nammamane

…to Seattle, WA!

.

I will be starting work in Redmond next week. Mayu and the kids are in India with grandparents and aunts and uncles… They will come here soon. Lucky, Iris and Charlie had a good (uneventful!) first plane ride yesterday, thanks to several amazing people, enterprise rent a car and delta’s pet first.

I’d be lying if I say that I was not worried about how our doggies would react to the new baby. The dogs had been our babies so far and I could not imagine that a new human baby would come into our lives. I had heard that whether we like it or not (of course, we would like it ;)), the new baby would soon become the center of our lives (owing mainly to the fact that the baby would be totally dependent on us for every single thing for the next so many years). The side effect? Doggies (no, not the cat) would go lower in the totem pole. And stay there. It hurt in the pits of my stomach.

While the dogs have done great with the baby since the day she was born, there was something amiss. I could not say what. In dog terms, I thought that perhaps we were all still not part of the same “pack” . Perhaps I was right….

I had heard about the benefits of having animals while bringing up babies. Kids that have grown up around pets tend to have lesser allergies (look at me..I cannot even fake an allergy ;)). They end up being more tolerant, compassionate and considerate (look at me ;)…alright, not the tolerant bit :)). It will be a while before I can test these theories with my own little one, so I paid little attention to them. As of a few months back, I really did not see how the pets+kids combo did much else besides generate more work ;)

But NOW it is a whole new story. Sorry, but I have to gloat. Life has been so much fun the past few weeks (barring the sleep deprivation, of course), I just HAVE TO talk about it.

Savi will laugh loud and happy when she sees the doggies (and the cat). She loves it when we carry her and run with the dogs in the back yard. She has figured out the she can roll all around from one dog to the other when she is on the floor of the great room. She will “talk” to them since she has figured that they “respond” to her. Charlie very often comes and sits right by her too. Iris, he crazy one, will bring her tennis ball and put it in front of her. Lucky (the cat) will come by and rub his head against her hand …and she will promptly respond by holding his ears and trying to eat him ;) … ( I know what you folk without pets are thinking ;) …NO, we folk with pets really do not let our babies EAT our animals ..so you rest easy there !)

It has been just six months since we had Savi and we are back to being a family again …sitting around together, eating together and playing together. Very soon, we will be going on walks together (will spring ever be here ???).

One happy family …just bigger but back in action!

Look what our little one made for us for Valentine’s Day!

Okay, okay … “A” made it.(Her sweet little daughter helped her as well) “A” is the wonderful person who takes care of Savi when I am at work. She is truly awesome. I know that she is great cause I *feel* it …in my gut. My 5 month old does not say much but she sure is all smiles when she sees “A”. I know my little one is in safe hands because I actually work when I get to work. As a matter of fact, the minute I get back into my car after dropping Savi off with her, I am already thinking work. She has got to be really good for me to be able to do that!

I go to get my little one the day after Valentine’s and I am showered with gifts and this card (…and diapers ! I also had to borrow diapers from A, but that is another story :)) . “How spoilt am I!”, I thought. Here were people doing wonderful things for my little one and me while all I was doing was obsessing about the snow storm and my workplace! (Btw, things are changing rapidly at my work…will post an update soon ;)).

It occurred to me that it was too late for me to rectify the fact that I did not have anything for A or her little daughter(she gave me the cutest hearts she cut all by herself because I am her “friend”) or for “H” (A’s sitter helper who also gave Savi a gift!). Do I respond with a “Belated Valentine Gift”? Sounds way too weird and honestly, I have never heard of that ;).

Oh, and what about all my other valentines? My one chance to express how grateful I am to them and I had just blown it!! What do I do??

I have given up thinking. I am going to thank them right here, right now. These are the folk that I think about and wonder what I would have done without. They are truly my “family”. They are vital to helping this pseudo single mom (husband travels ALL the time) survive …and survive pretty well ;)

Thanks to “L”(Doggie daycare) for taking care of my babies for years. I know that my puppies love her to death and we are in love with “L” for life. She is also our our prime doggie consultant and truly understands what our dogs mean to us. “K” (dog walker) is our latest wonderful addition to our dog family. “J” is my dear friend that Charlie is smitten by. “J” is the family favorite :). She does not have to do anything …she makes all the difference just by being. Some wonderful people at work, particularly “R” and “T” who remind me repeatedly that they are right there if I should ever need anything. (And look, the first names of all these folk start with unique alphabets …weird coincidence :))

What would I do without these people? I wonder. I don’t know. I don’t want to know :)

As I sit here typing this, Savi is “talking” to get my attention and Charlie is nuzzling me to be let out. I got to go. But thank you!!

frus·tra·tion
–noun

1. what Savi feels when she tries to sit up these days (more like “ab crunches” …)

2. what Savi feels when she tries to crawl these days (more like “swimming on the spot”…)

3. what Savi feels when she tries to “catch” a flowing stream of water these days (bathtime means that I continually pour a mug of water on her tummy, so she can hold it…)

4. what Savi feels a LOT these days

4. what Mom feels when she cannot get even an hour of sleep at night (Yes, I know that I did not increment the count at No 4 …moms really don’t count, you know… )

5. what Iris feels when she cannot get her tennis balls from under the couch every single day

6. what Charlie feels when we lock him out of the baby room these days (separation anxiety;))

7. what Lucky never feels (duh, he is a cat …’frustration’ does not exist in the cat dictionary ;))

7. what Dad feels when he is sick and cannot hold little Savi for days ..( not only does dad not count, he is also always “last” ;))

One happily frustrated family. I love it!!!

Sara Schaefer-Munoz (The Juggle) talks about something I constantly worry about in her post today. I wonder if it is really possible for children who are born into households that have everything to relate to all the hard work it took to make that possible in the first place? As a result of having everything they need, will such children have no motivation to succeed financially? While what we define financial success is totally subjective, I wonder if children that have everything growing up will even understand the importance of saving for retirement?

I was lucky to learn from my parents’ hardships. Year after year my dad struggled with setting up his own business. I saw my parents give up so many little things in order to be able to afford things for us. I was truly blessed to be able to learn the value of money without having to give up too much as a child . So all that struggle my parents endured until the very recent past wasn’t for nothing ;)

Very well, then. If I cannot simulate a financial struggle to teach my children the value of money, I hope to at least, by example, teach them what to do with the money. I think kids should see and constantly be told about how much hard work it takes to bring a paycheck home. They should be spoken to…about financial decisions we make (as long as we make responsible ones ;)). It is never to early to expose them to the world where people are less fortunate and instill in them a sense of responsibility.

I think teaching kids the value of money is like teaching them the value of just about anything else …through example. Kids learn to respect, kids learn compassion, kids learn to be hardworking and kids learn the value of money …ALL by example. They do unto you as you do unto them. That is the bottom line. Am I making any sense?

Ahhhh…what have I gotten myself into! I hope I am up for this job as a parent!!!

Until this morning I was sure Savi needs a haircut. Honestly, there is no way a child would want a head full of THAT much hair! It was time to bring out those shears and give Savi her second haircut in four months.

With the idea of creating some before and after haircut shots, I brushed Savi’s mane down and put some *things* in her hair. I took her pics, downloaded them and now I am ALL confused!! Should I cut her hair at all? If I am say so myself, she does look adorable!!!

Should I just grit my teeth and try my best to get past this awkward period when her hair is running down her ears and stands up in tufts here and there so that she will have pretty and manageable hair in sometime? We all know about that most uncomfortable stage when hair goes from short to long, don’t we? Most importantly, how do I manage the hair from getting into her eyes? Any ideas for some funky hairdos? (ALL under the assumption that she will let me cut her hair if I decide to cut it OR that she will tolerate me putting things on her hair if I decide not to cut her hair !)

Why so much thought into this? Mostly because I have the luxury to ponder on something soooo utterly meaningless at this point … With time I am afraid I will have little time or energy to worry about her hair … and yes, it is plenty of fun!

I think my parents did a faily good job (if I am say so myself ;)) for not having read articles (as opossed to working on Friday afternoons;)) …. I found a couple of really good articles ..

For one, compassion is key …

“But with so much hatred and turmoil in the world today, it seems more important than ever to raise kids who can understand and be kind to other people. Teaching this doesn’t mean lectures or visits to soup kitchens. It’s part of day-to-day life: how you answer your child’s questions, how you solve conflict at the park, how you nudge his or her growing capacity to understand and think about other people.”

And here is a look into my future … I really really hope I can manage to handle her when she asks for a new mommy ;)

Have a great weekend!

NOW, if Savi does not keep me sufficiently entertained over the weekend … I might just be back here blogging :)