Vihaan turns one!!

Last month was a biiiig month for us..... we have turned one year old!!!

We had a small get together with our friends and family. Vihaan was pretty chilled out during the first half of the party. But after the cake cutting ceremony, everyone crowded around him and that freaked him out. He became really cranky (which is really expected). I was so focussed on Vihaan that I even forgot to give some of the kids their return gifts!! I had to feed him to calm him down and he actually fell asleep for the rest of the party!!

Vihaan can now:
Stand without support
Cruise holding onto furniture
Has become a big time crawler
Say baba, mama, tata, dada and a lot more

He has six teeth in total, four on top and two at the bottom.

I can sense his personality developing slowly. He has his preferences while playing, eating and sleeping.
He also points at objects which he wants, and loves grooving to the latest music :P

His sleep pattern has also changed. He now hardly sleeps for 2-3 hours during the day. He used to be a good sleeper at night, but now a days, he tends to wake up for feeds.

I havent stopped feeding yet... some people have been telling me this is the best time to start weaning the baby off breast milk. But over the last year, I have realised the most simple thing: every baby is different..
If something works with one baby, the same thing may not work with another baby. So i am taking it easy atleast with weaning, I feed only when he himself asks for it. Otherwise, Vihaan has three proper meals in a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and also has midday and evening snacks if he is in the mood.

Climate in Mumbai has been fluctuating like crazy... somedays are too hot, and somedays it pours!! That sorta has been affecting Vihaan's health, he has a cold that just wont go!!

The entry into the second year has been good :) My little man is growing up fast!!

DIY- Toy Guitar

It is becoming more and more difficult to keep Vihaan interested in any particular toy. Good toys are extremely costly and V gets more interested in the boxes rather than the toys itself. I bought him a fisher price toy hammer (price INR600) only to find that he doesnt like playing with it :P

V has more fun with the random things lying about in the house like his spoons, or utensils. The other day, when I was doing a bit of summer cleaning, I found this box which was in pretty good shape. With some paints and rubber bands, it was transformed into a colourful toy guitar.

V loves to play with it, and since I made it, its even more fun to see him enjoying the toy :) I have made a tutorial on how to make this Toy guitar. Check out the link for more info.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Diy-Toy-Guitar-Box/

Tenth Month Update

We are beginning to enter the toddler years :) This month gave me a taste of what the coming months will bring. And boy was it fun!!

The Milestones :

V has become an expert crawler. He pulls himself up to the standing position. He also walks a little while holding on to the furniture. However he sometimes just lets go of his support and than falls :P Little man still has to learn to balance himself and stand without holding onto something.

V has become really vocal. He does not really say words, but the babababa is non stop.

We have teeth!! Four to be precise. The teeth were on their way for quite a while, but finally made their appearance on the 1st of April :)  Now to buy the toothbrush.

V got his Measles shot this month. He got it a little late as he was unwell previously.

Signing off with a pic :)

Its just a phase!!

Everyone goes through a lot of different phases in life. So why should baby be any different. One day everything is normal, and suddenly the next day, baby doesnt like something that he was used to or liked before.

The first time this happened with Vihaan was when we stepped inside a mall and he started bawling loudly. Now it was strange because usually he would love the noise and the lights and the sounds in the mall. He loved looking at the other babies and interacting with them. So we thought that maybe it wasnt a good time and left the mall immediately. The same thing happened next time we went to a mall (after around a week or two). We beat a hasty retreat within 5 minutes of entering the mall :P So afterwards we thought that it would be best to avoid malls for a while. We went back after almost a month, and voila!! he didnt cry anymore :D

At 4-5 months, most babies do not have any mobility. The most they can do is turn over on their stomach. So they seek movement in the only way they know how, they cry to be picked up. I used to pick up V alot. I was always admonished by the "elders" saying that he will get to used to being carried around. But then, how can u deny that angel face and the toothless smile? Now at 9 months, V does not like to be picked up. He wants to explore everything on his own (he can now crawl). He prefers walking to being held :) Guess the picking up was a phase too.

Most recently, V had started crying on hearing other babies cry or on hearing some loud sounds. It was a huge problem, because there were children everywhere we went. Thankfully, now he has gotten over some part of this phase.

So if your baby suddenly shows some change in his routine, of dislikes what he used to like before.. relax, its just a phase!! And it will be over before you know it :) 

Vihaan's favorite Videos

As V is growing up it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep him happily engrossed in any single activity. Unlike a couple of months before when he would play with his numerous rattles for hours, now he plays with them for maybe 15- 20 mins before moving on to do something else.

One of the things that we do is see different videos, of nursery rhymes or cartoons. I had some Noddy Cds at home, but he doesn't find them very interesting yet. Probably he will like to watch them when he is a little older.  

I came across these videos when I was looking for nursery rhymes. The name "Giggle Bellies" itself makes you laugh. V usually freaks out at certain animated videos, some are of really poor quality, and the animation looks scary rather than cute.. but he loved the Giggle Bellies rhymes since the first time he saw them. His most favorite is Twinkle twinkle, followed by Old MacDonald's Farm.

The songs are very catchy and the animation is funny. However, I would have preferred the colours to be a little less bright. But V loves the colours, so who am I to judge!! Now to just see where in India is it available :)

I would love some suggestions about more videos for babies.