Yesterday, I rolled out of bed at 4am. I was kind of drifting in and out of a light sleep. I checked the clock and thought, “Well. Hm. I can lay in bed and continue this broken sleep. Or I can get up and have some time to myself.” And, well, I generally choose time to myself these days.

I read a few chapters of the book I’m currently reading.

I poured myself a bowl of cereal.

And I made Ankur a sandwich to take for lunch.

Ankur woke up around 5am and started getting ready for work. And then Ishu woke up at 6am. I scooped him up and we all sat down on the couch. Ishu snuggled up close to me, with his pacifier in his mouth. Ankur sat next to us, eating breakfast.

Ishu isn’t usually so snuggly. But I could tell he was still a little tired. So he wanted cuddles and I was all for it.

Ankur smiled at both of us and asked, “What do you think his first word of the day is going to be without any prompting from us?”

I looked around the room. Looked out the window. Looked around the room again.

“Light,” I said confidently.

Ishu is, after all, very much into lights. He always says “ta, ta, ta” as he points to all the lights around the room.

Ankur bit into his breakfast sandwich, chewed for a bit, and then swallowed. “I think…”

“Mama, dudu, dhe dhe (Mama, give me milk),” Ishu cut him off.

Ankur started laughing. “I knew it was going to be something related to Mama,” Ankur joked.

I squeezed Ishu tighter.

“Mama” is his go-to for everything. Even if it isn’t ME he’s seeking, he’s learned – over time – that when he calls out for Mama, it’s essentially just calling out for any help.

He falls on the playground when only papa is around. It’s “Mama” he says. He wakes up alone because Ankur and I are both in the kitchen. It’s “Mama” he says.

So, naturally, the first word of the day is likely to be Mama.

I joked with Ankur about it on his sandwich note.

Yes, the love notes are back. (We took a break for a while because, during the move, we forgot to pack a Sharpie. HA.)

It’s hard to read writing on aluminum foil. But it says:

“Mama thought my first word today would be LIGHT. You thought my first would be MAMA. You’re all wrong. Before I walked out to where you were, I said BYE BYE BED.”

Ha.

Ishu loves pointing out lights. And he loves his mama. But he also loves saying “bye bye” to everything. Ankur taught him to say “bye bye” to the swimming pool we can see from our window. And “bye bye” to the moon before they close the blinds.

And, now, Ishu has generalized that to everything.

“Buh!” he says as he squats down as he points to a bug. “Bye bye buh,” as he walks away.

“Muh-nee,” he says as Curious George pops up on the TV screen. “Bye bye muh-nee,” he says when the picture changes.

Bye-bye everything.

Thus, the note.

He must have said, “bye bye bed!” before coming out to greet us. Duh.

“Mama” and “bye bye.” His two favorite words.

But never together. Never, “bye bye mama.” Obviously.