Today we are interviewing our super-cute, one-of-a-kind, curious, fearless, little dynamite; the boy who was born to do impossible things- Little Emmanu!
Q1: How has life on planet earth been so far? Is it like how you had pictured it to be?
A: I have been loving it .. so far so good, I would say! I was horrified when I was in Amma’s baby pouch and heard her discussing with Appa plans to have me sleep on a crib! Atrocious, I would say!! It made me angry and sad! If Dani (Dayi; as I call him) had the privileges to sleep with Appa and Amma on the bed; I expect nothing less! Over the next few weeks, I devised a clever plan to find my way to their bed from my crib; and it was a success. I am almost three years now and I can proudly say that I have barely slept on the crib. Amma uses it as a post- laundry cloth basket (sigh, such a procrastinator she is!). She still says the crib brings her joy (not sure how) and hasn’t dumped it in the basement yet. So, life has been going great. I love my family squad( DanEmmNikJyos we call ourselves). I keep them on the move (Appa tells I am driving him crazy; I am just a responsible son making sure that he meets his daily steps to stay healthy). I am too excited for all our future adventures.
Q2: Oh that’s interesting... I am now curious to know how you made your way to the bed from crib.
A: Well, First I started to make scary, strange noises when they put me in the crib as if I had a hard time breathing. They were of course tired of checking on me every few minutes. Amma wasn’t ready to give up. She had a crazy idea that things might improve if they turned the bed from East- West to North- South direction to align with the Earth’s magnetic field (it’s true that post pregnancy brain works weirdly!). However, this trick alone didn’t seem to convince them. I continued with my scary choking sounds; then I also started to wake up more often to feed overnight. I would scream at the top of my voice as soon as they put me in the crib. In a few days, out of sheer exhaustion, they finally surrendered and brought me to their bed. I haven’t left since then. Recently, after Amma banned me from having any more of my favorite ‘Ammapaan’/ boob milk; I have been promoted to the best bed ever- Appa’s warm, cozy chest and I sleep away listening to his heart beats.
Q3: I admire your persistence. Hard work surely pays off! You mentioned that Amma paan was your favorite. Tell me more about your other favorite food.
A. As you know, I was programmed to be just on boob milk or Ammapaan' as I called it for 6 months. I am a hard worker as you said. I took my growth spurts very seriously and I would wake up every hour to tap as much calories as I could to grow strong bones and muscles. Amma thinks I seemed to have more growth spurt phases than other babies of my age. Sadly, a few months after I turned two Amma told me that she has no more 'Amma paan'. She felt I was turning into a boob addict and was waking up overnight more than I should.
So now I just thrive on regular human food. I love my cocowaaami aka chocolate milk, vaami aka warm milk, machee aka mac and cheese, strobee aka strawberry, ice creams aka aishkeams. I loved my Halloween candies too; but they seem to have disappeared into thin air.
Q4: You mentioned you are a hard worker.. What other positive traits or virtues have you acquired over the last three years on planet earth?
I would say I am a very loving, thoughtful and considerate person. It was Amma's birthday a couple of months after I turned one. I put a lot of thought to what I could possibly give her as a birthday gift. I decided on a surprise mini poop party after midnight. What better gift to give a poop doctor than the warmth and fragrance of soft, mushy baby poop in the middle of the night! I had stopped pooping overnight; but decided to it twice overnight on her special day! I could see tears of joy running down her cheeks as she was changing my second diaper.
I am a very curious person. I seek adventure every day, every minute. I want to know what dangers lurk behind every locked door. I want to fight all the monsters that Amma says are hiding inside the fridge, pantry and bedroom closet. Sadly, Appa and Amma don’t appreciate my thirst for adventure. I know Amma believes in proverbs, and I think she is scared ever since she heard that ‘Curiosity killed a cat’. I want to tell her that I am not a cat and just a baby boy.
I have great problem-solving skills. Appa and Amma changed all the door handles to doorknobs as soon we moved to our new house. They said they wanted to ‘contain my energy’ and also didn’t want to waste their time and energy chasing me around... ridiculous I would say! Over a few months, I mastered how to turn the knobs to open the doors. Sadly, Appa and Appa now have another contraption over the doorknob that needs strong muscles to turn and I sadly can’t do it. I haven’t given up yet. As I said, I am a hard worker. I am diligent about drinking my ‘waaa mi’ to build my muscles and I am confident one day I will succeed in opening these doors.
Also, Appa and Amma hides everything beyond my reach; but I try my best and never give up. For instance, I can never reach the cool stuff inside the medicine cabinet even if I stretch my little hands. So, I climb up on the tall counter bar stools to make my way up there; but sadly, Amma and Amma stop me from all my adventurous pursuits.
I have a scientific mindset. I like to study Newtons laws of motions and various forms of energy. Any still object with just potential energy irks me... I like things in motion! Appa hates it when I conduct my favorite gravity experiments to answer the question- Do solids fall faster than liquids from a height? He said he is tired cleaning up all my mac n cheese, chips, milk, juice etc). Oh....I also love making impromptu waterfalls from a juice box.
I love entropy and chaos. I don’t like it when things are arranged in a systematic and orderly way. For instance, I have a strong urge to pull out all the decorations from the Christmas tree and just push the tree down. Also, the beautifully arranged flower patterns that Amma makes for Onam... I like it when it is just a flower medley!
Q5: Just like you call boob milk Amma paan does your squad call you any names other than Emmanu?
Millions of names I would say. Although I am not sure if it’s a million as Amma says I am bad at counting (Even though Amma and Appa has tried to teach me numbers countless times. I typically count 1, 2, 4, 9, 14 and stop there; rest of it doesn’t make sense).
I apologize, I deviated from the actual question.They call me Emmu, Emmukka, Emmanooos, Emman, Emmukuttan, Emmappan, Emmachan, Emmuchayan. Ekku, Ekkumon, Ekkuchaappi,Ekkumani, Ekkudu, Ekkuduthakkudu, Emmilu, Emmilunni, Judaaappi. I usually call myself Emmanu though.
Also, Amma loves calling me her little pumpkin as I was born on Halloween day! Appa (and sometimes Amma) call me a few names that doesn’t make sense to me... starts with Ms and Ps (doesn’t seem related to my real name in any way!).
Oh..also Amma loves to play knock knock with my full name.
Knock Knock who is there?
Emmanuel.
Emmanuel Who?
Emmanuel Jude Paul.
Q6: Do you have any short-term dreams/ goals?
Well, I want to start by saying Appa and Amma have a few short-term goals set for me that are miles away from my personal goals...
They want me to potty trained soon. This annoys me. They were quite okay with changing Dani's diaper until the age of four and they are just rushing me! I have to listen to Appa's long sermon on how hard it is for him to clean the car seats everytime I have a pee accident. I just let it go in through one ear and go out through the other ear; that's that Amma does when Appa annoys him.
They also want me to go to bed early and sleep through the night. I just want to remind them of how they used to carry Dani around on their shoulders when he used to wake up in the middle of the night. All I am asking is to stay up with me and listen to my thoughts.
I was so excited for the cricket world cup finals and woke up with Appa at 3 o' clock in the morning too excited for the game! I was quite puzzled I must say to see him not pleased to have me as his buddy to watch the game with. He treated me like I was a pain in his you know what and scolded me for so thoughtfully waking up so early to give him company!
My number one goal is to have a good swing on the chandelier above the dining table in our living room. Its shinning, silvery, steel bars can be perfect handles for my little hands! I wish I could just hang on it and watch the golden yellow lights shimmering inside... I feel it would be like a trip to the milky way! Alas... As soon as I climb on the dining table very close to fulfilling my dream, Appa or Amma come running and shove me off the table. I also wish to fill all the walls in our house with my art. But as soon as I start working on an art project Appa and Amma snatch my dry erase pens and crayons... very rude indeed!
But I am persistent... one of these days my dream will come true!
Q7: I know it’s too early to think of your future but how do you see yourself as a young adult? Any great career choices that you have thought about?
Amma says I should be a poop doc just like her. But even though I poop regularly for her, I don’t see myself following her poopy career path. Observing my amazing throwing skills Appa says I would be a fine quarter back in American foot ball. I am considering that path quite seriously. Interestingly ‘touch down’ was among the list of first 30 word I learned to say. Even in cricket tournaments, when a team hits a six I scream ‘ Yay! Touchdown!’. I also see myself being a fearless adventurer given my thirst to seek and experience new things.
Q8: You are indeed fearless! Are you afraid of anything? Person, object, animals?
Well, I am a people person. I love seeing new faces, smiling at them and saying Hi. I even like it when they pick me up and take me outside. Appa sometimes gets angry and yells at me; but I find it funny and never scary.
I am not scared of monsters too... can you believe it?!
I even overcame a few of my fears even.
At first, I was scared of Rumba the vacuum cleaner. JoepA has him to clean his house and I was afraid he will eat away my tiny feet. Appa even talked about calling Rumba to come clean our house, but I feel he was just trying to scare me. And then over time, I fell in love with Rumba and the way it functions as a little robot cleaner. I started to even blow him a few kisses for doing an excellent job.
I was also initially scared of showers and swim pools. Over time, I conquered this fear as well. Now I like my bath time; especially playing with my water squirters and making artificial waterfalls. I am still afraid to take the first plunge into the pool and get myself sticky and wet though. Amma plans to send me for swim lessons, and I am sure the fearless adventurer in me will overcome this fear soon.
There is a one thing that I am scared of now... There is a guy named ' Guligan' that Appa says is hiding inside one of our guest bedrooms. Appa says he is going to call this guy if I don't pee in the potty or stay still when he gets me dressed. I am not sure how he looks- but Amma once said that he has ten heads and hundred arms so he can catch even if I hide. He is the only one who scares me now...maybe I will take him down one day too!
Q9. Do you have any favorite TV shows, or books?
I love watching Blippi. He has taught me a lot about all kinds of construction vehicles ... from excavators to garbage trucks... even fancy ones like vacuum truck and skid steer which surprisingly Amma says that she hasn't heard of before! Appa says that sometimes I cry at night asking to watch Blippi. And guess what costume I wore for Halloween this year... Blippi of course!!
I love music... My favorite songs are wheels on the bus, baby shark and London Bridge is falling down. I also love Thunder by Imagine Dragons.
Talking about books... Amma always complaints that I don't read enough books. My all-time favorite book is one named ' Hugs' which is all about giving hugs to people you love. Amma loves to call me "My Boboooo.." when we read that book and I love it!
Q10. Q10. How do you like having a big brother?
My big brother Daaani... Hmm, I used to call him Daaaayi before I mastered tongue sounds. Amma likes to call us 'DanEmmanus' as we are both the apples of her eyes. Amma often tells Dani that I am the best gift she ever gave him which makes me feel extra-special. I am not sure how Dani feels about me. I try to grab his attention by demonstrating my amazing throwing skills when he is on his laptop. I also try to join him when he is coloring. Most of the times he just pushes me away and tells me to stop bothering him. Sometimes, he even says that I am annoying which makes me sad. He does hug me and kiss me after our evening family prayer. He also helps Amma throw my dirty diaper in the diaper pail. Oh.. Dani named one of my best friends as Conrad Kuttappan..isn't that a funny name! He also likes to sleep next to me when we sleep together as a family. I am sure we will bond more in the coming years when he really knows I am indeed his best gift ever! Amma tells me he will teach me alphabets, numbers, abacus when I am older, and I am sure we will be thick friends then... Adventure and lots of fun awaits!
