18. The Explorer

Gone are the days when we kept her at a place and knew that she will be still there after 5 minutes. Now with her new found mobility she is ready to explore the world, and what an explorer she is. She intuitively knows what things she is not supposed to touch. She explores the entire room and manages to find them. Things like plug points, wires, shoes and papers attract her like honey attracts bees. No wonder she is a daughter of geologists.

AllThese early childhood experiences are building her character. I believe every parent must see the following chart so that they can protect their chid from adverse experiences.

We had to quickly child proof our house, all plug points sealed, all hanging wires concealed, all shoes in the rack, all important books out of reach, any small things that has potential choking hazard removed from sight, and all sharp objects hidden. They say that your house gets redecorated after your wife moves in, well babies are no different. However, we have not stripped clean the room of everything. There is still enough stuff for her to explore, toys to play with, teeters to chew, sofas to hold and stand, and books to eat. Her playground is now the floor as freefall from beds is dangerous. Even than we have to be constantly alert. It is a full time job, specially for her mom who is alone when I am in office. Surprisingly she manages it all along with all the other wrks and doesn't want a baby-sitter. One reason why women were given the task of being mother was because they are the only species who has that qualification. Our constant surveillance has not prevented Hridhima from falling, but falling has not deterred her urge to stand. We were perplexed by her perseverance. I wish this spirit stays with her forever.

She is now a full-fledged member of our family who has her own character, her own likes and dislikes, her own mood swings. She even tries to communicate with us. After eating few pages from a book she got enough education and started speaking, “da-da”. It’s time to give her an encyclopedia for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, she has also started eating solids and drinking water. People often get surprised to see her drink from glass at this early age. Like I always say, they are smarter that we think. Boiled potato is her favorite dish. What goes in has to come out. The more she eats like us, the more she shits like us. The smell of her potty was the first noticeable change after the solids were started. But solid food gives us more freedom of travelling, not that it has stopped us from travelling before. She already had travelled to many places. Last month we went to Kolkata for her ‘Annaprasan’ and she grabbed pen from the all the options in the tray. Do we have a writer here? It’s her life, she will be what she wants to be, and I don’t want to bias her.