sleep baby sleep

My friends who have recently graduated to being grandmothers have this to exchange with each other. Why are today's babies not sleeping continuously and soundly for a couple of hours in a row after a good warm bath and a feed. We also recall that our kids when they were a few months old used to do that. This does not endear us to our children who are the new mothers and having a less sleeping infant to take care of .D says, we were such low maintenance babies but we have no such luck when we are mothers. It is not a fair and just world!

I am following the kaizen method in trying to put chikoo to sleep. I watch, think, plan, implement, review and improve. I am now three months senior in this exercise. Now I watch out for him about 45 min to 1 hour after his feed for signs of tiredness.At the first sign I take him to his room and put him in my lap. He is happy.But the minute I try to pat his head he knows that I want him to sleep.He lets out a big yell, if he is not in the mood for it. The first time I was intrigued, so tried to change his postiion by holding him upright and patting him on his back or cradling him in my arms.The yelling continued non stop, so out of frustration I put him back on the cot.He immediately stopped yelling and broke into a smile,It was as though he was telling me, I was yelling in a different way, thought you would make out! I  remembered the paediatrician telling us, not to be worried with a baby's yelling.That it is his only way of communication and we should learn to differentiate the crying and yelling.Now I have learnt to look out for this particular yelling.

Today he did not object to my stroking his head. But he kept turning his head left to right and getting distracted by the light diffused through the curtains. So I tried to stroke his forehead and bring my palm over his eyes to shield them from the distraction. He did not like that. He showed that very clealry by wriggling. So I tried something smart. I kept my palm above his face and effectively shielded his view without touching him. He was foxed and was unhappy.Then he found a way out.He was watching me and giggling and smiling and charming me. So I closed my eyes and did not return his smile. A few minutes of this and I could feel that the wriggling had stopped and his gurgling and he had closed his eyes out of sheer boredom.

Before he figures out my trick, I celebrate a small victory. For now.

chikoo the perfect host

Yes, we have guests who come to see the new baby. Even some relatives who have kept studiously away, citing busy schedule throughout the year, for a few years in a row, make a beeline to see chikoo. There is something utterly fascinating to see a newborn.Maybe it is a typical Indian psyche.I would not know otherwise.

Once they come, they are transfixed by the utter charm of seeing a tiny infant.Ladies and girl kids want to hold the baby and take him in their lap.They start talking to the baby in gibberish language all the time happy and smiling . Men and boys usually are quite happy to sit in the drawing room and talk about politics.The baby is sleeping does not bother them. They have come visiting and they have done their bit.Now they can safely move on to saner topics in life!

Chikoo takes his job as a host quite seriously. He smiles at them and is quite happy to be cuddled and talked to. He likes that he can see new and happy faces around.He  gets into overdrive to gurgle and make funny sounds to the baby talk that they indulge in. He is trying to turn now, so he rolls on the side and tries to arch his body. He of course puts his entire fist into his mouth and continues to smile.
He forgets that it is long past his sleep hour(that we believe and try to cajole him into) and keeps going,  entertaining the guests and simultaneously getting entertained. He keeps yawning and his eyes are dropping but he fights it off valiantly.

The guests leave and only then he remembers that he is just a 3 month old baby and he needs to sleep and rest. D has taken him to his room. Awaiting positive  results!

Photo albums ....a no show

Digital photos have invaded our lives like nothing else. Just because we dont need to carry a camera with all accessories, just because we dont have to go to the studio with the film role carefully taken out from the camera and get them printed, just because the handphone has become such an extension of our hands, that we just stretch and click and click and stretch at every non event. Sharing the photos has also become so much idiot proofed that at any given minute thousands of them are moving in the cyber space from one handphone to another.I am restricting the number to only include the photos of people whom we know and keep in touch with.

What has happened simultaneously is that we have stopped printing and arranging the photos neatly in albums. We were sitting down to search for photos taken in the last ten years. Why last ten years you can ask. Appa's sathabhishekam was 9 years back and for that we had made a huge album of all good photos of family and with nice comments had gifted it to appa, as keepsake. It has been much thumbed by the visitors who come to see appa and amma all these years.Amma and appa  have also enjoyed reminiscing about the various photos and events associated with them.

So we decided to do an encore and I assigned the project to D. Instead of diving  into the photo albums, she immediately took out her laptop. It took a bit of time for me to realise that last ten years, the photos have been all digital and she has meticulously catalogued and stored them in her laptop. It is also a fact that amma and appa dont get to see the photos.We keep telling them it is in our laptop and we will come and show them. But that does not happen often. Amma does use a desktop, but many a time will have problems loading the images and also to rotate the images whenever required.

All major events captured continuously and recklessly on the digital camera/handphone has left out an entire generation. And they are the ones who would really like to see these photos and keep talking about them and keep looking at them again and again.

So, we decided to select and print good photos and make them into an album. But this time the album has to be smaller so that amma and appa are able to handle it without too much difficulty. It was a very pleasant exercise for D and J and me. Last ten years sweet memories printed and catalogued and gifted to amma on her 80th birthday!

Feel good!

Amma turns 80

Right from the beginning of this year we have been excited with amma's 80th birthday. We celebrated appa's sathabhishekam on 1st january 2006.We had a family function in the morning with sudarshana homam and a reception in the evening!Yes and appa was resplendent in a full suit! Amma was as usual dazzling in her bright kanjeevaram silk saree and her  'prasanna vadanam'

We had invited the extended family of amma's siblings and their families as also appa's siblings and their families and a few close family friends. The venue was a nice open air resort sort of place right near our house with a big hall for appa and amma to be seated and receive guests and bless them! It was 1st january so chennai was at her best weather make over.It was buffet dinner and catering was just superb. We had very soft instrumental music  of nostalgic value.

We have been planning a good time for amma's grand D Day. What we did not plan but happily happened was her becoming a great grandmother 3 months before her 80th birthday. Right from january she has been exultant and looking forward to the newest arrival. She was the first to arrive in the nursing home soon after the baby was born. She insisted on holding the baby, even though she was far from steady in her movements and had a nurse accompany her. That is amma, she has a very strong will and always the body has to tow what her heart and mind dictate.

So it was that she cut a cake.Yes we had to assure her repeatedly that it was eggless and she could safely bite into it. The tiny tot was prominently present right in front of her happy that there were so many people around.He would have very well assumed that he was the centre of attraction. But that day last week, the centre was slightly shifted to his 'kollu patti'. This was the first birthday cake she cut, so she went with great gusto and from a corner and started doing the 'mysore pak' cutting action. We started to laugh and clap and amma was blissful.She knows to make tengai barfi and mysore pak patterns which she has been doing all her life, and cake was just an extension of that.We quickly captured this on video. Kollu peran can enjoy viewing this years later.

My sister's daughter is a great one for making handmade greeting cards.She is such an original thinker, that the card came out so out of the world and so dazzling.She has said that she does not believe patti is 80, she has asked for a 'recount'. She is the one who helped patti scoop the cake pieces and receive the first piece.

We had our family vaadyar do special puja in ashtalakshmi temple and bring the prasads.He also brought two garlands and we had them exchange garlands with a helping hand from us..Such a sight.

Then  sister threw a googly. She was not a needlework entusiast while at school. We studied in a christian school and needlework had pride of place  in imparting holistic education. She will delay completing her work and amma and me would readily help her  finish it in time. After school we have not seen her threading a needle ever!
Hence when she presented amma with a beautifully stitched decorative piece we kept asking her if she really did it. Y had seen her sitting with it and had no difficulty in nodding and saying yes, chitti did do this. Sister is a very capable and accomplished person and we always know that there are very few things which would fox her. We thought stitching and needlework was one such. That barrier also broke that day!
Amma is a great craftwork and needlework expert and enthusiast.So it was really what would warm her heart. Perfect gift!

And the icing on the birthday cake!

Practice while sleeping

Chikoo is trying to turn over.He did turn over in the second month but it was a sudden and one off event. When he is rested and playful, he puts his entire fist in his month and lifts both legs to his chest and rolls over on one side.That's it. It stops there. At other times he tries a different technique. He lies prone on his back and presses his feet firmly and also his head.Then with a lot of gusto arches his entire torso  and sometimes he tilts on his side.That's it. This practice has been going on for the last few days.
Last night he has taken the practice session a little deeper. He is practicing the moves in his sleep. Yes, no kidding. D said he first tries out these moves in his sleep and then lets it out to the eager audience in the next few days when he feels he is ready. She did not tell us what his latest moves were in his sleep last night. Well guarded secret!

If you are sceptical, let me tell you that he has been practising various sounds in his sleep last few weeks and suddenly he is letting out lots of new sounds. Thatha and me were with him and talking to him the other day and suddenly he let out a word "yeah".We were totally stunned and looked at each other in disbelief. He did not repeat so you only have our combined word for it. I talk to him a lot and he is nowadays responding with grunts and screeching sounds and gurgles of a wide variety.

Visitors take one look at the profusion of saliva and say with total conviction that he is going to talk soon and he will be fond of talking. I was with him and talking to him last evening and after a while sat down to recite vishnu sahasranamam. He waited for exactly 4 lines and let out a big yell. He did not like that I was saying something in a totally monotonous way and which clearly meant I was not talking to him and he did not like that. No, I am not making it up.

All this is fine. That he is practising sounds and movements while sleeping is fine. But what he (and in turn we) totally need is that he should Practise Sleeping! And having practised it should actually sleep like all two and a half month old infants are supposed to sleep.
Yes, look forward to such times!