Need your help....

Please pray for both the kiddos. They are sick....yet again. Vomiting, diarrhea, fever......so worried about both of them. They have caught a stomach bug from somewhere...the doc said its going around. We have a couple more weeks before we head back to CA.....and I was hoping they stayed healthy, but it was not meant to happen.

Thank God for mom n dad to be there with me during this time....without their help I would be struggling right now.

Six months

Our son turned 6 months old last week. He is a playful infant now, whose favorite position is to be on his tummy, with his neck perched up & moving 360 degrees while his eyes soak up the world around him. I already miss the newborn stage where all we would do is cuddle, hug, cuddle, hug all through the day.

He LOVES to smile....and giggle, and laugh out loud too. And you can never get enough of a baby's laughter. A couple of days ago, we went to visit a family friend....fairly late at night. I never take the baby with me when I step out, but at night, he does not sleep without me...so we took him with us. We got down from the rickshaw at the entrance of their apartment complex and were walking towards their building....and we passed by many dogs in the complex who were barking loudly. Every bark made the baby so happy that he laughed uncontrollably :) :) :) :) - and every bark made my mom so scared that she clutched my hand and stuck close behind me. Such a stark contrast of feelings!

Our little man loves his milk, and he loves his mangoes. All his chubbiness comes from these two things. Apart from that, he has tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, bananas, peas and squash so far. I can clearly tell from his facial expressions that he hates all of these foods I have listed. But milk and mangoes - he can't get enough of. He's just like his mumma and his sister in this aspect. I am spending the month of March in India for the first time in 13 years. The mango season is going on in full swing and I am thoroughly savoring my favorite fruit in the world every.single.day!!!!

The other day, my dad was holding him, and he said "mum"! We can call that his first word. The daughter's first word was also "mum", and for the longest time, she used to call me "mum mum". These babies are born genuises - I tell you - they know their mumma provides food and they recognize us only from the smell of their liquid gold....hence "mum or mum mum" is so apt! Apart from that, there is a lot of cooing and really loud screaming (especially when he sees his sister) that we can hear all day from him.

On milestones, the little guy is right on track. He first rolled over at 3 months, then stopped due to illness and travel and change in environment, but at 4.5 months, he was rolling over non-stop. He now rolls over from back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back. He can sit up by himself at 6 months and is grabbing/reaching for things.....his favorite being my iphone which he will either grab or hit so hard that it falls down hard on the floor every time I am not paying enough attention. I imagine him crawling soon - and that is the stage that I enjoy the most during their first year. Between sitting up and walking, the crawling stage passes like a fleeting wave. Recently, I was watching a few videos of the daughter crawling sooper fast in our home and was feeling so nostalgic. I miss her being so little!

Just like his sister, he LOVES music. A lot of times...I put a playlist on Pandora or Saavn and leave my iphone next to him on the bed with a few toys. He will listen to it and play for a long time by himself. The moment the music stops or is interrupted by Internet connectivity, he starts crying. He also loves the mozart tunes that play in his crib mobile. I can't wait to get both the kids started on music and piano lessons - I made my sister learn 6+ years of classical music (and yes, she sings very well) because my parents could not afford to send me when I was young....and I definitely would want my kids to learn it too. If it works out, hubby and I will also take singing (for hubby coz he already sings extremely well) and piano (for me) lessons along with the children....and we will be one loud rhythmic musical family!

His sister now adores him, but is still sooper jealous, and possessive about toys, etc. She will not share any toy with him, and snatches away any toy that he is playing with. Same with books - she does not mind us reading books to both of them, but if we are reading alone to him, she will come and snatch the book. She is going through a lot herself - she gave up her milk bottle, gave up wearing diapers and is now fully potty trained (even for naps, bedtime with just an occasional accident), and took some time to adjust to Indian life but has gelled in beautifully - a lot of changes have been going on for her since her brother entered our lives....so we are very patient with her. Sometimes I wish she was older so that she would be more loving and caring and sharing with him, but I'm happy with what we've got.

What's so different about the first six months of my son vs the first six months of my daughter is the anxiety - Mainly related to feeding. The daughter was very skinny, and I used to worry A LOT. I must have gone and weighed her more than 20 times. With my son, since he is chubby, I never worry about it. He turned six months old and we have not weighed him yet....we don't need to....I'm pretty confident he is fine. The daughter met all her milestones and did well on charts except her weight. Also being a first time mom, I had a lot of paranoia about other things too. Experience is definitely helping me be more laid back and at peace with his upbringing.

I don't get to hold my son and spend as much one-on-one time with him as I did with my daughter. However, I nurse him full time....so we bond during those sessions. We also co-sleep so I am next to him all night. And when I'm not holding him, he's held and loved and cuddled and hugged either by hubby and family, or our awesome friends and neighbors. We are incredibly blessed and lucky in that respect. There has not been a dirth of warm, loving and caring people around us during this time of our lives.

He has met all his grandparents, visited India, been to the beach, eaten Indian Alphonso/Kesar mangoes, and has worn lovely outfits gifted to him by so many people. His dad and I have read many many books to him. And I bought more than 100 books from India (in English, Gujarati and Hindi) during this trip....can't wait to read them ALL to the kids!

I'm sure I am missing out on listing a ton of interesting stuff here....but this post is already long.....so now onto some pictures :):

Since the day he was born, I wanted to dress him up as a girl....finally fulfilled my desire :).....

Dressed him up in a kurta-pajama on his six month birthday.....

Enjoying his mangoes....

And at 6 months old, sitting up by himself.....

He had a very sick period from 3 months to 6 months - he probably caught the flu in US which weakened his whole immune system and made him fall sick couple more times...hope he stays healthy now and gets a chance to boost his immunity....I am also trying to do my best by feeding him 100% breastmilk and no formula from my end. Please pray for him from your end too!

The Indian vacation continues....

And I am soaking it all in.....

We spent most of February with hubby and his family in Mumbai. The baby was sick when we reached there, but after a few days he got better. At the airport, the daughter was expecting her daddy.....but when she saw him, she could not believe that he was really standing there, in front of her. She was so shy, but when he picked her up and hugged her, she showered him with lots of kisses and love :). At home, our son greeted his grandma by peeing on her clothes (his diaper leaked) as soon as she picked him up :).

We had a wonderful time in Mumbai. The daughter spent almost every minute with her daddy. Husband's elder brother also came over from Europe to spend time with all of us. We visited malls, the beach (the warm waters of the Arabian sea at Juhu beach were so inviting - the daughter spent two hours playing and didn't want to leave), the marketplace, and many parks. The daughter accompanied her dad on his dentist visits, and I'm told she was very well behaved. We are lucky to live in a clean and developed area of the city (Powai) so we made the most of our time out there. I had a Starbucks after a long time, and totally enjoyed it. We also met family who is in town, and the daughter particularly hit it off with my nephew who is as naughty as her.

We also relished some yummy Alphonso's to mark the start of the 2013 mango season in India! Both the kids can't get enough of them everyday.

Back in Ahmedabad here, both the kids were so so happy to see their nani-nana. They missed them a lot. Even the baby was jumping with joy when my mum held him. Mom n dad had kept the house ready for us with so many goodies - I felt I was given the welcome of a princess when I got back. Hubby spent a couple of days with us, and in that short time, we managed a few visits to the relatives houses, two temple visits, and I took him on my scooter to eat dabeli, vada paav, pav bhaji, pani puri, sugarcane juice, etc. He totally relished all the street food, and I sat next to him watching him gobble up all that stuff. I didn't eat anything coz I fall sick way too easily.

The daughter has also been reunited with all her friends here. She missed them a lot when she was in Mumbai.

Today morning, I was lucky to be able to watch both the kids wake up in the morning - one after the other. It was a amazing feeling for me to experience it and I managed to record a video as well of my son waking up.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, there's difficulties and hardships here. But internally, I'm just very happy and at peace. And I attribute my happiness largely to the people - both our parents, siblings, relatives, neighbors, house help, etc. Our neighbors routinely feed meals to my daughter....it's one stressful part of my day to feed her three meals, and I hardly have to do it here - such a huge relief. People take her out.....dad always takes her out to run errands. Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles call and check on us. My bapuji comes over daily and spends time with me (he is ~75 yrs and I am very very close to him).

When someone passes away (age of the person does not matter), people drop everything and go for the funeral and last rites. Even if it is in another town, they catch a flight/train/bus/car right away and go.

When there is a happy occasion - like an engagement or a wedding, a house warming or puja, most people make every effort to attend. There's never a dirth of people at the occasion.

I also find people making less excuses when they have to help someone.

Back in the US, it's the people that I miss the most. (and maybe because in India, I am lucky to have a family with whom we are very close and we have really awesome neighbors too). I've had many difficult days here (especially when both kids were sick at the same time) but people dropped by to hold them, hug them, help me in the house, give me advice, take me to doctor, and basically, helped me get through those tough times. They assured me things will be okay, and were there for me....not just virtually (over email or phone) but in person. Everyone is busy here, but they still make time for you. Life is not self-centered. You feel a strong community around you all the time, and it helps you especially when you are at a stage of your life where you need it the most. (like for me, right now, raising young children).

Another thing that I am absolutely cherishing during my break from work is the bonding between my two munchkins. The daughter still won't share her toys with her brother, and will occasionally try to hit him or harm him. But if you ask her whether she loves him, you will hear a resounding "yes". She loves his name so much, that in Mumbai, when people asked her "what is your name" she would say her brother's name :). Every morning, as soon as she wakes up, she will ask about him (if he is not next to her, coz he usually is). They play together a lot. She sings such an awesome lullaby for him in Gujarati....it melts my heart to hear it everyday. She is also very fond of getting pictures clicked with him.

Both of them in matching "moody" t-shirts.....

The big sister imitating her brother.....

Giving him a tight squeeze and kissie on the bean bag....

The daughter keeps telling me that she does not want to go back to America. She loves it here so much. Her conversations have gotten cuter, and I must do a post to share them with all of you....hopefully soon.

Oh, and before I end, I managed to read a few books as well - Mitch Albom's The Time Keeper, Preeti Shenoy's The Secret Wishlist, Sudha Murty's non-fiction books (Wise and Otherwise, The old man and his God, The day I stopped drinking milk), Deepti Naval's The Mad Tibetan, and I've finished 25% of Daniel Kahneman's Thinking Fast and Slow. I LOVED all the books I read. If you want a short review of any of them, please let me know, and I'll do a post.

Internet access is limited here, hence I'm not posting regularly. Once I am back to the states, I will post frequently.