I love you Mumbai

Mumbai, my city, my mumbai is under seige right now. Terrorists have taken over the city and are killing people willy nilly. I love my city - all my people - my dear Mumbai-ites. My heart bleeds for them. More than anything I want to be in Mumbai now. If I could, I want to hug my city with all its people and soothe their pain. I want to be a mother to my city - hold it close - take away all its fear and pain.

Current reading list

I am currently into reading memoirs. I started with Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and Tis' - Simply amazing. Then Max Apple's Roomates and I Love Gootie - I tried to make these last as long as I could.

Guest Post by daddy: How parenthood changes you

Becoming a parent changes everything. Much more than getting married, moving to a new country, getting a new job, going to college and many other things that happen to us over our lifetimes. My friends who are not parents (pretty much all of them) often ask me what its like being a parent. In one sentence, it is life-changing. No matter how much you've told yourself that things won't change, they will. After all, you have to know that your life has changed when you:

1. Hate Velcro products with a passion
2. You can drive to the nearest Babies R Us in your sleep - and you often do
3. Finish all your meals in 1/4th the time
4. Realize at the end of the day that you washed your hands 40 times that day
5. Find yourself offering Purelle to everyone who comes within 2 feet of the baby
6. Notice for the first time how bumpy your neighborhood sidewalks are
7. First thing out of your mouth when you meet other new parents is "does yours sleep through the night?"
8. Take 1000 pics of your baby but don't find the time to ever filter them or post them online
9. Crave for some "alone-time" with your spouse, but when you do get it, you talk about what the baby must be up to - THE ENTIRE TIME!
10. Your back hurts. A lot
11. You finally understand why your friends used to say that, after having children, they had not watched a single movie in one sitting
12. In spite of all this, you discover that nothing could bring you more joy than that first faint hint of a smile from your little one

This post originally appeared here

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Mom turned 57 yesterday. She has been my biggest strength since baby came. From nursing me back from the childbirth to teaching us how to hold the baby - it all came down to mom. Even now a surefire way of calming baby is to hand him to her :-).

I am planning to put up some details about post partum care - as soon as I have all the information organized.

Hold on to the pacifier!!

The pacifier is a life saver! We keep track of the pacifiers, sterilize them, always keep them at hand. The acifiers have a knack of falling down, baby accidentally throws them in the yuckiest of places (like the bathroom floor for instance). And the poor pacifier gets tossed into the dustbin. Sometimes the difference between a quiet baby and a crying one comes down to having the pacifier handy - so hold on to it for dear life!

Dad did the 'Mom' thing last night

Dad slept with baby last night - thank you! During the week I take care of baby in the night since I'm at home at all. And weekend is dad's turn. During the week dad sleeps in the nursery (baby still sleeps in our room).

Every morning he (dad that is) comes into our room looking fresh and eager to see the baby. Then he makes small talk with me, coos with the baby, tells me about his plans -- all the while I fume and fret because I've just spent a night waking 2-3 times to feed, change diapers etc. Poor dad - its like entering the lioness's den!! Besides the room also looks like a war zone - strewn with diapering supplies, a changing mat flopped in the corner, bunch of baby's dirty clothes (depending on how many times baby spit up), also mom's clothes (depending on where all he spit up), sometimes an odd bottle or two etc.

Weekends are my turn to see the other side of things. I find myself waking up eager to see and play with baby :-), while dad looks like he's just back from running a marathon! Now I know how dad feels every morning.

Nothing like actually being in the other person's shoes to get some perspective.

Baby smiled at me :-)

Baby started smiling earlier this week - real smiles in response to my smiles :-). It is the best sight on earth for me. He first started of with tentative half smiles that blossomed in to full smiles - his whole face transformed. He's such a cutie! My sweet baby boy!!