Ranjit Visits Oak Park

Since Ranjit's Mansi auntie had invited us to come have lunch with her in her condo in Oak Park, Ranjit and I decided to stop by Village Hall and say hello to my ex-coworkers. The boy was a HIT, attracting my coworkers plus some strangers that I would rather have stayed a bit away, but what can you do. He stayed there with me for a full 40 minutes, smiling and cooing from time to time (he didn't give them his full comedy routine, they actually thought he was quiet!) while 20 to 30 people stared, smiled and spoke jibberish in front of him (or at least that is what I imagined it was like to him). I actually think that maybe whenever I decide to start working I need to take him on interviews, he could charm the pants off of anyone!

Afterwards we went to the Pathak's for lunch, where he had a great time playing with his Mansi auntie, taking a bath in her sink (we had a little diaper incident, I won't go into detail) and taking a walk around historic Oak Park. This pleased me and Mansi to no end because the last time he came to her place he cried for an hour and a half of the two hours that we were there! He left a little tired, but I swear that I heard him say to Mansi "I had a splendid time, let's do this again, shall we??" Yes, he's quite a conversationalist.

Saturday we leave for Ohio, now THAT will be an adventure, more to come!!

Ranjit's Tummy Time Evolves

This weekend marked a momentus occasion for Mr. Ranjit Singh; not only was it his parent's one year anniversary, it was also the first weekend where Ranjit was consistently able to stay on his tummy with his arms supporting him for 5 minutes at one time. Big deal, you say? It is, it is!!

Why? Until 1994, when the American Academy of Pediatrics started urging parents to put babies to sleep on their back, most babies slept on their tummy and were used to being in that position. Today, most babies are much more comfy on their back, where they spend their sleeping hours (not to mention time spent in car seats, swings and bouncy seats). As a result, it is recommended that as much of a baby's wakefulness be on their tummy, or tummy time, so that they can eventually learn to crawl. This is usually met with much fussing from babies, since they are just not used to this perspective. The fact that their head is so big and heavy probably doesn't help either.
Our little Ranjit is no exception. I don't know if he's too young despise anything at this age, but if he isn't, it's safe to say that he DESPISED tummy time. From the first week our doctor started recommending that we put him on his belly for a few minutes a day so that he would be used to the position. When we got him home and turned him over (that itself being a challenging feat for me), he started whimpering and crying so heartbreakingly that I immediately flipped him back on his back. I thought it would get better as time went on but it never failed;it seemed like he would only be able to spend 10 seconds at the most on his belly before he started looking at me like I was betraying him somehow.
So the first two months came and went with several failed miserable attempts to put him on his belly, which I thought would remedy itself as he got older and he developed better neck control. (besides, I thought anything that can make a baby cry that much must not be right, right?) When we went to the doctor for his two month check up, however, I was slightly frazzled to learn that Ranjit's head was getting a little flat from being on his back too much. Upon more research I was even more alarmed to hear that since the "Back to Sleep campaign", there has been an epidemic of plagiocephaly, or "flat head syndrome". While this syndrome is more a question of aesthetics, its remedy (a baby helmet) is expensive and uncomfortable for the baby, who has to wear the helmet for 6 months.
Thus I became a Tummy Time Nazi, making sure Ranjit gets at least 10 minutes of tummy time a dat, whether it be on my belly, Ajit's belly, Sunita mami's lap (it's so cute, you have to look at her in action), his boppy or just on the floor. We recently learned the "monkey hold", which also gives him his tummy time. Crying or no, I knew that Ranjit would never forgive me if I let his head get flat and made him wear a helmet for his infancy.
And it worked!! He is now able to support his neck quite comfortably, which makes me happy to no bounds. So here I present all his forms of tummy time, which resulted in the above picture. Hooray for Ranjit!

Ranjit Doesn't like the Library

Ranjit has so far seemed to like visiting new places, whether it be Target or Whole Foods or Chicago's Grant Park. So today I decided that Ranjit and I would continue exploring Chicago by going to the neighborhood library. I used to have a Chicago Public Library card about 5 years ago and decided that it was high time that I renewed it. On the way to the library Ranjit was content. However, once we parked the car, I realized that I had unfortunately failed to remember his Baby Bjorn front carrier. Not wanting to waste the trip, I decided to carry him into the library using his car seat.

From the moment we entered the library, Ranjit (not yet knowing proper etiquette for a library) began talking. And not the cute little gurgling noises that he usually makes when he's in a new place, instead he was taking a rather loud and demanding tone, as if to say"Library?! You're taking me to the library?? I can't even read!" After trying to sooth him a bit, I succumbed to the dirty looks given by the other library patrons and decided to fill out the application outside, where Ranjit decided to be quiet again. He even smiled at the friendly homeless man (maybe he wasn't homeless, but I'm assuming) who came to talk with him. The second that we re-entered the premises, Ranjit began ranting and raving again. Luckily, the amused security guard was very nice as well and helped me out by basically being the runner between me and the librarian, taking my application and delivering my card into my hands.

Finally, Ranjit and I made our way back to the parking lot, Ranjit quiet as a mouse (don't worry, he started up again in the car). My conclusion? Either Ranjit doesn't like being at new places in his car seat or he doesn't like libraries. I'll let you know when we find out.

Ranjit's blog begins

So today Ranjit turns 3 months old, and boy oh boy are Ajit and I excited! Starting at 3 months he's supposed to cry less, smile more and change a LOT. Since he has so many fans, and I need to start documenting all of his different milestones anyway, I thought I would get into 2007 and start blogging for all the world to see (or at least for all our relatives to see).

Ranjit started today with a big smile, but for some reason he's not eating. I wonder if he's began teething because it seems everyday he goes "on strike" from eating and will only gnaw on my finger before getting really cranky. Luckily I was able to put him down for a nap before he got too cranky today, but there have been days in the last week when he is too cranky to go to sleep. Hopefully we'll get to the root of this problem soon.