Niya comes to town!

Niya is my dh's brother's daughter, Anika's cousin sister. She is 21 months old, 5 months older than Thumki. This was the second time they met, the first time lil thumki was only 2 months old! We were all really excited that it was finally time to meet. We had visions of them running into each other's arms and hugging like a long lost couple in a hindi movie. Did not happen. The first evening was tense. Niya is 21 months old and Anika is 16 months. Two toddlers under one roof, need I say more?

Anika had been working on getting two molars out and was miserable to begin with. She was also confused because I had taken her mattress out from our bedroom and put it in her future nursery which was going to be Niya and her dad's room for the weekend. When they arrived we were collecting dried leaves off the street, a lovely mama daughter adventure Enter a new car, a man who looked like Papa but not quite and another baby who was very cute. As he opened the car door, out came beautiful NIya who I couldn't stop gushing over...'She's so beautiful, she's so adorable, sweet Niya, welcome etc'. Anika was a looking from Niya, to M to me with a small frown on her face.

When Niya came in she was tired and disoriented, so I brought Anika's favorite thrift store dancing cookie monster to amuse her. From then on the rest of the evening was spent trying to keep the peace as Niya, the older more toddlery one marched around playing with all Anika's toys and screaming loud, 'MINE's when Anika came anywhere close. Seeing Anika's creastfallen face was heart breaking. I tried to provide two of everything so there would be no war but it was hard. Each had a bowl of snacks, of a different colour. When Anika wandered near her bowl she heard a resounding 'mine' so she shrunk away. At one point she picked up Niya's bowl and handed it t her as a peace offering..sweet child but Niya just took it without acknowledgement. I have never experienced this dynamic before, I was torn between protecting Anika and letting her figure it out for herself. When Anika's papa finally came home she perked up to have someone else on her team. It was only then that I could start dinner preps because a normally independent Anika was super clingy. On the dinner table they were fascinated by each other watching each other's every move.

The next day was a whole different story, Niya woke up and started screaming 'Ka-Ka' short for Anika. Anika was all excited to see her too. The fascination continued. Anika was still giving me killer looks if I picked Niya up but the ice had been broken. They were playing together, in the same area without much strife, they had figured it out. There were a few moments of crisis but for the most part, they were coexisting peacefully.



Anika liked that Niya was fascinated by the cats, whom she feels are 'her babys'. Niya was careful around them watching cautiously from a distance and Anika was running up to them and jumping them! She was showing off! The mutual respect began to grow, there was smiling and touching=) It was just too cute to see them warming up to each other.



By Sunday morning they were colouring in the same book, reading together and playing in the garden. They were enjoying each other's company, sadly it was the day they were leaving.







Before heading to the airport we stopped at a south Indian rest for lunch and Anika was creating havoc, because of her ongoing 'food strike'. I was so desperate for her to eat that I let her sit on the windowsill next to our table. Of course Niya revolted against her high chair and would have nothing short of her father's lap after that! At the airport we had a cup of coffee before a tearful goodbye. M uncle had a last walk with his daughter and niece on either side of him...



When we had dinner on Sunday evening at home, Anika was very pleased to have her mama and papa all to herself. She was being extra charming and even ate a little to please me. Her mattress was back to our room and things were going back to normal. After her bath she did her usual wild running on the bed from one end to the other before finally being tamed for 30 seconds and wrestled in to a diaper for the night. She fell asleep quickly and deeply.

When she woke up on Monday morning she went running to Niya's room and was surprised to see the room was empty. She raised her hand in the air, as she did with her uncle and gave a quizzical look.

Even since Niya has left Anika reaches for the photo magnet of Niya on the fridge, holds it in her hands and walks around saying 'ka- ka' softly to herself.