After a lot of pleading I got my own account. Now I can tell the world, my version of what is really going on in my life. It is not always the candy-coated version that mom and dad make it out to be. A life of a four month old is not at all as easy as it seems. If you don’t believe me then let me narrate to you in my own words what happened this morning.

Not knowing exactly where to start, I have decided to start from when mom decided to try and feed me a weird combination of rice cereal followed by a strange tasting substance. It might be normal for you guys, but for someone who has just started trying out new things it is indeed weird. I had never tasted this new substance before. Later on I learned that it is a fruit called apple. I may have enjoyed the new food, had she fed me just that. I don’t know why she tries to experiment all sorts of new things on me. Like as if I don’t have enough new discoveries to make everyday. Had she stuck to the routine and tried to feed me just the apple, I might have enjoyed it, but now I am not sure if I like it or not. If she is planning on feeding it to me tomorrow, I hope she gives me just that and no cereal.

After that they stuck me in this big new toy they bought for me. I love the toy, but it is big and has a zillion things in it. My parents call it the Exersaucer. I am sure it will be quite some time before I can pronounce that word. Not realizing that the toy is still new to me, they start cheering me and ask me to demo the toy to them, the moment they put me in it. How am I supposed to know how everything works, after all I played with it only once and that to for less than 10 minutes. I may have displayed some talent last night, but hey I am a 4 month old. You can’t expect me to remember every little thing I do. Luckily after a couple of tries I figured out that on pushing one of the bars the toy plays music. After that discovery everyone was happy and they let me play on the toy for a few minutes. By then I had worked out an appetite and was craving for milk. So mom picked me up to feed me.

After nursing for some time I noticed that dad was leaving for work, so I stopped drinking and started looking at dad. Mom thought I was done, so she picked me up and after a while told grandma and grandpa that I was ready for my bath. I thought, what the heck, I am not really hungry right now, and she will anyway feed me after my bath. Feed me she did, but not right away. Soon after my bath, grandma asked mom to try on the outfit she bought for my 21st day. She wanted to see if it still fits me, if not she was planning on taking it with her to India and getting it altered. So my mom decided to put it on me. It was too late by the time I realized that my mom had other plans. By now I could hear my stomach growling. But alas my mom was deaf to all those sounds. She brought the dress and put on the lehanga first. It fit quite well. I thought thank goodness now she will feed me, but no, she had to take pictures first. After the pictures I was waiting patiently for her to feed me but she decided to try on the blouse too, and as expected another photo session. I thought now is the time, but Boy was I wrong. For now came the main part. To make me look more like a girl, they put a bindi on my forehead, a chain around my neck and bangles on my hands. I started to wail but instead of feeding me, she started making all sorts of monkey faces to get me to smile so she could take a good picture. After a while I gave up and thought if I play along it will be over fast and she will feed me. But I was wrong once again. She decided that the dress was not comfortable for me so she decided to change me before feeding. That was my last straw, I threw a huge tantrum that she had to rush through dressing me up in a very comfortable white frock that Aparna aunty bought for me, but I had no intention of showing her that I liked that dress as yet. Because I know that it would result in another photo sessions. This time I did not calm down till I got what I wanted. After that I was quite content and had no problem posing for some more pics.

Now that Ruchi has tried all the vegetables a four month old is allowed to, it was time to test the fruits. With apple containing the least amount of sugar (when compared to pears and bananas), I decided to try it. I wanted to start giving her cereal and a fruit or vegetable together. This was a big mistake. Especially when trying new foods. Since fruit is sweeter than cereal, I decided to feed her the cereal first and then the fruit. So, I mixed a spoon full of cereal and after she was done with it, I tried to feed her the mashed apple. But Ruchi who wasn’t really hungry anymore, had a tough time accepting the fruit. It took some effort to get her to finish her small serving. Hopefully I will have better luck tomorrow.

Yesterday for the first time Ruchi did not have a bowel movement. The poor girl was tossing and turning all night long. She woke up crying two times in the night (once at 2 and the other time at 4). At two o’clock, I woke up, fed her and when she did not stop crying, I picked her up and rocked her to sleep in our rocking chair. She was up again at four. This time nothing would soothe her. So her dad had to carry her and put her to sleep. Every time he tried to lie down she would cry. After some time she was hungry so I fed her again, and this time she slept and did not get up till late in the morning. Surprisingly she still did not have a bowel movement, but she was her usual cheerful self. After eating her sweet potatoes and drinking her milk she had a bath and went to sleep. It was during this nap she emptied her tummy. And I must say that diaper was a real STINKER.

Ruchi – “Today will go down in the history of my life as the day my dad first said to mom, “I give up, you take over”. This happened when dad was trying to feed my rice cereal. Poor dad,it was not his fault. It just so happened that ever since mom started giving me cereal, she was the only person who fed me solids, with grandma occasionally helping with a spoon or two. So when dad decided to feed me today, I did not know how to react. It just felt a little strange to me. So when he gave me the first spoon of cereal, I spit it out. It took three tries for my dad to get that first spoonful in my mouth. The second spoon was worse. I decided to blow raspberries with my mouth still full with the cereal. The moment I blew the raspberry food came flying out of my mouth and landed all over me and dad’s face. Dad decided it wasn’t a good idea to waste the food like that so he asked mom to take over. I felt a little bad after he gave up, because I might have gotten used to him for the third or fourth spoon. Anyway I am sure there will be other times. For now we had a good time with mom singing and reciting Nursery Rhymes while feeding me, my favorite song being I Love You, You Love Me. Dad chipped in by taking part in the entertainment.”

Praveen bought Ruchi a new toy. Now that she is able to put some weight on her feet and is able to sit with support as well as hold her neck up, we decided it was time for her to play with toys that she can sit or stand in. And so in came the Exersaucer. When the package arrived this afternoon we were very excited. Praveen couldn’t wait to come home and put it together for her. He was in for a big surprise, once he opened the package. The assembly had a zillion parts that we had to put together to build the Exersaucer. It took Praveen quite a while to put it together. Ruchi fell asleep by the time he was done. We thought that we might have to wait till the next day to see her reaction. However Ruchi woke up after some time and was in a very playful mood. So we brought her downstairs and set her in the Exersaucer. She was so excited looking at all the colorful stuff around our. The height of the ten minutes she spent on the toy was when she figured out all on her own, how to make the music play. She pulled on on of the bars and the toy started to play some music. After it stopped she did it again and again. We were all very amazed to see her do that. I guess she figured it out because her musical gym also plays music when she pulls at the toys hanging from above.

In Ruchi’s Words – “Now that Grandma & Grandpa are leaving, Daddy decided that he will try his hand at giving me a bath. At first I was a little apprehensive because I wasn’t sure how Dad would handle me (with me being so small and fragile). I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Dad gave me a massage, and a full bath while mom sang about all the animals in Old McDonald’s Farm while assisting him. It was a lot of fun. Now I can relax knowing that should Mom ever forget to give me a bath, I can always count on Dad.”

Now that Ruchi has added carrots to her list of vegetables she enjoys and is not allergic to, she is all set to explore the world of sweet potatoes. Looking at the way she has taken to the vegetable this morning, I think we can safely add it to her list of favorite foods. Now we have to wait and see if she is allergic to it or not.

Ruchi – “Of the many thing I like to do to entertain myself and others, blowing raspberries tops the list. It is so much fun sticking my tongue between my gums and trying to blow air. I saw mom do it a couple of times to entertain me. I figured out how she did it, and now I do it all the time. There are times when mom begs me to stop, but when I see how much attention and cheering I get from everyone while blowing a raspberry, its impossible to pay heed to her requests. I feel like a showman entertaining a bunch of grown-ups. But hey, who doesn’t like attention, especially with all those ‘Oh how cute’ exclamations”

In Ruchi’s own words ” Who says I need help? So what if Grandma & Grandpa are leaving in a week? I can take care of myself. I don’t have to trouble Mom & Dad for every little thing. Don’t think all that I can do is drink from a mug or bottle, I can eat with a spoon too. Unfortunately mom did not get a chance to capture the golden moment on camera. Now that I have crossed feeding myself from the list, my next project is potty training. Once I master that skill, Mom & Dad can relax and who knows maybe take me on a much deserved vacation. Hey, even I need to relax after all the hard training I had to go through.”

Well now that Ruchi is comfortable with green peas, it was time to test the next vegetable, which is carrots. Her reaction to the first spoon was exactly the same as her reaction to the first spoon of green peas. But after that she finished the entire serving in a few minutes.