First Scary Moment

The chair that Elijah's booster seat was strapped on to fell over while Elijah was having his lunch. I'm not sure exactly what happened as it all happened so quickly. But, I think he was kicking his legs and moving around and somehow he managed to tip the chair backwards and fall. It was a scary moment for Paul and I, especially since the floor has absolutely no cushion. But, from all that we could gather, he didn't hit his head with the full force of a fall. There is a scratch mark across the wall which indicates that the as the chair was falling, it hit the wall and as a result the impact of the fall was not as big as what it could have been. He cried, but as soon as we picked him up, he stopped crying....so we think he was maybe more scared than hurt....However, he still has a red scratch and a bump behind his head. I wonder if our portable booster seat is not very safe, especially with our dining room chair....

I also saw a snake slither across the path near the entrance to our flat. I was going out with Elijah because I didn't want him to fall asleep right away after the fall and wanted to keep him awake. As soon as I saw it, I walked back upstairs and waited a while before heading out. Our neighbor went out in search of the snake so that she could kill it but it had disappeared.....Hopefully, one of these days we could catch it and kill it before it bites one of us!

New Developments

Today, he figured out how to get himself into a sitting position on his own from lying on his tummy. I went in to check up on him after a few minutes of crying (doing the Ferber method for sleep training) and he was sitting up and crying. He did it once in the late afternoon...so I guess he has figured it out. (BTW, he went down to sleep after 7 minutes of crying and screaming his head off.)

Also, he is starting to transition from the "commando" crawl to a regular crawl, where he is pushing himself up and kneeling. He has been also wanting to stand up more. I wonder if Elijah is going to be an early walker or whether he would just crawl for a long time because he likes being able to move around that way....

Here's a video of him crawling. The quality is not that great and I didn't do a good job of videotaping, but I hope you enjoy it!! :)

Sleep Training

So, I decided to sleep train Elijah for his naps during the day. I realized that I spent quite a bit of time putting him down for his naps and I felt like he is now ready to go to sleep on his own. Actually, he already knows how to put himself to sleep. It is helping him to do it by letting him know that it is nap time and not play time. Because of our transition, setting up our place, teething, and then a cold, I wanted to wait for the right time to do it. I decided this morning was the right time to begin. He woke up at 5:30am, ate, played, and then it was nap time. He was tired and was in need of a nap. I put him down, he cried, and then I went in every 5 minutes to reassure him without picking him up. He was mad each time I left and cried harder, but after 40 minutes of crying, he fell asleep. He slept for an hour and a half. (Recently, he started waking up after only 30-45 minutes of nap. I could tell he was still tired but he wanted to play.) Well, I just put him down for his late morning nap. He whimpered for maybe two minutes and he is down. :) We'll see how it goes!

Elijah Exploring His World

He is so inquisitive....I have so much fun watching him.

First Trip to the Himalayan Hills

We took our first trip up to the Himalayan hill town of Mirik. It was great to be in a cool place where we could wear warmer clothes, walk around without sweating, sleep with a blanket covering us, and be entertained just by being outside. We loved the fresh air. It was also India's Independence Day on August 15th, so we got to watch a small ceremony commemorating it. We are grateful for the refreshing time together.

Elijah loved being outdoors. He loved being carried by daddy and mommy in the backpack carrier where he could see everything around him. Elijah was a hit wherever we went. People wanted to see him and he gave them big smiles in response. Some people even asked if they could take his picture. We're praying that all the attention doesn't go to his head. :)

First Mess..

and probably not the last. Elijah is getting into everything he could get his hands on. He finally managed to get the sunscreen tube, open it, and get it all over himself while we were not watching only for a few seconds. Oh my, it's just the beginning!! :) We have given our son a new nickname: "Magellan, our little explorer" From the moment he wakes up (really, I am not exaggerating) to the moment he goes down for the night, he is moving, exploring, lunging, touching, and doing everything he can to figure out, master, and explore the world around him. It is a lot of fun watching him discover his world, but I must admit that it can be exhausting too for an old fart like me! ;)

More Photos!

Elijah trying the Johnny Jumper that we bought from an expat friend who is leaving India. Not quite ready for it....he needs to gain a bit more weight to really enjoy the springy bounce!
We spent a morning with our Bengali neighbors we had met in the very first apartment complex we had lived in in 2006. They have a son who just turned one. It was fun to share baby stories and watch baby massage in action.
Elijah loves kids, it seems. He usually reaches out to touch them and interact with them.
Daddy is trying out a baby carrier pack for the first time that our expat friend sold to us. The umbrella is keeping both of them safe from the UV rays. We're hoping to use it up in the hills soon!
Enjoying the morning sun and hoping for a quick dry!

Super Baby Food

This book is great. In some ways it has way more information than I can possibly read or absorb at this point, but it is a great reference book for first time moms who are starting their babies on solids. However, I am also discovering that some of the food suggestions for when and what to introduce certain foods are not that useful as I am limited to only veggies and fruits that are in season. It is not like America where everything is "in season." So, I've pretty much scrapped the suggestions and found towards the end of the book a reference guide that lists different fruits and veggies and the seasons that they are available, with information about what month of a baby's development it'd be good to introduce them. Elijah is now eating oats and has tried summer squash. He seems to like them. Surprisingly, he does not seem to like 100% pure apple juice we found here. Next week, I am thinking about giving carrots, green beans, or guava a try. :) Let's see if you like any of them, Elijah!

Milk...

He has begun using the sign language for milk! I had started using the sign language for milk starting when he was about four months old. I thought he started signing a couple of days ago, but I wasn't completely certain because I thought maybe he was playing with his hands. So, I kind of watched to see if he consistently started using the sign (clasping his hand) and when I offered my breasts, if he would take them. We have had a couple of misunderstandings here and there. But, today, it was crystal clear that he has started using the sign for milk...it was so cool. He asked, I gave, and now he is sound asleep taking a nap. :)

7 Months Old

First Cold

Runny nose, coughing, but no fever....but, I guess he doesn't feel that badly because he is still constantly lunging, crawling, and smiling. What a cutie, he is....

Video of Elijah Crawling

He is seven months old today! He is a bundle of joy and keeps us ever so entertained and busy (and sometimes tired too)! Here is a video of our son doing the "military crawl." Enjoy!!!

Amazing growth....

When I think about how different Elijah is developmentally even from a month (sometimes a day) ago, it baffles my mind. I feel like I am interacting with a completely different little being (although still adorable as one can be). I've been finding myself more tired recently because he has not been sleeping well at night. He wakes up twice at night, which is quite unusual for him. Sometimes he is up and is wide awake and wants to play! There is some sort of shift happening I think in his sleep pattern....I think he is now switching from 3-4 naps during the day to 2 naps (morning and afternoon). But, the two naps are longer, which is nice for me. But, when he is awake, he is constantly on the go or wanting interaction. I hope I can keep up with him! ;)

We also have a crawler now. He now is able to move from a sitting position into a crawling position. And, when he sees something that interests him, he crawls and gets it.

Separation anxiety has also begun. I can't even go to the bathroom these days without him crying when he sees that I am not in the same room. He would be playing on his own and then suddenly he'll notice that I am gone and would call out for me. He still does well with people but he looks around to make sure I am around. When I am not there, he doesn't fuss that much but as soon as I am back, he wants to come back to me.

He definitely is keeping me on my toes! I love this stage but I am also finding it to be more challenging both physically and mentally.

Pictures below: Elijah sees the sunscreen tube and wants it. Do you see his focus and how he is lunging for it? He is strong!! Imagine now, he does this pretty much all day. I have to make sure that there is nothing interesting around me when I am nursing him so that he doesn't suddenly stop nursing and go for whatever interesting object he sees. ;)


These are some photos with Korean nunas (older sister) and hyoung (older brother) from the Korean moms group. Elijah is the youngest so he gets lots of attention and love. He now gets mad if someone takes his toy away, and if someone tries to grab it from him, he holds on to it for dear life! He made an older kid cry!!!

Swimming!!

We went swimming as a family for the first time. What a great way to cool off. Elijah LOVED it again. Indians think it is amazing that we would take a 6 month old in the pool with us.

Elijah loves playing with daddy!! He is waving HELLO to everyone!! (He's not really waving, I just caught it right as he was about to splash.)

Inoculation Mishap

Last Friday, we went to get Elijah's 6 months immunization and check up done. An ex-pat friend recommended us a doctor that they liked, who is the head of the pediatrics department at a local medical college. So, we got there early in the morning around 8am-ish hoping to beat the long line we kept hearing about. She practices medicine from her house and her garden is the waiting room. We did beat the long line and we were able to get Elijah on a weight scale (a digital one). When we shared with her that we need to get his vaccination done, she informed us that she does not administer vaccination but that she will recommend a doctor for us. It was a quick but a good first visit with her.

So, she made a phone call and off we went to go see the doctor who would administer the shots. We explained to him that we had brought our own vaccines. (The vaccination schedule here in India is quite different.) He knew what they were and proceeded to prepare to administer the shots. Understandably, the vaccine kits were a little different than what he was used to so it took him some time to read through the instruction and figure it out. I must admit though that I was nervous because I could tell he was not feeling very confident and I so wanted to snatch the instruction paper away from him and put the kit together, but I didn't. Eventually, I asked if I could take a peek at the instruction paper because I was getting really nervous that he was going to mess it up.

He eventually figured it out with some help from us and said he was ready to administer the shots. I was not feeling very happy with his performance so far, and I was even unhappier when I saw that he didn't even clean the little guy's thighs with alcohol swab before administering the shots. He didn't wash his hands, put on a glove, nothing! (Afterwards, Paul said to me, maybe we should have left when a spider fell on my head....I thought we should have left when his weight scale was 2 pounds off the digital one from the first doctor's office. He weighed Elijah by having me get on the scale first then I held him.) Elijah did great....he didn't even cry the first time (and I thought the needles were long) and with the second shot, he wimpered a little, but forgot about it as soon as it was over. Right afterwards as I was cleaning up the viles and the needles, I noticed that the tablet in one of the viles was still there. I mentioned it to Paul and to the doctor and they both said they thought it was probably just a part of the vile. I was not convinced. So, I made sure to take every instruction paper, needles, and viles home so that I could double check when we got home. Unfortunately, I was right. I told Paul, if the tablet is "just a part of the vile," than the instruction should say something about how afterwards, we should see a tablet or something like it left in the vile after everything has been dissolved. As we read it, it was clear that the doctor did not manage to dissolve the tablet in te vile at all (although he said to me it was!). As you can imagine, I was livid! A part of me felt like I should have just walked out when I saw how much he lacked confidence. I was angry but I felt guilty too for not being more assertive. Why didn't I listen to my intuition?

Paul and I talked about what we should do and we decided to call Glendale Pediatrics and talk to our doctor there. We couldn't call Friday because the internet went out. So, we waited until Saturday night to call and we were able to connect with the nurse there (who was amazing!) who was able to relay the message to our doctor. He recommended that we wait a month and go and get HIB vaccine ONLY. Now, I am hoping and praying that we won't have trouble getting just that vaccine and that the doctors here wouldn't insist that we get all the other shots or refuse to administer unless we do it their way.... My medical experiences here have been the worst and I find myself feeling ever more wary of it.

Meanwhile, we were at an ex-pat gathering and we mentioned the doctor's name (who administered the shots) because the doctor had mentioned that he had been the pediatrician for all three kids of this particular family. When we mentioned his name, the husband's response was that he was " a necessary evil." The wife told me to never go to him and she gave me another name.

I can tell I am still kind of worked up about it all because after writing all this down, I could still feel my blood boiling. I think it is not just because of this incident but all my other experiences have left such a sour taste in my mouth....honestly, I have no confidence in the doctors here and it is a scary feeling to have.... I hope the next doctor we try is better.... please God!!!

Some recent photos

Elijah loves his rice cereal. Mommy loves his big brown eyes!
Elijah hanging out with Lindsay and Timothy. Too bad they are leaving for Africa....
Having fun with his toys in the morning...
He loves his tupper ware.
Elijah loves his "lovey," Patrush the Penguin, a gift from his cousins, Jesh and Seth.

On a different note, we had Elijah's 6 months check-up and immunization done on Friday. Let's just say I was not a happy camper afterwards because of the mistake that the doctor made...but I'm too tired to write about it currently, so I'll save it for when I have more energy.