X's Ninja Party begins!

So we're in Austin preparing for X's 6th birthday party. He actually turned six a few days ago but birthday parties for younguns generally work better on weekends. He's excited.
The theme for the party is NINJA. It's not attached to a particular cartoon or disney character so it allows for more originality in the the party production.
Chetathi made a tray of brownies frosted it, sprinkled it, candled it, found some small ninja ornaments to put on.
The balloons have been blown up and stringed together. The chips are out. X and Bunzer are napping and the party begins in an hour....

Can't beat this. . .

Major love from X & D on X's 6th bday. This Appachi was in heaven. So far, our trip to Texas has been a series of unplanned events. Most of the things that we have planned have not worked out but we are having blast anyway! More later.

Baby, I Got Your Back

According to Elyse Rubenstein, a Philadelphia psychiatrist who counsels new mothers, the term refers to "an inborn tendency to want to protect and nurture one's offspring." Almost all mothers (human and animal alike) eventually come to feel this way after they have a child. (from BabyCenter.com).


It has been my experience that some women are born with this instinct to protect the young. I wasn't programmed that way. Don't get me wrong, if a kid is hurt, I will do my best to help it (unless it is bleeding - then I would just pass out). But I don't think my behavior would change dramatically if the injured person was 1 or 60; I would just help in the way that I could. Some people however, get really protective of young children. They are always watching out for it and making sure they don't get hurt. I always thought that I am too selfish this way and wondered if it would change once I became a mother. People kept telling me that it would but I wasn't so sure. When children cry for small injuries, I don't become sympathetic and tender - I get annoyed and want to tell them to suck it up. Che used to make fun of me for it because I was so cold with little kids. RC is much better at this which is why he was often asked to babysit and I never was. I remember the first time Didi asked me to watch Roti 2 on my own, I asked her, "Are you sure??" Then, when I babysat all four Rotis at once, I actually invited my friend who is a mom of two to come over because I didn't trust myself. Fortunately, no injuries occured on my watch so I am still allowed to play with them. =)


But then I became pregnant and nothing really changed. There is some book that I read that said that women become mothers when they get pregnant and men become fathers once they finally see their baby. I didn't notice any change in thinking so I began to wonder if I would ever feel this thing called maternal instinct. Well, then Revathi (odd days we are referring to it as a girl, even days we are trying out all the boy names) started to move around and I started to feel a little more connected to her. Then RC started to talk to her on a regular basis and that also started to make me feel more like a family but not quite maternal.


Then because of an event in my family, it clicked. I was being asked to leave her for a few hours with Mom to attend an event in the middle of August. Our due date is at the end of July so even if she was born two weeks early, that would make her only a month old. A few months ago, if I heard about this situation as an outsider, I would have thought, "What is the big deal? That mom is such a freak. It's only a few hours." In fact, I respected new mothers who would leave their kids after only a few weeks; thinking that they were not letting this motherhood thing cramp their style. But I couldn't commit to the event. I called Didi to see if I was overreacting. Since she is a pediatrician and a mom, I thought that she has heard of situations like this and would give me an honest answer. She told me that if a infant gets a fever in the first six weeks that the usual course of action would be hospitalization. Tears blurred my thoughts when I thought about Revathi in a hospital with tubes sticking out of her. I remember visiting Roti 3 in the hospital when he was five months and that was horrible to see. All the sudden, I felt it - the NEED to protect this baby from any danger out there. Also, I plan on breastfeeding and I thought, who else can feed this child if I am gone for a few hours? Newborns nurse every three hours or so. RC, Didi, or Mom can certainly provide outstanding care for her and will make sure she doesn't get sick, but I am the only one that can give her food. Perhaps it is my pregnancy hormones but let's be real - the post-partum ones won't make me any more rational. For that reason, I am making the decision now so that I won't feel guilty later. Even though making that decision has been agonizing, one good thing that has come out of it was that it has made me feel so close to this life inside of me.


I think I am finally ready for this motherhood thing.

O Baby!!

Wow. In two days, Spring Break is here. Until then, I am living at school. On Thursday, the students are turning in this massive project that they have been working on for two weeks. Last year, I had the students work on the whole thing at once. Knowing that my freshmen couldn't handle that this year, I modified the lesson plans to make parts of the project homework. That meant that in order to complete the project, I had to grade and return all the components so that they can revise them. FOURTEEN components. 105 students. Loads of bad grammar. The good news: the students are turning in some incredible work product; the bad news: I have been buried under paper for two weeks. I will have to take most of this work with me when I head to Texas on Saturday but hopefully, since I have read most of it already, it will go quickly.

In other good news, the ACT test prep class I teach ends tonight. The bad news: I have to proctor their last practice exam until about 8:30. I really should just sleep on the couch that I have in my classroom.

Strange pregnancy cravings for sugar this week. I can't stop eating cotton candy, Starburst and drinking Sprite. I guess it's not really sugar as is a craving for high fructose corn syrup. So much for all those healthy cravings for fruit.

I haven't measured my belly in a long time but it sure it getting bigger. I forgot to blog about how I am finally feeling the baby move. It makes this whole thing way too real. I have had conflicted feelings towards pregnancy long before I was ever thinking about getting pregnant. When it finally happened, I was a little spooked, anxious, and grossed out. These feelings melted away in one moment.

I was laying in bed last Thursday not sleeping as usual because there is no such thing as a comfortable position anymore. Plus, Q was in one of her squirmier moods. Rohit was dozing comfortably. He had been trying to feel the baby move for about two weeks with no success. At around 2:30am, I pulled his hand to my belly. He still didn't stir. Then, one swift kick, eyes flew open, a broad grin, and a whisper, "Was that it?" In that moment, it suddenly didn't gross me out to think that there was a parasite sucking the life out of me. That moment, I was superhuman - or rather, exceptionally human - I was creating life. Dramatic, I know. It is obviously the way we all got here so there is very little that is exceptional about it except I have never done it before. Regardless, it changed my feelings towards this experience entirely. I am looking forward to all these other new, wonderful things that pregnancy has in store for me. Especially the big show in the end!

More later. I have to get these kiddos to finish up their Science Reasoning test.

Shamrock Shake is like melted ice cream!

In other words, a McDonald's Shamrock Shake is heaven. Even the small (337g) is delicious and should be considered a meal substitute during this time the year. I, RC, just downed one in about ten minutes - pure delish!
Try one yourself and you'll have just consumed:

530 calories

77g sugar

13g fat (20% of the recommended daily intake)

340g sodium (14% of the recommended daily intake)

94g carbohydrates (31% of the recommended daily intake)

0 fibre

11 grams protein

35% of recommended daily calcium intake (thank golly for small favours)

--yah. That's a SMALL.

Dairy Mix	Modified milk ingredients, sugar, glucose, soy mono and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, artificial vanilla flavour, carrageenan, cellulose gum.
Triple Thick Shamrock Shake Syrup	Sugar/glucose-fructose, water, colour (beta carotene (containts sunflower oil), FD&C Blue #1), natural flavour (water, propylene glycol, vegetable gum, plant extractives, essential oils), sodium benzoate, citric acid, dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent).

courtesy the mcdonalds.ca nutritional calendar (http://www.mcdonalds.ca/en/food/calculator.aspx)

McDonald's disclaimer: "Percentage Daily values are based on a 2,000 Calorie diet. Your Daily
values may be higher or lower depending on your Calorie needs.

just hanging around

cls fruit-1-Edit
Originally uploaded by snapshot chandra

RR took a nap after work yesterday before we went out to dinner for Papa's 62d birthday. While she was napping, I was snapping.
We went to the Blue Water Grill - yummy yummy yummy.

Curly's pic at 20 weeks

As mentioned already in our non-live blogging below, we had a successful pulaski day that included getting to see Curly's organs, face, etc. Curly is a cutie though some of the face shots are a bit scary cuz they look like skeletor! Creepy fo shure!
My favorite part other than our moms' being there was when we were able to hear Curly's heartbeat with RR's substitute OB. The OB was great and Curly stepped up to the mic fluttering away!
20 weeks up 20 to go! I'm picking out my oven mitts!

RR vs. Mango

Awhile back, I posted about RR's cravings. They really have only gotten easier to handle. I'm really really surprised. I thought if there was anyone that would want me to run out and get different types of food it'd be her. Nope, she's easy peasy that way.
So on the way back from the doctor's office last week, Amma, Mom, RR and I stopped by Stanley's fruit market on elston/north. That place is the best. A few days before we drove by it at some point and RR saw that it was selling mangoes for $.50 a pop. We grabbed a bunch of fruit for the week that i think i wrote about already.
Last night, RR attacked one of the mangoes. She eats them differently than most. She'll mush them up and squeeze out all of the fruit. In a way it's cleaner, and in a way it's a big mess.
I was tooling around with my 105 f/2.5 and love the shots.
RR loves her mangoes!

It's a. . .

Yah, right!  You didn't really think I was going to tell you, did you??  Despite our mother's best efforts, we were able to get through the entire 1-hour ultrasound without finding out the baby's gender.  But the most important organs seem to be developing well so I am assuming those other ones are just fine.  We were able to see several pictures of the babies heart, spine, bladder, stomach, kidneys, and brain.  All seem to have appropriate development for the baby's size as well as good blood flow.  I was also able to cross off spina bifida and Down's syndrome from my list of things to worry about thanks to the ultrasound.  I am not sure why I was so worried about neural tube defects since I drink orange juice every day and have been taking a women's multi-vitamin for almost a year.  Ah, if only the pregnant mind was rational.  

This past weekend was a lot of fun because I was actually able to host people at the house without feeling completely exhausted.  I spent the day mopping the floors.  It had been about two months since my last time on my hands and knees to get the hardwoods shiny because I was feeling so awful.  Other than my tummy getting in the way and being a little out of breath, the scrubbing went well and my floors were shiny (Thanks Murphy's!!).  My current cleaning person doesn't like to use Murphy's Oil Soap because she says it dries out my wood and uses vinegar instead.  But the vinegar makes the whole house stink and leaves my floors looking dull.  AND she didn't dust/mop under the furniture.  AND because she uses the same mop water throughout the whole house, the living room floor (the last room to be cleaned) was actually still pretty filthy.  I have to have a talk with her about it but not quite sure how to say it tactfully.  I dunno'.  I think now that I have this energy back and feeling okay, I am going to try to keep up with my own scrubbing regiment as long as Q will let me.   

The rest of the evening was great.  Two couples we know came over and one couple brought their two adorable daughters (2 y/o and 3 months).   It was fun hanging out with them especially since we haven't seen either in a while.  Then we headed over to Hot Chocolate for some dessert.  If you have never been - what are you waiting for??  It's not just a dessert bar but their desserts are definitely what they are known for.  I had a banana bread pudding that just brought me to tears.  Our friends had a granny smith apple dessert (no chocolate) and a peanut butter dessert, and RC ordered our favorite - brioche doughnuts served with caramel popcorn and hot fudge.  Yum. yum. yum.

20 weeks in...

RR had the 20 week sonogram today. Both Amma and Mom were in attendance. Everything went well. We'll post more later along with a few pics.
Curly is at 50% growth which means average. I think it means above average b/c we are kind of small. Everything else is on target.
On the way back, we all stopped off at Stanley's Fruit Market and picked up some Mangas (2/$1), organic Kiwis, Juice Oranges, Nectarines, and an Apple-Pear or Pear-Apple b/c those are neat.
More later as the live blogging this Pulaski day continues...

btw, that's Kazimierz Pulaski to the right despite the Maluu stache!

last snow in chicago?

last snow in chicago?
Originally uploaded by snapshot chandra

I really hope this is the last snow that we have this season in Chicago. I read somewhere earlierz this week that this was our 35th measurable snowfall this season - yikes!
I didn't feel like going outside for this shot, i stood up near a window and took a bunch till i liked it.
Then of course, i did have to go outside to shovel!

Continuing on this vein . . .

Our blog friend, A N N A, recently wrote this hilarious post about disciplining children. I had to put my two cents in there and since I was just talking about the same topic on this blog, I thought I would just keep yammering away -

One comment said the following:

the post just reminded me, as a new parent, of the huge change in perspective one experiences, seemingly in an instant, once baby comes. And cmon, you are going to try and defend that "Well then let me step in and discipline your uncivilized beast-child" or "if you parent well, it's imperceptible to the naked eye and nearly impossible to remember." etc does not in any way suggest that you, as a non-parent, believe you know more about parenting than some actual parents? pa-shaaa.

I don't think that anyone is saying that anyone is better at parenting but rather better at disciplining. Parenting involves many other things beyond just discipline just as teaching involves many other things other than educating them on a specific content. In teacher education programs, they speak at length about appropriate classroom management skills. We have to create these classroom management plans that outline how we are going to handle our little darlings in our classes. Of course, much like parenting, these ideals go out the window when you are actually standing in front of 30 kids. But those of us who retain some of that research and ideology benefit a great deal as a result. There are some teachers with no ability to control a classroom unless they are AP angels - there are others who can take a group of ADHD, oppositional-defiant children and help them learn and create. Are they a better teacher? Not necessarily; they are just better at discipline. When it comes to disciplining my students, I have never had a complaint from a administrator, parent or student (okay, one student) that I have been unfair or unreasonable. But do I lay the law down? - HELL ya. My rules are clearly stated (only two: 1. Treat everyone with respect and 2. Don't make me lose my trust in you), evenly handed, and rarely given during a moment of anger.

As a teacher and a non-parent, it is easy for me to say to tell people that their children are out of hand. But as a product of a very disciplined upbringing, I can also easily say how thankful I am to my parents for not letting me be an annoyance to everyone around me. It isn't about corporal punishment. My parents rarely spanked me. It was just a withering look, or a few stern words, and our understanding of how to behave. My parents were still telling us we were the most misbehaved kids on the block but I remember overhearing other parents comment at how incredibly well-behaved we were. As a future parent, I resolve to not give in to my child's whining (just as I don't give into my students' whining) or tears just because I want them to like me more. What many people don't understand is that children love rules. They may fight you every step of the way but rules mean that someone is looking out for them. Rules mean someone cares enough to establish some boundaries. Kids crave consistency even if it means that they don't get everything that they want. Q will love me BECAUSE I discipline her. Feel free to point to this in a year when I am crying about how she is making me crazy. =)