Friday, 29 June, 2018

New day. New challenges. New avenues for fun.

Time: 11:13

The sweet, little girl AKA Avani woke up suddenly around 10:15 am when Mumma was still getting ready for office. Attempts to bring slumber back bore no fruit and Avani fed with Mumma - her favourite way. :) Then Papa and Mumma had breakfast while Avani nibbled on the strap of her booster chair. Mumma said bye-bye to Avani at 10:30. Her heart raced a little seeing Mumma go but she was stoic enough to not cry out loud. Papa tried every bit to cheer her up since she seemed a tad upset - look-at-Avani-in-the-mirror didn’t bring bring about the pervading smile.

Papa asked Lakshmi to clean the strap of the booster chair since it seemed dirty and is Avani’s third most favourite thing to bite into after wires and threads/ropes. The dining area had its curtain drawn shut and Avani was on the floor crawling about. As soon as Papa drew the curtain to let the brilliant sunlight in, Avani started for the balcony like a moth to a flame. She reached the door threshold and nibbled on the doormat - thankfully cleaned yesterday - but it was removed quickly from her. Avani crawled into the last room today and found the box of booster chair under the bedside table. She played at that spot for a long time - banging her hands on the metal frame - efforts to divert her attention failed.

Time: 11:43

Avani fed with her bottle at 11:10 - excited at first. The excitement waned as her tummy filled up. She had fed with Mumma just an hour back. Papa’s mock rocket sounds fell on deaf ears as Avani turned the bottle away leaving ~10 ml of her 70 ml portion. Papa was quick to capitalize on the sleepy-baby eyes that Avani bore now. He whisked her into the bedroom at 11:20 where the jukebox today had Sar jo tera chakraye, Aaj unse pehli and Dheere se jana khatiyan mein. For the next fifteen mins, Avani baby rocked back and forth, back and forth gently in Papa’s lap - stretching and yawning, her eyes droopy while the AC whirred in the dark and pleasant room - as sleepy dust gathered around to take her to the land of dreams. And Papa? He tucked her in between pillows and her tiny blanket and sat nearby on the floor typing.

Time: 14:10

Papa was in the washroom when Avani woke up around 12:40 pm. Seated just outside the kitchen in Lakshmi’s lap, she started crying when she saw Papa walk out the bathroom door. Papa carried her around the house and she was back to her usual self. Around 1 pm, it was oil massage time. Avani hadn’t pooped till now and she seemed she might, so her diaper was kept on during her massage. That went pretty well with Avani playing about with her teether and falling on her face or sides a few times on the floor bed. The bath water was ready. Today, Lakshmi bathed Avani in the bathtub while Avani tried to stand up many times in the water - not the safest position on a slippery tub. She was coaxed to sit back to avoid the safety hazard and the strain on her shoulder from helping her balance while standing dubiously. Bath time was fun - Avani splashed around in the water making big drops jump onto Lakshmi! She was soaped and shampooed and dried by 13:25 but didn’t cry at all - good girl! :)

Her milk bottle had to be readied since she would be hungry already. She played along with Papa while Lakshmi attended to the milk. Around 13:40, she had finished ~80 ml of her milk over 3-4 sessions sitting in Lakshmi’s lap. In five mins, she seemed to get cranky even though she had woken up just an hour back. Papa took her into the bedroom to help her sleep. It was not exactly easy this time. After listening to two songs (Kehna hai and Mere saamne wali kidhki), she was halfway to sleep but kept rubbing her eyes trying. Avani didn’t revolt to sleeping but she needed more help. Papa found a winner in Do labzon ki hai… Avani yawned with the second line of the song and seemed to dive deep into slumber. Papa dished out the lyrics with aplomb and Avani seemed to be asleep. This is where it went wrong. Two failed attempts of tucking her into bed later, Papa hugged Avani tight and rocked her gently while slowly breathing kisse purane yaadein puraani.. Ya hai mohabbat… ya hai kahaani... And Avani was now fully asleep tucked between her pillows and her orange blanket at 1410. La la la laaa lala la la lala la…

Time: 16:50

Avani woke up at 1520 while Papa was finishing lunch and watching Black Mirror Episode 2. It was Avani’s lunch time also. Wasting no time, she was strapped to her booster chair complete with her bib and ready to eat. Today’s lunch was khichdi which contained beetroot. At first, Papa thought Lakshmi had put red chilli powder in the meal owing to habit! Avani started with gusto and soon the floor and chair were strewn with drops of khichdi and Avani’s face and the dish were smeared with it. For twenty minutes, she played with dollops of khichdi wasting most and eating some - a pleasure to watch this self-eater! She also quickly did a video call with Dada who marveled at this little champ. But then, it seemed she was getting restless with all the semi solid food on her face, nose, around the eyes and inside the ears :D. Irritatedly, she started rubbing her nose just like she does her eyes when sleepy. Papa sprang into action forcing khichdi out of her nose and helped Lakshmi clean her up. Avani got a quick change of clothes and the party shifted to the floor bed at 4 pm.

Avani has a newfound love for her massage oil bottle - a tiny Borges bottle. Today she licked its lid like there’s no tomorrow - a continuation from yesterday evening where she had literally risked it all to retrieve it from a shelf. Today, yet again, she was hanging upside down from a floor cushion while enjoying the metallic delight - she’s really got a palette for it. :P (Papa decided against stopping it as long as it’s a clean surface. As it is the most a baby hears is “No, baby. Don’t do that.”). After that she moved to Google Home whose surface she likes to scratch with her tiny fingers and whose wires she bites with her no-teeth gums, serenity on her face. Avani moved from the device to the aluminum grooves in the slide-path for the sliding door. She likes to dig dirt from there. Sometimes she picks something up (pincer grip is in already!) and puts in her mouth. Hence Papa has to extra vigilant for Avani. Since he was falling asleep lying beside her in the slight warmth of the room, she was brought to near the balcony door where Papa tried a lot to teach her how to stack her trains. She’ll get it soon - Papa believes - If only wires could be stacked!

However, for the day, there was no poo poo in sight.

Avani’s trains about to leave the station