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 !!

Weaning Baby

Weaning can be a simple or a struggle depending on how attached the baby is to breastfeeding. Generally speaking, it is recommended to nurse for at least an year or as long as it makes you and your child happy.  I feel it was the best thing I did for Anvesha as it not only help her build a strong immune system, but also strengthen the bonding between me and her. Though it was a bit challenging for me and I kept getting raised eyebrows in the past couple of months as though to suggest that its time to give up breastfeeding. I have realized over the time that people WILL have opinions and the rule of thumb is not to feel pressurized, after all,  she is getting the best nutrition which is from ME :)

Anvesha did not take the bottle quite well and so I thought it would be just fine to introduce her directly to a glass or a cup for milk when the time is just right.Now that she is an year old, Iam slowly introducing her to whole milk. The plan is to wean gradually and not go "cold turkey" so as to give her time to adjust. But it certainly isn't a cakewalk, some days are good while others are bad ( read frustrating ). Her pediatrician has suggested to give at least 20 oz of whole milk each day and it sure is challenging. A work around is to give her dairy products such as cheese, yogurt,and other milk products such as kheer. Within few months she will be weaned off completely and I will surely miss feeding her.

Anvesha is getting used to drinking milk from her cup and there are spills... lots of them. I don't care anymore how the carpet looks.... as long as she gets the milk :) There are so many phases in a child's life and each one is so special -before we realize it, the child steps into the next phase. Well, for Anvesha the next phase would be, "Food the world awaits" !!

Tell me a story

One of the best things we can do for our children is spending time with them as it tells the child that they are important to us. This can be difficult if you are tired, but it is important. Bedtime stories have been very effective in developing a strong reading habit. It can take a child to a new world of imaginative activity and also helps build a strong affectionate bond between the child and the parent. Going down the memory lane, I remember sneaking into my grand mom's bed and requesting her to tell me a story. She would tell me all sorts of different stories of Indian Gods and Godesses, panchatantra, fairies and I would go into my own dreamland. Every time I would visit my grandparents, this was my bedtime ritual. There are some family rituals you want to carry on and story time is one of them.

We've got Anvesha few fairy fables, which she loves. Though she doesn't understand a word of what is inside the book, but she enjoys flipping the pages. Her favorite character these days is Tinker Bell & Rosetta :) I try my best to make story times special and enjoyable for her by showing pictures from the book as I am reading, making sound effects with some unique voices and dramatic pause ;) Phew !!!!! so much for becoming a mom. But believe me, its all worth it !!!!

Luckily for us, we have our local library nearby and guess what? they have weekly story time sessions as well :) My next step is to get her enrolled in one such story time .... and I am very curious to see how she responds, I think she will love it :)

India Trip Highlights

I know this post should have come long back, but I had been busy preparing for Anvesha's birthday bash, fighting jetlag and settling down of course. Its always a delight to meet family after a long time, but this trip was extra special as Anvesha was exposed to so many wonderful things that we as kids were; and with this I mean playing with mud, collecting leaves, taking an oil massage in the sun followed by a sun bath :) not to forget going for regular walk with grandpa and meeting new faces on  the way, a ride on the cycle rickshaw........ the list is endless !!!!!

The first week in India was a bit rough as Anvesha was terribly jetlaged and so were we. Family and friends were thrilled to meet her and the house was decorated with balloons all over. It was a grand welcome indeed :) I have never seen her so happy and social on meeting new people. She just loved to watch the birds and pigeons and to my surprise, she laughed her heart out on seeing the street dogs approaching her.

As a part of Indian tradition a child's head is supposed to be shaved off within an year of birth. The ceremony is referred to as "mundan". Its a big ceremony and father's sister (bua) has a big role to play in it. Though we tried to keep Anvesha distracted, but she cried uncontrollably when her head was being shaved off. Here's her pic before and after the mundan.

We've been celebrating Anvesha's monthly birthdays but her 11th month birthday was different as we had a katha ceremony at home. The next day was followed by Anvesha's grand welcome party where everyone came to meet her. She wore a beautiful blue dress that we got from Delhi after days and days of survey to get the perfect dress for the big day !! We even got her a pair of matching sandals but they looked alien to her and she was so scared to put them on that we dropped the idea of having her wear those cute little sandals.

Winter was at its peak and the mercury level was dropping down. The latter part of the India trip was at Anvesha's naana- naani ( maternal side grandparents ). By that time she had learnt to walk confidently and my job was even tougher as I had to run around to watch her, while she played in the mud and collected leaves that had fallen off from the trees.

I can't help but think that its so so necessary to be amongst people, especially for a kid. They learn so many new things and everyone has their own unique way of handling kids. Anvesha waves goodbye, claps her hands and gives a big "high five". I think it was the best trip to India so far..... wish I could turn back time, but life must go on.........

The Big "One" !!!!

January 28th....The day is finally here !!!!! Happy birthday sweetie pie.. muaaahhhhh love you lots !!!!! One year ago our house was as quiet as a library and now its as noisy and messy as a market... all because you brought so much joy and happiness in our lives,

I would give myself a pat on my back on making through this amazing, exhausting first year of Anvesha's life.Changing 10-12 diapers a day, waking every few hours for feeding, worrying over that one single sneeze. Those days are long gone and the fun has just begun.... as she transitions from an infant to being a toddler- which means walking, talking, tantrums and greater independence.

In only twelve years from now Anvesha will become a rebellious teenager who will not like given hugs & kisses. Until then let me hug her to my hearts content and wish her a very happy first birthday :)

While we are preparing for her birthday party, Anvesha is coping up with the jetlag. Iam pretty sure she will have no idea as what is happening around her.... but thats okay as first birthdays are meant to be understood and enjoyed only in the hindsight in the form of pictures and videos.


Happy Birthday to this cute little bundle of joy who is apparently the most powerful person in the house right now as the whole house revolves around her !!!! Love you lots Aanu... Muaahhhhh

First Steps

" A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"..... Lao Tzu

 Probably no milestone is as exciting and thrilling as baby's first steps.There has been lots of exercise for me ever since Anvesha started crawling. She can walk while holding onto furniture now and loves her walker (thanks Pavan & Ramya for this lovely gift :). Now that she can stand confidently, she is beginning to take few steps.  These magical first steps towards independence mean lots of more exercise for me :) These days all of Anvesha's energy is focused on taking these first unsupported steps. With an intent of motivating her to walk, I usually hold a toy at a distance. She lets go of whatever she is holding onto because she is so captivated by the toy and forgets she might fall.

So far she can take four or five steps forward. Never thought walking would be so hard but I guess it is... for a baby :) Just imagine, balancing on a tightrope which requires enormous complexity of balance and coordination.

Wanted to share this video of Anvesha's first steps.

The sequence from standing to cruising to walking is indeed magical. With walking comes independence- independence to make choices about where she wants to go and whole lot of challenges for both me and her. I guess its time now to revisit the childproofing so as to have a healthy and a safe environment for Anvesha.

While the rest of US is getting ready for the holidays, we are getting ready for Anvesha's first India trip. Iam super excited about it as this is one good time when she will meet her grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins who are eagerly waiting to see her. While I might not be regular in my posts, I will try my best to stay in sync with many exciting stories throughout our India trip :)

Till then Happy Holidays and a Very Happy New  Year 2014 :)

Sweet Nothings

When I Imagined my baby's first sound, it was always Mama, of course which mother wouldn't like to hear that ?

A couple of days ago me and Anvesha had a good 5 minute, back and forth conversation with each other.

Anvesha: Ba Ba
Me: Ba Ba
Anvesha : Ba Ba Ba Ba
Me: Ba Ba Ba Ba

This was such an emotional moment to hear the first sound of my angel and it came right when she hit the 10 month timeline. I would love to call these baffles as "sweet nothings" :) This milestone has delighted both me and Prateek. I guess she might be even beginning to understand simple phrases and the tone of our voice. So it becomes even more important to keep talking to her to enhance her conversational skills; and with this I mean real words and not baby talk. Baby talk indeed sounds cute, but Iam trying hard to avoid this tendency no matter how much ever cute or fun it may sound. No particular reason, but I just feel that the use of right words would be good for her development, though Prateek is still hung on the baby talk :)

Here's a video from today afternoon

Though it may sometime feel silly, especially if Iam in a park or grocery shopping, but I keep the conversation going with this cute little chatter box and what does she really talk? Well they are just "sweet nothings" :)