacher happens to be your mother as well.  In the middle of singing, she stops and starts telling me something funny that happened to her that day.  And if I tell her to sing a particular line 10 times until she gets it, she laughs half the time.  I've told her that she can stop if she's not interested, but she insists that she wants to learn.  So....I need to handle this differently.  Still trying to work it out.
• Especially when she is painting or drawing, she sings under her breath constantly.  It is so much fun to watch her do that.

Art and Craft

She enjoys art and craft, and messing about with paints, and paper and scissors and glue.  She is thrilled if both of us sit together to create something new.

Eating

• Puttachi has never been fussy about food.  She even declares sometimes that she didn't like a certain something "that much" but will finish it anyway because it is healthy.  I know, too good to be true.  But ever since she started eating all by herself (about 2 years back) - it has been a nightmare because she takes ages and ages to finish.  Either talking or dreaming.  And she insists on finishing the food on her plate, which can be really annoying at times, when I just want to clear up the kitchen and go, and when she doesn't let me feed her to hasten the process.  Finally, after two years of torture, things seem to be looking up.  There have been mis-steps, but the going seems to be good.  Phew!
• Finally I am also getting to know her food preferences. That she prefers chapati over rice, that watermelon and sapota are her favourite fruits and she doesn't care much for mango, that she worships cashews and sev, and that she prefers eating vegetables just like that, and loves the simplest of dals.

Friends.  
She has a highly-favoured inner circle of friends  now, and enjoys spending long hours with them, play-acting, or just behaving silly.

What she looks like

• She's tall for her age - lanky, long-legged. But her cheeks are still reminiscent of their childhood roundness. As she loses more and more of the little-girl look, I find myself  increasingly drawn to her baby and toddler pictures and videos.  What has remained constant is the intensity of the look in her eyes, and the way she furrows her brows when she is listening intently or concentrating, or thinking.
• She is still in the I-want-long-hair mode, and I am cooperating.  Though, I have warned her that if it takes too long to do her hair on school mornings, I'll have to cut it to a more manageable length.  That makes her cooperate in so many ways!