My big toe hurts becase I wore Nilesh's chapels (sandals) to the bank this morning. Granted, the bank is just 1 block away, but that one block was enough to rub my toe funky.

Also... I hate hate hate when breastmilk I put in the fridge YESTERDAY smells like sour eggs today. That was 2 ounces down the drain. Thankfully, I trusted Gayatri when she gagged on it and gave it a little taste myself. EW. That was nasty shit. Most days I'm okay with the fact that I'm bottle feeding her breastmilk, but its moments like this when I get upset that she won't eat directly from my booby. I spend at least an hour plus a day washing bottles. At least 3 hours pumping, and another hour just heating milk up. I wish I could just pop her on my boob and be done with it.

Speaking of feeding, she's yelling at me to feed her. So, this post ends now.

Ridin' in Style

Gayatri and I are getting in shape for spring! We've been going on walks more regularly now that the weather is turning more pleasant and it doesn't take 4 hours to bundle her up for a jaunt. And this morning we did mommy and baby yoga, which basically consisted of 15 moms with babies ranging in age from 7 weeks to 5 months gathering on yoga mats and pretending to do yoga while really just enjoying being in the company of other adults who don't mind poop and screaming.

On a completely different subject. For those of you who want to expand your world film knowledge... I've seen some rather kick-ass modern bollywood movies lately. Seriously, I love these movies. They're romantic comedies, but with singing and dancing. And some very hot men. So... on your netflix accounts, queue up... Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste, and Dil Chahta Hai.

Gayatri and I were just heading downstairs to check the mail when we looked outside and saw a gorgeous, sunny spring day. So, even though neither of us was bundled like the rest of the people walking around, we stepped outside. It was a tiny bit chilly, but in the sunshine it felt warm. We just went for a short walk, and my goodness... Gayatri was just looking around like a madwoman. We came back in and I think both of us want to go for a longer walk to enjoy this beautiful day.

I found this quote on the attachment parenting livejournal group. It made me happy, so I thought I'd share.

"It's okay to be kind to our children. It's okay to give them a feeling of abundance. Knowing that their own needs and wants are valued will only make them want to help others to meet their needs and wants too. Kindness begets kindness."
- Rue Kream, Parenting a Free Child

For those who care, its just a measely week until I'm 30 years old. I'm gonna be in my thirties!! I've been waiting years to be in my thirties. I'm psyched. And thanks for the early birthday card, Lori... it was awesome.

Nilesh is teaching me cricket. It started while watching Lagaan. Now we've got a "cricket word of the day" and I'm even reading the scorecard of the England/India game. Crazy. I think this may be the only sport I've ever enjoyed reading about. Probably because I never had to deal with cricket-jocks in highscool.

Good God.

I'm prepping for dinner and thanking whatever gods are out there that I ran my errands earlier today because what was a nice, little windy day is suddenly blizzardy with some hail hitting my apartment window. CRAZY. I love March. And not just because my birthday is this month, but because the weather is always interesting.

Dinner tonight is gonna be masala dosa. Nilesh asked if I could also make some Sambhar to go with the dosas. I told him it all depended on the girl. Heh. Right now, I've got the potatoes steaming, and the dosa mix bubbling in its bowl.

Oh yeah, did I mention that yesterday I almost drank curdled chai tea? Gugh. The milk wasn't bad in the jug, but when heated turned to cottage cheese. Nasty. Glad I noticed before I put the tea leaves into it.

Gayatri wore the cutest little winnie-the-pooh polar fleece on our outings today and damn that girlis already a head turner.

Anyone curious as to which vitamins to use, give me a shout, as our business has a new *Free* online questionnaire that'll help you figure out which supplements are most appropriate for someone based on their lifestyle and eating habits and all that fun stuff.

I'm currently reading a book called The Mask of Motherhood by Susan Maushart. Pretty interesting read so far. But the reason I'm posting is actually this quote she uses...

In the long gullet of this labor, I have come to digest a contempt for the puny world of men. Even for the strongest of them, the marathon is only two hours, weightlifting but a few seconds of exertion. The average woman in her first labor will go six times the two hours of the marathon to give birth. There is turning back, no dropping out of the race, not even the option of simply collapsing: once a woman steps into the great gullet, once she is squeezed in there by the big fist, something must be spat out, an outcome which is never any less than life or death.

- Anna Marie Dell'oso, "Harvest Day" in Debra Adelaide's collection Motherlove

I'm trying to make sense of this utter transformation in my life, hence the current book I'm reading.

In other news, I tried adding a scoop of supposedly un-flavored protein powder to the veggie rice I cooked for dinner. Hopefully, the rice will still taste great and I won't be so worried about not having enough protein. So far it smells good.

I almost cooked masala dosas for dinner, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow.

Gayatri is currently zonked out over my left arm making the most adorable cooing sounds I've ever heard. Whichmeans, for anyone interested, this entire post was entered with just one hand. Woot!

Pre-drool

I cannot express how much I adore my audible.com subscription. Seriously. I might eventually have taken time to read David McCullough's John Adams. But just being able to listen to it while I putter about the apartment was awesome. How often are you able to learn the history of a great man while washing fenugreek, chopping onions, pumping boobies, feeding baby, and doing laundry...

oh shit. laundry... be right back.

alrighty then. I love it when someone takes my stuff out of the washer and puts it on the counter. Seriously, then I don't have to do all that reaching and digging out of clothes. (which, with the addition of tiny baby clothes is not as easy as with big people clothes.) I just scoop the nice pile into my arms and deposit them into the dryer.

I'm also pleased with my boob output today. I'm keeping up with the girl, which is a big deal, and ever since mom and dad visited and I wasn't as regular with the pumping, I've been eating into my freezer supply. My boobs were as far behind as 8 ounces a day, yesterday, I was only 3 ounces behind, and today we're dead even, the boobs may be pulling ahead. Woot!

Anyway, I can't say enough about how awesome it is to listen to these books. I was working my way through both the Adams biography as well as War and Peace until John Adams just became too damn interesting. Now, it is back to War and Peace I go...

On the cooking front. Tonight I've prepared little teeny tiny sprout curry. (I don't know the name of these tiny legumes, but once sprouted, they are adorable and yummy.) Some white rice, and fenugreek sauteed with onions, fine peppers and mustard seeds. I don't know if there will be any fenugreek left by the time Nilesh gets home because every time I go in to stir the curry, I can't resist that bowl of yummy green stuff.

It would be so easy for us to convert to vegetarians and that's practically all we eat, but damn... I still occasionally like munching on meat, so no official state of vegetarianism will be forthcoming. (That sentence structure is a result of listening to John Adams for the last week.)

Ahh, the girl is calling me. This odd little train-of-thought blog post is now finished.