Dear Grace

Hi Grace ... wrote this one 3 years ago.... never published it :) I guess everything under heaven has a perfect time!

February is a month for birthdays in our family and for at least the reason of not being able to eat cake ... I am sad I am not in Mumbai ... where most of the celebration is happening. I want to write something for each of those who have a birthday this month. I may not complete it by your birth date - but hope to get it posted by  your the end of the month

Here is to my favorite person

Grace; Happy Birthday - I know you are 14 --- but to me your are still the little girl who I held 14 years ago - one fine Saturday morning. Or was it close to noon. I think it was close to noon.

I always want you to remember these things about your birth -
1. Your mother went through over 36 hours of labour before you were born - Always value and appreciate her (I always give advice --- sometimes you see me not praticising it -- I am working on that skill)
2. You were really lucky to have so many people waiting to see you - Here is the list
   Appacha (Baby)
   Pappa (Santosh)
   Ammachi (Molu ammachi)
   Ammachi ( ponnu ammachi)
   Chochmmachi
   I think Appu appacha and Chinnama ammachi were also around but probably just arrived or left before you came into the world.
  And of course ME

3. You were very lucky to be cuddled by your Great-grand mother (maternal) a few hours of being born!
4. You were called Kuttappi (named by Baby Appacha) a nickname forgotten -- but apt for you!
5. Your parents spent days looking for the perfect name for you! It is perfect!
6. Your mother and father spent days arguing who you looked like (him or her). I think you are a perfect mixture - Good from both sides - be thankful for that
7. Your father counted your fingers and toes to ensure you had the correct number (Too funny)

There are lots more I can go on about --- but to end all of this

I am so thankful that you were born into our family and I am so thankful that I got to be your aunt!

Happy Birthday - May the Lord bless you and may he make his face shine upon you!

What happened to those lazy mornings? Where did they go?

There used to be a time when a long weekend meant something … a holiday in the middle of the week was something we looked forward to!

It was a Friday. It was a holiday. A holiday means nothing to me anymore except that Suresh stays at home with us. This exception is a big deal. Having Suresh at home is a blessing. He watches the kids, plays with them and shares the disciplining responsibility so I am not screaming my lungs out continuously.

But there used to be a time when we could be spontaneous. We could wake up late and then eat brunch and then go for a drive to some mountains and then go hiking...

But not anymore.... For one thing – we cannot wake up late. If our biological alarm clock does not set off, then the physical one sleeping right next to us … will promptly pick up her leg and whack it on our stomach! (Giving the instinct to pee --- and we are up!)

I have heard parents say that they just sleep in … and their kids will sleep in with them too …. I really am jealous of parents whose kids let them sleep in! For us the story so far … first it was Isaac who would wake up at 6 am and open our eyelids … just to make sure we knew he was awake. Now he does sleep a little later … 7 am … But Ziva is promptly up and rolling over us as early as 6:30 am. More importantly she is too hungry to stay in bed. She needs her milk which means one of us has to drag ourselves out of bed and go get the bottle ready! Which means there is no more staying in bed late … just one happy... over-excited … hyper energized … toddler!

Spontaneity is a word I have given up from my dictionary. I can no longer be spontaneous (I was not very good at it previously --- I like to plan). But now with diapers and meal and nap times … The planning is even more intensive.

We cannot do brunch … well maybe Suresh and I can do brunch … but we still need to prepare three square meals … interspersed with snacks... and so we need to plan. So between 8 am and 9 am two mouths need to be fed. And than again at 12 pm and then a snack …. and then dinner must be on the table at 7 pm. No more sleeping in late... No long naps after those late brunches … No more long unplanned drives

The months of September and October bring about a large number of the Indian festival and thus many days when Suresh is at home. Its not like the old days and I do miss those days.... But just as I am thinking how good it would be to get these little munchkins grown up and out of the house … I see a few empty nests where kids have gone of to college giving parents their life back … I shudder. The thought of my physical alarm clock not smiling into my face at 6:30 am … is  nothing short of a nightmare.

So while I would like to sleep in once in a while … I think for now I will enjoy the early mornings and deal with not knowing which day of the week it is!

Cheers to being a parent!