Where were we? Drooling over the menu, right.. Soon enough, I caught the smell of roasted suji I left lying on the kitchen counter and came to senses that lady is not gonna give us samplers. Upma now sounded too bland, let’s just say we satisfied our craving by ordering chinese food from a nearby restaurant. Pretty good food even without MSG, I must say.

I had decided to involve D in the party preparations this time. For one, her interest in artsy party stuff. And two, I was carrying over a teeny bit of guilt from not celebrating her third birthday. I had been going through some rough patches, call it PND or whatever you might. I am glad to be out of it, more than happy to leave it behind and move on to meaningful and productive thoughts.

The Theme
I was looking for colors, lots of bright sunny colors. Spent some time surfing http://oreintaltrading.com for theme ideas and craft ideas for the kids. They have a lot of interesting activities that fit into my budget, but outrageous shipping costs. The more you buy, the less the shipping should cost. Wouldn’t you think. Some incentive to buy more?? Guess not!
Some of the activity kits like their sun catcher’s and sand art, I fell in love at the very first instance and was tempted to try them myself. They come as a complete kit, avoiding the chaos of a group activity. I also loved the hand painting and face painting kits, but knew they would get messy.

So, I kind of knew what I wanted but was hell bent on not paying that shipping. Surfed and surfed the net for alternatives, until my eyes popped out, but found nothing that would come close enough to this site. Some were plain shady, with contact numbers that don’t work. Some had no contact information and the check out/credit card forms creeped onto my super suspicious brain. The LH kept saying that I complicate things for no reason by self imposing futile conditions. His point was to look at the shipping cost as a percentage of time spent hunting them and as a percentage of overall party cost. He had a point, but little does he know the woman is just plain adamant. Some confidence that she’ll find what she wants without increasing the stock value of Fedex.

The following day I picked up D from school as usual. She gulped her snack in matter of minutes as soon as she heard we were gonna hit the party shopping store. Our first stop was at Party City. While I was looking around cluelessly, it took D less than 2 minutes to spot and pick up the Dora party set. I frowned and said.. D.. Very nice.. But how about something colorful.. Lots of.. I was amazed when she said okay and let go her Dora plates. Little did I know she had scanned the shop when we entered and had spotted the aisle where they had organised the cutleries in colors. Pink!! She saw Pink!! No wonder!!! She runs to the aisle and picks up pink plates, pink cups, pink spoons, anything and everything pink. See mumma! I got color plates. Pretty cute.. colors.. I should have been more precise in my requirements. Lesson learned! She was just so excited, I did not want to hinder her enthusiasm. Honestly, I was blissfully submerged just watching her, but there was no way in the world I would settle for a pink party. A little talk.. a little convincing.. lots and lots of bribing.. did the trick. Some people around were having a hearty laugh at the debate this mother and daughter were having over why pink is not suited for a party and we should go for one with multiple colors. We then saw a bunch of cutleries and tableware with bright yellow and orange flower. That was it! A bright and colorful flower theme!!

The same shopping strip had a Michael’s store. We decided to check it out before leaving. I enter the store and guess what I see? On Sale!! Make your own Sun catchers and Sand art kits. Individually packed, just perfect for a party. With a grin that I couldn’t get rid of, I picked them up. Michael’s is very addictive, I must add. Instead of walking out, we thought we should make one round of the entire shop just to check them out. At check out we had the following in our cart.

• A tired, exhausted, yet hyper 3 year old holding on to the hand picked items dearly.
• Individual Sand Art kits
  Each kit had 5 different colors of sand pouches. 2 pieces of 3 inch plastic bottles with lid[Various shapes and sizes]. A funnel to pour the sand and pack. Instructions.
• Individual Sun catcher kits.
  Each kit had 2 pieces of the shape. A use and throw 7 color paint kit. A brush. Instructions.
• Moon sand kit.
  This kit had 6 packs of 12 oz moon sand each. And 9 moulds. Packaged so beautifully, it was hard to resist.
• Aprons.
  These were on sale for a dollar each!! Bright red, yellow and blue colors.
• Ready to paint back packs. [Read more like tote bags, just stringed to go over the shoulder]
  Back pack made out of raw fabric, ready to paint and decorate.
• Brushless fabric paint squeezers to paint the back packs.
• 3D Water resistant stickers to decorate the back packs.
• Flower themed self stick foamies to decorate the back packs.
• Some glow-in-the night bracelets
• One roll of doodle paper.
• Crayons and color pens.
• Colorful work bags.

Ta-Da! We were so ready to hit the party table! Oh, wait, we do need the cake, don’t we!

I wanted to make a Pinata at home. It sounded like a fun and easy project to do with D. But, it got pushed to the last minute. Me and SIL finally ended up picking a nice bright purple pinata with the same flower theme design on the center. We then filled them with pens, pencils, crayons, sharpners, flash card sets, some fruit tarts, small memo style notepads, mini shoe shaped bubble blowers and some such adhoc items.

We also picked up some chart sheets to create our own Pin-the-Petal game[inspired by the Pin the tail game] to stay with our theme. We got all the needed materials, and my brother had volunteered to do this along with D. But, for all the fun we had the last three days before the party, we were extremely exhausted and decided to get some sleep instead. We were all already sun burned[read as free natural tan], we did not want to add to the misery of the guests by looking like zombies.. We had enough to entertain the kids, this wasn’t high on our priority list anyways.

to be continued..

PS: Thanks to all you showed interest in the project via comments and emails. It truly means a lot to me and adds to the confidence quo. Will send ya’ll details when the concept in mind takes shape.
And yes, I promise to break the announcement in the next post.

Dlittle’s burday party was a hit. The party was more for D, for my brother/SIL who flew from the east coast, and a few selected friends who matter. A low key casual party at a neighborhood park turned out to be fun and enjoyable.

The party enthusiasm started when Dlittle’s maama and maami announced their visit to celebrate her birthday. Maama hadn’t seen Dlittle yet, and D’s non-stop chattering on the phone only added to it. The party planning started with the saving of a new blank spreadsheet - DlittlesBirthdayPreps.xls.

The high level items on the sheet were
- Head count
- Venue
- Menu
- Theme
- Cake
- Entertainment
- The PARTY!!

Within couple of days, head count’s were close to final.

The Venue
Out of sheer laziness to think out of the box, I conveniently defaulted to my list of pre-packaged party options:
- Party at Children’s Museum.
- Party at Pump It Up
- Party at The Jungle [Similar to chuck-e-cheese]

I would have loved to celebrate at the Children’s Museum, but they were booked for that exact week. Maama and maami had booked their tickets already, so changing the date was not a possibility. Moreover, I had 8 kids in all and their package is for a minimum of 25 kids. The same issue with Pump it up. The jungle was a fall back option, they had various slots available, but they are way too strict with their timings. They would reserve the birthday room for exactly 45 minutes. This includes cake cutting, cake eating and food. Did not make much sense to me. It’s a kids party and kids are not predictable. Especially on days when you you want things to happen on time.

With the pre-packaged party idea busted, I had to get creative. I am one of those who would have everything muddled up inside my little brain, but won’t put them into tangible action until the last minute. Time was running out, it was high time I announced to the group the venue of the party.

I was catching up with a friend on a Sunday morning. On the phone, while the kids were enjoying the morning breeze in the park. She mentioned her son was participating in the Bollywood singing competition. Just then it struck, there are few kids in the invitee list who would love to sing. Other younger kids can blast away with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Idea was to have fun, right! Why not a Karaoke party, followed by a pool party. I surfed the net and found couple of rentals, some would even swing by and set it up. Much to my disappointment, I found that the HOA has a big procedure to rent the community hall and it usually gets booked couple of months in advance. But, this will be on my radar. The minute I get a reason to have a party, karaoke party it’s gonna be.

I finally decided to have it at a nearby park. With the promise that I would do something fun for the kids. If its at a park, purple park[As D calls it] it was without a doubt. A small park with two kids play areas and about 20 picnic tables. A large buffet area with barbeque grills. We all drove to the purple park, this time looking with a different lens.

The Menu
Was time to decide on the menu. The LH was very particular that I spare the guests, and my brother/SIL with my culinary skills. I consider myself a pretty good cook, by the way. It’s just that in these 9 years of marriage, he knows well enough that he would end up doing the cutting and the cleaning. And listen to my nagging that the veggies are not symmetrically cut, or that the beans were cut 1 mm less than the sample I had provided. And how that would spoil the aesthetics of the dish!

One of the birthday party we had attended few months back served lip licking food, was different from the typical Indian restaurant food. It was 100% home made by a punjabi lady who has been doing this for more than a decade now. The taste very much reflected that. Without a second thought I got her number and gave her a call.
Mein kuch fry kar rahe hoon. Busy hoon. 4 baje dena hai. Aap shaam ko 6:30 - 7:00 ke beech mein call kariega spoke a lady from the other side..
Sure. Theek hai I replied, though I had planned to finalize the menu with this one conversation.
Evening came by, I missed the 6:30-7:00 time line. Called her 7:30ish to hear her say Aap ko to 6:30 - 7:00 ke beech mein call karna tha. Followed by an forceful artificial laugh to ease the pain of the impact.
I was shocked and amazed at the same time.. hmm.. haan.. 2 bache hain.. time ka pata nahi rehta.. Aap busy ho to mein baad mein phone karoon? I replied.
Koi baat nahi. Main to mazaak kar rahe the. Bataye details. Mein note karte hoon she said and we went over the menu.

Her comment felt like a slap on my face. But then, realized I should be respecting her time as well. She’s a cook. So?? She should not expect an appointment OR a call at certain timings? She has a family, life and kid too. She runs this as a professional business. The LH did commentThis is Bay Area. What did you expect? Don’t be surprised if she drove by in a BMW, to drop off food to a Corolla owner..

Anyways, she continued with the options for starters.. bhel puri, samosa, chaat, batada vada, dhokla, dahi paadi.. x..y..z.. I had blanked out by then. Bhel puri aur Dhokla. I said.
okay.. Main dish mein aap ek choose karo. Paneer wrap, Veggie wrap, Chole Bhature, Naan with any gravy sabzi, Puri bhaaji... Chole bhature, I said.. drooling.. even before she could complete the list.
acha.. Rice variety mein app kya prefer karoge? Vegetable biriyani, Chicken mutton.. Peas Pulav.. Iske saath dahi vade dete hoon. hmm.. Raita nahi dete.. said the lady apologetically.
Veg Biriyani I said. Sure, why would I want raita instead of dahi vade. drool.. drool.. more drool..
Dessert mein ? She questioned. My mouth was unbelievably watering by now and I was this close to asking her if we could have samplers tonight??
Rasmalai, I said. And there, the menu was finalized.
Was about to hang up, when I heard Suniye, R. Mein apne North Indian style sarson ki tel se bani vegetable achar bhe detein hoon. okay. Sarson tel.. reminded me of my naani’s food..

To spare you, my readers, further yawns, I’ll continue the rest in Part Dos and Tres.
Until then, Ta! Have a nice yummy weekend!

It feels as though I gave birth to Dlittle just a few weeks back. I remember crystal clear lying in the hospital bed waiting for my turn to go under the knife. For once, I was a low risk patient and there were back to back emergency c-sections that took priority. I remember the overwhelming joyous feeling when I heard the baby cry, within few seconds after she was taken out of the womb’s warmth. I remember the nurse saying 20 inches, 7.2 pounds, apgar 9. Apgar 9, I screamed. Every bit mattered, after having craved to hear anything remotely close to it the previous time around. I remember D’s first reaction to seeing Dlittle@ 4 hours, all cozily wrapped up, eyes shut tight, sleeping blissfully inside the bassinet. I remember that Monday this little angel entered our home. While mom was taking aarty, I was misty eyed, missing D. Over the decision to send D to school, to make the transition from hospital to home smooth. I remember not being able to walk upstairs as I was low on blood count and could not stand or walk for more than few seconds. I remember D proudly introducing her sister to anyone who visited us to get a sneak peak at Dlittle.


This little angel is all of 53 weeks old. Going down the memory lane, some notes I jotted at her 2 month completion, another at 4, when she started on solids, at 7 months, her fascination with electronics, her 10 month update, an un-intentional mushy 11 month update..

She walks around the house, asserting her wants with her sister for the very same paper and crayon. The elder one obviously uses them to color and has no issues sharing with her younger sister, if only the younger sister would differentiate it from her finger food and stop munching on them..

She graduated to Dora without taking the purple dino aka Barney lessons, thanks to her sister..

The minute she senses change in tone, like, when her sister is being lectured on behavior, or when her sister gets a time out, she quietly goes to the other end of the room to indulge herself with a toy or a book..

She screams to enter the bathroom demanding a brush to clean all of her 6 teeth, while the older one is lost in thoughts with the brush in her mouth..

She is not talking yet, all she can say is daa daa.. dhis dhis.. paa.. paa.. paa.. paa.. But she can narrate a whole sentence, complete with action, with the ups and downs in tone and pitch, to suit the situation..

Any time she spots a passage in the play kitchen that is used to block the entry way to the stairs, she runs towards it with maximum speed, climbs on the first step and squeals with excitement. Waits to hear one of us running towards her, then climbs couple of more steps. She would then entertain us with her very own victory dance..

She takes any piece of cloth she can get her hands on, put it on top of her head and pull them down. Much to her amusement, it don’t cover her body, instead slips down on the floor. She is a fighter alright, she will continue to attempt few times until distracted with something else more interesting. Like an elevated object to climb up, her latest fascination. She has figured few toys and pillows that she uses as a stepping medium..

She runs all over the house, with that funny toddler style walk, wearing the diaper, and is being named the drunken sailor by her father..

She is natural with music and dance, as is her sister. Music is on, her legs automagically start tapping, body goes into wobbling, hands go into the accelerator movement..

She reacts, responds, squeals, plays differently with her sister as opposed to us parents. There seems to be an extra dose of love when it comes to her. I am not complaining..

She is starting to show character. The other day she was angry because I did not lift her in spite of her her attempt to throw both her hands up in the air. It was just going to be another minute before the chai came to a boil. When done, I went towards her to pick her up. This little one, just to prove her anger, walks away from me, making that ugly face, mouth open, holding the upper and lower teeth together. Takes few steps opposite to my direction and looks at me. I end up smiling at her, only to aggravate her anger. She hits her head on the carpet couple of times just to retaliate. This little angel of mine is sure growing up..

I can not end this post without thanking you all for the wonderful heartfelt wishes.

Or without the anti-jinx mantra.

And one day. My littlest daughter has graduated from an infant to a toddler! Happy birthday sweetie!

DD household is slowly transitioning from the non stop fun-only-second-life that started late Wednesday back into the balanced real life. Stay tuned for details and updates..

Many a times, the 8th of the month would pass by without the crossing thought that Dlittle just got older by another month. But, ever since the first of this month, it has shadowed my mind. My little daughter is going to be a year old in a month, soon to be toddler.

Both my kids have brought so much joy in our lives, I don’t have words to express. The balance they bring in this ever-stressful life, the sanity they help maintain, the kindness they provoke, the differences they make us reconcile. They are the closest one can get to God, in the very true sense.

Dlittle and D are temperamentally very different. D is bubbly she amazes me with her energy and she has got the cutest smile. She is not the cuddling types, she is more of the thinker type, taken after her fathers genes. How many times I have bribed her with one thing or the other just to get a kiss, just for a hug. My littlest one however, is the utterly cuddly type. Sometimes she would come close by, lick my face, push her head into my lap and just lie there for few seconds. She would then get up and walk, do something else and then come right back. For once I realise the emotions animals portray by that very act. This little one, would wake up in the night, sit up, look at me, smile and fall on my belly. Cling to me, wrap her hands around and continue to sleep.

D is not the cuddly and expressive type, but when she does, she tosses my heart for a spin. I was around 24 weeks pregnant with Dlittle. We had gone to The Disney on Ice theater show. It was dark by the time the show got over and the road towards the parking lot had been detoured to manage the crowd. One of the detour sign had a protruding rod, which was not visible in the fast moving crowd. And I tripped over it. My stomach down. I could not register what had happened, for couple of minutes unable to get any meaningful word out of my mouth. I remember blabbering, naturally the only thought in my mind was the baby. The husband visibly mad. In all this commotion, I did not notice that my 2 year old then, had been watching unable to express her emotions. After a little while when I was back to senses, I realised that I had shielded my belly with my hands, had bruises all over my palm, but the belly did not touch the ground. We decided to go to the emergency anyways to be sure. Well, we buckled up in the car. This little darling of mine, who seemed contained all along, burst into tears and started shivering. One and only one thing she kept repeating. Crying and talking constantly without a breather. Mummy, are you ok? No cry mummy, please come and sit with me. Hand pakko[Hold my hands]. We pulled over the very next parking lot, me and her hugged each other, both weeping like there is no tomorrow. This moment though scary was precious. This kind of love can only be felt, not expressed.

When the two sisters don’t see each others for few hours, they yearn for each other. The expression they show when they wake up in the morning OR when I go to pick D up from the school is priceless. Dlittle would pat her older one and squeal at the first sight and D would not get tired telling her friends over and over again, Hey, this is my sister. Come, come, see her. You know, she does this. She does that. She knows to walk. The love don’t last long, within few hours they are on top of each other fighting for the same pen or paper. But somehow, when the music is turned on, lights are dimmed, we are wrapping up for the day, they get their calm back. They cuddle, they kiss, they say good night. The next morning, first thing younger one does is to look at the door looking out for her sister. The first thing the older one does is to hug and kiss her little one, ask her if she had a good sleep, even if she is at the verge of wetting her pants. And that gives me the hope, that though they will be of very different personalities, though they will compete, though they will fight over petty things, though they will choose different paths, though they will physically far apart, they will be there for each others, they will long for each others, long after I am gone.

Hello, this is Dlittle sending out quarterly updates. I self proclaim myself as the charm of this blog. Apparently, mummy hasn’t been able to update the blog for a while, blames it on her self set crazy work schedule. She has also been hiding her laptop from me after I showed my interest in it. Didi is home on a spring break this week, keeping mummy on her toes. I ought to grab this opportunity and so, here I go.

I can walk!! For the first time yesterday evening, April 14th 2008, I took three steps in a row. I don’t really fall down after the third step, but for some strange reason I sit down and start crawling. Most of today was spent practising the 3 step walk. Its exhilarating to try something new, more thrilling to watch the look on my parents and sisters face.

* * * * * * * * * *

I love my didi. She’s the best, especially when she wakes up in the morning, runs to my room, snuggles into me and mummy and showers kisses on us. Or when she greets me and never gets tired of talking about me to her friends when me and mummy go to pick her up from school. This one day I bumped my head on the wall while trying to walk with a finger support on the wall. It hurt and so I cried. When I did not stop in couple of minutes, my didi started crying as well. Mummy hugged both of us, when we all calmed down a bit, mummy asked her what made her cry. She said - ‘My sister got hurt, that’s why I was crying‘. Is there anything more I can ask for?
That’s not the complete picture, we do have our moments[a lot these days, after I have shown my independence by going mobile] of fist fighting and the like. That’s the way we keep ourselves entertained, is what I would like to think.

* * * * * * * * * *

Shortly after the last update mummy wrote, she gave up on cereals and got me started with daal, rice and veggies. Pressure cooked and mashed with a pinch of salt and ghee. It tastes good, it’s healthy, but it’s causing constipation, which was and still is her primary concern for not starting earlier. Adding a few palak leaves to the food does ease the constipation, every now and then I am force fed prune juice, which also helps. This combined with my super quick nursing time leads to the worry of me not getting enough milk. I don’t like the taste and sight of formula either. Couple of more months, then I can get started with whole milk.

* * * * * * * * * *

Mummy and papa make fun of me that I was possibly a motorbike racer or a dancer in previous life. I have this chair that sings when I sit on it. I figured this out, so I press it, then stand up and do my twist. Both the hands in the air at shoulder level with hand movement like I am accelerating a motorbike. Another twist that gets my parents hysterical is when I stand up, shake my bum and head at the same time. Whenever I do these twists, didi, mummy and papa go ga-ga over it. I get the needed attention and the cycle continues.

* * * * * * * * * *

It seems I am starting to show character. Stubborn it seems, a mind of my own. Impatient, it seems. Will eat if I want to. Point to be noted is the person stating this - my mom. The genes I have taken after. The mumbo jumbo tricks might get me to open my mouth, but you can’t force me to swallow, can you? I eat well, I really do. But only the foods I like. I don’t have a sweet tooth. While that’s supposedly a good thing, the same taste buds make me not wanting to eat fruits. I am trying to acquire the taste. Applesauce is not for me, but small bits of apples and cantaloupe I like.

* * * * * * * * * *
Just for the records, my 9th month weight is in the 25th percentile and height is in the 45th percentile. I kept my promise to stay slim and trim. sigh!!

Love,
Dlittle@10 months

First of all, 3rd day in a row, Dlittle ate without crying. In a record time of 1 hour and 10 minutes. Yipee!!! I see hope! [Lifting the Anti-jinx logo from Dotmom's.. Thanks DM]


Moving on to the milestone(s)…

The much awaited pearly[borrowing the term from squiggles mom] is here. Yes, just one, the top left. Though it has been playing hide and seek for a while, the official date of its visible presence is declared as the 31st of January. This one pearly is about 3 mm long already and the other adjacent to it shows no signs of emerging any time soon. I just hope one of the 2 lower jaw pearls don’t show up before the second on the upper jaw !!!

The second milestone… She can sit up comfortably all by herself and move anywhere she wants in few seconds. She is still not crawling, but rolls to the point of interest, sits up and gets to business. Business as of now is to taste as many things as she can. The more colorful the object, the better the taste? No wait, the more electronic the object the better it tastes. Yes, iphone, the blackberry with the twinkling light tastes the best I think, remote comes pretty close.

She hit the third milestone yesterday. For the longest time.. ok not really, but this past week she has been trying to stand up by holding on to objects to get that extra push. She did it yesterday. Sitting on the carpet by the couch, she held on to it strongly, kept trying to prop herself up. In about a minute, she stood up. The expression on her face was priceless. She squealed louder than ever on her accomplishment and this newly discovered height is giving her ideas.

The newest fascination? See for yourself. Happened sometime mid January when I went into the kitchen for less than a minute to fetch water. Whats up with kids and remote/phone/wires/laptop? They seem to be born new age compatible.

I am 7 months old!! Yayyyyyy! To top it, I spoke my first word ever… pa.. pa.. vaa.. paa.. Mumma interprets it as va.. va.. while papa interprets it as pa.. pa.. Obvious, isn’t it. I am liking this game :)

Since my 4 month update, there are a few developments from my side. First, I can sit with some help. I love to sit. I do need a little bit of back support, I can assure you it’s only a matter of time.

I can move… I rolled over few months back. But that wasn’t spontaneous. That was mostly when I attempted to do something else.. Now I can roll over whenever I want to. In few seconds. First, prop myself up, kinda in a sitting position and hold my feet with my hands. Wobble a little, rest is the game of gravity. Not only can I roll over, now I can also move to reach objects of my interest. For example, if there is a striking red and white book lying nearby, I first roll over, then put my head on the flat surface and raise my bum. My feet moves a little further, now when I put my bum down and head up, I have moved a little. I know, I know, it sounds complicated, but really you gotta try it couple of times, it’s no big deal.
I hear mumma and papa say the word crawling every so often, though I am not sure what that is all about.

What else? Oh, I can scream… Scream so loud that every one around makes their presence felt right away. I so love it. I have tried it few times deliberately and it works every single time! really. A 1 minute scream can do wonders. You gotta trust me on this one.

Food… One thing I am not liking is that white stuff my mommy stuffs into me every day. What I don’t get is their plates seem to have loads of colorful and flavorful food. Not sure why I can’t eat `em. They say I don’t have something called teeth and I apparently can’t chew. I overheard mumma talking to naani and my wise Naani reminded her there is something in the kitchen called a blender which can convert adult style food into baby style food. They had a long discussion and have decided to start me on daal chawal when I turn 8 months. It seems once I get to know the taste of salt and sugar, I would not eat bland food. Lets see. My mom did try to give me idli once, na.. white stuff again! I need color!! No one better than my papa understands my need. Mumma is way to worry-me types, oh, one new food every 7 days. Wait and watch for rashes, check her poop and what not. She needs to ease a bit. Anyways, was I saying my papa is the best? The other day we were having a family dinner at our favorite Fresh choice, when papa understood my silent moves and quietly thrust a piece of the golden colored cantaloupe in my hand. Boy! I had a blast. By the time mumma realised, I gulped a teeny bit of it. he he… Oh, and the famous parle-G, my sisters favorite, thats so yum. One day I grabbed it myself from my sisters snack plate. While everyone was busy talking, I gulped one half of it. Yummmm… Seeing the excitement I showed, I am offered that once in a while. Mumma did start me on applesauce and green beans puree, but I have been having loose bowel for a while so that’s on hold.

Weight… hmm.. lets not go there. I don’t want to upset my mumma. [Just between you and me, sshh... 35th percentile. Down from 45th. Hey, got to stay slim and trim ok.. Keep it to yourself now... ] I will tell my height though. Last couple of months, my parents have been calling me chutanki or chutku[little], and I am so not liking it. Not even a bit. I proved to them this time by showing a 70th percentile on the scale. Though the doc keeps saying that I seem to be genetically geared towards my mom, which means I am probably going to be on the smaller side.. sigh.. Not to loose hope, with the advancement of technology at this rate, who knows there will be a time when I can choose how tall I would like to be. Lets hope.

Sleep… I am still not sleeping through the nigh. Well.. I sleep 5 hours straight, then I am kinda half sleep half awake another 5 hours. I do go back to sleep right away if nursed every 3 hours after that. My ped was not happy to hear this and advised mumma to stop feeding me at midnights. hmm.. I am not that easy to let go, I think. Hey, when I am sleepy and hungry at the same time what do you expect of me? I am only 7 months old. Mumma and papa have decided to rock me back to sleep when I grunt in the night. Ain’t working, hmm.. ok.. I will try.. I promise.

I love dancing. Mumma had probably mentioned our evening and weekend routines. Sometimes we shift from the low, calming music to loud rap kinds. Ddidi goes wild. She jumps up and down, runs back and forth. Lately papa and Ddidi compete how fast they can jump. Apparently thats called dancing. I do my bit to keep the enthusiasm going. Belted in the bouncer, I push my upper body front and back, combined with wiggling my hands and feets. Papa stops, comes closer gives me a kiss and says I love it, my little roly poly lady. I love when he says that :)

I can recognize my family members. My mumma should be in my visual range, else I get a little worried. She carries my food supply you know! Lately papa makes fun of me and her by singing - mataji, jhalak dikhla jaa.. aaja aaja..

Love,
Dlittle

Yes! I uttered my very first word - pa… pa… vaa.. paa.. on the 25th of December.

Love,
Dlittle

Starting her on solids has been there on my agenda for quite some time. Her pediatrician, Dr. J, at first recommended to wait until 6 months, but then she seemed convinced after hearing to Dlittle’s feeding schedules and the fact that she reduced from 60th percentile to the 40th percentile.
Dlittle’s feeds last hardly 2 minutes, 4 minutes the max. She doesn’t seem to get hungry soon enough either. Happy go child, does not cry for milk. Only time she cries is when she is sleepy OR when she doesn’t see me around. It gets worse when D comes back from school. The minute her sister enters the house until the sleep time, Dlittle refuses to feed, she just wants to stick her tongue out and keep smiling and giggling with her sister. I love love to see the two playing and talking together, but the little one refusing to feed gets onto me.
Before I deviate from the intent of the post, I guess I just felt the urge to start her on solids. Well.. the thing is.. my mom did all this with D. By the time I took over, D was well over 9 months and eating three meals a day. My thought was to start the process, by the time anything will actually hit her stomach, she would be 6 months!

November 9th was D’s birthday. Deepavali fell on the same day as well. What better day! I had D feed Dlittle a teeny bit of the peda I had made. This was going to be the annapraashan. In our tradition, bua[fathers sister] is supposed to feed the first solid, ain’t happening in this case, so the next best option was chosen. The next two days we were partying, so the real first solid was on the following Monday. D’s school was off for Veteran’s day, papa had gone to work. We three started the project.Put Dlittle in the bouncer, D helped me with putting the bib. This bib her papa had got her when Dlittle was a few days old. Though D can’t read as of yet, she knows the bib reads - I love my big sister At first she refused to let go of the bib, claiming it was hers and papa got it for her. After some talking, she herself came forward to put the bib onto the little one.

I took a deep breath and we got started. We had boiled and cooled the filtered water. We had washed the sterilizer, sterilized the bottles, bowls and spoons. One bowl had the gerber rice cereal mixed with formula. The second bowl had water. D insisted on feeding her first. The little sister had sensed something was about to happen and was getting all hyper. Her cooing and gurgling got louder and louder. The first spoon with a teeny bit of cereal went into her mouth. Me and D were looking at her not knowing what to expect. The little one made that ugly face and then phurrrrrrrrr…. it was spit back onto mine and D’s face. Was enough for the sissy to move couple of feet away. I rolled up my sleeves and took the second chance. Dlittle kept making faces, at the same time seemed like she was chewing and eating as well. But to my surprise, the one spoon of cereal I had started with still had one spoon of cereal. I would put the cereal inside her mouth, with the same spoon I would take the one that comes out when she closes her mouth. Feed that right back. ok, I know it sounds gross when I put it in print, but really its not. Every time I did this, it got diluted with her salaiva. Started to feel this was going to be a never ending project. Somehow in about 1/2 hour the bowl was empty, although her bib measured as much as the bowl with the cereal.

She loves water. After the bowl of cereal is empty, she gulps the one ounce of water in a matter of minutes. If I take more then 2 seconds to fetch the next spoonful of water, she is already bending forward in the bouncer hanging her head down trying to reach for it.

I rolled over this past Saturday afternoon - October the 20th.
And I am 4 months old! yaayy..
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The last two months have been eventful and fun. First my roll over story..
Ever since Auntie Noon wrote about Kutti girl rolling, mommy has been singing this saga, mostly during our massage sessions. hey pyaalu, dunguna botta.. u know.. u know.. kutti girl rolled over.. when will my laddu lole over.. c’mon c’mon lets try. She will put me on my tummy, my bum facing her and call me by my nicks from behind, hoping I will turn to look at her, in the process flip over. I felt like saying Mommy, I will roll when I feel the need and when I am ready. Look at you, you go over telling people every kid is different, they will do such and such when they are ready. Where’s all that when it comes to me? Take it easy!

This past Saturday Ddidi fell sick. She wasn’t feeling well since morning, mommy blamed it on the fun she had at S Auntie’s house the previous night. Mommy had just finished up with Baby Naren’s birthday post and was giving the final touch to her awards speech, when suddenly Ddidi started shivering. She had a 104.5 temperature. All of us[yes me too] panicked. Mommy talked to the doc and in about 30 minutes her temperature reduced to 103, then to a 102. To cheer my family up, just that moment I rolled over! The first one to jump up and down was my sweet sister. I love her.
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Papa took a short trip to India few weeks back, the first time ever he has been away from me for more than 4 hours. My smart mom invited maasi and maami to fill in. I met my cutie cousin Baby E[maasi's 9 month old] and got a feel of what’s coming my way. Goodness, how she gets strapped onto that booster seat and force fed her cereal. Shudders!! But, don’t you underestimate my cousin. She kept the ladies on their toes, including my sister. I did learn a few tricks from her, to not open the mouth in the first place. If somehow the dancing and singing distracts and one ends up opening the mouth, keep your head hanging down with the mouth wide open as long as it takes for that sticky gui stuff to fall down. Do it few times, oldies will have a strategy meeting and shift you to daal rice, ghee kinda good stuff. I have some more time to go, I think, though my mom’s contemplating to get me started earlier.
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And the milestone updates: I have started recognizing everybody. I give a different expression with various family members. Ddidi gets the best of all. Then comes my mommy. Papa is not very happy about all this. Why doesn’t he understand that she carries my breakfast, lunch and dinner and I ought to be extra nice to her. I have started to grab things. You should see Mommy’s face turning red when I get a hold of her sparsely spread hair and swing it from one end to another. ok, ok.. I will be nice to her. I have also started to feel objects when placed in my palms. I grab onto it and squeeze it, feels warm. I am starting to get a sense of hand co-ordination. When mommy puts an object in front of me, I can move my hands, reach to it and grab it. And then I squeal with joy of accomplishment. I love licking Ddidi, rather she loves me licking her. Whenever no ones around, she presses her cheek against my mouth. Its our favorite pass time.
And finally I am able to communicate when I want to be lifted. Papa teases me, he will come close enough with the act of lifting me to see me push my chest and tummy upwards and go into a dancing mode. Whatever, you were once as small as me, Papa. Don’t you forget!
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We also paid the scheduled visit to my ped, a very sweet lady. I have reduced from my previous 60 percentile weight to the 45 th. And my height is on the 40 percentile as well. Mommy, the usual worry-worm kind started jumping all over, Should I start her on solids? Should I increase the feed frequency? Maybe introduce formula? Ped told her that I was doing just fine and she needs to relax a bit. The genes are showing their color. Mommy petite, baby petite. Simple.
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Finishing up with a little something for Aunties and friends who like to listen me.. click here.

Enjoy!
- Dlittle@4 months.

Moppet’s mom tags me to list D’s and Dlittle’s nicks. [I must give her due credit for bringing in the majority of my laughter supplies.]

Now to the tag. After catching a glimpse of Moppet’s and Kodi’s nicks, I don’t feel as bad revealing any of these in public.

• Few months before D was born, bunch of us girls went to see a Tamil movie. Gosh, I don’t recall the name of the movie, nor do I recall if it was Vikram or Soorya in the cast. D was offered The heroes name which I refused to accept. Only when the ring leader forced the title Kunjaayee on to D :), did I know the influence these actors had on them. The fun part was to explain LH what it meant.[He does not understand Tamil].
• It started off with sweetu, cutie pie.. Few months down the line, LH named her Narasimha Rao, thanks to her chubby cheeks and near to bald head. [Note to self: Delete this before D starts reading and disowns me].
• About a year later, naani lovingly calls her raaja kutti, kutti moni. Which made the LH furious as he thought we treated his loving daughter like a dog. Another year down the line, papa and daughter are pulling each others cheeks saying kutti moni.. Yes, you read that right. Both of them saying to each others.
• There are few that still continue, laddoo, raaja betu. Mummy ka pyaal(r)a. Though lately the big sister is desperate to transfer them over to the little one. You see, she is a big sister now.
• When she’s at her best she gets called the monster, drama queen, naatakbaaz[drama queen].
• The one she gave herself is D-Didi. Her day care lady had complained that she demands other kids to call her Ddidi.
• This one is NOT approved in my household, yet slips in every so often. When the never ending questionnaire starts, I answer a LOT of them patiently. When I lose it, I end up saying. ‘kuch nahi, meri amma‘. With no effect, the much anticipated question is fired back ‘Why you calling me amma, mummy?’
• Drama queen - Both my daughters are drama queens. Doc confirmed this at Dlittle’s two month visit when the little one showed the doc her tongue and smiled.
• Yours truly calls Dlittle bouchini, dunguna botta[beta]. No context, no meaning.
• Friends have honored Dlittle with the Mini-me title. [The last quirk]

Open to anyone interested.

Kodi’s mom, you are the sweetest! To tag the littlest ones.

• Every day, after my oil massage, I get a no diaper time of about 1/2 hour. In that 1/2 hour, mommy makes me squat, makes all sorts of sounds, folds my legs and brings it upwards pressing against my tummy. I wondered why, until one fine day papa as confused as me asked her what she was up to. Mommy says, ‘girl does not want to make pee, she will pee the minute I put her in the bath tub filled with water’. Papa says ’so’?
  Sigh..what’s the big deal?
  
• I am a good sleeper alright. Lately, some strange feelings inherit between 10 and 12 in the night, when neighbors are winding up, mommy and papa are ready to start their night time job. Nooooo…., I mean start work with the offshore team. I sing it close enough to beat bollywood songs with those high and low notes, yet mommy and papa laugh, sometimes rolling on the floor. Click here and judge for yourself.
  ahh, now I know, mommy has successfully passed on her Indian Idol obsession to me.. Will you Aunty’s be kind enough to vote for me and help me get to the finals?
• Isn’t my mom supposed to know the minute I need milk? I don’t like howling right away. I start with turning my head to one side, open and close my mouth few times in anticipation of grabbing the milk machine as soon as I get into contact. In the process I end up moving 60 degrees with my body upside down..half way..
  God, what’s quirky about this?
• I don’t know why my mom has to talk while nursing. I am not yet at a stage to understand who she is talking to, so if I am in her lap and she is talking, it has to be me right? So, I give her a broad toothless grin, when the big monster aka Ddidi of the house screams Mummy, Dlittle has come outted yours guggu baata.
  I can’t have a little private time with my mommy?
• Mommy’s friends call me mini me. Reminds me of Austin powers mini me.
  Do you see smoke anywhere?

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!! DONE-DON-AA-DONE !!

Now the fun part where I get to tag…
I tag
Aadya
Squiggles
Ninni-The-Pooh
Popol
Adi

Anybody else reading this has an infant, please consider yourself tagged.

- Dlittle

I am 2 months old(10 weeks). Hurray!
An Update on 2 month journey.

Month 1:
Life has been good these 2 months. The first month I was sleeping for the most part. Rest of the time I spent battling the milk machine. Mommy kept blaming me for Mastitis, thank god she figured it was the fenugreek supplement taken without a set routine, causing the milk machine to go bonkers!

My first outing:
My first day out was when I turned 30 days. My first visit outside of house and doctors office was The temple. Papa does not believe in God, still he accompanies Mommy any time she wishes to go the temple. Thanks for being sensitive to her feelings, Papa. We went to the temple, thanked God for giving us everything we have and prayed for every body’s well being. I thought we were driving back home happily sleeping in the calming vibration of the car, when it was suddenly parked in front of the subway restaurant. I was kinda hungry, could wait few more minutes, so went back to sleep right away. Just then heard Mommy mumbling to naani it would take 10 minutes for the sandwich and then about 20 minutes to reach the park. The park was Ddidi’s favorite, had choo choo train and carousel in addition to regular park stuff. By the time I realised what she had said, mommy and papa were inside the restaurant. What would I do? I was hungry and cannot wait 30 minutes. I was demand fed you see, I had to decide when I wanted milk. And the only way to communicate was to scream. I started screaming on top of my lungs. Papa had switched the child lock on and so naani could not get out of the car. Ddidi’s car seat was in between mine and naani’s, she could not reach out to me. Neither could she unbuckle Didi as Papa had left the car running for the Ac to work.
Meanwhile mommy and papa are happily ordering sandwich and debating which soft drink to take with it. Mommy turned for a minute and saw naani waving at her frantically. She came running to hear me screaming. By time time, I was crying so loud that naani had tears in her eyes and Ddidi was crying not knowing what else to do. Luckily there was a private spot nearby, I got fed lunch. A quick conference was held to decide the next plan of action. After some debating, decided to go to another park that was 2 minutes away, which by the way Ddidi likes as well. She calls this duckling park.

Month 2+ :
At about 8 weeks, I started cooing and gurgling. I can now turn myself to track the sound. I cannot see clearly yet, but I can recognise parents and Ddidi by the voice. I love when Mommy also coos and tries to make the same sound as I do. And I respond right away with a big toothless grin.

At 9 weeks it was time for the pre-scheduled doc appointment to take my 2 month shot(grr…). We were getting late and Ddidi was insisting on joining us. You see, she likes stickers. She will go any distance to get one. Even to the doctors office. Dr J comes by for the physical evaluation. I am trying hard to say Hello and Thank you to her as I wanted to show I can speak. ok, not words yet, but sounds like gurr.. burr.. ung.. aggu… Dr. J immediately figured and told mommy that I am going to be one talkative girl. Good luck Mommy! Or should I rephrase it to Good luck Papa.
3 talkative girls and one man to listen! We are going to be one fun family!

My weight and height were at the 60% percentile(11.3 oz / 23 inches), I could see smiling faces all over the room. It meant so much to them and I was happy to see them happy. Just when I thought the doc visit was over and it wasn’t that bad after all, I was taken to this room where the nurse had his nose covered and the needles lay in the tray waiting to poke me. Mommy quickly volunteered to take Ddidi out, throwing me into papa’s arms. I screamed for about 10 seconds, it really wasn’t that bad. Made me wonder why Mommy was making such a big fuss in the morning.. Little did I know what was to come later!
We came home and I slept. When I woke up I felt an excruciating pain in the thighs where I got my shots. What then? Scream again, Mommy gave me Tylenol and it helped in about 15 minutes. I hope to be pain free for another 2 months before I am due for the 4 month shot

Life is great and I am happy to be part of my family!

- Dlittle

This morning, I was nursing Dlittle. Just then, D decides she wants a hug. I manage to squeeze in a hug. One hug is not enough. She wants more ans more and more. When I ask her to wait for few minutes, I get - I am not doing anything. I only want to love you, mummy. Oh my dear little girl, I give Dlittle to my mom and hug D. By then, Dlittle is screaming as she is not done yet. I take Dlittle back from mom to hear from D - ‘When I become small girl like Dlittle, then you will feed me also?’ Tears filled my eyes