Friday, May 23, 2008

Moppet v2.0

It feels like I have a new child in the house. Apparently, Moppet turned into a little girl overnight, the morning after she turned 2.

Suddenly she's not talking in sentences any more; it's paragraphs.
Mama, Papa, Moppet go swimming pool. Papa go swimming plant. I kick-kick-kicking. Moppet, Mama play with penguin. Moppet go DUM. Then uh-uh-uh (a coughing sound). Tha'one Moppet wed towel. Tha'one Mama blue towel. Where's Papa towel? Mama Papa sharing towel.....


Suddenly, pronouns have made their appearance, albeit not always, and still a little mixed up.
You go kitchen, I comeback drink dudu ok?
Mama, help you carry stool!
(meaning 'help ME carry the stool')
Shall we go libary? Yes? I shopping shopping books.
Iss waining! We need umbella!

Suddenly, she's bilingual, with the Hindi bits spoken in a hilarious Angrez accent.
Mama, where's Dora, kiddar hai Dora?
Mama, tha'one ladki iss girl!

Suddenly, she's a backseat driver.
Mama, you driving! No talking!
Now is green light turn. Now we go. Now is wed light turn. Iss stop.
Where is Papa driver? No Mama driving! Ok I driving driving.

Suddenly, she's fascinated by all things potty
Mama look! I making yellow potty!
Mama, are you prrrrrr? Moppet also prrrrr from the bum-bum.

Barney, are you potty? Yes?

Suddenly, she needs to do everything herself.
I making, I making!
I said no help you!

I still cannot fully fathom the changes she's gone through. Sleeping by herself in her own room, completely diaper-free during the day including at school, singing songs like Eechak-dana and Nani teri morni, having a conversation with her father at the breakfast table - I tell you, if you told me that an alien spaceship had swapped my baby with another little girl, I would half believe you.

There are clues that she's still my baby, though. She's as stubborn as ever. The mischief she gets upto sometimes looks like deliberate defiance - a testing of limits. The resistance to trying anything new is still extremely strong. The tantrums get more and more spectacular each time. She's getting better at sharing, but is still extremely possessive of me. And though she no longer cries when she's around adults she doesn't know, it's obvious that she prefers that they ignore her, just as she ignores them.

On the plus side, I've introduced time-outs and they seem to be working, at least for now. Most of the time, she's open to some reasoning and negotiation. Overall, this new and improved version is great. I'm not complaining, oh no.

25 comments:

Swati said...

big girl :) very cute!
LOL at "Mama, tha'one ladki iss girl!"

Mystic Margarita said...

Lol! So this is what Moppet is up to, eh? Simply adorable!

SUR NOTES said...

she turned two? happy happy birthday little moppet.
and many cheers to the two year old parents of little moppet!

and just you wait, you mother of moppet, paragraphs will turn into speeches and pronouncements before you know it!

Wunderyearz said...

She is so adorable.........

dipali said...

Wow Maggie: Thass one big Moppet ladki you have:)

Sukhaloka said...

Wow Maggie, she's preparing to be a big loving Didi it seems! Is she singing lullabies now? :)

Savani said...

Isn't is simply awesome when thay talk like that? suddenly they seem not so neanderthal any more :)Loved the horns (I am assuming there is a tail too?)

Anusha said...

the talking in paragraphs is simply the awesome-st thing! next best are the potty jokes :)

is she going to be the littlest big sister in this baby season? awww....

Mona said...

aw, mags. what a cutie!

Krishnapriya said...

hey..howz the pregnancy going? Moppet's exited about the tummy? All the best..wishing you a wonderful and easy delivery..

Anonymous said...

even tho i am reading and not really hearing moppet speak, i think she sounds incredibly cuuuute!!wish blogs allowed voice clips or smthing..

Unknown said...

Aw what a cutie I love "Mama, tha'one ladki iss girl!" . She's getting into her role of big sister , I guess !

Sunita said...

So so sweet and totally charming. Don't you just want to stop doing everything and just listen to them. Something tells me she is going to be very possessive about her little brother :)

Shobana said...

Such cuteness. She is so very adorable.

Unknown said...

If this one ladki is girl is not booked by prospective grooms, am putting in my bid now.

Squiggles Mom said...

She's growing up :) aww.....
Full of beans as ever!

Poppins said...

She's too cute Maggie. I have a good mind to bring her and keep her with me for a bit. Loved the picture with the horns :) And you, you sound upbeat too. Am glad that timeouts are working, and I hope her transition to big sister mode is easy!

Preethi said...

she is too cute.. and looks so adorable with the horns!!!

Subhashree said...

She is so sweet. Especially the way she talks. The pic of hers with horns is absolutely delicious.

Neera said...

He he he!! Funny and adorable! LOL at Moppet also prrr from the bum-bum!
Hugs and kisses to the busy little talker :)

Anonymous said...

She's so cute, look at her with that smile. These conversations are the best! Very soon she'll be at the What-Why-how stage.
And be careful with the reasoning and negotiation, they work in the reverse order too :) I was caught red handed eating a candy and I had to bear with a 5 minute lecture on how they will stick to the teeth and the germs will make a hole in the teeth. And then I will have to go to a dentist and that's not a very nice thing.

By Deepa and Supriya said...

u are one awesome mom and it shows :)
happy b'day to her!!

Collection Of Stars said...

WoW! Moppet, welcome to the teriffic twos :)
You have a great girl there Maggie :)

Anonymous said...

welcome to the terrible twos! its not been all THAT terrible really ;) and listening to all these stories, your moppet sounds SO much like my little one its amazing! she turned two in Jan this year :D

bird's eye view said...

Aww...she sounds delicious. Let's do a playdate if we're ever in the same place - Puddi's about the same age.