12th month

you can make sense of what we are saying!
when i say mamam aatu, you know i have finished feeding you... and you repeat aatu if you are full or grunt and jump if you need more ...
same with your bath...getting you out of the bathroom used to be quite a sad thing for me coz u loved playing with the water but i obviously couldn't let you be there forever, so each time i carried you out of the bathroom, you would wail out and cry the deeply hurt cry ... so now wht we do is before we pick u up, we keep saying busha busha aatu, so now you know water playtime is over and we let you pick the mug or the shampoo bottle while we get you out ... not tht you dont resist even then, but atleast you are now mentally prepared to leave the bathroom and dont wail out as much...u just let your disapproval be known and then give in...
when we say hello, hello over the phone... you imitate us by putting your palm over the ears and say ooo, oooo .. and you look so super cute while doing tht!!! just how smart can you be!

.........there could have been so many more here but time flew by and I couldnt make timely notes...am gonna add everything else that i remember in the 13th month update ...

11th month

you were completely comfortably mobile on your own...can stand, crawl and take a couple of steps with support. you cant sit down though and all u do is go thump on ur bum when u do want to sit after standing for long.
finally saw 2 pearly white teeth on the lower gums! they are choooo tiny and they are wavy! didnt take me long to know they are sharp too ... :)
your games and toys started getting more creative, bangalore ajji gives u elaichi chilka, coconut, flowers, peru, fruit basket, imli to play with. the best so far has been chinmuri... since u like to touch everything with just your index finger and then after careful examination you press it, you did just tht and the chinmuri took a nice long jump!! it amused u and all of us sooooo much, it became your and ours fav game. it was amazing how you would carefully and slowly place your finger on the chinmuri and then give it a nice push to make it jump! the first time you did it, you laughed and laughed and laughed until tears rolled down ur eyes. you even got hiccups but it didnt stop u from doing the same thing again and laughing again! was fabulous!
you have had plenty of falls, all of them resulting in hurting your head and i am really nervous about tht now! i think u have had enough but people tell me its just the beginning...didnt know i would be such a weak mom!

things that you do :

• clap your hands when we say vitthal vitthal and raise your hands above your head when we say 'goooovinda!'
• when we say 'vikrant kahan hai?' , you pat your chest tht says, its me!
• you imitate people when they cough or giggle
• you can say tata and wave your hands up and down to say tata!
• u and papa can say 'yayayayayayaya' together in the same style by spreading your mouth as much as you can and shutting your eyes while saying it :)
• you can go to your feeding chair , hold it and keep saying mamamamamamam when you are hungry
• when we say dai dai dai dai dik, you bang your forehead to ours lightly and giggle while shaking ur head ...
  
• the first word you learnt was 'aatu' .. something tht papa said while he was walking you around and you picked it up...you keep saying it in such a sweet tone and it sounds so so so cute in your babyish accent!
• when your are sleepy you say nananananan, coz i keep saying nini for sleep.

10th month

a month full of games and danga masti...
you love to climb and scratch and pull and push people lying down as if to say, hey get up and play with me... and if they dont react at all, you make it your game to falling down and climbing up on them again ... it really gives a fabulous massage for us, as for you, you get tired and then doze off for a while! so this really works for us in the night!
another month of loads of new stuff! u crawled! u could hold on to things and stand on your own! you also manage to walk a couple of steps by holding on to something! all this in just about 15 days... your actions remained largely cutely wobbly...we went to mumbai for about 12 days and thts where you picked up finesse and became comfortably mobile! you can crawl the whole house stopping to chase ants, pick stuff, have noisy games with dabbas and even crawl inside the bathroom if the door is left open.

you still love outdoors and your stranger anxiety too reduced to some extent...atleast you dont wail out now and just cling tightly to me when you see a stranger ...

mumbai ajji taught you how to clap hands when she says vitthal vitthal vitthal...and when she finishes it with 'govinda' you just look up rather than putting your hands up! oh my chweeety pie,how much more cute can you be...

you can shake hands, understand tht when somebody is saying 'tata' they are leaving (and you dont like tht one bit! you want everyone around u all the time!) you love music and nod your head up and down when music starts...

bangalore ajji keeps you amused with new toys like baingan, imli, peru and the best of all chummari... since you like to touch everything with just your index finger and press down, you did the same to chummari and it took a nice long jump...it amused you so much, so much so much tht you laughed each time we repeated it! laughed with tears rolling down your eyes and hiccups interrupting the sweetest laughter in the world...i hope i am able to keep you happy like this all your life!

9th month!

yeah, this was a month tht deserves a bag full of exclamation marks! such and such an amazing month! the things u achieved this month were so many! i really had to make efforts to keep up with u!
you could sit up on your own! for a few days once you sat all you could do next was lie down back again to move around...but just a few days more and you knew how to come on all fours and then go phat on your tummy to move fwd ... another few days later you began taking tiny tiny crawling steps... and then came the magical day when you officially crawled!
walker is smething you love! and you can go vroom vroom vroom everywhere you want. It excites you so much and i feel so content to see you happy :)

8th month

• you transformed from being just a baby to a miniature human being and i say this because you became ever so expressive about your feelings and we both shared a language that nobody else seemed to understand ... it made us so special together :)
• adda addda addda was the word you kept repeating ... daddy used to sing 'ada, hai hai ada, jaan leva ada ... ' and that only encouraged you to keep saying adda ever so strongly , it sounded like you were singing in chorus!! lol ... it was fabulous!
• sleep time is now shifted to a cool 3:15am .. not so good huh ... waiting for the time when you will go to sleep atleast by 12. Have tried all the sleep training techniques in the world but i just cant let my baby sleep crying . I know i am pampering you but i just cannot bear a tear in your eye... lets see how long this can keep going ....
• alright now, when you are having your bath, you are not to touch the soap, no pulling the mug, no picking the bucket while we are picking you up, and no you cant hold back the water that is running down. When the water is flowing out, you look at the drain then look at me and then the drain and then me with an expression that says 'mom look. when the water touches the silver ring, it vanishes!!!' :)) mmuuuaahhh
• you are such a complete water baby, you love the bathroom and you have a big big big grin on your face when we take you in there and you go laughing like this 'hey hey ... hey hey....'
• it is bad manners to point fingers my dear boy ... but that is what you do all day ... You have suddenly stopped opening out your hands to touch or pick anything. It is really funny when you try pick your toys with just the index fingers of your hands :) ... and it is even more funnier when you get irritated because you obviously arent able to pick them up! lol ...

7th month ...

Dear dear Vikrant,

• flip flop flip flop is wht you did everyday and even in your sleep, Strange how a baby can occupy more than half the bed! Dad found this really funny and would keep watching you move when you sleep ... with so much pride in his eyes...
• you started to shake your head in a 'yes yes' manner with raised eyebrows and would repeat after us too when we did it :) we loved to see you do tht! the phbbzzzz got stronger than ever and it never failed to bhigao our faces.
• you continued your rapid weight gain spree and that started to concern us a wee little bit, but then all the baby fat also made you look super cute... so we left it to time, but yeah, high time I start developing your tastes to food ... and from the way you have your milk, am sure you will be a nice neat baby when it comes to eating food (please please do be...)
  
• why o why did u shift ur sleep time to a deadly 2am from the so convenient 11pm? daddy has a tough time to walk you around (coz tht's how u sleep) when he is tired from a 12 hr work schedule, though he is half dorwsy, he still cant shut his eyes until u sleep...so please, can u be kind to us again please...
• you could start holding the milk bottle urself, so tht means dudu time became another playtime for u.
• babababababa is wht u say all day, you became even more expressive with a lot of squeals of delight, flailing ur hands and legs in anger, rubbing ur eyes when u r sleepy..
• You knew how to express your love and gratitude by kissing me!!!(yes, he can do that! he just keeps his mouth open and touches my cheeks with his lips and moves back, that is his way of expressing his love. He does that when I make him laugh a lot, do his fav things or pick him after a long long time.) i dont know how! and no guesses for how awesome i feel when you do that, coz it is the purest form of expression in the world!
• there was this one day when i was feeling really really low ... daddy had u in one arm and he was giving me a 'everything's gonna be alright' hug with the other arm. You were busy chewing on his shoulder until you saw my long drawn face. you looked at me for a couple of seconds and bent over towards my cheeks and gave me a kiss. I was ofcourse surprised and gave a weak smile. You continued looking at me and when my smile died down, you bent over and kissed me again, then again and the last one was the most wonderful one with you putting your hands around me and givng me one more! When I finally gave a big smile, you went back to chewing dad's shoulder again.. ah, cant describe in words how elevated i felt, how peaceful I felt to be a lucky recipient of such innocent and pure love. Can motherhood get any better? Love you lots baby, love you lots....

6th month ... another one with just points...

Dear Vikrant,

• flip and flip again is what you achieved right on the first day of the 6th month:)
• we could see 2 cute whites on your pink pink gums...that is your first sign of your teeth
• you love love love dad! and you took abt 5 days to know he is your dad...you would shout out and jump towards him even in a crowd and tht made him sooooooooo happy!
• you can push yourself fwd by your toes and sometimes by knees...the crawl has to wait until you are able to lift your head and tummy off the ground together, and we are in no hurry ... u look cute moving just your bum and pushing urself fwd ... :D
  
• pull hair, scratch faces, pinch our cheeks and ears
• hair on your head moved from 'here and there' to some hair, we could atleast see a black thin cover on your head... you always were a cute looking baby and now you're even more!!!
• s mama and mami came down to see you and how you howled and wailed at them...hmmm, not so good huh, am still waiting for your stranger anxiety to go. you have been going for evening walks every single day since you were 2 months old, y did you develop this stranger anxiety?
  
• you love all things metallic! the stereo, small vessels, metallic cover cell phones attract you more than all those fisher-price toys
• when you could barely sit last month all you wanted to do was sit even when you cant and this month all you wanted to do was stand. alright alright i know you can get yourself to stand on your own if you have support at your feet and hands but you cant sustain it yet dear...dont hurt your knees and ankles so much plz.... some more time and you will be running all over the place!

5th month and a couple more ..

ok so 3 months update coming together....i guess i have finally been able to get my wits together about bringing up a kid ... sometimes i was so lost, i thought i was being more kiddish than my baby! and since i had been jotting points, I guess i will update just that...making sentences will have to wait for some more time now....

5th month
lifted head and legs up and moved fwd (huh you said, well, i am as stumped as u are.... hmmpphh, wish i had elaborated it a little more :( )
turning on your tummy and turning again and again and again became a fav activity .. which kept us on our toes...no more sleeping on cots, you were mostly on the floor.
squeals of laughter which were sooooo soooo soooooo cute ...
banging your mouth on our faces
mall trip, car rides (what was this again??)
scratches on tummy
dunno why i never mentioned this, you love to look at things flying randomly, like your grandma's saree or the sofa back cover
you love the colour red! anything red and flying is fabulous for you! so the gir giri we bought outside the ganesh mandir was the best toy you could have (and cheap at Rs.6 too) .. those old time toys somehow work wonders! Also a little red crab is your fav and is a very good friend of yours (ur first one!)...we carry him everywhere and crabbie never fails to make you jump with joy..
this was the month when you left Mumbai and came down to Bangalore... the transition was smooth with just about expected levels of crankiness and the fear of the new... but you did so well and within a couple of weeks, you were pretty comfortabel with the setting and people here... but we do miss Mumbai and mumbai grandparents, dont we ...

4th month

Yet another amazing month full of excitement and fun!
You continued to sleep through the night this month too! I love you so much for that, I really did not have to compromise on my sleep ever...you know how much mamma loves her beauty sleep, dont you ;)
You put your hands together to which we say you started making laddoos :). For whom were they? was it for your mama's wedding or were they simply for yourself?
You started sleeping sideways once in a while and looked so super cute while doing that! It was a big relief for me coz I could put you to sleep by simply making you lie sideways and keep patting, you were getting a little heavy now to be walked around when drowsy, right?
You could pretty much sit comfortably with help. For a few days, you did accept all the support provided to sit, but then the TV amused you so much that you would bend your head forward. All our attempts to put your head back were futile!! you wanted to hold your head on your own! Arent you growing up too fast baby??
pbbbhhhhzzzzzzzz - yeah, something your shakuni mama taught you which you really enjoyed repeating endlessly. I have no count of the number of times you have pbbhhzzzed on my face! Hmm, having fun on your own now huh..

3rd month....

Dear Vikrant!
3rd month, what a month! And I want to relive each day one more time! I think I am gonna feel this 'once more, once more' all my life coz there are just so many wonderful new things you do!..
This was the month when your new born shirts started looking like blouses :)

• You turned on your side!
• You laughed out loud and actually squealed when grandpa started clapping his hands in a musical way!
• you love your cradle and you are the happiest in it...once in a while I do wish I had one of those battery operated cradles...specially for the night. Coz when the cradle stops moving, you start your engaaaa engaaaa.
• You are the sole intent listener to your grandpa's classical songs(?!) you stare at him with your mouth open when he attempts to sing well ...and your grandpa likes to believe you are totally enjoying it, but I know it is actually otherwise.. dont worry you will learn how not to get victimised :D
• you converse when we look at you and talk...you blabber baby words and how i wish i could understand you...you open your eyes wide, raise your eyebrows, move your head up and down and blabber continously with so much excitement for so long... how i wish i could understand your stories!
• you have started to sleep for 5-6 hrs straight! it is so much of a relief now! hopefully you will continue this!
• we saw your first attempt to crawl! now before you say 'What!!??' lemme clarify that of course mommy put you on your tummy but when she did, you bent your knees and started the crawling action, you managed to raise your bum but alas, the head and shoulders will take time...but yeah I was so happy yet again to see you do that! my big little boy .. mmmmuuaaahhh
  
• since you got constipated this month(and how - 6 days no poo!) we were advised to give you 30ml of warm sugar water on empty stomach to help you.. no denying that this worked and you also loved the sugar water so much so that you stopped drinking water unless I added sugar to it...aren't you too small to start having your own preferences?

....there are so many more things that I can write, of course I gotta write about the naming ceremony and one post dedicated to your mama who completely surprised me and everyone else at home with the amount of affection he poured on you! He was with you 24*7, with only feeding time being an exception.

The first 2 months of our lives together!

Dear SaGa,
2 months already and how fast did they go!!

You have done so many amazing things in these 2 months and you brought countless smiles to so many faces. First of all I was astonished to see that we could have such a loveable baby as our child, was unbelievable for the first few days but then i slowly started taking pride in being called YOUR mom :)

Things you did in the last 2 months:

• you can raise ur back and hv fun banging ur back which mks u turn clockwise...
• you dont like to yawn at all and always cry after u do...such a helpless situation for u and me...u cant stop ur yawn and I, knowing u dont like it, just wait for u to finish coz i know i need to comfort u next.
• you dont like hiccups either and shout out after each hiccup which is really funny, am seeing a lot of variety in your shouts now..
• you have started to jump and push when u get support on ur feet...
• you love it when somebody talks to u and you coo and smile and move your hands and arms faster than usual..you completely adore attention!!
• The only way you sleep is when we walk in the building corridor carrying you! quite a revolutionary way coz that means you have to be taken out of the house before the 40 days deadline!
• Looking at you smile / frown / make faces in your sleep is my fav pastime!
• when you are hungry or really really angry you cry 'enngggaaaaaaa engggaaaaa' which sounds like mangya - kannada word for monkey. Your daddy has labelled me a monkey now and says its you who told him to. Hmmpphhh, am sure you will deny it when u grow up.
• you dont really like to sleep and in the second month you slept for just about 6 hrs a day! So we had to keep you entertained constantly and believe me we would all be out of our creativity by midnight!
• you can hold your neck quite well already which acc to a lot of people is really fast! good going boy!

You had the good fortune of being taken care of by your great grandmother!She had been here for a month and a half just to take care of you! It sure is a big deal for someone who does not like to live in apartments. To get her share of fresh air, she used to walk in the society compound for 2 hrs twice a day, climb up and down 52 stairs, help mom in veggie cleaning, take care of you, clean you up, put you to sleep...all at the age of 74! (touchwood). She used to sing a marathi song to put you to sleep which I find very funny...it seems to be a rock and roll song of their times :)..
ye ga bai ye ga bai
balala g jhop yeyiiia
ye ga bai ye ga bai
balala g jhop yeyiiia
hadidididididi didiiiia

funny aint it...but you know what, it works! you really would go to sleep when she would sing this! she taught you your first ever word 'oooo' . you would be on her lap listening to her intently while she kept saying oo oo oo patiently.one fine day you finally repeated after her and we were jumping in joy, calling everyone in the house to listen to you say oo oo...there was tremendous hysteria all around!
It is heartwarming to see how a child can influence the behaviour of people, even of those who dont know you.. one of my mom's neighbour of 1 1/2 years preferred to keep a distance all these days until you came along. When we would take you on your walking rounds, she would look at you lovingly and share a comment or two.. it is amazing to see how an innocent child's face can melt hearts!

you did change tremendously in 2 months and we both missed Daddy a lot... he was with you for the first 20 days and never took his eyes off you. That was the time when the longest stretch of sleep used to be 2 hrs and since i was still recovering daddy did everything - nappy changes, playing with you, keep you snugly in his arms when you wanted to be held, get you to burp and put you to sleep... phew!

You have a lot lot lot of growing up to do and we are gonna have fun all the way...

My baby arrived on 18dec!

This is the article that I was longing to be able to write since a long long time. You finally arrived on 18th dec, 10:33am and how...your arrival was full of suspense and thrill.
16th night you gave me a couple of early signs of your arrival, but that's about it. You only got everyone anxious and then went back to your peaceful self. I went to the doc in the morning to tell her how you behaved. Well, she said that it was just a false alarm and that you still wanted to take your time to come into my arms.'Alright' I sighed, but somehow I couldnt agree with the doc and I called your dad. I told him, you could be on the way and he decided to come down the very next day. I think this news got you excited and you decided to prepare for your arrival. You started your journey at around 4pm 17thdec, and though that made me happy I was still confused because of what the doc had said and thought this could be another episode of false alarms. I obviously thought that she knows better. Mom told me to trust my own instincts. Confused as I was, I thought time will tell and just let things be. At around 5am on 18thdec your arrival signs were very strong and that is when I thought that yes my instincts were right. By 7am I was admitted and taken straight to the labour room. The next 3 hrs went by fast and all I knew was 2docs, 1 aenethetist, 1 head nurse and 3 assistants were doing everything necessary to bring you into this world safe and sound. At 10:33am you had a safe landing in Dr.Nikita Kothari's arms. Your first cry is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. Your first look is photographed in my mind..a tiny cute baby lying sideways on the warmer, hands close to the chest and legs curled up to the stomach. Was so proud of you when I saw you. Welcome baby, we had been waiting for you... :)

P.S : it took me 5 days to write this up! and another day to post it!