Hibernation

I have been in one of those modes the last few weeks where I find myself unwilling to do anything. Its like the winter has actually put me in hibernation. Of course, in kerala there is no winter, its unbearably hot even now and well, I can hardly hope to hibernate (i don't even get to sleep folks) with an 8 month old fella crawling and climbing all around.

But still, whatever little time I get for myself I have been spending slumping around in front of the idiot box (no, not this one, the other one) watching dumb shows and wondering why people make such shows and why others (like me) sit and watch them.

It didn't help matters when I finally fell ill on top of all this last couple of days, with terrible viral fever. It took its toll on my tired body so bad that I couldn't even raise my head enough to gulp down water for 2 days. But, maybe in a way it did help matters. Because falling ill and not being able to even move broke me out of my reverie and made me realise the thousands of things I could have been doing during my "free time". Oh! the biggest shock was when I realised I actually finished a book a couple of weeks back and hadn't even started a new one yet. (Anyone who knows me, knows what an anomaly that is). So I finally recovered from the viral fever and the hibernation/sloth stage and here I am.

I have this habit of starting new hobbies but never heading anywhere with them. There are umpteen things I have started training/practicing/learning during my lifetime that have hardly lasted a few days or weeks, just some (un)lucky few lasting a few years. (When I say unlucky I am hinting at things like music classes which the whole house had to suffer because of my (lack of) talent).A few of these are classical music, classical dance, violin classes,cinematic dance and so on.

The only thing I have started at very young age and still continue with ardor is reading. There has hardly been a continuous week in my life when I have not had a "currently reading" book. I can in full earnesty say that I have not been in between books for longer than a week, if I had an option. But, I guess that still describes how lazy I am as thats the one activity that needs the least labor.

Very recently (read, since Sid) after the first couple of months of 'mothering' I hit the stage where I felt I had forgotten there was life outside motherhood and was getting too embroiled (if that is possible) in each nitty gritty of it. So much so that I stopped to exist as"me" but only as "Sid's mother". I eventually realised the abyss this was pulling me into and also that if this state of things continued I would be the one suffering separation anxiety* (instead of Sid) and empty nest syndrome** as soon as Sid joins playschool! So to get myself out of that I started further more 'hobbies'.

For one, we bought a lot of plants - roses and other flowering variety - and I got busy in planting and caring for these. The best part about gardening is that the fruit (flower) of one's labor is so beautiful and needs so much constant attention that one doesn't get an opportunity to 'grow out of' so to speak, this particular hobby. It really has been fulfilling to see this bare weeded stretch (the new house we shifted into a few months back) now having so many colours.

 from our garden

very early oil pastel lessons



I also went and bought myself a set of pastels and drawing book and began a self taught (online, of course) lesson on oil pastel coloring. Made some mediocre copies of some great works seen online. Unfortunately, this one wasn't as lucky as the gardening and has been collecting dust for some time now.

Most important and interestingly I started this blog to record Sid's growing up years and well, it has had its up and down days as well. Lets hope it sees some more up days now than it has recently been seeing.

In all honesty I wasn't sure where i was heading when I started with this post (Still not sure). But by the end of it I have at least achieved a post and hopefully this shall mark my return to updating the blog more regularly.

*Separation anxiety is a phenomenon that 5-6 months old infants and younger children are known to experience when there mom's are not around. (Ofcourse it has more serious forms as well, but we are referring to the most harmless and common form)
**usually occurs in parents when kids finally leave home.

Joys of Semi-Verticality

As on 06th Nov, 2010 around 1500 hours (almost exactly the moment Sid turned 7 months old) he decided he needed a new perspective on things and pulled himself up from his stomach to a sitting position. Of course this is a moment of great joy and pride but what it also brought along with it a lot of falling and banging of head which isn't the easiest of things to be standing around watching.
From then on to today he has been practicing the art and polishing it bit by bit pretty much all the time. Now the entire process of pushing himself up has become much smoother and faster but staying up is still dicey and results in at least one head banging per day, how much ever careful the people around him maybe! (The sight of this pains mama more than Sid from the looks of despair on the two faces).
 
The best part about sitting up however is the freedom it gives. Being able to explore all around and pick up things as and when one likes. (and put them in his mouth too).
But despite all the head bumps and tummy upsets (and palpitations for mommy), Oh! its so worth it to watch kiddo sit up and wave his arms around in joy and laugh about just so he can...

P.S mamma is too scared to pick up the cam and click pics when Sid is sitting up, and hence no sitting-up-and-playing-snaps, yet.

Saturday Songs: Jack and Jill

Before I write my thoughts as well as my findings on this rhyme, I shall first like to note the verses that are known to follow the most common first stanza. According to the most modern version, the rhyme goes as:

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down and broke his crown,

And Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got, and home did trot,

As fast as he could caper,

To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob (OR And went to bed to mend his head)

With vinegar and brown paper

 

There are several versions of the rhyme and following verses are among options that have been seen in various versions and various reproductions of the rhyme through history, but not formally document as the complete rhyme anywhere.

 

Jill came in and she did grin               

To see his paper plaster;

Mother vexed did whip her next

For laughing at Jack's disaster.

 

Now Jack did laugh and Jill did cry

But her tears did soon abate;

Then Jill did say that they should play

At see-saw across the gate.

 

This single unified rhyme was extracted from wikipedia where further alternatives of each of the verses are available. Wikipedia also provides many many theories and narrations for the origin of these lines varying from abduction of kids from earth to the moon, failure of kings to negotiate peace, taxes on liquor (Jack refers to 1/2 pint and Jill to 1/4), deposing of kings ("lost his crown") and so on. To read these theories in detail, you may http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_and_Jill_(nursery_rhyme) 

follow the link:

Again, almost all the rhymes I chose here were those that were discussed with dad during that conversation I referred to in the initial meme and the question we had raised then with regards to Jack and Jill was, why would someone go "up an hill" to fetch water? Logic prevails one comes down a hill for that right?Hmmm.....all the research and discoveries about the rhyme, and that question is still unanswered.

Meal Time!

Around 5 month's age we started Sid on some supplementary food (or at least we tried). These included mashed and sweetened ragi paste, dried, sweetened raw banana paste etc. all traditional malayali initiation food. I'm not very sure what is followed in other parts of the country and I decided to go the safest route as this is what the rest of everyone else I know has grown up on and has fed their next generation too.

One thing I can guarantee, trying to feed a baby anything other than milk is not for the faint hearted, the impatient or the short tempered. Or rather, I should say it is a good lesson for everyone of the kind I just described (ahem...like me).

In this context, my mom was talking about a senior paediatrician colleague of hers who has written books on infants and toddler care and her most important advice to all parents who complain about the difficulty of feeding their babies is to let them be, that kids don't stay hungry and they shall eat without much coaxing when they are sufficiently hungry. Until...she had her grandchild. After that, during a conversation, she happened to tell my mom how she thinks she might as well rewrite her book cos she has realised that however hungry, if babies don't like the business of opening their mouth and swallowing their food, THEY WILL NOT! Oh No they won't. And for all the coaxing, goading, distracting and everything one might invest in, one might as well learn, a NO means just that.

It is amazing how, before learning to chew and swallow, these tinies learn to spit and even more importantly to clamp their mouth shut with such force as soon as they spot a spoon in the horizon. How quickly they understand tricks and distractions and will not even open their mouths to giggle, instead settling for a tightly closed lip smile, even at their favourite tricks!

gooey redefined

So, as this struggle progresses, we have started Sid on almost everything a little by little except tough animal proteins and eggs. (All paediatricians strictly advice against feeding babies eggs before 10 months.) Over and above the aforementioned gooey stuff, he has a little rice, lentils some steamed fish, potato, apple juice, oranges and so on oh! and of course cerelac too. Only thing is by the time he has about 4 spoons of anything, my breakfast, lunch and dinner gets digested.

The irony is how they put anything and everything else into their mouths, especially dirt, shoes, floor mats and stuff that are normally kept out of reach with good reason, while they shut their mouth like a mouse trap the moment there is food in the vicinity.

WOW! to imagine what it will be like once he begins to run!



initial feeding days with grandma n grandpa



grandma grandpa gave after these first few attempts!



Saturday Songs: Twinkle Twinkle

I have been wanting to make a meme for the longest time but couldn't come up with an idea. A list of 10, 15s or 20s etc did not appeal to me. Incidently, it was a conversation with my dad about how negative some nursery rhymes are and how they are not all meant to be just rhymes but have other messages ( I know, a rather strange conversation) that set me along this path of discovering the truth about the most popular rhymes around. In my search I realised there really is so much more to the rhymes we have been singing since our childhood. 

Starting on a positive note, (some to come can be real deppressing and even though we parents learn the truth we better not share that with the kids and ruin their fun) today I shall write about the most popular one, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. What made me write about this rhyme, moreover, was that when I was very young, I had a nursery rhyme casette gifted by a relative from outside India and I distinctly remembered the rhyme having 2 stanzas instead of the popular single stanza that we all always hear and may have learnt. My initial thought was to share the second one as well with all of you but with a little research I learnt that orignally "The Star" has the following FIVE stanzas.

 

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,

When He nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye,

Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark,

Lights the traveller in the dark,—

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

 

Some Wiki facts about the rhyme are that its an early 19th century couplet poem called "The Star" by Jane Taylor. It is also known to share the same tune as tha Alphabet song and Ba Ba Black Sheep. Some say that this was never intended to be a nursery rhyme but rather a lullaby. (Not so sure about that one).

SIXER

Once again, this post is a conjunction of what should ideally have been many different regularly updated posts. However, due to extremely hectic developmental days (the same ones that I should be writing about), my own laziness and more importantly because it is much more fun to be enjoying Sid than writing about him, I have been putting the whole baby diary bit in the back burner. Finally, since a new month starts today, and he is past his 6 months landmark, I decided to update all the interesting tit bits of the last month.

Blabber Boo Bits: 

In the middle of a speech



The month began with a lot of bubble blowing, pffffffffft and pa poo sounds. The most delighted with this development was granddad who kept repeating "appuppa" (grandfather in Malayalam) to Sid and Sid seemed to be managing a very similar sounding response. However, like with all his practices this one also lasted only for a 2-3 days (I'm very thankful for that time frame especially with regards to the screaming bit). This progressed to an inward breathing "ka" sound which was very weird but seemed to thrill Sid. The essence of all the special thrills with these stages is having everyone repeat after him and Sid tends to find that hilarious. And since the universe thrives to make a baby laugh, the house has become a constant babble of meaningless repetitions.

And now, since yesterday, Sid has slowly started conversing in ak ka ka ka sounds. Especially when everyone around him is talking to each other, he tends to go ak ka ka in varying pitches and volumes like its part of the conversation. 



Crawlingly Mobile:

Learning to Crawl



After all the turning, toppling and moving in reverse, Sid finally decided to pull himself forward. This happened about a week back and now we are crawling "worm style" full force forward. Right now I'm really glad I am not the one to wash his clothes cos they are as good as a mop by the time he has dragged himself around half the house on his chest, especially since his favourite places are under tables, chairs and beds. Hope he gets off his chest and onto his hands and knees very soon for the sake of his clothes. His favorite pass time at the moment is to chase plastic bottles (when one is looking. The moment you turn he will be lunging after floor mats and slippers!).

The weirdest moment was last day when Sid thought it was a game that whenever he tried to follow mama into a particular room she came running, put him back outside and then disappeared again. Actually though, it wasn't a game. I just had to use the restroom and as usual left the door open to ensure I could hear Sid, never imagining him to follow me  inside, crawling (yeesh!).

Games and Fun



His grandma has been singing to him a sweet little Malayalam rhyme of 4 lines accompanied by closing and opening of her fist  for about 3 months now. Finally her patience paid off when last week he started closing and opening his fist right back at her. Eventually he just had to hear the rhyme to start opening and closing his fist. Now he opens and closes it at everyone leaving outsiders bewildered at the gesture.

Misc New Habits

• 

  

  A few Seconds of Sitting

  
  Weird Sitter: Sid has been trying to pull himself up to a sitting position from his back by holding our hands. Has been trying this for quiet some time. Now all he needs is just some place to hold with one hand while pushing hi,self up with the other. With a tiny nudge from us he can now reach a sitting position and hold it for some seconds too by himself. This is kind of weird though as normally babies are known to start sitting up while lying on their tummies.
• 
  Scary Girls:  We have discovered that when faced by strangers, he smiles at/ does not cry when men pick him up or play with him but cries or looks away when women do the same.
• Mama's Pet: A new developent this month is Sid's special attachment to Moi. Even when around his grandpa and grandma, he has to know I am around and whenever he sees me I recieve huge smiles of pleasure. Even to sleep, eat and everything he needs his mama, and grandma is not enough. Now this is all very flattering and I am at the top of the world, but then a little free time would also be highly appreciated.
• Time Waster: Sleep (especially at day time) has gone down even further (like I had ever thought that possible!) now that there are so many better ways to spend time and so many new corners to explore. There are nights though I get about an hours sleep at times instead of half hour and so on. I'm hoping and praying these are signs of improvement. (Thought long and hard about writing that one. Didn't wanna jinx it).

I am sure there are many more tit bits that I am missing and will have to add in later. However, for the time being I stop right here as this has gone on long enough time wise and space wise. By the way, since I started this post 2 days back, I have realised that its not that I am lazy, I really am not getting any time whatsoever to sit down and write posts in between meal making, retrieving slippers and stuff from Sid and retrieving Sid himself from under beds and tables.  

Warrior Boy

Our Sid is comparatively an early teether. He got his bottom 2 incisors by around 5 months and 2 weeks! The thing about Teething is that its an extremely painful and irritating process. Just imagining the teeth cutting through the gums makes me squirm with pain and discomfort and too heartbreaking to watch. At times I feel so helpless that there isn't anything I can do to help Sid and then keep reminding myself that ALL of us have gone through it and so will he.


With his Teether

When babies are faced with this discomfort and irritation, there biggest need is to bite and gnaw at whatever they can lay there hands on. Many doctors recommend buying teethers for your babies to bite on. Very good advice of course, not only because it gives your baby some welcome relief but also keeps him occupied playing with the teether. EXCEPT (aah there it comes) we must remember that teething usually happens somewhere close to or after 8 months (usually being the operative word). By this stage their hand eye coordination is excellent - by which I mean the baby takes the teether into his mouth, if that is where he wants it, not into his eye. Now, you see the challenge. Sid is still too young and has not yet perfected his HE coordination. His movements are jerky and whatever he has in his hands has a danger of hitting his eye.

But then Sid has a solution to this problem too. Because, whatever we do or don't give him, his favourite thing to bite is our hands. So don't be too thrilled as soon as he grabs your hand. His intentions are to make two very deep and painful imprints on them. When he has his own hands in his mouth, he is very careful to cushion them on his tongue but as soon as he spots a careless prey, bang! within no time you can hear howling and screaming around you. I have also discovered, at my own very painful expense, that he loves to bit cheeks, nose and then whatever he can reach around him including furniture. His latest favourite is to bite down hard on my shoulder when I am carrying him around, especially when he wants me to walk around with him and I keep standing in one place. Additionally, he also directs his mount (me the elephant) by kicking and pushing against me.  

Another favorite "teether" - Mama's Mob

A Note to the Unaware: Some additional modes of attacks you may experience are hair pulling ( i wonder how he always gets his hands on the hair around the edges that hurt the most!), scratching (people I meet have been asking me if we have a new kitten), kicking and punching (I am not kidding, he can hurt!) and supersonic screaming into your ears that can be the end of your eardrums! Beware.