July 26 - More adventures from FL

Ayla and I continue to enjoy life in FL with mom, dad and Khala Waheeda.

Ayla has her routine down pat - she goes to bed around 10-11 PM these days, and wakes up around 4:30/5 AM, 7/7:30 AM, and then, 9:30 AM for feedings and diaper changings. When she wakes up, she goes to the family room and sees a very anxious Ummi Jan ready to play with her. Mom talks to her and entertains her before she puts her down on the big mattress in the middle of the room where Ayla lays down, waves her arms and legs and starts her communications routine. She now makes more and more interesting noises - with her lips and her mouth. Ayla also constantly moves her head around to look at things, often swinging her head from side to side really quickly. She kicks a lot and moves her arms around a lot -definitely more active. When she cries, it's louder. Our baby is getting bigger and developing a personality mashallah!! I have also now taken to calling her "Googleberry."

Everyday, I get so much joy in watching mom interact with Ayla. To see my mom holding my daughter is an experience for me that words cannot describe. Mom has so many cute names for Ayla - Cookie, 7-Up, Booglie, Bubble Machine, and Pancake among others. I can see mom's love for Ayla growing day by day and when I think how much I love my mom, I hope and pray that one day Ayla will love me as much. And, just as my mom has never hesitated to make me, Sarah, and Waheeda happy, I will do everything I can to provide the same level of comfort, happiness, and love for Ayla that mom provided for us :)

She's also beginning to recognize people and demand attention. If I, or mom, dad, and Waheeda are in the room, she kicks and waves her arms in place. However, if we walk away or she senses that we are not near her, she often cries. And, of course, she wants to be picked up a lot too.

Ayla's also beginning to drool a lot (she goes through more bibs and clothes now) and put anything she sees in her mouth. Early teether perhaps?

On Sunday, July 19, Ayla was visited by her mom's friend from high school, Shreya, and her mom. They brought Ayla some cute baby outfits and stayed a few hours during w

hich Shreya and I relived some old memories. Shreya kept saying that she couldn't believe that me, her friend since 1993, was now a mom and she kept looking at Ayla lovingly.

Monday, July 20 was mom's birthday. We bought flowers for her on behalf of all the sisters and Zaid. Ayla got mom the cutest card - one that soon found it's way into mom's memory box :) The rest of the day we just chilled and hung out with mom. Dad brought beautiful flowers - one each for mom, Waheeda, me, and....Ayla!!! So cute, little flowers for Ayla along with a cute note from Dad - "Dearest Ayla, Welcome to the Family!" Now, that will find it's way into my memory box (aka Ayla's scrapbook). Just like Mom, looks like Dad is starting to fall in love with little Ayla too :)

On Tuesday, July 21, we went to mom's friend, Auntie Munaza's house for some favorite eats of mine - dhai bala and radish roti. I am constantly craving these foods and Auntie Munaza is one of the best at making these so she invited me over. If all goes well, Ayla will adopt some of my food cravings :) We stayed a few hours - Auntie really enjoyed meeting and playing with A

yla. My baby cried a bit before she took a nap for awhile. She was oblivious to the wedding video we were watching.

On Wednesday, July 22, I did a little quick shopping. Again, I have to get the maximum number of errands and tasks done while someone can watch Baby A :) The rest of the day was chill. Dad continues to carry on his internal and external games

of "Yes" every evening! Dad and I used to spend so much time talking to one another growing up - it's nice to see him spending time alone with Ayla now :)

On Thursday, July 23, I took mom to a salon for her birthday present. We spent some great time together while Weedy and Ayla spent time together at home. Weedy and Ayla are

developing a strong bond - she calls Ayla her "Bear". Whatever Ayla does is associated with "Bear". For e.g., if Ayla is sleeping, she is "Sleepy Bear" or if Ayla is drooling, she is "Drooling Bear." It's sooo neat for me to see Weedy playing with Ayla because Weeds was the last baby in our family and now, here she is playing with the new baby in our family.

On Friday, July 24, Ayla, Weedy, mom and I went out to lunch at one of Mom's favorite places, Sweet Tomatoes. We enjoyed the buffet while Ayla snacked on one of her bottles. I really enjoyed going out to lunch in my hometown with three of my favorite people and moreover, it's sooo cool to take Ayla to lunch in the city I grew up in.

Saturday, July 25, we visited Uncle Wali and Auntie Shahnaz again, this time at their home. They were so excited to finally meet Ayla. Our baby, however, didn't quite feel comfortable and the poor baby cried most of the time, with mom and I taking turns to keep her calm in another room while the other spent time with Uncle.

Sunday, July 26, is me and Zaid's 6th wedding anniversary!! Time flies when you are having fun :) And, this year is especially special because of the arrival of little Ayla. Today was the second anniversary day that I did not spend with Zaid however he sent me these beautiful roses!!! In the absence of Zaid, my parents also made it a special day. They gave me nice flowers and my mom took me out to a nice Asian restaurant. I spent so much of the day just thinking about how this anniversary was particularly special because of Ayla's arrival. I have always loved Zaid and Ayla's arrival, I feel, kind of completes that love because she embodies our union :)

Talk to you soon! Saadia

July 18, 2009 - Ayla takes her first flight and hangs out in FL

On Thursday, July 9, Ayla, Zaid, and I continued preparations for our trip to FL on Saturday.

When Zaid came home, we took a walk around our neighborhood with Ayla's stroller. Ayla loves going outside. She loves the fresh breeze, the natural light, and sounds of nature. She moves her head around quickly to take in everything. In fact, if she is inside and she is crying and then, you take her outside, she immediately becomes calm and starts looking around.

After this, we went to my office at ExxonMobil to retrieve a baby monitor that my dear co-worker had donated to me. What an adventure, I couldn't get in to the building because my access pass was outdated! Wow, you disappear from the workplace for three months to raise a little one and you are shut out!!

On Friday, Zaid worked from home to that I could get a few things done in prep for our trip. We were also visited by Samer who wanted to see Ayla since he wouldn't see her for t

hree weeks. One of my dear co-workers, Melissa, also visited. She wanted to see Ayla and drop off the baby monitor. Originally, she was going to

visit us in the hospital but that day, I wasn't feeling well. A few weeks back, she gave us a cute baby blanket. She also calls Ayla Baby Gator in honor of her alma mater, University of Florida. Man, Ayla gets the most adorable things! That night, we took it easy, watched Smallville, and tried to sleep early.

It's funny that no matter how busy we get doing things for Ayla,

she has no worry in the world and continues to be relaxed as she goes about her normal schedule of eating and sleeping :)

Saturday, July 11 was the big day - Ayla's first trip on an airplane!! We got up early knowing that since this was Ayla's first flight, it would take longer than we planned to be ready and...we were right! We left at about 10:10 AM for a 12:25 flight from Dulles Airport. Ayla was wearing a very, very cute red fleece one piece suit that had the word "Twinkle" on it.

When we got to the airport, we decided to park close to the airport so that we would have an easy time transporting everything. At the Southwest counter, we had to register Ayla as a passenger. I had called earlier in the week so a notation was made. We were surprised to learn that we needed to bring a birth certificate for Ayla. The man at the counter said that it was in the fine print when we bought the ticket. He allowed us to take the flight but he said that we needed the birth certificate on the way back. Zaid's plan is to go to FL this weekend and then return the weekend of July 31s-Aug. 2 so he could bring the certificate back with him. By the time we got through the line, we had a few minutes to get lunch and change Ayla. So, Zaid and I did one of our classic multi-tasking - I took care of the diaper and he bought lunch (side note: I love Potbelly's!).

As you may know, Southwest Airlines has an interesting seating policy - you get seated in groups A, B, C. Apparently, at Southwest, children do not board before all others board so we had to wait for "family boarding" - right before the B group boards. We took our seats at the back of the aircraft. During the flight, Zaid held her in his arms sitting in the window seat. Ayla was amazing the whole time - she was either curious with open eyes and smiling or she was asleep. If anyone was disturbed during the flight it was me - there was a lot of turbulence and I was holding on to my seat praying! At the end of the flight, Ayla was given a certificate signed by the staff of the airplane marking her first flight. It's sooo cute and her second certificate (don't forget her successful passing of the Car Seat Challenge!).

Ayla's Ummi Jan met us in baggage claim and we headed for home after installing Ayla's car seat. She was surprised to see how much Ayla had grown because she had left after staying with us for the first 6 weeks following my C-section. When we got home, Ayla's Nana Jan greeted Ayla with so much happiness. Zaid and I looked around the house and were surprised to see how prepared mom and dad were for Ayla's visit. They had a baby bathtub, a bassinet, a swing, and other baby products! It was sooo cute - the house was so baby-ready :) After we got home, mom and I ran to Macy's quickly (cute new mall across the street!) to take advantage of this one-day sale :) The rest of the night, we just chilled enjoying conversation and food.

On Sunday, July 12, Zaid spent the day with the family because he was going to leave later that night. But, before he left, we were visited by Auntie Tasneem and her family, including her son Ali, his wife and his little daughter, Iman. Iman was so excited to see "the baby" and wanted to play with Ayla who was in her swing. She tried to shake the swing a few times to get the baby and she kept trying until her father told her not too. Iman is cute; a future friend for Ayla in the Tampa community. They left after a few hours. Then, we spent a few hours with Zaid before he had to leave for FL. Baba was going to leave his baby again for an extended period for the second time! Ayla and I were sad that he left :)

On Monday, July 13, I went with Ayla and mom to do some much-needed shopping. It's so much easier to shop with Ayla when I have someone with me because then I can connect her carrier seat to her stroller (we have 3-in-1 stroller, car seat, and carrier seat) without straining my back. While we shopped, Ayla loved being in her stroller. She either makes cute little noises (her sounds are becoming a lot more sophisticated now

, she can say consonant sounds now!) or she gets sleepy. After a few hours, we went home to hang out.

On Tuesday, July 14, Ayla, mom, dad, and I visited Uncle Wali as soon as dad came home. Uncle had surgery and we visited the hospital to lift his spirits. Although we took Ayla, we decided not to take her into the hospital because we didn't want to expose her to the possibility of infection or illnesses. So, mom and I took turns keeping her in the car as the other visited with Uncle Wali. The trials of being new parents! Although Uncle didn't see her this time, he would see her in the near future.

On Wednesday, July 15, mom and I went for a sushi lunch with Ayla. My little boo-boo was once again, calm and curious as we ate at this cute place across the street. Mom and Dad's neighborhood is growing fast with new places constantly popping up!

During this week, I also started gathering ideas for mom's birthday present as her b-day is on July 20. I started secretly looking at salons. I also started looking around for day cruises because Zaid, Ayla, and I want to go on a cruise during Zaid's visit.

Wednesday evening, Ayla's Nana Jan walked around with her in the neighborhood. He loves walking with her on his shoulder both inside and outside the house. This is known as the game of "Yes" where Dad keeps saying yes as if Ayla is talking to him and confiding in him. It's dad way of providing positive reinforcement :) Though Mom doesn't have the game of "Yes", she lovingly cuddles with and talks to Ayla. Plus, with Mom, I have a true babysitter because she does all - changing, feeding, playing, etc!

Thursday, July 16, Ayla made an un-announced trip to Dad's office, Midtown Clinic. His nurses, particularly Gloria, were sooo surprised to see her. Before Ayla was born, the office staff sent us some nice gifts for her. During this visit, we brought the staff flowers and cake as a belated thank you :) Gloria and another nurse have been with us since me, Sarah, and Waheeda were little so it was a nice surprise for them to see Ayla as a baby. They had waited a long time to see Dr. Ghani's granddaughter so it was a visit well-appreciated!

Friday, July 17, I went to the new, cute mall across the street again, Wiregrass Mall. This was the first time that I took my time and walked through the boardwalk. I really enjoyed myself - I couldn't believe that such a cute mall had come to a place that only a few years ago, was so barren. Growing up, I was so used to going to Tampa just to see any semblance of life because where we grew up, Zephyrhills, there was nothing to brag about in terms of shopping. This mall even had a crepes place and I'm looking forward to hanging out in this mall with my family in the near future and Ayla! While I was here, I found the perfect place to get Mom's b-day present - a nice new salon. Sarah, Waheeda, and I decided to take mom there in the near future. Today, I also ordered an anniversary present for Zaid. Other than one other anniversary day (my second in 2005 due to a work day), this is the second anniversary day that I would not be there. I ordered some nice cuff links from Kenneth Cole and had them sent to our home address in VA.

On Saturday, July 18, Waheeda arrived. Ayla was looking really forward to spending time with Khala Waheeda because although they are both in the DC area, Waheeda and Ayla's schedules along with the distance between Northern VA and NW DC do not allow them to spend as much time as they want together. After Waheeda got here, we surprised mom and told her that we were taking her out for her birthday. That evening, we took mom to Jasmine Thai, a restaurant in North Tampa which likes going to. It was a fun time- Ayla took turns either sitting in her stroller taking in the sounds or sitting in our laps posing for pictures. Mom was very happy.

So, Ayla is just enjoying chilling in FL hanging out with the fam, meeting new people, and enjoying the weather.

Talk to you soon with more adventures from FL, Saadia

July 8, 2009 - Winding up in Pittsburgh, ISNA, and more

I'm back to report more adventures of Baby A. After we opened the Aqeeqah gifts on Tuesday night (June 30), we had a couple more days in Pittsburgh. Mommy, Fu, and Poppy continued to enjoy spending time with Ayla. Baba was still home this week although he wasn't feeling too well.

We put up some of the Aqeeqah pictures on Facebo

ok a

nd received really nice comments about Baby A and the rest of us. Everyone said that we were a cute family. Ayla's sooo cute and we are

having so much fun with her; I wish that she would remember these days. She's getting so much love and having so many adventures. Unfortunately, the time when you are the most carefree, you don't end up remembering!

I think Zaid really enjoyed having Ayla in the house he grew up in! Our little booboo continued to make more and more noises and expressions. Since the TV was not working in the main room these couple of days, Ayla spent a lot of time upstairs with Poppy and Fu watching TV in Mommy and Poppy's room.

On Thursday, July 2, Mommy and I had a nice lunch at Panera and then we visited a family friend to inquire upon the health of their daughter. Ayla stayed at home with the guys. We spent this last evening in Pittsburgh just having fun and talking.

So, I trip to Pittsburgh was winding down. We had so much fun and there were highs and lows. The highs including the Aqeeqah of course, Mommy playing with Ayla first thing every morning when I brought her down. Mommy would spend so much time having cut

e conversations with her. Another high was Poppy taking her outside every evening and walking around with her saying "mini mini coo coo". The lows included Ayla applying fo

r a job working for Chacha Fu (at his invitation!) and then, getting rejected!! I think he said something about her application not being organized and her experience level being "low." Then, just when you thought it would be amicably settled - Fu offered to pay her for some

"work" she did for him - there was still disagreement. Ayla apparently did $4,000 worth of work according to Fu but he decided to pay her $4 million because she is "cute" though Chacha still felt he was doing her a favor.

On Friday, July 3, we returned to VA because my dad was going to be in town for the weekend for the Islamic Society of North America annual convention. We left Pittsburgh around 3 pm and returned home around 8:30 PM. Ayla and I were sad to leave Pittsburgh where we had so much fun. During the ride, Zaid and I realized that we had left one of Ayla's most necessary items in Pittsburgh - her stroller! We lucked out though because one of Zaid's fa

mily friends, Uncle Rizwan, was coming to DC on Saturday to attend ISNA. Whew!!

We saw Dad at night when he returned from and ISNA-related meeting with Uncle Hisham. The last time dad had seen Ayla, she was about 9-10 days old. Now, he was seeing her after she became 11 weeks old. This was the longest period that an immediate family member had gone without seeing Ayla. He was happy to see how much she had grown up and kept saying that she had developed quite a personality.

On Saturday, July 4, Ayla's first Independence Day, we had other plans to celebrate the nation's freedom - going to ISNA. We woke up in the morning and relaxed a bit (it's so great to be home and open the day with a nice breakfast and a warm cup of coffee!). We chatted with Dad further before he went to ISNA. Once we became organized and got Ayla ready, we left for ISNA around 3 PM. We stayed at the conference for about 5 hours (don't worry, we got the stroller back!) and had a lot of fun while meeting some friends. We saw Auntie Tasneem and Abu Bakr from Tampa. Auntie was very excited to finally meet Ayla and gave her some cute, red bangles. And, we saw Aslam Chacha after

many years. It was ve

ry nice to catch up with Chacha and to see the family. Chacha was so happy to see Ayla; it brought tears to his eyes as he also recalled seeing baby Zaid for the first time many years ago. We ran into other friends too - ISNA is a great place to catch up with old acquaintances. We stayed for the main speeches hoping to see a lecture by Hamza Yusuf but he was bumped to the next day instead joining a panel instead. Rather than the lecture by Yusuf, we did see a few really interesting people - Imam Siraj Wahaj, Pastor Rick Warren (spoke at Obama's grad

uation). The panel that Hamza Yusuf sat on also included Yusuf Islam. Zaid, Ayla, and I left around 8:30 because we knew that we were getting close to Ayla's bed-time after a long day. Ayla was calm at times but many times, Zaid and I had to walk around with her to calm her down. Zaid even stood with her like a proud dad behind the ISNA cameras. He looked so adorable holding our little daughter. There were a lot of people and I think, Ayla missed

the comforts of her home :). Everyone we met though, enjoyed meeting her. We saw dad again that night before going to bed.

On Sunday, July 5, Dad left early to attend ISNA. Zaid, Ayla and I got up, took it easy, did a few errands before Dad, Sarah, Samer, and Waheeda returned. We hung out for a while and then, Zaid dropped off Waheeda and took Dad to the airport. It was nice to see Dad though it was for a short period, we knew we would see dad again in FL on July 11. Later that night, we returned to ISNA to see if we could catch Auntie Tasneem and Chacha again in addition to meeting a few other friends. First, we went to the bazaar but we didn't get through all the aisles because along the way, we kept bumping in to people. Then, we met Auntie and Chacha. After about 2 hours however, we left for home. All in all, it was a fun weekend and Ayla was exposed to a big, national conference environment! And, I'll always remember the look on Zaid's face throughout the conference - one of beaming joy as he showed off his baby to family and friends :)

On Monday, Ayla and I were back in our home routine. My day was made much easier by the fact that Zaid decided to work from home. This allowed me to run a few errands in addition to attending to some tasks and starting preparations for FL. Having Zaid at home is great because this allows me to get a few things

done. Without him, my typical day involves doing all my tasks with my cutie pie Ayla on my left arm! She loves when I walk around and hold her. This allows her to sleep and/or bury her face in my chest. Whenever I put her down, if she is not sleepy, she's restless unless I pick her up again. I must admit however that though it's difficult to get things done,

nothing makes me happier than the feeling that my baby needs me to hold her :) With Zaid at home, I was able to take a much needed trip to the mall and able to get groceries for the rest of the week. However, Ayla is a load for Zaid when he's working from home! Though he loves spending time with her, he has to multi-task - like feeding her and taking conference calls or putting her on his shoulders while he sends emails! Zaid is an incredible dad - Ayla and I love him so much :) :) :)

Tuesday, Ayla and I remained in our home routine but this day was historical as far I was concerned. Today was Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center. It was a fitting tribute to a man who left the world a better place. I could barely keep my composure - I frequently cried through the 2-hour memorial. During this time however, I noticed that Ayla was sniffling, sneezing and coughing a so I called her doctor.

Wednesday, Ayla's little

cold had gotten worse so I scheduled an appointment with her doctor who confirmed that she just had a cold and recommended that we take a few actions to help her get better. Ayla's too young for any medicine so we had to beat the cold the old-fashioned way - sitting in a steamy room and using a humidifier. At the doctor, Ayla weighed in at 10 lbs, 5 oz. Mashallah, my little darling continues to grow so fast!! When I came in, I told Dr. Lee that Ayla was not feeling well - lots of restlessness, crying, sneezing, coughing, and sniffling. However, as soon as Ayla saw Dr. Lee, she started smiling, making cute noises and giggling. She showed up her own mom! Dr. Lee was joking with her and saying "Your mom says you are being fussy but you look so playful!" The doctor also gave me some advice for Ayla's upcoming trip to Tampa.

When I returned home, I finally completed my first batch of Thank You cards - for the gifts received during my April 6 baby shower at Exxon Mobil. This shower was actually the only one I ended up having because the shower that Weedy, Sarah, and Samer were going to throw for me in late-March was cancelled due to my bed rest :( Though I completed this batch of thank you cards, there are still many more to go!

Later on that evening, Khala Sarah dropped by for a visit because she wanted to see our cutie before Ayla went to FL. Sarah spent time with her in the nursery and apparently the two of them came up with another game, "block, block, choo choo, block." I hope to tell you more about this in the coming days...

I'll be back soon, Saadia