The ever thrilling parenthood...

The next month was extra important coz May 7th was our pet Snowy's birthday. We celebrated his birthday along with Yuvi's cousin Sakthi, who stayed in our house for couple of months until his family arrived. Kavya got along with him easily, but it took some days for Oviya to get along. A pic with Snowy is extra special for sure :-) . We also went to a restaurant where everyone gets a big bib to get started :-P. Kavya & Oviya were learning their table manners slowly with no pressure on them (still haven't mastered yet).

We also had their best friend Avanthika's 2nd birthday party in the same month. She looked so gorgeous with her beautiful peacock colored dress. I used to pack home-made food wherever we went. Kavya was sick with cold & didn't eat much over there. But, both were playing a lot.
Since playing was their major activity in their entire day, we took Kavya & Oviya to a new play centre this time which had lots of fun rides, bounce & toddler area. After seeing the crowd & new people, Kavya was very hesitant at the beginning to start playing. It took a long time for her to let go off her clingy stranger anxiety. On the other hand, Oviya was breaking all the boundaries & was running like crazy without minding anyone on her way, even us :-P. Both were like opposite poles. There was a big question - when would they remain in their neutral state?!

This is what happens whenever we try to take a picture. Either they all peep inside camera or pounce into action THWACK!! :-)

The new half past one...

Months were flying, weeks were running, days were passing, hours were accelerating, minutes were rolling, seconds were ticking & milliseconds were enormously faster than light travel. The point here is, Kavya & Oviya became 18 months old :-). Daily life was one big adventure for the newly mobile ones. They were witnessing touch, smell & all kinds of experiments. They were now pointing out to objects they wanted & started forming some words out of babbling. I could notice some in dependency in them by rejecting the foods they don't like, choosing not to sit in one place etc..

Their Mickey & Minnie craze wasn't ending anywhere. They always played with these character fur toys. They also had a huge teddy to play with. Kavya would give lot of kisses to it. They loved to jump, roll, sit & stand over the teddy. I think, our pet Snowy became a toy too in their hands. He doesn't seem to regret it though :-).

                      

Kavya & Oviya were a complete mixture of feelings. Their way of cute expressions, naughty actions, strong opinions, silly giggles - everything was based on what they saw in both mom & dad. We feel so proud that they're following & learning from us. I guess, every parent experiences the joy of being a role model to their children. This in turn means every child chooses to follow his/her parent only when they feel that their parent is capable of guiding them in the right direction. I know we have this greatest responsibility of being their best mentor, friend, guide & teacher to make them better persons in this world. This picture depicts their happy moment. I hope we fulfill our responsibilities & make this laughter last for decades :-).

                                                         

Finding the kid inside everyone...

In Kavya & Oviya's next two months we were ready to face their next phase. We sold their 0-1 year old items; their infant car seat, stroller, swing etc and donated their small sized clothes & toys. Both were all set to use the next stage car seat, stroller & dresses. I was still preserving one pair of their newborn dress, socks & mittens for the sweet future memories :-)

                                               

                                         

We were able to see the next stage of growth in them. They started eating in restaurants, jumping over the couch, climbing up & down the stairs... Whatever they did, both were sticking to each other all the time. On the other side, they got hurt too while playing. Their vocabulary was slowly increasing and they began to understand basic words. We took them to the Moon bounce where they learnt to jump & bounce with great heights & pressure. The bounce effect continued even after coming home. Both jumped & jumped & fell down over the bed & couch :-P. They would start jumping wherever they see soft cushions.

We celebrated my birthday in March by going to a nearby restaurant with our family friends. We all three were wearing similar dresses :-). They don't really sit for a long time ( in the high chairs ) in the the restaurants. Their favourite was the French fries. Gosh! Now I couldn't hold both of them together... They became heavy :-) ( Remembering how both were tightly packed inside the womb where they didn't even have space to move & how I carried them hands-free ;-) ).

They brought out the kid inside me! I laughed, played & giggled along with them. Sometimes, becoming child-like gives a break from being carried away by the materialistic life!!

Never knew about textures before :-P

Kavya & Oviya became 15 months old. Nevertheless to say, there were different type of problem awaiting for us as they grew up - the change in their food consistency. Though I was constantly introducing them to different textures of food, Kavya was reluctant to eat foods that need chewing & she wanted only easy to swallow foods. Oviya was getting adopted to solid pieces and was biting her food gradually as she got more teeth. When we introduced this issue to their pediatrician, the doctor said that some babies may take some time to change & she told us to wait till 18 months. So, I was still making her food very soft, with lots of mashing & blending. I think that tasted so yummy for her :-)
The food consistency is expected to change this way...
0-6 months - milk
Supported Sitter - 1st stage foods - a complete puree of fruits, veggies, cereal
Sitter - 2nd stage foods - a little thick texture with less liquid
Crawler - 3rd stage foods - thick texture with tiny soft pieces of fruits, veggies or meat.
Toddler - All table foods with chunky texture( whatever we eat )

It is expected that after12 months, babies should start chewing all kinds of food with their teeth which didn't happen for Kavya. We were ready to wait happily :-). Her favourite was milk. Even in her sleep she dreams about drinking milk from the bottle. But, mealtimes were a struggle.

During this time, we took them to our friend's home where I realised that they grew up so fast. For the first time, Kavya was walking for a long distance & was sitting on a chair on her own. Oviya was trying to grab things from the top of the table & even tried to open the handle of the door. Both were walking & walking and mastering the skill :-). Life was still busy taking care of them.

You know you're a mom when you love your life even in chaos :-)