!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> A Mama's World: February 2005

Monday, February 28, 2005

Young Acrobat


This is his new interest - take the crawl pose and then just take the right hand off the floor and swing on the three anchor points - feet and the left hand.

posted by Tuya @ 16:19 0 comments

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Tokyo DisneySea trip

DisneySea "Adults are only kids grown up, anyway"

Arunav went on his first whole-day trip yesterday. It was to celebrate Chinku's birthday - all of us had a lovely time. It was really chilly and that's why the warm 'caramel churros' with piping hot 'almond cocoa' felt so good!
It was fun watching Arunav's eyes light up when he boarded the Disney ResortLine train - he was watching the Mickey-shaped "hold-ons" hanging from the hold-on bars inside the train. I wonder what is it about Disney that appeals to even a 6 month old who is not influenced by any commercial, any word-of-mouth by friends - hats off to what Disney created - the wonder never stops!
After a long time I took a fast ride through the 'Journey to the center of the earth' - it felt great!

posted by Tuya @ 17:37 0 comments

That is the question

I am having the best time of my life now.
The night wakings are tough, the mornings feel groggy but I love to hold my child in my arms and watch him peacefully fall asleep - I enjoy that feeling of being needed, that million dollar gummy smile when he spots me, the soft palms and naughty eyes, watch his relentless efforts to reach an object, grab it, examine it from all angles to decide whether to chew it - everything....
But I have another life which pays me money for my efforts. It gives me a different social standing, it also gives me a certain sense of individual achievement, it offers me challenges and the satisfaction of overcoming them. This life is purely my own - I dont share that with my husband or my child.
When these two lives are opposing each other which one should I go for? Can one really balance the two? Which is sacrificed? And at what cost? Will I be able to pay that price?

posted by Tuya @ 16:51 0 comments

Monday, February 21, 2005

Movie/Video Blog??

How can I upload mpegs to my blog? Pls enlighten me - if you know. Hello seems to be only for Photoblogging, which I am anyway using.

posted by Tuya @ 09:33 0 comments

Asserting individuality

The new "individual" wants to have food by himself and not mummum or papa's feeding. For a 6 month 1 day old, he did quite well yesterday with slight guidance....

posted by Tuya @ 07:36 0 comments

Friday, February 18, 2005

Bangla Blog & Riksha

For those interested: What to do and How to dos of Bangla Blog

Also, did you know the word Rickshaw("riksha" in Bengali) is derived from a Japanese word? jin-riki-sha (man-carrier)

posted by Tuya @ 08:46 0 comments

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Through the eyes of a child

Curious

I love the wonder with which a baby looks at the world. For Arunav 90% of the world is part of the living room where he can now back-crawl and explore and remaining when he goes out on a ride in his perambulator (I still prefer this old-fashioned word to 'stroller').

Outside
When out on a stroll he looks at almost everything with wide-eyed curiosity and wonder. I normally dont pay attention - I assume they are things I have seen, I know. The other day I was curious finding him looking rather animated-ly at the sky - sure enough, it was a crimson red - the setting sunrays reflected on the huge cumulous clouds. It was awesome. My baby too teaches me how to open my eyes and look at the wonders around us - he helps me to clear my mind of the hundred thoughts that block my vision!

Inside
He is immensely happy when he sees the red/blue cloth-book he has. He leaves normal playthings like the gym we have bought for him or the big Pluto, Pooh & other soft toys - but is immensely interested in the wires of the laptop or the heating carpet; the videocam, the area outside the hot carpet(!), the plate in which I eat, my coffee mug. Shyam is right - the toys marketed by toy manufacturers are actually for the parents who think their children will like it - not really for the children - they are happy with simpler & more mundane objects.

posted by Tuya @ 16:57 0 comments

Monday, February 14, 2005

English Books in Tokyo

Saturday we visited the new store of Blue Parrot @ Akihabara. We got a good deal since the already discounted used books were at a further 50% off. I got some Agatha Christies, The First Man in Rome(Colleen McCullough), and few Dan Browns.

The following are good Value-for-Money bookstores(Used/new) I have come across in Tokyo (where normally English books are prohibitively priced - just browse through the store of Kinokuniya/Shinjuku which has a real big collection and you will know what I am talking about):

1. Good Day Books in Ebisu
2. Blue Parrot
3. Caravan Books - you can order Online - Yippee!!

Enjoy.

posted by Tuya @ 14:36 0 comments

Offering the Carrot

Carrot Teether

The cool orange carrot from the fridge was a hit with my little baby - he replaced his green teether with this carrot stick!

posted by Tuya @ 10:59 0 comments

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

It started and continued well but I dont like the way it ended or rather the way it tapered off. If Namesake is the theme of the story then it lost the theme somewhere in between. However, I must credit the realistic picture it draws of the Indian immigrants. It is quite true to life. The dilemmas and struggles of identity are very well portrayed. Good for one time read.


posted by Tuya @ 12:33 0 comments

To crawl or not to crawl

Arunav's attempts at crawl are only taking him backwards. I place some toys in front of him to guide him forward but all his attempts take him farther away :). I have started experimenting in solids too. Rice, Carrot - all very finely mashed and strained, are his favourites. I am storing them in air tight containers in the freezer - heating up is easy. Though I use the microwave I make sure the hotspots are gone by whisking the content for quite sometime before feeding him.
Ice-cube trays are also very convenient for storage - specially bcoz I dont need to think about the quantity served.

posted by Tuya @ 12:22 0 comments

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Mama's help

There are numerous websites and books one can refer to but my top-of-the-mind-recalls are the following which was really helpful in and on the way to my new life as a mom:

BOOKS:

The Girlfriends' guide to Pregnancy
When hit by those pregnancy blues nothing like this book to pep up your spirit in addition to providing some key guidelines. I enjoyed the sense of humour of the author - no matter how blue you feel once you read through this you are bound to laugh out loud and wonder what bogged you down in the first place! Get one of your friends (Thanks Sujata!) to gift you this .

What to Expect the First Year and What to Expect when You're Expecting
Comprehensive coverage of everything one might need during/before and occasionally after first year. The dos and donts are pragmatic in line with the thoughts of mothers.

WEBSITES:

www.babycenter.com - you can also send some lovely baby gifts to friends going through the same stage.
www.askdrsears.com
The one site which unequivocally convinced me on breastfeeding. I am a total convert now. It also helped me a lot in dealing with 'mastitis' - something I had in the first few weeks after delivery.

Cheers!

posted by Tuya @ 08:57 1 comments

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

For a Million Dollar more

Arunav smiling while dozing off to sleep.

He has recently started to give these cute little smiles when he is about to doze off - he will open his eyes once in a while to check if I am around and then give this special smile as he closes his eyes - as if he can now relax and go to sleep. It gives me such a sweet feeling. What's a million dollar eh?

posted by Tuya @ 14:40 0 comments

anythingbengali.com - Check it out

I found this new site - well the site maybe old but I newly found it - www.anythingbengali.com (Courtesy: www.batj.org from where I got the link). They've got some good book collection as well as some good gift ideas. I specially like the idea of mishti (sweets, okashi) gift. I am planning to send some to my parents - they are aged and alone - not always will they go out to buy sandesh from Bhimnag you see or for that matter go to College Street in the rush to get a collection of Feluda :)

I only wish the international shipping charges for books were based on volume - it would be so convenient for me to order all the Satyajit Rays', Sukumar Rays', Tagores', Saratbabus'. I am also waiting for the VCD/DVD collection to be up and running.

posted by Tuya @ 10:56 0 comments

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

The Da Vinci Code

I just finished reading this book - quite a gripping book and by the number of hits that came up when I Googled (for Last Supper 'image'), I know it is well discussed in the web. Though I am not a Christian, I studied in a Catholic school and know some of the rudimentary details on the subject. I am no scholar who has researched in this area so I was impressed by many of the revelations in the book - presence of Mary M in Last Supper, the existence of Priory de Sion, etc. I was quite fascinated. What also interested me were the math intricacies of Golden Ratio, Fibonacci,etc. Do read it. Please keep in mind though, it is EOD(end-of-the-day) a fictional work which has a lot of facts packed in it.

I am onto my next book: Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake

posted by Tuya @ 09:25 0 comments

Arunav - Now



posted by Tuya @ 09:24 0 comments

Arunav - 2 hours old

posted by Tuya @ 09:23 2 comments