Our second little munchkin, Rayan, turned 5 months old last week...yes you heard right, the names are 'Raya' and 'Rayan', indeed...I was given ample warning by 'D' that the names are too similar...but, oh well... I really liked the sound and vibe of it...'Rayan'...short, simple yet eloquent. In Persian, 'Rayan means 'the wise', in Sanskrit it means 'noble'/'little prince', in old British English, it means 'brilliant' and in Jewish, it means 'graceful'. It, of course, remains to be seen,
whether the various interpretations of his name will bear any relevance to the individual he grows up to become...that, only time will tell...we will just have to wait and watch...
As for us, for now, we are busy 'many fold', if I may call it that...but more relaxed, as parents...
I feel that's the 'second child syndrome'...you are just not as paranoid about each little runny nose , poop or sneeze as you were the first time around with your first born...life, for now, is filled with the smiles, babbles, coos, rolls, twists and not to forget drool and wet diapers of a 5 month old together with the laughter, chatter, somersaults, words of wisdom and tantrums of a 4.5 year old...yes, life is super busy...but life is blessed...
As for the 'Raya-Rayan' dynamics, let's just say the 'love' is beginning to finally flow after a tumultuous, initial few months of insecurity that 'big' sister Raya seemed to be going
through, despite the fact that more of our attention was focussed on making her feel comfortable and happy, since Rayan came along. Oh well, you will never know what goes through a 4 year old's mind when she has to share all the people, love, affection and things she has ever known with another little creature... and this time not just for a 'playdate' :)... All well now,though...big sister Raya has her own ways of showing affection to her little brother, 'Rayan' (I will not claim to approve of all her ways of demonstrating affection, though, lol), but the affection is there, growing and flowing...so that's something to be elated about :)
On the work front, I am back at work and working on a really exciting project...so that makes staying away from my little baby just a little bit more easier...
On another note , the last month and a half has been a wake up call for me...three weeks of undiagnosed, high fevers that would come back every evening and just didn't seem to want
to go away...it was scary, to say the least...but for now, the fever is gone and hasn't come back for a couple of weeks...touch wood...the wake up call was needed though to put things in perspective...to count the blessings...to re-focus on things that should matter and things that shouldn't...
On yet another note, my folks left last week after spending 5 months with us...We were lucky to have them be a part of some important life events, including Rayan's birth and a move to a new home. Miss them a lot.... the kiddos miss them even more... but then we do have to learn to live life, being just the four of us!! That's how it just is and will be... just feel happy and blessed to have them be a part of these precious life milestones.
So that's that...now...I was writing thank you notes to Raya and Rayan's teachers yesterday, the week being teacher appreciation week and for a change, I was not using key strokes to write that up...was putting a pen to paper...trying to write something warm and nice to some affectionate and lovely caretakers in what I wanted to be a 'beautiful' handwriting...I was aghast, when I was struggling to keep the handwriting even legible and decent...it was eons away from 'beautiful'...and like it often does on such occasions, I was struck with a stab of pain...what a loss...I am sure, it's not me alone, who feels the loss of the 'art of calligraphy' with this stab of pain...an art that had and in fact, still has the power to make or mar my day...let's just say I am one of those 'mushies' who can be made to feel warm and fuzzy by a hand written note...ok ok...of course, I am not talking about the handwritten post-it notes, which are written and re-written with a never ending compilation of to-do tasks...neither am I talking about all those tid-bits of hand written wrotes lying around at my work desk...stuff that I tend to jot down involuntarily, as I think through an analysis or design, at work...I am talking about that little handwritten 'thank you' note, 'birthday wish' or a simple 'thinking of you' note that can convey more than the million words we may type out in emails, text messages and IMs...primarily driven by the overabundance of technological gadgets and the overall 'taking over of life' by technology...that's that...
But then early this morning, before leaving for day care, when I saw the eyes of my kids light up, as they interacted with their grandparents on Skype, when I saw just a little bit of the 'pain of parting' being taken away by that instantaneous connection that technology provided...when I saw the eyes of the grandparents brighten, as they interacted with their grandchildren, with the realization that life will not pass them by, as the kids grow up...with the realization that they can still be a part and parcel of every little moment of their grandchildrens' life, even though physically thousands of miles away...again primarily being driven by technology and the overall 'taking over of life' by technology...it all fell into place, like it always does:)...I had written a blogpost on similar lines, almost 7 years back (wow I have managed to keep this blog alive huh for that long, lol)...Jokes apart, the last line of that post sums it up really well...'After all, it’s just that in the circle of life, whether we like it or not, we lose something to find something else'…
On that note and feeling less guilty now, of course :), about maintaining a web journal, rather than a paper journal, I am back to blogosphere.
Happy Friday folks!