Oh what a night!

I've been having one difficult night after another for the past few weeks- and last night topped the charts. I am baffled by why Kabir keeps waking up at night. In the best case scenario he wakes up every 2 hours, and in the worst case scenario, he'll start whimpering within 10 mins after we think we've put him to sleep. Saurabh & I have been trying to do a root cause analysis and address every possible issue that we can think of. Is he hungry at night? Is it a wet diaper? Gas? Should we make him stay up till 10pm so he gets really tired and sleeps well? Or maybe put him to bed early so he isn't tired and sleeps well? Have him sleep with us on the bed so he's cozy? Or in a bassinet next to our bed so he's not disturbed by us? We have thought of all these possibilities and tried to address each one. In fact, last night we thought we had done everything right. He had a good meal for dinner. We gave him his homeopathy teething tablets (just in case this is teething related). Gave him some gripe water (in case he has gas). I even went to the store and bought a bag of disposable diapers to test if these diapers would make him feel drier and hence help him sleep better (that's right - I feel somewhat guilty about this. I did get the "chlorine-free" disposables - which still have other chemicals/gels so really not that great afterall). But the result was a slap on the face. Kabir kept us up more than he has in the past few days combined. And I am left clueless.
For the last 7 months, we've tried to take this in our stride and not get too worked up when this happens. We figured babies go through these phases, and everything will be fine when he reaches the next milestone (i.e. starts eating solids, gets through teething etc.). But this approach has left me tired and exhausted. I need a better solution to keep my sanity (and my daytime job!). For now, I'm going to call the Pediatrics' office to schedule an appointment. I'm ready to try anything and everything.

Little Maestro

in an energetic performance..

Update: Here's a link to the unedited version of the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQLcbyPZXPo

Flashback

I found this video that was taken about two weeks ago by Nanaji while he was visiting us. This was the time when Kabu was trying to attempt crawling. I think this video captures beautifully how he explored various ways of moving his legs and feet before finding the right balance.

10 Professions he'll be great at

1. Watchman
Ofcourse. It is amazing how alert and curious Kabir is. He constantly scans his surroundings and needs to check out the source of every sound and movement. I often sit on our front porch with him and his favorite pass time is to observe cars coming in and out of homes. He does not take his gaze away until the object is completely out of his sight. No matter whether he's eating, playing, sleeping or anything else, if there is a sound or change in co-ordinates of any object in his surrounding, there will be an equal and opposite reaction from him.
2. Night Watchman
But ofcourse. The later it is in the night, the more alert he is. Alas.
3. Singer
He is a very good singer already. My singing is not good enough for him, so he likes to sing himself to sleep.
4. Drummer/tabalchi
We've seen how he's picked some of that from his father. He even has the hair-do for the right look.
5. Excavator
He will leave no stone unturned. Literally. That's my experience from all the park visits.
6. Actor
He can cry one second and laugh the next. Can act like he is upset just to make you hold him!
7. Food critic
He has some talent for making faces (remember the spinach episode?). He'll certainly make one hard-to-please food critic.
8. Electrician
This is his most recent hobby. He's fascinated by electric cords and all electric/electronic equipment. He's even had experience trying to stick his finger into an electric outlet.
9. Paper Shredder
Ok I know thats not a real profession, but its something he has a ton of experience with. His repertoire includes not just paper, but also magazines, books and paper mail.
10. Baba Ramdev's substitute
No explanation required here I think :-)

sand and beach

This weekend, for the very first time since we had Kabir, we had the opportunity to spend a weekend away from home. Some close friends of ours had rented a cabin at Seaside and we decided to join them. Our friends were nice enough to take care of everything - so all we needed to take with us was the stuff we needed for Kabir (which was enough to fill the car).
Kabir actually enjoyed his time away instead of being bothered by a new place and I got a much needed break from my routine. The highlight of the trip was the time we spent on the beach. The weather was perfect - which made all the difference. Here are some pictures of Kabir enjoying his first experience on a beach.

He started with a power nap (all wrapped up next to Nani)

Then he couldn't take his eyes off the sand

This is what sand feels like

Playtime

Taking some steps with mommyA family pic

Thanks again to our great friends who made this trip possible. Lets hope there will be many more to come!

crawl baby crawl

Yesterday, after Kabir got up from his afternoon nap, he knew how to crawl. It was almost "digital" in nature. He couldn't crawl more than a step or two upto yesterday morning and after his nap, out of the blue, he knew exactly what to do.

Here he goes...as if he's been doing this all along:

now all he needs to do is to work on his landing :-)

Bye bye Nanu!

Kabu bid goodbye to his Nanaji this morning. He was here for a two week stay, and these two weeks seemed the shortest ever. Some memories from his stay:

On the question of resemblance

Two pictures from ~30 years ago...

Saurabh

me

and here's one of Kabir's for comparison
Yes, I hate to admit it, but the verdict is pretty clear. He's a clone of his father. I have been pacifying myself all along by saying that after all looks aren't important. As long as he has my heart & my brain, that's all that matters! ;-)

I love strawberries

even when they are sour!

Crawling attempts

Kabu is starting to make attempts at crawling. Its fun to watch him carefully trying to get onto all fours and balance his weight on his knees. But his knees are not able to take his full weight yet, so he ends up falling straight on to his tummy. However, I'm pretty sure that in a few days, he'll be able to master it. I hope I'll be there with my camera when he takes his first step!

Teething troubles

Last few days have been rather painful for our Little Tiger. He cut 4 new teeth in the last week. He's been fussy and hasn't been able to sleep well. Fortunately, we were advised by a friend to get him some homeopathic teething tablets, which worked like magic! And Kabu has been able to smile again. He even let us take a picture of his two lower teeth!

kabu da dhaba

do you want to see what's cooking?

Bad hair day(s)

There are two things that most people comment on when they meet Kabu for the first time. The first is his eyes and the second, his hair. People are usually polite, so most people only say - "and look, he's got so much hair!". But I've also got other comments like "nice hairstyle. Crew cut?" and "tapori (funky) hairstyle!". And its true. He does have a rather funky hair style. Though I don't think it was as crazy when he was born. As I was delivering him, the very first thing the doctor had said to describe him was "oh look, so much hair!"

Born with a lot of hairHowever, he lost quite a bit of his hair in the first few months when he developed a cradle cap.Left with little hair at ~2.5 months (and that's malai on his face)Once this phase got over, his hair bounced right back (quite literally)
And it started growing in multiple directions

so much that it started getting into his eyes

Here are some of his stylish poses

That's his "back combing" style

And this must have been a "shampoo day"

He has expressive eyes, and expressive hair :-)

Didn't I say expressive hair? That's the "I'm the King" expression

Thats his "good boy" lookAnd here's a better look from the back!

With his hair growing by leaps and bounds (in selective areas), the thought of trimming it a little has certainly crossed our minds. However, it turns out that our family practice is to not give the first born his first hair cut before he's five years old. That's right. Not even a hair trim. Picture him in five years without any hair cut :-) So yes, I'm not sure if I'm such a big follower to actually wait that long. What do you think? I'd love to get some opinions - please let me know what you think using the poll on the side panel.