Hello there!

I just wanted to give you all a quick update on what's been happening since the last time I wrote (which was a year ago, yikes!) and finally, FINALLY, sat down to pen down a few words. Well, as you all know, I had my son last April in 2020 when the pandemic had just peaked and well, not much has changed on that front, but our lives definitely and constantly have! I hope all of you are well, safe and haven't lost your loved ones. We are all doing okay. My little bean is almost 17 month now! I cannot wait to share everything with you guys!

As you all know, Australia closed it's borders to the world back in March 2020 or so and guess what? They still remain closed! We have been living in a glorified prison for nearly two years now, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel and we are desperately waiting to see our families. In these last 17 months, my husband and I have had to instantly step into the role of nurturing another human being with zero prior experience and it hasn't really been that easy with no family support, never-ending lockdowns and the pandemic still lingering around! 1.5 year old Neel hasn't seen his grandparents ever! He also lost two of his great-grandparents in the last couple of months and I cannot explain how painful it is to not be able to go back home at times like this. Our only solace is the fact that we were able to spend ample amount of time with Neel, watch him grow and feel extremely proud of ourselves for coming this far all on our own.

Neel's infancy was quite enjoyable for us. (Contrary to what you might hear other parents say, it was actually not that hard till he got super mobile! :D) We did get struck by sleep regressions, teething, sickness and what not (and still do!), but all in all, we enjoyed our time with bubba! Sydney was functioning like a normal city by June/July 2020 or so and we could have friends over, we could go to cafes or bars, we went back to the office, we could even travel around Australia! We followed strict schedules but at the same time we were flexible in terms of where we'd be spending our time. We'd take his travel cot if we were visiting friends during nap time. We'd make all of his food in advance and pack it and take it with us wherever we'd go. We would let Neel eat fruits or have a babychino at cafes. We celebrated every milestone, every monthly anniversary, festivals, birthdays and more. We did everything we could to feel normal. We were extremely lucky that we could have a grand celebration for Neel's first birthday! I am so glad that we could share our bundle of joy with all of our friends in Sydney. He's an outdoors boy and absolutely loves new experiences! Overall, we had a good time this last year or so since it was extremely safe to go out and about. I can't even count the number of times I've been asked by ignorant strangers on social media why we aren't wearing masks, why we are going out without a care in the world and those who were well-informed would always throw the "at least you're safe" bomb at us! But alas, that did not last long.

Misc pics

NSW had recorded zero Covid cases for months together. However, the government somehow thought that there's no need to vaccinate the population! And then all of a sudden in June 2021, they spotted a delta variant case. In no time, the country was in shambles! Since then, we have been in a super crazy lockdown until a large percentage of the population is fully vaccinated. This particular lockdown has been extremely tough on us since we now have a full blown toddler who won't stop until he gets his way! Haha! We aren't allowed to go beyond 5km radius from our homes, we aren't allowed to meet people, daycares closed down and I happened to start a new job just a week before the lockdown. My boy also tends to eat for 4 people, so I would end up spending most of my time in the kitchen! And of course, molars happened to say hello in the midst of all this! How do we manage, you ask? We don't! Haha! Take-outs, cooking in batches, division of labor, utilization of machinery ..naaa, it's actually the venting, crying, screaming and lots of therapy that's helping us cope! :D Well, all we can do is hope - hope that we can meet our loved ones soon, hope that this ends soon!

Anyway, I will be back soon with LOADS of posts on various aspects of motherhood. Until then, stay safe and have a great day!