One month letter

Dear Peanut,

It feels like just yesterday when you landed in our arms, looking around with your wee eyes wondering who are these people and where in the world am I. And now, you are a month old! You are no longer a newborn (though newborn size is still a little big on you). It has been the quickest month of our lives.

Life has changed. How, you ask? The waking hours are spent with you. For you. Feeding, diaper changing, rocking you to sleep, bathing and dressing you up, playing with you, calming you when you are howling, is what we do these days, in a repeated fashion all day and night. Despite all the stress and sleeplessness, I really don't know what's invigorating about this whole mommy business. May be it's the gorgeous, toothless, all-gums, just-for-me smile that you flashed at me when I peered into your eyes. I am smitten.

You are a sleeping beauty during the day and some sort of a nocturnal bird as night falls. We take turns in walking and rocking you to sleep while you are busy fighting it by forcefully opening your eyelids, wailing and demanding to suckle. You fall asleep on my lap while suckling and when I try to switch you to the bed you are back up again. More walking and rocking follows. Even the drop of a pin is enough to wake you up. Sometimes I sing "Come little baby come to me...." in my most horrendous voice and yet, you seem to love it and listen with big eyes, eventually falling asleep. You are a music lover, no doubt.

Your first outing was to the temple. You hate being confined in the car seat and I hate to see you struggle once we strap you in. But once the car starts moving you are fast asleep, while I pray desperately that we don't get stopped by any red lights. I wish I could just have you on my lap or in a snugli through out the drive, but that's not allowed here. That just won't work in this country, cupcake. It will get better once you grow a little bigger. I baked a fruit cake for your first month birthday. We dolled you up in a cute pink onesie, matching booties and a headband. You looked so pretty. Everyone says you look like your Dad. Only I think it's not fair. Humph. But you look so sweet that I just don't care. You are my darling, whatever it be.

When we put you on a mat, you move your legs as if you're riding a bicycle and pack punches with your hands while gurgling, cooing and sometimes even grunting all the while. You have started grasping things with your hands. Usually, my necklace or your daddy's t-shirt. When I hold you close to my face, you stare at my face for a whole minute or so and look into my eyes while making a cute 'O' with your goldfish mouth. You can even hold up your head for a few seconds! Milestones galore.

It has been a month of love and laughter. Memorable times. And, we too are growing up with you!

Love,
Mamma.

Peanut Tales

More about Peanut...

Peanut loves the water. She never cries during her bath. Although she lets out tiny yelps and sometimes bawls loudly when we start taking her clothes off, she calms down instantly the moment we slowly dunk her in the warm water of her bath tub. May be she relates it to her once uterine home and the amniotic fluid she was floating in. She becomes quiet and seems to enjoy every minute of her bath time without even a whimper.

She hates the diaper changing time. Or to be precise, hates the cold wet wipes. The moment A takes her to the changing table and starts unbuttoning her sleeper, she starts screaming so loudly that I fear it might sometimes wake up the dead.

Her ears are so sharp (touch wood) that even the drop of a pin or the rustle of a blanket can cause her teeny tiny eyes to open and look around as if saying, "What was that? I am trying to sleep here!"  A and I only communicate in whispers. He calls my mobile these days as the sound of the land line ringing can wake up the sleepy head.

At 5 pm, we give her a bath, apply some baby oil on her, splash some powder, comb her soft hair with a brush, put fresh diaper on and doll her up in her onesie, after which she is all set to greet her tired dad as he trudges into the house, while a goo laden, tired mommy with sweat dribbling from her forehead longs to get into the shower.

Not even a month old and her wardrobe is getting bigger than mine. She is a proud owner of half a dozen sleepers, eight onesies, half a dozen dresses, a few hats, mitts and booties. Oh, and the hair accessories! Plus the playard and bouncer from her grandparents, tons of clothes from Then aunty, Disney princess bath tub from Pooja aunty and boat loads of blankets and clothes from A's friends.

When she is awake and not feeding, she wants to suckle all the time. Pacifier is avoided at all times except when she throws a crying fit during diaper change. She loves to snuggle into me and keep suckling until she nods off. She likes dad's belly much better than her crib ;-)

Her cheeks are getting juicier and A wants to put it between two slices of bread and wolf it down. Now, I have to keep an eye out!

Updates from the house of a bratty Peanut

On the 27th of June, A and I celebrated half a dozen years of being together. We woke up exhausted after a long night with a cranky Peanut, not even remembering that exactly six years ago we tied the knot on this day. In the pre-Peanut era, we would have been in Hawaii, watching the sunset and sipping a Mai Tai or sailing in the Puget Sound waters of Seattle, or having a five course extravagant dinner at some classy restaurant. This time around, we were attending to Her brattiness and were happy to do so. A vanilla cake with raspberry mousse filling and chocolate butter cream frosting was ordered from Central Market, bearing the lines "Happy Anniversary! Welcome Peanut!!" We gave Peanut her first bath after the umbilical cord stump fell off and dressed her up in a pretty flowery dress with a cute flower headband and cut the cake with her. Sometimes, it is the little things in life that matter most. We were creating memories for a lifetime.

Ever since A got back to work, taking care of Peanut during the day has been a real challenge. Once Peanut wakes up at around 6:45 am, I feed her and then bottle feed her, change her diaper and hand her over to her grandpa who then proceeds to compose songs instantaneously from the top of his mind and sings and  rocks her to sleep. Just when he is about to put her in her crib, she would wake up scowling. Grandpa would then rush to me asking for more milk to be fed. By the time the bottle is given to him, Peanut brings the roof down with her screams. A harried Grandma, who's busy in the kitchen would scramble up the stairs panting wondering what we were up to. The moment she takes Peanut from a relieved Grandpa, she (I mean Peanut, not Grandma) would turn into the sweetest pea on earth, making Grandma wonder what the hungama was all about.

To make things worse, the 4th of July fireworks has agitated Peanut no bounds. She has been cranky and crying. Putting her to sleep is so exhaustive, what with all the rocking, walking and patting!

Some things that have changed -

• A and I communicate in whispers to each other. In fact G & G have learnt to do the same.
• We tip toe into the room and root around for whatever we were looking for, in the dark.
• We take turns eating. Eating together while watching TV is a thing of the past. It is what only couples do.
• Movies? Haven't seen one in three weeks.

In the end, the joy I feel when I see my little baby shut her eyes tight and stick her lower lip out at me while sleeping, is priceless!

*Sigh, I finally get to finish this post after a week! *