Lots of first times

So this has been a fairly eventful week for all of us, and not least for Vir. For one, he fell off the bed for the first time! On the 12th of September...I left him peacefully asleep with cushions on all sides on my (now thankfully low) bed and came back to check on him every 10 minutes or so. Somewhere during one of these 10 minute gaps, he woke up and decided to go on a little trip across the bed and then off it. My mom, who was in the next room, heard the thud-followed-by-wail and ran in to find him sprawled on the floor. He fell on his tummy, I think. He did cry a little and seemed a bit shaken, but, on the whole, I think he took it quite well.

The other first was a family vacation! We all went to Goa...so his first time by the sea. It was really great, although, unfortunately, I couldn't take him near the water because he came down with a high fever and a cough, probably because he's teething. Another first. He's been really cranky and unpredictable for the past few days and has developed a habit of sticking closely to me and bawling if I so much as move out of his direct line of sight for a few seconds. That's a little hard for me since I really can't be with him all the time, but luckily, I have my mom and sister in law around to help out and entertain him while I'm working. I hope this clinginess is just a phase. I think it is, because he's normally a pretty social baby and willing to be entertained by any of his willing admirers! All I need to see now is if this phase will outlast my back and my patience!

Looks matter

I think that children are so cute only because if they weren't, noone would put up with all the backbreaking, mindnumbing, and superfrustrating activities they put you through. Vir knows a lot of the tricks now. He knows that turning his head away at the very last moment as I bring a spoonful of painstakingly prepared khichdi so it goes splat on his cheek is fun because it gets a reaction from me. And the added benefit is that he doesn't have to eat it. He also knows playing at 1 in the morning is more fun than during the day, because it means he has both mom and dad to play with. He has figured out that pulling at the strands of hair on the very nape of mom's neck makes her scream the loudest. He knows he can wake up as many times as he wants at night and mommy will be there to help him back to sleep again. He knows that a fresh diaper is the most fun to poop in, that plastic bags are lots of fun, that mugs of hot tea must be pursued across the bed, and that newspapers are yummy. And he spends a lot of time putting this knowledge into practice. Yet, at the end of the day (or a long night), I can only look at him and smile. Can you imagine if he were not cute?

7 months!

This time, the list isn't as long as some of the previous ones, but it's pretty dramatic!

• Sit unsupported.
• Crawl!! It's not a very "neat" and traditional sort of crawl yet. More like a cross between a creep and a crawl really. But he can move around all over the floor to get at whatever he wants.
• Stretch his arms out all by himself when he decides he wants to come to me.
• Say mamamama, babababa, dadadada, and sometimes nanana quite well.
• Laugh out loud when he touches Baggdu.
• Recognize Baggdu and look his way when you ask him where Baggdu is.
• Protest violently if you take away something he wants.
• Drink water out of a sippy cup.
• Cause Vijay and me to have mini heart attacks every time he rolls to the edge of the bed and almost falls off in 2 seconds flat!

I think that's it for now. I cannot believe he's at the 7 month mark. The major milestone now is 1 year! Yikes.

Sitting!!!

That's right! He can sit now. I'm so thrilled. We went to Bikanerwala for dinner, and I just put him on the table there, holding on to him while I sat down and put down my bag. And there it was - just like that. Sitting on his own. Vijay and I couldn't be prouder.

This development was well timed, since the rest of my week has been utterly depressing, and I really needed this! My maid quit, or actually, just disappeared without a day's notice. Anyone who depends on a maid for the smooth functioning of their life knows what tragedy this is. I'm picking up the pieces now, and not having much fun doing it. Oh well, mamma said there'd be days like this, I guess.

So much joy!

Vir has learnt something so amazing. If I hold my arms out for him when he's with someone else, he reaches out to me to come to me! All by himself and so cutely too - with both his little arms stretching out towards me! And if someone else holds tries this when he's with me, he just turns away and refuses to go. (You see, I have taught him well.)

I cannot even believe that this simple gesture can make me as happy as it does. Sigh.

Plonk

So this update is just for the record. It's not a fun one. Vir got sick for the first time the day after we came back from Guwahati. On the 7th of Aug. Stomach infection. Lots of poop and visits and calls to the doc, pulled down Vir with big eyes, thin neck, and no smile. You see what I mean about it not being fun. Luckily, he's all better now and hopefully getting fatter too.

By the way, I now know what moms are thinking when they're always complaining about how thin their little ones are. They just don't see things the way normal people do.

6 and a half months!

I missed the 6 month update because we were in Guwahati for Vir's anna prasanna (a ceremony to celebrate the first time he had rice). So much has been happening...I have loads of updates. I guess I'll cover everything eventually. Let's see...here are the things Vir can now do:

• Roll over both ways - from his back to his stomach and stomach to back - this means I can't leave him unattended for anything more than one second since he rolls all over the place.


• Look at the fan when I ask him where it is!! (This boy has genius written all over him!)


• Mock cough, just because he knows it makes us laugh.


• Sit in his high chair to eat his various meals - ranging from bananas (still his favorite) to khichdi (not the most popular choice yet).


• Forcefully let me know when he doesn't want to eat something by pursing his lips tightly, turning his head to one side and keeping it there till I give up.


• Set a goal, like a toy or anything else, that is lying anywhere on the bed and then do whatever it takes to get there - from rolling over and over, stretching, propelling himself on his knees, and if all else fails, screaming in frustration till someone hands it to him.


• Do push ups - or some strange version of them anyway...where he lifts himself up on his hands, toes, and head.


• Involve his knees in the push ups and use them to leap forward like a little frog.

All these developments have been tremendous fun to watch. He's so funny. We were thinking of buying a new TV earlier, but now we'll just put him up on the wall. And start charging people to watch.