Vani Aunty's visit

Hi Sidharth fan club,

My visit was a lot of fun. Sidharth is a lot more interactive than the
previous visit. He plays a Mallu version of peek-a-boo by pulling a
cushion over his face and then peeking out. He also bangs his hand on
a flat surface when someone chants "Khana Do Khana Do" something Anna
taught him. He smiles when you say "Sidharth Smile". Also I
discovered that when I say Sidharth Look Here - he looks at me.
He is mostly playing on his back with his feet in the air. He uses his
legs a lot, as much as his hands. In fact, his legs come in the way
when he is trying to play with an object by touching all surfaces,
turning it around, or put it in his mouth. He can lift a two pound box
of toys in his legs. He is a lefty - he extends his left hand more
easily than the right hand. He can crawl in reverse direction but has
not sense of direction or orientation. He keeps crawling back till he
hits an obstacle, then pauses and rests for a while and changes
direction... sometimes when he is on the floor trying to crawl toward
something, he whines after going a little bit for someone to come and
transport him. He is like Anna - doesn't like traveling, and he is in
his true element only when he is at home. He is happiest in the
mornings... and takes naps every 3-4 hours. Doesn't like to drink milk,
but eats solids okay. He struggles in a politely mischievous way (not
bratty) when you are trying to force the milk bottle into his mouth.
He had a bit of stranger anxiety, again in a somewhat polite and cute
way - but it lasted only for a few hours. He is generally peaceful, we
ate out on two occasions and he sat at the table on his high chair
playing with his toy for almost an hour or over. He can play with a
toy for 10-15 minutes before he gets bored and moves to the next one.
Sometimes he gets excited and tries to grab 2-3 toys, and alternates
them into his mouth -which is his main form of playing. He can open a
close a book with his hands and does it repeatedly over and over
before finally making up his mind that it belongs in his mouth. He
seems to have a couple of simple mottos "If it doesn't taste good - it is
not good enough" and "Good friends have something chewable that they
are willing to share" It is very entertaining. He can crawl to his toy
bin and prop himself to stand up and look inside. He can also slide
down from the sofa and support himself standing by placing both hands
on the sofa. He can respond to "Stand" and using someone's support he
stands. He won't sit easily after that - I think he likes to stand.
When he is lying down and his parents or Mom walks by he gets very
excited and starts
laughing and banging his hands and feet on the floor because he thinks
he is going to be picked up. He also coughs to get people's attention
if he wants to be picked up. He sometimes coughs just like that -
apparently it is something he recently discovered.
I feel like he understands a lot more about what people are talking
around him than we realize. He thankfully has his Mom's temperament.
;)
It is a lot of fun to have a sibling's kid to play with, like
the morning I was leaving - he woke up, and then Mittu spent 20 minutes
changing him and freshening him up and came downstairs and handed to
me a very clean and nice smelling baby with a fresh outfit. He had
also gotten out of his initial morning quietness and was all set to
laugh and play with me. He is always nicely dressed and smells like
baby powder.
He has chubby feet, the soles of his feet and the top part. And
they are always warm. And Mittu combs his hair with a little brush,
but he rubs his head against your shoulder and messes it up within two
minutes. He also bit me on the shoulder once just for kicks -
apparently he does that a lot with Anna. He is friendlier than you
think and I am sure he will warm up to you within a couple of hours.
He wriggles a lot sometimes and smiles through it as if he knows how
hard it is to handle a wriggly baby. For me, it is hard to guess what
he wants when he is that way, sometimes he just wants to crawl,
sometimes he wants to stand, sometimes he is just restless and tired
and wants to sleep. One time when Anna was trying to feed him milk and
he didn't want any, he tired Anna out so much with the constant
wriggling that Anna literally fell asleep on the sofa with exhaustion
with a baby in one arm and his milk bottle in the other. He looks the
cutest when he is sitting up hunched over like an old man... like
gravity is keeping him that way due to the weight of his head (I know
a lot about head weights since I have been going for physical therapy
for my neck) and if he leans back he will plop backwards - hence you
always have to keep a pillow behind him.
He gets distracted when people are around and Mittu is feeding him on
his high chair, he looks around her and tries to follow a person with
his eyes. He gets very excited when he sees Mittu
or Anna - he can definitely tell the difference between his parents
and other folks. Like Anna told me, the best way for a new person to
make friends with him is to pick him up when he is lying down and none
of the known near and dear ones are responding to his endearing looks
asking to be picked up. That might change by the time he is 1, but we
will find something. I will be on the flight with him and will
definitely talk to him about meeting his aunts at
the airport.
He looked a bit sad when we were leaving for the airport, but that
could have been anything from "oh my intuition was right about this
stranger - she is driving off with my nanamma" to "where's daddy going
without me" to "oh my cool aunt is going back to Seattle" I just have
a glimmer of hope that he will remember me next time I see him. I have
been missing him so much ever since I left.


-Vani