All about Neil

The thing about not updating the blog often enough is that I am afraid I am going to forget these days. Now that Neil is at a really fun age, I want to remember all the cute things he says and does. Life is certainly a challenge with a 2 year old, but it is great too.

His vocabulary has increased quite a bit. Doctor thought at his 2 year visit that he might need some therapy, but he seems to be doing well now. He says the alphabets and counts to 10 (one day he counted to 15!)He says some phrases and couple of Bible verses. He is still slightly un-social in a group setting, but I am that way too, so it is not a huge surprise. ha.

All the things which we tell him, he says it back to us. "No pinching Mama, No cotton (no touching counters), cafoo (careful), gimme hand." And he can identify almost all the objects. We had a book on shapes, and he could identify them long ago, now he says all the shapes too. He can also identify body parts in English and our native tongue.

Books are still his best friends, and he "reads" Goodnight Moon, The Gingerbread Boy, My First Bible, In the Fiddle, and I love you Little One. I just have to say two or three words in the book and he says all the rest.

The biggest issue we are working on his tendency to put everything in his mouth. Play dough, crap on the floor, ANYTHING. It drives me nuts because I know he understands he is not supposed to do it.

He is way too active for snuggles and cuddles. I am ready to cry when I think about that. I read to him in hopes that I can kiss and cuddle him while reading. He is 2, but he thinks he is 15. He wriggles and runs off when I force snuggle him. He does give ummas (kisses) when I ask for it. I have to be satisfied with that.

BUT...

He still goes to sleep with me and then after he has fallen asleep I transfer him to his crib. (I use this time to shamelessly shower him with kisses) Yes, I know he is past 2. But we are Indian parents, our kids sleep with us till they are 25.

He loves to flush. If anyone goes to the toilet, he runs after them, hoping to flush. I try to use that to encourage him to go on the potty. He tells me poo poo and then I dash him to the toilet and then he sits there for 20 seconds, does nothing, flushes and then runs off. I am now thinking he is tricking me.

He has started to play with toys much better and I am happy. Not that I get to do much around the house. He plays with his toys only if I sit there watching him, doing nothing. If he sees me doing something, then he wants me to stop and play with him. ha ha. He loves being on the phone and tells hello, goodbye, umma, how are you etc to whoever is on the other line. The grands have a blast when we talk to them.

He is still a good little helper to his mama. He unloads the dishwasher, helps with laundry, wiping down tables, putting away toys etc. I so hope it lasts!

I was looking through some old pictures and I am so startled at the passage of time. The days at times which seemed so long, in retrospect seemed to have flown by. It helps me stop and cherish the day to day, tantrums and all.

Here he is at 14 months



And now at 26 months.

Mother's Day

It was a lovely mothers day for me. All the past mothers day, we had always been traveling, so it was nice to be home this time. In 2009, when I was pregnant with Neil, we were coming back from our babymoon in Hawaii. Hubs got me two overpriced necklaces from the airport. In 2010, we were coming back from Portland. It was a very memorable trip and you can read all about it here and here. Needless to say, gifts were not on either of our minds that day.

This year, we stay put at home and the men at church hosted a dinner for the ladies. They had children escort the moms and carry their plates and the men served us lunch. It was so sweet!!! Then we all got a small gift. Neil and R gave me a card and a necklace which I am wearing now. It is the cutest thing with a turtle for a locket which comes with 5 colours. Neil ahem has a habit of going all out for gifts. So I told him strictly that I didn't care what he bought me as long as it was under $25. And this one was $24.99. And did I mention I love it? Then they took me out to dinner at Elephant Bar. So it was a pretty good mothers day. Although, compared to last year, even if we did NOTHING AT ALL, it still would have been an excellent one by comparison. ha.

I do not have any pictures, but Neil looked really cute in his smocked jon jon which he completely spolit with baked beans and heaven knows what else. He also had a haircut on Saturday. And so did his daddy. I am not exactly sure what is wrong with me, but I love him with slightly long and curly hair. So I get sentimental whenever he has a haircut. This is how his haircut goes in this house. Hubs will be mercilessly chopping off his hair while I stand there and offer helpful comments like, enough, wait, leave some in the front, don't take off all the curls etc. And Neil will be screaming all throughout. Fun times. Now he looks just like the wild toddler boy that he is. Sometimes I wonder if all toddler boys are like this or if mine is extra wild. He growls so well. R says he has never seen an almost two year old growl so well. Then again he hasn't seen many toddlers. I can't recall many growling toddlers myself.

I hope all my mommy readers had a wonderful mothers day.

19 months

It has been a while since I posted last and it has been an even longer while since I wrote what Neil is up to these days. I do regret not keeping up with my monthly letters. As a matter of fact, I think the changes were even more from month 12 to now than the first 12 months. I cannot go back and remedy the lack of documenting that, so I thought I would write about what is going on now.

He is now 19 months old and a naughty little toddler.



His favorite thing to do is read or actually being read to. I am not sure if it is because he gets to sit in my lap and gets my undivided attention or if he really loves books. I think a little bit of both. Either way, I am not complaining.



He still eats well, but he has this funny habit of rejecting the first bite of anything I offer him. He turns his head away and makes faces and then I somehow manage to get it down his throat. After that, everything is great. Funny little boy!

He LOVES strawberries and between the two of us, we go through a pound bag pretty soon. Good thing it is the season now.

He doesnt like sitting in his chair and eating, mostly he runs around and then comes back to eat the rest. It is just easier for both of us. Thankfully, I don't have to run after him, he just comes back after all the wanderings.

His thing to do now is make sure all doors are shut. Sometimes even when people are in the middle. He is a man with a mission. THE DOORS NEED TO BE SHUT, PEOPLE. Car doors, microwave doors, regular doors, oven doors, you need a door shut, Neil is your man.

He does not understand the concept of his dad working from home. His favorite place to be is sitting behind R in the chair. I am the mean momma because I take him out from there so R can get some work done.

The laptops are his arch nemesis, if we are working on them, he will push it away.

He still laughs when something falls or unexpected sounds happen and his laugh melts us. It is the sweetest sound and we do anything to hear that.



He doesn't talk many words except No, daddy, mamma and bow bow. But he talks entire sentences in his own language which I think is much cuter than ours. And he says those stuff seriously too. It is just the cutest thing.

Speaking of words, he says No with such an accent. Like Naaaw. Cracks us up to no end.

He loves being outside, weekends are his favourite days as he gets lots of attention from both of us, and he is such a cuddlebug. These days, he wants to be rocked to sleep before he goes down for the night.

He loves to walk in the middle holding both our hands and I take a mental photograph of that and tuck it away. I savor all these sweet memories as these days speed by me all too quickly.

Neil 1 year ago

Stream of Thought

I bring him up from the car. It is late and he has gone to sleep. R holds him and I remove his shoes. We had to change him and put his jammies. He half wakes up and cries. I take him to our room instead of putting him in the crib. Usually, I go off to do "important" tasks and let him sleep by himself. Today, I snuggle with him. These days he won't let me squish and snuggle when he is awake. He is too busy running around. We lay cheek to cheek. I synchronize my breathing with him. I inhale his smell. I press him close to my heart. He stirs in his sleep.

I think of how small he was and how fragile he seemed to me when he was a newborn. I rub his back and pray for him. I lay him down back in his crib and keep Tigger next to him. He is fast asleep. There were tantrums, and drama today. But now he sleeps like an angel. I marvel at how long he has become when I see him all stretched out like that. I sigh and walk back out.

Odds and Ends

Today is our 6-year engagement anniversary. R got me flowers most unexpectedly.



I love it. He knows that I don't care for red roses by itself, so on the few occassions he does get me flowers, it is pink or calla lillies. Oh, I love red roses, I just don't like it from him. A quirk of my personality.

The day didn't start out great as Neil vomitted all the milk he had in the morning. He threw up on the bed, pillow, conforter and got some on R as well. So, we all got up at 7 and I started laundry immediately. Neil was very happy after all the throwing up and was doing his "happy dance." R and I had a late night and so we had very few hours of sleep. We kept Neil at home for a few hours and only took him to church for the second meeting. He seems to be doing better. He was rather cranky towards evening.

We usually eat Sunday lunch out. We eat so much that we cannot even eat dinner. But now that we are working out, we were both hungry by dinner time. So all to say the workout is not really helping in weight loss. I am pretty sure I gained a pound. We make it to two workouts per week, we are hoping to do more if we actually want to be fit. haha.

Saturday I cleaned out my fridge and the high chair and that was about it. We went for a walk in the evening and I walked 2 miles. It was so cold outside that we had to stop and come back. The goal was 5 miles. We have been looking at all our options in our communication needs and I think we finally came up with something that we might be happy with. I looked at our expense sheet and realized we were spending a lot per month for phone/internet etc. I think we found a way to save $80 per month. We had to save that much to make up for the time spent researching everything.

I am hoping that Neil will be healthy, it has been rough on Friday. It got to a point that he would cry when I tell him to go and play with his kitchen after reading the same book 15th time. I know he is not feeling too well when there is a lot of whining. I am not sure if his ear infection came back or if it is teething. He sometimes tries to put his whole fist inside the mouth and is drooling rivers. There are a last few still to come in.

Hoping to get up early and have a good start to the weekend.

Home Remedies

I have not been very good about updating the blog this month. All the blogging about life has been interrupted by well...life. Neil has been sick most of last week and I have been nursing him back to health. He is doing better now. He was diagnosed with a double ear infection and was prescribed antibiotics. I have been doing what my husband lovingly refers as witchcraft. My witchcraft includes feeding him mush (which is really boiled brown rice), turmeric seasoned buttermilk, and vicks on the feet and rubbing essential oils on his chest and back. He can call it witchcraft, but hey, who am I to argue with results? Oh, and instead of water, I feed him the nutrient rich leftover water from boiling rice. I also diluted his milk and made sure all his food was hot. The turmeric? It is pure magic. It cures tummy upsets too.

And with the above paragraph, I have officially turned into a 90 year old woman. I know it is not just my dear hubby, most of you who are reading thinks I am nuts. And you would be probably right. Which mom doesn't give antibiotics to her child with a double ear infection? But let me explain. I grew up with antibiotics. They were my constant companion. I was a sick most of my childhood. I was breastfed until I was 2 years old and my siblings were not breastfed. Yet, I was the one with all the issues. Funny, huh? I regularly got cold, cough, and fever every single month. And every single month I had to take antibiotics. At that time, I had to go to school, dad and mom had to work, and there was not a whole lot of alternatives. Anyway, this pretty much continued until I was 18. Then I didn't get sick as often, but still about 4-5 times a year. The tide finally turned when I came to US when I was 23. It has been 7 years since then and I must have gotten sick 7 times at the most. And taken antibiotics once. These days I don't even take tylenol. Now, don't get the wrong impression, I am not against western medicine or anything. I just have a host of other issues which sometimes require medication to function in my daily life and I just don't feel the need to take medicines for something like a headache or medium pain or cough.

And I pretty much do the same for my child. As much as possible, keep him off of antibiotics and do the natural stuff. Of course, it goes without saying, if there is stuff I have no clue about, I don't mess with home remedies. Also, if he is in pain and things seem to get worse, I don't wait and see. Like, one time he got roseola, I had no idea what was going on and I took him to the doctor. By that time the fever had broken and rashes come out. Initially, when Neil got ear infections, we gave him antibiotics as I was worried what would happen if I didn't. It is hard to break years of conditioning. :)

Do you practice withcraft home remedies? If so, please share your favourites so I can add them to my repertoire.

Bits and Pieces

I didn't get my act together, so I was unable to put a cooking post together. I will try and do a post next week.

I am on week 2 of c25k and it is a different animal. I could barely do it. When there was 13 seconds left on my run I would nearly collapse. I am thinking I have to do week 1 again. What a wimp!

I tidied up the whole house today in preparation for our guests on Sunday. It sure feels good to be in a picked up house. Neil is sleeping, so it should stay that way till he wakes up in the morning.

Speaking of sleep, he usually sleeps by himself, but today since hubs had gone out, I lay down with him and I thought he was asleep. But when I transferred him, he woke up and cried really loudly. Not the whining he usually does. I thought I would go to him in 2 minutes, but he fell asleep by then. I just felt unaccountably bad though. He is such a snuggly little boy.

When he was asleep I went in and petted him and watched him sleeping. I looked at the sweet face and I knew why the Bible says "Can a woman forget her nursing child?" It has to be the strongest bond, a love so powerful that there is poverty of words trying to describe it.

Tomorrow morning is my time out and I am planning to do my BSF study during that time. I have to come back and do a lot of cooking as there is no time to do anything after we get back from church other than lay the table. I am assuming cooking time to be 4 hours at the least. I will tell how much it actually took. Since hubs is around, hopefully I will not have Neil hovering around when I am cooking. It will be too distracting otherwise.

I made a friend in my neighborhood who is 80 years old. She and I take out our puppies out for walks everyday. Okay, I am taking Neil out, but really he is not that different from a puppy. So he wear clothes. Actually, the puppy also was wearing a sweater today. It was nice chatting with her and it was so good to walk after my running. She has a nice lakehouse and she took me around to the back where the lake was. It would be so nice to sit at that porch everyday. And they paid less for that house than we did. Stupid market. We bought the house at such a bad time. :(

Hubs agreed to wake up with Neil tomorrow as part of my time off. Yaay. And on that good note, I am off to sleep.

Oh, and with this post, I have exceeded the number of posts I have written in one month since I started blogging. The last one was July 2007. I am proud :))

Our day and the Daycare Issue

Today I had a dental appointment in the morning. I left Neil with a friend. He cried and cried and was inconsolable, I am told. Finally, he cried himself to sleep and slept about until 5 minutes before I got there. He was in a good mood after the nap though. He had a good time running around everywhere talking to everyone and exploring all the rooms.

My dental appointment was a routine cleaning and they took X-rays. I apparently have a semi impacted wisdon tooth and the doc recommended me to an oral surgeon. When the hygeinist showed me a mirror I immediately told her that the tooth is partially impacted and knew that it won't be a easy extraction. She said only the doctor can make such a call and I kept quiet. When the dentist told me the same thing, I felt very smart. :)haha.

I came home and just felt very sleepy and slept for 1.5 hours. It was really nice except that I woke up with a headache. We went for a walk in the evening and I walked a mile and also did my c25k. Felt great about that. It is a bit chilly tonight and tomorrow, it is going to be more of the fun cold.

Now, here is something that bothers me. We have made a family decision at this time not to send Neil to daycare. He is at the age where he is really attached to the both of us and cries a lot when left with others. He is not going to be like this forever. He will grow up and be okay going to school and "socialize." For the love of God, he is only 16 months old. It really bugs me that I am told to drop him here, there, everywhere so that he will stop crying when left with others. I don't want to force myself or him into something both of us are not ready for. It is not like he is having a closeted life. We go out to playdates/storytime etc 2 to 3 times a week plus church. So yeah, this constant asking if he is in daycare yet does bug me. It is from a person I have a semi-fromal relationship with, so it is not even like I can really say anything much. Any advice?

Weekend

Our weekend was pretty relaxed and good. Saturday mornings are my moms day out. Although it ends up being less than 3 hours out, it is still better than nothing. Saturday evenings are R's evening out. The good thing is I get to spend some time by myself and 1.5 hours after I leave, Neil sleeps, so it is not too hard on R. And on the evening, 1.5 hours after he leaves, Neil sleeps as well, so it is not too hard on me either. Being an introvert, I really cherish this time. On Saturday, I spent time online looking at recipes. I am kind of in a funk with cooking. Last week, we ate out every evening. Yikes. I am also tracking our expenses and it really was ridiculous last week. I spent some time that evening and put together a menu plan for the whole month. That was how motivated I was. :)

I spent my time in the morning at Target buying some workout clothes and some stockings. I only wear dresses/skirts at church and I am really in a quandry over how to keep myself warm. I bought some nice, black stockings and when I was putting it on Sunday morning, I got a huge run in it. I did not even wear it once, and it has to be thrown already. Bummer. I pretty much suffered through the entire service. It was so cold on Sunday. Brrr. I also realized that if I don't cause a run in it, Neil certainly will, kicking me with his shoes. Do you have any suggestions for me?

I am thinking of calling next week's speaker and another person from church for lunch next Sunday. I have been ruminating on the menu since then. I am thinking pulav, raita, plain rice, seasoned buttermilk, fish fry, fish curry, lentils, cabbage stir fry, pappadam, and pickle with fresh fruit for dessert. We will see how it goes :)

R set up Neil's toy kitchen on Saturday and it has been a love affair. We are very pleased. I will soon take pictures of his room. I love how it looks now. We did a lot of rearranging and bought a new crib (that crib deserves a special post) and I did some decorating and it looks really sweet now. I had bought a changing table way back when because it was difficult for me to change his diaper in bed. It was giving both of us back issues. But now I looked at it and was thinking, I didn't need to buy it. Our counter in the attached bath in his room is long with a sink at the corner and it is the same height as the changing table. All I needed was a pad. And it would have saved me some precious real estate. Well, live and learn I guess.

Today was just a normal day at home. Neil only takes one nap now, but sleeps through the night (HALLELUJIAH), so by the time it is 6:30, he is super tired and cranky. When I am trying to put something together for dinner, he is going round and round my legs, and pulling at my pants, and whining and crying. By the time I put him down, I am ready to sleep even though it would be only 8 or so. I then feel so bad that I shout at him that I shower him with kisses (much to R's digust) before he sleeps.

Tomorrow I have a dental appointment and I am leaving Neil with a sweet friend. I hope he will be okay. He is really sweet and nice for me at home, but I am not too sure about him being nice to anyone else. :) Off to bed now, we have an early morning coming up.

In sickness and health

We are a sick, happy family. Well, we are definitely sick, but not all that happy. All three of us have been hit with the bug. Of course, Neilu doesn't seem to be bothered by it, he keeps running around like it is all the same. But he is sneezing a lot and has a bad cold. Hubs and I have a horrible throat ache and I threw up three times today.

It is kind of funny. Pre-Neil, if I were this sick, I would take off from work and snuggle under the blanket and take rest the whole day. Now, being a mom, I dont have those luxuries. I tried to take a nap while he was napping, but, the morning nap didn't work out as he woke up as soon as my head hit the pillow. In the afternoon, I had some Nyquil, and was so knocked out that I was unable to wake up when he did. Thankfully, R stepped up and offered to look after him for an hour. He was in bad shape after that one hour, but I felt slightly better. I went to the store to get some Benadryl and when I came back, R told me that Neilu had cried himself to sleep. Poor kid. But then, hubs was also exhausted. I wish this throat ache would go away. Out of all the flu like symptoms (cough, cold, fever, body ache), I think throat ache is the worst. Hopefully, we will all wake up better tomorrow.

It is still so cold here. And it is not like there is any pretty snow to look at. Just cold. Even last year, it was not so cold so early in the winter. I am glad we didn't travel anywhere, but just stayed put at home this season.

It is getting late now and I am going to take some Nyquil and hit the bed. I hope Neil doesn't wake up and cry in the night. I am pretty sure that I am not going to hear it if he does. Sweet little boy, I sure feel bad for him. Hope you all have a sickess free end of the year.

Running

Running is like giving birth.

This is my conclusion after starting the c25k today. I guess if I am coming to such conclusions after one day of 20 minute running, it does not bode well for me. Also, I suspect I am not in shape at all. Unless you count round as a shape for humans.

In that case, I am in the best shape of my life.

I announced my intention of doing this program and my dear husband bought me some expensive running shoes. I have all kinds of health issues and he wanted to be sure that I get good shoes that support me in my efforts. He says you cannot put a price on health. Actually I can. I just have to calculate the total amount in the two hospital bills and the cost of my running shoes.

All this to say that the shoes kept me going long after I would have normally given up. It was so cold too. R scolded me for going out in this cold (with the baby too). Poor Neilu, his hands were really cold by the time we came back. I was running, so I was sweating and didn't feel it too much. But poor baby must have been cold, sitting in the stroller. I had bundled him up in layers, but I hadn't put mittens on him. The shoes are really cool though. I just didn't feel like getting out of it even after I came home.

I haven't explained why running is like giving birth. You see, this c25k program is such that you have to jog for 60 seconds and then walk for 90 seconds. The 1 minute jog feels never ending while the 1.5 min walk goes all too fast. Those who have given birth know that I am talking about the contractions and the respite between them. Maybe it was the cold, or my fitness level, but I really struggled. But I am not going to give up. I will try when it is less cold and maybe I will struggle less.

I am hoping to finish the program. For the sake of recordkeeping, this is my weight as of today morning: 114 lbs. My waist line after dinner today (much harder to write in public): 34 inches. I don't really have a goal. Ideally I would like to be 105 lbs and have a waistline of 30 inches. But that ship has sailed after I first saw the double red line on a home pregnancy test. So, not to be distracted by numbers, I am not setting a number goal. I just want to be healthier. I won't elaborate here for fear of sounding like a Memaw, but I do have a bunch of health issues and I want to be in better shape to take care of my family.

Today also was Neilu's 15 month appointment and he is doing very well by God's grace. He howled the entire time the doctor was in the room. Not only is his stranger anxiety not reducing, it is getting worse I feel. Poor doctor, he just came into the room, didn't even do anything and he howled. He actually cried less for the shot as the nurse came and went out real fast. And it was so funny, the receptionist was talking to him when he were going out and he was going on in a scolding tone to her. Everyone was laughing. It sounded exactly like "You are all smiles and laughs, but you are one of them also. Don't try and convince me otherwise." I think this is the most fun age ever. He makes me laugh everyday.

Just like his daddy.

A Bizzare Experience

I had a really bizzare experience today.

Let me start at the beginning.

Last week, hubs and I were walking around in the mall and we came across a bargain priced book section in Barnes and Noble. I picked up a Jefferey Archer as I can never really say no to him. Plus, the bargain price? There was no way I could win that one. I had never heard of that particular title before, but I had enough faith in him as he has never disappointed me before. True to form, it turned out to be a really good read, but I was trying not to binge. So I stuck to just couple of chapters a day. It also helped that I was really too busy to do any reading up until yesterday. Yesterday night I was casually reading my two chapters and then could.not.put.it.down. Just kept reading and reading and reading. It was very reminiscent of the teenage years when I was supposed to be studying, but would stay up late reading. Anyway, it was 3:33am when I went to sleep. It was all fine and dandy when I was in 6th grade and I could sleep through the biology class to compensate staying up till 3:33am. Not the same story when my precious bundle of high energy early riser joy would be sure to wake me up at the unholy time of 6:30am. He has very good getting-you-out-of-bed tactics too. He would stand up in the bed and then tumble on you. If you haven't had 24 pounds falling on you while you are in an early morning daze, why, you haven't really lived.

I stumbled out of bed, changed him, and took him down. I fed him a banana (I think) and slowly came to life. He showed signs of sleepiness around 10:15 and I put him down for a nap in his stroller. He slept off and I came up, did some stuff and had some time reading God's word and praying. I haven't had such a long, uninterrupted quiet time in a while and it really refreshed me. By 11, I decided I should get a nap as I knew I was going to be crazy tired in the afternoon. He only takes one nap now and I took the opportunity and lay down.

Ok, now here is the bizzare stuff.

I must have gone to sleep immediately. All I remember is I woke up very suddenly and jerkily. I looked next to me and didn't see Neil. I immediately panicked and ran to the bathroom, glancing at his bed on the way. (Bathroom is a prohibited area and consequently where he makes a beeline to). He wasn't there and I just cannot explain this, I started calling out his name loudly and was almost sobbing it. I thought he fell into the toilet, fell down the stairs and hit his head and I felt all weak. Suddenly, I heard him cry (possibly from all my yelling) and I remembered I had put him to sleep in the stroller, it was morning and he was fine. The whole episode of panic lasted probably 30-45 seconds. But the shaking didn't subside for another 2-3 minutes. I felt too weak to actually pick him up, so I knelt next to him in the stroller and put my arm around him. I sat there until I was calm and then everything was fine.

I felt so bizzare, I had never had an experience like this and don't care to have another one ever again. I am thinking it could be the lack of sleep that caused it. Unless you can suggest an alternative explanation.

Except tell me I am a tad crazy.

What is the point in stating the obvious, afterall?

7 Quick Takes

I am participating in 7 quick takes over at Conversion Diary. I just seem to blog better in numbered or bullet points. What can I say?

1. We decided today that we are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I am really relieved. I love traveling, don't get me wrong, but traveling with a small child, it is more work and less vacation. I am happy and looking forward to spending both holidays at home.

2. R has been working crazy hours and has been traveling a lot. The first week he was gone, Neil got sick and was very clingy so I had to carry him around a lot. He would be up from 2 to 5 - IN THE AM, PEOPLE. Anyway, that really exacerbated by separated stomach muscle pain and by Sunday, I was in bad shape. My sister had invited me a while back when I told her that R was going to be gone for 2 weeks in a row. By monday morning, the pain had gotten so bad that I could barely walk. I looked up tickets online and it was the same price it was 2 weeks ago. This was for a flight leaving in 2 hours and I jumped on it and started packing. That was one of the best decisions I made. I got a week of solid rest the likes of which I never had since the delivery. It was a lovely, peaceful time and honestly, the best gift I have ever received. I didn't even have to change one diaper or give him a bath. My sister and family fed, changed, and entertained him and all I did was eat and sleep and rest. I truly needed it the first two days. Once the muscle relaxants kicked in and the worst was over, I just got lazy. I am so blessed to have such loving family here and may the Lord account this to them for righteousness :)

3. You know what I love about Indian clothes? That they are mostly pretty. Love the colours, patterns, styles, there is plenty to love.



You know what I don't love? The fact that it bleeds. Yuck!

This, my friends, is the fourth wash water.



And because of that, it always needs to be handwashed. No, not a big fan. Guess I know what I am NOT wearing in the next two years.

4. We had our laundry room all redone and it looks great. It totally deserves a post of its own with before and after pictures. Except I don't think I have before pictures, but I will certainly take some after shots. After it is done that is.

5. I am so glad to finally have my own laptop again after giving my old one to mom. I was tired of having to beg, borrow and steal from R all the time.

6. I am loving the fall climate. Low 80s, high 70s, beautiful for morning and evening walks. I feel I am really missing out, the days I don't go for a walk.

7. Neil is going to be a tiger this Halloween. Neil is Indian American, tigers are native to India and Halloween is celebrated here in America. That is the complex thought process
by which we (by we I mean I, because R couldn't care less if he tried) decided he is going to be a tiger. I actually made this all up. Well, actually he is going to be a tiger, but that is because that was the only outfit below $10. But talking about tigers and India sounds a lot better than saying I am a cheapstake. Doesn't it?

Neils Birthday Party - The details

If you are coming over from Kelly's Korner, a warm welcome to you.


Neil had a party here in US for friends. A party in India (actually 2) and then one here for his first birthday. Someone asked me if he will have 6 parties for his 2nd birthday. :) Okay, so he is really spoilt. Anyway here is a detailed account of his party here so that I can remember it for later.

And yes, this post is really late, but better late than never. I started it a long time back. I have a host of perfectly excusable excuses, but the post is too long already, so you are spared.

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

The is is the invitation that we made for the party.

Outside:



Inside:



R and I wrote the poem together and since the theme of the party was the book "Happy Birthday To You" by Dr Seuss, I had the book cover outside the invitation and the details inside. The colors I chose were yellow and red like the Birthday Bird in the book. Once I chose the colors, I went wild. ha ha.

The party was held at the chapel we attend, as there were too many people to accomodate in our home. The party was in 2 rooms. One was the foyer where people came in. At the entrance, I made some pom poms that we hung there.



We had the candy and smash cake table in the center of the foyer. I also made a fruit platter with his name spelled out. Three kids from church along with R, cut all the fruits and I thought it looked really nice. They did a great job.





At the back towards the wall was the monthly photos displayed. I did the craft for that and because I am an amateur when it comes to crafts, it took me a really long time to do it. But I loved doing it and I had such fun thinking it all out. I used his old food jars (when he used to eat jar food) and some tulle that my friend gave me. In yellow and red craft paper, I wrote out the best lines in the HBTY book for each month. Luckily for me, there were 12 lines and it all fit perfectly. The whole project cost less than $5 :) I obviously didn't buy the food for the jars. The jars were just lying around.



To the right of the entryway was a table with the guestbook, (a copy of Happy Birthday To You by Dr Seuss) some balloons, a red and yellow pom pom. The table had a white tablecloth with a red square cloth overlaid on it.



To the left of the entryway was the favors table for the kids. The favors were Dr Seuss pencils, pens, notepad, markers etc in red and yellow goody bags. I also had some small pouches available for the adults to take home the candy. For candy I had cherry slices, lemon drops and jordan almonds, all in red and yellow.



At the entrance of the hall where the main food and tables were, I hung the birthday banner I made for him. R helped with the hanging.



A closeup of the banner. It was easy peasy to make even for a super amateur like me.



The main hall of the church, which is actually a gymnasium is where we had the main food and the tables. I don't have a picture of the food, but we had Indian food (super mild) and lasagna for those who could not handle even that. Then there was chips and dip and chicken nugget for the kids and vegetable tray etc. Drinks were red fruit punch and lemonade consistent with the theme :)

The tables all had white tablecloths and I had vases filled with yellow and red Jordan almonds as centerpieces. Since the room was big and the tables were spread out, it was hard to get the yellow and red color scheme into that room. So, for that I had red and yellow helium balloons all touching the cieling. It really added some color to the room, but unforunately, there are no pictures.

I had made a video of his first year and had it running in the background. Some friends who made it for the party. You can see the video in the background and see the balloon strings from the ceiling :)



Here is a picture of the birthday boy digging into his cake. He hates the hat and is trying to get it out.



Life was a lot better once the hat was off.



Family shot.



The smash cake was from Publix (love the store btw) and there was another sheeetcake from Costco. He just smeared himself with the cake and I had to change him afterwards. I bought his monogrammed cupcake yellow outfit from etsy. I am a borderline addict of etsy now. :)

It was a really nice day and things went off well, especially with help from some people in the chapel. I am glad I was able to do this for Neil. I know he is not going to remember it and no, he is not going to have a huge party every year. It was fun to find the creative bone in my body and put together this for him.

This and that

I think I have two readers now and I don't blame people for not wanting to read my once in a month posting blog. Why the silence? I am not sure. I always think to myself, I really want to blog, but recently in my thoughts, I have learned to drop the really. Because if I really wanted to do it, I would find the time. Blogging for me is like exercising, I mean I like the end result, but actually finding the time to do it, I guess it keeps falling on the list of things to do at the end of the day. I want all the stars to be aligned to blog. Neil should be sleeping, the house should be tidy and quiet which means R should be sleeping as well, the laptop should be free etc. I should be in the mood and let us say, all these things happens once in a rare while like today. I often wonder how these moms of little ones blog on a regular basis. I am assuming that for those of them especially the ones who depend on the blog for revenue possibly see it as a job. I know for sure that it is one thing that I don't want. I have too many jobs as it is. :)

I was in India for 2 months and Neil turned one while we were there. My in-laws hosted a party while we were there and here is some cuteness.



He is not dancing, he was just reaching out for something. I love his outfit, but he hated when we tried to put it on him. After coming back, I had a party for him with all our friends here. I will post pictures of that separately. R was supposed to take those pictures, but he got busy talking to people and we ended up not having many of the pictures of the decorations and that makes me really sad. The theme was Dr Seuss book Happy Birthday To You. The book celebrates the uniqueness of a person and the tagline is "there is no one alive that is you-er than you." More on the party later.

Swimming lessons are not going swimmingly well (excuse the pun). He just screams for the whole duration of the class. He is just really mad that I leave him with the instructor. We are looking at a 2 day MDO program for Neil so he will have other kids to play with and I can get some things done here at home as well. I am just worried about all the screaming.

We are just getting back into the swing of things and there is always such a lot of things to do everyday. Recently, I read this post which really encouraged me. I read other blogs on my phone when I get some time here and there and it was really what I needed to read. R is very busy these days working from 8 to 9 with a lot of travel upcoming and it has been rough bearing the burden alone with a very clingy one year old who does not leave his clutch on my pants for most of the day. Physically it has been a strain too, carrying him as my weak stomach muscles are not helping. It is a good reminder to live in dependence on Christ remembering that I am never truly alone.

The weekend Recap

R was gone on a 4 day long unexpected work tour last week to Detroit. He came back on Friday and so it was a nice long weekend to anticipate. It was the first time Neil and I were by myself. I was nervous, but Neil did great and it was really nice. We went to Gymboree, played at home, went for hour long walks in the evening, went shopping and had a good time. I pretty much cooked one day and closed kitchen after that and subsisted on leftovers. I was surprised at the amount of time it freed up to do other things. I caught up on a lot of financial housekeeping tasks and attacked a pile of paperwork. So many things that were on my to do list got done one day when Neil took two good naps. These days such naps are a rare thing. He compensated for that the next day by taking hardly one nap. So there are good and not so good days. :) He played in his prison for a good long time and I took some videos couple of days back.

A funny thing happened while R was away. His office called and asked for our home address. Hubby mentioned that they might send him something for willing to be gone for a trip at such short notice. Wednesday, this arrived. I thought it was nice of the company to send him flowers.



Also I thought it was so strange that they would write "I love you" on the message card. Turns out, it was actually from hubby for me addressed to himself though(Just a mistake on his part). He told the story at work and everybody had a laugh at my expense. It was nice to have him back on Friday and we had a relaxed evening. Neil was so excited to see him but then was confused for a little bit. Most of Saturday morning, we played with him. Isn't that a fun expression? Wonder what he is thinking?



Then we played up and down. He loves that.



After that we gave him a haircut. This is the after:



We went to the church for an Independence Day picnic and then came home and relaxed. Today, we went to church, did some shopping and relaxed at home. We had been planning a laundry room makeover for a while and I wanted to do it before I left for India. So I hied myself to Lowes and got a tension rod and then a curtain from Walmart. At 9 pm, I decided that I needed to paint one side. And I did just that. I did two coats and it is not a great job, but I am glad I did it. It is a deep burgundy and tomorrow I plan to do another coat to make it look better. I have another area in the room to paint white and a couple of other things to do and it should be about 75% done. We are planning to put tile on the floor as well, but that won't be until September. The room was really bad looking and this is the way that we come in everyday as it is the connection room to the garage and the kitchen. And since I spend half of my life doing laundry, I thought it should be a cheery place. It is my very first attempt painting and I thought this was a low risk place to try :) Hope you all had a great weekend too and Happy Independence Day to all my American readers.

Humbled

I was working on my laptop and my baby was on the floor. Then he saw me and started crawling towards me with lightning speed. I thought "Oh my darling sweet wittle itty bitty darling baby pumpkin ball is coming to mama because he loves me so much and wants to be close to me"

And then he went straight for the laptop wire.

Humbled.

Mother's Day Drama Part 2

See Part 1 here

So the drama had just begun.

I took off my white shirt as the patch would not wash off, and I was so thankful to have the camisole under. So we were out of wipes and I opened the diaper bag to get his diaper and found out that I HAD NONE. Yes, there were no diapers in the bag. I had changed one already and somehow in all the hurry, I had forgotten to put in an additional one. (I always carry 2). I could not believe myself. I looked again, and nothing appeared magically. R said that we might as well put some clothes and cover him with a blanket, and rush to the flight to get a diaper from our carry on. So I wrapped him up in a blanket and carried him to the gate. I prayed hard that he wouldn't pee while I had him that way. It is cold in the airport and he always pees in the two seconds I do a diaper change for him at home. God heard the prayers of a desperate mama and he didn't pee all that time he was diaperless.

So we went to the gate and guess what happened?

OUR PLANE HAD TAKEN OFF.

With our carry on bags containing clothes for me and him, diapers, formula, food, laptop, toys (on the seat), coats (we were coming from cold Portland). All we had with us were both our wallets (PTL), R's work laptop and a diaper bag (without any diapers).

We were stuck in Utah.

I think we will remember for the rest of our lives what happened after that. We laughed. At the situation. I am in my camisole and jeans (I am not used to being in public with just a cami for a top), my son is without a diaper and clothes, covered in a blanket, we have no food for him, and the whole situation was just ridiculous. We walked around the shops a little bit looking for a diaper, but had no luck. Finally, the Delta rep got us some diapers and so at least, we were past the danger of being peed on any minute.

And they said that there were no flights going out that day and we had to stay over at a hotel. We selected the Plaza downtown. Because when life give you lemons, you make lemonade. It was really nice and the shuttle guy upon hearing our story offered to take us free to Walmart and then dropped us off at a nice place for dinner and picked us back up. May it be accounted to him for righteousness :)

Delta had given us some necessities in a small kit and there was an over sized tee shirt in that. I wore that all evening and Neil had a pant that I found in his diaper bag and the rest I covered him in a blanket. We had to take a train part of the way to get to Walmart. We looked like illegal immigrants. We were joking about something and walking. I am sure parents must have told their kids "We may be driving an old car and eat beans and rice most days, but at least we are better off than that poor family who cannot even afford clothes for themselves. Yet, look how happy they are." ha.

I bought some clothes, formula and other necessities from Walmart. My dress was too small, R's shorts was too big, but at least Neil's clothes fit. I tried on my dress and I looked totally inappropriate. The tank top in comparison looked modest. I never wore it, but returned it here. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant called J-Wong and it was the best Chinese food we ever had.

Early morning, we had our flight back, and this time we made it home without incident. And praise God, we got our laptop, check in in bag, carry on bags, and our coats. We only lost one of his toys and Neil's coat (which were on the seat). Better his coat than mine. Mine was $100, his was only $2.50. And it is not like he needs a coat in 120 degree weather. And by the time he needs one, he would have outgrown it anyway.

And that is how my first Mother's day went down. Very very humbling. Made as many mistakes a mom could possibly make.

Two things made it all still okay.

I am married to a wonderful man. All through the ordeal, not one accusation, no finger pointing. Just got through it together as best as we could.

Neil was such a trooper through the entire thing. In the airport, he went to sleep in my arms in the blanket. He made hardly any fuss. How precious is a child's trust! He knows that wherever he is or whatever the circumstances, as long as he is in the parents care, all is well with the world. If only I had the same trust in my heavenly father, how better would life be!

It has been a while since a list

I haven't posted in ever. I know. That is how I start every post I write once a month. I have not even posted Part 2 of the Mother's Day drama. That will have to wait. Today I feel like making a list.

1. Neil is army crawling everywhere and pulling himself up and even cruising a little. So we made him a prison fence and he will stay inside there as long as I am inside with him. When I get out of there he stands on holding on to it and either cries or watches me like a spider watches his prey making sure I don't move from his line of sight. Attached much?

2. He is so interactive now and in my completely biased opinion very intelligent and observant. He looks like he listens so carefully when I talk. He probably is thinking when he is getting the next food :)

3. Speaking of food, I make all his food at home now and I actually am enjoying it and so is he. We tried such a wide variety of foods and he eats everything I give him. Peas are not his best friend, but he still will eat it. We even tried Indian food with spices on it and it was all good. He has been sleeping through the night past couple of days. Now because I wrote it he will get up 12 times tonight, I am sure.

4. I have enrolled Neil for swimming and Gymboree for summer and he is enjoying Gymboree. Swimming will start next week and I can't wait to see how he will do with that.

5. My weight loss program is going well thanks to chasing Neil all around the house. I am at 109.5 now, but the big tummy will be with me till I die, I think.

6. I want to know how these women who have 3 children under 5 with another on the way manage to home school, cook from scratch, coupon, and then blog all about it every day. I must be a horrible time manager or something. I can barely keep my house clutter free with one child.

7. Things have been so busy the past weeks. I work part time from home. I make all ours and baby food from scratch. Except couple of times a week that we eat out. And I take care of Neil. And help hubby with his business. And take care of all the "stuff." - bills, immigration and all the sundry stuff. And how you know some weeks everything comes to a head at the same time? Last two weeks were like that. And plus, we have my in-laws visiting and I have been making some travel arrangements for all of us.

8. Speaking of travel, we have a lot of travel coming up this summer. We are going for a week to DC-NY and then Neil and I are going to India for 2 months. I am SO looking forward to that. The India trip that is. I need a break.

9. My sweet husband booked me on first class for the India trip since I am going with Neil and do not have any help. I know it is a luxury and he is so sweet to do that! I am not even making any real financial contribution to the household since Neil was born.

10. It is so hot here in FL and the main reason I joined Neil for Gym and swimming is that we need something to do as we cannot go to a park or something in the morning when it is 110 degrees outside. Plus it is great as he gets tired out and takes good naps after that. I am an evil mom :)

11. We are doing some work on the house. Our laundry room was redone a little bit and I hope to show some before and after pictures soon. Soon as in it could be never to those who have been reading my blog for any length of time.

12. I think I am done making a list.

9 month appointment

Today was Neil's 9 month appointment. He is doing well, prasie God. Today morning he had one egg and 2 ounces of squash sweet poato mix. He was quite happy and we set off to the doctor's office. We got there and the receptionist said: "You still don't have insurance, right?" I told her that we always had insurance and all the information is in their system. She then pulled up our records and said she was sorry and that she had it on file blah blah and our copayment is $10. I was surprised because so far all the copayments had been close to $70. She had pulled up our old insurance. This scenario happens every time. I love our pediatrician, but the staff is really incompetent. Finally she managed to pull up the information and we ended up not having to pay anything as it was a well visit.

I was waiting in the room for the doctor when suddenly without warning, Neil threw up all over then blanket covering him. He has GER and I thought it was the perfect way to show the doctor this is how it was most days for us. Anyway, the doctor came in and we were talking at that time, Neil again vomited all over the table, on me, and himself. He started crying loudly at would not lie down for us to clean him up or change his diaper. He was sobbing for so long and would not be comforted even after I picked him up. The doctor hurriedly examined him and he was yelling throughout. It really upset me too. He is a happy baby and tolerates pain very well and so I knew that something was bothering him a lot. He was also very sleepy by that point. So I fed him a little and he then he threw that up as well. Finally, he went to sleep and I had thought by this point that we would go back and come another day for his shots. I figured since the shots were part of his well visit, I wouldn't have to pay anything to have it administered. I confirmed with the head nurse and she said we can come back and get it next Tuesday free of charge. So I was making my one year appointment, and that nurse said I can come back and get it, but we will have to pay out of pocket for that.

He had completely calmed down by then and was in my arms half asleep. With all that was going on, I was getting irritated at this point, and told her that I will go ahead and get him the shots then. I know my son and I knew that at this point he would be okay with it. We are going to India in a couple of months and we were behind on the shots, plus we had to make another nurse visit to catch up before his 1year well visit. I thought about all this and decided to go ahead. The head nurse sighed colossaly as if I was a big troublemaker and a horible mommy to boot for giving him his shots when he was upset. Anyway, as I had thought, he cried for 2 seconds when the needle went in and when I picked him up, he turned around and went back to sleep. We got home around 11:45 without incident and he has been sleeping since.

I am not giving him any more solids today, but am just going to give him milk and see how he does. I am drained by the morning happenings. Not just the vomiting, but also the nurses' attitude. I think he is waking up now and is making happy sounds. My sweet baby. It has been hard with his reflux problems. And it is harder as a mom to see your child suffering and being unable to comfort or Do much to ease it. Also, it is really hard to see other people making judgements on informed decisions we make for our baby.