Who I am, What I do and answers to Qs like that

Once again to customs and their fallout. It seems, I had to be taken out before I turned a month old. So what better place to go than to the temple? So we went to Sri Balaji temple at Aurora, IL. It seems Amma and Nanna were praying very hard that I behave myself during my first outing. Consequently, for no apparent reason, I fell asleep during the trip. All the while when Amma, Nanna, Mamma and Tata were having their Darshan, I was asleep. Little did they know that it was just the calm before the storm. As soon as we started from the temple.... I mean AS SOON AS we started from the parking lot, the storm broke out. For those of you who did not understand what I meant.... I started crying. I wasn't sure if it was because I was hungry... or because my diaper was full. More likely it was a combination of the both. Doesn't matter. The end result was that Nanna had to perform a U-turn and bring us all back to the temple parking lot. Decision making could be tough even in the easies...

Before you get naughty, I am referring to an infant swing like this . It seems it is customary for children to be put into an 'uyyala' (roughly translated into a swing) either on the 21st day or on the 29th day. Since Nanna likes postponing things till the last minute, he decided to put me in a swing on the 29th day - which happened to be the 25th of July. Actually, between you and me, let me tell you a secret. Ravi Mama said he was sending me a swing as a gift... and Nanna took that opportunity to avoid buying me a swing. Now you know the actual reason why my Swing ceremony was delayed, don't you? :-) And yes, I forgot to tell you something. Today also happens to be Mamma's 54th birthday. She celebrated it with a cake that I baked and decorated. Isn't Mamma's birthday more important that my Swing ceremony? Am I becoming egocentric? :-( And I didn't even get a piece of the cake. Ok, ok... I lied about the baking part. We bought the cake :-)

Am I a ' project '? Atleast that is what Nanna talks like. So, my birthday was 'go-live day'. And Ammamma-Tata came here for 'Production Support'. Hey, but where are Ammamma-Tata now? They have gone to Ravi Mama's house in New Jersey. They have handed over my responsibility to Mamma-Tata. Probably this is what Nanna would say 'Production Support Transition' from one team to another!!! Time for Nanna to change his profession?

Eureka... That was what some old Greek said when he found something life changing. I am saying that now because I found something that will change my life. I hope my dear readers will remember what I said about Nanna's cooing and singing abilities . Just to recap, Nanna's singing (and cooing) is one of the three things that I can't bear. It's outright hilarious. So I started smiling whenever he sang/cooed. That seemed to encourage him to puruse this act even more vigourously. I asked for advise to tackle this and got some great advice. It was simple. First of all, I had to dispel his notion that his singing was amusing me. So, I stopped smiling. And then I started crying... crying HARD. That scared the living daylights of him and he handed me over to Amma, who smiled understandingly. I continued this every time Nanna sang. Just as Mr.Pavlov predicted, this was enough to stop Nanna from singing anymore. For those of you thinking that I found an easy way out... think har...

Hurrah... I did it!!! I did something that Nanna, Amma, Atta and Kanna Mama couldn't do. Tata and Mamma are here. They came here on the 10th of July, almost 2 weeks after they became my grand parents. After travelling for more than 30 hrs, you would expect people to be tired, don't you? But these old people didn't seem to be tired at all. They came, they hugged me, they kissed me and I fell in love with them. They played with me as if they were of my age. Of course, the fact that they brought a lot of gifts for me also helped :-) On the flip side, flying for so long disrupted their sleep timings. So thety started sleeping like me :-) A few hours now, a few hours then. A little food now, a little food later. I was so thrilled that there were others who slept and ate like me :-) But then Tata said that they will be here only for a while. Too bad they are going to be here only for a few months :( Nanna, can't you make them stay longer?

Now that I have come home... I am free of nurses, doctors, injections and the like. But then, the flip side is that I am stuck with Mom and Dad all the time. Of course, there are Granny and Granpa too. Hold on, let me tell you something that I have been asked to do. In my home, Mommy becomes Amma. Daddy becomes Nanna. Granny becomes Ammamma. Granpa becomes Tata. So, the characters haven't changed, only the way I call them has. Where was I? Yeah, so I am home with Amma, Nanna, Ammamma and Tata. But Amma being as protective as she is, wouldn't let Ammamma handle me enough. And Tata being who he is, is relegated to being the standby-support person - the one who holds me when Amma is having a bath, Nanna is in office and Ammamma is busy in the kitchen. So bottom-line? I am with Amma most of the time. For those of you who are asking me if I wouldn't get bored spending all day with only one person, here is my answer. I found a way around that. I sleep. Yes, you heard me right. I ...

Before I was born... when I was playing with those angels, I was told - "There are two kinds of people, the good ones and the very good ones". I still haven't had the time to check that, but I do know this - "There are two kinds of people - the champions and the verrrry good champions". Needless to say, I am a verrrry good champion. I am a Champion KICKER. Actually, Nanna says that he isn't sure if it is kicking that I am good at or cycling. Tour de France effect, n'est-ce pas? Here is a picture where I kicked a pillow off my tiny bed. There is something else that I am good at. Just take a look at this picture and tell me if you think otherwise. I am a very good champion SCRATCHER, am I not?

After spending two long days and nights at the hospital, I was eager to go home. God told me that home is a wonderful place where you can eat, sleep, play, pee pee or poo poo wherever you want. It also has people like Mommy and Daddy. The morning of 29 th June dawned, though a little late for my liking. I couldn't brush my teeth - remember, I am just 2 days old and do not have any teeth. I couldn't take a bath - my umbilical cord hasn't fallen off yet. So, I had little to do, except for waiting for the doctors to come and okay our discharge. But, as Capt. Edward Murphy would know, the doctor will be late when you are waiting for him and longing to go home! So, I waited and slept, slept and ate, ate and waited.... and waited. Finally, the nurses came and wheeled me into the nursery so that the pediatrician could take a look at me. They took some more blood, put me under one of those huge blue lamps and discussed their July 4 holiday plans. Poor dad. He kept shuttling back...

I was still resting with my mom when Akhila Aunty and Sarma Uncle came to see me. The brought me some nice flowers which Mommy conveniently said was hers :-) And then Narayanan Uncle and Rathi Aunty came to see me. Narayanan Uncle wouldn't hold me. I am angry with him for that... but I think his moustache is kind of cute. I rested well that night. God told me that nights on earth are dark and long. But this night was not-so-dark and short. I spent some time with Mommy and Daddy who kept cooing in my ears. How much I wanted to say - "Enough, stop acting like babies!" Then Daddy went home to bring Granny and lunch for Mommy. Once Granny came, Daddy left us and went home. I suspected it was because he had a little too much of me.... but he later told me that he went home to fix the car seat so that we could go home. And then Mommy's friends - Kalyani Aunty, Shashank Uncle, Sujana Aunty and Jeet Uncle came to visit me. They brought me a nice cute doll.... it was only late...