30 April 2014 - Already half a year old!!!

               You had missed your 4 month vaccination since we were in India and we had thought that you can get it once we go back to the USA. But since our trip got cancelled, we got you vaccinated in Puttur with 3 different visits. Dr. Shreedevi Vikram is now your new pediatrician. The vaccination chart is slightly different than what we had in the USA. So we had to call the doctor in advance to make sure that all the vaccinations you need to get are ready. This time your maternal grand parents were there with me to empathize your pain. We all felt the pain seeing you cry. Your sister too! Though she sometimes troubles you, she can't see her little brother cry. You weighed 7.5 kg on April 1st and 7.75 kg on April 30th and we were all happy with your weight gain. I had worried that you are not getting sufficient milk, but now the worry has gone.

               You like to stay on your tummy now, because with that position you get to see and discover everything. You scratch things that make noise. The most beautiful thing is to see you widely open your eyes when you see things that are new to you. For us, they might be the most common things, but a sound-making plastic cover for you is an amazing object. And you give that awestruck expression.

               What your sister never did and you always do is put things in mouth. You try to taste everything - my cheeks, the floor, papers, leaves, flowers, clothes, everything. Even after sweeping the house clean, you find a tiny bit left somewhere and I find it cute when you scratch that tiny piece with your little index finger and somehow lift it to your mouth. So we keep an eye on you all the time now.

               You try hard to crawl these days, but still have not got the trick! You lift your entire body and stand on your hands and toes for several minutes and then fall on your tummy. Every day you take hundreds of push-ups, but not yet confident enough to take your hand off and keep in front.

             You make several noises and the most common one is the noise of a motor starting. And whenever you do that, you drool all over the floor and make bubbles in your mouth! But none of your 4 grand parents get disgusted if you drool on them.

               You love to hold your toes and put them in your mouth. Seeing you do that, even your sister now reaches for her toes and puts them in her mouth. Sometimes she even tries to taste your toes to see if they are tastier. She gets tempted to carry you and hug you. But you get irritated when she does that. But you always watch her and follow her with your eyes wherever she goes. If she laughs, you too smile, if she is crying, you too give a sad expression.

               What makes my life much easier is that you sleep well at night. You just wake up for milk, drink, and go back to sleep immediately. You don't stay up at night and that gives me some rest.

               On March 20th, we all went to Mumbai and stayed at your atthe's house for 10 days. Your cousins thoroughly enjoyed your company and you too liked seeing them play. Every evening we went for walks and you loved seeing around when kids played.

               Your cradle has turned to be a stroller now and your sister loves to make you lie down in it and take you around. You love her rocking chair as well.

               You stare at us if we are eating something crunchy and you literally drool! Though we have not started solid food for you yet, we put tiny bits of what we eat in your mouth and you love the new taste. Every time you taste something new, you give a very funny expression whether you like it or not.

               You react when we call you and you place your most adorable hands on our cheeks if we bend closer to you. You laugh at funny noises and now smile easily. You hold toys, pass them from one hand to the other, roll on both the directions without any effort now. You constantly vocalize now and that makes everyone come closer to you and talk to you even more. So far for your sister, 'thamma' just existed, but now she has started to take more interest on you and tries to play with you. She tries to pass a few toys to you to check if you take them.

               You have started liking peek-a-boo, and I know that it is going to be a favorite play for many more months. You often bring your hands together and keep holding them. You take 2 or 3 naps during the day, but they are just half an hour each. You keep turning round and round in the same place now and that is adorable.