Mum of two

I guess it's about time to acknowledge the fact that I am now 'mum of two'. And perhaps not too late to start a journal on the littlest member of the house.

Ari is a little over 4.5 months as I write this. Comparisons with the first born are inevitable. Ari is a 'smiler', his sister was ever-grumpy. According to their father, a frown is the first sign of intelligence, in which case the brother will find it hard to live up to the standards set by his sister.

In physical development however, he leads by far. Nidhi was content to lie on her back until she was nearly 6 months. She din't even make an attempt to roll over before then. It was as if one fine day she decided, may be it's time to look at this world from a different perspective and voila, she rolled over.

Ari has been attempting it from 1.5months. Mum said he would roll over soon and I didn't believe her. He surprised me by rolling over from back to tummy at 2.5m. By 3months he was rolling both ways.

Now he rarely lies on his back. If we put him down, he rolls onto his tummy, raises his torso and tries to balance on his fours.

He is not a great feeder, again unlike his sister. 5 minutes is a good feed. However his weight gain is satisfactory, he is 'thriving' in doctor-speak.

He adores his sister. When she is around he has eyes only for her. he puts up with a lot of mishandling by her. She in turn wants to be around him all the time. It is delightful to see her speak to him, telling him things he can't do yet, but will be able to at an appropriate age.

Nidhi is doing well at school, we have the parent's evening next month when we find out more. Her handwriting has improved significantly with the daily practice during the summer holidays.

She has learnt to ride the cycle and enjoys it a lot. She is bottom of the class in swimming and this is our next area of focus. The 10 minutes that she gets during the group swimming sessions at school just aren't enough and we need to enrol her in classes at the local leisure centre next term.

Behaviour at home continues to be a challenge. The key to disciplining is consistency which I find so hard. Hopefully things will be easier when Rohan returns from project in India.