Catching Up

As I begin this post, I realize that I am nearly two months behind and it's killing me !!! I wanted to catch up so bad, but life seems to get in the way. Today is a perfect day to blog as I am home alone,its raining and windy outside and Iam sipping my hot tea. So here I am - after a long gap, sitting in front of my laptop on a cold winter afternoon wondering where to start from. Lets just go back to the month of October........

October marks the onset of fall and also the month of a lot of Indian festivals including Diwali. This was our first Diwali in India after my marriage. North India and particularly Delhi is known for its grand celebrations and extravagant weddings. Delhi looked beautiful with the Diwali lights, diyas and rangolis. Anvesha was still jet-lagged that time and used to sleep most of the afternoons, That way she enjoyed celebrating Diwali in the evening and looked thrilled to see phooljhadi and anar. I try my best to keep her away from sweets, but since it was Diwali time, I let her enjoy the yummy motichoor laddoos from Halidram's :) She was the center of attraction at home. Daada- Daadi and both the buas pampered her a lot and she enjoyed all the attention she got from everybody.

Our visit this time was an eventful one. Smriti's wedding was just around the corner and there was a lot of shopping and some last minute running errands. The month of November was a very busy one.There was a lot happening and Anvesha who is so much used to having our undivided attention suddenly felt ignored. She did enjoy the functions though,but the loud music and the crowd was a bit overwhelming for her.  I had, in my mind, prepared a list of what Anvesha will be wearing for each function. Here's the bride to be with her bhatiji on the night of the sangeet...

And these are some more from the wedding....

After the wedding celebrations, I was really looking forward to meeting my parents. It was a very short stay with them this time and Anvesha enjoyed running around in the open space. She loved plucking leaves from my mom's kitchen garden and was thrilled to see the pumpkins.

Over the time I have observed that she is a very social girl- very confident and affectionate as well... and I am not saying this because she is my girl...... I genuinely mean it :) She has learnt a lot of new words now including Mamma and Papa !!!! Lets just hope she keeps adding more and more to her vocabulary and become a chatter box soon :)

"Mamma" !!!!!

 I have reached a new high as a mom. My girl, my sweet little girl, unmistakably said my name !!!! Never knew "Mamma" would sound so sweet, especially after hearing Anvesha say it. She used to say "ma-ma-ma-ma" quite often in the past. Though it may sound fun, but this was just another word to add in her growing vocabulary along with "ba-ba-ba", "da-da-da" and lots of other baby chitter chatter. I figured it would be a while before she says "Mamma" with any level of comprehension.

In the past couple of weeks, she'd been saying "Mamma" while pointing at me, as if she knew :) Still hesitating in my heart to believe it, I chose to ignore it at first. But then she said it again, and again and hugged me tight.  My heart was melting in puddles all over the floor and my eyes were filling in 32 yrs worth of Mamma in waiting tears. It sure is a magical moment which can only be experienced. I never thought my name would sound so sweet. I like it- I really really like it !!!!

This is one of my most precious mommyhood moments. Love you baby !!!!

Children's Day !!

 The best thing to spend on your children is your time !!!

Happy Children's Day !!!


Children are innocent, children are mischievous. They bring a smile to everybody's face and are the most treasured possessions on this earth. Today is children's day in India and although we as parents are too big for that, we can certainly enjoy it with our sweetheart. Its as though we are reliving our childhood watching Anvesha grow each and every single day. So on this children's day, here's a special note to my honey bunch...

Hello cutie pie,

A very happy children's day to you. This is your second children's day and in the last year you have grown in so many ways. You have blossomed into this beautiful little girl- full of laughter and personality. We have explored so many new places together- different parks, play areas, kids activity sessions... so on and so forth. These are places I would have never gone alone, but now I have you- my buddy :) Its so much fun having you and life comes to a still when you are not around. My heart melts to see how you try to help me in my daily chores like laundry, doing the dishes, etc- its perhaps your way of being involved. You give you hippo kisses and try to share your meals with him. Mr Hippo constantly gets your attention. There is nothing sweeter than seeing your concern and attention for something that means so much to you. Its so refreshing to see you in full energy every morning and I love to watch you dance on your favorite rhymes :) You have grown even more naughty now and lets just hope that your tricks remain rather harmless.

Here's wishing you a very happy children's day sweetheart, This song is especially for you.

Love you heaps !!!

Mamma

Fall has arrived

 It had been warmer than usual but it looks like its all changing now. Leaves are changing colors from vibrant reds and oranges to brilliant golds and yellows and there's something about the air- its clean and refreshing and the days are getting shorter. I can feel a cool gush of air on my face as I take a brisk walk outside. Its time to take out the sweaters and jackets out from the closet.... fall has arrived !!!.

Having brought up in a cold hill station of Shimla in India, I hate winters. Its not at all exciting to be confined indoors for months without sun. Fall is the only time which appeals to me and that's because of the fall colors. Right now one song that comes to my mind is... "All the leaves are falling down, orange yellow red and brown....." Anvesha loves to collect leaves and since the streets are full of yellow, orange, red leaves her both hands are full of these lovely maple beauties. She is totally intrigued to see how leaves have changed color from green to yellow. 

The onset of fall also means deserted parks, windy - rainy days and runny noses. We have Anvesha up to date with her flu vaccines as prevention is better than cure. We are all set for our India trip and when we will come back from our vacation, the trees will have a barren look and days will be even more shorter. Anvesha will miss the Halloween this year and I will miss dressing her up in the cutest Halloween costume. But on the positive side, this will be the first time we will celebrate Diwali with family. So there's gonna be lots of crackers, Diwali mithai, and of course the wedding..... but more on that later :)

Till then happy Fall and a very happy Halloween !!!!

Fun in the Sand !!!

One of the fondest memories that I have of my childhood is playing with the mud and building sand castles. I would love to spend the days at the beach, but that's not always possible. Children have been intrigued by sand for so many generations. They love to play with the outdoor material found around them and this includes mud and sand.

Anvesha loves to play with sand too and derives some fun  by digging, sifting, pouring and exploring it all throughout. Just like playing in water, playing in sand is very entertaining for her. Though she is too young to use her imagination to build castles, or anything like that, but she, nevertheless uses her pail and shovel to pour sand all over her :) Its also a great exercise for the upper body.

Whenever I take her out to Grass Lawn Park, she is drawn towards the sand pit and plays there endlessly. I really don't mind if she gets all dirty there.Its so much fun to watch her play with other children in the sand pit. This involves a lot more than just playing in sand, It involves sharing the sand tools, negotiating for play space- thus enhancing the social skills of children.

Here are few pics of Anvesha enjoying in the sand

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkins are out for picking !!!!!

Fall- to many of us is the best time of the year and one key ingredient to a picture perfect autumn is visiting a pumpkin farm. Its not just about picking out a pumpkin- its about winding your way through a corn maze and taking pics of the kids on a hay stack and admist those lovely yellow pumpkins. These are attractions built specifically for families. You can take the kids for a country side experience, buy them a treat and burn a couple of hours off of the day.

I have been teaching Anvesha about fruits and vegetables and there is a rhyme on pumpkin that she likes these days- "Peter- Peter pumpkin eater". So this year when we went to visit the pumpkin farm she could relate more to what she was seeing around her. She tried to lift pumpkins, ran around, sat on pumpkins, studied the dirt, the leaves, the bugs, the pumpkins and everything else she could see.

Picking out pumpkin isn't just about buying it and carving it- its about exploring and learning about the world around you, seeing how things work and how they grow. Its also about creating wonderful memories with your children that you can cherish for life.

Here's a pic of our art work for Halloween this year.

Story Time !!

Anvesha is very fond of her books and enjoys it when I read to her. So every day I come up with innovative ways to read out to her... whether it is singing along, using a prop, a puppet or any toy. In my opinion, its never too early to start story times for kids. No matter what age your child is, reading together is a great opportunity for cuddling and bonding. By developing a regular reading routine from the start, books will become a natural part of your child's play and he/she will start associating fun with it.

Anvesha has few books that she loves..... her favorite one being the Tinker Bell :) Here's a small story time corner for Anvesha at home.

We live very close to the library and its loaded with some great books for kids, so I never fall short of books for Anvesha. They also have story time sessions for different age groups. So  I make it a point to take Anvesha in their story time sessions which she thoroughly enjoys. This is also a great indoor activity for kids especially during the winters where we are restricted indoors and it gets difficult to engage them :) Erin- the story teller at the library does a great job and I love the way she keeps the kids engaged through her interactive story time session. There are songs, rhymes, stories, puppets and some dancing around as well :) After the story time I let Anvesha hang around in the library for some time and let her choose what books she wants this time.

Taking photographs is prohibited during the story time sessions, so I only managed to take few clicks after the session.

Summer Recap

We are almost nearing an end to a warm, bright and a sunny summer of 2014. This year the summer was super sunny in Seattle. This was Anvesha's second summer- last year around this time she had just begun to crawl and this year she  runs around exploring new places and things.- she is more mobile now and is more curious about her surroundings. This summer was full of loads of outdoor expeditions, many weekend getaways and our much awaited trip to Hawaii :) We had a rather excellent summer and I am already feeling low as we are nearing its end. So as a bit of an ode I thought it would be fun to share the highlights of the summer of 2014...

To kick start the summer, we went strawberry picking and it was more from a fun perspective as strawberries are Anvesha's favorite.Summers were still not at peak in Seattle till May and so we planned to make a trip to the bay area around the Memorial Day long weekend. It was warm in California and it was a perfect day to spend time at Santa Cruz beach.... finally Anvesha got to wear her cute little swimming dress !!! She had so much fun digging in the sand. The best part of the whole trip was when we went to Gilroy theme park. Anvehsa had so much fun at their rides, especially the carousel and the fountains..

We spent the Father's day weekend at Portlnd, though we really didn't do much there, but it was a good change from the normal routine. Throughout the summer we tried to be outdoors in different places like Rattlesnake  park, Crystal Mountain, Olympia, Snoqualmie, Whistler.  At my end , I guess there is not a single park that we might not ave visited locally. Every day after picking Anvesha from the daycare, I used to head straight to a park, where she used to spend a good amount of time.



And finally the big annual vacation.....this year it was Hawaii !!!!!! We were super excited as its an all together different world out there. We didn't want to make it exhausting, so decided to cover just one island this time. Honolulu it was !!!! Hawaii is loaded with so many water activities and me  and Prateek took turns to baby sit Anvesha. Anvesha had her share of fun as well, especially at the beaches where she played with the sand. We had lots of pineapples and fresh coconut water there and at the end of the vacation, all three of us were tanned despite the sunscreen !!

Last week was officially the last week of summer and I can see leaves turning yellow and red..... While we bid adieu to summer this year, we are a bit melancholy to see it go despite the fact it has been the hottest in years. 

Finally some hair :)

So its been 8 months ever since we had Anvesha's mundan ceremony. She had very thin hair earlier on and we were hoping to have some good hair after the mundan. We shaved off her head again after two months so as to get some good hair growth. All this while I kept waiting patiently so that when the time comes I can dress her hair with cute little accessories like clips & hairbands. Though her hair are still not long enough to be tied with a rubber band, but finally she has some hair !!!!!!  I had been collecting head bands, hair clips for her and at last I can put them to use now :) Like I have said earlier, I love dressing up Anvesha in the cutest outfits and matching accessories.... its so much a girl's thing :) I really want her to look dolled up and I guess a  large part of this habit comes from my mom who was a teacher and was always smartly dressed up. She always ensured that me and my brother were dressed up well. Anvesha is my cute little princess and she must look adorable always.... PERIOD !!!! I am gonna make her a girly girl until she chooses if she wants to continue being one or be a tomboy, or maybe a blend of both :)

Here's a collection of Anvesha's head bands that I have been collecting all this while. They were getting non manageable so I got a great idea from pinterest to organize them in one place. (P.S: this is an old  box of  Quaker Oats..... a great way to recycle it :))

 Though its a bit of a task to get them onto Anvesha's hair as she gets irritated when I comb her hair, so I have to keep her distracted while I clip them on. She looks so adorable and so different with hair accessories, but I try to be practical and limit their use to special occasions. For moms  like me who love dressing their daughters with cute accessories, you may want to click here.

Here's Miss Anvesha in her new look :)

Sleeping Through the Night... Yayyyyy !!!!!!!!!

I am so glad that I finally did it !!!!!!! I night weaned my baby and bingo !!!!!!!! Anvesha has now started sleeping through the night :))))))) This is such a major developmental milestone, just like walking. It has been 1.5 years of waking up every other hour at night that I actually forgot what it was having a peaceful sleep. The initial few months were the toughest. I had people telling me that its probably because she is hungry, or things will settle down once she starts eating solids- but they never did. I secretly envied moms whose babies slept through the night, I can confess it now ;) I am so much against the cry it out method. I feel it is fundamentally wrong to expect a tiny baby to fall asleep on her own and let her cry till she falls asleep.Plus, I really do not have a heart of letting my baby cry while I walk out of the room- that's just not me !!!

We did try every trick so that Anvesha sleeps through the night, by which I mean sleeping for 9-10 hours straight. Maybe she is hungry- so I began my mission- a mission of feeding her well before going to bed. This often times resulted in overfeeding her :) No luck !!!! Is she under tired ??? So I ensured she has loads of physical activity; by which I mean running errands with her to the play areas, parks, neighborhood. I don't know about Anvesha, but I definitely was dead tired by the end of the day. We even checked the temperature of the room in order to ensure she is neither too hot nor too cold at night. I also ensured she is well hydrated. But all in vain !!! The sleepless nights followed and I was sleep deprived.There were days when I looked more like a zombie with hair undone, clothes improper for the occasion..... but I had to be on my toes and always smiling at least in front of Anvesha- I guess thats the biggest lesson I have learnt after becoming a mother.

So this continued for 1.5 years and her pediatrician even recommended me to try the sleep training which meant trying the cry it out method, which I am so much against. In the meantime it was time to night wean Anvesha. This was harder than I imagined it to be. She would wake up every other hour like usual and often times I would nurse her back to sleep. Refusing that was a nightmare for Anvesha and she would cry uncontrollably and would eventually fall off to sleep. This continued for almost 10 days and by the end of the tenth day I noticed she was sleeping for longer stretches and finally one night she slept through the night !!!!!!!! This was such a relief and I got the much needed sleep :)

Every child is different and what worked for me may not work for others and vice versa. All said and done, as long as the baby sleeps well, its all good :) A happy baby is equal to a happy mommy !!!

Radha Rani :)

Hare Rama Hare Krishna ... Krishna Krishna .... Hare Hare !!!!

The festive season has just started which means lots of great fun, food, pooja, temple visits and good clothes :) Anvesha has now reached an age where she attaches meaning to objects, actions, places or people. Like I've said earlier, it doesn't matter which place in the world we live in, inculcating values in our kids rests on us; and if we can make it more of a fun activity, the kids will show more interest as well.

Janmashtmi is one festival which is so much fun for kids. Celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday is a great way of involving kids.  I love dressing up Anvesha and this Janmashtmi Anvesha was dressed up in a cute Rajasthani lehanga choli that I had got from India. We also had matching accessories to go with the dress.... a headband, pearl necklace, silver anklets, silver bangles and a matching bindi.  She looked so cute dressed up as Radha Rani. She loved  her bangles and was dancing around like Radha as though she was waiting for her Kanha.

At home, we had decorated the temple with colorful lights. We made a small swing of garlands for our Laddoo Gopal and Anvesha loved to pull it back and forth. As we performed the aarti, we sang songs of Lord Krishna. Anvesha looked confused in the beginning, but soon got a hang of it. We headed to the temple after the aarti.

Seeing Anvesha in that cute little dress reminded me of a bollywood song, " O Radha Teri Chunri" :)

 Here are few glimpses from yesterday.

"Shri Krishna Govind Hare Murari, Hey Nath Narayan Vasudeva".

Wishing you all a very Happy Krishna Janmashtmi !!! 

100 % Weaned !!!!

So the day is finally here.... the day I say a long goodbye to the 1.5 yrs of an exclusive bond that me and Anvesha shared. As I type, my heart is filled with mixed feelings as nursing for me was more than just providing nourishment for my baby. I often nursed for comfort and despite of what friends and relatives said, I continued to nurse past 6 months. I had, in my mind set a limit of an year to start weaning. But it was difficult than I imagined it to be- it required a lot of time and patience. Anvesha showed no signs to stop nursing and so I had to wean her very gradually. Sometimes it was the sick days and sometimes it was the teething that added a speed breaker to the weaning process. It was getting harder for me as nursing takes up a lot of calories and I constantly felt weak and tired.

I wanted to go gradually and not stop abruptly as this would be very traumatic for Anvesha. So, here's what I did ever since Anvesha turned one:

• Don't offer, don't refuse: Since Anvesha is very attached to me, I never intended to go cold turkey when it came to weaning her. So I held back from offering her a feed and at the same time didn't refuse when she asked for one. This works pretty well in the initial stages of the mother led weaning.

• Skip a feed: I skipped one feed at a time during the day each week and for several weeks. Morning and night feeds are usually the last ones to go, so I did not bother about them initially. As a substitute, I offered her a healthy snack or whole milk  so that she remains full. This was so gradual that it gave her time to adjust.

• Distract: I postponed the day time feeding sessions and often distracted Anvesha if she got really upset. I often times took her out for a walk or read her a book, soon she forgot about it and was back to her usual self

• Shorten the nursing time: I gradually started limiting the nursing time. It was confusing for Anvesha initially, but eventually she got a hang of it.

• Cold Turkey:  Here's the tough part- Anvesha was completely weaned off during the day as it was much easier to distract her.The night time feeds, the morning feed and the bed time feed were so hard to give up and I was left with no choice than to go cold turkey. It was so difficult to have a stone heart and refuse her all together. She used to cry and whine and I constantly kept repeating to her that she is a big girl- its night time- she don't need me to fall asleep. The first day was the toughest. She cried for almost an hour and a half and eventually went off to sleep. I followed the same thing for the night time feeds and for the morning feed, Prateek pitched in to distract her. But this did not end abruptly- like all other feeds it was dropping one feed at a time each week.

So it took me exact six months to wean her off completely.This has been a gradual transition and Anvesha now sleeps for longer stretches at night. She does wake up once, but goes back to sleep after a cuddle and a hug from me.  I am now left with mixed emotions about letting go. Some part of me experiences this as a loss.  Suddenly Anvesha looks like a big girl to me. Please baby !!!! please don't grow up so fast :(

But I guess a  part of loving our child is grieving as she moves from one stage to the other, and we as parents need to honor that grief.

Anvesha @ 1.5 yrs

No more counting in months.... my little doll is now 1.5 yrs :) What an age to be in !!! Happy Birthday sweetie..... you are a big girl now !!!!

Anvesha weighs 20.6 pounds .... she is more on the petite side I feel and is 31 inches in height ( I secretly wish she doesn't turn out to be like me in terms of height ). She hasn't started to speak much but understands simple instructions and attaches meaning to a particular object. Her caterpillar, for instance is synonym to going out for a walk. She lives in her own predictable world where everything follows a sequence, at least on weekdays :)

She is now 98% weaned. The bedtime feed was the hardest one so far and we are left with just one morning feed. I am night weaning her these days which means few sleepless nights :). Its much difficult than I thought it would be as she is very attached to me and I was left with no choice than to go cold turkey.  We will reach there in a few weeks I hope and I will surely miss the closeness and the special bond we had. On the positive side, she is becoming more efficient at drinking from a glass :) I know kids her age who are still using bottle and find it difficult to give up on them. Thankfully, I do not have to worry about that :)

We have started potty training for her, though not vigorously. There have been so many accidents in the recent past and I don't quite think she is ready yet. As of now her potty seat is more of a fun place for her :)

She has a total of 14 teeth now and its bit of a struggle daily to brush her teeth as she resists a lot and wants to brush her teeth herself, but when it comes to hygiene, there are no compromises whatsoever.We also had her first dental appointment :)The four molars and two upper canines have appeared and she is able to chew food more efficiently. That means she is able to eat chapatis now and practically everything that we eat with mild spices of course. Though I still miss the baby food that I used to prepare for her. She loves fruits and her current favorite are blueberries !!!! Cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, figs are in season and I ensure to offer her a wide variety.

Anvesha loves to dance and there are a few of her favorite rhymes that she loves to dance on. These are "Johny Johny", "heads, shoulders, knees and toes", "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands", "machli jal ki raani hai", "wheels on the bus". She just looks so adorable dancing around. She can point out to her body parts... eyes, head, nose, feet, hands and the best one is tummy. She will lift her dress to point out at her little tummy :) She is learning to identify fruits now. We have a small pocket size book of fruits and vegetables for her that she finds very interesting these days.

In 6 months from now Anvesha will be 2 and there will be another update from me then. I hope till then I am able to meet few timelines that I have set for myself  including potty training :)

Here's little Miss Sunshine @ 1.5 years.... love you baby. Muaahhhhhh !!!!

Temper Tantrums

I knew I would have to face this some day..... especially when Anvesha reaches the so called "terrible twos"... though was never prepared to have to face it around this time.  Temper tantrums !!!!!! These are plain expression of frustration over something that a toddler cannot or won't be allowed to do. Mix in hunger and fatigue and you have got an atom bomb. These are definitely not a pretty sight, especially in public places as it gets embarrassing and the only resort is to give in ( at least that's what I thought)

Anvesha is getting more independent day by day and with this also comes the freedom to make choices of what she wants to do and where she wants to go. Disapprove her actions and you have a  crying, whining toddler with an arching back.That is the time I wonder where has my sweet little girl disappeared ??  So what is the trigger??? Well, it could be anything from wanting to listen to a particular song, wanting to play in the mud when we have dressed her up in the most prettiest dress, not wanting to brush her teeth to throwing objects out from the aisle at the grocery store.   I did get some relief when somebody rightly pointed out, "You are in for a world of embarrassment if age appropriate behavior embarrasses you". 

So we have come up with our own strategy to deal with these nasty situations:

• Keep your cool- Its easier to have a meltdown yourself when the child is giving you a hard day
• Redirect, redirect, redirect- It could be through humor, favorite activity, books, the bottom line is to divert the attention.
• Ignore-When Anvesha gets to a point where she gets too frustrated, she simply lies down and rolls on the floor ( thanks to the carpet flooring she does not hurt herself :)).  At this point its best to just ignore her and carry on with the daily chores. Its just her tactic to get attention. Sorry sweety.... you cannot get my attention this way !!!!

When she calms down I cuddle her close to me, but no matter what, the key is to not give in to her demands as this would send out a wrong signal.This might be difficult when we are in a public place, so at that time, its best to leave.

Iam doing my bit to prevent the meltdown by warding off hunger, fatigue, boredom or over stimulation. So whenever we go out I pack lots of healthy snacks, few toys or book and make sure she is well rested before leaving the house. It is such a horrible sight ... the crying, the whining aggghhhh !!!! I wish I had a video from last night when we would not let her watch TV. She created a big fuss, but soon went back to normal when she did not get much attention from us.

Like all other phases, this too shall pass !!!!!  SIGH !!!!!!!!

Teaching values

Raising Indian kids in US is quite challenging. Our Indian heritage is so rich and our children can benefit from its richness, but the influence of western culture is powerful- though not necessarily bad. Raising kids in two cultures, therefore, becomes more of a balancing act so  that the kids can benefit from these two very distinct influences.  I strongly feel that no matter where you bring up your kids, everything rests in the hands of parents. Be a friend to your child and your child will automatically start confiding in you, teach you child the importance of integrity, generosity and fairness - and you shall see how your child blossoms into a confident, well adjusted adult who loves, obeys and respects you. Having said that, it becomes equally important for parents to follow the same so that the child sees us as role models.

The kids need to understand the value of Indian values and this itself is a very difficult task as what we considered "Indian" is also changing. What worked for our parents or grandparents may not necessarily work here. There is a new term that has emerged recently which is referred to as "cultural parenting" which goes much beyond teaching the kids our cultural heritage. It is more about building bridges so that our future generation can effectively cross the boundaries of different cultures and become happy and healthy members of both.

As of now, we are doing our bit to teach Anvesha about morning/ evening prayers ( Hey Prabhu, mujhe achchi buddhi dena )We go for regular temple visits with her. At home she understands that the little corner we have is dedicated for praying and joins her hands together in front of the idols as a mark of respect. She rings the ghanti and bows her head as I put tikka on her forehead :) These days she is enjoying 'Amar Chitra Katha'  books that my parents sent from India. She's not at an age where she understands the stories, but this is just our way of getting her acquainted with the Indian heritage. Slowly as time will pass by, this will get embarked in her mind. I am sure we would have done all of this and more if we were in India..... its just that we need to go an extra mile here in the US.

Product Review: BRICA Auto Mirror

We had a tough time getting Anvesha to sit in her car seat. She would resist being seated, would scream and whine. Driving around with her was so stressful as she would cry for hours. When Prateek would drive, I really did not have a heart to let her cry and would unbuckle her and have her in my lap.  I know its a safety issue here, though all my friends back in India will laugh as they read this. Probable responses will be.... "safety issue?? don't we keep our babies in our laps while the car is on the driving mode?", or "did you ever sit in a car seat when you were young?", and the best one, "I drive my car with my baby sitting on my lap." I shamefully agree to all of this. Talking about safety, yes, its not safe to keep the baby out of the car seat when you are driving. Plus, car seats also give you freedom of mobility with the baby when you wanna go places alone.

So I asked a question to other moms in my birth club on how to keep the baby seated in the car seat. I was taken aback with the responses that I got and that made me realise Iam not doing it right. One of the responses that struck me was, " I rather have a crying baby in the car seat than a dead baby in my lap." So we headed to babiesrus and got home a BRICA baby in sight firefly mirror.

This mirror comes with a sleek remote to control the music and volume. The music is soothing and has two different modes: entertainment and lullaby. I can keep an eye at my rear facing baby from my rear view mirror and I often find her smiling at herself in the mirror. The captivating LED lights keep her entertained and me relaxed while driving. The soothing sounds of the music often lulls her to sleep and she wakes up happy again. This has made so much difference in our lives. Anvesha would cry on top of her lungs from the moment I buckled her into the car seat till the time we reached our destination.

I would highly recommend this product to anyone who has a baby like ours who hated car. We often go for long drives now and make multiple road trips... something that we couldn't have imagined previously.

A Day in the Life of Anvesha

For most of us, life revolves around a set routine, like having tea at particular time of the day, going out for a walk at certain time. This routine is true for even babies and toddlers. Activities that happen at about the same time and in about the same way every day provide comfort and sense of safety for young children. Framing a daily routine for babies is really important since they like a predictable world.

 We had always been so hard pressed when it came on framing Anvesha's daily schedule and often times I have stressed out when her nap time would move here and there Anvesha is 17 months old now !!!!! They grow so fast....  Although there is no such thing as a typical schedule for any child.... but this is how her day roughly looks like :

Wake up 7.30-8 AM... usually is in a playful mood earlier in the morning
Breakfast is usually an hour after she wakes up, mostly  9- 9.30 AM

I dress her up for the day and we play around a bit. If the weather is good I take her out for a stroller ride around the neighborhood.

11 AM- Snack time

I drop her off at the day care at noon where she spends the next four hours.

Lunch at 1 at the daycare. She gets tired by that time and gets her siesta. She is down to just one nap in the afternoon now. 

3 PM - snack time

I pick her up at 4 PM and we head straight to the park and she plays there for an hour or so. In between I offer her some light snack to munch on.

7 PM- bath time. We have changed her bath timings for summers. She loves playing with water and splashes water all over. 

Dinner is at 7.30 PM

By 9.30 she is off to bed into her own dreamland !!!!

There is always room for deviations ofcourse, like vacations or flu. We do try to mix things up sometimes, especially on weekends so that she learns flexibility and tolerance.

Father's Day Messages

" Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad !!!"- Ann Geddes

Its Father's Day !!!! and I wanted to pass on few messages.... I am not very expressive when it comes to speaking out my inner feelings, so I thought it would be best to jot down my feelings and document them in my post :)

My dear loving hubby,
You are so much more than just a husband. You are the 'father' to our lovely daughter.Your love as a father shows through your interaction with Anvesha. You are a fabulous father, a great husband and we love you for who you are. There's another amazing side of you that only shows when you are with Anvesha. As difficult as it's been sometimes, I know I couldn't do it without your support.Thank you for being such a fantabulous father !!!!! 

And here's one from your darling princess.....

Dear Papa,
Happy Father's Day !!!! You are the world's coolest dad. You give me ice cream to eat, and you also give me chocolates without telling Mamma...... Our secrets remain with us.....I love it when you come home from office and I come running to you. You are a great storyteller. I want to dedicate this special song to you today.
Love you lotssss... Aanu

For me, father's day will be incomplete without these messages......

Respected Daddy,

Its Father's Day and I want you to know that the past four years with you have been truly knowledgeable. When I came into this family you ensured I feel comfortable and loved. Though I wasn't the religious type earlier, but being with you taught me many  things that I will cherish forever. Thanks for being such a great teacher.

Dear Papa,

Our relation is 32 years old and though I haven't been very vocal, I want you to know that you are an amazing father. Even though we've had many disagreements you are still  someone I look upto in my life. Thank you for working so hard to give me the best education possible. No matter how old I get, I will always be your little girl.

Happy Father's Day !!!!

Berry Berry Sweet !!

Strawberries are in season and this also marks the onset of summers... Yayyy !!!! They are in fact sweet little nuggets of summer goodness. What better way of celebrating summer than go berry picking :) Strawberries being Anvesha's favorite, so we decided to pick strawberries out of all berries :) Last year around this time Anvesha was about 5 months old and we decided to wait for another year so that she can enjoy this country side experience.

There are plenty of "U Pick Farms" in Seattle. We decided to go to the Remlingar Farms this Sunday . It was a warm sunny day and we put in lots of sunscreen to avoid any sun tan. Anvesha was still sleepy as we pulled her out of her car seat. As we entered the strawberry fields, she was more than delighted to run around and squealed in delight on seeing strawberries.  At first the strawberries barely reached the basket as they went directly into Anvesha's mouth :) A curious child as she has always been, she was watching us pick the strawberries and put them in the basket. Few minutes later she decided to give us a helping hand. She would pluck the berries, throw them into the basket and clap her hands on her accomplishment !!!! She had tons of fun playing with mud too. For the next couple of days, its gonna be strawberries on the menu.... smoothies, snack items, strawberry pancakes.... or maybe some homemade  strawberry jam......who knows ????

It was an altogether different experience for her and I am sure by the age of 4 or 5, she would enjoy it all the more. It's also a great way to expose kids to the country side. Living in the city we often forget how much sweat goes in producing the fruits and veggies that we so easily buy from our local grocery store. But as of now none of this will make sense to her :) All that she can see is these red dew drops hanging in the fields !!!!

After picking around 5 Lbs of strawberries,we headed straight to the fun park. Anvesha enjoyed the train ride, pony ride, the mini giant wheel and we enjoyed having fun with her. By the end of the day all three of us were exhausted. It was a fun filled Sunday. What a way to start the summer !!!!

For the love of stuffed toys

The world is  better place and what makes it so are the soft toys !!! Fluffy, hugable, warm, soft, cuddly, cute.... these are just the few keywords to 'stuffed toys' :) They are really the cutest things to exist on earth.There's something about these cute  and soft plushies that girls, especially babies love them so much.These cute little fluffies come in different characters and various shapes and sizes.  The Disney clan of stuffed toys is always a hit amongst kids.

We had been collecting stuffed toys for Anvesha even before she was born !!! She has over two dozens of them now in different shapes and sizes and different characters as well.  She has developed a liking towards stuffed toys lately and I secretly admire her hugging and playing with them :) There are ones for the car seat, few she likes to go out with on her stroller... and how can I forget her bumblebee, her Donald duck, the huge Minni Mouse...... the list just goes on and on!!!!! I feel that every girl MUST develop a liking towards soft toys.... its like a tradition isn't it??  I remember hugging my teddy bear tightly while going to sleep. This was one that my father got for me when I was around 10 yrs old and I still have it at my parent's place... would love to see Anvesha play with it too :) Here's her collection of  stuffed toys

Girls are born with an innate habit of collecting them even when they grow up. They can just hug them and go to sleep and not worry about anything at all. As far as her favorite toy is concerned... well she loves all of them.... it must be hard for her to pick one out of the lot. We happened to be at ToysRUs the other day and our dear Missy was all over the place picking the stuffed toys.  At the time of check out we landed up doing some compulsive shopping of the ones she was holding.  Iam sure we will land up buying more and more as the time progresses. She loves to move around hugging them tightly :)

That's her at ToysRUs......

Oh So Adorable !!!!

We always wanted to have a daughter and I still remember the morning of Sept' 2012 when we had scheduled the "big ultrasound". Our prayers were answered when we found out its a "girl" :) For me, the best part about having daughters is that we have countless ways of dressing them up. Sun dresses, skirts, shorts, trousers, rompers, dungarees, lehangas, salwar kameez.....the list goes on !!! Not to forget the cute accessories- clips, hairbands, ribbons, shoes..... they look so adorable :)

I love dressing up and styling Anvesha. I have so much fun dressing her in those cute little outfits, especially when I know that I will not be able to choose her ensembles forever. In just a matter of few years she will have her own style statement, so I enjoy having my own real life doll to play dress up with :)

If you happen to pass by the kids' clothing section in any of the stores, it looks so colorful. Pink still rules the girl's section :) Needless to say, pink dominates Anvesha's wardrobe as well and I am so much over the color pink now that I have stopped purchasing anything pink for her.  Yellow, red, orange, blue, green...... anything but pink !!!!!  Its hard to resist this color as its my favorite one. I think we have exhausted Carters now and its time to look out for other brands... Zulily has some really cute ones  and with summers just around the corner, its time to stock up some cute sun dresses for her :)

I happened to re-organize Anvesha's wardrobe one day ( something which had been on my to-do list for long ) and couldn't help but admire these cute and lovely dresses. I have two favorites- the blue dress that she wore for her welcome party in India and the pink dress that she wore for her birthday party. I wish I could turn back time and go  into my childhood  so that I can wear them too ;)

Here's a sneak peek into Anvesha's wardrobe..... These dresses are just A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E !!!!!

P.S: These ones are just the few BEST ones out of the lot :)

On Mother's Day

I used to say I am a new mom with a little baby girl. But now I am a mom with a toddler... can't believe how time flies. I started this blog to write about anything and everything I could think of as I became this new person called "mom". I continue blogging to share the spirit and joy of becoming a mother- hoping it might help others like me who are discovering this all new aspect of their lives called motherhood. This is also my own way of recording all the sweet memories of Anvesha's childhood and everything else that I have learnt being a first time mom.

Thank you Aanu for giving me the most special role in my life and thanks Prateek for being my pillar during the rough times...... last but definitely not the least, thank you mummy for inspiring me each day to get better at this role. Even if I can be half of what you are, I would consider my motherhood a success !!!

This mother's day I make a promise to myself to be a good mom- not the best mom 'coz who knows what the best mom is anyways ??   I have come to appreciate how much harder it is to be a mom despite all the conveniences of modern motherhood!! I don't always get it right, but I am trying.... Being a mom is the toughest job on planet. There are always clothes to wash, meals to cook, stories to read, tears to be kissed away.... and it never ends there. It's hard to get up at 3 AM when your little one is crying and you are exhausted... its hard to take care of a fussy toddler when you have a cold too. I finally understand the value of mother's love and appreciate how hard our mothers have worked to raise us. Happy mother's day mummy.... thanks for being my guiding light !!!!

Here's a special mother's day note to my angel ( i thought I'll just flip sides and celebrate the reason I've been able to call myself a mother)

Dear Aanu,
Its mother's day and I want you to know that you are the bestest daughter in the whole world. I am so blessed to be your mother.I promise to always be there for you and be the mom you deserve. Thank you for the wonderful  mother's day greeting this morning ( courtesy  your dad ). Being your mom makes me the happiest person today !!!!
 Hugs n kisses.... Mamma

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there !!!!!

Let's Play !!!

Being a stay at home mom, I have all the time to entertain Anvesha. We both love to try new things to keep ourselves entertained. I love to play peekaboo and the "chase" game with her where I chase her through the house and tickle her all over... she goes splits and rolls all over the floor :) We love to play with the ball throwing it back and forth to each other. I try to involve her in the household chores like laundry, stacking the dishwasher and she loves to help around as well :)

She loves books and I read out to her a LOT!!!.  We go to the library and  Barnes and Noble for story times. She loves dancing, playing with her blocks, sliding on her slide, riding on her horse, playing with her ball ( she is so possessive about it )..... taking her new best friend- her caterpillar out for walks :) Seeing her with her caterpillar reminds me of the Hutch ad.... she loves to stack things up, empty up the cabinets which is frustrating for me but I let her continue anyway. That's the best way to encourage curiosity in this cute little enthusiastic cutlet !!!!!

I feel that it is MUCH easier to keep the toddlers entertained when the weather is nice. Past few days  had been very sunny and its beginning to warm up now with temperature hitting 80 degrees !!! Time to get those summer dresses out from the closet :) So each sunny day, this is how we spent our day together:

• taking walks around the neighborhood
• playing at the parks
• feeding the ducks at Bellevue downtown park
• stroller rides along the Bellevue Way

There are some really good kid friendly parks in the Bellevue/ Redmond area like the  Bellevue downtown park, Crossroads park, Grass lawn park. These parks offer a lot of activities for the little cruisers. Anvesha would squeal in delight as I pushed her on the swing and had great fun whooshing down the mini slide :) Here are the highlights from last week.

Anvesha loves playing with sand, picking up pebbles and leaves and I love showing her how they crush and crumble :) Being outdoors is a great way for her to learn and explore new things. This exploratory impulse- to go, look, touch and taste is what drives her to learn. She learns about 'fear', for instance while climbing a playground structure and about 'excitement', when she comes down the slide.  Unfortunately at her age she can't yet differentiate between what's safe and what's not. The challenge for me is to keep her safe without inhibiting her desire to touch, hold, shake or taste her world !!

Anvesha @ 15 months

Time for an update !!! I like to have these things documented so I can always look back with a smile :)
Its been 15 months for Anvesha in this world !!! We had her 15 month check up today and she is 19.5  lbs in weight which is the 25th percentile and 29.5 inches in height which is the 25th percentile.

Though her vocabulary is still small, but she still has the ability to convey her mind through some hand gestures, sounds, words. This display of communication is rather impressive. This is also an evidence that she is learning how to share her thoughts. When asked to get her ball, she runs to get it. Ask her where "Tinker Bell" is and she will get her storybook to you. Bath time is fun time for Anvesha. Sing the song, " Chai Chappa Chaii" and she will drag you to the bathroom. She is learning new words.... and my ears are still waiting to hear Mamma :) Here's a list of few words she can say:

• "Doah" for Dog
• "Ish" for Fish
• "Shhhh" for Shoes
• "Aiii" for Bye
• "Da" for Duck
• "Bub Bub" for bumble bee
• "Ja" for jump

She is 75 % weaned as of now and the day time feedings are close to zero... yayyyy !!!! As far as favorite foods are concerned... well she loves strawberries & oatmeal- she will just jump in excitement on seeing strawberries. Her favorite song these days is "Clap your hands"  and she can "clap her hands", "stamp her feet", "jump up high", "turn around" in sequence on hearing this song :) Cute isn't it?? Here's a video of her activities.

Anvesha has four upper teeth and four lower ones right now, one lower molar and two upper molars have erupted and the other lower molar is on its way.She also has a small finger toothbrush and loves to brush her teeth :) We also need to have her first dentist appointment soon :). The past few days have been tough on her .....sleepless nights, lack of appetite and fussiness and I would blame it on these "horrible molars"!!!

She is down to just one nap during the day now and this gets harder on me as I am not able to catch up on my sleep (yeah.... she still doesn't sleep through the night ). I  am not a great supporter of the cry it out method of sleep training... though many people swear by it and that is what her pediatrician recommended too. I just feel its wayyy too harsh on the child and I just do not have the heart to let her cry until she falls asleep. The sight of her falling off to sleep on my lap is just so precious that I can give up anything in this world for that.

It might be a little early to comment whether she is a left handed or a right handed girl... but she prefers to use her left hand a lot. Neither me nor Prateek is a lefty, so it would be exciting to have a left handed person in our family, and we don't wanna manipulate her hand preference at all.

Although I do miss going to work at times, but watching  her grow right in front of my eyes is something I cannot trade off for anything else. Over the years I shall look back with a smile and say with pride, "That's my girl" !!! 

Tulip Fest !!

Spring is here and the tulips are in full bloom :) We have been going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival since 3 years... its one of my favorite places here and last year around the same time Anvesha was still a  2 month old newbie. She is more mobile now and runs around more confidently, with me chasing after her. She loves touching the leaves and holding the colorful petals in her hands. It was certainly a delightful trip for Anvesha when we went for the tulip fest this year. She was so happy to see millions of tulips in full  bloom and ran around here and there screaming in excitement.

For a winter baby like her, seeing the tulip fields spread across 100s of acres of land surely is a treat. I find myself really lucky to see these beauties of nature here in United States- something that we miss in India. For kids who are of Anvesha's age, its a wonderful time for getting exposed to these wonders of nature. They can actually relate to what they read in storybooks and watch on the television.

It sure is a matter of great pride for both me and Prateek when people give her compliments on how cute she looks :) Clicking her pics was challenging for us as she would just not stand still.She was so busy absorbing the wonderful sight of the tulips, that she completely ignored us :( Here are few best ones from the tulip festival this year

Flowers are in full bloom all around us and I am so looking forward to summer this year. I also have a mental list of all the things I wanna do this summer..... but more on that later !!!!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter is here....my memories of Easter are somewhat faded.... all I remember is the long Easter break we used to have in school, so we didn't quite participate in the Easter egg hunt. But Easter is celebrated on a large scale here in United States. It is great fun for families with children and the kids really look forward to them. The community in which we live had organized the Easter Bunny Egg Hunt and it was such a big hit :)

We dressed up Anvesha in an adorable "Sweet Bunny" pink dress ( it coincidentally matched perfectly for the day) and a  white bunny ears hair band. She looked so adorable in the cute little Easter basket that she took around in hunt of eggs :) The Easter Bunny was such a hit among kids and there was a photo session too. Anvesha was thrilled to meet the Bunny and we clicked loads of pictures of them together.

Anvesha collected four eggs which were good enough for her age :) She happily flaunted her Easter basket and played with the candy filled eggs :)  Though she still hasn't reached an age where she attaches meaning to what is going on around her, but she enjoyed nonetheless :) Here are few memories from today's Egg Hunt.

Encouraging kids to participate in such events is a great way for them to learn various cultures, interact socially plus value and respect diversity. Easter egg hunt may be more of a western concept, but involving kids in such activities is a great way for them to develop and understand these concepts in a better way and relate to what they see and learn in storybooks  :)

Happy Easter Everyone !!!!

Kanjak Poojan

With the navratri celebrations Iam reminded of my childhood days in Shimla, when I got ready to accompany my friends as we were invited by many neighborhood households for kanjak, a ritual very popular in north India- young girls are invited to be worshiped, offered delicacies like halwa, puri, chana and are given gifts or money. Kanjak Poojan is usually done on ashtami or naavmi ( eight or ninth day of the navratris). At our end we perform this on naavmi ( ninth day of navratris ).

We do not have many Indians in the neighborhood here and Anvesha missed the many opportunities that she would have got- had she been in India around this time ;) We did have friends come in for Kanjak though and since Anvesha could not eat all of the yummy halwa puris, I finished them for her, lol :)

We dressed up Anvesha in the traditional salwar kameez that day and she looked adorable as she played around with the dupatta. Since it was 'her' day, I took her to Wiggle Works- kids play area, so that she could enjoy her day. She is fond of stacking these days, so I thought it would be a good idea to get her a stacking ring, which reminds me of the onion rings at Red Robin :)

Here's our Kanjak, ready for her Kanjak Poojan :)

Spring is here !!!!

We've spent most of our winter indoors looking at nature through the window and wishing for an early spring. Now that spring is 'officially here', its our chance to go outside and experience it first hand. We take a simple walk for granted until its too cold and rainy outside and with small kids it gets so so difficult to engage them in any sort of indoor activities. Anvesha brings her shoes asking us to put them on for her and drags us to the main door, indicating that she wants to go outside :) Poor baby !!! little does she know that we cant go out in the cold, rainy afternoons.

Iam personally very fond of flowers ( who isn't ?) and its a delight to see cherry blossom trees all around the place these days. This week we were lucky enough to see some daffodils bloom in the spring and we took advantage of it and spent  some good time outside. Weekend was spent in Portland and Anvesha enjoyed being out, ran all around the place with her ball and didnt want to come back home. Here are some of this week's pics.

We look forward to more of such delightful colors that spring has to offer and welcome it with open arms !!!!! 

Happy Spring 2014 !!!

Here's a poem, " To Daffodils" by Robert Herrick that has stayed with me from my school days, which I think is  very appropriate to this particular post.

"Fair Daffodils, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
As yet the early-rising sun
Has not attain'd his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the even-song;
And, having pray'd together, we
Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,
We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
As you, or anything.
We die
As your hours do, and dry
Away,
Like to the summer's rain;
Or as the pearls of morning's dew,
Ne'er to be found again."

The Dark Side of Motherhood

All right, so this post is more like a vent post and I don't mean to discourage new moms or soon to be moms, or even bleakly sound positive. So far I have mentioned about the good part of becoming a mom, life as a stay at home mom..... but hey!!! there's other side of the coin too.

Its 8 AM.... Anvesha wakes up and just wants to be held (only by me), she has been super clingy for whatever reason, refusing to eat. While I need to get the household chores done before Prateek leaves for work, Anvesha would just not let me work at all and follows me everywhere. I somehow manage to get some tasks done, gobbling some instant breakfast meals while holding Anvesha. God bless the instant meals concept !!! Too tired to hold her anymore, I end up putting on her favorite rhymes so as to get her down to sit in one place. I hate treating television as a baby sitter, but this is my last resort.

Fast forward... its 12.30 PM now and I have finally managed to get her to sleep after hours of whining. I sit down in front of my laptop and begin to write. I look around me - at the unopened book that I wanted to read but haven't managed to so far, my to do list which is becoming longer and longer, and finally the lukewarm cup of "adrak ki chai" which I wanted to drink while it was still hot... too tired to get up, I gulp it anyways.

These days the success of my day is determined more by whether Anvesha finishes her meals, how much she naps and how much of the household chores Iam able to finish on time. Its so easy to fall into the trap of counting all the wrong things, that Iam forgetting what motherhood really is.... Squeezing out time for myself is a major challenge these days..... I need some pampering, some ME time :(

How many times have I swept the kitchen floor, how many times have I cleaned the carpet stains, how many times have I stepped over that particular toy, how many times have I cleared the tit bits of Anvesha's leftovers, how many times have I raised my voice? My equation of motherhood seems to be always unbalanced. No matter how hard I try, Iam always at the losing end and the more I think about it, the more overwhelmed, hopeless, frustrated and uncertain I get. But you know what, motherhood cannot be quantified and children aren't equations and my purpose is definitely not to solve my domestic life as a complex maths equation. My purpose is to extend grace, plant love in the hearts of people I love most.

I should rather focus on what is going right in order to feel better. I know today I haven't been able to meet any of the standards I have set for myself, but who said motherhood would be a rosy picture? Whenever Iam feeling low in times like these, i see all of Anvesha's pictures and old videos and that makes me feel better.

A beautiful mess !!

The organized side of me would hate to see the messy house that I live in these days ; correction-  "beautiful messy house". This is my life now- a beautiful mess. Despite my best efforts, its crazy and unorganized. Its just way too stressful to keep my house perfectly neat at this stage of my life, its just next to impossible. Iam inherently an organized person, but from the time Anvesha has gained mobility, she has ganged up against me and turned my house crazy :) She'll un spool rolls of toilet paper, empty out kitchen & the bedside drawers, knock glasses off the table. to keep my sanity, I sometimes take her out for a walk or to kids' play areas nearby, but have to limit the outdoor activity these days as it rains crazily in Seattle. 

Here's a poem I came across somewhere and wanted to share here

slow down mummy, there is no need to rush,
slow down mummy, what is all the fuss?
slow down mummy, make yourself a cup of tea.
slow down mummy, come spend some time with me.

slow down mummy, let's pull boots on for a walk,
let's kick at piles of leaves, and smile and laugh and talk.
slow down mummy, you look ever so tired,
come sit and snuggle under the duvet, and rest with me a while.

slow down mummy, those dirty dishes can wait,
slow down mummy, let's have some fun - bake a cake!
slow down mummy, I know you work a lot,
but sometimes mummy, it's nice when you just stop.

sit with us a minute,
and listen to our day,
spend a cherished moment,
because our childhood won't stay!

One day my house will be in shape again, the closets will be organized and things will be in place, but as of now I have stopped sweating over it. This is just a phase and shall pass too !!