My sleeping li'l angel

As I sit here in the room
watching while you sleep
I think of the very first time I saw you
You were just a little tadpole
And I instantly fell in love with you

As I sit here in the room
watching while you sleep
I think of the very first time I held you
You were crying with your eyes shut
And I wanted to wrap my arms around you

As I sit here in the room
watching while you sleep
I think of the very first time you held me
Your tiny hand wrapped around my finger
And I didn't want to let go

As I sit here in the room
watching while you sleep
I think of the very first time you smiled
Your lips curved and the gums showed
And I was exhilarated with joy

As I sit here in the room
watching while you sleep
I wonder what you are dreaming
Your face has such a blissful look
And I would make sure that all your dreams come true!

Timeless Facts

Timeless Fact I

Babies are capable of rendering such a heart-wrenching cry that it would take your wits off and bring tears to your eyes!


Timeless Fact II

Babies are capable of rendering such a heart-melting smile that it would take your worries off and bring twinkle to your eyes!

At Last!

Chinipie is just over two and a half months old now. She has finally adopted a routine which I had so much heard of/read about in the baby magazines, and only occasionally falls out of the schedule now. No wonder, you are able to find my blogs with so many recent posts :)

Just a few days and there has been so much change in her and me! She was such a cry-baby in the first few weeks, who had the ability to scare the guts off her parents. She has now become an active and happy child, who needs to be talked to and played with all the time she is awake and to be cuddled and perked up on the shoulders when sleepy. There are times when she is content playing by herself letting momma to finish the household stuff (Lucky me!). The most striking part is that in all this she has a routine - which is so very important and helps me planning my work! Unlike her momma, she is an early riser and loves to play kicking her tiny legs and hands in excitement. Whether or not momma is up by this time doesn't bother her though if she gets either mom or dad to play, she makes sure to grace them with lots of smiles! After she's nursed, massaged and bathed, she takes a brief nap and momma has to be super-fast and utilize this time to the fullest coz 2 hours after that are completely to be dedicated to her. This is the time that she doesn't like to stay alone even for a split second! And she makes sure that this demand of hers is fulfilled! The rest of the day is spent in nursing every two and a half to three hours, brief naps and activities.

Evenings are strictly meant to go out to see a bit of sunshine and people. If you are thinking that we inculcated this habit in her then let me tell you we just took her out for 2 consecutive evenings and the 3rd evening onwards, she has been dragging us out of the house every evening. And the way she does this is really amazing - When she cries, you just need to say - let's go out and put her in the stroller and there she is all smiles!! The first time she did this, DH and I couldn't believe our eyes! She was not even two months then!! You should have seen her that day, looking around with so much alertness, smiling like an angel at every stranger crossing by, while just a couple of minutes ago, her mom and dad were going nuts to pacify her back at home!!! At times, she gets tired of looking around and dozes off peacefully in her stroller only to get up after returning home - playing with dad, poop-ing, nursing and playing again and finally dozing off to sleep leaving momma to do whatever she wants -only to wake up gently during the night for the feeds.

Looking at her, I realize that following a routine is so much important in our lives! Ever since she has made up a schedule for herself, things have started falling into place and have become so much easier! Nothing seems to be a burden now, and slowly, I am able to squeeze in time for all kinds of work that I want to do. A little adjustment, here and there, and I will be able to get back to the much needed exercises too. And am sure, am not too far from going back to work also (Though, what kind and how long is still to be figured out. Let's leave that out for now!). My dad had always stressed upon following a time-table and now I know why! I am glad, at least, somebody in this house follows my dad's ideology! :)

Some way!!

Recently, Chinipie had discovered that she could actually box with her hands. Further to that, she has been enjoying boxing every little thing that she can, her favourite still is Sherkhan though. Yesterday evening, she was enjoying boxing an empty Dasani bottle, while DH was picking and putting it in front of her. Sometime, during her play, DH put a support behind the bottle but even this didn't deter her. Her blows grew stronger and her determination harder to bring the bottle down and she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Earlier, she was just beginning to grasp, though without the knowledge. Now, she's getting to know this use of her little hands too. With my new style, thankfully, my locks have escaped being a guinea pig to the discovery. Much to my amazement, it's her frock!! I am not sure whether it's her hands or the frills at the end of the frock that she loves looking at but what she does (and she does it with that serious-at-work kind of look at her face) is pick the ends of the frock and look. May be she marvels at her hands that they can do so many things. Past couple of days, I had noticed her busy admiring her hands (or frills) while I was in the kitchen and she sitting in her rocker. Happy I was, that my little one is busy with something, letting me finish some household work; until tonight. Every evening, we go out for a stroll with Chinipie sitting royally in her travel system. She loves to look around and even more loves getting attention from the people around. When we returned from our walk, we shared the elevator with couple of others and as expected they cooed at her, telling me how lovely she is. As a routine, I passed a smile to them and murmured a thanks. With a pride-filled eyes, I looked at her only to find her smiling at them and holding her frock up!! Some way to grab attention!!

Chinipie's Firsts

July, the 14th, goes down as the day full of a lots of Chinipie's firsts!
And they are not the firsts that I had planned for this day! Yeah, I know, I sound stupid when I talk about "planning" firsts. They would happen at their own pace, provided, we talk about her developmental milestones. A few events, the parents can definitely plan! DH's company had organized a fun day out for 14th July at a water park nearby. Initially, I was excited to take my baby to the park and mark this as her very first visit to the water park. In fact, I was planning to buy a cute little swim suit for her too. But, later discarded the plan, altogether, as she is too young and the chlorine water might harm her tender skin. I did not want to take any risks and have postponed this first for a few months. Instead, confirmed to our friends that we would be coming over for their party - a birthday party they are throwing for their daughter's first birthday - the very first birthday party Chinipie has been invited to!!

The party was good and we had dressed Chinipie in a little Princess dress (again, her first ever!). Though, she slept through the party, she looked lovely in that pretty dress and received her first-ever return gift. This comes as a needless piece of information, but I want to add that I am one of those who hate overly girlie dresses and only pink for girls. But, for this time, we thought that as we are taking her to a birthday party, she should wear a proper party dress and we bought a pink little princess dress for her.

Earlier, in the morning, while I was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen, DH was keeping Chinipie occupied. He was talking to her and playing with her in the dining room. DH was gently throwing her up in the air all the while talking to her when I heard her laughing! I couldn't believe my ears! She was actually laughing - loud and clear! She used to gurgle but this was the first time she laughed! I can still hear her laughter -filled with innocence and straight from heart! Her face had a radiance, her eyes had twinkle in them and her smile- that toothless smile - no words can describe it! I was speechless! I am speechless! I rushed to get the camera and capture the moment but as they say - some moments are best captured in our memories!!

Another of Chinipie's firsts was - her portrait photograph. For past few days, we have been trying to get her portrait done and have been taking her out nicely dressed and with a couple of extra dresses for a variety. Unfortunately, by the time we used to reach the studio, either she would start crying uncontrollably or the studios(Yeah, I say studios, coz once we drove almost entire town in hope of finding at least one of the studios open!) would be closed and we would come back home, disappointed. We didn't want to take an appointment as we never know that at the time of appointment, our girl would still be in good spirits. in fact, once when she was in good spirits and we couldn't find a single studio in the area open, we came back home and clicked the photographs ourselves (All 3 of us were so nicely dressed, you see!). As a weekend routine, we had to go grocery shopping and we thought that we might take a chance again. So, we dressed her up, took a couple of her dresses and went off again. She was sleeping when we left home. So, by the time our shopping was done, she was all fresh from her siesta and I did not want to waste a single waking moment of hers, so we rushed to the Target studio as it was the closest from where we were. Luckily, we got an appointment and Chinipie stayed through the family portrait and a couple more of her single ones. We could not go for a change of dress though as she passed out after all these activity. We are happy with whatever we could! I should mention here that the photographer was good (unlike the hospital fiasco!)- she chose apt backgrounds and was extremely good in capturing Chini's attention. I am eagerly waiting for the our copies of the photographs!

New Look!!

Today, I got a new hair-do - following my thought. Thus, begins my journey from a dull, old-fashioned mom to a hep momma :)

The next on the list is to shed all these extra pounds!!

For cheer-ups

A discovery

My Chinipie made a new discovery today. and she was absolutely thrilled by it!! Really, you could see it on her face. Babies are so inquisitive by nature. Anything new captures their interest so soon and bores them equally sooner. DH's colleagues had sent a bucket of goodies on Father's Day. Along with candies and fruits, were bibs and rattler for the baby. I thought this is the best time to introduce the rattler to her. The rattler is very lovely, with a little tiger sitting on the top. So, for the past two days, I was trying to hold her attention rattling it and making roaring sounds. Rattling did not charm her but the roars did! Eventually, I thought, my baby is a very unusual baby and may be doesn't like the rattlers or would like them a little later when she would make me go crazy with throwing the rattler down to the ground and gurgling as her mom picks and gives it to her every split second (some weird imagination, huh!! seems like i can't wait for my baby to grow up!!). Anyhow, I shunned the idea of using the rattler as a rattler and started using it as a prop instead. I held conversations with her holding the little tiger by its tail and roaring every once in a while. I also named him "Sherkhan, the tiger" (jungle book creature, if you remember). My conversations are nothing but silly mumblings like

" I am Sherkhan the tiger. Roarrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I will eat you up. Roarrrrrrrrrrrr (with the tiger going to her cheek or momma going all ga-ga over Chini's face and Chini with an amused look on her face)"

Now, this little girl of mine is very talkative and an intent listener! She dries up my throat, literally, with all the talking that she makes me do!! Today, as I was again putting up this act of mine, Chinipie was kicking her legs and arms, a definite sign that she was enjoying this while her momma's throat had started aching with all the talks and the roars. So, I just held the tiger by its tail and sat for a while looking at her. She, in turn, looked at the Sherkhan intently. "Wow!", I thought to myself, "This might be the beginning of her getting to know the rattler as rattler!" and in excitement I rattled the Sherkhan by its tail. She just kept looking at it and then at me and then started kicking her legs and arms again. There goes all my hopes and Sherkhan would always remain a roaring Sherkhan! But wait!! In her excitement, her arms boxed Sherkhan and poor fellow fell (I was holding the tail lightly, you see) with a, not roaring but rattling, sound. And this captured her attention! She stopped kicking and boxing and looked at Sherkhan as I picked and held the poor creature by its tail in front of her, then she looked back at me and then again at Sherkhan. Very cautiously, she brought her hand near it and touched it lightly; Sherkhan made a rattling sound but didn't fall off this time! Again, a look at Sherkhan, then at momma, and action repeat - with the blow growing stronger. Sherkhan again rattled, exciting her. With a gurgle, she repeated all the sequence and discovered that she can actually box with her hands, looked at momma with eyes filled with the joy of discovery and got back to fist the Sherkhan - poor Sherkhan, obediently rattled away every times he fell off and silently came back to hold his place in front of her - only to be fisted again!


Here's a snap of her, as she enjoys boxing Sherkhan down!

LAWS OF BABYHOOD

First law of Babyhood

When momma is exhausted to the point of dropping and thinks of taking a quick nap, the baby would grace her with a heart-melting smile (there goes momma's sleep!!).


Second law of Babyhood

Whenever momma thinks that baby is happily sleeping and she can catch up with some work, the baby will get up and start wailing.


Third law of Babyhood

When momma takes the diaper off the baby either to give her some nudie time or to change the diaper, the baby decides to shower the house with her offerings (in other words, pee-pee and poop-poop)

Startled!

To let chinipie's skin breathe, I try to use cloth diapers for as much as I can. I do not mind standing at the sink washing loads of them as long as my baby's skin is healthy.

In the afternoon, my little girlie was happily sleeping when I noticed that her diaper was all wet. Hmm.. ime to put a fresh and dry one on her. I stealth across to her so as not to disturb her and slowly untie her diaper. She must have been feeling more comfortable in her wet diaper coz as soon as I removed it, she let out a startled cry so loud that even I was startled! Poor her, she surely would have not expected to be striped off her clothing when asleep. She went back to sleep when I held her. Every little act of hers seems so cute that I could keep her cuddled to me all the time!

Love you Chinipie

My dear chinipie,

It's been a month now that your naani has returned to India and you are doing quite well now. You had noticed her absence and had opted to sleep over, cry out and then chose to remain silent and dull - all the while constantly looking around for your beloved naani. I still remember your immediate change in expressions - from your face lightened up and you turned your little head around to see your nani when I had entered the room saying "quack, quack" as your naani used to do when she was here, to a loud howl when you realized that the voice was not your naani's. I assume, finally you made peace with yourself and accepted the presence of just your mom and dad in the house.

You've indeed grown up since then.

You have your own schedule and nothing in this world can break your routine. You love to wake up at six every morning and play with your mom and dad, even when they are unable to open their eyes. You love to get your massage and your bath every morning at a fixed time. Any delay in these activities and you know the best way to convey it to mama - cry your lungs out!

You love going for walks outside every evening. You are so observant. You love looking at trees and clouds and the sky and of course, people! You are sure to greet them with your so adorable toothless smile, even when you are not particularly talking to mom and dad for having delayed your evening walk.

You love looking at your "Fuzzy Bee" book and wait expectantly for momma to read it out to you as she turns the pages. Sometimes you stare intently at my mouth as I talk. I watch your little mouth starting to mimic mine, and talking back to me with your "hoon"s and "eki"s, "kaga"s, "inga,unga"s and "eku,egu"s.
You love to talk to the ceiling fan, to the light, to your mobile dinasours, to your playmat doggy and swing rocker doggy.
You kick or shoo away your little pillows while playing on your mat or talking to your friends.
You look around to check if momma is around and watching you, while you play with your mobile or playmat friends. You keep looking at these tiny friends of yours when you suddenly start shouting asking to be picked up. This cute little act of yours seems like you just had a quarrel with them while playing, when in fact you might have been bored or tired or hungry.

You pout your lower lip before you cry. Sometimes I soothe you when I see you pout and other times after pouting, you straight away start your howls skipping the short cry altogether. When tired or extremely hungry. you get pissed-off when dad mimics you and he loves doing that! You welcome him with a huge smile when he returns home in the evening.

You still lighten up when you hear your naani's voice over the phone.
You honour your baba and dadi with smiles on the webcam when they coo you.

You love to chew our shoulders, our shirts, our arms and mark them with your spit, while you look around with twinkling eyes. You love to stick your whole fist in your mouth and slurp away loudly. You cling onto me like a little monkey, pressing your face against my shirt - as you shy away from either me making an eye contact or your dad whistles at you.


You snuggle up cosily beside me and sleep in the afternoons. You make squeaky noises when you sleep and cuddle up like an up-turned beetle-bug. You love wriggling and stretching yourself out when you wake up all fresh from your sleep.
and I love watching you doing that.
You love to sleep in your own bed by my side in the nights and wake me ever so gently to nurse. although I have to say that I wouldn't mind one--just one--chunk of sleep longer than three hours. But I'll take these sleepless nights as what comes with the beauty of motherhood. I know that I would be saying this often throughout our lives, but my ecstatic heart wants to say -
Thanks for making me momma!!

This is how I cry!

I really love her when she is about to cry! Don't give me those faces - I am not a mom who would make her cry for no reason.. what I mean is the pouty face she makes when she is about to cry is so adorable!! And then within a second she would be all howling and wailing, taking the nerves out of you. But if you are prompt enough and lucky enough to pacify her the moment she makes her pouty face, you might infact bring back the smile on her face!

Some crocodile tears :)

"Beware - I pout"


"I'd warned you"


"Lucky Momma - You gave me attention & I decided to change my expression"