Yeap! Eliana is 8 months today! Time is surely passing us very quickly. And I know, it's cliche, but wow, babies do grow up fast! She has been on a roll with some pretty nice milestones. I honestly don't know if learning to clap is considered part of those "developmental milestones" or not, but one day soon after she turned 7 months, just out of nowhere she started to clap...and good thing, since then she hasn't stopped. Now, she claps for just about anything. She is nursing...she is clapping...she is clapping even in her sleep! That's my super multi-tasker girl!! She even claps when she is MAD...!!
And then for sometime she was really trying hard to get up from while she is rolled on her stomach. I have wondered what she was trying to do. She would basically grunt, and then lift her whole body up while head is still on bed flat...and she would try to move her feet...towards where, I don't know. Basically, it seemed like a downward dog position, only with her head still flat on bed. But then couple of weeks ago, she was finally able to actually lift her head up and bent her knee!!Yawzaaa! It seemed like she is really trying to get into full blown crawl position. I give her an A for effort, cause that's all she can do so far as far as actual crawling is concerned.
No teeth yet. However, poor thing seems to be at its (teething) pick right now. She basically wants to bite everything that's in sight. Luckily, her putting everything in mouth phase lasted only for few weeks back sometime. So, now, when she put things in mouth, it's not because she is back in that phase, but because she wants to bite things really badly! I feel bad for not bringing Sophie, the teether with us! :( But good thing is, I got Under the Nile's Carrot and she has been munching on that carrot vigorously! Other than that, teething so far (fingers crossed) hasn't caused us major drama yet! And of course, she has been wearing Amber teething necklace for a while now, and I am very much inclined to believe it has been a major contributor in keeping the teething process still sane! And she looks extra darn cute in this necklace!Always a plus, right?
This month Eliana also got to meet bunch of cousins for the first time, which was also a very good thing. And of course, it goes without saying how much she was adored! She also got to meet her year old cousin, and we celebrated his birthday together in Chittagong. And that brings to miss E's fourth city that she visited to date! yay! my little Globe trotter in the making!
And, now, off to eat that Tiramisu that we got for her 8 months bd-ay excuse ;)
Showing posts with label Life with babe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life with babe. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
7 months old: Lucky Seven
So, now that miss E is seven months old, (okay, in reality, she is almost 8 months old- this is what happens when I don't journal sooner)...what did the lucky Seven bring for us?
Apparently, nothing much as I, for the life of me can't remember if anything extra-ordinary or special happened.
She has been visiting quite a few places in Dhaka though. So, that's good. She celebrated her first International mother language day going on a outing on a hot hot sunny day! And, as a result, was so miserable at the end! I also took her to "Chandrima uddan", and had a fun afternoon there. I hope to post some pics of that.
She has been trying to crawl now, but poor thing just couldn't manage yet! She was introduced to her first solid last month, a papaya, smashed on my fingertips, which was an epic failure and since then haven't really tried anything else just yet. Still on breast-milk, and doing very well!
Seriously, except for her outings with me to various places, I think, this month probably was very boring.
Apparently, nothing much as I, for the life of me can't remember if anything extra-ordinary or special happened.
She has been visiting quite a few places in Dhaka though. So, that's good. She celebrated her first International mother language day going on a outing on a hot hot sunny day! And, as a result, was so miserable at the end! I also took her to "Chandrima uddan", and had a fun afternoon there. I hope to post some pics of that.
She has been trying to crawl now, but poor thing just couldn't manage yet! She was introduced to her first solid last month, a papaya, smashed on my fingertips, which was an epic failure and since then haven't really tried anything else just yet. Still on breast-milk, and doing very well!
Seriously, except for her outings with me to various places, I think, this month probably was very boring.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Ekushay February or International Mother Language Day
Yesterday was Ekushay February or in simple English 21st of February. It's a bitter sweet day for the Bengalis. Ekushay February or 21st February has been declared International Mother Language Day by the UNESCO in 1999. If you click on the link, you can read through the wiki article to learn the history and background of this day. Every year very early morning, politicians and common people alike go to Shaheed Minar or Martyrs' Monument and take flowers to commemorate the loss of students. And of course through out the day people continue to go there. When I was little, we never went to Shaheed Minar. But on Ekushay February we would cut a pic of the Martyr' monument from the newspaper and then put it against the wall (keeping it on the floor, the picture) and put some flower in front of it. It was a sweet memory.
This year, I decided to check out Shahid Minar finally. Unfortunately, the roads were all blocked and no car could enter that area and we would have to walk to get there. I decided against it as I had little miss E with us. Instead, decided to roam around Dhaka University area where it was buzzing with people, old, middle aged and kids...full of them. It was starting to get bit hot as well. We checked out Fine Art Center and took some pics. On the street it had a festive feeling all around. Lots of hawkers selling Bangladeshi flag, bangles (loads of it, those bangles were made of glass and very colorful), cloths, bags, books, street stalled food etc etc etc. We happened to check out the grave of a famous Poet as well, Kazi Nozrul Islam.I really enjoyed the day and afterwards we went to Nando's to get something to eat. And unfortunately, little miss E already had enough of the day and by then was in full fussy mood. So, I only got to have brownie and ice cream and miss E's dad had burger...mmmm...I am bit pissed that I couldn't eat burger LOL I tried the fries and it was delish! Really good quality.
Here are pictures from our Ekushay February outing:
This year, I decided to check out Shahid Minar finally. Unfortunately, the roads were all blocked and no car could enter that area and we would have to walk to get there. I decided against it as I had little miss E with us. Instead, decided to roam around Dhaka University area where it was buzzing with people, old, middle aged and kids...full of them. It was starting to get bit hot as well. We checked out Fine Art Center and took some pics. On the street it had a festive feeling all around. Lots of hawkers selling Bangladeshi flag, bangles (loads of it, those bangles were made of glass and very colorful), cloths, bags, books, street stalled food etc etc etc. We happened to check out the grave of a famous Poet as well, Kazi Nozrul Islam.I really enjoyed the day and afterwards we went to Nando's to get something to eat. And unfortunately, little miss E already had enough of the day and by then was in full fussy mood. So, I only got to have brownie and ice cream and miss E's dad had burger...mmmm...I am bit pissed that I couldn't eat burger LOL I tried the fries and it was delish! Really good quality.
Here are pictures from our Ekushay February outing:
Sunday, January 29, 2012
6 months old : Half a year already!
Well, my sweet cutie pie turned 6 months yesterday! Honestly though I was waiting for this day to come ASAP so that I can just have the pleasure of saying "my baby is half a year old"! huh! Now that she IS half a year old, suddenly I want time to really crawl, not walk or run. Just crawl at the slowest pace possible. And deep down I know that this is actually the start of time running even faster.
So since she turned 5 months, the updates are:
She had her first New Year's Eve! Nothing happened. Clock turned 12 a.m., and we heard noise of some fireworks and we took our first pics of 2012 wearing just whatever we were wearing, no dressing up. And just as clock hit 12, she decided to throw her first poop of the year in the diaper, it was mad hilarious. And of course, I had to say that in my FB status that the first thing I was doing to celebrate the New Year was clean up my daughter's shit. Literally. Beauty of motherhood. :))
Okay, now I'm trying to remember what else happened. This is what I get for not writing the draft as we go along (like one of my last posts on her)! We spent about 5 days at her grandparent's house (father's side). It was okay, mad boring for me. First day was fun though. She got to meet two of my husband's aunts and their children. They all adore her, really. And then she met one dreaded person. I will not name that dreaded person. Will just call her " the dreaded person:" . Anyway, it was okay while it lasted. And it's been more than a week we are back at my parent's house and time is soon approaching for another visit.
Well, my sis, her second mother if you will went back to New York and now the poor thing will watch her grow via Skype for the time being. :(
Ohhhhh, I took her to my niece's ped the other night to have her 6 months check up. I was very curious to find out how much she weigh of all things. It was an interesting experience in and itself and it really deserves a post of its own. Though here I will say this much that she has been growing, so, I guess no worries. She has gained about 3lb since her 4 months check up. I am SO HAPPY.
Well, on the 26th of January, 2 days shy of her 6 months birthday, she tasted her first ever solid food!! YAY! And drum roll please....!! It was papaya from my aunt's garden (or so I thought..anyway), and Eli baby's reaction was just priceless! That poor thing didn't really know what to do with it when I put the bowl in front of her with couple of pieces smashed with my fingers. Since she didn't know, I took a bit on my finger tips and put it in her mouth and she did.not.like.it! Relief. Really, in all seriousness I'm not in a rush to give her anything other than breast milk yet as I want to do Baby Led Weaning. So, when everyone in the family was making comments about how apparently I'm torturing her by not giving solid foods, I just had to give her something to shut them up. I will surely revisit this experience, but just not gonna happen until she actually tries to grab my food, which she hasn't done and looks like she is far from doing it.
Though she can sit up now without assistance, will topple sometimes fast and other time will stay seated. She definitely LOVES to sit, so, it's all good I guess. She is also talking up the storm. She can say words like "dada", "nana", "amma", "abba"...because well, these are the easiest sounds to make! We all enjoy her babbling though so very much.
Also, she does seem to start the "teething" process, or what others call it she is at "pre-teething" stage. I did put the teething necklace that I brought from New York (bought online) and who knows, she seems to fuss lot less last couple days when the necklace was on her for longer period of time. I hope it works its wonder like people say it does!
All I can say is though last six months were really hard in some ways, but it was the most precious time of my life and I am eagerly waiting for lot more of these precious moments to enjoy and savor!
So since she turned 5 months, the updates are:
She had her first New Year's Eve! Nothing happened. Clock turned 12 a.m., and we heard noise of some fireworks and we took our first pics of 2012 wearing just whatever we were wearing, no dressing up. And just as clock hit 12, she decided to throw her first poop of the year in the diaper, it was mad hilarious. And of course, I had to say that in my FB status that the first thing I was doing to celebrate the New Year was clean up my daughter's shit. Literally. Beauty of motherhood. :))
Okay, now I'm trying to remember what else happened. This is what I get for not writing the draft as we go along (like one of my last posts on her)! We spent about 5 days at her grandparent's house (father's side). It was okay, mad boring for me. First day was fun though. She got to meet two of my husband's aunts and their children. They all adore her, really. And then she met one dreaded person. I will not name that dreaded person. Will just call her " the dreaded person:" . Anyway, it was okay while it lasted. And it's been more than a week we are back at my parent's house and time is soon approaching for another visit.
Well, my sis, her second mother if you will went back to New York and now the poor thing will watch her grow via Skype for the time being. :(
Ohhhhh, I took her to my niece's ped the other night to have her 6 months check up. I was very curious to find out how much she weigh of all things. It was an interesting experience in and itself and it really deserves a post of its own. Though here I will say this much that she has been growing, so, I guess no worries. She has gained about 3lb since her 4 months check up. I am SO HAPPY.
Well, on the 26th of January, 2 days shy of her 6 months birthday, she tasted her first ever solid food!! YAY! And drum roll please....!! It was papaya from my aunt's garden (or so I thought..anyway), and Eli baby's reaction was just priceless! That poor thing didn't really know what to do with it when I put the bowl in front of her with couple of pieces smashed with my fingers. Since she didn't know, I took a bit on my finger tips and put it in her mouth and she did.not.like.it! Relief. Really, in all seriousness I'm not in a rush to give her anything other than breast milk yet as I want to do Baby Led Weaning. So, when everyone in the family was making comments about how apparently I'm torturing her by not giving solid foods, I just had to give her something to shut them up. I will surely revisit this experience, but just not gonna happen until she actually tries to grab my food, which she hasn't done and looks like she is far from doing it.
Though she can sit up now without assistance, will topple sometimes fast and other time will stay seated. She definitely LOVES to sit, so, it's all good I guess. She is also talking up the storm. She can say words like "dada", "nana", "amma", "abba"...because well, these are the easiest sounds to make! We all enjoy her babbling though so very much.
Also, she does seem to start the "teething" process, or what others call it she is at "pre-teething" stage. I did put the teething necklace that I brought from New York (bought online) and who knows, she seems to fuss lot less last couple days when the necklace was on her for longer period of time. I hope it works its wonder like people say it does!
All I can say is though last six months were really hard in some ways, but it was the most precious time of my life and I am eagerly waiting for lot more of these precious moments to enjoy and savor!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Why Children Should Witness Breastfeeding in Public ~ Nursing Freedom
Why Children Should Witness Breastfeeding in Public ~ Nursing Freedom
I've been breastfeeding my baby in front of my 2 years old niece since I came to Dhaka. My niece was never breastfed and didn't see anyone breastfeed before. And couple of weeks ago she was asking my mother to help her lift her top so she could breastfeed my baby as baby was crying! Love!
I've been breastfeeding my baby in front of my 2 years old niece since I came to Dhaka. My niece was never breastfed and didn't see anyone breastfeed before. And couple of weeks ago she was asking my mother to help her lift her top so she could breastfeed my baby as baby was crying! Love!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Dhaka supermarkets :where I feel a bit of home.......
when nothing else is as charming in this city. Was bored out of my skull and then thought may be I should go out. In a city where traffic jams are abound, places of entertainment simply don't exists, supermarkets that are sort of self serving western style are THE place for me to hang out. So, decided to take a stroll in couple of those this afternoon. But this expedition wasn't easy one. First of all, I needed to make the most important call to my mom asking for their car. And this brings to another point that in a city of rickshaw ironically I don't feel safe on the streets if I am not riding a car. Riding rickshaw is simply out of the syllabus. It's way too damn scary as I often joke that people who think Great American ride at the Six Flags is scary, they surely need to ride a rickshaw in this crazy city and they'll totally change their minds and agree that a rickshaw ride in Dhaka city is indeed the scariest! Anyway, so once the car was here (where I'm at now) we proceeded to our outing. The other reason why this wasn't an easy expedition was also cause of me bebe. I had to decide which supermarket to go to (had to be the one/s relatively close by) in case baby starts to fuss and we can take an exit pronto and come home. And that's what happened! As I also made a point to go to my all time favorite store in Dhaka "Aarong" (thanks God for that!), baby started to fuss! If it wasn't for her I could have spent hours there roaming around and simply admiring their unique handy crafts products! Anyway, back to the main point of this post that it's only at couple of specific supermarkets is where find peace! Probably cause only places like that makes me feel like I'm at my home... New York (well, mini version) cause those are the only places that are neat and clean!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Five months: One of the best to date...lots of memories..Met her father is the highlight!
So, today on her 4th month bday she got second dose of vaccines. And she got fever now. My poor baby has been crying so much it was just sad. So I gave her first ever medicine Tylenol. Now she's sleeping and ate a little. I was really dreading this dose. Why did I have a feeling that this time she might get fever? And of course she did and we're going to fly in 2 days! Well praying that the medicine works pronto.
So, okay it wasn't too bad, her fever that was! Med worked pretty well and she recovered quickly, thanks God for that. She was just bit quiet that's all. Our flight to Dubai was very good. She was an way better than I ever could imagine or hoped for. Really. I got a seat in between two other men, which totally freaked me out! All I thought how on earth I can breastfeed this one as it was seat was so uncomfy (I mean seat wasn't uncomfy after all it was A380! but positioning a baby in that seat while sandwiched between two strange men was UNCOMFY for sure). So, I asked the one on the left side to switch seat with me. Initially he had a rather pussy fit, but later he changed before take off, thankfully. Later he apologized for his pussy fit and said he was really tired when he just got on the plane. WHATEVER. Since, the flight was around the time when baby usually goes to sleep, it was rather convenient. She did sleep in the bassinet, but of dear! That damn bassinet is not that big either. She fit for sure but just right. She did wake up few times but as soon as I took her on my lap and held her, rocked her she went back to sleep. At times, I just kept her on my lap and we both slept like that. Once Sonia came over and took her and walked with her. Over all, flight was good to Dubai. But on the flight from Dubai to Dhaka she was a bit of a hot mess, thanks to the seat belt that was provided for her. As soon as the air hostess put on the seat belt on her, she went ballistic. She cried and screamed. It wasn't too bad as there were other kids and they did the same. LOL Anyway, I tried to BF her but she wont do it. Then crew offered me to give her milk like formula, I thanked and said, thanks but no thanks. All I cared was she doesn't get that air pressure thing in her ears, which she didn't. Anyway, after the take off Sonia took her and walked her calmed her down and she fell asleep. Sonia took her to her seat, right behind me and she slept on her lap on the entire 4 hours flight! phew!
So, on Dec 6, 2011 Baby got to meet her father for the first time. Like I will never forget the day she was born, I won't forget this day either. It was nice. Not too much emotion shown on either side. haha
She met her grandparents from my side the same day as well. Couple of days later, she went to her father's house and met her grand parents from that side.
And now, as it's really cold in Dhaka and just about everyone is sick with cold, baby got her first cold too. boo hoo... I didn't want to give her med, but one day it kind of felt bad her nose was so damn congested I took her to our regular family doc, who we used to see when we were little. He prescribed a cold med, a drop for nose and guess what? An antibiotic! WHAT? Anyway, I just used nasal drop to clear the nose, had no intention of giving the rest. But it seemed it wasn't working and after getting some scolding from my parents I ended up giving her just the cold med. I don't know whether it worked or not, she seems better today! I've my fingers crossed. Though I decided not to give her anymore, I think, I gave her about 5 days of dosage. Now, I wanna leave it at that. Still her nose gets congested, but hopefully, it's not gonna get too bad. It's the damn cold wind that makes things bad every time she gets a bit better! Oh and how I regret not bringing more of her winter clothes!
So, she turned 5 months yesterday and we just happened to go to Khazana to eat! It was a pure coinsident, we didn't go there to specially celebrate!
Happy 5 months to my darling :))
p.s. hopefully it's obvious that I wrote this entry as I went along....
So, okay it wasn't too bad, her fever that was! Med worked pretty well and she recovered quickly, thanks God for that. She was just bit quiet that's all. Our flight to Dubai was very good. She was an way better than I ever could imagine or hoped for. Really. I got a seat in between two other men, which totally freaked me out! All I thought how on earth I can breastfeed this one as it was seat was so uncomfy (I mean seat wasn't uncomfy after all it was A380! but positioning a baby in that seat while sandwiched between two strange men was UNCOMFY for sure). So, I asked the one on the left side to switch seat with me. Initially he had a rather pussy fit, but later he changed before take off, thankfully. Later he apologized for his pussy fit and said he was really tired when he just got on the plane. WHATEVER. Since, the flight was around the time when baby usually goes to sleep, it was rather convenient. She did sleep in the bassinet, but of dear! That damn bassinet is not that big either. She fit for sure but just right. She did wake up few times but as soon as I took her on my lap and held her, rocked her she went back to sleep. At times, I just kept her on my lap and we both slept like that. Once Sonia came over and took her and walked with her. Over all, flight was good to Dubai. But on the flight from Dubai to Dhaka she was a bit of a hot mess, thanks to the seat belt that was provided for her. As soon as the air hostess put on the seat belt on her, she went ballistic. She cried and screamed. It wasn't too bad as there were other kids and they did the same. LOL Anyway, I tried to BF her but she wont do it. Then crew offered me to give her milk like formula, I thanked and said, thanks but no thanks. All I cared was she doesn't get that air pressure thing in her ears, which she didn't. Anyway, after the take off Sonia took her and walked her calmed her down and she fell asleep. Sonia took her to her seat, right behind me and she slept on her lap on the entire 4 hours flight! phew!
So, on Dec 6, 2011 Baby got to meet her father for the first time. Like I will never forget the day she was born, I won't forget this day either. It was nice. Not too much emotion shown on either side. haha
She met her grandparents from my side the same day as well. Couple of days later, she went to her father's house and met her grand parents from that side.
And now, as it's really cold in Dhaka and just about everyone is sick with cold, baby got her first cold too. boo hoo... I didn't want to give her med, but one day it kind of felt bad her nose was so damn congested I took her to our regular family doc, who we used to see when we were little. He prescribed a cold med, a drop for nose and guess what? An antibiotic! WHAT? Anyway, I just used nasal drop to clear the nose, had no intention of giving the rest. But it seemed it wasn't working and after getting some scolding from my parents I ended up giving her just the cold med. I don't know whether it worked or not, she seems better today! I've my fingers crossed. Though I decided not to give her anymore, I think, I gave her about 5 days of dosage. Now, I wanna leave it at that. Still her nose gets congested, but hopefully, it's not gonna get too bad. It's the damn cold wind that makes things bad every time she gets a bit better! Oh and how I regret not bringing more of her winter clothes!
So, she turned 5 months yesterday and we just happened to go to Khazana to eat! It was a pure coinsident, we didn't go there to specially celebrate!
Happy 5 months to my darling :))
p.s. hopefully it's obvious that I wrote this entry as I went along....
Monday, November 28, 2011
Four months old: things on track
So, just an hour or so ago baby turned four months old! Things for the past few days have definitely gotten better, especially in the sleeping department. Don't feel like jinxing it, but it seems baby is right on her way to establish good sleeping pattern. For the last few days she had been literally sleeping through the night!! I didn't expect that after hearing other's experiences! Baby just couple of days ago had her first Thanksgiving, which is really special to me as last Thanksgiving I found out she came to me!! So, on earth it was first Thanksgiving. To mark this special event I actually got her beautiful hand knitted dress, hat and booty set from Etsy. It's really beautiful. However, she didn't get to wear that on Thanksgiving. I did put that on her few weeks ago to see how it looked on her ( it looked positively gorgeous!!!) and snapped few pics. One of the pics came out really pretty and her father was eager to put that up on FB, which he ended up doing the other day and it seemed to be a big hit!! My sweet baby! Well, today she has doc appt, amd will get second dose of vaccines! Looking forward to a fun filled most memorable month yet for my sweety pie as she will God willing meet her father in about a week! And she will be off to her first ever oversees trip!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Three months old: Light at the end of the tunnel?
Well, baby turned 3 months on 10/28. The day she turned three months we went to visit my friend N's house and met her baby M. My baby saw M for the first time that day. Though I had seen baby M before day after she was born, it was really for a brief moment at the hospital. Now, she is a grown lady too ;) On that day I felt like there was something going on and I couldn't quite figure what it was. I knew it was 10/28 and I knew Eliana was 3 months old that day. But all day 10/28 stood out to me. I had no idea why. Till of course I read mothering board the other day and someone was talking about how a certain date sounded so familiar but it wasn't anyone's bday...and then viola she knew what it was. That's exactly 10/28 was to me. My LMP!! OMG how could I forget this date as I had put this date on due date calculator numerous times over the 9 months period to see where I was in pregnancy!!!! 10/28/2010 last time I'd my period! Oh wow! Surely this has been the longest I'd gone without aunt flow showing up!
Anyway, from the time baby turned 2 months to she turned 3 months was also quite rough. First of all, she got her first dose of vaccines. It was very nerve wrecking for me. Watching her getting stabbed with needles wasn't fun at all. Considering her, she screamed but after that at home she didn't fuss much. Again, considering it was her! I was on pins and needels till the magic 48 hours. She didn't get any fever, thanks God.
Other than getting her first dose of vax I don't remember anything out of the ordinary happening. But on 10/28 she gave me a nice surprise. Right on her 3rd month bday she slept through the night. Now, in her case it meant from 11 p.m. till almost 6 a.m.!! When I woke up and was going to take a look at my iphone to check the time, I was sure I would see sometime from 2 to 3.30 a.m. on the clock, but when I ended up seeing 6 a.m., seriosuly I couldn't believe it! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? She slept through the night literally! Then there was an hour and half of little fussiness...then slept from 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m.!!!!! wowza!! It did seem like finally I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Since then she has been sleeping much better than she did before. Though there are still night waking, but now it doesn't take much to get her back to sleep. Lovely!
Anyway, from the time baby turned 2 months to she turned 3 months was also quite rough. First of all, she got her first dose of vaccines. It was very nerve wrecking for me. Watching her getting stabbed with needles wasn't fun at all. Considering her, she screamed but after that at home she didn't fuss much. Again, considering it was her! I was on pins and needels till the magic 48 hours. She didn't get any fever, thanks God.
Other than getting her first dose of vax I don't remember anything out of the ordinary happening. But on 10/28 she gave me a nice surprise. Right on her 3rd month bday she slept through the night. Now, in her case it meant from 11 p.m. till almost 6 a.m.!! When I woke up and was going to take a look at my iphone to check the time, I was sure I would see sometime from 2 to 3.30 a.m. on the clock, but when I ended up seeing 6 a.m., seriosuly I couldn't believe it! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? She slept through the night literally! Then there was an hour and half of little fussiness...then slept from 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m.!!!!! wowza!! It did seem like finally I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Since then she has been sleeping much better than she did before. Though there are still night waking, but now it doesn't take much to get her back to sleep. Lovely!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Welcome Baby Party
So, we had a small get together that can be called a "Welcome Baby party" on the 24th of September, 2011. I made an event invitation on FB and sent to those who were invited (of course!..duh) . Unfortunately, three of my very close friends couldn't make it due to various valid reasons. Friends from my ex-work place made it and I was so very happy about it. Baby's only family from her father's side made it and also that made me extremely happy.
My sis and I wanted to have a theme for the party besides the obvious welcome baby. We called it "Celebrating Eliana". I wanted to do "polka dot" theme but it just didn't work out, which was fine also! I had few colors in my mind that I chose to base the decorations. Purple, Green and Yellow. It worked out great. Sonia made all the decorations...the craze these days...personalized water bottle label, banner, cup cake topper etc. Besides these, she made the most pretty favor. All were based on those three colors that I chose.
We had so many plans and what not, but it was also very crunch time for Sonia at work and me at home dealing with Eliana. And unfortunately she happened to go through a very rough patch with regards to sleep and general fussiness. Despite the date for the party being fixed almost a month ago, days right before the party was pretty disastrous. We basically put everything together night before. I had oh so very little sleep!
And on the day of the party Eliana was totally not so on her good behaviour! She cried through out the day and by the end of the day she had a pretty major melt down. I was just happy that we were able to put up the decorations, food was on the table, guests enjoyed the time and we also get to see the other newbie. Major success.
For food we had- Zucchini patties and Beef Kofta as appetizers. For main course we had Beef curry, Goat meat Curry, Chicken tandoori, Vegetables with Coconut milk and of course plain ole polau. For dessert, mini cup cakes from the Whole Foods, a Chocolate ganache cake from WF (which we kind of custom ordered...with design and the writing...) and biscotti again from WF. Thanks God we decided to buy everything from WF (as initially I wanted to bake things)...caz otherwise there would have been no dessert at all. oh well, yes there was one more thing. A watermelon full with fruits. I curved the watermelon btw, nothing fancy just simple wavey types. I did want to curve a baby carriage, but couldn't find an approprite sized watermelon in the grocery (this was meant to happen since I waited last minute to get that!). Anyway, for something next time will do!
We had guests write a note for baby and we hanged it on some flower branches (Sonia's idea) and it looked really cute! And it's such a nice keepsake.
Here are some pics.
My sis and I wanted to have a theme for the party besides the obvious welcome baby. We called it "Celebrating Eliana". I wanted to do "polka dot" theme but it just didn't work out, which was fine also! I had few colors in my mind that I chose to base the decorations. Purple, Green and Yellow. It worked out great. Sonia made all the decorations...the craze these days...personalized water bottle label, banner, cup cake topper etc. Besides these, she made the most pretty favor. All were based on those three colors that I chose.
We had so many plans and what not, but it was also very crunch time for Sonia at work and me at home dealing with Eliana. And unfortunately she happened to go through a very rough patch with regards to sleep and general fussiness. Despite the date for the party being fixed almost a month ago, days right before the party was pretty disastrous. We basically put everything together night before. I had oh so very little sleep!
And on the day of the party Eliana was totally not so on her good behaviour! She cried through out the day and by the end of the day she had a pretty major melt down. I was just happy that we were able to put up the decorations, food was on the table, guests enjoyed the time and we also get to see the other newbie. Major success.
For food we had- Zucchini patties and Beef Kofta as appetizers. For main course we had Beef curry, Goat meat Curry, Chicken tandoori, Vegetables with Coconut milk and of course plain ole polau. For dessert, mini cup cakes from the Whole Foods, a Chocolate ganache cake from WF (which we kind of custom ordered...with design and the writing...) and biscotti again from WF. Thanks God we decided to buy everything from WF (as initially I wanted to bake things)...caz otherwise there would have been no dessert at all. oh well, yes there was one more thing. A watermelon full with fruits. I curved the watermelon btw, nothing fancy just simple wavey types. I did want to curve a baby carriage, but couldn't find an approprite sized watermelon in the grocery (this was meant to happen since I waited last minute to get that!). Anyway, for something next time will do!
We had guests write a note for baby and we hanged it on some flower branches (Sonia's idea) and it looked really cute! And it's such a nice keepsake.
Here are some pics.
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| Lindt chocolate favors |
Two months old: Rough time
I thought first month was tough! Boy oh boy, the next one was tougher! And no kidding. I should have written everything live caz now that I am sitting to right down the happenings from the day she turned a month old till she turned two, I have really forgotten the nitty bitty details.And I guess deep down I don't want to remember those. All I remember the sleep deprivation was at its worst, her crying marathon was even crazier. The major event from that time was we had a party to show her off to friends and some family who live in New York. One of her very young grand mother, her uncle and his wife...and their newbie.
Will write about the details of her welcome party on a separate post, but for now that's about it I guess.
Will write about the details of her welcome party on a separate post, but for now that's about it I guess.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
A month old : When day is night and night is day
Today, my baby has turned a month!! Time is flying. So far it has been super crazy busy! So many things that I learned in past four weeks and I thought I knew a lot before! I was so preoccupied with the whole pregnancy, labor and delivery that totally forgot how it would be post birth! Caring for a newborn is HARD work. And more so, if that newborn seems to be a fussy cry baby for most of the waking time. However, things seem to be improving now.
First two weeks were SUPER HARD. It's one thing to care for a baby and completely another to care for a baby AND deal with post birth recovery AND deal with unexpected issue such as problem with breasfeeding. She was fed formula for the first two weeks as a "supplement". Though truly first one and a half week breast milk was more like a supplement and not formula. She had hard time with latching. So, I was pumping and pumping and slowly but surely turned her from formula fed to "Exclusively breastfed" baby! It's a lot of work but worth it!
Sleep. Where do I begin with sleep? I absolutely had no idea that newborn needs to be fed every two hours if breastfed or every three hours if formula fed. There were some nights when she was really following this schedule which meant very less sleep for me, if at all. I do feel just recently I came out of zombieland. And the ritual of feeding her was also very time consuming. Being new to motherhood and all there was one thing I didn't know how to do-breastfeed baby sidelaying in bed! I heard about it, I had seen it but I didn't know how to do it. I know, had I done that earlier my nightlife would have gotten much easier. But anyway. In the begining it was like...she would cry, I pick her up..get my boppy pillow (life saver!)..put her on that...spent time on getting her perfectly or at least in a workable position for feeding (when breastfed)...and then fed...she would drift to sleep..then pick her up in upright position for burping..(sometimes she wouldn't even burp!) and then put her down for more feeding and pick her up for burping and it went on till she finally would fall asleep. So whole thing could take from 45 mintutes to one and half hour. And when I would put her on bed, viola in 2 min would be up with eyes wide open and CRY! And do the whole shindig all over again, may be it would take a little less time than whole 45 min to one and half hour next round, but the ritual was performed as said manner all over again. Adding to that, when she was sleeping I would rush to pump milk for anywhere from 20 to 40 min...it was really BRUTAL. I was so happy when she was finally latching okay enough for me to not pump every.single.day.
And then of course the freaking pump had to go out of whack. It was really nerve wrecking for me. Whenever something happens related to breastfeeding, I freak out the most. Nothing else matter that much.
Anyway, so around three weeks she started to have night time fussy time, which lasted anywhere from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. During this time she would continuously cry, whimper, fuss....and nothing seemed to console her. It was such a hard hard time.
Overall, first month went by pretty fast now that I think about it. But then it felt like each night was never ending. I know time will pass us by before we know it. So, despite the hardship I want to enjoy and am enjoying every moment of it because this time will never come again.
Looking forward to future!
First two weeks were SUPER HARD. It's one thing to care for a baby and completely another to care for a baby AND deal with post birth recovery AND deal with unexpected issue such as problem with breasfeeding. She was fed formula for the first two weeks as a "supplement". Though truly first one and a half week breast milk was more like a supplement and not formula. She had hard time with latching. So, I was pumping and pumping and slowly but surely turned her from formula fed to "Exclusively breastfed" baby! It's a lot of work but worth it!
Sleep. Where do I begin with sleep? I absolutely had no idea that newborn needs to be fed every two hours if breastfed or every three hours if formula fed. There were some nights when she was really following this schedule which meant very less sleep for me, if at all. I do feel just recently I came out of zombieland. And the ritual of feeding her was also very time consuming. Being new to motherhood and all there was one thing I didn't know how to do-breastfeed baby sidelaying in bed! I heard about it, I had seen it but I didn't know how to do it. I know, had I done that earlier my nightlife would have gotten much easier. But anyway. In the begining it was like...she would cry, I pick her up..get my boppy pillow (life saver!)..put her on that...spent time on getting her perfectly or at least in a workable position for feeding (when breastfed)...and then fed...she would drift to sleep..then pick her up in upright position for burping..(sometimes she wouldn't even burp!) and then put her down for more feeding and pick her up for burping and it went on till she finally would fall asleep. So whole thing could take from 45 mintutes to one and half hour. And when I would put her on bed, viola in 2 min would be up with eyes wide open and CRY! And do the whole shindig all over again, may be it would take a little less time than whole 45 min to one and half hour next round, but the ritual was performed as said manner all over again. Adding to that, when she was sleeping I would rush to pump milk for anywhere from 20 to 40 min...it was really BRUTAL. I was so happy when she was finally latching okay enough for me to not pump every.single.day.
And then of course the freaking pump had to go out of whack. It was really nerve wrecking for me. Whenever something happens related to breastfeeding, I freak out the most. Nothing else matter that much.
Anyway, so around three weeks she started to have night time fussy time, which lasted anywhere from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. During this time she would continuously cry, whimper, fuss....and nothing seemed to console her. It was such a hard hard time.
Overall, first month went by pretty fast now that I think about it. But then it felt like each night was never ending. I know time will pass us by before we know it. So, despite the hardship I want to enjoy and am enjoying every moment of it because this time will never come again.
Looking forward to future!
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