First Refusal..

Little did I know when I started this blog.. that I will hardly have any time to login and write anything.. Well to tell you the complete truth it is not always the brat.. but mostly it is 🙂

It does seem ages now that I am penning this but actually I cannot still believe it. It seems only the other day a red little bundle was wriggling in my arms and now when I have this very busy brat that won’t sit in place for even a minute.

After coming back from India..these couple of months passed as if in a daze.He learnt sitting on his own in India and just after we were back he started bottom shuffling and then shuffling this whole body to move.. it was so hilarious to watch him.. and just as I was enjoying his new found mobility..he started crawling and before I knew was all over the place.And then he found his next adventure..standing up and now he has started cruising while holding a support with one hand.. I know it will be a matter of days when he starts walking on his own which I am excited about and dreading at the same time.

But these I was prepared for ( well.. kind of) What I was not prepared for is the personality that I can see just grown in these couple of months. R is his own person..has his own likes and dislikes.. his own way of expressing them.I am amazed at how he has started understanding my words and how he completely lets me know his views and opinions by his actions and expressions. I was shocked.. yes shocked when one day when he was 8 and a half mo, I was trying to take the remote from him and tell him not to  chew it..he just refused by shaking his head and telling me “nyang nyang” ( no I suppose) and crawled himself away from me and sat in a corner chewing it again. I did not know what to do or say! Nobody told me they are that expressive or opinionated from that age. And then the other thing hit me.The BIG THING. Like my friend used to tell me..They know.. they always know how to get the better of us!! And I realised, I can make all the checklist about what I want to teach my son I want.. but it is going to be a very tough journey ahead executing them.Parenting is a huge challenge and the first year is definitely not the toughest as I had in my mind!

Siri and Me

A serious conversation early in the morning.
Me: ajaajuuuujuula
Siri: I am sorry I did not get that
Me: glaaguuuaall
Siri : Sorry I missed that
Me : bliaaaaaa
Siri: Did you mean Justin Bieber?
Me: ulllaleeoooooaaaaaaa
Siri: I am sorry, service is temporarily unavailable. Please try after some time
!!!!!!

Guess who was fondling with my ipad!?!?

Visiting the family

Visiting the family was fun and strenuous at the same time. R had a lovely time with his grand parents, uncles and aunts and I was a little stressed shuffling him around from place to place.. settling him in his new environment but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

We had planned to have a grand ceremony to celebrate the ritual for R taking his first grain of rice but ended up having 3 of them.. But R was really good.3 ceremonies, endless rituals and parties, hundreds of guests, lots of chaos and a lot of passing around later he was exhausted but still did not cry even for once. Everyone was actually amazed to see such a happy kid and his Mommy and Daddy were quite proud faced for that 🙂

And yes.. I did finally get the “prince of India” dress I was planning to get for R. Had to get it specially designed and tailor made as the shops do not do “Sherwanis” for such small babies and after innumerable trips to various shops his Mommy succeeded finding him the right sized “Pagri” (head gear) and matching shoes for the little prince . Actually I bought the Pagri first and then had the dress made matching the colour of the Pagri.. but what the heck!

R had many firsts while in India ..

• His first semi solid food.. and consequently his first solid poop ..LOL!
• His first words ..Dada,Mama and many more words still unknown to english or bengali dictionary 🙂
• His first turning on his tummy on his own (and won’t stop now)
• His first attempts at crawling (still not going anywhere)
• His first swing (his grandparents got for him)
• His first sitting unaided (cannot still sit on his own but can remain seated without back support)

So a very eventful trip comes to an end and a very eventful time is about to begin as Mommy will all on her own with R as we return to UK.

Countdown for Kiddo’s First Christmas..

It’s about the reindeers and angels

Shining stars ,baubles and jingle bells

The smell of fresh wreath and sparkling lights

It’s about everything nice and bright

This year as the jingle bells chime

It will be someone’s very first time…..

Chomp chomp chomp…

And it goes on all day long. Anything R comes accross goes straight to his mouth..clothes, bibs, toys,blankets and of course six pair of hands (his own, Mummy’s and Daddy’s). He slurps,licks and chomps on everything except of course his carefully sterilised teethers and soothers ! And no matter how many times I wash them..I cannot keep up with R. His favourites..the green croco which has very tasty tail, the colourful Robo with his colourfully delicious hands, his “royal baby” bibs..he licks royally, and the Duck with nice chewy legs which is like his practice run before he chews on a real one.. and for some unknown reason his Daddy’s nose!

Before I had R I always thought I would sterilise everything that has even a remote chance of going into his mouth . And even the first few weeks, I was freaking over health and safety, using hand sanitizers 100 times a day, sterilising dummies every time it fell from his mouth and washing all his clothes in boiling water etc. I remember before R was born, while travelling I saw a Mum picking up a pacifier from the floor and washing it in plain water from her bottle and putting it right back to her kid’s mouth.I remember how freaked out I was and thought I would never ever do this! Now I know she was doing the normal thing..what every other mum does. Otherwise I will be sterilising the dummies at least 50 times a day! And his toys 500 times a day! So Golden Rule 1 : Stop freaking over Sterilisation.. You CANNOT sterilise everything! .

As I write this, I see R cozy in his Daddy’s lap merrily chomping on his Daddy’s nose!! Now, its not that the idea never occurred to me.. “cleansing them with mild soapy water and putting it in boiling water for sterilising”.. but that might not be such a great idea….. eh??!!

Time flies

There is no way to explain how fast time is passing by and how very fast R is growing up!! Does every Mum feel this way? This friday as I was putting away the tiny baby and 0-3 months stuff away.. It hit me again!! Time is going to go so fast that I wont even realize when my tiny munchkin , clinging to me now, is going to grow up to a self sufficient boy!! When I looked at them .. the ‘tiny baby’ size onesies.. I could not believe that R actually fitted into them.. just a couple of months ago! And THIS is how fast it is going to be!! That Moses basket which seemed soo big when R first slept in it that we actually put folded towels and pillows to make it comfy for him.. is now too small for him to sleep in . So we are replacing it with a cot bed in a week or two .. And I know that he will outgrow it also in a blink of an eye!!

My emotions ( coupled with post natal hormones o’course) are overwhelming sometimes. Its like I want to capture every moment, every Firsts , save it and cherish them forever.. But the moments are slipping away too fast.. Too many Firsts happening at the same time and I have realised now I cannot keep all of it recorded . And it makes me sad sometimes..

I know I am blabbering now.. Or maybe its the hormones but I really really want to cherish ALL the moments at my pace and over and over again !

Three months of Bliss..

My cheeky monkey is 3 months today and what a joy it is to watch him growing up and boy.. he has grown up so much already.

Everyday , it is a constant entertainment watching him as he plays out different actions.He can reach out his hands now and finally realising they belong to him and so he is busy putting them to good use. Be it pulling my hairs, hitting the birdie is his playmat, or putting them into his mouth or using them as a balance to lift his head up..he is a real busy man now! And his legs are never tired of practicing his football shots and occasional kick-boxing!  And his usual Philosopher’s face is breaking out to smiles every now and then..He makes a lot of attempt to talk to us in his language and is constantly making noises. A finds all his responses so funny! So every evening when he is back from work, he is going to sit with R in his lap and both of them will have long conversations each one in his own language..

A: bechlu bulo,gobchu chona..
R:uuuuuu
A:Ponta mona..
R:UUUUUUU (more loudly)
A:Bhebluski.
R:Hmmmmnnnnn
A:bhuum bhuum
R:Gaaa gaa
A ( Shakes his head crazily): dhottolee dhottolee
R (snorts and smiles):Guuuu GUU..

And I watch this endless “meaningful” conversation for ages… Aaaah Bliss!!

The new Mommy feeling

I never felt so important in my life. And I have been the center of attention for most of my life.. Only daughter,the most pampered grand daughter, best friend to many, appreciated at work, and a loved and pampered wife.. I have got lots of importance all through my life.. a lot more than I deserved, but I never felt THIS important.The way my son is utterly, totally and helplessly dependent on me gives me a sense of great responsibility,sometimes scary.Scary because I never felt so much responsible and so much in love. I know he needs me all the time and no one has ever needed me so much.. no one can ever.. The times when he happily plays with other people, but searches for me when he is hungry or uncomfortable..When he is inconsolable and how he only finds his comfort when I am cuddling him..The way he knows my smell and moves his wobbly head to find me.. The way he stops crying when I pick him up..He makes me realise that he needs me for everything..needs me all the time and I am the most important person he needs now..that being a mother is the greatest responsibility one has. I know he is going to grow up fast and when he does, he is not going to need me so much and there will be more important thing in his life..But he will be the most important person to me forever..and this feeling is going to stay with me till I close my eyes.

Staying sane

My LO is two months old now.I seriously do not know how the time flew by.There is only one word on how he is growing up..”fast”! And how am I coping?! well.. I am surviving alright.Days and nights of feeding,changing,getting him to sleep then again feeding,changing, getting him to sleep and this goes on and on in an endless loop. The thing is I never thought that I will be this booby-feeding,co-sleeping,baby hugging,lullaby singing Mommy.And the fact that I am actually managing to doing these feels strange but great!Do I get tired and exhausted ..Oh yes..Do I feel insane.. yeah sometimes! After hours and hours of feeding, after endless sleepless nights, after loads and loads of washing up the poo smothered piles, after burning my hands while sterilizing breast pump,after hours and hours of trying to put him to sleep and realizing he is no mood to sleep.Yes.. I feel insane a lot of times actually.

But I have tried and found out ways to feel sane..again! There are mainly 6 things that helps me to be back on track after exhausting days ….. and nights.These chores may seem very modest and also silly for people who do not have kids.But people with young ones will know what I am talking about.

• A warm bath: Nothing like soaking myself in a warm bath with some sea salts and essential oils, a candle burning and my favourite music playing. I sometimes also carry a book or a magazine. I let my hubby or Mommy take care of the baby and switch myself off for 15-20 mins.And no, I do not hurry up or start feeling guilty if the baby cries.His dad can take charge.
• Watching movies and TV series : Now that I really do not get much time to read and even if I do I always fall asleep after the first page, I watch a lot of TV these days and catch up on recorded movies and TV series I have missed.And the best time to watch my favourite shows is when I am feeding LO.
• Facebooking: If there is any term like that!! I know it seems lame but this is my only connection to the outside world these days.For a person like me who loves going out and meeting people every day, it is my only social life these days.
• Mini Makeovers : Yes.. I know there is a lot eye rolling over this, but I really do not care.I have many other interests..Singing, listening to music, reading..but these does not really seem to lift my mood anymore and singing these days are limited to singing lullabies. I always loved make up and makeovers and these days I find this really lifts my mood .Be it learning a new technique, or buying a new lippie or just plain and simple decking up a bit before A is home makes me feel renewed. And a bit of dressing up makes a welcome change from my otherwise PJ wearing,hair undone,crazy looking eyes with dark circles look!! So though this may sound silly.. I am not apologizing or feeling embarrassed for something that makes me feel great.
• Time out with hubby: A simple coffee date with A can be really refreshing and rejuvenating . So I am taking full advantage of my Mom being here.I pack her with bottles of expressed milk and ask her to take care of R for a couple of hours when we go out for some “us” time and no, I do not feel guilty as refreshing our relationship and bonding is very important as well.
• Shopping: Well.. you cannot miss this one when you are making a list of things you love doing.. can you.Though shopping is very restricted and mostly done online these days , it still gives me high!

Ah.. time for me to get back to my feeding changing and putting to sleep schedule. So adios for now 🙂

The very first smile

Last Saturday was special.Bundle Boy was playing with his Daddy and Mommy was trying to take snaps ..and all of a sudden..there it was..the very first smile!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
And mommy didn’t waste any time and clicked the moment.So there it is..we were able to capture the moment forever.. How lucky is that!!