I am a year old now!

Yes, I know I have not written in a while. But I have my excuses. I have been busy and so has my mom (who as you know happens to be my scribe). I have of course been busy growing up, getting to be a year and 2 weeks old now, and my mom has been busy with my uncle's wedding preparations and me. Okay lets get started then on all the updates since I wrote last. Where do we start?

I have now started sitting up well, eating while sitting, crawling at jet speed - if there was a word for crawling that indicates the fastest crawl that would be it, because I literally run-crawl. I can also stand on my own for a few seconds to a minute and sooner than you know I will be standing and walking on my own. For now I am walking holding my mom's legs. That is the one of the fun things these days. I love to crawl up to her legs and hold it tightly and walk along with her wherever she is going. I can also crawl up stairs, climb up low beds/sofas, and also climb down them with some help. My mom says my crawl has become more elegant.

I can now show tata, clap my hands, shake hands, and do high-five. Ofcourse that does not mean I will always perform when my parents or other adults want me to. I am also trying to talk and communicate a lot more. I show my displeasure when someone touches, pinches, hugs or kisses me without my liking - it is a very clear groan to ward them off :) like whaa, aiyee, etc. I am also very vocal when I want something, or when something is taken away from me or when i want to go out. I have some favorite spots in the house - like the water can area in the balcony, the water filter in the hall, the kitchen, the bathroom, the cupboards. Well actually the whole house :) And ofcourse I am always ready to go outdoors anytime.

I love listening to songs, and there are a few tunes that I can recognize and become attentive when they are playing. And of course I am also swaying and moving my body to these tunes and sometimes even without them I sway and move my body (as if I am listening to them in my head?). I love tasting new foods these days and actually prefer to eat small amounts more often instead of big meals at regular intervals.

The things that make me giggle and laugh these days - walking with my mom holding her legs, getting ready for a bath, playing peek-a-boo, the tickling time before bedtime, getting down the stairs with my mom/dad holding while watching behind to see who is coming.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I am a year old now. We had three cake cuttings for my birthday. One on the day before my birthday, one on the day of, and one a week later. Here are a few pictures (literally few since mom and dad have been busy and have not taken many pictures!!! hmpphfh) from the last post to give you an update of all that has been happening. Enjoy and drop by to crawl with me in these last few weeks of crawling or join me to explore the world during the first few days of my walking :)

Oh and I totally forgot. I now have two teeth :)

Oct10

Nov10

Dec 10

All my new stunts

You must have figured that I am super busy these days as I have not written in a long time. I have finally started crawling - yes fully - and am exploring all the rooms in the house. The journey from the time I started doing caterpillar/breast strokes to now it has been fun. The thing though now is that I really do not want to be in one place/position for more than a few seconds. I have to constantly move around. So I am either crawling or am pulling myself up to a standing position, or wriggling my body in all funny ways. Sitting is simply not my cup of tea yet! I love standing up, so much so that I want to do it all day long. And I want to stand up, and leave both my hands free to explore things. I do not yet have the strength to support my entire body this way or know how to lower myself slowly and sit and explore (as I said I am not yet a very big fan of sitting down yet, you know I am not going to like going to a school where they are going to make me sit the whole day!). But I do not want to wait till I learn that, so I try this anyway. Result: I fall back on my bum and sometimes hit my head against the floor! Oh well - actually most adults dont understand that it is only by trying so often that I will learn ;-). I am getting there.

The next big news is that I am now babbling - dada, vava, amma, gurgle etc etc. I now know that Amma exists, so when she is not around I look for her and if I do not find her I get upset and cry. Even when she is around, I will go to someone else only for a little bit and then I want to come back to her. Amma is hoping that this phase will pass soon, but I know better, hee hee hee. I am also starting to distinguish sounds, so some sounds that never used to bother me startle me these days - like a sneeze, the cooker whistle etc. On the other hand I am also recognizing soothing sounds like songs, and rhymes. I continue to love finger play and am enjoying peek-a-boo games. And am expressing more - joy, happiness, displeasure, etc.

I am now more interested in the foods that everyone eats, the cup that they drink tea from, and the things they use. Who wants my toys that are only for me!!!! Not me :-)

Well that is all news from Nidhi land for now. Come crawl with me and have fun :-)

Another month in my life

Hey, so another month has gone by and I have lots to tell you. Life has become very busy. I have started crawling - well sort of - I do breast strokes so I cover a larger area much more quickly. I am trying to sit up by lifting my butt high up, and I can stand with some support. Amma says that I look like some expert yoga teacher when I am doing all this :-) [Amma's note - always in salabasana pose with her back legs and head lifted up with only her tummy on the ground, mountain pose, and many other poses for which I hardly know the names!]. I am eager to climb walls, for that matter anything that is vertical. I am learning to hold on to my mom or dad and prop myself standing up. I am busy exploring the world around me - soap boxes, powder boxes, diapers, milk packets, spectacle boxes, computer, phone, noses, hands, fingers, keys, buckets, camera, plates, cups, chairs, newspaper, clothes, you name it and I am exploring them. The first two things that I do when I grab something is to give it a shake to see if it makes any noise and put it in my mouth and lick it. I am also becoming interested in my mom, dad, and grandma's lunch and dinner plates. I want to have a bite out of whatever it is that they are having :-)

What else, my daily walks are a lot of fun, so many people of different ages to met, watch, and listen to. Amma says I have a multi age fan club ranging from 6 years to 60 years. I am also learning that I have a voice like everyone else and I am using it to the fullest, shouting with all my strength till I start coughing. Amma says that I am most gleeful when Appa comes back in the evening...what a welcome he gets. She wishes she would also get such glee looks instead of the longing looks that I give her once in a while when she is not spending time with me :-). Ofcourse I give glee looks as well, but the longing looks are what stand out in her mind. Although to my credit, amma does say that I play on my own quite a bit and it is fascinating for her when I play with my hands and fingers especially. I am also becoming more picky about the temperature of my milk and food. I like to have it just at the right warmth :) Appa has also started playing peekaboo with me which I absolutely love and enjoy. Amma says she tried skyping appa from office to see if I recognize him on the computer and apparently I completely glossed over his image. Not there yet. But I am starting to follow Amma very closely, I am very attentive to her voice everytime she speaks (even if it is softly - yes, I know my mom is trying hard to talk softly) and watch what she is doing, where she is going. If I know my mom is around, I can be on my own or be with someone else for only so much time, after which I need some cuddle time with her and then I am back to playing. Amma ofcourse hopes that this phase will pass by quickly so that she does not have me watching and monitoring her all the time :-)

Ah well, I am off to have my night's milk and sleep. More updates later. Here are some new pictures.

Time goes by quick when you are busy

I know, I know. It has been a month. But what can I say, time goes by too quickly when you have so much to accomplish in so little a time, when you have so much to see and explore and so little time. As you can imagine I have been very busy - tasting new foods, trying to get on my knees, trying to put my feet in my mouth, trying to make new sounds, and growing bigger. I have been eating some new stuff - kanji, carrots, potatoes, rice, dal - all of which I seem to like. Amma has also been trying to give me some fruit juices - apple, pomogranate, and papaya. I am not yet a big fan of these. Maybe over some time. But it is nice to have a change from my milk routine, although I still like to have my morning and night milk.

I have been building my strength doing push ups so that I can eventually lift my upper body and go on my knees and start crawling. Yes! oh, how I am eager to do that. There are so many things I want to be able to explore on my own. You see I do not want to depend on any grown up to lift me up to explore, you never know when they will put you down. Although I am pretty good at telling them with my body and voice that I want to be lifted and shown around :-) I have also been busy mouthing whatever comes within my zone of grasping. Mom and dad think that I have gotten pretty good at grasping and also stronger. Ofcourse what to they expect, especially when I have been practicing grasping day in and out for the last whole month! I can now grasp a very tiny part of a big thing and drag it towards me, push it, do whatever I want to do with it. It is so much fun. I have also started using my feet to grasp things, pull them towards me, hold things etc. Two more tools in addition to my hands.

I also now have a baby cousin sister, my aunt's daughter who is just 5 days old. My elder cousin sister says that we both cry a lot :-) Well, that is how we know to communicate. I was a bit unwell for a couple of days with a mild cold, but nothing to worry about. Alright, time to go and continue with "getting on my knees" game.

Oh more pics here

My mommy's birthday

Today is my mommy's birthday and so this post. She says today has been the best birthday of her life, because of my toothless smiles, giggles, and grins which I give her whenever she talks to me. And that is how the day started today for her, like the other days. I recognize her these days very well and follow her movements a lot. Whenever she is talking to me or playing with me I love it and I smile, giggle, and grin. Of course she has been trying to capture that grin using the camera, but who said I will grin for the camera :-) For now, I just stare at the camera!

I have been doing lots of new things lately. I have started eating multigrain porridge and I love it. Sridhar mama has been here this whole week and I am having a lot of fun with him. One more person to play with. I have started recognizing some people on my daily evening walk with Amma. I am also reaching out for toys, grabbing them, and bringing them to my mouth, so much so that I want to hold one toy in both my hands. I am also making new sounds to show that I want to be lifted, held, taken from one room to another and so on. Well that is my way of communicating you see.

Amma and Appa are also seeing my mischievous and loud side and I have gotten many new names in addition to Nidhi - drool baby, giggles, chu-chu queen, jerry (from tom and jerry), nibbles (jerry's cousin who loves to eat anything and everything), little mesmerizer, and many more that I cant seem to remember because Amma and Appa just make them up spontaneously as and when they are cuddling me.

Alright, I am off to sleep after that last meal and this post.

Smiles and giggles

Lots has happened since the last post. I have started smiling, giggling, and kicking my arms and legs to express my excitement, happiness, joy whenever I feel so. Sometimes I feel that way when someone is talking to me, showing me a toy, or singing a song and at other times I feel that way for reasons that amma and appa do not understand :-) And I do not have words to explain it to them yet. So it will remain a mystery and sometimes that is okay. Not everything has to be connected to a reason/cause. Amma says I look totally gleeful when I am doing this.

I also am beginning to recognize specific toys - a fish rattle, whoozit, and the yellow-orange rattle and try to grab them, hold them tightly, and taste them (yes!) when they are close to me. Right now I am in drool phase. Love drooling and tasting everything that is around me. That includes my fingers, anyone else's fingers that I can get hold of, handkerchiefs, pieces of cloth, toys, and anything else that comes my way. I am also beginning to hold the bottle when I am being fed and sometimes playing with it is more fun than feeding :-)

Oh, one thing that both amma and appa like is me doing pbthbthth with my mouth/lips. It's real fun and I do it quite often. I have also started making sounds like - awww, yah, agoo, gaw, etc etc. My neck is getting a lot of exercise these days because there is so much to look around, i keep looking from left to right, right to left, left to right. And I watch very very carefully when Amma sings Insy Weensy (in English and Tamil) with her fingers. Love watching her fingers move.

I also love to touch amma and appa's face when they bring it close to me. I grab their nose, their cheeks and try to bring it close to me so I can taste it. But so far I have not been able to. [Amma's note - Definitely not giving her my fingers or nose to taste....although I must say it is a wonderful feeling to have Nidhi explore my face with her fingers.... A baby's gentle firm touch :)]

Well that is all for now from me. Till the next update.

A week at home

This week has passed by very quickly. After the initial flurry of visitors on Saturday and Sunday, I have got the time to settle down at home, so that Amma and Appa can figure out my schedule and adjust accordingly. So here is my schedule give and take a half hour to an hour: 6a-8a - play, 8-9 feed and take a short nap, 9-11 - play, have bath, feed. 11-3 - take a longish nap. 3-4 feed and complete the long nap. 4-8 - play, have massage, feed. 8-4 - sleep with maybe one or two feeds in the middle of the night depending on how hungry I feel. 4-6 - feed and complete my night sleep to be ready and awake to play again :-) Ofcourse changing diapers happens very often during the day.

I have started exploring my fingers, palms, hands and enjoy tasting them. Am making nice smacking noises. Some people think it is because I am hungry, but actually I do it just for fun and because it helps me get familiar with my hands....they are so cool, i can use them to push things, hold things, grab etc. I am still learning how to hold something and bring it closer to me like me favorite rattle and toy hyena, but I am not yet there. I grab some parts of the toys, but they slip through my small hands. I have also started to put my fingers around the feeding bottle. Just to feel that I am holding it. Amma and Appa also think that I do some really cool poses with my hands. Amma is going crazy taking pictures!

Another thing I can do now is to roll from my tummy to my back at times. I did that a few times, but my head is still not fully stable, so I sometimes go "dong" on my head and someone always try to be around when I do that so that I do not get hurt. I am also listening to a lot of songs, I love when Amma sings - biggy biggy bump bump, and dhire se aaja ri akhiyan mein. For the first song I smile a lot, and for the second I go to sleep :-) I am also listening to other songs and I am sure there will be more favorites coming along. Appa has been a bit busy at work, but he plays with me every morning.

What else has happened.... life goes by so quickly when you are a 5 month old, and every day is such a new day and full of adventures that one tends to forget what happened :-) So long for the next post. Bye! Oh and check my photos link, i have some new ones....

My first two days

Okay, so I have been with Amma (Mom) and Appa (Dad) for two days now, got home on friday afternoon after a long journey! And phew it has been busy since. I have had a constant stream of visitors. But the nice thing is that I absolutely feel no pressure to entertain them, i do whatever i want to, so if they do not see me awake and active, sorry, me not worrying...While it has been fun to see new faces, it is also very tiring! Amma and Appa tell me that I have been sleeping a lot, especially in the nights - more than they thought I would :-) So guess what, because they think they are not as tired as they thought they would be, amma and appa get the time to write this on my behalf and include some pictures, while i sleep peacefully. lets see how long I and they continue this. You know all of us are unreliable in our own ways :)

So these are the people I have met so far - Siva, Ramu thatha (grandpa), Meena Patti (grandma), Shanti Patti, Shilpa, kamala patti, our neighbors, rangashree, shaila, srini, kanchana, soumya patti, vichhu thatha, subha perima, pradeep peripa, sandhya akka, chinchu, priya... phew! i am tired of keeping track... Sandhya akka wanted me to get up, walk, and run today itself :-) She also got me a walker and I am waiting to use it as soon as I can.

Anyways, I had my first bath at home today and also turned over without getting my hand and elbow stuck under me several times in the morning. I totally enjoyed my bath and only cried for a very short while when Amma was washing my face. I love the 10Rs/- rattle that appa got for me, it is orange and yellow and very colorful. So amma and appa have decided that I am not getting any expensive rattles that make very little noise! Orange also seems to be my favorite color for now because I like a plastic orange spotted hyena that Amma got for me and the orange paper ribbons on the wall. Oh, so anything that moves, is colorful, and makes noise is what interests me the most right now.

Other usual stuff - i feed, poop, pee, sleep, play, smile, coo. I love cooing and smiling unexpectedly to see how everyone reacts. Right now I am not giving them any hint of a pattern for my cooing and smiling. No logic, only spontaneity! Amma and appa are absolutely thrilled to see me in all kinds of sleeping positions - sideways (mostly on the left), with three fingers in my mouth, with my hand on my forehand, eyelids half closed, and so on. You get the idea....I love holding Amma's hand (and for that matter any one's hand) tightly to play with. And Appa thinks that he can put me to sleep just by moving his hand down my face. And guess what, I also saw sridhar mama on the computer. Oh what can I say, life is very very interesting and busy.

Okay, so here are some pictures that you would enjoy.....

5 months

More Later.....