My little bhalu - First Halloween

Dear Vedant,

I wanted to make a note today so that I remember this change in you. You are now 9.5 months old and since last week you have been doing something that I have craved for so long. For as long as I wanted to be a mama, I wanted my baby to rest his/ her head against my chest, wrapped tight in my arms and contently sleeping. This is what has been our story these past few days and that just fills up my heart and makes me feel so complete. Like, I have served my purpose in life, that of being a Mom.

Here is a pic of daddy giving you all his love the same way. Enjoy this sweetie, we love you very much.

big hug my little tiger, or bhalu as you were for halloween! A pic from then too!

love, amma

Happy Diwali!!

Dear Vedant,

Here is wishing you a Happy Diwali! You my dear are the light of my life and this is the festival of lights. When you are little older, I will explain all the stories and legends about our festivals. I wasn't a very religious or traditional person earlier, but now, with you, I am doing as much as I can so that you learn about where your come from, what our traditions are and why. I want you to have memories of your childhood, happy ones about little things we did, like how we celebrated diwali or hung out at the zoo.

Diwali this year was on a weekday, and being in the US, we didn't have a chutti. I took a holiday. Daddy worked from home. Aunty was home with us and helped us out with all the prep. I made Dahi Puri, poori, raita, rice, paneer burji, bhindi and chole. For dessert I made kheer and attempted to make Badam burfi, but that didn't work well.

I couldn't spend as much time with you as I wanted too, but that's for now. When you are older, you will be able to participate in the Diwali celebrations, we will light diyas together, decorate the house, puja room and do an aarti. It is going to be so much fun!

You looked so cute in your dhoti-kurta. First new dhoti-kurta for you, avva sent it. She has excellent taste. We also had Arshiya, Rohini Aunty and Anurag Uncle for Dinner. We all had a great time, it really felt like Diwali. Otherwise, it would have been lonely.

Chalo bacha. Amma has a busy Sunday. I have got so much to do sweetie. I need to flannel body suit for you.

Take care,
Taruna

Clapper, Crawler and my little sippy cup wonder

Dear Vedant,

The past two weeks have been so full of joy with you. We had many firsts, your milestones and together. We went playing Dandia Santa Clara convention center and boy, did you have a good time! I was amazed that you were unfazed by the crowd and loving it all.

You learnt to clap on your own about 3 weeks ago, that was 25 September to be precise. You loved clapping and were very happy doing it. It seemed as if you knew you were doing something new. And a couple of days later, I was singing a rhyme for you and there your were, clapping in response!

You have also become very independent of late. You do the commando crawling on your own. You are mighty fast and true to what they say about kids, you go for the shoes, dirty mats and all the dirt around the house. If I bend and ask you to come towards me, you do that too. My cute potato. We were at Aarti auntie and Varun uncle's house today. They have a lovely home, you were crawling all over. You learnt to go over a little step and kept doing it.

I have just started doing Bikram yoga and because of that I miss being away from you in the morning. Auntie comes in early to take care of you. Daddy spends a lot of time with you in the morning too. I just bought a Camelbak bottle to make sure I am hydrating enough coz the hot yoga is tough sweetie. But why I am mentioning this to you is because, you little smarty boy took my sipper bottle, tried drinking from it and figured it out in less than 1 minute! And you were giggling like crazy when you realized you can drink water from it. I just ordered a sippy cup for you and want to make sure you are able to graduate from the nipple bottle. It is bad for your dental health. I want to give you the best start in everything :)

Anyway, thank you for making my life so full of joy. Your smile brigtens every day and I LOVE YOU!

love,
Amma

PS: Busy preparing for your first diwali, Avva sent a new kurta for you, it is super cute! Also your first halloween is coming up.

8 months old and more...

Dear Vedant,

So many firsts again from you. You are one cute boy. My heart just lights up when I see you now sweetie. Mommy is so proud of you!

You stood up on the crib for the first time on Monday, 9/26. It was so cute. I got a picture of you doing it later. And I felt like you knew you had done something special :) Aunty saw you doing it first. I am also worried that you will fall out of it, I gotta move the crib a level down.

Another big move is that now you eat banana puffs on your own. You seem to enjoy it so much. You use one hand to try and pick the puff up and use your other hand to guide it to your mouth. You really like it too. If I pick up the puff bottle and show it to you, you are all excited and want to have some. It also keeps you busy when I need you to be on your own for a while.

That brings us to a very important point. You are being quite ziddi with being left alone. Sweetheart I can't be there with you all the time. You have got to learn to play on your own. I am going to train you to do this now. This week and next, we will work on this. I want you to know that Amma will always come when you need her, but I would like you to be a happy, independent baby too.

I also started weaning you off night feedings. You have been quite good with it, it is I who falters at times. You are fantastic and go up to 5 am without milk. I am so proud of you.

I will upload a few pics too of recent times.

PS: Amma loves you very very much.

Down with cold :(

Kutti-pie,

we are both down and out with cold, cough, sneezing and mild fever. You gave it to me :(. Not your fault though. We were at Tahoe last weekend with a bunch of people, Vivek kaka, dipali kaku, Asif uncle (who very sweetly refers to you as cookie!), Shaheen aunty, Sohail, Anjalika (ur first g/f), Vicky uncle and Sneha aunty. Now I think Sohail bhaiya passed it on to you. You have been so brave dear. You cry in the night, but mostly you are so cooperative. I am amazed by you kanna.

You have also become soooooo much more active. Even aunty noticed that after our trip you have become more active. You are all over the place. I got new mats for you, they look so good in the room. And you seem so comfortable there.

Chalo kanna. I will upload more pics soon.

love, Amma.

First Flight

Dear Vedant,

This is a brief summary (don't I sound like a Pro :) ) of your first flight. We flew, just you and I to Houston to see Viji Peddamma on 22nd July, 2011. You were just 6 months and a day old. I put the Garanimals red jacket on you. With your lovely silky hair, a lot of folks thought you were a girl :). I corrected some of them and then I just kept smiling when they said, 'Oh! she is so cute', they were only half wrong :).

You cried a lot during take off and landing sweetie. I felt really helpless, I tried feeding myself, bottle, finger sucking, nothing seemed to work. Magically, mid flight you were calm and slept. I had to give you tylenol twice.

Anyway, my dear no fuss baby, you were no fuss on the flight too. Only when you were in pain, you cried, otherwise you were looking at other people, smiling and playing with them. I had taken your Giraffe, bee and some other toys too.

Love you loads,
Amma.

Houston Trip

Dear Vedant,

This was your first holiday away from home. We spent 16 days with Viji Peddamma, Sid Peddanaina and Anurag. I had a good time there.

It was a fun trip. My updates first dear - Amma did tons of shopping. Viji peddamma is so much fun to shop with. And she makes sure that all my needs are met. She is like ammamma in that way. She also made lots of good food for me, I never had to bother about the Kitchen.

We hired a new Nanny - Miss Maria to take care of you/ Anurag as the case may be. Miss Maria used to rock you to sleep in the Rocker chair. I was worried that you will ask for that chair after we get back home, but you did not.

Anurag was so scared of you at times. You were so noisy, not your fault, but you were loud. Anurag did not like that. But at times he would hug you on his own, sometimes for a photo op, like here, but at other times, just like that. "Baby hug, baby done, baby whale, baby diaper change, baby tachi etc was how he talked about you. "baby tachi" was his favorite :).

I think when you both grow up, you will play a lot with each other and that will be fantastic. Looking forward to that. Perhaps, you will be similar to how Viji and I were as kids. I hope you both bond and share many good memories.

Lots of love,
Amma

6 months old!

Dear Vedant,

I am writing this a few days late, you are now a big baby, 6 months old sweetie. It was a good day your 6 months birthday sweetie.

I celebrated early morning with a big hug and kissie. I also put a denim dungaree on you for the first time. It was the first time you wore jeans, something you will wear many many years into the future for sure.

Daddy, you and I went to picture people and we took our first family portrait together. We also took a single picture of you, that came out so well. You look so cute in it, I can't express just how sweet you look.

lots of love kanna,
sleep well,
amma.

Rollover and more!

Dear Vedant,

Many many things to write about since last time, but first things first, you rolled over today! It was so cute. You were on the gym in the living room and I was in the kitchen. Daddy was hanging around. I just came to check on you and there you were on your tummy! Totally comfy... We took pictures. Then we put you on your back and took a video of you rolling over :) I was very happy.

You are still refusing to eat cereal, as soon as I bring it near you, you go foooooo.... blow it everywhere. Time to try the apple or banana version.

Saturday we went to a barbecue party in Lick Mill park, it was great. Shaheen aunty had done a lot of work for it. There was yummy food everywhere. Especially loved the salad she made- mayo, yoghurt, kidney beans and spring onions.

Bus bache, otherwise nothing much to report. Spoke to balwinder aunty today. She was happy to know you rolled over. She was also very happy that we called her. Hopefully she will come back, I would love that. She was really good, took care of all of us.

Chalo bache, soon I will come up to hug you,
love,
Amma

Becoming a big baby...

Dear Vedant,

You are 23 weeks old today. Your new nanny came today. She seems ok, not as nice as Balwinder aunty. May be all I gotta do is give her some more time.

I started giving you daal pani this week, you seemed to like it. I have been giving you arhal dal and moong dal pani. This is good for you, lentils are a great source of protein and fibre. While I was feeding you, you are now grabbing for the spoon. You want one just for yourself to play with. I give you an empty spoon to hold while I feed you.

You are refusing to eat cereal though. I wonder what it is, do you not like the taste anymore? I plan on trying Earth's best organic whole grain apple/ banana rice next. Perhaps you will like that better.

Love,
Amma

Five months old!

Dear Vedant,

I can't believe you are now 5 months old, thats all the fingers in one hand dear. I keep showing you that, I also teach you open and close with my hand. you watch quite keenly :)

So much has happened in the last 10 odd days since I have written to you. You have grown quite a bit. I weighed you the other day, looks like I have to buy you a new crib pronto.

You have also started doing many things. You now turn your head in the direction of sound. I have to be careful now, you move suddenly. You react to everything, door opening, cooker, TV, people, all kinds of noises.

You have also stated playing with the Crinkly butterfly on the gym mat. You lift the flower flap and look underneath it and keep squishing it. Finally, you try to eat it and when you can't bring it to your mouth, you drop your head to lick it instead! It is too cute :)

Last Wednesday I left you for a trip to San Diego. I had to attend a conference. This was the longest I was not with you. While I could lie that I missed you terribly, I must admit I had a great time! Amma loves her work and fun, but loves you the most sweetheart. I came back home to a happy you. You had milk from me (direct from the source ;)) and gave me a big smile of satisfaction afterwards! It was cute. I am so thankful you are a no fuss baby.

We also hired a new nanny for you. The new aunty seems nice. I hope she looks after you well. She doesn't seem to be as hardworking as balwinder aunty, but she does not want to stay with us :( I have tried all ways I can think of, but looks like she has made up her mind. BTW, you flashed a lovely smile to new aunty's daughter. Hmm, whats up dude?

On Saturday, June 18, we visited some folks that dad knows from Jhansi. They have a little boy, about five years old. There you played with a ball for the first time. You put a ball through the basket too :)

Today, I did a little aarti for you and wanted to put new clothes but there are none in your size now. I ordered 3 books for your from amazon, they arrived today. I read the happy baby book, you were listening intently. That was fun. I took a pic early in the morning but you are not your usual happy self today, you are very clingy, teething trouble is what I think it is. I massaged your gums today, I hope it helps you. Hang in there dear, it will all be over soon.

Next birthday, I will some toys. I hope you are able to sit, that will be fun.

That's it sweetie. You are teething it looks like and seem to be in pain. I hope you (and I ;)) get good sleep tonight.

Love you loads,
amma

You found your voice!

Dear Vedant,

This week has been such a big change in you. You have been so noisy!!! Screaming in delight all the time. I managed to record a little piece on the phone today, I will upload that in some time.

Here is a link to a video I uploaded to you tube. It has some of your pictures from this month (your fifth) and yes your lovely voice.

We were alone this week from Sunday am to Wed night. It went well I thought. You were unwell on Tuesday night, wed am but nothing I couldn't handle. You were all chipkoo but I didn't mind, I just did not want you to be very sick.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Aunty has been very helpful the last few days. God bless her. I have to find a new nanny for you, I wish she would stay. :(

Anyhow, hope you sleep well sweetie, good night
Amma

Introducing solids and more

Dear Vedant,

This has been a week of many firsts for you. You are 19 weeks old today. Looked all cute today. So many things have happened last few days.

Tuesday, May 31
I was changing your diaper upstairs, you were on the rubber sheet, quite slippery. And before I knew it you were putting the clean diaper in your mouth. How you managed to get it from under your bum I don't know! I could hear viji peddamma telling me that changing you is going to get difficult soon :)

I took you to the doc too. You have not been sleeping well. You had mild fever, were all fussy. It looks like you could be teething. I am trying to make you as comfortable as possible. I bought a teether from Walmart, you are not taking to it yet, but hopefully soon you will.

You have also started grabbing the jitter toy - a bee that Shaheen aunty gave me while you were still cozy in my tummy. You started doing this on the ride to the hospital. All of a sudden you were tugging at each foot in turn of the bee and letting it go up. You repeated this like a zillion times!

Hmm... what else is knew. Oh yes, the cereal! You started eating solids from Thursday, June 2. I gave you organic brown rice cereal and you took to it easily. I gave you some today too. You seem to have no problem with it so far. I am so glad!

You are asleep now and soon I am going to come join you.

Need to buy a new crib for you too, my 19 pounder! Mommy loves you!

Good night, hugs,
Amma

Foot in the mouth!

Dear Vedant,

I really should have written this yesterday, I was too tired, a bit of back ache baby. Anyhow, you made my day wonderful. I know ALL babies do it and that is no big deal, but it was awesome! There I was changing you just before putting you to bed and all of a sudden you had your foot in your mouth :) It was so cute. It was just you and I, our little secret. BTW - you were butt naked and Viji peddamma feels that helped a long way too :) Next time I will try to get a picture, my phone camera was no good and the digi cam was downstairs. Anyhow, the thing is sweetheart, I will always remember the moment in my head and feel exactly like I felt then - lots of love, joy, surprise and pride too! You are by little boy! well for now at least.

We also went for a walk yesterday. It was very windy so I chose to walk in the lanes surrounded by homes, like avva used to, avoiding the windy road and trying to keep you warm. You no longer let me cover you with blankets and if I do manage to put one on, you chew it all the time. You didn't sleep again. it looks like Sid peddanaina's premonition about you not going to sleep in the pram might just be coming true.

Also, it looks like you are now used to sleeping by 8 pm. While on the walk you started crying at 7.15 pm, I rushed home, gave you a quick change, night suit, massage, fed you and put you down to bed.  Today also you were down by 8 pm. I am happy I have been able to establish this routine for you. And thank you for being such a good no fuss baby. Mommy loves you vedu singh.

You have also been grabbing at toys a lot more purposefully and your coordination is improving. Course you still continue to eat books, and my guess is you will for a long time but yes you are growing up. A part of me is looking forward to it and a part of me just wants to hold you as you are today, my little baby.

lots of love kanna, sleep tight,
Amma

PS: Giving you tummy time now for your head per the doc. I am really hoping it becomes better. That is the night light with stars that Akshat uncle gave you. Also, we read the colors book today, well I read, you ate :)

4 months old

Dear Vedant,

Today you are four months old. I am feeling very happy today. I put a new tee-shirt on you which said you were 'Wild About Mommy', but within half an hour you had drooled so much it was wet, before I could click any pictures!! It was so funny! I had to change it to something else :) We also lit the diya and did a little aarti for you.

You are such a joy to be with now. You droooool all the time, make the scooter sound and put everything in your mouth. You always smile when I sing 'skidamarinka dinka dee', thank you for that, it is very rewarding when that happens. I also sing 'Old MacDonald' which also makes you happy. I just started playing peek-a-boo with you and that makes you smile. I am not sure if you 'get' what the game is right now, but you do giggle :). You play with the snail and anurag;s old blocks. I try to show you colors and then give you the cube, and you promptly put it in your mouth. Today you were getting frustrated since you could not fit it in to your mouth :)

We went for a walk too today, you did not sleep. You were wide awake and watching everything. You did perk up when we passed by the fountains, it looked to me that you were trying to find the source of the noise. When you are older and able to sit, I will show you.

Sometimes when I am back from work you give me a big smile which fills my heart and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you cry until I hold you and sometimes you are quite happy to be on your own.

Plan for next week - I plan to feed you solids this week. I hope you will like that. But remember, amma's milk is the yummiest!!

Lots of love, hugs,

Amma

PS: You are fast asleep now and that is how I am able to write this for you. Also, you love chewing all your fingers (of both hands) at once. I tried to wipe your mouth as your were drooling while chewing. And this is how it ended. You smiled your cutest smile at me, and I melted. Finally, you were 'eating' the burp cloth too!

Grabber...

Dear Vedant,

I was giving you a bath today in your planet of a whale tub and you grabbed at the mug for the first time. You are doing something new each day sweetie, its so cute. Here is a pic of you having a bath. You are such a no fuss bather, it is unbelievable. Everyone is so surprised how you are so quiet and cooperative :) You could not go to sleep easily today, so I gave you a warm bath at bed time too.

We also went to the temple, you had kheer, a little bit. first time you had something other than amma's milk. Not quite sure if you liked it, you were drooling so much, you hardly had anything. I will give you cereal tomorrow. Hope you will like that kanna.

love, lots of hugs,
Amma

The Story of Your Birth

Dear Vedant,

I am starting the story of your birth a couple of years late, this is the final note after which I get to order the book that I can't wait to see. Now this might be a couple of years late, but I remember almost everything, at least the good parts in my head.

My very first memory is that of me finding out that I was in fact pregnant. I had done the test so many times before, I couldn't believe it when it was positive for the first time. It felt like all my prayers were being answered. Among other memories in my pregnancy, a time that I think was just for you and I, a few things stand out. Our first ulta sound, hearing your heart beat, watching you in the Ultra sound for the first time, finding out that it was going to be a boy, Dad said at this point "my boy". I can still hear your dad say it in my head. He then said "I also want a girl, next time". We had some fun times, visiting Windsor castle, Stratford upon Avon being among them. Time also came for us to move to the US of A, dad took care of everything, and we flew business class (my first time), making sure I walked every hour or so.

Settling down here, buying a car etc. happened so fast. Then Avva came over to help me out. I was so happy when she arrived, I had pretty much stopped cooking, somehow I lost interest in it. After Avva came, you and I were well fed and rested. I knitted so much during the last 3 weeks, later I almost regretted it and felt that I should have slept while I could :)

And yes, the D-day. You, mister, had no intention of coming out on your own. I like to think you were very cozy in there :) I had to be induced and eventually had a C-section but it was all worth it. Out you came on January 21st, 2011, at 2.51 PM in Kaiser, Santa Clara. You were a healthy 8 lbs 13 ozs and were 21 inches long. I was pretty out of it on the first day. I remember being immensely happy when I saw you for the first time. The first thing I heard was "he is big!" when you were being born. Venkat mama, saras, and the kids came to see you on the first day.

The first few days at the hospital and home were rough, on me :) Like any new born, you needed all my attention and I was recovering. We pulled through that, moved to our current home and have been so blessed. Time has passed since then, and now I feel like the best is yet to come.

Some day son, I will tell you more. Some day, when you are old enough. And some other things are just for me, for your mom to cherish, to remember and to hold on to the biggest moment of her life.

All my love to you, my baby forever. Welcome to the world!
Amma