Tech crazy

I'm not sure what exactly draws babies towards electronics, but babies have a built-in sensor to find and pursue electronic objects. Of course when they see examples of Daddy and Mommy spending every extra moment with their iPhones, it doesn't take too long for the kiddo to catch on.

Rian's early explorations began with chewing Mommy's neoprene cover literally to pieces. Mommy got a new one and decided it is not for eating. Then Rian moved on to the harder parts to eat, and both our iPhones have badges of honor to mark the time when Rian was teething.

Slowly but surely the guy kept experimenting. 6 months back we started guiding his fingers into the apps - Doodle Buddy, spelling games, counting games, shapes, etc. Silly stuff like popping bubbles used to make him giggle and helped keep him calm through diaper changes. He was majorly into photos, and first learnt how to "flick" through the photos. At 16 months, he then started popping the bubbles himself, tickling teddy to laugh. YouTube and iPhone videos kept him busy inflight. Many a tired weeknights, Mommy and Daddy have taken sahara from Rian's favorite video of all time: ek anek. That last quarter of paratha, or bowl of soup, or cup of yogurt vanish so quickly when he's hooked onto the chidiya flying away.

After we got back from Texas though, the guy got into serious business: he could unlock our iPhones with no effort. Quickly he learnt how to start the apps he wanted. With words pouring out of his mouth, he started asking for those apps, pointing to the iPhone. Now he even searches my pockets when I get home, to locate the enchanting toy :-) Reminds me of Parv looking into everyone's pockets for "Kaa kee".

He's been learning on the sly though. Rian learnt his shapes mainly from the iPhone app. Maybe his numbers and alphabets also came from there (although he has two other sets of alphabets and number toys). His fine motor skills have seen a big improvement, trying to "catch" that lion or slide that letter into its box. At 20 months, he's a pro and loves spelling out words. We've now started buying his apps though, else he keeps hitting the ads in the free games or the several prompts to "upgrade now". Paid apps keeps him less frustrated :-)

For the most part we're so thankful for this invention called the iPhone as we've made most use of it for Rian. It has truly been a savior. It is the ultimate kid-pacification device, although we try to limit iPhone time and let Rian know before his time starts, when its going to end. Our iPhones also help with TODOs, grocery lists, keeping track of my WW points, and loooots more. And yet, the one use we are most thankful for - keeping Rian busy when we need those 5-7 mins of peace.