Haircut time + tantrums

The boy had his haircut on Saturday. We asked the hairdresser to make a parting but he couldn't. He used a clipper mostly but the boy wanted his hair to be cut using scissors.

He has learnt to unlock my phone and play songs. He has a new water bottle.

There was a flea market in our apartment and the boy was running in between the stalls when he fell and hurt his elbow badly. I cleaned it and applied ointment but he reminded us once in a while that it is paining.

We are in the process of getting him off the diaper when he sleeps during the night and he took it a step ahead. Got up at midnight, woke us up and insisted on peeing in the loo. And when we asked him to do it in the diaper, threw a tantrum.

For his extended day care till 130, the wife packs lunch for him. He dutifully told his teacher "There is more sweet potato at home but Amma gives me only this much"

He has a cough but we are avoiding giving him medicines.

Another Metro ride

This time we decided to visit the Bal Bhavan in Cubbon Park. We took an auto rickshaw to the Metro and the boy was excited to be in the train. He had questions and after getting down, insisted on waiting till the train left the station.

Once in Cubbon Park, we realized the Bal Bhavan was closed on Mondays. We walked around, the boy was fascinated by a horse, and climbed up and down the rock formations.

The boy also ran after the squirrels. There were so many of them.

He also got the much needed haircut today. Some use of the clipper and mostly "cut cut" as he wanted.

Haircut

The boy has his haircut today. He was enthusiastic about it and sat in my lap. Only scissors and no clipper. But then the hair got into his mouth and he started spitting it out. The hair dresser thought he was throwing up and quickly remove the apron. Not a great finish but much better than the hair falling all over his ears.

He can now recite the wife’s mobile number.

A much needed haircut

We were hoping that now Ah is back, all of us can go together. But Ah was not ready yet. So I took the boy to the hair dresser and then he developed cold feet. Cried and pulled away. I cajoled him and while he sat in my lap, the haircut started. This time he insisted on “cut cut” – scissors and no clipper. The cut hair falling on his face and neck irritated him. The clipper was used to clean up but he did not complain.

February

The whole of last month was a topsy-turvy month – atleast most of it. The boy was sick with cough and cold. On one of the days, he ate only ice cream and he threw up that. For a week he didn’t go to school. We gave him Crocin, Sinarest and it finally wore off. He has become cranky, very cranky when he is upset. First he asks for me and if I am not around, he wants to go to Ah’s house and he knows it is not possible to go there so early in the morning or late in the night. Basically he wants things which he knows he cannot get / be done. 

On the bright side the boy had his annual day on 6th and was excited to travel in an auto rickshaw (his first trip) . Dressed in a veshti and bright blue shirt, he danced to the Pongal O Pongal song. It was a nice and cute sight of the tiny tots on the stage. He got a book “The Painted Crow” as a prize. A very nice speech by Dr Ali Khwaja from the Banjara Academy that covered some of the below points on parenting :-
1. Communication – means listening.
2. Once you give the child something, don’t take it back.
3. Don’t lie in front of them.
4. Parenting is not a popularity contest!
5. Pick the school that is comfortable for your child.
6. Punishment must be immediate and with a reason. Tell the child “I love you” after that.
7. Broken Gramophone record – the way to politely say no to the child. Be polite and nice and don’t scream.

After reminder from the teacher, he had his haircut on 14th without any fuss. He has been sitting and drinking milk in the morning as opposed to lying down. And he willingly closes his eyes when his face has to be washed with soap :-) The brushing teeth activity is a hit or miss. On some days he is willing and on other days throws a tantrum. On 24th he had his Vidyarambham done at Mookambika temple, Kollur. In fact he seems to love going to the temple and spending time there. Back home, he went to the post office as a part of his school trip the next day. He also posted an Inland Letter for us :) He has learnt to wear and remove shorts on his own.

He also started with his Flintobox (Educational Activity Boxes For Children) sets. Nicely thought out activity sets they are.

“Yuk!” That is his way of describing anything that he does not like. “I don’t like milk. Yuk… yuk….YUK!”.
“Aye, I say stop it” is something that he says when he wants us to stop doing what he does not like.

Waste from Art

We attended a Waste from Art program at school on Saturday. The theme was Diwali. I enjoyed it and many parents attended it. We made a lamp holder out of a discarded PET bottle and painted it. The boy loves painting (a lot of mess associated it with though) and took this opportunity to paint the pieces of PET bottle that we had cut out. 

Lamp holder with PET bottle

Yesterday, the boy got a haircut. He did not make any fuss and this time and sat in the chair propped up high. He did get uncomfortable when the haircut apron was wrapped around him. This time the clipper was set so that it was not a close crop. Towards the end, he started crying but the hair dresser managed to finish it.  The lunch was at Panchavati Gaurav Thali in  Elements Mall - Bh and my birthday treat. After lunch we went to the book shop and the boy started pulling out books for him - mostly the bright looking ones. We managed to leave without buying anything. Back home, we put up Diwali lights and he was thrilled when they were switched on

Haircut time

The boy pushes the tricycle, his legs don’t reach the pedals and uses the storage basket in it to put his toys.

It was the time for a haircut and he usually screams his guts out. This time too, Ah came along. The boy sensed it and started his rant – “no cutting, no cutting”. The boy saw Ah getting a haircut and sat down quietly in my lap. Out came the clipper and it was done in 7 minutes. The only irritant for him was the hair falling on his face and neck. No crying at all!

He has started adding “m” at the end of the words when he addresses us. “Amma” has become “Ammam”. On counting down from 1 to 10, he refuses to say 5 and 7.

Dinner was at BYLI and the boy ate pita bread and rice.

Haircut time

It was time for the boy's haircut. Last time, B and A took him, and this time I decided to take him as Ah was getting a haircut. A drove while we got in the rear seat.
All went well while he watched Ah getting a haircut. When his turn came, he screamed. Created a big ruckus. So I sat in the chair, and held in my lap. There was no time to use scissors and was off with his hair using a Clipper and size 1 attachment. He looked miserable. 

Reached home and after a biscuit, he was back to normal.

Haircut and after

It is difficult getting used to the boy with his short trimmed hair. At times he reminds me of those terminally ill patients with shaved heads and a serious moody look. At times, I feel he requires a tight hug and lot of kisses. He hardly notices when I rub the palm of my hand over his prickly hair.

Haircut

Not a half done job like mine, rather a full professional haircut at a hair salon.

SIL was in town, we had got back last evening and met B and A in the basement parking. They were taking Ah for his haircut and he looked miserable. They asked me if I  wanted to come along to give the boy a haircut and I said no – tired and sick I was. They offered to take boy along on the scooter. I was very optimistic.  Done finally!

So while A held the boy facing inwards close to his chest, B held his hands from behind, and the barber used the hair clipper to give a super neat hair cut. His hair was becoming unmanageable. Add lice to it and he was constantly scratching his scalp. A big thanks to them.

For dinner the boy ate Panipuri. The nights are so cold, I wonder how the boy sleeps after kicking off the blankets. I just cannot do without them.

The boy has started calling biscuit “bititha” and he knows in which cupboard the biscuit is. His favorite pastime nowadays is to crawl to the balcony and stand holding the balcony grill. He calls out to whoever walks past the balcony if they don’t look at him. At times he climbs the balcony grill.

And recovery...

On Wednesday we were on the verge on taking the boy to Manipal Hospital for a saline drip. The boy had stopped drinking milk on Sunday, and water, the previous day. Thankfully the antibiotic Augmentin DDS what we gave in the morning, kicked in. He started with water and soup. What a relief! My parents surprised us with a visit and the boy was cheerful after seeing my father. He seems to like older men. Didn’t pay much attention to my mother. Same with the wife’s parents. He slept well that night, drinking milk too.

On Thursday, FIL dropped in and the boy was happy to be in his arms. His appetite is improving, although he prefers soup most of the time, he has started eating rice as well.

And finally, I managed to cut the boy’s hair today when he was sleeping! Although it looks crude (only the front, sides, and rear length has been snipped), the hair no longer falls over his eyes and ears.

He got a front facing car sear thanks to B! No more struggle to look out of the window.

Aachoo!

The boy finds sneezing very funny. After every sneeze he smiles widely.

As we walk up from the basement car park to our apartment, he wants to switch on all the light switches. And once he switches them on, a wide smile!

His hair is growing and falls over his ears. I attempted to cut his hair and he refused to let me touch it. 

Throwing things

The boy likes grabbing things are throwing them down. Last night he threw down 3 chapatis.

I cut the boy's hair today and his nails. It is not a perfect job but his hair is not falling over his eyes and ears. The ideal thing to do would have been to shave his head but at this tender age, it is risky.

Road Trip

Another road trip to Chennai. Despite the heat and humidity, the boy did manage well. He slept for most of the onward journey in the car.

The occasion was the first birthday party of his cousin. I think the boy follows certain face patterns when warming to strangers the first time. Mostly he does not go to them and the IL's got to hold him only on the second day. This time around he ate chocolate cake, corn flakes, chapati, drank some juice.The moment the camera is out and flash goes off, he shows his teeth!

On the way dropped in at my parents place and my father was thrilled that the boy smiled at him. 5th day and counting - the tear duct problem seems to have disappeared!

Today morning I took the boy to the nearby parlor to cut his hair. He did sit quiet initially but then threw up a fuss. We managed to trim a portion of one side. I have to take the boy back when he is asleep.

Haircut and fever

The boy's hair has grown and is falling over his eyes and ears. We trimmed it on Sunday. The wife made him sit in her lap and although he was squirming, we managed to do it painlessly. This was followed by a nice family get together and the boy was well behaved.

He has cold, slight fever in the night and a cough. Texted Dr S and he has prescribed 6 drops of Mucolite 3 times a day. His breathing is labored and sometimes he breathes through his mouth. The humidifier is on in the night and it does help a bit. He is fine during the day.

The frustrating part is there is no way for him to spit out the mucus he coughs up in the night. As long as he is active during the day (which he is), we are putting off the visit to Dr S. Baby Center has been very helpful.

Once in a while he does admire the fingers on his left hand :) Orange lights fascinate him. He literally falls on the laptop keyboard when powered on!

A birthday party

The boy’s nails are sharp. I remember the first time I cut them, when he was a couple of months old. The skin bled and after that I have been very careful. I cut them today and enjoys when they are filed. I also trimmed his hair in the front.

He turned over 5 times today. Looked as if he wanted to reiterate that the first time he did was not a fluke!

The boy also attend his first birthday party. There were close to 50 children and majority of them were insistent on getting return gifts. I wonder where this culture came from? Back in my days, birthday party meant cutting a cake, eating a snack, some talk and back home. This party had a theme – spider man, there was a MC, games and return gifts.