MERRY CHRISTMAS

We would like to wish every one of you a Merry Christmas !!!

First Family Meal

Today Aidan has a taste of his first Family Meal. We sat together and ate the same food. This happened this afternoon at Kenny Roger's in Subang Parade. And did he enjoy his roasted chicken! He had roasted chicken , baked beans, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. Actually it was our order but he enjoyed sharing it with us. Now it is easier for us, as we don't have to prepare special food for his. Going out now with him will be a joy.

Standing Up

Standing up is a one of the things parents are proud to see happen.....and also dread. We are proud because this would be the First Step ( no pun intended ) towards walking. We dread because now he gets to hold on to anything and pull himself up.

Yes Aidan is like that too. However he does not realize some objects like boxes or container are not heavy enough to support him and it therefore slides from under his hands. He also has a tendency to stand...laugh and cry. Not because he is sad but because he doesn't know how to get back down. He has fallen a few times in his crib. Thank god for soft landing. Though at times, it looks like he is doing a falling stunt for Hollywood. He falls with style.

The other day, I woke up finding him staring at me over the top of his crib. Of course when daddy wakes up he breaks up into his happy laugh. If you notice that slight damp patch in the picture below, that is his sliver. He just likes sucking on things. Well, thank god for immunizations. If not, I don't know how he survives with all that germs all over our house.

Pet Names and Namecalling

Pet names and Namecalling has been the topic of discussion in our home lately. Let's face it no matter how hard you try to control it or prevent it, because babies are so adorable they somehow get called a number of names which have more to do with their cuteness than anything else. A pet name is usually a nickname a person grows up with... it's not usually entirely bad sounding, sometimes sounds quite nice. But there are the not so nice ones too, oh you know, the kind of pet names, often embarrasing ones, some folks get stuck with simply because their elders were having a laugh or thought it sounds oh soooo... cute and somewhat apropriate for the lil one. However, what is apropriate and how far should anyone be allowed to refer to your child by a name other than his/her own name before it becomes classified as inapropreiate namecalling.

As an Indian I can only speak for and honestly say that I know this happens in a number of Indian families where their children often get stuck with inapropriate names from birth right through to adulthood. There are many, but, I'm only going to mention the ones I thought were the worst of the lot... and they're as follows:

1. 'kunju' - sounds like the person is being referred to by his/her *ahem* privates

2. 'boy' or 'bo-boy' - this sounds really cute when you're a kid but when you're 30 and people
still call you that coz they think by some cruel fate it's your actual name, the
cuteness of the name dies a natural death.

3. 'somberi' - this means lazy and no matter how lovingly you say it, personally I find it negative
and demoralizing for a childs' mental and emotional development.

4. gundu papa - 'gundu = fat' and 'papa = little girl'... once the meaning of that name truly hits
her, oh around about the time she's 12+ she's gon'na be starving herself and
exercising in an effort to shake off that name as fast as possible... and I assure
you she wants it gone yesterday! (be grateful this poor girl doesn't become
aneroxic)

Well, those were the prize winners I've personally come across so far... I may come across more in the next decade or so but, I find that it's not a very popular practice among the people in my generation, thank God for that.

I hope that in due time such practices in our Indian homes will stop altogether. I mean always ask yourself how you'd like it if you were stuck with a name that wasn't yours and on top of everything else sounds embarrasing.

TTFN...

Child Learning

When Anita was pregnant, we used to read a lot of books on child development. We were amazed by what a child is capable of learning. Some of the results were amazing. Being a melancholy, I was wondering whether it was all true. I know some of the techniques worked due to extensive research. So we decided to take an active role in developing our boy.

We started reading to him. We showed flash cards to him. We sang to him. We allowed him to explore his physical surrounding. The results of 7 months of work is showing now. Anita called be in the office a couple of days back excitedly telling me Aidan is crawling on his knees. He used to jump forward or crawl on his toe with butt sticking up. Now he is doing it properly. Then, during one of the story reading session, Anita casually asked him where was an object, he surprised her by touching the picture. Wow! Amazing was a child's mind is capable off.

Now that he is mobile, he is standing up holding what ever he can, including my pants. When I call him, he crawls to me and raises his arms to be carried. He knows what milk is. When we ask him whether he wants milk he stops crying and smiles.

On weekends whenever I ask him whether he wants to read a book, he crawls and pops his head on my shoulder and waits for the story. I think he is beginning to like books. He is always excited when I bring him into my study. Lucky him, he has lots of books to inherit.

The other day, we went shopping and return with a bunch of books. Aidan mumbled something that sounded like ' I like books'. Coincidence I know, But it gave us a shock and a good laugh after that. His baby talk sometimes corresponse to real words. Perhaps he is trying.