Moppet @ 16 Months

Hear that buzzing sound? That was another milestone whizzing past.

I'm getting too old for this. Really. In the time I took (the merest blink of an eye, I swear!) to come to terms with the fact that I am in possession of this drop of human life, the said drop turned into a full-fledged toddler at a pace that no parent is designed to handle.

She is now an easier-to-understand little person who asks for 'Duddu', 'Joos', or 'Chiz', depending on what she wants to drink or eat. But also a harder-to-understand little person who suddenly breaks into howls of frustration for no discernable reason.

Already a champion climber, she is now trying her hand at acrobatics, experimenting with standing on her head, turning somersaults, and throwing herself off the bed at varying angles.

As artist and builder, her attention span has risen significantly and she can spend upto 20 minutes at a time playing by herself. The shape sorter, inset board, and doodle board are her current favourites. It's ironic - as she becomes more fun to play with, she doesn't need me to play with her all that much. I suspect this is going to be a recurring theme as she grows. She becomes cooler, and more fun, and I become, well, more mom.

A water sprite who would live in the pool if I'd let her. Her swimming is coming along nicely and I try and take her down to the pool at least twice a week. On days when we can't, she spends an hour in her paddle pool on the balcony. And after her bath, she always likes to soak for a little while in her red bucket.

A tiny tyrant who has made it quite clear that she doesn't belong to me. Oh no. I belong to her. Woe betide anyone - even her Papa - who dares to sit close to me or worse, put an arm around me. At the sight of such atrocities, the happily playing toddler turns into a raging, screaming, hair-pulling monster who will not rest until the offender retreats to an acceptable distance.

And although this means that I am severely deprived of husbandly hugs at the moment, I am not worried. Because I know that in the next blink of an eye, my possessive little water sprite tyrant will have transformed herself into someone new. For me to learn about and fall in love with all over again.