The Year that was...

I love 2008... This is the year I started my wonderful journey of exploring the world. As I get ready for 2009, I cannot help but recount what I meant to near, dear and very dear in 2008.

Near...

It all started with my ammA's delivery nurse! When my ammA was in labor, the nurse was not able to track my heartbeat consistently as I was moving around a lot. This led to a lot of anxiety before she hooked me up through an internal monitor.

My ammA told the nurse that she did not know the gender of the baby. The nurse declared, "I am sure you are going to have a baby girl. What a DRAMA QUEEN she is going to be!" My nAmakaraNam (name-giving ceremony) happened before birth :)

Dear...

My appA loves the concept of first name and last name so much that he applies this to nicknames too. My nick name is not short like it is in general. He calls me many variants of BAGULISH/PAKUNEES/DABULISH/JINGUNISH BAUM fondly :) Interestingly I always belong to the BAUM family. When I become a big girl, I plan on having a long discussion with him about his choice of this nickname.

Very Dear...

It is true that I am born in a computer age, but I did not expect a machine to give me a name too! All of you know that I am a big fan of USB cables. It tastes so good and you can play with it in many ways. One day I was under the computer table minding my own business. "Ding dong" came a sound from the computer. Then a message popped up -"Found new HARDWARE"! My appA who was unaware of what I was doing under the computer table was surprised to see the message and looked down to find me licking the USB. The computer continued with messages like "Cannot support new USB device" and then "USB device needs new driver"!

How does the computer call me "HARDWARE" ?

Happy 2009 !

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa thAthA,

How are you? My name is pAdukA and I am 10 months old.I want you to know that I am and have been a very good girl. I did all the stuff babies are expected to do. I tumbled, crawled on my stomach and then on all fours. Now I pull up and stand and walk with support.

I share my toys with my friend Bittu when he comes to play. But the toy he picks up to play with seems like my favorite. So I am compelled to get it from him :(

Santa thAthA, do not think I am a bad girl because I pulled the hair and dress of a pApA in the library. I was calling her and saying "ko koko.." but she did not hear me. So I had to pull her to get her attention. 

All these 10 months I have been pure delight for my parents. I pull out stuff from all the places I can reach, taste anything I can lay my hands on, wake up often at night and eat food after putting up a good fight just to keep my parents' life interesting and exciting.

 A few of the older children I know tell me that you give gifts that children like. Here is my wish list :

(i) Bunch of wires ( preferably USB cable :)

(ii) 3 P-s (paper, pen, pencil)

(iii) Camera lens cover

Above gifts and time without parental supervision will be fun :)

I love you thAthA,

pAdukA

PS:We do not have a chimney in our house, so you can drop it off in our patio :)

        Here is my picture for you to recognize me 

More in this album

Sound of (my) music

More pictures in this album

Tasting all papers and chewing on wire
Reaching for small things kept lower or higher
Taking a nap on my cradle that swings
These are a few of my favorite things

Roaming the kitchen and hunting for litter
Pushups and tumbles to make myself fitter
Clapping and babbling - the joy that it brings
These are a few of my favorite things

Kisses and warm hugs from Amma and Appa
Smiling and cooing on seeing a papppa
Meddling and playing with pajama strings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the mixer roars
When the vacuum blows
When I'm falling down
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel...so bad


P.S. Lyrics of the inspiration.
Video:

IQ test

Hello,

I am sharing with you all the questionnaire circulated in babyland to test Innocence Quotient. You can take this test for fun to see if you have a child inside you :)

Answers indicating highest level of innocence are given at the end of the questionnaire

1. What would you do when parents are eating colorful food in front of you?

a. Stare at their plate for a while

b. Stare at their plate and copy their chewing movement till they finish eating

x. Reach for their plate and spill the food

y.None of the above

2. When your parents repeatedly lure you to do stuff that they want you to do with your favorite

     object like a cell phone, what would you do?

a. Keep falling for this tactic everytime without slightest of doubt

b. Lose interest in that object

x. Find another object to play with

y. Get the object in your hand before doing anything they want you to do

3. When your parent sternly tells you to stop spitting food, you would..

a. Continue to do so

b. Become sad not knowing why your parent is not sweet to you

x. Be sad for a while and smile at you parent to distract

y. Be unaware of the change in treatment

4. What makes you happy?

a. Being the center of attention makes me happy

b. I need the toy/object of my liking to make me happy

x. Leaving me alone to do my stuff keeps me happy

y. A few kisses and pampering will make me happy

Answers in order :- b,a,b,y

If you got :

4 right - You are an innocent little sweet baby

3 right - You are starting to learn the ways of the world

2 right - You are an experienced toddler

1 right - You are an alumni of baby-toddler land

None/looking at the right answers before marking your answers, you sure are an ADULT :)

Here is the link to see the pictures of an innocent little baby 

http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAOct#5259372844811494354

My First Crawl!

..finally! ~8:30am on Oct 11.

I had been tumbling since Aug 25, but it sure is tiring to do my usual routine - rotate, tumble, reach and grab - to fetch the toy some distance away. Commando Crawling seems lot less stressful. It is so much fun to drag oneself along and rest whenever one wants. All these oldies who are going around with the lower two hands are probably missing the fun. I like both my upper and lower hands equally. Both are tasty, but the upper hands are lot more useful now. I am not able to grab things with my lower hands though.

I asked my dad to time me on Oct 15th: My Personal Record (PR) is 95 secs to go from wall to wall of our big room which is ~14 feet (wrong units! more appropriately ~40 baby crawls) I had to take 4 breathing breaks to achieve this.
Here is a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1zn2pG5b9s

@ 7 Months

http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukASept

Babies beware !

Here are a few pointers for babies who are new to solid food feeding.

• It's best for babies having solid food to know the taste of the food that they do not enjoy very distinctly. Parents invariably mix your less favorite food with the ones that you love. Be firm in rejecting such mixtures so that you get to enjoy your favorite food unpolluted :)
• Often we (babies) open our mouth in excitement (smiling) to funny sounds people make. When you hear funny sounds with bib around your neck, a spoonful of food will be thrust into your mouth. So beware..
• If you do not like the food you are given, show an expression of dislike ( it should not be an expression which will make your parents go "how cute!")
• The next line of defence against food that you do not like is bringing your lips tightly together. If the spoon is still forced, bring your gums together. This technique is a sure success :)
• If you are done eating, make sure you let your parents know it clearly. Here are a few ways which let them know that they cannot force anymore food into your mouth :)

Spit the food (do brr.. brr..)

Look away in another direction everytime you see a spoon coming near you

Grab the spoon and make a mess with the food

Grab the food bowl or playfully knock it off from your amma/appa's hands

For best results, smile sweetly and innocently at your amma/appa after using any of the techniques. You are sure to enjoy more of cuddling and pampering soon after :)

My Research Lab Findings

Equipment:

- wires

- rubber balls

- cloth

- bottle caps

- paper

- any colorful item I can hold on to, or I can pull

- human fingers, hands, face, etc.

Experiments:

- licking and biting on different surfaces

- hitting things on each other or the ground

- looking at shining objects in various gymnastic postures

- grabbing and pulling on objects

Full Disclosure: 

No animal or human adults were harmed in these experiments. No items were broken or burnt. No other children participated in these experiments. :-(

This research is continuously funded and supported by The Rangarajan Family Foundation. 

Report card

Name : Paaduka Shri Rangarajan

Class : Baby Feb 2008

Core Subjects	Grade	Comments
Babbling	A+	Has graduated from soft babbling to shouting; Squeals in excitement and screams in frustration
Sleeping	B+	Has improved to sleeping at around 10:30 p.m. Has to work towards waking up less number of times at night
Smiling	Distinction	Loves people and smiles sweetly without being prompted. Her signature loud laugh charms everyone :)
Rolling Over	A+	Can roll over from her back to tummy and vice versa (started this course on June 3rd). Always flips over making diaper changes very hard :)
Playfulness	A+	Very curious, loves to grab things especially ammA's hair. Likes to poke into ammA/appA's nose and mouth :)

Electives	Grade	Comments
Licking, Drooling & Spraying eacchai :)	Distinction	Has spent many hours mastering the art of spraying eacchai (saliva)
Thumb sucking	A	Does well on this subject even though her mother is not happy about her choice of this elective
Commando crawling	B	Moves an inch or two with great effort. Shows promise of gaining speed in movement

Upon review of progress at PPA ( Pediatrician Parent Association :) meeting, Paaduka has been certified as a healthy and active baby doing well in the first six months since birth and has been promoted to big babyhood.

Signed,

Dr. Nancy Barnett

Here are a few pics of our good baby student, Paaduka http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAAugust

Where are these people?

Hello everyone,

Here are the details of the dear people I have been searching for more than 2 weeks now. Please help me find them.

PAtti -

• Calls me "pattu rajathi"
• Gives nice oil massages and great bath everyday
• Expert in changing diapers and entertaining me with "yaanai yaanai"
• Gives me "vorai marundu" when I do not expect it coming
• Smothers me with kisses and hugs
• Takes me around to see ducks and swans

Kesavan -

• My 4 year old cousin brother
• Calls me "paaduks" and "yound-u"
• High energy, always active and bouncing around
• Great entertainer - I love to watch him play
• Enthusiastic to sing and drum

ThAthA -

• Calls me "KuchikA"
• Talks to me non stop
• Rocks me to sleep on his lap
• My companion who I scare by screaming when ammA and pAtti are out shopping
• Likes to say "dho vardhu vaatthu, pidichindu pordhu" when I throw tantrums

Athimber -

• Loves to play with kids
• I enjoy when he massages my legs
• He has a lot of fun seeing me stretch my legs straight when he lifts me
• His favourite game- "put paaduka on Lakshya's lap and see Lakshya rush away"
• Says that I lift my legs up like a radar when I lie down

Atthai -

• Calls me "round-u" or "paaduks"
• Gets excited whenever I smile at her
• Proud that she has 100% success in making me smile whenever I look at her
• Loves and pampers me a lot

Lakshya -

• My 10 month old cousin, someone closer to my size
• Explores my head and face when she gets a chance
• Always smiles; she is a happy baby
• Searches for wires to chew on
• Cries whenever I squeal or make a loud noise

If you find any of these above people, please ask them to return to our house and spend time with me. I love them all and am waiting to see them soon.

Eagerly,

Paaduka

P.S. To help identify the people I have mentioned, I am providing the link to the pics that we took together http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAJuly02

Getting a grip of the world..

All these shapes, they amaze me

when my fingers revel in autonomy

the magic of touch is a real blessing

the joy of licking is so caressing

with paper or fabric, more amusing

alas! a big hand is now aggressing

they dont let me grab what I want

holding and gnawing: wish I could flaunt

this nice little doll looks so close

can almost smell it with my nose

I wave my arm like tennis pros

I keep pushing hard with my toes

I keep hoping to see it come near

it is strange to see them all cheer

but this doll just seems to sneer

as if I am infringing on her career

It sure is still very frustrating when objects are so close but not reachable! I used to wonder why all these people around me keep moving around. I can see how much joy they must be getting, in grabbing things and tasting them. Ever since I tumbled over, all objects seem upside down but I am slowly getting used to it, since I love to wander my eyes around when on my tummy.

I will soon make a "moving" post and until then, I have to just lie and watch.

vaya vaya vaya :)

A scene from my exciting life. None of the characters are fictional. Any similarity/resemblance to the babies/kid you know is intentional :) So enjoy reading the fun we are having.
For the readers convenience, I have translated dialogues from our (baby) language to the language adults speak :)


Kesavan : Lakshya vaya vaya vaya . .

Paaduka : wuaaa... Some royalty should be coming..

Lakshya : Drr.. grr... There is a doll moving there. I have to check it out

Paaduka : Aaaw.. I am no doll. You can't poke at my eye. Well now, you can't drum on my head

Lakshya : aaar.. this is so much fun

Paaduka : aaeee, innguu, aaa

Lakshya : drr.. brr.... brrr.. oh you talk !

Paaduka : hhhaa..ii.. I talk and respond but people around smile and think it is funny. Atlast someone understands me !

Lakshya : Oh.. I know. They don't understand us. So, you should be a baby like me. awwwoo..

Lakshya : aaa.. grbrr.. I did wait for a while for people to understand me but from the time I started moving, I have been doing fun things keeping my parents on their toes.

Lakshya : There are so many delicious electric wires hanging in your house. What are you doing lying on your back? brrr aaa

Paaduka : Aaooo.. I have been trying hard to roll over for the past week. But my head wouldn't stay in place without support.

Lakshya : aawwu... Then you are a "kutti papa". Call me "akka"

Paaduka : tchh tchhh..orr.. tchhh

Lakshya : What is this that you are doing?

Paaduka : hmmm.. hmm.. delicious.. my thumb... sweetest thing...

Lakshya : Better than wires brrbrrr... no way

Kesavan : Suddha brahma payaapaya yaam...

Paaduka : hmmm... ammm...

Kesavan : Maami paayu... Paaduka is trying to turn. Come on buddy!

Paaduka : hmm.. haaaww My head is not easy to lift and awww.. my hand is stuck. But wait... There it is. My thumb. tchh mchh mch.. tasty

Kesavan : Paaduka veyal chaapayaa. hahaha

After a few hours . . .

Lakshya : aaww brr.. My Amma has buckled me in the car seat so, Paaduka, we are going home. Hey, what are you doing?

Paaduka : hmmm.. amm.. aaa

(Cheering and excitement all around)

Paaduka : What did I do? Why are things looking different now? Why is everyone so excited?

Lakshya : Brr.. drrrr... yay ! You rolled over! Do it once more

Paaduka : That's hard work for the day hhhaai.. some one help me please inngaaa....

Lakshya : zzz....zzz... Don't worry you will be picked up.
Ok, good night. Bye Paaduks will see you soon.

Paaduka : uuwaa huyu.. I will keep practising to roll over and soon I will start to move around. It will be fun when Kesavan says "vaya vaya vaya" when I come near him :)

------Curtain------

Here are some visuals from the scene :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAJune?authkey=T8T_hNZblkg

My First Letter

Dear Elephant,
I have been talking to you for a long time but am not sure if you understood me. So, I am writing to you. I love you, Elephant. You are my good friend ever since I started staring at objects. Do you like my smile? My parents and grand parents are envious of you because I smile and talk to you all the time. Since you are always at home I want to share how things are outside the house now that I have started going out.

My first trip was to Livermore temple. Well, I slept almost all the time but I managed to wake up right before we left the temple to see Srinivaasar omaachi. Our next stop was Madras Cafe ! My athimber was very happy to know that I visited "saapaattu divya kshetram" right after.

My next trip was to Aiyappa bhajanai where my Appa played mridangam. I went along to cheer him. Elephant, do you know people have beautiful lamps? Next time you should come along with me so that we can stare at them together. It will be a lot of fun :)

I visited my atthai, athimber, K7 and Lakshya last weekend.It was a long car ride. When I reached Folsom, it was fun and I could not stop smiling. New faces atlast !

Today I am 3 months old and I read books and websites and am complying with all milestones mentioned. Elephant, did your parents worry about your milestones too? Which month after birth are you expected to trumpet? :)

Thank you elephant for hanging in there for me ;)

Affly,
Paaduka

P.S. - Elephant, have a look at my pictures with your animal friends when you are relaxing
http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAMay

I am two months old already !

You have to take a look at these pics so that you recognize me when we meet :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/paaduka.rangarajan/PAdukAApr

We the Robots !

It's been 8 weeks since my grand entry into this world. As I make adjustments to the new environment and learn new things, I have been having loads of fun.

My night time schedule has been challenging for my parents and grand parents but we manage to have a few laughs at night now and then :) Here are a couple of sneak peeks :

My Appa robot :)
It was a hard and tiring night for appA and ammA as they finally made me sleep. After a while my appa was rocking an empty cradle half asleep and was saying "kaNNamma thoongu" while I was happily sleeping in the car seat next to the cradle. I have trained him well, haven't I? :)

My pAtti robot :)
My pAtti specializes in making me burp. My ammA usually passes me on to her once I finish feeding. One late night my ammA changed my diaper and woke my pAtti up and asked her to hold me. My sleepy pAtti dutifully started patting me and I burped ! pAtti victoriously declared to my ammA that I burped and I am ready to sleep. My ammA was surprised at the feat as she was yet to feed me !

Well well well... that makes me pAdukA robot :)

Trivia about my world

Here are a few fun trivia about my small but expanding world:

• Best place on Earth! - My parents'/grand parents' arms

• My biggest challenge now a days - Burping

• My mother's preoccupation - Finding the next thing to worry about me ;)
  

• My father's favorite hobby - Kissing me - He thinks I am a lollipop :)
  

• My best behavior time - When I am at pediatrician maami's office
  

• Activity that I enjoy the most - To pee just when my amma takes off my diaper
  

• My most comfortable posture - Sitting upright - That's the posture that helps me tackle my acid reflux problem
  

• My grand parents' time pass - Talking to me whether I am asleep or awake
  

• My crying shruti - 6 1/2 to 7 kattai
  

• Best time to reach me - 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on all days

Happy 0.0th birthday!

I am happy to wish myself a Happy Zeroth Birthday today!
For several months, my parents were expecting me to born today - Mar 19, 2008.
The last 1 month outside the dark enclosure inside my mom have been quite challenging. Maybe I should have remained inside and let all my organs grow fully. I hope life only gets better from now on :) I was planning on attending the Annual Preemie Convention but my parents do not want me to go out :(

See how much I have changed in the last 2 weeks:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24149866@N08/sets/72157604173513661/

2-week Anniversary pics

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24149866@N08/sets/72157604086883895/

Punyahavacanam pics:

http://community.webshots.com/album/562696078mewnzm

Hello World!

I see a future that is bright and yummy
After the darkness in my mommy's tummy
I couldnt wait longer than these 36 weeks
to let people peek at my chubby cheeks

I am delighted to announce that I was born at 7:30 AM Pacific Standard Time (GMT - 8 hrs) on Feb 20, 2008, in El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California, USA. My parents tell me that I was a good girl and kept my mother in labour for a short time! Just when I thought earthians like things that happen quickly, I see that my parents are not too happy that I arrived 1 month earlier than some obstetrician's estimate!

I started at 5 lb 6 oz, and was 18 inches long. Since I loved the nurses in the maternity ward so much, I decided to check out the treatment in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 3 days. After some "light" therapy, my jaundice has now almost gone away.

My name is Paaduka Shri Rangarajan. My first name is phonetically enhanced (like my mother's) and should be pronounced as Paa as in "Particle Physics", du as in "Indu" or "Bindu" and ka as in "car".

Here are some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24149866@N08/sets/72157604002027701/show/

affectionately,
Paaduka
PS: My personal baby-squeaks-to-text/html converter technology (aka my mother) makes me blog-trained even before I am potty-trained! :)