My baby's new friend

Its a teddy bear... no, its a ball... no, its a toy.... no....It is a fridge! Yes, my kid has recently befriended an electric refrigerator.

How can I be sure of that? Well, during our countless attempts to calm our crying kiddo one specific sunday, I felt that his mood got alleviated everytime I took him in my arms for a few minutes. Initially, I kept giving credit to my super ability to handle babies, but pretty soon my wife took my pride away by stating that even a lifeless fridge has more consoling power than me.

Actually, it wasn't my ability to handle babies, it was my inability to resist temptation of munching over snacks that led me to kitchen every now & then; and my kiddo somewhat liked the maroon coloured refrigerator giving me a feeling of false pride.

PS: This doesn't surprise me much because I know that my fridge is capable of alleviating even my mood most of the times. All it needs to do is to have some tasty stuff stored in it :)

Feed quest

If you're thinking what this subject means, then this is about our ongoing hunt for new ways to ensure that our 6-month old toddler gets his share of nutrition.

Want more details? Here I go - once upon a time ... naaah, just kidding. Actually, our kid has developed some kind of dislike for milk at this early age; & since milk is the main source of nutrition for babies, so we are left with only one alternative - find new ways to get him to drink milk!

The trickiest part is that he keeps on learning from our techniques... now I know what do they mean when pediatrics say "babies are fast learner"; and that is a hands-on practical experience!

Here are some of our futile attempts:

We tried to confuse our baby by using bottle covers, but he started recognizing those within 2 days;
we switched to spoon-bowl combination, he caught us again;
we tried playing soothing music while feeding, he started enjoying it (the music, not the milk);
I tried to use force a couple of times, he retorted with regurgitation;
we tried giving him sweet-lime juice, he denied after 3 days;
we added pomegranate juice to that, he denied that too after 3 more days;
I switched ON the idiot box (TV), he got lost in that (ok, I can't blame him for this one; even I get lost while watching TV);
latest discovery - our baby still takes feeds while sleeping; however I think that this won't last long because he is getting into a habit of making us fall asleep before we can do the same to him & get up earlier than us!

Now our strategy pool is nearing exhaustion (our baby is winning once again), so currently we're trying mix 'n match techniques. Any suggestions?

Is it morning yet?

Have you ever slept dreaming about something where your dream has a background sound/music, and you wake up to realize that the sound is not part of any dream; instead it is coming from somewhere around you. It happens with me often; and it happened today too :)
While I was sleeping today morning, I started hearing little thumping sound which grew louder & louder... when my sleep was light enough to be broken I found that my 6 months old kid was trying to kick the hell out of thin air... & the sound was being produced by his legs hitting the bed. So, while I was sleeping like a baby, my baby wasn't asleep at all.
I gathered all of my energy & tried to open my eyes to find out the time, but could only figure out that clock's small hand was somewhere around 4. Strangely, the larger hand decided to remain invisible & succeeded in doing so.
For a moment I thought about getting up because I hadn't woke up at 4 am since ages, but on second thoughts I remembered that I have never ever woke up at 4 am; so I immediately put my mind to rest & decided to put my baby back to sleep again.
Taking decision was easy, but acting upon it wasn't. I tried various methods to get him back to sleeping, but the kid was adamant. It seemed, as if both of us had made the same decision - to put the other person back to sleep.
This battle lasted almost 15 minutes, and I don't know who won finally; all I remember is that at some point of time, while cradling my baby, I was rocked back to sleep :)

Quilt Vs. Pyjamas

Yesterday it was little cold here so we decided to put on pyjamas onto our 6 months old son, Piku.
Till now he was only used to wear nappies, so he thought his pyjamas to be some kind of quilt & started trying to remove it by his regular method - kicking. Soon enough he realised that this "quilt" isn't going to get away so easily so he took another approach - pulling; and again within sometime he realised that this has to be done the hard way... so there I was, watching my baby lifting his foot to get hold of the cloth in his toothless-mouth so that he could chew it with his gums :)

Fun with my baby

I've been proud father of a baby boy for last 6 months, 4 days, 1 hour & 2 minutes approximately; and have went through so many cute / precious / fun moments that I could write an entire book about it.
There is so much to see, hear, learn or in one word "feel" that no one can express fully.
Every day, every moment is worth remembring, recording, capturing, sharing.
Now I can understand what my dad must've felt the same way as I do; he must also have spent sleepless nights watching me, thinking & smiling over my activities, making plans for my future.
I'm gonna keep this in my mind next time I argue with him :)

Health Tips

Below are some tips that I have collected from various sources. These tips are especially useful for software professionals who often have sitting job and usually don't get enough time for exercise. Please keep in mind that I’m not a health professional; tips mentioned here (or anywhere on my blog) are those that I’ve come across during my continuous search for a healthier lifestyle. Please use your own judgment & consult an authorized professional if required.

OK, enough disclaimers :) read on for tips

EXERCISE RELATED TIPS

1. Exercise for 60 minutes at least 4 to 5 times a week.
2. Balance the food you eat with the physical activity that you do.
3. Exercising a little every day is better than trying to make up for a missed day or week by overexerting yourself.
4. Focus on fat not weight.
5. Exercise increases calorie burn.
6. Aerobic exercise-bike riding, running, long, brisk walks, swimming, vigorous dancing-is absolutely necessary to get blood moving through the lower body.
7. Let activity become part of your weekly routine.
8. Walk 10 Minutes a Day and Increase Your Fitness Level Old thinking was to work out in a sweat-filled gym for hours a day. No pain, no gain. New studies show that even short bouts of activity can increase your fitness level, especially if you're new at working out.
9. Before you even get out of bed in the morning, do 10 stomach crunches while lying flat on your mattress. Increase daily by one until you get up to 100. Think you'll never get there? Try it. You may eventually have to set your clock to wake up 15 minutes earlier, a small price to pay for a flatter stomach.
10. You cannot exercise the abdominal muscles hoping that you'll burn off your belly fat. You must exercise the entire body aerobically to lose fat.

TIPS RELATED TO EATING HABITS

1. Be careful about cutting your calorie intake too low. (No one should eat less than 1000 calories a day without supervision).
2. Drink eight glasses of water a day.
3. Avoid most weight loss supplements.
4. Monitor what you eat by keeping a food journal.
5. Avoid fried foods.
6. Eat 5 light meals rather than 3 heavy meals.
7. Don't eat two hours before sleeping.

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

1. Reward your efforts, celebrate your success!
2. Brush your teeth after dinner to prevent you from evening snacking.
3. Always think positive even before you have not seen results.
4. Confide in a close friend or companion about your goals and the coming changes of your lifestyles.
5. Don’t keep water bottles with you; instead go to kitchen for this. This will involve little bit of movement in your routine.
6. Avoid situations that put you in temptation's path, meaning if you're on a diet, don't go to the ice cream parlor.
7. Keep a sticky note in a prominent place so that you see it every day, reminding yourself of your resolutions. (i.e., on your bathroom mirror, next to your bed, on the visor of your car, on the refrigerator)
8. Focus on positive self-talk. Congratulate yourself every time you take a step towards your resolution goal. Be your own best cheerleader.
9. Avoid berating yourself if you should fall back or break a resolution. Just brush yourself off and start over again.
10. Whenever you have an errand, park your car as far away as you can handle and walk to the store. At the mall, park at the farthest end and walk the length of the mall. Use every opportunity to walk.

I would update these and add more as and when I time. At the end of the day, it all adds up to better fitness.

PS: Don't ask me how many of these tips I follow regularly :)



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Too busy to be Alive!

Yes, that's what I feel about most of us... we're living beings according to whatever we read in Biology, but in this race of surviving (& competing & earning money & maintaining status & what not... ) we've really forgotten what does it mean to be alive.
If I try to pen down my daily schedule, I'm sure many would feel as if I have written their's. For 5 (or 6) days of the week, getting up just to realize that you have time only to get yourself ready for office is not an uncommon thing; after-office hours are sufficient only to feed yourself & go to bed to face same thing the next day.
Weekends, typically mean spending daytime to finish all the household tasks that have been pending since long. Arrival of evening means going to a mall/movie/garden followed by a dinner at some posh restaurant or popular fast food outlet.
Is this what we would term as living... where are the activities that we used to do earlier.... talking to loved ones, walking in the rain, sitting under tree during daytime, watching planes take off etc....
I will sign off with following statement: I think, a line needs to be drawn where one can decide whether he/she needs to earn for living or live for earning :)

Satire on myself: I've gotta more work to do :)