Kishan's photos

These are few of photos that were sent to me recently. For the whole album click here.

He is an exact 50/50 combination of Alpaben and jijaji. He looks just like Kali when she was born...chubby, fair, and lots of hair. Another cutie in the making.

I love the hat they have on him in the last photo. Also, they have nice receiving blankets in the south...care bears and footprints...all we get are pink and blue stripes.

Month 5 coming to a close

Diya is officially 5 months old today. I feel like this last month was a big one for her. She just seems bigger and dare I say little wiser. I've been trying for couple of weeks to teach her "Raadhe, Raadhe, Raadhe...". (Basically, teaching her to clap when she heard that song.) Yesterday she finally did it! I tired to take a video of it. Here is the video but be patient cause she finally claps near the end. Also, here are pictures from the past month.

New arrival...

Welcome little Kishan!

Date: December 19 (Today)

Weight: 7lbs 3oz

Height: 20in

Mummy and baby are doing great.

Congrats to big sister Kali, Alpaben and Jijaji!!

(Will post pics once I get some.)

eating before and after...

Okay, here are the before and after eating photos...they didn't come out as good as I thought...I'll take them again when she starts eating something more colorful.

Solids and sitting

I started Diya on solids(rice cereal) last week. First 3 days were tough. She kept trying to suck on the spoon and didn't understand why I kept taking it away from her. Of course I was refilling the spoon, but she didn't get that concept at all. I started her off with what the box recommended for first feeding portion which is almost nothing to a normal adult. Still it took me forever to feed her all of it. By day 4 we both were getting better at it. I started pushing the spoon in even if her mouth was not open and she started to realize that there can be food in her month without having something on her lips. Its been over a week now and we are both pros. She even opens up her mouth when she sees the spoon approaching. I give her rice twice a day now and it takes less then 5 mins each time. Only thing that sometimes gets in the way are her hands...she has to put them both in her mouth after I put a spoonful in....and that gets messy. I'm gonna need a lot of bibs. I keep forgetting to take a picture of her while feeding her...I'll post it when I do. It's a site to see.

Her bouncy seat is no longer a place I can leave her in even for a minute. The other day I put her in and gave her a toy and went to the bathroom. All of the sudden I hear her coughing. I run out and she is about to fall out cause she is leaning over the side and trying to reach her toy that fell on the floor. I got there just in time.

Looks like she isn't too far from learning to sit. She still needs support, but would rather 'sit' then lay down.

She learns new stuff all the time. We have to turn on the webcam every time we call the in-laws now. Its funny, last time Neha got toys and was waving them for Diya to see. Daddy, mummy were both making silly sounds to get her attention, but she was not having any of it. They really want to see her...wish they were here. Meanwhile the other grandparents are enjoying her. Looks like she really likes her nana the best...although her masi is trying very hard to make her love her more.




Its just amazing how she has to learn the most simplest things in life.

Diya...

November 20th will make Diya 4 months old. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime has gone by since she was born and other times its like it was just yesterday. She is getting big and more fun to play with. She smiles and laughs...I mean really laughs sometimes. She can also grab at things in front of her, but her depth perception is a little off still. She can kinda sit too. All these advancement, but her sleeping habits are still terrible. She has so much trouble staying asleep at night. Lately she is only doing 1 strech of 3 hours and wakes almost every hour otherwise....talk about no sleep.

The fun part is I can dress her how I want and she can't say no...not yet anyway. I put her in the costume, dolled her up and dressed her like a boy and no complains from her. I figure I should take advantage of this stage while I can. Soon enough she will be picking out what to wear.

I like this age of hers if it wasn't for the no sleeping thing it would be perfect. This month we can also start her on solids. All that means is rice cereal mixed with milk...which makes it almost liquid anyway. I am gonna hold off a couple of weeks to start, but can't wait. Maybe it will help her sleep better. I heard that the poops get really smelly with solids, but hey if it means more sleep...bring it on!

growing huge

4th, 5th, 6th and 8th month

Random other ones...

Baby Shower...over

This was taken at the shower. I can't believe the Baby Shower is over. I thought the event went very well. No major issues. I was happy with everything. Thanks to everyone who came. Thanks to everyone who helped out. I really meant it...we couldn't have done it without you. A special thanks to Premal and Deesh from me personally. Because of you guys I had no stress and was able to stay clam and cool all evening. All that planning and preperation is now done. What will we do with our time now? It actually feels nice to relax after the big event. Looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing :)

Tibetan Food

Yesterday was a friend of ours 30th birthday. Her husband had arranged all of us to surprise her at a restaurant. He selected a Tibetan restaurant. It was first time I had this kind of food. We went to a place called Rangzen Tibet in Cambridge. So what did I think?

Pros:

-Lots of vegetarian options. See menu here. This is always a big plus in my book. There is a whole section for veggies and almost any other dish can be made vegetarian. I hate when a restaurant has only 1 or 2 options for people like me.

-Their food has a lot of Indian hint to it. I like Indian food so this was another plus. In fact my order, Momo dumplings, was served with our famous 'Green Chutney' and 'Tomato Chutney' and a soup that tasted very much like daal. Premal's order(Shago Meto Chumma) looked just like our cauliflower and potato saak. That was served with white rice and a side salad made of peices of apples, tomatoes and best of all mangos mixed with Italian dressing. There was even Mango lassi on the menu.

-Price was not bad. It was not as cheap as taco bell of course, but not as expensive as Indian food either. Cost was reasonable.

Cons:

-Yes, there was lots of Indian hint to the food, but the taste was little bland. Nothing was spicy it was very much in need of some salt and chilli masala. My dish was still okay with the chutney, but Premal's had no hope without the hot sauce. Though he managed to make it taste decent.

-Small place. It was a very small restaurant that fit maybe 35 people max. If it was just 2 of us it would have been fine, but we were a big group and took up most of the tables there.

-Location was very shady. It was in an alley with very little lighting and strange people. Yes, we were almost in Boston so it is little expected, but I would not feel safe walking down that street by myself at night.

Overall:

So would I go there again??....answer would be 'no'. I don't think I would ever crave that kind of food and it isn't worth going. But I'm glad to have tired it at least.

Been awhile...

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Here's what's going on in my life now...

WORK
I hate it. I'm part of this major project which has a due date of July 1st. We have to meet this date for tons of reasons. My due date is July 20 which means no relax time or 'take it easy' time. Besides this project I am still getting some random work which I am also expected to do in a timely fashion. Its just too stressfull sometimes.

VIDHI
My in-laws side have a vidhi known as 'khoro bhare'. It is a major thing for them. And although they are not here we are still going to do this vidhi. We are doing it one week before the baby shower with just close family members and it has to be at our house. It's like preparing for 2 parties.

BABY SHOWER
Major things have been done for this. Most of the shopping for it has been done, few little things are left to do. I have some minor worries which will only go away when its all done.

BABY
Baby is getting bigger day by day and the movements and kicks are very powerful now. I try to walk anytime I can to get exercise. Weather has been cooperating so that's good. Many of my work friends say that I have 'popped'. Which means I am really showing now. We had another ultrasound. As usual it was amazing. We saw the baby blink. Baby weighs 2.5 lbs so far. From the photos we got Premal is convinced baby looks like me. We'll see...

BIRTH CLASSES
We had our first class yesterday. I found it very useful. We have 6 total classes. They are every Tuesday 7-9 at the hospital. Our teacher is very sweet and tells us everything frankly which is good. It is very informative. Besides learning it is also a fun class. Some of the husband's concerns are very funny. Everyone is laughing half the time.

My babes...

After reading Disha's entry about her friends I have to talk about a recent event that involved my friends. The image you see at top is what I saw the other day after I returned from work. These four large boxes were outside our garage. At first I thought there must be a mistake. Then I read the labels and sure enough it had my name on it. After seeing the packing slips which said..."from the Umass girls" did I realize who they were from. My girlfriends from college had sent all this. These are the first gifts I've gotten for the baby. A high chair, diaper bag, hooded towels, car window sun gaurd, and a baby bath kit were all the contents. It is great stuff. It is such a kind thing for my friends to do. They are a great bunch of girls and I'm lucky to have them as friends. I wish we were able to see each other more often. Thank you to Amita, Charu, Madhu, Nehal, Sital, Tanvi and Tushima!

Vacation destination...

Every year Premal and I go on a vacation where its just the two of us. This year we were thinking if taking a mini vacation before the baby comes since we won't get a chance after. We would go in the month of May. We want to go for only a weekend. In the past we have gone to NYC and Vermont. But where to go this year? I'd like to go someplace peaceful and relaxing. Anyone know any nice places near MA? It has to be in driving distance as I won't be able to fly.

Happy Birthday Roshani!

Look who's 21!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSH!!

Love that smile...keep it coming :)

Hope you have the best day ever! Love you!

6 Month Photo

Bouncing Belly

It was really amazing when I started feeling the baby kick. Now it kicks all the time like in the morning, while lying down, while sitting, while driving, while in meetings. It really feels weird when I am in a meeting with bunch of people talking about important things and my little one starts playing soccer in there. I completely loose my focus. Its like the baby is telling me he/she is bored and wants me to go do something else. I smile to myself and hope that no one notices.

Now, the new thing is the watch the kicks! After dinner I lay on the sofa and look at my belly and I can actually see where the baby is kicking. A little part of the belly bounces and shakes a bit. Some kicks are hard and very obvious. Premal loves those...he gets a kick out of the kicks :)

I hear in few months I will actually be able to see the foot impression on the belly when it kicks. I can't wait.

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Yesterday, Premal and I had a very silly discussion about the baby. We were discussing how after the baby comes we might start arguing more because a baby is a big change. I mentioned how buying a house was a big change and we did fine. Premal suggested it was because the house is divided between us and we each take care of different parts of the house.

So...naturally I suggested we divide the baby's parts :) I took the 'bugal', the hands and neck. He wanted the belly and butt. But when it came to the face, we both wanted it! We couldn't go on and we had to stop and gave up.

I know, its silly.

Situ's baby shower

Situ and I showing off our bellies at her baby shower :)

Do you see a difference?

Some of you have been asking for these...

Daylight Savings Time

DST

If you haven't already heard this weekend is when we change the clocks to one hour ahead. Thanks to our president it is 3 weeks earlier than usual.

Normally this day comes, we change the clocks and it goes...not a big deal. But this year...my God...there is so much chaos at the office. Why, you ask? Well, normally your PC knows when daylight savings is and makes the change to its clock automatically. But this year how is it supposed to know that Bush has changed the date? Enter patches! We have to patch all servers and softwares so that it knows what the new dates are. We even had to patch our Blackberries.

Its just amazing to me how this little change effects so much. I am not for or against this change, I wish we didn't have to deal with the back lash of it. Let me know if anyone else is going through what we are.

Scans...

Here are some photos of the ultrasound. Couldn't get hold of a scanner, but they are pictures of the picture. Anyway, for Premal and I it was pretty obvious what we were looking at, but if you find yourself in that episode on Friends where Rachel couldn't see the baby I put a labelled version below. I believe if you click on it, it will enlarge.

We finally also got the results of the ultrasound. Doctor said baby looks healthy and normal. Only small bit of concern was that I have slightly low lying placenta which should move up and will require one more ultrasound in 2 months.

No, we did not find out the gender of the baby. I want to find out the old-fashioned way.

Its been awhile...

I know, its been awhile since I last updated. I was away for a training and then work got really busy and I was too exhausted to make updates. Plus, carrying around a little one takes a toll. Things are getting better now. I've been feeling much better. I've gained 2 pounds and I'm even starting to show(well, a little bit). I found out a friend of mine is also expecting and is due same day as me!! (She is showing much more than me.)

We had our anatomy ultrasound yesterday. It was out of this world! The baby looks so different from last time. It weighs 7 ounces and heartbeat was 157 beats/minute.

Things the tech measured and looked at :
-4 chambers of the heart
-heart size
-skull size
-brain size
-femur bone (thigh bone)
-humerus bone (arm bone)
-hands
-feet
-stomach area
-eyes
-spine
-bladder
-kidney
-placenta
-umbilical cord
-cervix

All of it was really, really amazing. We could actually see the 4 chambers of the heart and of course the beating of the heart itself was awesome. The spine was one of my favorite things to see. It looked really beautiful. The profile was great too. We could even see the baby moving. Tech was getting almost frustrated that it was moving so much. She did finally get all the info that was needed. She printed out few of the shots for us to take home. (I'll post those if I can get my hands on a scanner.) All of the photos and info gets sent to the radiologist who sends it to my doctor who will let me know the results. The waiting it gonna be hard, but it is only for couple of days.

Next step I'm excited about is feeling the baby's movements. I should be feeling them in the next few weeks!