My little runaway...

This morning, while Ajay was getting ready for work, Alia and I joined him in the bathroom. While Ajay brushed his teeth, Alia sat on the big counter top facing the mirror. She looked at herself; she looked at us. She watched herself as she opened and closed her fist. At one point, she closed her fist in the way a hitchhiker would...thumb up, hand slightly tilted.

Ajay asked Alia if she was planning on making a break for it. Maybe hitch a ride to the nearest bottle making facility. 

And my first thought? 

I hope she remember to take a jacket. 

My second thought? 

If she wants a bottle that's full of milk, she may be better off going to a diary farm, not a bottle making facility. Sure they'll have bottles, but they won't have any milk to put in it for her.

And that's when I realized how much of a Mom I've become. Seriously. Hoping that my hypothetical hitchhiking baby remembers a coat? And if she really needs to go, I just hope she chooses her destination carefully so she can get what she wants.

By the way...this was at 5:45AM. I don't claim to have been thinking clearly.

Seriously

Did the makers of Infant Tylenol have to make it red (or the other alternative, purple)? I mean, it's not like the users of this product have good drinking skills. And the babies that need Tylenol? Probably not in the best mood, and therefore do not like to be cleaned up with a damp cloth after the sticky red goo spills out of their mouth and down their neck. And forget changing out of the newly red-spotted PJs in the interest of stain removal...they're already crying for God's sake...it's not like you want to stir the pot further.

I'm just sayin'.

There's something to be said for a nice meal...

If you read my last post, you know that we're not getting much sleep around these parts...and while that doesn't sound...well, life or death, it is quite challenging. Especially since Alia is 7 months old and it's been a loooooong time since her newborn days when we were used to interupted sleep every night.

By the way, every evening, Ajay and I take Alia for a walk...either at the park at the top of the hill, or down in town (Laguna Beach). Last night, although exhausted, was no exception. We headed out to town around 5, and once there, Ajay asked if I had had anything to eat during the day. When I responded that I had a cup of yogurt and a cup of rice noodle soup, he made the executive decision to pop into a local spot and had a really early dinner.

And can I just say that there is something amazingly refreshing and life-changing about taking the time for a nice meal...that some one else made for you...with a nice glass of wine and a starter and a salad. And there's something to be said for not saving room for dessert.

So we arrived back home around 7, stuffed, happy feeling refreshed (forget the very tired and crying baby). And we were all in bed by 8.

To feed or not to feed....

Here at the Lalvani household, things have been a little rough lately...ever since my poor darling girl decided to cut four additional teeth all at once, nobody is getting much sleep. And night before last took the cake. Alia woke up at 12:30 and was up for a stretch of 2 or 3 hours. Then, when she finally went off to sleep around 3AM, it was only for about an hour...and more crying, more whining, more chewing on fingers. It's so sad.

When Alia first began waking in the night again after sleeping through for several months, I tried to do what my pediatrician suggested...not picking her up, not feeding her, and instead, offering her a drink of water and leaving her to soothe herself. And that worked for awhile...when there were just two teeth coming in. Then one more tooth popped up, and it was even more challenging to help her. And within another week, another tooth popped up. And Alia's bottle filled to the brim with milk is the only thing that I have found that consistently allows her to get back to sleep. Enter every book I've ever read on getting baby to sleep through the night...they suggest that we set the schedule for feeding, and if you feed during the night, you're training her hunger to pop it's head up in the middle of the night...so now what do I do? Re-train her to eat during the night, or let her cry for hours on end.

Well, you guessed it...I basically give her a bottle after trying teething tablets, oragel, and Tylenol. I figure I'll deal with the feeding issue if it re-establishes itself when we cross that bridge, but for now, at this very acute time, I'm just trying to get through day by day.

Today it's your birthday...it's my birthday too!

Today I turned 37...and what a fantastic birthday it was. The happiest one ever, if I'm being honest! Ajay, Alia and I enjoyed a cocktail and wine filled brunch with close friends at a great local spot. I felt so fortunate to have a healthy and happy family, as well as friends to help us celebrate.

Alia is 7 months old!

My dear little Alia is 7 months old now. This month has been a fun one. Our little girl is now rolling onto her tummy from her back and reaches for toys that are just out of reach...whether or not crawling ever happens is another question, because Alia's other favorite past time? Standing. Since she was 4 months old, Alia held her own weight standing. And while she's still a long way off from taking her own little steps, her balance is improving, and it appears she is much more interested in walking than crawling.

This month, Alis has 4 new teeth, for a total of 6. My poor little toothey girl chews on everything...my fingers, Ajay's fingers, stuffed animals...you name it! Alia now eats just about anything, except for meat, which I haven't decided if I'll be giving her. I make her baby food myself with the Beaba Babycook, which is my favorite invention since the coffee maker. (Shout out to Vijay and Penny who gave us this wonderful machine!) She still loves squash and sweet potatoes, and now has added pears and apples to her favorites. Oh, and bananas!!! Alia loves bananas!

This month Alia's Noni visited from Indiana...Noni is my Mom, by the way, who refuses to be known as Grandma, so she named herself Noni. Anyway, Alia is a big fan of Noni and played with her nonstop. It was really nice for my Mom to be able to share time with Alia at this age, while she's still a baby but much more than a newborn (which is the last time Noni visited).

Alia is quickly burning through clothes. I have already packed away everything of the 6 month variety, and nearly all the 6-12 sized clothes. She's one big, healthy girl!

Alia now gives us hugs and holds on tight when I carry her around on my hip. She has quite a sense of humor. She grabs at everything and explores anything in her path. Alia also sits up now with confidence...in fact, if you lie her down in her activity mat, she shouts out to be set upright...she still can't get there on her own, but she's no baby anymore, and refuses to lie about like one!

Alia has learned to make a variety of noises with her mouth...she can entertain herself (and us) for an extensive amount of time with new little noises...

Alia still loves new outfits and is always up for dress up, or fashion shows as she likes to call them. 

Alia's quest to reach the nozzle has finally been fulfilled. For months she's been reaching for it, and just the other day, she finally realized her wish!

And here is Alia's new pensive look...it doesn't happen often, but from time to time I catch these thoughtful moments...Alia just taking in the world around her.

We're all set

Last night, we finished booking our tickets for Turkey this summer. We'll fly from LA to New York, then from New York to Istanbul, and finally, a little flight from Istanbul to Bodrum. Normally we stay a few days in Istanbul before venturing on to the house in Turkbuku, but this year we decided it would be best to bang it out and just get there.

In the past, we always used miles to fly Business Class. But since our miles are with the world's worst airline (okay, maybe not the worst, but among the worst), we found that miles no longer buy Business Class tickets...there were not any Business seats available for the window when we wanted to fly. And no, we didn't wait too long...we know all the back door secrets of our airline...you call 331 days in advance, which is the day that those seats typically release. Only this year? There were no seats. Yeah, that's right. You can't buy business tickets with miles. Total bullshit if you ask me.

So Ajay and I had the conversation. Do we just buy them? and have Alia as a lap baby? Or would we be better off in coach with Alia in her own seat? Because I'm just not able to justify the full fare price of an international Business Class seat for a human under the age of 1. So after thinking it through, we decided the chunky monkey named Alia would be best served in her own seat back in coach rather than being asleep dead-weight on our laps in Business.

And there you have it. We've become child friendly. We've chosen Coach over Business. Worth it? You betcha!

A little help here?!

The last few nights, I've been awakened by Alia hollering at me. Yes, not crying, not whining, but actual hollering. The shouting is a very different variety than her usual night time awakenings...these are more urgent but not in a scared way. 

Last night, I heard these shouts at midnight, and got up to investigate, even though I knew what had happened. When I got to Alia's room, sure enough, there was my little cutie pie stuck on her tummy against the rails of her crib. She was trying to roll on to her back but the rails were in the way, and she didn't realize she could roll the other way. 

This has been happening for a week or so now....Alia has been really enjoying rolling onto her stomach in preparation for crawling...the only thing is that now she's doing it in her crib, and gets stuck! It's so cute and sweet, and yet a little sad. So every night, I go and in tell her it's okay, we can easily fix this problem, and she goes right back to sleep. 

Happy Baby Yoga

On Monday, we celebrated all those dead presidents with Ajay being home from work and me taking a couple of hours for myself...yep, I went to a yoga class!

Normally, I would obsess over whether I knew which teacher was teaching, which of the five locations Yogaworks offers classes in, what level the class is, what style the class is, etc. But on President's Day, I just needed to go to a class, any class, and that's what I did.

I ended up at a Level 1-2 Hatha blend class. It was harder than some that I'd taken, easier than others. The teacher was awesome, and one that I hadn't had the pleasure of learning from in the past.

I moved my body...it heated up. I stretched it. I challenged it. I even sweat! We chanted, we did breathing exercises. We relaxed. And at the very end? Before our final corpse pose? She told us to feel free to relax in a Happy Baby pose. With that, everyone around me grabbed their feet while lying on their backs. Some rolled gently from side to side.

Huh? That's no Happy Baby! Don't these people have babies? For a true Happy Baby pose, your toes would have to be in your mouth, and preferably, you'd be naked. But my better judgement told me it would probably be best to just follow the pack rather than enlightening the pack. So I left my pants on, and my feet stayed out of my mouth.

Teeth, teeth, and more teeth!

At Alia's 6 month check up, Dr. O told us the top middle teeth were moving into position, and sure enough, 3 weeks later they popped through...this was a few days ago. And poor little Alia...she's been chomping up a storm on anything that passes by her...among her favorite things are fingers...mine, Ajay's, or Uncle Jim's. She's not too choosey, basically anyone that will put up with the pain of our little barracuda is a potential victim!

The other day I noticed Alia chomping away on her little index finger...only, it was off to the side of her bottom two teeth. I thought it was interesting that she wasn't chewing on the area where the two new teeth were breaking through on top. So I looked more closely...and sure enough, right next to her bottom two teeth was one more teeny tiny little tooth breaking through the surface. Poor thing! No wonder she's going mad! Teeth are popping through everywhere!

37 looms

This week, I've been feeling a little blah. My birthday is next week, and I can't help but notice that 40 is approaching. Yes, I mean in several years, but seriously, the 6 years Ajay and I have been together have flown by. I also have been doing some reflecting about things over the past days...

I started my blog over a year ago, and have used it to not only record the events of my life, my microcosm, but it also really reflects what I'm thinking about what I'm focusing on from day to day. And lately, I've noticed I haven't been writing much. Nope...no writer's block...just haven't had much to say. And why is that? I suppose I feel a little bit boring these days.

I notice that when I began my blog, it was post IVF, and it was the waiting game...did it take? and from there it was the excitement of being pregnant...and then the excitement of becoming a Mom and getting to meet this beautiful little funny human being...I believe it was Gwenyth Paltrow that said she experience post-partem-euphoria with her first baby and I can totally relate to that. In fact, look at my blog since she was born...all my focus is exactly where it should be...on my beautiful little girl. I record every little significant (and sometimes insignificant I admit) event. But where am I in all this? Have I had any thoughts of myself? And by this I don't mean to paint myself as a selfless do-gooder...I just mean I think I forgot about myself!

For example...I haven't been keeping up with world events...I don't watch the news anymore or even keep the Today show on in the background anymore since Alia was born (I don't allow her to watch TV). I don't have a whole lot of time to myself, and I typically choose to focus on the basics of being a housewife when Alia takes her 20 minute naps...dishes, throwing in laundry, folding laundry, showering, general housekeeping stuff. I wear one of three shirts every 3rd day...comfy, washable, and yes, a little tattered. Somewhere on that list at the bottom is putting my feet up, checking email, looking at online news, eating something...you get the idea. Not much is being invested in me right now.

So my body actually aches these days. I miss my three times a week yoga habit. I miss butt-kicking exercise that makes me see results. I hate that my exercise program I began last November lasted about 3 weeks. I just didn't have the energy to continue it. All of this coupled with my birthday approaching next week has me feeling, well, a little blah.

And here's the wierd part. I've never been so generally happy or fulfilled. I am living my version of the dream. Raising my daughter with a loving and supportive and not to mention handsome and kind husband? What else is there? Maybe I have a case of the Mommy blahs (not blues...I don't feel depressed...just back-achey and old!)

And now, Alia's awake from her little bitty nap, so I must go...without conclusion or a quippy feel-better lesson to learn!

My new bedding

I finally found new bedding...I've been looking for just the right thing for so long now...I wanted something modern, yet maybe a bit Indian...something with a little pizazz, but also muted enough for a bedroom. I wanted something inviting, luxurious, yet washable (considering that Alia leaks)...
And finally, I found it. Only, rather than photographing my new bedding, I have been taking photo after photo of Alia while sleeping on the new bedding...so maybe you can tell what I have here, maybe you can't.

What a bad blogger I am!

Okay...I have not been blogging. I know. I've been thinking of blogging, but just haven't found the time lately. My Mom visited last week from the Midwest which kept me busy. Also, I just haven't been able to find the time like I used to. Where does it go? 

Well, for one thing, I have started a fairly constant daily routine with Alia. From the time she gets up in the morning until bath time before bed, I'm busy with her. I've read quite a lot of studies regarding the impact of television on baby's brains, so there is no television (read: babysitter) for Alia...at least before the age of 2, which is what studies suggest. By the way, if you're interested in the information I'm referring to, you can find it at the following sites:

http://www.aap.org/sections/media/ToddlersTV.htm

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1173446

http://www.raisesmartkid.com/articles/the-effects-of-tv-on-baby.html

http://www.babble.com/TV-before-2-baby-child-health-television-impact/

http://www.brainy-child.com/article.shtml

And no, I am not on a personal crusade to keep babies from television...I think it's totally up individual parents to do what works best for their family. Just passing along information for what it's worth...take it or leave it. 

Anyway, as I said, Alia's keeping me busy. We've been doing  a lot more activities with her over the past month. Among her favorite things to do is to go to the park at the top of our hill. I must say, it's a gorgeous public park, and Alia shrieks with glee every time we approach it. She loves the wind on her face, seeing other kids racing back and forth, taking nature walks on the trails...our girl just loves it. In fact, when we take her tonight, I'll make a point of taking some photos because it's just lovely up there.

What else does Alia love right now? Well, let's see...she has learned to make funny noises with her mouth. When I make raspberries on her belly? That noise? Well, Alia does it now with a sparkle in her eyes...as if inviting me to join in. And God knows she doesn't have to ask me twice! She has also mastered how to make little clucking noises with the tongue against the roof of her tiny little mouth. She sounds like a bushman clucking away in her crib, I swear! Oh, and did I mention yogurt??? My girl thinks yogurt is the best thing ever made ever EVER!!! About a month ago, I read that plain whole milk yogurt is an excellent first food for babies. Only, well, Alia hated it. She stuck out her tongue, she made yuck! noises...the whole nine yards. But then when I saw Yo Baby at Trader Joe's yesterday, I thought, well, what's a little sugary fruit mixed with yogurt? And that was all she wrote. Now Alia wants nothing but Yo Baby blueberry yogurt. I've never seen such excitement over yogurt...imagine what ice cream is going to be like for her!

So that, my friends, is what's new on this end of the continent!

Hurry up...no, wait!

So, since we're trying to do a natural cycle for my FET (frozen embryo transfer), Dr. H and I counted the days of my likely ovulation this month. And what did we find? That it's likely that I will ovulate the ONLY day that she and her partner will both be out of town. Ever. 

So, another month to wait and see if Alia will get a sibling this round.