Lights, Camera, Action!

I think I have mentioned this before, but I cannot emphasize enough how camera conscious or rather not conscious (take your pick) my daughter is. The minute the camera is out, she stops doing whatever she is, and flashes a big grin (nowadays with her mouth wide open too). She then loves checking herself out in the camera preview option and let's not even get to the point when the pictures are uploaded to the laptop - it's sheer joy to see oneself, apparently.

The other fascination that she has always had is with light and light sources - even as a baby, a switched on bulb was enough to catch her intention. Then much as she hates the sun in her eyes, she likes how the stray rays enter the room at various times of the day and the funnies part - she open her mouth so that the rays fall into her mouth. Remember dhoop from Koi Mil Gaya? Anyways, given her appetite, I guess "dhoop" might be her sustaining source!

The revenge of the angel!

I had just finished posting about how M uses books here, that her highness has come up with a new antic - and this is not an antic - it is an obsession. She has now decided she wants to have all the books read to her all the time. I am a borderline believer in karma - but this quick punishment for my apparently blasphemous post is scary, to be very frank.

To give you the complete picture, she gets up in the morning, and as I prepare her milk, she fetches a book for me to read. Milk is sipped only if I read at the same time. Ditto for breakfast, lunch and supper and all the time in between. Sometimes, we go over the same book atleast 10 times, before she fetches another one. What irritates me the most is that she only "pretends" to listen in rapt attention, all her focus is on when I turn to the last page so that she can go get another book!

This obsession has reached to the point that when Vish comes home from work, before he is able to remove his shoes, a book is flung at him to be read. She wakes up from her nap, and in that half slumber-half awake state, she crawls to the first book she can spot, and gives out that low-shrilled cry. 

Apart from the fact that I am tearing my hair out and losing my voice over this sudden "passion", I have realized that in the last one week, I must have read every book atleast 50 times. I swear I can rattle off those books word for word in my dreams!

Don't you dare say, "Awww, how cute." We found it very endearing for the first two days, slightly annoying the next day, very irritating the fourth day, completely frustrated on day five and now we are on the 7th day and have been reduced to a helpless state - we have resorted to hiding books under the couch and what not. Nothing distracts her. We are at our wits' end and are now planning on buying her a new, big, nice toy as a distraction. Wait a minute, is that what this is all about? We'll soon know.

The many uses of books...

M has a decent stock of board books all for herself and she puts them to very good use:

• Books make great blocks. You pile them up and then throw them all to the ground. It's never ending fun because the possibilities of the ways in which they fall are endless.

• Books are great teethers. You can chew on them endlessly.

• Books are best as frisbees (flying discs). Toss them in the air and see them land on somebody's face or some other body part. If that somebody happens to scream, the fun is just doubled.

• Books can be used as stools too. Apparently, it is comfortable to sit on one book while reading another.

• This has to be the most ingenuous use ever. M massages her head with the smaller board books - she just rubs them on her head!!!

• Finally, with all the great pictures and stories, the books can be read too along with mommy and daddy.

(When I see her doing all these antics, I remember the theater workshops in school. The first activity would usually be that an object would be placed in front of the group and you have to come up with novel ways to use it as a prop. And I am beginning to learn that nobody can be more imaginative than an 11 month old!)

Stairway to heaven...

...Is a great song by Led Zep. If you haven't, you must give it a listen.

BUT, on another note, the staircase in our apartment has become M's most favorite hangout zone. While she has been able to climb up the stairs for about 4 months, she has only very recently mastered the skill of coming down. She puts her legs down first and just slithers down - she is not only a pro at this but also super fast. She actually tries to race us up and down!

Her ascents and descents are interspersed with  loud cackles - it must give her a lot of joy to give mommy much needed exercise and not be lazy. The minute I try to sit with the laptop or with a plate to eat food from, she decides that the time is right to go up.

Another source of extreme happiness is throwing things down the stairs - she crawls with things in her hands - dad's pedometer, her own clothes, medicine droppers, her socks, toys - anything that she can get hold of, and throws them down the stairs - and then dives down after them. Ofcourse, this entire process is interluded with panic attacks from dad and screams from mom - which leads to only more giggles and frenzied activity from her highness. I am seriously beginning to question this whole innocence in  babies belief.

The latest antic is she is trying to hold the side rail and trying to stand up and step down. I must mention here that she cannot stand or walk without support - but she obviously thinks she can walk down the stairs with support. Is this ambition or stupidity? 

As you can tell, I am definitely going crazy. Now only if I could resist compensating all this energy expense by not eating so much - there's a faint probability I might find the proverbial silver lining in this mayhem.

The last of the monthly posts!

M is 11 months old and next month she turns 1. How much ever I repeat that to myself, it just doesn't sink in. So, while all posts about our little cub are extremely special to me, this one gets extra points because after this I would not be doing any monthly updates - yearly for sure - half yearly - I am not so sure. But I am sure there will be a lot to write about otherwise on a regular basis. 

Here's how we look at one month short of the first birthday:

• Cruising with furniture support is in full swing. She can stand without support for not more than 3 seconds though. She tries to walk holding hands much more often now. But crawling continues to be the favorite means of mobility.

• There is constant incoherent chatter - mostly imitating the sounds that she understands when we are talking. She tries to copy the tone and expression too.

• She loves her flavored yogurt a lot. We are doing good with fruits and veggies too. Let's keep our fingers crossed on that. She is quite a pro at most finger foods now - roti bites, boiled rice, poha, paneer, shredded cheese, o-shaped cereal, fruit loops, bread, boiled potatoes etc. This also means that she is engaged for a longer period of time when we tend to eat out at restaurants. 

• We are doing well at the Play & Learn classes at Gymboree too.

• With so much of activity and not being a great eater, M is obviously in low percentiles for her weight. I don't see that improving in the near future atleast, and I often console myself that a happy and healthy child is more important than a plum and chubby babe. Hmmm. Also being a tall kid (she figures way high up in percentiles), she looks much leaner. I always pray at her weight checkup-appointments that God, please tip the scale further - exactly the opposite I'd pray for myself. The irony of age, huh?

Lot of birthday cheer parked for the next month. Amen.

Beginning to assert independence...

Look who has started taking the right to freedom to heart already! Our almost-11-month-old is quite the cheeky brat. And here are some instances to prove my accusation :).

1. She insists on popping her teething tablets into her mouth on her own. It doesn't matter that they are so tiny, that she takes a while to get a hold of them and then plonk it in. Most of the times, I'd rather not have her dirty them and hence lose their effectiveness before they even enter her system. So, I do the honors - but lately that has become an ordeal. She promptly pulls the tablets out from her hand and then puts them back on her own. Now, if I hold her hands so that she doesn't reach for them - she just sticks her tongue out and spits the tablets. What am I supposed to do?

2. If she wants a toy from her toy box, she wants to fetch it herself. If I see her struggling, and out of sheer maternal love, I hand the toy to her which is obviously not within her reach - her ego is massively offended. She immediately throws the toy back into the box and begins struggling for it all over again - getting all frustrated in the attempt. Oh well, so be it, I say. 

3. If I try to get her to eat a spoon or more after she has indicated that she is done (by clamping her mouth so firmly shut), she holds my spoon with such a strong grasp, pulls it from my hand and flings it to the farthest corner of the room. Maybe, I should take the shut mouth indication as the final "done".

4. Madame also wants to hold her own straw cup - doesn't matter if it takes her a while to figure out where to suck from - and doesn't matter at all if the juice/water/milk is sprayed all over the carpet.

Watch out this space for more harassment that I face :).

Dishwashing and Laundry

You heard that right: Dishwashing and Laundry are our little pumpkin's favorite activities these days - hands down!

The minute the dishwasher door is opened or the dryer unit unlocked, M leaves everything - eating, drinking, playing, fussing, crying - to run to the site of fun! 

Every night as I rinse the utensils in the sink and arrange them in the dishwasher, she promptly reaches out to take every single one out. With the result that there is water and cutlery all around the kitchen and what would take me a measly 15 minutes, takes a good 40-45 minutes. The mornings are no less peaceful. The minute I open the latch to unload the dishes, our rather generous helper sits ON the open door for better access and throws all the stuff down - one-by-one!

A similar story happens at the clothes dryer too. She flings the washed clothes out - I had a brain wave the other day and now I very judiciously a place laundry basket right in her trajectory. So, inevitably most (quite a few) clothes land up in the basket rather than on the floor. This game is less life threatening (to others) than throwing spoons and forks all over the floor - with the result I indulge her ever so often so that I can either cook or eat in peace for atleast 10-15 minutes. Oh one very funny thing I must mention is that before flinging the garments, she sniffs each one. Crazy girl!

Now, all that I hope is that this helping hand is offered when it is really required and when it will really be of some use (read pre-teen/teen age). But something already tells me that is asking for too much!

Play & Learn!

That's the name of M's classes. Yes, yes, first small step towards structured activity for M. 

Actually, Vish and I were wary of the fact that Manya gets to see only the both of us on a daily basis. Even when we do take her out, there's no real interaction with other people, barring the friendly few who stop to chat. (I have to join a mommy's club too - have been postponing that - some day for sure :)) 

A friend was quite happy with the Gymboree classes, and these also seemed to be quite popular in the few mommy forums that I am a part of. 

So, last weekend we went for a preview Level 2 (6 to 10 months) class. I was a little apprehensive taking M to the Level 3 (10 - 16 months) class for fear that my tiny little babe might get squashed or bullied by bigger/older children. 

Haa! Looks like we have a much tougher nut in the making. She was quite obviously advanced for the Level 2 class. The activities weren't challenging enough and she was all over the place. Not to mention the fact, that she was taking other kids' toys, blissfully ignorant of the fact that she was leaving howling babies behind. The funniest was that a crying 9 month old baby was being hushed by his mom, and her highness crawls right to that corner and claps at the baby. She obviously does not know when to clap (or so we hope :)).

We were asked to preview the Level 3 class as her teacher very politely put it, "Manya will have more fun with older children." Hmm. So, this weekend we did preview that class, and most of my fears around "my poor little baby being lost" were quite unfounded. The games and activities were a little tough for her - she couldn't do quite a few - which is good because she was trying her best to and we'll see some progress in the weeks to come. 

Also, the class is fairly balanced - there were two more children at M's level and then two more who were already walking with little or no support. There was one big guy who most definitely was also the oldest, who our darling daughter took an instant fancy for. She crawled all the way to the entrance to welcome him. The boy did return the appreciation with equal fervor, and it was more than just a couple of times that I had to swoop M from in front of his determined charging onward :)

Another observation: M might just be an extrovert like her mom - the ease with which she mingled with the babies and their parents, without really clinging onto me or Vish, was something that managed to surprised (an outgoing) me too! She also was at her babbling best and showed a lot of curiosity in exploring all the equipment available.

We have now enrolled M on Level 3 weekly classes and if nothing else, my regular quota of entertainment is assured!

M at 10 months!

• There's ma-ma, finally! Other sounds added to the usual are na-na, ka-ka, and a lot of complicated constructions that are just a lot of mumbo-jumbo to everybody!

• She is walking with support but is slow at it, and prefers her lightening quick crawling any day, especially when she really needs to get somewhere - like out of the patio door, or into the refrigerator!

• Her favorite foods are, believe it or not, all greens. She loves spinach, green beans, sweet peas, avocados, and broccoli. In fact, the only way she will eat lentils, potatoes, carrots etc. is if they are masked in greens. Looks like, for the time being, she is not very fussy with most foods and has a huge tolerance zone (like her mother - ahem), but one clear and big NO is sweet potatoes - she will not have it in any form.

• Her new favorite place is the sun deck in our apartment - she loves crawling on the wooden planks - she could do it all day. The yucky part - she tries to dive down and lick them every once in a while - dirty, dirty girl!

• To state that most diaper changes are a physical battle between mommy and M will be an understatement. Shittier the diaper, the more wriggly our babe!

• We see the beginnings of some intelligent actions - like pressing the remote's buttons and then looking for a reaction at the TV. She even looks at the ceiling, whenever we flip switches. The funniest is that when she sees me with the blender, she knows there's going to be a loud sound, so she wraps herself on my legs and gives an anticipatory high-pitched shrill!

And, the countdown to the first birthday has long begun :)!

Daddy's girl already!

And how:

• First thing in the morning, wake up mommy (by crawling all over her), get the diaper changed, and shout out at daddy - go crawl all over him till mommy forcibly drags me out for milk.

• Stop drinking milk the minute daddy is spotted coming towards the dining and kitchen area.

• Wriggle out of mommy's lap. No more milk is needed since the very god has descended into sight.  

• Pull myself to standing position using dad's shorts as support and then firmly wrap myself around his legs while he fixes his coffee. Daddy gives up and asks mommy to finish making the coffee and lifts me in his lap followed by a cuddling and blabbering session at the couch.

• Refuse to leave daddy even when there's hot coffee exchanging hands. Mommy yet again puts me down with a few toys. 

• Toys vs. Daddy. There's no choice there. Abandon play area and start licking daddy's toes, till he is all jumpy and coffee has almost been spilled.

• Daddy realizes he is getting late for work, so runs up the stairs. Without a warning, dash up the stairs behind him, making mommy run after me (and inevitably make her cereal all soggy - urggghhh) 

• Crawl into the closet along with daddy, copy his moves, tug at clothes hanging from the hangars and accomplish throwing a few on the floor.

• Race with daddy to the loo door - both have a 50-50 chance. If I reach first, daddy screams for mommy. If daddy reaches first, I scream for mommy.

• Finally daddy manages to shut the washroom door without anybody getting mortally injured in the process (never mind mommy's cereal that's been reduced to a gooey mess by now).

• Scream and bang at the loo door. Throw a mini fit too. Mommy ignores me and takes me down once again so that she can have what is left of her cereal.

• Breakfast time. Sit in my high chair and keep smiling and laughing at daddy as mommy tries to position the spoon vis-a-vis my facial alignment. Breakfast over the minute dad's done eating.

• Hang onto daddy's shoulder while he wears his shoes. Attach myself to his back with as much force as possible. Mommy has to literally tear me away.

• Realize daddy has left. Throw myself on the ground, kick the floor, cry for about 2 minutes, and then reconcile to the reality that is mommy.

• At the first sound of daddy clicking the lock open in the evening, rush to the gate. Demand to be picked and cuddled immediately. Lick his face and nose and whatever.

• After another round of nonsensical chatter with daddy, eat dinner watching him play the guitar.

• Daddy is the best when it comes to putting me to sleep - broad shoulders, lot of fuzzy warmth and lot of patience!

• If daddy's feeding me, the bib is never pulled out. If mommy is feeding me, the bib is never allowed to stay for more than a second.

• If daddy's changing my diaper, I just gaze at him still till the entire process is over. If mommy is changing my diaper, I try to sit and crawl away and wriggle all the time.

• Mommy is too gentle for my taste, I'd go with daddy's roughhousing any day! 

(And mommy rests her case here.)