A Happy Friday!

We have a bedtime routine for the Minion and try as much as possible to stick to the routine. Sometimes, she decides to be a rebel and will just not be willing to sleep. The little devil will slyly try to pull us to her games by giggling and squeaking. It was one such night yesterday.

She was in her play mode and I was in my tired mode. I somehow made her sleep around 11.30 pm badly hoping she sleeps through the rest of the night.

She started sucking her thumb in the middle of sleep which is her hunger cue!  I usually wake up to that sound. Don't ask me how! I am surprised myself and maybe little proud ( pat on my shoulder). When she did that yesterday, I woke up with a jerk!

Omg. What time is it! It seemed like I was sleeping for 2 days straight  ( how I wish!). And when I looked at the clock, it was 4.30 am! Ah, how much could a 5 hours sleep make you feel! Sleeping through 5 hours after what seems like forever made me think that I slept through days!

When 'IT' became a 'She'

Not so long ago,  I was addressing the minion as 'IT' like - "It is sleeping", "It is crying".. you get the picture, right?  I was not comfortable with 'she'. 'She' made it seem all real and I was just not ready for it.

And now with just a blink of an eye ,  'she' is 5 months old. Whoa! 5 months already! Wait, did I just say 'she' ? How did that happen?

I am usually pretty good with dates and events but when I think how/when this transition happened, I really don't know. All I know is it just happened and she is no longer an  'it' to me. And now, 'It' seems so weird. What was I even thinking!

Apart from the 'It - She' transition, lots of other things happened during these 5 months. I'd like to write  detailed posts about it all, but know what, by the time I get to 5 months milestones, we would very well be celebrating her 5th birthday. That is how fast she is growing or that is how lazy I am.

So here is the 5th month update for now. Let me see if I can make up for the last four months sometime soon

From sleeping 20+ hrs a day, she  barely sleeps during the day now. But I am happy she is not so much a troubled sleeper during nights.

Obsessed with her fingers. She got to check if all her fingers are still there every now and then.

Talking of fingers, she loves to suck them like it's her full time job.

Talking of sucking fingers,  her new found hobby is chewing anything and everything that is in her reach.

Loves to grab anything and everything she can.

Loves to scream and make all sorts of weird grunts.

Loves giggling to anything amma does ( however lame it might be)

Loves to dress up and pose for pictures.

Loves her bath that appa gives.

Hates appa's beard and tries to bite him if he tries to annoy her. Self defense, go girl!

Gets excited the minute appa comes back from work.

Rolls over every other second and calls out to amma to put her to back. More about it here

Needs amma  by her side all the time and cries the second amma leaves the room. Check out my post on that here

Tries really hard to speak. Few words that she tried her best and  close to success - "happy birthday", "thank you" and "hi".

Loves her nap on the couch.

Pulls off her puppy face and fake cries like a pro.

Loves her car rides.

Expresses opinions about food already! You should have seen her reaction for dhal. Oh, you better see it!

She will be the only minion who doesn't like bananas but... WAIT FOR IT.. loves beetroots! Howwwww!

More interested in the food we eat than her's.

And most importantly, the twinkle in her eyes and the beautiful smile on her face tells us how much she loves us and how blessed we are to have this little angel as our baby every single day!

I can go on and on and on.. but let me stop with this for now!

I started taking pictures of her on the couch only recently.When I look back at those pictures, I just can't believe how much she has grown in the last 5 months. How I wish I have more pictures of her on the couch from day 1.

#AnikaOnTheCouch

Just Because I Can

I did not know to speak fluently in English  when I was really small. When I got confident enough to speak the language, I wanted to talk in English the whole time -  at school, at home, over the phone and almost all the time. It was a phase. I wanted to talk in English JUST BECAUSE I CAN. Yes, a Show off 😛

I did not know to ride a bicycle until I was in 12th grade. But when I learnt to ride, I wanted to go on a ride all the time. JUST BECAUSE I CAN. Again, a show off!😛

I am not really a cooking enthusiast. Before marriage, I cannot cook to even save my life. I was the one to add salt to maggi noodles when I made it for the first time after marriage. But then I slowly started cooking and I was on a cooking spree trying different recipes and what I find so funny right now is I was writing for a food blog. Thinking about it now, it was not because of my love for cooking but it was JUST BECAUSE I CAN now cook. Show off again!😛

And do you want to know, what the Little Minion is up to now JUST BECAUSE SHE CAN?

What a mini show off!😄😄😄 Happy Friday!

Anika's Birth Story - 2

Give me the damn epidural !

So as I mentioned in the part 1, we got checked in to the hospital. My pain got really worse. I always liked to believe that I can take pain to a great extent but this was unbearable. I tried to remain as calm as possible but the pain was real.

The nurse in charge for that night was really sweet and tried to keep the situation light by singing and dancing and making jokes. I tried to laugh but the contractions were now 3 minutes apart and it lasted a whole minute. I never knew one minute was so long until then.  Although the nurse was sweet, she got to do what she got to do. I was asked questions after questions about drugs and depression and what not. Really?!?

Trying to keep calm between contractions!

11. 30 PM -

The nurse did a quick internal exam and let me know that I was 3 cms dilated and that the minion will be a mid night baby. Yay.. just few more hours! But little did I know then that it was going to take forever. She asked if I needed the epidural. I took on the offer immediately and she said she will get things started. But it took another 3 hours for them to give me the damn epidural! 

My sister who is in Australia had her heart to her mouth. She had a c section and the thought of vaginal delivery gave her the chills. The fact that she was not there with me at that moment and was far away did not help either.

My dad had called my mom to check on the situation and he freaked out hearing my screams over the phone. It was REAL BAD.

My mom was getting frequent calls from sister and father to check on the situation.

My mother in law and father in law were in Vegas touring with my brother in law as expected date of delivery was only the week after and they were equally tensed about the situation.

My mom and my husband remained really calm. I could sense that my mom was freaking out inside but she tried her best not to show it. The husband as always remained super calm the whole time.

I had warned him earlier not to take it to heart if I snap back at him while I was pregnant. But he was lucky that I turned out to be the sweetest pregnant wife! So I was sure I will take it on him during labor and delivery. But again, his stars were rightly aligned at that time that I ended up calling out God's names instead. 

Let me tell you this. Contractions are tracked in a monitor and you can actually see it on the graph when you get one. It starts from the origin, reaches it maximum and drops down every single time you get a contraction. So I was able to see the graph every frigging time I got the contractions and that actually made me feel worse.

After few hours of unbearable pain, I was finally given epidural around 2.00 AM. My husband and my mom were asked to leave the room and the anesthesiologist arrived. The specialist was really great - chatty but not in an annoying way! Just what I needed.

The procedure took few minutes. Lo behold! I was not able to feel a thing the second  epidural was in. It was like magic. I could still see the graph on monitor with my contractions but I couldn't feel a thing. Words cannot express how relieved I felt then. It was like I got my life back. Like I was given chocolates after 100 years of fasting.

My mother and husband rushed back to the room as the last time they saw me  I was screaming the heck out. But then there I was welcoming them back with a broad smile on my face. Oh epidural, how much I love you!

And then this happened -

                                      ** To be continued***

Lasting Impressions

Exploring fun things to do with the Minion is one of the items in my to-do list for 2017. I would have mentioned about it here.  When you live in a place where the 'Weather Gods' show absolutely no mercy but treat you only with brutality, you have very less options. I just cannot wait for summer already!

So, while I  was trying to look for options to do with an almost 5 months old baby, I stumbled upon pottery studios where you can take the feet and hand impressions of the baby  on a ceramic plate and get it fired to make the impressions last forever.

A quick google search and I found the nearest pottery studio to be within 2 mi radius which was perfect.We chose to do it on the new year's day. It was a cute little studio and very welcoming. Perfect for a mom-kid/dad-kid/family date. There were so many kids having fun with their families. The Minion was too small to actually enjoy the experience and we had to rush back home once our work was done. This will definitely be something that I would like to do with her again once she is old enough to sit back and enjoy.

Life Is A Boomerang

I have always  been told that I was the 'not so naughty baby' ! But when you have the queen of mischief as your older sister, you are in the safe zone and its not that easy to break the records. Sorry, Shalu! But that's what I was told!

As much as a happy baby that I was, I had just one demand -  my mom. It was really simple. I needed her in my radar ALL THE TIME. How difficult can that be!

My mom keeps telling me these incidents over and over again. If I turned a year older every time I heard it, I would now be the oldest human on earth! Oh mom, give me a break!

#1 The 'baby me' is all happy and smiling in my mom's arms. Someone tries to take me from my mom. How dare they do it!#EndOfTheWorld

#2 The 'toddler me' is playing outside. My mom goes to take bath, my sixth sense kicks in and I go crying and knock the bathroom door. She HAS  to come out. I don't care if she is not done with her bath. I have to see her face. #EndOfTheWorld

#3 The 'toddler me' is sleeping. My mom has to take my elder sister to school. I hear the sound of slippers. Oh God. My mom is going out without me. How can she! #EndOfTheWorld.

And now, what have I got?

She is usually a happy baby. You should see her smiles and laughter, that's for another post! But the last couple of days, this is going on the whole day - when I go for coffee, lunch or even the restroom! I am not sure if this is just a phase (hopefully!) or if this is how it is going to be forever. But I have to tell this -

"Dear mom, I can now totally feel you and I agree its no simple demand! I officially give you the rights to go on repeat mode of all these stories for however long you want because guess who is going to play this video to the Minion for the next 100 years? Yours truly! "

Life is really a boomerang!

Partners In Crime

I think each one of us will have a partner in crime..someone to plan a crime with however petty they may be and someone to hold your back and never give it away at any cost. And thats Kalyani to me!

- There were times when I had to have coffee every single day. My head would ache otherwise. Thanks to Kalyani for she was the one to introduce coffee to me!

- Do you remember the days teachers in school would point fingers at you and ask you questions no matter how much you hide from them? Kalyani made that easier for me by solving all the mathematics exercises in my book right before the school reopened.  So I had the answers right there and when the teacher questions me, I be the smart kid.

- There were days when all Kalyani and I would do was lounge on the couch, eat chocolates and chips together and throw the wrappers behind the couch like a boss and didnt give a damn to clear them away. When my mom sees the wrappers hidden behind the couch, we never knew who put them there in the first place.

- Do you know how to get down to one in brainvita? No? Oh, you should have had 'Kalyani' with you so you could have boasted to your friends that you figured it all out by yourself.

- It is the day before your school exams and dad says no television and you try to abide by it. But then comes the reminder that your favorite show is aired right now and you get tempted to watch. That's Kalyani for you!

Kalyani - A great friend and an awesome grandmother a girl can ever ask for! It is already 16 years since she left us to a better place but memories are still fresh in my heart.

Death took her away from us on Jan 2, 1999. She was sick for quite a long time and as a matter of fact, she was bed ridden for as long as I can remember. But on Jan 1, 1999, we knew that was it. I was in my 6th grade and my sister in the 8th grade. My parents prepared us the best they can of what was going to happen.

Jan 1, 1999 - We had a New Year's party in our apartment the night before and my sister and I had won so many prizes. That usually makes my paati so proud. We couldnt wait to show her and we did show her the prizes and she did feel really happy about it.

Jan 2, 1999 - She was struggling to breathe her last and you know what she asked few hours before she left us? PERK ! A chocolate she absolutely loved. That's Kalyani!

She finally breathed last and rested in peace. Everyone around us said she had suffered enough and that she is now in peace. My sister and I nodded to it all not sure how much of it we understood then. That was the very first loss we had to encounter and it ripped our hearts so much.

And now on every second of January, I recollect these precious memories of her and all I want to tell her now is -

"You will always be my favorite partner in crime and I really really miss you! "