Day 7 - Night Running

I went for my first night run tonight. It was with my training group (thankfully), and I had prepared myself with all the gear I needed a couple of days ago.

I thought I was ready.

SO wrong!!!!

I was scared, and intimidated. I've never ran in my life, period. And this night run was scary. It was on the American River Trail which is really pretty during the day, but is equally scary at night. No lights, and chances of mountain lion, rattle snakes, deer, etc. FREAKED me out!

I started out with the core group, but very quickly, found my sluggish self at the end of the pack with two other females who were running at my pace.

And then suddenly I had an idea - let's listen to some music. I slowed down - considerably - trying to figure out a Pandora station to play and tuck in my headphones beneath my ear muffs and headlamp. It took me close to 10 minutes and I found myself all alone, in this dark jungle, listening to some stupid song which I immediately stopped. With the headphones, I had zoned out of all the sounds on the trail - there could be bikers calling out, a snake hissing, or an animal following. Feeling very afraid, I ran at a much faster pace to catch up with the group who was heading back after the 20-minute turnout.

Even though those 10 minutes were scary, the rest of the run was amazing. 3.5 miles again today, in 40 minutes, followed by a workout in the dark for 30 minutes (squats and push-ups and plank and what not).

I can't say I've fallen in love with running yet (I was dreading the run all day today) but I can see myself getting fitter and stronger with every session.

GO ME!!!!

Day 6 - The odd couple

Hubby and I have a lot of friends and acquaintances, but not many who I consider close. And by close, I mean with whom we can comfortably share a meal or a cup of coffee, and converse freely while doing so. Those who will work around our kids schedules and adjust to us, vs. always expecting us to fit to their schedule. Those who take time out of their busy schedules and come spend time with our children. Those who understand why we repeatedly say no to dinner outings or movies or date nights.

After having kids, it seems we are becoming more and more distant from many people. And I was reflecting why we don't gel with most folks around us....and this is what I came up with:

:: Hubby and I don't drink (alcoholic beverages). We get many invites for socializing over alcohol, and we have to politely decline. The husband suffers more than me, as he does not get to hang out with most of the guy gang. But he really hates drinking (even socially), and refuses to put up with socialization centered around drinking.

:: We don't leave our kids with anyone and go out on a date or attend an adult-only party. Not yet, anyway. We both feel the children are too little, heavily dependent on us for their daily routine of eating, bathing, playing and sleeping. We are already away from them during the day for work so taking more time and being away from them does not feel right. Even when we had parents to help us out, we never dumped the children on them outside of our work hours just to have fun. We feel we can do this until they are older and can be self sufficient in many of the routine tasks. It will be not long before they ask for night-outs at their friends houses, and will want to be with friends more than us. Then we will have plenty of opportunities for date nights and movie outings.

{Both our kids sleep fairly early, so every single day, we both get to be with each other for quite some time. It seems to be plenty for now.}

:: We don't like to dine out often. The more I find out about the ingredients in food served at restaurants or processed stuff available in supermarkets, the more paranoid I am. I have become extremely conscious of what we eat. I have also found a creative outlet in cooking, and really enjoy my time making meals for my family. Because of that, we end up eating mostly at home.

:: We watch NO TV. Yep, Zilch. So it's difficult to connect with folks over TV serials. Hubby reads/watch a bit of current affairs online and I do follow some sports (occasionally watch a few games) but I find it difficult to be around folks who always have their television ON in the background, all day. So, another topic for conversation off the list :).

:: We look forward to quality play time with our kids. What I have observed is - when you socialize a lot and are always around people, kids (especially as young as ours) will keep busy for some time, then get bored. Especially if there are mostly adults and no other children of the same age. We avoid such outings. Hubby is actually more sensitive than me on this front. He really does not like if he has to skip bedtime reading to the children, or miss park outings with them during weekends. We do our best to engage with them and keep doing new things. Bubbles, playdoh, puzzles, dancing, blocks, trains, books, juggling, tunneling, drawing, crafts, parks - we really look forward to all these simple pleasures of life.

:: Avoiding large daycare centers and preschools - both kids go to home based centers. They are very small, and private. The care providers are excellent, loving, and genuine. But due to this choice, our kids are not going to the schools that most of our friends kids attend. Interaction at school events with our social circle is practically zero. We feel a little out of place at gatherings where we have to defend our choices, but we are confident of them, and can hold our ground comfortably.

:: We typically travel by ourselves. Its very difficult to travel with our little ones....so we avoid going in groups where we have to deal with the schedules and preferences of other kids and their families. Hubby and I have gotten quite used to loading up our car and setting off for road trips. We drive during the night when the kids sleep and rarely take breaks. I always pack lots of homemade food and snacks. I like being independent and not having to change plans or be waiting if we would have company to travel with.

I could continue, but you get the idea. We have become 'the odd couple' now. A friend from work who is single has hinted to me that I have an attitude problem LOL. Not that I agree, but the perspective tells me something :). What do you have to say :P?

Day 5 - Sorry, I disappeared

Well, that's a great way to start the New Year - by breaking my resolution :) :) :) :)!

Sorry for the disappearance act. I goofed up big time. I actually wrote blog posts for Jan 2nd and Jan 3rd, and scheduled them to be posted at 11.30pm each day. Only to realize that I put '2015' instead of '2014' so they were never posted here. I have NO idea how I messed this one up.....

But, I will post them after this one, and backdate them. Hope that's okay.

I started my half marathon training. First run was 3.5 miles in 40 minutes, followed by a core workout session. The trainer is one tough task master, so whether I finish this half marathon or not, I'm sure I will be much fitter by the end of this training. Here is the group photo on day 1:

I have my training plan in front of me....and its slightly intimidating. But that's good, right? One of my goals this year is to get more uncomfortable, outside of my parenting responsibilities. And this training will do just that. Wish me luck and an injury free 3 months :)!

Day 4 - Words, sounds, and actions

When I met our ped last month for another ear infection on the son's right ear, she mentioned that back-to-back ear infections could cause hearing issues and speech delays. I took the opportunity to discuss his milestones with her, and was relieved when she told me he is WAY above average.

His milestones have gotten very little attention on the blog. So time to fix that :).

Next week, my little man turns 16 month old. We will see an explosion of vocabulary around 18 months of age, but he talks A LOT already.

His first word, apart from mama, papa, dada, and nana was "light". He was, and still is, mesmerized with lights. He LOVED watching the Christmas lights at home and all around town. Department stores attract him a lot, so does the iPhone which is his favorite gadget :).

He can now say "didi" very clearly....and its fun to watch him chase her around chanting "didi didi didi" - music to our ears, but not to hers :) :)!

Some of the other words he says are:

NO - probably the most important one of all
No No No No No - with actions - the frequently used one
aapo  - gujarati for give me
aav aav - gujarati for come here
doodhoo - gujarati for milk
aaaanu - for our friend A
nani, dadi - for grandmas
key
aalo - for hello :)
booooooo - for book - the cutest thing ever.
bhua - for water
aaaaple - for apple
cat
tar - for star
moooooo - for moon - another adorable sound
boa - for ball
bub - for bubbles
khakho - for any snack or food or to tell us he is hungry
tight - for light
cheeee - for cheese
Names of ALL of his daycare friends - he can even say a complex one like "Dhruva"

And I'm sure I'm forgetting as many as I wrote above. But he is definitely not delayed, inspite of the multiple ear infections he has had.

He is also building a good database of animal sounds. He can say the following when prompted: cat, dog, cow, sheep, snake, lion/tiger, bear, owl and elephant. They are clear, and distinct, and oober cute to listen to :).

And my favorite part about him right now is all the actions he does. The BEST are his dance moves - he dances to the beat, shakes his head, throws up one hand (sometimes two) up in the air and goes round n round.....he gets into a trance and it's a joy to watch him do his thing on the floor.

One day, he woke up very early in the morning, and got into a position on the bed quite far away from me. He started his 'mumma mumma' chants, and I was a very grumpy person when I opened my eyes. But as soon as I looked at him, I saw him crouched down on the bed, looking at me, and he started waving his hands while saying "aav aav aav aav aav". I saw a huge relief on his face and a megawatt smile soon after - he had accomplished a new feat afterall. All my grumpiness melted in an instant and I scooped him up in my arms!

When we say "didi ne hug karo", he will RUN towards her and hug her tight, wrapping both his arms around her. Absolutely priceless to watch. (She does the same to him too - when she is not throwing her tantrums around :)).

It is very interesting to see his personality develop. He is a mover (can never sit still), a destroyer (of blocks, puzzles, books, anything that he can lay his hands upon), a transportation engineer (he loves to move and push things around), a dancer (he's got great moves), and a heart charmer (he has the BESTEST smile).

He has fallen in love with books (finally, after an entire year of not reading) and can't get enough of them. The first thing he wants to do after waking up is to plop his bum on my lap and read a book. I never say no :).

It's a blessing and a privilege, to watch him grow. I love my golu SO SO much!

Day 3 - Playground

Took time off from work yesterday and today, as I felt like spending time with the kids. The weather has been amazing - unusually warm and sunny, and very spring like. We need the rain but it's not coming, so might as well enjoy the sunshine.

Took the kids to the park on both days. They had a blast. I tired them out so well that they napped for 3+ hours on both days - BLISS!

Swings - unlimited fun.....

Big kid swings - dont-want-to-get-down-ever kind of fun! Even the little one was hooked. This mumma is still scared when the daughter goes higher and higher in the big kid swing.

Chasing each other and pausing to take a break.....

My son (and all boys) = 90% mischief, 10% dirt.

And who said girls don't like dirt :)? Mine sure does. She was making "french fries" for me...which were served piping hot with ketchup for a snack - they were yummy!

Partners in fun and crime, and DIRT :)

Slides - one of a parent's best jobs is waiting at the end of a slide :) :) :) :)!

Playgrounds are SO much fun! My time off was worth every minute of it.

And talking about playground, I just realized that writing here on this blog is my playground. I have SO much fun doing it, I look forward to it every single day!

What's your playground?

PS:  This is a popular park in the center of the city....close to many neighborhoods. It is typically frequented by many Indian families, but I did not see a single Indian or even Asian family on both these days. It was very surprising. Either they were all working or traveling - I hope they were not stuck indoors in this gorgeous weather.

Day 2 - Portraits

These were clicked on Christmas Day, in our backyard.

I loved them all for their simplicity - natural hair, no makeup, no Photoshop, no fancy outfit - simplicity at its best! {and a good camera ;)}

And one more, from the same day -while soaking in the Christmas Day sunset at the hilltop, just outside our community. I LOVED this one, my favorite!

Like :)?

Day 1 - Welcome Twenty Fourteen!

Wishing all my friends here a very happy 2014!

I'm very much looking forward to this year....lots of exciting stuff to look forward to!

As you may have guessed already from the title of this post, I'm going to try doing a blog marathon this month. No compulsion of any sort, no contests that I plan to participate in - I just LOVE to write and I need to make time for it. Hopefully a marathon will get me going in the right direction for the rest of the year :)!

So, how was New Years' eve and the first day of this year for you?

Mine was fairly simple. I worked a bit on New Years eve and then went for 'running shoe' shopping - I have signed up for half marathon training (yet to sign up for the actual race) so I need gear :). It was exciting....did not get the shoe I wanted in wide width but know what I need to buy now. I also popped into a cute little bookstore (the only one around here) right across the footwear store and found "the perfect puzzle'' for the daughter on sale for $6. Also found a great book for a friend. And a diary for myself. A successful outing :)!

We spent the rest of the evening at a friends place....played poker and chatted....I won both the games we played (no real money, just played for fun) so it was a lot of fun for me. We had 2 sets of parents who were trying hard to figure out the rules of Texas Holdem and were struggling....THAT contributed towards many laughs we youngsters enjoyed :). The whole group has kids, so we were really busy trying to keep the kids entertained and prevent them from shoving the poker chips into people's shoes :). When the clock struck 12, we just said "Happy New Year" as a group and parted - no drinks, no partying - that's how you celebrate when you have young children in your household. Even the snacks we had were kid friendly.

This might sound boring to 90% of my FB friend's list - all of those who partied hard and have posted pictures of their outings and dress up - but this was just PERFECT for me - close friends, laughter, kids playing, simplicity and togetherness. As such, hubby and I abstain from Alcohol so we didn't really miss out on anything.

New Year's Day was simple as well. The four of us stayed home ALL day - without any visitors. Quiet rare for us. But I cooked yummy food (daughter's choice). We all napped for 3+ hours in the afternoon - bliss!. We read books throughout the day. We had a fun dance session coupled with ringa ringa roses with kids in the evening. We blew bubbles. We did puzzles. What more would you want - we ate together, stayed together, read together, danced and played together, slept together. Simple, yet perfect!

I'm currently reading "The Miracle of Mindfulness" and it's SO good. The perfect book to read at the beginning of the year, where we soft reset our systems, internal as well as external. A great book to bring about positive changes in our lifestyle (which, for my husband, means washing the dishes mindfully :) :) - you will get this joke if you read the book). {there is a free online pdf of the book if you google for it - fyi}.

I really don't have any traditions for New Years day - I would have liked to go to the temple but it didn't work out today, so we will try to go during the weekend. I usually don't have many resolutions either - to get fitter and stronger, both physically as well as mentally, is always a goal. So is being creative, and growing myself. Travel is also always something I look forward to (have a trip planned in Jan - yay :)). I am going to give this running thing a shot - I've always wanted to try running (vs the walking, hiking that I am used to) so I want to run a race or two and see how I like it. If I don't, I won't push myself to do it, and I'll stick to what I'm good at anyway.

So there it is - a simple yet detailed account of the last couple days. And whether you like it or not, you'll see me here everyday for the rest of the month :)! DO visit, and DO comment :)!

Before I end, here is a collage of the kiddos having fun at home in the evening - notice the matching pajamas...there is a story to it which I will reserve for a future post :).

Wish you all a very happy, healthy, adventurous 2014! Hugz and much love from me to you!