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 What an adventure, I couldn't get in to the building because my access pass was outdated!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
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