17 January 2013 - Crossed Your First Milestone!

               Yesterday you had your your 4th month vaccination and doctor said you are growing well. You did not cry much after the shots, I can see that you are becoming a big girl! But today you had mild fever of 100.6 degrees and in the evening in spite of that we went to Rishabh's birthday party. You were not fussy in the bigining, but after you slept there for sometime and woke up realizing that it is not your house. That's when you started your loud cry and I had to eat my dinner in 3 minutes and we came home. I could understand my poor baby and I liked you so much for the reason that you were trying to smile at the party in spite of the fever. As soon as we reached home, you slept happily within minutes and Dhaval uncle brought home an entire box of pizza for me saying that I had not eaten much!

                Now let me tell you what you have been doing in the past two months. On November 24th I noticed that you have started gripping objects. On November 26th, you grabbed you blanket and pulled it up on your face and you got scared. I was terrified when I heard your sudden cry and later I smiled when I got to know the reason. If you are wearing a frock, it never stays in its place, you keep pulling it up above your head! You pull out the pacifier from your mouth and cry that it has gone. You give me that angry look as though I removed your pacifier!

               You bring both your hands together and keep rubbing your feet too. According to babycenter.com, it is because you have just discovered your own hands. You bring your hands close to your face and keep looking at them! Earlier you used to put two of your fingers in the mouth and now a days you try to put both your hands in your mouth at a time. You even chew your fingers. You started turning to one side on December 3rd. That is when I realized that the day of your first milestone is coming closer.

               On December 4th your granny went back to India and you missed her for the next few days. And you still remember her voice and you smile at her during the video chat. You are becoming very talkative these days and I love that language you talk. It is fun to watch your eyes when we are travelling under flyovers. You feel the sudden darkness and open your eyes as wide as possible! You are so adorably innocent and watching you under the flyovers has become my favourite thing to do.

               On December 17th, in the afternoon you were lying down on the bed and I was talking to you and that's when you suddenly turned over. You did it! It was not just turning over from back to tummy, but also after some time you turned from tummy to back too! I was too glad to see your first milestone achieved and called your dad to tell him what you did. We brought "guLi kaavali" from Sunitha aunty's house and celebrated it with "sauthe kayi appa" that day. But now a days, I get to see the naughty side of it. You turn over when I change your diaper, you turn over during the play time, you turn over when I give you a bath and you turn over at midnight!

               We bought you a new set of pacifiers and you didn't like the style. So we had to buy another set of pacifiers. According to babycenter.com, you can see everything in 3D now. So now you know how fat your mommy is! (I'm 52kg now). You have learnt to laugh, gurgle, blow bubbles and you squeal all the time. And the bad part is, you do the most of it at 4 in the morning! The credit of waking us up every single day goes you. You have learnt to hug your mom and dad. We reach cloud 9 every time you do that. You can shake your rattles now. You have learnt to smile at your own self in the mirror. Showing you the 'mirror baby' even stops your cry! You love the sound of photo click and you smile for the photo because of that reason. You have been turning over from back to tummy regularly. But from tummy to back, you have hardly turned over a few times.

               Your voice gets louder and louder at night, the sound of your sleepy cry is very different than the regular one and I worry about waking up the entire America! You know where to look if you are hungry and you have even bitten it from outside several times if there was a delay in giving your meal! Blanket is your enemy, you kick it off everytime I cover you with one. Even in your deep sleep, the blanket does not stay on you. So I make you sleep with full sleeved top and pants. On January 2nd, you were continuously biting your lower lips and I wondered if you are already teething. But that stopped after few days.

               On December 20th you liked your kangaroo bag and stayed in it for a long time. You like bath time and the sound of water. Bathroom is a happy place for you and you sit in your tub every day for a long time. After bath, you have a long dressing up process. If you have to let me wipe you, you need to be held in front of the mirror. You smile and stare at the 'baby' in the mirror. After this, I apply powder on you - behind your ears, under the neck, under the arms and legs, wherever I see chubby folds. Once that is done, I apply moisturizing lotion on you. I give you vitamin D syrup. Put black bottu on your forehead. Apply diaper rash cream and put diaper holding you with one hand so that you don't turn over. Now comes the time to cry as I use bulb syringe to suck mucous from your nose. It helps to avoid cold. But you cry your lungs out, good for your throat! Also exhausted baby sleeps faster. I put your clothes on, feed you and rock you to sleep. Since the heater makes the weather very dry, we have bought a humidifier for you.

               Few days ago one night, you put your head under my blanket and I moved a little far. After some time you pulled yourself closer to me and again inserted your head under my blanket. I kept taking off the blanket from your head and you kept repeating it several times. Finally when I realized what was happening, I just couldn't stop laughing. You had become an Ostrich because you felt cold and that was your way of expressing it. I covered you with a thicker baby blanket and gave you a good hug and my poor baby slept very well after that. Your dad has a funny way of rubbing his eyes and I was surprised to see you rubbing your eyes just the same way. When did your dad teach you this without my knowledge??

               You have learnt to raise your eyebrows and I'm very happy to say that you need to hold my fingers to go to sleep along with my songs. But the strangest thing is that you cry with tears rolling off whenever I sing "sa pa sa" and for one particular tune in your toy. I have checked it at least some 15 times and even when you were in a good mood, you have cried with tears for these two tunes! You must have got some connection from previous birth associated with it! You have started drooling and you keep both your hands in mouth all the time. You smile back at us when we smile at you. You pull my hair if I come close to you and pulling my nose and squealing with smile has become your new hobby. Words can't express the joy I feel when you hold my face and smile looking into my eyes. Why don't I get disgusted and still find it adorable when those soft wet hands dipped in drooling saliva touch my cheeks!? I still wonder...!

A Day in My Life When Aadya is 3 Months' Old!

               Aadya is exactly 3 months and 3 day old. My mom has gone back to India days ago. Now all of my time is taken by Aadya and all of her time goes still in eating, sleeping and pooping. Few more things added to the list are screaming, smiling, crying and turning over. According to the pediatrician she is now supposed to wake up for feeding only once in 4-5 hours at night and once in 3-4 hours during the day. But my baby has her alarm set in her stomach for every 2 hours and sometimes even before that! And no partiality between day and night! This time, I can not consider the beginning of the day at 6 am, it is much earlier. So here goes my 24 hours :

• 4.06 AM : I wake up for the sound of cooing in dark by the creature next to me. I pretend to be asleep. A little hand slaps me, pinches my cheeks and the loud voice says "buuuuaaaa eeeekkooooo". I continue to be silent and motionless, praying quietly "Oh, God! Make her sleep for some more time!"
• 4.09 AM : Cooing stops and she has dozed off. I happily sleep again.
• 4.12 AM : I hear the hunger cry, I feed her. Change her diaper.
• 4.33 AM : Aadya is gargling the milk. I tell her to drink quietly. She opens her mouth wide and smiles. She hits my face and says "aaaaammm aaaamm" I realize that she is full and close the milk counter! She starts talking once again. I hold her hand and softly tell her, "It's not morning yet, there is still time. Sleep some more baby". She laughs as if I cracked the funniest joke ever and squeals in a loud voice. Also makes loud noises from her diaper area, so I know it is morning! I put pacifier in her mouth to stop all the sounds and hold her and try to sleep. Let her complete her morning 'sounds' in diaper. In case if I change the diaper immediately, within 5 minutes I get another dirty diaper!
• 4.35 AM : No signs of her sleeping again. I change her diaper. The naughty girl has started gurgling aloud. Her dad covers his head with the blanket and tried to get some sleep. Who wants to doze off at office otherwise?! Forget sleeping some more, I get up from bed, pick her up and we walk to the living room, so that at least her dad can have some peaceful sleep. On week ends, it is his duty to play with her and I get to sleep for an hour more. I spread a bed sheet on the carpet, switch on the light and lie down.
• 5.30 AM : Aadya is still talking to the light, gurgling, squealing, cooing, slapping my face, pulling my hands and hair, kicking me and blowing bubbles. She enjoys sleeping under her toy carpet and play with her giji giji elephant. She even talks to her elephant. God knows why she gets the highest level of energy at this time in the morning! The joy is too infectious, I can't stop smiling looking at her. I talk to her and she responds to every word of mine either by cooing or by hitting playfully! "Guaaaaaaa gi gi" and "avoooo" are her favorite words! I have changed her diapers with truck loads twice, really didn't know that she has the capacity to produce so much of poop!
•  5.40 AM : Dad comes in smiling and sits next to Aadya asking her "aren't you tired of screaming yet?" She laughs and says "bbeeeeeeaaa"! Time for dad and daughter to play. I go into the kitchen.
• 7.15 AM : Done with preparing breakfast and lunch. Aadya is tired and crying, demanding to carry her. I have fed her once again in between. My husband and I have been taking turns to be with her. For some time, we let her cry and settle down on her own, because I was in the kitchen and her dad in the bathroom! I was constantly talking to her from kitchen, but that was not calming her down. Carrying her in the kangaroo bag while I was cooking worked for some time. Now my husband is ready for office. I pack his lunch box, put some fruits in the bag. 
•  7.35 AM : Aravind leaves after his breakfast. I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. And Aadya is crying as loud as possible for leaving her alone. I hear the video chat call from her Jogibettu ajja-ajji and I come back still brushing to answer the call. I let them console Aadya when I go back to the bathroom. I can hear her ajja singing for her "Raama Raama Jaya Raaja Raama......."!
• 7.40 AM : I take all the remaining breakfast in a plate, a cup of Kashaya and sit on the bed sheet in front of the laptop. Aadya sees me and cries even more to carry her. I pick her, place her on my lap and eat my breakfast while talking to my parents.
• 7.50 AM : I am rocking Aadya in my lap and she has fallen asleep for the sound of mom and ajja-ajji talking. I slowly keep her down to put my plate in the sink. 
• 7.52 AM : Aadya is crying with an angry look on her face for keeping her down. Grand pa shouts at me to pick her up again and says "it is her right to sleep on her mom's lap!" I feed her and put her back to sleep.
• 8.48 AM : Video call is over and my legs are aching because Aadya is still on my lap. I slowly keep her down and check facebook.
• 9.14 AM : Baby is up and staring at everything. Checking if mom has left her alone or still with her. I let her play with elephant for some time, but she looks not very enthusiastic. 
• 9.32 AM : I pick her up and keep new set of her clothes, powder, baby lotion, new diapers ready. Pick her bath towel and take her to the bathroom. I fill warm water to her tub with the free hand and make her sit in her tub. She is now smiling and cooing again. She enjoys hitting the water, splashing it. But if the water splashes on her face, she gets scared! I apply baby oil and massage her little body and let her sit in water for some more time and then bathe her.
• 10.06 AM : We are done with bath and now starts the dressing up, it is a long process! If she has to let me wipe her, she needs to be held in front of the mirror. She smiles and stares at the 'baby' in the mirror. After this, I apply powder on her - behind her ears, under the neck, under the arms and legs, wherever I see chubby folds. Once that is done, I apply moisturizing lotion on her. I give her vitamin D syrup. Put black bottu on her forehead. Apply diaper rash cream and put diaper. Now comes the time to cry as I use bulb syringe to suck mucous from her nose. It helps to avoid cold. But she cries her lungs out, good for her throat! Also exhausted baby sleeps faster. I put her clothes on, feed her and rock her to sleep.
• 11.08 AM : Aadya is asleep. I clean the kitchen and wash the piled up vessels in the sink with as little noise as possible.  
• 12.00 PM : Done with kitchen and now I am free until she wakes up. I wash my face, wash Aadya's bath tub and keep it for drying, make a phone call to Sunitha. Pick up a few papers scattered around and put some in the dustbin and the remaining in its place, I lie down for 10 minutes.
• 1.03 PM : Baby is up and hungry. I feed her, change the diaper, bring her to the living room, have my lunch as she plays with her elephant.
• 1.47 PM : As soon as I finish my lunch, she is tired of elephant! I put her on the bed sheet and sit next to her playing. I am not allowed to get up from there until she sleeps again, not even allowed to go to the bathroom. We play and play until both of us are tired. She starts getting irritated and I pick her up and walk around the house showing her stove, sink, table, window, bed, closet.... Weather is not letting us go to the balcony, it is below 5 degree fahrenheit even at this time of the day! 
• 2.54 PM : Aadya is hungry and sleepy. I feed her and rock her to sleep.
• 3.38 PM : She is asleep, I go and try to wash vessels and she wakes up crying. I go back to her and rock her for another 10 minutes until she falls asleep again.
• 3.50 PM : I quietly go to the bedroom and fold some clothes, clear the bed. 
• 4.12 PM : I come back to kitchen and open fridge to take out a few veggies to prepare some soup for my husband. Aadya gets disturbed for the noise of plastic covers and fridge opening! She makes a crying face, changes her position and constantly rubs her eyes and ears. Even before I reach her she starts crying. I pat her to sleep and once she sleeps, I quietly switch on the laptop and immediately mute it. I check some recipes and check babycenter.com. Read some blogs.
• 5.03 PM : Aadya is up, hungry. I feed her, change her diaper. 
• 5.48 PM : Dad has come home. He is hungry and I have nothing ready for him to eat. He changes his clothes, washes his hands and picks up his darling daughter.
• 5.55 PM : I quickly wash vessels, prepare some soup and guacamole and keep it on the table with corn chips for my husband. 
• 6.20 PM : My husband hands me Aadya while he takes his snacks. I pick a few chips and the dip here and there as I roam around carrying the baby. I gulp my cold soup like water. 
• 6.50 PM : I give dad and daughter some time to play and talk as cut some fruits. I take bath, wash rice and and keep it in the cooker.
• 7.23 PM : Aadya is hungry and tired and irritated and sleepy and crying! I change her diaper and feed her, try to put her to sleep.
• 7.57 PM : She has slept in my arms, I slowly keep her on the bed and rush to the kitchen because dinner is not ready yet. I take out vegetables from the fridge and start cutting them.
• 8.04 PM : Aadya is crying, I stop for a minute to see if she calms down on her own. When that doesn't happen, I run to the bedroom, try to pat her back to sleep. Even this is not working! I pick her up and rock her again to sleep with pacifier in her mouth. It works! She is asleep.
• 8.18 PM : I have cut vegetables and kept it for cooking and just took out coconut and about to grind it and I hear the cry from bedroom! This time her dad goes in and I switch on the mixie. When grinding is done, I still hear loud cry! I go into the bedroom and my husband hands her over to me.
• 8.30 PM : Aadya is asleep and I have successfully put her on bed. I return to the kitchen and complete preparing the dinner. I keep plates for my husband and for myself, serve food and when I finish half my dinner, Aadya is crying again! I wash my hands and rush to the bedroom, rock her, put her to sleep.
• 8.58 PM : I come back and have dinner in a record time - just in a few seconds my plate gets empty! Wash vessels with bedroom door closed and with as little noise as possible. I cut vegetables for tomorrow and keep it ready. Clean the kitchen.
• 9.52 PM : I am done with the works for today and Aadya is now hungry! I go and feed her. Change her diaper.
• 10.23 PM : Baby is asleep, her dad next to her. I take another side of Aadya and fall asleep.
• 12.30 AM : She is hungry, I feed her and put her to sleep and even I sleep.
• 2.02 AM : Aadya is up, I check the time, it's not 2 hours since she drank milk, but still looks sleepy. I feed her, change her diaper. She opens her eyes and stares at the light and thinks it is morning and starts cooing! I hush her and immediately switch off the light and rock her to sleep!
• 4.01 AM : She is up again, a new day starts and I pretend to be asleep! And she says "ma ma ma...!"

People have been asking me if I find it difficult to manage with cooking and baby after my mom left, I wonder what to answer. I might have felt tired, but when I see that naughty little face cooing "ma ma maaa" (that's me!), there is no place for tiredness! I really can't understand the magic behind her mischievous smile! I keep telling her that, I am so in love with her that one day I might eat her up!!!