Week fifteen

Yes, I skipped week fourteen. And we are leaving tomorrow for a trip, so if I don't post something today chances are my usual laziness will take over and the blog will go into hibernation (right, we wish...).

What is new? Nothing very exciting, but I am slowly getting into a stay-at-home-mom routine. I say byebye to Appu in the morning and he goes to daycare with his dad. Then I pick up all Appu's puzzles from the floor and I play with my littlest one or read to him, or I put him down for his nap. Sometimes we work out together a little. I have one of those mom&baby dvds and he loves it, he smiles for the whole fifteen minutes (yes, I know, I won't be getting ready for the next chennai marathon with this :D ) Later in the day we might go out shopping, or if he is feeling sticky we might take a shower together. He really likes the sound and he seems to enjoy the water falling on his head, he never cries. Nothing much, but overall we have a good time and I am not going insane yet.

Today I took the perfect Rohan picture. There he is, our little boy, laughing like a maniac, as his dad would say.



In the last few days he has wanted to be on his tummy more and more and he is definitely becoming more active. He can roll from tummy to back and he is working on the way back, but so far he has only managed to turn on his side and that is a source of endless frustration to him.

In the afternoon we went to the doctor and it turns out Rohan is almost 7 kg now. He might get his BCG caccine tomorrow morning, but we are having a few doubts because he seemed a bit unwell in the last hours. Could he be teething? If you lived with us you would know that this is the million dollar question, the doubt that fills every day of our lives. We always think that our children are teething. I don't even know if Appu is supposed to have any more teeth coming any time soon, but we are still sure that teething explains why he drools over evrything, bites his dad's shoulder and chews on his puzzle cards.

By the way, let me conclude with this picture. This shows beyond any doubts that S is Appu's father. Just look at the family frown! You would think the little one is reading algebraic geometry, but in fact he is just watching Dora on tv ("'sioni!"). Rohan has the frown too, but it might take me a while to get it on camera, so please be patient.

Sling snaps

A few pics of my littlest one. Too bad there is no audio, because some of these were really wild moments. But no crying baby can resist The Wrap... Anyway, these pictures should also satisfy those who say that mom doesn't appear enough on the blog :)

Week thirteen

Rohan is three months old! And apparently today Appu entered his daycare place with a smile and just said byebye to dad before going to play! Lots to celebrate... Mom, however, is feeling very blog lazy, so this will be a random pictures post. The view from the new flat, plus a couple of pictures of Appu engaged in his favorite activities - doing puzzles and eating idlis. Rohan's pictures will come later, separately, as soon as mom finds the energy.

Mi devo scusare con i miei due lettori, questa settimana proprio non riuscivo a trovare le forze per scrivere sul blog. Vi mostro almeno qualche foto pero', tanto per non perdere l'abitudine.

Ancora nel vecchio appartamento: Appu fa la sua colazione preferita a base di Idli!



La vista dall'appartamento nuovo, in una giornata nuvolosa.





Appu fa i suoi puzzle sul pavimento del soggiorno. Bravo Appu che ha preso dalla mamma almeno nella scelta dei suoi passatempi piu' tranquilli :)

Week twelve

We are moving (or "shifting" like they say here) tomorrow morning, but if you could see our house now you wouldn't be able to tell. That is not good. However, I trust that everything is going to be fine and by tomorrow night everything is going to be magically arranged in our new flat - the team of movers being the essential ingredient of the magic :) . Too bad my optimism only extends to such small daily matters, but that would be the topic for a different and much darker post.

Instead, let's talk about children. I am typing with one hand while trying to nurse Rohan to sleep. He is not a newborn anymore and putting him to sleep is harder now, but then he stays asleep longer, so no complaints. He is almost three months old, we are almost through the dreaded "fourth trimester". We no longer swaddle him to sleep and the uncontrollable crying doesn't happen so much anymore. To be honest though, he really has been no trouble. As I was telling him earlier, he is a baby for beginners, no previous experience required. Somehow other parents have confirmed to me that you never seem to get one of these the first time around. Go figure.

Rajiv has started daycare again and is having a little bit of trouble adjusting, but at least he seems to remember having been there before. All this changes must be hard on him and he makes it clear by kicking a screaming furiously, until the desperate parents manage to find a suitable distraction. It would drive us insane, if he wasn't so sweet at the same time. Earlier we were on the bed trying to create a sleepy mood and he would just lie down next to me, looking at me with the smile of the toddler who is not fooled by his parents tricks, and then he would say "mamma?" and give me a kiss on my mouth. This went on over and over again, then he realized that dad wasn't there and we went looking for him for more hugs. And of course he didn't sleep, but so what?

Un po' di foto

A few recent pictures, all taken in Chennai.

Foto recenti in ordine casuale, tutte scattate in suolo indiano.



Shirt courtesy of our friends Bob and Kelly.

Per gli italiani, la maglietta dice "fratellino".



This picture is not great, but it made it to the blog because it signifies we have found a new place. That's our new flat! Please behold the white floor and the hints of sunlight from the window: nothing to be taken for granted.

Papa' e Appu si guardano intorno mentre mamma prende le misure di un possibile appartamento dove trasferirci. Ieri abbiamo accettato e traslocheremo entro una decina di giorni.



I love this picture and now you can see who Appu gets his big eyes from. This was taken by Kuttamama at dinner a couple of days ago. S is holding Appu's drawing board where aunt Anu has made this charming portrait of the "happy family" using the geometric shapes that come with the board. Rohan was added minutes later, so he shouldn't feel left out - but fortunately he doesn't care about this stuff yet.

Sulla lavagnetta un disegno di zia Anu. Dovremmo essere io, S e Appu. Niente male, no?


Same night, same photograher, Appu trying to eat a raw carrot. He doesn't like them raw, but he always tries. And how can he look so beautiful in the process? Sorry, mommy speaking :)

Appu prova a mangiare una carota cruda - che tanto non gli piace, ma lui ci prova sempre.


My best nursing picture so far. Mamma with Rohan, self-portrait.

Mamma con Rohan, autoritratto.


Here I have succeeded in wiggling out of the sling without waking up the little one. A crucial talent to cultivate.

Rohan addormentato e ancora avvolto nella sua fascia porta-Rohan.


Appu takes a bath Indian style - with dad's help. He used to hate it, but not anymore, thankfully.

Appu fa il bagno alla maniera Indiana, con l'aiuto di papa'.

Week eleven

We are in India! It is hot hot hot, but not as Hot as I remember it to be when we came here with newborn Appu in June 2007. So far so good...

I skipped the week ten update, sorry about that, but it has been a busy couple of weeks. We have traveled a lot and met friends and family, and we have only had the benefit of a slow and expensive internet connection during our stay in Italy.

Highlights of the trip:

• Appu was looking forward to seeing his nonna again and he was delighted to be reminded that she lives with three feline friends ("Nonna! Gatti!")
  
• Nonno was good company too and tried to impress Appu with his famous magic tricks, like the disappearance and reappearance of the ashtray.
• There is a nice playground next to our place in Torino. It used to be a bit too advanced for little Appu, but not anymore, now Appu can climb like a little monkey!
• We met Emiliano's father and his family, who as usual showered us with gifts and treated us to a delicious dinner too. Their dog Babette was interesting but a bit scary for our little hero. She has a few rubber toys in animal shapes and Appu would try and rescue them from her teeth, saying "stay there!" or "do that gaguga!" (meaning 'don't do that to the turtle (tartaruga in Italian)').
• We met Emiliano in Brussels and it was still love between him and Appu. I really wish we could live nearby, we will have to convince "Miano" to take a job in Chennai :) .
  
• In India we were welcomed by Achamma, who is now a favorite of Appu and Rohan had lots of smiles for her too. Appu also got to spend some time with Achachan, who is now known as "Chacha" or "UV" (from the alphabet song, I am guessing).
• Our first dinner in Chennai was at Fortune, for excellent Chinese food. I really wanted to go there, because last time we went I was expecting Rohan and I was feeling to sick to even try anything. Appu cheered "nunels! nunels!" for a while and when they finally came it was complete happiness. Go Singapore Noodles!

Throughout all this we have been missing our friends in Canada. S. says Appu is like a Bollywood hero going around the house and chanting the name of his loved one. "Koena, Koena...". We sent her a postcard from Torino and he scribbled something very sweet looking on it. It was also hard to say byebye to the people in Italy, but we are looking forward to some steadiness now, after we move to a new flat that is.

Week nine

Rohan has turned two (months) and I must say that the time seems to be going faster than I remember with Appu. It might also be all the stress and excitement about our incoming trip, which has taken a couple of months if not more of preparation - no kidding! Still not ready, but once the plane takes off what is done is done and the rest can be forgotten, for better or for worse. A comforting thought :) .

Yesterday Rohan met a doctor for the first time and received his first vaccination shots. I wasn't fun for anybody, but we also learned that he is a really big boy, as we already suspected. He is 60 cm and almost 6 kg, I think - it's incredible how fast I forget things this days.

We just came back from a really nice dinner at the institute with our neighbor Kyle (am I spelling this right?) and his parents. Rajiv and his friend ran around, screamed their lungs out and colored with crayons while being fed very unhealthy food. I think they can't complain and neither can I, since while all this was going on I still managed to have an amazing raspberry semifreddo, while bouncing up and down on my chair to keep Rohan asleep in the sling.

For the rest of the post the theme is going to be "things that made me happy this week" (apart from the semifreddo):

• Appu singing the alphabet song with his sweet baby voice.

• Appu playing in the bed early (very) in the morning.

• Rohan wearing his leg warmers.
  
  
  
• Appu discovering that stickers are fun.
  
  
  
• My attempts at learning to use a wrap seem to show more promise this time around. Look at me, all wrapped up with a sleeping Rohan and ready to fly away on my broom!
  
  
  
• Rohan wearing a pink baseball cap. This cap was originally bought by my aunt for a little dog called Lara (don't ask), but the dog never tried it on and so the cap has made its way to a new owner, who wears it with great dignity.
  
  
  
• Lots of packages in the mail. I love receiving packages above all else, even when they are the result of my online shopping: surprises are overrated.

• It seems that the trip to Paris in the fall might actually happen in the end, if we don't change our mind again.
  

And next week this time we will be in Italy and the next we will be in India and then we get to rest (or not?).