Skype and Ri

Skype is now a part of Ri’s life. I do wonder how much sense she makes out of it. I think it’s great that we have this new technology with which she can see and communicate with her loves ones around the world but wonder how she perceives the computer and webcam and people on-screen in her baby mind.

Last Sunday, she saw the following people on Skype. B Patti, S Chitti, S Chitti Jr.. V Chitappa in MI, V Patti, S Perimma, D Akka in CA and RD and K Chitappa in NC.

We were really excited to see D-Akka from CA on Skype. She was so cute and responsive and incredibly clever and we loved her mixie imitation. In India. we refer to blender or food processor as mixie.  So, everytime her mom would say the word ‘mixie’, D-Akka would clench her hands and feet and mouth and go all whirry and make a mixie-like noise. Cute. Ri did look a little lost and threatened at first, she had this ‘ so there are other little girl babies who do cute things’ expression but quickly warmed up to D-Akka and even blew her some flying kisses.

Gone are the days when Ri made Sky-ping difficult by pulling at the keyboard and mouse. Oh Yes. I’ve turned into desk-top girl. She does not stay in my lap for a minute, choosing to walk around the room in a frenzy. So I find myself following her around with the webcam, as much as the wire will permit, like annoying videographer in wedding.

Going back to the virtual confusion part, D-Akka was playing with some chapati (bread) dough and Ri kept saying ‘ Tha Tha’ (Give Give) to her. If Skype wanted an advertising campaign to show how real their technology is, they should hire Ri. Sometimes she even reaches out to touch her Skype buddies. Anyone from Skype listening?

I need a doctor, doctor

I had some questions to ask the paediatrician, about Ri's next vaccination, her diet and sleep-patterns, queries on baby output etc. So we ventured out mid-morning, a visit to the doctor's office.

Ri's grand-father insisted she wear the over sized wife-beater and shorts he bought her yesterday and also wanted to oil her hair. Ri looked like a geeky boy. 
Ped visits are always interesting and provide much fodder for thought and writing. I cannot but be amused by the way some parents dress their children, especially little boys. Noisy anklets, bracelets and two big black spots on the face to ward off the evil eye, the overall look is rather strange. Well, I’m sure they must be staring amusingly at my little girl wondering why she is not accessorized with the above mentioned. I would not blame them, she did look pretty much like Carmelo Antony today.
So Carmelo was pretty friendly at the waiting room. She addressed all the other kids as ‘Paapa’ (Baby in Tamil) and called both waiting medical representatives ‘Mama’ (Uncle in Tamil). In India, it’s pretty common to see bored looking medical representatives wait along with patients for an appointment with the doctor. Now, the annoying thing is when the room gets crowded and they do not offer their seats to pregnant women and mothers with young babies. Manners 101?
Ri then played a game of  ‘give and take’ using the waiting room token with a sweet looking little girl who sat next to us. She must have been around seven and at first pretended to be disinterested with Ri but then succumbing to her charms, played with her for a bit. When I asked her why she had come to the doctor, she shrugged and said she did not know and that I should ask her mother. Well, I hope token girl is ok and her shrugging haughtiness is just a phase and not some mysterious illness that her parents cannot even tell her about.
The ped who was also my ped is old and wise and not one to make needless small talk. She looked bored when I passionately described Ri’s late-sleeping habits, her diet and my observation that she was playing 'too much' and asked me to ‘let her be’. However, she was tickled that Ri had no teeth and laughed loudly seeing my daughter’s hollow mouth. Which is kinda cool because my old and wise ped is very awesome but in a stern and serious way and it was nice to hear her laugh. She also commented that Ri was
'over-active' which I am hoping is a good thing.

Every time I bore my ped with mundane details about Ri's life, it's almost like I expect her to gaze at me lovingly, proudly and to announce to all the other mothers in the room what a fine job I was doing. Well, that never really happens.

Me: "Ri has banana and oats every morning with no sugar. It is her favourite food.I don't add sugar"
Doctor: "Ok"

Me: " She likes pasta"
Doctor: Stick to pongal etc. Don't give her tomato ketchup.
Me: Not pasta with ketchup. Homemade tomato sauce.
Doctor: Ok we are done. Tell me when you want to come in for a vaccination.

So my ped did not applaud me for keeping Ri sugar-free but thought I was feeding her ketchup. Sigh.

By then my daughter had sprung into the arms of the ped’s assistant, a nurse-type girl who did not really seem to be a nurse but who Ri decided to lovingly call ‘Aunty’.

I’m sure Carmelo will run for public office someday. Hopefully, she will have teeth by then.
Blog Title : I need a doctor – Eminem

Wake me up before you go-go

Ri slept at 8.30 tonight and I found myself lying down next to her in a daze. I have been moving back meal-times and desperately trying to bring some order into afternoon nap times. Maybe my time-shifts were finally working? Or, was the outside temperature so high that tired Ri had fallen asleep at a sane hour? 

Was my dream-routine world turning into a reality ? A world in which Ri would sleep at 9, I would read something witty and intelligent in bed and remember to moisturize my feet at night.

So lights were out and I found myself lying down next to her in a daze. Till, the daze was interrupted by a rather distinct smell. Now, I am sure that every mother will find herself at the cross-roads of zany choices and challenges And, I stood at mine tonight. Cleaning her in the sink would wake her up and I did not want to jump out of the ‘my baby sleeps at a sane hour’ bubble, just as yet.

Would I be able to pull off cleaning baby’s bottom and changing her diaper without ruining the magic of 8.30?  Incredibly, I did. With the stealth and prowess reserved for a heist, half a pack of baby-wipes and baby-lotion used instead of water, I managed to keep sleeping baby sleeping. Not to mention, clean. Sigh.

In the middle of reading the Wiki entry on Parenthood, I heard my lotion-bottomed daughter call out for me. It was 10 at night. She had lasted 90 minutes after bottom-cleaning heist but was now ready for the world again.

Sigh. Maybe I’ll just focus on moisturizing my feet at night.

Blog Title: Wake me up – Wham

And then a Hero comes along…….with the strength to carry on

Dear Ri,

You are all of 14 months old and cannot understand much ( though at times I suspect you do). However, I feel the need to write this for you. Something very big is happening in our country today. Something wonderful is happening around us, Indians all over the country are uniting against corruption, people are smiling and holding hands and believing that there is a better tomorrow.

Yesterday, your uncle and I were having a spirited conversation about God, community, religious beliefs, the government, people’s perceptions and values. The more we spoke, the more we realized that so many wrong things existed around us. People filled with ignorance, prejudice and hate, melting ice-caps and stressful environments. As a mother I cannot help but sometimes wonder what kind of a world I have brought you into, will your country give you the best that you deserve, that every child deserves ? How long will people in power abuse their positions? When will elections and political agendas stop being a parody?

And then a gentle wise man comes along giving us belief that even the impossible is sometimes possible and that there may be a better India for you tomorrow.

Ri, there are many things about Hazare and his work that are dear to my heart. He is from Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, close to the town of Shirdi, a town of great significance to me. You’ve been there twice already, even before you turned one.

Hazare’s work in the Ralegan Siddhi village is inspiring, eradicating alcoholism, promoting voluntary labor and reaching out to the less fortunate. His beliefs and his work make you instantly feel a sense of connectedness to him.

A true leader inspires irrespective of religion, race or creed. And, Hazare accomplishes just that through his empathy and compassion for his countrymen.

Right now, things are not looking great for his cause. The Government has rejected his demand to issue an official notification to constitute the draft committee for Lokpal Bill and also rejected the proposal for an outsider to lead the new committee of government and civil society. However, Hazare is not giving up just as yet. He believes that power should be decentralized and promises to fight for it till his last breath.

For my darling Ri, there are some things money can’t buy. Men like Hazare.

When you read this and understand this (hopefully the Internet will still exist at that point in a state where you can retrieve this information), I hope that our country will be in that corruption-free better tomorrow. And, you will also come across true heroes.

Love,

Ri’s Mom

Blog Title: Hero – Mariah Carey

Babble.com

So our new home is slowly but steadily in construction and I do spend a lot of time thinking what kind of room I want for Ri. As relatively new parents, everything we seem to plan in the new home revolves around her. So you can imagine how excited we are about doing up her room. I came across this website while researching toddler beds for Ri and it really seems awesome. Do check out Babble when you can. It seems very interesting and joins my list of I-wish-I-had-thought-of-this-and-started-it-myself-businesses. Also, joins my list of Wish-they-would-hire-me list of businesses.

Fine. It’s in a lot of my wish-lists. Now if only they would contact me, I would be oh-so-happy.

Registered on Indi Blogger

I just registered my blog on Indi Blogger. Hope the moderators accept Riddle Me Ri. *crossing fingers*

Have discovered some wonderful mommy blogs. Maintaining a mommy blog requires a considerable amount of dedication. It is not easy to play with words, technology and your children, all at once. I applaud all the wonderful mothers who take time out to share with the world their experiences. Slowly beginning to add some of these blogs to my blog roll.

I have been blogging intermittently since 2005, started with Blogger, migrated to Wordpress, changed blog names, themes and titles. And here I am, six glorious years later writing about me, she and a girl named Ri.

Jeera Pulao and Creamy Vegetable Gravy

Ri had idly and sambhar for lunch today instead of her usual rice meal. That left a spot for rice in this week’s dinner schedule. While I was wondering what to give her, I thought of the fresh vegetables and basmati rice I had bought. Why not a flavorful pulao with a healthy gravy to suit a baby’s taste and tummy? Gravies and sauces are great bases to make children eat vegetables. Today’s gravy features palak (spinach), French beans, broccoli and carrots along with tomatoes, onion and a new vegetable that I introduced to Ri’s palette; capsicum ( green pepper). I also added some fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) to the gravy.
Ingredients:

For gravy - Tomatoes (2), Onion (1), Capsicum – Small piece, Brocolli florets – (2), Carrot – Small piece, Corriander( Cilantro leaves) – to taste, Milk – 2 Tbsp, Cashewnuts – 2-3 pieces
For pulao – Basmati rice, frozen green peas, jeera (cumin seeds) and salt to taste.

To make creamy vegetable gravy : Boil tomatoes carrot, spinach leaves and broccoli florets with the coriander (cilantro leaves). Slice onion and capsicum (green peppers) into long slivers and sauté in hot oil. In a food processor, puree the boiled and sautéed vegetables. In a saucepan, simmer the puree with salt and required Indian spice to taste. I used a pinch of store-bought Indian garam masala. Grind cashew nuts in milk. Add this to the puree. Allow to simmer for about 10 mins. If you find the puree turning into a thick paste, you can add some of the vegetable stock from the boiled vegetables to make the gravy thinner. Serve warm with jeera pulao.
To make Jeera Pulao: Cook Basmati rice with a pinch of salt and green peas. Season with ghee and jeera (cumin seeds).
This recipe introduces the child to the delectable taste of jeera, coriander and basmati rice. Follow up the meal with a bowl of fresh yoghurt or buttermilk to help digest this rich and healthy dinner.

Hush little baby don't say a word.....

So I love making lists. Here goes:

Things I am doing right by my 14 month old:

1. Transition from feeding bottle to sippy cups to teaching her to drink from a cup and straw.
2. Making her drink buttermilk (thick yoghurt with water) to cool her system, a healthy summer-friendly drink.
3. Not adding sugar to her food, anything sweet she has has natural fruit like banana or apple. She drinks her milk sugar-free as well and seems to like it so far.
4. Monitoring her vegetable intake, I give her planned healthy food ( oats, fruit, vegetables, milk etc)
5. She is semi-potty-trained thanks to Fisher Price's froggy-friend.

Er.........work in progress areas.

1. She sleeps late at night. By the time I'm done with ensuring all of the above 'right' things, I'm too tired to really chart out a systematic bed-time routine. I've moved back meal-times, cut short nap-times and tried the bath, story-book and night-time sleep-training routine. I find myself dozing before she does. Have to work on getting her to sleep early.
2. Weaning. Always a bone of contention between RD and me. I'm too lazy/exhausted to even go down that path just as yet.
3. Letting her watch Ceebeebies while she eats. Have serious doubts whether my daughter will eat brocolli without Mr.Maker, In the Night Garden and Waybuloo. I love their programming and it helps her eat so I'm not really worried about that. But, well, I am a bit of cheater-mom that way. I get my child to eat using television as a bait.
4. Acting a bit silly around her for the sake of hugs and kisses. Pretending that life-size Tigger and little plastic doll, Beth are giving me hugs and kisses when she refuses to. When I carry them and hug them, she'll immediately come crawling and competitively show me affection. I know I'm subconsciously teaching her not-so-right things but anything for a hug or a kiss right ?

And lists go on........