15 Marbles

Moments.Musings.Memories. ❤️Gathering little marbles from ordinary days and keeping them for our memory jar. ❤️

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  • Feeding These Babies

    ..that is the thought top-most on all our minds.

    I was talking to few other mommies and almost all of them were concerned about their little ones eating habits..or should I say not eating habits?
    DDmom wrote about her 9 month old niece,my friend AP was worried about her toddler, not eating-so was my friend Pooh,about her Lil girl, a cousin I was talking to..and last but not the least, yours truly.I am sure most of you must have gone through this some time or the other. But why am I writing about this now?

    Since Aadya’s 6 month visit,I have been worried. She didn’t gain a lot of weight since her last visit with her Aunty D,(Pediatrician at Phoenix)..just a few ounces in about 1 month. Then I we checked her weight before and after her ear-infection and she had lost and gained those same ounces. But I am worried. I know she is getting more active and so she is not going to gain a lot of weight too. But,my problem is I cant get her to eat. I mean,she enjoyed her rice cereal but that gave her constipation, and then one day she stopped eating it. Then I started her on Ragi or Nachni Satva.And with that I introduced vegetables- Green beans,squash, carrots and fruits-Apple(rejected),banana and peaches(rejected). The Ragi is fine but I want her to try more foods.
    I remembered this post by Poppin’s mom and and then Ceekay’s post about feeding Ninni Daal ka pani. And I thought why not ask all of you to share your successful recipes of baby and toddler food and collaborate it at one place,for easy reference.

    Here’s calling all mommies, to share some interesting food ideas for these little ones.
    You can either post the recipe on your blog or mail me at menmysunshine@gmail.com. And then,I was thinking of posting the recipes together as a series or as one post(depending on the response) on my Food blog.
    Waiting to hear from you.. and moving a step further in feeding these babies 🙂

  • 7 month update-Part II

    I stopped writing yesterday,because the post was getting too long and I really wanted to post it before I got called away for midnight feeding duty. But there is still so much more,that I have to share.

    For starters,Aadya pulled herself to a kneeling position on Sunday,October 28th.I made a mental note,to never leave her in the crib with the railing down. DH was busy taking pictures and little Missy fell down. But this time, the railing was already up and she couldn’t get up! Ha Ha I thought to myself,I can still keep her in the crib,with the railing up. And just then,very effortlessly, she grabbed the railing and stood up.. Just like that!! And since then, No leaving her sitting in the crib!

    OK, Now, haven’t I told you how Aadya has this tradition of achieving milestones-big or small, around and ON the day of her monthly birthday? So, how could she disappoint us this month.And before you read further,I have to tell you-Blinking is strictly not allowed in Aadyaland. Why, you ask? Well, because I looked away for 2 minutes and my daughter sat up!!! Yes!! She was lying down and the next minute I see her sitting up! Now how cool is that! Yesterday,I put Aadya on the floor- I reorganised the furniture on Monday,so that she has all the space to crawl! There are still some pieces missing,once the living room is completely set up,I will post pictures. So,not digressing..Aadya was on the floor,crawling..exploring and enjoying her new found mobility. I was happy and was finishing up some work,in the dining area. DH came home and I took that moment to turn on the computer. And I check on Aadya and what do I see-She is sitting up!! I asked DH..did you help her..DH,keeping up with the Halloween spirit, says,yeah I am a ghost with long stretching arms. Well he did have a point – he was standing at the far far end,watching her. Wish he had grabbed the Handy cam! So, she had managed to do it all on her own. “On Her Own”reminds me of Parul -Girl you are so funny!

    Speaking of funny,Aadya is no less. She loves to pat everything these days. Yeah, I know they all do. Read on- I had just finished nursing Aadya and was just buttoning up and suddenly grubby little hand goes pat-pat. yeah she patted my boobs. I looked at her and she looked up at me and grinned broadly,patted again as if to say “good job”! Mad Momma,here’s your chance to get even !

    “Good Job” and “Good Girl” are two phrases that make Aadya very happy. Sometimes,saying that makes her open her mouth wide and so,I can put in the next spoonful of her cereal. So far, she doesn’t like anything tangy-so, baby foods-apple&peach are out. Now, we tried peach first and she didn’t like it.The next thing we tried was squash.Both of these are yellow in color. And she recognises that. So, she just doesn’t open her mouth for the first spoonful.Then slowly I put a little dash on her lips,she licks it and then decides OK this is not that yucky thing.. so I can eat it! And when she likes something,every spoonful is answered by a happy ummmmmmmmmmmm. If she doesn’t like something,it gets spat back!

    And how can I forget the hugs and kisses-there is no dearth of those here in Aadyaland.In fact we are baby-handled so often,that at at given time,atleast one of us is walking with tousled hair. Oh and guess what is the new safety object? Mamma’s hair-conveniently cut,just the right length for Aadya to grab at.Now, When she is crying, when she is cuddling,when she wakes up, when she is sleepy.. the first thing that that light hand reaches for is Mamma’s hair. Though when the play gets rough,its a pain, but it does make me feel happy secretly!There is so much more I wanted to write,but now I cant seem to keep my thoughts together and will stop here.

    So, you can see it has been an interesting month..Pictures will follow shortly..:)

  • Daal-Baati-Churma

    [ Image-courtesy Google Image search.]

    My dad is rajasthani Maratha. Ok,I am kidding-there is so such community. But my dad spent most of his childhood in Rajasthan and is equally at home at both his village in rajasthan and at his posh Thane home. His home-town,Lakheri, is home to one of the oldest cement factories and that’s where my dad got his first job as a chemist. And though he got transferred later,I spent the first 10 years of my life at Lakheri.

    And since my father’s family was pretty well-known and loved there, any time we were invited to one of the local homes, we were served the special meal of Daal–baati–Churma.And I remember feeling so full and heady after those meals. And not to mention,thirsty.. All that Ghee does that to you.

    This time when my dad was here,I pestered him and finally we planned to have this special meal.Now,I have made Daal– baati on my own before ,but this time,with dad’s special tips,it turned out awesome and so I had to share the recipe here.Daal is basically a mixture of 3 or 5 daals.Here I am using a mixture of 3 daals. Baati is essentially balls of flour, baked in an oven and eaten with the above mentioned daal.

    Here goes-

    Daal :-

    Ingredients-

    1 cup urad Dal

    1 cup chana Dal
    1 cup whole moong.
    2-3 green chillies
    1 tsp fresh grated ginger
    1 tsp fresh grated garlic
    1 tsp red chili powder
    1 tsp coriander powder
    1 tsp garam masala
    salt to taste
    1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    ghee for seasoning
    fresh chopped coriander for garnish.

    Mix the three daals together-wash and soak in warm water for 30 minutes.


    Boil the Daal mixture with about 4 cups of water and salt till soft.Keep aside.


    Preparing the seasoning- Heat ghee in a pan.Add cumin seeds .When they start splattering, add cut green chilies and then add all the spices- red chili powder,corriander powder,garam masala and mix well.Add half a cup of water and bring it to a boil.Add this to the cooked daal, add another 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Garnish with fresh cut coriander and serve hot.

    Baati- ( Makes about 12-14 baatis)

    Ingredients-
    2 cups Whole wheat flour
    1/4 cup semolina
    1/2 tsp ajwain ( Ajowan /carom seeds)
    1/2 cup ghee
    salt to taste
    water to knead the dough.

    Method-

    Sift the flour and semolina. Add ajwain seeds and salt.Keep aside. Melt ghee in a pan. Make a well in the flour and pour the molten ghee in it. Mix it all well. And make it into a hard ball of dough adding minimum water.

    Make small,smooth balls of this dough. Arrange on a greasedbaking tray.


    Pre-heat oven to 450 F(four hundred and fifty) and bake these balls for 20 minutes, turning over in 10 minutes, so that both the sides are evenly cooked. Grill for 5 minutes on each side.

    Serve hot with ghee and daal. Enjoy!

    Unfortunately,I dont have any more pictures for you-The food was so appetizing and the aroma had already made us so hungry that pictures were the last thing on my mind. So,I had to post pictures from other Google image search.

  • 7 month update-Part I

    Aadya turns 7 months old today and she is getting naughtier and naughtier and some more. She is constantly babbling now.Her favorite words are Papa..pa.babbaba,mammamma,naaa,nammana,gaah,kaaah.When I am rocking her to sleep,she is talking or babbling.Till a few weeks back,she would just be singing aaaaa. She knows who her Papa is –Every time we ask her -Where is Papa? She looks at him. If she is already looking at him,she points at him with a slight lift of her chin. Ask her Where is Mamma? and all you get is blank looks. So, guess who is walking around with a big head,these days?

    Finally,she has figured out how to crawl forward and not backwards.She crawled forward for the first time on Saturday(Oct 27th) and since then she has been going forward. While crawling seems like lot of fun and she is now enjoying her new mobility,still when she has crawled enough and she is bored,guess who gets to build some muscles?Mamma!

    As soon as Aadya spots Mamma,she stretches her arms and starts cooing ..no no correction,not just cooing,calling out to mamma. And all hell breaks loose if Mamma is late in picking her up.Most days,its so bad that this little Missy doesn’t want to sit down at all..Well,No,she does sit down,as long as I am sitting down with her. If I get up to grab a glass of water or something,the crying starts,complete with big fat tears rolling down the cheeks.

    Her latest favorite toy is Mamma’s cell phone-that and anything and everything Mamma touches. Picture this-Aadya sitting on her play mat,playing with some random toy.Seeing her busy,Mamma sneaks off to get her book and a bottle of water. Suddenly Aadya looks up,sees her leaving and starts screaming. Mamma grabs the nearest empty bottle of water(yeah we have lots of bottles) and throws it on the play-mat. Aadya leaves the random toy and grabs the bottle. Mamma comes back and sits down with her bottle and book.Now Aadya wants the book..so she scrambles over,climbs all over mamma,trying to grab the book.Mamma keeps the book aside,distracts Aadya with her toys.Attention diverted,Mamma drinks some water-Now Aadya wants the bottle…and so it continues!

    Aadya think “No” is a joke.All Mamma has to say is No! and Aadya starts giggling.If Mamma gets angry,Aadya giggles more! Now,every time Papa calls,Aadya has to talk to him. And all his questions are answered with a beautiful chuckle and big smiles.If he could see those,he would be working from home all days.Masi’s web-calls are also happily answered now..big smiles and lots of babbling.

    This month has been really eventful and there are so many new skills that Aadya has learnt and mastered. And there are so many naughty things that I have to share with you,that this update will run into a second part. For now,I will just say-

    Happy 7th Month,Baby! Love you!

    To be continued