What I miss these days....

It's the final stretch......and there are a few things I miss these days (although not terribly):

:: Coffee

:: Dark Chocolate

:: Sleeping on my tummy

:: Sleeping on my back (which is the next best thing to above)

:: Sleeping through the night (as you can see, sleep issues are causing a major heartburn)

:: Wearing jeans

:: Bladder control (this one is so annoying)

:: Breaking a sweat

:: Hot showers or soaking in the Jacuzzi

:: Reading (by the time I pickup a book to read, I'm exhausted)

:: Staying up late (to watch a movie, or socialize)

:: Wearing high heels or cute shoes (with the buddha belly and the plantar wart, even walking barefoot in the house is painful)

:: A few days without doctor appointments

It's all going to be worth it in the end though - I can't wait!!!!

Happy Tears Day

Yesterday was a good good day.

When I started driving from home in the morning with the kiddo in her carseat, she did not know where we were going. She kept guessing - park, museum, new school (the backup daycare she went to last week - and for the record, she hated it), her regular daycare, etc. She knows all the roads quite well....so she changed her guesses based on the route I took. When I made my first right turn, she started jumping up and down in her carseat with joy. She knew exactly where we were going. As soon as I parked our car outside her caregiver's house and removed her seat belt, she got out on her own and ran towards the house. She was beaming with joy, and she ran into her caregiver's arms as soon as the door opened. They both had tears in their eyes at their reunion after 11 days :)! It was a sight to watch!

I picked her up in the evening and brought her home. She knew her nana-nani were coming from India, and she thought everyone will surprise her when we reach home. But they were going to reach 5-10 minutes after we reached, and I had a tough time containing her excitement during those few minutes. As soon as the doorbell rang, she wanted me to pick her up and see who came...she was expecting her nana-nani and pappa, but she was also nervous as she had not seen them in flesh for several months. We were all quite unsure how she would react. Well, she had nothing but wide grins, and hugs, and kisses for both of them! There were happy tears again on everyone's faces! She was showing off all her skills to them throughout the evening. When bedtime came, she was royally pissed that her nana-nani went to their bedroom and actually slept. She went twice to check if they were awake.....and came back disappointed. She wanted me to take her outside - at 10pm - and was a total mess for an hour or so. She finally calmed down and went to bed. The moment she woke up today morning, she got out of bed to check where they were and what they were doing - yup, our kiddo is pretty possessive about them!

It was a good good Monday :)!

{this moment} Bath time fun

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama

This picture is from yesterday - daddy and his minnie-me enjoy bath time to the fullest!!!!

A tough week and some tidbits...

Kiddo's daycare is closed all week. Starting today, I put her at a center which provides backup childcare for Intel families...it's one of the best in town but it's all new for her, and I know she will feel miserable. I always have to do drop-off which is the hardest thing....hubby does pick-up so he gets away with all the trauma! I have been doing an hourly check today on her...and she has surprised me, to say the least. Ofcourse she cried and was angry in the beginning, but she loved her arts teacher, and outdoor sand-water play, and she ate all her lunch (a couscous-cheese wrap)! The teacher does not want me to pick her up early.....and that's a great message for first day. I am sure tomorrow will be worse coz she will anticipate drop-off and be even more clingy and angry.....but this center has so many activities that she loves to do, I am hoping she enjoys them to the fullest!

She is in the middle of her terrible two's. Very clingy. Very anxious. Very stubborn. Very demanding. Very fussy with meals. Very not-so-good-everything!

She has her two year molar's cutting through. I've read that they are the most painful of the lot. She keeps asking for ice and keeps putting her finger/thumb in the mouth for soothing her gums. Ouchie!

It's been hot here...100+F days....it forces us to remain indoors until very late in the evening.....which frustrates the kiddo coz she keeps wanting to go "outside". I think this week has some cooler days which are so very welcome!

I wish all the above was not happening at the same time - that's all!

I am finding it hard to carry her now, so I told her...."you're so heavy"....she has fallen in LOVE with the word "heavy" and does not miss a single chance to say it. Here's one conversation:
Me: "you're so funny"
Her: "you're so heavy" LOL!

Timeouts are a big failure in our house. The kiddo will throw a tantrum, or do something that she is not supposed to, then walk up to her daddy, and say "Daddy give me a timeout"! Then she will say "No shouting no pinching no biting, Understand?" to her Daddy loudly - LOL! I cannot help but laugh profusely watching such scenes happening several times a day.....quite contrary to what my husband expected, I am the parent who lets her child do whatever she wants!!!!

The first word she knows how to spell is "Santa". She can fluently recite:
"red hat
white beard
twinkle in his eye....
Santa is his name-O...
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
S-A-N-T-A
And Santa is his name-O"!

The bun in the oven is nocturnal. The daughter was the same way....and as a newborn, she stayed up at night wanting to play. I am SO not looking forward to those late-night party sessions :)!

Moving away from baccha party, Marissa Mayer becomes Yahoo! CEO - glad they chose a woman for the top position.....now let's see if she can continue her impressive streak from Google!

A genius!

Our bedroom smoke alarm started beeping last night all of a sudden....it's because the battery needs to be changed, but we don't have a long enough ladder to get high up there so we could not fix it right then. Fortunately, we all were very tired so it did not disturb our sleep during the night. However, when the kiddo came out of her deep sleep early in the morning, she noticed the alarm beeping right away. Instead of going back to sleep after mumbling for a few minutes as usual, guess what she did? She started counting from 1-10 several times....each time with different intervals in between the numbers.....she was trying to figure out the timing in between the alarm beeps! She finally got it after about 5 tries....she would count from 1-10 and right when she would say "beep" the alarm would beep again - simply precise timing - I was blown away by her act - a genius in the making!!!!

Hope you guys are having a good weekend....our's has been wonderful so far :). Here's our curly-haired heroine enjoying her Friday evening :)!

Rocking her new crocs :)

I clicked this picture before dropping the kiddo off to daycare couple days ago....she is wearing her new "blue crocs" and she LOVES them. I paid a lot for these flip-flops, and bought them online without having her try it out, so I was very nervous about my purchase. But looks like it was a great buy :).

Even though she is not smiling in this photo, she looks so cute that I feel like gobbling her up :)!

Update

So it's been a week since I posted a list of stuff I need to tackle this month....read here for the list.....

Let's see how I am doing....

- Car accessories are still not done. I think we will wait for a couple more weeks when mom-dad are here....so that we can leave the kiddo with them for some time and step out to get this done.

- Daughter's birthday party planning is done....evite has been sent.....her dress is ordered and shipped....her yearly photoshoot has been scheduled.....just waiting for familia to arrive now :).

- I visited a Harvard-graduate dermatologist to have my plantar wart taken care of. He chickened out and said he won't treat it until after delivery. I complained to my ob/gyn and she has referred me to a podiatrist who I will see sometime soon. My ob/gyn strongly suggested to get it treated ASAP....so let's see what happens! In the meantime....I continue dealing with the pain :(!

- Doctor appt went well....the problematic weeks begin now though, so let's see how it goes :)!

- Cleaning/arranging stuff in the house is in full swing.....I got storage boxes, toy baskets, etc and have started tackling things one by one. I'm far from done but I am making good progress every day.

- All leaves have been applied....paperwork is done and it's all approved - well ahead of time - YAY!!!!

- Mail still needs my attention - it's on the agenda for this weekend.

So, overall, not doing so bad, eh??

Kiddo and I have been rough-housing a lot lately.....words or pictures won't do justice to the amount of fun we both are having.....but here's a glimpse :):

July Oh July!

We knocked out a big item off our to-do list by buying our new car on the last day of June. But still, July is going to be terribly busy for us.

- The car needs some basic accessories. Example: all-weather mats, wheel locks, etc. We need to buy the parts, then give the car to the dealer for few hours for installation.
- Kiddo turns two early next month.....her birthday party needs to be planned. Cake and theme are done, return gifts are bought, and I think I just settled on the venue today. There's still lots to be done. You might be thinking why am I spending so much or making such a big deal about her birthday...how much does a 2-year old understand? So....the reason for us is - every year, we like to invite everyone we know here locally - what we call our family in this foreign country - and treat them to a nice meal and fun gathering. We are truly blessed with wonderful neighbors and friends, who are always there for us whenever we need them. We like to give back to them in a small way by hosting one event a year. Before the daughter was born, we used other occasions like a house warming party, or birthday to invite everyone. Now, the kiddo's birthday gives us an opportunity to gather everyone and celebrate.
- I have a painful wart on my right foot....it's been there for a couple months now, and I've tried all topical treatments, none of which have worked. I finally took a dermatologist appt for later this week to take care of it. Liquid nitrogen freeze - here it comes!
- Doctor appointments with the OB will now be bi-weekly, instead of monthly. Few other tests - some of which are painful and uncomfortable - will have to be endured as well.
- Ma n Pa will hopefully be here this month - I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, I need to get their room ready and empty the closet in their bedroom before they arrive. Oh, and I need to clean the refrigerator, stove, kitchen cabinets, empty the freezer.....coz they are perfectionists and atleast when they arrive, I need to live up to their expectations! Then they take over and I chillax :)!
- My master bedroom closet is in a utter mess. Actually, most of my clothes are out of the closet....they are lying neatly folded on the bed in our guest bedroom. It's the kiddo's stuff that has raided all the space, and created a havoc. I managed to clear half of it sometime last week....the other half needs attention ASAP. Once that's done, I need to make space for the second kiddo's stuff!
- I need to apply for all the different kinds of leave that I will be taking soon. Online applications, paperwork, and explaining to agents over the phone - it's a process that needs to be smooth but it never is.
- Lots of mail - most of which is junk - needs to be sorted and shredded. And some filing of paperwork needs to be done....this is another chore after laundry that I hate taking care of!

This list could be endless {it's the nesting instincts}....but let's see how much I get done this month. July Oh July, please be kind to me, please be productive for me!!!!

While I tackle my list, here's a collage for you from this morning's July 4th parade in our community - it's a yearly tradition that our neighbors follow, and we join them!

Musings - July 2012

These random musings posts are becoming a norm now. I just can't seem to find time for regular posts....although I'm reading a lot, and think of so many subjects to write about. I felt this way the last time I was pregnant too, especially during the third trimester. I think it's mostly fatigue due to the hormones that is limiting my ability to do things outside my routine. This too shall pass :)!

So, we finally bought a new car last weekend. After several weeks of online research, visits to the dealerships, getting quotes from all over the country, and dealing with pathetic car salesmen in this country, we drove home our car on late Saturday night. I think we got a great deal (if I may say so :P), but regardless of the price paid, we are extremely happy and satisfied with our purchase. We went to the temple on Sunday to get puja done....and it went very well. The kiddo and her mumma wore Indian dresses together...a rare occasion for us!

Some suggestions I provided at work for team lunches and conversations with management have been taken into consideration and actions are being taken. At one such event last week, I had a fabulous time openly sharing my thoughts about our research strategy and the memory ecosystem. I am usually subdued by my manager who does not give our team a chance to speak up.....and always makes us feel intimidated. But he was on vacation so his absence made it easy for me. I got the leftover cookies from the lunch event home.....but they were very few, so my sooper adorable admin made a whole box of new ones for me (she even made mini-cookies with mini-M&M's for the kiddo) and dropped it off at my desk the next day. I feel spoilt!

The daughter's daycare called today after lunch, and told me she was extremely fussy with the food. I have been requested to send non-Indian meals for the rest of the week....her feeling is that she is bored with Indian food {sigh}!!!! This generation of kids are so demanding!!!!!

Kiddo's obsession with water balloons and balls continues. I don't think it is ever going to end.

"Chicka chicka boom boom" is one more favorite book of hers - we read it atleast twice a day.

She LOVES coming really really close to me, and saying "hoon tane khaaaaaaaaaai jaish" {I will eat you up} in a loud roaring voice....it's simply priceless!!!!

Bedtime conversations with the daughter after the light is turned off are becoming cuter, and harder to resist, as each day goes by. Yesterday, she was talking about how she fed "theplu" {paratha} to the rabbits at the park, and how they were eating her food....and then she made chewing noises, then said "yummy yummy sooooooooooo goooooooood"! She was delighted by the fire from camphor at the temple, and the breaking of the coconut by her dad, and was talking about that last night as well. She remembers everyone she has met that day or the previous day, and wishes good night to each person. It's actually so peaceful and relaxing to hear her process all the stuff going through her mind....

In less than a month, the daughter turns two - how can time fly at such a lightning speed????