Discipline

Importance of reading with kids

Round up

Thinking as parents. A friends blog.

Design so well that your product is wanted by parents too

Picky eaters - How to get them to eat. Did that ear infection bust their taste sense?

Cow Milk - A see-saw of Vitamin D and iron.

Tyramine and headache - All this in your food?

Historical kid lit

Make reading fun for kids

Does your timy tot have the 7R gene? - Culture and genes.

blurred vision on a diet

As an obese teenager, I went with my mom to Siddha samadhi yoga. There we had to shift to eating raw vegetables. In a couple of days, I had blurred vision. Looking at a presentation at undergrad college, I had to close one eye and focus with the other to make sense of what I was seeing. Now I know its got to do with glucose levels during low carb diet.

Now I am open to eating carrot, cucumber, lettuce for lunch.
A friend had chipotle lunch at her house for her birthday. The food minus the tortilla and rice was so friendly for low carb diet.

books for kids
best kids books

Babies and genes

Swearing while pregnant can a mom stop herself from cursing.
Study a gene predicts what time of day you will die
Teething too linked to genes
Turning kids bookworms

Weight confessionals

I was once Obese.

I was once obese too for a long time, most of my teen-hood  When you live with obesity that long you don't think of thin until it happens. In the above article, the author confesses to the obscene diet. I too had followed such a crazy diet where a white chocolate mocha would do it for lunch, a chocolate chip waffle was gold. You can live on air too if fat is sliding off you like you are on a rotisserie.

This time around, I am trying a saner method of muscle way. I am puzzled with the numbers on the scale but I can feel the flab tightening, inches decreasing. The time not being too long is easy to fit into the schedule with baby. Never mind that she wants to think of me as a hurdle to crawl over while I am exercising. And did I feel sweat trickle on my back. Thats not me. I drink some water after exercise. Well thats not me either.

A book is not a baby

Stories read in childhood

If you catch something on the radio, right at the end you hang on to every word so you can search and find it later. I came in on this Jane Smiley interview on horses at the point where Jane talks about how by having an animals point of view, we become cognizant of other species in the world. What non human species comes to your mind first?
Black beauty. I remember parts of chapter 1 with Black Beauty's mother. When I had to share 3 best stories that I liked as a child with children in Singapore as part of a United Way program, I chose Black Beauty and Heidi.
My experience with a horse has been on a ride called 'Rani' in Nainital where she stood on a hill. I was too close to her and being at an angle, slid down with no hurt.
More stories for kids.
Amazing tattoos inspired by childrens books -Eloise
Oshin
Having it all?

Mistaken shaken baby case
Get kids reading

Hear from other parents

On parenting.
Parenting is guesswork says one writer.

Swerving and back on the birth lane

In DNA switch shows promise against genetic disease article, a question is raised about how much of the genome should a parent contribute to be recognised legally. Parental testing can be done even while the baby is still in the womb.
Sleep

Wait the weight

Mix n Match. Sweet words with which you can put together a new outfit. I had a brown top with white big floral melee. and a white skirt. They went well together. I shopped recently first time after the baby. The undercurrents of weight and dress. I could also get into a pre baby Indian traditional dress. yay. Tried another. Moral : first dress is looser than the second.
Like age has any body ever said 'Weight is just a number'?
That red maternity dress until everyone was sick of seeing the blaze of it in the office .
She can tip the nation
Happy birthday youll never be a ceo

11.11.12

The week before Jillian Micheals 30 day shred of level 2 was giving me knee problems, so back to level 1 even though I like level 2 better.
I could do slightest push ups instead of the knee touching the floor ones.

11.12.12
I am falling into a pattern with the exercise. Thu and Fri off.
Stirrings of a bicep. But wait why only on the left hand with which I usually hold my baby.

To go organic or not

I have heard how parents start buying organic milk for their kid and finally the whole family switches to it.
At the aisles I have gone looking at rice cereal if I should buy the organic one. Report suports organic produce but not milk.

Exercise after baby

There are layers of remnants on me. 5 pounds from depo. 2 pounds from a kids party. I happened to see Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video. It is motivating. Jumping jacks and jump ropes. I am now seeing bliss in walking with numbers moving on a wide screen of a Sportsart. The calories matching the extra sandwich.

There was a special exercise for mommies with bellies - Reverse crunch
Seems easier the second day.

When I saw someone do pull ups at a station, I was reminded of Wall bars at a gym in undergrad. I didnt know of its uses before. The only thing was to hang just for a little bit. Why women cant do pull ups

Developing writing skill in kids.

Tips on good housekeeping from one mercurial mommy
letter to yahoos marissa mayer its ok to work
texting and parenting

Are we getting smarter
I want to be a book

When there are less diapers
I don't think in terms of projects, or in terms of throwing either the baby or the bathwater out

study-shows-power-of-cute-improves-concentration
these-london-businesses-hope-painting-baby-faces-on-their-stores-will-reduce-crime
childhood-injury-and-smartphone-distraction

Study having a male child leaves male dna in womens brains
Why hair turns gray
Growing up with robots

How tickling a child connects parents and kids

Dont skip breakfast

The Peculiars -
Homeschooling

study oxytocin the hormone of love also makes us conformists
Why our mothers panic  poem
uterine transplants - temporary

Food today

50 best websites 2012
Game App based on food - one game I dont remember from where, where you make a cake from the selection of each ingredient can get boring after a while.
What have you undertaken recently that requires Agricultural time?
fruit and veggies linked to lower obesity rates in new state fat rankings - Yesterday during lunch, my husband served me half a carrot. I dont remember eating it but I did. and today finely chopped beetroot mixed into rice. All these accessories are chips replacement. 'Replacement' sounds scary. has there been a 'craving' in the making that we need to alter the substance but the addiction remains?
BPA Vs Obesity
food craving and mood
How to fend off a food craving
seperation anxiety in adults
can a kids toy bring more women into engineering
Knowing baby's genetics

Reading young

Books behaving badly a tale of real life in ink - When kids face inexplicable situations, how books help them make sense of it.

Shatter every window crash through every wall -Franz Kafka's work jump started a teenager.

Embracing then rejecting a life of melodrama - You are free to lose a strain and find another but can never leave 'reading'. I was presented this book by my colleagues when I started to US for MS. My own reading life started mainly in post high school. I did read few books in high school - Arabian tales, a book with a magic flying chair and stories from other students textbooks, some comics like Twinkle.

Whats wrong with reading

Teachers expectations can influence how students perform

We didnt mean to go to sea in Summer at Forsaken Lake.
Mystery of he fat cat in Cures for Hunger

Becoming the god

I am into teen lit these days to see what books to present to my little relatives. An excerpt of The Raven boys. The writing style is a 'talking to yourself' style when you dont know too much of a thing, involving questions.
sex_selection_in_babies_through_pgd_americans_are_paying_to_have_daughters_rather_than_sons_.html. Until I read this, the killing of girl foetuses in India seemed to have cultural explanations. But after looking a the other coin of preferences for a baby child in US for most mothers, I can understand the issue in a more balanced way. at least this mother is not killing her boys and she is proactive about getting a baby of the sex she desires, way ahead of the game but it is all so breaking the conduit in the body and doe sit not take away the meaning of 'your' baby if the baby in the process had to undergo selections by humans in a lab.
Again law rears its head.

A fathers decades old bedtime story is back in print

can one lose lactose intolerance as an adult

The Little Engine That Could in Cures for Hunger

study-tylenol-and-ibuprofen-may-cause-hearing-loss-in-women/262306/
can-marriage-save-single-mothers-from-poverty

Woman and mom

scary-parents-both-fertile-and-feral-in-breed
tina-browns-must-reads-the-modern-woman
Disappearing mothers
adrienne_pine_is_a_mom_the_american_university_professor_breast_fed_her_baby_in_class_so_what_.html

Kids and work

I didnt realise that having kids effects the time an employee works until I saw a coworker had a kid. I understand it after having my own. kids or no kids timesharing at the office. 

Baby and reading

A new Peter Rabbit. My birdwatching mentor present me with a cup and bowl set of Peter Rabbit. I wasnt familiar with the story. Later she passed on cutouts of the characters from the story to be enacted sometime.
More books waiting to be read

Medicine in daily life

The baby in What wretches have I been born to? wants anti-vax parents. But that would mean being exposed to old and dead diseases. Medicines have some side effects. And some have terrible main effects

Child switch

Not the kind where a child is switched by mistake.
Not like the famous story we read of Sunil Gavaskar. Before I got the name correct, first Sachin Tendulkar came to mind.
At one of the rides at Universal, I saw Child switch but that didnt register until my friend told me about it.

SIDS coupled with fear

Border babies

Those born in the months before school year begins.
Redshirting (also a term in sports).
At undergrad college, I have seen that students from another state were smart. They started schooling at age 5 unlike others who started at 3.

Why that baby boat has to sail out?

A super mom could harbor her baby for longer than 9months.

What we think of baby food

How words change their meaning with time.
Pablum in Against acknowledgments.
Pablum cereal company

Revenge poetry

Ever wondered what your baby would say from go if he/she could talk adultese? laugh now.

Some stories

Today a kid brought along Carl and The Puppies as his favourite book. I came across Babes in the Wood in Becoming Dickens.
Recently I was reminded of The Judge Monkey story that we read as kids.

Mom and art

A mother used poetry as relaxation. Bradley method of natural childbirth
Author of nine months

Firsts and lasts

I once read somewhere about why we make a big deal about baby firsts. Here's a mother who worries about the lasts, cause they fade out of memory.
Like the memoirist Elizabeth Stone, do you too feel that 'having children is like letting your heart walk around outside your body'?

It feels like a lucky day when baby eats without protest.

Is baby food rocket science?

or space , baby's play.
In an NPR article 20 everyday things we have because of NASA, I was surprised to find baby formula.
If you are curious, then the how of NASA spin-off technologies.
Once when Lord krishna was asked to open his mouth, his mother found the world in it.
For Krishna Janmashtami, tiny baby feet are drawn to signify the steps of the lord into the house.

At party with baby

I can pat myself for making a baby shower party favor.
Yesterday was he first big social occasion that our family went decked in traditional dress. we wen late. It could have been avoided had I done all the wardrobe check before hand. There was a bigger thing going on in the mindscape. I should have kown that I couldnt fit into the punjabi dresses brought for marriage. What a surprise. The only thing I could fit into was a saree, which I tied in the most unseemly fashion. It being summer, I put some extra candy that we were taking to the party in the fridge. Just before leaving I put them out but after getting into the car and away from home, I realise I havent taken the bowl of extra candy with me and another big surprise, as I enter into my friends house, the gift card is on the table. I reminded myself that I have to write our names on it, but that was way down the list I guess.
In this episode, Candace talks about mommy brain . While recent studies have shown that brain wiring continues into young adulthood, new mommies have changes in parts of the brains for you know who.
Baby boosted brain. That explains it all. Just a little nudge about wanting to visit the Terracota Warriors in Beijing and a whole dream about surviving in China. We seem to be stuck in a tunnel fit for just one man. Countless number of soldiers are in the tunnel, we are about to be run over by them, just before the stampede, we find an escape but not before some pricky acupuncture to our backs. There even seemed to be a prodigious baby coping with falling into water.
Socialising as a mother brins a template with it.
'How old is he?'
-- months
She is -- months
whats his name
--
What does it mean? (my flourish)
--
Whats her name
---
And then about what are they upto.
About the mommy brain, I am yet to power up mine.

One time I gave my baby a paper and the she had black specks on her lips and then it struck me that the ink bleeded onto her. In few minutes she can rip pages of Indiana Review or Costco connection. She is at loggerhead with 'Baby's ABC' unable to pick it apart.
Seems like ripping paper aids in motor development. So all papers in the house, its time for recycle and before that some scrunching.

Jet lag is like having a baby

My friend recently came from a trip with jet lag. Who would have thought that the mind numbing force has science to it both for and against it. A colleague, a regular on the east west hop, approximated the ordeal to be as long a day per hour time difference. That stumped me. More does this pseudoscience of Horary astrology.
I told the friend that there will be disruption in sleep and other activities.
'Its like having a baby' she says.

Wheres the Elevator?

Today for the first time, near an escalator, when I realised that the stroller doesnt go there, that from now on I have to be looking out for elevators in a multi storeyed building

Start Smart Building Brain Power
Pam Schiller and work summary
The crossing of the midline

Crawling

Having read about one third of Crawling: A Fathers First Year book, I didnt find any great insights (other than the father changing from Are babies precious to 'yes, she is my favourite scone') and gave the book the dunk.


(Hu)man development is amazing. Crawling is a jig saw puzzle with pieces falling in place in days. See the energy with which the baby hoists herself forward, no wonder it is called commando crawl. When the baby does the push ups, look at the face which speaks 'look Ma no hands' glee.
(Hu from here)

skepticalob

Infant blinks

Does your baby doll like never blink her eyes? Not never but like you are counting the time between blinks.

Tongue thrust reflex

Whats a mouth for?

she wants to spend quality time with her favorite
a newborn chick that does not want to spend quality time with her
 - Petting Zoo, Michael Ryan

This reminds me of my relative, a baby who wringed a chick.

Today I was pulling the mint of the stalks and showed my daughter a hint of its smell. She just reached for the bunch and tried to put it in her mouth. Not the 'Aha, my daughter is feeding herself mint moment'. Its the phase she is in:

Her seahorse glows, thats because she chewed at it
Ernie the touchdown, squeaked not because she pressed the ball

What children wear

Pink and Blue: Telling the Boys from the Girls in America

There was a time when boys wore skirts until Breeching.

What Are Little Boys Made Of rhyme which talks of little girls too.

Title ix

Poetic nourishment

Some apple poems for the baby along with apple puree.

Adventures of Jo Schmo and more.

My cervix has to do five things: it has to come forward, it has to shorten, it has to soften, it has to thin out, it has to open. - Annie Enright,Making babies.

low(verb)
babygro as in onesie.

In a tunnel

A while ago the receptionist mentioned that the company had a Mother room. I didnt care to ask where. I guessed where it might be.
Today my friends took me to a section where food is sold by Honor system. I have been there before but today I was going by a different way. In all the simplification that our brain does so things fit into it, it seemed impossible that the way we were taking would take us to the food. after many turns in the narrow tunnely way, I spotted a Mother's room on the left. But it has only one desk. Mothers dont fight!!

Still Eureka

There's lesser water
for the baby
in the bath tub.

Last time I just noted

This time I thought
of the displaced water
and the growing baby
and Archimedes

Eureka
with no half-naked
running

**********
Safety 1st bath tub has a warning that it is to be used only till the baby is 6 months old. But by then, when the baby is placed in the tub, no water will stay behind.

Market ahead of customer

Pediatrician asked us not to use any gels for teething. We told her we didnt even know that such things existed.

Today my friend asked me what do babies think about?

Partying with baby

With a sleeping baby, waiting for her to wake up, so she can be bathed and then go to a party, is like waiting at the running track for the gun to go.
At the party, seated next to a mom with baby, I asked if I could hold the baby. The mom said that they just came from a trip and the baby is cranky from the ride.
I forwarded my hand, the baby held it. And then, she touched my arms and my mouth. I imagined my baby doing that. That transmission of presence and awareness.
Mothers were talking about how from their and other's experiences if they shifted to teaching the babies eat on the high chair, neither would they eat by themselves properly nor let their moms feed them. With independence comes the choice to not eat.
A mom believed that children grow faster when grandparents are around to love them.
My baby quietly performed artwork in the diaper. I have seen that at parties, parents take turns eating so the other can watch the baby. Suddenly when asked to eat, I realised I was very hungry. Lying on a sofa, she found a green chunni interesting to watch and she tried to get the owner into conversation. When we realised that the baby hadnt asked for a feeding in a while, we knew that our stay had to be wrapped up. Before we were about to leave, our friend informed us that we left the lights on. While getting out of the car, what seemed like a crack was actually a bird's diaper art. My bell didnt ring then that the light was on.

A tradition: Putting sacred bottus to a well. And then pouring some water into the well, paying obeisance to the water god, so that the baby is not afflicted with any water borne problems. If there is no well nearby, a  bucket of water can be substituted for the well.

An elderly lady wrote a song for the kid's cradle ceremony. I caught 'health and wealth' of the lyrics while concentrating on how best to cleanup the diaper art.

A baby's hour

For the first time, I am alone with my baby. Better put, I am together with my baby apart for the few minutes during the hospital stay when Papa was away hunting food for the ever hungry Mama.
Having just had some pumped milk, she lay in her play gym but had the 'I am alone. Tiramisu' look. When I picked her up, she wanted power snack. An hour now. At first she co-read Apron Anxiety with me for twenty minutes or so leaning against me in a sofa with my left hand for her head support.
Then I looked to play activities for help. Its hard to do the 'open, close them' with fingers as the baby likes to keep them closed but enjoys clapping or should I call it half-clapping.  I couldnt find the puppets.
We then did some exercise together, kissing baby with push ups, squats with the baby. Her favourite is lifted up and down on my knees for an exercise beat.
I tried to engage in some colors and forms. 40 min into our 'our time' it seemed like nap is a great idea. I aided the baby with pats on the back. From my view, I thought the baby was awake looking at a flashing light. Few minutes later, I found the baby asleep.
And we forgot to count the minesweeping of diaper activities.

Tradition

Rudram chanted for a baby.

Time warp for a new mom

My library card asked me to meet at the desk.

‘Your card is due for renewal’. I know my card isn’t due for renewal until May. Then why is she flagging it 2 months early.

I look at the calendar and think today is Tuesday. May 15. later I realize that it cant e Tuesday as m husband went for his Tuesday talk time class yesterday evening. Today is Wednesday.

As a mommy I am losing track of time.

Baby in the bassinet

During flu season kids are not allowed to visit newborns.
Today when I went to visit a newborn, I was scared of holding the tiny baby. I thought once a mother, pro for ever, not so.
When we bend to look if the baby is feeding well, the back aches. Traditionally mothers are advised not to look at their child, so that they may not pass the evil eye. But that in reality prevents their back ache.

What are your goals for your child?

In no cheating no dying , author Elizabeth Weil says that 'in psychoanalytic thought, the template for monogamy is forged in infancy, a baby with its mother'.
she also says that a good enough mother's goal is to equip a child with means for independent life and not glitch fre happiness.

Culture and baby growth

I was reading that the milestone for a baby after rolling over is clapping. I recall how our elders teach kids to clap with the chant of jejeje.. referring to God.. hailing him. Anklets with bells are worn by babies so they can be motivated to move their legs to listen to their own rattle that they dont even have to hold from falling.

When the baby rolled over, a colleague from Tamilnadu asked if I offered coconut to God.

Journaling grandson's first year

In Some assembly required, when Anne Lamott talks of wet to dry .. and other needs fulfilled, it almost seems like there are two states in each aspect of a baby.
Heir and a spare
Sunshine biscuit tin

Parenting against the norm

Beyond the sling by Mayim bialik
A review
other benefits of breast milk - pg 71-72
Elimination communication from six months.

Mixed milk

A reference to Putana story in Against mixology. Krishna when fed poisoned milk by Putana, managed to just have the good milk.I read this story long time ago but forgot all about it. Its believed that a swan can seperate milk from water.

Invisible accidents

On a visit to the doctor about my runny nose, he realised that there was an eraser up the nose. Nose are not the only 'storage bins' for kids. One of my relatives shoved an eraser in her ear.

Roll over

How does an infant know that he/she is ready to roll over?
Life span human development on pg 145 lists some interesting concepts Cephalocaudal trend and Orthogenesis   
principle at play in a child's manner of growth.
When I see my baby bawl over her 3/4 turn, I feel a momentous thing happening, just like the cries the mother emits when the baby is Stuck in the Middle.

Her cheek turns pink
with the weight of
the body ready to
roll over but
the head resistant

Stories

A bed time story Goodnight Moon referred in How to cook like a man.

Today I got a chance to read  Wave Hello to Thomas, a Lift and Peek book. I tried to read the lines as a song but an 'and' would put a big stop to my musical endeavor on each page. Some time later I realised that I had to lift flaps and do what was said underneath.

Telangana Stories

Rhyme and reason

In Once upon a time, Vol 1of Childcraft series, I am reading The wise old owl. Now why I know why it is seen as wise.
Little robin redbreast sat upon tree. It said,"Catch me if you can" to a pussycat.
Writer Julie Zickefoose in The Bluebird Effect, says that from starstuffs she learnt that vulture is her totem animal. In  Wild Cheryl strayed is told that Corvids stand for void like the black hole where everything begins.

A good gift

Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Soothe and Glow Seahorse Pink.

Very soothing sound for babies. I love the gurgling sound and the glow screams 'look at me'.

Baby books

If you can manage to read them in time, you will realise that at 3 months the baby stuffs her fingers into her mouth not as a sign of hunger but from her excitement of finding her fingers.

In parents magazine May 2012, its interesting to learn that at first in log roll, the baby turns as one body but later on the upper body follows the pelvis.

I read in The new father that at the age of 3 months infants do not understand gravity and hence cant trace falling objects. New studies have found that  infant grasp gravity law by 2 months.

The other day I was telling my husband that when the baby tries to pull her neck up, it looks like she is doing Bujangasanam. The next day I read of it referred to as 'baby cobra' yoga pose in parents ezine.

Vaginal flatulence

What next vellcro socks?

Wondering if the ezsox, socks with loops interfere with childrens abilities. We want kids to learn things as they need to be done, not the easier way of doing things.

Hide and seek

Yesterday at our friend's house, he was playing with Optimus Prime. He kept beating a motor cycle toy with Optimus. I had to take the matter in hands and hide the motor cycle to keep it safe. The motor cycle came with lights and sounds which once could have easily given away its whereabouts.
The kid brought a furry toy with blue and white streaks and called it rabbit. He was holding its front, so from the back i agreed, should have said no, since it didnt have the tail. I then pointed to a pink bunny and told him its a bunny, easter bunny. I was curious about why its called bunny. I was reminded of Bugs Bunny.
I thought honey boney(sic) was a reduplication rhyme and didnt know that Honey Bunny is a love interest of Bugs Bunny. This morning I came across another reduplication rhyme hugger mugger which is a mystery word game.

The Devil most portrayed character in film than The God.

Shiftless little loafers in The 50 funniest American writers

Parents -Feb
pylones has scissors that look like a peacock with the joining screw as its eye, the baldes as its beak and handles the wings.
Uncommon goods

Parents - April
cardboard craze party

Coupons

flamingoworld
dealcatcher

Toys:
Magnetic ABC book by Melissa & doug
4-Way-Countdown - math made fun

Cookie decoration as a gift box - 3D decoration on the 2D top of a cookie.
Elaine Magee's make-it-easy mousse had pretzel antlers, candy eyes on the glass.

Parenting Nov 2002

Flying with children

Dont forget earplanes or something like it.

I looked at Depo, so when Dr mentioned it, it wasnt totally new. IUD - I guessed intra uterine but not the device part. IUD in a poet's words.
The injection doesnt sting much and if you turn away to distract yourself, you dont even realise that it has been given to you. And then you can be in doubt. But luckily it stings the next day, so you know you are covered.
best blog awards
cleaning snout or comforting colic babies
skiing at preschool

I was reminded of aadivaram naadu arati rhyme.

Come back Peter, come back Paul

Yesterday while burping the baby (in the three ways available - when I put the baby on my shoulder, I feel like I am banging the baby's nose on me, The second way of raising the baby and rubbing her back is my chosen one but not the baby's. She never wants to be burped and interruptions are not in her feeding script. The third way of putting her face down on the lap seems unthinkable), I said 'come back' and then I was reminded of Two Little Dickie Birds rhyme. In our Indian version, Dickie was elided.

Another gift

In 2002 November issue of parenting, Care Bears were found to be the hottest in toyland evoing nostalgia.
Care Bears Board book carry case.
That month is peanut butter lover's month. Peanut butter and banana sandwich is Elvis's favourite sandwich. Paula Deen added a twist to it in this recipe on food network.
Zoboomafoo
Dragon Tales

I came across Johnson & Johnson's no more rash and Aveeno Diaper rash crean. Aveeno's cream has oatmeal too in it.

baby days : activities, ideas and games for enjoying daily life with a child under three.

more activities

Tot poetry on the rise

Book on premature babies

Reading an excerpt of Fragile beginnings, I learnt something of umbilical arteries that arent normally used are needed for monitoring premature babies. The ending of the excerpt has antonyms coexisting.

The article itself has some history on how the research on saving premature babies evolved. All those mothers who cant wait for their baby to emerge, be patient.

Guess how much I love you story in Fragile Beginnings.

To resuscitate or not

Sleeper

I could not sleep if there was light around and now I sleep with the closet light on and the door as our luminostat. Babies make light sleepers out of parents but that is once they are in it. But with the need for sleep increasing, it is very easy to slip into sleep.

Who thought that your child was a metrist at first

Jane Shore in 'The Sound of Sense' writes..
.......
I hear my daughter turn the title page,
then silence, then a spurt of words, false start,
hesitation, a spondee of some sort,
then an iamb, then an anapest, then
a pause, another iamb - that's the End
........

Postpartum

My own imagination is a dangerous habitat as - rapidly, unstoppably - terrifying images grow crytal clear - Beth Kephart in 'The Line is white, it is narrow' essay.

In Jane shore's poem 'Postpartum, Honolulu'.. she writes..

Before she was born
I was a woman ..
......who could live
with certain thoughts without collapsing...

if my husband died,
I could remarry; ....
..

I could live through "anything"

In my case my imagination ran so wild and I thought this poem too would show a crumbling of that confident-to-take-on-life-as-is person.

Mitten Mitten

on the hand
Are you sweet
or are you sour?

Blanket Blanket
on mama
Are you sweet
or are you sour?

parenting blogs

http://www.daddytypes.com/
http://www.babygizmo.com/

Another telugu play song

A: chaata leni intikisthi dhaamadariyello
B: appudendikicchinav dhaamadariyello
A: kunda leni intikisthi dhaamadariyello
B: appudendikicchinav dhaamadariyello


A: I gave my daughter to a house without a winnow
B: Why did you agree for the marriage?
A: I gave my daughter to a house without a pot
B: Why did you agree for the marriage?

Then there was light

when the baby came

no waking up spouse
by switching on
the light
for a midnight read

Like the motel ad
its always on

infant visual stimulation

Engorgement

In Ordinary genius, Kim Addonizio writes about her mom reading out meanings of words along with their latin origins. For example, of regurgitate originating from gorge - flood.
I came across milk ktichen in an essay in 'Use your words' - a writing guide to mothers.
I didnt get what the lactation consultant was talking about when she asked of milk squirt, it is very funny to look at.

Infant feeding
When I was a school kid, any time I went into the kitchen, I would eat some curry. I wasnt hungry for food but for the taste. How do kids feel hunger? If its right after their previous feeding has digested, then by which age do we change our relationship with food? When do we know that we can have more than our body needs? May be a stomach ache is one way to teach us not to have more.

Cleopatra's Milk bath beauty tip might have reached the infant world newsletter.Baby lets part of the milk into her hair. Even before I can wipe her mouth at the end of the nursing, she waves her mittens over her mouth.

**********
History provides a hinge point for humour.

Wipies and Diapies

Huggies new born diaper pack came with a box for wipes.On the top it had a zigzag opening. I once wondered how to pull stuff out of it until my friend figured that we had to pull one sheet of wipe through it just enough so that it tears through the perforated line and leaves a bit, easy to pull one next time. There's a lid on this so that it all still says wet for the next time. Talking of it, how stupid we feel when we tear through a packet only to find that it had a ziploc opening, more so if the contents have to retain their moisture.
In a recent visit, a friend looked at the baby's face turning red and surmised that it might be time for diaper check. Keep your ears out with the experienced. And now when I look at baby's struggles during the process, despite the Dr's assurances that its just baby's coordination skills practice, I wish there was something I could do to make it easier for the baby to poop.
With a newborn, for the outsider it seems like the baby is doing nothing but sleep. whenever anybody asks over the phone about the baby's doing, thats what they get in reply. But mommy knows that the baby is up to more. yesterday she moved to the side, taking up my space. I didnt complain. when I feel her hand next to my body, it feels good, some sort of communication.
When I went to visit a friend with a 2 month old baby, I didnt hold her as I was unsure of how to. When it came to my baby, I had no misgivings.
Theres all the talk about breastfeeding and bonding. With the time limit on how long the mommy can be away from baby, with them being so close all the time, they have to. Kind of being snowed in.
I saw a neighbour take some stuff out of the back of her SUV. The tell tale red of Huggies. I then knew of who else stays with her.

Another quirk of pregnancy

Just a week before the baby was due, is started noticing facial hair which is not new but I forgot all about it while I had the baby in me. If lesser pounds is something all moms look forward to after the delivery, my body hijacked by the baby until then, was given back to me in its old self even if imperfect.

My brother gre with my grandfather for a while. Once we were settled into a family staying at a place, my grandfather brought my bro home. When he was about to leave, my bro asked him if he was leaving. He then took my bro back to the village.

An old saying in telugu

daughter(married and at her inlaws): mallepudosthave naina?
                                                       when wil you visit me again?
father: ni bottu cheriginappudu, ni inti muggu cheriginappudu
          when your bindi is lost (when you lose your husband)
          when the white powder formation on your porch is disfigured (by your playful son)

Pampers has a distinct smell. In the new motherhood daze, I thought that was baby's smell. My husband soon realised that when that smell got more intense, it was actually associated with baby's pee. I could catch baby's poop smell. Our smell detectors are so different.

ooonnnn

My mom reminds me that the baby is due for a diaper check. I reply in 'ooonn'. Another reminder with a remark that thats how elders are after everyone till a thing that needs attention gets it. She recalls that my aunt told my mom that over my stay with her as a kid during vacation, I never replied in words, always in sounds of 'oooonn'.

As we tranisitioned into high school, teachers started warning us there would be no more spoon-feeding.  We had to come up with answers on our own. Theodore Rothke in 'On poetry & Craft'  refers to it as breastfeeding. Correct me if you know otherwise.

In newborn screening, I saw PKU. Before the test, a small pack with hot gel is applied to the baby's heel to improve the blood circulation in that area, before pricking the heel for sample.

Wow. I didnt know that blood circulation is so different in foetus and newborn.

Just a little more than an anthology

of essays from Literary mama magazine. Use your words: A writing guide for mothers introduces the readers to many good writers with their essays as examples to improve the craft of writing. This book depends so much on these examples that it seems like a sparse skeleton without those well fleshed out pieces of writing. Some authors make you weep through their experiences while others make you appreciate the original style they bring to writing.
The good thing about the writing exercises is that they can easily be extrapolated to any topic and not just motherhood. I feel that 'writing motherhood' by Lisa Garrigues is more geared towards motherhood.
If this is your first book on writing, then you will appreciate it, else most of it has been written of in many books and places.

After reading Chitra divakaruni 's   Common scents , I could smell the mango leaves at the end of it.
Three takes on a jump. How others remember your story? I never jumped off a roof but I was the other person who when asked by a person wishing to jump off a roof, I said yes as an elementary school kid. And it wasnt even into sand. Why didnt I think it would hurt? Jill christman's another essay - The Allergy Diaries.
beth kephart  and her write on wednesday

music in his genes by Sara Martin.

Catherine Newman's Pretty baby in Its a Boy Women Writers Raising sons

Samuel by Susan Ito. When she refers to evacuation of her baby to the Japanese past, I didnt realise it was coming from her ethnicity. Her columns

Anne Greenwood Brown's Insights and her interview

breastfeeding while sick with diarrhea
Angel Kisses
blocked tear ducts
I heard of diaper rash but didnt recognise it when it actually happened. It occupied my mind till I figured it.

order of REM in a baby's sleep is interesting.

Struwwelpeter in what to look for in winter

Bulb syringe

I thought watching my baby I would be able to tell any change in her. My mom who is a frequent watcher of te baby is more adept at it. What I took for a sleeping baby was a baby with mucus in her tiny little nose. I panicked if she had cold.
We were wondering how to clean it up. I had told my mom about the bulb syringe. She recalled that helpful funny little thing. After some tries, I was able to coddle out the mucus.

Breastfeeding FAQ
kellymom

when the Pediatrecian and Lactation Consultant on hearing that some days the baby wakes up every hour after 12 in the night for feeds, they sympathised that that would make a tired mom. I wasnt complaining but I wasnt happy too that all that time was not translating into baby's weight.
Its funny how when in bed I think I could sleep more, but once I am up and about, I dont feel the need for sleep. But some days it does catch up and I am back to catching some aaaaaaaaaa's, bbbbbbbbbb's if not zzzzzzzzzz's.

at the breastfeeding support group at regional hospital, they were talking about boppy (is that a short for body pillow) and another such that you can wrap around.

swimming for babies from age 6 weeks?

For a baby who manages to get hands out of the swaddle, velcro version might help.

I became a big fan of peanut butter in the last month. Even on chapati.

moby

how cool are these leg warmers

I heard of a mother pushing too early and cervix swelling in a home birth.

Massage time

My relatives are asking if I am doing baby massage with oil.  My mom says that when elderly people visit newborns, they apply oil to the baby's head. I am enjoying visitors. Its a nice break from the incessant cycle of sleep-feed-diapering. I just have to remember to prop myself against cushions so that I dont find myself in discomfort after hours of talking. I am enjoying doing some errands too - gives me time to catch up on music and be in daylight.
When I was going through a stash of clothes and other stuff, to add to baby's wardrobe, I found Aveeno baby calming comfort lotion that I can use to massage. What it could have some bacteria in it? Such cases are covered by Personal injury law and Product liability.

Baula the cow

Today at a grocery store, I saw a silver car with a black barbed wire painted all along its length.
'Chain gang' exclaimed my friend. I wanted to take a picture lest the story of Baula the cow happen.

For the last two days, baby is startled without even a noise.

 We were told of this during discharge from hospital.
All those sneezes
Its interesting to know about the anchoring and growth of tongue.

Lochia. At the child birth class when they had a big granny pad on the desk that the mothers will use right after delivery, I thought it was a joke.
Every once in a while, the nurse would arrive to flush IV of the baby.

breastfeeding and backache

I like this statement "To understand when a baby is sick, you have to understand what he's like when he's well--and that's something a parent knows best," says Paul Horowitz, MD, in this article.

The sudden clanging of a steel spoon against a ceramic bowl sounds like a baby's cry. The clanging has always bothered me. It never occured to me that using a plastic spoon will take care of it.

Her soles are soft
so is her cheek

She puts her hands next to her. Mostly left. even in the ultrasound. A noisemaker had to be usd to get a clear view of her face. I usd to put my right hand against me. her repertoire of hand actions have moved from what my friend calls 'hands up' style to feeling her face with her fingers.

To be or not to be

I remember this baby poster in an undergrad room with a baby mulling over something.
A child's life is a quandary for the parents to let them do something or not.
My baby is removing her mittens and holding it in the other hand. I make her wear socks so that she cant take them off easily. A friend made her daughter wear mittens so that her baby wouldnt get into the habit of sucking her thumb. finger pacifier or not? sippy cup or not?

Concerns

when baby has fever
newborn hiccups

breastfeeding and law

Workplace Supporting Health Care Reform
breastfeeding law poses challenge to businesses

Growth spurts

It seemed like the baby nursed for almost 2 hrs including the diaper change time in between. My back gave out. What a cool thing it is to change the diaper once the baby is fed.

*********
Recollection:
once I was given money by my neighbour to buy a piece of bread. I returned home crying as a dog had snatched the bread from my hand.

I was nursed by my peddamma. No wonder she was along with my mom when I wanted to share the news of my baby with her.

AAP book said that the taste of milk changes when a nursing mother gets pregnant. My sis and I are just a year and a day apart. I might have weaned off from my mom's milk because of that change in the taste.

First day out to ped's

After the pediatrecian visit, I started walking like a penguin. I still do not believe that I am walking with a newborn. I watched the rectal temprature being taken. I dont know if I can do it. taking the baby in car seat was easier than I imagined. But hard for me to lift and walk with it.
vitamin d supplement for babies

Essential reading from a pediatrecian's visit

The reading up I meant to do the night my baby refused to nurse after nipple confusion with pacifier at the hospital. New mothers guide to breastfeeding.
I am appreciating all the information in it. My mother is by my side explaining all the weird things that are happening like the pins and needles (I would liken it to a mild shock). There are other things like after pains which I tell her of from reading the book. In India, postpartum women try a band of cloth around their waist. I would think it will hurt what with the after pains.

Oxytocin effects

Once the milk has let in, I have started feeling very sleepy.  I was on the phone, I had to cut the convo quoting that I was sleepy. another time my eyelids just shuttered loud and I felt drugged and went to sleep.

Baby's yawn made me yawn too, While mine didnt work on her.

This day baby started to hold the nipple but not nurse. With new borns, each day seems to be an adventure.
But by the afternoon, all is well.

Breaking free of nipple confusion doldrums

At the hospital, the nurses said that the football hold  was the best method for infants to latch on to the breast. By the time we reached home, I got comfortable with it. Once we reached home the baby refused to nurse. She cried for 2 hrs in the middle of the night. In the day, while taking photographs, the photographer used the pacifier to calm her. whenever the baby had antibiotics appointment, she  had the pacifier by her in the bassinet. By day 3, my baby with good sucking instincts was reluctant to even hold the nipple. She had a case of nipple confusion. I learnt this at 2am in the night. From now on, things cant wait till the morning. I was wondering if I should also start reading the book on breastfeeding given a the pediatrecian's office. dad snuggled the baby  into his arms and she slept well. That was temporary relief. What about th nursing problem? One of the suggestion was to nurse the baby when she is calm in the morning. 5.30am happened to be such a time. Now my baby is back from the confusion.

********
bro was taken o the pacifier so much that he had one hanging from his neck.

Arrival of the baby

Even at 39 weeks, I hadnt felt any contractions. When the doctor's aide mentioned inducing labour, there was a sense of relief. After the exam, the cervix was at 3cm, so the Dr just decided to wait till next week.
3 days before due date I felt few.

The next day I felt some mild contractions.

The night after hat around 9.45 I started getting contractions around 8-9 min apart.It went on like this till 2am. Facing the contraction wasnt bad.From what I have read I was to find relief in the time between contractions.I slept through them, waking up only at the contraction time to note down the time. Also, from the child birth class I knew that it would be better to be moving in the labor phase (4cm -7cm), so I tried to rest before that.

After 2am, the contractions started getting 4-5 min apart. I knew it was time. But there were some contractions that would be only 2-3 min apart. And a few back to  8-9 min range. I was confused if I should start counting again. I gave it some more time during which I made calls to the 'on call' doctor who was unreachable then and before.

We started out at around 3.30 am. In the child birth class we were asked to wait for the 511 to happen for our own convenience. I didnt want to be sent back for less dilation. I was all prepared to follow the different positions to reduce labor pain.

At the hospital, when the lady  at Triage with British accent (she is from S Africa) asked if I was in for labor. I said yes. She wondered how could I be so sure. After filling all the forms, she checked my cervix and found it to be at 7cm. When asked to rate the pain, I said 4.

Husband and I were both overjoyed for skipping the labor phase.

Yippee, I am going into the delivery room.

The nurse asked me if I could walk to the room. I tried and I did. She asked me if I needed epidural then. I told her that I was not there yet with pain. Her shift was about to end in one and half hour. She told me that the next course of action contained breaking the 'bag of water' and that could get really uncomfortable. I was convinced to take the epidural then as it would take 2 bags of IV into he body before they could give the epidural. The anaesthesiologist did a good job of explaining how I would feel pressure at the back when he was inserting the catheter, and how I would feel a weird sensation of something hitting the elbow, once the medicine kicked in. During this time, the nurse held me to comfort. After a while, I felt no pain but just pressure during contractions. The nurse had hooked the fetal monitor and other stuff which showed the contractions and baby's heart beat on the monitor. Just before the nurse was leaving, I asked her about the pushing. I had read enough only to know the oncoming labour but nothing about delivery itself. She said that its nothing but bringing out the biggest poop.

The next nurse checked the cervix and hadnt reported that it was already 9cm. When we were expecting the Dr around 8 am, I was fully dilated to 10cm. When the nurse was checking this, she surmised that the bag of water would break accidentally as any of the contractions happening then (2 min apart) could be big enough to do that. And break it did, a warm gush. So now I know what it feels like should that happen first before contractions. By this time, she had been usin catheter to empty the bladder. We want all the space out there for the baby to emerge.

We were just waiting for contractions to do their bit so that I would have to do litttle pushing. we thought we would be done by 11 or so. The nurse did another cervical exam where she realised that she could feel the cervix agin. She said that this does happen in some cases where the cervix contracts.

She put a peanut ball between my legs putting me to a side, so that things would fall in place. We tried this way and that. The nurse thought I needed extra contractions. In came Pitocin and some more epidural. At this point when asked to rate pain, I couldnt quantise as what I was feeling was pressure which I couldnt call pain but couldnt bear it too. The cervical exam would pain for around 15-20 min as the nurse had to reach far back.

The nurse noticed that the baby's heart beat was reaching 180. She realised that my contractions coupled with close pitocin induced contractions where acting on the baby vigorously. Out goes pitocin. Baby's heart beat stabilises.

Its time to push she said around 1pm.

I started pushing when my husband and the nurse spotted an oncoming  contraction on the screen, not knowing if what I was doing was helping or not. With no visible improvement, I was reaching a point where I thought it might be C-section. But the nurse never gave up. I started feeling pain in the left side of my back. The nurse wanted me to have some pain sensation so I would feel the contractions and push then. By now, I reached for the sides of the bed, to put all my energy into it. The nurse and my husband kept encouraging me and told me when they saw the head. When the nurse realised my pain was bad, she called for more epidural. When I told the nurse of the pain, she said that without epidural, the actual pain would be even more. I couldnt have delivered without the epidural, as the pain would not let me push effectively. I wasnt getting the respite between contactions when there is no need to push. The first nurse told me that the epidural works by gravity. During the peanut ball phase, I might have laid only on the left side, not numbing my right. Once the epidural was in, I got the rest in between contractions. I was ready to push and then some more. By then I had even got the urge to poop. I just followed that. Some more gut wrenching pushes and the baby crowned. The nurse made me touch the baby's head so I would still be in the ring with all energy. She even got a mirror if I liked to get the view down there. the baby's head was soft. The Dr was in the room in some time and baby Maanya was born at 2.54pm. I thought the baby is very cute but couldnt believe her to be my daughter. After the cleanup, baby was put on me for skin to skin contact. I wanted to take a look at the placenta. My mom said that in villages they bury it in the earth. Baby and dad went for Apgar score and more. And here dad was taught a secret about how to hold the baby snug in his elbows so that the baby gets body heat and feels comforted.

I was hungry and thirsty.I had chicken salad sandwich which I enjoyed with mayonnaise in it. I was off it during pregnancy. The nurse recalled what she had after each of her pregnancies.

I was glad that during the whole deal I was allowed to take water as I do not like ice. And thats the only choice on the menu druing labor and delivery.

Another gift

Diaper wedding cake

My boss didnt let me take it home for a while. He must have been taken with it. I thought I could never open it as it was very pretty. One night, when I ran out of all newborn size diapers, I had to do the unthinkable. After opening it, I asked my friend to fill them in a carton. I expected them to be just hurled in a bundle, more from the thought thats the only possible way to do it. What I found was that the carton had been neatly filled with the rolled diapers standing vertical and once the carton was filled, rest were filled in  two columns placed horizontally, like ladyfingers in tiramisu.

Stories

While reading The anti romantic child, I came across the children story Make way for ducklings and about Time of wonder.
Activities for the first story
More on the book

Bear called paddington
Little bear series
Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm
Frog and Toad Are Friends. excerpt.
Little fur family
Really Rosie
Dr Seuss The Lorax
Book of Greek Myths
Bread and Jam for Frances
Between the lions
Louisa May and Mr Thoreau's Flute
Swallows and Amazons
Zeus and Odin
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs Basil E F
The Phantom Tollbooth
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Henry Builds a Cabin

How to brave a storm?

When talking about common fears of kids, storms came up. My colleague told me of the counting 1 1000 way his father taught him.

Monday

Mucous day. No two weeks of life have felt this long. The wait is tough. I think I'm losing it.

Diagnosis

After redifinition of autism, I was intrigued about a book I ignored last week for being in the lines of other books.
Author Kim Stagliano of  All I can handle  begins in a very uncoventional question answer way of how she found herself in a marriage with three autistic children. You see a sudden change in the mom, when she fiercely defends her position on vaccines and autism on her blog Age of autism.
Vaccine court. A case of only exceptions to the rule.
I didnt know about Early intervention.
I learnt of febrile seizures yesterday and that they are not uncommon until age six. The author asks a good question about how do you exclude a seizure as not being a case of autism if it happens early in a child.
There is an interesting list of the 48 vaccine shots that a child has to take before age six.

Birth - a game of Roulette.

Between expectations
Author's blog

Sleep inertia
Tegaderm
Fentanyl
Betadine
Febrile seizure
Hematocrit
Fosphenytoin


Looking at the description of the patient she is working with, it is clear that the author is invested in the well being of the non-interactive baby in the NICU. There's a human side to her physician experiences. Her self is a go-between between the doctors and the patient and his/her family.
As a pediatrecian she is sometimes exposed to a patient pair mom-baby. She also gets to deal with teenagers, that phase rife with troubles we would want them to not get into. From these experiences she does question the sanity of guidelines of how a mom on meth can still breastfeed. She questions the effectiveness of her counseling on her teenage patients.
Recently I have become more aware of birth cases where a mom had to get a Csection soon as the baby had a case of emconium and how another mom had to be given Magnesium to reduce the contractions and keep the baby inside until the hour glass is done. So reading of those cases in the book with the reasoning around them made me appreciate the game of roulette called 'birth'.