Memories of Bunny

This blogpost is to remember the memories of the first year of Bunny's life.

07/09/2022 This photo was taken to commemorate the first social smile he gave me one morning on waking up. He was just a few days shy of turning 2 months old. The first two months were so difficult, in more ways than one. But this smile made up for all of the hard times. I teared up and took many snaps. Then we video called Daddy and showed him our new smile. Truly a lovely milestone.

This was taken by Jojo in the hospital nursery on 15/07/21. I was still admitted in room 1204 and was going downstairs to meet my little Swaddle Bunny multiple times every day only to be refused by the little man when it came to breastfeeding. The name Bunny stuck from there. I refused to compromise and give in to the Dev that Jojo was peddling! Hah!

On 16/07/21 we brought this 2.42kg bundle of cuteness home. I was sore from the surgery, totally new at mothering and a complete idiot.. as I thought that I could take care of the baby alone at night in that condition. I had a lot to learn. My baby would have just formula feeds back then and be force-fed my breast milk. It was a strange phase...I was so terribly anxious about him. I kissed him about a thousand times every day and also sang to him at times. 

This blogpost would be incomplete without any mention of Bunny's expressions. From the hospital nursery itself, he had started giving me what we termed the 'precious face' or the 'choom face' where he would purse his lips into a pout to indicate: no thanks I prefer Nan Pro to breastmilk. Every photo had him making weird expressions in the first few months, evoking a lot of laughter from us. 

He had a weird way of sleeping with both his fists up by his ears. At times when I would pick him up while sleeping he would grasp both his ears with both his hands and his tiny body would squirm in sleep. Cut to a few months later, he would sleep with fists beside his face (as if flexing his biceps) and his little legs bent at the knee. I would like to imagine that the ear holding quirk, whenever scolded or when he gets startled by loud noises, comes from his time in the womb as holding his own ears gives him comfort somehow. Photo date: 24/07/21

Each time he saw or heard something new, from his 3rd month onwards, he would look curious. It was so hilarious, his curious face. Peeing and pooping would bring unmitigated tears and he hated being changed, clothed and groomed in any way. My refrain while cleaning him after a poo, through his loud crying, would be that this happens to everyone and that he should get used to it. Even by 8.5 months he still disliked being changed but the reason had changed from just plain hating it to disliking the fact that he was forcibly made to lie down on the bed. Photo date: 7/09/21

Initially Bunny was scared of the water and would cry even during bath times. The only time we could have a relatively peaceful time of it was if he was fed just prior to bathing. The scene changed dramatically by the time he was 6 months old. He started loving the water, playing around in it. He would touch the stream of water from the tap in awe and splash around in the tub at both houses. Photo date: 24/08/21

My baby Simba felt very neglected for a very long time after my delivery as I restricted his visits to my room and lying down beside me on my bed was no longer allowed. Bunny was curious about the cats in the house. He very clearly understood that they weren't human and treated them initially with skepticism and mild fear which later turned into curiosity and borderline jealousy. By 7 months he was crawling towards Simba and trying to feel his black fur in his tiny fist and by 11 months he was shouting loudly into his face. The name Simba would evoke recognition and a smile. photo date: 31/08/2021

This was the first time Bunny sat up propped by pillows. I was so pleased with myself for trying out this trick that I promptly took a dozen photos. Bunny has a face that would keep changing and look different even during different hours of the day. In this photo he looks particularly different. The look of utter astonishment, I guess, came from the change in perspective from supine to upright. He kept wanting to be held in a seated position and tried sitting up on his own after this date. Photo date: 02/10/21

After his third month on planet Earth The Bun began to drool. Drool in earnest, without any restraint. By mid September, his face had started changing. This happened for 2 reasons. One was because he started suckling properly and would breastfeed happily during day and night. Second because our paediatrician saw his low weight and asked me to give him as much formula as he wanted. His weight increased steadily, he cried much lesser and he was more responsive to the stimuli around him. Drool, I was told, is a natural part of growth, gums getting stronger etc. Photo date:  23/10/21

By this time Bunny could hold objects firmly in his grasp. On a day when there was a rare powercut, I gave him this fan to hold and boy did he hold it tightly! He was getting frustrated by the fact that he was mostly supine and would express happiness at being held in a seated position on anyone's lap. He seemed to be in a great hurry to learn how to stand and then become mobile. Photo date: 30/10/21

Around Diwali was the very first time that Bunny went and stayed at HT 5B. He was still a little ball of curiosity who made the most perplexed face when he was roaming around the flat on someone's lap. I think his little brain could just about fathom that he was no longer in his familiar place. Just roamed around the flat with this bizarre..."where the hell am I?" kinda expression which had us in splits of course. Photo date: 03/11/2021

The month of November 2021 was difficult for me because the first-ever nanny Bunny had, Indira Mashi, went on a long leave due to her husband's illness and subsequent demise. I took this opportunity to get rid of her and struggled through various center maids at this time. Some were good with him, some made him cry incessantly. It was all very stressful for me. The whole month passed in uncertainty till from the 1st of December i hired a full-time 24 hour maid. Bunny, snapped on the lap of a center maid giving me a loving smile. Photo date: 21/11/2021

My baby was quite comfortable in the winter months wearing just a pair of full length pajamas and a full/half sleeve cotton t-shirt. All the maids would nod sagely and say: "Caeser er bachcha toh!" The many many sweaters and caps, booties and pullovers my mum churned out for him stayed unworn, save the photo-op taken in them the first time. The other thing that happened in December was that Bunny lost a chunk of his hair. It just fell off of it's own accord and I was a bit alarmed. But thankfully it all grew back beautifully just as mysteriously. Photo date: 11/12/21

Kabir's old rocking chair came to our house and every day after his bath we put Bunny in the rocker on the windowsill to get some sun. He was initially very excited by the hanging animals etc. which he couldn't touch but later he could reach out and pull himself up holding the loops. We stopped this ritual when he was old enough to wriggle out of the rocker. Photo date: 04/12/21

In the course of the winter, Bunny caught a total of three colds. The one in January was pretty bad so we took him to NG at her Malancha home-clinic. It was also the Omicron time, Kabir had just come out of the hospital and Aunty was quarantined for Covid. The Bun fell asleep on the car ride to the clinic and was rudely awoken by another (older) child's screams inside the packed clinic. He then stared at this shrieking creature silently with disdain written all over his baby face for a long time. It was extremely funny for all the people in the clinic. Photo date: 04/01/22

 

By the end of January, separation anxiety clinginess was starting to show its ugly face in our relationship. Bunny would be happily playing with his nanny, dad, brother etc. at home when I was out. But the moment I was in the same room, a nagging cry would begin and he would work himself up into a state if I didn't immediately hold him. Nights were the worst, where he wouldn't let me lie straight for even a second because he liked to sleep-feed all the time. Things got progressively worse but that's a story for another time. Photo date: 31/01/2022

Bunny was always a moody child who smiled at people only when he felt like it and not when others wanted him to. This made him quite unpopular with the 3 grandparents and the house help. Everybody would meet him, try to make him smile and when thwarted would make comments on the lack of a positive response. Bunny didn't care. He would keep turning his face away from us, refuse kisses with disgruntled expressions and frown whenever he could. Photo date 01/02/2022

An annoying trait of his that really tried my patience was touching my work diary and playing with my work pens. His own toys would lie languishing on one side but he would just want to play with my stuff. My phone, my earbud case, the AC remote...nothing escaped his grasp. One phone screen-guard suffered cracks, my pens were often found de'cap'itated, I had to cellotape pages of my case notes Bunny had torn! Yeah, it wasn't fun. Photo date 17/02/2022

Kabir and Bunny's bond was the cutest thing in the first year! Bunny would crawl into the Den and look up at Jojo and smile. Once he was on Jojo's lap he would check on what Kabir was doing and stare at his Minecraft screen for a bit. Kabir, at 11, was a very protective and anxious older brother who would suffer mini heart-attacks every time Bunny seemed poised to fall or when he saw me being even mildly inattentive to the baby. He just hated the sound of Bunny crying and would come running to enquire what had happened. His word for Bunny was 'adorable' and his names for him were 'The Bun' and 'Chhotu'! He quickly got tired of Cocomelon and Billie Jean (Bunny's favourites) playing incessantly on Alexa but kudos to him for voluntarily sitting beside Bunny in the back seat of the car, spending time with the Bun seated on the balcony railing and generally being a concerned elder brother. Photo date 06/03/2022

Bunny's first Holi was quite a surprise for me. Just a week or so ago he had been on a day-spend to Malini's place and it had been a terribly difficult day with huge crying bouts. I was bracing myself for a similar experience but it was a surprisingly nice day. He stared at our colour-smeared faces in awe, ate the meals we had packed from home for him and even fell asleep in Rania's room. Caught on camera with a decent amount of colour on him and looking uncharacteristically dazed! Pic date: 18/03

If Manou has one vociferous supporter and fan it has to be Mainee Mashi. She has been pampering him since he was in utero vis a vis feeding me delicious goodies and helping me out with my questions. She was the first of my friends who met him at NGs clinic when he was only 6 days old. She showered him with toys, books, cute rompers and sundry other items and defended him whenever I vented. This photo was taken on an impromptu visit dated: 13/04

Music was a huge part of Bunny's life. He wouldn't eat his meals without Cocomelon playing in the background. Baby Shark and Wheels on the Bus were his favourites. As early as 6 months I noticed that he would recognise the prelude music to these and his face would light up in anticipation. I would often sing Rabindrasangeet to him at nap time and it always worked like a charm in helping him fall asleep.  Later, other songs got added to his repertoire and he started swaying his head from side-to-side, moving his hands and stomping his tiny feet in time with the beat. Slow songs just wouldn't excite him. Just peppy songs like Billy Jean, Beat It and Rasputin made the cut! Bunny also loved the changing chimes of the electronic bell in both the houses and that would make him giggle happily every time. By 9 months he was able to identify the urge to listen to music and could communicate with noises and gestures to his father (or I) that we should do the needful via Alexa! Pictured here in a frenzied moment of musical madness. Photo date: 02/05/2022

My son, the mischief-monger, decided pretty early on that he liked board books and household objects over toys. This meant that the stacking blocks, the stuffed tiger, the toy truck, rattles and xylophone just languished in various cupboards while he used pieces of cloth to wipe the floor or crawled around the house with his little blue plastic comb. His 'Mo' fringe was my handiwork as his hair had reached his eyes. Here is a rare moment with toys that was so unbelievable that it had to be snapped. Photo date: 05/05

The bond with the father grew with each stay at HT. The baby iguana would crawl into the room and give his signature guttural chuckle to see his dad seated at the computer. Next he would immediately crawl over to Jojo's knee and prop himself up into at upright position imploring to be picked up. At 10 months he was shouting an unmistakable 'Aaaa' command which clearly translated into 'pick me up now'. Other father-son activities included promenading around the flat on Papa's lap, climbing over Papa in bed and asking him to play music via Alexa, standing in the driver's seat waiting for Papa while he ran errands at CFR, eating muri and drinking black coffee from Papa....and much more. Oh and the choicest smiles were reserved for him when he appeared on my phone screen for video calls! Yeah...true love! Photo date: 07/05/2022

Books were an important part of Bunny's life. I bought the Hello Mummy board book when he was just three months old and repeatedly read it to him a few times each day. By 5 months he was trying to turn the pages and at 7 months I would catch him making noises while looking at the pictures alone, as if reading to himself. By 10 months he had torn the first two pages of that book...testament to his love for it. Other books entered his life gradually..Tummy Time was his second favourite. At 10 months he could ask me or his dad, non verbally, to read to him. We were bowled over and complied immediately. Photo date: 18/05/2022

Cruising while holding onto furniture started at 6.5 months so he was pretty adept at travelling across spaces by the summer of 2022. I made a wise decision by tiling the sills and he did spend a lot of time up there. His main focus would be either looking at the cars on the road or opening and shutting the window panes without injuring himself. How he managed to do this one-handed was pretty astounding, all the while holding the grill with the other hand. He loved this 'game' so much that he would crawl upto and stand against the wall under the windows and shriek to be lifted onto the sill. His happy place! Photo date: 20/05/2022

I had a tough time with maids leaving and new ones joining. More than Bunny, I would get used to someone and then they would leave and the cycle would begin again in earnest. Every maid asked me to leave the room while they fed Bunny his snacks, lunch or dinner because he would cry loudly and refuse to eat whenever he saw me. Reportedly, when I was out of the house, he would play happily for hours. The moment he saw me he would get cranky and refuse to rest anywhere but on my lap. Life was also very difficult because at night he would refuse to be detached from my breast making it very difficult for me to sleep peacefully. By 10 months, Bunny used loud shouts to indicate displeasure at being sat down anywhere when my arms got tired of carrying him. If unattended, he would crawl to the bathroom door and cry outside till I came out. This attachment thing was a pain! Photo date: 08/05/2022

Bunny loved elevators/lifts a lot. This ritual was begun by my mum, who tried to quieten his crying by taking him up and down in the lift when he was tiny. Since then, just being carried to the lift would evoke happy squawks from the little boy. Another fun activity was standing like a dog in the car with his face out of the window, taking in the scenes and air! People on the road or in passing vehicles would smile and wave or nudge each other to get a load of this curious sight. The car seat was useful for a total of maybe 2 months, after which it just became his surfboard. Photo date: 14/06/2022

Jojo and I quickly became those doting parents who would fondly discuss their baby whenever they speak. I would lament at how energetic and mischevious he is and how I am a geriatric parent who is unable to keep up. Jojo's refrain was that he'd never seen such an intelligent baby before. The way Bunny opened and shut cupboard doors without injuring himself, his solo play with a ball....throwing it....crawling after it to catch and then rolling it forward again, communicating his needs without words and generally being a smart child, had us feel very proud of his development so far. Photo date: 20/06/2022

Bunny loved fun and games like all other babies. His favourites were being: swung around by adults, hung upside down,  thrown up in the air or spun around fast. He loved playing peekaboo and would crawl away with squeals of excitement if anyone said 'dhor toh' and tried to catch him. He also made up a few games of his own, like trying to somersault, climbing a mountain of pillows and falling onto the bed etc. I loved that when his tummy was full he would take any object he found interesting, climb onto the bed and lie with his head on the pillow to quietly examine it. Another example of quiet contemplative time was when he was up on the windows at 5B looking out at the views outside. Photo date: 24/06/2022