DAY 6798
8 hours ago
November 4, 2011
{this moment} Waking up
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
I was trying to capture a picture of her sleeping in, but she woke up right at that moment and pointed toward the clock - it was 9.15am!
November 2, 2011
Some random stuff that irks me....
Zoos - I find them depressing. I pity the life of the wild animals in the zoo. Yes kids need some sort of zoo, but a wild animal park or safari is better than a zoo. That explains why I've never taken my daughter to the local zoo here. I have taken her to the one back in my hometown....although it was less of a zoo visit and more of the lake/recreational area visit. We did love the wild animal park in San Diego.
Potlucks - I am sick and tired of people (the same ones) bringing less than enough food for the potluck. Don't they learn from experience? And I don't know what to do about it. I stopped hosting potlucks, but I can't avoid going to one just because of them. How do I let them know?
Halloween Trick-or-Treaters - People who bring a candy basket for their baby who is nowhere to be seen. He/She is either in the stroller on the sidewalk or is not even around. Dude, I need to see the cute outfit before giving candy out :).
Relatives and Friends - Who say I think about your daughter, I care for her, I love your daughter, who do pujas for her at temples, blah blah - but they never find the time to call, chat, video chat, or come home and spend time with her. They miserably fail to keep in touch, and even when I try to do so, they find it extremely tough to merely acknowledge my effort to communicate (which would be either sending her pictures, or videos, or just fun updates on milestones, etc). They really irk me!
Friends - Who don't open their door when I ring the doorbell and I can hear them inside. I even try to call a couple times to let them know its me who is standing outside. I have even called them earlier in the day to let them know I may stop by. Jeez, I find it so rude! This applies to roommates also, who choose to ignore or fail to respect guests of the other roommates.
People at work - Who are waiting to barge into the elevator before the people inside have a chance to get out. Everyone is in a hurry, but please learn to follow basic etiquette first.
Photographers - Who don't greet their clients well, who don't smile or welcome them properly, and who go through the photo-shoot just like a boring job they are doing. Eventually, more people like me will get irked by this behavior, and stop giving them business.
Responding to emails - Call me old fashioned, but when I send a personal email to someone (1:1 - not a group email) (not a forward or a link or an article), I expect a response. If my email disappears into thin air, it bothers me. A late response is acceptable, provided they give me a reason for it. Once in a while if they miss an email, that's okay too. If they choose to call me rather than responding to email, that's fine. Or send a one liner saying they are busy and will get to it later. I cannot tolerate it if the other person sees my email as a one way communication and makes it a habit to not respond. It affects my relationship with this person, and I eventually tend of move away from him/her. There can be many arguments against this, but I've thought about it and come to realize that I cannot be convinced any other way on this one.
Lurkers - I detest people who lurk/stalk my blog just to find out what's going on in my life. They are really not interested in what I write or share, and are not my well wishers. Some don't even bother keep in touch with me in real life. My message to them - Go get a life!!!! I don't expect comments from everyone who reads my posts, but once in a while, if you care to read all my stuff, you should find something here that makes you want to comment, or just acknowledge my writing. Just don't come to my personal space here on the web to snoop on my life please. I understand that my blog is on a public domain, and I also write for myself, not others - but still, there are always some basic ethical unspoken rules, even for the web.
Alright, I'm done venting out :). Time to go count my blessings and call it a day!!!! Gnite!!!!
October 28, 2011
{this moment} Snuddling
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
{Snuddle = Snuggle + Cuddle :)}
October 24, 2011
Baby Musings - 3
I've been home a lot lately. I've finished a couple important tasks at work - they were huge milestones - so even though I have plenty more to do, I'm just taking it easy {for a while}. Kind of rejuvenating myself before I start being aggressive again. This means that I've spent loads and loads of quality time with the kiddo. And her dad. And it's been doggone gooooooood - well, mostly :)!
- One evening, I was bored and tired, and was asking hubby to get me a coffee, while giving him a hug. Ruhi was playing with her toys, and suddenly came upto us, and looked up. She raised her arms in the air, and signaled to be held and hugged, so the three of us did a warm bear family huggie :). And then we both kissed her on either cheek. It was such a sweet moment.
- Today, she said her own name. Not once, but twice. It was soooooooooo cute to hear "ooooooooohi" - it was very clear, not gibberish at all. I'll have to get it on video next time!
- I have the utmost respect for stay-at-home moms. I think its the hardest job in this world. My days at home as a mom are, frankly, much harder than my days at work. Of course, they are THAT much more rewarding too.....but they literally go by the saying - "No gain without pain" :).
- Here's a message to my daughter about her afternoon naps - "Dear Betu, I spend every minute of your awake time playing with you, feeding you, teaching you stuff, engaging with you all the time. I even resist going to the bathroom as much as possible. So when you nap, that's when I get stuff done. And when you don't, you turn me into a cranky monster by the evening. And you DO need that beauty sleep. So please nap well on days you are home, and help keep us both happy :)!". Now I do have an amazing hubby who takes over from me the moment he enters the house, and he is so so patient with Ruhi. When I married him, I saw him as a great dad, and he is proving me so very right!
- Last Sunday was a very trying day for all of us. Ruhi refused to eat her meals, refused to nap, was crying and cranky all the time, and we were all just soooooooo exhausted by the end of the day. However, she had us laughing into tears when we were taking her for a bath, and she kept saying "Bhuka Bhukka" combined with gibberish, which would translate to "I've shattered both of you to pieces" - LOL! I think that bout of laughter melted all our tension from the entire day away. Hubby n I had a wonderful evening together after she slept.
- Some other new words that Ruhi has learnt: "done" "come" "go" "jo {to see in Gujarati}". She knows how to give a flying kissie, wave bye, pick up the phone - dial numbers - and then take the phone near her ear and say "Hey {instead of hello}", etc.
- Today afternoon, I was walking with her down the street, and there was a dry leaf moving with the wind. It made noise every time it landed on the road. Ruhi was so delighted to follow the leaf. She was entertained by that one dry leaf for almost half an hour. It's amazing how small things like these can make kids happy. The weather is just so wonderful - I'm going for a BBQ tonite at a friends' place {I won't eat but will just stop by to say hello and see her new house which is 5 mins walking distance from ours}; but can you imagine a BBQ in late October? I love California!!!!
That's it from our lives for now....
- One evening, I was bored and tired, and was asking hubby to get me a coffee, while giving him a hug. Ruhi was playing with her toys, and suddenly came upto us, and looked up. She raised her arms in the air, and signaled to be held and hugged, so the three of us did a warm bear family huggie :). And then we both kissed her on either cheek. It was such a sweet moment.
- Today, she said her own name. Not once, but twice. It was soooooooooo cute to hear "ooooooooohi" - it was very clear, not gibberish at all. I'll have to get it on video next time!
- I have the utmost respect for stay-at-home moms. I think its the hardest job in this world. My days at home as a mom are, frankly, much harder than my days at work. Of course, they are THAT much more rewarding too.....but they literally go by the saying - "No gain without pain" :).
- Here's a message to my daughter about her afternoon naps - "Dear Betu, I spend every minute of your awake time playing with you, feeding you, teaching you stuff, engaging with you all the time. I even resist going to the bathroom as much as possible. So when you nap, that's when I get stuff done. And when you don't, you turn me into a cranky monster by the evening. And you DO need that beauty sleep. So please nap well on days you are home, and help keep us both happy :)!". Now I do have an amazing hubby who takes over from me the moment he enters the house, and he is so so patient with Ruhi. When I married him, I saw him as a great dad, and he is proving me so very right!
- Last Sunday was a very trying day for all of us. Ruhi refused to eat her meals, refused to nap, was crying and cranky all the time, and we were all just soooooooo exhausted by the end of the day. However, she had us laughing into tears when we were taking her for a bath, and she kept saying "Bhuka Bhukka" combined with gibberish, which would translate to "I've shattered both of you to pieces" - LOL! I think that bout of laughter melted all our tension from the entire day away. Hubby n I had a wonderful evening together after she slept.
- Some other new words that Ruhi has learnt: "done" "come" "go" "jo {to see in Gujarati}". She knows how to give a flying kissie, wave bye, pick up the phone - dial numbers - and then take the phone near her ear and say "Hey {instead of hello}", etc.
- Today afternoon, I was walking with her down the street, and there was a dry leaf moving with the wind. It made noise every time it landed on the road. Ruhi was so delighted to follow the leaf. She was entertained by that one dry leaf for almost half an hour. It's amazing how small things like these can make kids happy. The weather is just so wonderful - I'm going for a BBQ tonite at a friends' place {I won't eat but will just stop by to say hello and see her new house which is 5 mins walking distance from ours}; but can you imagine a BBQ in late October? I love California!!!!
That's it from our lives for now....
October 21, 2011
{this moment} Hello
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember" - SouleMama
Starting this new series today.....it will inspire me to capture a moment to cherish every week!
Ruhi saying Hello to her maasi. I LOVE her curls, and her pose!
Starting this new series today.....it will inspire me to capture a moment to cherish every week!
October 14, 2011
Lessons from my 14 month old
Watching the little one grow older, one day at a time, is teaching me profound lessons every day. We know all these things, but she puts them into actions....and leaves me wondering why don't I do that too :)....
Here are some of my recent lessons:
Oh Dear you must not fear
She walks and she walks fast. But toddlers don't stop there. They want to run. She is learning to run up and down the slope on the driveway. She falls zillions of times on the hard concrete, but not once have I seen her fear or give up. It's a very small thing she is trying to accomplish in our perspective, but for her its huge. WE know she will be okay if she falls, but she does not.
Never ever give up
The above example can fall into this category. How kids learn to walk, talk, eat - each of these are great examples of showing us how to never quit. Here is a recent example from our household. We have a cordless phone in our family room, placed on the middle shelf of the small TV entertainment unit. During the past few days, the baby has learnt how to bend down and reach for it, take it off its base, and then press the "locate" button on the base which makes the phone ring. This whole process requires a lot of effort and co-ordination from her end. She learnt it slowly, one step at a time, and I am amazed at how well she executes it now. She had lots of setbacks during the process, but she persisted and has now mastered it.
Be happy for no reason
Kids are best at this. Placing a small towel soaked in hot water on her face had her giggling non-stop today. She was so happy chasing a plastic red ball that our neighbor gave her to play today evening. She was running up and down the street, onto the road and back to the sidewalk, stepping on the lawn....simply enjoying herself. We don't need much to be happy....take pleasure in the small joys of life. Go watch a sunset, or walk bare feet on grass. Go out for a long drive alone. Curl up and read a good book. Drink coffee. Eat ice cream. Be happy!
Dance like no one's watching
This baby loves music, and LOVES to dance. Every morning, while feeding her breakfast, I have her Talking Elmo out on the high chair, and she starts moving with the rhythm. I have to find a way to feed her in between all this dancing & moving :). She'll dance at pretty much any tune that is playing in the house. And the happiness on her face while doing so says it all. We often spot her dancing and pretend as if we are not watching her, and simply enjoy the experience!
Demand with all your might what you desire
I do have a demanding one on my hands. Even at such a young age, she has preferences for everything :). That which she desires, she sure knows how to demand with all her might. There is an important lesson for all of us in this. We should not settle for less, or compromise ourselves, just because. I am not talking about materialistic desires here, but more about our dreams and aspirations. Persistence is the key to success.
Keep an open mind
While observing my kiddo play with her toys or learn to do new things, I realize how conditioned our adult minds have become. We often fail to think outside the box. Kids don't know the outcome of most things and so their approach is very different from us. For example, my daughter knows how to climb onto stuff, but does not know how to get down. She is learning, and has tried about 10 different ways of getting down...the best of which is just letting go, falling back, smiling and saying "bhum" (which means oops I fell down in Gujju). From trial and error, she now knows to get on her tummy and slide down. From time to time, we, as adults, should also put our reasoning and logical thinking to the side, and think differently. We even have a class to encourage "out of the box thinking" at work. We need to practice it more often!
Express your emotions freely
I get gazillion hugs and kisses from my daughter everyday. Even if I scold her or ignore her (which happens rarely), she comes and kisses me. I have recently taught her how to express "I love you" or simply "Love you"....when I tell her to do it, she puts her hand on her heart for 'love', and then puts her hand on me (or her daddy) for 'you'. Cute, eh? She expresses her love and joy (& disappointment as well) so freely. And gets over it sooper quick as well. We all should be able to do it this way.
Keep life simple
The baby derives equal pleasure from playing with an expensive toy or rolling in the grass. Her needs are simple - milk, food, clean diaper and clothes, bath, hugs & kisses & warmth, plenty of sleep. As adults, we don't need much more than that. We over complicate our life with stuff we don't need. Minimalism is the way to go. I should go clean up all the junk in my house now - Practice before I preach! But really, we should keep life as simple as it can be.
Live in the moment
This is one of the most important things that I get reminded of every single day when I look at my daughter. She does not worry about the past, or the future. She makes a mess, and does not worry about who will clean it. She cried couple times today when I scolded her - first time when she was not eating her breakfast, and second time when she was not going down for her nap even after trying for more than an hour, but at the very first distraction, she was smiling and back to her happy self. She lives in the moment; she lives in the present. If we all consciously choose to live like this, we can be a lot more happier than we are. I have been practicing it and reminding myself daily about this. It has helped me maintain a positive attitude towards life, and live with very little worry or stress about past/future stuff.
Happy Friday! And Happy Weekend!
Here are some of my recent lessons:
Oh Dear you must not fear
She walks and she walks fast. But toddlers don't stop there. They want to run. She is learning to run up and down the slope on the driveway. She falls zillions of times on the hard concrete, but not once have I seen her fear or give up. It's a very small thing she is trying to accomplish in our perspective, but for her its huge. WE know she will be okay if she falls, but she does not.
Never ever give up
The above example can fall into this category. How kids learn to walk, talk, eat - each of these are great examples of showing us how to never quit. Here is a recent example from our household. We have a cordless phone in our family room, placed on the middle shelf of the small TV entertainment unit. During the past few days, the baby has learnt how to bend down and reach for it, take it off its base, and then press the "locate" button on the base which makes the phone ring. This whole process requires a lot of effort and co-ordination from her end. She learnt it slowly, one step at a time, and I am amazed at how well she executes it now. She had lots of setbacks during the process, but she persisted and has now mastered it.
Be happy for no reason
Kids are best at this. Placing a small towel soaked in hot water on her face had her giggling non-stop today. She was so happy chasing a plastic red ball that our neighbor gave her to play today evening. She was running up and down the street, onto the road and back to the sidewalk, stepping on the lawn....simply enjoying herself. We don't need much to be happy....take pleasure in the small joys of life. Go watch a sunset, or walk bare feet on grass. Go out for a long drive alone. Curl up and read a good book. Drink coffee. Eat ice cream. Be happy!
Dance like no one's watching
This baby loves music, and LOVES to dance. Every morning, while feeding her breakfast, I have her Talking Elmo out on the high chair, and she starts moving with the rhythm. I have to find a way to feed her in between all this dancing & moving :). She'll dance at pretty much any tune that is playing in the house. And the happiness on her face while doing so says it all. We often spot her dancing and pretend as if we are not watching her, and simply enjoy the experience!
Demand with all your might what you desire
I do have a demanding one on my hands. Even at such a young age, she has preferences for everything :). That which she desires, she sure knows how to demand with all her might. There is an important lesson for all of us in this. We should not settle for less, or compromise ourselves, just because. I am not talking about materialistic desires here, but more about our dreams and aspirations. Persistence is the key to success.
Keep an open mind
While observing my kiddo play with her toys or learn to do new things, I realize how conditioned our adult minds have become. We often fail to think outside the box. Kids don't know the outcome of most things and so their approach is very different from us. For example, my daughter knows how to climb onto stuff, but does not know how to get down. She is learning, and has tried about 10 different ways of getting down...the best of which is just letting go, falling back, smiling and saying "bhum" (which means oops I fell down in Gujju). From trial and error, she now knows to get on her tummy and slide down. From time to time, we, as adults, should also put our reasoning and logical thinking to the side, and think differently. We even have a class to encourage "out of the box thinking" at work. We need to practice it more often!
Express your emotions freely
I get gazillion hugs and kisses from my daughter everyday. Even if I scold her or ignore her (which happens rarely), she comes and kisses me. I have recently taught her how to express "I love you" or simply "Love you"....when I tell her to do it, she puts her hand on her heart for 'love', and then puts her hand on me (or her daddy) for 'you'. Cute, eh? She expresses her love and joy (& disappointment as well) so freely. And gets over it sooper quick as well. We all should be able to do it this way.
Keep life simple
The baby derives equal pleasure from playing with an expensive toy or rolling in the grass. Her needs are simple - milk, food, clean diaper and clothes, bath, hugs & kisses & warmth, plenty of sleep. As adults, we don't need much more than that. We over complicate our life with stuff we don't need. Minimalism is the way to go. I should go clean up all the junk in my house now - Practice before I preach! But really, we should keep life as simple as it can be.
Live in the moment
This is one of the most important things that I get reminded of every single day when I look at my daughter. She does not worry about the past, or the future. She makes a mess, and does not worry about who will clean it. She cried couple times today when I scolded her - first time when she was not eating her breakfast, and second time when she was not going down for her nap even after trying for more than an hour, but at the very first distraction, she was smiling and back to her happy self. She lives in the moment; she lives in the present. If we all consciously choose to live like this, we can be a lot more happier than we are. I have been practicing it and reminding myself daily about this. It has helped me maintain a positive attitude towards life, and live with very little worry or stress about past/future stuff.
Happy Friday! And Happy Weekend!
October 5, 2011
Hey YOU...YOUUUUUUUUUU!
So Ruhi's new thing to say (mostly to her dad) is - Hey YOU.....YOUUUUUUUUUUU! The way she says it is hilarious! She will keep repeating it until her demand is met.
Today morning, she was in a destructive mood. Hubby had bought me a small beautiful musical globe for my 7-year Intel anniversary. At 7 years, we are eligible for Sabbatical - which is an 8-week paid time off. It's something we all look forward to, and I was very excited to become eligible, and hubby got me this small gift to help celebrate. The baby thought, it's cute and nice, but I wasn't there to witness it or celebrate it, so why bother saving this memento? She picked it up and threw it on the tile floor and broke it! I was right there next to her, but I didn't think she would be able to hold this heavy round thing - that too with one hand & fling it that far away. I spent an hour cleaning the mess and we still have to use the hand vacuum in the evening to ensure all the small glass pieces have been picked up.
While I was cleaning the mess, I put the baby in her high chair. She was fine for few minutes, playing with her toys. Then, she started getting cranky. "Hey YOU, YOUUUUUU" could be heard frequently. At one point, she just got up, turned around, and yelled at me, threatening to jump out on the floor if I didn't pick her up. I said, "Hey YOU, yes YOU" - you stay there coz YOU created this mess for mommy. She calmed down for 5 mins, then got up again and threatened to jump out again. I picked her up this time, and took her to the master bedroom and gave some toys to keep her busy, while keeping her in sight to prevent any more destruction :).
I came late to work because of this today morning - on a day when we had a big department meeting which happens only once a year, and colleagues from various other Intel sites are in town to network with each other. Not only did I come late, I was just tired and overwhelmed by the whole episode.
Nothing went right today morning. I put on the pressure cooker to make lunch for her (moong beans with gravy), and when I opened it after half an hour, I found them not thoroughly cooked. So I had to pressure cook them some more, and took twice the effort than normal for preparing a 6-8oz lunch meal!
On top of that, my iPhone has stopped working. It went into recovery mode, and I can't get it out without erasing all the data. I think I have a backup for most of the data and contacts, but I'm paranoid about losing some videos or pictures of which I may not have a backup, so I'm going to try some more and see if I can recover the data, before deciding to wipe it clean. I was without a phone for more than a day, and now have this basic AT&T go phone, which I don't even know how to lock/unlock or put in silent mode.
A typical morning in the life of Ruhi's mumma!
Today morning, she was in a destructive mood. Hubby had bought me a small beautiful musical globe for my 7-year Intel anniversary. At 7 years, we are eligible for Sabbatical - which is an 8-week paid time off. It's something we all look forward to, and I was very excited to become eligible, and hubby got me this small gift to help celebrate. The baby thought, it's cute and nice, but I wasn't there to witness it or celebrate it, so why bother saving this memento? She picked it up and threw it on the tile floor and broke it! I was right there next to her, but I didn't think she would be able to hold this heavy round thing - that too with one hand & fling it that far away. I spent an hour cleaning the mess and we still have to use the hand vacuum in the evening to ensure all the small glass pieces have been picked up.
While I was cleaning the mess, I put the baby in her high chair. She was fine for few minutes, playing with her toys. Then, she started getting cranky. "Hey YOU, YOUUUUUU" could be heard frequently. At one point, she just got up, turned around, and yelled at me, threatening to jump out on the floor if I didn't pick her up. I said, "Hey YOU, yes YOU" - you stay there coz YOU created this mess for mommy. She calmed down for 5 mins, then got up again and threatened to jump out again. I picked her up this time, and took her to the master bedroom and gave some toys to keep her busy, while keeping her in sight to prevent any more destruction :).
I came late to work because of this today morning - on a day when we had a big department meeting which happens only once a year, and colleagues from various other Intel sites are in town to network with each other. Not only did I come late, I was just tired and overwhelmed by the whole episode.
Nothing went right today morning. I put on the pressure cooker to make lunch for her (moong beans with gravy), and when I opened it after half an hour, I found them not thoroughly cooked. So I had to pressure cook them some more, and took twice the effort than normal for preparing a 6-8oz lunch meal!
On top of that, my iPhone has stopped working. It went into recovery mode, and I can't get it out without erasing all the data. I think I have a backup for most of the data and contacts, but I'm paranoid about losing some videos or pictures of which I may not have a backup, so I'm going to try some more and see if I can recover the data, before deciding to wipe it clean. I was without a phone for more than a day, and now have this basic AT&T go phone, which I don't even know how to lock/unlock or put in silent mode.
A typical morning in the life of Ruhi's mumma!
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