Sunday, December 27, 2009

3 Months!

Zayd's 3 months! Here are some pictures (taken one day late). This is going to be a picture post
because not much has changed since my last update.






Saturday, December 26, 2009

Santa Baby!

Here's me with my santa baby. I'll give you one guess where we are.


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Caffeine High

I'm not sure what spurred this behavior, but I think it is because I had one too many cups of coffee this day.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

All's Well That End's Well

I said I wouldn't blog about this, but sometimes, you gotta laugh to keep from crying, so here goes. Another weekend has come and gone with Zaydo. Friday, I had some grand plans, but the weather was awful and Zayd was not really cooperating. He wouldn't sleep for more than 30 or 40 minutes at a time the whole day, which I have learned equals cranky baby. That night we had dinner with my parents and he slept through the night (woohoo). Saturday, he took a looong morning nap and was acting like a different baby, bipolar, I know. We were talking all day about how great he was that day, smiling and talking just generally loving life. We took him to the mall and he even slept in the car, something he hasn't done since we brought him home from the hospital!
I was really excited about hitting Shelley's potluck and then meeting up with Nick, my parents and some friends at Superior Grill. I even put him in his special outfit (which was way too big, by the way). Timing is a very important factor with babies, and the timing of my evening events was less than optimal, to say the least. He was so sleepy but wouldn't fall asleep, wouldn't eat, and just simply fussed the whole time at Shelley's. Thankfully, Michelle took him while I ate a little bit, but it just went downhill fast. I ditched the cute, way to big outfit and tried all of my mommy tricks, including swinging him in his 10 pound carseat. Of course, I was all nervous and embarrassed even though everyone told me it was no big deal. Long story, short, we bailed...

Here's a group pic from the potluck. Zayd was in his seat next to the camera screaming... Luckily, we weren't shooting video

He (and I) cried in the car, and we were almost to the house feeling hopeless when my dad insisted that I join them at Superior Grill. I arrived there (still slightly frazzled), handed Zayd to my mom and within minutes he was asleep on her shoulder and I was laughing with my dad. I guess Zayd isn't the only one with bipolar tendencies...

Here he is with Zayna, his first friend. She's 3 weeks younger than him. Notice, he is sleeping at this point.
He went straight to bed at 10 and slept until 8 on Sunday morning! This picture is a little blurry, but this is what he does when I talk to him first thing in the morning. Now, how can you be mad at this face?
We had a great day Sunday and even went out to Firebirds Sunday night. Firebirds was where I ate the night I went into labor with him 12 weeks and 1 day ago. I'll always have a special place in my heart for that place!

Me and Zayd with our respective meals. This was the same thing I ordered the night I went into labor.
She's Good! What can I say?

I guess I can sum up the whole weekend by saying all's well that ends well...

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Boys Will Be Boys

I left Zayd with my parents and Faris for one night and this is what Dad and Faris had him doing. For the record, my mom had no part in this foolishness. She made that very clear.




If you can't tell, it is the raspberry filling of a Godiva chocolate bar. At least they picked the good stuff.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

3 Years and Counting

Three years ago today, I married the love of my life. Okay, before you stop reading and start gagging, I just want to take this time to officially recognize the commitment we have made to each other. If for no other reason, just for the fact that I hope Zayd will read this blog one day, and I want him to know how his parents met and fell in love.

Nick and I met and married in a non-traditional way. Well, I guess it depends on who you ask, but it was certainly not the way I expected to meet my husband. We met at a New Year's party that was followed by a night of dancing at a club in Nashville (Well, Zayd, I guess you were going to find out sooner or later...).

A group of us in dental school decided to go to Nashville to meet and spend New Year's with some of Ed's (one of my dental school classmates) college friends. Well, Nick was one of the several new people I had met that night. I can still remember shaking his hand and introducing myself thinking, "hey, I kinda like this one." Well, we danced together that night and talked a little, but it wasn't until the next weekend when he decided he needed to visit his old friend Ed in Birmingham (when he hadn't really ever done that before) that I realized maybe there was more to this meeting than I thought. Well, 6 weeks, one transfer and 200 miles later, he was living with Ed's parents in Birmingham. This would have freaked out even the most sure of people, but I was pretty cool about it. I think in my heart of hearts I knew he was the one. Anyway, he would come over and read while I studied, which usually turned into us having long conversations about life, and why the grades slipped a little that semester. But, he was always so kind and considerate. He never played games and was very honest about his feelings toward me. That was a very welcome change in my life. One thing that really stuck with me, and Shelley can attest to this because she was my roommate at the time. We would always leave our garbage at the front door and one of us would have to drive it out to the the dumpster to take it out. It was a real pain, and neither of us enjoyed doing it, but when Nick would come over we noticed that the garbage left when he did. I never asked him to do it, he never even mentioned it. He just did it, because he didn't want us to have to worry about it, and he's still doing it 5 years later. He even takes out my mom's trash every time we eat over there. I think it's the little things that say the most about a person.

We were engaged in July of that year (maybe I'll tell the proposal story on it's anniversary)

So, three years and a sweet baby later, I love him more than ever, and I'm so thankful everyday that I found my match, my soul mate.



 
 
*This post is way late, because I was looking for a photo from the night we met, but for completeness sake, here the post is anyway...

Bumbo

The Bumbo is intended to teach babies how to sit up on their own. So, Zayd and I had a little Bumbo training session. Here's how it went:

We started strong
Oh boy, we're slippin
Hang on buddy
Now, we've lost the battle

So, maybe he's still a little young for the bumbo. But, he hung in there pretty well.

The Evolution of Zayd

It's amazing how much Zayd has changed and yet some things have remained the same. We are definitely enjoying more quiet alert periods and he is babbling more than ever, but he still sometimes fusses for what seems like no reason (My theory is that he gets overtired because he still struggles to take good naps, but I won't go into that). Here are some more new things he is doing lately with pictures and video.

Watching TV on my lap or sitting in the boppy. Yes, I realize that he is not "watching" General Hospital with me, but he stares at the TV (I try not to let him see the steamy scenes, just in case).

Laying on his back in the crib and staring at his mobile, especially right after he wakes up. Now, I'll be the first to admit, I thought mobiles and stuffed animals were more for decoration than anything at this stage, but he does in fact like them. He particularly seems to like his Winnie the Pooh. (Excuse the hairdryer sound in the background of this video, he still likes to sleep with it playing)


Bouncing in the exersaucer. He really likes it more when you sit there with him and engage him. I know, he's getting spoiled.
Being held, swaddled, AND rocked... Shocker...

Tummy time. He has always liked being on his tummy, but now he really kicks his legs like he's ready to start crawling. That grunt is classic Zayd!

The bath. I think he loves the bath more than anything else. There is a downside to this discovery. He hates getting out of the bath almost as much as he loves being in there.

It wouldn't be Zayd if I didn't talk a little bit about the things he doesn't like: He no longer enjoys the bouncy seat (believe me this shocked no one more than me!). He STILL doesn't like the swing (sore subject), and the car is still very sketchy.

The final and favorite new thing Zayd is doing... Smiling! It makes my heart melt every time!


Monday, December 14, 2009

Happy Holidays, Bloggers!

Happy Holidays! So I guess having a baby has prompted me to join the grown-up world and send bonafide holiday cards, also doubling as birth announcements. Those of you that know me, know that this is kindof a big step. Anyway, enjoy the digital version, bloggers.


Credit for these goes to the wonderful Heather Swanner, our photographer.

Honest Scrap

I've never really been a "Dear Diary" kind of girl, but I have found blogging to be a great way to document my baby's milestones while also allowing me to express my feelings about it all. When I told my older brother, Tarek about the blog, he said "oh, yeah isn't that where people just like write stuff about their lives for other people to read?" Well, yeah I guess it is.

Anyway, Mary Louis Quinn, who's baby is a female version of my baby 2 months from now, gave me this blog award. The Honest Scrap, it stipulates that, among other things, I have to write 10 honest things. So here goes:


1. I loved being pregnant. It gave us all the excitement and anticipation (with some worry, admittedly) but without changing our day-to-day lives so much. As happy as I am that he is here and healthy, some days I truly miss being pregnant.

2. I have a love/hate relationship with breastfeeding (for those of you who are not mothers or think this is TMI, please skip to number 3). I love it because it is a bonding time for Zayd and me, and (most of the time) it is his happiest and most content time of the day. The first few weeks nearly killed me. Not only did he need to eat nearly all the time and for up to an hour at a time, but he literally drained me of fluids, nutrients, and energy on top of the sleep-deprivation from the aforementioned need to eat constantly. I made it through that period just to go through milk let-down issues that made him a fussy eater, when I started pumping like mad, I felt like I was bonding more with the Medela Pump In-Style than Zayd! Thankfully, now we have reached a nice balance of nursing when I'm with him and bottles of breastmilk when I'm away. Although, getting there was not an easy process.

3. I, similarly to ML, resented (and still do to an extent) those mothers with babies that "sleep all the time and never cry." I partly think this is a hoax, but I won't get into that.

4. I am so thankful that Zayd is here and healthy. Even with all my complaining, I would not hesitate to give up my sleep, or anything else for that matter, for the rest of my life if it meant he would remain healthy.

5. I worry. I worry that he's going to stop breathing or that he's in pain. I worry that if I let him cry, he will feel abandoned or not trust me.

6. I sometimes treat Zayd like a baby doll, changing his outfits 2 or 3 times a day, even if he doesn't need it.

7. I secretly kind of wanted Zayd to be a girl.

8. Zayd is clearly calmer with my mom than he is with me sometimes, this is a relief and also angers me just a little bit.

9. Sometimes when Zayd is crying I just hold him and stare at him, hoping I can telepathically make him stop.

10. On a happy note, as difficult as it has all been, I can't wait to do it all over again (God-willing)!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Thanksgiving, Continued...

I'm realizing that my blog simply chronicles our life from weekend to weekend. That seems to be the only time anything notable happens. I think it is because the weekend is like catch up time for me and Zayd. It's our time to rebond after being apart for 4 days.

This weekend was particularly notable, because it was like a continuation of Thanksgiving. Not only was my sister here with her 2 kids, but also Nick's mom, sister, and brother-in-law were all in town. This was John and Talia's first visit with Zayd, and hopefully he didn't scare them away from ever wanting to have babies of their own. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but Zayd was a little touchy after his shots (that's the downside of being on top of the postings, I think I spoke a little too soon about his doctor visit).

So, Thursday night, Janet came over and cooked her famous salmon patties for us. It was delicious! Here she is with him.


Friday, we packed up and headed to the doctor in the morning, and John and Talia arrived that afternoon. We all stayed in and ate take-out. I put Zayd in his new little holiday PJ's. I have to say the stripes were pretty irresistible on him.




Saturday, the chaos began. My mom and sister decided to go shopping and leave Adam (my 6 month old nephew) with my dad. He was napping when they left and was supposed to sleep for at least 2 hours, but of course, he awoke right about the time my mom pulled into the Belk parking lot. So, Dad brought the little man downstairs to our condo. That child looked about as sleepy as Zayd used to look at 1 in the morning. So, we played with him and tried to keep him occupied. Then, we finally gave up and made him a bottle. John got some early practice with bottle feeding while watching the SEC Championship game and Talia finished it off and got him to go to sleep. Crisis averted.
Zayd was getting progressively more fussy Saturday night, so I decided to chill him out in the bathtub. I probably should have let him stay in there longer because he screamed from the minute we took him out until about an hour later when we finally got him calm enough to eat. Then he crashed. I blame it on the shots.

Here's the picture of little Adam. He couldn't cause trouble if he wanted to.

Here's Nick with Amira, my sister's almost 4 year-old daughter, and Zayd.

And here's Aunt Dima with Zayd

Sunday, we woke up in a haze and went to Silvertron cafe to have brunch before the fam had to head back up to Ohio. There were several families there with infant carriers, all presumably with babies in them. You wouldn't know it, because they weren't making a peep. Not ours. He made his presence known and as this picture documents, he had to be held at the table.

Here is Zayd in one of Aunt Talia's presents. It's an homage to Zayd's heritage (it says Ohio State, if you can't tell)

All in all, it was a great weekend. We had a great time visiting with everyone, and Aunt Talia and Uncle John got Zayd a great excersaucer, which I know he is going to love, and Nana Janet got Nicholas a baby carrier, so he can share the pleasure of babywearing. Here he is trying it out.



P.S. Zayd now has a morning routine that doesn't include screaming. He actually awakes calm and plays in the crib for 10-15 minutes. He stretches and yawns and makes all these cute faces. Here's a picture documenting this new phase which we adore!


Saturday, December 5, 2009

2 Month Visit 1 Week Late

It' s obviously a little difficult for me to coordinate Zayd's doctor's appointments with our schedules, but at almost 10 weeks old, we made it there on Friday. I was not looking forward to the dreaded 2 month 4 shot appointment. We've just gotten into a little rhythm with Zayd and the last thing I want to do is mess with that, but you gotta do what you gotta do. So we did.

We are lucky that Nick's mom, Janet is here this weekend, and she was brave enough to attend the appointment with me. Zayd did pretty well. We didn't have to wait as long this time, and he woke up so late this morning that the timing of his feeding worked out well with the appointment time. He weighs exactly 12 pounds and is 22 and 1/2 inches long (both ~50th percentile).

Zayd must have known the shots were coming because he had a major meltdown right before the nurse came in to give them to him. Anyway, she did them so fast, we didn't know what hit us, and I was able to feed him right after, with his short-term memory, he was totally over it after about 30 seconds of eating.

I'm really glad we didn't know about infant Tylenol before now. Zayd has been so sleepy since right after his appointment when we gave him his first dose, and he slept through the night Friday night! We may be on to something here... Is that wrong?

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm so thankful for my family, my parents and siblings, and of course my new family including my precious baby, Zayd. This weekend has been so meaningful to me. I have gotten so much quality time with my hubby and my baby! I am truly blessed!

We decided we probably should join the ranks of adulthood and make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our family. Nick did most of the prep work and the cooking for that matter, and it was a huge success. It was too bad we couldn't share the goods with Zaydo, but he had his own Thanksgiving dinner ;). We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and visiting with friends with a few trips to the Lakeshore trail in between. Here are the highlights for those who are interested.

Wednesday, I spent the morning bonding with Zayd, Nick came home early from work, and his aunt, uncle, and cousins stopped by on their way to the beach. Just as a reminder, Zayd slept through the night that night!


Thursday, we got up and went for a walk. The weather was perfect and Zayd loved it! Then Nick spent the rest of the afternoon preparing our dinner and I hung out with Zayd. I helped out too, a little. We had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner with Faris and watched Funny People. We had to pause it about 30 times to work with Zayd, but then he finally went to bed. He woke up once that night, which kind of burst our bubble.

The Spread
Nick Carving the TurkeyEnjoying the Meal
The "Kids Table"

Friday, we braved the mall. It was chaos. The only thing we managed to do was get coffee from Starbucks and walk around a little bit. Zayd was in his favorite place, of course, and he got a lot of attention for it. People were staring and pointing. We heard one lady say to another, "it's a baby! I didn't know what it was at first either." Really?! What else would it be, a baby sized tumor? Anyway, that afternoon we all watched the Iron Bowl and ate leftovers.
That night, Ed and Forrest came by with a delicious dinner. Ed and Nick played Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, while Forrest and I chatted. It was awesome to hang with them! Zayd was slightly on the fussier side however and not the most pleasant to be around. Perhaps it was because he wanted some of Forrest's famous white chicken chili (can't blame him).

iPhone Pic at The Gap

Saturday, we hung out at home, again, then went over to Julie and Lance's house. We'd all had enough turkey by this point, so we ordered pizza. It was delicious, and Zayd did great. Of course, I had to wear him in the sling and stand up almost the whole night, but it was worth it for him to be quiet and get a good nap. Incidentally, we got our 3rd full night's sleep that night, woohoo!

Sunday, we hung out at home. I was feeling sad that the weekend was almost over. We took Zayd on a walk and had dinner with Uncle Faris. I had sushi (granted, from Publix) for the first time in probably a year and Zayd slept from about 10 to 3:30 then woke up at 7:20. It was really hard to leave him this morning, but off to work we went. He'll understand one day.

The whole weekend was wonderful. Nick and I got some much needed rest. We ate some great food, saw our best friends, and even made time to play some Wii! In short, I think we will remember our first Thanksgiving as a family for years to come.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Zayd 2 Months!

I can't believe it, Zayd's 2 months old! We had 2 full night's sleep in a row, now we're back to getting up at 1 a.m. But, I'm an optimist, so I'm taking it as a preview for things to come. I mean, no baby just sleeps through the night 2 times and then never again, right?

So, the real question: Zayd, what are you up to now that you're 2 months old?

1. You love the bouncy seat, most of the time. Somehow, last night when our friends, Ed and Forrest were here, you wouldn't have anything to do with it. Shocker.

2. You hate the swing. Not only does it NOT calm you down, but I'm pretty sure it pisses you off. Sorry for the language, Zaydo, but there's not other way to say it.

3. You love the bath. It chills you out instantly, but it's a lot of work, and risky because you sometimes get cold and pee everywhere. That was a real problem when I was bathing you in the kitchen sink...

4. You don't really love the car. We are getting much better with that, and I can't blame you, facing the back makes me a little car sick too.

5. You LOVE the sound of the hairdryer. It hypnotizes you. I wish I had that power.
We used to run it on cold all night to get you to stay asleep. I know, that's a little crazy. But don't worry, because being tech savvy as we are, we figured out how to record it and play it from an ipod dock, much safer. But it's so loud, I'm pretty sure all of our neighbors can hear it too.

6. You live for the sling. It's our go to, on walks, at other people's houses, the mall, even at our own house. If you ever lost interest in that, I'd truly have nothing left.

You wear size 1 diapers, you're still getting breastmilk exclusively, you sleep (at the most) 12 hours a day, and you've still never left Birmingham, but I think when you do, you're gonna love it!

Also, you're beginning to coo and make noises other than screaming bloody murder, grunting, and screaming bloody murder. That was really all there was before this point. You smile some, but I think you do it more when we aren't looking. We'll catch you one of these days, and when we do, we're gonna photograph the heck out of it!