11 Months!

Dearest Athiboy,

You are just one month away from being a year old. I tried reading my older posts and started feeling nostalgic, because so much has changed since then and keeps changing all the time. One of the biggest changes is, the transition from the so-called social bird to a kid who gets a little scared when meeting new people. You are a happy kid in your home ground, but once we cross it, you tend to be a little worried and cling on to known faces a little more than usual. In home ground, you call random people on the road and laugh, smile and interact with them as if you'd always known them. But outside home ground, your usual self takes a backseat and you are quite tensed and worried.

Your smiles are no longer toothless. You have 4 teeth now, 2 up and 2 down. You have learnt to bite things, like toys, spoons and waterbottles. Yet to start biting people. 

This month, you have started to lift yourself up and stand with the help of support or by holding onto sofas. I simply can't forget the number of times you kept trying to lift yourself up from the ground. Despite failing each time, you kept trying day in and day out, and you still keep trying to lift yourself up without any support. Just another couple of weeks / months after which I think you will be completely on your own. 

Day naps still continue to be a challenge, but people at home have almost gotten used to your pattern of sleep and things are comparatively better than the initial days. Nights are surprisingly becoming smoother and easier. I'm a little too skeptical to rejoice at this change for the fear of you going back to your old ways again.  

You seem to have seen a lot of cows and dogs on the road and seem to jump in joy when you spot them. And what more, whenever you see a dog, you make a cute sound (almost similar to the ju..ju..ju..) as if you are trying to interact with it. 

Oh, and one more thing that I observed this month was, you have learnt to squeeze the rubber toys, the toys with a whistle in them. We had been having that toy ever since you were 3-4 months old, but its only now that you have learnt to squeeze it hard enough to hear the sound. And the look of accomplishment on your face once the sound comes, pah, chance eh ila!

You are legs boy, i.e. anything at all that you play with will be taken in your hand and then placed between your legs for playing. You absolutely love when you are able to create sounds. So your most favourite thing to play with is drum (We have a mini Djembe at home, given to Venky by a friend of his) and next in queue is utensils, waterbottles and bells. And how do you play the Djembe? Only by supporting it with your legs. It's the single most thing that seems to give you immense pleasure anytime. Be in whatever cranky mood or sleepiness, the sight of the Djembe will instantly bring a smile on your face. 

We introduced Poochi a.k.a Dragonfly to you sometime this month, and guess what, you wanted to catch hold of it and play with it. Curious little fellow you are. Always interested in anything and everything. 

Diwali went by, and we both had an amazing time gazing at the numerous fire crackers that lit the sky from our terrace. We spent almost 1-2 hours turning our heads trying to catch a glimpse of the colors on the sky. You liked the sparkles and the flower pots too, but you most enjoyed the night shots only. You got a little shocked when you heard bombs that burst nearby, but didn't cry inconsolably at the constant sounds throughout those two days, which was quite surprising. 

You are growing more inquisitive day-by-day which is very visible in your eyes, and quite soon you will start putting your curious observations into questions. Ah, I just can't wait to see all that. I am really excited to see you grow kid. 

If there is one thing that has changed in me in all this time, I seem to invariably see you in every kid that I come across on the roads, or shops or anywhere at all. I can't help but wonder when looking at kids older than you, on how would you be at that age. When looking at kids younger than you, I remember how you were at that age. My mind seems to be so full of you, most of the time. I have totally fallen in love with you Athiya!

Endrendrum, 

Amma