19. Her Prized Possession

It seems yesterday when a pink floppy little thing came into our life. Suddenly, she is into her nine months….time flies when you have a character that always keeps you entertained. A small wonder who becomes excited when she sees you and sad when you are out of sight, a cutie pie who jumps into your lap and holds you tight when she is afraid. An angel who says ‘ba-ba’ and ‘ma-ma’ and leaves you confused if she actually meant it. A devil who looks at you with cute expressions and then jumps to bite your nose with her newly acquired teeth.

Teething is a painful event. She became cranky for few days as two sharp teeth pushed their way through the muscles of her gum. It made her drool a lot. But then, it is a natural process and everyone goes through it. Not many good things can be achieved without a bit of pain. Now she is proud owner of her first teeth, in the front of her lower jaw. The top two are also about to come out. She has already started using her prized possession not only for biting us but also for eating biscuits. Give her a piece of biscuit and it’s gone within a minute, half in her stomach and the rest half all over her, and sometimes all over us. Feeding a baby can be a messy affair as a lot of food is spilled. The amount spilled also depends on her appetite and taste. She doesn’t like the same food being repeated, and force feeding is not a wise option. So her mom has to find a new menu for her every day.

There was a time when she didn’t like to crawl. She would find the nearest object to hold and stand up. Then came the summers, and along with it came the small black ants. These are no ordinary ants; these are ants that taught her how to crawl. She liked to chase the ants, and the only way she could do it is by crawling. Now she is a pro at crawling.

She has learned a new thing this month; sit on her crown in the morning. Not a very easy thing to make her learn. We bought a bright red potty chair for her, which she liked to play with and chew, but not sit. She used to cry when we made her sit on it. It took time and lots of Bianca Castafiore type singing to convince her, she finally did.