Sheru is quite the reader now. Sheru likes to stare at pictures – momentarily. If you flip the book fast enough, someone will get the illusion that Sheru cares. Sheru and Daddy (or Mama) lie on the bed next to each other. Daddy flips the pages while Sheru looks at them and tries to grab…

Dumps is cruising his way along sofas, walls and refrigerators – comfortably and confidently. Time to get the barriers up or Daddy’s CD collection will soon become a bitter-sweet memory. Mama, in the meantime, is hoping for a more tired Pumps who magically sleeps through the night.

And your time is up! If NIST wanted to calibrate their caesium atomic clocks, they are invited to experience the Sheru sleep session. Put him to bed at 12:03pm and Dumps is up by 12:43pm. Put him to bed at 11:07pm and Dumps is up by 11:47pm. Pat him, rock him, sing him songs, and…

Ms Pandey was a connoisseur of fine things, good literary taste and a deep musical understanding. This was definitely true even when she was 7 months old. Books were read with unparallel concentration and music was absorbed in complete solitude. Then strolled in Pumps (or Dumps, as he is now known). Give him a book – and…

After the teaser almost a month ago now, Pumpi has finally discovered rolling. That too after Mama and Naani heard the heart-wrenching “No rolling over yet??!” from the pediatrician, Naani embarked on a mission of frequent tummy time, which Master Pandey hates, and hence the strong desire to roll-back. No incentive, no progress folks. On…

Then you can imagine Pumpi falling after a tiring session of sitting down. Sheru has been sitting down for longer durations now – 3-5 minutes, unsupported. He can bend down and pick things up, disturb whatever Anika has been playing with and even manage to throw a few things sideways. But when that balance is…

After weeks of bated breath, Sheru finally decided to roll over from his back to his tummy. Well, not entirely on his own. Daddy lured him to turn sideways with his snapping fingers, and once on his side, Sheru completed the act. After an exhausting exercise of 4 full turns, Sheru called it a day,…

Sheru started on his rice cereal diet a few days ago. Over the past few weeks, Sheru had been grabbing at every food item on the dining table and eyeing them deliciously. So much so, that Mama couldn’t contain her desire to expose him to solids. After much fanfare, a new pack of rice ceral…

Sheru was a bit cranky, so Daddy thought – what better way to soothe a troubled mind than to play for him a little acoustic guitar. So, with Sheru lying on Anika’s bed, Daddy started strumming in front of him. The repertoire included House of the Rising Sun and Scarborough Fair. By the time Daddy…

When Mr. Pandey gets angry, he gets angry! None of that feminine crying like his sister when she used to be hungry. None of the pleading or mind games. Our Sheru roars and you better be scared ’cause it is LOUD. Picture dinner time today – a full bottle of milk was expected at 8:30…

It was one of those giant leaps for Mr. Pandey today. So far, Mr. Pandey had been loud and authoritative, but has been communicating mostly with vowels. As an example, “Waaaaaaa”, “Wooooaaaaa”, “Waaaaaaaaay” probably meant, get me to bed pronto! But over the past few days, Mr. Pandey’s jaw has been having a little extra…

Sheru – Tiger, affectionately, in Hindi. Daddy has christened Master Pandey as Sheru. Sheru has only one mission in life – to grab at stuff with his tiny fingers and bite and chew at them; ferociously. You can almost hear him purring and growling. Go ahead – try and plant a kiss on Sheru’s cheeks!…

Just like Anika, we are looking, in Viraj, for early signs of strong affinity for his parents’ habits. As with Anika, the methodology and findings are as scientific as it gets. Viraj is a wanderer. Loves to travel. Whether he is sleepy, or hungry, or plain ol’ cranky, take him in your arms, make him…

Master Pandey is as chatty as it gets. He wants to chat any time, all the time. Drinking milk – no problem, let me push the bottle out, give a wide smile and start cooing. Getting poo-poo cleaned – no problem, let us utilize that weird posture to utter a few sounds and get folks interested….

Master Pandey started cooing a few weeks ago – blah, that’s old news. He even started smiling and recognizing folks around him – old news as well. The latest round includes improved motor skills and extreme effort to guide his hand towards anything that interests him – Daddy’s nose, Daddy’s ring, Dada’s hair, Mama’s cheeks…

Viraj cruised in on the 3rd of August, 2008, at 8:48pm in El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California. He was a bouncy 8lb 1oz and an inch taller than his sis. We all wanted him to arrive on 08-08-08 but the guy was impatient! For the non-Hindi-speaking: Viraj = Vi-raj = King of Kings…