Baby Update
This update is for family and friends who have been asking about Desh Baby.
He will be eleven months old next week. He is buzzing around the house, holding on to furniture and - just this week - taking his first shaky steps to walk alone. Ekla chalo re.
He now has six teeth, all of which he uses to good effect. He can grin toothily, chew biscuits, and bite if the opportunity arises.
Apart from A~ and me, he spends time happily with my parents, his nanny and our helper. He loves the dog and the cat, and they love him back in their own ways - Whisky with lots of tail-wagging, Bilkul with a baleful glare from a safe distance.
Desh was a bit clingy for a brief period but now meets new people cheerfully and likes to explore other people’s houses. And he LOVES other children. Every evening, when he’s taken down to the garden, he’s made much of by the other children in our building. Being the youngest in the building he gets lots of attention, and his toothy smile gets him lots of admirers.
His first thing in the morning is to go across to A~ and give him a sweet drooly kiss. I am quite jealous! (A~ would like to think that this is because of his superior parenting skills, but I’m convinced it’s because Desh Baby wants his father’s BlackBerry, which he knows is likely to be somewhere near A~’s pillow. His eyes light up whenever he gets his eager little hands on it!)
He will attend a babies’ playgroup from January. A~ and I are delighted with this nursery. It has a spacious, airy and pleasant environment; they have lots of activities for the children like cooking, colouring, meeting animals, and so on; and it’s a really nice space for children to learn and explore the world. Also, they have a lovely little garden, which is such a special thing in space-starved Mumbai. We’re sure he’ll love it, with all the other kids there and the nice teachers.
As for news of Baby No 2, I have been having a really rough time during my pregnancy, what with the never-ending nausea - I puke even when I brush my teeth - and then the backache, exhaustion, restrictions and everything else, but all seems good as far as the baby itself is concerned, so it’s worth it.
