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!