My First Trip

I had my first outdoor trip in my third month. It was also the first long drive in our new car for my family. We were going to our native village Mannegudem. In the morning I was given a warm bath and put to sleep so that everyone could peacefully prepare for the trip :P

I was asleep half the way until we took break at a place for lunch. Daddy stopped the car at a place that had farmlands around. Everyone took out newspapers to set our dining area! I was comfortable and cozy in my Uma aunty's arms. This was the first time I got real exposure to Mother Nature. Mommy had prepared pulihora (tamarind rice) and after lunch there was a big photo session. Everyone would pose with me in their arms!

I smiled a lot in my village by looking at all our relatives. We had to visit a temple and a river for which we drove to a neighbouring village (my paternal grandmother's native place) called Sangem. All three of us had to take bath in the cold water of the river. As the water was very cold my grandmother just applied the holy water to my body with her hands. After bath all of us visited the temple and had prasadam and lunch which was prepated on the site.

We were back from Sangem by noon and later in the evening hosted dinner for all our relatives . I received several gifts that included dresses, gold and silver ornaments. On the way back, we visited all our relatives in Korutla (a town nearby the village). It was a one week trip full of excitement and fun!

A smiling Nishita - My Third month

My third month is special for various reasons.

It coincided with the begininng of a new year. I welcomed the year 2009 in style. While my usual bedtime used to be 9pm, on 31st Dec 2008, I slept at 1 am!! I exchanged wishes with everyone in my family before retiring to bed.

I finally got introduced to my dearest Ravi mama in Jan 2009. My mom took me to my grandparents' place so that we get to spend some time with him. His favourite hobby now was to take my snaps! He tried hard to capture me with a smile and was successful few times.

I had my first outdoor trip in the second week of this month. The trip was to my native village Mannegudem. This trip deserves a more detailed description and hence a separate post is dedicated for it.

Once back from the village, I again met Ravi mama who gifted me a beautiful pram. Most of my playtime was now spent in my pram. I bid Ravi mama farewell while he went back to Germany.

I could now hold objects with better grip and would try to take them into my mouth. I smiled a lot in the third month by looking into people's faces and things that I found interesting. I would look straight into the camera whenever my snap was taken. I was already following Daddy's footsteps in this regard - giving poses for photographs. I had a grand finale...on the last day (Jan 29) I rolled over completely for the first time!! It was a celebration time and Nannamma and mummy prepared bobbatlu (an andhra sweet dish) on the occassion.

I love playing - My Second Month

From second month I was actively doing two things: Staring at objects and following them as they move and playing vigourously with my hands and legs! I had made a friend by then - The Ceiling Fan. I loved looking and cooing at it. When the fan was switched on it made me smile and sometimes even laugh:) Once when it stopped I made a crying face and smiled immediately after it was switched on!!! I used to do cycling using my hands and legs with immense speed and energy. And the speed was even more when I used to stare at the Fan.

I got my first vaccination at 6 weeks - DPT, Hepatitis-B and Oral Polio Vaccine. Vaccines caused fever which lasted for 24 hours but I remained dull for two days.I also vomited more during these 2 days.
I came to my home from my maternal grandparents' place in the later half of this month. We are a big family living together, Mom, Dad, Nannamma, babai, Uma aunty and Purna aunty and I was the latest addition:) Everyone would fight to hold me in their arms and try to grab my attention. They would make faces and produce various sounds wanting to make me smile. And if I responded with a broad cute smile it was a rejoicing moment for everyone!!
I had started smiling a little (when awake) occassionally in this month. It gradually increased and by the end of 2nd month I had reached the "social smile" milestone in paediatric terms!