Cradles

You know what? Aisha never cries when she wakes up from her sleep, i.e, if she is in a good mood. She wakes up, and then starts her play. She poos and pees in her cradle, and never makes a sound. When I peep from the kitchen, to see if she is sleeping ok, she will be busy licking the cloth of her cradle!
In India, we use a clothe cradle, which is tied with a rope to a hook on the roof. Babies love sleeping in it, as they get a feel of their mother's womb inside it. I put Aisha in it during her day time nap, and at night, I put her near to me so that she gets her Mom's warmth. Another advantage of this cradle is that I donot have to worry of Aisha falling from the cot.

Aisha's cradle

Sleeping in her cradle.

Woke up!

Aisha loves it when I swing the cradle for her, she laughs and kicks, if not sleepy. If sleepy, she just lays still and sleeps with a soft lullaby from me.

200 Days

Aisha has completed 200 days. Hmm... big girl. Now she will reach 300, then 1 year, 2 years,... Soon to school and then to college. She will get married and I'll become a grandma, right? Ha ha ha ha. Just day dreams.

My tiny little bug just 200 days

Her eating habits have improved, partially because I have become more expert in weaning and partially because she has become more hungry. Now I know how much she needs, so I cook accordingly. The funny thing is she doesn't like to drink water in her feeding bottle. She wants to drink it in a glass, as we drink. May be she is declaring that she is not a baby any more. And yeah, she won't eat if the food is given in a metal spoon. She needs her white plastic spoon that comes with the weaning bottle. So many rules and regulations!!
Aisha sleeps alright now. She doesn't pee at night, that is from around 9 pm to 7 am. And so the first thing she does in the morning is peeing and pooing. That makes my days and nights easier, as I don't have to worry about it.
She has become more social now, making everyone who passes her take her. When my cousins come home, she shouts and laughs loud to get their attention. When they look at her, she stamps her little feet, which means "Take me!". If they do not pay attention to her, she screams her lungs out. She loves gents more than ladies, 'coz she knows that gents will go out.

More Worries!!

Today Aisha fell from the cot. I swear I'll never ever sleep with Aisha on a cot again (well, until she grows and stops rolling over).  I was sleeping and she rolled over, under my feet and fell down! I was sad. The saddest part is, everyone said there's more to come! Oh, I wish this was the first and last fall of Aisha. I know kids will fall a lot before they learn to walk.
I was slumbering, at around 6 or 6:30 am. I was hearing Aisha's sound, but I woke up only when I heard her fall! I wish I have not slept when she was awake.
Alhamdulillah, Aisha is fine. Thanks God for your protection. But now on, I'm more worried about her. In the kitchen, she rolls over and reaches for vessels, bottles and utensils that are kept in the lower drawer. I should be more careful from now on.

In a bad mood.

Worries...

When I was pregnant and in hospital with all tensions of the cord problem, I wished it was all over, so that I could have a day without worries. But now, my worries had doubled, or tripled? Well, not tripled, but multiplied by many umpteen times. I stare in the dark, not knowing what to do. Is it normal?
When Aisha laughs, I'm worried - will too much laughing make her sick? When she doesn't laugh, I'm again worried. Why is she not laughing? Isn't she happy to see me? Am I a bad mom? Questions go on and on.
As any mom, when Aisha cries, again I'm worried. But when she doesn't cry, again I'm worried! Sometimes, when her nappy is wet, she doesn't cry. Usually she screams. Likewise, sometimes she doesn't cry when she is hungry. Keeps quiet and stays still. I get worried why she is so still. I start putting her on potty, feeding her etc.
I'm worried about her present, future and everything. I'm worried when she doesn't eat, when she coughs, sneezes, vomits,... In short, I worry about Aisha all time.
My question is, are you too like this? Or is it because I'm a first time mom? Or am I abnormal?

6 Months.

Aisha turned half-a-year yesterday. Wow! Isn't that great? I remember the day Hamdu mon turned 6 months old, I was very sad. Alhamdulillah, Allah gave me a rainbow and now she has turned 6 months. How fast time flies!

Six Months Old

Aisha has started rolling over, which makes my days messier and her days eventful. She rolls over to pull the curtains, under the cot to pull the bed sheet, near the staircase to lick the staircase pillar. She screams at the top of her voice, and laughs loud. She makes sound to get attention from others. Loves her grandpa, my dad-in-law very much that she jumps with joy at when she hears his voice. When in our bed, she stares at the door to see if someone is coming to pick her up. She smiles at everyone who smiles or talks to her. Her potty practice is almost on the way to the end, she makes some sounds or cries when she wants to pee. She pees in her potty twice in her sleep at night. She has started her semi solid food, kunnan kaya, a special variety banana powder given to infants in kerala and ragi (finger millet), both cooked with a teaspoon of coconut milk or a drop of ghee. She eats well if she is in good mood, that is if she is hungry and not sleepy. Else she eats only half of what I made and spits (sprays) half of what I give her. Weaning is really tough!

She knows it when I end feeding her, when I give her water from the cup. She starts to get up from my lap, starts rolling over and sprays the water all over my face!

Hair Cuts

After 2nd Hair Cut...(25/1/11)

After 3rd Hair cut (8/3/11)

After 4th Hair Cut, yesterday.

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First Marriage Function

It was my hubby's cousin's marriage. Aisha was thrilled at the outing. She knows it when I change her in diapers. Diaper is used only when we go out of the home. As usual, I was worried about Aisha. The summer is blistering and with a lot of people gathered, it will be very difficult for Aisha. But she proved wrong. As a precaution, I dressed her in cotton clothes that were sleeveless and loose. I took extra pairs of dresses and towels so that I could give her a bath to cool her, if needed.
When we reached the auditorium, she was staring all around. My aunties-in-law, cousins-in-law, their kids, uncles-in-law and a lot of friends and relatives surrounded Aisha. One particular thing that Aisha found interesting was the movie camera. It was a big one, with a huge light, lighting the entire stage. When I was near the stage, Aisha started pushing me towards the flowers kept to decorate the stage. After the lunch, I went to the dressing room. The groom have left, the dressing room was empty. I took of Aisha's clothes and lay her naked on a cot in a flannel. She was happy to be out of her dress from the heat. My aunt-in-law was there with me, and Aisha started playing with her. We waited there till it was time for the bride to arrive.
At about 4 pm, someone announced the arrival of the bride. I changed Aisha into a new frock and took her to meet the bride. She liked the bride, who had a lot of ornaments, jasmin flowers on her head and dressed in a shining silk saree. The bride had around 1 kg of gold on her body! Won't Aisha be mesmerized?

Aisha with my aunt-in-law.

Sleeping Habit for Aisha

Aisha never slept at night until now. From the time of her birth, she always slept only after 2 am. Some days it went over to 4 am, and it reached even 8 am some 2 or 3 occasions. I consulted with all doctors, modern medicine, ayurvedic and homeopathic. Modern medicine never gave me any reason or treatment for this. Ayurvedic doctors suggested giving date juice. They also suggested bathing her in water boiled with goose berry. Well, at four months I started the treatment. Squeezed out juice from three dates everyday and gave it to her. That was the her first food. I also gave her dried grapes juice as a treatment for constipation. Her motion became normal with the grapes, but she was still sleep deprived!

Lights off, please!

One day at night, as usual when Aisha was in one of her best moods, shouting and laughing and cooing, my mom came to our room. She asked Aisha to sleep, in a harsh tone and then she shut the door tight. And Aisha slept! She slept till morning, with waking up only once or twice for her feed. I was surprised and glad. The next day, while going to sleep, I shut the door myself. Aisha slept that night too. It was at that time I understood. Her sleeping problem was due to the light from the hall. It was my suggestion to keep the lights on in the hall (dining room) of our home, so that I could see Aisha, and I can easily feed her.
For four to five months, she never slept at night and it never occurred to me that it was the light that was keeping her sleep away. I'm not a good mom, isn't it? I still feel sad at the thought of it, my little girl's sleep was disturbed by me.
Now she sleeps all-right, from around 10 pm to 8 am in the morning. No dates juices. Nothing else. A dark room is all she wants!

Exploring the world with her tongue

Pictures will say it all.

Grandpa's Newspaper

Her teether

Feeding bottle

Her rattle

Dress

Fingers

Horlicks Bottle

Ayurveda

There a lot of ayurvedic medicine given to pregnant moms, lactating moms and babies.  Well, I never took any of these, but I gave some for my baby. 

Usually after delivery, moms are given herbal decoctions (kashayam), electuaries (lehyam) and fermentated decoctions (arishtam). In my case, I started with decoction and the next day onwards Aisha started vomiting. I don't know if it was due to the decoction but I stopped the medicine anyway, against the advices of many, especially R-mom. The second herbal combination for the decoction was never opened. R-mom then made a electuary from dates, small onion and coconut flowers. Again Aisha was affected with gastro-intestinal problem. Within a couple of days, I stopped that too. Next it was a health mix powder, with many grains, nuts, roots, leaves, flowers, seeds etc etc. I never started that! Everything is stored in my fridge and I hope to take it after Aisha starts semi-solid food. Don't know if she will start vomiting again. There was a fermented decoctions made from Asparagus Racemosus, or Shatavari, which I took. It helps in producing breast milk. This medicine never affected Aisha.

For Aisha, I started date juice and dried grapes juice at her third month, both were taken as a medicine for improving her sleeping condition and digestion. At her fourth month, I started another set of medicine, called the Ura Marunnu. It is a mix of eight medicine, of which I know the name of only seven. :(

1. Sweet flag/ Calamus : The root of the tree is used. It is a stimulant, emetic, expectorant, carminative, stomachic, anthelmentic, nauseant.
2. Sandalwood : a piece of the branch is used.
3. Red Sandal wood : a piece of the branch is used. 
4. East Indian (nut leaved) screw tree : the stem bark is used. A medicine good for gastric problems.
5. Rosary Nut from Rudraksh tree : Nut is used to reduce epilepsy in kids.
6. Gooseberry : dried gooseberry is used. It is useful in conditions of asthma, bronchitis, diarrhea, cough etc.
7. Alexandrian Laurel : dried nut is used.
8. ------ : I think its a dried nut or berry.

These midicines are rubbed once or twice with a few drops of breast milk in a special vessel, kadodi, that is rough inside and smooth outside. It is then given to Aisha.

Kadodi