Swim Baby Swim !!!

Swimming is such fun and a wonderful way to stay healthy for life. Babies are born with a love for water and studies have revealed that a new born is most comfortable in water as opposed to a normal atmosphere... surprized ???  Well, I definitely was when I saw this video . Upto 3-4 months, bathtub is a perfect place for the little ones to develop a healthy relationship with the water. In my opinion, an early introduction to aquatics is  best as they are less likely to have a negative attitude about water.

I do not know swimming and this is something I really missed especially at our Hawaii trip last year. Not only is it a great exercise, but also a great stress buster and of course fun. I know its never too late to learn to swim and I will certainly learn it one day, but until then I definitely want that Anvesha should learn swimming. There you go...... we got her enrolled in the swim lessons at Bellevue Aquatic Center. The program that she is in currently is the parent tot 1 in which one parent/ caregiver is allowed to accompany the child in the pool. I was a bit hesitant to go there at first since I don't know swimming, but was relieved to find out that this is not a perquisite.

Anvesha's first day at the class was really interesting. She enjoys being in water and was the oldest one among others in her class !!!! The youngest one was 6-7 months I guess.... and seeing these tiny tots made me wonder why hadn't I got her enrolled earlier? But, as they say, "better late than never".These swimming sessions are designed so that the child explores the water and starts feeling comfortable in it. There are songs, water play, getting in and out of water with help, sliding into the pool and many other fun activities that keep the children occupied and entertained. Pairing a melody with the movement can actually help them remember what to do. This is also a great way to develop a good bond between the child and you.

We are already half way through her swim sessions and she will graduate to parent tot 2. Yayyyy !!!! She might not learn swimming independently as of now, but at least she will get a hang of it.

Just out from her first swim class... 

Time to forward face

Experts recommend rear facing your baby till they outgrow their car seat, or until age 2. The rear facing position is not only considered to be safe but also comfortable for the kids. Though we did have many challenges to get Anvesha to sit in the car seat initially... the girl would scream and resist being buckled, making it hard for me to drive her around alone. But then some magic happened- we got her a magical ( yes, that's what I call it ) mirror and she enjoyed it so much that her car seat became a happy place for her:) Going on long drives became more enjoyable and this continued until she turned 2.

 By 22- 23 months, Anvesha used to be all cramped up with her legs and feet struggling to get some space and her shoulders were way above the straps of the car seat.  from the look of it, she wasn't very comfortable too. So on her second birthday, we decided to transition her from rear racing to a forward facing seat. I had kept my fingers crossed, hoping that she will find this position more exciting. So we told her that now she will no longer sit in her old car seat - now she will sit in her "new-new" car seat. She seemed thrilled to get some newness into her life.

The first few trips were more of experimenting with the new seat.... what is the best position for her...whether she can sleep comfortably or not. For this we made a trip at her nap time so as to check and be sure its comfortable. Yes, we can still rear face her car seat, which we would have if she was even remotely uncomfortable. But we decided to keep her forward facing as the rear facing position was rather boring for her now. She can watch me drive the car, sing along "wheels on the bus" as the wipers move from side to side. While getting into the car, all that she says is "new-new" car seat :)

Here's my happy baby in the forward facing car seat.

Holi Hai !!!!!!!

Holi- the most colorful festival that we celebrate in India. It is celebrated as a festival of love, frolic, happiness and of course colors !! The adults and children throw gulal on each other and the sky and the streets are full of colors. I am not a very big Holi fan- the after effects of Holi are so dreadful. But I wanted to go out and play this year- play it for the sake of Anvesha - get her exposed to our festivals as it brings a larger understanding of the culture she is a part of.

To start with I made some gujiyas at home followed by malpuas. This was my first attempt and wasn't so bad :) Traditionally in India there is Holika Dahan- where Holika is burnt and Prahlad is saved. Wish I could get Anvesha to see Holika Daahan as well, but that will be possible only in India.

I have been teaching colors to Anvesha and she has been following quite well ( proud me !!!). She can identify red, blue, pink, white, purple, green, yellow and last but not the least orange which apparently is her favorite color. With Holi around the corner, I had decided in my mind that this year whether its rain or shine- we will go out and play Holi- the festival of colors as it its rightly called. The weather Gods had been very kind and it was bright and sunny that day with temperatures hitting the 60s. The CRY foundation had organized the CRY Holi at Crossroads Park where over 3000 Indians had gathered. It was a huge crowd and Anvesha was overwhelmed to see so many colorful faces. I guess this was her first time she saw such a sight :) We were mesmerized too :)

I hand held Anvesha so that she could apply gulal on Prateek's face and after a while she got a hang of it. To my surprize, she was calm and did not panic when people applied gulal on her face. She was rather fascinated by all the vibrant colors, the singing and the dancing. This could be because we had planned our visit at a time when Anvesha would be awake and well fed- a lesson I have learnt over time. She is less likely to be fussy on meeting strangers if her basic needs are met.

So this is how we spent our Holi weekend, we surely missed family and it would have been a lot different for us, had we been in India- more colors, more fun, more mithais..... but we did our bit to create a mini India for Anvesha here. It was a whole new thing for her and she will probably appreciate it more next year :)