BIG developments

Okay, maybe not the biggest developments, but sometimes you have to put out a little bait. Right? So the big developments I speak of?

Today, I put Alia down for her 9AM nap. Only, this time she didn't happily coo away and go off to sleep. I heard shrieking. I heard what could have been crying or laughing. Eventually, I had to investigate, against my better judgement.

And what did I find when I opened the door? Alia. Standing in her crib (for the first time ever----she pulled herself up). Holding onto the rails. Smiling her biggest hugest smile, and reaching with one hand toward me, trying to give me a high five.

Oh, and that's the reason for the plural "developments" in the title. Alia has learned to high five. And it is quite possibly the 3rd cutest thing ever....behind baby harp seals and her newborn baby goosebumps when I tickled her for the first time. 

Help? Who needs help?

Okay, so here I am, 16 weeks pregnant. I am physically doing really well this pregnancy. As I've mentioned before, this being a much milder pregnancy, I haven't suffered through nausea, migraines, or nearly the amount of aches and pains. And because of this, I feel totally comfortable in my ability to take care of my 24 pound monkey...I can still toss her in the air, carry her all day every day and keep her happy and entertained during all of her waking hours.

But hang on...remember how it feels in that last trimester? The final one? Where the belly gets huge and heavy and you constantly worry if the baby just might fall out? (Or am I alone in that concern?) So with this in mind, my neighbor mentioned she just hired a part time nanny to supplement her other part time nanny so she can return to work. The thing is, her new part time nanny is looking for more work and has an excellent resume and references.

So I'm thinkin'....I've started to realize that I will in fact need help caring for Alia later in this pregnancy. And with no local family that could possibly fill this role, we're left with the hired help option.  As a first child, Alia is used to constant attention. Constant interaction. And yes, constant carrying and being tossed in the air. Okay, well maybe a nanny won't be able to help with that last part....that can become Daddy's job...but you get what I'm sayin'. 

Do I bring this miracle nanny with wonderful references on now? Maybe for a day a week just to help out? God knows I never get close to what I want to accomplish every day done. I could use some help around here. Or do I wait until I really need help to bring her on board and just hope that I can still get her? Or do I rely on the fact that there are probably plenty of out of work nannies with excellent references out there due to the bad economy? Oh, why must I  be so neurotic? 

So anybody? Ideas? 

Alia is 10 months old!

This month has been a fun one. Alia continues to grow both bigger and taller, as well as developmentally. Although never big on crawling, Alia has mastered her little version of it. I have an adorable video of this, but unfortunately just haven't been able to get it to upload...you'll have to trust me on this.

Alia is standing much better. This, we owe to her new favorite "toy", her cardboard box. She can spend amazing amounts of time standing up and sitting down in her box.

This month, we've noticed a big improvement in Alia's fine motor skills. She is now beginning to pick up little bits of food and can sometimes put it into her mouth. 

Alia shows her love with massive hug/bite combinations...she leans in and makes an almost growling sound as she tries to chomp our shoulders! Let's just say as cute as it is, it's a behavior that we're trying to curb. 

Alia has begun interacting with other people much better....She has smiles for her Aunt Lena and Uncle Amar now, whereas previously she was too shy and cautious to interact. Alia has really enjoyed spending time with her 2 cousins, Haylah (3) and Ciela (13 months). Alia loves to try to imitate everything Haylah does, and is fascinated with watching Ciela's every move.

Here is one of the sweetest things I saw this month...Alia and her cousin Ciela sharing a wagon ride together. At one point, Alia dropped her bottle in the bottom of the wagon and Ciela bent down, grabbed it, and handed it back to her. It was the sweetest, most heartwarming baby moment! Does it get any sweeter than one baby looking out for another?

Yep, I'm still here!

Wow! Has it really been over a week since my last post? Where is the time going? Well, this week was a busy one...between helping Ajay's brother and sister in law with preparing for their moving sale (two trips to Los Angeles this weekend!), there hasn't been a lot of time for posting. And to be honest, I guess I haven't felt like I've had any blog-worthy deep thoughts or actualizations this week! 

I'm 16 weeks pregnant. Depending on how you count (4 weeks = 1 month versus counting by the same date of each month to be 1 month), I'm somewhere between a little over 3 months and 4 months pregnant. Last week I did feel my little bouncing baby bounce away on the inside which was really nice. Like a reminder..."hey, I'm in here! even though I've been milder than your last baby that occupied this space, here I am, just in case you forgot!"

 

It's a girl...still!

This week I had another ultrasound.  And while it's still really early to determine the gender for sure, we had a different tech than last time, and she, too told us it looks like a girl to her.

So, we're thinking two separate ultrasound techs on two separate occasions called it the same way...what's the odds of both of them being wrong? Of course, my husband will respond to this question lightning fast with the actual odds, but you get what I'm saying...it must be a girl...right?

Termites, be warned!

Currently, Ajay and I are staying with friends, as our house is being fumigated for termites. Now that we're out of the house, I can happily exhale and put my feet up and know that there is no house to maintain for the next few days. But leading up to today? OMG!? Talk about a lot of work!

Did I already mention this? That when you have your house tented and fumigated, you have to pack up every bit of food that has been opened and seal it in these bags the termite company gives you. You have to pull everything that's been opened out of the refrigerator and freezer (and in our case, take it across the street and store it in the neighbor's extra refrigerator...thank the baby Jesus for them!). You have to remove the baby mattress, stuffed toys, swings, blankets from the house, and put it all in the neighbor's garage. You have to remove your jewelry and other transportable valuables from the house. 

And to be fair? My dear Belen who cleans for us once a week came on Wednesday and single-handedly packed up my pantry...everything from pasta to nuts to dried fruits to bread, cereal, and baking goods. Oh yeah, and while she was at it? She washed and scrubbed all the shelves, which hadn't been done since I moved in in 2005. But that's neither here nor there. My point is, having a baby and packing up a house is nearly impossible without a whole lot of efficient help!

So, as I said before, the hard part is done. Now we get to relax for a couple of days, well, aside from Ajay going to work and me taking care of the monkey. Oh, and then we get to move back in and put it all back!

My little foodie...

It's no secret that Ajay and I are big fans of good food. In fact, a trip to nearly any city is quickly turned into a "where should we eat?" free for all...between the two of us, every meal is planned before we even land.

So now that Alia is nearing her 10 month birthday, is it really such a surprise that her curiosity for new tastes, textures, and combinations has made baby food completely passe? The first mistake was made about 3 or 4 weeks ago...we were eating at a local Japanese place, and with big curious eyes, Alia looked up at Ajay as he was enjoying a bite of miso cod. That's right...fish. So, like any good Daddy, Ajay quickly fed Alia a taste. She looked up at us with accusing eyes...as in, where have you guys been hiding this?

It was all downhill from there...when meeting up with my ladies who lunch in Little India, Alia began requesting bites of everything from masala dosa to dal. And last night? Smoked salmon with crème fraîche, capers and dill. That's right...and she's not even a year old yet.

So goodbye, you simple to prepare steamed and pureed veggies. Goodbye you even simpler to prepare jars of Earth's Best Organic fruits and veggies. So long, basic applesauce. Alia's made herself very clear...she'll only be having the best varieties from here on...and don't event think about serving her the same thing in a span of a day or two!

Waffles and Broccoli

After much procrastinating, we've finally scheduled our date with Terminex to tent our house and genocide the termites that have made their way into various wood structures, beams, and furniture in the house. Since we discovered the termites last October, I think it's downright boast-worthy to finally accomplish the goal of scheduling this small inconvenience in our life. 

If you've never had to tent your house, count yourself as lucky. Besides costing over $2,000, and hey, who needs money with a new baby on the way and that silly thing called a mortgage?, tenting the house kind of takes over your every thought. I wonder about the timing of this...being pregnant and having a baby at home...but then again, when will there be a better time? When I'm not pregnant? Well, that would mean having two babies at home....is that better? And they say to be out of the house for 2 nights following the chemical demolition of all live things in the house...would 3 days be better considering my pregnantness and Alia's babyness? Why not 4 day? And they give you all these bags to seal up any food that's open...would it be better to remove it from the house, or are the bags really sufficient? And then there's the refrigerator and freezer. Anything in there that's has a broken seal needs to be eaten up, or moved across the street to the best neighbors in the whole world's house...they've offered up their garage as a storage unit, as well as the extra fridge in there to store whatever food we don't want to toss out. 

That's when I got to thinking....I'm a girl with a well-stocked pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. Why not try to eat everything we already have here rather than my daily trips to the store? Why, that's certainly a novel idea, isn't it? So I posed this to Ajay, and he was on board. So a couple of nights ago, we began our journey through our freezer. Friday night, I served a fabulous dinner of chicken potstickers and a ham and gruyere pizza. Ajay's feedback? "It's like going out to the Yard House and having appetizers when you're in your 20's! There's always some one that wants the potstickers, and who cares that it doesn't match the pizza!" Saturday night? I did a little better with the meal selection from the freezer....I doctored up a frozen pasta arribata with chicken sausage, peas, and fresh parley and green onions. Not bad. And tonight? Chicken teriyaki on a bed of jasmine rice with scallions. 

After three nights of eating nothing but what's in the freezer doctored up with what's already in the refrigerator, I asked Ajay what it looks like for tomorrow's dinner. Fruit smoothies with protein powder, broccoli, corn, and waffles. I think we've reached an all new low!

Calling that second trimester BURST of energy!

Yaaaaaaawn. Okay, here we are at the end of my 13th week. Yesterday I felt good all day...rested, energetic (comparatively speaking), and relieved that that awful first trimester exhaustion seemed to behind me.

And then I woke up today. Tired. Not a very restful night, followed by an extra early wake up by Alia. As I consider a fully caffeinated cup of coffee to jump start things (I switched to 1/2 caff a long time ago, and during pregnancy, I allow myself a single cup in the morning...), I wonder, when is this fatigue going to subside.

Then I realize it...it's never going to end. I'm going to be tired for the rest of eternity. Yaaaawn.