4 month old- adventures of Ansh and his mama

Before I had Ansh, I felt like I never had enough time to get it all done. Between work, dance class, community work, quilling, chores of everyday life, and spending time with family and friends…. My schedule was always packed. I couldn’t spare 10 minutes to take a shower. It looked like a waste of time to me.

When Ansh was born, I suddenly found myself knee-deep in diaper changes and marathon feeding session. I couldn’t imagine how I ever felt busy before. How much time I must have wasted, I thought. Watching television, spontaneous lunch dates with friends, lounging on the couch all weekend in my pajamas… what was I thinking?

I’ve only had a small taste of motherhood yet, but I’m gonna take a stab at guessing and say that life with a baby becomes 10 folds more challenging. Every single thing, from having breakfast to taking your phone out of your pocket, seems like a hurdle worth a reward.

We recently took a trip to Quebec City. Ashish had some meetings to attend there, so I thought of tagging along since I adore the city and it would also give me a taste of my upcoming travel with Ansh to India. From the moment I woke up in the hotel, gave Ansh a bath, struggled to make it for breakfast in time, tried to eat breakfast while entertaining a crying baby, finally gave up on breakfast, stepped outside to explore the city, barely reached a km when it started to rain, managed to find a cover up for the stroller and ran towards the market, had to pick up the stroller and carry it inside the shops as there were no ramps, got out of the store (because I couldn’t stay there forever without buying anything), tried to take pictures when it started to rain again, ran uphill with a stroller and against the wind, made it back to the hotel all sweaty and drenched. You probably don’t realize it until you have to experience it, but even to get the stroller inside and outside of a door, that’s hard to hold even otherwise, can make you wanna cry.

So the next day I decided to ditch the stroller and take Ansh in my baby carrier. That seemed like a better idea after realizing that Quebec City isn’t a very handicap friendly city and doesn’t have ramps anywhere for strollers. I ventured out again. New enthusiasm and new zeal. I carried a handbag with his milk bottle, a blanket, couple of diapers, change pad, wipes and a selfie stick. This was fun and easy. Everything was going smoothly until I decided to take a break and sit in a park. I got him out of the carrier to realize that there was poop everywhere. All over the carrier, his clothes, my clothes…. Now this is usually a situation which would make me cry. Instead I laughed. I laughed so hard and called up Ashish to tell him what a pickle I was in. It couldn’t have gotten more challenging. I managed to clean everything up with the wipes, put him back in the carrier and ran back to the hotel, because I couldn’t find a public toilet anywhere.

That is how, my once favorite city isn’t my favorite anymore because it doesn’t have ramps for strollers, or public toilets for cleaning up babies. How priorities change.

After my little expedition alone with Ansh, I was terrified of taking this trip to India with him. I was prepared for the worst. Considering my track record, the worst was going to happen. He was going to vomit all over me and himself. As soon as I would change him back, he was gonna poop everywhere. When I had that under control, he was gonna cry and wake up all the co-passengers. I wasn’t gonna get any sleep, food or a visit to the washroom. I had a very “scared and apologetic-in-advance” look on my face. Probably that’s why everybody around me was calming me down and helping me with Ansh. Or maybe because I have the cutest kid who wouldn’t stop laughing and playing. Either ways, travelling with Ansh was a breeze. Mr. social bee was busy playing with other co-passengers while his mom caught up on some sleep.

Yes, life with a baby is 10 folds challenging, but also more adventurous, more exciting and more exploratory. I would have never realized what I’m capable of, if it hadn’t been for Ansh.

On his 4^th month birthday, here are the milestones I want to remember:

His sweet smile has gotten even sweeter (if that is even possible). He has learn to roll over from his back to his tummy, he smiles a ton, blows spit bubbles (my absolute favorite), he has mastered bringing his toys to his mouth, holds up his head without any trouble, he knows who mama is, he’s a curious little guy who loves to watch people, he makes the most insanely adorable sounds (coos, screeches, and all sorts of laughs), he still looks like his dad but people say he has my eyes, he knows how to suck his thumb and is often shoving his hands into his mouth and drooling a ton. He’s growing into such a handsome little bud.

Happy Four months my little beautiful peach.