The daily little battles

The big move happened three months ago and I'm still trying to take it all in, slowly. San's busy with school, Papa dear with work, Oli with all the growing up, and me, just trying to soak it all in, like a good sponge that has gotten old with all the soaking. Sigh! I hate long sentences, but I can't do without them!

Sometimes, it feels like the time has stopped, even with a lot happening around me. Among all the diaper changes, housework, getting San to do things faster, and singing rhymes to Oli, there's always a part of my brain that is stuck in the past. The part that refuses to move on. It's hard. And it's harder to keep my mind away from this blankness, friendlessness, sluggishness, and the can't-move-on-ness!

And that was all about me.

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Moving on to the girls, my tomboy is getting grumpier, more teenagerish, and harder to please. And like people always say, it's just a phase (it just might be the longest one)! She always surprises us with new words and tantrums. And then, we have the usual arguments over clothes, colors, looks, shoes, games, books, tv, and just every little thing that can be argued about. School's good, as always, but she desperately needs some good friends around.

The little one is a happy, giggly, talkative, Mommy-lover baby, who has gotten into a habit of waking everyone up at 2 am with her inconsolable cries, which only go away when she's been offered a bottle of milk, and that's something I do not want to make a part of her routine. And the happiest part is the way she scoots from one corner to another, and her successful entry into the kitchen!

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Life's good anyway. On a lighter note,

*hides face*

Changes, fears, and a lot more

School's going good, so far. San loves getting homework and becomes sad on the days when she gets none. I asked her what she likes about the new school. "Two recesses!", she replied. :)

San is a little shy around people now. She always was, but her shy nature has gone one step ahead. I've been trying to get her to socialize with the kids she meets at her bus stop and the play park. If she doesn't get a response the first time, she quits trying. Maybe, it's the new environment. Maybe, she really is getting shier.

Or maybe, her brain is two years ahead of her actual age and everything that the kids of her age do is silly stuff for her. And what makes me say that? The way she looks at other kids at times!

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I, as a kid, used to be very shy. In school, I always chose corners or the back benches, away from the limelight and most of the people. Kids could bully me easily. I could never fight back. I used to feel bad and go back to the one friend I used to be around most of the time. Never spoke up. I still wonder how I survived school with that nature.

I want San to be the opposite of who I was as a kid. (That sounds terrible!) I need her to be able to stand up for herself, speak up for any wrong that happens around her, and take no nonsense from anyone. It's a big, bad world out there. Bigger and worse than what it was when we were kids. We're doing our best to guide her and bring her out of the shell she's sliding into.

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Oli is a happy child (minus the times when she is super-irritated because of teething). And let me gladly tell you all that she's been chanting 'Mummammamma" since a few days! Because San's first word was Papa, I was kind of jealous. :p Now I'm a happy yappy Mumma! Oli balanced it out. :D

The Big Move

I have been wanting to write about the big move since the time we realized that we need to move. From the good old Texas to the very new Iowa. From a big city to a little town. From Houston that has been our home for six years to Bettendorf that feels like moon! Okay, that went overboard! It isn't bad. A nice, green town with a world of its own. Still, I miss Houston terribly!

The process of moving has been a roller coaster! Especially, with Oli needing all our attention. It was cumbersome. From packing stuff to answering San's questions on why we need to move and why we cannot stay in Houston and send Papa dear alone to this new place!

The saddest part was saying goodbye to friends. Friends who we have known since the time we have known Houston. Friends who we have celebrated all happiness, festivals, birthdays, and births with. Friends who can never be replaced.

True for San too! She is the kind of a person who doesn't get attached to people and places much, and even if she does, she doesn't express it. But this was the first time she expressed how badly she misses her school in Houston and her friends there. She was almost in tears when she spoke to me about it and I felt terrible for having moved her away from Houston. Houston, her birthplace. The place where her heart is and will be.

She started going to her new school this week. Happy, and desperately trying to make new friends.

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Life goes on. We keep missing people in the little breaks we get from our new routine. New school for San, new office for Papa dear, and a new apartment to set for me. It's exciting, and it's boring. I'm anxious about meeting new people and making friends. I don't feel like but I need to. Maybe, with time, I'll learn to adapt well to new places, like San and Papa dear do.

Finally, it fell!

Since last year, San had been wondering when she'll lose her first tooth. Most of her friends had lost at least two and she was worried! The last month's visit to the dentist gave her a ray of hope because she found out that she has four loose teeth. She was getting impatient!

Yesterday, while brushing her teeth, we noticed that one of the them was almost ready to come off! San was in tears when she was the super-wobbly tooth. We asked her to stay calm and not panic. An hour later, while she was enjoying one of her favorite dishes, the Dhokla, with one of her friends, the wobbly one came off. San happily brought the fallen tooth to me and asked me to keep it safe so that Papa dear can have a look at it when he comes back from work.

The look at San's face while she held the tooth was priceless! Such pride and happiness! Now she can happily tell the story of her first fallen tooth with that wonderful one tooth less smile!

What about the tooth fairy and the dollar?

"Mommy, you know I know that tooth fairy is not real! It's the parents. If you want, you could give me a dollar and please stop asking me to put that tooth under the pillow at night!" San says.

And that was the story of San's first fallen tooth!

Summer chores and more

Been four big months since Oli came! She is growing well, and so is San, the wonderful big sister.

Although San always finds time to do 'nothing' and get bored in the summer vacation, she has successfully added another set of Oli-related chores to her biodata. :D Like bottle-feeding Oli when Mommy is busy, using the bottle warmer to warm her milk, patting her to sleep, installing the pacifier in her mouth (that's the tricky one cuz Oli hates pacifiers :p). She did earn a few dollars by changing Oli's wet diapers a few times, but now she has quit bcuz' this chore doesn't smell so good now! :))

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Because I hardly get much time to play with San these days, she gets upset over it at times.

"Mommy, why do always have so much work ?"

"Because everyone needs to eat, the house and the dishes needs to be cleaned, Oli needs to be fed and bathed and put to sleep, and..."

"But we can do all of this! You take rest and play with me!"

"So who is gonna do all the household work?"

"Papa."

"Who is gonna take care of Oli?"

"Me. You can just feed her when you want to."

"And who will do Papa's office work then?"

"Of course, Papa!"

"Then Papa will get tired!"

"No, he's super Papa!"

And Papa dear happily agrees to all of this. :))

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"Are you still writing about me in the chronicles, Mommy?", San asked me the other day.

"Yes, I am."

"Okay, you need to start writing about Oli now!"

So, here you go!

Oli, my little darling, is a happy, excited, fidgety, drooling-forever, raspberry-blowing baby! And because she chews and licks anything that she can catch hold of, San calls her 'the hungry caterpillar'! :D

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I might need to change my blog's name to something else. Something that makes both San and Oli happy. Any suggestions? :)

And the Learning Continues

With two kids, it's a different world at home. There have been times when both the girls were super-hungry at the same time, or wanted all attention at the same time. San, obviously, is expected to behave like the elder sister and wait until the little one has been taken care of. And that's the case only when Papa dear isn't around. Otherwise he, as a SuperDad, handles all three of us like a charm. I wish I had his skills!

San is a wonderful big sister. She tries her best to handle most of her things herself so that I can concentrate on taking care of Oli while I am at it. When she sees that Oli is finally asleep and Mommy has a little time on her hands, all she needs from me is watch TV with her, play games with her, or just do some fun, silly stuff. And at those times, "sleep when your baby sleeps" doesn't apply. 

San's maturity amazes me. She is always ready to help me with little things around the house and bears my mood swings without complaining. I, as a Mommy, try my best to give her as much care and attention as I can. Feels less, somehow. There's a guilt about not being able to divide my time perfectly between the girls. At the end of each day, I think about things that I could have done differently, or better. Things I shouldn't have said or done. Things I could have done.

Some situations overwhelm me. I panic easily. I'm glad that I have Daddy cool around to sail me through them. And San, who always assures me that I'm the best Mom. I need to learn a lot from them. Such wonderful teachers I have at home.

Big Sister San!

Yup, San is a big sister now! Oli, as San lovingly calls her, arrived in our lives on March 12 this year.

The very happy big sister is on cloud nine!

"I knew I was gonna get a little sister because I'd been praying to God to send me one! You know where all I prayed? In my room, in the bathroom, at night, in school... God heard me!"

From happily helping me with changing Oli's diaper and bathing her to rocking, talking and singing to her at every little coo sound she utters, San does it like a pro! She is one lovely big sister and I'm one happy, proud Mommy!
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Life is different, yes. It feels like we've become Mommy and Daddy all over again. And jugglers! :D

It's been over a month. We are handling it all quite okay. <Pat on our backs>.  Yup, there are moments/days when we are overwhelmed, frustrated, anxious... and going nuts! Like all other bad moments and days, they pass, and we emerge a bit better!

Still learning. Have a lot to learn. Enjoying every bit of it!