Peanut and Adi's Play Date

...was set up for last Friday. It had been a while since I had last caught up with Parul (well, actually, it had been a week or so - a nice, leisurely 2.5 hour lunch at Out of the Blue, where we both ate a lot, drank wine and even had our palms read, of all things!). Anyway, I thought it would be nice to let Peanut and Adi socialize a bit, since the last time they met, they really didn't seem very interested in each other.

So the K, Peanut and I got ready and went over to meet Padma, Adi and of course, Parul. Had a really fun day, and Parul and I talked about everything under the sun as usual. Peanut and Adi's naps were taking place at different times, but there was around half an hour when both of them were awake and ready to play. They stared at each other for a bit, Adi looking at Peanut for longer, but Peanut deciding to initiate the action by grabbing his foot - rather forward of her, if you ask me. But after this, they spent most of their time competing for the toys that Parul took out of Adi's toy box. When Parul tried to read a book to Peanut, telling her that the pig says something along the lines of 'Oink, Oink' Adi came crawling over like a shot, to 'feel' the pig in the touchy-feely book.

It was rather amusing when they both decided to ditch the toys and go for my camera instead - and kept grabbing it from each other resolutely. Parul put a stop to it before it got ugly. For obvious reasons, I couldn't get a picture of that.

Adi has grown even more handsome. He has had a haircut sometime back, and has the cutest dimples. Like Peanut, his cheeks are so large that I had to ask him which are bigger, his face cheeks or butt cheeks. He didn't look very amused at this. I tried to pick him up, but he wasn't having any of it and just wriggled out - that kid is strong! I am going to have to do some major body-building to keep up with Peanut as she grows bigger. And boy, can that kid crawl. It's very cute to see him make a beeline for everything that looks remotely interesting in any part of the room. Cute, but scary. I must babyproof before Peanut starts to crawl.

The most amazing part of the day for me was Peanut's reaction to my being affectionate with Adi. She was playing on the floor with the K, while I was sitting next to Parul and Adi. I reached out and touched his cheeks while Peanut was looking - and she freaked, starting to cry and getting very agitated. I moved my hand away in complete surprise, and she started to settle down. I reached out again and tousled his hair, and she reacted in the same way again, getting even more upset. After my third attempt to prove that this was really her first clear show of jealousy, Parul called me an Evil Woman, which of course I am not - so I went over to hug my baby and shower her with kisses. Jealousy. Negative emotion. Felt great, though.

The funny thing though is that I've read that babies have no real sense of 'self' at this age - and that's why when she looks in the mirror, she's supposedly thinking that it's another baby she's looking at - but when I'm holding her in front of the mirror and hugging her, she's never reacted this way - which makes me suspect maybe she knows the difference between a Mirror-Peanut and an Adi. But then again, there's an extra Mama in the mirror too, so maybe she's ok as long as she's got her own holding her. Who knows? Babies are a mystery.

Got to go now, I think my mystery's pooping.

Edited to add: I am uploading the Kala Tika as suggested by Parul because Peanut and Adi look so adorable together. I think she was actually kidding, but hey. Who am I to argue in the face of illogic? Plus, she goes to the gym and all and looks stronger than me, so here goes. Thanks, Dotmom!