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 :)