Faces in my world

Man I hate these tight close-ups. I am sure someone said babies can't see more than 6 inches. Here is the low down on the close-ups I get to 'enjoy'.

This face ... it is either my hero or my villain. I have a small suspicion it is the latter. When I wake up I see this face up close; When I stop feeding I see this face; When I spit up I see this face. I can be charitable and say this face is always taking care of me. But my bet, he is the one waking me up or stopping me from feeding ... and there is also a strong correlation btwn sighting this face and all the slaps I get in the back.

This face I can really relate to. I think we are of the same

wavelenght and frequency. For all ye, Kumudam readers, here is the six similiarities.

- We have the same attention span

- We are happy when fed and grumpy when not.

- We sleep for the same # of hours

Now be a good sport and find the other three similiarities.

Just have to teach her to go easy on the "pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake"... and "Old McDonalds".

This is my translator designate. He interprets my needs and communicates it - like, "Hey she needs a diaper change", or "Look pappa is crying - do something about it". The only problem is he interprets 90% of my cries as "You want to be held right, Come I will hold you" and all my frowns as "she hates being tied down in the car seat" - even when I am nowhere near a car seat. And yes, he is the one who really understands what a baby can handle - all that contrast and the smooth flowing lines...

This face I can handle. I get fed without too many shakes or jolts; get ASAP diaper changes; and burps that dont feel like tonsil removal. She also follows a simple logic that I understand. If I cry, I get put in a cradle and violenly swung back-and-forth and back-and-forth. If I cry when in the cradle, I get taken out and violently swung back and forth and back and forth. Of course, I stop crying,

I am holding on to dear life.

There is stff competition going on here. She beats me in hours of sleep per day and the lesser no. of words per month. My only hope is to beat her in weight gain and probably in weight. I also get a kick out of scaring the heck out of her with a scream when she is anywhere near.

My dad wanted me to say that picture is blurred because of the hazy memory from not meeting her often. No, it is just a crappy shot from him.

Then there are angels, Santa Clauses and White-kinghts. These are the best kind of faces I like. They show up, get me nice dresses and/or toys and leave. All I have to do is flash them a nice smile and I am guaranteed another dress. Just look at their dazed look! They are also easier to handle. If I need some time-off, I just spit up a bit and they leave me alone for the next half an hour.

What says you? Anything of interest? you can sure have them. In fact, take one, and get one free.

What's in a name?

Technically speaking I am not supposed to report on this as I was not born then. But I will tell you what I overheard on my naming - only the 'interesting' bits.

Mom: "We should decide on a name for the baby"

Dad: No. we should first decide on a framework for the name

Mom: Don't know what it means. but sounds intelligent. Lets do it!

Dad: It should be a Tamil name

Mom: I agree, and it should not be more than three syllables

Dad: ok. It should have 5 or 6 letters, I dont like 7

Mom: Doable!

Dad: It should be poetic in sound and have a profound meaning

Mom: (Sounding a bit confused) ok...

Dad: You know what, the first syllable should be a vallinam, second should be a idaiyinam and third should be a mellinam. won't it be cool?

Mom: Why dont we skip the framework and just choose a name!

Dad wakes up mom at 3:30 in the night - "Priya, how about 'samaani' for a name?"

Mom: "First, That is not a name or even a word; Second, I am not going to accept any name as good if you wake me up in the middle of the night.

Dad: "How about..."

Mom: "No. that name is not good, Things get better only after 9:30"

Dad: "Priya, how about Virali - It is the middle note in ancient tamil music"

Mom: "How would you spell it?"

Dad: "V..i..r..a..l..l..y"

Mom: "Yeah, sounds good, next kid lets name as bacterially and the one after that can be fungally. That will be our contribution to bio technology"

Dad: :(

Mom: "Why dont we ask our parents?"

Dad: We have not solved the mystery of your name yet. I am not going to trust your dad with another name.

Mom: Lets ask.

later...

Dad: did you ask your parents.

Mom: Dad had no preferences.

Dad: That is not surprising. We have to first teach him to choose in the restaurant, then he can choose names...

Mom: Grrr... but my mom had some names. I told her it should be tamil name. she had some in mind. She suggested, thendral and mullai

Dad: What did u tell her?

Mom: We are trying to come up with a name for the daughter; not a second name for her mom and we need a name that sounds slightly less than 80 yrs.

Mom: Did you ask your parents?

Dad: Yes! Dad wanted to name her after a famous person.

Mom: Not a bad thought...

Dad: Yeah he started in Indira Noel and ended in Abdul Kalaam and Barak Obama :) ...and he really insisted.

Mom: What do we do now?

Dad: I've handled it. I told him it has to be a tamil name and numerologically, has to start in "mjha". He said he will look for it :)

Mom: Why are you smiling?

Dad: There is no letter in tamil called mjha. Let him keep looking and we can tell him, it is too late now.

ok. I heard it very clearly. I am sure this happened after I was born though I can't confirm

Dad: Hey, we have to come up with a name before we leave tomorrow.

Mom: No, we don't have to. I took care of it.

Dad: I told u already, "Surprise! she does not have a name" does not really work.

Mom: No, that female from the birth recording office was pestering me and I scriblled out a name.

Dad: ????

Mom: Dhanya Sayaki... remember I got a double dose of morpine last night

Dad: ... All right. first things first. Lets come up with an intelligent reason for why we gave her this name. Sayaki sounds like Saki... do we have a strong reason to name her after alcohol....

Introducing Dhanya Sayagi Ramanan

Hey everyone

Mom is taking a shower after five days and dad keeps mumbling "13 minutes is not colic"... I am getting bored and thought I would send out a quick note to you all. Looks like they are not going to get to it anytime soon.

First things first... I am Dhanya Sayagi Ramanan and from the name you can figure out I am girl. right? Dhanya pronounced "the-n-ya" means 'a fortunate one' in Tamil and is a derivative of the word Dhanyasi, a raga or melody type in Indian classical music called Carnatic music. Sayagi -like the Sa as in Saki - Ya as in young - Gi as in Gilbert - comes from the 19th century Tamil literature Abhirami Andhathi and refers to "the goddess with the bow and arrow". You have probably heard it before here.... and that last name, I thot spelling banana was difficult!

I was born last Friday in time for the TGIF. Grand parents are happy because it was RamaNavami that day. Don't bother clicking that link, it is some diety's birthday. You know, with the no. of dieties we've got, I am sure they can find a reason to be happy any day. For all ye' market watchers, it was the day Nasdaq crossed 8,000 again.

To start from first, looks like mom was prepared for a week... and dad even before that. But I decided to wait for a week and then another 18 hours in the labor room. They gotta earn it. right?

No, I got the right photo. It is his idea of preparing. Heard he had to cross-reference page 84 and page 236 to make sure I was born :-)

What d'ya think? who do I look like? No. ET is not the right answer and yes Seinfeld is right about newborns.

I am sure the hair part is not from dad but the six-inch eyesight is him and this temparement is definitely mom's. Grand parents were happy I had a fair complexion and then we found out it was just jaundice.

I was 21 inches at birth. That's impressive right? Thinking of basketball as a career. Have already started a protein diet and it is working wonders actually. Two days and I was able to practice kick-box-and-scream for 2 hrs today and that's for reducing the couple of extra ounces from my 6 pounds 13 ounces.

So far, I would give a high B for my mom and dad. They haven't dropped me yet and seem to finally get cry means food and not nursery. But their color coordination is horrible. White shirt, white blanket and a white quilt??? come on!...Thanks for the shirt by the way Julie!

My Q2 OKR is to give them four hours of uninterrupted sleep. Dad says burping myself will be exceeding expectations and I am learning Calisthenics for that.

Gotta go.. It is so hectic out here for a new born. Have to go create an Orkut profile and set up a twitter account. Bye!

Dhanya Sayaki Ramanan