Babies rule

I am discovering the hidden strength of a potent weapon "crying until you get what you want". With grand parents/other sympathizers around, things get easier. AmmA and appA took me to Giri traders where we spend quite a bit of time. This was getting on to my nerves and I started getting cranky. AmmA thought she could keep me entertained by taking me to toys/gifts sections. While ammA was carrying me around, I managed to grab two rattles from one of the racks; one in each hand. Realizing this, ammA started with gentle tactics to get the rattles from me - Did not work. Then tried to distract - Did not work. Started playing "thaaa" game with me - Did not work. Losing her patience, she took the rattles from me by force! The roof came down... It was one of my best crying spells and all eyes were on me and ammA. People at the counter said "thambi kku vAngi kudungale, madam. paavam romba pidichirukku. azha vidAdhinga" My ammA instead of deciding on the purchase was explaining to people that I am not "thambi" but a girl baby wearing pant and shirt and no poTTu. With uninterrupted and focussed crying, I forced ammA to purchase one rattle for me.

BTW, my rattle lies in some corner of the house. Who cares? I know how to use my vocal chords to get things done now :) I am learning new things... yeah, becoming a big girl.

what an experience !

It is an exhilarating experience to walk. Now I know what people mean by hands free :) I can now freely explore my pAtti-thAthA's treasure house. Oh... did I tell you all that I am in India now and about my first long flight?

SFO to New York - tharai bed & ammA-appA-savAri - I slept for a while on the bed that appA and ammA made for me. I handled take off and landing well.

New York to Brussels - appA-ammA-savAri- Jet airways did not keep up their promise of bassinet for me:(
Instead they gave us 2 extra seats! The flight attendant did not allow me to be a tharai ticket too! She demonstrated to ammA how she can lie me down on those 2 seats and tie the belt around me. What was she thinking? I am not a baggage...

I stayed awake throughout the 8 hour flight. I did not cry much but was talking loudly. This disturbed one white mama sitting behind us so much that he said "Can you be quiet?" And I understood what he said very well !

Brussels to Chennai - tharai bed- The flight was full. No bassinet, no extra seats. My parents prepared my comfy tharai bed and were hoping that I will sleep and they can also get some rest. I lived up to their expectations and slept for almost 8 hours and got up just in time for landing.

Everyone around us was happy that I was such a good girl and did not disturb any of them. One mAmA and mAmi were so impressed with my good behavior that they asked my parents if I had been given some drug!

Relieved to reach thAthA-pAtti's and am currently being treated like a queen and pampered thoroughly :)

As I write this post, I am recovering from stomach flu and have already visited and befriended a pediatrician in Chennai.

My experience in India continues and when I think about my life in US, these are the pictures that come to my mind

More in this album

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