Twinkle twinkle little star

ట్వింకిల్ ట్వింకిల్ లిటిల్ స్టార్ కి నా తేటగీతి అనువాదం

మినుకు మినకను చిఱు తార
మింటిన నిను కనుగొని యెపుడు
ఎవ్వరీ ఘన మణిమయమై
వెలుగుల గనియని మైమరపు
మినుకు మినుకను చిఱు తార..
మినుకు మినుకు తార..

తే.గీ. మినుగు మినగను చిఱుతార మింటిన నిను
కనుగొని యెపుడు ఎవ్వరీ ఘన మణిమయ
మై వెలుగుల గనియని మైమరపు మినుగు
మినుగను చిఱుతార మినుగు మినుగు తార

And then they fell asleep...

Have you had the experience of seeing someone doze off to sleep when you are giving a talk or someone smirking (the way in which you cannot figure whether they like it or they are just suppressing their laughter) when you are singing? I have and let me tell you, it does not feel good. As soon as I spot someone with drooping eyelids or necks - I know I am doing a bad job. I know they no longer find my talk interesting or the song entertaining. I used to brood about these incidents for long, long after.

But things changed after our daughter entered our lives. The other day I was talking to Giri about my research and she dozed off happily listening to me - that made me very happy!!! Now whenever I sing a lullaby, I expect her to smile and whenever I talk for long, I pray that she sleeps (Well she is 6 months now and quite a handful, I want some time-off :).

Just the other day I was thinking how ironic this is - earlier I wouldn't want anyone sleeping during my lectures and now I want my daughter to sleep when I lecture (Giri). :-)

Well, things definitely change after a baby, don't they?

Unconventional gift ideas

Babies R us or Toys R us used to be our haunts to pick up toys or gift cards whenever we had to buy something for The Baby or gift something to babies of our friends. We had the 'same old same old' feeling everytime we entered those stores - stacks on stacks of toys, games and stuff, all within hands reach, but still we spent a lot of time to find ones that we thought would entertain and also gave some మెదడు ఎడం భాగానికి మేత.

All the same, there wasn't much we did about it - till last weekend. That's when we decided to raid a Border's store to make good of a 20% discount coupon we received after signing-up for a free customer account. And then we realized they carry some very good gift options for babies/kids at throw-away prices. Some of the books, playthings for babies were available for as less as $4.99, some knocked as much as 80% off the list price. Border's struck me as deal-seeker's haven.

Give it a try next time you have to pick a gift, you might find something good that doesn't hurt your చేజోలె too bad.

Solid foods for babies

(This piece has liberal inputs from Wifey)

Its a blur believe me - feels like just yesterday that the doctor was showing you your cute little bundle of joy, doesn't it? And here's your little princess who has left behind her 18 hours-a-day sleep schedule and is now making your pray 'if only she would sleep for an hour more during the day'.

Babies at 5-6 months are handful. They try to wriggle out of your hands, make attempts to sit, roll over even if they are close to the edge of a bed - in short, do everything to keep you on your toes ALL the time. But they make up for it all by letting out cute little laughter and flashing ULTRA-BEAUTIFUL smiles. Ah, the joy of hearing them laugh, seeing their smiling faces!

One other thing they learn at this age is eating solid food. So far they had milk-on-demand and the change to solids is a big step for them. How do you know when to get them started on solids? It is not very tough really. Notice them staring at you intently when you eat your food or drink a juice or making chomping motions with their jaws when food is around or reaching out to grab 'good-looking' foods? Yes? Well then they are ready for solids. The thumb rule alway is Pull is better than Push. Let them ask for it before you start shoving stuff into their cute little mouths.

Now, the big question is - what do you give them that can substitute for the wonder that is Mother's milk? If you think, since they have been on tasteless milk they wouldn't be choosy, you're doubly mistaken. For one, milk is not tasteless - it takes the flavor of what you eat and also changes its composition and texture based on your baby's age and believe-it-or-not their hunger. So, your baby might actually know pasta milk from curd-rice milk and have clear cut preferences already on solid foods :)

Just the way it is not really necessary to feed babies formula EVER, it is also not necessary to get them used to ready made foods also (Gerber?). Take it as a dry run for future cooking for an additional person, start slowly (how else, given the tiny amounts the little ones consume?) and experience the joy of making something for them every day. You can go into raptures watching them lap up hungrily the food you cooked. Enjoy it while you can, before they start talking and complaining.

Here are some items that you can pressure-cook for them daily. Of course, you can vary the items and ingredients based on the little one's likes and dislikes.

1. Cereal: Visit any organic store and pick up white rice flour, brown rice flour and barley flour. You do not want to add Wheat flour, Bean flour, Lentils and Legumes till they are 9 months or older. Mix the flour with water, 5 teaspoons of water for 1 teaspoon of flour, and pressure cook them alongside your food.

2. Vegetables: Small pieces of Tomatoes, Peas, Spinach or String beans can be added to the above cereal in small quantities. Mash the vegetable well before mixing with the soaked flour. You do not want to add Root vegetables just yet.

3. Fruits: Apple and Pear (till they are 8 months) are ideal. Since the fruits have enough water in themselves, don't add more than 1 tsp to one-sixth piece of an Apple/Pear. Cooked Plums, Peaches, Nectarines can wait till 9 months. Uncooked fruits can start soon after they get their milk teeth.

Give them as much variety with the above as possible, thankfully they are not too fastidious yet.

Happy cooking!

కార్కిటుకు

నెలల పాపలున్న వారికి కార్ డ్రైవింగ్ సులభమయ్యే ఒక చిన్న కిటుకు ఇక్కడుంచుతున్నాను. ఇది కొన్ని రోజుల క్రితమే మేము కనుగొన్నాము. ఆఫీసులో పనిచేసుకు పోతున్నప్పుడు మనవెనక ఎవరైనా ఉన్నారేమో అని అప్పుడప్పుడు ఒక చూపేయడానికి వీలు కలిగించే చిన్న అద్దం ఉంటుంది. దాని 'రేర్ ఐ' అంటారు. కార్లో ఉండే రేర్వ్యూ అద్దం కన్న చిన్నగా ఉండి, ఎటువైపైనా తిప్పుకునేలా ఉంటుంది ఈ అద్దం.

నెలల పాపలను వెనక సీటులో వెనుతిప్పి కూర్చోపెడతాం కాబట్టి కార్ నడుపుతున్నప్పుడు - వెనక సీటులో ఎవరైనా కూర్చుంటే తప్ప - వారిని చూసే అవకాశం ఉండదు. వెనక ఎవరూ లేకపోతే వాళ్ళేమి చేస్తున్నారో అని ఆదుర్దా ఒకటి. అందుచేత ఈ రేర్ ఐ అద్దాన్ని వెనక సీటు పైభాగంలో అతికించి సరిగా అమర్చుకుంటే వారిని డ్రవర్ సీటుకు మొందుండే రేర్ అద్దంలోంచి చూడడం సాధ్యం అవుతుంది. దీని వల్ల ప్రయోజనం ఏమిటంటే, మీ పాపా మీరు (ఇద్దరే) హాయిగా కార్లో షికార్లకు వెళ్ళచ్చు. ఒకవేళ ముగ్గురూ వెళదామనుకున్నా, మీ ఇతర-సగం (other half :) వెనక సీటులో కూర్చోనవసరం లేదు, ఇంచక్కా ప్రయాణికుల సీటులోనే మీ పక్కన కూర్చోవచ్చు.