The first time Saisha sang Misha to sleep!

Day 2 of earthquake holiday went much as Day 1. Around noontime, Misha started feeling sleepy. So Saisha sang her to sleep. She sang many songs, mostly unintelligible to Mommy, and patted Misha to sleep. She covered Misha with a soft sheet and tried to lay her down when she sat up. Mommy took a long video as she tried to decipher the songs Saisha didi was singing - Are you sleeping, Sa-re-ga-ma, A-B-C-D, twinkle twinkle (on prompt) and many more!

Misha loves watching Saisha. She listened intently to her singing and gently went off to sleep! 

Kindergarten Kid

Saisha is now a Kindergarten kid, with a little sister (Aria/Misha) to boot!

Today is a school holiday in the aftermath of the terrible earthquakes that have struck Nepal and radiated till here for the last two days. For Saisha, it has been a morning of iPad, drawing, playing with her sister, watching tv and learning to read phonetically! All this and not yet lunchtime! But of course, Saisha's day starts at a very early 5-6am!

Today's sisterly activity was to horse around on the rocking horse. Misha's first adventure as a cowgirl!

Yee-haw!

Catching up

Its been a busy busy few months. Here is a recap:
June-July 2012: Trip to US/Canada. Ishi travelled business class all the way on British Airways while Mommy/Daddy alternated. Stayed with Bua, Fufa, Aditi didi and Kirti didi, and had a whale of a time! Visited Washington DC, New York, Montreal, Toronto, Niagara and Heathrow airport. Was as good as gold during the visit, and learnt to scream from her cousins! Loads and loads of experiences, videos and photo-ops. Big milestones - mastering walking, learning to climb tables/stairs etc., long road trips, new foods (french fries yay!)

August 2012: Start I-bambini playschool. Took to school rightaway, never cried. Teachers and classmates pet...everyone goes Saisha Saisha Saisha :)

October 2012: Second Birthday with both sets of grandparents. Celebrations at school. But Ishi wasn't impressed with the yummy birthday cake...cake? yuck! Everyone else enjoyed. Ishi discovered BALLOONS!!

Oct-Dec 2012: Diwali crackers and Christmas trees. Lots of fancy dress occasions at school from Dusehra lehenga, Halloween ladybug, Diwali sari and Christmas santa!

Jan 2012: Brr...cold days. With winter holidays and no Leela didi, Mom/Dad succumb to TV to keep Ishi entertained. With Cbeebies discontinued, we turn to Nick Junior -  Dora, Diego, Wonderpets, Blues Clues, Bubble guppies and umizoomis galore!

Its amazing how fast she keeps growing. While I think of her as a baby, she now very definitely has the longer lines of a proper kid. Post her second birthday, the terrible two's hit us, and now we see high drama when she doesn't get her way!

Her speech remains an area of concern. Still waiting for her to start speaking properly. Got her CT scan and other check ups done. Its wait and watch. She babbles a lot, and we can make out Baa Baa (from baa baa black sheep), Ei-ei-o (from Old Mcdonald) and Up-Up (from Twinkle Twinkle star).

She may not talk, however, she understands everything...including how to operate the ipad/iphone and the remote! She also loves helping around the house, carrying laundry clothes, picking up toys, keeping her glass on the table/sink, and forever trying to mop/sweep the house (which we don't allow of course!) She sits in the big potty (but yet has to grasp potty training), stands on the stool and washes her hands in the sink (within supervision), tries to feed herself with a spoon, can open the doors in the house (sigh!) and loves the playground slide.

2 plus already. Oh my God!! :)

Walkathon

The last couple of months have been focused on getting Ishi to walk independently. She would simply refuse. Then after her 18 month birthday (April 21), her doc gave us a scare by asking us to get a CT scan, blood test and urine test done. We decided to wait on the CT scan. The blood test identified low Vitamin D, so she went on a 5-day course on that. Funnily, the day we came back from the doc, we took her to the lawn downstairs and she walked on her own! Doc still wants her CT scan though :( We're giving her another month.


Ishi Walks from Rupesh Tripathi on Vimeo.



Ishi also started swimming (April 27) and she loooved the pool. She simply loves to splash around, and I'm getting her walk from one end of the kiddie pool to the other. So far she's taken to water like a fish! Sadly, within her first week, she caught a slight cold, so we're waiting to give her a couple of days before taking her back in!

She is a complete water baby and she loves to splash...

in the pool...

...and in mud!!

Return of Leela and fun in the sun!

After returning from our stay in Delhi, first order of affairs was to find a replacement for Leela. After much effort, we got Laxmi, a 42 year old with children and a grandchild of her own! She was obviously used to babies, and took to Ishi quite well. However, a few days later, Leela called up and wanted to return. While this again upset the apple-cart, without doubt, Leela had been with Ishi since she was a month old, and her superior knowledge in taking care of both Ishi and the house outweighed the financial implications of letting go of Laxmi. So we put our trust in fate, and got Leela back.

Ishi showed great adaptability, and was fine with both Laxmi and Leela. She did show some recognition of Leela despite seeing her after almost 2 months, though I'm not sure how much of this was our wishful thinking. In any case, she did not give us any trouble with all these changes in her well-ordered life.

With Leela back, and the days getting warmer, we've given Ishi more freedom to move about in the house. She still isn't walking/standing on her own, but she is exploring far more and learning new things. One of the things she has learnt is how to crawl over the threshold to the balcony. Here is the first time she did it.

28 February, 2012.




29 February 2012

Its Leap Day. A day to do whatever we feel like. Ishi feels like playing with mud!



The days are just packed! :)

Home away from home

Jan/Feb 2012, and Ishi's first stay away from home without me or her maid. I had to go to Khandala for a workshop for 10 days, and Leela - Ishi's maid - who had gone on leave in December, told us at the last minute that she would not be coming back. So 5 days before I have to leave Ishi was potentially without any caretaker (Dad couldn't take 10 whole days off work after all, and manage both Ishi and Nero!). So it was decided that Dad, Ishi and Nero would shift to my parents at Netaji Nagar, and then there would be 3 adults and Beena, their maid, to look after the whole jing-bang! Ishi's grandparents were of course thrilled, and after shifting half the house (took 2 cars), we moved to their place on 20th Jan. After setting up all our stuff and establishing a daily routine, I left on 23rd Jan.

I really missed everyone while I was away, but I was kept abreast of all that was happening through regular phone calls, and the following journal-like mails written by Rupesh.

Jan 26, 2012

Ishi Today

It's been two days since Pal went off for her workshop at Khandala. Ishi is doing just fine. And hence, so are we! Things have gotten into a routine now. Everyone has assumed their roles. Timings are set. And Delhi is much warmer and cozier than it was a few days back. Mom manages the early morning chores. Ishi's milk, poo, breakfast. Baba has mastered the art of feeding her. Through some unfair use of medical knowledge Involving her forehead and lower lip, I figure. So he is the one who mostly gets to feed her. I step in if she is getting cranky. I am mostly busy keeping track if everything's being done. Plus I manage her daytime poops, bath, change of clothes, cerelac prep and my favourite - tucking her in for the night. Even Bina has figured some pieces, like design of her makeshift playpen. So now every morning, post the cleaning, Ishi's playpen is all set and ready for her to jump in and mess it up. Plus the fact that Baba has managed to get Cbeebies on the TV next to this playpen, makes it the happiest corner of the house for her. Today we all sat and watched Rday parade. Ishi watched sitting in her playpen. She had a great time squealing and watching mom imitate her squeals. She laughed and laughed her heart out. After the parade she got her bath. Wasn't very happy. First some soap got into her eyes, and then I pulled her out of bath a tad too soon (as she thought, I was making sure she doesn't catch cold). After her lunch she slept soundly but woke up crying. I sat in her playpen with her and she was fine. But then Nero started barking loudly and I yelled at him. Poor Ishi got scared and cried and cried. I've decided never to scream at anyone or anything when she is around. I so hate to see her cry!! She is happy now. Eating banana with her gramps.

Jan 27, 2012

Ishi Today

It was an easy day at work today. Whole lot of people were away on long weekend and that reflected in the number of mails and calls. I could, hence, spend a fair bit of time playing with Ishi :) Ishi has been on vitamin D intake mission. Yesterday baba gave her a sachet of 60000 units with dinner. Today mom took her out in the sun and sat with her making vit D. Baba felt she needs some for her to get more stable on her feet and will help her to walk. I personally think she has enough strength in her legs with all the sit ups she does in her cot and play pen. She just needs more practice, floor time and confidence. With cool winters giving way to pleasant spring, she will be able to get more time on floor, barefoot and I see her springing away very very soon.

Jan 28, 2012

It was saraswati puja today. We went to vivekanand vihar for puja, blog and lunch. This was the same place where we stayed during my wedding. Went there for the first time after then. With Ishi. It was a strange feeling, knowing that place had a part to play in Ishi's being there! Otherwise a lazy day. After getting back from vivekanand vihar, we slept. Ishi got up around six. Ruining her routine. Ate some banana. Was whiny till daddy played with her and made her all giggly!!! She then was good as gold. Watched Cbeebies. Had dinner at 730. And then watched some more TV. Finally went off to sleep at 9.

I returned on Feb 1st, and we stayed back for a couple of days and moved back home the next weekend. In those couple of days, poor Ishi ended up with 5 (yes five!) vaccinations! Baba had got them deliveredat home. Since they were already due, and with an resident pediatrician at hand, we decided to get all her vaccines done while he would be at hand for any complications. So she got Dtap, Flu Shot and pneumococcal on Feb 2, and MMR and Varicella on Feb 4. She did have a bit of fever after the first 3 shots, but Baba said it was fine, and body's natural reaction. We gave her crocin. By next day evening she was fine, and we gave her the next 2 vaccines (which were live virus). Apart from some on site redness, she had no other reactions. But poor thing, now she doesn't like syringes at all!

Christmas 2011 - A time for gifts, family and good cheer!

Its the holiday season and its time for shopping!! On Saturday, Dec 24, we landed up at Ishi's school to realize there was no class. So we used the time to go shopping! We wanted to show her Santa too, so we took her to Ambience Mall. Here is its huge gift pyramid and christmas tree, and other xmas decorations.

 


We didn't see any Santas around, so it was off to the kids stores. Since our usual haunt 'Mom & me' was shut for renovations, we raided Mothercare! Top on the list was a car seat for Ishi. We finally got one..and its Pink! With butterflies! :)

Ishi - sleeping in her new car seat on the way back home from shopping!

But that was not all! Apart from clothes and woolies, we found another 'must have' item at the store - a playpen! We had been looking for one for ages! Here is Ishi store testing the one on display!

We got one with bars all the way around instead of the net. Though it gives a more 'jail' like look, she can hold on to the bars all the way around and move about. The net, on the other hand, is more confining and she had no hold on those sides. The units of the pen can also be used as room dividers and gates!

Then it was Christmas Eve! Dida and newly-weds Tuki Maashi and Deepak Mesho came over with cake and more gifts! Dida was fresh back from her Nepal trip and Maashi & Mesho back from their Kashmir honeymoon! They brought back T-shirt for Dad, pashmina shawls and glittery beads for Mom and a softer-than-soft yellow poncho for me! I love it! That night was one of the coldest Christmasses ever (almost 0 degrees Celsius!!), but our house was full of warmth and love. Here we are celebrating Xmas 2011.

Xmas Video 2011

'Tis the season to be jolly, tra-la-la-la-la la-la la la!

Good morning!

Ishi is a morning person. She loves to read/ play with the morning papers.

Want to hear today's news?

Hmm...lets open up the pages

I wonder how it tastes?

Is there anything at the back too?

Just like a grown up!

News in profile

Hunger for knowledge...or paper!

But why can't I eat it?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why do we wear clothes?

Ishi's latest antics are taking off her clothes. Leave her alone to play in her cot, and a little later you find her pyjamas taken off and bundled in one corner, while she stands up holding the edge of the cot, laughing and dancing by moving her hips from side to side. Today, she went another step forward and took out one arm out of her shirt sleeve (full sleeve mind you) and then had great fun hanging over the cot bars with her shirt all bunched up at her neck on one side!

It is full length one piece rompers for you little lady if you keep this up!

Doctor Visits

October started with all of us getting ill. First Leela got a cold. Then Ishi's dad did. Then I got one with a bad cold, dry cough and blocked ears that went on for so long, I actually had to visit a doctor. And when I started getting better, Ishi had her first real illness with a slight cold and cough which started getting worse on of all days, her first birthday October 19, 2011. After a couple of days of coughing and runny nose, we took her to her pediatrician. Though she did not have any fever, she did have prolonged expiration and the possibility of a slight wheeze, specially given the bad air quality near Diwali, made him a bit cautious. We ended up with three medicine prescriptions! Nasivion, nasal drops to help her breathe; T-minic, for her cold and Sarbutamol syrup, a broncho-dilator to help her breathe. Additionally, we tried to keep her room humidified and switched off the AC. On her post Diwali visit, she showed improvement, but still the prolonged expiration and doc advised to continue medicines for another couple of days. I was a bit concerned she might not be well for her birthday party, but her medicine course ended on Saturday and she was as fine as a fiddle on Sunday for the party!

Post the party, we took her back to the doc on Monday for an all clear and final check up. He also completed her 1 year milestone check - all developments checked so far! Then came the time for vaccinations. Poor Ishi ended up with two - chicken pox and hepatitis A. One on her thigh and one on her arm. She is now beginning to understand syringes and associate the pain, and didn't like it at all. Still, she cried only for a bit, and daddy cuddled her and walked her up and down to soothe her. Another visit check on her doctor card. Next visit is at 15 months.

First Birthday Party

Last Sunday (October 30, 2011) was Ishi's first birthday party. It was a culmination of almost a month of planning! It was well attended by friends and family though we did lose some last minute guests to seasonal flu and the first ever Indian F1 race which was on the same day!

The venue was beautiful. We chose the lawn tennis ground, which was covered with lush grass and enclosed with green creepers with little purple flowers. There was also a big children's swing set with a ropewalk and a slide just next to the venue. We decided on a Pink/Lavender color scheme to create a magical place for a beautiful baby girl.

It was a delightfully sunny autumn afternoon. The guests entered under a fluffy balloon gate, flanked with a board announcing the party, in the courtyard filled with splashing fountains. They found themselves in a lush fairyland with two huge gazebo tents and stand alone umbrella tables and chairs.

The pride of the place went to a large collage of Ishi's photographs, flanked by two bubble machines that floated iridescent orbs over the guests. Spread on the table counter just under the collage was a big chart for the guests to write their messages for the birthday girl. To the left was the place for gifts, while on the right was an overflowing bowl of candies surrounded by lollipops, party hats, noisies and party masks!

  

A little ahead, and in the middle of the two gazebos was a beautifully draped cake table. The cake itself was an enchanting princess castle with beautiful sugar towers, ivy with flowers on the walls, pink windows and doors, all decorated with hearts and colorful gems and sprinkles. Inside were layers and layers of yummy chocolate and vanilla, which everyone raved about. There was even a smaller eggless version for the pure vegetarians! The candle was a pretty lotus that bloomed on being lit, and a sprinkler candle on the cake, that shot fiery sparks!

 

     

Opposite the collage was the children's area with jungle bouncy, a tattoo artist who painted live tattoos and a candy floss maker who spun sugary delights! Beyond this was the catering areas where Moets the caterers served a delicious menu! Doing the rounds of the guests were the starters - dahi kebab, chilli potatoes, mini veg pizza, murg malai tikka, mutton galouti kebeb and fish orly. They were washed down by assorted soft drinks and juices. For the main course there was shahi paneer, cholle, veg biryani, murgh makhani, mutton rogan josh, goan fish curry, live pasta and noodles stations (veg and non veg), assorted indian breads, green salad, dahi bhalla and papads. On the dessert counter, the cake was joined by rasmalai, tiramisu and ice cream. Everyone raved about the food! Some loved the paneer, some the fish, others went gaga on the noodles ... the pasta ... the tiramisu - the menu got a resounding approval from everyone!

After the good food, the conversations and the fun, when it was time to leave, the guests were again surprised with a variety of return gifts. For the kids there were flash cards for the tots; dolls, jigsaw puzzles, play dough and ramp cars for the young ones; and sliding puzzles, nail art, candle making sets and Ra-One Shahrukh Khan notebooks for the elder children. The adults were not forgotten, and went back with sparkly and ribboned boxes of chocolates.

At the end of the party, all of us (Dida, Dadu, Tuki Maashi and Deepak Mesho included) went back home loaded with gifts and yummy leftovers! 

Once at home, it was an gifts everywhere as the unwrapping and the fun began! Boxed toys, wheeled toys, soft toys, clothes, books, even a silver spoon covered the living room! So much love, good wishes and loads of blessings for our little princess was the perfect ending to a magical day.

Happy birthday little angel. We love you!

First Birthday Invite

Ishi's first ever birthday invitation formally went out on facebook last night.

Video version: Saisha's Birthday Invitation

Painting Class 101: Red & Green paint make Brown Art!

Ishi had her proper trial pre-preschool class today. She was with a bunch of other kids, mostly 15-17 months old. There was free play time, painting (washable non-toxic paints with aprons!), music, a story, colorful fabric (parachute) flapping, bubbles, and lots of constant activity followed by snack time! We are signing up for the Saturday class for now - one class per week till she is 15-16 months or so, to help her get socialized to being with other kids and people.

 Here is her first piece of art! One blob of red and green paint each, mixed thoroughly with her (mostly left) hand and half her left arm, covered with paper and banged upon to imprint her first masterpiece into permanence!

Off to School

Off to first Pre-school trial class at Intellitots. Both Daddy and Mommy came to check out the place. Ms Namita took us around the premises, explained the class progression and we sat in one of the class sessions for 10 minutes. Age group for this class varies from 8months to 14 months and beyond. This particular session had senior tots, all of them happily running around..no crawlers/wobblers! Going back on Saturday for another trial for a new 1-2yr batch. After that will decide when to start school! The plan is to start 1 class a week in the beginning and move to 2/week after 6-8 months! Depending on how the trial classes go, we might wait for a month or so till she is more confident standing upright/cruising, before starting classes...but undecided on that.

Ishi's behavior in class was a bit dazed. So many kids around, so much noise! She sat quietly, fiddled with the bows on her pants and then tried crawling about a bit on the mat. Not much to see in 10 minutes. But we feel a gradual introduction into socializing with kids, with one of us around, would be much better, than waiting for a later date and then starting with a bang. Lets see how it works out!

Rocking away to Pre-Preschool!

It seems its never too early to go to school! Intellitots, a preschool in Gurgaon, runs a parent-infant program for babies from 6 months onwards! So while we've been taking it lazy, other parent-infant combos are bonding in a more structured and educational manner!

So I've signed us on for a 30 mins trial class tomorrow. While the lady was very happy for us to join the trial class, I'm informed there is a waiting list for the actual class....erm what? So she is 10 months old. This class runs 6m-12m and 6m-14m kids. Plus they are starting something new for 1yr-2yr olds. So, she will be too late for option 1 (due to waiting), but too early for option 2??? What are we getting into??? "Come for the trial class", says she, "and lets see what happens."

She is just 10 months old and we are late already??? <Space reserved for entirely unsuitable exclamations>

Oh the horror of being taking-it-easy parents!! Well no more! Also on the agenda tomorrow morning, is a visit to a nearby Pre-school that starts admission from 1.6yrs onwards. So what if its 9 months (almost double her current age) away. We may already be in the 'lax parents' category!

An optional item on tomorrows agenda is a rocking horse. Brad Pitt has bought Shetland ponies for his brood. Surely we can buy a rocking horse for Ishi. I mean come on...its a rocking horse! I love them...erm...I mean she will love it! Assuming it is age and price appropriate...and space appropriate...and...ahh come on...its a horse! Or an elephant (as I saw in a store). On further research on the net, rocking toys are a category by themselves, with some amazingly fun combinations. Though when I try to check for its educational/development qualities, all I get is a bunch of businesses named Rocking Horse. But surely such a classic wouldn't be a classic without some fantastically supreme qualities. It will teach her balance...and ...er rocking..and ..umm...something more too. Google is not my friend today. But a rocking horse might soon be Ishi's. Maybe...hopefully..could be. Which kid wouldn't love a pony .... adults included! :)

Sketched on iPad

Milestone Checks

Pulling self up to stand up completely from sitting postion: August 31, 2011
First taste of boiled chicken: August 31, 2011 (courtesy Dida's sandwich)
Big people breakfast - Egg (yolk) Sandwich (sans sides): September 1, 2011

Other achievements since her 10 month birthday:
Shuffling from one end of the cot to the other holding on to the cot side
Holding on to someone's hands and taking steps to move forward
Stamping left foot repeatedly (almost like a dance move!)
Lifting up to all fours (but still using belly crawl for crawling)
First set of photos sent for publishing: To Child Magazine courtesy Tuki Maashi's friend Vandita
First possible fungal infection: White patch on right elbow (being treated with Surfaz)

First Painting

Ishi's first ever finger painting.... On a Toy Story activity book on iPad.
So it's her first digital-digit painting :)