Kyra - 10th Month

Dearest Kyra,

Oh my little love! You are growing too fast. It seems just like yesterday we held you for the first time. Each month you learn something new and however small it is, it just amazes us. Sometimes we do get frustrated and tired when you would not sleep/eat but mostly, we feel blessed to witness wonders of parenthood.

You started moving around. You were not crawling but by using an elbow and both the feet, you started reaching almost everywhere. You would not need somebody's presence to go inside a different room. You were able to entertain yourself. Bathroom, corner beside the bed, laundry room and pantry became your favorite areas. Just the noise of opening/closing door of these rooms was enough to draw your attention. Even though you could not see the source of noise, you could easily identify it. 

In between, you would lie on your side to take rest. This was just amazing. 

You would love seeing me cleaning the floors. Whenever you would see broom, you would just run to grab it.

Your cute smile became even cuter with two little lower teeth. Still we gave you 2nd stage/pureed food. You would simply throw up when we would give you textured food. But we started giving you Roti with Veggies and Rice with Dal instead of cereal.

You could very clearly speak 'mmmm', 'dddd', 'bbbbb', 'vvvvvvvv', 'nnnn' alphabets. In fact, when you were in a very good or bad mood, you would come to me saying 'mmmm'.

Your swing of moods became easier to identify. Or I should say you started communicated in a smarter way. Whenever you would be hungry or sleepy, you would find me and sit holding my feet. You loved our shoes/flip flops so we had to hide them from you.

We joined Germantown's Moms Club. There were about 35 stay home moms in this group. We went to their meeting/playdate couple of times. They were mostly Americans but you enjoyed company of other kids. And more importantly, you were started getting used to with new places and faces. I also grew more confident in our outings. I took you to the park for the first time. They had baby swings. I was scared whether or not I should put you there, but you thoroughly enjoyed it. 

We also went to restaurants, baby showers and birthday parties. If I could follow your feeding and nap time, you would be just fine. You loved going out so much that when you would wake up in the morning, you would sit near balcony door and bang your hands on it. So when weather was not favorable to step out, we started taking you the play area in nearby mall.

We went to New Jersey, your second trip. Be it rest area or Aayan's home, you were amazingly comfortable except 'drinking milk part'. Actually, you were more than comfortable that you bullied him in his own home. Although, you fell sick after returning home. Maybe it was restaurant food I had and you got stomach flu.

We put our big teddy on the floor. I would put you between its legs with toys around and you would not stop laughing. Another soft toy, which was a dog and we started calling it Tommy also became your best buddy.

We had a big collection of balls ranging in different sizes and colors. You learnt to throw and bang the ball on the floor. 

We bought hair pins in several styles and colors. You looked so pretty in that different hair do.

Your 10th month birthday coincided with Mother's Day, our very first :). We went to a mall and then to a restaurant. Unfortunately, you got cranky and we had to get the food packed and bring it home. Hopefully next mother's day has something better to offer :)

See ya next month!!

Kyra - 9th Month

Dear Kyra,

This entire month was all about new adventures. Be it with food or outing :). 

We introduced several new items in your diet like Crushed Poha mixed with Milk, Raab, Bhaidku etc. 

This entire month we took you out each and every single weekend. You attended Siya's birthday and also went to Kite Festival, yes, your very first trip to Washington DC. We also took you to see Cherry Blossom. We concluded that you loved going out. You behaved very nicely when outside but all problems started after reaching home. How much I love to go out with you, just the thought of it gives me chills :)

You started sleeping less and less day by day. I would not mind if you just play and entertain yourself. But soon you would get cranky and would not cooperate with our efforts to put you to sleep. You would reach at a point where you were severely sleepy and hungry and confused about what to do first. It became sort of a mission to handle you when we missed your feeding or sleeping schedule by several minutes.

You were sick for couple of days, down with cough and fever. For two days, we gave you Advil and that acted like energy booster! Normally, you would go to bed around 10 PM but after taking Advil, you were wide awake past midnight. We took you to the doctor and there you were just playing and smiling. Your weight was perfectly on track so doctor would not listen to me for complains regarding eating and sleeping!

We bought a new laptop toy for you which became your latest crush. We had bought it a while ago but were saving it for a rainy day. It plays Numbers, ABC and some other songs both in English and Spanish. But you would always select an option for Spanish and at the end of the days, our ears were ringing with 'Hola Hola'. Also, 'ABC' became your favorite song and whenever I would sing it to you, you would burst into laugh.

I had to take you to MVA office for my license renewal. Thought it was matter of just couple of hours at the most, I literally carried a bag with your food and toys. 

Warm weather allowed us to take you to the park on regular basis. Whenever daddy would be home early, we would go to play area in our community. You just loved seeing other kids playing.

You became more and more possessive about me and daddy. You would not let me talk to anybody over the phone unless phone is in your hand. Sometimes even daddy was not allowed to interrupt when I was singing to you or feeding you.

The two most important milestone of this month are 1) You would willingly sit. I would put  you on a soft surface with no clutter around so even if you fell, it wouldn't hurt you.  Slowly, I started giving you bath in sitting position 2) You started moving by jumping like a  frog. When you did so for the first time, I was able to capture it. Even after watching the video few times, I was not able to figure out how exactly you did it.

You have been growing very fast. Can't believe in another 3 months you would turn one!

See you next month!

Kyra - 8th Month

Dearest Kyra,

This month went by pretty fast. Everyday we learnt something new about your routine/behavior. And by the time our intelligence network analyzed and understood it, it already got changed :).

We celebrated our first Valentine's Day and Daddy's birthday with you. Arpit Kaka and Tulsi kaki visited from NJ and you had great time with your little buddy Aayan. Arpit Kaka showed some tips and tricks about our new SLR camera and daddy was able to take your best close-up photo so far.

You stopped sleeping through night. You would wake up more than 2-3 times with sudden discomfort and till date we have not been able to find the reason behind it. Sadly, you would not sleep through the day either and that would affect you eating pattern. Result? More incidents of me getting mad at you and more spit ups. 

You started making various sounds as if you were ready to talk but could not find words. You became expert at sounds like blowing candles, clicking tongue, Jaa Jaaa, Naaa naaa, Daaa Daaa, Ti Ti Taa Taa. And you loved clapping with daddy. We had several videos that we shared with both the families. And they were amazed to see how fast you were growing up.

You were already obsessed with phone. But now you started liking laptop and TV remote as well.

This entire month was all about experimenting with your food. Not only about introducing new food but also about steadily increasing the quantity. You loved solid food far more than milk.

We celebrated Women's Day with you. Daddy treated us at an Italian Restaurant. This turned out quite adventurous as I had to feed you there. Of course, I ended up singing 'Ek Biladi Jadi' and 'Mara Prabhu Ji Nana' :P

We took you to the Annual Cricket Party of Ferocious11, first of a kind for you. We all were in a formal black and white attire. We gave a trophy to daddy and we had our best family pic so far.

You had this toy where you would put colorful rings on a stick. You were far more interested in stick than the rings. You would use ring as 'Gada'. So daddy gave you this new name 'Chhota Bheem'. You would look at us when you hear 'Bheemu'. And then when daddy would say 'Shant Gadadhari Bheem, Shant', you would smile at him.

Kyra - 7th Month

Dear Kyra,

At beginning of new month, we hope for better sleeping and eating pattern. But you always seem to beat your own record :). You caught cold in the beginning and you would not sleep at night. Both daddy and I were miserable and tired. Yes, we do get tired, irritated and frustrated at times but that million dollar smile makes us forget everything.

We started using high chair (First plastic extension and then borrowed from Kaka-Kaki) for your lunch and dinner sessions. You were not very comfortable as there was not much room for movements. But you would get used to it. As you could sit upright there were decreased incidents of spit ups.

As much as you hated milk, you loved solid foods. I would give you rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with lentil water and oatmeal mixed with vegetable (Tomato, carrot, broccoli, Doodhi, Cauliflower, avocado, sweet potato) juice/pulp for lunch and dinner.

You loved shaking your head and moving rest of the body in rhythm. We used to call it 'Dola Dola Dance'. It would be very difficult to hold you in upright position.

As soon as you would see us after sometime, you would raise your hands and start kicking. You would want to touch our faces. Initially you would caress and then start slapping!!

Due to your vigorous movements it had become very difficult to dress you or change diaper. We had to keep you busy by talking and making funny faces. Also, as you started rolling over on both sides, we always had to keep an eye on you. 

We took you to the mall for shoe shopping, first time ever. Daddy and I have been here for nine and six years respectively and yet we never owned snow boots. Also none of use bought 3 pairs of shoes in single shopping trip!

Our reading sessions became frequent and regular. You would be more interested in sound made by pages than what I am talking! We bought a musical book for you with nursery rhymes that you would enjoy on your own.

You also got attached to colorful blocks. You would usually pick blue and orange color and start biting or licking.

We took you to a friend's place for Pongal Pooja. They also let you participate along with their son and you enjoyed it more than  he did. You kind of bullied him in his own house!

Once we took you to visit friends and relatives for an entire day. I was so worried that you would not eat/sleep. But thankfully you behaved like a very good girl :) How cute you looked in skirt and baby-legs.

And this is your 7th month birthday photo taken right after shower. You wanted to eat and sleep, but I insisted on photo first as I was worried that you might spoil your dress. Yes, we dressed you in denim first time ever. You were so angry during this photo session that we named you 'Maa Hunterwali' :)

Kyra - 6th Month

Dear Kyra,

What a horrific start of the new month! Mom had already warned me about this. She had said that છઠ્ઠો મહિનો means છટકેલ! And that's what happened. Not a day had gone by when you did not make fuss about food/sleep. And on top it, you had to spit at least once a day!

You started rolling over on your tummy and you loved it. Initially you had always preferred right side. But you started flipping over from left side only. This had become primary mode of ground transportation :)

You love sitting on daddy's shoulder. And we too love our sweet 'Gol-Matlu'!

You always seemed hungry and yet you would deny to milk. So I thought now time had come to offer you solid meal. After consulting doctor and my mom, I started giving rice cereal and Parle G Biscuit in milk. Once you grew comfortable, I offered fruits and vegetables juices as well. You loved fruits, vegetables and lentils in this order.

We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary with you. It was our first venture to take you to the restaurant. Both food and ambiance were horrible but you indeed enjoyed it as it was well lit and not at all crowded.

You celebrated your first Christmas. We took you to the park to see winter lights and you were just amazed. We also took you to different malls couple of times (malls which we never visited!). You loved these outings. We also started our little Christmas celebration. We bought some gifts for you and then had photo session for the same. We had white Christmas this year. Yes, you witnessed your first snow fall.

You love to see when we make funny faces. You also try to mimic our actions by blowing nose and sticking out your tongue.

You started recognizing your name very well. Whenever you hear Kyra, you would look in that direction and then smile.

You got your ears pierced and now you look very girly girly. My Little Beauty!

We had power outage for few hours and you enjoyed your first meal with help of torch.

I took you for 6th month physical examination and vaccination. Your weight was 16 lb and height was 26". Normally you would be cranky and fussy after vaccination. But his time it had opposite effect. That was the only day you were not cranky. You finished food within reasonable time and you slept well!

Kyra - 5th Month

Dear Kyra,

We always eagerly await your birthday hoping for better eating and sleeping pattern. Well, not much luck so far. Sometimes I think that I too am going in reverse direction, I have got baby blues NOW. Your routine has become so unpredictable that I get so tired doing nothing. I am scared when it is time to feed you. So far we have always talked about how you are growing or how we feel about you. But never got a chance to talk about things that have changed in my life. Important things are trivial now. 

I take shower at odd hours. Sink full of dirty dishes do not bother me anymore. I do laundry in morning but fold in the evening. I hardly talk to any of my friends. Even when we talk to families we talk only about you. Sometimes I crave for normal adult conversation. I am not able to experiment in the kitchen and hence write my blog. It has become so difficult to invite people or visit them. I hardly get time to sit and relax once you are up in the morning. I so much wish to spend quality time with daddy. Sometimes I think all mothers have some invisible source of energy :) But of course, when you smile at us, it makes us forget all pain and tiredness. 

You celebrated your first Diwali. Though last year we were in India I never found myself in festive mood. So this year I made a point that I follow traditions as much as possible. I made Rangoli (And you kept staring at it) and different kinds of snacks. Did extensive cleaning and bit decoration as well. Dressed up in traditional attire and so on. However you had your vaccination around the same time so could not go to the party or temple. We celebrated my first birthday with you. Of course, romantic dinner had been replaced by carry out food. But we had never enjoyed food like this before. This was my first restaurant food after you were born.

On Nov 17 we completed one year of 'Your Presence' in our life. Yes, this was the day doctor confirmed about my pregnancy.

You love staring at your hand, feet and dress all the time. If I am playing with you with a toy, you keep staring at me. As soon as you are alone you just keep watching yourself. So we have started calling you 'Roop Sundari'.

With little help now you can sit. Again you keep looking down at your dress.

We still have to wait for couple of months to give you solid food. You are growing just fine by consuming only breastmilk. Now you are wearing size 2 diapers and you already have outgrown 3-6 months size dresses. From Huggies Snugglers we changed to Huggies Snug n Dry.

You got sever dry skin problem called eczema. It got so worse that you could not sleep through the night and we took you immediately to the doctor's. They prescribed Hydrocortizone cream for you. Now we use special soap and lotion for you.

We took you to the mall for the first time. And you were all cheered up seeing Christmas decoration and lights. We also took you to birthday parties and at friends' place and you did not  give very hard time.

You celebrated your first Thanksgiving. For us Thanksgiving means a long weekend, Black Friday Shopping and inviting friends at home. Daddy went to Kohl's at midnight and waited for two long hours to buy dresses for you. We bought SLR camera to capture all  these memories. And first time in five months we got lucky to take your smiling picture. Your smile is so beautiful that sometimes when I look at you, I feel emotionally overwhelmed. I wish and I pray that you always keep smiling. We invited couple of families for dinner and you were a very good girl. One of them stayed overnight as well and both of us were quite comfortable.

We took you to New Jersey for the weekend, your first long trip. You did not take diaper change at rest area very well. You were bit fussy about having food on time but over all we had great time.

We took you to friend's anniversary party. Party was at restaurant's banquet hall but still officially it was your first visit to restaurant. You were so happy that you smiled at everyone and did not cry at all.

We took you to Claire's for ear piercing. Both daddy and I were little nervous about how you would take it. But you were brave little girl :) You look quite different and girly girly and of course even prettier with earrings.

You get curious about your surroundings and try to grab the stuff. Whenever we put you in bouncer, immediately you hold the toys hanging overhead.

You can comfortable flip sides. In fact, when I put you on your tummy you try to crawl as well. 

And I have saved the best for the last. You have started sleeping through night. Sometimes you wake up once or twice but again fall asleep immediately. I wish you conitnue sleeping like this :)

Kyra - 4th Month

They say after 3rd month baby's routine becomes more predictable. They are less cranky and it becomes easier to differentiate their cry for hunger or sleep or dirty diaper. I should add that parents become more patient, energetic and smart.Finally no more baby blues!

Dear Kyra,

What a splendid journey through first quarter :) You look so big and grown up now and of course, you are getting rounder day by day. You have been very active and smart from day one. But now you can make steady eye contact. You can turn your head in direction of our voice even though you can not see us.

When you are on your tummy you can flip back although just on one side.

You can maintain perfect balance in upright position. You love standing and walking on daddy's tummy.

You love seeing our faces. When I feed you or carry you over the shoulder, you tilt and position your head so we can face each other. You start scratching whatever comes in your hand. You literally hurt daddy by scratching his neck, arm and shoulder when he carries you.

You scream and giggle at top of your voice but never get tired! So we tease you that by the time you will start talking we will be deaf. But at the same time, you become very quiet when you hear any third person's voice. When we meet families online or over the phone, all their efforts to hear you are in vein.

At times you sound very stubborn. The other day we tried to feed you using a glass (You were giving very hard time taking milk through bottle). You got upset and did not talk/smile/eat/sleep for about an hour. During doctor's appointment, she put you on your tummy and you screamed at her like anything!

The most important achievement of this month is that I can recognize your sleepy mood. And then if I gently pat you or caress your hair, you fall asleep. I can actually put you to sleep. What a relief! So far it never happened. Even when you were feeling sleepy you would cry but never considered our efforts to help you :)

You sleep less and less during day time and wake up more often during night time. We are going in reverse direction :(. You do not like the taste of breast milk anymore and we are having very hard time feeding you.

During Navratri, we were doing Pooja everyday. You liked that except we had to sing looking right at you instead of at God :)

Our book reading/story telling sessions have become more frequent and you simply love them. If I talk to somebody else in middle of the session, you literally start crying. You even tried to hold the book and turn the pages.

We took you to Vraj Mandir for the first time. Except eating part, you enjoyed the trip.

Bye for now.