"Zaino!"

Appu with his new inseparable best friend: the "zaino", also known as backpack.

Appu con lo zainetto arancione (regalato tempo fa con qualche prodotto nella farmacia di Piazza Adriano, se non ricordo male), il suo nuovo amico del cuore.

Chapter One

In which Little Rajiv, also known as Appu, acquires a new brother.

Little Rohan Ernesto was born on a Tuesday night, at 9:41 PM, on June 23rd 2009. This is the story of his birth.

There had been early signs of labour for days, but on Monday night things seemed to finally be moving. As we went on our usual walk to put Appu to sleep and I started having some mild contractions, so we decided to walk to the video store and get a few dvd of mindless tv series just in case we ended up being up all night. However, after checking out the videos the contractions stopped, so we went back home, put Appu to bed and decided to sleep early to save our energies for when they would be needed.

During the night I had a few mild contractions and a little bit of bleeding, so I felt sure that it was finally happening. In the morning we took Appu to Sally's house, the home daycare center where he had been going for months, and then decided to go on a walk to see if the contractions would start again.

It was the first really hot day of the summer, so walking in the sun was quite exhausting. We went to the university library to pick up a book and stopped there to rest and have a snack. Then we walked back and stopped at the office to have lunch. By then the contractions had started again, but still mild, irregular and far apart. After the walk we were very tired, so we went home for a nap.

I woke up at around 2:30 with regular contractions, so we cheered and proceeded with our early labour plan. I took a shower, we watched some of the tv episodes we had taken at the video store the night before and we asked our neighbours Andrew and Anna Marie to pick up Appu at daycare and keep him with them for dinner. Their daughter Kalena goes to the same daycare and is a regular playmate, so it was very easy to arrange and not too traumatic for Appu, we hoped.

We packed a bag with diapers, a pair of pyjamas, Pingu and a Kipper dvd for Appu and then we also packed a bag for the hospital, just in case.

S called our midwife Mina and told her that I was definitely in labour. We weren't sure how far along I might be, though, and we didn't dare keeping too high hopes, so we just told her she didn't need to come yet. She asked us to call her back in an hour, so we watched more tv and went for a little walk. This was some time between 5 and 6 PM. We called the neighbours to check how Appu was doing and he was reported "as happy as a pig in shit" (Canadians!), which was a big relief. I was quite a bit in pain by now, but I remembered being in a lot of pain last time too and being told I hadn't even started dilating yet, so we were quite cautious with our hopes. S was a great support though, so all this part was really a nice experience and the pain was easily managed.

When we called back Mina she said she would come to take a look at me and in about half an hour she showed up with her student Joanne. She said they would stay only if I was at least 4 cm dilated already, but surprisingly when Joanne checked me I was around 7 cm already! That was an encouraging moment. The midwives started setting up their equipment - an impressive display of stuff that (fortunately) mostly we didn't need.

In a short time the pain increased a lot and I was mostly leaning on the futon, with S encouraging me to take walks to the kitchen and back every now and then. We listened to some music, our favorite Simon and Garfunkel cd, and Mina entertained us with stories of pirate pop music videos from her youth in Iran.

I was worried about Appu, because it was bedtime for him and Kalena and I was afraid the neighbours would be having trouble. Appu is not well known as an easy to put to bed kid... On the other hand I was not willing to let S go to put Appu to bed at this point, so we called Anna Marie and suggested that Appu could watch his dvd for a while if they needed a break. As it turned out, Appu watched his cartoons and then said "bed" (!!). Once taken to the bed, he promptly fell asleep (!!!!).

Around 9 PM I was checked again. The dilation was almost complete, so Mina said it was time to break the water and have the baby! The other midwife who was supposed to attend the birth, Ann, was paged and she made it in time for the birth, which happened after a short - I think - time of pushing. Now this is the part I wouldn't like to do again any time soon - not that I think I will have to ever again, by the way. Two is enough... :)

Unfortunately Rohan decided to pop out superman style, with a hand in front of his face, so I got two tears, one of which was apparently quite nasty. Being stitched up was the closest thing to crucifixion that I ever experienced, but surprisingly the recovery was easy and I already don't feel any pain after only a few days.

After the stitches I got to try and breastfeed Rohan, who by now was getting impatient in his father's arms. He took to it right away and sucked softly but persistently for quite a while. I can really see that breastfeeding right away after the birth makes a big difference. I wish I had gotten that chance with Appu, it would probably have saved us both a lot of trouble.

The midwives cleaned up the room, prepared the laundry basket, helped me to take a shower and then left us before midnight. That's the nicest part about giving birth at home, the part in which you are comfortable in your house after it is all over and the baby is right there on your bed.

We got more sleep than I expected. Rohan was very sleepy and he didn't mind me feeding him while lying down, so it was all very restful (as far as these things go...).



In the morning Appu dropped by before being taken to daycare. I had missed him so much! This was our longest separation so far and when he came back from Sally's house later that day he was ready for a lot of mom and dad. And we were ready for a lot of Appu, of course! His main reaction to the new brother so far is a renewed desire to nurse all the time. This picture is from day one of Rohan's life: the beginning of a beautiful milk friendship :)

Announcement

Our son (name still under debate, so let's call him "Piccolino") was born yesterday night, June 23, at 9:41. I am just posting a few pictures here, a more complete account of the events might follow later on.

We succeeded in having a home birth, so Piccolino was born on our old trusted futon in our living room. The large night gown covered blob in the picture is the mom :).



Dad cuts the cord...



... and Piccolino gets his first check up. He weighs 7 lbs 8 oz (3.4 kg) and measures 20.5 in (52 cm), if I remember correctly.



There he is, warm and cozy!



And here are the two amazing midwives who helped us out during and after the birth. Piccolino is a bit hard to spot here, but he is snuggled next to his mom.

Appu con mamma e papa'

I haven't been posting for a while, but we have been really busy. There has been some major renovation going on in the house and maybe one of this days I will post some pictures of our lovely new attic. We have also made some rushed last minute arrangements for the birth, thinking somehow that Rohan/Rowan would decide to appear early, but of course here we are still waiting for him. In any case, we are ready now (right...).

There are loads of things I can say about Appu, he has really amazed us in the last month. He has his favorite cartoons now ("Kippo", and sadly "Dora"), his favorite book characters ("Gossie") and he has his preferences on almost everything. He knows what jacket he wants to wear, if he wants one at all, and so on and so forth. He loves puppets and has a lot of fun impersonating various animals. He remembers some words from his favorite books and fills in the blanks when mamma is reading to him. He can can more or less count from one to ten in both English and Italian and he recognizes the numbers when he sees them written (this is making his dad suspect that there might be a brain inside, after all... :) ).He is very very cuddly, as if he knew that these are the last days he gets to spend as the only cuddly baby in the house.

So, since I happen to have a couple of pictures of Appu with his parents - even a very rare one with the mom, self-taken of course, because who would do it otherwise - I thought this would make a nice last post pre new baby (says the mom who keeps hoping for labor to start... now!).

Isn't he so so so cute? And very tanned - sorry achamma!

Names - again - II

A significant number of people whose opinion we value has suggested the name Rohan instead of Roan (or Rowan). As a matter of fact, that was our initial idea as well, but then I proposed we modified it to Roan to make it easier on the Italians who notoriously mess up their 'h's. I didn't even know the name Roan actually existed, but since it turned out that it does (and the variant Rowan is even the name of an actor that S greatly admires) then it seemed settled. I also like that Roan/Rowan comes from the name of a tree - now I couldn't tell you which one, but something that grows in Ireland and has red berries on it.

I guess Rohan is still a possibility, but in the last decade lots of babies have received that name in honor of The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's shadow would always hang on the little one.

Anyway, I think we will put aside Niccolo', for the reasons I already mentioned. I don't think most people could pronounce it right and I wouldn't enjoy having him called Nick by all his friends. Nonna Laura seems to be very excited about the middle name Ernesto (her mother was called Ernestina, after an older half brother Ernesto who died in World War I, so lots of family history there), so we might keep that.

At first I really wanted an Italian name for this baby, but if we end up living in India I don't want one of them to always feel that he fits in less than his brother because of his strange name. I know it is not a big deal, but this is the kind of stuff that sometimes matters to kids, so why risk it.

So:

Roan Ernesto Ashok?
Rowan Ernesto Ashok?
Rohan Ernesto Ashok?

Names - again

Please vote:

Roan Niccolo' Ashok
Roan Ernesto Ashok

or Rowan (S. claims it is pronounced exactly as Roan, but my Italian instinct to pronounce the letters I see makes me suspicious) with the same middle names.

or Niccolo' ... Ashok - and please feel free to fill the dots.

I think we are quite in favor of Roan/Rowan at the moment, but not so strongly that we won't have changed our minds by tomorrow morning of course. It does however have the advantage of being easy to write and pronounce and it cannot be shortened into some dreadful American like nickname. My favorite name Niccolo' doesn't satisfy any of these requirements, so maybe it is time to abandon that idea. Thoughts?

By the way, cheer up! Only one month to go and then this name agony will be over. :)

From "Miano"'s Camera

Un po' di foto scattate da Emiliano nel corso dell sua visita.


Our friend Emiliano has left yesterday and we already miss him a lot. Here are a few pictures of Appu taken by him during his visit.

The first ones were taken on the sidewalk in front of the house. We have been all trying to teach Appu to pedal, but he doesn't reach the pedals very easily, so he prefers to propel himself with his feet or be pushed - "push!" is one of his new words.

Sul marciapiede davanti a casa. Appena esce Appu si lancia verso il triciclo, ma non ha ancora imparato a pedalare, nonostante gli sforzi congiunti di Miano e dei genitori.




Appu with Papi on the couch is a classic, but always nice.



This one instead is from our day trip to Toronto. Mommy drove the car on a scary highway for the first time and we spent the day with Emiliano's friend Gaetano and his family. In the picture we have little Clara and Rajiv very seriously examining their books.

Questa e' una foto della gita a Toronto di lunedi' scorso. Abbiamo passato la giornata con un amico e la sua famiglia. Qui vedete la piccola Clara con il piccolo Rajiv, molto seri e concentrati sulla lettura.



Here we are back in Waterloo, at the children section of the local library. It is a great place for kids and there are lots of toys and activities, with cozy cushions to "read" and relax (as if a two year old knew what that means...).

Questa invece e' la biblioteca di Waterloo, nell'area dedicata ai bimbi.




In the next picture it is Papi again, and someone is ready for bed...



... but not tired enough that he can't produce a smile for the camera...



The last two pictures are from dinner a couple of evenings ago. Rajiv and his dad disappeared from the restaurant for a few minutes and came back with a new friend. We called him "Pingu", but Appu seems to prefer the name "Picu". It was love at first sight. Unfortuntely Appu had a bad cold last week and Pingu seems to have got the worst of it, but thankfully he claims to be machine washable, so he might go for a swim one of these days. It is the first toy that Appu has picked himself, by the way, and mommy is so proud of her big (but sssmalll, if you know what I mean) kid!

Nelle ultime foto fa la sua prima apparizione pubblica un nuovo amico, il pinguino "Pingu" (o "Picu", come dice Appu). Rajiv lo ha scelto personalmente e lo porta quasi dappertutto.