Wednesday, July 18, 2012

First Father's Day

This should have been posted a long time ago but somehow couldnt. Anyway, I wanted to make this day (17th June) very special for Anand and Megha and I told A that we will stay at home for the weekend and not go to cottage. He insisted we go the cottage and I didnt want to spoil the surprise for the Fathers Day. So i relented. Bah, what a bummer it was. It was raining all day and I couldnt take them out for a nice picnic I had planned. The day before we were too tired to go grocery shopping and so I couldnt even bake a cake. Megha gave her dad a beautiful card though. Since it was raining relentlessly, we did nothing but spend lots of time with Megha. Dad and daughter absolutely enjoyed that day in each others company. I think simple things bring so much joy that none of the material things match.

Below is a picture where D2 (dad and daughter) are just watching rain; Megha, cozy in her dad's lap.
Momma and Megha (M2)
I baked an Angel cake for Anand the day after, after coming home from cottage.

The Danger phase began!

When many people told me that infant days are the best days I always used to wonder how can that be..in the sense that, they needed constant attention when they are under 3  months and I could not leave Megha alone even for a second. How can that be better? Well, its better because if i put her down, she wouldnt roll away to the most dangerous places to be found at home!

Well, room full of toys will not do. She rolls away to the corners, under the tables, searches for dangerous things around as if its become her life's ambition! Now, I cannot take my eyes off her even for a minute. Specially if she is very quite, it means she is upto 'something'.




P.S: I remove her from those places immediately; dont worry.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Beans recipe for a six month old

Megha had her first taste of beans on 27June2012. She loved it! I am so glad. I didnt think she would like it; i tasted it and it was so bland. I didnt add any salt though since she seems to like it without any.
Since its been a few weeks now, I have learned that French beans make smoothest puree.

Recipe: 
Beans: 15-20
Water: 2 cups

Method: Wash and trim the ends of the beans and remove the fibers, if any. Boil in water until very tender. Puree on high speed in a blender and add water until the desired consistency.

Below is the picture of Megha as soon as I fed her the first spoon of beans.Love all her expressions :)
A few days later, after a few spoonful's of beans:


Friday, July 13, 2012

Our first ever conversation!

Well, Megha and I talk ALL the time with each other. But highly doubt if she was understanding me. On 10july2012, I changed my opinion. She very well understands exactly what everything goes on around her. How do I know? Here is how: Our bedrooms are in the upper level of our home. So, after waking up I take Megha downstairs and While walking down the stairs, I keep saying to, "Megha yebbdi cough pannom?" (how does Megha cough?), and answer, "kokku kokku kokku". She laughs when ever I do that. Anyway, on july10th, I was changing her and she coughed a little. As soon as she started, I said, "Megha yebbdi cough pannom?"...and both of us burst out laughing! I know, it's not really that funny when I actually say it out loud but it sure was when the actual thing happened. She knew why I was laughing and I know why she was laughing. I think this would surely qualify as one of our first "conversations".

Mango purée recipe for a 6 month old

Megha had her first taste of mango on 07July2012. To say that she liked the taste would be an understatement. I should say she LOOOOOVED it. In fact, she loved it so much that she was smacking her lips. with actual sounds. What a delight it was to watch her.
When I was young, we always had at least one mango tree in our back yard. This meant that every summer we had to have mangoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner too :)

Fact: Mangoes help regulate bowel movement and fight infection.

Recipe:
Peel a very ripe mango and cut the flesh into small chunks. Puree on high speed in a blender. Add little water for desired consistancy.

Here is Megha after her first taste of mango.



Wednesday, July 11, 2012

First trip to downtown!




Can you believe it that only today that we managed to go to our town's downtown area? Well, since we live in a "town" there is nothing much to see. Or so we thought. We were kinda bored walking the same streets everyday in front of our home, so we decided to check out something new.Main st below.

Below is a beautiful park which we never knew existed in our little town! I wish we found this when my mom was here. We didnt get a chance to go around the park a lot, but sometime very soon thats gonna happen!

Sweet potato recipe for 6 month old

Sweet potato recipe Yum yum yummy!! Megha loves this sweet potato! And why not, it's sweet and tasty after all :) this is the first baby foods which we introduced to Megha as its easy to digest.

Facts about sweet potato:
1. easy to digest
2. It also contains beta carotene which the body converts into vitamin A, which is important for vision, bone growth, reproduction and cell division.

When I first gave this to Megha, she was 5 months, 3 and half weeks going.

Below measurements yielded dinner for 3 days for Megha. You might have to adjust the quantity according to what your kid eats.

Method:
Sweet potato (organic, if available): 1 medium. Pressure cook this with water until its soft. I kept for 4 whistles. Cool it down and blend it fine in a mixer grinder. First Taste,

Initially I tried feeding mashed but she absolutely refused to eat. Of course not, she doesnt have teeth yet.
So from that day forward, I blend everything for her. Date first eaten: 13June2012

Megha as she is taking her first taste of sweet potato. She sooo loves this!



Friday, July 6, 2012

First Trip to the Cottage

We closed the cottage for the season after my parents left in Aug 2011. After that we have never been there until last month. Anand went a week before to make sure everything is in order for us to take Megha. With a little baby in hand, we have to be absolutely sure that all is safe.

After she finished her supper for the day (thursday) we set out; 17th May, 2012. That was the first longest journey Megha would be taking (3 hours). She pretty much slept through the trip there. When she did wake up at the cottage, it was a little difficult to put her back to sleep as she was a little confused looking at her surroundings. I made her bed in the guest room and she slept peacefully through out the night.

I think she was feeling a little cold or it's because of a little dust at the cottage, she started having a little nasal congestion from day 1 onwards but it wasn't bad. What did I know, that thing lasted for over a month before it went away! She is still on antibiotics for the same :(

The next day we took her out to the town (waitron) and people were so friendly the moment they looked at her. And why not, she showers everyone with her now famous smiles :)
We did end up buying the ride on lawn mover as we were spending waaaay too much to get the grass cut by others. I can see that she would want to sit in front of dad while he moves the lawn in the next couple of years (or less) :)

Of course nothing can deter us from our walks. We took her out for a long walk. She seemed to have liked the surroundings. Can you spot them both? Picture taken in the road in front of the cottage.

We had to pack all her medicines, cloths etc. it's like maintaining 2 homes at the same time.  Anand made breakfast, lunch and dinner!! Usually he cooks at the cottage. We did get to relax a LOT.  Since I has only brought a few toys, we played with Megha a lot to keep her company. She absolutely loved that!!
Below picture is taken at the park in Bedford Lake.

The trip back home was a nightmare. Anands car's A/C wasn't working and Megha was sooo upset because of that. Within 1 hour she started crying and kept on crying so much. She didn't really rest until we reached home after 3 hours. I am typing this from the cottage; yes we are back here again for a mini vacation :) I sure hope the journey back home isn't as bad as the last time :)

Thursday, July 5, 2012

6 Months!

6 months! It's unbelievable but Megha completed 6 months as of today! I wanted to post it on 15th of June itself but as we don't have network at the cottage (which is where we are as I am thing this), I have to wait until we get back home.  Some of the highlights in the past 6 months are:

1. She can roll over and can crawl back a little bit 
2. She can baby talk, she can respond when spoken to
3. Recognizes her name, recognizes me and her dad
4. Started eating solids!! Yippie!
5. Recognizes and calms down when she hears familiar rhymes/ songs. 
6. She pushes the doors when I ask her to (I still think its a fluke, but has been doing it every single time I ask her to!)

Celebrated:
Punyajanam
Annaprasanna 
Christmas 
Pongal 
Varsha parupu 
Holi 
Mothers day 
Fathers Day


Been to the doctors twice (excluding her monthly regular checkups); once to removed her neo-natal teeth on 6th week and once for her nasal congestion at 5.5 months.  Here are pictures from month 1 to 6 are below. What an amazing journey it has been.


Month One:
Month Two
Month Three
Month Four
Month Five
Month Six