Birthday

First birthday as Mom, and it felt awesome. I couldn't do the usual stuff - go out for a meal, shopping, meeting people - but it still felt really special. Simply because there was this extraordinary little thing with me through the day.



Interestingly enough, the daughter was in a completely 'co-operative' mood. We made a risotto at home for lunch and the sweetheart slept just as I started cooking it, and slept right through the lunch. The very same thing happened at dinner time. As luck would have it, our dinner home delivery came a lot later than planned and as it got in, Bobo rubbed her eyes, fed and just slept. Unbelievable! We spread out on the living room floor gluttonously digging into our Mexican order, followed by creamy pastries.



Meanwhile, FB was solely responsible for an overwhelming number of birthday wishes, well further than the usual close circle greetings. Missed having parents and sister around, but some birthday it turned out to be! Thank you Bobo Chan :)

Bed of roses? Think again!

I think motherhood must be the most rewarding, yet the most challenging job in the world. In no other job would you be on call 24x7, relentlessly, with such little scope for making mistakes (if you make one, you have to live with unprecedented guilt too).



The reason I'm hoping for some sunny times is that the little one is on an eating strike the last 3-4 days. She will look around, blow at the food, shake her head (vigorously) or invent just about any trick not to get that spoonful into her mouth! And this obviously frustrated mother can do nothing about it - I can't scold her, I can't force feed (haha - try that!), and nor can I give up trying to get whatever little I can into that growing tummy. Sometimes I wonder how that little thing can thrive on my milk alone and have so much energy to bring down the house! And on the other hand, I realise how far far away I am from weaning and it scares everything out of me. Mothering is scarcely a bed of roses!

In Nature's Lap

Almost literally so, Bobo chan's new discovery is that she can kneel up against the bedroom french window and look out for the longest of times during the day. She is typically so engrossed in her sight-seeing(!!) that she almost forgets to eat or sleep, or even to cry...



And why not, when the sights to see are real treats to the eye. Lush green grass, cows grazing, sheep baaing, birds flying, an overflowing well, the occasional spells of rain... even an adult city-dweller would crave to look at such scenes from their bedroom window. Unfortunately, rumour has it that the open field behind my building has been sold. Consequently, how long Bobo gets to enjoy his scenery is now in the builder's hand. I do hope it's not too soon and that my child gets to savour this beauty for as long as possible.



For now, I don't know how much she understands, but she sure seems to relish her daily window time!

Baby steps

Bobo chan does the cutest things so unknowingly, it is pure bliss to observe!



I often throw leftover bread, chapati or other food items outside the bedroom window for birds. She stares fixedly at pigeons, sparrows and mynahs that come to feed and startles when they suddenly fly away as she approaches the window.



As she started bird-watching, the window caught her fancy and has now become part of daily routine.The bedroom has a large french window with the lower third fixed, with a little ledge at the bottom, may be an inch and a half wide. Bobo reaches up to this ledge crawling and lifts herself daintily from her fours on to her knees and puts her hands on it. Then she slowly shuffles her knees towards the window to cover the few inches of ground to reach just below the window. It reminds me of a Japanese woman in a kimono shuffling her feet to get by! Then she puts her little chin on the edge and takes position - to spend the next few minutes gazing out of the window!