Ruby Falls, Chatanooga

We went to Ruby Falls at Chattanooga, about 1.5hrs drive from home, with Manjunath. Sudha was good all through the drive, very funny while wolfing down some Vadas that Praveena and Matam shared with us (we met them as they were heading to the temple at Nashville). We had packed lunch (Guru woke up early and cooked a ton!), and had a good picnic before heading in to see the falls.
On the way back, we stopped at a Hanuman temple in Calhoun. It appeared to be someone's personal temple that they had opened to the public.

Sudha gets the best ride.

Yes, my 6 month belly in all its glory.

Cool lighting effect at Ruby Falls. The falls itself was a disappointment after the long trek. It was beautiful and all that, but they gave us less than 5 min at the falls, and switched off the lights once the tour time was done.

ok - I really could NOT sit properly on the rock there with the belly. That is why I'm looking so lumpy. I promise I'm not as bad as I look there.

Gross Gross Gross

She was half asleep in the car on our way back from the Doctor's, so I put her directly in the bedroom. She didn't scream when I left and closed the door behind me, so I assumed that she was tired and wanted to sleep.

After a while, I hear her trying to open the door and she came out saying poopy. I thought she wanted to go in the potty and went near her.
A horrible horrible smell hit me, ... gag ... ,
and when I gingerly lifted up her dress, I couldn't find the pull-up she had on earlier. ... Gag ...
Camouflaged in her bright orange and black dress where patches of brown all along ... gag ...
Too nauseous to even lose my temper, I took her to the bedroom and ... gag ...
poopy bits ALL OVER THE BED AND BLANKET. ... Gag ...

She's now all cleaned up and smells of lavender, but omg! Clearing the bed was ... gag ...
This is the 4th or 5th time she's done that. The first time with me though.
Guess that means we have to be more vigilant and put her on the potty more often so she actually goes there and not start messing around with her poop coz its making her uncomfortable

Cruise - Swimming in the Kiddie Pool

She had one good stay at Camp Carnival for kids, but would NOT go nearby after that. Don't know if she misbehaved there and got a time-out, or if the Big Freddy caricature freaked her out. She seemed to be friendly and waved to all the babysitters there, but would not go into the room. Bummer for us, as we'd hoped to get about 2 hours of free time everyday.

She was really pushing Daddy's buttons and he wanted her to be perfectly behaved all the time, but reacting to her in a way that delighted her and made her push his buttons more. Me - not so much. I'd just ignore her tantrums or distract her. So no effect on me.


Anyway, I decided to take her swimming, so Daddy could burn up some of his steam in the gym. The "big" pool wasn't that big and it was always crowded, but this little kiddie pool was perfect. It was only 1 feet of water, so she didn't need floaters. She would attempt to do the dunk that Daddy did with nose closed, and learnt to "float" by doing pushups in water.

Cruise - Disaster at Dinner Time

For some reason, she decided to act up every time we went to the main dining room. Luckily, we had a table to ourselves, so we did not have to subject others to her "cute" tantrums. But Guru hated the dining experience, while I actually like the sitting back and waiting. And she was actually good with me - when I took her there for breakfast alone.

Dancing to the music at "Show Time" in dinner.

Cheesy ice-cream eater

She wouldn't eat anything, so we asked for fries as a last effort

OMG! She wolfed the fries down! And she used to be a potato hater!

Getting her to pose for pictures is a great way to distract her from tantrums.

Cruise - Saint. Thomas

In Saint. Martin, We took the morning off and played mini-golf. Well, attempted to, since Sudha ended up putting the ball in the hole without making a shot.
She also had her first ice-cream that day - and got addicted to it. In just one sitting, she learnt where the ice-cream machines were on the ship and would head straight to it every time we went to that Deck, which was almost 5-10 times everyday!

We took a tour of the island that included an underwater mini-submarine where you could watch fish being fed. She loved seeing the Jellyfish and Turtles!

Cruise - St. Thomas

We went to the nearby butterfly farm in the morning. It was nothing spectacular, but Sudha loved it and spoke about it for ever after we returned. Her favourite - a caterpillar that she was determined to poke and prode.
We split up for the afternoon, with me and Sudha returning to the ship for an afternoon nap, and Guru going to do an underwater BOSS+snorkel, which he said was just ok.
Later in the evening, though tired; we went to Paradise point by aerial tramway, and the views were just spectacular! There was a band playing up there and Sudha loved dancing to their music too!

Cruise - Paradise Island, Bahamas

We went ashore to take a tour of Atlantis on Paradise Island at Bahamas. While the aquarium itself was ok, the pool and the other areas were awesome! We were more impressed with the facilities there than our cruise ship. Hope to return there someday as guests in the hotel.

Maybe we should give her the king bed

Since she seems to like it better than the crib or any of her twin beds.

She asked to sleep on it for the past few days, and honestly, I was tired of "being firm". So I let her and she was much happier. Me, not so much, as I don't want to have to break her of this later, but she seems much happier in "Amma's bed". And I can always put her back when we retire for bed.

A slave to the cell phone

I cannot seem to recharge my cell phone and I'm lost. I've just discovered this huge calling list of people that I HAVE to, whose numbers are stored only in my cell phone.

Where is my old phone? Need to get Poirot to figure that one out.

I was to meet Lauren at the airport, now I can't. Can't get out of bed, .. and no cell phone to call her either. Grrrrrrr

Breathing much better

since my decision at work. Not exactly very happy over it, but I think its for the best.

Spent good time over the weekend with walks in the morning and swimming in the evening. The only downside - I . need . a . maternity . suit .... grrrrrrr

I want out

from all the stress at work.
Its been a horrible horrible stressful week, and I don't want to deal with it. It cannot be good for me or the bean, not to mention that I've hardly spent any time with Sudha for the past 2 weeks.

So ... I move into part-time this month, and start contracting (if needed) after that.
I have not yet decided if I will stick around my current workplace waiting for contracts until the bean arrives, or move on to something else for 3 months.
And after the bean arrives, ... thats a big Q-mark as well. How long do I take before I go back? Can I afford to (mentally more than financially) take a longer break of 1-2 years? Do I want to take that break? What will be my ideal child care situation?

The soul searching continues.