A scare

On Monday morning Malaika started a fever.  Yo already had his regular 18 month appt scheduled for later that afternoon, so Susan asked if Mika could be brought along too.  When the doctor saw her, he immediately asked us to take her to ER to do a set of tests.  As we found out over the course of the next 2 days, a fever in babies less than 2 months is taken very seriously.  A whole battery of tests were run on her in the ER that evening, including a spinal tap; was heartbreaking to see our tiny little girl subject to all that. Some of the results came back fairly quickly, and they were negative; however the results of the spinal tap would take 24-48 hours for the culture to grow, and so we were asked to stay overnight at the hospital.

We were not prepared for the ER, much less a sudden stay in the hospital.  We were thankful that at least the nurses were nice, and Malaika didn't have to do any more tests.  Unfortunately the next morning her IV came loose, and she was poked and prodded some more to get a new IV in (for the antibiotics just in case it was a bacterial infection).  After a few failed attempts we told them to quit and come up with another plan.  Thankfully, again, the doctor said that since she was doing better, they could skip that.  After a few more hours of waiting the doctor examined her once more and said we could go home.  Since most of the tests were negative, it was probably a viral fever that she'd need to just wait out with Tylenol.  We were out of the hospital as soon as we could after that.

The rest of the results came back today, and were all negative.  Thank God that it was nothing too serious.  Malaika's rather exhausted from the last couple days, but the fever hasn't come back.  Praying she'll be all well real soon!

Baby's Day Out - part deux

Yohan was carted to the neighborhood duck pond for his first park visit after he was born, and a couple weeks ago we took Malaika there as well for her introduction to large expanses of well-maintained lawns and bodies of water.

  

  

  

Of smiles and swings

The little girl has a cute smile, but right now we only get to see it when she's falling asleep.

We still need to keep an eye on the kids when she's in the swing and Yo's around, Previously he would want to push the swing and almost topple her; now he just wants to lean in and kiss her.  I guess from the danger of toppling we have progressed to the danger of suffocation!

  

Taking it easy

Here's a video of our cute little girl just shy of a month, enjoying her playmat.

Yo was down with a pretty high fever last week, but thankfully Mika didn't catch it too.

Ze-Man to the Rescue!

Last week Ranjit had to make a business trip to Israel. That meant Amma and I were solely responsible for two munchkins needing to be fed and cleaned and entertained and carried 24x7 for 5 days. The idea was not so appealing to either of us. Thankfully, Pia decided to visit us at the same time. Even better, she brought our Man Friday Zephan with her. (She decided to leave Josh behind in CA so she would have less mommy duty and more time to help us). For the three days they were here, Zeph and Yo got along like a house on fire. Yohan, the biggest dada-fan on the planet, didn't ask for Ranjit and Amma and I got a much-needed breather.

Pia and I also hit some of our fave cheapie clothes stores while Amma babysat three grandchildren.

Dada came back Thursday morning. Now the toys get put away at regular intervals and neatness has returned to the Narjala household. Phew!!

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Three generations

Mother, daughter, and grand-daughter.

Malaika's first bath

Mika seemed to quite enjoy her first proper bath - just lay there all curious and looking around, and didn't seem to mind the proceedings at all. Her hair got rather spiky after the bath, just like her brother's.

Malaika at 4 days

Things are a little out of order here, but I'm just getting around to processing some of the video.  This was taken soon after Malaika came back home.

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Labor Day - Sep 2009

Sam, Ramya, and Anika visited us last weekend, and we had a great time.  Yohan and Anika still weren't really playing with each other - wonder when they'll just entertain each other when we get together.  It's been very interesting to see them grow up and meet each other every few months - the way they interact with each other changes each visit.  Soon Malaika will be added to the mix too.


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Imitation

Yohan has been watching amma and Susan when they carry Malaika, and one fine day he put a burp cloth on his shoulder, and reached out his arms to hold the baby!  He was given the baby doll instead, and he was quite happy to hold her :)

Yo finds it rather amusing when his tshirt gets stuck around his eyes when we take it off.  I've been wanting to take a pic of this for a long time, and we finally have one.

Misc Yo moments:

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Happy birthday Appapa!

The first couple weeks

Malaika's been quite a bit more active these last few days, but it's all been nocturnal.  During the day she is still calm and peaceful for the most part.  Susan's been bearing the brunt of the night duty - hubby still needs to get used to having another newborn around. When prodded a sufficient number of times, I pry open an eyelid, say 'shhh' rather emphatically, and then pretty much roll over.

Here are some pics Susan took a few days ago.

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Using a spoon

This past weekend Yohan surprised us at lunch time by grabbing for the spoon as he was being fed.  Once the implement in question was relinquished by the parental unit, he started valiantly trying to scoop up the rice and aim the loaded object towards his mouth.  He succeeded most of the time, and it was pretty cool to see him get this!

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Malaika's 2 week stats

Height: 20"
Weight: 6lbs 12oz

Happy dreams...

Baby's Day Out

We took Yo to meet the outside world when he was about 2 weeks old.  We were slightly more adventurous with Mika, and brought her to a neighborhood BBQ party when she was only 9 days old. Amma and Susan hung out with her for a little while and bonded with our neighbors.

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Asleep at the wheel

The result of a long day without a nap.