Thursday, April 8, 2010
Disciplining S
S has over the last few months started throwing a lot of tantrums and generally misbehaving when she doesn't get her way. I initially put it down to the fact that between December and January we shifted houses, changed her school and her baby maid stopped coming (she had been with us for a year and S was quite atatched to her). But for the last 2 months she has had her Ajji and me at her beck and call, and she is entertained every minute of the day. So i thought the tanrtums would die down without me needing to resort to any disciplinary steps, but that is not to be. Nowadays she screams if me or my mom have lunch instead of putting her to bed, or if we try to brush or her hair, and her recent peeve is that i should not feed the baby, or i should not burp the baby and i should instead put her down on the cot. Today i got really upset when S called me stupid for refucsing to stop burping the baby. And i am really at a loss on how to handle this. I tried to get S to apologise for calling me stupid but she is being very stubborn and refusing to say sorry. I dont want to give her timeout for this, i think when she says mean things she should say sorry, but however many times i have asked her to say sorry she just refuses to. I have refused to speak to her, play with her and even carry her, and she seems to understand that this is due to her bad behaviour and while that makes her upset, she still refuses to say sorry. I don't want to press the point any further (its already been an hour of the cold shoulder and its not having the impact i wanted) but I feel that if i dont make her apologise she would think she can get away with it. So what do you think, continue the cold shoulder for some time, or give her a timeout (consists of being alone in a room for 2 mins), or just forget it.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Vaccines - how much to trust the doctors?
Read a disturbing story in today's Times about how doctors are prescribing expensive vaccines without informing the mothers/fathers that there are cheaper alternative available which do the job just as well. The Government has prescribed a range of diseases for children to be vaccinated against, and there are a series of drugs available - But doctors often provide the much more expensive option since they pocket the difference which is shockingly high in many cases (refer below article). My doctor is a case in example- initially she used to tell me that she is using the more expensive injection since chance of fever for the baby is less, and i was fine with that.. Later she began using the more expensive injections without even informing that there is a choice, And while this is ok for me since the company reimburses the medical bills, it is certainly not ok for many other who cannot afford such expensive vaccines, or would probably need to forego something in order to pay for the imported vaccine without being aware that there is an alternative available.
Then there is the whole issue of additional vaccines which are not on the mandatory list but which the doctor will puch onto you saying it is good for the child-and i for one find it very difficult to say no when someone qualified as a doctor says that something is good for the child. Again the margins for the additional vaccines are very high as most of these are imported.
The main worrying thing about the vaccines though is their age/quality. Around the time S was 2 months old and many of her vaccinations were due, there were a series of reports in the newspaper about how small babies had been given old vaccines/spoilt vaccines and had died. Extremely scary. There are frequent power cuts in India and many of the vaccines need to be refrigerated, so the older they are the higher the chance of them being spoilt. So best to go to a dcotor who has lots of patients so that the drugs are rotated often and lesser chances of the drugs being old in my view
Lastly the whole question of whether to vaccinate or not? there is the problem of the child getting high fever after the vaccine (not in all cases though). Then many people believe that the child should build their own immunity for the milder diseases (pneumonia for instance) and also the vaccine does not provide protection against all strands of that particular virus (again pneumonia- the PCV only provides protection against one strain of pnemonia). My thought on this is that -should vaccinate against all major diseases, I would also try to vaccinate against the minor ones such as pneumonia where the child has a higher chance of contracting the disease ( I get chest congestion very often and very easily so would protect against this) but other minor diseases where likelihood is less and can be avoided with care I would chose not to vaccinate.
The referred article.....
Docs pocket hefty money for shots
Give Vaccines Not Recommended For Universal Immunization
Vaccines are meant to help prevent diseases. But they could also have another vital use as an alternative and significant source of income for doctors. Many vaccine manufacturers are offering vaccines at hugely reduced prices to doctors, many of whom charge the full price from patients, pocketing the difference. The greater the discount, the bigger the profit margin for the doctor. So when a doctor pushes a vaccine that is not part of the universal immunization programme, it would be difficult to decide whether he is thinking of your child’s health or his pocket. A study by Dr Rakesh Lodha of the Department of Paediatrics, AIIMS, and Dr Anurag Bhargav of Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Chhattisgarh, published in a recent issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, reveals the huge difference in the price of vaccines offered to doctors. “The percentage margin between the price to doctors and the MRP ranges from 30% to 69%, while in rupee terms, the discount over the MRP per vaccine dose ranges from Rs 85 to Rs 620,” the study says. Many vaccines require giving three or more doses and hence the profit margin could be as high as Rs 1,800 per child vaccinated. Interestingly, the vaccines being offered at hugely discounted prices to doctors are not those that are recommended for universal immunization. Such aggressive promotion is for new and expensive vaccines and combination vaccines whose use in the Indian context is “not well established in terms of epidemiological rationale or cost-benefit analysis”, says Dr Lodha. In yet another study, consultant paediatrician Dr Yash Paul from Jaipur found that the difference between the MRP and the price for doctors or chemists is very small for vaccines which are part of the National Immunisation Programme. The huge discount of Rs 500-Rs 600 is only for the newer vaccines. Dr Paul points out that doctors would be tempted to administer newer discounted vaccines which give them a huge profit margin. “If the difference between the MRP and cost to the doctors is equal or nominal, doctors may consider the comparative merits of the vaccines instead,” states Dr Paul. He cites the example of the DPT vaccine, recommended for universal immunization, which has an MRP of Rs 15.50, and given to doctors at the discounted price of Rs 12.50, a minimal difference, whereas the MRP of DaPT, a modified newer version of DPT is Rs 699 and the cost for doctors is Rs 595.
Then there is the whole issue of additional vaccines which are not on the mandatory list but which the doctor will puch onto you saying it is good for the child-and i for one find it very difficult to say no when someone qualified as a doctor says that something is good for the child. Again the margins for the additional vaccines are very high as most of these are imported.
The main worrying thing about the vaccines though is their age/quality. Around the time S was 2 months old and many of her vaccinations were due, there were a series of reports in the newspaper about how small babies had been given old vaccines/spoilt vaccines and had died. Extremely scary. There are frequent power cuts in India and many of the vaccines need to be refrigerated, so the older they are the higher the chance of them being spoilt. So best to go to a dcotor who has lots of patients so that the drugs are rotated often and lesser chances of the drugs being old in my view
Lastly the whole question of whether to vaccinate or not? there is the problem of the child getting high fever after the vaccine (not in all cases though). Then many people believe that the child should build their own immunity for the milder diseases (pneumonia for instance) and also the vaccine does not provide protection against all strands of that particular virus (again pneumonia- the PCV only provides protection against one strain of pnemonia). My thought on this is that -should vaccinate against all major diseases, I would also try to vaccinate against the minor ones such as pneumonia where the child has a higher chance of contracting the disease ( I get chest congestion very often and very easily so would protect against this) but other minor diseases where likelihood is less and can be avoided with care I would chose not to vaccinate.
The referred article.....
Docs pocket hefty money for shots
Give Vaccines Not Recommended For Universal Immunization
Vaccines are meant to help prevent diseases. But they could also have another vital use as an alternative and significant source of income for doctors. Many vaccine manufacturers are offering vaccines at hugely reduced prices to doctors, many of whom charge the full price from patients, pocketing the difference. The greater the discount, the bigger the profit margin for the doctor. So when a doctor pushes a vaccine that is not part of the universal immunization programme, it would be difficult to decide whether he is thinking of your child’s health or his pocket. A study by Dr Rakesh Lodha of the Department of Paediatrics, AIIMS, and Dr Anurag Bhargav of Jan Swasthya Sahyog in Chhattisgarh, published in a recent issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics, reveals the huge difference in the price of vaccines offered to doctors. “The percentage margin between the price to doctors and the MRP ranges from 30% to 69%, while in rupee terms, the discount over the MRP per vaccine dose ranges from Rs 85 to Rs 620,” the study says. Many vaccines require giving three or more doses and hence the profit margin could be as high as Rs 1,800 per child vaccinated. Interestingly, the vaccines being offered at hugely discounted prices to doctors are not those that are recommended for universal immunization. Such aggressive promotion is for new and expensive vaccines and combination vaccines whose use in the Indian context is “not well established in terms of epidemiological rationale or cost-benefit analysis”, says Dr Lodha. In yet another study, consultant paediatrician Dr Yash Paul from Jaipur found that the difference between the MRP and the price for doctors or chemists is very small for vaccines which are part of the National Immunisation Programme. The huge discount of Rs 500-Rs 600 is only for the newer vaccines. Dr Paul points out that doctors would be tempted to administer newer discounted vaccines which give them a huge profit margin. “If the difference between the MRP and cost to the doctors is equal or nominal, doctors may consider the comparative merits of the vaccines instead,” states Dr Paul. He cites the example of the DPT vaccine, recommended for universal immunization, which has an MRP of Rs 15.50, and given to doctors at the discounted price of Rs 12.50, a minimal difference, whereas the MRP of DaPT, a modified newer version of DPT is Rs 699 and the cost for doctors is Rs 595.
S talk
S has started chattering a lot these days. When in a good mood she chats by herself and talk ranges from nursery rhymes, to stories, to general observations on what she has been doing that day. I can't believe some of the things she says-
- I am bored of soup
- Thank you god for the tiffin, for everything
- Why did you pinch Dora, why did you pinch bottle
-Mama i want to do Babba
-Go away Suman (said to all people even if they are not named Suman)
- don't eat Ajji (my mom should not waste time eating, time which can be better used playing with S!)
- don't do meditation Ajji
-Mama, dont wear chappals in the bathroom
-wash hands now (means stop eating, wash hands and come and play with me)
-i am only putting (i want to wear my own shoes, diaper, pant, shirt etc etc)
- i am putting straightly
-Mama don't shout- i have a bad temper, and this is the only time i calm down immediately and feel quite ashamed for shouting
-Series of rhymes- Lo lo low your boat (she can't say rrr yet); little jack horner, hickory dickory dock, rock a by baby, goosie goosie gander
-some things she picked up in school- P ne khaya, R ne pakda, S ne khata, Hum sabne dekha, Bada maza aaya!!; Swallowed a peanut...
-very nice/lovely-for some food item she really likes
-put babbu in the crib
-dont feed babbu now (bit difficult to deal with this since S has started getting upset everytime i feed A)
-range of stories of how pigeon came, monkey came, lizard came and how some person picked up a broom and chased them away- courtesy Ajji's imagination during feed time
-Daddy is strong, Ajji is strong, Mummy is small (since i could not carry S during the last trimester and after the C-Sec)
Will post more as and when i recollect her little gems!
- I am bored of soup
- Thank you god for the tiffin, for everything
- Why did you pinch Dora, why did you pinch bottle
-Mama i want to do Babba
-Go away Suman (said to all people even if they are not named Suman)
- don't eat Ajji (my mom should not waste time eating, time which can be better used playing with S!)
- don't do meditation Ajji
-Mama, dont wear chappals in the bathroom
-wash hands now (means stop eating, wash hands and come and play with me)
-i am only putting (i want to wear my own shoes, diaper, pant, shirt etc etc)
- i am putting straightly
-Mama don't shout- i have a bad temper, and this is the only time i calm down immediately and feel quite ashamed for shouting
-Series of rhymes- Lo lo low your boat (she can't say rrr yet); little jack horner, hickory dickory dock, rock a by baby, goosie goosie gander
-some things she picked up in school- P ne khaya, R ne pakda, S ne khata, Hum sabne dekha, Bada maza aaya!!; Swallowed a peanut...
-very nice/lovely-for some food item she really likes
-put babbu in the crib
-dont feed babbu now (bit difficult to deal with this since S has started getting upset everytime i feed A)
-range of stories of how pigeon came, monkey came, lizard came and how some person picked up a broom and chased them away- courtesy Ajji's imagination during feed time
-Daddy is strong, Ajji is strong, Mummy is small (since i could not carry S during the last trimester and after the C-Sec)
Will post more as and when i recollect her little gems!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
A's first trip to the park
We took A to her first trip to the park. She was bundled into her red pram and we walked to the neighbourhood park (one major advantage of Bangalore is that every nieghbourhood has a nice park for walking with a play area for kids). She did much better than i expected- she was staring at the sky and trees for the first ten minutes and then promptly went off to sleep. Unlike S who spent her first visit to the park in her pram howling so we had to rush back home. So S was playing in the playground with the hubby while i was pushing A around with her granddad!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Of 2 am soaps and late night movies
I am now the expert of what all comes on TV at 2 am in the night, courtesy A. A sleeps peacefully throughout the day and is wide eyed from 11 pm onwards when the rest of the house starts shutting down. 11 am t0 4 am is my official time to look after her since my mom sleeps at that time, so after many unsuccesful attempts to switch off the light and put A to bed in the bedroom, i give up, come to the living room, switch on the TV and mindlessly flick through channels. The preferred ones are Star World and Star Movies since those are ones with subtitles which can be watched on mute, and now i'm up to date on eposides of Prison Break (never heard of it before), Sons and Daughters and other such serials. Miss Friends though- thought there was a 12 am episode running earlier.
The hubby, who gets his daily 10 hours of sleep insists i should keep A awake more during the day. Frankly dont see how that is possible, since she is too young for us to distract her with some toys or a story. She only cries when we try to keep her awake and then we're forced to put her to bed The hubby also suggested putting water on her or giving her a cold water bath!!!! after some unsuccesful attempts to keep A in a sitting position to keep her awake - she slept through that as well!
My cousin, who had the same problem with her daugher, suggested giving a sleep medicine in the night which would break the cycle once and hopefully change it for the better. But i feel A is too young to give such medicines, so will go back to the mindless surfing of channels for now.
Btw can't beleive there are so many teleshopping channels suddenly- rather many channels only have teleshopping at 2 am in the night- do people really shop at this time?
The hubby, who gets his daily 10 hours of sleep insists i should keep A awake more during the day. Frankly dont see how that is possible, since she is too young for us to distract her with some toys or a story. She only cries when we try to keep her awake and then we're forced to put her to bed The hubby also suggested putting water on her or giving her a cold water bath!!!! after some unsuccesful attempts to keep A in a sitting position to keep her awake - she slept through that as well!
My cousin, who had the same problem with her daugher, suggested giving a sleep medicine in the night which would break the cycle once and hopefully change it for the better. But i feel A is too young to give such medicines, so will go back to the mindless surfing of channels for now.
Btw can't beleive there are so many teleshopping channels suddenly- rather many channels only have teleshopping at 2 am in the night- do people really shop at this time?
Friday, March 12, 2010
A joins us
A, our darling baby daughter joined us on the 10th of February. She turns one month tomorrow, and how the days have flown by. The birth story is a long episode and will take another post but suffice it to say it was not I how had expected it to be!
Handling two kids is really a handful, but i luckily have the support of my mom and a full time baby maid. End of this month i will be leaving for Bangalore with my mom and the two kids and am there for two months, by which time i should have learnt to manage two kids on my own a bit better hopefully.
S seems quite happy with the new arrival and keeps kissing her, pulling her 'chubby cheeks' and patting her. She helps out with bringing the nappy and soap and shampoo for bath and keeps asking to comb the baby's hair. But her other behaviour has become quite terrible and i feel she is showing her unhappiness with the new kid getting the attention in other places. She starts crying and wailing loudly for the smallest of things- if we ask her to get off the swing (we have a swing now at home- Daddy's gift for S on her second birthday, she loves it and spends at least an hour on it everyday), or dont show her Nemo for the 100th time in a week, or if her Ajji has lunch instead of watching Nemo with her- really small things which she would have been ok with earlier. She has also started wailing to go and come back from school(but luckily over the last few days that has got better). So far we have been able to manage my mom (her Ajji) looking after S during all the feeds - in fact my mom only looks after her most of the time since i need to give so much time to A. But today my mom had to go out for sometime and that also coincided with A's feed time. When i got up from the living room where i was sitting with S to feed A, she started crying and stamping her feet, insiting that i should carry her, I carried her for 5 minutes and then A started crying louder and louder and I tried to explain to S that see A is crying , i need to feed her , why dont you sit next to mama and read this book, but she insisted that i carry her, andcontinued to sit ony my lap. Finally i put S down and she howled for some time before the maid took her to the swing to distract her. Hope S grows out of this soon, or i'm going to be a very tired and upset mother soon!
A is quite different from S. Firstly she looks more like the hubby whereas S looks like me. She is also a night baby- most nights she is awake from 2:30-4:30 feeding and playing and sleeps through large parts of the day. S had got the day-night routine right from day one and used to play quite a bit during the day and wake in the nights only for the feeds. Also A is quite aggressive in her demands from day one and insists on being carried on the lap most of the day even when she’s awake, while S used to play quite happily in the Moses basket by herself. Anyway I now know most of the late night shows on tv and have caught two three movies with subtitles running at 3 in the morning! Wonder when this cycle will reverse- its manageable now since my mom looks after both the kids in the morning and I get sleep till 8:30-9 am.
Other updates in brief
We celebrated S second birthday on the 6th with a Jerry cake, a swing and motorbike from her dad, earrings from me (ears not pierced yet though!), earrings from Ajji and flowers and new dress from her Bua. Decided not to have a party and call other kids since I was not sure whether I would be in the nursing home or at home, and anyway S doesn’t really play games at birthday parties, or interact that much with the other kids- maybe for her third birthday she will herself be excited about a party, and cake and friends
We played Holi this year after a long time. It was S first Holi experience and she really enjoyed playing with the pichkari (its got lights and she still plays with it), and the water gun. WE played within the building and there was another kid (muchy older) who kept throwing water on S and the hubby helped S in spraying him back with water. S was not very thrilled with the colours being put on her face so we put only a bit on her face and more on her arms!
We moved house, sold our old place and rented a new one. Two main goals- one to move into a better apartment (achieved) and two to reduce the ties to Bombay ( I don’t like this city). The packing and unpacking was quite hectic but my mom and dad were there to help, otherwise it would have been very tiring in the ninth month. The new apartment is quite nice- the security is good, the neighbours are friendly (one of them came over with a packet of brownies to welcome us) and best of all, there is a girl of S age in the flat below us- so far the interaction has not been the best given S mood swings and temper tantrums, but am hoping it would improve over time
For New Years this year we went to Kashid, a beach resort about 3 hours from Bombay to a friends place. It was with old college friends and well worth the effort (driving there and back over two days) and S enjoyed all the attention being the only kid there! My friend has a dog- and S kept feeding him biscuits, running after him etc. My friends kept her well entertained pointing out flowers, birds, giving her various creams to play with (she loves that) and she played in the beach and water with the hubby. New years night we went to my friend's parents friend place where there was another girl of S age, so some time went in playing with her toys, running around with her etc.
Back to the two kids now!
Handling two kids is really a handful, but i luckily have the support of my mom and a full time baby maid. End of this month i will be leaving for Bangalore with my mom and the two kids and am there for two months, by which time i should have learnt to manage two kids on my own a bit better hopefully.
S seems quite happy with the new arrival and keeps kissing her, pulling her 'chubby cheeks' and patting her. She helps out with bringing the nappy and soap and shampoo for bath and keeps asking to comb the baby's hair. But her other behaviour has become quite terrible and i feel she is showing her unhappiness with the new kid getting the attention in other places. She starts crying and wailing loudly for the smallest of things- if we ask her to get off the swing (we have a swing now at home- Daddy's gift for S on her second birthday, she loves it and spends at least an hour on it everyday), or dont show her Nemo for the 100th time in a week, or if her Ajji has lunch instead of watching Nemo with her- really small things which she would have been ok with earlier. She has also started wailing to go and come back from school(but luckily over the last few days that has got better). So far we have been able to manage my mom (her Ajji) looking after S during all the feeds - in fact my mom only looks after her most of the time since i need to give so much time to A. But today my mom had to go out for sometime and that also coincided with A's feed time. When i got up from the living room where i was sitting with S to feed A, she started crying and stamping her feet, insiting that i should carry her, I carried her for 5 minutes and then A started crying louder and louder and I tried to explain to S that see A is crying , i need to feed her , why dont you sit next to mama and read this book, but she insisted that i carry her, andcontinued to sit ony my lap. Finally i put S down and she howled for some time before the maid took her to the swing to distract her. Hope S grows out of this soon, or i'm going to be a very tired and upset mother soon!
A is quite different from S. Firstly she looks more like the hubby whereas S looks like me. She is also a night baby- most nights she is awake from 2:30-4:30 feeding and playing and sleeps through large parts of the day. S had got the day-night routine right from day one and used to play quite a bit during the day and wake in the nights only for the feeds. Also A is quite aggressive in her demands from day one and insists on being carried on the lap most of the day even when she’s awake, while S used to play quite happily in the Moses basket by herself. Anyway I now know most of the late night shows on tv and have caught two three movies with subtitles running at 3 in the morning! Wonder when this cycle will reverse- its manageable now since my mom looks after both the kids in the morning and I get sleep till 8:30-9 am.
Other updates in brief
We celebrated S second birthday on the 6th with a Jerry cake, a swing and motorbike from her dad, earrings from me (ears not pierced yet though!), earrings from Ajji and flowers and new dress from her Bua. Decided not to have a party and call other kids since I was not sure whether I would be in the nursing home or at home, and anyway S doesn’t really play games at birthday parties, or interact that much with the other kids- maybe for her third birthday she will herself be excited about a party, and cake and friends
We played Holi this year after a long time. It was S first Holi experience and she really enjoyed playing with the pichkari (its got lights and she still plays with it), and the water gun. WE played within the building and there was another kid (muchy older) who kept throwing water on S and the hubby helped S in spraying him back with water. S was not very thrilled with the colours being put on her face so we put only a bit on her face and more on her arms!
We moved house, sold our old place and rented a new one. Two main goals- one to move into a better apartment (achieved) and two to reduce the ties to Bombay ( I don’t like this city). The packing and unpacking was quite hectic but my mom and dad were there to help, otherwise it would have been very tiring in the ninth month. The new apartment is quite nice- the security is good, the neighbours are friendly (one of them came over with a packet of brownies to welcome us) and best of all, there is a girl of S age in the flat below us- so far the interaction has not been the best given S mood swings and temper tantrums, but am hoping it would improve over time
For New Years this year we went to Kashid, a beach resort about 3 hours from Bombay to a friends place. It was with old college friends and well worth the effort (driving there and back over two days) and S enjoyed all the attention being the only kid there! My friend has a dog- and S kept feeding him biscuits, running after him etc. My friends kept her well entertained pointing out flowers, birds, giving her various creams to play with (she loves that) and she played in the beach and water with the hubby. New years night we went to my friend's parents friend place where there was another girl of S age, so some time went in playing with her toys, running around with her etc.
Back to the two kids now!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Happy New Year : Part 1
Happy New Year : Part 1
Happy New Year to my darling S. Last year was a mixture of ups and downs- struggling with managing a full time job and bringing up S, managing two houses, a terrible first trimester, difficult maids, S breaking into school ( 10 days of heartbreak for me to hear her cry) as well as tons of joy everyday- S first nursery rhyme, first full sentence (“Thank you God for the tiffin”), first tantrum, first fall from the swing and monkey bars at the park, first sports day, first swim at the pool…. and so many other firsts I could go on. Its been a great 2009 and the only resolution I make for 2010 is to spend more time with S and to be a more patient mother. First should be more easily achieved with my 6 months maternity leave coming up in a couple of weeks, second promises to be a stretch with the second baby to arrive soon!
2010 is going to be a struggle, I was quite a paranoid mother when S was born and fussing over anything and while I have resolved not to be as fussy this time round, old habits die hard and am sure while I may not have the time and energy to be as particular as I was last time, it will still be a very big struggle managing two kids, especially with S entering her “Trying Twos”. Lot of people ask me whether S knows she is going to get a brother/sister soon, and I say that she really does not understand the concept. The hubby and I have told her many times that there is another babbu coming, and she will need to play with the babbu and be loving to the babbu, and she does stroke my tummy and say Hi to the babbu once in a while, but my sense is that she really does not understand the entire concept and how the baby is going to be very small, and will take up some of mummy and daddy’s time etc. Keeping fingers crossed that S takes it all in stride.
The last few weeks have been quite hectic. Almost like we are trying to fit in all the socializing and outings before the second baby comes and life changes quite dramatically again. Christmas was a long four day weekend since there was another holiday on the Monday after.
Christmas day (Friday) we spent the evening at a college friends place. She has a one year old son and S was quite friendly with him- she pushed him on his swing a couple of times and even tried speaking to him. Then after some time she became more interested in his toys and spent most of the evening going through all of them. There are some really cute pictures of the two kids together. This is my college friend whom I have known for close to 14 years and it was really nice to see our kids playing together! Similar feeling to the other day I had gone to another close friend’s place whose son is 4 years old and he played with S for about an hour.
The next day we went for the night show of 3 Idiots. The first half of the movie is brilliant and had us in splits. The second half drags unnecessarily and some of the incidents are too unbelievable, But overall we enjoyed the movie, and so did S who was awake for part of the movie and enjoyed the song “All is Well” and still repeats it from time to time. Anyway the movie finished only at 1:30 in the night and it was well past two before we slept. S and I slept till 10 the next morning (she woke up again in the last ½ hour and was so excited by the whole experience that she refused to sleep even after we got home and was jumping in the bed well past 2). The hubby had a shoot in Pune the next day so he was up and away pretty early. Luckily S slept till 10 otherwise Sunday would have been really difficult to manage without the hubby.
Sunday night we hosted a party at home for my friend who was down from the States. She is also expecting and must have been quite shocked to see S in one of her vomiting states (we fed her dinner a bit early since guests were coming and I think she was too full!). Anyway S had her dinner again and settled down after that and sat on one of the sofas watching Nemo on her Daddy’s laptop and venturing out once in a while to take some chips from one of my friends. Dinner itself wound up pretty early since everyone was tired from their hectic traveling schedule- only one of my friends landed up at 11 pm after everyone at left and S was still awake so they both played together for some time. Finally slept at some 12 midnight
Monday was relatively less eventful. Had some office work in the morning, spent the day lazing around, and in the night went to Mainland China for dinner. Its one of my favourite restaurants in Bangalore, and once I heard that they had opened a branch near my place was waiting to try it out. But food was disappointing- very oily and I had a slight stomach upset after that.
Will update on New Year weekend in next post.
Happy New Year to my darling S. Last year was a mixture of ups and downs- struggling with managing a full time job and bringing up S, managing two houses, a terrible first trimester, difficult maids, S breaking into school ( 10 days of heartbreak for me to hear her cry) as well as tons of joy everyday- S first nursery rhyme, first full sentence (“Thank you God for the tiffin”), first tantrum, first fall from the swing and monkey bars at the park, first sports day, first swim at the pool…. and so many other firsts I could go on. Its been a great 2009 and the only resolution I make for 2010 is to spend more time with S and to be a more patient mother. First should be more easily achieved with my 6 months maternity leave coming up in a couple of weeks, second promises to be a stretch with the second baby to arrive soon!
2010 is going to be a struggle, I was quite a paranoid mother when S was born and fussing over anything and while I have resolved not to be as fussy this time round, old habits die hard and am sure while I may not have the time and energy to be as particular as I was last time, it will still be a very big struggle managing two kids, especially with S entering her “Trying Twos”. Lot of people ask me whether S knows she is going to get a brother/sister soon, and I say that she really does not understand the concept. The hubby and I have told her many times that there is another babbu coming, and she will need to play with the babbu and be loving to the babbu, and she does stroke my tummy and say Hi to the babbu once in a while, but my sense is that she really does not understand the entire concept and how the baby is going to be very small, and will take up some of mummy and daddy’s time etc. Keeping fingers crossed that S takes it all in stride.
The last few weeks have been quite hectic. Almost like we are trying to fit in all the socializing and outings before the second baby comes and life changes quite dramatically again. Christmas was a long four day weekend since there was another holiday on the Monday after.
Christmas day (Friday) we spent the evening at a college friends place. She has a one year old son and S was quite friendly with him- she pushed him on his swing a couple of times and even tried speaking to him. Then after some time she became more interested in his toys and spent most of the evening going through all of them. There are some really cute pictures of the two kids together. This is my college friend whom I have known for close to 14 years and it was really nice to see our kids playing together! Similar feeling to the other day I had gone to another close friend’s place whose son is 4 years old and he played with S for about an hour.
The next day we went for the night show of 3 Idiots. The first half of the movie is brilliant and had us in splits. The second half drags unnecessarily and some of the incidents are too unbelievable, But overall we enjoyed the movie, and so did S who was awake for part of the movie and enjoyed the song “All is Well” and still repeats it from time to time. Anyway the movie finished only at 1:30 in the night and it was well past two before we slept. S and I slept till 10 the next morning (she woke up again in the last ½ hour and was so excited by the whole experience that she refused to sleep even after we got home and was jumping in the bed well past 2). The hubby had a shoot in Pune the next day so he was up and away pretty early. Luckily S slept till 10 otherwise Sunday would have been really difficult to manage without the hubby.
Sunday night we hosted a party at home for my friend who was down from the States. She is also expecting and must have been quite shocked to see S in one of her vomiting states (we fed her dinner a bit early since guests were coming and I think she was too full!). Anyway S had her dinner again and settled down after that and sat on one of the sofas watching Nemo on her Daddy’s laptop and venturing out once in a while to take some chips from one of my friends. Dinner itself wound up pretty early since everyone was tired from their hectic traveling schedule- only one of my friends landed up at 11 pm after everyone at left and S was still awake so they both played together for some time. Finally slept at some 12 midnight
Monday was relatively less eventful. Had some office work in the morning, spent the day lazing around, and in the night went to Mainland China for dinner. Its one of my favourite restaurants in Bangalore, and once I heard that they had opened a branch near my place was waiting to try it out. But food was disappointing- very oily and I had a slight stomach upset after that.
Will update on New Year weekend in next post.
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