You are 1 already!! Happy 1st Birthday

At 12:11 PM on Nov 3rd 2007, honey, you turned 1!!

Congratulations on completing one year of milestones and developmental achievements. Happy 1st Birthday my sweet-pea. You have filled our lives with immense happiness and new surprises. You bring sunshine to a cloudy day, your beautiful memories keep us warm on a cold winter day and your smile gives a cool sensation to a hot summer day. Honey you definitely complete us and though its your Birthday – we feel like we have been blessed with the most precious present!! Love and lots and lots of love for you always.

Baby we celebrate your first birthday,

with one candle on your cake;

we the proud parents stare in wonder

At each new move you make.
Friends and family join in celebration,

As this special date arrives,

For baby your have brought pleasureInto all our lives.

We look forward now to seeing

How you become and toddler and grow,

From the cute and tiny infant that you were one year ago.
So dig into your strawberry cake icing;

and enjoy your presents, too.

The reason for this day is a special person -you!

Baby Steps

Last one year has been the most amazing years of our lives (me and my husband). Watching Gauri do new things every day, has been the most satisfying and most precious part of our life for last 11 months. But when it comes to milestone, her first steps can’t be beaten. She has been standing unsupported for almost a month and a half now and cruising around like nobody’s business. Her new found mobility has not only amazed us but has also kept us on our toes. She is always on the go, one second she is there and the very next second, gone….

One day she started standing against the couch, then came cruising holding furniture etc. — and last Saturday (Oct. 6th) she woke up, and as I put her down on the floor, she came tottering back into our waiting arms. We had been encouraging her to come to us walking instead of crawling for a while now, but that morning she just surprised us and then there was no stopping, she kept running doing her penguin walk back and forth between ‘mumum’ and ‘dad-dad’. Looking at her running around brought tears to my eyes, thinking, off she goes running and leaving babyhood behind. After all, her first baby steps is the first major move toward independence!

Welcome to my arms baby! You know, now, you can always run into my arms whenever you wanna feel warm, and I promise I will always be waiting for you with open arms.

Making all sorts of sounds

One Sunny Afternoon

Gauri is now a 10 month old and loves the outdoors. One sunny afternoon we took her out for a walk and the beautiful breeze started blowing her silky tresses away from her face and eyes. And as the sun rays kissed her cheeks, my little darling looked like a sweet little angel and I could stop myself from capturing some of those cute looks.

Moments like these take my breath away and I begin to wonder -
is there anything more fulfilling than this, more special than being
a mom to a special little person more fortunate than being blessed
with this adorable little angel in our lives.

We love you Gauri, and thanks for filling our life with immense happiness
and the bliss we couln't have experienced if it weren't for you!

Let's shake it

What a performer you are my little Gauri…. Of all the toys that we get for you, you chose to have most fun with (or should I say inside) a cardboard box.
Your favorite toys aren’t any of those LeapFrog learning toys, or the rattles or those stuffed animals instead you find most fun with pots and pans and spoons and spatulas and the Tupperware!!
Here’s a sample of what you do these days…

Gauri's Latest Adveture

Look what Gauri is upto these days. The new found mobility for Gauri has been a lot of fun for her and definitely a lot of close watch for "mum-mum"(her version of Mom)

My little mermaid

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Being a Mom means:

No more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations.
That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt your heart.
That the pictures of starving children will make you cry in a room full of people.
That the local news of abducted/ missing child or a gun-fire in the loacl school was never so important to you.
That your manicured nails and sophistication will be reduced to - you being a primitive animal protecting your cub.
That a sudden cry from your baby will cause you to drop your most expensive crystal without a moment's hesitation That while going into an important business meeting you will think of your baby's sweet smell and will have to use every ounce of self-discipline to keep from running home.
That however smart you may be at the office, you will second-guess yourself constantly as a mother.
That you will not think of accomplishing your own dreams, but watch your child accomplish hers.
That caesarian scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.
That the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave you with an emotional wound so raw that you will forever be vulnerable.
That your relationship with your husband will change forever and you will suddenly love him for reasons you would have found so unromantic.
That you would admire your husband not for being strong but for being so gentle with your baby, for never hesitating to play with his child.
That you will fall in the exhilaration of seeing your child say the first words, the first laugh, the first touch of her bare skin.

That the joy of motherhood is so real, it actually hurts and the decision you'll never regret.

Here’s something I want you to know mom:
“There isn’t a day of my life that you are not special to me mom. After being a mom myself I have much more appreciation for what you did for me and I would be happy if I could be half as good a mother as you were to me. I am, who I am today, all because of mother like you. Love you mom dearly!”

Bald and Beautiful

I am very late in posting this one, Gauri has already grown a lot of hair by now, but I think its still worth sharing, how cute she looked with 'No' Hair.
On March 25, 2007, we shaved Gauri's head, which is called 'Mundan' in Indian cultures. I know it sounds so sad to shave baby's head and ofcourse I had shead tons of tears just before doing this to her; I tried every possible reasoning to avoid it, but then once done, I kinda liked her new 'baldy-baby' look - Truely BALD AND BEAUTIFUL. I hope when she grows up she also feels the same way - that she still looked absolutely adorable without any hair.

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I am happy if she is happy

Although it breaks my heart to send my little sweet-pea to a day care and I must have shed tons of tears the first week I left her at the day care but finally I can see she like it.
Thank goodness she doesn't cry much at all; but she is almost confused to see other babies cry at times. I wonder what goes on in her little head??

She is only 5 months but she is already trying to sit up and mind you all by herself! She hates the bouncy seat, thinks its so dumb to lie in it. She loves the exersaucers and the jumperoo and they say at the day care - "she is very independent, even holds her own bottle"- Little miss independent.

Every time I hear she didn't feed well - I get tears; I call to check on her and hear her fussing in the background - tears again; every time I pick her up and I if I see tear marks around her eyes - feel sad again. But now after a few weeks of going to the day care, it seems like she is doing well there. She smiles at the babies when I take her in every morning, I have even caught her laughing in the evening at her pick-up time. And this morning I watched her share a toy with an older baby while they were sitting on a play mat of course supported by a pillow.
I am happy to see her happy - I'll miss her like every other day, but in my heart, I know, she is playing and she is happy.
A small photo story of a typical morning at the day care: