Boy o Boy!

He he.. hehe he he... ho ho hee hee. Hmmm. For all our combined gut feelings, hunches etc. on you being a boy, yesterday's sonography confirms you to be a girl. HEEELLLLLOOOO KIMI! Can't say I am most excited - since you will in all likelihood come and gang up with Mom and her Barbie doll ways. Ha ha ha.
Time to get ready for the new year, and the upcoming visits of Grannies from Philippines & India. Our new year resolution is to have you delivered safely and raise you to be an angel. Our angel. Muaaawh.

Back in Dubai, Merry X-mas!!

The tiny tree is up & decorated, the turkey dinner ordered, friends invited and we're all set to party! The plan is to party on the 24th eve, and rest through the day on 25th. Might think of a nice buffet dinner someplace, but guess there'll be enough turkey leftover to last the weekend. X-mas falling on Friday means we'll miss a holiday. Need a few days more to recuperate from the long vacation that we just finished.

So the wedding was a grand affair. Me & mommy dressed up pretty for the pics, mom entertained all the relatives & friends with her charming ways and daddy helped granpa with the chores. All the saris & salwar-suits mom wore were hit, so were my kurtas. Mom found it hard to cope with the food over so many days, and I had a tough time breathing in the winter air.

Now back in Dubai - it feels lonely. Will take a long time to get out of the sullen feeling. Guess the X-mas dinner should do it! Plus, there are things to do for you now. More so, since soon we shall find out if you are sonny boy or baby D. Then shall the fun begin!

License to build.

So hello! What's new? Apart from kicking & shaking mommy's belly, learning to move muscles and generally making a racket there.

We've just come back from the small lunch party to celebrate our first marriage anniversary. Yay!! We lasted one year. A lot is because you came into our lives. We surely have come closer since then. Thanku thanku.

Last year this day, mommy got married to me. It was her first time in India. I picked her up from Delhi airport - almost lost her there - and brought her by bus to Jaipur. It was all so fast - we rushed from place to place to hastily arrange my kurta pyjama, her sari and all the papers etc. Before we could say cheese, the wedding photographer - your bua Parul, was taking our pictures post the wedding.

I left soon after to get her visa etc in Dubai. She stayed here nearly two months before that was done. During this time, we threw a reception bash for a few of my relatives. Hard to invite Nanay and party from Philippines. Would have loved to have them over. As I type this, mommy is dreaming about her million dollar win again. He he. Best luck my love.

Tinkoo Chacha's wedding is coming up full steam. Today we met the would-be wife. Mommy finds her sweet, and good chachi for you. More because all of them praised her skin and complexion etc. She indeed looked pretty in the Indian salwar-suit and the real pearls that Dadi gifted her.

Now we have another 4 days before the festivities will begin. Guess will catch up later in Rub al dub dub!

From the Land of GranPa

Okay, it's been a while. Been busy packing, shopping & traveling. Then recuperating from the ususal chest congestion which attacks soon as I land in Jaipur. Now there's more shopping, planning and stuff. Chacha's wedding.

So you had your first flight, first tuk-tuk ride and first meet & greet with Grandys. Hope it's been fun. I am sure the tuk-tuk must have shaken you up real bad. The doc said you are okay to fly, we should have actually checked about boarding the tuk-tuk. While we were there, we heard your heartbeat again. Awesome!

Here again everybody is doting on Mommy and she's enjoying all the attention. It is going to be tough to care for her with all the wedding goings-on. We will spend a whole month here. Tho, the congestion yesterday made me feel that we should go back right away.

Guess, exciting times lie ahead during this month, or so I hope. Weddings can be a bit much on the nerves for the hosts & the planners. Not to mention the groom & the bride! We'll ask chacha later.

Still we haven't seen your chachi & her family in person. They were quick to call & chat, but we could not manage to go to Ajmer to meet them. Tinkoo chacha talks to chachi almost all of the time on phone. Fun to plan all the stuff for him - honeymoon, sherwani, other dresses etc.

Preparing for vacation.

So the tickets are bought, gifts finalized, the bags half packed and we are ready to board. Even mommy is quite excited about meeting Dadi, Chacha and Parul bua. As for me, I could have done another 3 trips if we had the money!!

Flying home is quite an experience, as you will see when you are born. Though don't know if & how much you will like going down to India & Philippines. Wonder if all your early years will be spent in the cold mannered, air-conditioned city. Whether Dubai will be what you call home. Will be cool tho, if all your forms filled up will say Place of Birth- "Dubai".

So now the excitement of flying to India takes over from the worries that we had over Nani being sick & the floods etc. from last month. Today it is another 14 days to go. Will be a lot of fun getting Tinkoo Chacha married. All will see you & mommy's tummy and be happy. Mommy likes that attention a lot, so she'll love it. Hope we can take good care of you during this month, and stress mommy as less as possible.

Happy Diwali.

So Dear, it is festival time. The last diwali me and mum celebrated together. It was nice to have someone to celebrate with. We purchased gold chain for your mom, and a gold coin for our future wealth.

This year we have you!! So yesterday we had put all the lights and things, and today we have bought another gold coin. This one is for you. Token for all your life's prosperity.

Wish you and us a happy & prosperous diwali. May the festival of lights bring joy to us year after year for a long, long time.

The little heart beats in there!

Woah! And it beats so fast.. I am speechless.

One more cousin!

Hey bacchoos, your tito Michael had a baby boy yesterday. I don't know the name yet, but you're gonna have some company for summer holiday in Philippines - kuya Marc, ate Grace, kuya Eee Jay, ate Ayan and now kuya just born. Not counting the one which will be born just about same time as you.

So this weekend, your mom was busy trying out some maternity gear. We picked up some nice & easy ones. She looks cool for now, though we don't know what'll happen in another two months. That's when we will know whether you are the KIMI or the MIKI. Mom's been thinking you are Miki. I don't mind any which ways... I have got plans for both.

Will begin shopping for you by January. By then we would have got chacha Tinkoo all married up to chachi Aditi. Will you please sort out your daddy's & mommy's life till then? We are struggling over here! Use your connections!! He he!

Mom wants you to win her a million D's from one of the draws that we keep participating in. I just want you to come over all happy and smiling, and work out my life in a way that I can keep both of you and our loved ones comfortable for a long time. I guess go with moms. She seems to know a lot better ;)

After the not-so-long weekend

Hmm, so the so called long weekend is over and Daddy's back in the office - that too full time. For the first time in Partnership's 10 year history we had shorter days announced for Ramadan. Till last year it used to be only for Muslims. At least I had a great time being home early - guess so for your mom too.

This Thursday though was not so good - the partners decided to let 8 people go. Some of the brightest & shiniest names were included. Bad way the weekend started. Till today we are feeling the after effects, and I guess it will continue for a long time while these guys continue to say good-byes one by one.

So we spent the 4 days of the weekend doing nothing. Really nothing much, though we rode the newest big thing in Dubai. The metro.. the view was fun for some time, surely didn't enjoy waiting in queues for tickets.

Next week is checkup time, will go to hear your heart beat. Ciao for now!

Angry Mommy, cousin from tita, chacha's shaadi and papa's new car.

So a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Actually we were hoping that a lot other would also happen - like the lottery win, new job, etc. But we are happy to report the nice things which are valued as much.

Well, breaking news - you are going to have cousin baby coming almost the same time as you. Tita Maricel is also pregnant. Now is that good news or what!! Both sisters are expected to give birth in April. So it looks like mommy will have her own army of Aries to match daddy's existing army of capricorns.

Talking of armies and battles, mommy gave daddy a good firing yesterday. What happened was that we were down to some car showrooms with uncle Nitin & auntie Kamna and we got mommy all tired & hungry. Then we fed her some food-court foo-foo (can't call that food, and the bad words are not allowed on baby blog). Result was that she got very angry and tired by the time we reached home - almost midnight.

I didn't feel too bad, because more I was busy dreaming about the 2-door Pajero and the things that you & us would do together - with that Pajero driving us about to beaches, desert camps, wadis... Hope to work out a new job which will pay for the huge EMI of 2352 - that's about a 900 D's up from the Peugeot.

Meanwhile, Mommy has been busy farming on facebook, and she's got me hooked too! In about 10 minutes I am going to harvest a lot of crop & cash and buy me a bigga farm!! Yay!

Chacha (and the honay waali chachi) & both sides parents are busy preparing for the upcoming shaadi. That was when we were going to land up, and break the news to them - well actually, mommy's tommy would have broken the news for itself. But we already told them, considering that lot of people already know!

So we hope that you are doing fine there, and enjoying the cuddling & loving that daddy & mommy are giving you. We will check in another 20 days. Have fun there!

Everybody knows!

I guess today we crossed the last of the names on the list. So it is Suresh-Aradhana, Rahul-Sonya-Mommy James, Manuj-Aditi, Nitin-Kamna - they know that you are being manufactured right now in Mommy's belly. It is not good to announce to the world, they say. And also, it is our feeling. Of course, on the family side mommy has told Tita Maricel. Now it is upto her to keep the secret from the rest.

The India family will get the mega surprise when we land in Jaipur for Tinkoo Chacha's wedding. Wonder if they will feel bad that we kept it under covers for almost 4 months.

That time you would have started to show in mommy's belly. Big baby and all, ha? That's when things will change for us too. Right now nothing feels out of the ordinary - other than the checkup visits to the Iranian.

Iranian is a nice place. I love to see the new born babies, and the young kids play about silly. And then I sit there and day-dream about you & me, as mom does her checkups with the doctor inside. With their Islamic laws, they don't allow me there. Today mommy felt more comfortable with her doctor. And being the Indipinos that we are, we managed to save the hospital fee today. Will surely pay next time.

Hungry Hungry!

Mimi and I have gotten to cooking a lot - lots of options to eat out, but we are bored. Like the other day we ate at some Bert's cafe in Festival City - great price, great presentation but very little to eat. KFC day before, pasta yesterday. And you are making your mommy very very hungry already?

She is eating almost every hour - and is looking at her rapidly shrinking clothes every minute. Must say that I am grateful she can take good care of herself. And over that she does it for me too. To tell you the truth, I am being a bad boy by not eating the lunch or fruits that she packs me.

So we sang the other day - Papa doesn't eat, mommy's always eating... to the tune of Madonna's papa don't preach. Then we had a bucketful of ice cream each, for our midnight snack.

Checks & balances...

Yah, about money and medical tests... They took lots of blood out of mom, and lots of my money! Hu Hu Hu.

And yesterday, they told us that it is 5 weeks already. Mom and I got calculating immediately - that means you were conceived 11th July? But we remember her to be into her period that time. Never mind, we would rather see your first photograph - the sonography screen. You look beautiful honey! Can't get enough of looking at your pic, guess we're gonna frame it and hang it in our bedroom. He He!

Talking of frames, we should bring some from Ikea and frame the other pic too. (Mommy, if you are reading this, remember to drag me out). Mommy will feed you salmon there, and we'll also look around fondly and behave all stupid at the kids section there.

And we sold our Peugeot today, for no loss. Well almost! So it's time that daddy gets a new job, and buys the new Pajero or Toureg or LR3, that mommy will use to bring you to school, when daddy will drive his bmw, when he is 40 and about to retire to our own island.

Yeah baby!!

And the wait begins..

It is surely too early for the cravings to begin, so last night it was definitely a lazy mommy getting daddy to do her fav foods. Gotu? Kenji? Few futile attempts at filipino food later - some rice soup - sort of like a soupy khichdi, with chicken or fish of course - and she had to settle for the left-over KFC chicken popcorn. Ended up munching & chatting way late into the night.

So it has just been two days since we came to know, and now begins a very very very long wait before anything happens. We have decided not to tell anyone - of course in some time you will be showing - then the neighbours will find out, and soon after the friends - but both the families will have to wait until November. We plan to surprise them during our visit for Tinkoo chacha's wedding.

We got two lines! YIPPPPEEEE!!

It is unbelievable, yet to sink in! We are going to be parents... Your parents. Mommy just did her test and it is positive!!

Welcome to mommy's womb. Hope it is cosy and comfortable, for your stay of the next 8+ months.

It was an overwhelming feeling to begin with - we both did not know whether to cry or to laugh, or to jump with joy. So we did all of that. Then we wrote messages for you on the back of the picture that your mom created - we are sure you will be more beautiful than that picture.

Thus begins the journey of expecting!