21 things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving

In this busy life, it is easy to forget what things we have going for us and keep focusing on things that are not. For instance, focusing on not getting the promotion you were gunning for and forgetting to be grateful for having a job. Getting upset over not being able to get that branded bag but forgetting to be grateful for the other bags you already have. Crying over baby having diagnosed with down syndrome at birth instead of being grateful for this tiny miracle you created.(see what I did there 👶❤)

I know this blog is not completely from Laksh's point of view or even fully about him like it usually is, but I needed to put this in writing for him to see when he grows up. It being thanksgiving weekend, I decided to come up with reasons 21 that I am thankful/grateful for this life that God gave us. (21 has become my most favorite number recently, oh & also, it is my birth date)

1. We have Laksh and he has us
2. We have a roof over our heads
3. We have food in our bellies
4. We have love in our house
5. We have people that care about us
6. Laksh has both sets of grand parents
7. Laksh has two older sisters (cousins but closer than the real deal), aunts and uncles
8. Laksh has a fur brother
9. We are healthy
10. We have an amazing online DS community, our extended family
11. We have jobs so we can provide for our baby
12. We have access to great medical care
13. We became parents
14. We saw his first smile
15. We heard his first cry
16. We celebrated his first Rakhsha Bandhan
17. We celebrated his first Diwali
18. We celebrated his first Bhai Dhuj
19. We celebrated his first Halloween 
20. We celebrated his first thanksgving
21. And last but not least, we will have the rest of our lives to see his many firsts and seconds and more.

Never forget to be kind to others as kindness is all that matters. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

Sneak Peak into Laksh's PT session

So Laksh's day started with finally getting sleep after daddy left for work at 7 in the morning. Past two nights he has been waking up every other hour and only sleeps after daddy or I carry him around the room. Yes, it has been super fun getting "the middle of the night exercise". Laksh is making sure mummy gets some walking done, even if it is at 3 in the morning.

So getting back to the point of this blog, Laksh had his PT appointment at 10 this morning instead of his usual 2 pm. So the oversleeping of sorts did not help our case. Laksh and I woke up at 9 (basically slept for 2 hours but 9 is still late for us). Quickly, Laksh and I finished his morning routine and had him changed (diaper and clothes). We were done with his feeding in record time, it was like he sensed the urgency flowing through me and decided to help. He is a good baby.

His PT is very prompt and was here exactly at 10. Today was his 3rd session and Laksh is already showing interest in his exercises and some progress. I have mentioned that before but in case this is the first blog of mine that you are reading, I am a physical therapist and have been doing some exercises for Laksh at home. I also ordered a big red ball for him and have been doing some core strengthening on it.

So today I finally remembered to ask the PT permission to take pictures in the PT session and he agreed so finally I can show what he is doing. First we do some general range of motion exercises for both upper and lower limbs along with scoping (which is mild traction and retraction of larger joints). Followed by rolling and half sitting, make sure that he is sitting at no more than 45 degree.

                                                                                    

                                 

                     

Moving on to some tummy time with he is hands in front of him, kind of getting him geared for crawling.

sorry its a bit blurred but he kept moving ;)

After rocking his tummy time, we then moved onto the big red ball where he did some bouncing, side to side movement, front and back movements and then rolling on it. This was followed by some tummy time on the ball as well. Most of these exercises are aimed at core strengthening and improving head control.

And, I finally took time to learn how to add videos so here are some on the ball. (BTW, it was super simple, literally had to just click the icon that said video. If only I had looked earlier.)

This is my darling baby chilling after a 45 mins nap post exercise

And my cheerleader while I was writing this blog

Hope this has helped. Please feel free to ask questions. Happy Holidays!

Are we doing things that bring us joy?

I was just reading Kelle Hampton's blog about Krista who is her intern who happens to have down syndrome. (http://kellehampton.com/blog) The things that Krista is learning in college make me feel both good and a little sad. I had dreams about my Laksh being able to achieve get success and sometimes realizing that he might have to learn skills to be able to live independently that usually comes naturally to most people is a little disheartening. That being said, some years ago, people with DS were institutionalized so this is definitely a move in the right direction.

Anyway, reading her blog, I stumbled upon the entry from today and realized "worrying about things beyond our control" is not something that only I am inflicted with. But her friend did ask a very important question, " Are we doing things that bring us joy?' When I tried answering this question, I realized my answer is no for the most part. We are in that phase of life, where Hubby and I are struggling between trying to make a decent living so we can provide for our baby. In this day to day struggle, we are forgetting to take a minute to enjoy the small things (yes yes I am a fan).

Most of the times, we are just running through the motions and not actually living life. I sometimes see how my friends are managing to travel (a passion of mine) but I am not even able to go to the movies. I want to do so much and yet somehow I end up doing nothing. All I am doing is, going to work and managing to be able to find time to spend with my son. I hate that I don't have the freedom to be able to take time off work or just take a little sabbatical.

I am now deciding that we will do one fun thing every day. It does not matter how grand or how simple that thing is, but we will do it. It does not matter if anyone wants to join us or not but we will do it. As a family, we will do things that bring us joy because that is what life is made up of. Small moments of joy. Good night readers.





















                                                    🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃

The light of my life

I know my last blog was a bit more focused on me and less on Laksh. I promise I will do a better job of talking more about him and his day than me.


October 19th 2017 was my baby's first Diwali (For those readers who are not familiar with Diwali, here is a website that beautifully explains it; http://www.diwalifestival.org/diwali-in-history.html ). Diwali has always been one of my most favorite time of the year, second to Christmas of course.

That day started like any other. Laksh woke up 3 times in the night to feed or get changed or just to snuggle (like he does every day). He did not know this is a big day for him but I did. In my head, I was trying to figure out a way to make this Diwali special for him. Of course, he is too young to know what it means just yet but I still wanted this to be something awesome for him to look back to.

As the day went by, Laksh and I got caught up in our day to day activities and the focus on Diwali kept slipping. Diwali is where spring cleaning meets Christmas but neither was the house clean nor was it brightly lit up. Hubby was at work and I was enjoying the last of my unpaid maternity leave with Laksh (that is a whole other discussion) when I got a minute to breathe and saw the clock. It was already 4.30, Hubby was still at work and everyone else was napping (excluding Laksh of course). I called hubby and asked him to leave quickly while I started deep cleaning the apartment like that is the last thing I would do. In two hours, we had the apartment cleaned up and decorated, sweets made for the pooja, and showered and dressed up versions of ourselves were ready as well.

Electric tea light candles and string lights

Paper lanterns placed all over the apartment

Laksh's first Diwali gift from his older sister Sheen

Sweets for pooja and the mandir

            My mother (type A personality just like me) bought us some matching traditional outfits to wear



Then began the pooja (prayers) and celebrations. If we would have been in India, we would have lit some firecrackers as well. Did I forget to mention firecrackers? Well in that case, Diwali is mix of Christmas, 4th of July and Spring cleaning with plenty of firecrackers (which now I am against, global warming and all).

We got so caught in these minute preparations that we simply forgot to cook any dinner. In a way we started (or were forced to start out of severe hunger) our own tradition of eating out. Diwali dinner would be a 'family dinner' just not in the house. When Laksh is older, we will tell him how well thought out his first Diwali celebrations were and how we intentionally started this tradition of eating out.

Diwali is a symbol of triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. In a similar fashion, my precious baby has helped me replace all the darkness that years of ignorance had created with the light of awareness and acceptance. Thank you my preciousness.

Memories of moments celebrated together…….
Moments that have been attached in my heart, forever…….
Make me appreciate you even more this Diwali.
Hope this Diwali brings in Good Fortune & Abounding Happiness for you my darling boy!


PS, adding some pics about his first Bhai Dhuj as well (http://www.hindustanlink.com/festival/bhai-duj-history.htm)