His First Words

Baby D started off in an unconventional fashion with "Emmm", which Mommy D was very pleased to be called. He then decided to confirm and switched to "Mamma", very sweet on the ears. Baby D used it effectively, to demand pizza, or stop momma from visiting the loo or just to welcome her back from work.

He then added to his vocabulary - "nahin". "Nahin" means a lot of things, but sometimes it does mean "no" and so we count it as a real word too. Baby D says "nahin" when he doesn't want to be diapered or doesn't care to be shirted or doesn't want to eat. What's important is that he's learnt to say no early in life.

Next came "ight". We only discovered what "ight" is recently - "light". Baby D repeats "ight", every time we say "light". And, we have no idea why this figures in his first three words list. By a very long shot, perhaps he inherits his Mommy D's love for Diwali, or more simply he just likes lights!

Baby D in fact knows more words than he can say. He can tell "Where's light", "where's fan", "Where's Papa", "Where's nani" and "Where's mamma", the last one with a happy sort of grunt. Of course he responds once, if you keep asking him over and over, he just loses patience and gives an angry little growl as if to say "Get a grip, haven't I just told you!"

Attempts are on to get him to say "Papa". When told "say Papa", he responds with an impish smile and says "mamma" much to Mommy D's ill concealed delight.

And so, on the cusp of his 11th month, birthday - we have a clever little Baby D with a three word bilingual vocabulary and a mini dictionary in his head, that he hasn't quite learn to say yet. 

Playground Dynamics

For some time now, Baby D's evening walks have included a visit to the society park. It's a miniature place but so is Baby D, who immensely likes it there. So every evening Mommy D overcomes her natural introvert instincts that prompt her to run in the opposite direction when she sights people and "hellos" other mommies at play.

Baby D who'd initially hide his face coyly in Mommy D's shoulders when approached by folks (how like the family after all) has slowly picked confidence and looks other babies in the eye, babbles up  and generally has a good time. We start nice and easy with the swings, Mommy D holds him securely and swings him "back and forth" and "up and down". Both are really the same, but Baby D doesn't know that and he giggles out loud. We then do the slide and the bouncy. Baby D has attempted to crawl up the slide, which is obviously an uphill task. So now he's content to stand at the bottom and bang away with his fists.

There's Baby Kuhu, an year and half old who excitedly repeats "Baby" every couple of minutes on sighting Baby D. She greets him and pumps his hands up and down. Baby D, a little overwhelmed at first, warmed to good intentions and himself grabbed on to her shoulders and "spoke" to her.

Then we have Baby Kiara, two years old, who equally loves Baby D, is enthusiastic in her advances and despite her size, and boisterous mien, Baby D stands his ground and actually smiles back.

Baby D does have a nemesis though - Baby Bani. This impish little girl, all of an year old is normally found kicking a ball around the park and has now made Baby D cry twice! She once patted his cheek a little to firmly and another time pulled his hair. Mommy D would have passed this off as unintentional and put it down to high spirits, but Baby Bani giggles when Baby D cries! Needless to  say, the barely germinating relations between the two Mommies are now well in the Arctic.

It's quite a Charles Darwin world, this park. Baby D himself has been known to try grabbing a pacifier off a smaller baby - Baby Adam.

Well, all the activity around him - the cricket and running babies, and ball kicking has spurred Baby D on to try walking himself. He now won't crawl if he can somehow walk, if he can find something to hold on to. Once reluctant to try things in the big scary world of the park, he now clasps Mommy D's hand, and tries to get where he needs to at top speed. Baby D has just learnt to stand without support, about thirty seconds at a time. But he has rightly decided, that this is rather like riding a bicycle - you don't fall if you keep moving. And so one day, with a whole lot of cheering from Mommy D and Daddy D he took his first couple of independent steps - in this same park. We have been seeing some progress since and it's not for want of trying that Baby D isn't quite walking just yet.

Talking of play, Baby D has three new additions to his cloth book library - The Tale of Sir Prancelot, Where's Elmo, and another title about Elmo's bedtime routine. Baby D, it turns out loves a book with a story to it and so he has taken to "Sir Prancelot" even as "Are You My Mother" remains an all time favourite. Mommy D is proud to report that Baby D can now turn the pages himself - one at a time.

Mommy D and Daddy D are turning the pages too, only a few more weeks until his first birthday!

Best Weekend Ever

We went to Hamleys! Yay! When Mommy D and Daddy D were in London, and Baby D was still not  among them, they used to go to Hamleys to while away an evening pleasantly. Now with Baby D in their midst and a local branch newly opened in their town, they can go there with legitimate reason.

Baby D has been showing scant interest in his toys recently, so they thought to buy whatever Baby D chose. And so Baby D was allowed to crawl at large, and explore at will,  with a very excited Mommy D and Daddy D in tow. They would have brought home a tricycle, legos, the hungry caterpillar, potty seat, Po soft toy, a fox, Mickey mouse, bigger version of Mr Spots, a tiger, rabbit and dogs, a musical ball, a swimming frog (bath toy) a motor boat, too large for his current bath tub and a bubble gun.

Luckily the cold hand of reason brought them down to earth. Mommy D went to the cashier with the caterpillar and a musical ball of dadi's choosing, smiling beatifically. Daddy D entertained Baby D by wearing the toy masks.

Mommy D then thought of other practical matters, such as buying herself a pair of shoes. Baby D let her, but then called loudly and specifically "Emmm". He was hungry. He polished off his khichdi in about 5 minutes, something that would have taken him four times the time at home. (He likes to "eat on the go"- crawl around the house doing important things like exploring cupboards, and drawers and finding slippers, only stopping long enough for a panting Mommy D to catch up and shove a spoonful in his mouth). Well, for once Baby D attacked his dinner with a no nonsense attitude, and burst into tears at the end and further remonstrated with "Emm" to give him some more. Thankfully there was some extra formula on hand!!

Baby D having been fed, it was time for the rest of the family to think of their own appetites and so off to an asian restaurant we went. The waiters courteously pulled up a high chair for Baby D and settled him in. Mommy D left the ordering of her food and drinks to the others even as she worked hard to keep Baby D entertained in the confines of his high chair. This meant dancing his Mickey mouse for him, offering him the menu to read and feeding him biscuits. Baby D thought it would be a fine idea to drop things and have Mommy D pick 'em up - just for fun. So it was that Mommy D spent most of her time on the floor , but was enjoying herself hugely for all that.

Of course, when Baby D tried to grab the waiters to place an order, it was time to get him out of his high chair and take him for a walk. Mommy and Daddy D were extremely grateful to the waiters for offering Baby D a couple of straws to play with and for sterilising his sippy cup  spout which had been thrown to the ground. Of course they were to learn later that this was de rigeur for families with babies. They are more savvy now.

Baby D, in the meantime, took trips to the ladies room where he giggled at all the mirrors, insisted on eating chicken off our plates and then decided he had had enough of the high chair after all. As Mommy D watched frozen in shock, he launched himself off and slid neatly down. Thank God for the Hamleys toys under to cushion his fall. The tables around stopped mid conversation and dada had the presence of mind to pick him up before Baby D quite realised the sensation he had just created. He carried on unconcernedly eating his teether even  as the rest of us gulped down our meals, gathered ourselves together, paid our bill and took ourselves off.

Baby D fell asleep as usual in the car to the strains of Mommy D singing "Soft Kitty" and we agreed it was the best outing we had in a long while.

A Very Contrary Baby

It was Baby D's ninth month birthday and Mommy D had some plans to commemorate the occasion.
Despite the fact that Baby D has been showing scant interest in new toys of late, Mommy D thought to go ahead and get him this clockwork alligator anyway. "Snappy" features two birdies on his back, which when you press, gets Snappy to work his jaws furiously and roll away. It's supposed to be fun for crawling babies to chase after. Snappy's tail can be twisted, so it goes click click. His is a friendly face and colourful wheels. What's not to like!

Mommy D and Daddy D had a much involved discussion the previous night, over a name for Snappy. They had perhaps not put so much thought into Baby D's name! Mommy D thought it might be a good idea to just hide Snappy in Baby D's toy box for him to find, so he didn't feel pressured into playing with him.

Sure enough, Baby D spotted Snappy right away. But having examined him a bit, and banging the floor with him, he simply threw him away. No amount of showing him Snappy's capabilities would  get him interested. He really couldn't be bothered to chase after Snappy rolling away. In fact, when Mommy D "accidentally" left Snappy lying around, Baby D unconcernedly stepped over him in his quest for slippers, shoes and the like.

The other excitement of the day was introducing fish to Baby D. Mommy D had thought of a recipe, that she felt sure would please. Fish and potato were boiled together with a clove of garlic to give a hint of flavour. The whole was then mashed together with a teeny pinch of salt and formed into a ball. Mommy D then fried the fish cutlets in ghee. It was at this crucial last stage that things went awry and the whole tasted more ghee than fish.

Baby D's response was frank and instantaneous. He took a bite, pulled a face and threw up the whole on Mommy D. Oh well. She had that coming. The same evening,  Baby D determinedly devoured the grown up fish cutlets - nicely spiced and salted. He also got his way over the omelette, growling at Mommy and Daddy D until we were forced to relinquish at least a quarter of their portion each. This is when he's not officially started eggs.

Mommy D  is worried on the shape of things to come, even as the entire household patters around in bare feet, (the slippers are all hidden away lest Baby D should take a fancy to eat them) and each household article that is lost is looked out for with repetitions of "where is pen", "where is cup" and so forth after the manner of Baby D's peekaboo game.

Baby D's Little Rituals

Baby D is quite a grown baby now with a very definite personality, mannerisms, likes and dislikes and moods and ways. For one, he wants everything Daddy D has. Daddy D never is able to keep his glasses on if Baby D is in the vicinity. After multiple days of saying "no no", "bad", "dangerous" in all its variants, scolding and explaining, Daddy D has surrendered to a state of perpetual blurriness. He's even been known to offer his glasses as bribe, "here Baby D come get my glasses, but lie still so we can diaper you".

If Baby D has one virtue, it'd be persistence. He goes at something, until we drop the cause in sheer exhaustion! So Baby D now happily eats away at slippers, barring the weak "No Baby D, dirty, please, really dirty". He also bats away gleefully at the mac as and when he pleases. Daddy D had offered him the ipad as an alternative, but Baby D, naturally was having none of that. Eventually Daddy D threw in the towel and Baby D has been known to type away, open chrome, register for online courses, sit on the computer and so forth. The last bastion that needs to be conquered is for Baby D to be allowed to open the mac cover in the reverse, and something suggests Daddy D would stand firm on that.

And so Baby D crawls around the house at top speed, making new discoveries, exploring and destroying at will. Mommy D spends most of her time at home on all fours, chasing around Baby D, to limit damages and to save him from the consequences of his somewhat reckless decisions.

In his more manageable moments, Baby D is turning out to be quite an affectionate person. He gives Mommy D a tight little hug when she returns from  work and sometimes he hugs her just because, and sometimes because he likes it that she's jamming with him. He has also learnt to kiss and his kisses are naturally reserved for Mommy D. Mommy D wishes he'd remain this demonstrative when he's all grown up, but she does wish he wouldn't cry when she leaves for work!

Baby D is quite a thrill seeker too. He looks to Daddy D to give him a ride on his shoulders and to bounce and toss him around. His appeals and requests can come at any time, especially when Daddy D is driving and not really in a position to comply.

A budding book lover,  his favourite at the moment is "Are you my mother". Mommy D reads to him this tale of a bird in search of his mother, every night, and Baby D laughs at all the funny bits and looks to his Daddy as if to say "wait wait, she's coming to the best part now". Mommy D has thrown herself enthusiastically into the task of creating a cloth book library for Baby D and looks forward to the day when Harry Potter will be available as a four page cloth book too!

Baby D loves to play "peekaboo" and hides in his blanket until he's heard a lot of desperate "Where is Baby D, where can Baby D possibly be"! His favourite is when Mommy D is looking skyward and clasping and unclasping her hands, "searching" for Baby D, who gives a delighted yelp and comes crawling over. He definitely knows his name..and he knows his Mommy is "M". Mommy D wishes he'd always call her "Emm" and call to his "Emm" to make things better.

Bad, Dangerous, Dirty

With Baby D being fully mobile and crawling or cruising to wherever his fancy takes him (inside the house), we are no longer able to simply carry him away from wherever he shouldn't be. Of late it seemed like we were saying "No" a lot to him. Mommy D thought it might be nice to tell him the "why" for the "no".

So we ended up saying three words a lot - "bad" - when it was bad to do something, like stealing Daddy D's spectacles. "Dirty" - for when he was putting in his mouth something he shouldn't like slippers or shoes. "Dangerous" for things that might hurt him or that he might hurt. With Mommy D having recently unearthed her living room decoration pieces, a lot of them glass or ceramic, or pottery, Baby D heard "dangerous" no matter where he crawled.

At first he thought it was all a good joke. Whenever he grabbed a slipper, Mommy D would say "a - a, no, dirty dirty". This would make Baby D laugh, but he would drop the offending slipper anyway and course correct.

"Dangerous" has had some unexpected ramifications. There's this earthenware brightly coloured vase with a lot of artificial flowers in it that wave around under the ceiling fan. Naturally Baby D wants to find out what makes them tick. Mommy D, concerned he would tip the vase on him told him firmly "dangerous". Baby D paid heed. For a few days he just stopped short of the vase and tried talking to it.  By and by, his curiosity got the better of him. But every advance he made was met with "dangerous". Baby D rebelled and cried but didn't go against instructions. Mommy D thought to put the vase away altogether.

When Mommy D and Baby D went for their usual evening walk they came across these pretty white flowers that normally Baby D wouldn't have had hesitated to pluck right away. This time though he reached his hand out, then stopped short, then reached out again, trying to make up his mind. This wrenched at Mommy D's heart. She doesn't want a tentative baby who second guesses his decisions.

Mommy D has decided to let Baby D explore as he pleases. The vase stays, but when Baby D decides to investigate, Mommy D holds it steady to avoid accidents. It does mean that the half withered artificial flowers would probably be gone earlier than they would have if Baby D hadn't taken a fancy to them. But we have a happier baby who wreaks havoc in the living room. The photo frame of the engagement pic is likely to meet an early demise. The books are likely going to be "read" cover from cover and the Scrabble letters have had to be hidden, being clearly a choking hazard.

Baby D still isn't allowed to eat slippers though. He doesn't really pay attention to "bad" and steals spectacles whenever he can. Mommy D is amazed she has had to take sophisticated parenting decisions this early in life.

Ups and Downs

The past few weeks for Baby D have been a time for emotional upheavals and major achievements. To begin with Daddy D returned to home and hearth. This confused Baby D who, although he had been seeing Daddy D on skype ever so often, had assumed he was something on you tube. Seeing him in person, he had to adjust his ideas. When Mommy D handed him to Daddy D as she went about her chores, he would utter a protesting - "Emmm".

The introduction of Michelangelo on Baby D's horizon helped considerably to resolve matters for him. Michelangelo is a classical musician turtle. He is a Baby Einstein toy that Daddy D brought home with him. Mommy D thought he should have been more appropriately named "Beethoven"but then Daddy D explained the Ninja turtles connection. Anyway, Baby D's face lit up at the sight of Michelangelo and he reconciled himself to Daddy D's actual 3D presence around the house.

Very soon, it was time to move house. Baby D, blissfully unaware, played at nani's house, even as Mommy and Daddy D frantically worked around the clock to make the new place habitable for him. Baby D had seen the house a few times before and by and large approved of it, but he hadn't bargained on living here for ever. He was thus distraught and quite lost. We set up his wardrobe and his toy box even before he entered, but Baby D was just sad. So nani sent over all of her plants and the empty cardboard boxes and shopping bags Baby D would play with at her place. Baby D was still a sad little baby who forlornly batted at the switch boards, as if to say "at least you are still there". We just stopped short of asking nani to send her couch and living room decor over as well.

To complicate matters further, there was a change of guard in Baby D's baby sitting arrangements, dada and dadi taking over from nana and nani. Baby D went into his shell for a while and was very loathe to part from Mommy D in the mornings when she went to work.

A week down the line, Baby D has come around. He has begun to take an active interest in his new surroundings and also made friends with his new set of grandparents. Thankfully, for Mommy D's peace of mind, his laugh is back as are his devilish ways.

To crown a week of positive developments, Baby D decided he would start crawling after all,the proper "classic" way.  The same evening, Baby D, using Daddy D as support,  pulled himself up to a standing position.  We were all thrilled, but none more so than Baby D, who decided to take a  bow and let his support go momentarily. He practices this all the time now, using Daddy D as a sort of climbing wall. If that wasn't enough, Baby D has also learnt to go from a lying down to a sitting position and to sit down on his knees.

Reliable sources say he was once even found standing up in his cot bed, and mulling on ways of climbing out. Baby D is definitely on the move! As Mad Eye Moody would have said - "constant vigilance".

Baby D's Night Out

Mommy and Daddy D were determined that their old friends, Auntie Su and Uncle So, and Uncle M meet Baby D. So when dinner was arranged at this nice hotel in our town, they decided to venture bravely forth and take Baby D along.

Mommy D packed everything she could think of, and then some, into Baby D's diaper bag. In went diapers and wipes, Micky mouse and Baby D's fishie teether, formula dispenser with pre measured formula and some to spare and pre measured boiled water in a bottle, Baby D's sippy cup, burp cloths, spoons and bowl and some potato mash, so he wouldn't feel left out when the others ate.

Baby D started getting cranky twenty minutes into the drive. This didn't bode well for the rest of the evening, so Mommy D turned on the radio hoping to give his thoughts a new direction. He didn't care for the music, so Mommy D took to singing herself. Baby D is the only person in the world who prefers momma's singing to the radio. So she blithely ignored the stares of the people at the traffic stops, not to mention Daddy D's sensibilities, as she screeched - "Fa ---a long long way to run" much to Baby D's delight.

We reached the nice hotel in our town and looked in longingly at the lounge bar. The staff sympathetically informed us we couldn't take kids in there, but they would send any "beverages" we wanted to the restaurant. So there we went, and asked for a table for six - in a cosy nook, where any ruckus made by Baby D would go unnoticed and which would be relatively sheltered from the AC. We also asked for some bread sticks to keep Baby D engaged and a high chair to sit him in. Baby D enjoyed the high chair for all of two minutes, banging away on its little table. But then he realised he was restrained and couldn't jump off when he liked and immediately made his loud and angry disapproval known! Mommy and Daddy D desperately tried to work the table free and were rescued by an army of the waiting staff within minutes!!

The bread sticks were met with more success. When they arrived, they had oregano and other herbs stuck on to them, so Mommy D had dropped any plans of letting Baby D entertain himself with those. But Baby D in one swipe grabbed them and went at them with gusto. That was until Daddy D realised they presented a choking hazard, and tactfully but summarily put an end to that little adventure.

Auntie Su made Mommy D laugh a lot with her own baby anecdotes and the right way to handle kids around a swimming pool. Mommy and Daddy D were able to join in the conversation by turns and then fill in the gaps later. We learnt that "Ba Ba black sheep" is really about taxation - a most interesting observation, and we are convinced we didn't mix it up with any other piece of conversation. Mommy D was even able to play the wine connoisseur act when presented with a bottle to sample, holding Baby D with one hand and sniffing with full conviction at the glass before giving a gracious nod to the waiter.

Baby D tried his best to upset the table, pulling at the place mats, banging the cutlery against the plates and poking his hand in momma's bowl of pasta. So all in all he enjoyed himself too. The only misadventure of the evening was with the mashed potato. Mommy D, with misplaced enthusiasm, offered Baby D a larger bite than he could handle which made him throw up everywhere. Daddy D whisked him off to the men's room to get him cleaned up as Mommy D forlornly sipped her wine and felt guilty. (Nice hotel in our town has the diaper changing unit in the men's. Mommy D is thinking of becoming a regular.)

Baby D returned from the men's all spruced up and ready to re-join the party. He tried his best to sip at momma's glass of wine. This made her very proud, for he could, if he had wanted to, gone for Daddy D's beer instead. Mommy D has visions of Baby D graduating out of La Sorbonne, all Parisian in his sensibilities. When it was his milk time, Baby D simply lay down and polished off his bottle. He then played some more with the cutlery and the crockery and finally when he had had enough raised his hands in appeal. Mommy D had barely picked him up and he fell asleep.

With Baby D's first night out deemed a spectacular success, Mommy D and Daddy D are rather on a high. Looks like good times are about to roll!

A Very Eventful Meal

It was Baby D's lunch time. Mommy D decided she could handle it alone now that Baby D can sit up unassisted and so feeding him shouldn't be a two person job. So she carefully measured out two scoops of cerelac and added just the right amount of water. Then she stirred really carefully the pearly white stuff and carried the bowl to Baby D along with water in his ducky cup.

Baby D was propped up with pillows, just in case he got tired. A bib was tenderly placed around him, which he dispensed with immediately, preferring to sit in his fresh clean clothes for his meal. Mommy D's one hand was occupied with the spoon and the other engaged in keeping the bowl away from Baby D's inquisitive fingers. This left Baby D with full freedom to grab at the spoon with his free hands. From his fingers, the cerelac found its way into Baby D's nose, his hair and forehead and then his eyes! Mommy D had to take a break at this point to perform an emergency wash and clean.

When Mommy D was ready to resume the meal, Baby D decided he had had enough and attempted to crawl away. This left paw prints on the pillow case and bed sheet and on Mommy D 's clothes.

Mommy D hurriedly shovelled into his mouth the remainder of the cerelac and hauled Baby D off to the washroom for a thorough wash. Of late Baby D  has become quiet hygienic minded and loves to have a big splash in the washbasin. He is fascinated with the tap and has even once tried to turn it on his own.

Naturally he welcomed this fresh opportunity for water play on top of a right messy meal. Baby D sat himself down on the basin and proceed to wreck havoc. Water was sent splashing every place and there were tiny paw prints all over the basin mirror. With one sweeping gesture he managed to send the toothbrush holder smashing. Mommy D had to hurriedly carry away a gleeful Baby D and report damages to nani...

We sat shaking our heads for the storm to pass over. Couldn't believe there was still soup to be tackled!

Senior Baby

Baby D is now seven months old, an assertive little fella with a knack for getting his own way. Last Saturday, Baby D was "insisting".  It takes Mommy D a while to figure out what he's insisting on, and she suspects sometimes Baby D himself  is unsure what he'd like done, but that doesn't deter him one bit. More often than not though, when  she hears the high pitched, unrelenting "ummmm ummm", Mommy D knows he is bored.

All that remains then, is to find a way to entertain him! There's no one right solution, but one that works quite a few times is communing with nature! It isn't ideal  to take Baby D to the garden in the middle of the afternoon, although Mommy D gave in and did exactly that one time. At most times, a compromise does work - we go to Scotland. "Scotland" is what we call nani's balcony for it's potted plants greenery and it's view of hills. Once here, Baby D is perfectly content to gaze dreamily out or play vigorously with the leaves. Then Mommy D brings on the music.  Baby D loves hearing such soulful stuff as "I can't help falling in love with you"  or "Fields of Gold" or Chitra Singh's "kiya hai pyar jise humne zindagi ki tarah".

Daddy D wanted to find out which "can't help falling" version Baby D preferred, so he played it over skype. We had a truly wired family time, Daddy D singing along and Baby D dancing with Mommy D. Well the correct answer was Elvis Presley. Baby D prefers him to UB40 and he seems to find the lines "take my hands, take my whole life too" extremely funny. Go figure!

On a more non-spiritual plane, Baby D is definitely on the move. His first attempts at crawling began in mid December, when he managed to raise himself high up on his knees. but then he thought the correct way to move forward was by grinding his head into the bed. Since then Baby D has devised new methods of movement like rolling over in every direction, the head grind zig zag roll move. Even though he hasn't been officially crawling or even army crawling, Baby D manages to move all over the big bed. It now looks like he may have reached the penultimate stage, before we can leave him to crawl around on the floor. Baby D has managed to get up on both hands and knees. His victorious grin when he does this is something else! Having raised himself up, he teeters backwards and forwards, unsure what to do, until he collapses again. Still he senses the goal is in sight and is a rather cheerful baby for it.

Amidst all the focus on crawling, his one skill that is in fact fully developed went unnoticed until quite recently. We one day sat him down and lo and behold, he could sit! Baby D can sit without support for a full five minutes before toppling over. When asked when he learnt to sit up, he seemed to look puzzled - "what this? Sitting? Yeah I can do that, what's the big deal?" And then off he went attempting to crawl again.

Mommy D wishes him speedy success.

Wanderlust

Baby D can't wait to get out the door. He'll insistently "swim" at the main door. When you oblige and take him to it, he bats at it until you open up and go out on the landing. Once there, Baby D frantically works his arms and legs at the lift door! After some convincing that he'd be taken out at a more suitable hour of the day, he reluctantly agrees to come inside again.

On the weekend, at the decent hour of 5:30 pm, when Baby D has had his afternoon nap and bottle of milk, Mommy D dons the carrier to follow through on her promise. Baby D who was once very wary of his carrier, now all but jumps into it. We get out, into the lift, and the adventures begin!

Our walk is divided into two segments - country walk and city walk. For the country walk, we go into the garden and in the playground. Baby D loves to reach out and touch the see saw and the merry go round and the swings. Mommy D was once reckless enough to sit in the swing, when she and Baby D got stuck in it. Panicking, she called out to one of the little girls playing in the park to help her out. As the girl was disentangling the swing chain from the carrier, Baby D saw no reason to worry. He blithely reached out to touch her cheek. Perhaps he was saying thanks or just "hello", we shall never know. Baby D loves kids though, he calls out to them and  they invariable respond, so he has a large acquaintance in the neighbourhood within the space of a week.

It also helps that he has learnt to blow kisses and baby girls respond back with flying kisses, sending Mommy D reeling!

It's not just the people, both little and big that he loves, Baby D appears to have a botanical bent of mind too. He looks up long and hard at the trees and throatily voices his approval. He often requests a stop at certain hedges and bushes where he'll vigorously play with the leaves and the flowers and end up plucking them off and trying to eat them (naturally). It's lucky he's still too small and above suspicion or Mommy D would have to answer to the garden committee.

The city segment of the walks pleases Baby D no less. Baby D turns every way when a bike zips by. He grins when Mommy D points out various cars and explains which one is "parp parp" and which "pom pom". Baby D has now seen first hand what a "meow" is and what's a "bow wow".

On week days, nani and nana take Baby D down for a turn around the park and so he now has a number of going out outfits - a pair of cargos, jeans, dungarees and t-shirts. With his expanding social circle, he needs to make the correct sort of impression!

Mommy D has never seen Baby D so content as when he's out and about and this does seem to have become his favourite hour of the day. So much so that when we are back home again, and just shutting the main door, Baby D looks up in surprise and expresses his loud and angry disapproval!

In this respect at least,  Mommy D is glad to report, he takes after her!

Mommy D is already planning all the vacations we'll take together. We'll go to Goa and Munnar and maybe some day the London zoo. We could go driving on the Auto Bahn (Baby D hopefully won't mind a car seat) and visit the Oktober fest and perhaps see kangaroos in their habitat.

And then Baby D, one day you'll be off on your own. You'll live it up in Vegas and take a walk along the Seine with your sweetheart. Perhaps a trip to Mars? What adventures you will have Baby D.

Time For Change

Baby D, who has for some time now been a predictable sleeper, nodding off around ten and getting up at 7 am for his morning bottle, has decided to mix things up a bit. He snoozed off at 7 pm one evening, leaving Mommy D with a sense of  anti climax to the busy blur that is her day. But then, he woke up at 3:30 am and announced his readiness to play! Then one day, he decided to sleep much later, but demanded a bottle at 2 am nevertheless. This sent Mommy D back to the drawing board, frantically planning nap times, play times, and feed times, all to no avail.

By accident rather than design, things are now back to normal with Baby D settling back into his schedule but Mommy D is still holding her breath. His sleep for one has become extremely active. Baby D kicks up a storm and is found orbiting all through the night. Mommy D was woken up on one such occasion to find Baby D stuck in his cradle, legs sticking out of the bars and head right up against the opposite bars.  As we wait for his cot to arrive, Baby D sleeps on the bed with Mommy D, suitably fenced in, but orbiting all through the night. It's been a while since Mommy D herself has slept through the night!

And we now have to say bye bye to his cradle, which currently stands in the room with the forlorn air of one who realises he is obsolete.

Mommy D has changed too. Before Baby D came along, she was not in the habit of speaking to even her next door neighbours, if she could help it. Now she has been known to stop complete strangers walking their dogs with - " excuse me, may I point out your dog to my son? " and then she excitedly tells Baby D "look look, that's bow wow bow wow bow bow bow" even as the bemused neighbour waits for release.

Never before in their six year marriage have Mommy and Daddy D read out aloud to each other from a book, but now even when Baby D is not in their midst on skype, they have been known to recite - "Who's hiding behind the spruce? Peek - a - boo! It's a moose!"

Sadly, we are having to ...lay Mr Rattlesworth to rest. He has lost his song. We haven't yet broken the news to Baby D, and hope very much that he'll forget, so we won't have to tell him. The debate was in Mommy D's mind as to whether to replace Mr Rattlesworth with Mrs Moo or something more grown up  than a rattle. Finally she decided to get him a toy drum with flashing lights and melodies and the works. This is the first toy that Baby D has actually tried to do something to other than eat! It's early days yet, but Mommy D is hopeful she has a budding musician on her hands.

And finally, Mr Spots is thinking of ways to reinvent himself, as Baby D more and more looks at him reminiscently but  distantly.

Devilry

Mommy D got up bright and early this morning to pack Baby D's lunch of carrot soup and khichdi. He was to to have banana mash for his evening meal, chosen because it requires no cooking. Two items on the menu for Mommy D, who is no chef, meant an hour of prep, so she really couldn't fit in apple sauce as well.

Baby D got up as soon as his lunch had been packed and expressed his readiness for breakfast. After he had disposed off his milk, Mommy D and nani thought they would have their own breakfast of cornflakes and oats respectively. We were minding Baby D so we sat in his room to eat. He rolled up to us, raised himself as far up as he could on his arms and looked an innocent and anxious inquiry -"what is it you are eating, and not sharing?". So we handed him a piece of biscuit hoping that he wouldn't really consume it, only suck at it. Baby D immediately gummed off a largish bit and was evidently in some distress, so we had to hurriedly offer him some water to wash it down.

Mommy D eventually managed to get out the door  to spend some peaceful hours at work.

On her return, Baby D greeted her enthusiastically, grinning, leaping  into her arms and patting her vigorously on the shoulders. Extremely flattered, Mommy D played with him for about half an hour, all the time carrying him in her arms. Then she thought to lay him down, to take a break and to proceed to quieter play. Baby D, however had other ideas! He yelled in indignant protest and asked to be lifted up again. So Mommy D "sat him down" and "walked him around", bounced him on her knees to "Humpty Dumpty" and enacted "Johny Johny". Then she repeated it all again for the next hour.

She was warned in passing that Baby D's babysitter, was threatening to quit her post because Baby D had attacked her dangling earrings and caused her some distress! Mommy D lay Baby D down again to talk to him about his doings. But Baby D yelled angrily until a somewhat annoyed Mommy D picked him up again! This time Baby D was not to be easily appeased.

He kept protesting  irritably until Mommy D switched to jukebox mode. The singing made him smile, but any break would bring on the grumbles again. It made Mommy D shudder and think of Gabbar Singh saying "jab tak tere paair chalenge, tab tak iski saanse chalengi!"

Three diaper changes in three hours, including one poopy diaper,, continuous sing song and vigorous play...the only silver lining was Baby D falling asleep by ten! And now Mommy D is off to have some cerelac...because she feels the need for iron fortified cereal!

Of A Saturday

Baby D let me sleep in....and then he woke me up at 8 am. His methods were simple and effective ...he poked me in the eye and pulled at my face until I gave in. He was up and he wanted to play, time was precious, so the rough and ready methods.

The diaper changes followed, as did air time,  khichdi, apple, milk and so on. Mommy D had brought  Baby D a stacking ring toy which was to be a surprise and meant to be given to Baby D on his sixth month birthday. As is her wont, Mommy D could keep the secret no longer and so out came the toy earlier than planned. This is Baby D's first ever toy that isn't a stuffed animal and doesn't sing or light up. Now Mommy D hadn't expected Baby D to start stacking the rings in their correct sequence right away, but she had in fact thought that he'd love the bright primary colours and maybe eat them. Not so much! Baby D took in the rings at a cursory glance, but continued trying to reach the "goodnight", the water bottles and other relatively un-nice objects in un-primary colours!

Mommy D is still recovering from the shock and can only surmise that he doesn't like his new toy so much because it's being handed to him and is not a forbidden fruit at all! I have said this before and I say this again - to my future daughter-in-law, if you care for Baby D's attention, you need to play hard to get. And yes, he IS one of those men. Sigh!

Baby D's aversion to sitting continues. This weekend he decided sitting down to eat was the incorrect way of going about things..and so all his meals were had standing up. Baby D, with characteristic enthusiasm upended his bowl of khichdi on the bed sheet and the bowl of apple sauce on the floor, creating a right royal mess. Mommy D was loving it and insisted on a number of pictures, while nani was not at all impressed.

The other place where Baby D  has decided to stand is in his bath tub. He bounces up when you are least expecting it and tries to stamp out his squirty toys. Water within is soon "with-out" and octopus and other sea creatures are seen running for cover as are his bathing staff. Baby D has to be wrapped up in his towel and removed quickly to an area where he can no longer wreck wet havoc even as we think of ways to contain flood damage. This new course of events came as a surprise to Mommy D who hadn't been the one bathing him during the week. Up until the last weekend, Baby D had been a mere sitting splasher.

The weekend ended with Mommy D doing puppy imitations, which delighted Baby D so much, he dissolved into giggles. This in turn delighted Mommy D so much she kept up the performance for a quarter of an hour! As the weekend came to an end,  her only concern was her nosey....which had been eaten vehemently by Baby D. She went in to work looking like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer!

Another Week Passes By...

...and Mommy D has slipped into the Mommy mode only twice at work. Once was when she wished a colleague brightly with "morning morning" and had to explain hurriedly about the unconventional greeting. The second time was at lunch hour when she held forth at some length about Baby D's bedtime routine and Goodnight Moon.

When Mommy D returns from work, Baby D resolutely ignores her and carries on  as if to say " I have been busy, thank you. I still am". If Mommy D picks him up, he continues batting at his beloved objects and smiling everywhere except at Mommy. It's only after about half an hour has passed that he relents and tries to eat her nosey. At other times, when he's in a more benevolent mood, he comes to get Mommy D at the door and slowly smiles a surprised smile - " oh hello. You're here now, join in the fun".

Once the ice has been broken and cordial relations have again been established, Baby D is his own merry self - eating, talking, destroying, and so forth. Thankfully for Mommy D's stamina, Baby D has settled into a fairly predictable bed time routine. We start with a diaper change, and move on to a bottle of milk and his dose of calcium. We then read "Goodnight Moon" together. The great green room does grow upon you and Mommy D as well as Baby D seem to love it. Baby D smiles at the opening lines - "In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon, and a picture of the cow jumping over he moon." Baby D gives a patient hearing to Baby Rabbit settling himself to sleep and has even been known to open the book at the centre page ( there are three "pages") for Mommy D to read. After that Baby D gives the entire book a  "reading" or two on his own.  A few minutes of walking accompanied by Mommy D singing  "soft kitty" or "Baby don't you cry" and Baby D is fast sleep.

Tonight, Baby D had his usual bottle and read Goodnight Moon. He still looked lively although rubbing both his eyes. So Mommy D thought she would nip out of the room for a couple  of minutes to take care of some things. She wasn't gone above five minutes, but she returned to find baby d fast asleep!

But! he hadn't fussed yet, he hadn't been walked. Mommy D hadn't even  got started with "soft kitty" yet! Mommy D feels somehow guilty and Baby D is growing  up too quickly!

Mayhem

Not yet six months old and Baby D is well aware of the concept of  weekends, all due to momma returning to work. Our week days look slightly crazy. Mommy D sets the alarm for six and gets up by half  past. She then boils water for Baby D's feed and gets his sippy cup ready. She puts his new tiny (though not as tiny as she would have liked) cooker on for his khichdi, which she later blends. Mommy D then pours out a portion into his tiny food storage pot, which is half the motivation for Mommy D going through all of the above.

The next hour is a blur of first feed, air time and getting ready herself as nani returns from her walk and Baby D's baby sitter ( a young lass that he's been charming) comes over. Our good bye is a little emotional, Mommy D giving Baby D a tight little hug and Baby D, a little distracted goes "yeah okay, now get on with it".

In the evenings, Mommy D braves the perils of traffic to ride home at her top speed of 25 kmph so she can have an extra hour before Baby D's bed time. We play and we eat and we exchange the news for the day until it's time to say "nite nite".

Weekends though are a different beast. Expectations change of life as Mommy D has realised.  Leisurely sips of wine are a thing of the distant past. Mommy D now downs it in a gulp or two. After all, what's more important is that it is ingested rather than the manner of being ingested! A lucky break is when Baby D had done a "neat job" that just needed a couple of wipes.  And of course,  the main business of the weekend is to play catch up with Baby D.

Baby D made most of the opportunity by wreaking havoc in the house. He demands to be picked up and "swims" in the direction he'd like to be taken. His main focus points in the house are the switch boards which he can bat at, grinning broadly for hours on end. Then, there's the chimney on the hob, which lights up with a switch...Baby D smiles at it like it's the lights on the Eiffel tower :) Speaking of Eiffel tower, he's managed to break it, the magnet that is - his restraining order near the refrigerator not withstanding.

On the dining table, Baby D finds plenty to destroy - the cutlery stand, the table mats, the casserole that holds the rotis, the fruit bowl, the jugs are all fair game. And Baby D yesterday, "read" his first newspaper. Before Mommy D could gauge his intentions and intercept him, he had eaten the "M" in "Times Of India". It disappeared within a matter of seconds and we could find no traces of the "M" in his mouth. Mommy D only wishes  he had eaten something classier!

Nap times are not as peaceful as they used to be. Baby D remains active even when asleep working his legs up and down ever so often. As his kicks get more vigorous, the days of his cradle are numbered. We need to find a cot before he manages to dislodge the pin that locks the cradle steady in its place!

Baby D's fascination for the mirror is well documented, but what pleases him now is not just the Baby in the mirror, who is old news. No, he destroys and tries to eat whatever stands on the dressing table - the water bottle, the moisturiser jar. Mommy D very much fears he may have had a lick of the honey and almond.

Diaper changes and outfit changes, have been challenging for a while, but now they have turned into outright wrestling matches! Baby D shows no chivalry for the ladies, but rolls over,  pushes himself up and tries his best to scoot away. When recovered and brought back to his changing mat, he wastes no time in rolling away immediately. It's like having spent the first six months of his life on his back, Baby D is not going to stay that way one moment more than he needs to!

Exhausted, Mommy D looks around for things to fix that Baby D destroyed. She wonders what mayhem he'll cause, once he's actually able to move around. Baby D  in a pensive mood, sucks on his thumb - not the one on his hand, his big toe.

The Mirror of Erised And Other Tales

I do wonder what Baby D would see if he stood before the Mirror Of Erised - bottle of milk,  apple sauce, being walked around with no pause, or crawling at top speed. Or perhaps he'd just see himself as he is. Mommy D sure wishes that for Baby D, now and forever.

Sentimental musings aside, Baby D might well be on his way to understanding what our ordinary, reflecting mirrors really are. Since the past few days, when made to stand in front of a mirror, he laughs delightedly and bats at the "baby in the mirror".  Mommy D then thought to draw attention to herself.  As he stood prattling away, she started to recite "Johny Johny". Baby D uses both options,  he either turns around to look at momma or chortles at her in the mirror!

Talking of laughing, Baby D's laugh is rather well defined now. he chuckles and chortles and outright giggles. Mommy D is still experimenting with all situations that bring on the giggles but a few noteworthy ones are  being bounced up and down on momma's knees to "Humpty Dumpty" or going "ghughua manna" on nani's knees or while playing "mamma's nosey, babies' nosey". Mommy D is still trying to figure out why he loves that game so much.  She just makes him touch first her nosey, then his nosey and recites  "mamma's nosey, babies' nosey" and so on to different parts of the face and somehow that amuses him plenty!

Baby D once again said bye to Daddy D who's flown off westwards. Mommy D was quite choked up and fought back tears as Daddy D lifted Baby D in his arms to say bye and to tell him to take care of his momma. Baby D did listen politely, but at the point of the actual bye bye , he seemed rather more interested in the cab and other cars plying around. Sigh! Boys will be boys.

And this morning, Baby D had to be taken to the doctor yet again. The reason was an angry red spot in his eye, the result of poking himself with his razor sharp nails. Well the eye seemed to not bother  him at all and he made the most of the waiting at the doctor's trying to fraternise with other babies his size, reaching out , smiling and saying "oo".

For Mommy D (and Daddy D when he hears about it), this is a proud moment indeed. Both confirmed introverts, (Mommy D still shudders at the agonies endured in her kindergarten days) they are wondering how their offspring is showing signs of becoming a gregarious social butterfly! Perhaps a case of two negatives making a positive..

We Say Bye To The Old Year

It was my first day back at work, and quite a chaotic bye bye to Baby D before leaving home. With five minutes before the target leaving time, I was changing his diaper and trying to throw in some air time too. Baby D was getting increasingly cranky, as it was very near his nap time, so he didn't send his mamma off with a kiss but turned away irritably in nani's arms. I then started my scooter, something I haven't done in the past four years, and drove for fifty minutes to get to work, with the traffic making me extremely nervous.

When I returned home, Baby D resolutely ignored me, pretending to be engrossed in his "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" book.  He relented soon enough and tried to eat my dust encrusted nose, which I let him. We had a loud and lively play time with Daddy D joining in too. Baby D made spirited swipes at mamma's wine glass and showed every sign of staying up until midnight to wish us a happy new year. Thankfully for his very exhausted parents, he did settle in to sleep, with only the mildest of fights, by 10:30.

And now I can recount his activities during the past few days. For Baby D the flavour of the week has been definitely about movement. He'd like to be on the go and is finding a variety of ways to do that including lying on his back and twisting and sliding. Baby D now rolls over effortlessly and is beginning to push himself up on his knees. As he hasn't figured out that he needs to push himself up on his arms as well, his crawl is not very effective yet. But he does manage to army crawl and even move a bit if he can find something to push against.

Baby D is getting increasingly assertive too, yelling at us to do his bidding. It does help that he has expanded his vocabulary considerably over the past few weeks. He's known to say a full sentence - "Kill Bill" and words like "heckle". One does wonder where he is going with this. At times he sounds like Joey in F.R.I.E.N.D.S speaking "French" - "blah blah blah blue ble ble ble". It is to be hoped that "blah" isn't a comment on our upbringing! And the sweetest of all - " mum um mum mum". I always respond with a "yes I am your mum" and it begins to look like he does mean it when he says "mum um mum mum".

And to end the year on a high note - Baby D the hater of baths, has now decided he loves it! Where he actively used to cry the moment his feet touched water, he now paddles his legs furiously in the air asking to be put immediately in the tub. Once in, he tries to grab the mug, which is about the same size as him, in order to take his own bath. If that is refused, he's quite content to sit in the water trying to grab at fish and crab and octopus and turtle, all of the wildlife that has made its squirty way into the tub. But water itself is a great plaything. After months of cajoling by mommy to try splashing, Baby D has now conceded mommy was right after all. So he sits there batting and splashing, until we tell him firmly that bath time is up. We are seriously considering getting rain coats for Baby D's bath time if his splashing enthusiasm doesn't wane anytime soon.

There's a lot of exciting milestones to be achieved in the new year and Baby D can't wait to get started.