I love yous are for all people

Last weekend we went to the local mall. Nothing particularly noteworthy about that except that just as I was unstrapping Vishnu from his car seat, I absent-mindedly said "I love you". "Aaav uu" he piped back and smiled. I must have looked stunned because he said it again and grinned. I did my crazy grin and hug routine and we happily hugged and aaav uu-ed all the way to Sears.

He's been saying small words ever since he was eight months old. He started off with "ice". Well, it's not the ice you'd imagine. His nanny used to refer to his stuffed monkey as nice monkey and he was trying to say "nice" but it just came out as "ice". So technically I don't know if his first word is "ice" or "nice". His vocabulary has since expanded dramatically and we're busy rewriting the Oxford English dictionary. Anyway, here are some Vishnu-isms: (He speaks/understands three languages and knows a few words in some others too)

Spoo (said very forcefully) = sparrow
cai = car
aayi = daddy
apoo = apple
babboo = balloon
baww = ball
bee-bee = baby
chee = cheese
chee = shoes
kwi = stick
mumm-mee = mommy
hang-aa = hanger
abigo = amigo (friend in Spanish)
aappa = alpha (greek letter)
gamma = gamma (greek letter)
enya = enna (oil in Malayalam)
anya = ana (elephant in Malayalam)
uvvi = ulli (onion in Malayalam)
ojji = athu or athi ('that' in Malayalam/Telugu)
ee = water (I have no idea where he got that from)

I taught him the English alphabet (uppercase letters only) and not to be outdone Muru started teaching him greek letters, so that's why he knows 'aappa' and gamma :|

And there are a few things he describes by the sounds they make:

auoooOOOOOOOOOoooau = fire engine/ambulance

pudjum = dump truck, his favorite thing in the world at present. On the days that we don't have trash pickup, I have to endlessly describe how the dump truck pulls in to our parking lot, picks up the trash bin, and goes up, up, up and pudjum (empties the bin).


And the best:

Me: where are you from ?
Vishnu: ABECA (America)

This, after he overheard Muru and me talking about getting a visa for Vishnu to visit India because he's from America.

Well, he just turned one and a half, imitates mommy walking in high heels, and doles out aaav-uus happily.

Sometimes I look back at the struggles of raising him practically alone, the mind-numbing amount of work packed into 24 hours, and the constant worry about my abilities (or lack thereof) as a mom. Yet, somehow on that fine Sunday morning with one cheery aav-uu, he turbocharged spirits. Dare I hope everything'd be OK?