Tuesday, 10 July, 2018

Avani woke up around 0810 and woke Papa up too. She had been restless all night as Mumma later described - turning perpendicular to Papa-Mummy in the bed leaving the comforter behind. It was quite cold last night - at least by Hyderabad’s standards. Last few days of little sunshine and mostly damp weather with leaky clouds may be the reason.

Time: 12:20

Avani sat with Papa rather quietly - with a slightly stuffy nose in the morning - classic Mawandiya’s problem. Once she saw Mumma around again, she wanted to first feed. At around 9 am, Mumma declared Avani was ready to go back to sleep (her first morning nap was due). Papa was up to the challenge as always. She didn’t need walking and sleeping as she was already quite calm and ready to give in. Papa put her horizontal in his arms while he walked around the bedroom. Lakshmi was around 15 mins late today. She rang the bell, Mumma went out to answer the door and the cute baby Avani was asleep in 2-3 mins. Now it was time to transport her to the floor bed in the study. No sooner had Papa opened the bedroom slightly than Avani woke up from the light streaming in through the balcony door. Papa waited for another 5 mins singing to little Avani and she fell back asleep. Once both reached the floor bed, Papa couldn’t keep her down since the pressure cooker was going off as if there was no tomorrow and the light from the balcony door was too much. Once she was asleep, Papa put 2 drops of Soliwax in her right ear (punctuated by a minute of waiting). When he tried turning her head to expose her left ear, Avani woke up irritated. Papa tried soothing Avani down but she cried out loudly. Mumma came her to rescue and fed her gently and put two drops more of Soliwax in her left ear.

Time: 13:30

Avani slept till 10:25 and said bye to Mumma cheerfully playing with Papa. Mumma left around 10:45 am. After this, she played with Lakshmi a little till 11:10 when it was dudu time. Papa explained to Lakshmi the right way to warm refrigerated human milk. Lakshmi doesn’t understand lukewarm and chooses not to. Either way, what should have taken 20 mins, slow swirling and warming, took 4 mins and the milk was ready for Avani at 11:15. Avani almost gulped it down (50 ml). Knowing fully well, that the next portion (80 ml) will remain unused for awhile, Papa had no choice but to ask for that to be warmed as well. Even that was ready in 5 mins for Avani who turned it down after one sip.

Now it was time to get an oil massage. Avani got a longer massage today for around 10 mins. Before the massage, she wanted to lick the oil bottle - he one true love and Papa set up and clicked this picture (below) while the little baby enjoyed herself into oblivion. Once the massage was done, Avani went for a bath (soap and shampoo today around 12 noon). She did standing and feeding with Papa from the purple bottle after she was dressed (half of her 80 ml was now over).

When the oil bottle is your one true love, all other toys may but wait.

Avani seemed ready to sleep at 12:20 and Papa asked Lakshmi to try. By 12:30, it seemed Lakshmi wasn’t in the running for gold. So Papa took over - walking and sleeping ensued. Avani seemed alright at first but she started feeling a little restless in a short time. Maybe the loosened wax in her ears was hurting her. Anyway, once Papa got her to the horizontal position, she seemed to fall straight into the sleepy mode. While bending to sit with asleep baby in his arms, maybe he moved too quickly or his leg gave way under his overweight frame, the vibration passed to his right arm where the baby’s head rested. Avani woke up with a loud shriek and Lakshmi came running. She cried and cried as if she had bumped her head. Papa surmised that the jolt from him and the wax made the small baby’s head ache. Papa asked Lakshmi to leave and tried to console the little baby. She came to her sleepy self soon. He took her to the bedroom and she was asleep in just five mins. Papa settled her down into the floor bed tucked under the orange blanket. He then put 2 drops of Soliwax in her left ear at 1304; waited for 5 mins and did the same for the right ear. It’s 14:00 now and the baby is lost in the land of dreams with Lakshmi sitting by her side and Papa is at the dining table hammering his keyboard.

Time: 11 Jul, 10:23

Baby finally woke up at 14:30. She finished off her second bottle of milk (last bit of 80 ml) in quick time. It was lunch time at 1510 and Avani got ready for Khichdi (with carrots, beans and tomatoes). She had a little bit, fed some to her seat, some to her face with no partiality to her cheeks, nose or eyes, a lot more to the floor around her and her raincoat of a bib. :)

She was a little sad while eating and cried after 20 odd mins. She was cleaned up and played around in her usual place around the dining table. Finally around 4 pm, she had her third bottle of milk (80 ml) and it seemed she would now sleep. Papa played with her till Lakshmi finished her lunch. Then Lakshmi walked her around while Papa had his lunch and watched Sacred Games on Netflix.

Finally at 16:40, Papa decided to try to help Avani to sleep when Avani revolted to the very idea with loud cries. Papa tried every trick to put her to sleep but she didn’t budge. Finally Papa called Mumma who was on her way to the cab. Once Mumma came, Avani greeted her in the corridor. She slept off after feeding with Mumma around 1745.