Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The warrior princess diaries - I

Some of you have asked me how baby Xena has been doing so I thought I'd update with a post every now and then.

  • Xena has now reached the regular newborn baby weight. Thanks to the supplements she is taking, she looks healthy and chubby, and has started fitting into newborn clothes. She is on six different medicines/supplements at the moment.

  • We have gone back to the hospital about four times since she came home, for her follow-ups. At the last visit, she met her neonatologist, physiotherapist and dietitian. Wow, check out the entourage. Sounds like she's some millionaire heiress eh? They were mostly happy with her progress, though there are still many more follow-up visits to come. She has her brain and spine scans scheduled in a month's time, and hopefully all will go well.

  • She has recently started very sincere attempts to eat her right hand. Strangely, her physiotherapist was elated to see that. When I asked her why, she said that premature babies have trouble bringing their extremeties to the midline of their bodies. So the fact that Xena can bring her hand to her mouth is a good sign. So if you see a crazy mother telling her baby, "OK enough of the right hand, baby, now try to eat the left hand." that would be me.

  • The trust issues she had as a premature baby who spent two months in the ICU are slowly resolving themselves. She is less startled when we touch her, and readily rests her head on our chests. She has also stopped sleeping with both her hands stretched out smack in front of her face (a defense mechanism in premature babies). Sometimes she does sleep in the Manoj Kumar pose though.

  • Contrary to what they were saying when she was in the hospital, EVERYONE now says that she looks EXACTLY like Viv. She even has his characteristics, such as an unhealthy obsession with tomatoes. (We placed a fake one in front of her and you should have seen how excited she got.) Now I try to look for the tiniest of things she got from me. So far, I have got 1) chin, and 2) rate of growth of fingernails.

  • It is hilarious when Viv turns her feeding bib around so it becomes a cape, and makes her 'fly' through the air. She does look like a miniature Superman then. He also likes to move her legs so it looks like she is running very fast, and then says, "This is Flash Gordon in slow motion."

  • When Xena drinks milk, she likes to do a rowing action with her right hand. Viv calls it her 'right arm fast - delivery stride', whatever the heck that means.

  • She loves her bathtime and has clearly indicated that she prefers her bathtub to her crib. I can't wait for the day she goes swimming with her mommy.

  • She has started to make some sounds other than crying. Her first word was 'Agoo'. My friend Reghu thinks she was caling him. I actually agree. Her second word was 'Igoo' and her third was 'jing', which reminded me of the saying 'Duniya ka har teesra bacha Chinese hota hai.' Yesterday, she said her fourth word - 'hoey'. I think she was calling her Uncle Joey in Spanish.

  • She really likes to look at the ceiling and walls for some reason. We may thrust our faces in front of her all day, but she will find a way to squirm and look past (our ugly mugs?) and gaze at the ceiling and walls. I think she will grow up to become an artist and is currently surveying her canvas?

  • So far, she has only stepped out of the house to go to the hospital and the ICA. Recently, we took her for a short walk downstairs. While we were busy pointing out the trees, plants, flowers and butterflies to her, she was looking at - you guessed it - the sky!

  • I believe she will never forgive Viv and me for the photo on her passport. She looks like a fat, unhappy boy in it.

  • Her paternal grandmother (paati in tamil) is visiting us now. I crack some really bad jokes on that. For example, 'Xena is the life of the paati'. When I put Xena in mom-in-law's arms, I tell her that it's now 'paati time', and she is entering the 'paati zone'. Once, Xena and I were walking around looking for her and we couldn't find her. I started singing, "Where's the paati tonight?" I pity Xena for the jokes she is forced to listen to, both from her papa and mama.

  • And finally, a picture (didn't think the bewdas would let me get away without one). Zillion thanks to Shub for taking this picture with her big fancy camera last night!




48 comments:

MinCat said...

delurking.. =)
my niece's best friend till she was 5 months old was the ceiling! is the cutest thing. she's laugh and gurgle at it. her first word was also agoo! looky that now!
she's gorgeous, xena that is =) and a very lucky girl to have such hilarious parents.

Kavity said...

She looks very cute and nice and healthy :)
Take care! And loadsa love to Xena :)

Sree said...

God bless Gudiya.. love to her.

ಅಶ್ವಿನಿ/ Ashwini said...

Xena indeed looks healthy and chubby as you've mentioned. Of course cos she is under the care of such lovely parents. Hugs and kisses girl.

the.orchestra.of.life said...

touchwood !!

Obscure Optimist said...

I just a look at the pic...bhai.. Xena is so so so adorable... <3

Love the pic.. Lots and lots of love to her and to you too.. :)

ok now back to reading the post!

Obscure Optimist said...

Feels great to read the updates!! :)
Loved the piece about Xena's "Paati Time"..
Keep posting!
Mwaaah Xena!

Divya said...

Absolutely lovely news...Xena is such a sweetheart. My son is a month younger and I see that all babies do the same antics!! its a joy to see them grow!

reena said...

Beautiful mothers Beautiful Xena!!. I wish she is hale and hearty forever. God Bless!!

Anu said...

she's gorgeous! loved reading about her antics and good to know that she's doing great! Loved your paati jokes :D

nidhi said...

So happy to hear of the progress Xena is making. and she does look much healthier and chubby now. Congratulations. Loved the superman visualization and the Paati jokes.
You are lucky she enjoys a bath, my nephews and nieces used to drive us crazy at bathtime.
Also while you are celebrating the fact that she is putting her hand to mouth, let me warn you she is soon going to want to eat her feet as well.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing Xena's picture with your readers, she looks adorable! I can imagine she would be furious at her passport picture, but as she grows older, she will realize that shes not alone, we all hate our passport pictures anyway ! All the best baby Xena, now attack that left hand as mommy says

Arun said...

All of the above!
Warrior princess and paati girl!
:)

Anonymous said...

she is so adorable. life of the paati indeed :). atleast the life of this blog :).

Sum said...

She looks sooo soo cute! All best wishes to her :)

Arun said...

"I sing
Agoo, igoo, jing!
Agoo, igoo, jing!
Beautiful ceiling!
Agoo, igoo, jing!"

"I'm papa's girl,
'xcept for my nails and my chin!
I sing,
Agoo, hoey, jing!
Agoo, igoo, jing!"

"One hand is so tasty!
Could the other be too?
Let's not be hasty,
'tis too good to be true"

"Life of a baby
Is a lovely thing!
I sing,
Agoo, igoo, jing!"

Jakes said...

God! She is beautiful!

trash_u said...

:) blissful smile of the warrior

way to go...

Anonymous said...

She looks beautiful!! :) *Touchwood*
Thank you for the updates, was waiting for long to hear it. Happy to know that she's doing well.. God bless her!!

Shalaka said...

Adorable!!! thanks for posting this.. was anxious to hear an update on her health. all the best and enjoy!

Whatsup said...

My daughter didnt want me to hold her when she was two months old because it was much comfortable to watch the ceiling from the crib :P

Xena is looking beautiful :) Hugs to her.

Kavs said...

yay to Xena and Xena's parents - she looks like she really like dthe camera. :)

Neha said...

I literally had khushi ke aansoo on reading that she is doing fine :) Lots of love to her and a biig kiss on her chubby cheeks! :)

anshuj said...

She looks so cute!
"Where's Paati tonight!" Lolz
You're hilarious.

R said...

awwwwww....thanks for the post mommy! and please keep giving us the updates! I am always looking out for posts on Xena!

Kanan said...

How adorable! She looks gorgeous and quite a lot like you (you both have the same oval face) at least in this pic. :)

Meenakshy said...

@Arun: so cool :)
@Sayesha: Thanks for this, reminded me of his babydom and the time spent with my mom and sister. I think its babies' fav hobby to sway hands while having milk.. Ganesh too used to do that :D
My sister had bundled the color long crape paper (which was used for birthday party decorations in our childhood) and hung that bunch near his usual place in the living room. When the fan was switched on, they would have slow little movement; he would enjoy that as well apart from the ceilings and walls :)

Reflections said...

So happy and relieved to know about Xena's progress!!! God Bless Her... :)

Adorable post..

~Sneha

Anita said...

Cutie pie

KB said...

God bless her...Xena is so cute

Jina said...

Ok..I admit- I cried seeing that pic---tears of joy ofcourse...:). When she is old enough to hear stories-tell her the tale of this unknown 'aunty' (gulp) whom she or her parents never met cried seeing her picture from a square box (ok-thats exaggeration-Im sure Macs will continue existing for sometime)

Technofun said...

God bless her....she is looking very cute

Bivas said...

@Arun: Lovely one... :)
@Sash: fikr not on the passport fotu...waise bhi kuchh saal mein to renew karwana hoga :-)

diyadear said...

Great news here.. Im so glad the warrior princess is doing fine.. Thats a very cute pic of her..
God Bless..

Reema said...

all the babies look like their fathers initially..its some nature's survival trick as I read somewhere. as for rate of growth of fingernails, their metabolism is hyper so they grow fast..nothing to do with genes now. great pic..Xena looks so cute! glad to know she is doing well.

shweta said...

Aweee Cute Xena!!

Hema said...

How Cute :) Thanks for sharing the picture Sayesha...! She looks so adorable.

Soumya said...

Awesome! Thanks a ton for posting the pic. Dil ko tassalli mil gayi :)

Deepu said...

Sweet. now we are waiting for Xena to grow up and see the disapproving look on her face on her parent's PJ's. :)

Alok said...

Xena looks so cute adorable and radiant!!!
Loads of love to Xena..
Loved the paatti jokes

apu said...

she is just gorgeous!!!

Granger Gab said...

She is lovely Sayesha:-) god bless her and keep her healthy always!

Bubblegum.... said...

healthy healthy!! she looks super chilled!!! :)

Nachu said...

Xena looks so adorable and cute!!!
Loads of love to Xena... God bless her

Alice said...

good to hear the updates. Looks to me like she's got your smile (insofar as I could compare her pic with yours on the header!)

Sudeep said...

Glad to read her progress. Yeah she doesn't look like Sandhya Mridul toh tumhare jaisi nahi hai. Viv ka cricket bhi hai usme :)

Was reading an article in the bus today morning, will look for the online version if I get a link to pass over. We can just be happy that we all are better blessed than some other people.

Sayesha said...

Mincat,
Haha! So the ceiling thing is very common then! Yeay! :) Thanks for delurking! :)

Kavity,
Thanks! :)

Sree,
Thanks! :)

Ashwini,
Thanks! :)

the.orchestra.of.life,
Indeed! :)

Yamini,
Thanks! :D

Divya,
Thanks! :)

reena,
Thanks! :)

Anu,
Thanks! :)

nidhi,
//let me warn you she is soon going to want to eat her feet as well

Really??? YEAYYYYYY! :D :D :D

shintasimon,
True that, about our passport pics! :D

//now attack that left hand as mommy says

LOL! Thanks! :D

Arun,
Thanks. :D

annastales,
Thanks! :)

Sum,
Thanks! :)

Arun,
ROFL!!! My whole family was ROFL-ing when they read your poem. Thanks! :D :D :D Beautiful ceiling?! LOL LOL! :D

Jakes,
Thanks! :)

trash_u,
Thanks! :)

babble2blabber,
Thanks! :)

Shalaka,
Thanks! :)

Whatsup,
Hahahaha! It's amazing how much she cranes her neck just to look at the drab ceiling! :D

Kavs,
Thanks! :D

anshuj,
Thanks! :D

Raam Pyari,
Thanks! :)

Kanan,
Thanks! And YEAY she looks like me?! :D Finally someone said it! :D

Meenakshy,
I like the crepe paper idea, I should try that too! Thanks! :D

Reflections,
Thanks! :)

Anita,
Thanks! :)

KB,
Thanks! :)

Urs....Jina,
Thanks! :) I bet she will be at the bar soon to know more about the bewdas. :)

Technofun,
Thanks! :)

Bivas,
Yeah that's true... 5 years mein new pic! :)

diyadear,
Thanks! :)

Reema,
Thanks! :) My metabolism must be hyper too! Our nails grow at the same rate, hehe! :P

shweta,
Thanks! :)

Hema,
Thanks! :)

Soumya,
Thanks! :)

Deepu,
LOL! :D Parents' PJs nahin, only Papa's PJs. :P

Alok,
Thanks! :)

apu,
Thanks! :)

Granger Gab,
Thanks! :)

Bubblegum,
Thanks! :)

nachu,
Thanks! :)

Alice,
Yeayyyyy! Thanks! :D :D :D

Sudeep,
I look like Sandhya Mridul?? :D She's damn pretty, man! :P Will look out for the link.

Sudeep said...

Sandhya Mridul ka incident kaafi pehle bola tha tumhe, bhul gayi hogi.
By the way, was not remembering reading the older picture series posts you did on Aishu. Checked those today, and they are equally good. Aur waha ke comments mein ke log yaad aaye names pe se, kaha chale gaye sab log.