Keerthu turned one year old on Oct 26th. It is a cliche, but it seems just like yesterday that I held her in my arms for the first time. It certainly been an eventful year, we moved to a different continent, new jobs, new home.. Keerthu and Kavya were the ones who got us through it all and I guess its safe to say now that we have transitioned! :-)
I guess you can call this as a newsletter to Keerthu. I didnt intend to write one for her (never did for Kavya) but this year has really been something to write about.
Oct 26th 2008: Newsletter - 1 yearDear Keerthu,
You turned one 2 days ago. Right from the moment you were conceived, your mommy and daddy have had exciting changes in their lives. You were conceived in Feb 2007. We lived at 441, Valley View Dr then. Your dad received an offer from L&T bombay in March and after many-many-many hours of discussion we decided to come back to India. Your dad moved to bombay in May and mommy decided to stay back and take care of trivial things like selling the house, move to an apartment and deliver you in USA!
Your grandpa and grandma stayed with mommy to help her sell the house. After many seeings when your grandma used to patiently go out for a stroll with your sister Kavya, the house finally sold in June. Your grandma came back to India to take care of your chitti who was pregnant with Krishna. Your granddad was a pillar of support and helped mama who agonized over placing Paro with a good home. After 2 failed attempts Paro finally got a home with our neighbour at Terrance Ln.
In Sep '07 ,grandpa had reached his 6 months of stay and your paternal grandma came to help mama and take care of Kavya. By Oct 1st week, mama was too big to continue working and she bid farewell to her colleagues at Concentra and went on maternity leave. (Technically on maternity leave but she didnt intend to go back to work afterwards) She hoped and prayed that you will stay inside mama till your planned C-Section on Oct 26th, which you did. Your papa & grandma flew in on Oct 25th.
On 26th early morning at 5:30am, mama and papa went to the hospital got checked in and you were delivered at 7:47am by Dr Barry Fleming. Your chitti and Chitpa were your first visitors. Your big sis was so proud to see you and your grandpa thought (and still thinks) that you look just like him!
You did struggle to feed from mama for 2 weeks but then latched on like a champ. When you were 4 weeks old, you boarded your first flight (Delta airways via NYC) and landed in Mumbai aka Bombay. You again boarded a flight to Chennai at 6 weeks old. You stayed in both gramps house for a month. In Feb you took your first train journey to Kanyakumari to visit your great-grandma. Your dad missed you & your sis so much and could not wait for you to come back, which we did end of Feb.
You were a very happy baby from the day you were born. Always smiling and a pleasure to be with. When mommy went back to work In June, you adjusted very well with your babysitter and grandma. You share a very special bond with your sister and she the same with you. You cannot bare to be separated from her and at the same time fight with her over every silly thing.
You reached your milestones the same way your sister did. Rolled over in 6 months, sat up in 7, butt-crawled in 8 and took your first step in 10m. You pretty much follow her growth pattern as well. In the bottom 10th percentile in weight and 50th percentile in height. You used to be a good eater but it all changed at 11 months. Now feeding you is a 3 persons job. One to hold you, one to entertain you and another to feed you!
The past few weeks, you have been termed glue. You are constantly glued to your mama, if she is out of your sight, you trail behind her and demand to be lifted! You do carry the family tradition and have a strong temper! You are certainly a fire cracker with loads of attitude!
You had a small birthday bash a day in advance..
You can pretty much guess the pics were taken by your dad.. his excuse is that he was busy singing Happy Birthday to you!!
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