The warrior princess diaries - VI

All right, it's time for me to compile my Facebook status updates about Xena over the last few months. Frankly speaking, Facebook has been the reason why the post frequency at the bar has gone down. It's so much more convenient to just post a one-liner about her using the iPad while I'm sitting next to her, than to sit at the iMac and type a long post. And this is the reason why I am not, and will never be, on Twitter. Because that would just shut the bar down. I just know it would. And I need the bar to stay alive. At least till Xena is old enough to read about her baby days' escapades.

My last update on her was in December, and a lot has happened since. Let's get the not-so-pleasant updates out of the way first.

• We had to make a few rounds of the hospital in the last few weeks. Xena had been rejecting solids, and even her milk intake had gone down drastically. To the point that her dietitian was concerned that she would dehydrate. She didn't put on any weight for like two months, and slipped back to being under the 3rd percentile. She seems to be doing a little better now, but her milk intake and rejection of solids still remain the biggest issues at the moment. She has a heart scan scheduled in October, and I really hope the hole has closed by then. I can't bear the thought of her undergoing another surgery.

• Though she is rejecting puree, she likes to gum on vegetable and fruit sticks I give her, so I am trying some kind of baby-led weaning (BLW) in the hope that one day she will just start eating. Like eating eating. So far, she's tried capsicum, carrot, banana, cucumber, onion, tomato, apple and pear. I should probably do a picture post on her gumming on these things.

• I think she's going to get her first tooth out soon. I spotted a white dot on her lower gum a few days ago. The funniest thing is that mommy and baby are both teething at the same time! (Her 1st, my 32nd.)

• It's amazing how a tiny baby can hint and hint and hint that she wants the ring that mommy is wearing. I have told her that she can have it. But only when she reaches an age where she stops wanting to EAT IT!

• Her fascination with labels is so amazing. Give her a toy, a bib, or even a T-shirt, and she will find the label and examine it for several minutes. (Before proceeding to chomp on it, of course.)

• I have been doing the exercises given by her physiotherapist to avoid any developmental delays, especially when it comes to crawling, sitting and standing, and they seem to be working. With her ever increasing mobility, I have to keep an eye on her all the time. I have discovered that the humble rattle can serve as an excellent baby monitor. Earlier, even if I went to the kitchen for just 10 minutes, I'd pop back in almost every minute to check on her. Now, before I leave I just hand her the rattle and say, "Shake it, baby!"

• She started standing up with support and cruising in her cot some time back and it was getting difficult to 'contain' her anymore. We bought a play yard which now occupies half of our living room. The first time I put her inside, she looked around in amazement but bawled her lungs out as soon as she realised that it was nothing but a fancy jail. She panicked so much that I didn't even have time to open the door and rescue her; I just airlifted her from outside!

• Her physiotherapist asked me to place her favorite toys just out of her reach to encourage her to learn crawling. Unfortunately, none of her toys worked as she didn't seem to want them badly enough to try and crawl towards them. Until one morning... when I found the magic toy that she wanted really really badly -- the iPad!

• I realised that though motherhood tremendously increases one's patience and tolerance levels with a baby, it also lowers them tremendously when it comes to other people/things. Seriously, hell hath no fury like a mother whose baby's sleep is disturbed by the noise from the construction next door.

• Xena is turning out to be a cleanliness freak. She likes to dust anything that is in front of her when she's standing. From dusting the couch and bed with her tiny bare hands several times a day, she has graduated to dusting all the new people she meets. She gave a very thorough dusting to one of her aunt's friends who had come to visit. Thankfully, the friend was just amused and not offended.

• We had a lot of houseguests in December and she absolutely enjoyed all the attention she got, especially from the kids. I quote her 10-year-old aunt, "Look! Even her KNEES are cute!"

• One of my nightsuits has a yellow care bear on it that she absolutely adores. She would claw at it in the hope that it would come out and play with her. I was telling Clueless about this, and she bought a yellow care bear for Xena!

• She started saying 'Awawawawa!' some time ago, and though it looked like it could go either way, I kept reminding her that Mama had not quit her job so she would say 'Papa' first. And sure enough, she said 'Mama' first!

• However, I must emphasise that Viv is really great with her. He's responsible for her massage and bath before he leaves for work, and he also does a bottlefeed at night before he sleeps. As for other stuff, such as where her pyjamas go (see picture below), let's just say he's still learning.

• She is all set to have curly hair! Just like mommy! Okay fine, both Viv and I have curly hair, but hers will be just like mommy!

• Okay, yesterday she babbled a whole string of 'words', and I'm not kidding when I say that she said something that sounded exactly like "Bill Gates"! I actually asked Viv why she didn't say "Steve Jobs" instead.

• Her favourite babble word is something that sounds exactly like "Okay!" From time to time, she says "Okay!" Very randomly. Of course, she has no idea what it means, but it's hilarious when I say something like, "Mama will just throw this diaper and come back to you, and then we can play again, okay?" and she responds with "Okay!" Just last week, I said, "Baby, I love you!" And she said, "Okay!"

• After her appointment at the hospital last week, I took the bus home, while Viv went to work. A Caucasian guy sitting next to me suddenly turned and said, "I think you're the most beautiful lady in the bus." I turned to stare at him and it turns out he was addressing Xena! I had never laughed so hard at myself in my head before.

• Motherhood sure enlightens you. I was reading a book of nursery rhymes to her, and it turns out Jack and Jill has a second verse! All my life I had thought that Jill came tumbling after and that was it! It turns out that the selfish brat Jack just went home without caring for Jill. Wikipedia tells me that there is a third verse in which Jill too goes home and gets a solid thrashing from her mother. I have always found nursery rhymes to be too violent (like Tom and Jerry) but this is disturbing stuff. More disturbing is the origin of the Jack and Jill rhyme. You can read more here. I am so going to make up my own nursery rhymes for Xena. And they will not be about guillotines and the plague and taxation.

• Xena had her first swimming pool experience last month, and loved it! She's always been a water baby who thoroughly enjoys her bathtime so we knew she would like being in the pool. We took her into the jacuzzi actually because she's not used to cold water. We went early in the morning so the water in the jacuzzi was pleasantly warm. We had bought swimming diapers and a neck float for her, but she seemed happier splashing about without the neck float, holding on to my hands.

• Xena had a picnic at the beach with her friends, and thoroughly enjoyed it. She was the first to get there, courtesy her super punctual mommy, and played with her toys for a while as she waited for her friends. So many people stopped by to say hi to her, I was amazed. Joggers, families, elderly folks, toddlers, mommies with babies, all came by to watch this baby sitting under a tree at the beach and playing with her toys, while her mama-razzi was going crazy with her DSLR.

• Speaking of the DSLR, I made 3093430758475 attempts to take a decent passport-size photo of her, but I didn't get anything acceptable. However, in the process, I got several amusing shots of her, which I have compiled below.

• Our friends got her a Rajasthani lehenga choli when they were in Jaipur and we put it on for her to a friend's baby shower. My baby looked like such a grown-up!

• And the final note on this post -- her birthday's coming up next saturday! Though she'll only be 10 months old medically, but it will be a year from when she came into this world and filled our lives with much happiness and hilarity. :)