Sept. 7 - As we get less energetic during Ramadan, Ayla gets more energetic!

Monday, August 31 - Friday, September 4 - Ayla is beginning to squirm and move around more. When I'm changing her diaper, she is beginning to squirm. It's becoming so hard to make her stay still making it really difficult to change her diaper. What used to be an easy task is becoming tough :)

If you stand her up on your lap, she "jumps" up and down in place. She looks like she is ready to take-off. As long as you hold her arms, she keeps jumping. She's full of excitement as she jumps up and down. Perhaps she will stand or walk early?

The little bear is also developing a bigger and bigger smile and a deeper and deeper laugh. It's so rewarding as a mom to see her react to my smile and words.

She continues to teeth and for some reason, she is not using teething toys and rings as much as she is putting her hands, other people's hands, and other things in her mouth. It's so cute to see her try to put both fists in her mouth. And the drooling just keeps increasing :)

I'm trying to keep up with her growing activity but it is so hard with the fasting. Week 2 of Ramadan has drained more energy from me than Week 1. Speaking of Ramadan, Ayla is maintaining her "Ramadan schedule." She keeps getting up at sehri to eat no matter what time sehri is. And, she keeps needing to eat precisely at iftar time no matter what time iftar is. Poor Zaid is trying to keep energetic for Ayla despite his schedule - he drinks coffee after sehri and goes to work and then when he comes home, he holds Ayla while I prepare iftar.

Ayla is also continuing to get more and more used to her crib. She is starting to stay in the crib longer without crying. She tends to stay on her back in one corner but now, she is looking around the crib. It looks like she will begin exploring the rest of the crib in a few days! Zaid and I know that we have to transition her to her crib for bedtime soon but it's sooo hard!! I don't want our baby to "move out"!! She's growing too fast! Whenever I think of Ayla moving to her crib, I think of how hard it will be when she moves out to go to college :(

I have to admit that knowing that our baby is in our room at night makes me think we protecting her. Plus, when I wake up at night to feed her, I love seeing her after I put her back to sleep in the bassinet.

The bassinet is so smug and cozy and the crib looks so big; it's like a microcosm of the greater world - so big and open!

Saturday, September 5 - We decided to take Ayla to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum today. We had been talking all summer about how we wanted to take our little princess downtown to see the monuments or a museum or some other tourist attraction. We figured that since it was hot by the monuments and Ayla would just get stuck looking upwards at the sky from her stroller, we should take her inside the museum. Plus, Ayla is not supposed to be exposed to the sunlight and there was just too much sun. Picking the Air and Space Museum was fitting because it's Ayla's Baba's favorite museum. Now Ayla was at the museum that her Baba liked to visit as a child :)

Although Ayla was in her stroller, Zaid and I took turns holding her. It was sooo cute watching her because she would look up at the suspended airplanes and aircraft in the museum. Of course, she was more attracted to the bright-colored models but she looked at all the models and objects. And, she absolutely loves to people-watch. She moves her head around actively catching glimpses of interesting people. We sat down in the cute McDonald's Cafe located in the museum just to catch a breather (low energy due to fasting). I sat down at the table and let Ayla either sit in my lap or stand on the table. I also let her stand and sit on the Cafe bar. She was sooo happy and so excited. She kept jumping in place, smiling, laughing and drooling. The sight was way to precious for words :) As Ayla kept playfully engaging with us, there was a couple at the end of the table that kept stealing glances at her. Mashallah, Ayla gets a lot of attention due to her cute smiles and playfulness!!

After a few hours, we left the museum to go home because we had some iftar plans for

the evening.

In the evening, we went to Bamian Restaurant to meet our friends Asim and his wife Fauzia and Jamal and his wife Arefa. Bamian is one of our favorite (especially Zaid's) kabob restaurant so it was only so fitting that we decided to meet her for iftar. Zaid and I got to Bamian first and we noticed a much "smaller" Bamian - the restaurant had closed much of its space to accommodate a wedding event. So, it was already cramped and then, Zaid and I noticed that there was a kid next to our table who looked like she had chicken pox. Although we were waiting on our friends, we had already decided to leave. Once our friends arrived, we told them that we felt more comfortable if we went to another restaurant and, our friends readily agreed because they are very understanding. This was the first time that Zaid and I had to deal with parental problem so publicly and, I think we passed with flying colors! It made me realize that from now on, we can't think of our convenience; we must think about Ayla first.

So we left Bamian and went to Nizam's, a delicious Turkish restaurant. We had a wonderful meal. And, our friends took turns holding and playing with a very active Ayla. Ayla kept standing on our laps and trying to swat the silverware and plates. This was the first time we realized that she was alert and strong enough to reach for the objects on the table. So, the rest of the night, whoever was holding Ayla had to be extra careful. By the way, tonight was the first time that Fauzia and Asim were se

eing our little googleberry!! After a long night of wonderful fun and conversation, we went home. There is nothing like iftar with your friends :)

Sunday, September 6 - It was finally me and Zaid's turn to host an iftar for family! After a few years of attending iftars at Sarah and Samer's and Adnan and Fawad's, we owed our siblings an iftar. And, this was going to be the first iftar that Ayla would host :) When we woke up, we started getting the house ready. We decided to use the classic "divide and conquer" method to get ready for the iftar. I took care of Ayla and Zaid did the cooking! He made kabobs and kabob burgers for dinner. We were expecting to host Waheeda, Sarah, Samer, Adnan, Fawad (last-minute surprise guest from NY!), Samer's brother Omar, and our friend Mustafa. Adnan and Fawad came a little bit before iftar and helped us set up. It was sooo cute to see the Chachas prepare for iftar from the help with the organizing and cleaning, taking care of Ayla and helping to cut the watermelon! After every one arrived and we broke fast, the energy level truly picked up and we all had a wonderful time! Ayla was in peak form (of course I fed her right at iftar time when she "suddenly" got hungry!). Everytime anyone would hold her, she would lean all the way back (ironically, she's so trusting of the person that she is hoping to trust!) and look at their face. Once she verified that the person was trustworthy, she would move on - try to touch their face, drool all over them (face, arms and shirts!) and try to put their fingers and arms in her mouth. While we all enjoyed conversation, Ayla always mostly took the person holding her out of the conversation because she was so actively engaged with that person. Mustafa enjoyed meeting and playing with Ayla. Omar also enjoyed her company. He was kind enough to bring some cute cute clothes for Ayla (a brown sweatsuit and a onesy with pants with little booties on the end). During the conversation, Weedy taught everyone about "The Bear" game - where you add the word "bear" at the end of the activity that Ayla is doing. For e.g., if Ayla is sleeping, then she is Sleeping Bear. I think this is how it goes but you will have to ask Weeda again for more clarification. Adnan didn't seem to get the hang of The Bear game but Weedy tried to teach him and we tried to help :) Ayla seems to be very lively around company - obviously she is a very social baby. Often she forgets to nap and eat when she's around company. Oh, lest I forget, the Chachas brought an awesome chocolate cake from a famous cake place in Georgetown. It was so delicious and rich!

The iftar was an absolutely wonderful time and we will have to do this more often in coming Ramadans!! Or, maybe, we just need to have more dinner parties.

Monday, September 7 - Labor Day couldn't be more timely this year because after the busy weekend we had, Zaid could use the day off! Of course, I'm still enjoying my long maternity leave :) Today, we both just chilled and just performed our most important job - taking care of our little juicy Ayla :)

Until later, Saadia

August 30 - Ayla starts to do more and more...

This week, Ayla expanded her horizons yet again. Although her mommy is tired from fasting, she worked really hard to keep contributing to our baby's development. But before I go on, I must tell you about this interesting schedule that Ayla is on. Zaid and I wake up for sehri in the wee hours and no matter how much sehri moves day by day this week, Ayla manages to wake up sometime during the middle of sehri. Therefore, Zaid and I decided that we should wake up 45 minutes before Fajr every day of Ramadan. That way, one of us can eat while the other feeds Ayla. I realize Ayla is a good Muslim and, plans on fasting one of these days, but wow, does she have the schedule down pat!! She apparently gets hungry when Zaid and I need to eat :) Maybe she just needs to stock up for her 2-hour fasts. As her Dadoo says, Ayla's doing the Islamic baby fast - after every two hours, she eats. In fact, now when she spits up her rice cereal, I think she's just rubbing it in that she can eat whenever she wants.

And, lest you think our beautiful princess does this only during sehri, she also happens to be hungry right at iftar - again, no matter what time iftar is on a given day.

Monday, August 24 - As you can imagine, I was exhausted from the fast. However, I de

cided that from now on, whenever I go to the nursery, I would put Ayla in the crib so that she gets used to it. Zaid and I haven't decided when we will move her there but I started putting her in. When I first put her in, the cuteness I witnessed was beyond words!! Ayla looked so small i

n the crib - it kind of reminded me of the first time we put her in her bassinet. She was lying down toward one side of the crib and she only occupied the middle space. You should have seen the look on herface. It was one of what the heck am I doing here. I turned on her Little Princess set mobile and she seemed very amused by the music. I also put a few stuffed animals and a caterpillar toy which attaches to the bars of the crib with velcro. Later on, Ayla would be attra

cted to this toy because it had teething toys attached to it. In fact, she would flip over to the caterpillar, grab it, and start teething. But this would be down the road not now.

What I did notice however was that whenever I tried to leave the nursery and come back to see how Ayla would handle it, she would cry. She could tell she was in a new place and she got scared as a result. So, I could tell some training was needed and, I decided that whenever we move her into the nursery, I will sleep with her there a few nights to get her used to it.

Today, I also started playing the music that I bought for Ayla last week. I played Baby

Einstein's playtime music. Ayla seemed to enjoy it sooo much. It made her hyper as she heard it for the first time while standing in her activity center. I played it throughout the day. She would smile real big and start jumping in place. Considering that the music is in my laptop, when she looks at the laptop playing music, she attempts to "attack" the computer, really trying to put it in her mouth. Combining music-playing with reading really made me feel like I was contributing to Ayla's development :)

Also today, Khala Sarah called with a special offer for Ayla :) First, she asked me to check my email. When I checked, I saw the cutest thing!! A cute Evite for Ayla's first iftar. Against a light blue background, it had a cute little elephant with a crown on it. The Evite was for this coming Saturday and would include Sarah, Samer, me, Zaid, Ayla and Adnan - a cute, little family get-together. Of course I replied yes - I was so excited and so was Ayla!!! I marked "Yes" and bringing one guest :)

Tuesday, August 25 - I am filling out the forms to enroll with Ayla's new day care provider. Boy, is there a lot of paperwork in this country. It's time consuming and now, I realize will take time away from me spending time with Ayla.

Every morning, I bring Ayla in front of the mirror behind my bedroom door. She look

s at it, and starts smiling. As each day goes by, she looks at the mirror, then looks at me, often touching her face or my face and then, touching the mirror as if to "connect" the images in her mind. And because she drools, when she puts her hand on the mirror, there are drool streaks! It is unbelievably cute to see her realize that she and her mom are looking at the mirror.

Ayla is also in the process of adding and perfecting another skill to her repertoire. When I try to kiss her on her tummy, she starts laughing - that's right, laughing!! The first time I heard it, I was in shock with happiness. It was this cute laugh which is hard to describe - you have to hear it for yourself :) As the days went by, Ayla's laugh got longer and richer!

She's also starting to look at a person's face when he/she hold her so that she can "assess" just exactly who is holding her. When she recognizes someone, she just goes back to leanin

g on their shoulder. However, when it's someone she doesn't recognize, she starts crying. Other things that make her cry include when someone comes from behind her and tries to surprise her or when someone makes a funny face or sound.

Wednesday, August 26 and Thursday, August 27, Ayla continued to work on important milestones. I keep putting her on her tummy for minutes at a time so that she gets used to it but our little baby usually can maintain this position for a few minutes before she gets upset. She starts crying and just kicking her legs. Also, the cutest thing happens - she appears to get her arms stuck under her tummy which makes her more upset :) I just want to make sure she is not too late in learning to crawl. Despite her challenges however, Ayla's getting better and better about tummy time, better than last week.

She's also enjoying the toys that I bought her. So, it's easier to keep her entertained. Before, I used to hold her and try to play with her but now I can lie her down or help her sit and she enjoys the music coming from the toys.

In the evenings, the special episodes I refer to as the "Baby and Baba Show" take place albeit with Zaid having less energy. He's so cute because he tries to remain energetic for Ayla though he goes to work and is fasting. He comes home a little before iftar. During this time, I prepare our iftar dinner in addition to getting snacks ready to break fast while Zaid plays with Ayla. At iftar, we take turns breaking fast and then, eating dinner while the other plays with Ayla. Zaid plays with her, feeds her, and helps comfort her in the nursery. It's so cute because he will sit on the rocking chair in the nursery and rock Ayla to sleep often listening to the Qur'an on his I-phone. The sweet melody of the Qur'an calms Ayla down and often puts her to sleep. He also takes her to the balcony. All-in-all, he gets valuable Baba and Baby alone time :)

Friday, August 28, we had iftar at Auntie Rahila's house. Imran mamoo and family were planning to leave tomorrow for Kuwait so we wanted to see them again in addition to breaking fast with our lovely family :) Of course, we managed to take turns breaking fast while engaging Ayla. Auntie Valerie is so cute because she takes Ayla out for a walk to provide her with some peace and quiet. Rahila Khala is still trying to work out what she wants to be called by Ayla some day. Candidates include "Khala Dadi and Khala." Our Kuwaiti family branch took some more adorable pictures of Ayla. Ayla did cry a bit but we took her upstairs to Nadia's room and helped her go to sleep. And, the evening cannot be completely explained without telling you that Nadia took more adorable pictures of Ayla.

Saturday, August 29, was the iftar that Khala Sarah and Khalu Samer set up with much, much help from Khala Weedy! Ayla wore the cutest outfit - pink OshKosh overalls. Her first set of overalls. Earlier in the week, I told Sarah that Ayla would be dressed in some of her finest :)We had some delicious burgers and great appetizers not to be outdone by some delicious cakes including a home-baked Red Velvet cake from Sarah. Chacha Adnan also came to make up a cute, little family iftar. Ayla maintained her Ramadan schedule by needing us exactly at iftar time - but this time, it was not for feeding but because her teeth were hurting. Our little angel starts making humming noises along with crying when her teeth hurt. Sarah comforted Ayla while Zaid and I were breaking fast. Then, Sarah and Zaid took turns walking with Ayla outside. Sarah and Samer have this nice lake with a walkway around it which is very nice and makes for a relaxing scene. We were hoping to walk Ayla around it in the stroller but our little princess eventually started getting sleepy. We put her in Sarah and Samer's bed to put her to sleep.

I taught Sarah and Weedy Ayla's sleep routine. First, you lay Ayla down between two pillows. The pillows must be close to each side of her body. Then, Ayla starts "hugging" each pillow in turns eventually, putting her face against one pillow and falling asleep. While she does t

his pillow-hugging, you must put the pacifier in her mouth. She will suck on the pacifier while until she is fully asleep eventually, spitting it out :) However, during this whole time, you can't be playful or make funny faces while she is tired otherwise she will be half-playful and half-sleepy and she won't be able to concentrate on fallin;g asleep!

While Ayla was sleeping, the rest of us ate, had dessert and engaged in wonderful and funny conversation. It's sooo nice that Ayla will have loving family around as she grows up and...her parents also enjoy having close family around. Thank you Sarah and Samer for the nice, home-cooked iftar!

Sunday, August 30, Zaid and I met our friend Zeshan for iftar at one of favorite Thai restaurants. Ayla was being so active and so cute. Zaid and I took turns standing her on our lap. She kept jumping in place and, the little mischievous one kept trying to grab the silverware and swat the plates and glasses. She's a handful!! Zeshan remarked how cute Ayla keeps getting and how active she is. He's the uncle of a niece and nephew so he's got experience with little ones! It's just so funny how Ayla just goes about her thing not really worrying about her parents schedule and plans. It's true what they say - kids really are the boss :)

This weekend, we also took Ayla to the nearby Dunn Loring Park. Although it's not that big, whether Ayla was in the stroller or in our arms, she had her eyes wide open as she checked out the trees, insects, and scenery. We went right before dark so didn't have too much time but we will have to take her to the park again since she enjoyed it so much!

Talk to you soon, Saadia

August 23 - Hanging out with family, friends, and more

Monday, August 17 was a very busy day! In the morning, Ayla's mommy had to go to the dentist. Not something that mommy loves to do but it has to be done. Whenever I have to go to a doctor's appointment of any kind, I usually can't take Ayla so I have to have Zaid stay home and watch her. Zaid usually works it out so that he can stay at home with his sweetie - he's such a lifesaver!! So, while I went to the appointment, Baba and baby got to spend time together. When I got home, I had to rush and get Ayla ready and prepare her bag because we had a lunch date!! Yesterday, my supervisor at work invited Ayla and I to join my team for lunch at a local restaurant. And, it was supposed to be a surprise for the rest of the team. When Ayla and I walked in, my boss was so happy to see me and the team was very surprised! We had a great catch-up lunch. Ayla was in the hands of one of my colleagues the whole time because she thought that Ayla was so cute, she could not let her go! Ayla was wearing a cute little black dress outfit. The whole time, she kept standing, drooling, and trying to grab things from the table. Our little baby turned 4 months old yesterday and is showing increased liveliness as usual, constantly surprising us with new moves. My boss was seeing Ayla for the first time because we could never pick a mutually-convenient time to meet. He was nice enough to give us yet another cute gift for Ayla - a cute little chair, built perfectly for a princess. After we left, I was full of happiness that my whole team finally got a chance to see Ayla :) The other thought I had, after an hour of hearing about my colleagues' work issues, was that I was glad I was not at work these days :)

After lunch, Ayla and I had to rush to get ready for her 4 month old doctor's appointme

nt. This was a big-time appointment! Ayla was promoted to solid foods - she was asked to start rice cereal. Our little baby is growing so fast - I mean what a huge step, moving past only liquids! Ayla also gets to wear sunblock now when she's out in the sun. Wow, our little angel has gone beach mode! She also got some vaccines today and, like before, I got tears in my eyes watching her cry. For some reason, I didn't want Ayla to think I betrayed her and let her get the shots! As usual, our little sunshine started smiling and jumping when she saw her pediatrician. And, the doctor enjoyed playing with her. Today, our little girl weighed in at 11 pounds and 14 ounces and, she measured 23 1/2 inches in length! I guess our girl isn't so little anymore :) She jumped in percentiles for both weight and height and most importantly, remains very healthy mashallah!

Tuesday, August 18, was not a great day for Ayla. She was feeling a little unwell from getting the shots yesterday. She cried a lot due to the pain and she had a slight fever. I was going to have Imran Mamoo and family visit today but we decided to wait until tomorrow when Ayla might be feeling better. So, the rest of the day was spent taking care of Ayla and doing a few tasks at home.

Wednesday, August 19 is Ayla's Khala Sarah and Khalu Samer's wedding anniversary. It's been three wonderful years for them and this year, they got best wishes from their niece :) Ayla was feeling a little better today so Imran Mamoo and family paid a visit. Although they stayed for about 2 hours, in this time, Ayla went through all possible moods! She was happy and drooling. She cried sometime due to teething pain or pain from the shots. Zara and Maha were so excited to see Ayla play in her activity center and Zara seemed to be really impressed with the toy! They took a lot of wonderful pictures. And, Ayla received some very cute gifts - a pair of nice, gold earrings and a wonderful framed picture of embroidery containing Ayla's name, birthdate, and weight. The picture is sooo cute and now hangs in Ayla's room! Adnan Chacha

also arrived toward the end of the visit and stayed until dinner. It was sooo cute to see him spend time with Ayla. He definitely has the loving touch with her.

Thursday, August 20, Khala Waheeda paid us a visit. She had just returned from a nice long summer vacation in Florida. Boy, was her visit essential and timely because it allowed me to run to Target and get much-needed things for Ayla. Plus, I got Weedy's valuable opinions. I bought some toys to keep precious Ayla entertained and busy because she is growing so fast, she's getting bored with the basic rattles. I also got her some cute one-piece sleepwear sets. We also bought Baby Einstein lullabies and playtime music which should set th

e right moods for Ayla! While we were shopping, Khala Weeda wanted to hold Ayla the whole time because she missed her ever since we left Florida. It was so cute because eventhough her arms were getting tired, she wouldn't put her little "bear" in the stroller. Weedy ended up staying the night so we got a good chance to catch up on all things Tampa- and Mom and Dad-related and she got some valuable time with her little niece. Zaid was very amused to see the stuff that we bought little restless Ayla :)

Friday, August 21, is the last day before Ramadan this year. It was a low-key day with us doing some last-minute Ramadan-related tasks and errands. However, there was one very, very important development today! Ayla ate her first solid food ever - I mean ever!! Since she was going to eat solid food for the first time, I brought down her high chair for the first time. It's this precious, colorful chair called Fisher-Price Precious Planet High Chair. Ayla was so cute in her chair because she was so small compared to her chair. As usual, she was mad because whenever their are straps, she feels confined. Then, when I started to feed her from her little Disney bowl (has a picture of Sleeping Beauty, Princess Jasmine, and Cinderella on it) and her little pink and blue Munchkin spoon, she made that "What the heck is this stuff?" face :) Although it was a big milestone day, our baby spit up most of the food. She had the cutest face - with formula and cereal running down her face. And boy, was it messy! The food was everywhere - on her outfit, her bib, and on her highchair tray. It was the cutest thing ever!! So, we ended our first day of solid food with most of the food outside her mouth. I tried to capture the moments on video camera and camera but it was so hard to do so while feeding her :)

It was the first time in our life that we set the alarm for sehri thinking how much time do we need for sehri considering that Ayla may wake up at the same time for her bottle? For me, I think this Ramadan might be easier because at least I won't be working so I won't have to wake up early but then again, how would things be considering Ayla has her own "unique" sleeping schedule and I can't get rid of the sleepiness with coffee? And, for Zaid, he was thinking, how will I get any sleep before going to work between sehri and Ayla's nighttime feedings? We were about to find out :)

Saturday, August 22, is the first day of Ramadan. Ayla's parents woke up this morning at about 4:30 and boy, were they tired because they didn't wake up until noon after going back to sleep following sehri. After I fed her rice cereal again (she kept more of the cereal in her tummy and spit up a lot again) and prepared a to-go bag for her, we went to Ashburn to buy some Ramadan essentials (sehri and iftar food that we can't live without!). That night when we broke fast, I must admit, it wasn't too bad but then again, we were starting Ramadan in the weekend! The main adjustment was breaking fast and then soon afterwards, feeding Ayla. Our little darling's schedule is our schedule!

Sunday, August 23 was the classic lazy Ramadan weekend day. We stayed at home hanging out with Chachas Adnan and Fawad, who was visiting from New York. Fu was excited to see how much Ayla had grown since the last time he had seen her since her first Pittsburgh trip. There was of course, lots of cuddling and picture-taking. Since we were all tired from fasting, Ayla was the only one keeping our energy up. I would say the highlight was witnessing Adnan and Fawad see Ayla in her high chair eating eating her rice cereal. And, she rewarded their excitement by eating more cereal than ever. Oh, and they were so amused to see Ayla play in her activity center. This self-sustaining toy amuses everyone :) The rest of the time until iftar we just kind of chill as reality of Ramadan tiredness dawned on us! Unfortunately, the Chachas couldn't stay for iftar because Adnan had to drop off Fawad to the bus station to take his bus to New York. After iftar, we made a critical decision after deliberating over the past 2 weeks. We decided to pick Ayla's daycare specialist! I said Bismillah and called her hoping to Allah that we were picking the right person. And the day care provider for her part, was so happy that we had chosen her admitting that secretly, since she had met Ayla, she wanted us to pick her. She even held off on her other interviews hoping to hear from us first :)

Talk to you again soon, Saadia

August 16 - Interviewing day care specialists and more :)

Monday, August 10, now that we were back from Pittsburgh, it was time to get down to business - daycare, house and work matters, other tasks etc. :) As much as I did not want to think about daycare for my princess when I return to work on December 1, this week, I started looking into this matter so that I could find the best provider for her.

Today, Zaid worked from home too because after the 7 hour drive yesterday from Pittsburgh, he was exhausted. In my last post, I mentioned that we bought our little jujubee some toys. Well, one of those toys is an activity center that Ayla can stand in the middle of and spin around to play with a variety of toys. Today, Zaid and I assembled the activity center and we put Ayla in it right away. She's a little younger than the starting age of 4 months so we put a little blanket around her waist so that she does not tilt one way or the other although she still manages to! Also, her feet did not touch the bottom of the activity center and often, she leans one way or another depending on how she is sitting. She is very amused by the bright colored toys but can't reach most of them. There is also a toy on the center which makes different sounds depending on how many times you press them. It's meant to teach her about animals. I press it for her multiple times and she smiles. She has the most beautiful smile and this week, she starts developing a cute, little laugh :)

This week, her drooling has also increased. And, so has her need to put things in her mouth

because of her teething. From now on, both of these actions keep increasing.

Before I went on maternity leave, Zaid and I looked into various daycare options before we tentatively settled on one which provides in-home child care services. Today, I called the day care center and obtained a list of providers who live in our area. I began calling those individual in-home providers and started setting up appointments.

On Tuesday, August 11, Ayla and I continued to enjoy life at home. She loved playing in her activity center again today. Another big step Ayla and I took today is....reading!! I starte

d taking her to the nursery beginning today and reading a book or two to her every day. She is sooo cute because sometimes, she is calm and attentive while reading the book and sometimes, she tries to grab the book and put her in her mouth. She's also attracted to bright colors. Ayla's book collection includes many cute books with Dadoo and Poppy being big contributors. Dadoo and Poppy's books are so freakin' cute - every topic from farm animals (touch and feel textures!) to books about mommy and daddy kisses. Zaid and I read that early reading not only makes the baby familiar with the cadence of the parents' voices but assists with brain development. I also started organizing our googleberry's nursery today for that one day (tear running down my face :) ) when she has to move to the nursery. Right now, she's good to stay in the bassinet in our room because the it holds a baby up to 15 lbs. I don't know her exact weight right now but I think she's around 11 or 11.5 lbs. She goes to the doctor next week. In case I haven't mentioned it yet, her bassinet is actually a Graco Jungle Safari Pack N' Play. It contains a bassinet on the top and also becomes a play pen. So, a very useful baby registry item!

On Wednesday, August 12, we made the first of our highly-anticipated day care specialists visits. We visited with this wonderful Afghani woman. She was great and seemed to have the magic touch with Ayla. The only problem is distance so, the search continues for the ideal caretaker...As any mom, I'm very meticulous about this process and I prepared a list of

questions to ask each provider. I'm still not sure what type of child care is ideal - nanny, in-home provider, day care center etc - but Zaid and I are discussing all the options.

Thursday, August 13, sees us visit another provider, a nice Filipino woman who lives very close-by. Although she is very nice and lives close by, Zaid and I remain more interested in getting a provider who is Muslim so that Ayla can also learn about her culture and maybe, her language. One thing I noticed though after this visit...these providers love Ayla!! They rush to hold her and, Ayla also seems to be at ease. However, these visits make me think of the sad time when I have to return to work and leave my baby in some else's care :( And, the thought that Ayla would become used to being taken care of by someone else also makes me sad. When she sees me, she lights up and that brightens my day - I don't know if I want to let go of this mutual feeling and excitement!!

On another note, I am starting to get very relieved with Ayla's activity center. I mean, what a stress-reliever!! I come downstairs every morning and put her in the center. She seems so amused by it and, I get so much done. Of course, I have to help little bubble machine reach

most of the toys on the activity center, including the music tunes.

Friday, August 14 is Ayla's first Pakistan Independence Day! This morning I checked my Facebook page, noted all the Independence Day-related statuses, wrote my own, and came up with a cute idea based on one of Zaid's suggestions...I took pictures of Ayla with the little Pakistan flag that Zaid and I have. These pictures were so cute because Ayla actually held the flag. The only time I held the flag was when I was afraid that Ayla may poke herself or put the flag in her mouth. She was sooo cute because she did keep putting the flag in her mouth!! I don't think Pakistan's founders considered that in the future, babies may put the flag in their mouths :) What also struck me about this moment was that here was Ayla, a second-generation Pakistani princess paying homage to her heritage even though this little cutie hasn't even been to Pakistan yet. Inshallah, she will! I posted the pictures of Ayla holding the flag to Facebook and shared the pictures with our family - it was an instant hit!!

Later, we visited yet another daycare provider - a nice, Pakistani woman. She was very nice and loving but we still had more interviews to go. Selecting Ayla's daycare provider will be such a hard but important decision! After we visited with the potential provider, we stayed in the rest of the night. With our precious little angel, Friday nights are different now but much better because I wouldn't trade this for anything else in the world :)

Saturday, August 15 was a low-key, run-of-the-mill stay-at-home and get things done day. We did a few errands. Next weekend is the start of Ramadan so we needed to do a few tasks.

Sunday, August 16, Zaid and I visited another daycare provider. Another Pakistani lady - but we have a good feeling about this one! After we visited with her, we went to Ashburn to visit Auntie Rahila. Auntie had very important guests - Imran mamoo and family were visiting from Kuwait. It was so nice to see the family!! We last saw Zareen mumani and Maha and Zara in

Winter 2006 when we were all in Pakistan at the same time. Maha and Zara looked so cute and had grown taller mashallah since we last saw them. They were sooo excited to see Ayla. They held her and cuddled her and they, along with Nadia Puppo, took a lot of cute pictures! It was very nice to catch up with all of them. Zara is beginning undergrad at NYU this fall so the family came to help her get settled in. Ayla was having a great time -excited to meet more of her large and loving family!!

More later! Saadia