Baby Hashtag speaks | My sixth month

Do not blame me. 

This is Mumma's fault, all her fault. She was to remind me to write my monthly account. But apparently, taking care of me got in the way. EXCUSES, I tell you! Anyhoo, let me take you through my sixth month of living.

I am now 7 months old.

Mumma calls it my sixth month shenanigans, I on the other hand like to call it my adventures. A lot has gone down since the last time I wrote to you guys. I am six months old now and so that means I can officially start eating. Weeks of staring at people who gulped down food, I can happily have some of my own. So yay to that.

Turns out I am not given adult food at all. I am supposed to eat gooey mushy semi runny purees which they call baby food. No, thank you! I did enjoy the dal water (lentils soup) and aata halwa (wheat flour halwa) but mashed fruit is just uuurghh. And what is up with this monstrosity that they call Cerelac! I have never tasted anything like it before. Mumma made me eat it and I HATED it. One month in and I am still nowhere close to liking it. Mumma wants to give it another shot a few weeks later, so we'll just see how that goes. I already know I detest it and that's final.

Mumma has decided to begin Traditional weaning to feed me which means that I get to eat (?) mashed purees. It's no fun. Initially, she tried to feed me in the newborn toddler rocker chair but that was a fail so off we went shopping for a booster chair. We found one that I totally loved sitting in and meal times have been slightly more fun after that. As far as eating mashed food is concerned, I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

One vaccination happened at the beginning of the month. I'm not going to liep, it hurt. It hurt real bad. And while I cutely cooed and smiled at the doctor, he poked me with that pesky needle. That wasn't fun. I cried but it was OK in a bit.

Oooh another major milestone was crossed. I sit upright pretty much on my own for longer duration. So much so that, when I wake up in the middle of the night because of hunger, I sit up and cry with my eyes closed. How I know this is because mumma and Papa recollect this to others saying it's cute. If they say it's cute, it sure must be.

Pillow forts are redundant now. I can climb over them and cause extreme mayhem. Not that I am trying to be trouble but exploration requires me to be mobile and I am just curious. Tough luck, mumma! I am starting to hold the side of the crib and getting the hang of standing up on my own. Unsuccessful so far but I shall be a relentless boss baby and will not give up.

But because I am always trying to trip over things and fall face first, my crib that was attached to mumma and papa's bed is going to be removed and set up separately. Mumma has been putting me down to nap in the crib while it is still attached so I get used to the idea of a smaller bed. I don't really mind it so far. But then, I am mercurial and so I will definitely decide whether I like it or not when it is fully set up.

Oh and did I tell you that I got my ears pierced? Papa wanted to wait a few more months but mumma held that the sooner we got it done, the quicker I would recover. Papa and the family was convinced and so we went to the local goldsmith's and got the piercing done in the traditional way with the gold studs. Pained like hell and it took 5 minutes of incessant weeping, sobbing and sniffing and a trip to Papa's office to calm me down. Back home, I had forgotten all about it and the studs never caught my attention again. 

My favourite rhymes now are 'Five little monkeys' and 'The wheels on the bus'. My favourite chew toy is the board book called 'My Daddy' and my favourite play toy are the curtains. My favourite game is 'eat the furniture' and I love trying to climb over the pillows and get to the other side. 

I love it when Papa comes home. I see mumma everyday at home. I am not trying to be mean but I see Papa once in the evening and the sight of him visibly excites me! If I am being put to sleep, there is no way in hell that I will sleep if I see Papa has come back from work. 

There was a time when I loved video calls, now I like to roll around the bed while Mumma follows me with the phone when anyone is on the line. I crawl full well now although I am yet to crawl on the floor. Since I sometimes fall face first while crawling, I am being encouraged to master crawling on softer surfaces first.

Apart from sitting upright confidently, crawling nonstop, trying to stand and looking mighty cute, this past month was just about ordinary. Mumma calls it a hoot and a half but her need to exaggerate simple things is exhausting. But who am I to complain! I am just a baby. Right? 
*Wink*

See you in a few days with the next month's account.

Love,
Baby Hashtag.

5 reasons you need to switch to Cloth Diapers

The first time I heard about Cloth Diapers was when I was in my third trimester and a friend asked me to use them instead of the disposable ones. I assumed, the reasons would be obvious. CDs are the more eco-friendly choice. But since traditionally we use a cloth nappy for the first few weeks of the baby's life, I pushed the idea of a CD (read Cloth Diaper) at the back of my head for quite some time. Baby Hashtag was born in winter and it would be crazy to not the change the nappy as soon as she wet it. And mind you, it was nearly 20 times in a day. So out of sheer exhaustion, I switched to the disposable diapers within a week. 

When the baby was around 3 months old, I got contacted by the lovely folks at Superbottoms. They offered to send a CD to me so that I could try it out and share the experience with my readers and followers. 

Not only am I convinced that I am more of a CD person now, I tend to convince a lot of mothers to take the same route. For those, who need a list of good reasons to make the switch, I can list about five. And this is just the top of my head, there can a hundred more reasons but these should do the trick.

1. Environment friendly

Goes without saying that CDs have very little impact on the environment when compared to their disposable counterparts. I do not see how people do not find this an incentive. Instead, they counter me with questions like "You are wasting water to wash the CDs and the inserts no, how is that eco friendly?" Well by that logic then, you must stop washing yourself and all your clothes too. Because, water shortage. True, the CDs need to be washed but they can all be accumulated in a wet bag and washed in one cycle when you do the laundry. That is one extra bucket of water compared to tonnes of plastic you are filling in the landfills in the form of disposable diapers. How about that! By the way, a wet bag is a bag that you can use to store all your soiled and to-be-washed CDs and inserts. They come in cute prints and are completely odour free so you can carry them with you anywhere and use it when the baby needs a diaper change. 

2. Super cute prints

I have seen SO many brands of CDs online and they come in both prints and solid colours. Since, I have been using Superbottoms, I will shamelessly plug their designs only because I absolutely love them. They have everything from Harry potter themed print to a cricket themed one. Lullabies, Superheroes, Cute babies, EVERYTHING! Imagine your baby's bum wrapped in this cute goodness. It is LOVE! 

3. Less money spent

Another illogical counter I've heard is "Arey, CDs are so costly yaar. Disposable hi best hain!" If you are so worried about finances, then CDs are the way to go. The initial cost of a CD may feel a little exaggerated but since they are reusable, they are super economical. The amount you would spend on diapers for one month will buy you one CD with inserts and that can comfortably last you more than 8 months. Isn't that a win-win!

4. Baby bodies 

Don't you love how squishy soft and tender the bodies of out babies are. Why would you want to give them things like rashes and irritation. Agreed that not all babies get rashes from disposables but when you have a diaper that is completely rash and irritation free, it would make more sense to choose that in the first place. If you worries about the elastic marks that the CD leaves on your babies skin, I challenge you to find me a disposable diaper that does not leave these very same elastic marks. They will disappear in minutes but not rashes. Also, don't you have that bracket of fifteen minutes between diaper changes when your baby feels extremely happy and free? Take the hint now, he probably hates being trapped in a full disposable diaper. On the other hand, a CD feels light and is not at all reactive on the baby skin. 

5. Saving on add-on products

Let us make a list of products you need if you are a disposable diaper baby. Rash cream, plastic bags (lots of them) and uncomfortable baby underpants. First, you would not need a rash cream because CDs do not give babies any kind of rashes. Second, a Wet Bag that I talked about earlier will do all the disposing and carrying job for you and they look good to carry too compared to the scrunchy noisy plastic bag. Third, there would be no need to buy horribly uncomfortable underpants to wear on disposable diapers as CDs come in gorgeous prints that you will want to show off. 

Here are pictures of Baby Hashtag wearing the cutest print from Superbottoms.

If you are still not convinced, ping me. I have finer detailed reasons to get you to make the switch. While you are at it, do check the great range at Superbottoms here.

Cheers,

D

P.S. This is not a sponsored post. I genuinely believe we need to make the switch for a more sustainable future of our babies.

Baby Hashtag speaks | My fifth month

I am six months old. SIX MONTHS OLD.
I was so little last month! I had only just started enjoying being an infant and now suddenly I am halfway done being one. This is so not cool! I wanted to be a teensy little baby a little longer. I was basking in the attention I was being given and I did not even have to respond to get a smile or a cuddle. This is so not done. I am so mad I could throw a tantrum which I am doing already, if you got the drift of what I was saying so far.

So getting right into it. Fifth month. The fifth month of my life was oh-so-good. For oh-so-many reasons.

There were no vaccinations this month! Woohoo. This is also my first summer. And apparently it is very hot. I, for one, do not get the full blast of the heat thanks to mumma and an overly doting papa. Even if it is hot in the slightest, he will take off my pajamas the very instant. On the other hand, if it gets windy, he puts on a cap on my head at the speed of lightening. I have to say I am enjoying this immensely. So no complains there.

Towards the end of the first week of the fifth month, I had some sort of a dust/foreign hair allergy on the body which was itchy as hell. But a quick trip to the doctor's and I was calamine-d and calm. Woot! Mumma and papa are still trying to figure out what the allergy happened from with the outcome being we'll see if it happens again and compare the two events.  

Way to go guys! 

*Eyeroll*

You see, I now recognise people. So if you scare me, I cry. And I remember that you scare me. So the next time you meet you, I will recollect the scaring part and cry again. I like this recollection that my little brain is doing. It is more reinforced now.

Speaking of recollection, we took a trip to Nani's in the second week and stayed there almost three weeks. Since I spent the first two months of life at Nani's, everyone was pretty confident that I would respond well to them. But wait, when did I ever bow to popular consensus? Naturally, a tantrum follows and everyone at Nani's spent the next 48 hours trying to coax me, bribe me with gifts, shiny objects and songs. Well, I like all of those. So I warmed up to them.

Before I divulge more details about the stay at Nani's, you have got to know about my train journey to Hyderabad. So, this was was my second trip by train (the first being the time when mumma papa got me home from Hyderabad) I was all set to have a great time and honestly, I was expecting some great memories. 

Anyhoo we were booked in the 3 tier AC bogey and there began the longest day of my life. Not one, not two, there were about a dozen kids in that one bogey and all under 2 years of age. I was ready to be well behaved and sleep on time but if someone messes with my sleep, then that triggers my switch. Somewhere around midnight when a baby cried (through which I happily snoozed) his granny decided that would be the best time to switch on all the lights and bajao the rattle. Loudly. I get trying to put the baby to sleep but this is insanity. Needless to say, my slumber was disrupted and I did not sleep the whole night because, well, tantrums. We got down at the station at 7 in the morning and I dozed off in the car ride to Nani's home after which Mumma Papa and I caught up on our sleep.

I had fun at Nani's. My favourite is Golu Maasi. She talks to me like an adult but looks like a kid only so I enjoy her company. A lot of mumma's friends came over to meet me while I was Nani's home. Meenu maasi, Sushee maasi, Nandu maasi and Jo maasi and I was my indulgent charming self as always so you can safely say I wooed them. 

Nani makes this clicking noise with her tongue that drives me crazy bonkers and jumpy. I love that. I also loved the insane drives mumma took me on EVERY evening. Mumma also bought me my first books. I like to chew them. Actually, I like to chew everything. That is one of my most favourite things to do. There were a lot of mosquitoes in Hyderabad and thankfully the Mamaearth insect repellant came in handy. I like how it smells. 

I have plenty of new and different favourites now.
'Haareya' from Meri pyaari bindu is my favourite song now. And I absolutely love it when Papa sings it to me. I love dancing to 'Kaala Chashma' and 'Shape of you'
More than these songs I really enjoy the 'Animals Song' that mumma plays on her phone. 

This was also the month of firsts. I went to a shopping mall for the first time. I also nursed in a shopping mall for the first time. Mumma went crazy and took a lot of mirror selfies with me. I also fell into a fixed daily routine and lucky for mumma I fall asleep by 10 to 10.30 pm every night. So yay to that! 

I spent most of my fifth month on my stomach trying to creep further. By the end of the month, I did get on my fours for just a bit. I see a fun sixth month ahead, with lot of crawling trials and mishaps. Good luck to mumma! Oooh and I also managed to sit up unsupported, albeit only for a few seconds! Also, I will begin eating semi solid food, that's what mumma says. I am not in a hurry, to tell you the truth but like all adventures, I will not say no to this one as well. 

Mamaearth Argan Hair Mask | Review

I had the most amazing one year of flawless thick hair from the time I got pregnant till the time Baby Hashtag turned three months old. Come the day when she turned four months old and I noticed something I hadn't seen in a very long time. 

Hair on my pillow! And it shook my world!

I am not being hyperbolic but I was looking at my thick long locks strewn all over the pillowcase and I was seeing this after a year. I brushed it off as a one-off incident. Later that day after I washed my hair I noticed the same pattern. I expressed my concerns to my mum and she told me that often in the fourth month post delivery, the mother tends to lose all the sheen and hair that she had gained all through the pregnancy. Of course, I knew that. But I wanted to believe that it would happen at a normal pace and not as drastically as it was happening then. 

Anyhoo, two months into the hair fall, I have still not learnt to live with it. I tried a fair few products because you can only do so much when you have an infant to take care of, all by yourself. I had pretty much given up really, while fellow mom bloggers consoled me saying that the hair fall will eventually reduce. Also, the market for products for new mothers is sadly ill-stocked. If there was a product that would have specifically addressed my issues, I would have tried it instantly. 

Turns out I did not have to wait for long.

Mamaearth, my favourite baby products brand presently, has come out with their mama range. There is a whole range of products that have been designed specifically for new mothers and mother-to-be and I was super pumped to have tried a few of their products before they officially launched on Mother's Day. I will definitely talk about their entire range in a separate post but this time I am exclusively reviewing their Hair mask.

The hair mask is aimed at helping the mums deal with increased hair fall and damaged hair. The formulation boasts of being induced with Argan, Avacado Oil, Milk proteins and curd extracts, all of which are nourishing ingredients for a healthier scalp and shinier hair. 

The product has a creamy non-drip consistency and comes in a 200 ml packaging. The packaging is simple and attractive. The pink and the green colours of the font and the banner are quite attractive. I, however, would have liked a little more vibrancy just like their packaging of the baby products. Their is an additional lid inside that contains the product from spillage.

The hair mask can be used a leave-in conditioner or it can be washed off as well. I have been using it for four weeks now and tried both ways to use this mask. My hair tended to get oilier faster when I used it as a leave-in conditioner when compared to washing it off. But in both instances, I was left with shinier detangled hair and they honestly look better nourished than before. The mask has worked wonders for me but I honestly do not care for its smell, it is slightly overpowering and takes time getting used to. But Baby Hashtag had no problem with the fragrance so its a win-win. 

The product formulation is completely natural and is paraben-free and mineral oil-free. It has essential oils that are beneficial to the scalp and hair follicles. I would recommend this product to any new moms out there for three reasons:

1) It is perhaps the only product of this kind and it is exemplary

2) It is natural and nourishing

3) It is decently priced when you compare it to an expensive trip to a salon

Go ahead and try it. You can buy it here:

http://www.amazon.in/Mamaearth-Argan-Reduce-Hairfall-Strengthen/dp/B072DVHNRD/

Baby Hashtag speaks | My fourth month

Well what do you know! I am five months old already. Either time is going by really fast or I've been sleeping for most of the past few months. Oh wait, I HAVE been sleeping most of my life so far, haven't I?

Being a four month old is so much responsibility. Babycenter sends mum newsletters telling mum that I should have rolled over on my stomach and probably roll back to the earlier position. Setting high standards for babies, these lame websites. Not that I haven't rolled over. Yes, I did. But if I knew that I had to conform to some stupid norms states in a lame website, I would delay this rolling over business considerably. Oh well, now what is done, is done. So yeah, I finally rolled over. The first time I rolled over, mumma caught it on tape. And I was a tab bit on the edge of the bed. Mum still decided to shoot the rolling over cos how could I fall down when she is right there! Cut to one week later, when I was in the middle of one of my night slumber party feeds, I decided to do the rolling over (in my sleep) and I rolled right out of my mum's lap and on to the floor. I won't lie to you people, it hurt a lot. But five minutes of coddling, I was fine and then I made goo-goo eyes at mumma and papa who looked like they had just been smacked in the face by a truck. Mumma vowed to be extra careful that day on, cos well, every night after that I have rolled over in my sleep. So that's new. 

This month, I took my first nap in the crib and I kind of enjoyed it. I sleep in my crib more often and I seriously enjoy it more than mumma and papa's bed. It's sturdier, flatter and allows me to play freely. The bed with its dips and waves is just not for me. 

I recognise papa now. Everytime he comes home from office and calls me, I greet him with a huuuge smile. Why wouldn't I? He makes me sooo happy and makes me play on his belly. Mumma is fun too, but she is ALWAYS around. A little change in the form of papa is wee fun. 

This month, I did a lot of things for the first time. 

• I now enjoy tub baths. Mumma got this tub with bather from firstcry and I love it. She says she will review it soon. Let us add one more to her pending list of posts! 
• I sat in my rocker chair while Mumma cooked when the maid decided to bail on us. 
• I have now started sleeping on my side and I love it!
• Went to three new restaurants this month. Like I sais earlier also, I sense a pattern. 
• Mumma started working out and I flap my legs wildly when she does. I enjoy it thoroughly.
• I now move around on the bed a LOT! SO hello, fort of pillows.
• I spend more time playing on the play mat on my own. But when it does get boring, I scream bloody murder.
• I now roll over in my sleep which is wee fun but that messes with my sleep and that is so not cool. What do I do? I cry ofcourse! 

I also had my naming/christening function and I am named Kiara Genevieve Yashika Dadala. Phew. I know that's long. But I respond only to Yashika so that will stick. Popular theory has it that mumma is a photographer so she decided to name me Yashika. NO! I was named Yashika cos Kundali, Nakshatra and all that jazz bro. Having said that, I need to get clarity on this. For the last time guys. It's YASHIKA. With the K. Not C as in Yashica. I hope that is sorted once and for all. 

Mum cut her own hair at home. Though she was really pleased with the results, now she wants even shorter hair and will have to head to a salon. I will obviously accompanying her when does go, but whether or not I will throw a tantrum depends on my mood and how much mumma pampers me early on. 

I also met a LOT of people over this month who keep insisting to pick me up. Honestly, what is the deal with that! Maybe I'm just too cute. Then, I scream and throw a tantrum and all the cuteness honestly is pushed down the drain and I am returned to my mumma.

Works every single time! 

I also got vaccinated. I was administered the third dose of a single vaccine and there was no fever in the aftermath. Yay to that. 

Mumma has started writing letters to me and to be honest, I do not get most of them now. Hopefully, I will understand them in a few years but I have heard people say they are good. I cannot wait to read and make sense of them. 

Now I am five months old, time for daily milestones and daily achievements. But also, time to give mumma no breathing space whatsoever. Now that I am rolling over and am on my fours already, I feel like crawling soon. Let's see! I'll be back with my monthly update next month unless you want to hear from me often. Do tell me if you want me to come back earlier. And I will. 

Until next month,
Cheers! 
Baby Hashtag

Z for Zzzz | AtoZ Challenge

Sleep is precious. So precious, that I decided to do a second post on the same topic within a week. Right now, Baby Hashtag is going through a tough sleep regression and I'll be honest here, we are just scraping by. I am a tad bit more irritated and snappy but in my defense, baby now decides to sleep well past midnight and that ticks me off a little. I am doing everything I can to help her fall into a sleep pattern. I will not claim to be an authority on sleep related issues of babies, but I can offer you my sincere observations and ways I am handling it. So maybe, you can too.

Before I dive into it, there is a need to differentiate between the types of sleeps we sleep. One is the active sleep and the second is the REM sleep. Active sleeps are usually the naps we take and the REM sleep is the one we take at nights. Since babies are still getting conditioned to live with the present surroundings, they cannot fall asleep on their own as easily as we do. This is the reason why we need to establish a routine or a pattern which leads up to the actual act of putting the baby to sleep. The baby gets conditioned by this routine in such a way that when you start doing them, they know that their bedtime is drawing near. Alas, if only it was as easy as it sounds.

Establishing a sleeptime routine is advisable even if your child takes 'months' getting used to it. You'd rather have a baby who knows that they have to sleep soon rather than have a baby with unpredictable sleep timings. Atleast babies with a sleep routine mess up with the schedule only during regression or at times when there is over stimulation or ill health, not all the time.

NEVER delay your baby's bedtime or change it drastically. A half hour here or there is excusable but if you decided to push their bedtime by a couple of hours so that you can attend a family event, get ready for a sleepless night because babies are unforgiving of being taken lightly. Also, NEVER wake up a sleeping baby. No matter how cute they look, a sleepy cranky baby will either be unnaturally silent or extremely rowdy, both of which are unpleasant. ALWAYS stay close to the baby when they are falling asleep. Cosleeping come naturally to parents in our country and rightly so. Stay close to the baby when you are putting them to sleep, make them feel safe.

Encourage your baby to have sleep associations. If you put them to sleep in a new and different way every single time, they will find it very disconcerting and will not be able to relate to sleep as a regular activity. Rather, you continue putting them to sleep in a certain way each time so that the next time you proceed to do that activity, they know they have to sleep.

This is pretty much all the gyaan I have self-learned over the last 5 months with Baby Hashtag. I am sure I need to learn loads more, and when I do, I'll share them with you!

Cheers!
D.

Y fot Yesterday | AtoZ Challenge

Dear Baby Hashtag,

Like how you are crossing milestones by the minute, your mum too crossed hers. My milestones were nowhere nearly as significant as yours but they matter, because they all led me to you. What is crazier is that everything that has happened in the past feels so fresh. Like it all happened yesterday.

It was just yesterday I had graduated from college, full of zeal and enthusiasm. I was ready to take on the world. I still did not know what I wanted out of life though. I decided to take it as it comes.

It was just yesterday that I met a man in the most unexpected of places and we became friends in the most unusual way. Normally, I would be wary of talking to anyone within days of knowing them. But the rapport with this person just hit it off and we became insane friends.

It was just yesterday when I lit my Papa's funeral fire. He was my hero, and watching him crumble broke something in me that day.

It was just yesterday, when my little family tried with all it's might to move on and recover from the loss of all the elderw in the house within a couple of years. My mother became my friend and my uncle and aunt, my heroes.

It was just yesterday, when my uncle (whom now I call Bhai) took it upon himself to get me married to the man I love. He waded through every obstacle and made sure I got there in the end.

It was only yesterday, when I first woke up in my new home post marriage. I was so overwhelmed and oh so excited. I misses home too.

It was only yesterday when we first that result tested positive. Everyone was so happy.

Nine months post that day, you were born, little one. It's still so fresh. Feels like it was all happening yesterday.

No matter how new everything felt to me, you are growing at a rate that has me alarmed. Now that I remember, you rolled over for the first time over a month ago but silly me, to think it was only yesterday.  Oh, how I will miss tending to your newborn self. As much as I am excited to see you grow, I somehow want to relive all our yesterdays with you.

Please don't grow up so fast.

Love,
Mumma Hashtag

X for Xerox copy | AtoZ Challenge

When I was born, relatives looked at me and always said, "Arey, ye toh same Saroj hain!" ("Arey, she looks exactly like Saroj!") For those who do not know, Saroj is the name of my mother. Since birth, I looked like a similar albeit slightly unpolished version of my mother. And my mother in turn looked like her mother. So when the three of us, Nani mumma and I sit together, people can very easily guess that we are related and what's the relationship. But with Baby Hashtag, it's been different. Turns out she does not take take after me. The moment she was born, I was told (and retold multiple times after that) that she looks like her dad. Um okay, that's cool I guess.

A daughter should be her daddy's girl. As spoilt as can be, as princessy as he can handle. So what if she looks like her papa and nothing like me. I will not be superficial and say that I am not bothered by it. Of course I was. But I got over it in five seconds. I love that my daughter looks like the person I love, makes me want to stare at her all the more. In the morning, when both the father and the daughter are fast asleep, I sneakily open the curtain to let some light in so that I can stare at the two of them for a full two minutes. But anyway, this happens on days when I wake up before the husband and that rarely seems to be happening these days thanks to Baby Hashtag's sleep regression.

That I am my mothers Xerox copy, is something I love. Also that my daughter is her father's Xerox copy, is another fact I love. It's a win-win, ain't it?

P.S. Before anyone goes hyper grammar Nazi on me and point out that Xerox is the name of the company and it's actually called photo copy, let me spare you the time. I know. I chose convenience over technicality just this once.

W for Waking up | AtoZ Challenge

I am not a morning person. Never have been. I would get up at 8 in the morning, attend to the day to day and scoot back to bed if I could. After getting married, I took to inculcating the habit of waking up at 7 am. I can take the liberty of saying that the husband is also pretty much the same as I am, if not worse. This habit of me not being an early waker is not inherited for sure because both my parents are early risers. Everyone in my family wakes up early, even my uncles. I lived a reckless life in the night. Midnight snacking, staying up late into the night and studying, watching movies, reading books, wasting time on the phone. Ofcourse I was going to be a late to wake up in the morning.

But when I got pregnant, I went back to my schedule of waking up late. I had a normal pregnancy but I have the nicest mother-in-law who would not let me work at all and made me rest round the clock. Again, I was back on the old cycle. But all the aunties warned me.

"Your baby won't let you sleep at all. Say bye bye to sleep. No way to rest for another 10 years now. Sleep as much as you want now, you won't be able to sleep at all later."

The advises just kept getting darker and more sadistic. There was even a point in time when I was in my third trimester that I was panicky about not being able to sleep at all. And then the baby arrived and to my surprise, inspite of being born into the morning, she was on a similar REM cycle as most adults. She slept longer in the nights. Now another fear gripped me.

"What if I am not able to wake up when she needs me!???"

Call it maternal instincts but for this once I want to thank my hormones cos they woke me up whenever the baby even made a little noise. Hence, we swiftly waded through self doubts regarding waking up on time.

Now at 5 months old, Baby Hashtag sleeps a little longer and wakes up a fair few times in the night when she gets hungry. And she manages to wake me up. About when she gets up in the morning? What do you know! She is following in the footsteps of her parents and wakes up well into the morning giving both mumma and papa an opportunity to catch up on some rejuvenating sleep.

V for Virtues and Vices | AtoZ Challenge

Dear Baby Hashtag,

Today, I need to tell you something important. I don't want to sound preachy, yet somewhere in the narrative I will end up sounding like one so please bear with me. I am taking a different approach today. I am not going to thankful or emotional or unbelievably sappy. I will be real with you.

Let's talk Virtues and Vices.

There is black and there is white. Two ends of the same thing. Two sides of a coin. And just like that, a person also has two character traits to their personality​. One is the virtuous side, the other which indulges in vices.

Be honest. An age old saying reads that "honesty is the best policy" and rightly so. But learn to be honest with caution. Plain honesty bordering on insult does not go down well with a lot of people and more often than not we have to think about protecting other's feelings​. To that end, also learn to be caring. Be kind and a caregiver. Don't expect everyone to return the favour because that is unreal. I will, however, not force you to share. If there is something very dear to me and I am asked to share it, I might choose not to. And the same rules applies to you little one. I will ask you once, if you can find it in your heart to share the toy/food/play area and I know in my heart that you will say yes most of the times. On those times, when you do not want to share, I will not force you into it but I want you to reason the same with me.

Be a people person but try and avoid being vulnerable. Fundamentally, people are calculative and I want you to be wary  before you warm up to them. Study all you want and play as much. Take interest in everything you would want to do in your academic life because those are your golden years. Take chances and experiment but make sure you consult us before taking a decision. Your parents know quite a bit about everything and we will be sure to help you make the choices. When you need an ear, turn to me. Or better yet, your father. He is extremely cool and rest assured that he will break down any complication you think you are suffering from in life.

Being a teenager and then a young adult are going to be the most difficult things. But always know, your mum and dad are right behind you. I don't claim to be your friend because I will need to be a parent too a lot of times over the course of you growing up but you will find in me a very relaxed mum and in your father, a very cool chilled out papa.

As much as I would like you to be virtuous all the time, I know it is humanly impossible to be one. I'm afraid you will be attracted to the vices more than the virtues cos they are easy to fall into and oh-so-attractive. I will not come in your way if you want to have these 'life experiences' but I trust you to be of sound mind and do not over indulge in the name of life experiences. Learn, teach and be aware of everything that will come your way. I am not scaring you off life, merely preparing you for it. No matter how hard I try, I cannot hold you in the confines of the home all the time. I would be raising a socially awkward kid in that case. I'd rather you be a charmer and wade your way through life with your head held high and a glorious smile accross your face.

Maybe in the next letter, I will take a lighter approach and let you in on some personal jokes. For this once, I'm glad we talked about what we did.

Lots of love,
Mumma Hashtag

U for Unwind | AtoZ Challenge

More often than not, I need a break from the regular day to day to get my mojo back on and begin my daily hustle. I am not an extremely artistic person so unwinding from the routine does not include painting a landscape. I indulge myself in a lot of little activities.

Here is a list of 25 things I do to unwind

1. Read a book, preferably Harry Potter.
2. Browse Pinterest.
3. Doodle randomly or draw Mandalas.
4. Video call/Voice call my mum.
5. Clean the wardrobe and arrange everything.
6. Binge eating or eating my way through a Bhel Puri which is stuffed with all sorts of vegetables.
7. Watch reruns of Modern Family.
8. Wear the baby and go out exploring the neighbours.
9. Watching kids play
10. Watching Baby Hashtag's old videos and photographs.
11. Design photobooks for personal use.
12. Indulge in some simple DIY projects at home that does not take more than 15 minutes each.
13. Browse through Amazon and probably end up buying a few things.
14. Listening and dancing to music.
15. Watch standup comedy videos on YouTube.
16. Randomly photograph things at home to create a photo series.
17. Escape to the terrace of the building and spend some time looking and thinking about nothing.
18. Watch cooking videos.
19. Curate products for the store I run and take pictures to put them online for sale.
20. Type random notes on the phone.
21. Sleep, if the baby allows it.
22. Walk around aimlessly with the baby, preferably outdoors, if the weather allows it.
23. Catch up on some correspondance with friends and family.
24. Make a budget, plan the activities for the remainder of the month.
25. Browse through social media aimlessly.

What's your way to unwind?

T for Thank you | AtoZ Challenge

Dear Baby Hashtag,
Your sappy mom is back with another letter to you and as much as I would like to try to be casual in my letters to you, I find myself getting emotional at some point in the narrative.

Today, I want to thank you. There are a million reasons I need to thank you. This very instant, I want to thank you for taking a longer nap so your mommy could nap a little longer after finishing her chores. But this is not it. There are so many reasons more.

When we first found out we were pregnant, your father and I, we were ecstatic. Beyond ourselves really. Waiting for nine months so that I could finally see you seemed like too long a time. While everyone was convinced that I was going to have a boy, your father believed almost blindly that we would be having a girl. And he was right. Thank you for being a daddy's girl already.

I have to be honest with you at this point. A lot of mothers feel boundless joy and happiness when they first see their child. Me? Not so much. I barely reacted when the doctor told me through my surgery that it was a girl. It was a full 24 hours later that it hit me, that you were here. A person. A life I was going to nurture and protect from then on. I knew my life had changed. And change, it did. Thank you for bringing about the most happy change in our lives.

From the time you were a newborn, you did not conform to any general baby notions. You did you. You fed well, you slept through the night, you were (and still are) a no tantrum child. Thank you for that.

You are everything we dreamed of, and so much more. You surprise us everyday and make us want to be better people. We are already discussing meal plans and family rituals for when you grow up, we want to be able to follow those so we can be a wholesome family. Thank you for giving us a purpose and making us a family. A unit.

You have brought joy to SO MANY people. Your father's and mine, most of all. With just one smile, you can shift the axis on which our world revolves. And if I could, I would move mountains for you. Thank you little one.

Lots of love to you,

Mumma Hashtag

S for Sanskaari Bahu | AtoZ Challenge

Sanskaari (adj) - Cultured and well-mannered
Bahu (n) - Daughter in-law
Sasuji (n) - Mother-in-law
Shaadi (n) - Marriage

Until about yesterday, I had decided that today's post would be dedicated to Sarso ka tel because it has played a vital role in Baby Hashtag's well-being. And then, just this morning, I read an​ article which was so fundamentally wrong that it made me go another direction with the letter S.

Sanskaari. The holy S word that all women are taught to be 

since childhood. Explored extensively by the likes of Ekta Kapoor, exploited by soap operas for years. Because, beti is paraaya dhan innit. She has to leave her home, get married to a certain someone and accept his family as her own. Of course, this codswallop has been fed to every woman in our country and it's an age old, albeit accepted tradition. 

Fundamentally, the family system would cease to exist if a marriage fails to take place. So logically, for the continuity of species and family lines, a shaadi is necessary. And for a shaadi, you need a bahu. It was fine up to this point. A lot of people experience different things in their marriages. Some are happy, some are just about ok and some are plain abusive. But the freak generalisation of the sanskaari bahu as a prerequisite to a successful marriage had me tongue tied.

Sanskaars are subjective. To each, their own. What is morally sanskaar approved for you may not be just for someone else. This logic a lot of people understand but the need for the textbook 'sanskaari bahu' remains as old as ever. 

I, for one, am in no way a Sanskaari Bahu.

What is a sanskaari bahu?
A bahu who wakes up before sunrise, cooks for the family members (not just cooks but must cook various other cuisines), knows all the housework (so in case the maid decides to take a raincheck, you are still good), must press sasuji's legs till she falls asleep in the night, must still continue housekeeping duties even after having a baby, must be willing to take the second place in the husband's life cos he will always be the Mama's boy, she must treat the new family as her own and let go of the older family where she was born, so on and so forth.

Like I said, I am none of the above.

I wake up well after sunrise cos well, I have a baby to nurse all night and mornings are the only time we all sleep in peace. I know my way around the kitchen and home but not to the point of being called the expert homemaker. I'd rather be a commoner. When my sasuji is at home, we gossip over a cup of tea. That's a better and fun way to bond. I have a maid and a house help to help me manage my home cos I'm no Superwoman. I look after my husband just as much as he looks after me. I also take breaks for work or to simply chill while the baby is being watched over by other members of the family. I am in constant touch with my 'other' family and my husband treats them with no less love and respect. My mother and I still talk for hours, cos well, some things don't change. But I am sure I am still loved in this house. Both the houses, in fact. For me, happy marriages have nothing to do with being a sanskaari bahu. It is merely an extension of my pre-marital life except now I have more people to have fun with.

R for Raconteurs | AtoZ Challenge

I had nearly given up on the challenge cos Baby Hashtag has a really troubled night's sleep. I intended to be at her Beck and call the entire day and as luck would have it, she gave me some 'me time' eventually.

My husband is many things. To his parents, a dedicated son. To his family, a watchful over-indulging family man. To his friends, an extremely loyal and truthful friend. To his colleagues, a fun and able co-worker. To me, his wife, everything I want him to be. Even more. He is also renowned for his temper, and more often than not tells it like how it is. So reveration and fear are two things he gets often from people.

But ever since Baby Hashtag was born, I have seen a whole new side to this man. Yes, he is an exceptionally careful father. Very loving, and nurturing. One thing I found out about him during my pregnancy was that he was a Raconteur. While I am dying to introduce books or some other communication aides to the baby, the husband insists I tell her a story. Now I know only this one story, that of the tortoise and the hare. I mean who doesn't. After a couple of recitations, the purpose of story telling was lost on me. I decided I would just read to her when she grows older.

But not my husband, no. Turns out, this storytelling habit of his had carried on from his own childhood now to my baby's bachpan. So there he is, one fine evening, reciting some random story about Kings and his sons to this little baby who looks up at him in awe. She gets nothing out of it, does not understand anything but the way these two look at each other will convince you that they can converse in some secret language.

8 years of knowing this man and this side of him, of a doting father, is what I love the most. Moreso he reminds me of my own father who was a really funny man who always had anecdotes up his sleeve. I've written extensively about my father in his fond remembrance but it never seems to be enough. His stories about his childhood and the days when he was growing up still make us laugh. With him around to entertain, there was hardly ever a dull moment. And he loved his family to bits.

They have so much in common, these two men of my life.

My Father. My Husband. The Raconteurs.

Q for Quadrilaterals | AtoZ Challenge

Ever since I have started this daily blogging challenge, I have found myself dishing out weird life advices. I am surprised with myself. Today's letter got me instantly forming another theory about living in general. On the risk of sounding extremely preachy and crazy, let me share this one with you as well.

I believe in the power of numbers. Not magical powers. But the whole idea of something divided into a certain number appeals to me more than the whole. Even the books I use have subject divisions. I don't use a lot of things singularly, I usually have pairs or a certain number of them. Usually it's either 4 or 7. This fixation of mine with numbers, I cannot even begin to explain but I've had an inclination to maintain it pretty much all my life. I know a lot of people are obsessed with even numbers. Odd channels numbers and odd numbers as air conditioner temperature troubles them. But my fixation is not that. My obsession comes from the need to be different. It's not bordering on OCD, it's just a strong desire to stand out and still make sense. Am I making sense so far? 

Please bear with me and read on.

Quadrilaterals. A four sided geometrical figure. In this case, Quadrilaterals is everything in life divided into four parts. Every incident, situation or moment has four meanings or sides to it. People, too, have quadrilateral characters. Linear, one dimensional characteristics in a person are very rare.

Let's take for instance, babies. Babies, when born, have very basic lives. Their needs are limited. Food-Sleep-Poop/Pee-Snuggle/Play. That's their basic cycle. The emotions they exhibit in the first few weeks of their life are also four-fold. Hunger-Sleepy-Scared-Happy. More complex sub-emotions develop in them as they grow up but the core feelings remain the same. Adults have needs too. Their everyday life is spent in the pursuit of four things. Sustenance-Necessity-Pleasure-Luxury. ANYTHING one wants in life can be categorised into any one of the above brackets. That is why I believe that we are living the life in Quadrilaterals.

If this thought process tweaks your imagination or you have something to add to it, I would be happy to listen to your take.

Until tomorrow. Cheers!
D.

P for Pandemonium | AtoZ Challenge

Dear Baby Hashtag,

When you grow up, and grow up you will, take time and appreciate the pandemonium. You have a mother who likes order. When I put you down for a nap, for that precious one hour when everyone advises me to sleep, I choose to clean and arrange the laundry. I catch up on pending work or I make lists unto lists of work that needs to be taken care of. I know the laundry pile is going to come back and there is nothing I can do about that. But the momentary order I extract out of the chaos that our day usually is, that gives me solace.

There's a whole bunch of people out there advising me to let the work be. That in the moment in which I chose to wash the laundry or do the dishes, I let a milestone of your development pass by. And you know what, that is okay. I would rather teach you to be organised for when you look at me, you will learn yourself. I would rather prefer that you learn how a house becomes a home when we nurture it, clean it and treasure it.

But I am also afraid. That in all the discipline and in the process of learning to be orderly, you might not appreciate the chaos. You spend a lot of your time with me and you will form a lot of your core beliefs based on what I impart to you. And so, I am a little afraid that you will not have fun in life as I would like you to have.

Then I look at your father. He is all that I am not. He lives in the moment and appreciates chaos, knows the real meaning behind it. He loves you and adores you and is already a fabulous parent. Learn his frivolity. Be the life of a party or a social gathering like how he is. Make everyone laugh and make everyone feel included. And most important of all, learn from him the art of sustaining and embracing the pandemonium.

I would want nothing but the best for you. The best of both worlds. And the best versions of the two parents you have.

Lots of love,
Mumma Hashtag

O for Oxymoronic Lives | AtoZ Challenge

There was this song in some random Bollywood movie I heard a long time ago. I could probably Google the movie by the name of the song and might as well mention the name here. But I think it would just be a waste of time, just like those 10 seconds you must have wasted reading about how I could Google up a movie's name although I didn't want to. Anyway, back to the song. It was called 'We are same same but different'. That was the hook line. We are same same but different. We are same same but different. How can two people by same same but different? That song was lost on me and so was logic. So I left it at that.

Years later, I learnt this fancy schmancy term called oxymoron. Basically, an oxymoron is a phrase or a sentence that has two completely opposite elements in the same phrase/sentence. Same difference is the simplest example of an oxymoron. Why I am rambling about a grammatical term you might ask. I have a theory. We are all leading oxymoronic lives. Let me explain.

We are born as babies. We grow into toddlers, then children, eventually into adults who have to well, be adult about every damn thing in life. Everything that you did as a child : eating mud, running behind squirrels, sneezing and not bothering to clean your nose after, eating off of the floor, pelting stones at the mangoes in the neighbour's garden, chasing away stray dogs, shouting at the top of your voice from the terrace. Everything. All of it suddenly becomes taboo for your own children when you are adulting. When you become a parent, you suddenly acquire a (false?) sense of responsibility which lets you to believe that you need to stop your babies and kids from doing certain things. But think back. When you were stopped back when you were kids, did you stop? And even if you did stop, did you like that person who brought about that change in your life? No right! Assess yourself then. Why lead a lifetime that are two ends of a polar opposite. Why not find your own way!

If you want to be oxymoronic, be weirdly normal. Not  passive aggressive or typically weird.

See you tomorrow with the next letter in the daily blogging challenge. Until then.

Cheers,
D.