I just read this post and I was reminded of the day care experience of Chinipie. Had wanted to blog about it then, but as usual it took a back seat until I had completely forgotten about it. Now that I recollected the events of the day, I sat down to blog immediately.
A local daycare near DH's office was offering one free day to the employees. I guess this was a way of promoting their day care. As Chinipie loves being around kids and babies, I thought it would be a good outing for her. Also, had never been to a daycare, so was a little curious to check on one, just to see how they are. This was a good opportunity for two things in one go, so called them up and fixed the appointment. A friend of mine also joined in as we figured out that at least both the babies will play together, if nothing else works out.
On the appointed day, it wasn't the usual good bye to dad as he drove us both to the day care. The day care was clean and the manager was very friendly. Apparently, they had lost the information on the appointment and were a bit surprised when I told them that I plan to spend the day here. Nevertheless, they welcomed the idea and gave me the tour of the day care. They had different rooms for each age group and had two care-givers for each age group. The older kids were enjoying themselves. As it was the haloween time(Oct 31st), the decorations were still on. Many of the kids were in their haloween dresses too. They had a playground for the outdoor activities too. All in all, the day care looked cheerful and bright.
Finally, we went to the nursery and I left Chinipie in the playarea there. As she loves piano, I handed her one and went out. The nursery allowed babies until 18 months of age. So there, were toddlers too and as expected, she was happy to see them around. I gave instructions to the care-giver to call me if she gets very upset and came out of the nursery to the guest area. I had expected her to cry but she was so much absorbed with the babies around that she did not even notice that I was leaving the room (which anyways I had made sure by sneaking out when she was busy looking at the babies). Once or twice I peeped in the room from a window and saw her either playing with the piano or looking at the toddlers. There were these twin boys who were very active and running around in the play pen. One of them,even stepped over Chinipie to go to the other side. My heart almost skipped a beat when I saw this. But Chinipie was so busy watching them, that she did not even realize. So, I was okay. Meanwhile, my friend had arrived too and left her son in the play area. He is a few months older to Chinipie. After a while we could hear their screams in the other room that we were in. The care-giver was busy with the other babies so wasn't paying any attention to them. Here, I would like to add that I noticed that they had two care-givers for 15 babies(their maximum intake). That particular day only 10 babies were in and one care-giver was on leave. They had sent in an extra hand to help, which I very much presume was so because of us visiting. The primary person was good and constantly busy in feeding, nursing or changing diapers of the babies. No doubt, most of the times, the other babies were not being attended to. Obviously, the babies cannot get the same attention and care that they get at home from their mothers. But, seeing this broke my heart. Still, I restrained myself from going in as I knew she would have noticed by now that mom is not around. They changed her diaper (which they say they do every one hour! Even I do not change that frequently) and put her in the bouncer. She loves bouncing, so was happy for a while before she started screaming again. Both the care-givers were busy attending the other babies, so she was allowed to test her vocal chords to the highest. Meanwhile, my friend had already rescued her baby from their neglect and was busy pacifying the crying baby now. After 10 minutes of Chinipie's continuous screams, I couldn't take anymore and went to the nursery to pick her up. She stopped screaming as soon as I picked her up and started looking around happily again. As the younger babies were sleeping in their crib and the older ones were strapped in their booster chairs for the lunch, the play area was empty. My friend and I, put both our babies in there and sat down with them to play. Seeing us around, they started playing again. Chinipie pooped and had a diaper change and was beginning to get tired. My friend and I decided that the babies had enough of the day care and it won't hurt if they do not get to spend the whole day there, so called our drivers (read husbands) to drive us back to home. The care-giver apologized for not being able to spend more time with the babies as her hands was full. I completely understand her situation. She was clearly over-worked and never had a chance to sit down. Nevertheless, I was a bit surprised as I was asked by their manager to come on a Wednesday as they had lesser babies in on a Wednesday (I wonder why?!?). Anyways, our husbands had come and we were more than glad to go back home.
On our way back, DH asked my opinion and I declared that I am not sending my child in a daycare until she is ready to tramp on the other babies. The day cares might be good but I decided that my child did not need to go to one so soon. Not until she gets a bit independent. Under no circumstances, I was going to send her to one at such a tender age. Retrospecting, about it later, I realized there were both pros and cons of sending them to a day care. For one, they learn to be independent. All the toddlers in the nursery were eating by themselves. The youngest one was 13 months old who was eating with a spoon! I was really surprised to see this. But what was lacking there, was a bit of holding and cuddling the babies. And though they said they had music and reading sessions for the babies, I did not see them having any time left for those. So, for now Chinipie is just having me as her care-giver. No day-care for her now. Maybe when she is 12-13 months or 19 months (old enough not to go to a nursery) but not now!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Xmas is here
Last Christmas, I had received an unexpected gift.. I clearly remember when, after my routine trip to empty my bladder in the middle of the night, I badly wanted to go back to sleep but couldn't as I had felt uncomfortable and errr... gassy(I think my digestive system had taken a form of big air balloon ever since my first trimester). I had tried my best to take those gas bubbles out but failed. Even after all the efforts not only did those teeny weeny bubbles had refused to come out but also kept freely moving in my belly. The more I tried, the more they refused to leave. It was then that I had realized that they are not gas bubbles but Chinipie (whom I knew as my tadpole then) had kicked me for the very first time on the Christmas eve. And as the realization dawned upon me, I had tried to wake DH up, who adamantly refused to budge from his slumber. And I forgot anything to do with the sleep. Keeping my hand on my belly, I lied down with a smile on my lips and thanking Santa for this wonderful gift! As DH had refused to wake up, Santa had made sure that he wouldn't feel those beautiful kicks until after the new year!! :) :)
Later during the pregnancy, the teeny weeny kicks grew harder and were not contained just in the belly but could be felt down till the uterus and up till the ribs. And my tadpole loved her exercises so much that she not only kicked but fisted and banged her mommy with her head as well!! And there were times, when they were so many simultaneously throughout the bulging tummy that it was difficult to tell which ones were the kicks, the fists or the head-banging! Most of the day, she would keep her tiny feet stuck in my left ribs though. I could even feel her little toes and often, used to tell DH that our tadpole doesn't know how to unstuck herself! But one thing, that we knew for sure that our tadpole was going to be a hyper-active child given the way she used her all her limbs!! Am glad, we were not wrong!
This Christmas, my active tadpole uses her limbs to CRAWL! That's right! There's still some time to Xmas but the holiday season has begun and I would consider this as an early Christmas gift from Santa. It's been a week now that she follows me everywhere in the house and my heart knows no joy when hearing me calling her, with a chuckle she comes as fast as she can to me. It started 3-4 days before the 11th of dec, when after her usual massage, I left her on the floor to prepare her a bath and always found her crying loud stuck in the crawling position on her limbs. It was like she had wanted to follow me but couldn't or may be, she was distraught by what she could or could not accomplish. Everytime, I would rescue her, either when her crying would grow too loud or when she would give up and fall on her back crying. But, last Tuesday, when I came back to take her for the bath, she was moving forward on her fours with a "uuuuuuuuuu"!! I had almost bent down to pick her up when I realized she is crawling. I stopped and took a few steps backwards and she followed me with "uuuuuuuuu". I made her follow me until the bathroom door and finally picked her up and kissed her. She, too, was very happy with this new found mobility. Since then, it has become our routine, the speed and agility increasing each day. Initially, she used to lie at my feet to be picked up. Since past two days, she sits on her tiny bumchis when she reaches me. I know, soon she would be be grabbing my pajamas and trying to stand up!!
My tadpole still likes to kick around though her favourite activity now-a-days is crawling. With her hands, she doesn't fist but waves good bye, especially to Daddy when she is done playing with him. Yep! we have this little ritual everyday, when Daddy goes to office, he waves her good-bye (we actually started this after re-watching 'Baby's Day Out' around 3 months back). Last month, she had started raising her hand a bit. Now, she has figured out that when she waves good-bye to Daddy, he leaves the house. So, now it's waving goodbye all the time to him! When mommy enters the room, it's goodbye(*action) time; when daddy irritates (read kisses, rubs his face, hugs tight) a lot, it's goodbye (*action) time, and for no reason again, it's goodbye (*action) time! She does that with a smile on her face. It's such an adorable sight. Both of us burst out with laughter when she does that. In fact, just to see her wave goodbye, on purpose, he irritates her!!
Did I mention, this thanksgiving she learned to clap? Yep, we were in the mall wehn daddy taught her how to clap. She loved clapping so much that she kept doing it all the time for about a week. Later on, she loved waving goodbye so much that she forgot all about clapping. All our efforts to show her how to clap went in vain as she would start waving good bye to us. But last night, she herself started clapping again to my relief!
So these were my gifts this year! What else can I ask from Santa? But since, Santa is being so kind, I take this chance to make a wish. Santa, I always have wanted to see my parents happy and lead a comfortable life. They have made so many sacrifices for us that it's time for them to relax. But, some things keep on happening that even at this age, their lives is not smooth and have to face so much. Though, they would strongly disagree with me and still say that they are content with their lives. Can you take all the troubles away from their lives??
Later during the pregnancy, the teeny weeny kicks grew harder and were not contained just in the belly but could be felt down till the uterus and up till the ribs. And my tadpole loved her exercises so much that she not only kicked but fisted and banged her mommy with her head as well!! And there were times, when they were so many simultaneously throughout the bulging tummy that it was difficult to tell which ones were the kicks, the fists or the head-banging! Most of the day, she would keep her tiny feet stuck in my left ribs though. I could even feel her little toes and often, used to tell DH that our tadpole doesn't know how to unstuck herself! But one thing, that we knew for sure that our tadpole was going to be a hyper-active child given the way she used her all her limbs!! Am glad, we were not wrong!
This Christmas, my active tadpole uses her limbs to CRAWL! That's right! There's still some time to Xmas but the holiday season has begun and I would consider this as an early Christmas gift from Santa. It's been a week now that she follows me everywhere in the house and my heart knows no joy when hearing me calling her, with a chuckle she comes as fast as she can to me. It started 3-4 days before the 11th of dec, when after her usual massage, I left her on the floor to prepare her a bath and always found her crying loud stuck in the crawling position on her limbs. It was like she had wanted to follow me but couldn't or may be, she was distraught by what she could or could not accomplish. Everytime, I would rescue her, either when her crying would grow too loud or when she would give up and fall on her back crying. But, last Tuesday, when I came back to take her for the bath, she was moving forward on her fours with a "uuuuuuuuuu"!! I had almost bent down to pick her up when I realized she is crawling. I stopped and took a few steps backwards and she followed me with "uuuuuuuuu". I made her follow me until the bathroom door and finally picked her up and kissed her. She, too, was very happy with this new found mobility. Since then, it has become our routine, the speed and agility increasing each day. Initially, she used to lie at my feet to be picked up. Since past two days, she sits on her tiny bumchis when she reaches me. I know, soon she would be be grabbing my pajamas and trying to stand up!!
My tadpole still likes to kick around though her favourite activity now-a-days is crawling. With her hands, she doesn't fist but waves good bye, especially to Daddy when she is done playing with him. Yep! we have this little ritual everyday, when Daddy goes to office, he waves her good-bye (we actually started this after re-watching 'Baby's Day Out' around 3 months back). Last month, she had started raising her hand a bit. Now, she has figured out that when she waves good-bye to Daddy, he leaves the house. So, now it's waving goodbye all the time to him! When mommy enters the room, it's goodbye(*action) time; when daddy irritates (read kisses, rubs his face, hugs tight) a lot, it's goodbye (*action) time, and for no reason again, it's goodbye (*action) time! She does that with a smile on her face. It's such an adorable sight. Both of us burst out with laughter when she does that. In fact, just to see her wave goodbye, on purpose, he irritates her!!
Did I mention, this thanksgiving she learned to clap? Yep, we were in the mall wehn daddy taught her how to clap. She loved clapping so much that she kept doing it all the time for about a week. Later on, she loved waving goodbye so much that she forgot all about clapping. All our efforts to show her how to clap went in vain as she would start waving good bye to us. But last night, she herself started clapping again to my relief!
So these were my gifts this year! What else can I ask from Santa? But since, Santa is being so kind, I take this chance to make a wish. Santa, I always have wanted to see my parents happy and lead a comfortable life. They have made so many sacrifices for us that it's time for them to relax. But, some things keep on happening that even at this age, their lives is not smooth and have to face so much. Though, they would strongly disagree with me and still say that they are content with their lives. Can you take all the troubles away from their lives??
Friday, December 7, 2007
A long time..
It's been so long since I have posted on my blog. Every time when I think that I now my Chinipie has a fixed schedule and I can have a fixed routine too and take some time out for the blogs that I so much want to write and the blogs that I love to read, she surprises me and changes her schedule and with each change becomes more demanding. Sometimes, I feel that I should have maintained a baby book instead, keeping a log of every little thing that she does, the idea which I had denied as I had thought that I will be writing a post on her blog everyday. I really should have gone for it as now days go by before I even get a chance to sit peacefully with my laptop. Otherwise it's just a quick login to check for any important mails... Today, after a long time, she is taking her afternoon nap for a longer period in which I could finish all my household chores, bath and then get a chance to login to post. She is such a light sleeper that I really do not want to jinx this blissful moment. I feel very selfish when I say such moments as the blissful ones and find myself longing for or enjoying such times, which are anyways in short supply these days. But the truth cannot be denied. I really long for times, when she sleeps for a longer snap of time leaving me with some time to not only finish the cleaning and the cooking but to leave me with some more time to just be with myself too. Now as I write this, I really feel like a bad mom and have this little pang of guilt of feeling this way. I am not sure if I will get over this guilt especially as she is a wonderful baby and I love to spend time with her and took time off my work only and only for her. But I do feel at times that she should sleep longer and let me be with myself for some time. Any consolations over here? Is it just me or the other moms out there have been through this phase too? If any of you have something to say about this, then please please let me know.
Hmmm.. today the apply of my eye turns 7 months and 7 days old and I have to do post on her past month. But that I will postpone for a while. For now, I am thrilled with this new surprise she had for me today! Before this one takes a back seat in my memory and I never get to blog again, let me jot it down here. I am absolutely absolutely in awe with this new milestone of hers! SHE CAN SIT UP BY HERSELF!! Yep! that's right!!! Two days back, I had put her to sleep in her crib and after about an hour she had let out a cry just as DH and I had sat down for the dinner. We listened for a while, and when her crying didn't stop DH went to pick her up. When he came back with her in his arms, he had told me that she was sitting in the crib and crying. I looked at him with disbelief! How could it be possible? She is with me the whole day and she never did that when she is fresh and active and even tired for that matter. How could she do that in her sleep? And that too when mommy is not watching her? Or is not there to notice it first? Hmmm.. Dad was obviously overstating things. She would have been on her all fours, just as she has been doing for past few days, and he would have been making up the rest of it. Nevertheless, I kept watching her the next day. I even left her for longer time than usual, intentionally not lifting her up when obviously she was tired being on her fours and shedding tears. I kept myself from entering the room she was in hoping to see her on her little bums when I go inside. But no, she didn't get on her hunches. Daddy was obviously making it up. Confirmed. And then I forgot everything about it. And then today, she did it! That too in front of my very own eyes!! I had put her in the crib as I was tidying up the bed. I saw her rolling over to her tummy and then getting on her fours and then she brought one of her legs forward. Simultaneously, she started crying. I thought she was stuck and as I came up to her to pick her up, and had my arms almost around her, when I noticed that she is trying to actually sit! I stopped and watched her. She pulled the other leg half way to the front and put all her weight on her hunches and then lifted her arms up to be picked up!!! I was so happy, I could have jumped hundreds of times. But I picked her up and cuddled her and kissed her face. She clearly did not want all these. I was very very happy with her so decided to give her whatever she wanted. So I nursed her to sleep, snuggled up next to me. In turn, she gave me what I wanted.. A longer nap!!!
mmmmuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
I love her sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!
Hmmm.. today the apply of my eye turns 7 months and 7 days old and I have to do post on her past month. But that I will postpone for a while. For now, I am thrilled with this new surprise she had for me today! Before this one takes a back seat in my memory and I never get to blog again, let me jot it down here. I am absolutely absolutely in awe with this new milestone of hers! SHE CAN SIT UP BY HERSELF!! Yep! that's right!!! Two days back, I had put her to sleep in her crib and after about an hour she had let out a cry just as DH and I had sat down for the dinner. We listened for a while, and when her crying didn't stop DH went to pick her up. When he came back with her in his arms, he had told me that she was sitting in the crib and crying. I looked at him with disbelief! How could it be possible? She is with me the whole day and she never did that when she is fresh and active and even tired for that matter. How could she do that in her sleep? And that too when mommy is not watching her? Or is not there to notice it first? Hmmm.. Dad was obviously overstating things. She would have been on her all fours, just as she has been doing for past few days, and he would have been making up the rest of it. Nevertheless, I kept watching her the next day. I even left her for longer time than usual, intentionally not lifting her up when obviously she was tired being on her fours and shedding tears. I kept myself from entering the room she was in hoping to see her on her little bums when I go inside. But no, she didn't get on her hunches. Daddy was obviously making it up. Confirmed. And then I forgot everything about it. And then today, she did it! That too in front of my very own eyes!! I had put her in the crib as I was tidying up the bed. I saw her rolling over to her tummy and then getting on her fours and then she brought one of her legs forward. Simultaneously, she started crying. I thought she was stuck and as I came up to her to pick her up, and had my arms almost around her, when I noticed that she is trying to actually sit! I stopped and watched her. She pulled the other leg half way to the front and put all her weight on her hunches and then lifted her arms up to be picked up!!! I was so happy, I could have jumped hundreds of times. But I picked her up and cuddled her and kissed her face. She clearly did not want all these. I was very very happy with her so decided to give her whatever she wanted. So I nursed her to sleep, snuggled up next to me. In turn, she gave me what I wanted.. A longer nap!!!
mmmmuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!
I love her sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!
Monday, November 19, 2007
My baby is a Anne Geddes star!!
Every parent on this earth believe that theirs is the most beautiful baby in the whole universe. And I am no exception to it. I had entered my little doll's photographs in the Anne Geddes photo quest contest just for fun. As I keep clicking her photographs and now that I am home, I keep shopping online a lots of stuff for her too. So, I had come across this photo contest while looking for some of the famous Anne Geddes stuff. That I have been an Anne Geddes stuff fan since childhood and it had reached the pinnacle during the pregnancy days is no secret to those who have seen me. I used to collect the greeting cards with the cute anne geddes pictures and the posters with those lovely babies with in pots, buckets, on flowers were a favourite gift during the graduation days. DH, too, is a huge fan of her collection and had carefully compiled a few pictures of ours in a Anne Geddes Album as a present for me on my first birthday after our marriage. When I was carrying Chinipie, I had wanted pictures of happy babies in my room. Googling for 'Anne Geddes', I stumbled across her website and saved lots of pictures of her. Later, I mailed them to DH and asked him to get them in print for him. Poor DH, he not only printed, but also put them in my room with me instructing him throughout. And guess what, we had a change of pictures every few days!!
As I was surfing again on her website, I came across this contest and as I had a picture ready, I posted it and had forgotten everything about it (I am actually eying for a different contest altogether about which I will post later!). Just now I received a mail and guess what, my darling daughter is a STAR!!
That's right!! She is one of the October 2007 stars and her photo will be up on the site for one whole month. She, also, receives a beautiful leather album. I am so jubilant! I almost cried out lout and stopped myself from waking DH up from his deep slumber. Nevertheless, I gave Chinipie a hug. She squirmed and went back to sleep clinging on to my leg. So, here I am, sharing my news with all of you guys there. Check this link, go to star no 6 of 57 and Congratulate me!
I figured that this link might not be always hosted, therefore, am keeping a snapshot for records.
As I was surfing again on her website, I came across this contest and as I had a picture ready, I posted it and had forgotten everything about it (I am actually eying for a different contest altogether about which I will post later!). Just now I received a mail and guess what, my darling daughter is a STAR!!
That's right!! She is one of the October 2007 stars and her photo will be up on the site for one whole month. She, also, receives a beautiful leather album. I am so jubilant! I almost cried out lout and stopped myself from waking DH up from his deep slumber. Nevertheless, I gave Chinipie a hug. She squirmed and went back to sleep clinging on to my leg. So, here I am, sharing my news with all of you guys there. Check this link, go to star no 6 of 57 and Congratulate me!
I figured that this link might not be always hosted, therefore, am keeping a snapshot for records.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
To be or not to be...
on H1B visa... is the question that has been hovering on my mind constantly for the past few months. I have been very passionate about my work pre-Chinipie days and knew that after the first few months, when the baby needs you the most, I would definitely join back. And then, when my pregnancy was almost to the term, we moved from LA to Cleveland. That meant, I had to be completely relieved from the project I was working on through my employer (those who now how the s/w consultancy firms work would understand this). And then, Chinipie entered my world!
The pre-approved maternity leaves for three months, got extended to one more month and then one more and then I realized that my baby is my passion now. I was not ready to join work when very evidently my baby needs me more. Friends and relatives suggested to hire a babysitter/nanny or look for a home day-care or Indian baby-sitters if I were not okay with leaving her in the expensive and bigger day-cares where the staff is usually very over worked (and underpaid). But, the very thought of just leaving the baby with somebody else was very un-appetizing to me. How can somebody else take care of her needs as I do? They can change her diapers, feed her, play with her at times, put her to sleep, but how can they give the emotional support that only me, her mom can? How can they be the primary care giver? And then, the germs and diseases that she would be exposed to at such a tender age. To this, some of my friends added that their are other babies who go survive all this and adapt themselves, sooner or later, and now-a-days, it is very acceptable. Of course, they meant well and advised what they thought was the best. But, I just could not come to the terms of entrusting her in somebody else's hands for the whole day. One can argue that it's just a matter of few hours. But I see it as the whole day. Chinipie sleeps at around 9 in the night and gets up at 6 in the morning. If I go to work, this would mean that I need to dress her up, dress myself up and the casual mornings that we enjoy together would no longer be the same. Evenings, when I would bring her back while returning from work, would be spent in cooking and preparing for the next day. A little time to play, perhaps. This would mean that she would be home only to sleep!?! when she doesn't even go to the school or the college! Nopes, I just cannot come to the terms of this very idea.
And then the factor that if I join back work, it would be in an entirely new city, a new project/client location, a completely new team with new set of people who might or might not understand my need to leave on-time (s/w professionals are known to work over-hours) or early some days (when she would have to be picked up early) or take offs for that matter (in case she is not well, which I hear is a common for young babies who go to the day care. What justice would I be doing to my work? to myself? to Chinipie? I know, for sure, NONE!
More often than not, there are days when the unwashed dishes lie in the sink, the bed is waiting to be made up, the toilets to be cleaned, house to be vacuumed or at least tidied up, table-mats to be wiped, me yet to take bath, or cook food or eat for that matter. And I am busy feeding her, nursing her, bathing her, cooing her or just playing with her. I wait for her to go to sleep so that I get some time to do the chores or at the least cook something for myself and eat. And on such days, Chinipe just refused to go to sleep. She would take a short nap while nursing and as soon as I try to put her down, she would get up -all fresh and ready to play. All that I manage to do on such days is ZILCH! Neither do I enjoy with her completely, nor am I able to finish any of the tasks. When this happened more than a couple of times, I figured out that everything else can wait but these moments with Chinipie cannot! And I knew that all I want to do for now, is enjoy with her.
And this is when I decided that I do not want to go back to to work until she is independent. My current employers cannot keep me on H1B without being on the payroll (I have been on a leave without pay) for longer. So, they have asked me to get my visa converted to H4, a dependent visa, so that they can have my leaves approved, me being an offshore employee. This is what brought another dilemma. First it was, whether to join back the work and then it is, whether to stay on H1B or not? If I lose my H1B status, I would not be able to go back to work when I wish coz the whole process of getting another work visa is quite a lengthy one. And if I want to stay on H1B, either a find another employer (who would not want to hire someone who is not on payroll and then the H1B harassments is so common. I just do not want to fall in the wrong hands) or if I choose to stay with my current one, I have to join back work and try to take a transfer to this new city, which in itself is a big head-ache and joining back work, is anyways what I have decided not to. So, all in all, this is so much jumbled up. All this thinking has been eating my head and then I decided to vent it out, here, in my space, today.
And as I am writing this, I know which one I am going for. Any guesses?
Yep! it is the H4!! Whatever it takes to keep my Chinipie happy and healthy, I am in for it!! After all, my first priority is my baby, everything else can wait!!
The pre-approved maternity leaves for three months, got extended to one more month and then one more and then I realized that my baby is my passion now. I was not ready to join work when very evidently my baby needs me more. Friends and relatives suggested to hire a babysitter/nanny or look for a home day-care or Indian baby-sitters if I were not okay with leaving her in the expensive and bigger day-cares where the staff is usually very over worked (and underpaid). But, the very thought of just leaving the baby with somebody else was very un-appetizing to me. How can somebody else take care of her needs as I do? They can change her diapers, feed her, play with her at times, put her to sleep, but how can they give the emotional support that only me, her mom can? How can they be the primary care giver? And then, the germs and diseases that she would be exposed to at such a tender age. To this, some of my friends added that their are other babies who go survive all this and adapt themselves, sooner or later, and now-a-days, it is very acceptable. Of course, they meant well and advised what they thought was the best. But, I just could not come to the terms of entrusting her in somebody else's hands for the whole day. One can argue that it's just a matter of few hours. But I see it as the whole day. Chinipie sleeps at around 9 in the night and gets up at 6 in the morning. If I go to work, this would mean that I need to dress her up, dress myself up and the casual mornings that we enjoy together would no longer be the same. Evenings, when I would bring her back while returning from work, would be spent in cooking and preparing for the next day. A little time to play, perhaps. This would mean that she would be home only to sleep!?! when she doesn't even go to the school or the college! Nopes, I just cannot come to the terms of this very idea.
And then the factor that if I join back work, it would be in an entirely new city, a new project/client location, a completely new team with new set of people who might or might not understand my need to leave on-time (s/w professionals are known to work over-hours) or early some days (when she would have to be picked up early) or take offs for that matter (in case she is not well, which I hear is a common for young babies who go to the day care. What justice would I be doing to my work? to myself? to Chinipie? I know, for sure, NONE!
More often than not, there are days when the unwashed dishes lie in the sink, the bed is waiting to be made up, the toilets to be cleaned, house to be vacuumed or at least tidied up, table-mats to be wiped, me yet to take bath, or cook food or eat for that matter. And I am busy feeding her, nursing her, bathing her, cooing her or just playing with her. I wait for her to go to sleep so that I get some time to do the chores or at the least cook something for myself and eat. And on such days, Chinipe just refused to go to sleep. She would take a short nap while nursing and as soon as I try to put her down, she would get up -all fresh and ready to play. All that I manage to do on such days is ZILCH! Neither do I enjoy with her completely, nor am I able to finish any of the tasks. When this happened more than a couple of times, I figured out that everything else can wait but these moments with Chinipie cannot! And I knew that all I want to do for now, is enjoy with her.
And this is when I decided that I do not want to go back to to work until she is independent. My current employers cannot keep me on H1B without being on the payroll (I have been on a leave without pay) for longer. So, they have asked me to get my visa converted to H4, a dependent visa, so that they can have my leaves approved, me being an offshore employee. This is what brought another dilemma. First it was, whether to join back the work and then it is, whether to stay on H1B or not? If I lose my H1B status, I would not be able to go back to work when I wish coz the whole process of getting another work visa is quite a lengthy one. And if I want to stay on H1B, either a find another employer (who would not want to hire someone who is not on payroll and then the H1B harassments is so common. I just do not want to fall in the wrong hands) or if I choose to stay with my current one, I have to join back work and try to take a transfer to this new city, which in itself is a big head-ache and joining back work, is anyways what I have decided not to. So, all in all, this is so much jumbled up. All this thinking has been eating my head and then I decided to vent it out, here, in my space, today.
And as I am writing this, I know which one I am going for. Any guesses?
Yep! it is the H4!! Whatever it takes to keep my Chinipie happy and healthy, I am in for it!! After all, my first priority is my baby, everything else can wait!!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Another set of Chinipie's firsts..
Chinipie's celebrated her first Diwali on 9th Nov this year.
And guess what she gave momma as a Diwali gift?
Her first tooth!! yep! Just two days before Diwali, I could feel the sharp tooth on her lower gums while nursing her and when I looked harder, I could see a teeny weeny white tooth on the front left just beginning to make an appearance. No wonder that she had been so crabby for past one week. But now that she has cut her first tooth, the pain has eased and she enjoyed the Diwali pooja along with mom and dad. Probably, these would be one of the last few snaps I would click with her beautiful gummy toothless smile..
that's me in the back holding her... coz she had wanted to grab the diyas
with daddy just after the pooja..
dad had returned from work just in time for the pooja
Chinipie's first Snow..
Technically, the first snow was on 6th of Nov this year. It was a light drizzle and had continued almost throughout the day. That was the day when Chinipie had got her six months shots and was a little irritable, so had my hands full and could not capture any of the pics. Had bought her first snow suit that day though.
Yesterday, 15th of Nov, the morning saw a heavy snowfall and within half an hour, we had a layer of snow everywhere. Again, I didn't want to take risk of taking Chinipie out so just clicked a few snaps from our apartment window without her in the frame... for records.
Summers are long gone.. yet we could capture..
Chinipie in her first sunglasses..
And guess what she gave momma as a Diwali gift?
Her first tooth!! yep! Just two days before Diwali, I could feel the sharp tooth on her lower gums while nursing her and when I looked harder, I could see a teeny weeny white tooth on the front left just beginning to make an appearance. No wonder that she had been so crabby for past one week. But now that she has cut her first tooth, the pain has eased and she enjoyed the Diwali pooja along with mom and dad. Probably, these would be one of the last few snaps I would click with her beautiful gummy toothless smile..
that's me in the back holding her... coz she had wanted to grab the diyas
with daddy just after the pooja..
dad had returned from work just in time for the pooja
Chinipie's first Snow..
Technically, the first snow was on 6th of Nov this year. It was a light drizzle and had continued almost throughout the day. That was the day when Chinipie had got her six months shots and was a little irritable, so had my hands full and could not capture any of the pics. Had bought her first snow suit that day though.
Yesterday, 15th of Nov, the morning saw a heavy snowfall and within half an hour, we had a layer of snow everywhere. Again, I didn't want to take risk of taking Chinipie out so just clicked a few snaps from our apartment window without her in the frame... for records.
Summers are long gone.. yet we could capture..
Chinipie in her first sunglasses..
Monday, November 12, 2007
Looking back.. more of Chinipie's 5th and 6th months
I have been itching to this post since such a long time, but somehow all my posts either lay word to word in my mind (yeah! most of the times, I have them done completely in my mind, but never get a chance to pen them down) or as unpublished(I had started this post on 4th of Nov), half-written posts and then time flies by and a layer of dust gathers over them making them deep buried in the piles of posts to be done or just making me forget completely what I had wanted to write. Many a times, I just lose the context as to why I wanted to do a particular post. I, sometimes, feel that I should have chosen compiling a baby book instead of doing a blog as it would have been so much easier. I have no clues as to why I am not able to blog each and every activity/milestone of my Chinipie, when I ravish them so much and find myself so lucky to be able to enjoy being with her 24x7, reveling in each cute little act of her and thoroughly thoroughly enjoying my motherhood.
On 30th October, Chinipie turned 6 months old. I had planned to throw a half party for her or at least have a little celebration with just the three of us- bake a cake and sing a little happy birthday song. But, DH had been so busy at his work and his work schedules made it impossible to have any of these things. I could have done the second one but it being a Tuesday (DH's fast), I scratched that option off and besides, I am not much into cutting cakes or blowing of candles. So, finally I just gave a little(?) peck on her cheek and wished her happy birthday, a silent celebration, a ceremony I have been doing for each month's birthday, every milestone and other special days related to her. But to make it different from her previous birthdays, I lighted a diya- something that long back I had promised myself I would do for my children every year, following our Indian tradition. Along with, I murmured a little prayer to God to fill her entire life with happiness.
Talking of silent celebrations, Chinipie's 5th and 6th months, marked two other. September was the month last year, when I had missed my menstrual cycle for the very first time(co-incidentally they made their appearance exactly after one year) and after I waited for them to make an appearance (as sometimes they get delayed), trying not to get hopeful so as not to face a disappointment later, I had taken the home pregnancy test and finding it positive immediately had asked DH to fix an appointment with an ob-gyn and couldn't wait for that day to confirm my new-found happiness. The lab tests at the doctor's office had confirmed my pregnancy but the doctor had asked us to come back two weeks later in order to have a real look at our "maybaby". You can read about it here. As we congratulated each other and were stepping out of the doctor's office, I had asked DH to take me out, just to commemorate the day. He had promised to take me out on the weekend, which he did but with a whole bunch of other people. That was the first time that I had a little talk with my little baby, telling her how much I love her and how eagerly I am waiting for her. And as I remembered those days, I took a moment and had a little talk with her again this year, thanking my Chinipie for making me a momma and for bringing so much joy and sunshine in my life!
Chinipie has achieved a number of milestones this month and I feel bad about not noting them all here in my blog. She is growing up so fast that sometimes, I want the time to stop just to have her cuddled up next to me for some more time. Every time I do the laundry and find her clothes getting bigger in size, a strange feeling of delight and sadness overcomes me - delighted because it makes me look forward to her next stage, her next act and I plan to dress her up in more beautiful clothes the next time(yep! after all baby girls are so much fun to dress up) and sad because it makes me think of the day when she would be a grown up and no longer want me to hold her and cuddle her up next to me and would argue with me (the way I did with my mom!). Sigh!! Anyways, clock I can stop not and fate I can write not. So let me capture her days of growing up, something to remember by when we look back.
Chinipie is one active baby and is growing very fast. In fact, this was what got her through her days of diarrhea. When on her paediatrician's instructions, we had taken her to the emergency at 3 o'clock in the night, the doctor on call had expected a weak and dull baby who has been suffering from diarrhea since past 4 days and was surprised to find a happy one instead who pushed him back with her tiny hands. I do not want to jinx her but come on, even adults would go pale after 4 days of constant and loose bowels and she was just a 4 months old then and yes, she had pushed the unsuspecting doctor back! Despite of her diarrhea, she didn't want to miss on her daily routine of the evening strolls and increasingly grew fascinated with the cars. She would look at each passing car and follow them with a quick turn of her head and ours being a huge apartment complex, there were a lots of them moving around in the evening to feast her eyes.
Cars do fascinate her but they do not make her squeal with delight and bounce as much as the toddlers and the younger kids do. When the autumn weather started to get windy making it impossible for me to take her out, I switched to remain in the lobby area of our building in the hope that a few passers-by would stop by and talk to her, thus satisfying her need to be social (i forgot to add that she is a very social baby and has much groomed manners too, about which i will talk later). She smiles in return to the people talking to her, but when she sees other children around, she bounces her stroller and sways her hands together in delight with a huge gummy smile and a very enthusiastic chirp. At times, she just watches them playing around and follows their each move keenly before jumping and having a belly laugh, a sure sign that she is enjoying herself.
She has definitely proved that she is a very social baby. She smiles to every person we meet in the elevator and I am sure her smile makes their day too! If we have guests at our place and she gets up in the middle of the night, even in her slumber, she manages to acknowledge them with a smile, and that too with an eye to eye contact before letting me know that she is hungry. And what a way to let me know. She wouldn't cry for hunger in front of other people; instead she just starts eating my chin up. Didn't I say she has very well groomed manners !?! This brings me to her communication skills too. In her 5th month, when she had diarrhea, she invented her own sign language to communicate whatever she wanted. For instance, when she had spasms in her stomach, she just took my hand and put it on her tummy, when her gums trouble her, she guides it towards her mouth and so on and so forth. Talking of her communication skills brings me to her speech development too. In her 5th month, it was 'p' and 'b' which would go like 'pooooaaaaa' and 'booooaaaaa' spitting all over us throughout the day and in her 6th month, she included 'm' in her vocab which would go 'amma' and 'mmmmm'.
Did I tell you she can very well communicate her emotions too now? When she is enjoying, she squeals, sways her hand like the butterfly stroke(yep! that's what it seems to me) and bounces up and down. And when she is bored and needs attention, she is very much capable of letting out a fake cry now! Can you believe it, a f.a.ke. cry??? I couldn't when I noticed it for the very first time. This happened somewhere in the middle of her 6th month. Usually when shez up and I have to cook I make her sit in the high chair pulled just at the entrance of the kitchen. This way I can talk to her while i cook and also at times, we play. On this particular day, I got involved in cooking and for a while stopped talking to her when all of a sudden, I heard a loud wail. I immediately turned to look at her, and you know what she did, she started smiling, with an expression of 'caught ya'! and went back to chewing her teether, keeping an eye on me at the same time!!
My little pincer can now use her hands very deftly. Her curious little hands are always busy, either trying to rake up some toys or transfer the objects from one hand to another or chewing up. She reaches and grabs for everything within her sight which sometimes makes it difficult even to dress her up as she would be lurching forward for her trousers, diapers, hangers, almost anything!
5th month saw her started to sit with support and by the end of which she could sit without support for 2-3 seconds. In the 6th month, she could stay without support for a bit longer before tumbling down, at times hitting hard on the floor. It used to be such a cute sight with her trying to balance her weight on her little bumchis before falling in any of the eight directions. If she is in playful mood, she wouldn't mind and continue gleefully with whatever she was busy with. If not, and if tired even the gentlest of fall would make her wail out loud, non-stop. Just a couple of days before she completed her 6th month birthday, she reached the important milestone of sitting without support. And after that she graduated to go on her tummy on her own will from the sitting position. She can also pull herself up to almost 70 degrees angle from the lying down position which obviously means that she can pull herself to a sitting position if her back is supported at a comfortable angle.
Chinipie became much more mobile in her 6th month. What started as a tiny rollover in her 4th month, has been perfected and she now spans the lengths and the breadths of our carpet by rolling over. I would leave her seated on the floor in our dining area to return from the kitchen just for a few seconds, neither to find her seated nor to find her at that place. She would have shifted over to some other place inches away from where I had left her. She absolutely loves this new-found mobility of her and drives me crazy when she spindles away from me, while I nurse her, and starts cycling her hands and feet, chuckling at the same time. Sometimes, I wait for her hoping to roll back to me to nurse and sometimes, I just pull her back to find her roll away happily again. She is becoming a handful when she turns and twists over while I massage her in the mornings (though she still loves her massage and bath). She follows me everywhere by just rolling over. I would be gone for a split of a second and when I turn back, I would find her right behind me, on her tummy, looking up at me with a gummy grin, expecting me to applaud her for this little feat of hers. Not that it's always a fun. There have been the not-so-happy and very teary moments too. At times, she would strike her head against the wall or on the floor. If she wouldn't be too tired or it wouldn't have hurt her much she would be okay with it and continue playing or else she would cry her lungs out. And there was this time, when in her sleep, she had rolled over and fallen on the floor. I had just gone to the restroom and forgotten to fortify with a pillow on the side and in her attempt to search for me(yep, she is used to sleep cuddled cosily next to me), she just fell off the bed. I could hear a thud and then a baaaahhhh and believe me to this day I have that sound ringing in my ears. After a full ten minutes of crying, she was okay but as soon as she stopped, I started. Why? Because I thought I was a very very bad mom. I am at home just for her and what's the whole point when still she would have to suffer? And, then for the fear if something would have happened inside the brain, and surface some time later only to know that because of me that occurred(yeah! that's me and that was all that was going on my mind then). Anyways, as usual she got over it after her bout of crying and it took me one whole week to get over it(?). Earlier in the day today, I was reading another mom blog and it is so funny that even she blamed herself for anything that happened to her son. I think it's one of the mom's things to feel the guilt and carry the burden in her head.
I never imagined that it would be so much joy to be with the babies. Almost anything can make them laugh. Believe me. She is in her high chair, I bend to take the veggies out from the refrigerator, She leans forward, I get up and she starts laughing, obviously making it a game of peek-a-boo. All by herself!! She is in the shopping cart at a store, I sit on my knees to read the ingredients on the packet at the lower aisle, She looks with a curious expression on her face, I turn to check if she is okay, she gives a belly laugh! Any time, anywhere, she starts this game and obviously, I follow the lead. At the stores, restaurants, parks, apartment lobby, laundry room, anywhere. Usually, many people who hear her laughter come running to see the baby who they heard laughing. I beam with pride, when almost everyday, people come up to me to compliment me for my baby and for raising a happy one too. I know all babies are special, nonetheless, my heart fills with utmost joy when people praise my baby. Yep! you can see me beaming right now!!
I will sum this post up with a few of Chinipie's favourites in her 5th and 6th months:
Favourite color: yellow and red
Favourite toys: anything within sight
Favourite nibbles: momma's cell, phone and keys
Favourite activity: rolling, gnawing hands
Favourite game: peek-a-boo
And here are some of the pictures of Chinipie's 6th month:
p.s. Do you notice her bare foot in last but one snap? It is because our little darling had pulled off one of her sock and had thrown it very royally at the mall. By the time, momma notices, it was untraceable.
On 30th October, Chinipie turned 6 months old. I had planned to throw a half party for her or at least have a little celebration with just the three of us- bake a cake and sing a little happy birthday song. But, DH had been so busy at his work and his work schedules made it impossible to have any of these things. I could have done the second one but it being a Tuesday (DH's fast), I scratched that option off and besides, I am not much into cutting cakes or blowing of candles. So, finally I just gave a little(?) peck on her cheek and wished her happy birthday, a silent celebration, a ceremony I have been doing for each month's birthday, every milestone and other special days related to her. But to make it different from her previous birthdays, I lighted a diya- something that long back I had promised myself I would do for my children every year, following our Indian tradition. Along with, I murmured a little prayer to God to fill her entire life with happiness.
Talking of silent celebrations, Chinipie's 5th and 6th months, marked two other. September was the month last year, when I had missed my menstrual cycle for the very first time(co-incidentally they made their appearance exactly after one year) and after I waited for them to make an appearance (as sometimes they get delayed), trying not to get hopeful so as not to face a disappointment later, I had taken the home pregnancy test and finding it positive immediately had asked DH to fix an appointment with an ob-gyn and couldn't wait for that day to confirm my new-found happiness. The lab tests at the doctor's office had confirmed my pregnancy but the doctor had asked us to come back two weeks later in order to have a real look at our "maybaby". You can read about it here. As we congratulated each other and were stepping out of the doctor's office, I had asked DH to take me out, just to commemorate the day. He had promised to take me out on the weekend, which he did but with a whole bunch of other people. That was the first time that I had a little talk with my little baby, telling her how much I love her and how eagerly I am waiting for her. And as I remembered those days, I took a moment and had a little talk with her again this year, thanking my Chinipie for making me a momma and for bringing so much joy and sunshine in my life!
Chinipie has achieved a number of milestones this month and I feel bad about not noting them all here in my blog. She is growing up so fast that sometimes, I want the time to stop just to have her cuddled up next to me for some more time. Every time I do the laundry and find her clothes getting bigger in size, a strange feeling of delight and sadness overcomes me - delighted because it makes me look forward to her next stage, her next act and I plan to dress her up in more beautiful clothes the next time(yep! after all baby girls are so much fun to dress up) and sad because it makes me think of the day when she would be a grown up and no longer want me to hold her and cuddle her up next to me and would argue with me (the way I did with my mom!). Sigh!! Anyways, clock I can stop not and fate I can write not. So let me capture her days of growing up, something to remember by when we look back.
Chinipie is one active baby and is growing very fast. In fact, this was what got her through her days of diarrhea. When on her paediatrician's instructions, we had taken her to the emergency at 3 o'clock in the night, the doctor on call had expected a weak and dull baby who has been suffering from diarrhea since past 4 days and was surprised to find a happy one instead who pushed him back with her tiny hands. I do not want to jinx her but come on, even adults would go pale after 4 days of constant and loose bowels and she was just a 4 months old then and yes, she had pushed the unsuspecting doctor back! Despite of her diarrhea, she didn't want to miss on her daily routine of the evening strolls and increasingly grew fascinated with the cars. She would look at each passing car and follow them with a quick turn of her head and ours being a huge apartment complex, there were a lots of them moving around in the evening to feast her eyes.
Cars do fascinate her but they do not make her squeal with delight and bounce as much as the toddlers and the younger kids do. When the autumn weather started to get windy making it impossible for me to take her out, I switched to remain in the lobby area of our building in the hope that a few passers-by would stop by and talk to her, thus satisfying her need to be social (i forgot to add that she is a very social baby and has much groomed manners too, about which i will talk later). She smiles in return to the people talking to her, but when she sees other children around, she bounces her stroller and sways her hands together in delight with a huge gummy smile and a very enthusiastic chirp. At times, she just watches them playing around and follows their each move keenly before jumping and having a belly laugh, a sure sign that she is enjoying herself.
She has definitely proved that she is a very social baby. She smiles to every person we meet in the elevator and I am sure her smile makes their day too! If we have guests at our place and she gets up in the middle of the night, even in her slumber, she manages to acknowledge them with a smile, and that too with an eye to eye contact before letting me know that she is hungry. And what a way to let me know. She wouldn't cry for hunger in front of other people; instead she just starts eating my chin up. Didn't I say she has very well groomed manners !?! This brings me to her communication skills too. In her 5th month, when she had diarrhea, she invented her own sign language to communicate whatever she wanted. For instance, when she had spasms in her stomach, she just took my hand and put it on her tummy, when her gums trouble her, she guides it towards her mouth and so on and so forth. Talking of her communication skills brings me to her speech development too. In her 5th month, it was 'p' and 'b' which would go like 'pooooaaaaa' and 'booooaaaaa' spitting all over us throughout the day and in her 6th month, she included 'm' in her vocab which would go 'amma' and 'mmmmm'.
Did I tell you she can very well communicate her emotions too now? When she is enjoying, she squeals, sways her hand like the butterfly stroke(yep! that's what it seems to me) and bounces up and down. And when she is bored and needs attention, she is very much capable of letting out a fake cry now! Can you believe it, a f.a.ke. cry??? I couldn't when I noticed it for the very first time. This happened somewhere in the middle of her 6th month. Usually when shez up and I have to cook I make her sit in the high chair pulled just at the entrance of the kitchen. This way I can talk to her while i cook and also at times, we play. On this particular day, I got involved in cooking and for a while stopped talking to her when all of a sudden, I heard a loud wail. I immediately turned to look at her, and you know what she did, she started smiling, with an expression of 'caught ya'! and went back to chewing her teether, keeping an eye on me at the same time!!
My little pincer can now use her hands very deftly. Her curious little hands are always busy, either trying to rake up some toys or transfer the objects from one hand to another or chewing up. She reaches and grabs for everything within her sight which sometimes makes it difficult even to dress her up as she would be lurching forward for her trousers, diapers, hangers, almost anything!
5th month saw her started to sit with support and by the end of which she could sit without support for 2-3 seconds. In the 6th month, she could stay without support for a bit longer before tumbling down, at times hitting hard on the floor. It used to be such a cute sight with her trying to balance her weight on her little bumchis before falling in any of the eight directions. If she is in playful mood, she wouldn't mind and continue gleefully with whatever she was busy with. If not, and if tired even the gentlest of fall would make her wail out loud, non-stop. Just a couple of days before she completed her 6th month birthday, she reached the important milestone of sitting without support. And after that she graduated to go on her tummy on her own will from the sitting position. She can also pull herself up to almost 70 degrees angle from the lying down position which obviously means that she can pull herself to a sitting position if her back is supported at a comfortable angle.
Chinipie became much more mobile in her 6th month. What started as a tiny rollover in her 4th month, has been perfected and she now spans the lengths and the breadths of our carpet by rolling over. I would leave her seated on the floor in our dining area to return from the kitchen just for a few seconds, neither to find her seated nor to find her at that place. She would have shifted over to some other place inches away from where I had left her. She absolutely loves this new-found mobility of her and drives me crazy when she spindles away from me, while I nurse her, and starts cycling her hands and feet, chuckling at the same time. Sometimes, I wait for her hoping to roll back to me to nurse and sometimes, I just pull her back to find her roll away happily again. She is becoming a handful when she turns and twists over while I massage her in the mornings (though she still loves her massage and bath). She follows me everywhere by just rolling over. I would be gone for a split of a second and when I turn back, I would find her right behind me, on her tummy, looking up at me with a gummy grin, expecting me to applaud her for this little feat of hers. Not that it's always a fun. There have been the not-so-happy and very teary moments too. At times, she would strike her head against the wall or on the floor. If she wouldn't be too tired or it wouldn't have hurt her much she would be okay with it and continue playing or else she would cry her lungs out. And there was this time, when in her sleep, she had rolled over and fallen on the floor. I had just gone to the restroom and forgotten to fortify with a pillow on the side and in her attempt to search for me(yep, she is used to sleep cuddled cosily next to me), she just fell off the bed. I could hear a thud and then a baaaahhhh and believe me to this day I have that sound ringing in my ears. After a full ten minutes of crying, she was okay but as soon as she stopped, I started. Why? Because I thought I was a very very bad mom. I am at home just for her and what's the whole point when still she would have to suffer? And, then for the fear if something would have happened inside the brain, and surface some time later only to know that because of me that occurred(yeah! that's me and that was all that was going on my mind then). Anyways, as usual she got over it after her bout of crying and it took me one whole week to get over it(?). Earlier in the day today, I was reading another mom blog and it is so funny that even she blamed herself for anything that happened to her son. I think it's one of the mom's things to feel the guilt and carry the burden in her head.
I never imagined that it would be so much joy to be with the babies. Almost anything can make them laugh. Believe me. She is in her high chair, I bend to take the veggies out from the refrigerator, She leans forward, I get up and she starts laughing, obviously making it a game of peek-a-boo. All by herself!! She is in the shopping cart at a store, I sit on my knees to read the ingredients on the packet at the lower aisle, She looks with a curious expression on her face, I turn to check if she is okay, she gives a belly laugh! Any time, anywhere, she starts this game and obviously, I follow the lead. At the stores, restaurants, parks, apartment lobby, laundry room, anywhere. Usually, many people who hear her laughter come running to see the baby who they heard laughing. I beam with pride, when almost everyday, people come up to me to compliment me for my baby and for raising a happy one too. I know all babies are special, nonetheless, my heart fills with utmost joy when people praise my baby. Yep! you can see me beaming right now!!
I will sum this post up with a few of Chinipie's favourites in her 5th and 6th months:
Favourite color: yellow and red
Favourite toys: anything within sight
Favourite nibbles: momma's cell, phone and keys
Favourite activity: rolling, gnawing hands
Favourite game: peek-a-boo
And here are some of the pictures of Chinipie's 6th month:
p.s. Do you notice her bare foot in last but one snap? It is because our little darling had pulled off one of her sock and had thrown it very royally at the mall. By the time, momma notices, it was untraceable.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Daylight Time
ended today 4th of Nov, 2007.
The result?
Almost whole of United States set their clocks back by one hour their local time
The Implications?
Chinipie, who gets up at six each morning still and had her biological clock set the same way very obviously unaware of these manual changes in the clocks and the times, got up at five o'clock this morning and started kicking and chirping happily announcing that it was the perfect time to wake up. Dad with a happy smile on his face wrapped himself pulling the comforter up to his head and almost immediately started snoring. That meant it was me who had to start the 25-hour day at 5 o'clock. Almost as soon as she got up, Chinipie moved her bowels and started crying to be cleaned up, making sure that mom doesn't have any remnants of sleep left in her eyes. Momma got up and made a mental note to herself not to let Chinipie sleep early this evening so as to set her clock per the new local timings here. She didn't want Chinipie to get up at 5 every morning for very obvious reasons - first of all, 5?? Please! 6 is a good time but 5 every day is, let's say, too good a time to get up. And second of all, per her DST routine, she used to have her bath at 8:30 every morning because by that time there would be sufficient(i should add golden, for the beautiful winter mornings) sunlight pouring in from our windows. So I had figured out that it was the best time to give her bath and let her enjoy playing in the sun for a while. So, if she gets up at 5 now, it would mean giving her bath quite early, which again would upset her routine. Third of all, as it is she sleeps so less, unlike the other babies, which always keeps me worrying about her proper growth( I have read that for babies over-all, and especially brain, development lots of sleep is required); I do not want her to lose on whatever little time she sleeps soundly. Lastly, we are planning to go on a trip to India where both sets of grandparents and uncles and aunts and not to mention the extended family are waiting eagerly to meet her. Again, in both the journeys when we will lose and gain time and I will have to try to schedule her wake and sleep times so as to get adjusted to the two different countries and two different timezones altogether. So, this is sort of a rehearsal for then. Foolish, it might seem but I want to check how difficult or how easy it's going to be to keep her awake when actually she would just want to nurse herself to sleep
So, in an attempt to reset her routine, I kept my tired and hungry child awake this evening, distracting her with toys, talks, dad's funny faces and every other thing that you can imagine would make a baby happy. As the baby sleeps tonight, momma is keeping her fingers crossed that she gets up at six per the new timings..
wish me all the best!
The result?
Almost whole of United States set their clocks back by one hour their local time
The Implications?
Chinipie, who gets up at six each morning still and had her biological clock set the same way very obviously unaware of these manual changes in the clocks and the times, got up at five o'clock this morning and started kicking and chirping happily announcing that it was the perfect time to wake up. Dad with a happy smile on his face wrapped himself pulling the comforter up to his head and almost immediately started snoring. That meant it was me who had to start the 25-hour day at 5 o'clock. Almost as soon as she got up, Chinipie moved her bowels and started crying to be cleaned up, making sure that mom doesn't have any remnants of sleep left in her eyes. Momma got up and made a mental note to herself not to let Chinipie sleep early this evening so as to set her clock per the new local timings here. She didn't want Chinipie to get up at 5 every morning for very obvious reasons - first of all, 5?? Please! 6 is a good time but 5 every day is, let's say, too good a time to get up. And second of all, per her DST routine, she used to have her bath at 8:30 every morning because by that time there would be sufficient(i should add golden, for the beautiful winter mornings) sunlight pouring in from our windows. So I had figured out that it was the best time to give her bath and let her enjoy playing in the sun for a while. So, if she gets up at 5 now, it would mean giving her bath quite early, which again would upset her routine. Third of all, as it is she sleeps so less, unlike the other babies, which always keeps me worrying about her proper growth( I have read that for babies over-all, and especially brain, development lots of sleep is required); I do not want her to lose on whatever little time she sleeps soundly. Lastly, we are planning to go on a trip to India where both sets of grandparents and uncles and aunts and not to mention the extended family are waiting eagerly to meet her. Again, in both the journeys when we will lose and gain time and I will have to try to schedule her wake and sleep times so as to get adjusted to the two different countries and two different timezones altogether. So, this is sort of a rehearsal for then. Foolish, it might seem but I want to check how difficult or how easy it's going to be to keep her awake when actually she would just want to nurse herself to sleep
So, in an attempt to reset her routine, I kept my tired and hungry child awake this evening, distracting her with toys, talks, dad's funny faces and every other thing that you can imagine would make a baby happy. As the baby sleeps tonight, momma is keeping her fingers crossed that she gets up at six per the new timings..
wish me all the best!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Watch me
roll over..
Preparing for the action
A little twist
A free fall
And done!
Phew!! after so much action I am exhausted!!
Have a good night!
Preparing for the action
A little twist
A free fall
And done!
Phew!! after so much action I am exhausted!!
Have a good night!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Karwachauth and Hoi Ashtami
Yesterday was karwachauth, a festival which has a traditional and its own historic significance. As much as I love our tradition and all the little ceremonies associated, I add my own special meaning to them. Karwachauth, basically, is a fast observed by married woman for the longevity of their husbands. But I see it as a festival to honor relationships - relationship between husband and wife and relationship between m-i-l and d-i-l. These days we celebrate anniversaries, aping the errrr... western culture, which is nothing else but commemorating this very bond between a man and his wife. Here, do not get me wrong. I do not say that celebrating marriage anniversaries is wrong. I look forward for mine every year and I love celebration of any sort, especially if it has got anything to do with any kind of relations. For instance, two weeks back, it was "Sweetie's day" here in Ohio. A few months back, it was daughter's day and before that it was the father's day and there are so many other "special" days like Valentine's, Mother's and many more. For me, these are just one of the myriad ways of glorifying the wonderful relationships we share. To these western ways, we have our own Karwachauth, Teej, Rakshabandhan, and this year I am looking forward to "Hoi Ashtami" too. Hoi Ashtami is a fast that is observed for your children and as I said, as I love the festivities associated with relationships, am very much looking forward to my very first "Hoi Ashtami" as I absolutely absolutely love my darling daughter and at no cost would miss this chance to celebrate my love for her in our traditional way. I am yet to know the rituals to be performed for "Hoi Ashtami", so I will post about it later. For now, I will talk about Karwachauth, what it means to me and why it was much more special this year.
As I said earlier, this fast celebrates the wonderful relation DH and I share and as anyone who watches Bollywood movies will know that this fast is all about the husband and the moon (or eating after the moon rises). Actually, it's much more than that. In our Hindu mythology, any puja concerning suhaag (I wouldn't know the appropriate word for it, married-dom?) is dedicated to Lord Parvati and any fast concerning Lord Parvati and her son Ganesha, is to be broken after the night falls and hence, the significance of moon. In the late afternoon, the katha is read wearing all suhaag symbols and traditional attire, preferrably wedding chunri. The wives take out bayna for the mother-in-law, which usually consists of a sari or dryfruits or anything that you want to give her with love. For me, bayna holds a very special meaning as how can you celebrate your husband unless you have thanked his mother for she had bore him for you and nurtured him inside her body for whole nine months. Not to mention the upbringing, the education she gave him that he is finally fit to be your husband. This is usually a nirjal, nirahaar fast. But, last year, as I was carrying Chinipie then, DH had strictly asked me not to be so strict and had packed juice cans for me to be taken in the office. This year, as I am feeding her, he again insisted me on taking juices. In the late afternoon, as I got ready for the katha - I didn't wear a saree, but draped a chunri and adorned my mangalsutra, bichiya, bindi, sindoor and nath. I had kept nath until the last as I knew it would definitely attract Chinipie and leave me crying with pain. Until then, she had a bashful time going for my bindi and trying to take it out. When I finally put the nath on, she was more than happy to play with it. She was in my arms before I finally sat for the rituals and I moved her away just before her naughty hands could snatch it off me. I laughed at her excited face and seeing me, she started laughing too and thus, my puja started for which I sat her in my lap to avoid any mishap and have a good control on her to do my puja peacefully. Once, it was done, I removed chunri, nath n bindi immediately and when I finally donned them again for the post-moon rise ark, she was with DH and her reaction was unforgettable. She kept looking at me with blinking eyes for a few seconds before finally bouncing in excitement. And, this is how she made this karwachauth so special for me.
Today, my Chinipie turns 6 months old. Her very existence makes each day special for me. I wish you a very happy and a long life ahead, Chinipie.
As I said earlier, this fast celebrates the wonderful relation DH and I share and as anyone who watches Bollywood movies will know that this fast is all about the husband and the moon (or eating after the moon rises). Actually, it's much more than that. In our Hindu mythology, any puja concerning suhaag (I wouldn't know the appropriate word for it, married-dom?) is dedicated to Lord Parvati and any fast concerning Lord Parvati and her son Ganesha, is to be broken after the night falls and hence, the significance of moon. In the late afternoon, the katha is read wearing all suhaag symbols and traditional attire, preferrably wedding chunri. The wives take out bayna for the mother-in-law, which usually consists of a sari or dryfruits or anything that you want to give her with love. For me, bayna holds a very special meaning as how can you celebrate your husband unless you have thanked his mother for she had bore him for you and nurtured him inside her body for whole nine months. Not to mention the upbringing, the education she gave him that he is finally fit to be your husband. This is usually a nirjal, nirahaar fast. But, last year, as I was carrying Chinipie then, DH had strictly asked me not to be so strict and had packed juice cans for me to be taken in the office. This year, as I am feeding her, he again insisted me on taking juices. In the late afternoon, as I got ready for the katha - I didn't wear a saree, but draped a chunri and adorned my mangalsutra, bichiya, bindi, sindoor and nath. I had kept nath until the last as I knew it would definitely attract Chinipie and leave me crying with pain. Until then, she had a bashful time going for my bindi and trying to take it out. When I finally put the nath on, she was more than happy to play with it. She was in my arms before I finally sat for the rituals and I moved her away just before her naughty hands could snatch it off me. I laughed at her excited face and seeing me, she started laughing too and thus, my puja started for which I sat her in my lap to avoid any mishap and have a good control on her to do my puja peacefully. Once, it was done, I removed chunri, nath n bindi immediately and when I finally donned them again for the post-moon rise ark, she was with DH and her reaction was unforgettable. She kept looking at me with blinking eyes for a few seconds before finally bouncing in excitement. And, this is how she made this karwachauth so special for me.
Today, my Chinipie turns 6 months old. Her very existence makes each day special for me. I wish you a very happy and a long life ahead, Chinipie.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thunderbirds!
.. contd. from my last post
This post is a detailed story for the second picture here. I had started writing this one on 7th of Sept though..
It was a labour day weekend and we had an air show in downtown. The downtown's Burke Lakefront Airport was turned into an aviation amusement park and museum of aerial wonders for the event. DH had got tickets through his company and we were very excited to go there. I always wanted to see one but somehow didn't get the opportunity either in India or here until this time. As this was a long weekend and we were not going anywhere, we thought it would be a nice idea to go for the show. Along, with another couple with their eleven-month old son, we had gone to see the show. DH was unexpectedly called to the office that day, so we planned to go a little later, which suited all of us as the whole day outing with the babies was a bit difficult too. We had packed enough food, water, handy formula for the babies, hats to beat off the sun and were all set to enjoy the show.
We had special entertainment seats, which was an added advantage as we were seated in the front rows close to the demonstration area. The show was fun and the all of us enjoyed the show until this happened. The picture you see here, is the very last smiling picture of my little baby on that particular afternoon. One little detail that I had forgotten to check before leaving for the show cost me so heavily that I vowed never to make any plans with Chinipie in future unless I have gone through and investigated about the programs thoroughly.
As you can see in the picture, DH was carrying her in the sling and she was happy seeing people around in general and her little friend in particular as momma was busy clicking away the pictures. Suddenly , just over our head we saw the thunderbirds taking off to the sky and all of us got busy looking at their combats. Few seconds later we heard their sound (sonic booms as you would know travel faster than sound) and a split second later the a baby's crying.. yes you guessed it right, that was our baby! The sudden noise had scared her and she was crying out very loud. As I took her in my arms, she started to calm down when all of a sudden their was another boooom and then another and then another! Nothing could now console her.. not even her momma's arms. We thought of finding a shelter, where this sound could be minimized but no place could contain the thunder. That is when we decided that we would go back. Our friends asked us to leave the stroller with them, which they very generously offered to bring with them. I could not have been more grateful to their offer, though I was also feeling bad that they had to miss the show for us. Both DH and I ran frantically with our wailing baby, taking turns in carrying her only for a personal satisfaction that one of us could comfort her more than the other one, shouting out loud to each other to cover her ears, keep her closer to heart, but nothing and nobody could comfort her as the thunderbirds kept thundering the skies from everywhere.. left and right and front and back!! As we ran like mad, I remember getting all kinds of looks from people around- some looked with understanding, some with pity while others with disgust but I cared a damn. All I wanted to do at that time was to reach to the confines of our car and nurse her in the hope of giving her some consolation, but our car was still nowhere in sight! As we had arrived at a time when the show was in its peak, we had to park our car in the farthest parking spot from the show grounds. Getting out from the grounds itself took ages and reaching the car amidst the thunder booms and a crying baby seemed like an eternity. If, by any chance, you were in Cleveland air show this year and had seen a couple with a howling baby running crazily, snatching the baby from each other's arms, shouting out loud and another couple with a baby and a stroller following the first one with almost an equal speed while the thunderbirds showered the sky, yep, definitely that was us! Finally, as I caught a glimpse of the car from far, I ran with almost double speed and asked DH to open its locks so that no time is wasted later. And guess what, as soon as we reached the car, all the thunder stopped! The show was over a Chinipie, after nursing for a few seconds, looked up at me and smiled. Silence, never before, seemed golden to me! I brought her out of the car and all four of heaved a sigh of relief seeing her smiling.
We found out later that the sonic booms were this year's special show and I made a mental note never to take my Chinipie to any place before checking all the events.
Check the video that I made before I heard my baby's cries. Again the video did not capture the brrooooooooom of the thunderbirds.
One thing that I learned from my baby is to get over things quickly. She taught me not to keep the bad memories in mind. Cry it out and forget about it. Both, DH and I, took almost a week to come out of this whole episode whereas she was over it as soon as it was finished. True, as they say -
Child is the father of the man
This post is a detailed story for the second picture here. I had started writing this one on 7th of Sept though..
It was a labour day weekend and we had an air show in downtown. The downtown's Burke Lakefront Airport was turned into an aviation amusement park and museum of aerial wonders for the event. DH had got tickets through his company and we were very excited to go there. I always wanted to see one but somehow didn't get the opportunity either in India or here until this time. As this was a long weekend and we were not going anywhere, we thought it would be a nice idea to go for the show. Along, with another couple with their eleven-month old son, we had gone to see the show. DH was unexpectedly called to the office that day, so we planned to go a little later, which suited all of us as the whole day outing with the babies was a bit difficult too. We had packed enough food, water, handy formula for the babies, hats to beat off the sun and were all set to enjoy the show.
We had special entertainment seats, which was an added advantage as we were seated in the front rows close to the demonstration area. The show was fun and the all of us enjoyed the show until this happened. The picture you see here, is the very last smiling picture of my little baby on that particular afternoon. One little detail that I had forgotten to check before leaving for the show cost me so heavily that I vowed never to make any plans with Chinipie in future unless I have gone through and investigated about the programs thoroughly.
As you can see in the picture, DH was carrying her in the sling and she was happy seeing people around in general and her little friend in particular as momma was busy clicking away the pictures. Suddenly , just over our head we saw the thunderbirds taking off to the sky and all of us got busy looking at their combats. Few seconds later we heard their sound (sonic booms as you would know travel faster than sound) and a split second later the a baby's crying.. yes you guessed it right, that was our baby! The sudden noise had scared her and she was crying out very loud. As I took her in my arms, she started to calm down when all of a sudden their was another boooom and then another and then another! Nothing could now console her.. not even her momma's arms. We thought of finding a shelter, where this sound could be minimized but no place could contain the thunder. That is when we decided that we would go back. Our friends asked us to leave the stroller with them, which they very generously offered to bring with them. I could not have been more grateful to their offer, though I was also feeling bad that they had to miss the show for us. Both DH and I ran frantically with our wailing baby, taking turns in carrying her only for a personal satisfaction that one of us could comfort her more than the other one, shouting out loud to each other to cover her ears, keep her closer to heart, but nothing and nobody could comfort her as the thunderbirds kept thundering the skies from everywhere.. left and right and front and back!! As we ran like mad, I remember getting all kinds of looks from people around- some looked with understanding, some with pity while others with disgust but I cared a damn. All I wanted to do at that time was to reach to the confines of our car and nurse her in the hope of giving her some consolation, but our car was still nowhere in sight! As we had arrived at a time when the show was in its peak, we had to park our car in the farthest parking spot from the show grounds. Getting out from the grounds itself took ages and reaching the car amidst the thunder booms and a crying baby seemed like an eternity. If, by any chance, you were in Cleveland air show this year and had seen a couple with a howling baby running crazily, snatching the baby from each other's arms, shouting out loud and another couple with a baby and a stroller following the first one with almost an equal speed while the thunderbirds showered the sky, yep, definitely that was us! Finally, as I caught a glimpse of the car from far, I ran with almost double speed and asked DH to open its locks so that no time is wasted later. And guess what, as soon as we reached the car, all the thunder stopped! The show was over a Chinipie, after nursing for a few seconds, looked up at me and smiled. Silence, never before, seemed golden to me! I brought her out of the car and all four of heaved a sigh of relief seeing her smiling.
We found out later that the sonic booms were this year's special show and I made a mental note never to take my Chinipie to any place before checking all the events.
Check the video that I made before I heard my baby's cries. Again the video did not capture the brrooooooooom of the thunderbirds.
One thing that I learned from my baby is to get over things quickly. She taught me not to keep the bad memories in mind. Cry it out and forget about it. Both, DH and I, took almost a week to come out of this whole episode whereas she was over it as soon as it was finished. True, as they say -
Child is the father of the man
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Chinipie's 5th month.. details
Chinipie's 5th month has been very busy for all of us with her shots, diarrhea, milestones and lots of activities. In my last post I had posted her pictures. Here's more details of her 5th months developments. Actually I had wanted to do individual posts for all these but I hardly find time these days.. So, have to be content with this summed up post. I hope to do detailed posts in future .. only if Chini allows me to.
The 5th month started with her first ever play-date. We had invited our friends for dinner and thought that it would be a good idea that they come over a little early so that both the babies (their then 11-month old son and Chinipie) would get to play with each other for some time. Now, both these infants do not actually play but somewhere along in our conversations, we had figured out that they love watching other babies/kids. Chinipie, in fact, chuckles a lot seeing other babies or toddlers or kids. I have noticed that in our daily strolls, whenever we come across other kids and she has watched them to her hearts content, she doesn't fuss much after returning home and instantly falls asleep. I figured it out that this is the best way to keep her happy and, therefore, am encouraged to take her out for her daily strolls (which she anyways make sure that I do!). I have been thinking of taking her out for the 'Baby and Me' classes that our local library holds every week. But, DH's hectic work schedule and my yet unskillful driving is abstaining us from doing so. I am practicing my driving but as I said, DH has been so busy with work that I do not get a chance to lay my hands on the car, leave apart being at the driver's seat.
Coming back to her play-date, the evening had turned out to be fun with both the babies looking at each other before actually trying to make friends. And to our surprise, Chinipie was the first one to extend a hand of friendship to this shy young man as you can see in the snap. Hmmm, DH says she is going to be as friendly as me. I take this as a compliment :) :)
She being a friendly baby, gladly went in everyone's arms and was more than glad to be played with. And because she was so little then, I guess she didn't mind me or DH picking another child in our arms either. She was happy to be around so many people and especially her little friend and at the end of the day just indicated that she was tired and peacefully nursed to sleep.
Another surprise and joyful delight she gave me on this particular evening made me a very proud mom.This was something, I wasn't looking forward to and was so instantaneous that it would have gone unnoticed. But as all the four adults were so much into babies that we ooh-ed and aah-ed over it! We were showing our guests her pictures and I had to fetch the albums. As every body was around (and she was not much mobile then), I had seated her on the sofa supporting her with cushions around. When I came back, I sat beside her and started showing her pictures as we talked. Chinipie just rested her back on the sofa and kept looking at everyone. After a while, she turned her upper torso towards me and lifted both her hands a little over her shoulder, clearly wanted to be lifted up. As surprised as I was, I lifted her up and continued our conversation, when my friend remarked, "she does that at 4 months?" I replied in negative and shared my pride by telling them that it was the very first time.
Rest of the evening went peacefully with Chinipie just cooing a little when she got tired and wanted to sleep. Very quietly she nursed and dozed off to sleep. which leads us to the next day about which I will write more in my next post.
For now am going to play with her..
p.s. she has rolled over and is right under my chair, beaming with delight! For this little feat of her, I will reward her with kisses ..
The 5th month started with her first ever play-date. We had invited our friends for dinner and thought that it would be a good idea that they come over a little early so that both the babies (their then 11-month old son and Chinipie) would get to play with each other for some time. Now, both these infants do not actually play but somewhere along in our conversations, we had figured out that they love watching other babies/kids. Chinipie, in fact, chuckles a lot seeing other babies or toddlers or kids. I have noticed that in our daily strolls, whenever we come across other kids and she has watched them to her hearts content, she doesn't fuss much after returning home and instantly falls asleep. I figured it out that this is the best way to keep her happy and, therefore, am encouraged to take her out for her daily strolls (which she anyways make sure that I do!). I have been thinking of taking her out for the 'Baby and Me' classes that our local library holds every week. But, DH's hectic work schedule and my yet unskillful driving is abstaining us from doing so. I am practicing my driving but as I said, DH has been so busy with work that I do not get a chance to lay my hands on the car, leave apart being at the driver's seat.
Coming back to her play-date, the evening had turned out to be fun with both the babies looking at each other before actually trying to make friends. And to our surprise, Chinipie was the first one to extend a hand of friendship to this shy young man as you can see in the snap. Hmmm, DH says she is going to be as friendly as me. I take this as a compliment :) :)
She being a friendly baby, gladly went in everyone's arms and was more than glad to be played with. And because she was so little then, I guess she didn't mind me or DH picking another child in our arms either. She was happy to be around so many people and especially her little friend and at the end of the day just indicated that she was tired and peacefully nursed to sleep.
Another surprise and joyful delight she gave me on this particular evening made me a very proud mom.This was something, I wasn't looking forward to and was so instantaneous that it would have gone unnoticed. But as all the four adults were so much into babies that we ooh-ed and aah-ed over it! We were showing our guests her pictures and I had to fetch the albums. As every body was around (and she was not much mobile then), I had seated her on the sofa supporting her with cushions around. When I came back, I sat beside her and started showing her pictures as we talked. Chinipie just rested her back on the sofa and kept looking at everyone. After a while, she turned her upper torso towards me and lifted both her hands a little over her shoulder, clearly wanted to be lifted up. As surprised as I was, I lifted her up and continued our conversation, when my friend remarked, "she does that at 4 months?" I replied in negative and shared my pride by telling them that it was the very first time.
Rest of the evening went peacefully with Chinipie just cooing a little when she got tired and wanted to sleep. Very quietly she nursed and dozed off to sleep. which leads us to the next day about which I will write more in my next post.
For now am going to play with her..
p.s. she has rolled over and is right under my chair, beaming with delight! For this little feat of her, I will reward her with kisses ..
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Chinipie's 5th month
Days have been very hectic for the past two months with me barely getting any chance to touch my laptop. Had been intending to finish up so many posts that I started, but seems they still have to wait. Chinipie is one active baby and is growing more and more demanding as she is growing. She constantly wants to be played with.. and if she is content playing by herself, i grab that opportunity to either cook or clean, so this leaves no time for the computer and if i do get a chance to touch my laptop she makes sure that she too does the same! So, at the end of the day, I find myself nowhere near my laptop and hence, the blog too..
Today, finally when I managed to keep my eyes open, I find that my hands refuse to type anything that my mind says and my mind is not saying anything at all! So, for now I am summing her 5th month in these beautiful pictures. I will return with more detailed blog later. Behold!! For now you are going to view Chinipie in her 5th month..
Playing time..
Feeding time..
Teething time..
Daddy and Me time..
And.. exclusively momma times..
Today, finally when I managed to keep my eyes open, I find that my hands refuse to type anything that my mind says and my mind is not saying anything at all! So, for now I am summing her 5th month in these beautiful pictures. I will return with more detailed blog later. Behold!! For now you are going to view Chinipie in her 5th month..
Playing time..
Feeding time..
Teething time..
Daddy and Me time..
And.. exclusively momma times..
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thank you all!
Hey all! Chinipie is doing well now and completely recovered. In fact, it has been over ten days now that she has been sleeping well through the night and not getting up with a crampy stomach or a poopy diaper. She does get up in the nights but only for her feeds.
I thank all of you for your care and concern. Many of you called and offered me help and reminded me that you were there if need be. But seriously, there was nothing that you could have done. As I had mentioned in my earlier post, this is a part of growing up and i guess every mother has to go through it some time or the other.
I apologize for not letting you guys know about her well being earlier, but seriously I couldn't help it! Though she got better by the end of October first week, her schedule was all disrupt and took almost another week to fall back in place. Also, she has started sleeping lesser during the way and wants to be played with. So, this along with the household chores of cleaning, laundry and cooking leaves me with almost no time to sit with my laptop leave apart blogging!
I promise to come back soon with updates on her 5th month, more photos, tags and lots more.
For now, I will continue enjoy just being Chiniz Mom!!
I thank all of you for your care and concern. Many of you called and offered me help and reminded me that you were there if need be. But seriously, there was nothing that you could have done. As I had mentioned in my earlier post, this is a part of growing up and i guess every mother has to go through it some time or the other.
I apologize for not letting you guys know about her well being earlier, but seriously I couldn't help it! Though she got better by the end of October first week, her schedule was all disrupt and took almost another week to fall back in place. Also, she has started sleeping lesser during the way and wants to be played with. So, this along with the household chores of cleaning, laundry and cooking leaves me with almost no time to sit with my laptop leave apart blogging!
I promise to come back soon with updates on her 5th month, more photos, tags and lots more.
For now, I will continue enjoy just being Chiniz Mom!!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Little Prayer for Chinipie
For those who are wondering why there are no updates of Chinipie... it's because Chinipie has not been doing well since past one week. Her first ever illness and first ever diarrhea started this Tuesday and has only worsened since then. Her paediatrician says she has caught viral which none of us can't understand why as she is not even going to a day care and neither of us at home has diarrhea and I am so finicky about cleanliness when it comes to her that I not only wash but wipe her toys before handing them to her. But I guess, this was God's way of reminding me that everything related to her is not under my control. The paediatrician asked us to stop her cereals, fruits and veggies for now as these would be difficult to digest. So, it's just mom's milk that she's having now. Anyways, I wasn't giving her much of these, so no issues there. But yes, I was giving her water and now have stopped even that as per the instructions.
She has been very whiny this week and did not enjoy the evening strolls which have always been her favourites. It had started with her stools turning mucousy, then watery and gradually the frequency increased. Her diarrhea worsened last night, when she refused to nurse and cried for full one hour before falling asleep. We had to rush to the hospital emergency at 3:30 a.m. to have her check up done as her paediatrician feared that she might get dehydrated with excessive diarrhea combined with the crying. She forgot all her crying as soon as she saw that we are getting ready to go out (?!??) and was wide awake when we reached the hospital. After the series of questions, we were finally told to wait in a room where a doctor would come to see her. As soon as the emergency doctor came in, she smiled at him and pushed his hand as he checked his ears and started playing. The doctor said as she was alert and active, despite the diarrhea, there was no need to put an IV. For her spasms, he prescribed a medicine though and asked us to take her to her regular paediatrician in the morning, who was relieved to see her kicking and playing. To prevent her from dehydration, she gave us Paedelyte (a milder form of electrolyte solution for the infants).
Her condition has not improved yet but I am so much relieved to see her smiling, especially after the last night's bout of crying. She still has spasms in her tummy and her tiny bumchis have turned so sore that she is uncomfortable when she sits or wears diapers. So, it's cloth diapers for her (which I so much prefer any time). When she cries and nothing that I do helps to ease her pain, I feel like crying too, especially when she looks at me with a hope as is saying, "you are my mommy.. my everything.. i can find solace only in your arms.. relief in your bosom..". I know it's just a phase and comes in every mom's life at least once. I am sure my mom must have felt the same way for me and my mom's mom would have felt for her similarly and each and every mom on this earth have experienced this or will experience this, and I am not the only one, but still I can't help myself worrying about my child's health and discomfort. I pray to God to heal her very soon..
As I type this, I can hear her pooping in the other room. So I stop here and hopefully will come back with cheerful updates on her.. there was so much new this month.. all that and much more later.. meanwhile, please pray for her speedy recovery..
She has been very whiny this week and did not enjoy the evening strolls which have always been her favourites. It had started with her stools turning mucousy, then watery and gradually the frequency increased. Her diarrhea worsened last night, when she refused to nurse and cried for full one hour before falling asleep. We had to rush to the hospital emergency at 3:30 a.m. to have her check up done as her paediatrician feared that she might get dehydrated with excessive diarrhea combined with the crying. She forgot all her crying as soon as she saw that we are getting ready to go out (?!??) and was wide awake when we reached the hospital. After the series of questions, we were finally told to wait in a room where a doctor would come to see her. As soon as the emergency doctor came in, she smiled at him and pushed his hand as he checked his ears and started playing. The doctor said as she was alert and active, despite the diarrhea, there was no need to put an IV. For her spasms, he prescribed a medicine though and asked us to take her to her regular paediatrician in the morning, who was relieved to see her kicking and playing. To prevent her from dehydration, she gave us Paedelyte (a milder form of electrolyte solution for the infants).
Her condition has not improved yet but I am so much relieved to see her smiling, especially after the last night's bout of crying. She still has spasms in her tummy and her tiny bumchis have turned so sore that she is uncomfortable when she sits or wears diapers. So, it's cloth diapers for her (which I so much prefer any time). When she cries and nothing that I do helps to ease her pain, I feel like crying too, especially when she looks at me with a hope as is saying, "you are my mommy.. my everything.. i can find solace only in your arms.. relief in your bosom..". I know it's just a phase and comes in every mom's life at least once. I am sure my mom must have felt the same way for me and my mom's mom would have felt for her similarly and each and every mom on this earth have experienced this or will experience this, and I am not the only one, but still I can't help myself worrying about my child's health and discomfort. I pray to God to heal her very soon..
As I type this, I can hear her pooping in the other room. So I stop here and hopefully will come back with cheerful updates on her.. there was so much new this month.. all that and much more later.. meanwhile, please pray for her speedy recovery..
Friday, August 31, 2007
Chinipie's Developments II
Chinipie completed 4 months yesterday. She is a complete joy to be with and has been surprising and amusing me with her little acts of wonder! The expressions on her face changes from radiant to excited to innocent to mischievous to anger. She is growing more active with each passing day, leaving very little time for me to log them down. Here I try to capture some of her activities of the month.
Ulta-Pulta
On Friday, 3rd Aug I was absolutely thrilled with my darling's achievements!
For past couple of days, I was worrying that Chini is not getting enough time on her tummy and was constantly thinking of newer ways to give her more tummy time as she fussed whenever I put her on her tummy. By doing this, I had wanted to strengthen her neck and shoulder muscles so that she would be able to hold her head higher and try to raise her chest, at the least.
And my little sweetie doubly delighted her momma with not only holding head higher, chest up high but also by rolling over!!
This happened when I was massaging her in the morning. Her morning massage and bath is a routine that naani had set and we still continue on that (As a matter of fact, she gets very irritated if her morning routine is delayed!). I start massaging on her legs, then the chest, tummy and hands before turning her on her tummy to massage her back. Since, past 3-4 days, I let her stay her on her tummy until she showed some discomfort, just to give that much required tummy time. Sometimes, she would totally refuse to let me massage her back. Other times, she would happily try to move her little neck around before fussing to be moved back to comfort. This morning as I was turning Chinipie to her abdomen, I was wondering if she would stay some extra time on her belly. And this is when she must have thought is the best time to remove all the fears from momma's mind! As I turned her to her tummy, she rested her hands onto the floor and lifted her head and chest high up. 'This is it', I thought gleefully, 'Now she would fall back to the floor. Fall back to the floor she did; But on her back!! I was filled with such a joyful surprise that I kept looking at her with wonder! and as I was about to call out to DH to share the NEWS, Chini lifted her tiny bumchi's up and turned to her left side (this little feat she has been doing ever since she was 20 days old), using her right palm as support, rolled over to her tummy!! No words came out of my throat and I got back to my massaging business with renewed enthusiasm. She responded to my eager hands with an 'aen!' and I complimented her on her achievements as I massaged her tiny back. After the massage was complete, I showered her with lots of kisses and just then Dad came in to say good-bye as he was leaving for the office. And he, too, happily shared our enthusiasm and made a note to himself to fix the fourth side of her crib over the weekend!
In the afternoon, again she practiced her new moves while an ecstatic momma was clicking away the pictures!!
Speech Development
One of a major development this month is that Chini has started shrieking and shouting, though when she does that she is either wet or tired or bored. Her short eki's and eku's have now changed to the long kheeeeee's and gheeeeeee's and occasional short gu's and ga's.
Around ten days earlier, I was transferring the photos from the camera to the laptop, when Chinipie got up from her nap. I sat her on my lap, as I continued to work. The laptop on the desk fell in the range of her sight and she started banging her little hands on the keyboard. I let her do it as I sat back and watched. Even after a while she didn't stop and I casually asked her, "bachcha, what are you doing?” She turned around, looked at me, "gheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and got back to her business with the laptop.
Ulta-Pulta
On Friday, 3rd Aug I was absolutely thrilled with my darling's achievements!
For past couple of days, I was worrying that Chini is not getting enough time on her tummy and was constantly thinking of newer ways to give her more tummy time as she fussed whenever I put her on her tummy. By doing this, I had wanted to strengthen her neck and shoulder muscles so that she would be able to hold her head higher and try to raise her chest, at the least.
And my little sweetie doubly delighted her momma with not only holding head higher, chest up high but also by rolling over!!
This happened when I was massaging her in the morning. Her morning massage and bath is a routine that naani had set and we still continue on that (As a matter of fact, she gets very irritated if her morning routine is delayed!). I start massaging on her legs, then the chest, tummy and hands before turning her on her tummy to massage her back. Since, past 3-4 days, I let her stay her on her tummy until she showed some discomfort, just to give that much required tummy time. Sometimes, she would totally refuse to let me massage her back. Other times, she would happily try to move her little neck around before fussing to be moved back to comfort. This morning as I was turning Chinipie to her abdomen, I was wondering if she would stay some extra time on her belly. And this is when she must have thought is the best time to remove all the fears from momma's mind! As I turned her to her tummy, she rested her hands onto the floor and lifted her head and chest high up. 'This is it', I thought gleefully, 'Now she would fall back to the floor. Fall back to the floor she did; But on her back!! I was filled with such a joyful surprise that I kept looking at her with wonder! and as I was about to call out to DH to share the NEWS, Chini lifted her tiny bumchi's up and turned to her left side (this little feat she has been doing ever since she was 20 days old), using her right palm as support, rolled over to her tummy!! No words came out of my throat and I got back to my massaging business with renewed enthusiasm. She responded to my eager hands with an 'aen!' and I complimented her on her achievements as I massaged her tiny back. After the massage was complete, I showered her with lots of kisses and just then Dad came in to say good-bye as he was leaving for the office. And he, too, happily shared our enthusiasm and made a note to himself to fix the fourth side of her crib over the weekend!
In the afternoon, again she practiced her new moves while an ecstatic momma was clicking away the pictures!!
Feeling you softly with my hands!
This is one of the most cherished moments of my mommyhood! Chini had just got up from her afternoon nap and was all fresh. As she had surprised us in the morning, I had pulled her crib to the bed (I usually do this only during the nights), while I was finishing the chores. Hearing her up, I went to her, pulled her crib out and started talking to her. As I bent down to kiss her, she smiled reached up to my face and with her tiny hands, felt me all over. She touched my eyes, moved over to my nose, my cheeks, my chin and my lips as I baby-talked to her. I wanted this moment to go on forever and couldn't resist myself to kiss her little palms when they next came to my lips!!
Ever since, she has been stretching out her hands and feeling me all over stopping at my lips as I speak. And she still leaves me mesmerized!!
Just two days back, she did this with DH and to him this was completely new and as she did this, he got excited and said, "Wow! This is something new" to which the proud mom says, “Yeah, for you!!
Handful of ...
Since last month, she has been continuously discovering her hands. This month, she has started reaching out, sweeping and swinging for everything in sight, trying to grasp it though her grasp is still not firm. If she is lying down chewing contently on her hands and something is shown to her, she would stretch both her hands and bring it down to her chest to play. If she finds it interesting enough, the object would find its way in her mouth. Initially, she used to be very happy when she would successfully clutch something. Now, more of her energy is consumed in the struggle to get to the object. The striking part is more the effort she puts in getting to it, easier it is to drop it as soon as she holds it! She does not fret over the dropped object but immediately focuses back to where it was kept (mostly table or bed if she is sitting and stroller or bed if she is lying down) continuously looking for the next object(read victim)! And if there's nothing in sight she goes back to tasting her hands. :)
There is this incident, happened in the beginning of the month and which I lovingly call "A spoonful", when she used to get excited over everything she could hold. I was trying to bottle-feed her so that she starts to develop the taste (just to make it easier when we are traveling in the car). When she totally refused to take the bottle, I tried feeding her with the spoon. She took a little but continuously tried to clench the spoon. Finally, when I thought she had enough, I let her have it. The spoon was the regular stainless steel cutlery. She got excited and started waving her hands. The spoon struck on the dining table and made a sound. This, probably, excited her more and she did it again and again, looking at me every time, she could make the sound and her eager hands moving faster than the last time. And then, instead of the table, the spoon struck her! As a rule, I did not react to it. For a split second, even she did not. And then, with her mouth wide open, she started crying. I took her in my arms, she kept crying for a while and then I showed her the spoon again. She stopped crying, took it and started playing again. But this time and henceforth, she was careful not to hurt herself. A lesson learned!
This is a picture of her when she was being careful..
I am not sure if these would typically fall under early milestones, but as I have not seen any other baby doing this so early, I would take these moments to feel proud of mothering an extra-ordinary child(yeah! clearly i am obsessed with mine!).
One morning, two weeks back, as DH was getting ready for the office, he found the Chinipie was awake and all fresh. He played with her for a while and then put her on the bed on her tummy. She looked at me as I wished her 'Good Morning' and with a smile kicked her legs while extending her arms towards me. DH pulled her back, while I called her to come to me. And guess what! She caterpillar-ed her way to me!! She would put her head down; using it as a pivot, and her feet as support, she would lift herself up and then push her whole body forward! Both of us just kept looking at awe as she came up to me and rolled over with a delight!!
Chinipie, still, cannot sit up without a support and somehow, she has figured this out (I guess after she has tumbled a few times!). So if she wants to sit and reach out to something, she wants us to hold her (she is very expressive. if we don't, she knows how to get it!). There are times, when she would support herself with her hands and sit all by herself. When she does this, I stay close by and let her play by herself. As I said, she has figured out, that if she doesn't have a support to sit up, she would topple over. So, if she finds something interesting to reach out to, she would take support of one hand while trying to thrust her up and reach quickly with the other hand, getting it back to support in time. She tries to balance herself on one hand before taking up the other one. Also, she alternates the hands in the hope of getting to the object. A couple of days back, I had seated her in the crib, where the peek-a-boo bird of the piano on the crib wall captured her attention and she tried to get its legs while supporting herself with her hands. She tried every trick she knew, also, toppled over once or twice, but didn't give up. In an attempt to reach to it, she left both her hands and tried to balance herself on her little bumchis. My protective hands immediately tried to clench her as I thought in shocked state, "uh-oh, she shouldn't sit up so soon or else her spine would be damaged!” But I contained myself and let her be as she sat without any support for one whole second before starting to fall off! That's when I held her, and bent down to kiss her. She, not wanting to be interrupted, concentrated back on the peek-a-boo bird.
Another day, she was on my lap as I worked on my desk and she played with her teether, my pen, notepad and every other thing which she could see on the desk. One by one, she would reach to them until either in an attempt she would push them further away so that they would fall off or she would successfully clasp them and drop it while bringing them closer. One particular item was being pushed farther and every time she was trying to jump out to it with a force more than before. She was so determined to get to it that she rested her little feet on the chair, and jumped, rested her tummy on the side of the desk and extended her arms. When I realised, she was trying to stand on her legs!!
Old ones in a new wrap!
Her old favourites continue to be so but with a new flavour.
Earlier, she used to look at and talk to the rattler and pull-me-down doggy hanging from her rocking chair. One of us had to pull it for her. Now, she pulls it herself and squeals with delight every time she does so!
The same applies for the playmat doggy and other toys hanging on it.
She still loves to go out in her stroller but loves it even more when she realizes we are going in the car!
When in stroller, she has developed this habit of kicking down her toys. She would play with whatever is in her hand and when she gets bored, she lifts her legs up, clasps it between her legs and bring them down and kicks and kicks until it is well out of sight!
Speech Development
One of a major development this month is that Chini has started shrieking and shouting, though when she does that she is either wet or tired or bored. Her short eki's and eku's have now changed to the long kheeeeee's and gheeeeeee's and occasional short gu's and ga's.
Around ten days earlier, I was transferring the photos from the camera to the laptop, when Chinipie got up from her nap. I sat her on my lap, as I continued to work. The laptop on the desk fell in the range of her sight and she started banging her little hands on the keyboard. I let her do it as I sat back and watched. Even after a while she didn't stop and I casually asked her, "bachcha, what are you doing?” She turned around, looked at me, "gheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" and got back to her business with the laptop.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
A Promise..
Motherhood is a wonderful feeling.. puts one on the top of the world! but the real challenge comes in when you have to be a perfect blend of being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister and a d-i-l and a s-i-l .. and then suddenly you start giving everybody a damn and are content just being a mother.. and then suddenly you stop and think of the day when your baby would no longer be just YOUR baby and you try to promise yourself not to become too possessive. And then your baby looks up at you and smiles and again you give this promise a damn and are content just being a mother and make yourself a new promise to enjoy these moments to the fullest..
Then comes the question of your career.. you find yourself at cross roads.. whether to get back to your career or wait for some time or take small steps towards your career. You are thoroughly confused as you always thought yourself as a career person or a person who would perfectly balance the work and the family. But then the very thought of career fills you with guilt! Guilt- of leaving your baby with strangers or with people who would probably give her everything but not the love of a mother - which you feel your baby doesn't need to be deprived of.. even for a single second. You can't bear to be away from your child for a tiniest moment and know, for sure, that you would miss your child, more than any other person you have ever missed in your life. And the very thought of missing your child wretches you! Just then, the career person in you pokes you and makes you feel more wretched for neglecting. And then your baby looks up at you and smiles and then again you give your career a damn and are content just being a mother and make yourself a new promise to enjoy these moments to the fullest..
Then comes the question of your career.. you find yourself at cross roads.. whether to get back to your career or wait for some time or take small steps towards your career. You are thoroughly confused as you always thought yourself as a career person or a person who would perfectly balance the work and the family. But then the very thought of career fills you with guilt! Guilt- of leaving your baby with strangers or with people who would probably give her everything but not the love of a mother - which you feel your baby doesn't need to be deprived of.. even for a single second. You can't bear to be away from your child for a tiniest moment and know, for sure, that you would miss your child, more than any other person you have ever missed in your life. And the very thought of missing your child wretches you! Just then, the career person in you pokes you and makes you feel more wretched for neglecting. And then your baby looks up at you and smiles and then again you give your career a damn and are content just being a mother and make yourself a new promise to enjoy these moments to the fullest..
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