Post 5 - A Beach Sunset

Enjoyed this view on Sunday......

Whenever I visit the beach, the first sight always takes my breath away. 

As I soak up the salty ocean smell, the sound of the waves, the feeling of sand running through my toes, and paddle the waves, I slowly calm down, from within. 

It is therapeutic. 

It is ethereal. 

I always try to time it around sunset, to add to the magical feeling. 

These days, when I get to watch the kids frolicking in the water, making sand castles, playing frisbee, and enjoying it as much as I do, I feel like I'm on top of the world! 

 

Feeling very grateful and blessed!

PS: Pictures are from the iPhone so pardon the quality. 

Post 4 - Newborn

Sorry for not being able to post over the weekend. I was visiting my brand new nephew - he is SUCH a sweetheart!

Newborns are mesmerizing - everything they do feels like a miracle. And their smell - oh so heavenly!

But, they are a ton of work. I had forgotten how tough it is, especially during those first few weeks. They sleep a lot, but they also eat, burp, poop and pee a lot. And its exhausting. And right around 3am when you are in deep sleep, they wake up and want to play. 2-5am is the toughest time of the night to stay awake, and it is only during this time that newborns are at their playful best.

I am glad I was able to visit and help my family.....my nephew got along brilliantly with me, so I could feed him, change him, burp him and rock him to sleep. I even got to chat and hear his cooing, which is rare coz he is mostly sleeping all day.

Isn't he a darling :)?

Post 3 - I love you because....

You love me :) :)!

The daughter made these two cards for her little brother who is going to turn 2 this week!

She sacrificed her afternoon nap yesterday to make these. I'm very pleased....aren't they precious?

The wording inside comes from her - the teacher helped her write it, and she traced on it.

It's all about give and take at this age. Do you love me? If yes, I love you too :) :)!

Being close in age, the kids constantly compete with each other...hence the mention of sharing toys.

But they do care for each other, deeply and passionately. And as they grow up, that's the one thing that matters the most!!!!

Post 2 - Bringing joy....

We went to dinner at a South Indian restaurant yesterday. We rarely eat out, but the kids love this place; so when they ask, we rarely say no. They feel at home, behave well, enjoy the food, and make our outing successful.

The son was chowing down his mini idlis which he loves. They were loaded with ghee, but they were still pretty dry when eaten without sambar. And he choked on one. We helped him through it, and gave him some water.

When I turned towards my left, I saw a grandma heaving a sigh of relief. I bet she had started praying when she saw the son choking on his food. She was clad in a beautiful Kanjeevaram saree, and was wearing jewellery, as well as a bindi. Simple, but adorable. I assured her he is fine. 

The son is fond of grandmas. All kinds. And this one was no exception. He started chatting with her. They spoke about Cricket (which was being played on the telly), they spoke about airplanes and helicopters which he saw at the airshow on Saturday, and they spoke about food.

She had a hard time finishing her meal, coz she was smitten by him.

When she was done, she stood up and asked me if she could hold him. The son could also barely wait for her to hug him. By the time she took those few steps from her table towards ours, he was standing in his high chair. They hugged. Her eyes became moist. 

She asked her son to take a picture of her with him. The son said "Smile please" which made her laugh out loud. And they got a happy picture. When I mentioned that his birthday was coming up on Friday, she was overjoyed, and showered some more love on him.

All through this, she realized that she inadvertently ignored the daughter. To make up for it, she started conversing with her. Told her she was beautiful, and her dress was pretty. She asked about her school, and whether she liked the food. Then she asked if she can take her baby brother with her, and when the daughter made a sad face, she assured her that he was ours to keep :).

She blessed both the kids many times throughout our meeting. 

I'm glad our paths crossed with the grandma that day. The joy on her face when she held Rusham is something I will remember and cherish, for a long time to come.

And about my son - bringing joy in people's lives (starting with ours) is second nature to him. He is always so relaxed, easy-going, in love with life. He loves to pickup conversations with strangers. He is very inquisitive, and observant. He has a very charming, and adorable smile. He is a crowd pleaser. (I know I'm biased but it's true, trust me :)). I'm blessed to call him my son. And I love him, a lot!

Post 1 - Summer....

In an attempt to cure my writer's block, I'm going to try and write 30 posts in the next month. It may not be a post every day, but 30 posts is what I am aiming for. Lots of drafted posts will get a chance to be published as well. Please wish me luck :)!

For the first post, I want to share a picture with you.

Over the labor day long weekend, we took the kids to the neighborhood splash park. For the first time ever, the son enjoyed the water as much as the daughter always does. He needed no warm up time, ran straight into the spray structures, and even after slipping and falling down hard on his side, he went right back in.

The two made each other laugh. They waited for the buckets to get dumped on their heads, and squealed together in delight. They held hands and dashed through the arches. They gave each other happy hugs.

This summer has been all about the bonding between these two.

Being only two years apart, we were always told that they will grow up to be best buddies. I never believed it, coz I rarely got to experience it. But now, I can relate to what was told to us.

And I only hope it continues to get better, for the years to come.

Maasi

There's a new baby in the family. Meet Anmay, my adorable-precious-cuddly-huggable-lovable-edible-handsome nephew!!!!

After 72 hours of terrible labor + a high fever followed by an emergency C-section, he arrived into this world! Both him and my sister were very weak, stressed and had a possible chance of infection, so he went straight to NICU for observation. He's been a champ though.....he's stayed healthy and strong, is feeding well, he is giving me smiles on FaceTime, and he is enjoying his grandma's experienced nurturing and warmth. He is getting ready to come home in a couple of days!

I got to kiss his feet and take in that sweet baby smell a few minutes after he was born - oh, it is so heavenly, and the best feeling ever! I am yet to hold him in my arms and gobble him up, but it will have to wait until I see him again! Newborns are the best thing ever....really!

My sister is recovering well. She gets to go home today from the hospital, and I am so happy I was there with her all through her labor and delivery.

So proud to become a Maasi and can't wait to spoil this godchild of mine rotten!!!!

FOUR

Oh, how time is flying by!

My baby, the one who gifted me with the precious label of "mumma"....
The one who is so sensitive that she keeps getting hurt a zillion times each day....
The one who is incredibly compassionate and caring...
The one who is smart (and is aware of it too :))....
And the one, my only daughter, who is breathtakingly beautiful, inside and out - turned FOUR last week!

After a year of terrific (as well as terrible as) 3's, we are now entering the world of Fantabulous 4's. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us :).

This was her first birthday without grandparents, and her aunt n uncle from San Diego. Leading up to her birthday weekend, we were feeling the void of their presence, and I was not sure if the husband, son and I would be enough for her.

But we were. Along with many of our friends.

The day of her birthday, the son decided to sleep in. He is undoubtedly the first one to wake up in our house. But not on his didi's birthday. He KNEW. She woke up, and spent time cuddling with her mum n dad in bed. We came to the living room, and spent more time together. She got lots of calls and messages. HE LET HER HAVE HER MOMENT.

We fed her breakfast, dressed her up, and took her to school to celebrate with her friends. I know she had a great party at her school.

We then took her to Olive Garden, one of her favorite restaurants, for lunch. We had the best lunch ever. And the waitress surprised her with a dessert plate of sugar-dusted donuts, chocolate+cranberry sauce, and a candle to blow. Our fellow diners joined in to wish her happy birthday. It was a first-time experience for her and she was thrilled!!!

 In the evening, I baked a small cake for her at home. She helped me measure the ingredients and put it all together. It became more of a brownie than a cake, but it tasted good. We had some friends over with gifts and she basked in all the attention.

The next day was her party at MYGYM. We had already celebrated her 2nd birthday here, but she insisted on the same place again. I wanted her to be happy, and stuck with her choice. This year, I also listened to my inner voice, and decided to only invite people (apart from her school friends) who are close to us, and who have made a continuous effort to spend time with our family in the past year. We have a zillion acquaintances but not many close friends. I also considered the age group of the kids, and if they were too old or too young, I did not extend an invite to them. Turns out, excluding her school friends, we only had 5 families that I needed to invite- it was a short, sweet, stress-free list, as well as planning for us!

The party was a blast. The daughter knew each kid who came, and was very comfortable. I have never seen her SO happy at a function, through and through. Not a single meltdown or tantrum. I did not have to engage in any fake conversation, or put up fake smiles with any of the guests. It felt natural to be among those who we are close to.

All in all, we will remember and cherish these happy moments for a long time to come.

As usual, my wish for her is to be healthy, happy, be adventurous and free spirited, compassionate, and appreciate life and its little pleasures a lot more than all the material comforts. Being inquisitive and always questioning me, like she always does - I hope that never changes!

I love my little girl!