A turned today

I left A alone on the bed for 2 mins this morning and she turned!!! Spent the rest of the day waiting for her to repeat it but she did not oblige. She's been desperately trying for the last 2 weeks and possibly after she turned today, realised its no great shakes!!!

A's nearly turning!

A has been trying to turn for the last few days and today she was nearly there. She lies on her side and her head is fully turned. Her body is also nearly turned over, its just that little tip over-and that's irritating her! She tries to turn for about 5 mins, then gets irritated and starts crying. Then we have to pick her up, and when we put her down again she turns to her side and starts trying to turn over. Quite entertaining!
She has started also putting things into her mouth now. Her hands, the cloth she is lying on, and the cloth covering her, anything she can get her hands on. She has started speaking also quite a bit now..gah, uhmm..and she responds to people talking to her, my dad especially. He will say "Negadddu" which means laugh in Kannada and she will respond with a big smile, and if he keeps saying it she will gurgle with laughter, my little cutie. She also loves bright or patterned clothes, and if we are wearing anything red, or with an interesting design, just staring at it would keep her occupied for quite some time. She has her own toys now- yes S finally allowed A to play with some toys and her favourite is the noisy snail- it makes a noise if you touch it, and also has a mirror which fascinates her; and also the punchable tiger- its one of those airfilled things which you punch and they bounce back at you. Its really for S, but if we keep it at A's feet she loves to kick it as it is quite soft .
Her feeding is still a problem. For the last month she has been crying everytime we put the bottle to her mouth. Then the last week, the problem got worse with her refusing to feed for hours on end, that too after a 7-8 hour break at night. After 3 days of this behaviour I got psyched and took her to another paediatrician here who said she may be having Acid problem and has prescribed an antacid. She seems better after taking it (Thank God) but not fully ok yet- still have to resort to feeding her with a Palladu about once a day when she refuses a feed consistently.
She is growing up so fast, the days are so busy that you dont realise it, and suddenly you see A and think, how much she has grown in all aspects and before you realise it she will be walking and talking and going to school!

Summer time outings and friends

S has made a 'summer friend ' N (my cousin's son who is a year and a half older to S) and she's really enjoyed the summer holidays (rather my maternity leave) here in Bangalore since we've managed to go on many outings together.
The first outing was to National Gallery of Modern Art. Yes, sounds funny to take 2 and 4 year old kids to a Gallery right, but they had fun. Firstly the NGMA in Bangalore is a huge sprawling place with a large garden, waterfall, beautiful trees and lots of space for kids to run around in. The actual looking at the pictures did not last more than half an hour (we were lucky to get that much time from the kids) before they asked to be let loose outside. S kept calling it office, since she's never been to a museum before, and refused to look at any of the paintings. N was slightly better and his mom could get him slightly interested in the pictures of animals. The gallery had a showing from the Victoria and Albert, London and there was a whole section devoted to English artists rendering of India in the 1700-1900s. Beautiful. Can't imagine how some of the places used to look earlier-Breach Candy seems to be an isolated fishing village. And the mood of the times also has been captured in the paintings, many of which show people going about their daily work. It covers most parts of India as well, from Kashmir to the South. I wonder whether any museum in India has such a vast collection of paintings of this period. Have not been to the NGMA in Mumbai, but will definetly give it a look now. We wanted to try out the cafe, but it had only snacks so went to Opus, a nearby restaurant for lunch. Its more of a lounge bar than a restaurant and was empty except for us in the afternoon (we checked it on a Saturday night a week later and it was packed with a cover charge of Rs 500/ per person!). Anyway we were happy to have the place to ourselves, and after S and N gorged themselves on french fries (managed to get S to eat some dal rice i was carrying as well) they started running around the place and jumping on the bean bags sprawled there. We could manage a leisurely lunch with them occupied for a change!

The next was to Bannerghatta National Park. Its about an hours drive from my place ; my cousin stays close by, and her cousin with two kids also came along so there were four elder kids and one infant (my cousin's second son who is 10 months). We started with the jungle safari where you sit in a bus and they take you into the animal enclosures where the animals are free. I was a bit apprehensive as there had been an incident some years back when a tiger had attacked the bus and killed a child. But before coming to the park i read many of the user reviews and they said that the park had taken many precautions after the incident and it was pretty safe. There was a grill around the bus, and morning time was after the feeding of the animals, so decided to go with S and the other. It was good fun- the whole trip was about 45 mins, and the bus ride was bumpy and a new experience for S. We saw some deer, samba, some bears on the road, a couple of lions and some white and yellow tigers. The tigers were inside fences so they could not come near the bus (probably a safety precaution)- think they are probably more ferocious than lions. In all we did not manage to see many animals, but each one that we saw, had the whle bus full of people standing up and shouting so overall the excitement level for the kids was quite high. The only one who was not so excited was the 10 month old who happily sat in his mom's lap chomping on a banana. The bus was not an AC bus and it was quite dusty so we were quite tired by the time the ride finished. The next stop was to the zoo. We first saw a white peacock, it had spread its tail and looked really pretty. Then onto the parrots and birds. We tried to spot the cobra in the enclosure but could not find it. The aquarium was below expectations, they had quite a few fish, but the whole area was badly lit and not well kept. Some of the tanks were empty also which made it look like a half hearted attempt. We then managed to see a leapord sleeping on a rock, and then the highlight of the trip a zebra. The zebra was in huge field with a fence- it came running towards us and butted its head on the fence and neighed loudly. The kids found it totally exciting and S still talks about it! We also saw a family of elephants. We were too tired by then to proceed onto the rhino enclosure - S insisted on being carried and threw a crying fit when i refused. I then had to carry her all the way back to the entrance in the sweltering heat so was exhausted by the time we got to our lunch place. The other kids were older and did not fuss as much. Think we need to take a stroller with us for S for the US trip. Or maybe she can use A's stroller and we can carry A. Lunch was at a place called Jungle Lodge which is within the Bannerghatta National Park. Its a boarding lodge which organises day/two day trips into the park, and also doubles up as a restaurant for people visiting the park. We had the buffet which while not anything great, sufficed as we were ravneous after the long walk through the zoo. I desperately wanted Thums Up with my lunch- can understand how these drinks sell well in the hot weather but they had only Coke, surpising since Thums Up is now the main brand for the group in India. Nothing like a cold Thums Up on a hot day, especially with spicy Indian food! I was quite impressed with my cousin's cousin's daughter who went to the buffet table by herself and chose rasam rice and lots of fruits and ate it by herself with no coercion from her mother. She's 8, but i don;t think at that age I would have chosen such a healthy combination. S and N were refreshed after the lunch and spent ten minutes running all around the place, quite forgetting that they had been cranky and sleepy some time back.

The next outing was to Lalbagh. My cousin got both her kids- N and her younger one who is 10 months along, and I took S. We selected a beautiful big tree under which we spread the chattai for our picnic. N and S stuffed themselves with cupcakes- actually S has never eaten a cupcake by herself before but after seeing N enjoying it she asked for it and ate it with relish! Then we tried to get them both to play football but N refused to kick the ball to S so they played football with their individual balls. Then S was interested in generally running around the place and looking at the butterflies- there were hundreds of butterflies in the nearby tree (unbelievable!), while N wanted to climb trees. Then we had to feed the brats their lunch- i have started carrying S rasam rice for all lunch outings as she doesn't eat much else, and then we gorged on our lunch- a lovely picnic lunch of poori bhaji and curd rice - its really been ages since i went on a picnic, and S also enjoyed it. The trees in Lalbagh are amazing- they are huge giving a lot of shade and oppportunities for many picnic spots. We didn't get to go around Lalbagh (which is very big), will explore during the next picnic opportunity.

Then we had our outing to Cubbon Park. We wanted to take the kids on the toy train, but when we reached there we were told that the train was under repair. Since the whole gang had set out on such a long journey we decided to hang around the park for some time before heading back. The kids played in the park for some time, but it was very hot (we reached only around 1:30 since the toy train timings are in the afternoon) so we soon retreated to the canteen where I fed S her lunch, and then N and S ate ice creams (first time S is eating from a cone, she saw N eating it and decided it was too tempting) and when we returned to the park entrance we found that the toy train was operational. The queue was long, but the kids had fun on the train. S now everyday mentions that she went on 'Azul' the train ('Azul the train is actually from Dora but S relates well to that), and the other day when we met N again, he was also talking about the train. The kids got balloons for their good behavious- i didn't realise that it was a helium balloon when i handed it over to S, she promptly let it go and it flew away! S slept soundly in the car on the way back- she was quite tired after the running around in the heat, and she's used to her afternoon nap.
This being the last week, we went over to N's place for a farewell lunch- they have a lovely garden where the kids kept generally running around, cycling, playing with twigs, climbing trees (S refused to though!) eating banana chips from the table, drinking mango juice and generally having a ball.
S had a great time here...now back to Bombay where its back to school and cramped appartments for her, and back to office for me. But we still have the US Holiday where S will get to meet her cousins and aunts and uncles.

A's Namakarna

We had A's namakarna on the 8th of May. She is now Venkatesh Kamala Bhavani A Rao. The ceremony started at 10:30 in the morning so it was a pretty early start for us (just realised it takes ages to get two kids bathed, dressed and fed !) . Luckily we had the ceremony at home - we called the priest home, and we had the ceremony downstairs in the hall, and the lunch catering outside in the garden. Home makes is so much more convenient.
The ceremony was about 1 hour 15 mins. We didn't have a homa (fire) since A is so young and didn't want her to get exposed to smoke. It started with a small puja to our God at home (upstairs) and then we went down. The main parts of the ceremony is the writing of the child's name in rice, the whispering of the child's name in her ear- the first one to tell A's name into her ear was my mom-in-law and then me and the hubby. The grandmother only says A's main name, me and the hubby have to tell her all five of her names. The Nakshatra syllable was "Bha" so we kept Bhavani. Venkatesh and Kamala were kept by the priest. And A is of course her main name (and the only one on the passport!). Then we have the tying of the black thread by the father around the baby's waist and finally the mixing of butter and honey and feeding to the baby- i really freaked out on this at S's Namakarna also and here also i didn't allow too many of the people to feed her the honey-butter mixture, and we also just dabbed it on her lips. Its supposed to be auspicious which is why were ok with it being dabbed on her mouth, but too much butter/honey at this age can be bad for her.
Lunch was quite an elaborate affair- we had the full traditional banana leaf lunch, eight sweets (i still feel full) and lots of rice, sambhar, menskai (sweet and sour mango), rasam and so on. We have to give dakshina to all the people who come, and last time the hubby felt quite embarresed giving that, so this time we got S to give it to people. And if they refused, or passed some funny comment, she would just throw it at them, so they could not refuse!!!
I realised how awful i look in a sari after putting on so much wieght- agree i never looked very good in a sari because of my height, but the big tummy has just made it worse. Am in two minds whether to wear a sari for the nephew's upanayanas..
In the evening we had a small party to celebrate A's birth and naming ceremony. My dad had organised chairs and tables in the garden, and with the lighting it looked really pretty. Some of my cousins kids had come and S and they and S freaked out on the snacks, ice cream and sweets, - am going to rename S as Miss Gold Coin considering the amount of that snack she managed to polish off. S was quite off mood in the morning since she had to be inside for the function, but in the evening she had a ball - she was running inside the house and playing with the kids, and running outside and sitting on her daddy/ajji's lap. I was also pretty relaxed and managed to chat with most of the relatives and family friends who had come (unlike the last time when i was mostly inside the house). A slept on and off and was pretty cheerful throughout. All in all a tiring but enjoyable day.

Of wildlife and other delights

Our stay in Bangalore has been a continous exposure to all types of wildlife (ok not really wildlife but animal life!) for S. Starting with lizards, we have a lot of paintings hung up all over the place and every evening a lizard or two will emerge from behing the paintings. At first S used to be quite terrified of them, insisting on being carried whenever she saw one. She even started recognising the sounds which lizards made. Over a period of time she has got used to them, and doesn't get frightened anymore. If she hears them when she is eating her food, she'll simply say, "I am eating soup and lizard is making noise" and continue eating. In fact the other day, she tried to lift up some paintings and look for lizards.

Then there is the friendly neighbourhood squirrel. We can see them running about on our flame of the forest tree from the balcony. They also visit my mom's room where they steal the lining from the bags to make their nest. The other day, we saw them running up to the bags, and since that is the room A spends a lot of time there we wanted to get the squirrel out from there. So the maid's husband and the driver took a ladder climbed up there and chased the squirrel from the storage area, then it ran across the hall, crossing a surprised S and went to my dad's room. From there it was finally chased out of the house. S was totally excited by this and proceeded to repeat the story to whoever was interested. Again a couple of days later, the squirrel reappeared in my mom's room. This time S ventured into the room and saw it being chased out.

Then there are the two dogs we have at home. They are big boxers so they are tied up when S goes down. S feeds them parathas, bone biscuits, bread etc. Sometimes they are tied, sometimes they are left free (i am more scared than S at this point!) but S is pretty cool. The dogs hate all other dogs in the vicinity and whenever the other dogs cross our house on their walks our dogs will bark at them continuously for 10-15 mins. S has become quite used to this, and says that dog must be walking past.

Then there are the large number of moths, dragonflies and creepy crawlies which are all taken in stride. The other day S was taking a cloth to hit a moth and i was quite surprised since earlier she used to come running to me saying 'carry me' everytime a moth came close. She has also seen all os uf chasing after the moths with the broomstick and finds this highly exciting!

There was a friednly visit from an owl also which came into our house and sat on top of the hall cupboard. I screamed and hid in a room. When S was a small baby also a baby owl came and sat at our window- wonder what it is with owls and babies?

All in all S is having a grand time here. We see different types of birds from the window and she has also started recognising fruits - she knows the mango tree, coconut tree etc. I wish we had a big garden in Bombay, but i guess for now the visits to Ajjji's house would have to suffice.

Getting spoilt rotten

All three of us girls are getting spoilt rotten at my mom's place. S has stopped her playschool (she went for the first three weeks, hated it, complained to her ajji and has been allowed to discontinue) and bosses over everybody in the house the whole day. She feeds the dogs with her Ajja, plays and eats with her Ajji, is allowed to sit at the dining table and make a mess of all the food there, watches her movies on TV during breakfast, lunch and dinner and after dinner (Ajja and Ajji get to catch only snippets of their cricket matches), tells her Ajji not to have lunch, dinner, talk on the phone etc etc. The maid has been relieved of her other duties and spends most of her time playing with S- taking her to the terrace to water the plants, taking her down to the garden to play with her car/ cycle/see the dogs /watch the gardner at work etc. I'm mostly in charge of the outside entertainment and think i'm doing a decent job. S either goes to the neighbourhood park, or the large park fifteen mins away, orswimming , or to a friends place everyday. We've been pretty busy meeting other kids. Two of my cousins who stay in Bangalore have kids about one year older than S, and one of my cousins who stays in Australia was down for a month and her daughter is the same age as S. We've been meeting them pretty often- there was a kiddies pool party at my cousin's place where they put up inflatable pools for the kids- they had called us, my cousin with 2 kids. another couple with two kids, and a neighbour with one kid so the pools very pretty packed. S enjoyed herself quite a bit, but i had not got swimming diapers for her, so took her out of the pool in about 1/2 hour. But she enjoyed playing in the garden after that- they have a slide in the garden, and many toys inside the house so she was quite busy, while i got to relax with a watermelon-vodka cocktail (was pretty yum!). The next time my cousins came over to my place, and again the kids went beserk. They had got some balloons along and kept bouncing them all over the place. They played hide and seek, and generally kept running around the house. My mom managed to entertain the older ones with stories, while the younger ones either slept in their bouncer ("A"), or crawled all over the house, or pulled out all my clothes/babies diapers from my cupboard. But we were chilling over wine/beer and were not too worried for a change. My cousin sometimes brings her son to the same park where i take S and afterwards we go over to their house and S loves to play on the swing and car in their house. Overall she's been pretty entertained and busy here. She misses the hubby a lot though and keeps asking to speak to daddy, and whenever she sees a book in which there's a daddy, or once when i introduced her to my cousin's husband as this is X's daddy she's quick to say " where's my daddy".

I've been getting prety much spoilt as well. Starting from the late sleep ins in the morning, when my mom takes care of A, to getting out for dinner with the hubby alone without kids (after so long!!)- we went to Sunny's -lovely place, don't know why i haven't been before, to getting out for a lunch to my cousin's place and leaving A behind, to even catching a movie ("Love Happens, not so great, but enjoyed the afternoon out), going swimming thrice a week (best way to lose weight after a C-Sec, i manage to do about 11 laps now for 25 mins which while not great is some exercise!) and even getting an afternoon siesta while my mom oversees the baby maid looking after A. Yes i am getting terribly spoilt and wonder how i am ever going to go back to work! Not to mention the endless cups of coffee at home and the yummy food, and not having to lift a finger.

A is the least spoilt. The baby maid is with her the whole day, and plays with her, talks to her and looks after her pretty well. I am less attentive this time- maybe because of S (she wants me around a lot more, and i spend a lot of time trying to take her out to places), or maybe because i want a little more time for myself (swimming, going out once in a while) since i know this will not be the case once i get back to Bombay and my mom wont be around to look after the kids, and maybe because I know at this stage i can get away with this, but once A become older she will be more demanding of my time. Maybe I'm a bad mother, and sometime i feel quite guily about not spending more time with A, but she is happy and we all dote on her. Her grandfather especially and she has a special smile for him evertime he speaks to her.

Just a month more here...sigh...