A Tiny Third Wheel

Before Ellie was born, you could say that Greg and I lived a nomadic life. We moved abroad, traveled as much as we could, and tried to throw ourselves at every adventure that presented itself. But then, as babies often do, Ellie changed everything. People began remarking that our traveling days were over now that we had a tiny third wheel along for the ride. And certainly, for a while we were content to stay put as time and logistics became exponentially more difficult. But I just never understood why, if traveling was such an important part of our lives before, having kids should change that. If anything, our desire to experience new places intensified once we promised to give our little girl as much of the world as we could.

After just a few weeks here, I can say that I am so glad we’ve made the decision to travel with Ellie while she is still little. Not only can we see the benefits for her as she is already learning to appreciate differences in language, culture, ethnicity etc., but Greg and I are reaping the rewards of having her along for the ride. She is our ticket to richer experiences as she helps us meet new people, try new things and see the world with fresh eyes. Our little icebreaker! She is never more excited than when she has a new environment to explore, but she is also such a good and patient traveler. Some people have said it’s because her parents love to travel, but I really don’t think we can take credit for it. I mean, she was much better behaved than either Greg or I on the arduous journey to get to India; we really lucked out with this kid, I’m telling you!

There’s A Big Exciting World Out There…Let’s Go Exploring!

Everyday while Greg is at work, my tiny travel buddy and I try to get out and go for a long walk. So far, we always head in the same direction—to explore Pune’s palm fringed lanes in Koregaon Park—but there is always something new to see. Of course there is the usual throng of Mercedes, rickshaws and motorbikes, but also a man leading a camel down the street, women balancing straw bundles on their heads, a herd of cows having lunch in the middle of the sidewalk, uniformed school children getting off their yellow school bus, a string of red and white paper lanterns strung overhead, couples strolling through the park, workers laying bricks by hand, decorated semi-trucks rumbling down the road, and men selling sugar cane juice from a wooden cart.

Elliotte is enthralled with it all and constantly points at everything she sees. She will shout “look!” and if I don’t make a big enough show of turning my head in the direction of her finger, she will actually grab my face and turn it for me. It is so funny and endearing, but also kind of dangerous since I should probably pay attention to where I am going. The traffic here is dangerous and overwhelming and would be my least favorite thing about India, except that Ellie thinks it’s brilliant. She loves to go “beep beep” right along with all the auto rickshaws weaving their way in and out of traffic. Her delight in the chaos is infectious and makes the noise great fun, rather than the intolerable part of daily life it would otherwise be.

A Growing Imagination

Ellie’s imagination is running wild here! While it may not be directly related to India, I can’t help but think that the extra stimuli have something to do with it. A few days after we arrived we were sitting on the couch watching Ellie play when she looked up, pointed to her head and said “helmet.” She then started racing about squealing “vroom vroom” like she was on a motorbike. After dinner lately she loves to hop around the room going “ribbit ribbit” or climb on her daddy’s back to play “horsey” like the ones she’s seen on the streets here. My bent legs on the bed become a lean-to “house” while a body pillow on the floor is a “moto boat.” She points to a piece of oven-baked naan, with it’s seared bumps and craters and calls it the moon. She puts a rock up to her eye and prompts us to say “cheese.” And she is telling stories too! About what she saw that day, about the adventures she had or the bumps and bruises she suffered along the way. These stories may only be 3 or 4 words long, but she always gets her point across!

A Picky Eater

Okay, so not everything is going smoothly with Ellie. We were a little bit dismayed at what a picky eater she has been in the few weeks we’ve been here. It might have been jetlag or adjusting to her malaria meds, but she barely ate anything the first week and we became increasingly worried as she lost perhaps two pounds – not an insignificant amount of weight for such a small girl. Her pants were actually falling off her tiny waist! In our desperation to get her to eat something (anything!), we committed that cardinal sin of parenthood; we let her have whatever she wanted. For a while she was subsisting on a steady diet of cookies, apples, bananas, Indian breads and…KFC (parents of the year I tell ya!). But the good news is she has started filling back out and we’ve made some progress in getting her to try local food. She absolutely loves a Punjabi dish called Aloo Mattar (potatoes and peas). Spiciness is definitely not an issue with this kid. She devours the fiery dish, exclaiming “spicy spicy!” and asking for more. We may yet get her to love Indian food as much as we do.

Still, if anyone wants to send us a bottle of gummy vitamins, we would really appreciate it.