Remember my last post regarding the pigeons in our balcony?
The eggs they laid hatched and now there are two cute baby pigeons. I got a video of them with the mum/dad. Look how cute they are. 🙂
I hope everyone is happy and busy right before the holiday season.
Wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
P.S.
Make sure your blog and the blogs you read are nominated so they can win the title.
I know most of you on the northern hemisphere are counting the last few days of autumn and it will be a cold winter but for us here down under, it is a different story, its summer time.
As you may know reading my posts here that I hate winter so this is a great time of the year for me. I am loving the beautiful spring weather which is slowing turning into summer. To enjoy this beautiful weather we have been going to parks often.
There is a park near our place which has rows of Jacaranda trees and the purple colour looks just amazing this time of the year. Chhori loves running around and it is a great place for me to spend some time with my parents.
Also on the weekend, we took Chhori to a beach with our friends and family. She had an absolutely amazing time. We took a beach bucket and spade set so we could dig in the sand. We made sand castles and dug holes.
We had Chhori and my nephews covered with sand at one point and they loved it.
Overall it was an absolutely great day and I can’t wait to spend more days like this by the beach.
Summer always makes me happy, coming home from work when the sun is still up in the sky, enjoying the beach, BBQ and lots of outdoor times. As Chhori is getting older, we are going out and about more and life is getting back to normal.
If you are on my side of the world, enjoy the great weather and if you are on the other side, stay warm.
On a side note, I am not sure for you all but for me this year has gone by so quickly. I feel as if it was only a few weeks ago that I wrote a post about coming back to work after maternity leave and now it is almost the end of the year.
Looking forward to Christmas and New Year break.
Take care everyone and have a wonderful day.
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
P.S.
Make sure your blog and the blogs you read are nominated so they can win the title.
Posted in Australia
Tagged Australia, australian, australian nepali, BBQ, beach, chhori, christmas, family, M from nepaliaustralian, Nepal, Nepalese, Nepali, nepali australian, Nepali blog, Nepaliaustralian, parents, park, summer
As I mentioned in my previous post, we celebrated Dashain from 1st October-15 October. Like every year I was super busy performing rituals at home and going for tika at different relatives places. But I have to admit that I am really tired this year compared to the last few years, looks like my age is catching up on me 🙂
On Asthami, my parents, my brother’s family and a few of my friends’ family went to the Helensburg temple. The temple had a great vibe going with lots of people praying and special chanting going on for the occasion of Dashain. 
Of course after the ritual, we went to their canteen for breakfast and I had my favourite Masala Dosa 🙂
On Nawami, apart from Kumari and Ganesh puja, I have mentioned before, we did Gadi puja as well .Please click here for more information on why it is done.
Dashami or Tika day was really busy for us. First of all, in the morning we need to do puja at home using Jamara and then Chhori had her first tika of her life from me and AS.
Then we went to my parents’ place so they can give us blessings (and money :)). It was a great feeling to have my parents here. It has been more than a decade that I got to be together with my parents during Dashain so it was extra special.
There we put tika for my brother, SIL and nephew and they put tika for Chhori. We had lunch there and went to visit other relatives. We went to few places before coming back to my parents’ place. By the time, we came back home that evening it was past 10 pm and all of us were really tired.
Chhori had a great time for sure and she was wearing Lengha for the first time in her life. It was a gift given to her from my friend’s mum and she looked super cute.
The next day we were again invited to another friend’s place. I had to work that day so after work we went to their place. There I managed to play some cards as AS was minding Chhori.
It must have been a lucky day for me as I won some money, only $50 but we had so much fun.
On Saturday, the last day of Dashain we invited our friends and family for tika and bhoj. I was cooking for around 30 people so was in kitchen for almost the whole day. But the evening was wonderful with family and relatives.
Chhori definitely had a great time and was spoiled with blessings and gifts.
Overall, we had a great week of celebration and eating lots of yummy food. I am sure I have put on a couple of kilos 🙂
Hope all of you celebrating Dashain had a great one as well.
Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Nepal, Nepali Culture, Nepali Festivals
Tagged Australia, Bada Dasain, Bada Dashain, car pooja, card, cars, Changa Chet, chhori, culture, Dashain, Dashain 2012, Dashami, Dashera, Durga, durga saptashati, Flying Kites, Fulpati, Ganesh Puja, Ghatasthapana, goddess durga, Guthi australia, Happy Dashain, hard-shelled coconut, hindu festival, home, how to perform car puja, How to plant Jamara, jamara, Kites, Kuchi bhwey, kumari puja, Maha Asthami, Maha Nawami, Maha-Navami, Nawami, nawami puja, Nepal, nepali australian, nepali food, Nepaliaustralian, Ping, Puja, Purnima, Ram Chandra, religion, sacred hymns, special weapons, spirituality, sydney dashain, taas, Vijaya Dashami, Vishwakarma
After a few days in Hamilton, we drove to Auckland. We had a great time in Hamilton and all of us were looking forward to the rest of the holidays.
I really enjoyed this holiday as I got to spend lots of time with my parents without needing to worry about work or cooking or chores. We were all relaxed and happy to explore places and enjoy each other’s company.
The driver form Hamilton to Auckland was beautiful with the sun out and greenery everywhere. Seriously, no matter how many times we visit New Zealand, every time it manages to take our breath away and we always return wanting to go back again.
We reached our hotel in the afternoon and checked in. We had got a hotel near the city centre so we were walking distance to many attractions.
In Auckland we went to
While in Auckland, we discovered this amazing Indian eatery called Little India by accident. They have a few branches around Auckland and I highly recommend the restaurant. I have eaten in so many Indian places but this was just the best so far. Loved every food we tried there. We ate there every night as my mother loved the food. We tried different dishes and love all of them. The especially loved the chole bhature and chicken curry.
We had a great memorable family holiday and I can’t wait for our next holiday to start 🙂
Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in General
Tagged Aotea Square, Auckland, Australia, australian, australian nepali, chhori, Cornwell park, family, family holiday, M from nepaliaustralian, mum, Nepal, Nepalese, Nepali, nepali australian, Nepali blog, Nepaliaustralian, New Zealand, One Tree Hill, Onehunga Mall, Queen street shopping strip, Sky tower, Wharf
I know breastfeeding is good for the baby and it is recommended to breastfeed as long as possible up to age 2. Chhori is 18 months now and we have decided to wean her off breastfeeding.
As I have written in my previous post, we had wean her off night feed for a while now and I am so grateful to have a husband who helped me to do that. I am sure I couldn’t have handled it by myself. I felt like a zombie some days when I used to feed her at night and have a full time job.
But I thought she was old enough to have cow milk now so I decided to wean her off breastfeeding altogether. I knew it was not going to be an easy task but me and AS made the decision that it was a good time to do it.
Lately, I have realised that Chhori wanted to be breastfed when she is bored, not when she is hungry. She is doing well with solid food so it was our motivation to go ahead with the weaning.
In order to discourage her from asking for milk frequently, I made a paste out of turmeric powder and lemon and rubbed it around the nipples.
I told her my boobs hurt and showed her the yellow nipples. She didn’t believe me at first so she tried to drink the milk as usual. But it was not the same because of the paste so she immediately stopped. Every time, she asked for milk, I showed her my turmeric lemon rubbed boos and emphasised that it hurts. The first few days she kept on trying to drink once in a while as she forgot the taste but I kept on adding the paste so she would understand that the milk doesn’t taste the same anymore.
I guess it is easier to wean when kids are under 1 but when they are a toddler, they remember them more so it is harder to wean them.
Anyway I had to do it for 5 days in a row before I stopped applying the paste and then, I didn’t need to show her but just tell her that it hurts. By day 7, she didn’t even ask for it anymore.
Today is day 16 and she doesn’t mentioned it at all. So finally she is off the boob.
We did have one night when she cried a lot – almost 2 hours on and off and nothing we did would make her stop but apart from that things are looking OK. She still wakes up some nights but she is not asking for milk, which is great. Sometimes it is hard for her to go back to sleep but I am sure things will get better as time passes.
I think more than her, I had trouble the first few days because when she want to be fed and she cried or made sorry faces, I feel so guilty. Sometimes, I felt as if I shouldn’t wean her now but me and AS had made the decision and I had to stick with it. Also I know for sure, the longer it goes on, the harder it will get for both of us. Now I can play with her for a long time without her getting distracted by wanting to breastfeed. I really love our new relationship. 🙂
Tell me your weaning story. Is there anything I could do to make her feel better?
Take care everyone,
M from nepaliaustralian
XOXO
Posted in Being Mum
Tagged Australia, australian, australian nepali, breast feeding, breast milk, breastfeeding, chhori, daughter, learn to breast feed, mum, Nepal, Nepali, nepali australian, Nepali blog, Nepaliaustralian, new born
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