November 04, 2007

Having a giggle ...

I shot this video this morning after noticing that Kanthika was highly amused by the sight of me sweeping the living room - can't think why, probably because he's never seen me do it before :-) The little guy is just over 7 months old now and getting more interesting by the day.

In between eating, drinking and sleeping he's managed to grow a couple of teeth so that adds another task to our daily routine - brushing. He didn't enjoy that so much the first couple of times but today was quite happy to open wide and let me brush everywhere. When I went to buy the toothpaste, I was amazed at the number of flavours available - the most interesting one was 'Banana'. I went for the much more boring 'Mint' flavour because it was sugar free. Anyway, I am not sure how much toothpaste Kanthika is going to ingest over the next few months but at least the toothpaste shouldn't cause his teeth to decay!

September 30, 2007

Having fun ...


Having fun
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Can't believe how fast time seems to fly by. Kanthika is now 6 months old (in fact 6 months + 4 days as I write this!) and it all seems such a blur. I guess it will only seem more so as time goes on and he's walking and talking .. at the moment his main activity is to roll over and over - sometimes getting into trouble by getting stuck on his back (or tummy) in some corner of his playpen.

The other day he managed to grab one of his cloth books as he rolled over and ended up with it accessorised onto his head (see picture) in a rather stylish pose. Lucky I had the camera handy :-)

September 08, 2007

Looking for Spot!


Looking for spot
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Kanthika is 5 months 2 weeks old now and starting to take an interest in everything we grown ups do - from eating to reading. So the other day Uthpala gave him is own book to play with on his own, called "Where is Spot", which he really enjoyed.

He has been playing with cloth books for some time now but for the most part has been more interested in tasting them than trying to turn pages or look at pictures. Looking for Spot seems to have grabbed his attention though and this book wasn't subject to the taste test :-)

August 12, 2007

First tastes ...


First tastes
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
At over four months old now, Kanthika is trying out different tastes - so far he has had baby rice, banana, carrot and apple puree. He seems to enjoy all of them although banana and apple are his favourites! We are looking forward to giving him a greater variety of things once he gets to 6 months.

The little guy is also a lot more vocal and active now, always rolling over when on his play mat and talking, shouting, singing most of the time. Of course he's exploring everything with his mouth these days so whatever he grabs gets covered in saliva within a few seconds. The bib around his neck has become a permanent part of his attire these days :-)

July 18, 2007

Big smile ...


Big smile
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Although the little guy has been smiling at us (and sometimes by himself) for some time now, it hasn't been easy to get a picture of him doing so. Everytime we get camera out he starts to look very serious again so it was really great when I managed to snap this pose. He seems to be getting used to having his picture taken now so we are looking forward to having more examples of his smile in our albums soon :-)

On a roll ...


Rolling Over
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
The days seems to be just flying by and it's hard to believe it's mid-summer already. England has had one of the wettest June/July periods for a long time but luckily most of the rain seems to be in the day time when I am at work :-)

Kanthika is over 3 months old now and starting to become a lot more active. Today saw a major milestone when he managed to roll over by himself. He;s been trying to do this for the past week or so now and always needed a little bit of help from Uthpala or myself until today. However, just after lunch we put him down on his play mat and he suddenly rolled over in one go - I think he was as pleased (and surprised!) at we were at seeing the world from a different perspective all on his own. I can see him having alot of fun with this, although he can't roll back on his own yet so we're going to have to keep a close eye on him.

July 01, 2007

Feeding frenzy


Feeding frenzy
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
We put a bird feeder in our back garden but weren't ready for how popular it was going to be. Every little black dot in the background is a Starling and they seem to be taking turns at our feeder (left foreground). They get through about 500g of bird seed per day, although I suspect they could eat more its just that I can't put any more in the feeder!

Next door's cat sits at the window licking her lips, although thankfully I don't think she has been successful at catching one of these little guys yet :-)

June 25, 2007

3 months up ...


Uthpala & Kanthika
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Time certainly seems to be flying by. Kanthika is now 3 months old and is getting bigger (and louder!) by the day. Here is sitting on Uthpala's lap which seems to be one of his favourite places :-) ... It is getting a little harder to keep carrying him around as he gets heavier and also sometimes he can cry out so loud that it is a little hard to stay in the same room with him. Nevertheless, these occassions are thankfully few and are rarely without cause - wet nappy, empty tummy, boredom are all valid reasons in his book. My parents are taking a short trip over the coming week so Uthpala and I are getting some practice at coping on our own. So far so good, although we have to take the little guy for some immunisations on Wednesday so things might be a little challenging afterwards. The last time we went to the Doctor's for this, he was rather upset with us for letting the nurse jab him not once, but twice (there were two separate vaccinces to be given), with us standing right next to him. Hopefully a repeat of the same this week won't shake his confidence in our parenting abilities :-)

May 22, 2007

Hanging out with Thatthi ...


Hanging out with Thatthi ...
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Kanthika is almost two months old now and things are starting to get interesting - for him and us. He is becoming increasingly curious of his surroundings and enjoys grabbing hold of his rattle toys whenever he can. For us it is amazing to see him figure out little things and develop day by day - his latest thing is making the odd cooing or gurgling sound when we talk to him.

This picture was taken when we went for a walk around Willen Lake (which is close to our home in Milton Keynes) over the weekend. Unfortunately, despite the sunny weather the temperatures near the water were pretty low and Kanthika wasn't able to stay outdoors for too long. So we took a break in one of th cafes and just hung out for a while watching some braver souls water skiing.

Tomorrow is a big day for the little guy with his next round of immunisations due. His first injection was the BCG vaccine which he hardly noticed, but we are told that tomorrow's ones will be a little more painful because they are intra-muscular. Hopefully he won't be too distressed by the experience though.

April 28, 2007

I think I'm full ...


I think I'm full ...
Originally uploaded by akbandara.
Kanthika is 1 month old now but somehow it feels like he has been a part of our life for much much longer. Uthpala and I are finding that our days and nights a getting a litle blurred as we work our way from feed to nappy change and 3-4 hours of sleep. The little guy is slowly getting into a routine and sleeping solidly between feeds more often now so things are not so bad. This picture was taken just after one of his feeds and as you can see he might have taken in just a little too much :-)

It's all being put to good use though since he is growing by leaps and bounds. Already he's outgrown his first set of clothes and I noticed today that the second batch can't be considered 'too big' for him. Given that we were a little worried about how small he was at birth, this is great news.

Uthpala's mother has now gone back to Sri Lanka but my parents are still around to help us out as necessary. Our first 'fully solo' parenting experience is going to be in a couple of weeks time when we have to take Kanthika to the hopsital for his first vaccincation while my parents are away visiting some friends. Hopefully it will all go fine!

April 02, 2007

Kanthika Hasantha ...

We've known that a new chapter in life is on the horizon for the past 9 months, and finally on 27 March 2007 the moment arrived and our son was born. Kanthika Hasantha Bandara was born just before 11am at Milton Keynes General Hospital and has understandably become the centre of daily life for Uthpala and myself.

We are slowly getting used to a new routine where sleep has to be grabbed in 2-3hr slots whenever and wherever we can :-) Nevertheless, it is going to be quite a while before we can say we are 'in the groove' of parenthood. At the moment, every new experience, be it feeding, changing nappies or comforting our son when crying can be a challenge but nevertheless it is all an enjoyable experience. Needless to say our lives will never be the same again.

I have another week or so of paternity leave to look forward to getting know the little guy better and also helping Uthpala adjust to our new responsbilities. Thankfully we have parents staying with us at the moment so help is at hand whenever we need it.

Watch this space for news and developments - I can guarantee there will be lots!
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March 10, 2007

Buddhist Blues ...

Why is it that some people think it is OK to use religious images as the brand for commercial ventures? Most often for ventures totally out of kilter with the ethics of the religious image used. This is the question that arose when I recently saw an article in my local paper advertising a business in Milton Keynes called 'Buddha Blue' (read article) - not, unfortunately, a meditation centre or dhamma book shop but a night club. What could be further from the image of the Buddha, the epitome of serenity and wisdom, than an establishment that depends on loud music, wild dancing and alcohol?? Of course this is not the first time that the Buddha's image has been used for commercial gain - I have seen products as diverse as rubber slippers and swim suits with printed images of the Buddha, and there have even been other night clubs restaurants that use Buddha images as part of their decor.

One view as to why the Buddha's image is misused in this way is down to the fact that patience, understanding and forgiveness are innate features of the Buddha's teaching and therefore Buddhists do not get overly exercised by seeing their teacher's image used in this inappropriate fashion. Of course another view is that the business people who use the image know that it is unlikely that Buddhists will event write a letter of protest, let alone do anything more drastic. Imagine what would happen if someone opened a place called 'Mad Mohammed' or 'Jive Jesus'? Of course making an impact is difficult when there are not that many Buddhists around, but still it is a shame that people take advantage and denigrate a great religious leader in this way.
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March 08, 2007

Pausing for breath ...


After a long time I get a moment to make a post here. It's going to be a short one because life is very busy these days. It is funny how the impending arrival of a baby has a tendency to turn you life upside down! :-) Expected delivery date in less than a month - watch this space for more news.