Vedika - Day 784

Vidhi understands that she has many names. She responds to them well. She connects Vidhudi to Chachu. Vedika Gupta to formal name when asked by stranger. And more. Her emphasis on Vedika Gupta, not yet uttered clearly enough to let stranger understand completely, is absolutely adorable.

As her vocabulary increases, she often corrects us. Having forgotten teaching her, we sometimes slip in something simpler for more complicated word, giving her opportunity to correct us. And her correction takes always the form: <full wrong phrase> NOoooo, <full right phrase>. For example, when inquired about whereabouts of her Chacha by her, we may respond that he has gone out. She quickly chimes, "chacha gone out, No..., chacha gone to gym". As she has started talking, her voice and dialogues are source of surprise and joy, and worthy of recording for preservation. We have not found a quick way to record her utterances, unlike quick video shooting by phone. Unfortunately, she has become conscience of videographing, and immediately stops whatever she is doing and demands to be shown what is being captured.

In a new twist — which her mother finds corruption of her English grammar, and I find sign of her ability of go beyond specified words and understand deep context — she has started making-up fake words. Specifically, fake verbs. She announced other day that she is "office kaaming" when pretend working her mother's laptop. Looking at cats sleep, she said that they were "needing". When her toys fall down, she rues that they are "bumbing." She has, for reasons unknown, also started adding "only" to end of each setence. We worry her deviation from grammatically English to Indian English! Her most common sentence these days is: "They are bumbing only!".

She has picked up names of most vegetables, fruits, letters, numbers, days of the week, months of year, seasons, opposites, and shapes by now. She has even started recognizing letters in written form even when presented out of sequence. Her favourite, now, being letter A. Her understanding doesn't disassociate 'A' from 'Apple' now. So, as she spots an A, on keyboard often, but also in newspaper, she shouts that there is Apple there.

Her sentence structure of some of common phrases brings out hilarity. As perhaps mentioned earlier, she declared few weeks ago that vidhi ke ghar main to daadi bhi hai as way of saying that there is dadi in the house. Yesterday, she went on sing-song about vidhi bhi su-su karti hai, chacha bhi su-su karte hai, papa bhi...you get the drift.

In playgrounds, I find her silent and non-interactive. She is timid, and doesn't reach out to, nor responds when reached out to by, other children. She prefers going one round on each of two identical but different coloured swings and see-saws. She avoids slides, for reasons unknown. I want her to run and do bit of body movement, which she avoids. If, and when, she runs, it is hilarious with her both arms raised and bent at elbows, whole body shaking.

Her nightly tantrums are still ongoing. She not only wants things to be done in certain very very precise way to her, but also wants you to align yourself to her precise specifications. That means direction of sleep, where your body parts lie, speed of fan, presence and location of her soft toys, and whether or not you use blanket. She instruct once, and then cries till her demands are met. Which are often, but when not, can lead her to cry for hours, and then fall asleep sobbing. This happening every night is naturally source of huge annoyance to her mother and I. Once in a while she would get a slap for it. That is more of outlet of our frustrating demeanor rather than any step towards solution. And solution, most of the nights, is none, for it feels that she wants to cry.

Vedika - Day 649

These days Vedika is absolutely adorable. Unless she is crying. And she still does, waking up suddenly in night, reciting unknowable phrases, and indicating perhaps, though one cannot be sure, signs of nightmares.

Her vocabulary is expanding at rapid rate. Her knowledge has moved from nouns to colours and shapes. She understands equivalence of Hindi and English words referring to same object and action. We had feared her lack of understanding colours which is quickly disappearing. She has gotten decent grasp on vegetables and fruits. And while she still cannot, naturally, carry out conversation in any specific domain, her word repertoire is enough to carry out regular conversation to all extent of daily life.

Her imagination is seeing signs of ripening for she can discern patterns of animals in shadows and dirt marks. She can mimic her mom's cooking with grass, stone and dirt as ingredients. She can recite counting from one to fifteen, alphabets from A to Z, and all seven days of week. Often times she does this subconsciously for when asked, she falters. She has great memories of all the rhymes which we played to her over the years. She can sing along fully to Johny Johny, Twinkle Twinkle, ABCD song, and few others. She has developed preference for Teletubbies too and while it's not sure if she understands anything other than Twinky-winky, Dipsee, Lala, Pooh she does recite and delights in these names.

She has matured a little to be managed by her papa and chacha for hours as long as she is paid full attention to. She plays, demands action (swings on legs, or horse-riding), and teases. Her shoulders half hunched, eyes sparkling, hands raised, ready to dhappi is often her favourite way of sneaking at our back or reaching out to us. She still doesn't understand concept of hide-and-seek and while she can find someone who is hidden, when asked to hide, remains obviously visible and near the seeker.

She has developed a new style of hand twisting, sign of her early dance moves, which she repeats when excited. On recent birthday of her Chacha, she was the one who blew candles. Four times. She seem to love this!

Vedika was fond of brushing her teeth from day one. She still is. We've got her an small toothbrush. She demands toothpaste too, though dentist recommended fluoride free toothpaste for kids, we cannot find any, and we give her a sliver of regular one. She must participate in any tooth brushing session, morning or evening. Currently, she just eats her toothpaste but still does all the regular motions. As touchy as she is in any other matter, you can freely take her toothbrush and brush her teeth yourself, and she'll let you do it. She tries to spit but cannot and having drunk toothpaste and water, just spits out her spit.

She has become absolutely choosy about clothes she wants to wear. There isn't any pattern though, and it appears primarily to be driven by her desire to not wear anything. She runs about when robing or disrobing her. And if her mind is set of not wearing a baniyaan or frock then God have mercy. Her tiny naked frame running around avoiding clothing is a sight to see.

Vedika - Day 578

Vidhi's vocabulary as of today...

A apple aeroplane ant anklet aunty auto

B banana balloon baby butterfly biscuit bird ball bat bag bear bangles bottle bell baby book back bye-bye bend

C car cat close clock chin chocolate cow cockroach chair cheeks curtain clean colour cap circle comb crocodile catch clap

D donkey dog duck doll drum dustbin door done

E elephant eyes ears earrings

F fish forehead flower fan finger finish fly

G goat good-day good-night gym giraffe

H horse house head hair hen hot hippo hands

I

J jump

K kite kangaroo kitty

L lion lips legs leapord light

M monkey moon mouth mango milk

N no nose nest nails neck

O open office owl orange onion on off

P pant pigeon pencil pen peacock potty put-in pink phone

Q

R rabbit rice

S sun spoon star sky shoes stick-it stone stana spider see-saw socks

T teeth tummy toes tea teapot tounge tub tata throw tree TV

U umbrella uncle up

V

W watch

X

Y

Z zebra

Vedika - Day 500

Vidhi can now kiss you back without you forcing her lips to your cheeks. She understands instructions and makes the right sound of kissing. She even kissed her mother without being asked to. She shows more affection to her Teddy Bear than she does to people around her.

"Happy ... To You" is her version of famous birthday song.

Vedika - Day 479

Many notes...

We've arrived at Vidhi's "Nani House" (as her mom puts it to her) yesterday. They have stairways running between ground and first floor. Vidhi's must-be-close-to-mummy-at-any-cost nature almost had her falling down the all twelve steps, but for last second hand holding by her papa. Heart leaped to throat and prayers rushed to lips. Someone once said, "I thought I loved my wife a lot, but for my baby, I will willing throw her under the bus without even flinching," on Quora. I don't think I am there yet (should I even be?) but I am on the way, and incidents like yesterday's just highlight the delicate nature of this relationship.

Incremental words in Vidhi's vocabulary include more animals (hen, cow, crow, ant, fish, zebra, horse, butterfly), non-noun terms (open, close, hot, lift, yellow), relationship terms (chacha, nana, nani, kaka, kaki, dada, dadi, aunty, uncle), body parts (eyes, nose, tummy), and more household items (clock, spoon). She understands and can point to but cannot pronounce almost all major body parts (head, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, chin, tummy, hand, leg, fingers, toes). She refers her head as "bumm" as in head is bummed when her's hits something which is not unusual. She can promounce but doesn't understand few numbers like one, two, three, four, seven, nine.

Vidhi is walking like a pro now and likes to walk and run in large open spaces like garden, corridors, shopping mall, showrooms. She falls often, of course, but gets up quickly and without fuss. Things are more within her reach at home. She can be seen sneaking into kitchen, opening the snacks cupboard and munching whatever her hands could lay on. And she is junk food junkie! She is still very fussy eater of food and prefers limited diet of ragi, suzi, cerelac. Everything else must be often pureed in mixer and must be fed between running story and her favourite toons. She wouldn't eat even slightly spicy sabzi but will eagerly chew on indoori namkeen and kurkure. Her favourite vegetable is apparently lady-finger.

Vidhi got supply of new cartoons from her Mami. Brainy-Baby video of animals are her favourites. Words "dog" and "cat" always accompany "bow bow" and " meaw". She likes and asks for Vodafone's "zozo" ads.

Her mom and I have decided that if she (1) eats all regular food without fuss from anyone's hands, (2) goes to anyone and has fun without being clingy to her mom, then she will becomes the best-baby-in-the-world. She is smart (hows to throw stuff in dustbin, wipe after being wet, can fetch small objects, learns words super fast, observes and mimics) and just need to be sociable. Oh, she is grossly underweight but given everything else we'll let it slide.

Vidhi has ability to quickly impress people in first and short meetings. Given her mom is nearby, she doesn't cry much, is very active, speaks a lot, and generally comes across as nice kid. Her being youngest in her peer group helps that her infractions are excused. True colour is revealed at long exposure to Vidhi's tantrums. She cried her brains out when her mom went to toilet for total of one minute in train. This puts her mom under undue stress as she only needs to carry her (underweight but 8.5kg still), feed her, make her sleep, take her to toilet, bathe and change her, etc. And in some instances, Vidhi gets a mouthful, which she understands and either silences or erupts into sob.

Vedika - Day 453

Vidhi is making rapid progresses on vocabulary and ambulatory front. Today marks the first day when she is able to stand up on her own without external support as this gives further and final push to her efforts of walking as primary means of movement rather than crawling. Today also saw first inkling that our walls will no longer be clean any more as Vidhi rushed to colour them after defiling floor already. My baby is growing up!

Vedika - Day 426

Vidhi's vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds! Words that she seem to shout these days - all picked up in last few weeks - include "achchhee" (sneezing sound, copying her mother), "flower", "button", "pigeon", "chinti" (ant), "khana", "shoes","dog","cat","meaow","hen","teeth","tree","hello","open","done".

She also understands "nose" and "eyes" though she cannot pronounce them yet.

Vedika - Day 413

So Vidhi has picked up a new word, which sounds something between baayaa or baalaa. Our initial interpretation was "bhaayaa" which we understood to be South Indian pronunciation (via Mariamma) of "bhaiyaa". It was funny and strange to hear such out of context word from her. Bit of sleuthing from her Mummy reveals that she may be saying "baalaa" which refers to her playing balls. She might as well be saying "ball la". Time will tell.

Would it not be wonderful if kid can explain what they are talking when they grow up? They seem to have complex and detailed thoughts. Only if we are privy to those...

Vedika - Day 400

Today Vidhi got her ears pierced.

We had been dawdling this for a long time by now. We inquired on means and methods of getting ears pierced and found primarily two options: a local jewelry shop guy who would pinch her ears with a golden wire, or new method of gunshot where a stud is forced into ears through a spring loaded metallic gun. Former costs about fifty while later hundreds or even thousands.

About a month ago we found a neighborhood jeweler who would do this. We also found a nearby clinic who would do this too. About 25x times cost differences kept us wondering when today Radhika decided that enough and enough and lets get to it. We were not sure if gunshot would pain her less but we decided to go for it because after all it's a once in a lifetime thing for the baby and all care must be taken to alleviate any pain. It was a bit sentimental — foolish, in retrospect — moment when we were leaving the house to go to the hospital. Poor Vidhi darling's smiley face and twinkle filled eyes had no idea what awaited her mere minutes later. Her Chachu worried a lot.

Actual incident however wasn't too bad. First ear was easy, of course. She was stunned the instant stud hit her, cried for about 30 seconds and immediately was distracted. Second ear was difficult, not so, I imagine from the pain, but from her insistence of not allowing us to hold her still. She bowled a lot, before, during and after the process, for about 15 minutes. Then she fell asleep in car on the way back to home.

She has been well since then with no signs of pain or discomfort.

Also: weight: 7.8kg, height: 72cm. According to this chart, she is supposed to be 9.2kg and 75cm tall. She seems to be tracking okay to milestone though - using tata, "pila" (water), drinking from glass, lifting, standing.

Vedika - Day 395

The moment has come!

Vidhi has learnt to kiss back!

After being at receiving end of barrage of kisses from family members from time immemorial, visibly annoyed Vidhi having endured useless smacking of moist lips, has finally been converted. She has learnt - when placed at appropriate angle to receiver's cheeks - to create appropriate puckering of her lips and make that sound which has come to be known as hallmark of love. Vidhi can now kiss you back!

Vedika - Day 376

Today Vidhi took her first involuntary steps! She was made to stand upright and was left unsupported, then she immediately took 2-3 unsteady steps with her arms stretched to reach nearby adult, which was her Papa.

In days to come from today, she would have increased number of steps. And next milestone will mark her first voluntary steps.

Vedika - Day 294

Things Vidhi picked up in last few days..

Able to shake her head really fast from side to side to declare her NO.

Able to hand things over to another person - more from willingness and gesture point of view rather than physical capability

Able to start dragging herself when sitting and vice-versa i.e. better control of her own motions

Able to pee on cue when made to sit on potty training seat

This is it (for reason of shame and sensibility, her usage shall not be shown :)

Vedika - Day 276

Baby completed 9 months yesterday. Soon, her life outside the womb will be longer than inside. She is also making rapid advances in learning.

She has picked out 'bye' sound and is very vocal about it. Once her bye-ing starts, it doesn't stop short of about 30 bye-s. She also moves her head sideways to indicate 'no' and often it's what is implied, though we are not sure if she understands that this gestures means 'no'. She'd always indicate 'no' when attempting to feed her yet open her mouth.

Two days ago, she fell down from bed and cut her upper lip and bloodied her face. Next day she fell from her father's lap when he sat on ground. Such falls and accidents are soon going to be part of growing up but they break the heart. Her howls are heart wrenching.

Vedika got her Measles injection yesterday but was exceptionally brave and cried for no more than 30 seconds when injected. She is 71cm tall with head girth of 43cm and weight of 7.6kg. She gained about one kg in last three months. According to this chart, she should be 70cm and 8.2kg.

Vedika - Day 262

Finally! Baby makes a move.

Vedika was observed dragging herself on the floor in short spurts today. She pushes herself on her elbows and lifts her hips to move forward. As of now she does this infrequently and for short distances.

She has also picked up clapping surprisingly fast. Yesterday, there wasn't any. Today, they won't stop. Of course, her claps don't make noise yet, but she is enjoying clapping whenever she is happy, which she is for most of the times these days. Baby really has grown up suddenly.

Her acute hearing sense is visible even more. Her head turns quickly to locate even faintest of noise.

She is smiling much often, laughing still sparingly. Is able to stand holding up longer, likes to stand and climb up. Three small teeth are making their way on her upper gums.

She has finally become one who is looked forward to meet after long day at work. Cannot wait to see her. Miss her leaving in the morning. Happy times ahead!

Vedika - Day 248

Vidhi has learned dexterity with fingers now. Her cutest task (recently) include gently tapping keys on keyboard of laptop.

Vidhi has demonstrated fascination with laptops early on. One reason could be ubiquitous use of them by her mom, dad and chachu all around. She would leap from arms of whoever is holding her to be able to touch the laptop. She would typically, until about two weeks ago, bang her palms and enjoy whatever pops up on the screen because of that. These days, though, she seems to be treating it with bit more respect. She'd still bang her palm on keyboard but after that gently tap few keys couple of times (as shown in picture) before lifting her hand and banging again. To aid to her merriment, we've given her an old non-working laptop (with blank screen shown in picture). She definitely likes to work with them!

Her improvement in object maneuvering is visible in others areas too. When pulling a toy behind a wire, she now knows to first move the wire aside, and then pull the toy. She has learned to lift and rotate larger objects too such as small plate or plastic bottle. She has recently started to enjoy the sound things make when banged together or against the floor.

Her bodily strength also shows marginal improvement. She can hold her neck and torso very well now. When turned upside down, she'd arch her back to resist full flat hanging. She has shown potential to rise by herself when lying down to come to sitting position.

When she wants to talk she'd make long 'aaaa' sound clearly trying to communicate something. She likes to be thrown around, lifted up, moved, turned, etc. Baby is becoming bratty and we are loving her!

Day 185

Things Vidhi has learned over last few days...



To be able to sit, unsupported for as long as fifteen minutes, but bracing herself on her arms.

To be support her neck much more stably without wobbling.

To be able to look up when sitting thereby lifting weight of her head on her neck muscles.

To be able to manipulate things when picking, say, moving one out of way to pick another.



She often continuously kicks her feet in air even when lying down, making a motion we termed 'air football'. She has actively started pushing away our faces and hands when going near her face to ward off barrage of kisses that she (naturally?) finds strange and even annoying.

Day 175

Since Vidhi started turning over couple of weeks ago, she has picked up quite fast and does it now as routine. However, until few days ago, she would always support her torso on her elbows while facing down and look ahead. Recently though, she has learned/realized the ability to collapse her arms at elbow and lay her face down facing straight to floor or to side. It's one of those simple things which are quite amazing when you think about it. Latest adventure was when two nights ago we found her sleeping on her stomach for the first time, face calmly turned to her left side.

Day 165

Vidhi got a tiny-tiny first tooth...a barely visible canine tooth on her bottom left!

Day 151

Our suspicions of yesterday turned out to correct. Vidhi did learn to turn around and was observed (but not recorded for she failed to deliver under third eye) twice to turn over on her hands. Yay!



Excited dad soon sent an SMS to all near and dear ones which was chided as being little over the top by mom.

Day 150

A upturned ceiling facing Vidhi was found facing floor on her backside today while her mom looked away. It's not observed by anyone but it's possible that today marks the day when Vidhi learnt to turn over!