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.

More Highlights

Elijah pooped for the first time in the toilet on Friday! Yes, he did! I've been able to tell more these days when he is about to go and do his deed, so as soon as I could see that it was going to happen, I took him to the toilet to give it a try. He went for it!! It saved mommy one poopy diaper wash!! I'm thinking of getting a small kiddie toilet or a toilet seat so that I could do that without killing my wrists from holding him. ;) I have the proof of the deed in the form of a photo, but I thought it was kind of gross to post. Today, I got him there a little too late....So, why is it that the idea of wiping my own butt with my hand totally grosses me out, but I have no problem wiping my son's poopy butt with my hand under the shower?

I survived my first illness as a mom with the help of a wonderful husband and daddy who let me sleep all day long except to feed Elijah. I missed holding, playing, and kissing Elijah, but it was nice to also sleep all day. :)

I am learning that Elijah do not enjoy being in places where it is really loud with way too much stimulation. The only time I remember him having what you might call it a "melt down" was when we were having a reunion with a few friends and all their children before we left for India. He was cranky and just fussy.... Today, we were with other Korean moms and their children (and yes, we Koreans can be quite loud), and he was cranky and fussy too. As soon as we left for a quiet place, he was fine. He likes other kids but all the noises from the toys and talking, he did not seem to care for much. He also had a bit of crying episode at the mall in the elevator, in a very enclosed space with lots of people.... It reminded me of myself actually because after some time, I can't stand the loud noises either and I have to get to the bathroom and sit there by myself to catch my breath and for some peace!

He is saying "mamama" more. He calls when he wants my attention, lifts up his arms when he wants to be picked up, and pouts when he is unhappy.

Someone said that usually a baby's activity level in the womb is reflective of what he/she might be like outside of the womb. Well, he was one active little one in the womb....wouldn't stay still that the doctors had really hard time taking ultrasound photos....Well, he is Active!! Either he is sitting up playing with his toys, on his belly trying to grab whatever interests him, or asking us to hold him so that he can stand up and bounce up and down.... It's getting hard to even put a diaper on him!

I tried sweet potatoes (this time using the Earth's Best Jar) that I brought from the States and he ate it....I still don't think he liked it that much but he ate and didn't spit it out. No allergic reactions. Tomorrow, we will start carrots!

No to Stroller?

Today, we went to Siliguri's only "mega" mall and I wanted to try using the umbrella stroller that we brought from the States. It is the only place where I can actually use it, and since I didn't want to carry him or try to wear him (it's way too hot to wear him - sometimes even in the mall), we brought it with us as we did some shopping for containers for our new place. He kind of resisted a bit initially, but we thought perhaps it was due to the heat in the parking lot. We got inside the mall and after some time, we noticed that his eyes were starting to get puffy and red. We were getting concerned that perhaps he was having some kind of allergic reaction to something, but we soon realized that it was not the case. He was not crying yet, but was getting ready to cry. As soon as Paul took him out and held him, he was fine and the puffy eyes disappeared. He was happy, smiling, and his jolly self. He is so used to being carried that we wonder if he had forgotten about the stroller he so loved before. Or perhaps he was overwhelmed by all these passersby who would touch his cheeks as we strolled along. (It's amazing--strangers touch him all the time and that is the norm...) We carried him for the rest of our visit at the mall and used the stroller as a cart. I hope he eventually likes being in the stroller, especially when we travel internationally because I can't imagine carrying him all the time.... It is to be seen...

Is it possible...

...for a six month old to cue his mommy when his diaper needs to be changed? Ever since we started using the cloth diaper, I feel like he has been letting me know when it is wet. He used to never do this, but he'll suddenly stop playing and lightly hit my lap with his hands or come to me as if he wants my attention. Initially, I thought he was asking to be fed, but it was not the case...Each time I would respond and check his diaper, it would be wet and he wanted it to be changed....He also does a similar kind of thing if he wants me to hold him when he is feeling tired.

...that Elijah now knows his name? Whenever I would call his name, he turns to look at me... or is he just responding to my voice?

...that he already has a sense of humor? It's different than knowing we are playing together. He seems to know when I am joking with him. For example, I would give him a Zoolander look (no words, no sounds, just a glance) and he would break out into laughter. Sometimes, if it is not that funny, he'll kind of give that "half-laugh" that says, "It wasn't that funny but I'll laugh to make you feel better mom..." It is quite interesting and endearing to observe his developing sense of humor.