4 year old big girl

So the little baby refuses to be called a baby anymore
She throws a fit everytime I do so.
She is 4 now, now way a baby..Huff!
She tells me a million reasons, she isn't a baby!
'I have no diapers, I eat my own food ( Not!)'
'I sleep on my own, I don't cry at all (Really!)'
And the monologue continues till I give in and say
'You are a big girl' (Not!)
I dont have any reasons to give but you will always be
my little baby.
I will embarrass you constantly in front of your friends
I will fuss over you constantly
I will do everything my mum did that infuriated me to wits end
I will because I cant help being a mother!
Afterall , whats a mother who isnt hovering all over you! :D

Happy Birthday baby! And heres to many many more years of Birthdays and still you will be always my baby!

R is for Rejoicing Festival Times

Oops I am a day late as it is Festival time in India and I was so much into the festivities that I was,well, not aware of my days.

Deepavali is a major festival in India. It is the festival of lights and Firecrackers and Food. Here's a glimpse of the festival.

Do visit other  such post on ABC Wednesday

Q is for Queen of my heart! ABC Wednesday

Thats her!

Picture is by Rareandraring , ny husband the photographer and the daddy dearest.

Do visit other  such post on ABC Wednesday

Motherhood: A Song For Life

Motherhood is a journey that lasts till your last breathe. Maybe even beyond in the afterlife.
Its a song you learn as you go. Initailly , we hum the music, missing a few lyrics..then we memorize the lyrics as we go and later on, somewhere along the way understand the meaning of the lyrics.

I became a mother long after my baby was born. I didnt relate to the pink wailing baby with long limbs instantly. Though I fell in love with her instantly but not as a mother. I went through a traumatic delivery and recovery. I was in the hospital for 10 days after Vevina was born. I was so tired and in so much pain. All I wanted to do was sleep. But I  had a little hungry baby to  be fed. I wasnt ready. I didnt want to. I had enough pain to last me a while. Breastfeeding also caused pain, was a rude shock to me. It took me all my
being not to hate the little one  for causing all the  pain.

I was recorded at 104 Degree Celicius for straight 4 days and nights. It wouldnt come down. As it happens, with such temperatures,  I was delirious at times. I remember telling my husband once to tell people on the roads to stop moving. He didnt know what to  make of it. It was the temperature talking but then it surely must have been scary for him.

The baby born 3.15 Kgs, lost weight and came down to a measly 1.8Kgs  in those 4 days. I wasnt feeding or wasnt able to feed. She wasn't taking enough supplementary formula.

I came around with a heavy dose of antibiotics on the 5th day. But even on the good day, I had a temperature of 100 Degree Celicius. On the 5th Day,  I remember seeing the girl and not recognizing her at all. She was born pink and healthy. Now she looked yellow and sick. I hated myself for it. I brought her into this world. She didnt have a choice in that. Now out, she was left alone by  me.

That day I decided, she will be my Priority No. 1 from then on. She would be fed on time. She would get her heartful. She will get whatever she wanted on time. There would be no compromise as far as she was concerned.

In the next 5 days, I recovered a bit and the baby weighed a good 2.8kgs on her 13th day. It was the birth of a mother on the 5th Day that my daughter was born . A  proud mother :)

Now when Vevina is 2 years old,sitting next to me and asking me 'Where's the Dino,  mommy?' , I remember the little frail 5 day old her and shiver. Never again. She will never again feel  like that again.
If the  mother in me can help it. Amen.


Heres the link to the competition sponsered by MomAndMe . Click it if you want to participate Click Me

Also following is the lovely advertisement from MomAndMe.. Its fantabulous.

My experience with Bottle-feeding

I tried but I could not breastfeed my baby girl. I tried
for 3 months but it wasn't ever enough for her. She needed formula
to supplement my milk.

There are many benefits to breastmilk that we all know.One of them is not
 being able to calculate how much in ounces the baby is having or should have.

I talk in ounces alright. I was never into Milliliters. I was already too
much into the US BabyCenter to come back into the Indian Metric System( Its a
better system though) .

The baby was suggested formula from Day 2 of her life.The hospital I delivered is
somehow against bottle-feeding. They suggested spoon-feeding.

From whatever little I knew of babies, I knew by reflex, they are built to suck.
So it seemed wrong to feed the baby with a spoon.
So I decided on introducing bottles.

Again. I went the American way for Dr.Brown's.It was supposed to help prevent
 air getting into the baby and causing gas or in other words,colic.The baby's first
bottle was bought by my brother in US.

The baby took on to the bottle easily,actually better than the breast. I felt less of
a mother in a weak moment but I knew doing the best for her, made me a mother
not only breastfeeding.

Next thing to worry about was the water used to mix in the formula and sterilization. I had a choice of
using spring water or mineral water or boiled water. I chose boiled water.

Sterilisation of bottles was a pain. In a day, we used 8 bottles. SO that was a lot
of bottles to wash,clean and boil off.
We started with 2 ounces on demand for the first month. I am a huge believer of
scheduling. So from second month on ,she got a bottle of 3 ounces every 2 hours.
At 6 months,on introducing solids,she herself delayed her bottles and we changed
them to 4 ounces every 4 hours and only one in the night. We gave up the last nightly
feed in the 8th month. After that till 1 and half years , she had a bottle of
6-9 ounces 3 times a day.

I weaned her of the bottles one at at time from the moment she turned 1.
She loved to drink out of a sippy cup or even a normal cup but it was never
 more than 4-6 ounces.

She had her final bottle at 1 year ,8 months. It was a easy transition. I didnt have
 to really do much. Each time she seemed to be ready.

The important thing here was she was being fed well and was gaining weight
well and was healthy. If she would  have held on to the bottles longer, I wouldnt
have minded.But I was happy she did leave them before 2.

To be or not to be

Thats a question we never asked each other! We have engrained within the our souls in our upbringing the following ' First came Love, then came marriage and then came a baby carriage' ... The only thought we had was to not to have a baby for first two years of marriage.
In retrospect , when I see a growing number of DINK(Dual Income No Kids) couples, it makes me think how life would have been.
I must be surely missing out on the following:
1) A surefire career growth: I quit when I was being offered the much awaited promotion. So I would have been enjoying a great position now.
2)A heavier bank balance
3) No cut the above point, the extra moolah would be spent on a vacation or two and some extra pricey useless gadgets and clothes.
4)No responsibility
5)Flexible schedules!
6)Weekend Siestas
7)More time as a couple
But obviously there is a but yaar! I did not choose to be childless. I was anxious to get pregnant. I was so happy the day we found out. But I was more happy to my husband's face. He is a total father material. He fathered me till the baby was born. He was just super duper ready.
I did have a horrible painful birth story ( that for some other time). But the moment the baby was literally plonked into my arms...the pink mass of limbs and a mishapen head and big eyes, took over.
Till then the husband, who was leaning over me and holding onto my shoulders, moved away a little to create that space in the middle of the couple to become a threesome. Natural but I saw the shift even in my drowsy after labor state. The princess had taken her rightful place and we were now ready to relish her rule!

Gradually the litlle tyke took over and made the otherwise big decisions (my career, house shifting) very simple an obvious. Well, she batting her eyelids or lifting up a little limb towards us was worth more moolah than I ever earned.

We missed going out! But eventually after she turned a year, we already taken 3 successful road trips with the baby and many flight trips. So our motto became 'Have a baby will travel' Its not so difficult just more luggage and triple the fun.

Sleep.. Was a dream in the beginning.. All of us moved like Zombies..but now given a few hiccups in the middle of the night, we atleast get 6 straight hours of sleep! Literally nothing wakes you in a better mood than an energetic 'goo maaaning' of a toddler. Not even early morning sex beats that, trust me!

Slowly and steadily we are creatin. The much needed couple time around her schedules. And since i am not working, we seem to bond more with more time to talk! One crazy office schedule only!

Oh! See what I did ? The 7 points that I missed not being a DINK erm they arent at all missed actually ;)

Surviving the initial days!

Nothing in the world can prepare you for this! One day you are this busy working woman who cribs about no time and suddenly you have all the time in the world, which just wouldnt pass.
I quit my job to take care of my little girl as I got all emotional as a mother and felt she needed me more. My company wouldnt shut down if I resigned. True, I gave it long hours, priority over my personal life but still that was a harsh reality I know. And here was tiny little wailing bundle who knew nothing about any such harsh realities! So I decided to cocoon her as long as possible. The only other option I had was daycare. I felt like a criminal to think about it also. ( personal opinion!)
So I jumped in as a SAHM. Initially for 6 months I had my Mom's support. So that time went really smooth. Then my mom left for US. That is when I actually started my life as a real SAHM.
I knew from day 1, it was going to be difficult. I have never stayed alone even for a second ever. Discount the night times, holidays and weekends when the spouse would be there, I was on my own. Yes! The baby is there with me. Constantly. To have someone so dependent on you 24/7 is an experience. I dont have maids to take care of her. I have help for all other things though. But i was wholly and solely responsible for her. Totally my call. I always want to do thing in my way. I knew no one else can really do as i want my child's raising to be! Especially maids.
So this adventure with me an my baby began. There would be days I ll be so close to go insane, days when I'd cry nonstop when the baby is sleeping and such! There would be days when the baby is cranky and unco-operative and I would just sit by the wailing baby bewildered as what should be done! But overall, I didnt go insane, I was happy with my decisions and the baby was growing to be the happy child I always wanted. Heres what I think helps to stay sane:
1) Schedule: I have turned my baby into a clock and i am proud of it! She mostly does everything by the clock. I beleive babies thrive on routine. So thats what I gave her. Everythig from food to sleep to playtime to reading to storytime to parktime are timed. N she absolutely loves anticipating and knowing what is coming next.
Me, on the other hand , also get the really essential 'Me' time which i can think about myself. Totally selfish but totally required. I dont do any housework during this Me time. Housework is not Me!

2) Take a bath and get dressed: yes! Sitting in payjamas all day and watching TV is what comes to mind when we think about a SAHM. Yes we can do that. But those simple pajyamas can be a straight road to loneliness! Being clean and fresh and in new dressy clothes sort of gives me the energy to face the whole day!
3) Focus other than the baby: yes the baby is my whole world! But constantly fussing over her and breathing down her neck on every move she makes is not going to do her and me any good. She needs to learn to be independent. So she gets her supervised alone time with toys and stuff and music. This is the time when I do the housework or study! ( have taken up a part time management course).
4) Go out! : very difficult with a baby. There is so much logistics involved. Its always easier to stay home. But then again no contact with the outside world is insanity! We need grownup interaction. Be it in any form, the veggies monger or a mom in the park or the cashier a a departmental store. So much of a difference it makes! I took social interaction for granted while working. Then I would love to be left alone for 5 minutes. Irony now i am taljing about how to get the 5 minutes of interaction! I dont count phone conversations and social networking as interaction here.

It is a thankless payless job! But then I look at this little toddler now who is confident and independent and carefree. I know I dont want a thankyou or a pay for this. I am going to give the world, a beautiful human being. That in itself is the biggest achievement possibly of my life that no career can give me. But also the career will be taken up again and new goals set but that would be once this little girl can take the world on her own stride.
P.S i've had lot of tips from fellow bloggers when I started out. The above points came in and were implemented after reading so many mumma blogs. They are sweethearts all of them.

Passport to Pregnancy

The moment the world notices you are pregnant, no one stays a stranger to you! Everyone has advice for a healthy pregnancy and think their advice or tip is the best to follow! :D
There are some really good advices and tips which are really famous and pretty good too. Stop Smoking,Stop Drinking,no stress,no stress,dont life heavy things,see pretty baby pictures, talk good,stay around positive people,etc,etc,etc; Obviously all these are pretty important for a healthy pregnancy.
But I d like to share a few, some might squirm quite a few mothers-to-be. Those who have had a delivery like mine, might agree that no one told them about that and it came a a nasty surprise.
Mine was an assisted delivery with a 3rd degree perineal tear. A perineal tear is tear to the area called perineum between the vagina and the anus.A third-degree tear is a tear in the vaginal tissue, perineal skin, and perineal muscles that extends into the anal sphincter (the muscle that surrounds your anus). That it was painful would be the understatement of the century.
I recovered and now perfectly fine. Though the biggest dissappointment is that most probably my future delivery will have to be cesarean! And that i could have totally avoided this.
So here follows my little tip or an advice to all mother to be's :
1) Kegel exercises: google it up, these are pretty easy exercises to do but is a woman's best friend at this time. Yoga and other pregnancy exercise as suggested by you doctor should be done.
2) Perineum massage: from your seventh month inwards apply a little coconut oil to your perineum area just before bath to give the skin a little flexibility. Its just like applying oil or cream to your tummy to avoid/reduce stretch marks. Its not a proven that doing this totally reduces the possibility of a tear but still it can help.
3) Iron rich diet:  and not just supplements!
4) Walk: When you enter into early stage of labor , walk as much as you can. I know it seems ridiculous to walk through contractions. But it is helpful to reduce the pain and expediate the labor. Again, in my case I wasnt allowed to move an inch and was continously tied to a NST monitor.
5) Resist epidural : yes! I took it! But the problem was as the 'dai' pointed out you really dont get that real urge to push! Epidural is known to prolong labor. But then its difficult i tried hard to resist it but took it in the end.
6) Ask for Enema before labor ! They didnt do it for me and i had the most painful poopies 2-3 hours after labor! (sorry TMI gross)


These were the things that I thought I didnt do during my pregnancy and labor. I might have had a more wonderful experience and enjoyed my baby being born if maybe I had done the above and many other things I am still not aware of. Staying well-informed about the entire process of delivery and birth really helps. Majorly it helps to enjoy the delivery and seeing our little one for the first time.


-Pregnancy is a time to be happy and proud that you are creating something so special inside you.

Toys R Us

Disclaimer: below note is at the risk of sounding like toy saleswoman..

I love toys so much and what is best is that Vevi enjoys playing them... But amongst the many many toys that she has, I have noticed a few that stand out and hit the bull's eye..

1) Gymmini activity gym :
She has had some good times underneath this gym..
She started out by just staring at the hanging toys when she was 2 months...slowing she started reaching out for them,feeling them,grasping them and finally pulling one towards her to get pleasantly surprised by some sound or vibration the toy makes..every baby kicks ..they have cleverly placed a response pad near the feet,so that each time she kicks, she gets some sort of response..she finally used the hanging toys as a leverage to turn over.. Remarkable idea for a toy! Kudos to the designer!
2) Fisher price precious planet bouncer
Thanks again to the toy guys! There are some few minutes in the day where we need to run errands and the bouncer is the perfect solution . Double the advantage if it's fun for the baby too. There s a toy bar with some pull to hear music toys that keeps her entertained and improves her gross motor skills..I love to see Vevi bouncing in her chair trying to grasp the monkey or the lion ..but strictly for 15 minutes..then she wants to move on to other important things.
3)Leap frog learning baby tad the toad:
This one is still being mastered by Vevi ..it's a lil stuffed toad with buttons in all limbs and tummy..on pressing each ,a assorted nursery rhymes can be heard in a baby voice.. Tad was very helpful in the initial starting solids days..to keep Vevi engrossed in ABCs so much that any mush could be spooned in :p with relative ease..
4)Moving doll
What amazed little Vevi initially is how the lil doll crawls while singing so effortlessly..later when she mastered crawling the doll was chased and hunted down. Good for crawlers and creepers!
5) Balls:
Any shape,any size do not fail to amaze us! Simplistic but real wonders aren't they!?! Vevi's research currently on how round they are and why do they roll when she throws them..she spends about a quarter of a day researching them.

6) Leap Frog Activity Table.
               She learn t to stand because of this table is for sures..the different colors and sounds were incentive enough for her to grab on and stand. Now she recognises most shapes and buttons and which button makes ABBBsss and which one plays the songs! Real Timepass!

I did warn you I ll be sounding like a toy saleswoman :p sowwie but I do believe toys form an integral part of a kids life and through Vevi ,I am just letting the kid in me enjoy too :D

easier said than done!

Oh! She is these many months ! Why ain't she sitting or crawling or standing or talking or something!?! The milestone queries are dime a dozen!
What no one really sees is the effort she is putting to learn to achieve each milestone! Especially the recent ones I.e crawling and talking .. Her every waking moment is spent either blabbering baby talk or perfecting her motor skills! She doesn't want us to get a toy for her any longer! She ll take time but will eventually make it to the toy .. And the happiness after that is expressed so beautifully! She wants to be acknowledged for that and any bit of appreciation and encouragement is well received too...patience and perseverance for about a month or so has paid for the little girl.. Now she zips pasts us so quickly to all things that we don't want her to touch, it's amazing! more mobile he becomes , less I can protect her from harming herself ! But then I guess that's how learning is!
I want to tell Vevina somehow to take it easy..it okay .. These milestones don't really matter for me! But than I don't think she is going to take any breaks now.. I slept enough mumma,she says.. Or As i interpret her ' atta thata dada'..

Wisemen say 'Life is all about adjustments and compromises' me will try to keep these two words away from Vevi as long as I can! :D she has to come across them sometime surely but not anywhere in the near future ..

P.s for the sake of records her first words are 'attha' and 'dada'..

Art of making baby sleep!

Yes it is an art! But thankfully its not
Something that cant be learnt. When Vevi was born, she used
to sleep all the time. I thought alright this is easy! It was so
cute. She used to sleep in the middle of a feed and
we had rub are feet or ears to try to get her to complete a
stomachful.
But then she grew up and realised sleep is a waste
of time! So then came in the sleep- expert My Mom or her Ammama.
She sang songs, rocked her, carried her,swung her.. Anything that could lull
her into a slumber. Finally they settled into a pattern.
First there would be some nursery rhymes, then sqinging in the arms lightly and
gently shushing her. Then came the toughest part. Putting her in the crib!
Sometimes even after half an hour of holding her, when ammama put her down, she would
open her eyes wide amd give a cherubic victory smile! Aaah!
At such times patience is a virtue! I would nealry breakdown but mom
would just smile and pick her up again for the same drill.
As time passed, i started to mimic mom andsometumes even succeeded. But most of the times gabe up teary eyed and frustated.
Now its been 11 months since I havve been pratsing and well now now one else can get her to sleep.!
Well, mostly its thanks to the strict timings i try to maintain for her sleeps
So she kinda knows whats coming when i start the sleep routine. Makes it whole load easier... She is down to sleep in about 10-20 mins even on a bad day!
Aah! A sleeping baby is so adorable! While she sleeps on my lap now as i write, i am thinking
whats the right moment to put her into the crib! I hope she doesnt wake up! Fungers crossed!