Wiggles starts school

Wiggles has been dying to go to school for the last few months and the day finally arrived on 24th Mar. In preparation she had already got a new school bag and water bottle. Thankfully, neither was pink. She chose a blue elephant design bag and a green water bottle. After the incredibly painful "pink"phase with Squiggles I don't think I could have taken more of that!

The 1st day was just a half an hour orientation with me present. She was quiet and didn't really interact much with the teacher. But she was excited by the playground. There is an elephant slide there which thrilled her little heart with delight. The next day was another half an hour session with me present but she was comfortable with me sitting outside the classroom. At the end of the half hour she didn't want to leave so that was good!

The next day was the big day where I had to leave her for 2 hours. Whilst the night before she claimed she didn't want to go to school, she was more than happy to get up and get ready in the morning. I went to drop her off. As she was entering her class I told her to say hello to everyone and she said in the cutest way possible "Hello Everybody"! Of course the other little kids didn't even respond!

When I went to pick her up she didn't really want to come home (she had a short day whilst the rest of the kids continued with their day). On day 4, she went for the full 3 hours and when I picked her up she was very happy but could have stayed longer. She rushed to the playground and made friends with another little girl who she had never met before. That's Wiggles for you - ever smiling and super friendly.

On day 5, we put her on the school bus. Later her teacher told me she cried when she reached the classroom as her teacher wasn't there. Once she met her teacher she was fine for the rest of the day.

Giggles is 1 month old today

Time flies when you're having fun... or when you have 3 kids! It took a reminder from my sis for me to realise today Giggles was a month old. I'd been waiting so long for her that it still hasn't registered that she's well and truly here.

Giggles is growing well so far. Her features are becoming more distinct and it seems like unlike her sisters she might resemble me a tad bit more than DD. Finally! I'd given up since DD's genes seem to be the dominant one. As they say, third time lucky.

She's started responding to our wild gesticulations and every now and then bestows the sweetest smile on us. DD is particularly happy today because he was at the receiving end of a few smiles this morning in bed. Of course, it probably had to do with the fact that she had just been fed and was "milk drunk" but I'm not going to get any credit, am I?

The poor thing has reflux so that's challenging for both of us to handle. After every feed, we need to hold her up for a while till she feels comfortable and even then she spits up milks ever so often. Not to mention, the bothersome gas is making her uncomfortable too. Some nights are good when she sleeps at right for 4-5 hours and others like last night are tough when she's cluster feeding and can't settle down for a nap.

Squiggles and Wiggles are all over her and I'm sure she's wondering whether she's at home or in a madhouse! The constant chaotic sounds tend to disturb her and she's now able to express her displeasure with a grumpy cry when she can't take it any more.

We celebrated her bangle ceremony on her 28th day - check out the pics.

Wiggle-ism

Every time wiggles gets a bruise, scrape or cut she promptly goes and applies toothpaste on it. This home remedy has been taught to her by my helper.

Last night I was complaining to her that I had a headache. Her prompt suggestion to me was - "you want to put toothpaste on your head?" Ummmm no!

One afternoon before giggles was born, wiggles and I were just lazing around in bed about to doze off for our afternoon nap. Wiggles wasn't in the mood for a nap but I was and I kept trying to pat her. Bored with my attempts she said to me with a twinkle in her eye - "I feel like doing something naughty mama!" Oh dear!

Introducing Giggles

Happy 5th Birthday Squiggles

Dear Squiggles,

I realized a little while ago that I hadn't got you a card for your birthday. Given the amount of fuss I make when you don't have one for me, I am shocked at myself! So, I guess after I finish writing this I will be devoting my energies to figuring out how to rectify this problem.

It's been a tough little year for you. You've done a lot of growing up and the world as you have known it changed forever when Wiggles arrived. Suddenly you're having to share the centre stage. In the first few days after Wiggles's arrival you were very proud but it soon changed to an underlying sense of sadness. I think somewhere in your heart you were struggling with the change and that's how you were expressing yourself. That sadness gave way to a weird phase where you were making joking comments threatening to break Wiggles' fingers. You did outgrow that and I thought you had adjusted when you suddenly developed a very babyish way of speaking a few weeks ago. So, I guess I became complacent when I thought I didn't have to pay special attention. That;s something that's going to occupy a lot of my thoughts over the next few days.

Anyways, coming back to your big milestone today. Happy 5th birthday darling! You're quite a little girl now with a mind of your own. You have distinct tastes and preferences and have become very discerning in your choice. It's difficult to force our choices on you now and sometimes I wonder why do we bother!

You're one girly little girl. Extremely interested in make up, clothes, jewellery, dressing up, nail polish, barbie, princesses. Your favourite colour is no longer pink. You now claim it to be purple though I think the old pink habits die hard. You've sadly outgrown puzzles and the like but remain interested in books, which warms my heart. I feel good that I was able to pass on my passion and love for books to you. I hope this stays with you throughout your life. I hope that whenever you pick up a book to read you'll remember me :).

This has also been the age when you've started becoming curious about why boys are different and this curiosity has extended into trying to sneak a peek, though there have been vehement denials!

You remain a moody and temperamental child and my latest theory is that it is more prominent when you're hungry. So, I've asked Aunty Marita to give you more smaller meals. Let's see if that shows any improvements. The one worrying thing has been this tendency towards being rude towards the aunties in the house, some screaming and kicking. This is worrying me a lot at the moment. I hope I'm able to figure this out soon before you become a spoilt brat!

Your numeracy skills are coming along well. We spent a lot of time working on that. Reading and writing could be better. I haven't really put together a structured plan for you to focus on that at home so that's my bad. I'll be fixing that soon. Your love of painting and arts and crafts continues.

I do love your sense of humour. There's a naughty streak in you which is more impish rather than destructive. You love making jokes, playing practical jokes and fooling around. You're also questioning things,trying to understand what makes things tick. You're also a bit more spontaneous with expressing your love though as you're growing up I have to keep chasing you for hugs and kisses. You keep wriggling away from me. I miss those days when I could hold you close and you wouldn't protest.

With Wiggles' arrival, it seems like you grew up over night. I have to keep reminding myself that you're still just a tiny little girl.

And some of your behaviors are starting to mirror what I used to do at your age. E.g. you're always bored, in fact the minute you wake up in the morning you proclaim that you're getting bored. That is so me! The other thing which is just like me is your habit of opening the fridge a hundred times a day to see whats inside but never quite finding anything to your liking! I used to drive Mummy Daddy mad with that.

We've started this story telling at bed time where instead of me making up some random stories I'm sharing my childhood stories with you. You really seem to be into it and keep begging me to tell you more. You love these stories and I really enjoy snuggling up with you and sharing them.

You're a smart girl and when you focus you can pick things up really fast. The consistent feedback from all your teachers is that it's difficult to get you to focus. Sigh...we'll work on that this year my angel :).

Love you loads. May Gurubaba keep you safe, happy and healthy. I love you to bits. What.. I said that already? So what, I can say it however many times I want. I love you.......... Happy birthday! 

We have a foodie!

Little wiggles started experimenting with solids when she was 4.5 months old. The first few days of banana were approached with caution. But after that the idea of solids really got through and we haven't looked back.

A month later we tried giving her rice and dal water which she really enjoyed. And we're also varying the fruits that we offer. She loves her apple and mango. And the khichdi has progressed to a little bit of aloo mixed in as well.

She's enjoying her meal times and we are using more of the high chair than we ever did with wiggles. So, the high chair is finally paying for itself!

Turning 6 months old

Just as wiggles turned 6 months, she started to support herself in a sitting position. And started grabbing everything that she can grab her hands on, especially food!

But she also welcomed this phase with a bout of fever, vomiting and crankiness. The doc said it was viral but I suspect we have some serious teething going on too!