Snippets

.... from the last four weeks

* All those of you who had visions of my baby bawling while I sat blogging away, do not fret. Nothing comes between baby and me - blogging gets squeezed in anyhow. Time online is difficult - not impossible.

* 4 weeks ago, I desperately needed a copy of "Babies for Dummies". Now, it feels like I can write the book myself (At least the Chapter "The First Month"!) Phew! Gives "Learning on the Job" a whole new meaning. My fears that I wouldn't know what to do with the baby were totally unfounded.

* What I have learned in the last 4 weeks:

1) Sleeping anywhere and anytime. Haven't tried sleeping while standing - yet.

2) Ambidexterity.

3) Having a bath within 5 minutes

4) Timing toilet breaks not according to "nature's call", but according to the baby's call.

5) Meals are no longer eaten, just gobbled up.

6) Earlier, you would have needed an off key wedding music band next to my ear to wake me up. Now, a tiny whimper from the baby is enough to wake me up. Well, usually. Last night, the baby was bawling and my mom had to shake me awake. (I was tired, give me a break!)

7) After carrying her around, I have discovered muscles in my arms that I never knew existed. I have also realized that as she grows bigger, I will discover newer muscles.

* At all times, I hear sounds which I am sure is that of the baby crying. So I come running to the room from wherever I am - to see the baby sleeping peacefully. Hallucinations. That's what it is.


About baby -

* She has had three nail cutting sessions in 25 days.

* As for her hair, she had a huge unruly mop of hair when she was born - now, it has grown even longer, and some strands reach her shoulder. Some strands get into her eyes, and some get into her ear, and I suspect, tickle her. It runs in the family - my mom tells me I needed a haircut at three weeks. She really needs a haircut too. But I keep feeling that a haircut will take away her new-ness, if you know what I mean.

* The Electronic Tamboori still works. If I sing a soft lullaby in accompaniment with it, it works faster. But there are some times when nothing works. The little one just lies there and stares at me, while I doze off myself, the lullaby still on my lips. Then I awake with a start - to find her looking at me with those big black eyes, with a question mark on her face.

* Babies should be born with some inbuilt rules. If I spend half an hour trying to get her to sleep, she has to sleep at least for half an hour for my effort to be worth it. Sigh!

* What I did the other day - Ran to the crying baby, saying, "Oh-ho, the little one is wet, here comes Shruthi Akka to change her nappy!..... Err... Emm...... I mean, here comes Amma to change her nappy!" It will be my good fortune if she doesn't call me Shruthi Akka when she grows up. Very very difficult to digest the fact that I am some one's Amma.

* Hazards of Motherhood:
Listening to unwanted advice - Everyone on earth wants to advise you. Advice flows uninterrupted. It gets highly irritating at times. All I do is keep an open mind and take every bit of advice, inspect it, and then discard it, or keep it aside for further research. Meanwhile, how do I react to the advice-giver? Give a polite smile, and nod-nod. They are happy, I am happy.

Watching your baby get man-handled - I don't care if you have mothered ten children, I don't care if you have years of experience with children, and I don't care if "nothing will happen", but I cannot bear to sit and watch you handle my child roughly. I am thinking of sticking a "Fragile - Handle With Care" sticker on her tummy. Sometimes I almost think that the tradition of nearly quarantining mother and child for the first three months, does make some sense. At least the child will be away from prying hands.

I know what you are thinking - She has a lot to learn. I know too. :)

There, I hear her whimper. Her face will now pucker up and become red - and her face will start crying before a voice emanates to match the face. (She already knows the laws of physics - Light travels faster than sound).

Ta-da until next time!