Reaching out!

Yesterday for the very first time Megha reached out to me! We were at Aandal Mami's home and she was playing on her lap. Suddenly Megha realized that I was right beside her and she reached out to me! The first time I thought it was just fluke but she did it again. And then Again! Oh baby!

Oh Momma! Stop clicking!

I just cannot help but to click every move of Megha's. Poor baby, I think she got frustrated and here she is hiding behind her favourite (and her first) book. Taken on 15th April.

First trip to Babies R Us

For the past few days Megha was not enjoying her playmat. Of course she doesnt; she has been playing with the same thing for the past 3 months now. Since 2 days whenever I keep her down there she wants me to pick her up again. She clearly was asking for something new which she hasnt seen before. Below is a picture of her in the playmat; maybe a month old then.

So we decided that its about time we buy her a new activity centre. Walmart didnt have anything I wanted and so, Megha, my mom and I drove down to Babies R Us. Anand and I usually avoid going there because you just cannot stop spending money once you look at all the cute stuff there! It was snowing when we went there and thankfully not many kids were around. Below is a picture of her in the store; couldnt help but to click one...its her first time there after all. 

Here is the picture of Megha playing in one of the exercise gyms. She LOVED the store. No wonder, it indeed was lovely.

She literally shouted in delight when I placed here there; so I had to get this Evenflow excerSaucer for her. It was very heavy and it took all the space in the boot of my car. Assembling that thing together was a nightmare. This is why we have to leave a few things for husband to take care of. I couldnt screw in snugly and had to call the manifacturer and order new screws. After everything the lady on the phone says that i have to screw in very tightly because there are no threads on the tray and thats why I am finding it difficult to screw in. Why couldnt she say this sooner?! She also said that they receive many calls from 'women' regarding the same problem. She clearly meant only women...not men! 

Oh well. After 3 hours and 4 coffees later, Megha's ExcerSaucer was ready for her to play! Oh, did I mention, it needs 9 AAA batteries, which they conveniently didnt mention on the box. But its all completely worth it the moment I saw the look on Megha's face. She LOVED it! So, I love it :) Here is a picture after assembly, in front of our fire place. She couldnt touch her toes down, so, kept some support.

Another one :)

At a blink!

As part of our south Indian culture, we keep a pottu (bindi) for Megha made with sandal wood paste. I mix it with few drops of water and keep it on her forehead. It usually takes a few seconds to dry, so I have to carefully hold Megha's hands so that she doesnt wipe it out. 2 days ago, I just got distracted for a couple of seconds before it completely dried and this is the result! LOL! She really does have the, "I swear I didn't touch it Momma" look isn't it?

On a good day, here is how she looks :) 

Censoring Newspapers

2 days ago I was reading news in NDTV about a baby girl named Afreen. This baby is about 3 months old but its so unfortunate that she took birth in the family that she did. Allegedly her father didn't want a baby girl and hence beat her up! She was brought to hospital and even had burn marks on her. She apparently had a cardiac arrest and died in Bangalore a few days ago.

After reading the news I felt so depressed. She would have been as old as Megha. I dont know why such an angel like Afreen has to go through what she went through. While my heart goes out for her, I am troubled by bad dreams since then. I constantly wake up in the night to check on Megha to see if she is doing ok. I just started putting her in the crib and the stress is immense. If I had known that the news is about a tragic death of a little girl, I would not have read it.
I am seriously considering sending a petition to NDTV to include something like: RDA (reader discretion advised) before they write a story. That will warn people that the subject matter contains some material which might be disturbing to a few. I know my request will not be accepted but its certainly worth a try.

Its not fair that Afreen left the world the way she did. Its not fair that I dont get a decent 30 min sleep because I keep thinking of Afreen!
Here is a picture of megha after she just woke up. How can anyone think about hurting babies?!
If anyone ever does any harm to her, I swear to God, its not going to be easy for them.

The Tamil Newyear!

Yesterday Megha celebrated her first Tamil New Year! She received wishes from her grabs parents, Atta, mama and pariamma. We couldn't take her to the temple but planning to do so tomorrow. Below is the beautiful wish from her grandma in Chennai. I was so touched by it! Waiting for the day when she can see And hold her.

"" hello kutti kutti ponnu happy
happy tamil puthandu vazthukkal, naliku enna dressu for you, 4 masam
mudiyudu, so nee romba chutti ponnu agiduvai.Pati koda enna kadha
sollaporai. jolliya enjoi pannu.neeum nanum seekirama pappom, love kutti
ponnu. pati.""

Blogging this so that Megha can read it (hopefully) when she grows up.

Megha and I also went to or very first Mom and Baby yoga session yesterday. This is the same lady I had been to for prenatal yoga when I was pregnant. When she held Megha I had expected that she might be curious about the new person holding but she seemed just fine. In fact she flashed a smile for our instructor! I am not if she remembered her from the days in-utero but she didn't fuss at all. Towards the end of the session though, there was this 6 month old kid who crawled towards her. Megha was in my instructors lap and before she could stop the 6 months old, he pulled Megha's hand. I think she was taken by surprise...she cried for a few mins. Soon after we left. Over all a great day!

Just for the record and since it's Megha's first Tamil New Year, I made the below snacks to mark the day.

Pulisaadam (rice with tamarind paste)
Keerai vada (patties made with spinach and lentils)
Poli (delicacy made with flour and jaggery)
Kheer (rice pudding with milk and sugar)
Samosas (deep fried snack made with flour and veggies)

A discovery!

The other day Megha and I were just playing on the bed and suddenly she discovered that she has hands! I think she was surprised at first looking at them and then she started playing. Baby is slowly starting to understand that she is a separate entity from me. Here is the picture when she first knew about her hands :)

Aw the bliss of innocence.

The Sleep Song

I don't know if every baby has a particular song for sleep time but Megha has one! Not surprisingly, when I sing the abcdefg rhyme, before the lapse of 5 mins she falls asleep!
Its so soothing...no wonder she falls asleep. Here she is, only 12 days old...

And the below is our song....