Distractions

Before starting the mixie I usually try to warn Raghav that something noisy is going to start, ans assure him that it's okay; he shouldn't get startled. But most of the time he's been okay with it, except that other day when he was sitting on his bouncy chair while Nalin and I made dinner, and I decided to grind some coffee in the mixie.

Because Raghav had seemed okay with the noise on earlier occasions, I decided not to warn him this time and started the mixie. Two seconds later I look back and I see his eyes tightly shut and a big wail just beginning to rush out of him. I immediately picked him up and hugged him. He stopped crying in a bit.

Sometimes he really doesn't want to interact with any of us. He had just woken up in the morning and was in my lap when Nalin came excitedly to him and tried to play with him, but Raghav jerked his head away and made sure Daddy understood he was in no mood to play yet.

When Nalin puts his face on his stomach and gurgles, Raghav lets out these tiny full-throated laughs. He has really started enjoying his exercises, massage and bath, and often rewards us with big smiles and little laughs. He doesn't even cry when the water is too hot, for instance. When we first put him in his tub and if the water is a little warm for him he draws his breath in fast but because we're there calms down in a bit.

He's usually great when he meets other people, cooing and calling out to them and trying to have a passionate conversation with them in his own language, but we had gone to Nalin's colleague's play day before and Raghav was at his best behaviour in the beginning, and had his milk and after a little protest went off to sleep in his pram, but he woke up after an hour or so and was irritated and cranky no matter what we did. We changed him and played with him and tried putting him to sleep again, but nothing worked and he kept crying and getting irritated. We finally decided to say our goodbyes and leave. He was happy then in his sling, wearing his snowsuit.

He loves roaming around in the sling, looking around with big round eyes till he falls asleep. He doesn't like to be in his pram when we're outside, probably because he can't see as much.

Raghav continues to protest when I put him to sleep in the day time, and cries as soon as I put him in his pram, probably because he knows he's being put to sleep, but now usually skips a feed or two at night and only wakes up in the morning around 6-7am. But nighttime sleeping is still great and he somehow knows that when the lights are out and Mamma, Daddy are in their bed too, it's time to stop mucking around and go to sleep.

When he's feeding he often stops to look around. Sometimes when he's looking around over my shoulder or trying to see what's behind him by craning his neck, he notices me and gives me a big grin and goes back to his milk again.

He is so happy when Daddy comes home and immediately awards him with a big smile. Yesterday I felt that having seen daddy constantly over the weekend he was missing him during the day yesterday.

The big poop

Raghav has started grabbing things that he can hold on to. When he's feeding, earlier he used to just move his fingers about, opening and closing his tiny fist, now he wraps his little fingers around my sleeve or any cloth that he can hold. When he's in Nalin's lap he either holds his shirt neck from the front of just grabs his chest hair and clings to them. When he's on his changing table he grabs hold of the cloth that he's lying on and doesn't know how to let go.

Raghav has already started sleeping through the night. He skips one feed at 3-4am and only wakes up at about 6.30-7am. He's also completely no-fuss about drinking milk from a bottle. The first time I fed him milk from the bottle he was really sick and had stopped taking my feed. When he hadn'd fed much all day I decided to give him formula around 4am. He gave me such a startled look as if to say, "My mom is here but the food is coming out of a bottle...??" but then started drinking.

He has started pooping much less than he used to. Earlier he was pooping almost every time he fed, but after the 6-week mark it has become much less, but that usually means a greatly increased quantity. He starts fussing around before he has to go and then sometimes starts crying after he has done it probably because it almost always escapes the diaper and spreads all over his back.

Poor thing, he did it once when we were at a mall. We had just changed him because the diaper had leaked and his clothes were wet. I was carrying only one set of extra clothes and one extra diaper, so we had nothing to change him into when he did his big poop. The mall was closed by then and we couldn't even buy anything. So the poor fellow had to remain like that till we reached home. But he didn't seem to mind and slept through the tram ride.

Socializing during Diwali

Raghav had an exciting Diwali. We had people over and Raghav was there to meet everyone and smile and talk to everyone. Everyone was very surprised how a two-month-old was so active and friendly.

Raghav continues to do his "ooh", "aah" and "agoo" and prefers if you talk to him in his own language. When he hears me giving him a long and loud "ooooh", he looks at me with interest and then gives his winning smile.

His sleeping is getting more or less sorted. I try to put him to bed as soon as he starts yawning, but because he knows he's been put to bed he starts crying and struggling to stay awake. I put him on his stomach and he keeps lifting his head and stamping his little feet till he tires and falls asleep. But there's much less crying, both for him and for us.

People who see him at supermarkets etc. say he has a lot more character on his face for a two-month-old.

Et tu, Mamma!

He was smiling and playing at the doctor's table yesterday. He likes to talk to new people. She said babies don't usually talk so much till they're 3-4 months. And then he felt the vaccine needle. I was stroking his head and talking to him but once he felt the pain he looked at me for a second with confusion in his eyes and then closed them tight and let out a big scream.

He didn't reward me with a smile all day and I had to call Nalin from work because he was crying a lot before sleeping. And lo and behold! Nalin got a big smile as soon as he walked in.

Conversations

Raghav can keep his neck straight for a good time now. When in our lap he arches his back as far as it can go and tries to see everything that he possibly can. He doesn't seem aware that his head cannot turn 360 degrees.

He has started having a full conversation with Nalin and me. He seems to call us, sometimes angrily, when he can't see us or when he sees that we're not paying attention. And when he does catch our attention he smiles his big toothless smile.

He has a full conversation with us, his vocabulary ranging from "aah" and "ooh" to "aago". He likes it when we repeat what he's saying and it seems to encourage him to talk more. He also raises his eyebrows and makes full eye contact when he's talking. He also loves to talk to the toys hung in his cot, as if he's updating them on how his day has gone, and we feel he's moving about his hands and feet in such a way that he wants to just jump and grab the toys.

He also seems to want to go somewhere when he's in our lap. He bends his knees and pushes his body up as if he wants to spring out of our laps.

Whenever we put him on his changing table he gets curiously excited. I don't know if it's the big blue Ikea bag or his bright yellow pack of diapers that get him excited, but he looks in that general direction and laughs and laughs and does his "ooh" and "aah" and "ooah".

He has started really enjoying his massage and bath ritual. He likes it best when his back is being massaged, and tries to lift his head as he lies on his stomach. He likes his bath too, only expressing his displeasure when the water is too hot for him.

He also lets both Nalin and I do anything to him - from feeding him the ajwain ka paani that he dislikes to rubbing aata on his forehead or cleaning his nose with a vacuum pump; he is only displeased when it goes on for far too long than he can tolerate. "Well, I let you do this but don't take me for granted!"

He has established an eat-play-cry-sleep pattern. When he has finished feeding, he goes into a state of satisfied drunkenness, only to arrive at a state of active wakefulness after 5-10 minutes when he does most of the calling and laughing. This can last up to 40-45 minutes. After this he slowly starts getting irritated, and beginning to cry a little as he is tired by now but doesn't want to sleep. He also doesn't know how to sleep on his own yet. he then has to be held and rocked; sometimes he likes to be walked, but all times he has to be literally forced to sleep as he struggles to play just a little longer.

Several times he goes quiet in Nalin's lap after much protest but then still doesn't sleep and keeps having a "blink and you lose" contest with him.

This playing after feeding and refusing to sleep also happens after his 1am feed, but then when I sometimes manage to put him to sleep he only wakes up in the morning around 6am.

He doesn't like the tram very much and cries because it's too hot and stuffy and sometimes too crowded. But he likes going for walks in his pram. When we put a cloth in front to shield him from the wind he doesn't like it and keeps calling from inside till we have to remove the cover.