Sleep story – H

I decided to make friends with sleep very early in life. But I still gave everyone a tough time when I first came home, because I would take hours to get to sleep. I would cry and cry and cry. Mama used to call me her ‘geeennnnn bachcha’ because I could go on and on crying eeeennnnnnn…. for hours like a stuck record even while I was half asleep. And then when I would doze off I would just sleep for ages. That had everyone worried because I wouldn’t even take a food break. Yes that’s right, no food break. In fact sleep was my first passion, an even greater one than food.

Sleep tight
Even now once I’m asleep I’m asleep, that is, unless I get hungry. Food and sleep are the two great loves of my life. Mama adores me for being so uncomplicated. I’m not like N who takes forever to drop off. She’s very easily distracted. These days she sleeps only with mama unless she’s very very tired. But like I said, I’m a simple guy. I can nap anytime anywhere – in the mall, in the park, in an auto and even on the road in my stroller. The first time we went to the mall I slept my way through it all. In any case shopping is boring! When I was a baby and used to be fed milk out of a bowl, I’d fall asleep in mama’s lap while she was feeding me. Once our neighbour came visiting with her mom. And even though I’d never met them I dozed off in her mom’s lap. And everyone kept marveling at how cool I was with no hang-ups about a strange lap. Yes, that’s me – a no-hangups guy! Then there was the time when I dozed off on the doctor’s table while he was examining me. And there’s another one of my legendary sleep tales, a tad embarrassing, but I’ll still share it. I fell asleep while nani was cleaning me up after a potty session!! Now haven’t I bettered Napoleon’s sleep-on-the-horse record?

On the bed…… I sleep like a king, on my back with my hands up. But these days I’ve started enjoying sleeping on my stomach too and Meena didi says I’ll never have a bulging tummy, thank God! Since I’ve learnt to get around a bit I constantly move even when I’m napping. Once I really scared mama. She has this habit of feeling for me in her sleep. So she stretched out her hand one night and found… nothing! She sat up in shock to find me sleeping with my head near her waist. Heh! heh! heh! That was fun though she wasn’t amused. She lectured me no end on how I can fall off the bed if I kept moving around.

New kid on the block

H says….

Being a kid is not really nice. People around take you for granted and don’t bother to update you even on the most important matters. Imagine there’s going to be a brand new addition to the family and no one bothered to tell us. That’s grossly unfair considering that he’ll be closer to us being from the kid fraternity. And when I say ‘he’ I’m not being chauvinistic or presumptuous – I overheard mami herself say that everyone’s saying it’ll be a boy! I’m all set to be ‘Big Brother’. N, I think, is a little immature to be big sister, though. She’s still quite a kid.I got thinking when mama and nani started sorting our old clothes. And then all that talk of due dates and name lists started making sense. Though we were a bit miffed for being let into the action so late, we’re just too excited to hold any grudges. Imagine a baby smaller than us… I mean babies are soooo cute.. and I’m just thrilled we stayed on here in Lucknow.

Coming into the world all on your own can be quite daunting. N and I will try our best to make it a little easy for him. We at least had each other for company but god only knows how other kids manage. Imagine being pushed out into a world where all that’s familiar are a few voices among a cacophony of hundreds of others!! God.. is it NOISY out here or what! And all those lights…the crowds…….it’s terrifying. Even N, who was so impatient to get out and explore, bawled like a baby. I AM glad we’ll be around to help out this new one. A word of advice from big bro here – no matter what people around you do just remember this – “They mean well”. Go with the flow and life will be cool. Bye then – see you around soon. Cheerio (as mass would say in her English class)
PS: Just a last tip – It helps to develop different cry tones for different problems. Makes life easy for the moms – work on it.
… and N adds…What shall I have him call me?…. Ummm… should it be N didi or just didi or maybe chhoti didi since I am the youngest didi. I think N didi sounds best. And H bhai I am NOT immature, I’m just a minute younger than you, remember? And that too, I suspect, is purely by chance. Had the Doctor pulled me out first, things would have been different. But hey I’m digressing. This is really exciting news. How typically uncaring of the older lot that we weren’t let in on the secret for so long, considering all this was going on since before we were born! Anyway, what’s important is that I’ll no longer be the youngest one around and AM I glad. I was just about tiring of the what-a-small-baby routine. Can’t wait for December 23.

Hey you young one, H bhai and I are there for you. Like he said, remember people around mean well but don’t let anyone take you for granted. Don’t let them push you into anything and do raise your voice if the petting gets too much but most important – have fun.

Six soon – H

Okay so we’ll soon be six. And I’m really excited. Guess why?? Well obviously because we’ll be starting solids…. Bananas sound yummy… I’m not sure about the salty stuff though.
Like N said we’ve had a busy two months….

Sick bed
I seem to have an affinity for falling ill any day more than N. Frankly, illnesses don’t scare me at all after my stint in the ICU but you should see mama….

To begin with I got some insect bites and a doctor said it was chicken pox… What a scare that was! Seriously, what with one of them labeling me overweight and another one coming up with chicken pox, one can’t trust doctors these days. Thankfully we went to another one and he trashed that diagnosis. Then I went down with fever and when the doc prescribed antibiotics mama was so scared she called up the doctor back home. Nani and masi say she’s hyper… wonder what that means but she sure knows how to get into a tizzy over nothing.

N’s not been too well too though she doesn’t talk about it much but she’s had a bad case of colic, which put her off milk for ages… Imagine that! Disliking milk … when that’s all we were going to get! But she’s much better now, thank God!

We got our last DPT shots too and that meant more fever and more worrying! I sure am glad that was our last one though mama tells me this pricking and jabbing will go on for years. What a pain!!!

Playing Favourites
Like N I’ve found my own fan club. To begin with tai has eyes only for me. She drops in quite often and goes into fits of delighted laughter when I as much as lift a corner of my mouth in a smile. And masi says I’m her favourite dance partner. We waltz around together.. she’ll have to wait a while for a proper dance but for the time being this is fun.

Befriending Dada ji and Dadi
When Dada ji and Dadi came over for the first time both N and I were in such a bad humour that we cried and cried and scared them away. Mama gave us a big dressing-down. She said we’d been really naughty and rude and that we’d embarrassed her thoroughly. Well she should understand that children have good days and bad ones. That’s all. Anyway the next time they came we tried to be good. Even though we were not having a particularly good day I fished out a smile and that seemed to make Dadi very happy. Now we’re pretty good friends. I love it when she swings me up and down.

Vanity comes before a hair fall
Sadly enough I lost a lot of my lovely thick hair and so joined N’s bald club. She’s fast catching up as her head’s starting to look a trifle black too. Mama is already talking about coming back home for our mundan in February. Personally I’d love that except I see two hitches – one we might not have enough hair for a mundan and secondly we just might not get to Bombay till Feb so where’s the question of coming back?

Where’s papa?
I sometimes wonder what papa looks like. We were such babies when we were with him. I can barely remember him. I spoke to him on the phone once or twice but that didn’t help much. Dadi says my feet look exactly like his while mama and Tai ji say that I’ve inherited my eat-sleep-be happy attitude from him. Well we’ll soon be in Mumbai with him.

Trying to turn
N’s been raving about turning on her stomach and how much fun that is. I’m still trying to get there. But frankly I can’t see what’s so great about it all.. a milk bottle seems the same no matter where you look at it from, right? Besides, I can turn my head around almost 360 degrees so why should I bother to turn around? Too much pain and too little gain is what I say!

Before I sign off I must add this poem that Apoorva Uncle wrote for us on Diwali.. He was ma’s colleague at the HT

Perched in their mama’s arms,snug and shy,
H and N lie with a shrug so spry
Their tiny innocent gazelights up many flockful a face
Warming hearts of their ma and pa a pace
At times, they let their cry hail,
Myriad joys of new hope sail
I pray, let this benign spirit prevail,
With my good wishes to ‘Angels of Joy’
Let the best be to H and N the little bundles of joy!

I am five! – N

November 4, 2006

It’s been a long time since my last post but so much has been happening that both H bhai and I have been kept very busy. For starters we turned five yesterday – that is months not years.

Teary tales…
I feel such a grown up girl and things have certainly changed. For starters I discovered tears (September 28, 06). And I realized that there’s no better way to get attention than to turn on the waterworks. Pair it off with my lung power and I’m invincible. You should see mama scampering for my bottle of milk when I start off. I’m sure they’ll come in handy later on in life too.

…. And smiles galore
If tears are powerful, smiles are even more so. Don’t believe me??? Well just drop in sometime and see everyone shouting himself hoarse, clapping and jumping around just to get a single smile from me. Grown ups sure look silly sometimes and I can’t help but laugh. That seems to make them very happy.

But I just can’t stop smiling now that I’ve discovered how much fun it is.

Learning to cuddle
Remember how I used to hate to cuddle? Well I still don’t like it as much as Hrit Bhai but I’ve resigned myself to being kissed and hugged. After all how long could I have resisted in this huggy-kissy family? To begin with I simply turned the other cheek, Gandhi ji style, when someone kissed me but now I’m actually learning to enjoy it. Also, with winter setting in there’s no better way to keep warm than a cosy lap.

I became Thumbelina
One day (October 1, 06) while I was trying to pass those interminable between feed hours busily sucking my fist guess what I discovered???? – That a thumb is much more fun. Yes I’ve learnt to suck my thumb. And did you know that toes are just as great?
But it seems the entire world is set against me. No matter how surreptitiously I try to take my thumb to my mouth someone or the other is sure to notice. Mama actually whacks me hard on my hand. How anyone can do that to a cute kid like me is beyond my comprehension. I’ve heard that in the US kids can sue their parents for hitting them. I’m seriously considering migration….
Nani and nana are gentler. Nana simply says ‘No N No’ while nani just pretends to smack my hand!!! Now I have to wear mittens and socks all the while and it’s just not the same. Bhai doesn’t mind it though and happily laps up his mittens but I’m more of a connoisseur I guess.

Turning over a new leaf
On October 13 I turned over onto my stomach for the very first time. Lying on my back was really getting tiresome. This is so much fun. What’s better it keeps everyone on their toes, which means I always have someone or the other by my side.

Trying to move
Now that I’m turning over easily I can’t wait to move around. The other day I got on my knees and tried to propel myself forward by my head but just couldn’t manage it. Anyway ‘try try try till you succeed – that’s my mantra.’

Parting thought
Why does everyone assume we kids like everything sweet? From our milk to ALL our medicines – Lord! Am I sick of sweet stuff!!!

Meet the Babies

Hi there, I’m Baby 1

Baby 1, that’s what the people at the hospital called me. I arrived in this world three months back. My entry was rather dramatic. I was born with a condition that doctors term acute respiratory distress syndrome. In layman’s language that means my lungs weren’t developed fully and I had trouble breathing. So from the OT after a quick kiss from ma and papa I was whisked away straight to the NICU where I spent two tough weeks. I felt sorry for papa who slept on those terribly uncomfortable benches outside the NICU.

 

Bua, Masi and Nani ma too dropped in regularly. They all looked really worried, specially Nani, which made me feel that things must have been serious then. But thanks to some wonderful doctors, nurses and maushis at the hospital I made great progress. And now that’s all a thing of the past. I’m fit and fine (‘Touchwood’, mama would have added!).

What I look like
Well for starters, my twin and I look quite different. When Nani ma saw me for the first time she said I looked ‘such a boy’ which is sort of like stating the obvious.

Moving on I’m a good looking chap, getting chubbier by the day. Nani ma says I have no neck at all. And I say that’s awfully rude, but if there’s one thing I know already, it’s that elders get away with a lot. And my neck is right there under my chins! Anyway modesty apart, despite my broad manly shoulders, I get to hear the word ‘cute’ a lot.

I have a head full of hair which masi loves to style. I quite hated the center parting she made for me (too girlie, I thought) but the punk hairdo was cook! Mama always does the boring old-fashioned side parting. What’s worse I have to put this kala tika! I mean hullo! what century are we in for God’s sake!

But who’s asking me? And if they did, I’d say no to those perpetual blue clothes and blue bottles and blue nappies I keep getting as gifts. Why should only girls get the pretty pinks? I’m a metrosexual guy folks. I deserve some pinks and reds too!

Low maintenance guy
That’s right. I am a low-maintenance guy. I’m happy as long as my tummy is full and my nappy is dry. I protest only when I’m denied any of this. I try to make do still, by sucking my fist or whatever else is available including my shirt collar.

Me and my bottle
The most important thing in my life is my bottle of milk and Mama says the first words I’ll say will be ‘dudhu’. I get annoyed when I’m hungry and I don’t get my bottle just because people think I should be fed only ‘on time’ in the name of discipline. Doctors say kids should be fed ‘on demand’, right? But people here think they know better. One rather nasty doctor even said I was overfed, thankfully no one took him seriously!

My favourite hour..….
…is early morning. I sit comfortably on Nanu’s cushy lap while he reads the newspaper. He talks to me all the while and has even learnt to change my nappy!

Smiley cuddly baby
I smile a lot and that has won me many fans specially Nanu. Masi has even discovered a dimple on my right cheek and when I give a half smile Mama says I look like Shah Rukh Khan! I love to cuddle too. And all one has to do to earn a smile is hold me close or tickle my neck.

Hi! I’m Baby2

I’m almost three months old too. Though I arrived a minute after Bhai, I beat him when it came to getting to Mama as he had to stay in the ICU for some time. He was terribly ill so I had full responsibility of keeping everyone cheerful. I think I did a pretty good job. Even though I say it myself, I’m quite a sunshine baby.

What I look like
Like Bhai said, we are quite dissimilar. He might be proud of his broad shoulders but, personally, I prefer my petite frame. 
I don’t know why he goes on and on about his thick hair. Doesn’t he know the bald look is cool these days? And with a bone structure as fine as mine who needs hair? I’ve nice long fingers and nails too and Nani ma says I’ll be an artist.

High maintenance girl
Why shouldn’t I be? What’s a girl without a few nakhras? I don’t down bottles of milk like Bhai but my ounce or two should be ready on time or I make sure everyone knows I’m hungry. Believe me, I’m blessed with a very powerful pair of lungs! And no one dares to push down more than what I want too, either. I’m famous for shooting out mouthfuls! You should see the look on people’s faces when I do that. Hee! Hee!

Keep distance!
That’s right, I don’t like to be held all the while. I mean how much can one cuddle? There are times when I’m happiest left on my own. Frankly, I like my space. But Mama says when I‘m asleep I love to snuggle up close.

My smile
I have a cute smile too and mama forgets all my feeding nakhras when I give her a toothless gummy grin. She calls me Popali aunty.

People’s person
Yes, I’m one gregarious girl. I love being around people and they love it too. I seem to invite conversation. Right from Bua Nani to Bade Nanu, Dadi and V Bhai – everyone just loves to chat with me. In fact once I winked at Bade Nanu (or so he cliams) and since then we’re great friend.

Girl of many names
Everyone has a different name for me. Nani ma has transferred all Masi’s endearments to me. I love it when she calls me Chhota and Manu but I’m not sure Masi’s too pleased sharing her names. Others like to dwell on my so-called fussy nature and have given me all kinds of impolite epithets which I shall not deign to mention here. Well so I’m a tad finicky — just get over it guys!!!

Curiosity’s good for the cat
At least that’s what I think. Nani ma calls me a ‘restless creature’. I just love to look around. Everything is so new and so very fascinating. I can do a left-right-left with my head for ages. Nanu says I’m watching an imaginary tennis match!
I kick around all the while. I can’t wait to start walking. Gosh, am I sick of lying down all the while! I’ve already started rotating on the bed but that’s just not enough.

Nani ma’s gal
She might deny it but I know I’m her favourite and I can’t understand why anyone should grudge that. Bhai is nanu’s favourite, isn’t he?

Edited to add: You’ll get to know us better over the years as H and N.

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