Raja's fade and Jaya's priorities

Here's Raja with his big boy haircut. He looks so cute with a fade! I love his perfectly round head. We took him to the salon and Marei held him while I spoon fed him mango shake to keep him still. He loves to eat! Food is one thing that will keep him semi-still.

Raja doesn't say more than a couple of words that are recognizable as English (or Malayalam or Tagalog or Cebuano). He does make his feelings and emotions known and he is LOUD. We don't always know exactly what he is saying but we do know exactly what kind of mood he is in.

He is in the adorable phase where he wants to use everything the way big people do - phones, utensils, crayons, golf clubs, etc.

A few nights ago, I mentioned to Marei that I was going to read Raja Brown Bear, Brown Bear for his bedtime story. Raja toddled over to the stack of books, rifled though them, pulled out Brown Bear, Brown Bear, grinned as he gave it to me, and climbed up and settled in on my lap expectantly.
He comprehends so much and loves to do what we ask. "Bring me the block." "Give this to sister." "Stand up." "Close the door." "Go to daddy." "Put the toy in the box." He rewards us with that huge grin every time too. He knows when he is listening, and he clearly knows when he is doing something he isn't supposed to do - the sneakiness registers on his face clear as day. He's been going to the nursery class at church. Usually we would wait until he was 18 months old, but since he is so eager to listen and cooperate, they are thrilled to have him in there now.

Jaya has been trying to give up her afternoon nap. The effort has been largely unsuccessful. No nap means an inevitable meltdown later in the day, while the usual hour or two nap means staying up way too late. Staying up way too late results in multiple night time wakings. What are we to do? Well, we just implemented a 30-minute afternoon nap. Never thought my cell phone alarm clock would come in handy for my 3 year old, but so far it's working great. It is such a relief to have our old wild thing back. The sleep deprived one's a little too wild for every day.

If anyone leaves our house, Jaya HAS to look out the window and wave good-bye. When we arrive home or at another destination and get out of the taxi, she HAS to stand and watch the taxi leave until she can't see it anymore. When asked by her father why she needs to do that, she replied, in complete seriousness, "Because it's important to me." Can't argue with that, right?

The other day, after a period of deep
thought, Jaya said to me, "MAMA! If we go back to the United States, I will be a baby - I won't be able to talk anymore! I won't be able to talk!" She was clearly terrified by this prospect. I had to reassure that she would still be able to talk and would not revert to babyhood when we came back.