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.