Chomp, chomp

Eating the table at Montreux

Raghav had his first fall today. He was playing on the bed in the morning, chewing something or the other, when what he was chewing must have fallen on the ground and he went to check on it.

I was in the other room and heard a big thud and then his loud cry. But I ran and picked him up. He was quiet in a few seconds, looking at himself in the mirror and smiling while eating his hand.

He creeps about the whole living room, ignoring all his toys, chasing slippers and trying to eat wires and gets very perturbed when you take it away from him because he would have just spent all his energy getting to it. He does like his grey elephant, whose trunk and tail he likes to chew, and also sometimes his pink truck which breaks into a tune every time he presses a button on it. He's always very surprised to hear it go off.

Solid determination at Vikaspuri

He also loves to chew tags on clothes, on his stuff toys, and his pram. He goes about exploring the TV shelf, often pulling down the two DVDs that are kept there, and then getting startled when they come crashing down. When the first comes down he just gets startled, when the next falls, he looks at me with his weepy face to see if he should cry or not.

He likes to get under tables and sofas, and probably gets a sense of achievement; when he gets there he just stays put for a while, feeling thrilled that he's made it.

He now sprouts two bottom teeth, and looks extremely cute when he smiles. 

Raghav's debut in Indian society

With Nihal and Tanvi, trying to figure out everyone

Raghav is just back from his first trip to India, and now back in familiar surroundings, I can actually see how much he has grown in the past month. He constantly practices crawling when he's lying on his stomach, now moving very quickly. When I put him down to change his diaper, by the time I collect all the things he's turned over onto his stomach and is already sliding away (bums up) towards something attractive he's seen.

It was a struggle in India to put him to sleep. Since there was no cot or other enclosed area, we had to put him down on the regular bed, from where he constantly, diligently tried to creep/turn/crawl out of. Even when we put pillows around him, we often found him lying on top of the pillow, trying to push forward. When you entered the bedroom and caught him that way, he'd give you a quick smile and continue pushing forward.

I had to lie next to him on the bed and pretend to be asleep as well. Even then he would without a minute's notice lift his bum up and start pushing forward. I would then have to literally force him to sleep by holding him down with relative force.

He has also started expressing his opinions very strongly. From happiness at seeing us, to displeasure at his food being over, to squealing when he wants to be put to bed. Often he would be playing happily with other people till he would spot me and then immediately start his complaining calls that he wanted me to put him down to sleep.

The squealing has become his favourite sound to express displeasure, and it's loud, too, and because one just wants him to stop screaming, one usually gives in fairly quickly. Currently, he usually just squeals when he's sleepy or hungry or generally irritated and tired.

What? No more food for me!?

Raghav has become very fond of eating regular food twice a day. Whenever his mashed banana finishes, and I wipe his face, he knows he's not getting any more and starts protesting. If another bowl of mashed banana doesn't appear immediately, the protests turn into tearful crying.

India was a revelation for Raghav; he saw so many people, all of them showering their attention on him. I was apprehensive that he would soon get overwhelmed and start crying but he took everything in his stride. Even on our way to Delhi, when in our 12-hour journey, Raghav hardly got to sleep for 2 hours and was so exhausted he couldn't even protest any more, I was in tears thinking this was how it was going to be in India -- he would be so exhausted with meeting people and not getting his usual sleep that he would fall in. But the boy took everything in his stride, once again, and slept when he wanted and played when he wanted.

At the party we held at DSOI for all the close relatives to come and meet him, Raghav was truly social, hardly needing me or Nalin till the end when he was exhausted with all the attention and just wanted to be put to bed.

Suddenly one day he started looking big to both Nalin and me. His hands and feet have grown, and there's so much more strength now in his feet. When you put him on your lap he pushes himself up to a standing position, and can stay up for quite a long time.

A bit confused at this other little person 

We can tell he's still trying to figure out other kids. Whether they're his age or older than him, he looks at them with a look that is both puzzled and curious at the same time. When Sanjeev's daughter Shambhavi touched him on his cheek, Raghav was startled because this was only the second time he was seeing another kid, but the next time Nalin and Sanjeev held the two kids close together, it was Raghav who made the move. Even when Nihal and Tanvi are being wild and naughty around him, Raghav watches with a puzzled, curious and startled expression. But usually, once very little kids have gauged each other adequately, they go back to doing their own thing.

He still gets startled by little things, like when my dad sneezed very loudly twice sitting next to him, Raghav was startled both times, but the third time it happened he started crying. He also started crying when Nalin's dad made him ring the temple bell. It's almost like the first time he hears something loud, he tries to gauge what it is, but then the next time when he can't figure out the purpose of the loud noise, he starts crying. Even now, sometimes when he's in Nalin's lap he still gets startled by Nalin's voice.

His communication skills also have greatly improved in this last month. He has started saying distinct syllables like ba-ba-ba. And you can tell he's making a lot of effort as each syllable leaves his mouth. If you talk to him very slowly, he closely notices how your mouth moves and how the sound comes out and then sometimes makes an effort himself. Many of the times you can tell he's probably replying to you. On the flight back to Geneva, every time an air-hostess spoke to him he replied with his own sounds.

When Sankar and Suman had come to see him in Sid Ex on the day that we were leaving, Nalin and I went upstairs with them. When I returned Raghav was sitting on Mamiji's lap busy practicing his vowels. He didn't notice me till I called out his name and put my hand on his stomach. He then looked at me and gave me his noisy sheep-laugh.

Catching Nihal's glasses

He was also fascinated with Shankar's beard and kept touching it. While he were still in Geneva, he also started eating my chin. I think he does it when he's hungry. He constantly tries to explore the other person's face. He holds Nalin's nose and twists it like a doorknob, or sucks his own hand and then puts it in my mouth. He also tries to hang from our jaw. Specs always come off first thing as they're the first he grabs as soon as he gets within reach.

Exploring and getting stronger

What's more tastier than my own hand?

Raghav has finally discovered his hands and now they're always in his mouth. Sometimes he holds them together like he's going to recite poetry at an elocution. When he's not doing that he's constantly munching on them, sometimes with both in his mouth, pulling his jaws apart like Joker. Sometimes he's got two fingers in, like he's trying to whistle. He brings has hands together and sometimes tries to take them above his head.

When he notices someone else's hand he looks at it real close, and then tries to grab it and put their finger in his mouth. His motor skills are still not perfect, but he does manage to hold your finger and guide it towards his mouth; and doesn't like it if you cheat him and put his finger in his mouth instead.

He's started wanting to grab everything that comes close to him; whether it's the balloons hanging from his door, or the paintings in our hallway, when he goes close to these things while he's in our lap he bends to touch them with his hand and feel them. (He's probably wondering how he can put these things in his mouth, too.)

When we put our face close to him, he grabs it too. With Nalin he grabs his nose and tries to twist it, or tries to hang on from his mouth. With me he grabs my hair or my glasses. Once when I was kissing him on his cheeks, he tried to eat my chin.

His latest form of communication: "razzing", when he blows out spit and makes little bubbles with it. He has a razzing competition with Nalin on who can do it better -- Raghav wins hands down. Sometimes I hear him razzing away from his cot when he's just woken up.

He rubs his feet vigorously, making it very difficult to make him wear pajamas; he also manages to rub his socks away, even if they're the long ones that come up to his knees.

He has immense strength now; he's constantly creeping up and down. Earlier he had been mostly creeping down; we would put him at the top of his cot and by the time he fell asleep he would be curled up at the bottom corner of it.

Loves his Ikea arch

I found him hanging off his cot the other day. He'd been sleeping when I heard him call out to me. It's usually his way of telling me that he's up now and that he wants to be picked up or fed etc. I was still in the loo when I heard him call me. By the time I reached his cot he was hanging from it, holding the sheet with his hands, half his body up on the cot, and half hanging from it.

We put up the fourth side in his cot that very night.

He also keeps rotating, usually in a clockwise circle, when he's lying down. So, soon enough his head was hitting the bars on his cot. We had to put the cot bumpers to prevent that.

He has now started creeping up, too. When I put him on the fur rug with the Ikea arch over him to play with, soon enough he's crept up and off the fur rug and onto the carpet. He also tries to push up with his foot, one bum at a time. He almost turns, and has turned a couple of times randomly, but doesn't do it regularly yet.

Mash for lunch

Raghav had his first solid meal today - mashed potatoes.

When Nalin sat him down on the couch while holding him and put the bib around him, Raghav was quite confused about what was happening. Plus, his grandparents and Nitin were on a video call, and were talking through the laptop (which already confuses him quite a bit and he always looks at it curiously, not sure why he's been asked to smile at the computer or talk to it).

I gave him a little bit through a spoon, and as is now his habit with anything he sees coming towards him, he extended his hand to hold the spoon. He wanted to probably put it in his mouth and chew it a little. Which is exactly what he did throughout the meal.

I thought he won't have more than half a spoon or so of the potatoes, but either he liked his meal or just wanted to keep chewing on the spoon, he had more than a few spoons of the mash.

We knew he was ready for solids as he'd been paying much more attention to what we're eating or drinking. He's been looking curiously at our plates and then at our faces.

Holidaying in Gran Canaria

First time on a train -- to Zurich airport

Raghav had an exciting first holiday in Gran Canaria. We took the train to Zurich from where we were to catch a flight the next morning to Las Palmas. Raghav was very curious during the train ride -- looking at his reflection in the train window, looking outside at the lights or, finally, feeding and sleeping.

We had dinner at the Radisson's resto-pub, and Raghav was fascinated by the big orange chandeliers. He slept in his pram soon after, and slept through the night at the airport, even though we had an unusually tough night trying to find a place to sleep at the airport.

During check-in he was up again when we put him in the sling and checked in his pram; slightly irritated at being woken up for nothing at 5am, but quickly became alert and curious as to where he was.

He was perfect during the flight, feeding and sleeping and playing with Daddy a little bit before sleeping and waking up to feed again.

Throughout our stay in Gran Canaria, Raghav was perfectly curious and alert, sleeping whenever he felt tired and not once being difficult. He could sleep in his pram at the very noisy hotel dining room, of course after a little bit of cursory crying that he still does to lodge his protest about not wanting to sleep.

The sun's in my eye!

Raghav hates the sun, but is very cute while hating it. As soon as the sun comes in his eyes, no matter whether he's in the car seat, or his pram, or even in our laps, he wriggles and winces and frowns and moves his whole body in order to get away from the sun. A tunnel would come and his eyes would be wide open in "night vision" as we call it, and then as soon as the tunnel would end he would be wriggling his body again trying to get away from the sun.

We had him wear only onesies during the holiday because it was pretty warm there, and he looked awfully cute and chubby. We don't often get to see him like this in Geneva where he mostly wears long-sleeved onesie as well as pants, which hide his chubbiness.

But one day we started calling him Chubrinder Singh Plumpy, nicknamed Chubby, and both Nalin and I bent over backwards laughing at his new nickname, while Raghav looked at us suspiciously and probably thought his parents had gone crazy.

Holding on for dear life. God knows what they're up to now.

We would give him a bath in the bathroom sink at the hotel during our stay. It was quite small for him. Throughout his bath he would have a very suspicious and wary look on his face, and he probably wondered what his parents were up to now, dipping him in this godawful washbasin. For safety from his side he would hold on to the ledge where all the toiletries were kept. "Let me arrange for my own protection; these people can't be trusted."

Every morning instead of letting him sleep after his morning feedings, we'd pack him up and spend our day outdoors on a beach or shopping. He must have thought we'd gone crazy driving him around like that everyday: "And where's my damn bed?"

He did sleep a lot less because as soon as he was outside, in the sling or in the pram, he was looking around curiously, forgetting about eating or sleeping, till we forced him to take a break.

We'd taken all these books and toys for him to feel a sense of familiarity while on the holiday, but he didn't need anything or anyone more than his Mamma and Daddy.

Book lover

Did anyone disturb me from my reading?

Raghav has really started expressing himself. When he's awake he's constantly smiling at me or Nalin. When feeding too he keeps looking at me often and smiling, forgetting about the feed. The level of excitement is clear when he throws his hands and feet about and looks at us and does "heee!".

He's learned how to gurgle, and often gurgles when he's drinking milk or when he's excited. The gurgling is often followed by or in the middle of a big "heee!".

He continues to grab everything that his hands come in contact with, often lifting rugs and carpets with him when we pick him up. Once he was holding on to his bathtub and was ready to take it with him when I lifted him.

We have started introducing him to toys now. There is a wooden arch that hangs over his head when he's lying on the fur rug. It has things hanging from it. Earlier his hands used to coincidentally touch the things that hang over his face. But now one can see he's seen the purpose of those things, and he actually plays with them now. He can keep himself busy with it for at least 30 minutes.

Chatting with my furry friends

His bouncy chair too has an arch with some things hanging from it. Earlier he did not think they were of any use to him, but once when I showed him that the elephant's ear crinkles, he now does it himself and I often find him grabbing the elephant's tail or trunk.

Every time I give him a new toy he looks at it with such wonder and concentration you can really see he has never seen such a thing before and is trying to figure out its use in his life. Of course, everything goes straight into his mouth now.

But he's still not as interested in toys as he is in just talking to Mamma and Daddy and smiling at them.

I showed him a touch-and-feel book a couple of times and put his hand on the fur, or swede etc. for him to feel different textures. On the third day he was trying to touch the pages himself.

He's also fascinated when I show him his books, and stares long and hard at the pictures of animals in them. He also loves to hold his books with both his hands even though he doesn't know you have to keep them open in order to read them.

When I show him a rattle and shake it so he can hear the noise, I can see his little head also move with the same rhythm as the rattle.

Where's that sound coming from?

His latest fascination is with the television, as I'm sure he gets attracted to the light and sounds coming from it. It's a big challenge to keep him from staring at it. Even if the TV is kept exactly behind him, he cranes his head 180 degrees in order so he can see it.

He was lying on his furry rug the other day playing with the wooden arch when I noticed he'd managed to put the cloth that I use to wipe his mouth with over his face. He was really struggling to get it off his face, but while with one sweep of hand it would come off his face, just as soon as he would bring the hand back the cloth would cover his face again. He didn't understand that in order to remove the cloth permanently from his face he'd have to sweep it off with his hand and then let go of the cloth.

It finally took him a good 10 minutes to manage that.

When we're carrying him in his sling there are times when we feel he's vigorously shaking his head. When we look down we realise that his hat has covered his eyes, and that he hadn't been able to see anything. By shaking his head vigorously he was trying to get the hat off his eyes.

He blinks really cutely and vigorously when the sun is in his eyes. I think if the sun is in his eyes for a full five minutes he will continue to shut his eyes tightly, purse his lips and shake his head vigorously for all of those five minutes.

Playtime at 1am

Raghav was unusually naughty today. I took him to Pallavi's house for dinner. He slept only for a little bit and the rest of the time sat on my lap and observed things. He particularly observed her two-year-old Neel. When Neel was extra loud at times Raghav let out long wails, but because he was in my lap he calmed down pretty quickly.

I fed him around 9.30pm and put him down to sleep but he was up in half-an-hour and again sitting in the kitchen with me observing everything quietly.

When Pallavi and I went to sit in the living room I took him with me. Pallavi held him for a little bit but then he started crying and she gave him to me. I think he's started becoming a little wary of strangers now and was quiet only when he was with me. When I put him down in his pram so that he should sleep he started talking to me and giggling. The giggling continued till we called the cab to go home.

He fed when we reached home and I haven't seen him be so naughty while feeding before. It was almost 1am but Raghav continued to smile, giggle and try to initiate conversation with me all the while he was feeding. I tried to ignore him so that he understood this was not play time, but often gave in to his cooing.

After the feeding when I put him in his bouncy chair he was again super excited and had a naughty look in his eyes, kicking about his hands and feet in excitement.

But when I finally changed him and put on some music and put him down in his pram, he fell asleep immediately.