Horrible sleeping habits

From the 5th day when I was entrusted with my baby.. got a discharge from the nursing home.. I have been an witness to a horrible sleeping habit.

Succumbed to sleep at a certain position at a certain place... but God knows where he will land up and how when he gets up. He turns and turns... this way and that way... over the pillow... over us. He is all over the bed making us squeeze to the edges.

Wont sleep the whole night in his crib as he bangs to the side bars whenever he moves which interrupts his sleep. We cant put away our blankets even in this heat as they serve as barricades on our bed when he sleeps. He had fallen out of bed four times .. twice at our residence and twice at his nanny's house.

Never slept through the night.. when breastfed he used get up at every two hours as day time. While feeding he would doze off but kept me awake for an hour or so each feeding. At about 3.00-4.00a.m he would insist to stay awake so that he could torture me further. After a lot of coaxing he would doze off after one hour... but only after ruining all my sleep.

Now when he is weaned, he still gets up at least once to have his only drink of the day.

He is an early riser. Never gave me the chance to enjoy the sweet morning sleep which I so savored.

So still lying at his mercy.

Thorough Observation

I talk less and observe more. Cant tell Om talks less but observes every single detail.

Incident 1:

Yesterday, when the water in his bottle was finished Kanak said to him :: "Water is finished.. Now you cant drink any more."

Om cant reply in words as yet but his actions say it all. He kept cool, led Kanak to the bedroom and showed her the the bottle where I stalk up more boiled water for later use.

So he must have noticed that I pour water from that bottle to his bottle at night when its content is exhausted.

**********************************************************************************
Incident 2:

Day before yesterday, Om urged Kanak towards the powder room to poop.

When asked whether he has finished his pooping he tilts his head to his right affirming it and points to the commode shower for washing.

After he is washed then he waits to see his poop flushed away.

This done he turns towards the basin as I always wash his hands with soap after using the pot.

**********************************************************************************
Incident 3:

One morning he had his slippers on. After sometime I took it off as he is yet not apt with it at home. As his slippers were taken off he carried the each slipper in each hand and went he off to put them in their position in the bedroom.

**********************************************************************************
Incident 4:

One morning the husband was doing his Pranayam (taught by Ramdev). As I had to go to the powder room and Om was still asleep I told the husband to do his Pranayam in the bedroom. When I came back I saw Om was already wide awake as he gets up when he doesnt get my smell and he was busy imitating his father doing "Anurom birom" that is inhaling from one nostril and exhaling from the other using his hand.

He copied the breathing actions correctly though his hand actions are yet to be refined.

**********************************************************************************

He never seems to miss any detail. Doesnt this prove he is my son?

I am dead

Kolkata is burning at 40 degree Celsius. I am burning with it...in this pregnancy which has added up 10 degrees more to my body heat... drenched with continuous sweat... the blazing sun is sipping up all the juice of my life.

Have to get up by 6.00 a.m. to prepare food for Om... whether I get some sleep at night or not is not an issue. Have to feed him his breakfast.. make his juice .. bathe him.. make him drink his juice... put back to his late morning nap.

Then run for office in this simmering heat..

Rain seems to be a far cry..

When I was pregnant with Om, the most of the period was spent in the winter and I didnt have to look after a child of 1yr 2 months, who was completely depended on me. Though I hardly got any pregnancy related problems this time like nausea, vomiting, etc. I am suffering from the heat and the weakness caused by that heat.

Perfect timing

I have always been proud of my apt time management. Om must have inherited that property from me. He is way away from getting to know to read the clock but something in him triggers off the actions at the right timing.

In his regular routine somehow around 4.00 - 5.00 a.m. he wriggles in his sleep which means that he wants his bottle of milk then. Though milk is his favourite he cannot digest lactose. So he has to be given "Zerolac" which is a substitute for lactose. In his half sleep he comes to me and embraces me from behind when I proceed to make his drink. He drinks down the milk in his sleep and gets up at about 5.00 - 6.00 a.m. in the morning. Good that he is an early riser. I hope this continues when his school begins.

I spend with him upto 6-30 a.m. after which I proceed to prepare his meals, boil his water, sterilize his bottles, etc. Obviously, he does not leave me alone for that. If no one is there to keep him away he assists me in the kitchen... takes down all the utensils... empties out all the potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger from their respective baskets and spread them out on the floor... Why?
b'cas he doesnot want me to have the trouble to get it from the basket. If his father is available he plays with him or rides his tricycle whimpering at the sight of me.

7.30-8.00 a.m.: he has his breakfast.. rice with butter and egg. sometimes cheese, bread with us on weekends. I would have liked him to have proper breakfast like bread butter, banana, milk, etc. But after his continuous stomach upset his doc prescribed him rice for all his meals. So here is Om having rice for his three meals like his Mom.

8.00-8.30 a.m.: I play with him and makes his juice. He sometimes goes out with his father or Tappu for car parking out of the garage.

8.30 a.m. I take my bath while his father keeps him busy.

After finishing my bath I prepare the tub for Om's bath with water. As Om sees me he comes running to help in putting out my washed clothes to dry. As I get his towel he gets out his tooth brush from the drawer by himself and starts brushing(not always in the right way though). I take off his clothes, get his fresh clothes on the bed, take his soap and bathing toys and head towards the powder room with Om following me. He finishes his bath by fifteen minutes. I take him to the bedroom for drying and get him on to his clothes. He knows its time for his juice which he loves like anything. He drinks his juice and dozes off to sleep after his thunderous morning session. By 9.00-10.00 a.m. his morning ritual ends. I finish off the rest of my jobs, have my breakfast and move on for my job.

He generally gets up around 12.00 p.m. and has his lunch. Then he starts his afternoon session... busy with his games and toys ... he has got lots of work on his hands each day... its pretty difficult to make him take his afternoon nap.

From 4.00-5.00 p.m. Om has his evening food.. that is banana, biscuits, puffed rice, etc.

He spends his time playing upto 6.00p.m. Then he realizes that it is almost time for his mom to arrive. He waits for me cooing "Mama" frequently from then till I arrive. As I get back he embraces me with a good hug as if he got all he wanted. I spend with him playing till 7.30-7.45 p.m. after which I start preparing for his dinner. He has dinner by 8.00 p.m. and mostly gets sleepy after the days ordeal.

Om freshens up and get ready for bed. But he does not succumbs to sleep immediately if not dead tired. Instead he wriggles from one side of the bed to the other over the pillows trying to take all the comfort of playing around with them. I continue to sing but dont force him to lie still. I give him his own space and time to finally doze off.

Being envious

Whenever I come across a post where it is mentioned that the blogger's mom is coming down to stay with them and to help them out during their post delivery stage, I become jealous. As mentioned in those posts that their mother travels miles to help their daughter out. Whereas me and mom stays in the same city, only 12 km apart, but I cant count on my mom to come over to my place during that period. It neither happened during Om's birth nor will it happen this time.


On both the sides our children are unfortunate in the case of grandparents. Om's paternal grand parents deceased when B was only 6 and 7 yrs old(within a yr) . The siblings helped themselves out from the tense situation. I lost my father when I was 18. So my mom is the only living grandparent of Om.

But even she is not well to give me a little support. She got blood sugar after the birth of my elder sister. So I was born in sugar hence my heavy weight at birth(9lb and 3 oz). And in due course she developed thyroid and high pressure. As a result she started suffering from frozen shoulder, arthritis, retinopathy in eyes, etc.. Last year just at the time of Om's Annaprasan(6 mth ritual) Mom lost her left eye with which she could view better than the right one. By an accident she fell on the floor and the left eye was smashed out with all its contents being emptied on the floor of the dinning room. She had a cataract operation on that eye several years ago and the stitch gave away at that sudden thrust. Not to mention the various trivial matters she suffers from. That was her physical part. Mentally she was completely dependant on my father for each and every respect. When my father died I tried to provide her all the mental and physical support I could.But now since the last year I am too busy with my pregnancy, motherhood and my job that I could hardly take care of her.

So her support is out question. After Om was brought home I had to handle situation myself and this time it wont be any exception. I remember the first night of Om at home. I was released on the 5th day and we were all alone with the baby after my sister left. That night Om wailed till 2.00a.m. after which he dozed off to sleep. We were at a fix... nobody to help.. nobody to look to... Docs at Kolkata will hardly bother to answer phones at that hour of the night. So we called up Rony at Ireland but he could hardly help without seeing the baby. At last when Om calmed down we were a bit relieved. The next morning we had to put him naked for the sun bath as he had jaundice when he was released. Didnt know what to have for our meals... my physic was not permitting at all. Ohhhhhhh what a time it was...

This time I will be much more organized as I have been through the situation once. I hope so...

Eventful Weekend

...for Om. It was all cloudy promising to pour down heavily. But maybe God understood that the weekend is the only time when I can take Om for entertainment.

On Saturday we took him to Oxford Junior store to get him some new books for near future as I am sure to loose my mobility soon.

He was as usual so excited and explored every niche of the shop without keeping any book or toy unturned. One of us had to keep him busy while the other searched for the appropriate book for him.

We got him an Alphabet and a Number book, a book for various body parts and another with activity. Though Om had more in mind.. that is the whole book store. But he had to be refrained.

After returning B went to explore the roof for the construction supervision and in the dark got hit by a pin which got deep into his feet through his shoe. So our fate for a few days was sealed. Though he did take a tetanus he didnt bothered for the painkiller. As a result the whole night he suffered pain, could not out his feet down.

On Sunday Om was up by 5.00 a.m. and started on his usual busy day. Didi, Tapanda, Buro, Rishika came to visit us in the afternoon, mainly to examine the hurt of B. Om enjoyed their company as Buro was carrying a deuce ball which is his favourite toy. Then we made our way for our evening stroll. We visited Big Bazaar which opened in our neighborhood this week. It was so crowded that I could not put down Om at all and had to carry him all the way. Got very tired in the way.

Later Bardi and her family came to visit us. Om was late for his dinner and very sleepy as he did not bother for his afternoon nap. Had a hard time feeding him dinner and was out to slumber land within seconds. They had dinner with us and left by 10.00p.m.

So the only job left for me was to put on Volini gel and get some sleep to get myself ready for next day, up and working.

So the only job left after that was to put volini gel and get some sleep to get myself ready for the next day, up and working.

A confession

During my first pregnancy I was alert for each and every difference that happened to me. I recorded everything and enjoyed and shared the information with my husband. Absolutely nothing missed my attention as it was my first baby that was going arrive.

Each and every movement within me was sure to fill me up with glee. I was welcome to my first child. Along with this I should mention that I got the time too to give attention to all these.

But now when I am due for my second child as are many of the blogging mommies I hardly get the time or opportunity to get note any difference in me. One of the reason behind it is that I have been exclusively breastfeeding and the proofs of my first pregnancy did not get the time to fade out. The age gap between my two kids will hardly 1yr 5 months. I got into my second pregnancy when Om was only seven months. And another reason is that my mind is bogged down with so many things to take care of that it could hardly accommodate the notings of the changes.

Many of who heard about the news stared at me in awe. They could hardly believe the news... got worried about Om that he wont be cared properly as I wont be in proper health. But I have not neglected Om till now except for the extreme stress periods which have been very few.

Instead I must admit that my second child got hardly any importance. All my attention is being occupied by my Om. Concerns of all was showered on Om.

In the process of taking care of Om I could hardly take care of myself which was very much needed for the my second child. When Om was due I restricted my diet to healthy food only ... taking great on the roads.. in transports... etc.

But this time it seems to be as if nothing will happen to my child. She will be alright in all conditions. Dont worry my second child, I will make it up to you after your birth. There wont be any difference between you two in my eyes. You are always welcome though I dont have the time to note down the changes in me due to your concept. B'cas i want you to be each others support all your life and make us parents proud and b'cas your father, whose wish I cant turn down, wanted you to be there beside Om.

An Afterthought

I started this blog keeping in mind that when my kids will grow up and will want to know about their childhood and the feelings of their parents then they may hop into this blog for reference.

But now my thought has changed. I think I have been blogging only for myself. Does it sounds selfish? May be. But when my kids will grow up will they have time to look back to the precious moments they gifted us in their childhood. I doubt. They will be too busy with themselves. Then we will be the idle ones longing for their company. And since we wont get their company we will try to glide by our past through this blog. We will try to get back this time when we could not provide proper time when they craved for our company. Then we may repent that we missed this valuable moments. But dear kids, believe me nothing is in our hands.... neither the situation now nor the situation you will be when you grow up. We just have to live the life we are destined to. I hope I could change this.. that is "be busy when your are busy and be free when you are free to spend the time with you".

I would love to have you around all the time.

Dont take it so fast....

.....Let us enjoy our childhood through yours.


While offering the evening ritual to God after returning from work I used to tell Om :"Cholo Sandhe debo". Sandhe means evening ritual. Since Om wont understand that I would rectify and say"thakur ke debo" as he is familiar with the word "thakur" which means GOD.

On last Sunday when I said "Sandhe" without using "Thakur" he understood it and headed towards the puja area.

On Monday after I returned from work and changed he ushered towards the puja area, putting his hand on his head, a posture resembling praying. So he knows that its time for the evening ritual.

I wish I could read a child's mind and know how it works.

But I dont want my child to grow up very fast. I want him to enjoy his free childhood in each and every bits.

Both of his parents have missed the colorful college life as we heard it from others. So we want our child to enjoy their life.

My father always wanted me to be a responsible, independent and successful woman and not like my mother who was solely dependent on my father.

Maybe today I have achieved his dream. I too want the same for my son but at the proper age.
If I can help I will try to provide my child all the opportunities of life until he reaches the proper age. It obviously doesnt mean that I will pamper him. He should be taught the bad along with the good so that he develops the ability to distinguish between them. He should hear "no" along with "yes" wherever applicable.

But nothing is in my hand. Everything depends on what God has in store for us or our destiny.

Growing up very fast indeed

I had written the earlier post day before yesterday and mentioned his walking in that.

That day I went home early from work as I have had to leave his governess Kanak early. That day I experienced few nice moments with the kid. Generally when I return from work he is already exhausted by his daily routine and is almost ready to call it a day.

But that he was in his full form. His walking is not steady yet and he is running.. Yes he is running.

While running he could not control his movements and tripping off every now and then. We were all watching in apprehension that he is going to get hurt every second. Well, he managed somehow.

So I think I need to speed up the frequency of my posts in order to track his daily developments.

Growing up at a great speed

After crossing one yr time is flying away.

I hope I could store all the memories in a jar just like Om does. Yes, he is great in putting the lid of any jar or his feeding bottle. Even if he has got the lid in an upturn position, he adjusts it with the help of his body (as the other hand is engaged in holding the bottle) and then puts it on the opening of the jar. He opens it again and commences with the same job all over again.

I had bought him a set of ABCs of which he recognizes the 'Zero' or 'O' and 'Red I' i.e., the I in red color.

When I bring the animal book and show the animals out there he points to the TV, walks up to the cabinet, get hold of the remote and directs it to the TV. What he means is "Open the TV and lets watch the animals in action on Animal Planet Channel". He knows that the TV is to be operated by the remote only. And as I show him the animals in action on the channel he has got used to it.

He loves his books though. He can point out to the various animals, can show their eyes, ears, tails , etc. He knows his gold fish book by every bit. He can show his own hands, legs, fingers, toes, tongue by moving his tongue from one end to other, teeth with an 'EEEEEE' sound, hair, ear. He knows how to comb his hair with the comb, can put the spoon into his mouth in the right way. Carries his soiled pants or dress to the bucket where they should be and then starts playing with the bucket and its contents with a cheeky smile.

He can recognize apple, mango, musambi(lemon), banana among fruits and potato , gourd among veggies.

He shows 'something finished' or 'something gone' with a mudra pattern of his hands. Says 'Hash Hash' when sees a lizard. Utters a "Meaaaao" sound when talked of pussy cats, "boooo" when talked of cows and "baaaaa" when asked about sheep. He can say : Mama, Baba, Pappu for Tappu, Babe foe Baby, Dade for dadu.



Now about his walking. His steps are becoming firm now. Follows everybody to every room, crosses the threshold with great care holding the door frame. After learning to walk, his hands and knees are a better off now and no nooks and corner of the house is untouched.

He has copied every action of puja. He nows how to blow the conch at the right place, bathes 'shivlinga' with the 'ghat' (empty) and then takes up unlit candle and moves it in the same fashion as we do and rings the bell too.

Getting more self sufficient, isn't it.