Healthy babyfood recipe - Ragi Soup

We have started Ahan on a healthy homemade recipe of Ragi soup in addition to boiled apples and ripe bananas. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:
Ragi flour
Water/ milk

Procedure:
1. Sieve ragi flour through a muslin cloth. You can tie a muslin cloth to a container (not too tightly) and pour the powder on it little by little. Collect the powder in the container that has passed through the cloth. The powder that remains on the cloth needs to be discarded. You may use it for adults, but it shouldn't be used for babies.
2. Take a teaspoonful of this powder in a glass, and add a little water to make a paste without lumps. Then add 3/4 glass of water or milk and make a thin solution.
3. Heat this solution on low fire. Bring it to a boil. Keep stirring. As you keep boiling and stirring, the colour of the solution will change slightly indicating that it is done. You can continue to boil till the desired consistency is reached.

Feed the baby this soup when it is lukewarm. Initially you can begin with a thin solution and slowly increase the thickness of the soup as the baby grows up and gets used to it.

Ahan starts on solid food

Yesterday, at all of 5 months and 10 days, for the first time Ahan tasted food other than his mother's milk. Anand was in Hyderabad on his way to Dubai and it seemed as if everything came up aligned for this. Geeta had checked with the paediatrician earlier in the day about starting Ahan off on other foods and he was all for it. Ahan too has been showing inclination to eat for the past couple of weeks when he accompanied us at the dinner table. With the "mama" at Hyderabad it was the opportune time.

After much discussion and debate over what to start with, I won (for once) and we gave him some boiled apple. I thought it was better to start off with natural and fresh food when compared to packaged food like Cerelac.

Ahan enjoyed every moment of the first "dinner" he had! He attacked the spoon with gusto and was even ready to eat straight from the bowl! It was good to see him enjoy his food and I am glad we started it when he was ready for it.

Ahan starts turning on his stomach

Since yesterday Ahan has started turning on his stomach! Yesterday he turned 4 months and 12 days old. He is mostly turning on his left hand side. Its a pleasure to see your baby growing up and Geeta and I look at each other with a sense of accomplishment and pride each time he does something new.

Tips for taking baby for immunization

I was in Bangalore this weekend to spend time with Geeta and Ahan. I had never been with them for his immunization visits and we planned this to coincide with my travel there. Baba often said that the pain of a parent when their child is hurt cannot be explained but only experienced. Over the weekend I realized what he meant.

Geeta and I knew fully well that he would be fine in a couple of days but both of us had our stomachs in knots seeing him in pain. The little fella on his part was very brave. It didn't take him long to realize that the pain intensifies if he moves the leg where he was given the injection and he quickly adjusted making sure the leg is kept as immobile as possible.

Regular Medomol drops ensured fever didn't stay on for too long and we kept him distracted from the pain. He loves going out and we kept him distracted by taking him out. When we got back home, we put him to bed at the earliest and he too seemed to cooperate. He woke up energized but the leg was still hurting. Through the day the fever and pain subsided and he seemed to be getting back to his natural rhythm and antics!

My advise to all parents taking their child for immunization dose -

• Don't panic, the child will be uncomfortable for some time but there is nothing that your love cannot cure. Cuddle and comfort them.
• Keep them dressed comfortably. The area where the syringe was used will hurt and so make sure there is no further irritation due to tight clothes.
• Keep them cool, don't overdress them. Especially with fever, it is better to keep them open.
• Keep Medomol or your paediatric prescribed fever medicine at hand.
• Keep track of what distracts them, when they cry due to the pain, this is what will come to your rescue.
• Take turns in taking care, else both of you will be exhausted at the same time.

The joys of parenthood

Everyone who has had a kid told me how their lives changed when they had a baby. Hearing about the sleepless nights, no time for each other or themselves and the child taking over everything you had in your life up till that point was scary. At the same time though, they also spoke fondly of the joys of parenthood and for a non-parent that somehow didn't seem as appealing. I mean how and what are you going to enjoy when you cant sleep for nights on end, have no time for yourself or your spouse and all your life revolves around the baby!

Like they say though, marriage and parenthood can only be understood when you go through it, not by listening or reading about it. Geeta and I became parents on September 28th 2008. We have a lovely boy, Ahan. Incidentally the day also happens to be Ashwin's birthday! What a special gift for him it was!

My view of parenthood is that its the sweetest joy you can experience. You feel no pain in doing things that definitely looked painful before and probably are too! Its like the things you do when you are in love but this one is even more absurd. I know why they call a baby a "bundle of joy". The feeling you feel when they smile at you can only be explained by saying its the purest form of joy you will ever experience. Nothing in this world comes close to it!

Geeta and Ahan are still at my in-laws place in Bangalore so I am not really going through the paces yet, but I am eagerly awaiting the day when they will be here. Also the time I am spending during weekends at Bangalore are getting me prepared and providing a good insight into the life once they will be here. If someone now asks me about parenthood, all I will say is "You should not go through life without experiencing it"!