Baby D Meets Santa Claus

It all started with an activity book. Baby D is not old enough for those yet, this is me reminiscing about my childhood. When I was four, my mom and dad gave me a Santa Claus themed activity book, with a lot of colour me's and find your way through the maze. Then they built up the story about this jolly old man who goes around giving gifts to kids on Christmas eve if they have been good. They asked me what I wanted and quite inexplicably, I said I wanted a letter box, as in a post box. Presumably I was a model kid that year, for when Christmas eve rolled around, I found on my window sill a nice red package. Inside were a letter box shaped piggy bank, complete with silver lock and key, hot cross buns and other goodies.

And so, even though we don't officially celebrate Christmas, I was pretty excited about recreating the magic for Baby D. Daddy D donned a Santa beard and wig, his own specs and a Christmas hat. He wore a red shirt and jeans and did the ho ho ho act. Baby D doesn't yet know the concept of fear so he happily tugged away at Santa's beard and tried to eat it. We had "jingle bells" playing for the background score. Baby D had been grinning away at a YouTube video with Disney characters singing jingle bells, so we think he definitely enjoyed that part of it. He seized his gift, wouldn't wait for anyone to open it for him and tried to eat the wrapping paper.

Nani had done up a Christmas tree, which Baby D had been trying to eat for the previous couple of days. The "twinkle twinkle" stars and the cherub ornaments were too much for him to resist and excitement always ran high when he was anywhere in the vicinity. He found it near impossible to settle down to his nap if we were walking him and he happened to spot the tree. On Christmas day, he knew his instincts had been right when he was allowed to pick up his presents from underneath.

Baby D is now the proud owner of a baby piano, which he tries to shake like a rattle to get it to play, a Mickey mouse toy, a play mat and a singing monkey, besides a lot of gift wrapping papers. In short, there's plenty for Baby D to eat.

He's rather an excitable and energetic creature these days. Yesterday, he was in my arms, but wasn't quite content to remain still. He scrambled up, then grabbed a fistful of my face and champed away at my nose. To have a determined infant attached enthusiastically to my face rather took me aback. But hopefully this unprecedented show of affection puts me right up there in the same league as Mr. Spots and Mr. Rattlesworth!

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

Two words - Apple Sauce. Baby D absolutely loves it.  He loves it so much, he doesn't want to wait for the spoon and would rather eat out of the bowl. Baby D hasn't yet lost his rooting instinct and so when he was first offered apple sauce, he rooted to the left and to the right and then had a go at the spoon. After about a couple of minutes of this, Baby D realised the good stuff on the spoon didn't flow continuously to him as would milk out of a bottle. Closer inspection revealed to him the cause of the delay - the spoon of course! And so he decided to put bowl to mouth. As he was in danger of spilling the contents all over his bib, Mommy D had to take the bowl away in a hurry. This upset Baby D so much  he refused bowl and spoon both. It took quite a lot of coaxing before he could be brought to eat again.

Baby D has now reasoned that spoons produce food (albeit in small quantities) and can be seen sucking at any cutlery he can reach. At first Mommy D took his enthusiasm for apple sauce as a compliment to her "cooking". But Baby D has been consuming rice water, which is after all pretty tasteless without any salt in it, with equal gusto. Mommy D now suspects he will eat just about anything, that is except for "daal ka pani". As Mommy and Daddy D are both daal lovers, she does wonder where that particular gene went missing!

We had a situation today - between this and that and the other, Mommy D forgot to pop his bottle into the steriliser until about fifteen minutes before Baby D was likely to ask for food. The steriliser takes about fifteen minutes to do its job too. The situation was quite tense at home and in the match. Mommy D has never before seen a test match get tense, but so it was. Even as she desperately entertained Baby D to keep his mind off milk for the next few minutes, over in South Africa, MSD was probably desperately thinking strategy.

South Africa choked yet again and we managed to draw. Baby D, however, didn't. The BIG news is that he managed to push himself up on his knees. We cheered and congratulated him and called his Daddy and messaged relatives. Crawling is now not too far away.

And we did manage to get the bottles sterilised before Baby D thought to ask for milk. 

The Young And The Restless

As Baby D inches close to the half year mark, he's in a big hurry to grow up. He's not changing his own diapers yet, but he's eager to be up and about. He's almost never content to lay still and fights more bitterly than ever against sleep engulfing him.

Baby D is trying very hard to crawl, thrashing about with his arms and legs the moment he's rolled over. When he doesn't make much progress, he dejectedly lays his head down on the bed or bursts into tears. Mommy D then has to pick him up, give him a hug and take him on a tour of the house.

In nani's house, where he is at currently, he has some favourite spots. The refrigerator with its colourful magnets has found mention on this blog a couple of times. There was trouble afoot when Baby D knocked off the porcelain Mme Tussaud's magnet and chipped it, fortunately not in a place that's visible. Since then, the fridge has been declared a "No Baby D" zone.

Baby D has developed a fascination for door handles. He likes to grab them and tug at them, irrespective of whether they belong to a closet or an actual door. Baby D has no interest in the "beyond". All he cares about is tugging at the handles and (discreetly aided by Mommy D or whosoever happens to be carrying him at the time) and watching the door swing open. There was this one time though when he opened the dresser closet and despite Mommy D's best precautions managed to knock nani's YSL lipstick right over. Fortunately, he's been prudent enough not to repeat this trick.

And then, there's this display of  soft toys which all belong to mausi. They are not exactly at  Baby D's eye level but he knows where to look up to find them. Then he gives this really wicked grin or speaks aggressively to them depending on his mood. Even though mausi has given her permission to play with 'em, we can't let Baby D do that unfortunately, as they are all fuzzy and that's not good considering they are bound to end up inside Baby D's mouth right away.

Baby D likes to be "stood up", (not as in a date, he is still not going on those, but actually standing  up ) and to "sit down" though he infinitely prefers being stood up. He loves to look out of the window as someone holds him and to comment on the going ons in the street. In summary, he'd rather do anything other than lying flat on the bed, unless it's to start turning immediately.

Of late, Baby D has started being more accepting of his bouncer. The elephant toy hanging in it catches his fancy as he tugs at it, chews at it and by and large ignores "Simba" ( the other toy hanging in the bouncer). The only catch is that he'd like Appu in his hands and not simply dangling by the bouncer bar. So he tugs hard at it, lifts up his bum and launches himself at it. As a result, Baby D has never quite spent more than five minutes at a time in the said bouncer. Perhaps if we were to clip on a toy, that would in fact come off in his hands, we might meet with great success.

With all this flurry of activity that keeps all those around him on their toes, Baby D has decided to do the mature thing. He's settled into an incredibly regular pattern of nine hour stretch at night and day time small and big regular naps. Mommy D has thus far managed to maintain a hold, however precarious, on her sanity. She fervently wishes she isn't speaking too soon.

Twenty Four

It's been a while since Baby D and Mommy D have hung out all by themselves, since Daddy D flew out of town (We miss him, both of us). And Mommy and Baby D have never yet spent twenty four hours all by themselves.

With nani and nana being out of town too, Baby D promised to take care of his momma. We got off to a great start, bright and early at seven. Baby D had his milk, and had his diaper changed with a minor mishap that necessitated a change of entire outfit. Once that was done, Baby D was happy to be entertained with "Johny Johny, Yes Papa",  twinkling stars and so forth. As the morning wore on, we watched "Two and a Half Men" together. It's not age appropriate, but Baby D did crack a smile at some of the jokes and loved the opening song.

Mommy D thought it best that Baby D received some informal education. As she very much hopes he will be a well travelled baby, she introduced to him the concept of continents and countries. We started with naming the five major continents. Going from east to west -  Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and finally on to Americas. We then realised we had left South America unaccounted for and remembered  there were seven continents , not five. Having mixed up Greenland and Antarctica (they are both cold) for the seventh continent, Mommy D decided to leave the oceans well alone.

We had our minor disagreements. Baby D wanted to be walked around. Mommy D incorrectly gauging his mood, plonked him into the bouncer. Baby D would have taken this in his stride, but then found an entire teaspoon of  "daal ka paani" in his mouth. It's not one of his favourite things to eat and he hates being surprised. Mommy D tried explaining that the spoon had somehow slipped and found itself pouring more than intended. It took a while and some cajoling, but Baby D did come around.

And then there was the time Baby D took Mommy for a long ride. He lay on the bed, rubbing his eyes, yawning and fidgeting,looking at Mommy D with sleepy eyes that said "please help me sleep". Mommy D has never been able to hold out for long against Baby D's requests. So she picked him up and started walking him, singing "soft kitty" as if her life depended on it. Baby D lay his head on her shoulder and seemed content enough, when Mommy D heard a sound. It was Baby D laughing! Naturally, she put him down to tell him what is what, but he only looked up innocently as if to say - "what? Aren't we doing this anymore? But I was having fun. You were doing so well, keep going"

The most trying times were when Baby D was hungry. He still hasn't realised that milk can't be had with the wave of a wand, it takes about three minutes of preparation. He also doesn't seem to have any intermediate, manageable stages of hunger. He's either not hungry at all or famished. When he's famished, he gets extremely upset and has to be held and soothed until food is ready. As both can't be done at the same time by the same person - we seemed to have reached an impasse.  Mommy D had no choice but to lay him down, screaming murder, in the calming company of Mr Spots and trot along at top speed.

Baby D did what he could to ensure that each diaper change would entail an entire outfit change. Unfortunately, Mommy D's former ineptitude in this area has put him off changing clothes for good. In these days of multiple layers, Baby D's distaste was exacerbated and he fought hard at each outfit change, doing his best to slide away from his fresh shirt or onesie. Mommy D very much fears she has scarred him for life. She can see a sixteen year old Baby D gritting his teeth as he changes clothes!

After many singalongs, walks and talkathons, Baby D has fallen asleep. Mommy D devoutly wishes him a peaceful night's slumber.

The Pro Of Nebulizers

Baby D has been severely congested, with a blocked nosy so bad that he refused to eat for eight hours straight. Mommy D got extremely worried after his second missed feed and his hurling what he HAD managed to eat. So, to the doctor we rushed. The wait at the office was excruciating to all of us..with Baby D suffering and his mommy, nani and nana suffering alongside.

Finally the doctor saw him and pronounced the verdict right away - "he needs to be nebulized and if he misses another feed then hospitalisation it is". Mommy D had read up on the internet about nebulization - there needs to be a mask that goes over babies' mouth and nose and the medicine goes in a mist form directly to the lungs. With horrible visions assailing her mind, Mommy D bought the mask at the pharmacist's who did what she could to sympathise - "my kid has had it too. It made her better." It was something of a relief for mommy to know that what was being given to Baby D was just saline water after all.

A very worked up Baby D sat in momma's lap and held nani's finger for support as the mask was put on him. Mommy D was all but ready to weep herself, but within the first few seconds Baby D felt visibly relieved. He liked it so much, he drew in deep breaths, gulped in through his mouth, shut his eyes as if this was bliss. He then opened them wide and started taking stock of his surroundings. When he spotted the nebulization lady, he said to her these words "oo".

With a nose that had finally come unglued, Baby D devoured his milk with gusto and so we were all able to heave a sigh of relief. The following morning Baby D was called in again for another round of nebulization. This time he was not so impressed and seemed determined to dodge the mask. He even turned around 180 degrees in Momma's lap and looked up at her as if to say - "make her stop will ya, this is a waste of my time".

As the doctor examined him, Baby D said to him these words - "oo". I think this is turning out to be a child with his manners firmly in place. "Oo" is just his way of saying "thanks a lot". Just this morning Baby D was lying snuggled next to Mommy D, both in a semi sleepy state. Mommy D opened her eyes to find Baby D looking up at her with a smile. And then he said - "oo" before nodding off to sleep. This time he probably meant - "gee what a sleepy head you are mommy!"

Mommy D has gotten into the habit of bobbing Baby D up and down in her arms in a bid to soothe him when he's upset. This has gone to the extent that Mommy D bobs about on the balls of her feet even when she isn't holding Baby D. She really must get rid of this trick before returning to work. Who, after all would take seriously an employee who bobs around while holding a conversation.

This Week's Round Up

Baby D has been upto plenty this week past and that includes keeping his Mommy on her toes all day and night long. Which is why while Mommy D would have loved to regale blogosphere with a number of leisurely posts, she now has to be content with a single post of this week's  happenings.

So, first among the headlines - Baby D has visited the local Starbucks (the very first in his city) and has approved of it - strongly. Perhaps it was the smell of all the caffeine in the air, but Baby D seemd to have gotten a real high as soon as we entered. He talked at the top of his voice, which is nothing like his size, expressed his admiration of a poster of coffee beans on a weighing scale and was fairly bouncing off the walls. It was a while before he calmed down enough to settle down to his bottle (of milk) even as nani, nana and Mommy D tucked into their cookies and their coffee.

Baby D is learning new things - like the "brrm brrm brrm" sound indicative of a motorbike starting. Mommy D had been going "brrm brrm" in order to impress and entertain him. She of course hadn't dreamt that he'd not only learn to make the very same sound, but once learnt, he'd be unstoppable. Baby D now goes "brrm brrm brrm" all day long and honestly believes it is an important component of vocabulary. Mommy D can't bring herself to let him know otherwise - not until he's learnt some real words anyway.

There's this particular brand of wipes that Baby D likes to use - it has a bright pink coloured, noisy crinkly wrapper. Baby D is extremely attracted to the wrapper, and smiles in glee every time he espies it. When it's full of wipes, Mommy D has nothing to worry about because Baby D can't actually pick it up. But when it's not then Baby D likes to lift it up and chew at its crinkled edge, which in Mommy D's opinion is living dangerously. She's too weak to snatch it away when Baby D has made such valiant manoeuvres to get at it, so she desperately tries to hide away the packet while pulling out the wipes and generally keeping it out of Baby D's line of vision.

With regards to his gear, Baby D has now accepted his bouncer and is content enough to sit in it, listening to the music and tugging at Appu and Simba (the lion). Mommy D hasn't had much luck chosing him a car seat though. The car seat shopping didn't start on a very encouraging note, with Baby D yelling his disapproval in the first one he was strapped into. Since then Mommy D has been back and forth over different models and has been vacillating between convertible and an infant carrier. With Daddy D being in the land of "toys R us" at the moment and Baby D not offering any opinions, Mommy D has given up on reaching any sort of conclusion in the near future.

For entertainment, Baby D has really warmed to "Johny Johny, yes papa". Repeated renditions never fail to evoke a smile and Baby D laughs in anticipation of the concluding "open your mouth, ha ha ha". He's thus the subject of numerous videos and photos and is fast filling up all digital storage media around the house.

In the past, Mommy D has waxed eloquent about Baby D's growing independence and his need to hold his milk bottle on his own. Well now, not only can Baby D direct his bottle fairly quickly to his mouth but can also hold it steady for a couple of minutes as he eats. This evening, Baby D, wait for it, held his bottle with a single hand, and fed himself as he followed the state assembly election results on tv. Mommy D is already starting to suffer pangs of separation anxiety. The day is not far away when Baby D will be off to college!

Baby D Goes To The Mall

This post really should have come in the beginning of November, but events overtook and it's only now that I am getting a chance to document this rather important Baby D milestone - for we had never been out with Baby D before then (except to nana- nani's place and to the doctor's).

Mommy D was super excited about the outing, but we also had a specific reason for taking Baby D to the mall. We were buying Baby D a carrier and it was essential that he tried sitting in it and tell us whether he liked it and could stand being in it. We had thought the trip through and were prepared to handle most aspects of it - like feeding and entertaining him if he got cranky. For his milk, we planned on leaving soon after he had eaten so we would be good for a couple of hours or three. That meant we wouldn't have to make up his bottle in the middle of the drive and with some luck we might even get through the entire trip without Baby D getting hungry. What we weren't ready for was to change a poo'ed in diaper in a public rest room. We thought it best to wait until he had done the deed before we stepped out of the door.

And so we waited - for Baby D to poo. The morning passed and so did the afternoon and time began   creeping into the evening and yet Baby D would not poo. We waited and debated and twiddled our thumbs and finally came up with an alternate strategy. If he did need a change, we would retreat discreetly to the parking lot and change him on the back seat of the car.

With that, we went boldly forth. Baby D was sleeping peacefully at the beginning of the journey which we took to be a good omen. We were about twenty minutes short of destination when Baby D woke up and made it known in no uncertain terms that he was very hungry. Daddy D pulled over in a big hurry and made up his bottle even as Mommy D tried consoling him best as she could. We were on the point of abandoning "mission mall" but decided to carry on as we had already come this far.

We arrived without further incident and headed over to the Mother Care store, pointing out to Baby D  enroute all the sights we thought might interest him. It has to be admitted though, Mommy and Daddy D were more excited than Baby D, who simply looked bewildered. Perhaps the "Big Outside" was a little too big for him. We found him a nice carrier at the Mother Care store. Daddy D wore it and practiced toting around Baby D who seemed to be okay in it and kept his protests to a minimum once he was able to get his hand out and suck at his thumb.

The poo was still very much on our minds and so when we spotted a changing room in the store, we made for it like homing pigeons. Baby D consented to lay down on the changing table very agreeably and presented to us a diaper that was squeaky clean. We were obviously in luck.

We walked around the mall, Mommy D wearing Baby D in his brand new carrier and Daddy D looking at shirts and things. Baby D fell asleep again. We could only assume that he was either too comfortable in the carrier or that he was put off by all the crass consumerism around him. He only woke up to demand a meal just as we were making our way back to the parking lot. Thus he had his second meal in a moving car.

The drive back was a lot more livelier, with Baby D actually beckoning to his Daddy with his tiny little hands. Perhaps he wanted to check his driving credentials, perhaps he had something compelling to say that just couldn't wait. Daddy D tried his best to make conversation with Baby D and yet keep us reasonably safe on the road.

Baby D has been out walking in his carrier a bunch of times. For some reason he always does fall asleep. Mommy D is still hopeful - we'll go out walking one day and Baby D won't fall asleep and then the real adventures will begin!