Operation "Fatten Ranjit Up" Continues!

I might be seeing things, but I believe that Ranjit is gaining an extra chin and an extra roll in his thighs, hooray! AND I think I might be beginning to see signs of a proper Buddha-belly. So our work is paying off - no empty calories for this baby! Every meal that we give him contains protein and fat in the form of formula or daal, luckily he happens to love everything I give him (even though everything looks like gruel to me)! We also found a food that he DOESN't like, potatoes. The picture here is of Ranjit trying to eat sweet potatoes (which he LOVES) by himself, by the way. He grabbed the bowl and tried to slurp the food down himself. As you can see he only got some of it on his belly.

Other than that, we started going to Gymboree this past week; every Friday Ranjit and I get together with about 6 other babies and their moms/nannies and are taken through a 45 minute gym routine for 6-9 month olds. It's pretty hilarious, Ranjit has been mystified these past two times we've gone there. He stares wide-eyed at all the babies around him and when the "instructor" begins her little song and dance (involving puppets, lots of puppets) he leans forward and looks up at her like she's the most amazing thing he's ever seen. There's actual gym equipment too! The best part is when we put all the babies in the middle of the floor and bring out a huge rainbow-colored parachute and float it over them, first up, then down. Last week Ranjit was sitting under it and got knocked over by the wind created by the parachute (he was ok, the place is covered by thick mats), but instead of crying he started squealing with joy instead as he watched the parachute descend upon him, waving his arms and legs in the air. This past Friday I just kept him lying down during ParachuteTime, but one of the other babies who was sitting up toppled over from the wind (later I learned that every week pretty much someone's baby topples over under the parachute).

So Ranjit has a new trick, pulling up to standing by holding someone's (usually Ajit's) fingers. He can't get enough of it! If you're close to him, without fail he'll purposefully grab your fingers and say "MMMM! MMMM!" and start pushing up onto his feet. Once he's standing he happily cries "Ah-DAH! Ah-DAH!AAHH!!" If you don't let him hold on to his fingers and let him stand then he frowns and moans "MMMBa, MMBa", pouting until you sigh and help him stand up again.
So yes, things are progressing, definitely for the better- To top it off, Ranjit is sleeping better (for now) and I'm sleeping better and all is good with the world. Stay tuned for another update next weekend!