I'm back (after a very long time please don't kill me)! I've had a very, very busy time with my little angel. As the pediatrician rightly predicted, Ayla wants to be held constantly. Anytime I put her down, she cries. The doctor said that she recognizes her mother and father's scent and touch and thus, feels most comfortable in their arms. So often, I have to walk back and forth, throwing Ayla over my shoulder and then, she falls asleep.
Ayla continues to "evolve" :) She's "talking" a lot more; her cute noises constantly evolving. And, the faces she makes are sooo adorable. She loves to sleep on her mom and dad's bed upstairs. No matter how sleepy she is, she gets knocked out when you lay her down on the bed. She can sleep for hours. Ayla's also increasingly playing "launchy" - this is where she uses her legs to push off. You have to be careful these days with her because she squirms and wiggles so much that she can fall off the sofa or out of your hands.
As you anxiously assume, a lot has happened over the last 11 days. On Friday, June 1
2, Zaid and I stayed home. We just kind of chilled with Ayla.
On Saturday, June 13, Zaid, Ayla and I visited a friend in the hospital. She's also expecting and is on bed rest until then. It was Ayla's first return to the Inova Fairfax Hospital since she was born there. However, she didn't seem to understand the importance of her return visit because she was restless during the whole visit. After the visit, Khala Waheeda came over followed by Khala Sarah. Waheeda and Sarah were tired because earlier in the day, along with Sarah's co-workers, they walked a 10 k dedicated to heart disease. We made dinner and stayed in. Baba, on the other hand, went out to dinner as part of Salman
Tajuddin and Amged Soliman's bachelor party festivities. When Sarah and Waheeda left early due to tiredness, Zaid came back to help me take care of Ayla who was very colicky that night
On Sunday, June 14, I joined my sisters to attend our friend Dalia's baby shower. I did not take Ayla with me because Zaid and I decided that she should spend the day with Zaid. This was great for him because he got alone time with her. He loves her so much and misses her when he's at work. When he gets home, he only gets a few hours with her before it's bedtime and much of this time, she's colicky. I was glad to leave Ayla with Zaid but boy, did I miss her during the baby shower!! There was this 6 week old baby there and I just kept thinking of Ayla throughout the event. Many people asked a
bout Ayla there and they wished they could have seen her. It's times like these that I'm happy I have my Mother's Day gift on me - a precious heart shaped pendant with a picture of a mother and daughter on it that opens up so that you can put two pictures in it. I have two precious pictures of Ayla inside. I had a great time at the baby shower but I was happy to see Ayla when I got home. It had been about 6 hours - the longest I have gone without seeing her.
June 15-June 16, Ayla and I had one of our wonderfully fun days at home. Again, I did a little prep for Pittsburgh. And, I bought our tickets to Tampa where Ayla and I will be staying July 11-August 2. Also, very critically, Ayla and I wrote our Father's Day card for her Nana Jan so that we could send it in the mail to reach Tampa on time.
The big highlight was Ayla's 2-month doctor's appt on Wednesday, June 17. She had her first shots for her immunization schedule. It was hard for me to watch! Though the shots were quick, Ayla cried so loud. I didn't want to see her in pain! I actually had tears in my eyes watching her cry. Our pain was alleviated with the cute little circular heart bandages that the nurse gave Ayla - one for each thigh. According to the doctor, our little one is now 21 inches and 9 lbs, 1.6 oz.
When we came home from the doctor's, Zaid worked from home the rest of the day. This gave me an excellent chance to go to the mall and look for Zaid's very first Father's Day gift from Ayla. Zaid told Ayla that he wanted cuff links but Ayla and I had other plans. I looked arou
nd and decided to buy a back massager for a chair. Ayla and I knew that Zaid always sat down on these massagers whenever he visited malls so we thought this would be a great gift. Ayla stayed home but she told me what to pick up. She didn't want to come with me and let Zaid think we were buying his present!
On Thursday, June 18, Auntie Rahila, Auntie Valerie, and Nido Puppo came to visit. Nadia has been studying for her MCAT (yes, she has decided to become a doctor) and she decided to visit Ayla for a much-needed study break. As the Aunties and Nadia played with Ayla, I decided to get much-needed work done. I did a few tasks in preparation for Ayla's first road trip - to Pittsburgh. As always, Nadia took some beautiful pictures of our baby. Later on that night, Zaid "accidentally" discovered Ayla's Father's Day gift to him because I left it in the car. It's okay because I was going to give it to him before the trip to Pittsburgh because there was no way I could sneak it to him. He was sooo excited and sat in the massager for a while. Of course, he kissed and thanked Ayla :) So, her first gift to her dad was a winner.
On Friday, June 19, Ayla was visited by one of my co-workers, Laura. I tried to catch up
with Laura about work matters and gossip but she was clearly enamored with Ayla. She kept holding her and walking back and forth with her. Laura was kind enough to bring me lunch - a relief considering that usually, I barely have time to make lunch. After Laura left, I continued to prepare for the Pittsburgh trip. I know what you are thinking, "how long does it take Saad to prepare for Pittsburgh?!!" Well, not only do I ordinarily take forever to pack, this time it's for real - I mean it's Baby A's first road trip but packing for a baby is a lot more complicated as I have learned. Originally, we were going to leave tonight for Pittsburgh but Zaid was way to busy at work to leave at a decent time so we decided to leave Saturday morning. Plus, we didn't want to make our first road trip with the baby at night. Also, today Chacha Fu had back surgery after months of back pain. He was in our prayers and every member of the family called himto check up.
Saturday, June 20 is the big day!! This marks Ayla's first road trip, her first visit to Dadoo and Poppy's house in Pittsburgh. Zaid and I had the best ride up, talking and joking as usual. I videotaped Ayla in her car seat and took pictures. My manoo slept most of the way and woke up for food and diaper changes. She seemed very happy and eager to travel! On the way, we listened to some nursery rhymes on the cd player. It's amazing how many nursery rhymes I have forgotten! This was me and Zaid's first road trip since January 2008 when we went to New York - a long time considering we used to road trip a lot. We had some stormy weather but we made it there okay. Usually, we just stop in Breezewood - halfway between DC and Pittsburgh - but this time, we made two additional stops to feed our baby. All in all, this was such a fun ride!! As soon as we got to Dadoo and Poppy's house, Poppy came right out of the house and straight to our car and picked up Ayla. Of course he was happy to see us but Ayla was the precious gift of honor because this was her first trip. Dadoo, Poppy, and Chacha Fu were sooo happy to see her. That night, we had a quiet dinner and we all enjoyed time with Ayla. That night, Zaid and I took awhile to sleep as we soaked in Ayla's first visit to Pittsburgh - we couldn't believe she was actually here!
Sunday, June 21 was Father's Day - Zaid's first ever!!! Ayla gave Zaid a cute card (remember her gift had been discovered earlier!) and she gave Poppy a nice Tweety Bird card. Poppy was very excited to get the card - in fact, he proudly displayed the card! We also called Ayla's Nana Jan and he was so excited, especially about Ayla's Father's Day card! He thought it was very cute and very thoughtful. After the cards, Poppy, Zaid, Ayla, and I went for a pre-scheduled trip to Bismillah Restaurant - a potential caterer for Ayla's June 28 Aqeeqah. We tasted a few of the food options and we decided to choose this caterer. Ayla was quiet most of the time -soaking in the scene. I think she is very excited about her Aqeeqah and she was enjoying her first Father's Day! And, Zaid and Poppy got to enjoy some time together. The day ended on a bit of a sad note - Ayla's Baba had to go back to DC :( Zaid was very reluctant to go back, leaving at 6 PM. And baby A was sad too - she loves her baba. She has only spent one night away from him and now, she will be away from him for a few nights. However, he's scheduled to come back on Saturday, June 27 - and Ayla can't wait!!!!
Until later, Saad
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