We got Akshra's passport today. Very exciting. She gets a US passport. However, the passport itself was quite a disappointment. It looked a bit limp and matter-of-factly. In fact a bit too plan. Moreover, no address and much to our chagrin, no names of parents! My guess is that once they scan the thing it provides more information but by the look of it -- it sure is bare bones.

Anyway, Congratulations Akshu, you are now a full person -- you have a birth certificate and you have a passport!

Akshu smiles so easily now. Each time you look at her specially when you were looking somewhere else. A big and cordial smile to greet you and say 'Hello, how are you? I am fine and happy, thank you!"

The way Akshra yells at us when we are out of sight and she wants to call for our attention is probably the most amusing aspect of bringing up baby I've seen in a while. She just goes...'Aee! Ayee...Aye...ahh...ooo..' and so on. She is relentless until we show up at her side and talk to her and hold her and preferably lift her in our lap.

Akshu becomes more adorable every day. I don't want to analyze it but just enjoy it. She took her first formula bottle today and much to her mom's chagrin gulped it down with aplomb.

So we've completed a week without any support now and the cracks have begun appearing. Puja and I have fought almost everyday. She has been exhausted and I've been just fatigued. The little thing has started showing her fangs. She shows attitude now and won't take milk unless she feels like it even if she is hungry. Her rashes have gone bad and she is itchy to the extreme and can get cranky as well.

Akshra is going up everyday. She completed 3 months yesterday. 3 Months! It is so hard to believe that she is a whole person and 3 months old. She is beginning to show signs of growing up. She is begininning to have a mind of her own. However, she is still much calmer compared to some other children of the same age. Nice to know.

With Puja's parents out we are still learning what it means to care for the child day in and day out. Adorable as she is, she is still quite a lot of work!

A new phase began for us yesterday. Puja's mom left after being with us for over four months helping us taking care of the baby. And boy what a help it was. She worked constantly claiming the kitchen her very own territory making various delicious foods from morning to evening without a sense of pretense or even a minor sense of showmanship. This is an amazing generation. It is probably the last that does without claiming and does it with absolutely no sense of regret -- far from it -- with an amazing sense of satisfaction -- the only type that helps. How they are missed!