baby-time

Summer has arrived and with that we enter a new phase of baby managing and caring! Lots to think about, lots to explore and lots to learn. Other than that the kiddo has learnt a few tricks and few necessary skills. :)

• He is 10 months now and super-fast in crawling. We literally have to run behind him to catch him.
• He gets up and stands without support for around 10-20 seconds. Not yet walking. Makes me realize again and again that we really take a lot for granted!
• He can go on and on blabbering utter nonsense (to us that is) with his 'na na na na pa pa pa ma ma ma ta ta ta'. He has started to discover that he can utter complicated sounds and syllables and explores that relentlessly. Very delightful to hear.
• He has started imitating sounds and when someone coughs, he imitates that too! It looks like he is teasing them.
• He tries to imitate actions too and observes everything we do very closely. Like drumming fingers on some surface, clicking fingers, clapping (which he now knows properly).
• He can recognize objects (his toys mainly) which he has used from a long time. You can ask him 'Siddhant, where is the red car?' and he stops what he is doing, looks around, spots the red car and then goes towards it (uttering some sounds) and picks it. He then triumphantly looks at whoever asked that to him and shows it. Then the person has to clap and acknowledge that and so does everyone else in the room. The same repeats for most of his toys.
  
• His grandparents have thought him a trick or two too. When you ask him 'Siddhant yaaru?', he starts patting his tummy. He does the same, even when we use nicknames or something like muddhu, bangara etc. :)
• He plays peek-a-boo with his mother's dupatta or his blanket. When you do 'Siddhant elli?', he quickly pulls the cloth above his eyes and waits. Then we are about to say 'illi', he drops the cloth. Quite dramatic I must say. :)
• As before, he loves to go out and makes a very sad face (closing his eyes, and going 'eeee') when someone is at the door and does not pick him.

In all, lot of time is spent playing with the toddler and it sure is fun!

And oh, saving the best for the last! His first tooth has slightly emerged. Yeaahhh!! finally!
That also means, he would want to put everything in his mouth now, so its time now to remove all the small objects from his reach.

savere savere

So I said 'good morning, you are 9 months now baby' to my kid today and Josh quickly added '9 months in, 9 months out!'

half a year

The kiddo turns 6 months old today! Phew! I am now a little relieved, a little stress-free (maybe 0.0001%) than before for having achieved this milestone with no major issues. (says a little prayer quickly)

Sid now scouts around the room, looking at his parents/grandparents/others who are present, and voluntarily calls them by 'hoon'ing, if they don't see him instantly. He repeats this until he achieves his goal - the person in question looks at him and talks to him. Immediately his face radiates with a big toothless smile.

He loves tapping objects or someone's hand/legs, his own legs. Its like, he first tests the sturdiness of the object by tapping on it. If it passes his test, he continues to do so until something else amuses him.

With light objects and toys, paper, small plates, he has learnt to flip it. He also moves them from one hand to the other. This also keeps him occupied for quite sometime.

He turns and crawls pretty fast now and has started going towards anyone who extends their hands and says 'baa' (come).

As always he absolutely loves talking to the maid! The conversation could go on for hours if the maid didn't have to work.

He has started noticing the changes, if any, in the house. If there is anything extra kept on the bed, he rolls over and goes towards it. If it is something out of his reach, he keeps staring at it. It is very amusing to see him do that!

2 months have passed since I started working from home. It is now time to go to office. I don't know how Sid will react (doubts arise whether he will miss me or will be too busy playing to even notice that I am gone for half a day?) or how I will manage without seeing him for nearly 4 hrs.

As Josh says, interesting times ahead! Notice the word - interesting. It can be anything - happy, sad, exciting, disappointing, pleasing...the list goes on.

Its a first!!

The kiddo had his first juice drinking session today. It was like a major event, with both grandparents and mommy, your's truly that is, involved right from the inception till the end!

Oh the joy of squeezing the sweet lime, measuring the quantity so that I can add the exact amount of water to it. Mixing a little sugar into it and hoping and praying that the kid takes a liking to it. :-) We used a filler to give him the juice. Initially, he was a little unsure about what was being put into his mouth. He then started sucking the filler with vigor and I must think he enjoyed drinking it. We just gave him half of the concoction and hope that it doesn't affect his digestive system very much.

Ah, the joys of watching a baby's first milestones. The day he smiled for the first time, the day he rolled over, and the day he crawled! Yeah, he did start crawling from yesterday! I must say, its the cutest thing I have ever seen!

As I was rejoicing a thought stuck me. Its amazing how we celebrate and enjoy a baby's first actions/milestones. What happens to that enthusiasm when adults start something new for the first time. Why isn't it given that much of an importance? We encourage the kid when he does something new, hug him, kiss him, show our appreciation. Am sure that makes the kid happy and motivates him to continue. Shouldn't the same be applied to adults as well? A word of appreciation goes a long way! I make a mental note to start appreciating people more often now, will you??

Clothes

Am amused by the fact that infant clothes are made for the sole purpose of entertaining everyone other than the infants! :)

Will the infants really care whether there is a cute fish or a big car on their t-shirt or a cool slogan? But they do amuse the parents and relatives for sure. No wonder you'll only find such shirts in stores. I think its only after they are 1 or 1.5 yrs, that they'll truly start appreciating the cute drawings/colors on their shirts/shorts.

Yes, I will only talk about shirts and shorts and pants for kids from now on and not even mention how remorseful I become when I see cute jeri langas, frocks and colorful skirts for girl babies in shops!! (Why God, why did you do this to me!! ;-) )

Bhoole bisre geet

While giving bath to Siddhu (yeah, that's one of his nicknames, sounds earthy na? :-D), Josh and I usually start singing any song/rhyme that pops up in our head. Now that he can lift his head and has started reaching out to grab things, oiling him and giving him bath has been challenging and fun. His fav is 'hickory-dickory doc..tic toc..the mouse ran up the clock..tic toc...) He usually gives a lovely toothless smile and stares at me when I start singing this. But this holds his attention for at most 3 renditions, so we start singing all kind of songs and in all languages (hindi, kannada, english that is).

Its amazing how suddenly we remember old, forgotten hindi tracks! Just yesterday I suddenly remembered this beautiful track of Sonu Nigam's - Kuch tum socho kuch hum soche. This is from his private album (Deewana I think). I still remember the video - Gul Panag and that Himanshu guy waltzing! I had forgotten the lyrics, and Josh quickly joined in and sang 1 whole antara!! (I was amazed that he remembered it!!)

Whether Sid is occupied or not with these songs, we sure have a great start of the day!!!

About the kiddo, what else!

It just feels like yesterday when I logged out of my office nw completing the few remaining tasks at hand, gearing up to go through childbirth. And now, nearly 4 months have passed and I look back in wonder. Wow! Where did all the time go?

All I remember is feeding the kid, putting him to sleep, changing his nappy and feeding him again, starting the cycle all over! And pulling my mom out of her daily chores, a hundred times a day. "Amma, why is he sleeping so much? Why is he NOT sleeping? Why is his poop like that? (really!!!) He just sneezed! He just vomited, is it normal? He looks like he is catching a cold. He feels warm doesn't he?" And then volley the same questions to my sister as soon as she is back from work!
Phew! Never ending volley of questions and never satisfied at the answers I get! But then what's the internet for? :-) To this, my annoyed mom reacts - 'Internet mele oddhiddhu jaasthi aaythu!! Bere kelsa ilva ninge'. :-)

How can I not write about the sleepless nights that my baby gave us! We struggled a lot in the second month, when his sleeping pattern was so hopeless!! It is only from the third month, that it became normal (sleeping through the night, that is) and there is a feeling of some method in the madness!! All this effort seems exhausting, but vanishes the instant the kiddo gives a big smile when he sees me or responds to my voice with his 'ooh's. Feels so rewarding!

The rate at which he is growing is alarming. He now rolls over and lifts his head to look around when is he is lying on his tummy. He reaches out and grabs toys put in front of him. All this in a matter of a week!! Every day we discover something new about him.

It feels as if I will miss out on things if I am not with him every single minute he is awake!! Now that I have to start working in a week or so, I wonder how I will find the time or inclination to do so? This is the real work-life balance that I must strive to achieve. It will not be easy, but hopefully not extremely difficult!

Similarities

So I watch this daily soap on Sony called 'Bade Acche Lagte hain' which has the Ekta Kapoor stamp all over it. It has Ram Kapoor as the lead protagonist, and so, since I liked him once upon a time, I watch it every afternoon.

Today, while watching the serial, mom suddenly says 'Your kid looks like Ram Kapoor!' :-|
I console myself thinking that it is because of the round fat face, that she thinks so. As if reading my mind, she quickly justifies. 'He always has a single sulky expression on his face!' :-| :-|

Rattle tale!

Milestone

No, this is not with reference to my phone (Motorola Milestone), which btw, is still with Josh!
Today marks 2 important milestones. First, my kid (still can't believe am a mommy now!) is 1 month old today. Second, my second nephew starts pre-school today!

The nephew did cry 'amma beku' as opposed to the first nephew (skanda) shouting 'ajji beku' on his first day at pre-school! ;-) He is all happy now at home telling everyone that he went to 'thkool'.!

My little lad is comfortably dozing off in his cradle, while I write this. A background score of 'comfortably numb' is playing repeatedly in my cellphone! He, as discovered by Josh, has taken a liking to this song and treats it like a lullaby! :-)
The only disappointment, I can't sing or play the song - 'Meri ghar aayi ek nanhi pari'!!

It's been a month today since I delivered a baby boy! It just seems like yesterday, when I was having contractions and to divert my mind, was watching 1920 (the 'horror' movie by Vikram Bhat) in the delivery room of Columbia Asia referral hospital! Utter nonsense the movie was. I also watched the 2 IPL matches happening that day, although I have no idea who were playing and who won! In fact, when the kid arrived, the TV was still on and the match was just about to end, I think!

The first response family and friends had was the same - 'yet another boy!'. My sis has 2 boys and Josh's sis has 1 you see! Everyone madly hoped to add a girl to the family. Well, what can you do, chromosomes and all that! :-D

After a lot of searching, we decided to name the little one Siddhant. (meaning principles or moral) All I can say is 'Is naam ka lihaaz rakna beTa'!!

The going has been pretty fine so far, apart from the rashes and colic that the kid had/has. Am being constantly reassured that it is normal and that I shouldn't worry. But hey, its my first time being a mom and being responsible for another human being, a tiny one at that! Just need some time, me thinks!