Crawling and standing

After all the belly crawling of the past month, just a week before his 9th month started, Kavin was on his knees and crawling around. And if I thought he was fast before, now he is travelling around at jet speed! And it is such a beautiful sight to see a baby crawl around to reach you.

A day before he was 8 months old, I had placed our laptop on a leather ottoman. He always loved to bang on it. So even as I was rolling my eyes in disbelief, there he was supporting himself on the ottoman and standing up straight, banging the cover and shouting with joy. He has started cruising around holding onto the sofa or crib rails as well. It was initially heart breaking to see him fall and scream, but I have learnt to deal with it. Plus he is learning to break his fall and land softer. And a couple of days back, he actually crept up the steps leading to the first level. Got to admit that was a bit scary.

Kavin said 'appapapapapa' for the first time yesterday. And he just kept repeating it today. It was such fun!

He had Idli!!

My mom made idli for breakfast and so we decided to give the little guy a taste of what we eat. He's already had rice before, so the urad dal is the only new ingredient. I mashed it up and mixed it with a little formula. He seemed to like it and finished one whole idli. Since it was a bit chunky and hence a new texture for him, he seemed to tire of eating it after a while! But he did a superb job gumming and swallowing it.

Now that belly crawling has been perfected, he is practising getting onto his knees. He then rocks forward and back, and moves further back as if trying to sit down. You really can watch a baby an entire day as they perfect their art!

We have realised that he LOVES going out. All one has to say is 'bye bye' and he just jumps to them and keeps eyeing the door. He gets very anxious if we dress him up and then take time to ready ourselves. He's been a good boy when we have been doing a round of some restaurants in the city.

His fav past time now is to fake cough and then wait for us to cough in return. It goes back and forth till he finds something else that interests him!

Crawling like crazy...and clever...

It's just been a few days but Kavin is all over the place. He moves at great speed but does tire out after a while. He will rest his head and suck his thumb for a while. It's the cutest thing; he's never done that before. He gravitates towards our cell phones, laptop and remote control. And the funniest thing is that he has already killed quite a few ants, chasing them and hitting them with his chubby palms!

Being the clever guy that he is, he will not hurt his knees or head. So he needs to be in his pj's or long pants to crawl. And when he wants to turn over from tummy to back, he puts his head down verrrrrrry slowly on our marble floor and then rolls! Man, where do babies learn such stuff.

I've taught him to shake hands when I say 'hello'. He does it most times. Sometimes he gets it confused with hi-fives :)

7 months old and sitting and crawling and...

Kavin completed 7 months today. And right on cue, he started crawling yesterday. He has been moving backwards for more than a week now. But last evening, when Rajesh placed one of his fav toys on the floor, he belly crawled towards it and grabbed it. And the stunning thing is he moved at such a great speed to begin with! Babies do something different every single day; it just puts you in awe.

He's been having hectic weekends. This time, it was his grandparents wedding anniversary and another grandpa's birthday. Everyone dropped in to bless us and we organised a surprise party as well.

Kavin seems to like outings to Coffee Day. Of course, he is not an expressive fella when he is out; so my guess :) He has graduated to eat rice and dal, which he seems to like and has gotten bored of Cerelac cereal. He will soon get his first taste of yogurt and different kinds of porridge.

Seeing him play is an interesting past time for me. Every single day he tilts his toy box and peeps in as if to see if there are any new toys inside. Not finding any, he turns away and tries to move towards the remote controls and mobile phones. His recent curiosity is a girl baby toy that crawls when making a loud noise. He keeps tapping the face and head, maybe to see if it will respond in kind.

We took him to Rajesh's friends place to get him to play with his almost 5-month old daughter, Rhea. It was so strange the way the two babies just kept avoiding each other. They didn't make eye contact and were more friendly with each other's parents. Only when she started to cry did Kavin look at her as if 'why is this baby fussing??'. I REALLY wish that there was a way to get inside these kids heads!!

First Diwali and 6-month checkup

Kavin woke up to a bunch of 300-walas that we cracked just outside his bedroom window. Poor guy woke up with a small cry. He was ok soon and was enjoying all the sound although he would tense up a bit when the 'sorams' go off! He got a nice oil bath on his first Diwali. My mom had stayed over. His other grandparents and attai visited as well.

The previous evening, we had all gone to our terrace to send off some 'vaana vedikais' (sky show) and in all that excitement, one of us knocked over a water pipe and we ended up with 'thanni vedikai' (water show)!! Kavin was all drenched as were all of us and kicked off the Diwali excitement for the year.

We took him for his 6 month appt yesterday (at 6 month and 3 weeks). His doc was down with fever for weeks, hence the delay. The lil one is no longer little, weighing in at 7.2 kgs and 27.5 inches long. He was so charming with his doc and she was so impressed with him. He was given a go ahead for rice, dals, yogurt, even cow's milk. It gives me so much options when going out with him. He got a Hep B shot at the end.

Kavin seems to be trying to crawl this past week. But the floors are so cold with all this rain that I keep pulling him back on to the comforter. His new sound for now is 'Ha'.

6 months old and an evening at the beach

Kavin completed 6 months this past Saturday. What was supposed to be a quiet celebration turned out to be a little more louder affair with his grandparents and aunts over for a cake cutting celebration. He received some lovely gifts, which included a land document as well! Kavin, a landowner!! Poor guy, he was wiped out after all the grabbing we did to take photos and video. But it was a memorable evening for all of us that totally love him. The days and months have just breezed by.

We've taken Kavin to the beach a couple of times. This weekend was at the Elliots beach. And we went at a more decent brighter time. He looked at the waves a lot more this time, and didn't cringe when the waves hit his legs! I was able to take a few, cute shots.

What's new?

Kavin's going to be 6 months in a week!! Wow, can't believe it.

He's become so much bigger and taller in the last couple of weeks. His likes and dislikes are getting stronger, he is more vocal in letting us know about his moods. He loves rolling about to reach his favorite toys. Also he has been trying to crawl this week, and has been successful at belly crawls. He also loves to stand up with some support for his arms. It is very, very exciting to see him so mobile. And at times scary too!

Kavin had his first feel of the beach sands yesterday. We went to the Tiruvanmiyur beach and let him stand in the waves. After one initial frown, he was fine. We are planning to take him every week and make him a beach bum!

He has learnt to kiss. My fav moments with him are when he grabs my face (or ears or hair!) with his chubby hands and gives me his wet kisses. He knows that I love them and smiles after his slobberfests!

As for foods, he has tried squash and a multi grain cereal with banana flavour. He loves the first and is indifferent to the latter. He had sweet potatoes and corn stage 2 from Gerber today and as expected, gobbled it up.

I am so looking forward to his 6 mos appt to check out his weight and height. My guesstimate is 15 lbs and 27 inches.

Was he pissed or what?!

Kavin just loves my mom. She has been around from his birth and even stayed with me for the first 2 months. Hubby and I have left him with her on many occasions to go out for quick dinners and shopping. So, a few days back, I went out with my sis for a few hours in the afternoon while she was watching over him. Man did I pay for it. I got a cold shoulder from K when I got back. He refused to make eye contact, didn't play with me and certainly no smile. All this while he was so charming and sweet with my sis. And it continued even as I nursed him and afterwards!

Come on, I'm your mom, I screamed. Everybody comes and goes, and he has never been this non-responsive even to strangers! Well, after being IN HIS FACE for an hour or so and promising never to leave the house ever in my life and threatening to cry and all, he relented and grabbed my nose. Huge relief for me. The only reason I can think of for his anger is that I've always been the one to feed him. But this time I tried to take advantage of the fact that he has started solids and my mom fed him cereal while I was away. Could that be why?

Rajesh as usual thinks I am reading too much into it. And I don't blame him. In my previous avatar, I would have been very cynical of such stories. But now I know that babies are much more grown up and aware than I thought possible. And I have two witnesses who watched the whole spectacle with utmost glee and even tried to make me more jealous by getting K's attention!

All about these toys

I seem to be playing with his toys more than he does!! After all the research and hunting around that we do, Kavin plays with them for like 2 secs.

Our adventure with toys started with rattles. Everyone seemed to be gifting us with rattles when he was couple of months old. He was soon turning in the direction of sound, reaching out to them, and soon holding and shaking them. Now when I thrust it in front of him, he grabs and drops it, and then gives me a bored look as if I am giving him old toys.

We then got him a Kick &Play carnival. His kicks were rewarded with lights and sound. He soon got the hang of it and could kick around for 10 mins, sometimes more. But he would twist his little body and watch TV while kicking; so that's the bigger draw than the rotating ferris wheel.

Next came teething rings and soft toys. He absolutely loves to chew them. As long as I am holding them for His Royal Highness. Else he drops them and starts to call out for mommy.

Then there was this crib mobile that I absolutely had to get. My best bud who had her baby at the same time as me swore by them. All I could lay my hands on was a winding thingy, so I got the most colorful one. K would look at it as long as the music came on, which is about 3 mins. After which I have to run in to wind it up again. He actually entertains himself by talking in the crib and playing with his mosquito netting or bumpers rather than the mobile. My advice: Go with the remote controlled one that lasts atleast 15 mins.

So do you think I learnt anything from these? Nada. Just this past weekend, we went out more toys shopping, and got him a walker cum rocker, a pull and wriggle toy, another one that goes 1-2-3 and some snap together beads. So far, I have been doing the pulling, learning math and struggling with the beads (those things are tough)! He has been sitting on the walker though and playing with the box in which the beads came!!

And his fav toy is what can be called a 'raatnam'; a cheap plastic toy with plastic straws strung with flowers and beads that rotates real fast when I 'key' it. So there again, we gotta wind it for baby to enjoy it. But it silences even his loudest cries. So it is worth its Rs 60 in gold!

So save your money (atleast till the lil one can sit up), and just get your baby some spoons, crinking paper, newspaper to tear apart and some colorful books to chew on, for hours of fun. And our best investment is our own time; playing peekabo, telling stories or singing songs (he is not yet judgemental!). So I am trying to brush up on some Panchatantra tales now.

Old journal

My old journal entries can be viewed at http://www.babiesonline.com/journal/journal_view.asp?be=r/rrbaby1.

More lessons

Baby knows best
Really. I just have to follow my son's cues for feeding, sleeping, playing, and life becomes so much easier. Force feeding causes spit ups. I end up with sore arm muscles and a grumpy face if I keep rocking him when he is not ready to sleep. So keep your eyes and ears open, and learn to gauge their moods.

Is hubby deaf?
Yup. It has really stumped me as to how he could sleep through a newborn's incessant crying at night. But the male species can. And that is the feedback that I got from a few other mom's too. So unless you have a pre-nup that says your hubby has to help with night time feedings and crankiness and diaper changes, forget about it! You are on your own, sister.

Breastfeeding ain't easy
Books say that a newborn can be placed on a mom's tummy and that it will crawl right up and start suckling for milk. Are you kidding?? No doubt, some babies are natural. Most are not. You have to pay a lot of attention to holding him right, getting him to latch right and a hundred other things for bfing to work. So for mommies committed to bfing or are willing to give it a try, wait atleast 6 weeks to work out the kinks before you decide to call it quits. If it works out, it's awesome. I totally enjoy nursing Kavin. Holding those cute, little hands, listening to his small talk and watching him smile at me when feeding is so special.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/ has some great information.

Mommies are the primary caregiver
Of course, your mom is around to help. Sometimes hubby too. But at the end of the day, it is your responsibility to take care of your baby. Everybody has their own life and will get back to it after the initial months or the initial thrill of having a baby in the family subsides. It can be overwhelming and tiring to get through the day without help. Just accept your responsibility and don't let negative emotions get the better of you. I just keep thinking that my baby is going to be so small only for so long. So cuddle him and bathe him and rock him and feed him before he outgrows it all!

Lessons learnt so far

Well, these are my new mommy lessons, learnt in no particular order:

Life changes drastically
You have heard a million parents say that their life changed forever after their baby. And you wonder 'How much CAN it change?'. The answer: Totally.

Dosen't matter if you were a party animal or a homebody. Whether you loved to cook and clean or be out and about. You cannot really imagine what your life will be like with a small boy around. Especially when he has you around his little fingers; his needs and wants supercedes anything and everything.

Not much goes your way
If you are like me, you read all the books you can lay your hands on about pregnancy. You join all the websites to chat with other pregnant women. You throw out terms like water birthing and lamaze to your bewildered hubby. You tell your doctor in no under uncertain terms that you want an epidural and do not want an episiotomy (if you don't know what this is, please don't learn).

And what happens of D-Day? You give birth in a car on the way to the hospital!! Thankfully, nothing so dramatic happened for me. But I did give birth in a position that I did not want. I was given meds to induce contraction that I did not ask for. I had to wait for the doc to arrive even though I was ready to push. There was a small error with the epidural (didn't suffer any side effects though). No scented candles and soothing music around. All I wanted was to get done with it. And none of the above really mattered once I held my son!!

What happened to 'mommy' feelings?
Remember those mushy scenes in movies where a mom cries non-stop after holding her baby. They make eye contact when nursing and seem to shut out the world instantly. Well, it does happen to many moms. It dosen't happen to many either.

As for me, I did love my baby immediately. I did feel joy on first setting eyes on him. But I also felt relief. And certainly didn't feel any earth-shaking bonding. It took some getting used to having him around. I did feel some guilt and bewilderment initially at my lack of over-the-top emotions. But now, after 5 months, I can honestly say that I can go to the ends of the earth to make my son happy. And I happily accept that life is not a movie.

Daddies are different for a reason
I expect daddy to mother my son the way I do. Hold him a certain way, rock him a certain way, play with him without any distractions, make eye contact with him whenever he looks at you and a hundred other rules. But hubby works on the laptop when playing with him. And hardly ever has the patience to rock him to sleep. I was so paranoid that my son was going to hate his daddy. But what really happens? His first giggles are when talking with daddy. He loves playing with daddy. He prefers daddy over me when he comes back from work. He loves to sit on daddy's lap and have such long conversations that I feel that he is complaining about me!

Well ladies, it just means that daddy IS doing something right! And time for me to stop obessing, and just enjoy the two handsome men having a great time.

Milestones are not set in stone
Babies are supposed to respond to noises at 3 months, start rolling over around the 4th month, start crawling at 7th month and on and on. The operative word is 'supposed to'. All babies ARE different. The most active baby may actually roll over only in the 6th month. A non-stop talker could walk only in the 2nd year. An early walker might begin to talk only at age 3.

Don't worry. Throw away those charts. Never force your baby to do something their lil body and brain are not ready for. But do consult your doctor if it bothers you too much.