ten months three weeks!

...is already ten months and three weeks old!

I was contemplating if I should buy a walker for baby or not..it so happened he was gifted one! I must really appreciate the thoughtfulness of this friend , she actually gave a lot of thought and got a gift that's totally apt for his age!

My baby met them for the first time and it was a pleasant surprise to see him mingle well with them. Usually he would be wary of strangers and start crying seeing new people....hmnnn I read anxiety and fear of strangers develops in a baby around the ten months milestones and lasts couple of months..

Babies going to day care , nursery learn to interact with other babies and grownups, but he's mostly at home which I know is not a good thing. Time management is something that I am doing pathetically these days...I don't know what I do the whole day?? I am always busy , the whole day just passes away..and am still not able to do half of the things that I have in my mind. I have been thinking of taking him to a activity center for so long...but ..but there's always some excuse for not being able to do so..my bad :(

I want him to play with other babies ,so I visited a friend with a toddler in the neighborhood. It was fun to watch him interact with lil Kyra. She was equally inquisitive to see him. She would walk around the house and my baby would follow her around calling "aih...aih". He even touched her face and pulled her hair gently.... both communicating to each other in their special baby language :)

Among other things,this week he was more vocal about the things that he wanted and that he did not. If he wants something and we don't give him , he's constantly whining for it on a high pitch.

Some more tiny pearls are waiting to cut through his gums...they have been visible through his gums the entire week but have not come out yet...next week they will be out I hope!

It's festive time ..my baby's first Dusshera!
I remember as a kid I used to love this time of year..there would be a magical aura in the air. Those five days of Durga Puja were so enchanting that I would wait eagerly for the whole year for the Pujas....and feel sad on the last day of the Puja, that it's over. As I grew up the excitement grew less... the charm has somewhat faded! Still when I look back , the memories bring up such warmth! I want my baby to experience the same excitement and joy..hence I have decided from now on wards, I would celebrate all the festivals with the same zeal as that of a kid....guess this is what people mean when they say you live your childhood the second time with your baby!

So this year Puja was special , dressed up in traditional attire, went to the Puja venue. It was beautiful and also noisy...but he coped well! We met another couple from our neighborhood there with a baby and he is also Dec born...a new friend for my baby?!!?

Took him out to the Puja venue on two consecutive nights...and with the mercury dipping ..he ended with a cold :( Rest of the week was busy doing all that I could to help my baby fight cough and cold!

Helping my baby fight cough n cold...

My baby's not even 11 months old and is already been down with cough and cold for the third time.

Every time he gets cold I find myself frantically surfing ways to soothe his cold.As it is he's fussy eater and with cold he's not even eating a spoon of food:( As per experts , the main reason babies won't eat or drink when suffering from a cold is because their breathing is compromised. Since they are not able to breathe from their blocked noses, and are breathing from their mouths, they don't want to resort to using their mouths to eat or drink.

Apparently there is no real cure for a baby's cold, there are just ways to help them feel comfortable....am listing all the helpful tips I found from various sources.

Nasal saline drops can loosen the mucus in the nose and make breathing easier.

A warm bath can also relax baby and ease stuffy nose.Prior to giving baby bath fog the bathroom with steam by turning on the hot shower for 5 mins.Cleaning his stuffy nose is also easier after bath, my baby gets very irritated when I try to squeeze his nose clean and cries a lot. Nasal extractor also works better after a bath. Snuggle him in a robe and dress up quickly.

Night times are usually the most difficult for babies, I feel he coughs more at night.I keep him popped up on a big pillow, try to make him sleep a bit alleviated as upright position causes less nose congestion.

Nasal decongestant like Karvol drops which are available over the counter.These can be given to babies over 3 months. I put 4-5 drops in a tissue and tuck it under his pillow to help him breathe easier at night.

Daytime, boil water and add drops of eucalyptus oil and let the vapor spread in baby's closed room.This acts like a natural decongestant. Running a humidifier can also be helpful.

VapouRubs can be rubbed on the clothes for babies less than 2 yr old which act as decongestant. For babies over 2 yrs, when rubbed on chest can have a soothing warm effect.

Recommended dosage of Infant cough syrups are also helpful , as I find he's able to sleep for a while after having syrup.

Honey mixed with smoked crushed cloves are also advised but honey shouldn't be given to babies less than a yr old. Honey can cause severe infections in many cases.

Feeding him is the most daunting task, he just wouldn't eat anything. Infact for the past two days, he has hardly had any solids...he's surviving just on milk.

Usually he would have food with some yogurt or have a bite or two of banana as snacks. But with cold , many advise not to give banana and yogurt. I searched a lot on this but couldn't find any thing substantial on the topic. Later I spoke to my pediatrician and he said that some babies might have more mucus with yogurt and bananas, while some won't react at all.There's nothing proved scientifically and hence it would depend on the individual, if baby is alright eating banana and yogurt one can carry on with it.

Warm food and soups specially chicken soup are good for treating colds. Soups are a great relief for sore throats.

A tinge of ginger and onion in the soup can also help as both onion and ginger help fight cold.

Some babies like it spicy, if baby is on spicy food it's alright to give him spicy food in cold , but introducing spicy food in cold is not a good idea.

An extra intake of fluids are advised as fluids help in washing off the toxins.Fluids will also keep them well hydrated.If breastfeeding nurse baby more as the antibodies of breast milk helps fight the virus.

Solid food can be difficult to swallow and chew, hence I am giving him pureed liquidy food as they can be quickly gulped.

I am also giving him pediatrician recommended dose of acetaminophen for low fever.

Extra layer of cloth to keep him warm and cosy..plenty of rest is also advised....plus loads of hugs and kisses...as they say Mum's hug is the best cure for almost everything :)

Mum's first Bday!

Last week was Mum's first Bday!

Roses in the morning ..with a cute Bday card from hubby made it a different day than the rest.

Bday wishes from family and friends like every year makes the day special..especially with social networking sites, where people keep posting wishes!The whole day is filled with Bday wishes! Makes you feel happy and special!

But what really made it special was the sweet smile from my baby...looking at my baby and cuddling him most of the day..was what I did all day long!

I thought to myself, this year I already have the greatest gift a women can have....my lil bundle of joy..let me buy a gift for my bundle of joy!

I did some online shopping and got my sweetiepie a gift! Winnie the Pooh !

I never thought buying a gift for someone else could give me so much joy on my Bday :) When I gave my baby the toy he was puzzled to look at it.He thought it was another baby...kept looking at it for a while and then gently touched it..trying to poke and play with this baby..this is the way he interacts with other babies too..was a treat to watch him play with Winnie that way :)
Evening a friend dropped in with a bunch of rose and chocolates..feels good when friends visit just to make you feel special!

Another friend dropped in with some home made sweets....she made them for my Bday! How sweet! And she's a great cook..her cookery book would sometime in the near future:)

Evening hubby had got some snacks and pastries ...followed by some Pizza for dinner :)

Nothing extraordinary , a quite and unusual way to celebrate one's Bday and yet I want to remember this day, years later..so this post!

ten months two weeks!

..was a happening week , with loads of things to write about!

with less eating my baby gradually constipated himself, tried some natural remedy which helped his bowel movement!

Among other things comes the tale of the vacuum cleaner! The vaccum cleaner is quite a dread for him, whenever we vaccum clean the house, we have to ensure one of us with the baby to cuddle him and assure him that all is well!

That day I was playing in the carpeted bedroom, the usual play area is the living room which is not carpeted.As I was playing on the floor , I noticed the hidden sea of hair strands all over the carpet.

I hate hair strands over the floor and more so over carpeted floors...I find them so unhygienic! On the face of it they look lovely , clean and cosy. A closer look and it reveals all the tiny dirt but still covers up the invisible germs mushrooming.You have to the vaccum to clean it and its not as easy as sweeping the floor! Plus vaccuming does't clean the colony of germs and microbes growing on it.

Now coming back to the story, I just noticed the hair strands and it made me so sick that at 10 O'clock in the night, I decided to vaccum the bedroom. Usually I never vaccum the house as I have a tender back and vaccuming makes it worse. Its usually hubby who does it....asking a tired hubby whose looking to retiring to bed in a while would be same as spilling a bowl of hot soup on onself deliberately...so I picked up the vaccum cleaner myself.

On an earlier occassion I had asked my friend how her baby reacts to vaccum cleaner and he told me she that her baby dances while they vaccum. Initially she used to be scared but my friend would she pick her up and dance to soothe her, now she dances everytime they turn on the vaccum cleaner. Inspired by her, I turned on the vaccum cleaner infront of my baby.He got very scared and started screaming and crying.I asked hubby to cuddle him, he stopped crying but kept clinging to his dad and watched me in horror as I worked with the growling beast.

Once he seemed a bit pacified , I tried to show him that the vaccum was harmless thing and Mumma was playing with it, but he started crying again!
I went to the vaccum the other room, leaving baby with his dad ...I could hear him crying more.

Once I was done I came to my baby, and then the best thing happened.He jumped from his father arms to mine, which he never does and kept holding me very tight and hugging me.Guess he was scared that the monster had taken Mumma somewhere.I tingled at the thought that Baby loves me!My cherished moment !

The feeling was something that I can't explain..just reminded me of the moments when as a kid I would be upset or scared,only running into mom's arms would make me comfortable ,relaxed and happy!

This week was also another milestone.If I sit on the sofa and he's playing by himself on the floor after a while he comes to me and tries hard to climb on the sofa.He would get hold of my dress or anything that he can grope to and try to climb, guess it a matter of two or three weeks when he would be able to do it comfortably.

And even funnier is when he tries to climb the wall..not exactly climbing the wall..he tries to touch the wall higher and higher...which from a distance looks as if baby is trying to climb the wall.

His Dad keeps forgetting that we have a little pumpkin at home whose turning naughty day by day.He carelessly keeps his books low enough for baby to reach he was rewarded with a torn page of his book!

Usually after his dinner, he is happy to play on his own and is in a happy mood.Taking advantage of it, me n hubby usually sneak for a quick dinner session.His favorite play area is under the dinning table, specially if we are having our dinner.That day also he was playing under the table when suddenly he came out and pulled down hubby's glass bowl filled with yogurt.There was glass and yogurt all over the place.Hubby picked him up in a giffy..no harm done to him thankfully..while I picked up the cleaning wipes and broom.That was end of my dinner too!

And that's also bye from my naughty baby and me for this week!

treating a constipated baby..

The not eating syndrome lead to the less and less poo ..to ultimately no poo! The first day when he didn't do any I was ok..thinking if he doesn't eat , naturally no poo!

The next day also when he didn't do any..I was a bit worried but was still alright...

Third day I was expecting him to pass motion early in the morning but when he didn't I started getting a bit worried.By lunch time I could see him straining at times ,yet no results at all...I was getting worked up now.

So I started my natural therapy.Gave him pear puree for lunch ..I had started avoiding pear as it is a low calorie fruit. Ever since he started eating less,I was concentrating on high calorie food...had started giving thicker food in consistency , adding less water...in the process I forgot to take care that he eats food that would pass down his intestines easily.

By evening I had already checked his diaper couple of times but all white each time!
He seemed a bit distressed too and was cranky at dinner time.He kept making funny grunting noises and kept clutching on the high chair at times.That was the first time I had seen him do that and was kind of scared ..after all they are so tiny and can't even speak out what's happening.

I had brought a potty training this month, I took off his diapers and tried to make him seat on it to help him ease the pressure.He sat on the thing for a minute or two and after that started playing with it :)

At bed time, I gave him a tummy massage , massaging tummy in clockwise directions, I read helps in bowel movement.I also did the I L U , strokes that I had learnt in the massage class I attended in the activity centre.

Here's a guide on massaging the I L U strokes.

next day morning when he woke up , I did bicycle legs for him , and all this exercise helped my baby..so after three days, on the fourth day he finally passed motion.

I was thinking, that if by eod he doesn't do motion , I am taking him to the doctor next morning.

Possibly the food on the first day , was less in fiber, and as a result was not moving down his bowels even though the other days he had a balanced diet.

Just as anticipated it was a bit hard ,dry like small pellets.. he had turned a bit constipated.That day he passed motion in the afternoon also, but that was his normal stool.Here I sit describing and writing about poo...before having a baby the idea was eeks!! Shitty!!! But now I think its something that's a part of my routine, I need to check on his stools every-time..after all pooh tells a lot about the baby's health.

In a nutshell here are some tips I think helps a constipated baby :

Exercise - A little exercise can sometimes work out a faster bowel movement. Bicycling baby's legs is a fun exercise that baby enjoys.

Massage - Infant massage can be a natural cure and should always be done is clockwise direction.This can also help a gassy baby.Doing the strokes clockwise is important, because it follows the direction of baby's intestines. This encourages the trapped wind and poo to move in the right way.

Water - Lack of fluids, water can make stool hard, little water would be okay to grease up the works.Water should be given only to babies that are on solids.

Fruit - If baby is eating solids, apricots , pears are known to have natural laxatives. Bananas ,apples , carrot I feel can add to constipation.

If these tricks, don't help the baby, seeing a pediatrician is a must.

Ten Months and one week.

the first week of ten months is over.. I try to think hard about the past week, week was rather slow with nothing much worthwhile mentioning.

My Baby was trying to stand on his own without support for a fraction of second, but he isn't much keen on doing that.I wonder if I should try and teach him to stand on his own or if he's going to learn that gradually. Here's a guide I liked , am gonna try some of the things I guess.

This week I found him pushing the dinning table's chair around the house, was real fun to watch him do that.Once he was trying to push the chair while hubby was sitting on it...for sometime he kept on pushing it hard n hard and when he couldn't he started wailing :)

The week also witnessed the first thing that my baby broke! The sky remote!!! He didn't do much and I guess it would be unfair to say he broke it..he just dropped it from the sofa on the floor and it stopped working.Ordered a new one..and now the old remote is a toy for my baby.But..but now that we have given him the remote , he's no more interested in it :)
We have to pretend that it works and keep it away from him,then he would come to get it , we pretend we can't give it to him, then if we give it to him after sometime he's happy to play with it ..such is my cutie-pie :)

Ooh ..and I almost forgot!
Baby found a puzzling, shiny thing moving all around the wall and was happily chasing it...mirror reflection of his toy on the wall! Hubby was slowly moving the reflection sometimes to left, sometimes to the right..and sometimes right above his head.And he was trying to capture the shiny thing moving rapidly! That's the cherished moment of the week...I captured a video of it!

Feeding a fussy baby...

Those following my posts, know by now that I have a fussy eater at hand and am always worried about his eating.

The other day I was speaking to my Pediatrician in India , the doctor's initial response when I complained about baby's food habits was "Tell me one Mom in the world who doesn't worry about baby's food, all Mom's in this world think that their Baby's not eating enough nor putting on enough weight". Very true but the fact is I have a lean baby and a fussy eater to deal with.

In this post I am just putting down all my efforts so far...suggestions, tips from experienced moms would be a boon!

The started weaning, when he was six months.

I kept reading everywhere that initially its just giving them a taste of solids.I started with Pear Puree..he had seven,eight baby spoons to start with. A good start!
But after two or three days , his interest in food vanished.

So I tried feeding him by letting him play with toys on his high chair, but the trick didn't last long.He became more and more keen on eating the toy then the food.

Next I started distracting him by playing Nursery Rhymes on TV , and feeding him.This trick worked well.
Side effects : He needs the TV while eating now.
Instead of humming songs, me and my hubby hum nursery rhyme now :(
I have to keep searching for new rhymes constantly as he gets bored, that means searching for different rhymes for 3 meals a day!

At times the TV trick doesn't do ..then? I give him another spoon to play with and then when he open's his mouth to play with his spoon, try and trick him to eat..smart ehh! But Baby's smarter.Now if I try to do that, he throws away the spoon or would not open his mouth if he see's my spoon nearby :P

Finger foods, hmnn this one I need to try more often.I find him only playing with the food.Mostly all the food lands on the floor and then to the dustbin.

I have tried to feed him with my hand instead of spoons..no good :( Tried different types of spoon ..no great result.But still I alternate spoons , at times he does eat a gulp or two when I change spoons.

Sometimes I change the material of the spoon ..like use a big metal spoon , he likes the taste of metal and opens his mouth to eat.I use metal spoon with smooth rounded edges to avoid any kind of injury.

Changing the texture of the food, making it more liquid or solid. Try different food combinations...alter the taste, give him something sweet and then yogurt or water.

Initially I tried to keep him hungry, but he would become more irritated, then I started giving him food when he's not full and not very hungry either.This way at-least he's not irritated. Timing wise that's the best way I realized.

I also eat my meals in front of him,before feeding him. That way he watches me eat and gets an idea that its meal time and like me he should also eat.Sometimes when we eat he comes and tries to eat a spoonful of what we are eating like a bite or two of banana.

I hear that babies like watching and copying other babies, so getting to eat with another baby might be a good idea..but no kids around..or may be I should socialize more and befriend someone with a baby in the neighborhood...!!!

I try and a combination of all these , at times he eats other times he doesn't.
My latest trick is to dance with the nursery rhymes, sometimes it works and he laughs at my moves and opens his mouth to eat...he eats or not at-least I might loose some flab..what say friends :)

Here is also a very nice article , makes lot of sense.

Caution : All said and done , never force a child to eat, doesn't work.I tried that as well once, but was no good and is not healthy for the baby at all.I pursue my baby to eat but never force him.Once he starts showing that he doesn't want to eat anymore by throwing the spoon, spitting or yelling when I try to bring the spoon near him I stop immediately!

almost time ......Is it?

...so as per The Plan I have had folic acid tabs for almost three months or more. So now it was time, I thought from next month onwards I would try for a baby:)

And as I mentioned earlier I am the technical type, so I went into intricacies of basal body temperature and cervical mucus as well...I like to be aware of all technical aspects whether , to implement or not is a different story!

The long goodbye to alcohol was done...I had given the spirits farewell more than three months ago ,by drinking gallops of wine ...

Was already eating healthy, had been gymning regularly for years now, blood test and thyroids were all normal.I had doubled checked on the thyroid as I have a history of thyroid in the family , plus as a teenager I had hypothyroidism.

Was all set....I was happy and excited and looking forward to conceiving!

....just the very next week, things started taking a different shape.The company where I had been interviewed last month, were now recruiting for a junior/ mid- level developer.The manager whom I had happened to impress, called me for another round of interview, this time by the technical team lead.

Once again, I went for the interview.I still remember waiting there at the hall and then the interviewer coming.He had a weird air about him."So this is the guy I will be working with if I get through...too bad!" those were my thoughts looking at him.

The interview started , and within 10 minutes I started regretting ever coming for it. Somehow the guy and I were not in sink.He kept on grilling me on topics that I already told him that I have not worked on.Soon I was loosing my patience and finding the tone of my voice reflecting the irritation building inside me.I was thrilled when the interview got over ...I thought "ThankGod it didn't go well..I don't have to work with this slimy creature!"

I left the building in a haste, turned back thinking ..am not coming back here and gave a sad but relaxed glance at that posh building!

Coming back , I told my hubby that it didn't go well and not to expect anything.A week later, I got a call from the consultant, telling me that he's sending me offer letter soon.I had managed to get myself a job!!!

Can you believe it..all the while when I was hunting for a job , no one bothered to interview me. And now when I wasn't even looking for one..I got a call out of the blue and even got an offer after a messy interview.

Secretly I was praying that I don't get it..and I knew if I were selected I wouldn't be able to refuse the offer even though I had detested the sight of the team lead, let alone working with him!

So here I was with a new job ...definitely the baby plan had to be dropped for a while...just as the cliche goes (Wo)Man proposes, God disposes!

Nine months four weeks..almost ten months!

This end of this week marks the beginning of his ten months milestone!

Cough and cold is thankfully over, but eating habits are still giving mom a heachache...I am coming to live with it now...no extra efforts on my part as its not working..just some sssighs now and then..thats all!

In the monthly visit to the Child health Clinic this week ,I was told by the health visitor that baby's weight gain is not as per schedule.He missed it by margins! But she also told me that at this stage many active babies stop gaining weight cause of their constant movements and activities.She asked me in details about his diet and was happy with all that's been offered to him! When my baby's awake he's not still even for a moment, always cruising along the furniture, crawling or wriggling around to reach something or the other, besides he was down with cold.

He's so wriggly that at times I find him hard to handle, as a result a mishap! After his bath, I had put him on our bed and was trying to dress him up, just like other days.For some reasons, these days he has developed a distaste for dressing up after bath and I have to chase him all over the place to dress him up.That day he was howling and was trying to escape by crawling all over the bed.I was trying to pacify him and trick him into dressing up, at-least try and make him put on the nappy when all of a sudden he jerked away and eventually slipped off the bed.It was too sudden and I lost my grip on him..he landed on the carpeted floor...in an attempt to balance himself he managed not to hit his head on the floor and landed on his side !

As such I hate carpeted floors cause I find them unhygienic but this time I was more than happy to have one , as it cushioned the ground and he didn't hurt himself much, I shudder at the thought of what possibly could have happened otherwise!Thank God nothing adverse happened to him. He was lil hurt but very scared, kept on crying and clinging to me for a minute or two.In fact both of us were scared and clinged to each other. I kept pressing his hands and shoulders gently to check if it hurts, any possible injury :(
That day ,I wondered if I should take him to the Dr..and kept watching him for any signs, all's well thankfully.I also checked with the health visitor and she said it's alright, nothing to worry. When I narrated the same over the phone to hubby, I got a nice earful for missing the catch which I so truly deserve! I used to think I am cautious enough to handle such things.Lesson learned is days of changing on the bed are over...no more putting him on the bed for what so ever reasons.

Other changes , I note are sleeping times have drastically reduced.He sleeps for less time during the day,mostly one nap of 45 mins or an hr, and at times another nap of just 15 mins or 30 minutes..rest of the time he's playing and enjoying himself being naughty.Occasionally he does sleep soundly for two hours at a stretch.

He keeps discovering ways to entertain himself, he's latest fascination is swinging the door! Childhood and the Joys of discovering happiness in such small things!As adults we forget to cherish the simple and beautiful things in life. Once he even squeezed his finger under it while playing, so I have started keeping the doors closed , if I am not around to keep a vigil.

Cherished Moment :Sometime this week , I found him trying to stand on his toes to reach to things kept on top of the chest of drawers...

Nine month three weeks...

Just when I was basking in the glory that my baby's eating well and it's showing as a faint glow on his face....he had to catch cold and cough :(

Poor thing has a cold, that's getting better but a bad cough.And with the weather in England , its gonna take some time for him to recover.The weather is becoming gloomy day by day and it's gonna remain quite like this for the next couple of months...the summers are over!I had first arrived to London in the month of March..the summers were about to start.A friend had then commented enjoy the summers, coming from India where it was always hot and sunny, I didn't have a clue what was so great about summers here...but now I understand the whole depth of the English summer and what it means to the people staying here.

It was expected that baby will catch a cold at some time or the other but when he did, even tough I had anticipated it, is upsetting. Sleepless coughing nights,running tender nose, irritable during the day time and extra clingy....hmnnn!!!But worst of all is his lack of interest in eating.He's back to his old game, refusing food.Finger foods are not much of interest either.

Point of interests keeps shifting from anything to everything.Things that are always on his radar is the fridge and the dish washer. Every time I open the fridge he rushes to get a glimpse of it! And if lucky try to get a handful of whatever he can grasp!Initially whenever I opened the fridge I would sit on the floor to cover the door , that stopped him from getting inside the fridge initially but now he's found a way out!He manages to slime in through the smallest accessible gap even if it means crawling underneath the fridge door...leads me to thinking how clever even infants can be!

Trying to open the dishwasher when he's around is impossible! Now he knows that if he tries to crawl towards dishwasher, we are going to stop him...so what he does is, he starts crawling in the other direction and after a few leaps he would start crawling fast in the direction of the dishwasher.

Me and hubby would just roll off laughing looking at his funny but clever moves.

Cherished moment : My Baby uttered his first meaningful word 'Papa'....he's very attached to his Dad.I am waiting for him to call me Mumma .....wonder how soon?