Moving!

Its that time AGAIN! We are moving to another place locally, just one year after moving from Boston to here. This time however, I have a big helper to make packing easier (ahem) for me - my little Keerthana! After following me around everywhere asking, "Do you need help, Mommy?" and then proceeding to "help" by dumping things from different rooms into random boxes, I decided to enlist her help to pack her own books. A stroke of genius, even if I say so myself!


First we collected her books from all over the apartment and dumped them on the floor next to a box. "Wow! So many books!, K said proudly. We then got off to a great start in taking the books off the floor and putting them in a box. Since she looked like she was enjoying herself with the task, I left her with it and went into the kitchen to get some packing done. After all of 5 mins, there was silence. I peeked out of the kitchen to see this!

Apparently seeing some of her old favorites reappear made her want to sit down and read them again! I'm quite surprised that almost none of the books have fallen into the outgrown category yet. She still likes most of the books she enjoyed in her first year, though she has now graduated to reading books with more of a plot (current favorites are the Little Engine That Could, Little Blue Truck, and Mr.Pine's Purple House). And speaking of books, I'm stoked that we have an adorable bookstore within  walking distance from our new place! It has a great selection of children's books and a cute nook with toddler sized tables and chairs for them to read while they are there. And they also have book reading for kids on Saturday mornings. I just know that we are going to go to be regulars at this store. And that, my friends, is going to make the next move (I'm hoping that is a long, long, long way off) that much more interesting!

Giraffes can't dance!

Keerthana loves giraffes. From the time she was born I unwittingly picked a giraffe theme for her crib, bouncer, play mat, and everything else she used. Her favorite toy through her first year was Sophie the Giraffe . She would hold it in her car seat, while she was sleeping, pretty much everywhere that K went, the giraffe was sure to go. Now at the entrance of her daycare, there is a large giraffe stuffed toy and K starts and ends her day there with giving it  a big hug!

Now her favorite book is Giraffes Can't Dance, a heartwarming tale of Gerald the Giraffe. At the annual jungle dance where all the animals show off their  dancing skills, Gerald steps forward to try, but the animals laugh and say, "Giraffes can't dance, you silly fool!". Gerald walks away sad but gets inspired by the beauty of the moonlit jungle and does a freestyle dance that is the best that anyone had "ever, ever seen". All the animals then ask, "how did you learn to dance like that? Gerald, please tell us how?" Gerald says, "We all can dance if we find music that we love". The illustrations in this book are works of art (watercolor and ink) and together with its great rhyme scheme and message, this is pretty much the perfect book. At bedtime, a reading of this book usually ends with Keerthana saying, "Again?"

We often take her to the zoo, since we live within walking distance to a free zoo, an amazing perk of living in the city. K was so excited when she saw the giraffe! She jumped up and cried, "Giwaffe! Giwaffe!" and then sat in my lap near the glass and just gazed at the animals munching at the leaves. 

Her favorite animals in the zoo however, are the lion and the tiger. Saturday mornings Daddy just has to say, "Do you want to see...", and she completes the sentence with "the tiger?" She loves to watch these big cats and go "Roar, roar!" She loves the zoo and it's so much fun for us to take her there. It ends up being an almost weekly trip for us because of the proximity. but it always feels special. 

Travels with Keerthana:India edition

It has been a while since my previous post, which was a part venting, part not-so-serious advice dispensing account of the adventure that was flying to India with Keerthana. Once we got there, it was a wonderful 3 weeks with family, friends, and lots of celebrations.  It's been 5 months since we got back, but it's never too late to reminisce about good times, is it?

K enjoyed all the pampering from her great-grandmothers, grandparents, granduncles, grandaunts, uncles, aunts, and cousins. Many of them were meeting her for the first time, which added that much more doting and excitement to the visit.

Keerthana got along like a house on fire with my nieces (ages 2 and 8). From spontaneous dance parties to wrapping themselves inside a curtain and playing peekaboo, they seemed to always find a way to have fun. It was so sweet to overhear my older niece reading to Keerthana. "Chicka Chicka?", she would ask while reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and  "Boom! Boom!", K would reply gleefully.  My younger niece took great pride in being older than K and true to her role as a not-older-by-much cousin, was simultaneously caring (shushing us while K was asleep), bossy ("no, baby, no" was her favorite refrain when telling K to not do something), and a bundle of fun (playing ring-around-the-roses and other no-name games that they invented amongst themselves). K was into often going and hugging her and saying "Awwww...." at their own cuteness!

We were in my hometown for Pongal, a three day harvest festival that is celebrated in most of South India. The first day is Bhogi, which starts off with a bonfire at dawn  (K and I were fast asleep for this) and in the evening there is a ceremony called Bhogi pallu for little children. The kids get center stage in this party of family and friends. A mixture of seasonal berries (Regipallu), pieces of sugarcane, flowers, rice, and coins are taken by the handful and dropped gently on the child's head. It is believed to ward off any evil eye that might befall the children. Keerthana and my nieces loved all the attention and K giggled as the berries tumbled down from her head.

The next day was Sankranti, an entire day of food, family, and loads of fun. Keerthana had her first taste of Pongal from the hands of her great grandmother and immediately declared, "Mmmm...like it!" She loved all the food she ate there and also picked up a lot of Telugu. She figured out the pattern that all Telugu words end with vowel sounds and proceeded to add "aaa" or "eee" to English words! 

Other things that K found absolutely fascinating there:
- Watching the stray chickens and dogs running around in the open field behind my parents' apartment building
- Hearing the crows caw: "Where are the crows?", Thatha (grandfather) would ask after they quiet down, "Gone!", she would reply with her hands up in the air!
- The beach: "Forward...back!", was her description of the waves
- Swings: She loves swings of all kinds. Ammamma (grandma) fashioned a swing out of her saree which was a big hit, and the bamboo swing-chair that hung in the balcony of Dodda's (Aunt) home was a big favorite too!
 - Laddoos: She loved the round, yellow sweets she had in India and periodically asks for them even now. We brought back home a large batch of 50 homemade laddoos that lasted barely a week! It is one of my ambitious projects to figure out how to make them myself!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, and when I'm feeling sad...
I simply remember my India trip, and then I don't feel...so bad! 

(Adapted from Keerthana's favorite song in Sound of Music)

Travels with Keerthana

I'm on a plane now going out of town for a conference. This will be the first time that I'm away from Keerthana for the night! I have flown with K a few times before this and it feels strange to travel by myself. My economy class seat suddenly feels roomier and I have the irresistible urge to hold something warm and soft to fill the space.

The first flight we took together was when we flew to Chicago, just the two of us. Now that was an experience! My first time traveling by myself with a baby.  I prepared for days, scouring internet forums for travel tips and asking anyone with kids about their travel experiences. And then there was the India flight. A whopping 15 hrs in a flight with just me and K in our cozy airplane seat. After these experiences, I think I can safely call myself an expert on traveling with a baby. Like all experts, I feel the need to dispense advice. Here are the top ten things that come to my mind:

1. You can't pack light. Trust me, I've tried. There's the food, and the books, and the toys, and the Tylenol, and the diapers, and the wipes, and the change of clothes, and all the other things you forgot to pack which turned out to be essential. Forget it. Don't even try. Go ahead, pack the kitchen sink. Pay extra for baggage fees. It's a losing battle anyway.

2. Flights were designed to discourage you from flying with a baby. Think about the security check. You have all the liquids that you need to bring out, then take your shoes and coat off, lift your carry on and place it on the belt, all this while the baby gets anxious in a stroller. Then you have to fold the stroller down, hold the baby in one hand and magically lift the stroller with the other and put it on the belt. If you want to beat the system and wear the baby in a carrier, be prepared for some interesting restroom breaks, some cool ninja moves while you get the baby out of the carrier on the cramped plane, and to end up in tears from the whole experience  (this happened). 

3. People will hate you. Not your baby, they will love your cute baby. It's you. They will hate you for holding up the line while figuring out where to put the baby while you haul said overpacked suitcase over your head. They will hate you for then failing and requesting the unsuspecting soul behind you in the line to haul it. They will look away, hoping that by not making eye contact, you will somehow not sit next to them. And then they will give you a resigned look when you crush their hopes by actually plopping down next to them. They will try to be nice when you knock their drink over while trying to fish out baby's favorite book from your bag (this happened too) but they will hate you. Or the really nice ones will pity you. Get used to it.

4. Forget about eating: If you are like me and want to take advantage of the lap child flies free option for an international flight, forget about eating. You, baby, tiny tray table, and shiny foil packages with hot food doth not a good combination make. Wait till the baby falls asleep, get a cold drink and drink it fast. 

5. Pack lots of food: I was stranded in the New Delhi airport for 12 hours due to fog. I was so happy I lugged around all that extra food on my carry on luggage! Here's a question for you: what is the best invention of mankind? No, not the wheel. Not even sliced bread. It's shelf-stable milk! And any food that is nutritious and doesn't need refrigeration (think baby food pouches). I carried enough in my check in bag and carry-on luggage to feed an army and I'm so glad I did!  

6. Sleep: Surprisingly, K liked to sleep on all the flights I took with her. The overstimulation of airports seemed to tire her out and she was out like a light once things quieted down on the flight. Turns out, the process of getting on the plane, plus the stress of preparation for the flight tired me out too! So we both slept for a good part of the journey. Take my advice. Turn off that in-flight entertainment (it's not that entertaining anyway), and sleep.  

7. Don't be self conscious: Go ahead, make those funny faces and sounds, sing in your off-key voice, nurse at landings and take offs, do whatever it takes to make your baby, and by extension, you and your co-passengers happy. No one is looking at you anyway. Your happy baby looks way cuter.

8. Quit while you are ahead: If your flight landed at your destination airport and you made it without any major mishaps, just get into a cab and go home. Don't think of going to the restroom to freshen up and/or change a diaper. The time I tried to do that, things cascaded from a simple diaper change to having to change her clothes, which meant opening suitcase while she was trying to get off the changing table, with people banging on the family restroom door and general chaos all around. Just get out of the airport as soon as you can!

9. Books are your friends: I have a system. I take 2 of K's favorite books and   in the airport bookstore I let her pick 1 before the flight. That gives a good mix of the new and exciting and the familiar and comforting. Stickers are a great hit too. If you see an Air India flight with farm animal stickers all over the seat and walls, that was us.

10. Keep your sense of humor: If you are taking a flight by yourself with the baby, the destination is probably worth it in your mind. So take a deep breath, laugh with your baby, and have as much fun as you can in that small space around you in the sky. 

Nursery rhymes without the tears

I love nursery rhymes. I recently came across this brilliant "review paper" on the  prevalence of injuries in  nursery rhymes.  They express concern over the lack of appropriate medical help for Humpty Dumpty after he broke into pieces or Jack after he broke his crown. It was a fun read. It also got me thinking about the disturbing amount of violence in these rhymes. Three blind mice repeatedly get their tails cut off and an engine driver runs over Piggy just because he didn't care!  I love these rhymes, but as I sing them to Keerthana I wonder if I can edit out these injuries while keeping the charming scenarios and the simple rhyme schemes. Here is an attempt:

Jack and Jill went up the hill,

To fetch a pail of water,

Jack danced down, all the way to town,

and Jill came prancing after!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty dropped a crystal ball,

All the kings horses and all the kings men,

Couldn't put the crystal together again!

Three blind mice, three blind mice

See how they run.

They always ran to the farmers wife,

Who sliced up their cheese with a butter knife,

Have you ever seen such a thing in your life

As three blind mice. 

Piggy on the railway,

Picking up stones,

Along came an engine,

With some ice cream cones.

"Oh", said the piggy,

"That's tasty fare!"

"Oh," said the engine driver,

 "It's because I care!"

And I leave you with one of Keerthana's favorites in it's original form.

Top 10 things I learned in my first year as Mom

One year is so short, yet so long! So much can happen in one year. A little 6 lb 3.5 oz baby can learn to smile, roll over, sit, stand, walk, talk, all in 12 months! In one year, I feel like my normal self again, and not a hormone-crazed drama queen. I feel more confident and enjoy my time with Keerthana so much more because I'm not terrified of doing something wrong!  Here's a list of the top 10 things I learned along the way:

10. It's just a phase: This is the phrase that tops the list of things I heard about every baby question I could conjure up. The crazy part is, it is true! Everything is a fleeting phase! Like the time she wouldn't drink from a bottle. It turns out that a couple of weeks later, the bottle worked just fine. Or the time she loved avocados. I rejoiced at my daughter's healthy tastes, turns out that was a phase too!

9. She's teething: This one is the second most common phrase. Being fussy? She's teething. Has a low-grade fever ? She's teething. Not eating well? She's teething. Interestingly, teething doesn't mean that teeth actually start showing, it just means they could be moving toward peeking out. Guess what? For all those teething  symptoms she experienced over the year, Keerthana has two teeth slightly peeking out. Can't wait for real teething!

8. Grossology is a real science: By the law of conservation of mass, the amount of poop and pee is directly proportional to how well baby is eating ( and how well I feel like I'm doing my job). By  Burp's law of ideal gases, the

Pressure of burp*Volume of milk= Number of hours of baby's sleep* amount of Rest for parents*degree of their Thankfulness. 

Or,

PV=nRT.

There are several other laws of grossology that vaguely resemble laws of Physics for solids, liquids, and gases. It's a very important, very real science.

7. "Burp the baby" is a hold in football: I heard the term during a football game on TV the first week after Keerthana was born and just assumed I was hallucinating. I was not. It's a real term in football! Here's the definition:

When a quarterback taps his non throwing hand on the football for a long time and waits too long to throw it

The key here is the phrase, too long. I have seen the darkness of the night dispel as dawn broke while  waiting  "too long" for the burp.  To the NFL parent who coined the term, I know where you are coming from!

6. I'm a great baby food chef: I loved the puréed food stage. I'm a self certified chef in that style of cuisine. Being a baby food chef needs you to be highly skilled in 3 things:

1. Cutting vegetables and fruit

2. Steaming them, which means to put said cut pieces in a plate with holes over boiling water

3. Pureeing/mashing. 

I'm amazing at that. I can cut, steam, purée/ mash anything you give me. If baby eats it, I'm a world famous chef, if she doesn't , it's a phase. 

5. I get children's books: Reading to children is great. Every parenting book/website, and even AAP recommends it. I think I know the secret reason for that. It's for the parents! I often catch myself nodding off while reading Goodnight Moon, or feeling thankful for the recap of animals at the end of Brown Bear (there is no way I could've recounted the animals at the end). The simple story lines, clear illustrations, and entertaining rhyme schemes are as much as I can follow after an exhausting day. Subtle humor and intricate plot lines are too much effort at this point. Plus, Keerthana loves being read to and I'm thrilled that "boo" (for book) features in her small vocabulary at present.

4. There is a new language called Internetparentese: I speak that fluently now. Here's an example of sentence in Internetparentese:

My LO was EBF for 6 months and I'm now trying BLW. DD seems to love it and DH is very supportive. 

3. There is a new way of keeping time: I don't use the Gregorian calendar much these days. It's too confusing. For me this is year 1 AB ( after baby) and I got married in year 3 BB (before baby). The hours are not represented in AM/PM, but are counted around DDT (daycare drop-off time ) to DPT (daycare pickup time), with DPT being the only fixed thing in the day. Hours outside DDT to DPT are all a blur.

2. I'm a rockstar: That's how I feel when I go to pick her up at daycare at the end of the day. She throws her hands up in the air, gives a clap or two, and laughs out loud. She loves my singing. I'm also super funny. I just have to make a sound or two and it cracks her up. I wonder how long this will last, but I'm sure enjoying it!

1. I'm having fun: It is a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, etc. A lot is written and said about that aspect of a baby's first year. But I also feel like I'm having the most fun I've ever had in my life. At least for now. Ask me again next year!

Tamil and Telugu: So similar, yet so different!

My mother tongue is Telugu. My husband's is Tamil. A lot of people ask us which of these languages we will speak at home with Keerthana. Both, I assume, since children are so much smarter than adults. Plus, I thought, Tamil and Telugu are so similar, right? Here's where it gets crazy. There are words that are common to both languages, and I mean identical, but they mean entirely different, unrelated things!

I can picture a conversation somewhere around present day Guntur between 1500-1000 BC going as follows:

(Disclaimer: all characters are fictitional, any resemblances to historic figures from another era and geographic location are purely coincidental)

Nannayya: "I'm bored. The town clown Tenali Rama is sick and I have nothing to do."

Tikkanna: "I have an idea, let’s make up a language! Tamil is getting kinda old, and it has too many words starting with "P". Pannu, paaru, pesaru, pasikaradu, purinjadu, pidikum...I'm getting tired already!"

"Yes, lets change all of them. I heard this guy say some cool words in Sanskrit, lets mix some in. Cheyyi, choodu, maatladu, aakali, ardham, ishtam...this is fun, isn't it?

(They go on for some time and make a lot of progress with the verbs. Tikkanna now pulls out a bag of peanuts and starts munching reflectively)

"Say, its getting harder. What should I call this peanut?"

"I have an idea, let me write up some Tamil words on these cards. You pick a card at random, and we'll assign that word. This is getting more fun!"

(Nannayya shuffles the cards and Tikkanna picks one and laughs out loud)

"Palli! We're calling peanut, palli! Ha ha, lizard! This ought to mess with their heads!"

The game got very interesting and they went on to make a pretty impressive list of random word-meaning assignments. Parupu is lentils in Tamil, mattress in Telugu. Pramadam is awesome in Tamil, danger in Telugu. Vaaya is mouth in Tamil, batch in Telugu (as in, I made a batch of idlis this morning). Then came, the oft repeated joke in Telugu films, nalla is good in Tamil and black in Telugu. They went on playing for some time until Nannayya had to use the rest room and Tikkanna was done with the game.

Nannayya: "Ayyiponu" ( Tamil for I need to go "number two")

Tikkanna: "OK, I’m finished. Ayyipoyindi. That’s what we are calling finished in Telugu. Let’s give the rest of the words to Pothana. He’s not that creative any way, he will add or delete some syllables to words to make them sound different. Thalai (head) will become Thala, mooku (nose) will become mukku, you get my drift."

Nannayya: "Got it. I'm bored of this anyway. Let's mess with some rituals and customs tomorrow."

(Overheard as they walk away)

"I have to go to a Seemantham today and a Valaikapu tomorrow.  Why do they need two ceremonies for pregnant women? Lets just do one, the easier one with the pretty bangles, and call that Seemantham in Telugu."

"Oh, and lets do away with the tradition of lady wearing black, doesn't go with the colorful bangles."

"People are going to love us..."

And that, is the story of how Telugu and Tamil are so similar, yet so different!