Deven's buddy...

...Noah was born last Saturday 7/21 (same birthday as my cousin Rea!), and we met him for the first time today. He's so tiny and cute - it's amazing that Deven was his size just 15 weeks ago! Noah will join Deven in a 'share-care' situation with our nanny, Yangchen, in October or November. It's a way for each family to pay less $/hour and our nanny to earn more $/hour - Yangchen has cared for twins before, so it should be a good situation.

Speaking of our little bundle o'joy, I think (hope) Deven has been preparing for another growth spurt. He has given us a tough couple of nights lately. For a while, he was sleeping well 8:00pm - 11:00pm, up for a feed, then 11:00pm - 6:00am with just 1 wakeup (diaper or feed), but this past weekend he decided to go back to his wake-every-2-hours routine...and not napping well. Ouch. I sure hope this doesn't continue...

...but, when he's awake, he's more fun than ever. He's batting @ toys regularly, rolling to his side consistently now, & rolls all the way over at least once or twice a day. When he gets to his stomach, he grunts then starts crying, because he's invariably pinned an arm down and he's frustrated. I know we shouldn't laugh when this happens, but it's hard not to grin at his baby-frustration and those little eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

We took him to the Anoushka Shankar & Karsh Kale concert & bhangra festival @ Stern Grove last weekend, when our friends Sanjeev & Sugeet got a table @ the last minute. It was fun; but he couldn't handle the loud noise, so after a few acts, we left.

Then we had Yangchen watch him for 3 days this week while I was @ a sales meeting. She was great, and he was fine...it was ME that was the problem. I missed him terribly and when I came home and he was making a new sound, I felt a profound sense of loss. Why did I agree to go back to work early (mid-August, instead of early Sept)? What will I miss by doing so? I love my job and definitely want to go back - but I totally understand the 'mommy guilt' that so many people write and talk about. Sigh.

Is your MIL ok w/AP, EC (or NIH)...or is she more into CIO?

Like any job, this new-parent business is filled with acronyms. I'm not even sure of 1/2 of them, but let me translate the title of this post for you:

MIL = Mother In Law
AP = Attachment Parenting
EC = Elimination Communication
NIH = Natural Infant Hygiene
CIO = Cry It Out

As it turns out, we are (ok, I am) much further on the Attachment Parenting philosophical trail than I ever thought we would be. I know this puts us into the minority, and some of you might be thinking to yourself: "Hippy! You west-coast San Francisco Granola Cruncher! I bet you don't even shave your armpits or wear a bra!"

But I do still shave (as does Yogesh), I wear a bra because I have to with these knockers, and we're still capitalists who believe in the free market (why are we having water-shortage issues in the Bay area? We have enough water, but the price of high-quality drinking water is PENNIES on the dollar of what it should be! But I digress)...

We've started working with Deven on infant potty training this week. Why? Well, it's simple: Deven has the ability to pee & poop on command now, and anything that will let us change 1 less diaper is a very, very good thing, in my book. Sure, we're still going to use diapers (mostly cloth, though we do resort to the leaky-landfill-filling disposables on occasion) - but we'll have him sit on the potty as much as possible and let him get used to doing his business there. In the past week, he's done it more on a towel on the floor than in a potty (my fault, because I didn't catch his cues), but even today he was getting more of the hang of it, and peed and pooped happily in a potty 5 times. :-)

Yogesh's mom, who will come stay with us in about a month, is totally used to this, as is our new (Tibetan) Nepali nanny, Yangchen. This is what everyone in Asia does, thankfully, so this is just status quo and no big deal to them (can you imagine the waste, if 2 billion Indians & Chinese used disposable diapers until age 3, the way we Americans do?!?)

All in all, this is a purely practical choice: The fewer diapers we have to change, the better. Sure, there will be more accidents, and I don't know yet if/how we'll do this when we're out-n-about, but I'm not worried about that right now. Wish us luck with fewer diaper changes!

New Mom Back-to-Work Checklist

I'm about 1/3 through my checklist of things to do before going back to work (and I haven't even sat down to write a proper list - I know there are things I'm leaving off this one!)

• Nanny - Found, liked, tested, & contract signed - DONE

We found a wonderful Tibetan Nepali nanny, Yangchen, on Craigslist. She speaks Hindi, Nepali, and Tibetan; is super-sweet, loving, and competent in caring for Deven. She has cared for twins before, so 'gets' how to handle 2 babies - which she'll need to do starting this fall.

• Nanny-share-partners - Found & verbally agreed - DONE

Since Nannies cost so much here, we've found a nice couple who live just 2 blocks away, Amie & Dave; their 1st baby (boy) is due any day now, and they'd like to have their little guy join in October/November this year. That'll be great for us, because Yangchen can then focus exclusively on each individual baby.

• Corporate Haircut - DONE

New Mom Kate got a Corporate Mom Haircut yesterday - I love it! I'd had long hair for about a year recently (they say pregnancy gives you good hair; they're right) - but long-term, I like my hair better short - it always looked stringy when long; and I was wearing it in a ponytail every day. I love the new cut...and after some time, Yogesh does too...and so does Deven!

• Wills, Trusts, Life Insurance - Almost DONE

We got the wills done; named our successors, trustees, all that jazz - and have applied for Life Insurance - but haven't organized our own paperwork enough to get physicals or send my sis Heather a copy of anything useful yet!

• Photos & videos sent to Daada & Daadi

Um, in process. At least I'm uploading / storing them all here for the viewing pleasure of whoever's still reading this Blog. :-)

• Yogesh's mom here to help raise Deven - In process.

Mama (or, Deven's Daadi) will come here in August to be with Deven and Yangchen (and the little boy of Amie & Dave's, who's probably being born right now). I'm really glad she'll be here, because I'm already suffering from Mommy-Working-Guilt. Sigh.

• Maternity Clothes - Put away

Um...yeah; still need to get to that.

• Office Bedroom Cleaned

Um...yeah, again, um...

• Pre-pregnancy weight achieved - Um...not even close!

Well, I'm closer - but still can't fit into any of my nice work pants. Still have ~ 20 lbs to go to fit into them properly. Can't miss another day of Baby Boot Camp!

• Deven getting cuter - DONE.

Who likes the photo of Yogesh & Deven here? Super-cute, eh? This one makes the Mommy Guilt all that much harder. I won't go into it now, but it is infuriating that the U.S. is the only developed country without a decent maternity leave law. California is OK - and I do love my job - but it stinks that I have to leave the little guy right when he's becoming so darned cute I almost can't stand it. Sigh.

• Deven looking more like me - DONE.

You may recall that I was sort of upset when Deven was born, that he looked precisely like Yogesh and not at all like me / my family. Well, I was changing him yesterday, and Deven looked just like my Uncle Helly! Hard to say how, but the change was there...

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin...

...Deven's started rollin', RAWHIDE!

(OK, that's a little wierd, I know...)

Deven rolled over completely from his back to his front unassisted yesterday, twice. He's been rolling onto his left side (only) for about a week now - I'm hoping this means he'll be left-handed, but I know to not get my hopes up too high.

When he did roll over, it was pretty funny - he got stuck on his tummy and started screaming, both times. I couldn't help but laugh, because he was just so frustrated and couldn't figure things out! Check out the videos & photos - no, I didn't catch him rolling over, but he came close.

It's love!

Some moms love their child(ren) from the moment they first realize they're pregnant. They go through their pregnancy, in love with being in love; and when the baby arrives, they simply have a face to put with the idea that they were in love with. As their child grows, their love simply has a slightly larger baby to be the object of affection. All is well for these moms.

Some moms love their babies from the moment they first lay eyes on the little one, moments after birth. They spend their pregnancies wondering what the baby will look like; and when it comes and they see that perfect combination of mom & dad, (even despite the potential birth-head-molding), they are in love. Same as the group above, their love doesn't grow as their child does, it just changes. All is well for these moms, too.

Then there's the group that I'm in. We go through pregnancy, worried about work, beating ourselves up for eating too much of the wrong things, and wondering how we're going to get everything done (and we never do - my 3rd bedroom wreck is a testament to that). We don't really "love" our babies when they're inside of us - it's sort of interesting to feel the baby kicking, but we wake up a lot to pee, and we don't know the babies yet, so how could we love them? When our babies come, we are very interested in the baby - it's fascinating, after all, in a sort of clinical way. But unlike the first two groups, we simply don't experience that love-at-first-sight bliss. It makes us feel sad and like we're bad moms, but it's how we feel. I mean, the babies haven't done much to make us love them yet - they have almost no control over any functions, so we know to not even expect a smile. When the babies don't even look one bit like the mom or anyone in the mom's family, it's upsetting! (After all, I carried the little one around for 10 months!) Sure, we take care of the babies, and we learn to interpret their cries, and things get (a lot) better when the baby starts to coo and gurgle and look cute in the outfit Aunt Carolyn gave him. But, we just don't love the babies yet.

That's why, when the women in this last group finally fall in love with their babies, it's so great. After 3 months, I'm happy to say that I finally had that epiphany yesterday with Deven in a Music Together class - I love my son!

Photo is of our Mindful Birthing birth group reunion - was fun to see all the babies.

Check out this video, too:

FORM 10-Q: FIRST QUARTERLY REPORT

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended July 5, 2007

Sherwood-Sharma Family Offspring: Deven Reid Sharma

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements (unaudited)
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of July 5, 2007

Assets

• Cute Smile
• Cradle Cap (see Rockstar photo - see what the wonders of olive oil can do in very thin hair!
• Gurgles, squeaks, and grunts
• Plenty o' healthy-poopy-diapers
• Drool-and-bubbles galore!

Liabilities

• New screams that could wake the dead
• Occasional crying bouts that leave us wondering "what happened?"
• Poopy Diapers - the Prince still complains every time he has one one!
• Cradle Cap (yes, it's both an Asset and a Liability!)

Owners' Equity

• Deven, being the owner of everything in our house now, has at least been kind to his mom's personal milk-factories, leaving an acceptable supply for when he really needs it. This is a very good thing...

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three months ended July 5, 2007: The Amazing Doubling Baby!

Wow, Deven has really grown! He weighed in at 14 lbs, 9 oz today (fully clothed), so he's almost doubled his birth weight in only 3 months. No wonder he's been a little irritable sometimes - he's so busy growing that anything else is just a distraction.

Deven has just begun rolling over from his back to his side. He will only roll onto his left side at this time (does this mean he'll be left-handed? I hope so!), but he's definitely doing it consistently. And today, despite the warnings of "don't leave the baby on his stomach" for fear of SIDS, he fell asleep on his belly and stayed there for 2 hours...so I think we're onto something here.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three months ended July 5, 2007: Stroller Obsession

Yogesh now calls me "Stroller obsessed." Why? Well, maybe it's because in 3 short months, I've already had 5 strollers owned or had on long-term loan, and seriously considered trading for a couple more. No, I haven't considered the $900 Bugaboo strollers (I don't like them!) We're down to just 2 at this moment; but going back up to 3 soon. Why? Well, we're still occasionally using the BabyTrend Snap-n-Go stroller base. I had 3 of these at one time (don't ask!) It's light, versatile, and good for small places like San Francisco stores. Then there's the Maclaren Triumph in coffee brown, bought like-new from another stroller-obsessed Golden Gate Mothers Group member - a superlight umbrella stroller (or "umbroller" as my mom would say) that's great for super-small spaces like airports. And finally, there's the jogger.

Sadly, we said goodbye to the great jogger we got from Danielle and John - it kept breaking so we sold it on Craigslist; and here's where I splurged: I bought the highest-rated jogger out there; a Bob Revolution in Mesa Orange - complete with Handlebar Console and Infant Carseat Adaptor. Now here's the funny thing: I was going to buy a different Bob stroller - the Revolution 12" AW (that's "All Wheel" to you non-stroller-fanatics). Supposedly this one is slightly better for city streets/shops, but the woman selling it on Craigslist wasn't in town. So, I already hit "Buy" on the online shop for the orange one.

We also seriously considered the Phil & Ted's Sport Double - an inline stroller (e.g. that we can fit into our narrow alleyway) with big wheels and a smooth ride; great for a Nanny-Share situation like we're seeking, and for the 2nd kid which isn't even a remote twinkle in our eyes yet. But, the foot-break on the P&T was miserable (and this is super-important on our hill!); and the sunshade was somewhat small (important for my 9:15am Baby Boot Camp classes), and of course it was more expensive and why should we subsidize the Nanny Share, if we're not even sure we can do it?...So now I'm second-guessing myself... Aah, well- I wanted orange more than black or blue or red, anyway. :-)

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements: Looking Back

They say "It all goes by so fast" - and they're right. Yesterday at Lake Anza at Tilden Park, a nice woman asked me "How old is your baby?" and I almost answered "3 weeks." Wow; it really has been 3 months, Deven really is twice the size he was when he entered the world, and he really is moving and grinning and cooing and gurgling and laughing now.

To prepare for Deven's birth, we took a class called "Mindful Birthing" with a known midwife in Berkeley, because we knew, and I was committed, to having a natural birth - e.g. no drugs or medical interventions unless the baby's and my life depended on it. There we learned to really notice how we were feeling and reacting to environmental stimuli - both internal and external. While this may sound a bit hippie-dippy-crunchy, in fact it was quite good for me (and Yogesh) because it gently forced me to slow down and notice how I was feeling - which is the first step towards being able to wrap your mind around a painful situation (like childbirth) and manage the pain.

If you read the birth story, you know that I was able to have a natural birth (only had some pitocin; which technically disqualifies me; but I had no pain medication, and since pitocin only increases the strength/pain of the contractions and helped Deven out despite his posterior presentation, I figure I still get to wear the "Natural" badge of honor). Interestingly, I have learned 2 things:

1. That most women with posterior-presentation babies end up delivering by C-section (oh gosh, thank GOODNESS I was with Homestyle Midwifery, where I was allowed to labor without being cut open! I love those women!)
2. That most women consider me crazy for even considering this route - which I think is sort of crazy!

I'm in this great Mom's group (a subset of the GGMG) with other women who had babies in April '07; and of 15 women there were (I think) 6 c-sections and no other natural/unmedicated births. I loved Deven's birth - sure wasn't pain-free; but I felt warm, loved, cared for by knowledgeable people who wouldn't let me or the baby be hurt, and unhurried throughout the entire experience. Deven and I were both perfectly fine immediately afterwards, despite his posterior presentation (back of the baby's head toward my back; or "sunny-side-up") and this is SO different from women who had interventions!

To continue my "looking back" - well, afterwards, I was fine, but exhausted. 26.5 hours of labor after little sleep in the days/weeks/months leading up to that will do that to a woman. I remember walking to Deven's 1st doctor's appointment (1/2 block downhill from our home) and being TIRED by the time I got there. Now, I'm exercising 4-5 days per week, and while I'm still tired; I'm feeling better (and only have 20 lbs left to go, to get back to pre-pregnancy weight!)

Then, there's nursing. At first, I needed Yogesh AND my mom to help with pillows, positioning, and Deven's head to get it just-so...for a 5-10 minute feed...and this happened at least every 2 hours. Now, Deven whimpers a bit, I open the nursing bra, and don't even fiddle with pillows - he just grabs on and starts eating. It's quite satisfying, really. I plan to pump breastmilk when I return to work for the 1st year of his life; and I hope that my milk supply will remain steady despite my being away from him.

...and the stress of going back to work. Aah work. I love what I was doing, and miss it. Don't miss the driving commute; but I'm hoping that once my office moves to Richmond, I can take BART more often. I know I'll be happy to go back; and I also know that at certain times in the day I'll miss Deven. I'm glad I'm taking the summer to be with him. We've found 2 fabulous Nanny candidates; don't want to say too much (yes, I'm superstitious); but we're hoping that 1 will work out, with another family to help share/defray the costs.

Finally, there's the little guy himself. Wow. He's super-cute; he continues to look just like Yogesh and I continue to search for flashes that he really is my son, too. I think he might have my dimples (geez, I hope I didn't just jinx it) - and his hair is straighter than Yogesh's, but still pretty dark-brown. It's getting longer - strands are continually over his ears and down to his eyebrows. When do we get his first haircut? What should I be doing with him that I'm not yet?

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations: Oblay!

What did I expect? I didn't try too hard before Deven was born to think about what life would be like now. I didn't want to - I was too focused on closing a deal and finishing all the things I had to do (some still undone, like calling TempurPedic to get the mysterious squeak in our boxspring fixed). So, my analysis of things is that it's as good as I could expect; and I (we) are extremely fortunate to have a healthy, happy baby and enough resources to manage basically everything we need, and even to go to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Savor, once in a while.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risks: What lies ahead?

My colleague Jenny, a mom with 2 kids said something that struck me as odd when I was pregnant, but I understand now: She said she lived "in mortal fear that something horrible would happen to her babies." At the time, I thought she was having a bad day or a bit depressed; but now I know - she's just a normal mom. That, or I'm depressed or having a bad day! I don't think that's the case...so it must just be the new-mom gene.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

We're still working on this one. We haven't 'baby-proofed' our house yet - Deven isn't crawling, so there's no top-of-stair gate installed yet (it's been purchased; and just sitting in the front hallway!); no plug-covers, lots of cords, small things for Deven to choke on, and lots and lots of cat hair.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1A. Risk Factors

What isn't a risk nowadays? We are more careful about how we drive, jog, and even cross the street.

Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

What do you think about this long rambling? Interesting? Boring? Write a comment!

Item 6. Exhibits

NEW Photo site! Check it out! http://picasaweb.google.com/krsherwood - click "http://picasaweb.google.com/krsherwood/DevenHome6" for the newest photos!