A Labor Story: The story of how LG was born

Late realization that the 3 part story on how LG was born should belong to this space. Cross linking from my other blog.

A Labor Story : The story of how LG was born - Part 1
A Labor Story contd… - Part 2
A Labor Story : Concluding part

How Lil' General got his real name

I don't quite remember the history of how I started referring to my foetus as Lil' General. Those were the days when The Seniol and I wound up watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S on TV from 7:00 p.m. on Star World after returning from work. I believe I must have have been around Week 25 when I first started feeling the kicks prominently and some mild movement. The funny agitation inside felt as if the little baby had more control over my body kicking around - there was something bossy about that whole thing briefly. Those of you who are fans of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S sitcom know what the term actually means..alright now don't shudder at the thought. Anyways, that's how it all started I guess when I had to give the unborn-then-baby a name while referring to what he/she was up to in my conversations with The Seniol and that's how we jointly came up with the term Lil' General that slowly became LG here.

As far as the real name goes, we hadn't settled on a name even 10 days after he was born : even on the day of his punyajananam. None of the names I picked anybody really liked. What my in-laws liked, my parents didn't and what my parents did they didn't/ But no one really objected to anything and they left it to me in the end to pick whatever I liked. It was to be MY decision. Which made it even worse for I'm REALLY BAD at making a decision. I dilly dallied for days and then randomly settled on one when the nurse came by one evening to fill in the birth certificate. I was more than positive that it was going to be a boy even before the birth of LG so hadn't given much thought to girl names. Though over the years, I had taken a liking to the following names for boys and girls:

Boys: Anubhav
Girls: Sakshi, Tasha, Tamanna, Mia

And here I read about how consultants are hired even for naming one's own baby. Is it too much for the parents to even name their own baby? Now that's what I call creating employment.

Should you get your baby a walker?

My son, Lil'General took his first step independently (with no support) when we was two days short of completing 15 months. Worried family advised me repeatedly to get a walker to initiate his walking. Most kids I have come across recently were running around on their first birthday parties. I admit it got me a little worried but every milestone was slightly delayed with LG so I was less hassled and let him do it at his own pace. His crawling came at 6 months before sitting at 7 months. Initially, his Paed attributed it to his body weight.

Anyways, when in doubt I generally check Dr. Spock to clear my apprehensions which had strictly recommended against the use of walker. And the monthly newsletters from Baby Center helped too in saying that it is no point in forcing your baby to walk. It is a natural process and they feel confident about taking that first step only when their muscles arr fully developed and strong enough to hold them. Some do it early, some do it late - eventually they all end up where we are.

If you are in doubt of whether to use a walker or not, go ahead and read this.

Has your toddler got his shoes yet? Is going barefoot good for kids?

The Seniol's favorite destination last year was South Africa (ofcourse if you don't count the toilet!) On his second visit, he narrated tales of how he found kids in South Africa going barefoot in public places - in the malls, restaurants and on the streets. Normal kids of all races from well to do families who were dressed impeccably nice but had no footwear. So, poverty had little to do with it. He found it rather strange and funny and assumed there must be logical reason to it and inquired his colleagues at work. Turns out kids until the age of four generally go barefoot because that's the way it is - passed down generations. Apparently they believe it leads to good formation of legs and makes them stronger. I decided to do a bit of my own research and this is all I could find. Tertia of So Close confirms this practice too. On a unrelated note, Tertia has a sad and interesting history of infertility and an entertaining bio to read.

Back to the shoe saga, I had put off buying sandals or shoes for Lil' General until now. Didn't find a good reason to buy one. It's been a month and half since he started walking but I've rarely let him walk outside - it's been confined to indoors and the car park so far. Of late, I've been finding it to difficult to shop with him on my shoulders as the roads are either too hot or not clean enough to let him go barefoot. Finally, I decided to get him a pair of comfy strap-on sandals. It was funny the first time he wore it. There he was acting like one doing a space walk. He's slowly getting used to it and loves the freedom of walking on real roads like adults that he keeps looking at me finding it hard to believe he is one among us now taking in all the sights so familiar to him, again. The smile ion his face makes me forget those long afternoons nagging me without sleeping. No one ever tells you these simple pleasures of parenthood.

Packaged baby foods in India

The fussy eating phase of a toddler is quite testing on a parent and I've been grappling with these periods too often lately. After the initial experiment with the Heinz baby food brought by dad from Middle East, I started looking out locally for similar packaged baby foods. And, I was glad to have found Gerber. Not easily available everywhere but in a few select upscale supermarkets, I believe toddlers going through the fussy-eating phase are generally advised by Paeds to be put on these packaged foods. With pursed lips and a head always position 180 degree to mine when food was in sight, it was relief when he took kindly to spoonfuls of this baby food.

It comes in different flavors such as Blueberry, Peach, Apple, Mixed Fruit so you have something different to try every time offering your kids a different flavor and texture. I don't have the habit of eating spoonfuls of NaN and Cerelac like The Seniol but since this was new food, I tasted the Mixed Fruit which had a strong Mango flavor to it. Having tried Mango pulp just that morning, I was positive, he wouldn't like it and was instead surprised to finding him gulping the bottle. Priced at Rs.110 a bottle that weighs 180 g, it is expensive for a single feed. I believe it is available in smaller sizes as well and is priced differently in other cities.

If you are in Pune, you can shop for it at Ozone in Aundh. Do let me know if you've found it in other places in Pune.

A good review of Berger here.