Niam letting of some steam at daddy!

Niam had a rough week! So he decided to let off some steam, and daddy happily volunteered his head with the hope that Niam would sleep through the night afterwards.

Niam thought to himself: "in your wild dreams..."

Brrr....what a wintry week!

The big news this week is mommy is staying with me an extra month! I put a guilt trip on her...this is how it's done my friend

Who has the upper hand in this deal?

My daddy's dad read to me past friday..now i know who taught my dad all the good stuff!

my fourth month photoshoot! 

I am trying to show off my six pack..

 I dragged daddy to my yoga class and made him work out while hung out with other babies. Daddy was suffering and mommy was cracking up.

After all that hard work daddy and I crashed....what an exhausting but fun week!

What's in: 

Books:  "Where the Wild Things Are" "Subway Book",  "Mommy Hugs",  "Moo Bah La La La"

Toys: Vibrating hippopatamus, beach ball, rainforest bouncy chair, animal farm play mat, dad's hair

Songs: "John the Rabbit, Yes Man", "Skidamarink...", "Los Pollitos Dicen", "Down by the Bay", "Las Elephantes"

Others: The Cosleeper, big boy stroller, diapers 2/3 size, trying to sit up

What's out:

car seats,  " the bag" (at least for now), snowstorms, sitting still

Who can talk more? me or my parents..you be the judge!

This was last month...

And this is now!

Sleep Update III - A Step Forward!!

For the first time, I have some good news to share when it comes to my sleep.   After numerous trials and tribulations, my parents have made two major breakthroughs!!!

Things came to a head last week when my parents invited a potential nanny candidate to take care of me for a few hours.   When it came time for her to put me to sleep,  saying things did not go well would be the understatement of the year!!! I had a major breakdown characterized by hysterical and uncontrolled crying without even the smallest inkling of shut eye.   And when the clearly stunned nanny candidate asked mom and dad for advice on what works for me, dad looked at mom and mom looked at dad and all they came up with was "the bag." It was time for "Sleep Boot Camp!" mom decided: no going outside the apartment, no sleeping in the stroller, no time in the"bag".  Focus, focus, focus on my naps, bed-time routines, looking for anything that would work for me.

Breakthrough #1 - 'Burn out'
Mom and Dad both had done a lot of reading to try to get me on the right track.  One of the most popular sleep books, " Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Childs" by Marc Weissbluth is five hundred plus pages devoted entirely to optimizing baby sleep.  Reading it usually puts mom to sleep (everytime!). One of Weissbluth's major themes is to keep periods of wakefulness short so as not to lead to an overtired baby.  It turns out I must be the exception to this rule!! I actually sleep much better when I am exhausted.  When I start to show signs of being tired (rubbing my eyes, yawning, gentle fussing, etc.), it is NOT time to put me to sleep; on the contrary, it is time for even more aggressive playing. Once I am burned out, I can fall asleep much more easily.

Breakthrough #2 - 'Reset'
If I am fussing and fussing when it is time for me to sleep, mom and dad discovered a way to do a "reset".   A typical reset goes something like this: leave me alone in my co-sleeper for three to five minutes (as you can predict it I cry), then quickly return and soothe me (a good hug and some gentle pats on my shoulders usually do the trick!).  The "reset" somehow relaxes and quiets me, allowing sleep to overwhelm me.  It is unbelievable to my parents that I can fall asleep in ten minutes or less!!

So, things are better.  More consistent naps, less time getting me to fall asleep, less use of of "the bag", happier mom and dad.  I'll keep you posted as things develop.....maybe a new sleep book is in the making written by Master Niam Kaufman.

Four months and counting...

It just a number or may be more!

my month is four, I am four

Four is the numba...

Should we do yoga?

Thats not so fun

How about sticking out tongue?

I can stick my tongue out even more

After all I am at month four

My newborn clothes don't fit

I can even sit  for a bit

I dont mean to brag 

I do love my bag!

My teddy playing his part 

daddy brought a yummy tart

Lets make some noise for the b'day boy! 

I can roll over but don't ask me to stand yet!

niam showing off his rolling skills!

Mommy and I went to this infant class that was run by Elliot on the Upper West Side...it was bit of a hike, but nice that I was sleeping! Once we got there, Mommy put me on my tummy....there was baby next to us named Sawyer. He was older then me.. seven months.  His mom told us how he could roll over and she wanted Sawyer to do it so we could see. Meanwhile, I decided to show off and rolled over before he had a chance. Haha but I got taste of my own medicine when Elliot tried to make all us babies stand up on his hand which Sawyer did beautifully even on one foot, but I was flopping all over!!!!

It was fun anyway and I like Elliot a lot as he rolled me side to side..

It is fun to sit up too!

Weekly happenings

Our second big New York City snowstorm!  Inspired by my mom's rendition of "Frosty the Snowman," I decided that I wanted to make my very own Frosty.  So I put on my snowsuit and recruited mom and dad to help me......

I had to go to the doctor to get a special test done on my hair patch.  Everything turned out fine!! and I made my parents proud with my extreme bravery!   I hardly cried at all during the entire procedure!!

Only thing I minded was all the gel that saturated my patch!!

I made my first trip out to Grandma Shirley and Grandpa Charley's house and checked out where my daddy grew up.  To get there, I had my first car ride since I left the hospital!  Thank you Uncle Marc for helping daddy put in the the car seat.  I don't think he could have done it without you (sorry daddy!).  And thank you Alec for letting me grab a nap in your crib and for letting me be on the fire truck even though I wasn't wearing a stripey!  Overall, my experience in the car wasn't great.  I did a lot of fussing; after all I'm a free bird and don't like to be cooped up.

I hung out with grandma, grandpa, and and went walking with them in the mall.  Hi Grandpa!  I like it when you make faces at me....

I enjoyed hanging with my uncle Jeff too!! 

Also made a quick visit to the Plainview Gurdwara.  I enjoyed getting in touch with my Indian roots, even though I was pretty sleepy!!

Oh and Jets won again! One more win and we are in superbowl...

What's in this week: riding the fire truck with Alec, shaking my maracas,  the Subway Book, lots of kisses (as always!!), mommy (and daddy) and me yoga,  Long Island Railroad, snowmen (especially Frosty!), sitting up without assistance (at least I'm trying!), grunting as I try to fall asleep (mommy doesn't like them very much), my "bag" , football of course.

Favorite songs: "The more we get together", "Buenos Dias", "Las Elephantes", "Riding up and down in my Red wagon"

What's out:  napping (as always), car trips,  breast feeding outside my house, baby sign language ( I'd rather cry to get my way!), size 2 diapers

Lohri! sundrey mundre hoi!

January 13th is a big indian festival called Lohri. It is the thanksgiving of sort back home. Its supposed to be celebrated in style for a new baby (that means me!).  Back home in India, people celebrate with a bonfire and sing songs and dance around the fire while eating peanuts, popcorn and rewari (indian sesame seed brittle)

Chak de phatte! my punjabi dance

Puttar(son) Punjab de!

So mommy and I got in the spirit and got all dressed up punjabi style.. We sang punjabi lohri songs all day and had a bonfire (mini) at home

We threw popcorn in the fire and ate peanuts and sweets! 

Sunder mundriye ho! 

Tera kaun vicaharaa ho!

Dullah bhatti walla ho!

Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho! 

Ser shakkar payee ho! 

Curious Niam goes to the gym!

I want to ride on my scooter....

Can I climb this wall?? 

Can I dunk the basketball?? Dunk or be dunked...two points and I win daddy!

Oh a ride....front and back!

Oh no, this is too steep!!

Let me stick to something simple...

Or just hug my daddy?

I am back to try some flips.....

or Jumps..watch my dismount!

Roll me please..

I can stand on on my own two feet!

Can I hula hoop? Watch me...

Yes I sure can!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

I spoke to Uncle Roger about getting my mom and dad out for deserved alone time (their first since my arrival) which of course would mean a little unattended time for me!! So, he came over to my house last Wednesday night to hang out with me while mom and dad went out on a date night.

These are my folks! So sweet

Little did Uncle Roger know what I had in mind! I had brought out all my secret weapons to have it my way....

If my pout didn't melt his heart (which I'm quite sure it did), I definitely nailed it with my crrrry!!

And we had a 'wild' good time...

'Where the wild things are'

Daddy read me the story again later that night!