No Photos?!?

...because the chip we took TONS of good snaps on isn't uploading correctly now! Aah, technology.

I'm reminded of the time my parents had one of those old 110-film cameras. Yeah, the kind where you couldn't tell sometimes if the roll was done or still in use. They developed what they thought was a mostly-blank roll in the late 80's, and found photos taken from the late 70's. We all got a laugh out of the shots of my sister as a toddler (she was a preteen, and I was a teen at the time so any chance to rib her was welcomed).

I hope this chip leads to something like that...NOT that we've just lost all the cute photos of Deven's first Halloween, visit by Laura, etc. etc... :(

Had another business trip to SoCal last Thursday-Friday; missed the little guy terribly. Good news is that again, the TSA was surprisingly pleasant in their understanding of my carryon bag containing liquids while I was sans-bebe. I suppose the breastpump in the x-ray gives it away. :)

My parents are coming out for Thanksgiving - looking forward to having a fun time with them here. Deven's in full-on "PLAY WITH ME NOW" mode (e.g. don't ignore me for a second or I'll scream!)- so Naani's presence will be welcomed.

Snap here was taken on the roof by my friend Chris this weekend. I'd better get back to that Baby Boot Camp more often!

Is it crawling if...

...they're totally up on their hind legs and pushing along, but dragging their lips along the rug & leaving a drool-trail like the cutest slug ever? Or, if they're up on their arms and rolling over to the nearest dangerous-thing to grab hold of and bring it to their mouths?

Deven's firmly @ this stage now. No teeth yet like his little Playgroup buddies, but he sits up, bangs blocks, and has just started the oh-so-cute Peek-a-boo game.

I talk to other non-working moms on occasion and I feel really lucky to be working. Nothing's perfect, but we're OK here.

7 Months Ago...

...I was a new mom. And now Deven is sitting up, cooing and gurgling like a bubbling brook, and grabbing anything within reach to put it in his mouth.


Goodbye, St. Luke's?
I just learned that the hospital where we gave birth, St. Luke's, will no longer offer obstetric care (beginning in '09 I think...that leaves us little time to get busy for #2!)
Homestyle Midwifery, the incredible mom- and baby-centered care that brought Deven into the world naturally, will have to find another home. I could cry...but what did I expect? It's too expensive to offer excellent care to this, the "poorer south side" of San Francisco. Huh.


Work is going well for me, busy but well. Deven has his own room now (the teeny 3rd bedroom); that was harder on us than on him. He is growing SO fast, and I just think back to the hard beginning and am SO glad he came into the world naturally. So much more I could say on other topics, but I don't have time. Work and baby await. *grin*

Oh, photos: Cousin Rachna (Booaji to Deven) visited us from Portland - Deven loved meeting and giggling with his Booaji! Uncle Supreet also visited, and I think the Turbinator scared Deven...he (Deven) kept frowning for a while, until he warmed up (finally!).

What I want for you, Deven Reid Sharma

On the eve of Deven's 6 month birthday, I thought I'd share something I wrote the day he was born. I hope he reads it someday and smiles.

I want you to lead a life that is happy, healthy, and fulfilled.

To be kind, hardworking, creative, passionate, and loving.

To learn how to light up a room when you walk in - in your own way.

To not accept peer pressure when young,
and to battle injustice when older.

To find something - or 2 or 3 or 300 things - that you love and believe in and get passionate about...
and to work hard to improve those things.

Maybe I'm just saying that I want you to succeed at something(s) that you love.

To communicate well...it will take you far.

I want you to learn, and learn, and learn, and love learning.

To travel, adventure, and return to tell me and your dad the stories.

To take calculated risks - whether on your bicycle, or in your portfolio.

To love your cultures and respect others.

To love yourself, and to know that your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles love you very much, too.

Happy Birthday, my son.

- Katherine Reid Sherwood, April 5, 2007

Would you use this Photographer?

The photographer who took our family shots has requested that we allow her to use these 4 photos on her website.

I already said OK; so now the question is - if you saw these photos, would you use her for your family?
:-)
Oh, if you want to see all the photos in color, see this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/krsherwood/DevenFamilyProfessionalPhotos

Hard to believe that was almost a month ago now!

First Bites...and Hello, Uncle Helly!

...yep, Deven has started solids! But if you'd been reading the blog, you knew that already. He's had rice, bananas, and carrots so far - and according to Yogesh, is "definitely a brahmin" because he prefers sweets. Unfortunately, he's also teething...and that means ANYTHING chewable is fair game as a teething toy. Including his 'first food source'...yep, you get the picture. OUCH!

We've had a whirlwind of activity lately. We went to our first kids birthday party (where he got to sit in a big tub full o' beans...yes, lima beans...) this weekend; last weekend we ran in our first 5k with the jogging stroller - the Banana Chase Race (coming in a snail's-pace ahead of a few Bananas); we've had visits from friends Chris, Steve, Nimisha, Gurjeet, Ameya, Supreet, and Danielle; and we've hosted Noah, our share-care-partner, who will start coming over almost full-time in early October.

HELLO UNCLE HELLY!

Yep, Deven finally looks like me; or at least like my side of the family. I can't pinpoint what it was, but I was looking at him about a week ago, and he looked quite a bit like my mom's oldest brother, my Uncle Helly. I laughed when I thought of it - and was quite excited! Too bad he's already outgrown the (6-month-sized) cute outfit that Uncle Helly and Aunt Carolyn sent him.

As you can see from the photos, all's well with Daadi. She and Potaa (grandson) continue to be best friends, and spend their days cooing to each other. Life's pretty good if you're a 5 1/2 month old boy in this household.

Enjoy the video from Deven's Ganapati birthday celebration:


I've got 2 more business trips coming up - and I'm not feeling very well lately (stomach issues-aargh) - so we'll see how things work out with more pumping on the road and such. Wish me luck! :)

Bumble Bee Deven

...haven't had much time to write lately, though there's lots to say. But, Yogesh's company is powering the Transformers movie online, see here for details!





Link:

http://www.transformersmovie.com/suityourself/?movieid=BB4DDDF2-7C13-4FA5-80DA-EAA2BA4415EE

Tough days...(really not THAT tough...)

I know I'm lucky - I have a mom-in-law who gets along well with us, lives with us here, and cooks us nutritious meals...but still: Work days like today are tough. Clients who won't call back (even when they have a good reason to do so); colleagues who are too busy for important planning discussions; horrendous-awful-75-minute-in-nonstop-stop-n-go-commute-traffic-home; followed by all-too-brief time with Deven; and then him falling asleep early (good) but then waking and screaming for 30 minutes at his usual bedtime.

See, we're now trying the cry-it-out method at night, and so far our hearts feel like they've been squished on the floor - it is SO painful to hear him cry. But we know he's not hurt, hungry, or in need of anything other than what he's gotten used to - constant attention, even when he's exhausted & needs to sleep. Daadi, for her part, thinks we're horribly cruel and can't understand why we're doing this; we had a good argument with her this evening about the whole thing. In the end, she respected our wishes (despite her better judgement); Deven finally went down, and has been sleeping since then. I wonder how tonight will end up.

If you didn't check out the photos yorselves, here's my favorite of my sis & Tommy:

My favorite "40th Anniversary Photo" of my parents:
(Given that my dad is 6' tall and my mom only 5'2", I think this is the first time the tops of their heads have been in the same general height-plane, ever!)

...and my favorite "new family" photo:


And a video from a week ago:

Another 'Anniversary': Solids!

Hard to believe that last week marked Deven's 5-month 'anniversary.' Seems just yesterday I was waddling to the restroom in my office every 15 minutes, because I was as pregnant as a small house (without adequate plumbing!). In fact, I'm personally only 10 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight, but things don't fit like they used to. I'm not being an angel about what I'm eating, so I'll have to get better if I want to lose those last few stubborn ones. Too bad I love ice cream.

"Solids" refers to the fact that we offered Deven 1/2 tablespoon-full of mushed-rice-in-breastmilk today, and despite his funny faces, he ate it! He started out spilling about 1/2 of it on himself, and his expressions were priceless - but he kept opening his mouth for more, so I think we're onto something here. :-)

Oh, and if you like the photos (I do) - We got the professional photos back. What do you think? I think Heather & Tommy win the 'highest jumps' awards!

See them all here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/krsherwood/DevenFamilyProfessionalPhotos

Like father, like son

Yogesh found some old photos of himself as a boy when he went back to Delhi to pick up his mom in August - looks like the apple didn't fall far from the tree, huh?

In other news, our family photo shoot went very well when my parents & sister were here - check out the results! Note: CLICK THROUGH SOON - the photos won't be available forever on the photographer's website.

Color photos: http://hitomiphotography.com/08.27.07%20Kate%20Color/
Black & Whites: http://hitomiphotography.com/08.27.07%20Kate%20B&W/

Oh, and I think Heather & Tommy win the cutest-subject awards for the jumping shots. :-)

So, which ones do you think my parents will want to buy?