I wonder...

Both my husband and I love to eat. We also love to sleep! So how did we end up with a Kuttipa that doesn't like either? I wonder...

On a different topic - I was driving back this morning after dropping my husband off at his bus stop. The radio wasn't on and Kuttipa was unusually quiet in the backseat leaving me alone with my thoughts. I started thinking about all the fledgling friendships I've made in the recent times and some of the not-so fledgling friendships. Why is it that friendship among women is so complicated? There are layers and layers of feelings and stuff (for the lack of a better word) regardless of how superficial or deep your friendship is...Being friends with a guy is far less complicated (unless there are romantic feelings involved). On the other hand, there is less potential for the deep meaningful emotional connection that is possible among women...Is it worth all the complexity though? I wonder...

Yet another topic - Why is such a big deal being made about the layout changes to Facebook?I thought it actually made things look less cluttered. Is that such a bad thing? I wonder...

At the baby show I attended a couple of weeks ago (Yes, I bought the teething necklace. No, I am not sure how it works yet) I was given a couple of issues of Mompreneur magazine. I'd never read it before or even heard of it. I was flipping through one of the issues and came across an interview with a really inspiring woman - Kim Lavine. She is a woman who has built a successful business with a product that's not very remarkable through sheer hard work and persistence. She has also written a book about it called the Mommy Millionaire. I might read her book one of these days. Meanwhile I'll find inspiration from the following words in her interview

'I tell people in my book that it's easy to be negative in this world; what's hard is being positive. Every successful entrepreneur I've ever met has been optimistic and positive. You need to consciously get up every morning and make the choice to be positive; it's amazing magic that will transform your life.'

A kutti update

Kuttipa has a cold and a fever. With a stuffy nose, its difficult for him to eat or nurse and we keep trying to clear it using saline drops. He hates that of course and any attempts to wipe his nose and clean his face etc. are met with howls. But in general he is cheerful and keeps trying to stand up again and again. Since Saturday, he has been able to stand up by himself without holding onto something for support! So that's the new thing he is trying these days. And its good that he is cheerful because that tells me he is not seriously ill. Now if only I could be as cheerful..

Kozhakattais

Considering that 'Vinayakane Vinay Theerpavane' has somehow led a couple of people to my site, I have to wonder if they were searching for a kozhakattai recipe. The one I used is simple enough and by no means my original creation. I got it from Tarla Dalal's website since I subscribe to her newsletter. Here is a link in case you're looking for it. Having tried it, I assure you it works well.

The first party

Photo taken yesterday at the common birthday party held for all the babies from my prenatal class from last year. They're all turning one year old soon, starting from tomorrow. It was a good party and Kuttipa had a lot of fun scampering on the grass and destroying the cake. He ate quite a bit of it too! The weather was awesome and there was plenty of food and conversation. And there were tons of other babies though I didn't want to post a pic with the other babies. I mean, what if I get sued for loss of privacy or something?
I almost didn't go because my husband hadn't been feeling well for over four days and I was a bit under the weather too. I am glad I did go though!

Hazelwood

Kuttipa is teething, I think. He seems to be having all the classic symptoms and is also incredibly cranky. He has 6 teeth so far and I think the 7th broke ut today although I am not sure about it.
Just over a couple of months ago he had no teeth and I was getting flak about not giving him enough calcium or something (which is not true btw. He had enough calcium. Also, the teeth are already there; they just need to come out. So its unrelated to calcium.)

I am hoping to go to the Calgary Baby Show being held in the Stampede Grounds this weekend and buy him a hazelwood teething necklace. When we went to Golden a couple of months ago, we stayed at a B&B whose owners had an 8 month old daughter. At that time I think Kuttipa was getting his second tooth. The baby there was wearing one of these necklaces and her mom told me that it seemed to be really effective. I tried to buy one there but somehow circumstances intervened. I hope they don't intervene tomorrow and that I do get to buy one. I am really really curious about them..

I tried googling info about them and I saw many sites which promised that hazelwood necklaces were the cure to everything right from teething pains to colic to migraines. I was excited initially and started checking every bulletin board I came across which had a reference to hazelwood necklaces. Then I saw that the same post was being posted by one 'momof3cuties' in a wide range of bulletinboards totuing the benefits of these necklaces and saying how her child's eczema was cured because of them. Er okay, was she so happy with them that she felt the need to spread the word far and wide? Well, it turns out that she owns a company that distributes them but she doesn't really say this when she posts about the benefits of these necklaces! So much for free advertising!

Well, I'll get to see if these things really work I guess... though I'll be fifteen bucks poorer.

A tad depressed

I was in New Haven four years ago, when Dubya was re-elected. I left for Calgary within a couple of weeks of his reelection. The timing was just a coincidence but it felt good nevertheless to tell my republican coworkers that I was leaving the country because I couldn't stand Bush! And I couldn't stand him is the truth.

I cannot believe its been 4 years already so soon! And over these years I've watched Bush f**k up the country and the world repeatedly. Well, that just makes things easy for the Democrats right? Wrong! If people were logical, Bush wouldn't have been re-elected. I wish the average voter in the US knew how much power he had - power that will influence not just his country but will influence events in th entire world! Some voters will probably realize that and will vote 'Democrat' but the rest will just bleat the same old same old and vote Republican. Why is 'evolution vs creation' so much more important than actual people or lives? Why does invading another country make people feel safer? So many questions.

And now there is this woman Palin. I think many women will be voting for her simply because she is a woman! So much for women's lib! If the purpose is to show that men and women are equal, shouldn't Palin be judged as a person and not as a 'woman'?

After such a disastrous rule, will the country still vote Republican? Have they turned into a nation of cows? I hope not, but the possibility is depressing.

Oh and speaking of cows, I found this post amusing. Check it out!

Kuttipa update

Kuttipa has been standing up by grabbing onto things for about a week now. He is becoming increasingly persistent about it - like waking up at 3am and deciding to practice his skills by grabbing onto our sleeping (now awake) bodies and using it to support himself. Its cute when he does that during daytime but not so cute at night...

He has become more temperamental of late. Eating, sleeping, everything is a more difficult than it used to be. But it makes his smiles and laughter that much more precious and adorable.

Vinayakane vinay theerpavane

Today was Vinayaka Chaturthi - one of my favorite festivals from my childhood. What I probably loved best about it were the Kozhakattais or Kaduvus depending on which grandmother I spoke with. My mother's mother made absolutely awesome kozhakattais. Soft and white filled with a delicious coconut-jaggery mixture. I just need to close my eyes and I can almost taste them... ahh..

I do remember trying to help her make the shells from rice flour a couple of times when I was a child but alas, I never did learn her recipe. I didn't learn any of her recipes for that matter and she was such an awesome cook! Now she is confined mostly to her bed and can neither walk nor talk. I could have even asked her for some of her recipes as recently as a couple of years ago when she was able to communicate in bits and pieces. Life is full of such regrets but strangely once the initial pang passes we don't seem to learn much from them. At least, I don't seem to...

A few years ago a friend of mine passed away unexpectedly. She was young and full of life and close to my heart. I kept in touch with her in random intervals when she wrote an email from someplace or another. I always intended to write to her more and maybe call her up 'one of these days'. All of a sudden I got an email from her mother saying that she had passed away after an accident. That was such a shock! I realized that I couldn't take anyone's presence for granted and made an effort to stay in touch with anyone I knew, anyone who mattered.

Its been 6 years since that happened. And I am back to my old ways. I don't call my friends regularly. I don't write regularly. I don't send photos of Kuttipa regularly. Heck, I think a few friends of mine may not even know Kuttipa exists. Sure there are countless reasons - such as my not having enough time or enough sleep. The fact remains that I take their presence for granted. Somehow I think 20 years from now or whenever it is that I find the time, they'll still be around and interested in what I have to say. Have I learned anything?

Somehow this became a morbid post. My original intention was to brag about how well my kozhakattais turned out today. I made both kinds - salted and sweet. On that note, I'll end this post. Good night!

The photos are from Chestermere Lake where we went last Saturday. So, yes, we made it to one of the lakes after all! Our original plan was to go to Eagle Lake in Strathmore. Upon driving there and finding it not very happening (kind of boring actually), we stopped on our way back at this lake. It seemed to be a nice place and it was a nice day too. There was a paved walkway there with people sitting on deck chairs, lounging and looking at the lake. Plenty of seagulls flying around hoping for some of the snacks that people might have brought with them. There were people like us with babies in their strollers, out for a leisurely stroll along the lake. There were people motorboating and jetskiing and getting their thrills from the water.

However, no one was sailing or swimming or kayaking or pedal boating or in any way exerting themselves and their muscles. Oh, and every house we passed by had an RV parked on their driveway.

before sleep musings

Found myself at the zoo again today, this time meeting up with some of the other moms from my prenatal class of a year ago. I last saw most of them in March and how the babies have grown!

Nothing much to write of other than we had a good time. Kuttipa looked at the Hippos at close quarters. He also seemed interested in the wild hogs. One of the ladies is pregnant again. I am a tad envious of her and also amazed at how she is willing to go through all of this again so soon! I would like at least a month or two of good sleep before I even consider going this route again. Why am I envious then? Because its actually a pretty cool feeling to be pregnant. Because in a logical way it makes sense to have the babies spaced close so that you're done with the child rearing in a few years and can resume some kind of a career. But logic is mostly a matter of convenience - you take whatever argument suits you better. If I am tired and zonked out (which I already am even with only one kid) it wont be fair to either baby, will it?

Finger foods

It was about a week ago that Kuttipa was taking cheerios to his mouth but not knowing that he should release them there. So he ended up with messy fingers from clutching onto soggy bits of Cheerios. All of a sudden for the past few days he has been releasing things into his mouth like a pro - looking nonchalant, if he had always done it. Unfortunately the 'things' released into his mouth also include non-food items like an apple seed and God knows what else...

I now need to actually start cleaning the house! :-(

At the zoo!

The previous post made me want to go check out Simon and Garfunkel's song. I found a version at Youtube.

'It's all happening at the zoo'

It certainly seems like it, judging by the crowds there. Last days of summer before school starts I guess! We went there because after hours of endlessly planning our weekend and discussing places to go, we somehow landed up at the zoo.

Seems to happen every weekend - not going to zoo I mean, but endlessly planning and doing something completely different in the end. For a month now, we've been planning to go to a lakeside beach before the summer is over and things turn cold. Possible places included Lake Minnewanka (Banff) and Gull Lake (North of Red Deer) among other things. Somehow we've just never managed to get there yet. And the leaves are already turning yellow in some places!

Take for example what happened last weekend:

Me: We've to go somewhere today! Somewhere!
Hubby: How about swimming at Cardel Place?
Me (scoffing): You want to waste a fine summer day in an indoor pool?
Hubby: Okay, where do you want to go?
Me: I don't know. You decide!
Hubby: How about Gull Lake? I've heard it's really nice.
Me: What? Thats 2 hours from here! Let me find a place closer to home.
So I browse for an hour or two interspersed with feeding kuttipa and things like that. There may also have been a game or two of Bubblewords that happened in this time.

Me: So, looks like there is a lake in Strathmore called Eagle Lake and also a lake in Chestermere. Both look kind of closer than Gull lake.
Hubby: Did you read any reviews?
Me: Sort of. Someone somewhere has recommended it on 'Yahoo Answers'.
Hubby: Let me check them out.
So he browses for a while looking at reviews and playing the occasional game of Bubblewords. This takes somewhere between 15 minutes and half an hour.

Hubby: Both lakes have gotten bad reviews.
Me: Well, there are always going to be people who have something bad to say about everything!
Hubby: Yeah, but why drive to a dirty lake?
Me: Eagle Lake's website says there have been no recorded cases of swimmer's itch. Isn't that enough? And look, apparently there are all kinds of exotic birds that come there.
Hubby: Birds? I thought you wanted a lakeside beach...
Me: Well....I just want to go somewhere...
By now Kuttipa is making impatient noises the kind that means he will become cranky and sleepy in a while. We also realize that its around 3:00pm which means there are only a couple of hours to work with before his evening dinner and bedtime routine begin (more on that in another post). So we decide to go to the zoo and hastily pack up - snacks and a sippy cup for Kuttipa, water for us. We get in the car and head towards the zoo.

Me: Do you really want to go to the zoo?
Hubby: What now? We're almost there! Why do you keep changing your mind?
Me: I think it might be nicer to take a walk in the Inglewood sanctuary. Do you remember the place? It was along the river and so pleasant.
Hubby: Okay, whatever you say! (Kind of grumpy at my vacillations though)
Moments later, we arrive at a park. Its NOT Inglewood sanctuary. Clearly we took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up there. But there are tall trees and green grass and lots of people on picnic benches grilling burgers and the river glistens somewhere close by. It all seems very pleasant, very inviting...

Me:(reading sign aloud) Pearce Estates Park.
Hubby: We're not in Inglewood. Are you very particular on going there?
Me: I guess we could walk around a little and see how this place is.


And so we had a very good walk at Pearce Estate Park. The pathways were nice enough for a stroller. We saw huge pelicans at the weir. The weather was good. Turned out to be a very happy accident! The end. :-)

Is the grass greener either side?

Its Friday again! Another week gone amidst diapers, baby cereal and facebook bubble words. Oh, but I did read a book - a very good one. So thats a plus for this week! What was the book? 'The other mother' by Gwendolyn Gross.


It was a very intense and insightful book and I really enjoyed reading it. The book is narrated alternately between Thea a stay-at-home-mom and Amanda a career woman mom. Both feel superior to the other for their own choices and both are also jealous of the other for the things they cannot have. Thea envies Amanda her freedom away from the house and her being able to have a self that wasn't only mother. Amanda on the other hand feels perpetually guilty for being away from her baby and hiring someone else to do the mothering.

I can empathize with both sides. There are days when I just want to run away; When I envy my husband being able to go off and work and be part of a different universe; When the list of chores seem repetitive and dull and overwhelming; When Kuttipa's constant struggle to sleep or eat gets under my skin and I want to scream and swear.

And then there are times when I wonder if I can bear to stay away from Kuttipa; to give him away to a daycare provider or a nanny and walk away. I just returned to the computer after unsuccessfully trying to extend Kuttipa's nap. All the while that I was trying to put him back to sleep, Kuttipa grinned at me partly adoringly and partly mischievously as if daring me to try to make him sleep again. He grabbed my hair, stroked my cheeks, grabbed my nose and was generally being the baby that he is! Can I stand the thought that he might look equally adoringly at a nanny who came instead of me? Of course not! Would the nanny even try rocking him to sleep? Would she worry about what he ate and what he didn't? Maybe she would, but I don't want to take a chance.

Which is why I stay at home.

Monday evening post

Kuttipa is crawling - finally! He has been trying to do this for at least 4 months now and I thought he would graduate to standing and walking w/o ever crawling. Especially since he has been standing for a couple of weeks now and will even walk a few steps if you hold both hands and encourage him slowly.

And then suddenly two days ago, he crawled. Not a very coordinated crawl but nonetheless a crawl. In his frenzy to discover what the multicoloured rattling box in my hand was, he crawled towards it before he or I knew what was happening. And then today again he did it- multiple times for short stretches. So now when his grandparents/our friends/ random people ask me if he is crawling, I can finally say 'Yes, he does.' Like when people kept asking if he had teeth and suddenly in the past month he sprouted not one, not two but five teeth.

Is it such a big deal? It is and it isn't. I am happy for his newfound mobility and also terrified about the new dangers he will now get into. I am also happy to temporarily assuage the fears of others - especially over-anxious grandparents. But we all know how temporary that is! After too short a time they'll all be asking "Is he walking yet?", "Is he talking?", "Is he planning to go to college?". It never ends.

I read a very good article about control and our thirst for it. Very thought provoking and moving!
Check it out.

Another year older

What have I to show for it? A gorgeous kid brimming with life and energy, thats what.

Haven't blogged for a while mainly because I was again wondering about the tone and content of this blog. Its so random! No wonder no one reads it. On the other hand, do I want anyone to read it? If so, for the past few posts I was starting to see a consistent theme of Kuttipa. Well that's a no-brainer! If my life is centered around him obviously my blog will too. I wonder if I should convert this to a mommy blog and then start visiting a ton of other mommy blogs and try to stay in some kind of loop...

Nah, too much effort! Otoh, there is so much to be gained if only I made the effort. New friendships, new insights...

Saw 'The Dark Knight' last weekend. What an amazing movie! Thoroughly enjoyed it. And that's my random non-Kuttipa related event of the week. Good bye.

The first step

Hi my name is Jeevita and I am a Bubble Words addict (app on Facebook).
There, I've said it! I don't know how much time I've wasted today stringing bubbles of words but it must be considerable....

If you're not on Facebook you can find this game at
herdaword.com
The best part is you don't need someone else to play it with. You can get addicted all by yourself!

Perspective

Me: (reading from a book) It says here that Toddlers are inherently aggressive and that they learn to tone down their aggression as they grow up.
Hubby: Uh huh
Me: So what would you do if in a few months Kuttipa beats up another kid that he is playing with?
Hubby: Nothing! Toddlers are inherently aggressive, aren't they? What can I do?
Me: Okay, what if another kid beats up Kuttipa?
Hubby: The other kid had better watch out...

Hmm...

Photos from last week

Buckler Farms
Close up of the berry bushes
Our pickings.