Spring Break 2011

Spring Break!!! Well, not quite the same as I remember it from college... doing shots till 3am has now turned into sipping a glass of wine till 11pm. Which I think is perfect, by the way :)

While we were hoping for a Hawaii or Mexico trip, I found out that I had to be in Las Vegas for work on

Wed & Thursday. Since it was right in the middle of the week, our Spring Break options were limited. We decided to fly in and out of Vegas, and do a road trip to Sedona (only ~4 hrs away) Friday-Tuesday.

Here are some trip highlights:

-Got stuck in a very scary snowstorm on I-40 in Arizona and took 11 hours instead of 4 to reach Sedona. Drove from 11pm to 10am, through the night and stuck in our car for 1-2 hrs at a time when the roads were blocked by trucks sliding backwards down the hill ahead.

-Took naps in the middle of the freeway when we were stuck in the snowstorm and stuck

-I lost my camera. It's either in the rental car, at Szechuan Grill, or at the Hilton Sedona Resort room 10624.

-Naina petted a snake! and loved it

-Swimming!! Yes, the day after the blizzard, it was sunny and 70, so we hit the pool

-Back in Vegas, we stayed at Bellagio. WOW!!! Really.

-Drunk Columbian guy and his Russian wife at my work dinner who ordered 5 bottles of Pinot.

What a trip it was - N's first Spring Break trip!

Rekindling my favorite activity...

...watching Hindi movies!! Lots and lots of them. That was my new year's resolution.

I hardly recognize myself anymore. The Anjali I knew watched hindi movies all the time. Yes, that's right, I'm not ashamed to embrace it - I LOVE hindi movies. The cheesier the better.

Some of my all time favorites are the ones with all the sappy, cheesy songs that the rest of you folks probably fast forward. If it has Shah Rukh Khan - awesome. If it has SRK *and* another Khan (Salman, Aamir, Saif) - even better!

So this year, I'm back. Recently I watched Dil To Pagal Hai & K3G for the gazillionth time. Then I watched Wake Up Sid and dusted off my collection of hindi songs DVDs to fill every moment that Amit's not the in room with me. Six weeks into the year and I'm making pretty good progress so far - 3 movies and a few repeated watches of my favorite song compilations. Let's see how I continue to fare over the next few weeks. I'm off to update my Netflix queue...

A New Year

Based on the date of my last post, it's safe to assume that I pretty much gave up on the rest of 2010.

What a year! To say I'm glad it's over would be an understatement. We went through lots of changes - Amit & I both changed jobs, moved twice, dealt with some health hurdles, and just generally went through the year always feeling 10 steps behind. It was overwhelming, frustrating, and infuriating at times, too. But as 2011 neared, we both fell into a resolve to start with a clean slate.

Bring on 2011! We're settling in at work, settling in at home, Naina continues to thrill us and remind us what life is really all about. She's loving toddler life - picking up words and skills just about every day.

For those who don't mind being bored listening to me proudly talk about her, here's some of the progress we've seen on the words front. The milestones seem to come in phases -

Phase I words:

mum-mum

outside

all done

naina

(much to our amusement, all hopes of mama and dada being her first words were shattered)

In Phase II, she added on:

turtle

nah

ya

diaper

pay-pay (aka pee pee)

dada

aba

Recent additions to the vocabulary include:

yogurt

mama

dada turned into daddy

dudhu

chicken

fish

doggy

oh no

wow

whee (everytime we make a u-turn in the car or grocery store shopping cart!)

ya turned into yes

nah turning into no

aji

yucky

oooh baby (Amit's trying to make her into a pop singer) :-)

She makes us laugh every single day. Having Naina around is the one part of 2010 that I wouldn't have traded for the world. Thanks to the hurdles this past year, I've really come to appreciate all blessings in my life. Here's to 2011 - wishing all our dear friends and family good things in the year ahead!

Sold!

Big changes are underway in the Rele household.

First, we sold the house. We were both hit with some mixed emotions with the house sale - can't seem to talk about all the memorable times we had at Feasel Ct. without getting teary-eyed. Our first house together, hours and days of toiling in the yard to battle the enormous water leak our first summer here, painting the kitchen and various other projects, and the best one - spending weekend after weekend getting Naina's room ready. Then finally bringing her here to her first home. This is where we started our family.

For the next few months we're moving back into Northpark, where we lived just before we bought the house. In some ways, it feels good to go back to something familiar, where we also have fond memories. It makes leaving Feasel Ct. a little bit easier.

Our first step in the apartment is going to be BABY-PROOFING!! Naina's getting into anything and everything now. She now prefers standing to sitting or lying down, so when we put her down, she immediately pulls herself up using whatever she can find to get her grip. She also is suddenly unstatisfied with hanging out in the family room. As soon as she's put on her play rug, she promptly turns around and heads for the kitchen, back door, or dining room!

Beer vs Beer

It's Friday night, Amit and I have had a long week, Naina's sound asleep, and we're ready for some fun.

So I did what anyone with free time on a Friday night would do - I decided to taste-test some Belgian beers to see what all the hullaballoo is about.

First we started with a Chimay.

It was surprisingly refreshing. A little tingly when it first hit my tongue, then the effervescence gave way to a lively, citrusy, goodness that I just can't seem to shake.

Two thumbs up.

For those who are interested in the technical scoring, here's the complex scoring scale I used. All categories are scored on a 5-point scale.

Color: 3.5, appx the color of Newcastle or Shiner Bock, I wasn't overwhelmed by the darkness

Fizziness: 3, oooh..just right in the tingly department

Coolness of the name: 4, a pic of a glass w/ Chimay written on it was the root of the experiment

Initial Taste: 3, I just had a piece of my leftover birthday cake so a little bitter at first

Lingering Taste: 5!!!! amazing. love it. want more. lots more.

Total Score: 18.5 - C'est magnifique and I'm feeling gooooood.

Next up is the Duvel.

Hmm...not too impressed. Here's how the Duvel scored -

Color: 1.5, looks like Coors Light

Fizziness: 1, way too fizzy...I had to drink it slow to keep it from fizzing up my throat

Coolness of the name: 2, I'm neither here nor there on this one. Whatever.

Initial Taste: 4, had great promise. My tongue was hit with an almondy pleasure.

Lingering Taste: 2, the almonds turned into eyebrow twitching tartness. I'm not pleased.

Total Score: 10.5

The Verdict: Chimay might be my new favorite! No thank you to the Duvel, but I might have opened up a new door into the world of Belgian beers.

Baby + Date = Takeout While Watching TV at Home

4:15pm - Amit & Anjali are both hungry and wondering what to do for a snack

4:30pm - Amit suggests date night / happy hour @ St. John's

4:45pm - But Naina shows signs of falling asleep earlier than her usual 6:30pm bedtime

5:00pm - We make the decision to get Naina to sleep, then leave for St. John's after she's settled and ready to sleep. She usually sleeps through the whole thing when we go out in the evenings so this seems like safe bet.

5:15pm - Naina has her bath.  She's in an extra splashy mood so Anjali has to change into dry clothes.

5:45pm - Naina has her dinner.  She spits up plenty so Anjali has to change into dry clothes...again. Amazingly, Naina's clothes remain clean.

6:10pm - Naina is sound asleep in her car seat.  Date night, here we come!

6:45pm - We arrive at St. John's only to find that there are no open tables. People are even standing around waiting for tables.  There's so much noise that Naina wakes up.  We get back in the car to go somewhere else and hopefully get Naina back to sleep.

7:05pm - Naina's sound alseep. We arrive at Red Robin. We're *really* hungry by now. Remember - we first got hungry 3 hrs earlier!

7:10pm - We order a Blue Moon & a Sam Adams...super sized!

7:15pm - Naina wakes up!  We start rocking the car seat and Anjali's singing lullabies to reverse the damage.

7:25pm - We order our burgers. Yummm....bottomless fries are on their way.

7:40pm - Naina's still awake and getting restless. We're now 1.5-2 hrs past bedtime - we're well into the danger zone!  Somewhere out there, red sirens are wailing...this is not a drill.  We need to evacuate ASAP.

7:45pm - We change our order to takeout & start chugging our 22-ounce (or maybe more!) beers

8:00pm - We're in the car headed home, dinner's in the back seat, our beers left unfinished, and Naina is now grinning innocently

8:30pm - We get home, and despite driving around a little extra, Naina's wide awake!  (see pic)

8:50pm - We're watching last Thursday's episode of The Office, drinking bottled beer from the fridge, and eating our room temperature burgers & cold fries out of takeout containers. Naina's happily sitting in her swing and NOT sleeping.  

If she wasn't so darn cute and loveable, this would be an evening gone bust.  But somehow, we're still amused and dare I say - we had fun :)  Nevertheless, I think we may get a sitter next time!

Naina's Firsts: Diwali & Vacation!!

Skiing, sledding, snowshoeing....what more could a 3-month old ask for?

Well this 3-month old didn't quite hit the slopes, but she did venture out on her first vacation - a destination

 Diwali in Silverthorne, CO - located just in between Breckenridge and Vail.  

The flights both ways went smoothly - the only thorn in our side was the inconvenience of traveling on United again (remember back to my post from 12/22/07 for more on our United Airlines woes en route to PV).  

Naina was a real trooper.  She didn't complain when we woke her up at 4am to catch our flight.  Instead, looked around here and there, wondering what these "new" things called a taxi and an airport were all about.  She stayed awake, looking around with curiosity until we boarded the plane.  As soon as we settled into our seats, she drank her milk and fell asleep.  Next thing she knew, we were in line at the rental car company.  Perfect.

Once we reached Silverthorne, the elevation took a bit of a toll on all of us.  Poor Naina also felt the impact, and had a really hard time for the first 2 days.  An uncomfortable baby made for 2 very tired parents.  After 2 days of feeling helpless in trying to make her more comfortable, I was wishing we were back at home so things could go back to normal!!  

It was a whirlwind trip, so hectic, and I'm not sure I want to take another flight with Naina till she's old enough not to need so much "stuff".  Not because of her - she was a dream - so good on the plane - I don't know how we got so lucky to have such an easy baby!  But rather because it was such a hassle to travel in general - looking for elevators everywhere we went, gate checking a stroller & 

a car seat, getting all her milk tested at security, installing the car seat a gazillion times over, sterilizing the same 3 bottles & nipples half a dozen times a day, changing diapers in the airport, changing diapers in the car, doing laundry every day because we only packed

6 burp cloths that got used faster than they ever do at home.  It looks like we'll be sticking to road trips for a while :)

Things settled down in time for a nice Diwali celebration.  Naina's first Diwali was filled with lots of love and attention from several Ajis and Ajobas.  She got all dressed up and enjoyed being the center of attention!

 

The Sleep Saga

Naina's had some sleeping adventures since she arrived.  First she slept in the pack'n'play in our room.  Then we moved her to the crib in her room...but we slept in there with her.  Finally we moved back to our bedroom...but she came along with us.  

What's the current status, you ask?  Now we do a variation of all 3 - sometimes in the pack'n'play, sometimes in her crib, and a *lot* of times in our bed.  Here's how Naina and her Daddy look on most nights:

What's in a name?

Last weekend was Naina's barsa.  I was worried about getting through the ceremony that day if she was fussy, but she did great! In fact, she was even smiling while her aunts were performing the ceremony with her.  Phew!  

Now that she's officially named, hopefully Amit will stop referring to her as munchkin, little munchkin, tiny munchkin, and anything remotely similar :)  

Here's a pic of the big moment - Naina gets her name!

The day after her naming ceremony, my parents left after being our safety net and support for the past 3 months.  And boy was it a tough goodbye. Poor Naina struggled with the transition of one Aji and Aba leaving, and a different Aji being around.  A depressed 3-month old is heartbreaking - her appetite was gone, she stopped playing & smiling, and spit up nearly every entire meal.  It took about 3 days before we saw her smile again, and by day 5 she was back to herself.  Amit and I smothered her with tons of love and attention to help her through the transition.  Things seem to be getting better every day and she's back to her happy, giggly, perpetually hungry self.  Aba will be back in town next week for work, so she'll get to see him then!

We were all set to celebrate her 3-month birthday today...but she had a mind of her own.  Refused to nap all day, until she was as tired as could be tonight.  So in her birthday dress, off to sleep we went without our birthday photo shoot.  Hoping to take some pictures tomorrow and claim that they're from today!  Ssshhh, no one will ever know :)

1 Month Already?

Naina turned 1 month this week!  What a whirlwind it's been!  We're overcome with joy, wonder, and of course...sleep deprivation.  

First of all, here are some stats so you get an idea of Naina's progress so far.

Height

Homecoming: 18 in

2 Week Checkup: 19.5 in

1 Month Checkup: 20 in

Weight -when she gets older, she may not want to share this, but for now it's probably ok :)

Homecoming: 5 lbs 1 oz

2 Week Checkup: 6 lbs 1 oz

1 Month Checkup: 7 lbs 10 oz

Wow! That's some growth!  But I can't say I'm surprised - we can usually tell when she's having a growth spurt because her meals turn into feasts and seem to continue all day long...

The emotional connection we made with Naina was like a switch that just flipped the moment we saw her.  I spent the first few days trying to get a grip and not cry every time she cried.  It tore me up to hear her cry.  I know, I know - that's just how they communicate.  I'll blame the surge of hormones that I was going through - I finally pulled myself together and found more effective ways than my own tears to handle her cries.  

Naina's already turned into a busy bee.  She goes on daily walks with her Aba (grandpa) and even accompanied him to Starbucks on her 6-day birthday!  So far she's been to lunch at Bombay Garden - where she thought the buffet looked fabulous - and to BJ's for an early dinner with her Ricky Mama who came for a visit from Atlanta.  Let's see where her next adventure takes her.

She's also sleeping in her own room now.  It's been about a week - and she's doing great.  Amit & I, on the other hand, have had separation anxiety and are taking turns sleeping on the floor in her room.  We miss having her in our room, but we're actually getting some rest now, so it's been good progress.