Tuesday, April 1, 2014

What to expect (from your preschooler) when you're expecting (the second baby)!: Part 2

Random conversations around the house...

The Mommy Woman and Nikki are enjoying a leisurely alfresco brunch while The Daddy Man determinedly pounds away on the treadmill to the tune of Linkin Park. In the pre second pregnancy days, I'd usually oblige Nikki post my treadmill workout with her very own 'workout' which comprised setting the treadmill to the slowest speed and holding her hand as she gingerly took a few steps with a look of intense concentration on her face, before collapsing in a heap and demanding an 'energy drink'.

Nikki: Mama, why don't you work out on the treadmill anymore?

TMW: The doctor has asked me not to for some time because I have a baby in my tummy now.

Nikki (lost in thought): Ohhhh....Mama?

TMW: Yes?

Nikki: I have a baby in my tummy too! So I also won't work out on the treadmill from now on.

TMW: Erm...OK!

Nikki: Let Dada work out. He only has Poha in his tummy!

*Sound of The Daddy Man crashing off the treadmill to the tune of Linkin Park in the background*

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Nikki: When I have a baby sister we will both play with my Barbie dolls.... When I have a baby sister we will both dress up like princesses....When I have a baby sister we will....

TMW: What if its a boy?

Nikki: YOU are having the baby, make sure its a girl!

TMW: It can be either a boy or a girl so you have to be okay with the fact that you may get a baby brother as well.

Nikki: I know! If its a baby brother, just go back to the mall and exchange it for a baby sister!

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The husband and I are having one of our usual  intense and meaningful discussions about what to name the new baby:

Me: If its a girl, do you like the names Ria/ Aditi/ Riddhima/ Amyra/ Tara?

The Husband, nose buried in Blackberry, in a firm and convinced tone: NO. Okay, maybe... Ria is okay...

Me: You like Ria?

The Husband: Come to think of it, not. NO.

Me: If its a boy, what do you think of Aryan, Neel, Abeer, Arnav....

The Husband (cutting me off midway, or maybe it was right at the outset):  No, no, NO!



Me: Bhalachandra, then?

TH: It does have a nice sound to it...

Nikki: Mama! I have already decided the baby's name!

Me: Eh?

Nikki: If its a girl, we'll call her Anika Dubey (name of current BFF) and if its a boy we'll call him Arnav Priyadarshi (name of current BMF)

Me: Ermm, Anika and Arnav are nice names but we may want to drop the surnames seeing as in their fathers and your father may have a slight problem with that.

Nikki: ANIKA DUBEY! ARNAV PRIYADARSHI! THOSE ARE THE NAMES I WANT!

TH, nose firmly ensconced in Blackberry again: See? This is a pointless conversation. The names are already decided!

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It is the third trimester and The Mommy Woman is waddling around the house.

Nikki, with a look of faint alarm on her face: Mama, your tummy is really big now...

TMW: Yes darling, the baby will be ready to come out soon!

Nikki: Is your tummy going to grow any more?

TMW: Um, yes, there are three months more to go so it will grow a little more.

Nikki, look of faint alarm now replaced with undisguised horror: Will your tummy grow so big that it touches the roof??

TMW: Hahaha! No don't worry, its not going to grow that big!

Nikki: Don't worry Mama, if your tummy grows too big and you start flying away like a hot air baloon, I will tie a string around your ankle so that you don't fly away!

Look of undisguised horror passes from Nikki's face to The Mommy Woman's.