Jillu's World

stomach bug

2007-11-28T14:58:00.000+05:30

When jillu was 1 1/2 yrs her doc waved the green flag and said u can feed her anything u eat.
well i have been always carefull with her feeds but when am munching on murukkus and thatais and chips if she ask for it i give her. normally nothing happens and she can digest it but this week some 4 -5 kerala chips has got her so down that doctors were threatening us to admit her if the vomitting and loose stools continue

hmm after 3 days of vomitting and loose stools she is somewhat back to normal though has refused to eat anything .

am just listing down some medicines am trying with her
these can be given when the symtpons start - do go to a doc but u can try these medicines at home too

Vomitting
this is of 2 kind
1. due to over feeding, exhaution, mild infection
she throws up only once and is back to normal
this kind needs no medicine, just clean up , give some water and after some time u can feed her
2. stomach bug, food poisoning
they continue throwing up even after all the food has come up
giving a sip of water also causes puking
give emeset for jillu its 5 ml after 40 mins give a sip of water if she doesnt puke after 15 mins give her normal feed
if she keeps it down - means no more trouble
if she doesnt keep it down , need to go to a doc for emeset IV

Fever
for mild temeprature fever can give 3.75 ml of P250 , this should be given at 8hr intervals , if the fever is high can also try 4 hr interval

Cough
txylix - 5 ml every 6 hrs

cold
phenegram - 5 ml every 8 hrs

stuffed nose
nasivion - 2 drops each nostril
if its severe
otrivin
else
otrivin m

First Sentance

2007-10-29T13:06:00.001+05:30

Date : 27th Oct 2007
Day : Satruday
Time : 3.45 PM

Event : jillu spoke her first complete sentence

Sentence : " Amma nee thooka dey , thata nee thooku"

Effect : Amma and thata totally stunned and delighted beyond words

our song

2007-10-26T13:12:00.000+05:30

Iam taking up this tag to name our song

me and K dont have a song because we rarely listen to music and only music we hear is on the sun music

but me and jillu have lot of songs
i dont remember the first lullaby i sang for her but songs which were repeated very often include

1. Brindavananum nandakumaranum yaaravu ku podu selvam andro
eno radha intha puramai yaar than azagal mayanga thavaro
pulanghuzal isai innimai i nalai ullam me jillu unu thuladaa
ragathuile anu ragam eevinal jagame uungalil aadathaa

2. this was my fav and much abused

o o o onara duckara duck
kaaval kaarain masti than
aa vu mai bluck
bluck aa thooki malai pootal chettiar veetu nandu nagarathina paambu
nandu a thooki malai pootal nagarathina paambu
paamba thooki malai pootal pancha varana killi pachai killai

3. i changed the lyrics a bit

ore oru oorila
ore oru raja
antha ore oru raja vu ku
ore oru rani
antha rani yum petha ombadu pillai
antha ombadule onu kooda kupara padukala

4. song from old movie kalyana parisu

unnai kandu naan aada
ennai kandu nee ada

till she was about 18 months i could sing any song i wanted but now she says antha paatu vanaam la la lai paadu or raja padu

5.her fav
la li la li la li ( kamal movie song)

raja chinna roja oodu kaatu pakam poonaram kooda oru roja kootum kuti kittu ponaram ( rajini movie)

dol dolu than adikirai (vijay)

6. Currently we are singing

Mapilai vandam mapillai vandan maathu vandiyile
ponu vantha ponu vantha benz u vanthyile

hope this song conitues for a while as i has good fun changing the lyrics to suit the girls side

Jealous

2007-10-26T12:44:00.001+05:30

Yes Iam jealous of K
am jealous of the affection he gets from his in laws ie my parents where as i dont get any such attention or affection from his mother

even after 3 years of marriage - if mappilai is comming home - my mom and dad jump and think of all the things they can do for him ,they make sweets for him , go out of their way to make him feel comfortable and special , though he has never mentioned anything abt it to me am sure K enjoys all this special attention and more importantly the love they shower on him

yes am missing the love and unconditional acceptance from his mother

Aksharabyasam

2007-10-24T13:00:00.000+05:30

Sunday 21st October 2007 Vijayadasami was the day chosen to introduce jillu to the world of alphabets and numbers

according to our tradition we had her aksharabyasam done on this day
a pandit was invited home and the whole house reverbrated with his slogams

I was initially planning to just write on namo narayana in rice and wrap it up but then amma said why dont we call the sanskrit pandit
rice became nellu
pooja room became hall
small function ended up becoming a grand function in terms of satisfaction

got a new dress for jillu
hall was cleaned and adorned with kolam
2 manais were placed
a small kolam was drawn in front of the mania and nellu was spread over this
all three of us , k me and jillu took head bath .
tamboolam consisting of beetle leaves, paaku, manjal,pazham,thengai was placed next to nellu

neivedyam was chakara pongal and a spoon of jaggery

at the auspicious time jillu sat on her appa's lap
first the sankalpam then hayagrevar strotam
she was first made to write the pillayar chuzi then om namo narayana namaha then om lakshmi hayergrevar namaha and then a aa in tamil and then abc in english

her appa had a good time guiding her fingers over nellu

my contribution was feeding her the honey when told by the pandit

in the end appa and amma presented a beautiful lakshmi hayegrevar idol; to pradakshina to bless her into the world of education.

no matter how weel we know the slogams and how things to be done when a pandit comes and does it takes on special meaning and gives us more satisfaction

photos

2007-10-09T13:52:00.001+05:30

some photos taken this month

sense of belonging

2007-09-26T10:59:00.000+05:30

This post should have been on Sept 11th but got delayed

Jillu stunned us today by her action and gave us immense sense of joy esp to her father

we were all gathered in kalyan's sister house , its a new place for jillu and she was busy exploring all the rooms

at one point all of us were standing in the hall and I sat down in a plastic stool , we didnt notice what our little doll was doing suddenly from no where is dragging a similar stool and comming towards me , everybody were like stop dont do it - its too heavy for u blah blah blah
she just deposited the stool near my leg and hurriedly went in search of another one

once that also was deposited near me
she turned towards her appa and said " appa stool"
and then moved towards the other one and said " papa stool "

u should have seen kalyan all his teeth were visible for counting
" since amma was sitting , papa has thought that both her and her appa should also sit "
this sense of family , this sense of belonging is what we wanted to bring to her and are happy that she recognises appa, amma , thata and patti are part of her family and anything she does should include them also "

3 cheers to jillu

Letter 1 - 24th Aug 2007

2007-08-24T15:25:00.000+05:30

I was in sixth when i received a gift from appa for my bday - i was expecting some dolls or clothes but could see from my father's face that he was excited about the gift - so with lot of excitement i opened the gift and was sorely disappointed that it was a book.
now it was not famous five, nancy drew or some teddy bear tales but it was a book with a long title which i didnt understand in the begining
My parents thought the bunch of letter Nehru had sent to his daughter indira composed as a book will do me lot of good but sadly till today the book lies unread by me

Thinking about that book gave me the idea to compose some letters to jillu which will be interesting reading for her later on

Letter 1 writtern on 24th Aug 2007 reads like this

Jillu - minutes after u were born the doctor thrust u in front of me and said tell me the gender , i said softly girl - she said what - say loudly and proudly GIRL

We are really proud of u jillu not because u are a girl because u as a individual bring me and appa lot of happiness

indian society might make the gender issue a big issue
men might get better treatment
u might face inequality at school, college , during marriage , at work place , at the hands of in laws , with relatives etc just because of your gender
Dont even bother with these idiots who treat women unfairly , always remeber this
" u are first an individual and then a girl , u are cherised by us and God has thought u are special , he thinks u have the capacity and the strenght to be a women thats why u are born as a girl "

Never let your gender dictate your life , u can do anything u want
Never let anyone demean u or insult u or take u for granted or ill treat u just because u were bron a girl

appa and me are proud that u are a girl
u should also be proud of the fact that u are a girl

girls have some special advantage over boys
- girls have the power to produce another life
- girls have the power to make or break a family
- girls have immense love to share
- girls have a nurturing tendency
- girls have compassion and more adaptibility
- girls are always pampered
- girls are more intellegent
- girls have more endurance and common sense
- we are always looked after
-we are complimented more
- even average work turned in by us gets more points from parents
-our parents continue to chip in even after our marriage , we right fully expect our parents to help with child birth and child care whereas this is not true in case of a boy

but there are certain things girls have to be wary of
- girls can get raped
- girls can get ill treated by in laws ( how come we never hear of son in laws getting ill treated)
- people might not take u serious
- people might say after marriage a girl's individual life is over - all rubbish

So jillu
u are first a individual and then a girl
your gender should not stop u from doing anything ure heart wants

My girl go ahead and capture the world

Lump - Will squash you

2007-08-22T16:39:00.000+05:30

Half knowledge is dangerous - this is especially ture with respect to health
When a lump was found in my breast - i immediately concluded that is breast cancer and am going to die or worst lose a breast
family and friends though supportive arent very knowledgeable about lumps and everyone has this misconception (thanks to movies ,TV serials and magazines) that lump in breast == cancer

So it was with lot of fear that i went to the doctor hoping she will proclaim me clean and also answer some questions
But sadly - doctors dont think we can handle the medical jargon so all she told me was " get a mamogram done"

now I had no clue what a mamogram is and in my imagination just the fact that further test were required confirmed the C word

I did the mamogram and wet back to the doctor again - no counseling on what the result said - just the words " its fibroedinoma go see this surgeon "

and i was bursting to know wheather its cancerous or non cancerous
help came in though a family doctor who said fibroedinoma are non cancerous but its better u get it removed

though his reply gave me the assurance that its not cancerous - it didnt tell me what firboedinoa is or what is the other possible cures

Google to rescue

so womenfolk this post is to list couple of things about lumps in our precious boobs from my experience

1. If u find any lump in your breast dont panic - all lumps need not be cancerous
Due to hormonal changes , some glands can thicken to become lumps , lumps are of two variety non cancerous and cancerous
2. If there is a lump - go and see a gync they will ask u to do a mamogram
3. Mamogram is the xray of the breast to detect lumps and the nature of lumps
now the first time i saw the mamogram machine i almost passed out because it looked like a torture tool with two plates where u have to insert ure breast and it will flatten your breast tissues for a second and take an xray thankfully this is done only for patients over 35 years
lucky me - i could undergo the painless sono mamogram which in lay man's term a ultra sound of the breast
When ure doctor prescribes a mamogram ask her to be specific on what type of mamogram she wants u to do
4. From the Mamogram result the lump can be classified as non cancerous - fibroedinoma or u will have to under go a biopsy to get further details
5. if it is fibroedinoma - dont panic its non cancerous - the gync will ask u to meet a surgeon who will say " though its non cancerous " its better u get it removed
i dont relish the thought of someone opening up my lovely bust so I have decided against surgery
but what i will have to do for rest of my life is yearly mamogram
any lump - cancerous or not needs constant monitoring and u shld do this yearly

So women if u find a lump - dont panic - go see a doctor get a mamogram done and do some google search on the diagnosis - for information fights fear

Rat Race

2007-06-01T11:06:00.000+05:30

Till recently I was using jillu as an excuse to come home early from office but now am realising that Iam not cut out for 24/7 hard work , i can work efficeintly from 10 to 6 , 5 days a week - ok this sounds fine but where is the issue ??
The issue is I expect
1. more responsibility at work
2.more pay
3.more recognition
but i dont want to slog day in and day out

my time with K and jillu and my parents is important , I dont want to compromise on it but i still want to enjoy a competetive career is it possible ??

in my current company it looks impossible
I just had my yearly apprisal and the main point discussed was my hours in office
they feel its less where as my question is If I finish the work on time whats your problem ??

are there other woman facing this ?
why cant people understand that I want to enjoy both - home and work but not become a addict to work - I dont want to be a super performer but recognise my performance when due

The suggestion from friends is quit your job , take part time , take less responsibilities- am like why the hell ??

why cant we get used to fact that someone wants to enjoy both
I want to have a satisfying job and also my involvement at Home
If any body has tips on how to handle MCP's at office let me know .

I also feel like thrashing all the single men and women who because dont have better work at home sit in office late hours and have created the image that u are dedicated only if u spend X amount of hours in office

Marina

2007-05-31T14:10:00.000+05:30

Saturday 26th May 2007 was jillu's first visit to the beach
we should have chosen besant nagar beach but since Marina beach is closer we went there
I love beaches and playing in the water and the reaction i expected from her was the same

the trip to the beach didnt go like the way we planned , we started late and had a tough time finding parking space in the beach , by the time we got to the water line it was almost dark and jillu just refused to get down in the water
she started screaming and crying and didnt enjoy the water at all hmmm so we concluded that beach trip was a failure and started walking back to car ,
appa suggested we sit for a while and voila our crying madame became a toddler full of energy
she had a whale of a time playing in the sand
at first she just plopped on the sand with her legs spread and her beach bucket and spade in front of her , K taught her how to build a mound and how to use the bucket

the first few times she got her hands dirty , she didnt know what to do and kept saying amma amma meaning clean it for me after couple of minutes she became a sand girl, squealing ,laughing watching the sand fall through her fingers , on her head, legs every where and in the end she refused to come back with us insisting that we stay for a while longer

the other attraction in the beach was the manual meery go round , she sat in one of those tiny cars and enjoyed the ride with flashing colors and music.

so though she is scared of the water , she enjoyed the sand and the outing

what saddens me is Marina beach has changed so much
when i was a kid Marina visit was a must every sunday , my memories of marina beach and what it is today is totally different
1. then there was no vendors in the beach , they were restricted to the pavement , today u have no place to sit in the sand everywhere u can see a bajji shop, a meerygo round, 100's of ice cream carts, horrible the ambience is just lost
2. the water was clean those days , now a days u can see garbage floating in them , flowers , plastics and u cringe to keep ure leg in the water
3. sand used to be clean , now its a litter zone
4. no body used to dare be in the beach after dark , now people seem to come only after dark

wish i could show jillu the old beautiful marina instead of the current pathetic one .

Aphabets - Words - Sentences Here I Come

2007-05-21T12:28:00.001+05:30

the pace at which jillu is moving from baby talk to sign langyage to words is blowing my mind

from just crying to loud protest the toddler is now saying words
am just recording the words in seqeunce for memory sake

her first word was not amma or appa it was bow bow
bow bow - dog
amma
appa
thata
paati
maaa - cow
Bye
mammaaam - food
kaka - crow
meee - cat
papa - any babies
akka
anna
akkavi - sanghavi her friend
doggy - duck
dolly - her barbie doll
baby
drum
car
T - TV
Bababa - starting words of ba ba black sheep
down - last word of ring a ring a rosses
booo - book
and latest addition three six and ten

way to go little princes in no time u are going to talk sentences and am going to sorely miss the bouts of baby talk u get into now

Pots and Pan

2007-05-10T15:18:00.000+05:30

I guess this is a familiar scene in every household with a Toddler , cups and plates becoming toys and expensive toys untouched
Well Jillu is the perfect example for the above scene
She has a whole tub of toys - soft toys,books , animals,cars,barrels,drum u name it and she has it some form or other (this is because of anxious parents who feel if they dont get her the latest leading or play toy, she will miss out something important in life)
but does she play with them
yes probably for the first day it was given to her
yes when the next door kid comes and touches it and this toy becomes the must have toy
else they all lay neglected

so what does the poor child play with ??
1.all the pots and pan stored in the kitchen , its her fav pastime to go and re organise all the tumblers that her paati has wiped and kept in the kitchen cabinet - its amazing to see that she perfectly knwos where the tumblers are stored where the plates are stored and most importantly where the SNACKS are stored,
2.Broom :I guess this is her all time fav - just imagine when u are thinking that she will go on to be scientist or a lawyer she comes into view weilding the broom and sweeping the floor
3.Wet Mop :the mop is defintely taller than her , yet seeing her hold it and trying to mop the floor is a beauty (Am secretly hoping all this will help her motor skills - just justifying it to myself)
4.Dish cloth : she can give any server a run for his money , u should see the way she goes to the dish cloth cabinet-pulls it open - takes out a cloth - runs to the dinning table chair (her harrased paati is running behind her and closing the cabinet lest any insects get into it)-clims on to the chair and then starts wiping the clean table , if table gets boring she starts wiping the floor (will try to post her snap doing this)

God knows how much bacteria and dirt are there in the broom and mop but u try
1.denying ti her- pulling it from her hand - she either bites u or howls till your ear hurts
2.hide it - she somehow sniffs and finds them out and after 1 hrs or so she is back with the broom

so am resigned to the fact that till she outgrows it the only thing we can do is
Wash her hands before eating
ensure she doesnt hurt herself with the mop
and try to imagine that the mop is actually a toy

Beat the summer heat

2007-05-09T11:20:00.000+05:30

Last week jillu suddenly developed fever and very unlike her wasn't active and kept falling down when she tried to walk
we just panicked and thought something major is wrong with my baby and thankfully my cousin who is a doctor was in town and she took just one look at jillu and said "Heat Wave"
"there is nothing wrong with her , she is just reacting to Chennai's summer and said it could be because jillu is used to Bangalore and is not equipped to handle the harsh summer here "

We were surprised to hear that she is getting dehydrated because we are giving her plenty of fluids, a tender coconut daily , a fruit juice daily and water after every meal and in between also .but i guess Chennai's heat is too much to handle and we have to do something extra

following are the steps we are following to battle the heat based on the tips given by my cousin
1.plenty of water
2. add little sugar and salt to any fruit juice she is drinking
3.solid intake might come down because of the increased fluid intake , its OK don't worry
4.wear only loose fitting cotton clothes
5. give bath twice a day in either cold or Luke warm water
6.give tender coconut once a day
7. during the day time as much as possible keep her in the AC room and limit exposure to direct sun
8.outside play time only during early mornings and evenings after the heat is down

she is much better now and back to her active self , but still we are keeping a watch on her as peak summer is still on

If you mommies out there have any other tips on battling the heat, do let me know

Appa Appa

2007-05-08T15:14:00.000+05:30

Jillu's dad is in Taiwan for the next couple of months and she is getting to interact with him only through the phone .
couple of things that she is doing is surprising me and also sometimes causing a red ear
1. the minute the phone rings in the night around 8 she says appa signalling that she knows its her dad who is calling
2.when u put the mobile in front of her , she sometimes goes into baby gibberish and sometimes if in a good mood says appa appa appa - very cute
3. when her appa asks her to give him a kiss , she immediately pinches the phone and gives it a kiss else brings her mouth near the speaker and blows him a wet kiss
4.whenever she sees a male model in any magazines she starts chanting appa appa
5. sometimes on seeing vijay or shivaji ganesan in the TV she starts saying appa appa appa
6.she goes to our family photo and points at each member and says amma,appa and papa and u ask her appa enga ma she points to the photo
guess the little one is missing her appa
psssstt (amma is also missing appa)

Mother's day

2007-05-08T15:04:00.000+05:30

May 13Th is fast approaching ,so what is special about this day ??
It is a special day for mothers says the advertisers , to make money out of cards and other gift items we celebrate it as mothers day

mothers out there - do we need a day ear marked for us in a year to feel special??
aren't we special every day every minute ??

the minute the kutti bum is born the woman metamorphosis into a mother and that mother is special to her child and her family

each day with the baby watching it grow is pleasure for her , and the love between a mother and a kid doesn't need to be acknowledged with one Mother's day.
My understanding of Mother's day is u acknowledge your mother that day ,and it doesn't make sense because u acknowledge the person who gave birth to u every single day of our life.

I feel the love whenever
1.jillu smiles at me
2. early in the morning wakes me up with a kiss and then sitting on my tummy goes potty in her diaper
3.does something mischievous and then studies my face to see what my reaction is going to be
4.squeal with joy when she sees me coming back from work
5.running around my legs and saying amma amma amma when Am getting ready for work
6.hit me or bite me when i don't do something for her

the relationship between her and me cant be defined by one single day "Mother's Day" this relationship is going to last till my life time and is going to be one where I feel special every minute and day of it.

Mother's choice

2007-03-18T13:01:00.000+05:30

The topic of discussion the other day in office was "who had the right to decide if its the time to have a baby and to continue with the baby "
this is a highly sensitive issue and the right decision should be taken as it involves a life of a small baby
my opinion is it should be the mothers choice - she is the right person to decide when to have a baby , whether to have a second baby or have the first baby at all
I am not saying this because she is the one who is under going physical and mental changes when she is carrying the baby but for the total alteration in her very thought process once she knows that she has conceived.
in my own experience the minute i knew am carrying my entire thought process changed , its an added responsibility , u are going to be in charge of another life and to make or break that life is an enormous feeling
this doesn't mean that the father's thought process doest change at all , but for father's its more like a new life in their universe , they love and cherish the bay but their life doesn't stop . the cricket , basketball , late night parties , care free time with friends , hours of talk on the phone , office responsibilities doesn't stop or take a back seat just because of a new arrival
Where as for the mother everything including her well being takes a back seat and her primary focus is the baby
if they have to choose between changing a soiled diaper and a final over in India Pakistan match am sure 99 out of 100 mothers will first change the diaper , pacify the baby and then if possible watch the highlights .where as for men i think probably 1 out 100 would do it cricket would take a preference this doesn't mean they don't love their baby but that's just the way they are .

for the mother, she totally involves her self with the baby , babies each achievement is her own ,each failure is her own , she rejoices,cries,grows and flourishes with the baby .
In the olden days her life just revolves around her baby and husband , but now she is educated , her exposure is good her life revolves around baby and husband but just not them , she has the space , energy and time for herself - in spite of this new found Independence baby is the most important in her life , the baby takes preference over everything in her life
breakfast,headache,angry boss,irritating mother in law all can wait for that precious bundle
cheers to mother hood
for the very reason i think mothers should have the right to decide whether to have a baby and if yes when .

potty training please

2007-03-17T13:30:00.000+05:30

Mummyyyyyyyy please potty train me is the message jillu seems to be telling me , me being lost
in work ,cooking and thinking that my jillu is too young to be potty trained is being en lighted by my daughter who is saying Am now ready for the next level in life where i can control and decide when i want to pee and where .
i remember amma putting her on legs as early as 2 months old and saying ammu moocha and shhhhhhhh jillu used to comply even to this day u make her sit on your legs and say moocha the poor one whether she
has the urge or not makes an attempt and produces at least a drop

now at 15 months she has started running toward the potty seat whenever she has the urge but mostly she ends up peeing just before she reaches the seat hmm maybe i should keep it closer to her
she is also pointing at the place and keeps saying aai aai meaning " amma i have done my duty u now go and clean up" some times she goes into a series of aai aai aai aai hahaha they are so sweet
babies at this stage are just a pleasure to watch and interact
i realise that i should start potty training her but since am not there during the day and night she in diapers don't know what to do maybe should start it on weekends till then aai aai

First Letter

2007-03-17T13:10:00.000+05:30

On march 3rd 2007 pradakshina received the first letter of the many letters to follow in her life
no no it was not her first love letter , it was her passport ..... ya we had applied for her passport couple of days back through the tatkal scheme and the passport was delivered today
it was nice to see the name "pradakshina Krishnan" boldly writtern in the To address , it was like my daughter had graduated from a baby to an individual who had letters coming to her hmmmm my baby is growing up .

a small note to all parents applying for Indian passport for their babies
1. if the baby is less than 5 years , u don't have to wait in Q for the token , u can directly go to the
token counter and get the token (this will save u about 3 hours)
2.baby's thumbprint is a must on the application form
3. u need to take the baby when u are applying for her passport
4. Most important - the spouse name should be included either in the mother's or father's passport, if this is not done u get this done first and then apply for the baby's passport
5. be prepared to face rude remarks , unfriendly staff and long waiting time

Varuga Varuga

2007-03-11T09:12:00.000+05:30

Welcome to this blog where am going to chronicle my daughter's growing up years and also my joys, fears and thoughts on parenting.
pradakshina(jillu) is 15 months today,the thought of maintaining a blog didn't occur to me though I was maintaining a
photo scrap book for her. got inspired by other mummy blogs like madmomma to start
one for my daughter.
Jillu was born on a sunday 4th dec 2005 at about 1.04 PM at sundaram medical foundation chennai.
Am a working mother trying to handle a career , a bubbly baby ,a equally stressed out husband and my hobbies