Neil birdwatching (Nov 22)

Look how much he has grown.

We went to the lake in our complex, to show him ducks. We also met some dogs. He loved them. He was not at all afraid of them. The dogs were very friendly, and Neil wanted to pet them. See the video clip.


He also was thrilled to see the ducks. See the video clip.

Neil playing

Being a boy, Neil loves a healthy dose of horseplay. I jokingly call myself his "Amusement park". I throw him, jump him up and down, twist him around and he loves it. Usually I say "one, twooo, threeeeeeeeeee" and at three, suddenly move him up. He loves the sudden movement. And also he likes the anticipation. He starts laughing at two, because he knows something funny is going to happen at three.

At the City Fair (Mid August)

Milpitas has an arts and crafts fair every summer. It’s not a huge affair, but this year it was certainly a bit larger than the last. We took Neil to the fair, thinking that he would be thrilled by the excitement around us. He liked it just okay, but no big deal. There were not too many rides that he could take – there was one ride some cars that went around a pole and bounced up and down. I thought he would love it because he likes it when I jump him up and down. But he just sat in there, not too impressed. I think that when I play around with him, it’s lot more action filled and unpredictable. It’s like bungee jumping, merry go round, giant swing all rolled into one, without knowing which will come when. I guess when he grows up he can do those things actually.

We sat with him in a small train ride. The train simply went on the road for three hundred feet, turned around and came back.

A local restaurant had a booth there. In there, there was a big wheel that you are supposed to give a spin. Based on where the wheel stopped, they were giving out coupons. Neil just loved the spinning wheel. I don’t know what his attraction is about things that go around. At home our music system has a round knob to turn volume up and down. He is always trying to rotate it. Initially he used to get scared when the volume suddenly went up. He would scamper away from it. However, nowadays he is not concerned with the sound at all. We repeatedly say “No” but he goes back. This game goes on for a long time. Also, our bed has headboard with some long bars. Every time he is on the bed he loves to rotate them. Same goes about the round thingy at the bottom of the recliner, DVD ff button and anything that is round.

At another booth, they were selling some funny hats. Lisa put on a penguin hat, and he loved it (see the video)

Circus and Movie (End August)

Every year, my company treats us to summer picnic. We don’t always go, but this time the picnic was at the circus – barnum and baily. Even if we did not have Neil, we would have gone to the circus because Lisa loves it. In fact we were a little apprehensive about how Neil was going to respond to it. After all, he had never gone out to some place where he had to sit quietly in the dark for a long time. But we had to start somewhere. So we took him.

He liked it very much. He did not watch the circus most of the time, in fact our seats were way high up to really enjoy the show. But he loved the glitz and lighting. In fact half the time he spent looking up at spotlights trying to figure out where they came from. It was a bit loud, but he had no problem with the noise. We did not force him to sit in our laps, in fact we let stand at our feet, and sometimes in the row behind us. He did not cry even once.

We were emboldened by this experience and took him to a movie. His first movie – Wall-e. We went on Sunday afternoon show. We were optimists and expected the theater to be almost empty because the movie has been running for quite some time, and not many people come right after Sunday lunch. Well, it was more than half full, so our optimism died out. Well, the ‘ism’ depends on your viewpoint, I guessJ.

We were fully prepared to miss half the movie each. But surprisingly, Neil behaved very well. He wanted to move about a bit, and was a little restless. But he did not cry, did not make us go out. In fact after a half an hour or so, he got bored, and slept.

We won a little bit of freedom that afternoon.

Neil playing in a fountain

Neil loves water. I mean I have written this so many times in this blog, it’s getting to be a cliché. But every day it gets confirmed, and we are simply in amazement at how much he is attracted towards anything that flows, splashes, waves, undulates… He is truly at home with water.

The new activity he has discovered is playing in a fountain. Near Milpitas City hall, there are some fountains on the ground, so they are easily accessible. That place is just perfect to take him to play – it is about 10 minutes of walk from our place. Very convenient. Secondly, the fountains are near a glass building, so not only can he play with the water, but he gets to see reflections of water and himself – both of which he loves. Thirdly there are various flags right next to the fountain, and for some reason he is fascinated by waving flags. I guess he loves everything that is fluid. Fourthly, the City Hall is located on a busy intersection – which means hundreds of cars every minute going to and fro. After water he loves cars going about. Especially the big ones – he gets really awed by SUVs. And when a bus or a truck goes by, he is simply mesmerized. So mirrors, water, flags and cars – all the things he loves are concentrated at this point.

The approach to the fountains is fun in itself. When we go up the ramp, he sees them and realizes that it is flowing water. I let him enjoy it from about 15 feet, and a few moments later he gets focused on it. Then I take him a little closer, and his anticipation builds. I take him within a couple feet, and he is jumping with joy, trying to free himself from the stroller. He sticks his hand out, and I oblige him by letting it soak. The fountain is a bit erratic, so while soaking his hand he gets half his side wet. But there is only so much you can do sitting in a stroller. So I take him out and he jerks his feet, trying to get in even before I take him close enough. After a while I put him down.

The tall fountains are little difficult for him, because they splash a little too much. They have a bit too much force too, for Neil to really play. However, the ones at the end are short – spewing water for about a foot. He sits down besides the oozing water and tries to hold the stream. I don’t know exactly what he wants to do but he gets that earnest, focused look on his face. He is completely engrossed in the experience. After about twenty minutes, he realizes the water is too cold for him, but even after I pull him out he still wants to go in. Even after I change him into dry clothes, he still looks at the water longingly.

What can I say, I guess he loves water.

Neil the Narcisist (Mid August)

Neil loves himself. He is a Narcissist. Ever since he was 3 or 4 months old, he was fascinated by his image in the mirror. Very early he figured out that he can see himself in the mirror and we too exist in the mirror. One of our standard pastime was that I would take him close to the edge of a mirror – just close enough so he won’t be able to see his reflection. Then he would lean back till he could see himself. I would take him away and continue. We would do this for a long time, and every time he saw himself he would laugh. Even at the age of about 10 months, he hasn’t lost interest in this game. Of course now he does a lot more at the mirror, like waving his hand and uttering syllables like “ba ba ba” or simply “ooooo”.

There is another aspect of his self admiration. He loves watching his photos and video clips. In fact if I open my laptop in front of him, he would come literally running (well, crawling very quickly) and demand that I show him the pictures. The way I know he is demanding is because the moment I start the Picasa software, and he sees the photo libraries, he relaxes, and smiles as if in anticipation. I have a lot of pictures of his and more importantly quite a few video clips of about one minute long. So the next 45 minutes or so he is extremely happy. His reaction is that of pure joy. The video clip watching is worth video taping (I am going to do this sometimes). It is amazing. When he sees himself on a swing, or swimming in the tub or us playing with him and himself laughing he is all eyes. He gets excited at the parts where Neil in the video is having fun. Also, close up pictures of himself are his favorite too.

I am really happy that he loves to see himself a happy person. Because in my opinion, the best development for him is to learn to have an extremely positive self image. Of course any extreme is bad, but both of us would like him to go on the positive side to begin with.

A little more interactive Neil

Neil has always been a happy kid. He always enjoys people paying attention to him. Takes some time to warm up, but once he is comfortable, he gets very comfortable indeed. Now he has started to be playful and a little goofy! He loves to show that he is happy. He has started to interact a bit. For example, now he crawls up the stairs and wants us to follow him crawling. When Lisa or I follow him crawling, he is very excited. Once in a while he stops and looks back in anticipation. When he sees us he starts to crawl quickly, and laughing. As if, he expects that we are going to catch him and he is trying to run away. Another of his pastime is that he crawls forward towards something like a ball, or a bar or a chair. I hold his legs and pull him back saying “catch him, catch him”. Every time I let him move a little forward before I actually catch him, till finally he reaches it with a triumph.

Missed writing the blog for quite some time

A lot of things happened in August, September and October 08. Aai left for India, it was my month of vacation, Neil was unwell, his birthday celebration, and not to mention the economic downturn. I had planned to write a lot in the blogs, but somehow I was busy enjoying my free time, and playing with Neil. So finally I have decided to write as many as possible. They are not in any particular order, but capture the mood of the past three months. I am going to try and put an approximate date to each blog - even though they appear in november folder.