Trick or treat

Kuttipa went trick or treating today - his first. Or should I say, I took him trick or treating? It's not as if Kuttipa walked out the door bag in hand and went knocking on other people's doors asking for candy. In a couple of years he might.

We also went to Market mall today for their Maskoween event. I was there for an hour and a half and spent most of my time waiting in line for a photo at the pumpkin patch. The end result wasn't that impressive, despite the cuteness of the subject.

It was nice looking at all the interesting costumes though. Lots of princesses, bats, pumpkins, superheros and such. There was even a kid dressed as a toothbrush. Pretty unique, right?

Happy Deepavali

Feeling very wistful since I just called home to wish my parents in India. My uncle and aunt from Bangalore have joined them and they all seemed to be having a good time. I could hear fireworks in the background. My mother described the scrumptious meal they had the night before and doubtless there will be more tasty treats today. Everyone sounded so happy! I wish I could be there enjoying it all, soaking up the festive atmosphere instead of here, writing about it in a few minutes snatched between Kuttipa's dinnertime and bedtime. Oh well, hopefully next year...

I called up a cousin today and we took a joint trip down memory lane to the Deepavali of our childhoods. Growing up as an only child, I really looked forward to Deepavali when all of us could meet up. We played silly games, sang silly songs and had so much fun!!

The festival of lights is here...
Let's sing! Let's dance!
Let's celebrate joyfully!

Lucky you! Lucky me!

I've always considered myself medium-lucky. I don't typically win lotteries or lucky draws or prizes in casinos. On the other hand, I've got an awesome kid, an amazing husband and things like that. I was lucky to be born where I was born instead of some war torn, famine ridden part of the planet. I was lucky to have parents that loved me and raised me responsibly instead of being potheads or something. I am lucky to have the luxury of typing this blog now instead of worrying about shelter and food tonight.

Yeah, so I didn't win the scratch n win thing at Safeway. So what?

I am fascinated by people who win those things though. Some people tend to win such things more often than others do... or it seems to me. Some people also tend to suffer misfortunes in life more often than others. No matter how much we like to think we're in control of our lives and destinies, I think luck has a HUGE part to play in this. A control freak might wonder if you can control your luck! Fans of 'The Secret' will probably say yes. The ever helpful google turned up 8,270,000 links when I searched for 'How to be lucky'. Much as I like wasting time, I didn't have the patience to check them all out, but here is an article I found interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2622567.stm

Burn her! Burn her!

In these times of hate mongering by Palin, this classic video from Monty Python takes on a new relevance...

He walked!

Since Saturday, Kuttipa has been walking a few steps at a time. I am so thrilled!!!

How to lose friends and alienate people

I've not seen this movie yet but would like to. Catchy title. 'Could apply to you', my husband said. Why? Because of my comments on the LLL in my previous post. But, I wasn't being sarcastic! Really, I truly, sincerely believe that the LLL is populated with noble selfless wonderful ladies. They've given me tons and tons of help and support when I needed it the most and I enjoy attending their meetings. I really wouldn't dream of being sarcastic about them. Seriously.

'You still have a knack of saying the wrong things to the wrong people' my hubby says. Maybe he has a point. Maybe I do antagonize people. Even my own cousin thinks I am a terrible person. I mean I spoke with her a few days ago and here is snippet of our conversation.

She: How is the baby doing?
Me: Great! He turned a year old a couple of days ago.
She: Wow! Convey my kisses and birthday wishes to him.
Me: Sure will.
She: So, how did you celebrate?
Me: Nothing much. I baked a cake and we went to the temple in the evening.
She: That's nice
Me: Yeah. We're planning on performing the Aayush Homam on the 23rd. And then on the 25th, we're having a party.
She: (very astonished) A party??? You have friends???

Now, I happen to know that she is in general a sweet person without a sarcastic bone in her body. She seemed genuinely surprised that I would have friends. So what can this mean? Of course, it just confirms that I am a terrible person! If I weren't a terrible person, would I posting this conversation here at all? ;-)

Chief nourisher in life's feast

Shakespeare certainly knew what he was talking about when he referred to sleep that way. Sleep nourishes you and helps you enjoy your wakeful hours so much better! I've wanted to write about sleep for a while now - Our lack of it, my growing obsession with it and my failed attempts to impose some kind of schedule on Kuttipa.

Before I launch into my sleep diatribe though, let me tell you about something cute that Kuttipa did recently. We were at the library for a Mother Goose story and rhyme session for babies recently. Midway during the program they serve snacks to the babies - this time it was Cheerios in a small paper cup, the kind you drink water from. As soon as Kuttipa sees the cup he opens his mouth and tips his head back and tries to drink from it. So whats the big deal? I actually thought it was pretty smart of him - he associated a cup with drinking. I know....I know...just a mother's pride in silly little things - but I cant help feeling happy when I notice things like that.

Now onto sleep. I happened to see a bit of Oprah the other day and the doc there was talking about how pregnancy shrinks a woman's brain by about 9% (ouch!). The good news is that it grows post delivery back to its original size but there are two things to do to enable that growth - eat plenty of Omega 3s and sleep a lot. Apparently the growth hormone is secreted in sleep and so being sleep deprived is going to kind of fry your brain. Oh, so that explains it all! But how are you supposed to sleep with a newborn on your hands? No one expects you to. But by the time your baby is 6 months old, they expect you to start catching up on those Zzzz s.

Excuse me, but I have a one year old baby here who clearly missed the bulletin sent out about sleeping through the night at 6 months. He wakes up every couple of hours - sometimes every hour and even worse, at times will stay awake for a couple of hours sometime in the night.

Stop whining! The problem is the cosleeping and breastfeeding. Stop both. Wean him and move him to his own crib in his own room. Sure he'll cry up a storm initially but watch how fast he learns to sleep on his own. Both of you will be feeling much better. This is advice I get constantly from friends, from the public health nurses and from even random people on the street.

Hmm.. Tempting. Tempting. Especially since I see all the non-nursing independently sleeping babies around his age sleep 10 or 11 hours straight and also take 2 hour naps at daytime. But I chose this lifestyle for a reason didn't I? Besides, am I strong enough to watch him cry for hours on end? Erm...maybe not...('Sucker!' my friends hiss)

So whats a co-sleeping breastfeeding mother to do? Why don't you night wean him, my husband asks. What a great idea! I think I'll ask for tips at the next LLL meeting. And so I do. They all look a bit shocked. "How old is your baby again?" one lady asks. Another says "It seems a bit early to be night weaning. The optimal age is 22 months." TWENTY TWO months? Clearly LLL is filled with stalwarts of selflessness who have no trouble waking every half hour if needed. But I am clearly not one of them.

Frenzied googling on the subject yielded a very promising link.
http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp
Dr.Gordon, I've not heard of you before but you give me such hope with your words. So I've decided to give this nightweaning a try. Wish me luck and then some more!

Remembering the details

This time last year, I was in my final stages of labour. The nurses and doctors were scrambling to get ready since I'd come to the hospital almost ready to push the baby out...Well, not almost but then they did make me wait for an hour in the corridor since all the rooms were full. I was practically passing out from the pain but paradoxically the pain also kept me conscious. I was screaming my lungs out after having put up with it all quietly for more than 10 hours. At that stage I was beyond caring. I didn't care if my screaming annoyed anyone; I didn't care how it would appear; I didn't care if I could be heard beyond the hospital. I just screamed because it felt good to scream.

And then suddenly - very suddenly, it was all over. The doctor plopped the sticky slimy slippery baby atop my tummy. I know this is supposed to be a beautiful moment, the happiest moment ever and all that - but really I just felt strange and disconnected. If I could have talked I'd have probably said 'What's this?'. I was too weak to talk and totally out of things. Someone - a doctor or nurse whisked the baby away to be cleaned and examined. I didn't take an epidural or drugs (by choice) but I was still feeling distant and foggy (I was losing blood). I heard Kuttipa crying and crying and suddenly quietening down as soon as my husband spoke to him. And so for the next hour my husband kept talking to him while the doctors were bustling around me. Things started looking up after we left the delivery room and were moved to a recovery room. The nurses were awesome and very supportive. My husband and my parents were there. Kuttipa was right with me, asleep on my chest and I savoured the delight of becoming a mother.

A year later I can look back and say this has been a crazy year, a happy year, a beautiful year - what a trip! And my darling babe, my precious one, my love, my life, my dearest kuttipa, happy birthday to you! Wishing you health and happiness and lots and lots of birthdays!

Aromatherapy

Apparently sniffing vanilla can slim you down. The theory here is that the smell of vanilla gives you the satisfaction of having eaten a baked goodie without actually having done so. I should give it a try! On the other hand, I do remember using my friend's vanilla scented hand soap and feeling distinctly hungry every time I used it! Why does hand soap need to smell of vanilla anyway? Or raspberry? Or melon? Do they(manufacturers) want people to start eating their hands? Did my friend owe her wonderful figure to the vanilla hand soap? Did she ever try biting her hand? If used continually, would it actually work the way it says? Will Elizabeth May win even one seat in this election? (I liked her best in the debate tonight, but I can't vote!) So many questions....

Meanwhile if you're interested in the smell theory, check out the link below.
http://www.quickandsimple.com/diet-weight-loss/be-happy-stress-relief/scents-moods

Changes

Am going to experiment with some of the blogger settings and gadgets. Don't be surprised to see a couple of changes in the coming days - mostly temporary ones!

My sister stole my man!

Sounds pretty sensational eh? Yeah? Maybe?
Well, I don't have a sister and my man remains unstolen. So no sleazy story of mine to be told here..

A couple of days ago I happened to read a post by someone who said that her boyfriend married her sister. She was all cut up about it (understandably) and accused her sister of being a man-stealer. It was sad. It also reminded me of the movie/play Chicago where Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta Jones) is in Jail for murdering her sister and her husband upon catching them together in bed. "My sister is now unfortunately deceased!" Too funny!

Now I know that there is stuff like that on TV shows all the time with people confessing all over the place and resorting to curses and blows while the audience cheers on. I don't watch them though. It's almost as distasteful as watching someone go to the bathroom or something...

I do wonder how that must really feel like though. Husband stealing by sister I mean. How could the other sister do it? Feelings for the sleazeball of a guy are more powerful than any feelings for dear sis? I don't get it! Thankfully, I will never have to!

Another fall photo

A walk along the river in the Northwest offers some spectacular views. A photo cannot do justice to the experience of being there, seeing the shimmering water, enjoying the gorgeous (hot) weather and seeing those splendid trees with yellow leaves. Nevertheless, here it is - a photo from today.