Child’s Play – Akshara Rajaram

If you had missed the elaborate introduction-to-swimming sessions which Akshara was put through, check this post. After the brief unsuccessful attempt in Chennai, we continued trying when we were in Malaysia. Slowly, but surely the situation was improving. The swimming pool was visible from our hotel room and Akshara spent a lot of time gazing at the pool with us explaining about the possible fun that could be had by being inside it!

Then, we went back to the usual ploy of a photography session. The constant exposure to the pool seemed to have worked with this photo session happenning much closer to the water (and in contact too!) than the previous ones.

We were back in Chennai by then and back to the same old swimming pool. We noticed that Akshara was more forthcoming to the water this time and the only difference from before were the arm-balloons (or whatever you call them!) she was wearing. Maybe it was the security concern that was keeping her away all the time… But, the reason didn’t matter, the final result did and we were happy.

Next Step: Get her into the water. This happened almost instantaneously without any resistance. In fact, Akshara started to enjoy splashing and jumping around.

She wasn’t happy with my company and wanted the duck also to come in. She sat on the duck and started paddling around. This was a big improvement over the situation that i had to be next to her always.

Then came the part which had all us surprised. Since the pool was around 2 feet deep (just until her chin), she was actually moving around the pool by pushing her toes on the pool floor. She was actually moving from one end to another on her own. This was way too cool to watch!

I later became very ambitious and held her up so that she was in a horizontal position. She started pedalling her legs. Maybe, this comes to kids automatically. But the lessons had to stop here, as proceeding beyong this required the instructor to be knowledgeable, which i definitely wasn’t. So, the hunt is on now for a pool in Pune which takes in 2 yr olds.

written by Rajaram S

Akshara must be watching too much TV!

written by Rajaram S

Akshara had been out of the house only on official visits to the doctor until now. We felt that it was time she was introduced to our way of life as Akshara was already over a month old. So, we took her on her first “pleasure” trip to Yermasoyia dam, a short drive of 20 mins from our house.

Well, to be honest, it was not exactly a touristic trip, as Akshara spent the entire time sleeping inside the car. while we took many stops – to pick up a take-away as Haagen Dazs, to take some photos of the near empty Yermasoyia dam and then finally some corn over at the Limassol seafront. But, a small trip nevertheless should be a good introduction to what lies ahead!

written by Rajaram S \\ tags: outing, yermasoyia dam

As they say, kids do grow up pretty fast in the initial few months. So, in order to keep up with this pace, I am also constantly trying to change/add something on Akshara’s blog.
So, few things which may be different from your last visit:

• Added a Kiddie Blogs list instead of the generic “Links” in the sidebar. Now, you can visit all your favourite kiddie blogs from right here on Akshara’s blog
• You can leave a comment on the left sidebar, not for a post, but for the blog as a whole. I shall promise that i shall convey your message to Akshara!

More photos on the way very soon!

written by Rajaram S

No, I am not one of those over-eager parents who start teaching vedic mathemtaics to their kids the moment they are able to display an isolated finger, which the parent intreprets as an early sign of being good in counting numbers! Neither am i the over-ambitious parent who books a management-quota seat in university in the worry that one might not be available 18 years later.

I am just the normal parent who is trying to act smart by identifying a kid’s strength early on, so that Akshara doesn’t get pushed into the ubiquitous engineering or medical streams. So, what does Akshara seem to be good at?

Well, from what i have seen over the past one month, a clear area of expertise has emerged. It is not mathematics (She doesn’t respond to 1,2 – Buckle my shoe!), not Physics (the simple harmonic motion exhibited by the toy hung at the top of her bouncer only makes her dizzy!), definitely not chemistry (work of some of my genes!). After a month of decoding, i have realized that her interest lies in Escapology and she has a great potential to become an escape artist in the likes of Harry Houdini and David Copperfield.

How did i conclude so? However we wrap her, whatever we use to wrap her – be it a swaddle blanket, a turkey towel or even an ordinary cloth- it just takes her a few minutes and some convolutions to break free and go back to her “God save me” pose.

Now, i have to start worrying. I have to find a nice place where she can hone her skills, not in biology or zoology, but in escapology.

written by Rajaram S