First solids and baby tooth ahoy

We gave the lilguy oatmeal cereal yesterday. I was half expecting the lilguy to spit it out, but other than his funky faces, he was a happy camper. He kept gnawing on his spoon all the time guess his little tooth is making him chew on anything he gets his hands on. Now I need to find out from the folks around the rice ceremony for the lilguy.

He got up this morning and was busy playing with this toes when he noticed me through the corner of his eye, the lilguy was quiet enuf not to wake up his mommy and beamed me one of his huge grin. Luckily he doesnt sit up on his own otherwise he would have wanted to just get all over the place.

Now that he's growing up, we need to figure out his daycare/nanny/aupair issue. Dont think any of the folks can take care of him for an extended period of time with both of us working.

As the new year is around the corner, I was informed that there will be a small gathering of people at home! Now I need to find out how to best get the party fun!

59 in December!!!

To continue with my fall clean-up: Another 5 hours and I was able to get the lawn cleaned up. The few days before I cleaned up though, the weather was a tad too windy and essentially blew up my nice pile of leaves. The first two hours of so of the day ended up in me blowing back the leaves, then the lawn mower was put to the task. I was impressed that the sizeable pile of leaves was considerably mulched by the mower - I was able to put all the byproduct in the compost pile in the back except for around 4 bags that took care of the leaves in the front.

Hopefully by next year I want to put up the fences in the front. This way I should be able to restrict the leaves from crossing over between the properties and apart from it looking good - it will act as a good deterrance for the lilguy!!..about him in a little while.

Assembled the walker and the highchair for the little guy. And most importantly he started teething!! You can see his small teeth crown showing..really cute. So now for a little time, I can put him the walker and he'z busy chewing the toys that he can get in his hands.

Dad is thinking about buying some property in Calicut. That seems good - gives mom something to look forward to. As for Nithya's trip over - this is the first I've heard about somebody getting a visa but no passport!!

We had our holiday party on 12/7, but I did not make my presence felt for long. Now feel bad, should have stayed and had fun.

And now for the weather: NY is nearing 60 for the last few days and I'm not really sure how the winter is going to be and more important how the following summer will turn out to be.

Things to do..

The lilguy finally turned over a week or two ago. He does the feat in the blink of an eye, so we need to be really careful that we dont put him close to the bed edge. He even flipped over in the crib yesterday, which was funny as he had a very satisfied look after he was done. Although one thing that i've noticed is that he starts moving backwards when he thrashes around!

I finally got to clearing the lawn last weekend. 5 Hours of hardwork and I was only able to clear and lump the leaves together in 3 different places. Now I have to put them leaves into bags as I am not going to spoil the truck taking the garbage to the dump!

Also put in gutter guards at various places - although had a good time putting them up and think they will reduce work next year. I think they will be detrimental in the long time frame as the guter guards kinda didnt just stick into the gutters and i had to put them under the shingles...

Anyways that is not what I wanted to write about..i'm trying to compile a list of things to do before I turn 30..in another 2 years..kinda in sync with the show on TV that i saw yesterday hosted by somebody who anchors Miami Ink..this is the list so far
- Skydive
- Drive Cross Country (NY - CA)
- Learn to ski
- Learn to Snowboard
- Run the NY marathon
- Go paintball
- Get to Ibiza
- Get Cholestrol under control
- Visit Qatar once before dad retires

Additionally things I'd like to do
- Get a porsche before 40
- Backpack in Cambodia/ Ankor Wat
- Drive from Goa to Kerala, India

Its more than 4 months...

A lot has happened in the 4 months that I've penned on this blog. I knew that this would happen. I would create the blog, blog for sometime frequently and then shut down completely.

In any case, the world has changed so much..from my point of view..well I've become a dad..well i'm known as "dada" to my lilguy..he was born on July12th,2006..a healthy 8 Pounds baby boy..it only seems like yesterday when his mom's water broke after we had gone on the morning on July11th to run some errands..after we reached home..my wife says that her water has broken..and man..then came the rush..the poor thing had to be admitted due to the fear of contamination since the water had broken..all the lamaaz classes didnt pan out as we couldnt practice walking around et al..

After going through nearly 20 hours on the bed with all kinds of dialaters..we had to go under the knife..and thank god for that..cos the baby had the cord around its neck..but everything just faded away when they put the baby on our chest..and he just looked at us..that look just made everything worthwhile..at least for me..but for my wife..it was another 2 hours before she could do anything due to the effect of anesthesia...

Well..now the lilguy will be 4 months old..he's already grown quite much..doubled in weight and nearly 2 ft in length..he turns around on his side..and gets really frustrated when he cannot achieve what he's aiming for..definitely got shades of his dad there...everybody seems to say that he's advanced for his age...although i'm secretely cheering him on to be better than everybody else...i definitely dont want to put that mentality into myself wherein i push for my satisfaction rather than his development...

Although nothing has changed so drastically..i do want to get back home and pick the lilguy up just to see him smile and stick his toungue out or pout his lips while trying to make bubbles..the days that i cant get to him..becos of my foolishness..like the halloween party...which i'll talk about later on..but he sure is one of the centers of my life..the main one along with his 'mama"..but its just frustrating that you cant behave like a full family as the inlaw is also staying with us taking care of the lilguy..a great deal to us..because we both need to work to maintain the lifestyle!..but the fact that we are not able to work as a complete unit frustrates me..the lack of intimacy..the need to please outwardly..the regular BS!!..anyways..

We finally got a scratched up flatscreen LCD for the b/room upstairs..quite impressed with the quaility of the picture..first project that i did without messing up!!..also switched onto dish..the F****rs ran the wire right down the roof..i'm not sure how that is going to standup to the northeast winters...

I'm still looking to link photos etc to this blog..hopefully i have more of this lazy time..after the lilguy has come..my free time is spent playing with him..additionally the new job is very involving and is really great..hopefully i'm able to reach my full potential there..and i'm sure i'll do good...


Now about the only incident in the past 4 weeks that i dont feel good about..company had a halloween party..dressed up like a sci-fi character..got wasted..never been so bad..i made a complete fool of myself in front of my other half by first coming back totally incapacitated..and more importanly missing my stop on the late train out of GCT...I've also made some good time partying around NYC seems like before..had some good shawarma..met with a good ol friend..although the guy doesnt seem to have changed much behaviour-wise..the mane of hair was quite out of character..but i guess some people like to progress that way...

Any day now..

A lot has happened in the two months or so that I have not "blogged"
The wife has gained the ideal weight and could be delivering any time soon. We did have a slight scare a couple of weeks ago when due to a bad cough she started getting contractions and had to run to the hospital but it was just dehydration and contractions due to the cough.
The lamaz classes were very informative - apart from teaching me how to breath..they did give a lot of direction to our wavering minds around labor!
Also I quit my job with the british IB to be at a job with a scottish rival and the start date will be July17th, only hope that the lilone arrive before that...
As for the lilone..its supposed to be 10pounds...i am not sure how much the actual weight will be..
Also Zizou helped France advance to the 2006 Fifa worldcup. We had a small get together for the FranceVs Brazil match which was a darn good match. The portugal team really created a bad after taste with their unsportsmanship play..the dives the faking was all too much..i think it even made the british like the french when they played against portugal in the Semi's..aah as they say..football does make everything seem much simpler... only wish it were my Arge team..but then again..
And with France playing Italy tomorrow..both teams that I favor..it is going to be a thoroughly memorable world cup..
Anyways I'll keep posting from time to time... at least that way it wil look like a regular blog..i am hoping to be linking to photos too so that everyone can take a look at the happenings!!

Successful babyshower

So finally it occured, D's babyshower was a success. I had to get up in the morning to clean and D was kinda suprised and confused but didnt ask much questions. We got late getting out the house and around 5PM, when we were still in NJ..i started panicking as we were supposed to be at the house by then..we reached home at 6PM and if it were not for the door that was left open, she would really have gotten a good suprise..

So the party carried on till the wee hours of the night...early on..we had a 3 on 3 touchdown game which finally made us use the yard!!. The bbq was just too good..but all the rich food got to my poor guts. And tha fact that it was raining previously had everybody carrying half the lawn into the house.

Today was a pain getting iup in the monring and cleaning...anyways...now its back to the daily grind...

babyshower blues

So we have been planning the babyshower for the past 2 months. Actually I did nothing..it was all D's friend..even the cake that I was supposed to get.. i asked D to get it and the adorable baby even went and brought it. She has no idea that its D day tomorrow. After the last couple of weeks of miserable allergies

Hopefully she'll like the whole suprise. I'll post an update before the weekend is over.

Avian Flu....Update1

Being in the profession that I am in, I personally feel that if the avian flu was to rear its head..there is more a chance of a complete shut down , in the markets, within the govt and the general infrastructure around the countries that have the pandemic. There may be an initial rush to keep the markets alive but that will soon turn immaterial with the human tragedy unfolding. I wonder what the real scene will be...

Spring sprung..and i'm still lazing around

As i was saying..the leaves under the trees were too much for this soul to handle..so what did i do?..the neighbours were spring cleaning..and we just highjacked the "neighbours from down south" to clean up the yard. i was amazed that the right equipment makes the job seem so easy!!..the guys completed the job in around 4 hours!!..if i were to do it..it would take me atleast a couple more hours at the least...but it did come with a cost..and keeping in mind that the lilone is arriving soon..i even asked them to do the lawn...so we'll see how that goes...

Spring has sprung...

So it is here finally. We awoke to the sounds of birds chirping away to the crisp April sun. On opening the blinds..we were pleasently suprised to see people jogging in light clothes, but the house still felt cold. So before I had a chance to step out, I thought of switching on the heat just to get the house warmed up. But then I changed my mind and stepped out..I could finally walk out without freezing my b(*!!.

But on seeing all the leaves that was stashed behind the pruned hedges, my good day was seeming to look like a long loong day of yardwork...

i'm back...

So after posting the initial two posts, I was looking to post a third one on the 17th. The main objective was to post pictures in the blog but along the way I got immersed in my photo collection. As luck may have it; the laptop i was browsing the pictures on crashed with a "blue screen of death". Now I was on my 4th peg of "black" reminiscing the good ol' days and I wanted to blog this incident!! The wife thought I was out of my element, who could blame her..after all..the lilone inside her was all jumpy when we were looking at the pictures..

Anyways I got in touch with a friend of mine for some advise on a new laptop. He advised me to get the HP1000t which featured the latest dual core intel processor and with a couple of bells and whistles would come to around 1200$'s. Since then I've been researching my options and have come to the conclusion that the HP 8000t although a tad bit costlier was the best bang for the buck.

Rewind back to yday - 27Mar06, when we got our federal tax refund and I was feeling pretty good. But somehow, out of no-where, the thought of purchasing a new laptop somehow didnt appeal to me. There was a nagging feeling on whether I should wait till I'd somehow bring down my credit card debt which was going to get even higher due to the purchases pending the refacing of our Master bathroom and more importantly (in my opinion) the stately nursery we were planning on putting up for the lilone.

Back to today - My wife convinced me that it would be wiser to wait a few more months and somehow do with the 2 PC's we had at home. I could use her laptop on the weekends but would have to do with the desktops at other times. I have to agree with her on this count although I tried the puppy face to see if she would somehow change her mind!! (how childlike).

I wasnt able to go to work today - all the sanding in the nursery, over my perceived long weekend, finally got to me in the form of severe drowsiness, croacky voice and slight fever. I hope I am able to pull myself from bed tomorrow morning.

Around mid-afternoon I wanted to get online to get more info on a couple of articles that I'd been reading in print when the laptop, that had crashed, caught my eye (sitting conspicously on the couch ready to be delivered to my friend who would fix it). I dont believe in technology coming back to life ,from the umpteen times I've tried to revive failing PC's, TV's, VCR's, Walkmans etc ( you catch my drift), by talking to them. As I picked up the laptop and powered it on, I was amazed to see the OS kick in and Windows load up!

Now here I sit, with an itchy and irritable throat, not having to dred over spending over a grand for a new laptop and believing that the guy upstairs does take care of us in his unique ways. Aah..wish I could celebrate with my "black"

Drinks

As I was saying the lilone is due soon..
so i've taken the last 2 days to get the nursery done..after nearly 10 hours working on putting mud onto the sheetrok..to make it a flawless piece of art (all in vain)..i sanded the darn room today..didnt realize the amount of dust!!
Anyways the reason for the post, you say does not have any corelation with this?? Well...after sanding the room today I poured my self a peg of "black" today. I am coming to like this drink now, I have been a strict whisky person, not being unfaithful to the blend for the past 8 years!!
But lo and behold, today I am guilty of liking the flavor of wet but burning tobacco in the glass!! Reminds me of the time when in college my logical explanation of smoking was time pass..i guess the mixture of cold and rainy nights along with my stick of death (wills) wasnt just a passing phase..its come back to me as a sweet painful memory

First post

I first took interest in the blog world during the runup to the 2004 presidential election.
Ever since my first interaction with the WWW, i'd wanted a space that I could post material, not for anybody else to view, but so that I could have someplace other than paper or my head to store my random thoughts.
And now since my progeny will soon make an entrance within the next 3 months, I thought it would be a good time to get away from my procrastinating and start with my little experiment with the web