Losing it

I hate losing anything. I suppose I share that trait with most other people, but I find it hard to accept loss, even of insignificant little things.

I recently misplaced/lost our pendrive, and it's driving me nuts. I remember seeing it in the cupboard as I was leaving. The thing is I can't remember if I took it out of the house or not. So I keep looking through the same cupboard, for several 'last times'. 

I looked to Ruatfeli for help. I had 'lost' the same pendrive a few months ago, and she had tucked it neatly under the CPU. And since she can talk a little now, I asked her hopefully, 'Where is the pen drive, the one which we insert in the computer?' (Not in those words, ofcourse, she hardly speaks Mizo itself). She helpfully nods, says, 'E!' and starts patting the mattress, 'Hetah hian, hetah hian.'. So I lift the mattress of our 9 foot bed and start looking, and it's not there. I ask her again and she goes 'E!', and points at the drawer where I keep Ruatsanga's diapers, 'Hetah hian, hetah hian.'. After going through several drawers, and cupboards and no pendrive in sight, I realise my little daughter has no idea where it is. I briefly thought of putting a notice in the local newsletter, but since I had written my name and phone number on the pendrive and no one has called, I figured the finder follows the 'finders, keepers' theology. 

So now I've conceded defeat and will have to shell out a few hundreds for a new pen drive. Although the missing pen drive has nothing to do with her, the fact that someone warned me my daily help has a history of lifting things does not ease my mind at all :P

Che chhia

Hmanni chu ka che chhe ve khawp mai. Pavalai Conference kan veng in kan thleng dawn a. Mikhual kan  thlen theih dawn leh dawn loh mi pakhat hian min rawn zawt a.  Keini chhangchhia, nula pakhat zawk haw tum bawk, ka huphurh angreng khawp mai a. Rawn riak tur emaw ka ti bawk si, chutia min han zawh takah chuan, 'Aih' tih a rem aniang chu ka tia. Tawngkam thiam vak lo nen, 'Kan chhangchhe em mai, kan thleng ve lo mai dawn em ni?' ka tia. Min zawt tupa lah chuan, 'E, awle', a ti sam ve mai a, a kal leh ta mai a.

A hnuah ka chhungte hnenah ka sawi a, mawl min ti hlawm khawp mai a. An nuih te chu a za phian bawk a. Riak tur chu mi nazawng chuan an lo thleng lo va, chaw ei tur chuan an thleng nual a ni awm e. Engpawhnise, engvakah ka ngai lova, ka theihnghilh zui ve leh mai a. Pathianni chuan H-a hmelhriatte pahnih chuan chaw chu an rawn ei tho ta thova. 10 chaw ei tur a inring kan chhungte ho lah chu an mikhual tur te chuan ngawi rengin an rilru thlak leh a, 3 chiah ten chaw an ei ang lawi a. Rawng an bawl thlawn hlawm nual ni awm tak a ni.

A hnu daihah H-an min hau leh a, Hospitalah veng dang daih a doctor dangten kan mikhual thlen ve loh chu an lo kap a ni awm e. Hrehawm ka ti leh hnuhnawh leh khawp mai a. Pavalai tih vel lo ngaih pawimawh loh mahnak a laiin, thu lah chu darh chak phian a. Hetia kan post phei chuan a darh belh leh nel nual dawn a nih hi :) Keini mi mawl tan chuan Mizo society ah chuan chetchhiat a awl in hmingchhiat a va awl hma dawn ve aw! 

Photos

A pi pangpar bulah

I am lost for words. Whenever I try to post a non-baby related post, nothing comes to mind. So here are some more photographs.

Ke tin mawi mawi.

Ruatsanga on becoming 4 months old

With little red riding hood.

Baby bottle feeding her baby

A u te tih ang zelin.

Update

It's barely two months since my last post and what a lot of things happened in between!

First off, our maid went home and we went through a stream of maids in a span of a month. We encountered characters you would find in novels. It was mind boggling and distressing and exasperating and it really really made me feel crazy on the bad days. We had 14 year olds happily tossing used diapers out the window and talking with mouth full of 'tuibur'. They would nonchalantly throw their used 'sahdah' under their bed, between almirahs and everywhere else. I would spend most of my free time cleaning after them. They did help, but it was also a huge relief when they left.

Our house was a one and half bedroomed, single bathroomed home. It was fine when we were only three adults and Ruatfeli. With the arrival of Ruatsanga, my aunt came to help us in our maid-less state. Then God gave us two nice and normal new maids, and sleeping and using the toilet became something of a problem. So shifted to a bigger house. And I would be kind and spare you the details of how hectic it was shifting with two babies to take care of.

In the meantime our phone had to be reconnected and since we use BSNL, we did not have internet. The linesmen came a few weeks back but the phone did not work. We kept calling a relative who worked at BSNL and she sent the linesmen again today. The problem was that the wire was not inserted into the phone correctly. I felt like a moron. The internet is working again and I feel like a kid with a new toy.


Ruatfeli turned 2 on Saturday (19th feb) and we celebrated her birthday on Sunday with tea and cakes. She's learning a little Mizo and knows words like 'khawihsuh', 'chhangthawp', tibua', 'sava' etc. But most of the time she reverts to 'e,e,e' and 'aw, aw,aw' and hand gestures. She picks on her brother and marks her jealousy on his face with scratches and once, a bite mark. Then she discovered there are a whole lot of other places she can scratch and now goes around scratching anyone within striking distance. She also growls. She's quite the little fighter, and is an embarrassment a lot of times, totally deviant from her previously sweet nature. People in the know say it's just a phase. I hope she grows out of it soon. Here are some pictures.

Ruatfeli was 1 year and 9 months old when her brother was born. We have people joking with us all the time about the lack of spacing between them. Then there are people who say it's better to be 'chhangchhia'. I don't even know if there is an equivalent word in other languages. Anyhow, I say the people who think it's a joy to be chhangchia are bonkers!, or they have a problem with longterm memory. Because people who recently have come out of chhangchhiatna don't ever recommend it.

Sometimes I feel like I am  two-timing the kids, secretly giving one attention while worrying about the other. When you cannot give both babies your whole attention, neither kid is happy and you end up with two kids in the throes of tantrum....if there is such a thing as throes of tantrums. So my advice, if anyone is listening is SPACING :). Even with two maids, 'chhangchhiat' is hardly ever a joy.

Welcome to our world

Ruatsanga Renthlei was born at 9:30 am on 13th November, 2010, weighing 3.250 kg.

Elder sister Ruatfeli is confused and a little jealous, and being unable to vocalise....she has taken to throwing tantrums every now and then. So we are the perfect example of a 'chhangchhe' family. H distracts one while I put one to sleep. Then the other one has to put lulled to sleep. If one wakes up and wakes the other one, then you have two very sleep deprived parents. Both (the kids) are yet to be toilet-trained and Ruatfeli has five meals a day and two naps. Life is pure bliss!! :)