Vidhi has been in Bangalore for about two weeks now. She is developing into beautiful and smart infant and is absolutely adorable when not crying. Her fits of crying occur randomly throughout the day but are more prominent before her bed time between 9-10pm.
By now, her mom and I have developed a reflex kind of reactions to her tantrums. If you are watching her before she starts crying, you can see it coming about 5 seconds before as her mouth takes the position most conducive to high decibel noise generation. From sound of her crying, we can immediately decipher whether it is ‘come to me and pay attention to me’ call or ‘i am hungry or you can never guess what happened to me’ call. If it’s former, naturally, resolution is swifter. Just by coming into focus of her vision and making some soothing sounds, she will calm and start playing. If it’s later then, we go through a series of motions in trying to ascertain any reason for her distress.
Firstly, we’d check her nappy and make sure it’s dry. Next, we’d sooth talk her and caress her. Singing, clapping and other attention grabbing follows. Lifting her on arms and rocking her gently comes next. Her favourite songs* will be played then. Her mother will attempt to feed her. If by now, she hasn’t stopped, and about 15 minutes would have passed, we’d get bit worried and prepare ourselves for long haul. A quick search of her clothings will ensure that there isn’t any insect biting her. At this point, our order of motion will become bit random. Talking, sooth talking, singing, playing music, shouting at her, putting her on bed or rocking in arms will happen in random order. She will be passed among her mother, father and chachu. At the end of one hour, at worst case, she will typically calm down or fall to sleep. In such extreme cases only her mom remains the hope for any respite.
*Her mom claims that "ek ladki of dekha" is her favourite though I don't see any clear indication.
