With a sleeping baby, waiting for her to wake up, so she can be bathed and then go to a party, is like waiting at the running track for the gun to go.
At the party, seated next to a mom with baby, I asked if I could hold the baby. The mom said that they just came from a trip and the baby is cranky from the ride.
I forwarded my hand, the baby held it. And then, she touched my arms and my mouth. I imagined my baby doing that. That transmission of presence and awareness.
Mothers were talking about how from their and other's experiences if they shifted to teaching the babies eat on the high chair, neither would they eat by themselves properly nor let their moms feed them. With independence comes the choice to not eat.
A mom believed that children grow faster when grandparents are around to love them.
My baby quietly performed artwork in the diaper. I have seen that at parties, parents take turns eating so the other can watch the baby. Suddenly when asked to eat, I realised I was very hungry. Lying on a sofa, she found a green chunni interesting to watch and she tried to get the owner into conversation. When we realised that the baby hadnt asked for a feeding in a while, we knew that our stay had to be wrapped up. Before we were about to leave, our friend informed us that we left the lights on. While getting out of the car, what seemed like a crack was actually a bird's diaper art. My bell didnt ring then that the light was on.
A tradition: Putting sacred bottus to a well. And then pouring some water into the well, paying obeisance to the water god, so that the baby is not afflicted with any water borne problems. If there is no well nearby, a bucket of water can be substituted for the well.
An elderly lady wrote a song for the kid's cradle ceremony. I caught 'health and wealth' of the lyrics while concentrating on how best to cleanup the diaper art.