Biscuits and switching off

At B's suggestion, over the past 2 days we have been experimenting with switching off the night light, giving him biscuits and water when he wakes up in the middle of the night, hungry. It did work with the boy sleeping better. While he did not nag the wife to be breast fed, the boy was active and took quite some time to fall asleep.

Grandparents

Grandparents have a habit of spoiling grand children rotten and fussing over them. Yesterday we visited my parents and the boy took to eating vegetables at lunch. They were so concerned that he didn't eat ‘much’ that they continued to feed him at intervals. Result? We got home, he didn't have much of dinner, woke up hungry in the night and was eating cheese slices at morning 6 am. He slept for 3 and a half hours after that.

Diwali and growing up

It has been three days in a row since A the Nanny has shown up. First day, an unexpected visit to her sister’s house, second day phone switched off and the third day her sister’s husband sister passed away. I recollect hearing the story about her sister’s husband passing away 2 weeks back. I hope all is well.

There has been a spurt in the boy’s growth this month. He is at ease crawling and has shed some weight. He makes an effort to stand up on his own. In the bath tub, we cannot leave him to play on his own as he attempts to stand up in it. Earlier we used to soap him down before bed time but now insists on a full bath in the bath tub. When he wants to sleep, he points to the bouncer and in the bed to his favorite square pillow, so that we rock him in it. Unlike earlier, he does not resist the Walker and points to it when he wants to be in it. He has an affinity to climbing. Make him stand near the balcony rails and he starts climbing it.

It is Diwali! He loved the sparklers, chakras, firepots and jumped at the cracker sounds. We did not stay out much as the air was laden with smoke.

Once he starts getting bored while being fed, he has a habit of knocking down the plate. Yesterday he did that twice, I told him no sternly and he started wailing. Buried his face in the pillow and wailed loudly as if the biggest injustice in the world has been done to him. In the middle of it, he perked up when he saw the remote. Stopped wailing, asked for it, I said no, and he buried his face in the pillow and started wailing again. He has begun to sit on the merry-go-round and the swing unassisted.

Quaker Oats

The boy started on Quaker Oats Plus Multigrain Advantage today. I love oats and although I feel it is very bland, the boy loved it and ate 6 spoonfuls of it.

To prepare - microwave it for 3 minutes in water, add milk, get it down to room temperature and serve.

Diaper expiry date

2 kicks from the boy last night and I was woken up rudely.

We were out of diapers and on the way back from work today I stopped at a local pharmacy. I was surprised to find that Pampers does not specify an expiry date while Huggies does - best before 3 years. The gent at the pharmacy counter and I scanned the entire print on the Pampers packing, he even offered me a magnifying glass to check, but no mention of an expiry date.

My birthday

and the wife made a wonderful Kerala curry for lunch and home made Falafel, Pita Bread and Hummus for dinner. Yumm!

Trip to Chennai and shots

It has been an eventful week. We got back on Monday after another road trip to Chennai. The front facing car seat does not have good side padding near the head, the boy’s head droops when he sleeps. For most of the journey he was sitting in the wife’s lap, throwing around things, fiddling with the window controls and pulling my hair through the front seat headrest. On the bright side, the boy has started taking a liking to warm milk and drinks 4-6 ounces from the bottle every day.

He has picked up queer new habits – drinks water, grins and then spits it through the sides of his mouth and smiles widely as it trickles down his neck and falls on his dress. Initially we found it funny but did not react it to it later on. Result? He does not do it often.

Yesterday we went for his vaccination shots at Dr S - Hepatitis_A and MMR, due in the 15th month. When Dr S started examining him he got wary and the expression on his face changed when he saw the syringe being filled. We lay him on the observation table and he started screaming and opening out his hands wide, wanting to be carried. 1 shot on either thigh, cried louder, took him out and he became quiet. 

Look like Dr S has dropped out from his list of favorite people.

25 Secret Parenting Tips You Won’t Find in Conventional Parenting Books

Nice article from Lifehack