for me thus far i would say that my parenting style is "whatever works".

because seriously, all kids and their personalities are different. and often it seems that once i find something that really seems to be working, my munchkin changes on me!

so our trip to india is definitely changing up a few things for me on the parenting front as well...and probably pushing me more towards attachment parenting at the moment.

at home in the US, jia sleeps in a pack-n-play bassinet by our bed. so we actually packed it up and brought it over with us with the intention of keeping things the same here.

well, we turns out that we don't have space for anything of the sort here. so that was a big waste of luggage space! co-sleeping it is!

co-sleeping gets a super bad rap in the US due to SIDS. which is definitely scary. but some people say that if you're not a super hard sleeper or going to bed drunk or something, then sleeping with your baby is actually the safest option, since you can monitor them more closely, so i can totally see their point. i think a lot of the hard and fast rules are just made because of careless people...who are generally the exception.

so jia's been bunking with us here, and it seems to be working out! we're used to having our pups in bed with us, and jia's becoming much more mobile and interactive, so i'm not too worried about her at this point..plus she seems to enjoy it! hopefully it won't be a habit that's too hard to break later though! haha.

also, i've been baby wearing...a LOT!



i already enjoyed baby wearing quite a bit in the US, but here there isn't really a place for strollers at all, so baby wearing is much more full time!

before we left i bought a baby k'tan breeze off my friend, and it's been the best thing ever!!

we had a moby wrap and a more structured carrier, but both of those just seemed way too hot to use in india. jia doesn't like being strapped on if she's too warm.

not only is the k'tan much cooler and breezier, but it also is so much easier for travel, and so much more versatile! i can just wear it around my neck like a scarf when she's not in it, and i regularly carry her in about 3 different holds in it! she loves it!

at home i do cloth diapering, but with out our regular laundry system here, that just wasn't an option. so we're in disposables for this trip. and i gotta say, wow, i really miss cloth! the cloth diapers have already proven to be so much better at poo containment, if you know what i mean.

people say that with your first child you're much more paranoid about germs. and i'll admit it. even at home my radar goes off if i hear someone nearby coughing or something. but being with a baby in india has turned me a little bit germ-a-phobe i'm afraid...which is quite a challenge here! haha. i feel like mr. monk with a wipe on hand after every interaction...and it's funny to see my indian husband almost more paranoid than i am! haha.

i'm just thankful to be able to exclusively nurse her on this trip. it gives a lot of peace of mind to me, and comfort to her.

anyways, i'm hoping over all that this time will be good for teaching both us and jia some flexibility. it's definitely our first big adventure together!

jia just turned 5 months old...in india!



so she's already quite the world traveler for her age.

this month she's just been continuing to be adorably interactive.

she's very close to sitting up on her own, and she eyeballs everything we eat very closely!

she usually wakes up in the morning singing, which is pretty adorable.

she also loves the doggies now. she finds bindi especially to be hysterical.

oh, and the girl can't seem to help but to put everything in her mouth!

her and i have both started to lose a lot of hair this month! her newborn hair is wearing off in her sleep pattern of how she rubs her head! it looks though like the new hair growing in might end up being lighter in color than the dark brown hair she was born with.

i love this little one, and i can't believe how fast time is flying with her!

ok, so i'm not here to make a political statement.

but i would like to say that i'm totally over this...



mumbai is noisy on a normal day...so it's a little freaky when it's not.
and with everything closed down it's down right dull.

but at least i have this...



and this fun view...



not to mention this cuteness...



guess i can't complain.

so life's been a bit crazy lately. i say that as i write this post from india.

we're here right now visiting shomik's family. they weren't able to get visas to come and meet jia, so we've made our way over to them. it's been quite a crazy time leading up to getting here though!

my husband had to have an emergency surgery just a few days before we were supposed to leave, but thankfully it all went better than expected and we were still able to make it...especially since our tickets weren't refundable! we weren't sure what was going to happen for a few days there though.

this is my 4th trip to india, but my first trip with a baby in tow, so i'm not going to lie... i've been a bit nervous about this one!

so far jia has been pretty great though. but having a baby along for the trip definitely changed the whole experience. i wonder if this is how shomik felt the first time he had to come to india with me in tow?



i was a bit nervous about 24 hours of air travel...because seriously, even the adults feel like crying by the end of that flight! but jia did amazingly well. i'm not going to say that there wasn't crying, but it definitely wasn't excessive. she actually seemed to enjoy the take off and landing, which were the parts people had warned me about. it was more the boring bits in between that bothered her.

we arrived in india during the middle of full out diwali. it's been cool to see things at such a festive time, though it's definitely limited our ability to go out as much. we're afraid of jia getting traumatized by the fire crackers going off everywhere.

so we're spending the first few days getting rested up, and we're actually in a hotel for a couple days until a construction project gets cleared up at shomik's house. with the munchkin, and a husband recovering from surgery, i think we needed the extra rest.

normally we would push through the jet lag to adjust to the time more quickly...but with a baby we're taking it a bit more easy and adjusting more gradually since she doesn't understand the concept of jet leg. :P taking an infant across 12 time zones sounds like a great idea, right? haha.

so far my experience though is that i still get stared at a lot as usual on my trips here...but now with the stares i might also get a smile since i'm toting a cute little tot...bonus! :) i'm also finding that people here love to pinch baby cheeks...and i can't deny that jia's cheeks are extra pinch-able.  this girl is gonna need cheek protection! haha.



i'm proud of how she's been such a trooper so far though...she really handled the journey better than i could have expected.

keep us in your prayers though, and i'll try to keep our experiences posted here! :)

wow, this month flew by!

guess who is in the 90th percentile for weight now?
yup, our chunky monkey. i can't believe she's 4 months already!



she celebrated her 4 month bday by getting poked with needles. :( though i must say she did much better than last time!

she weighed in at a whopping 16.5lbs, and was in the 70th percentile for height at 24.75 inches. the doctor said she's the picture of health!

at 4 months, jia is rolling like crazy...both front to back and back to front!

she also loves bouncing around in her jumper, and has just started developing somewhat of an interest in toys. she likes to smile and giggle and talk!

however, when it comes to sleeping through the night, she seems to have regressed a bit. before she was pulling 6 hour stretches at night, and now she's down to just 3-4 hours for her big sleep...so yeah, mama's a zombie! the pediatrician said maybe she's maxed my milk out and just needs it more often again because she's bigger and burns through it quicker. while introducing some other foods to her could buy me more sleep, i'm trying to hold off a couple more months because we're planning to take a trip to india during thanksgiving. she's at much less risk of getting sick if she's 100% nursing on the trip.

so yeah, traveling to india with an infant...we're wild and crazy!
you'll definitely be hearing more about that soon!

we have a 3 month old in the house!



some people call the first 3 months after birth the 4th trimester...because the baby does so much developing and growing during those months!

that's definitely true. jia's personality has really blossomed...and she's nearly doubled in weight!

these past few months of getting to know each other have been amazing. she really is a fun and good natured kid. i know better though than to wear her out too much or get her out of sync. she likes to have some routine and balance in her life. we're yet to get on a strict schedule though, but we definitely have a pattern.

she does love people. we may have an entertainer on our hands. when there are people around it's hard to make her focus on anything else...like taking a nap or eating!

and she's a chatter box already! maybe she doesn't know words yet, but that doesn't stop her! when she coos and talks and grins, it just melts my heart!

i'm just loving this little girl more and more every day. what a blessing.

so if you remember, when jia was born we decided we'd wait to find out her gender at the birth.

however, we had a cheating back up plan just in case we couldn't handle the suspense. the ultrasound tech had sealed the gender in an envelope for us...and we had amazing self control! no one peeked in that envelope at all...except for my grandma! ;) but thankfully she was able to keep the secret.

my husband hid the envelope away, but when he did he forgot where he had hidden it himself. so it was just a few weeks ago that we found it again with the jia bootie shot! kind of fun.



i don't have a strong opinion on what anyone else should do...i actually prefer to know what other people are having. haha. but i would totally go the surprise route again for me i think. i know that learning the gender earlier helps people bond with their baby....but in some ways i wonder if knowing the gender might put false ideas in your head about who the little person is you're carrying and what they will look like and their personality will be. it was kind of nice just having no expectations of how things would be, and just getting to know my little munchkin for who she was.

it's still kind of strange though.

i must admit that there's still a bit of a disconnect for me between this...



and this.



sometimes i just think, "who gave us this baby?!" :)

thanks God.