Thursday, August 29, 2013

Knock knock

Sam is teaching Zayd how to tell jokes. During our evening family snuggle in mommy's room, we worked on our material. Here's his first joke.

Zayd: knock, knock
Me: Who's there?
Zayd: Rhinoceros
Me: Rhinoceros, who?
Zayd: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
Zayd: Rhinoceros... Get it?

Monday, August 26, 2013

I had to laugh

Here's what my "Your Baby This Week" email said.

One day you'll walk into your baby's room and find that little person standing up, grinning at you. Many 8-month-olds are strong enough to pull themselves onto their feet and stay there by holding on to you or a piece of furniture. A somewhat comical aspect of this wonderful development is that some babies know how to get up -- but not back down again. They will stand and stand as long as they can hold on, and finally either tumble down or cry to be "rescued."

And here's who I found. Look ma! No hands!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Can't Nobody Slow Me Down

That's right, she took three steps MANY MANY times this morning. Give her a week, she'll be ready for her first Zoo run.


Two Weeks of Zayd in Photos

"Same!" I'm sure Zayd is wise beyond his years but he has figured out that things can be the same. And he loves it. We spend a lot of time identifying the sameness of things.


For the next few photos you may notice that Zayd now smiles with his right eye shut. I have no idea why. I do, however, think it is awesome.

Zayd's cowboy outfit.



Im sad to report that though his vocabulary and intellect continue to explode, his size remains constant.





One morning, a Thursday mind you, when Mom never even dreams of working, Zayd announced that he had to go to work. "Me go work. Bye Mommy, by Baby. Kiss." He got out his coffee cup, and pulled on my purse. I felt a bit offended. I sort of wanted him to say, "Me no go work because me sacrifice money (and sanity!?) to stay home with kids part time while still contributing to the family and fostering independence in the children all the while growing in professional and personal ways." No luck. Me go work. As if that's all I ever do. Ha! I sort of wanted to through myself on the floor and scream, "No Daddy, no Joe-Joe, NO WOOOORRRRRRKKKKK!" just to see what would happen. 







Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Zahra is Eight Months Old (plus ten days)

You must have been thinking:

  • Isn't Zahra eight months old? (Yes.)
  • Did Tahira forget? (No.)
  • Did Tahira not take photos? (I took photos, on time.)
  • Does Tahira not realize she hasn't posted about the lolly. (Oh, I am aware.)
But the thing is that this sweet spunky little eight month old of mine still sleeps like an eight week old and I have just hit a wall where I can't deal with being so stinkin' tired. All of this means I am so busy trying to get some sleep that I haven't found the time to blog of her wonders. But now that Sam is putting her to sleep (for the third time tonight) and I *think* I won't have to go re-put-down Zayd even though Z2 woke him, I am going to squeeze this post in. 

What can Zahra do? And what is she willing to reveal...
  • Occasionally she can stand on her own. She always falls but we have had good 5 second stretches of standing.
  • She cruises all along the furniture.
  • She can easily take uninflated water balloons into her mouth and dash them about as you furiously try to snag it with your finger before she chokes to death.
  • She can (and does!) cry frantically (and possibly with joy) everytime I walk in the room from a 20 minute or longer departure. It is kind of sweet. And kind of insane. She tries to run to me everytime. She lifts up onto her knees, then one knee and one foot like she will stand and sprint at me, but then she just thrashes around.
  • She can clap! She almost has high five down. Somedays I think she has it and other days it turns out she is just using my outstretched hand to catapult herself to standing.
  • She still loves the Ants Go Marching but recently This Little Piggy and Pattycake are in the mix.
  • She still has only the two teeth but I blame her bad sleep on new teeth EVERYWEEK so those puppies should be here ANY DAY NOW. (Otherwise, why the heck doesn't she sleep!?!)
  • I will say that getting her to sleep has been easier than with Zayd as an eight month old and I have her day sleep down pretty well. But at night? She just has a lot of gas to pass and chooses to do it all at night. While crying about it. When is the last time that a burp made you cry? I just can't really sympathize at this point but I am trying.
  • She looks fat all of a sudden but still only weighs around 16 pounds according to our scale.
  • Mostly Zayd and Zahra get along very well. But he can hug with some *umph* (see below). After one hug gone bad, she will scream whenever he approaches. And we wait for another day to see some sibling love (see below).
(This is EERILY similar to Zayd's Eight Month post, by the way, and I looked at it AFTER writing!)










And here is a throwback from when Zayd was eight months old:


Friday, August 16, 2013

(Ad)Venturing out

Zayd, in ways similar to many two year olds, likes to do the same things over and over. We read the same three books for bedtime for a week straight. We go to either this playground, that playground, the zoo, or the museum. There is only one episode of Dinosaur Train he is willing to watch but he insists on watching it all day. (I don't let him.) But there are ways that aren't like all the other kids as well. Or at the very least, he seems to have occasionally overwhelming apprehension about all things new. As the swim instructor said , "He is just operating with a higher level of anxiety than the other kids." Wonder where he gets that!?!
Anyway, I've been focused lately on varying it up a bit. Zahra is older and we are ready for adventure. Plus, we have some whirlwind travel coming up and I need him to learn the art of adapting. Maybe I will settle for the art of coping...only time will tell.
Today I woke up early and traipsed off to work. Four hectic hours later, I was driving back home. The kids slept long enough for me to eat lunch alone and then Zahra and I had some time alone for marathon peekaboo and patty cake. I also had time to plan an adventure!
When the lentil woke, we did a quick lunch and headed out the door for San Antonio's Central Library! None of us had ever been and I thought it might be a fun new adventure. Zayd got to ride his first escalator and did an awesome job. (We won't quantify my anxiety about theoving staircase of death. I was only coping because he was the wearing laceless slip-ons.) We picked out three new books (a llama llama and two More Willems books that I am loving) and played with the cow in the kids section. We got to practice listening, not running, and patience. I will tell you that the children's area librarians definitely hate kids and might be former angry catholic school nuns but I'm happy to report that Zayd only got one "no running" warning from behind their perch/desk. (Though I'm not sure they've ever seen a two year old actually run.)
Next, we headed for the trolley stop just to take a spin around downtown and hopefully find some juice. After just a few minutes outside Zayd looked nearly faint! We ended up at the Alamo where we did manage to find not only juice but also ice cream! (Mom of the year!)
I sort of glossed over the details but I did transport two tinies and a stroller with a glider board attachment clear across downtown and made it entertaining to boot. It was a bit hard but it was fun. And new. And our very own adventure. (And I did consider how hard it would be with just one more tot in tow...)
Daddy had a work event tonight and I didn't have to share the littles with anyone. We ate Trader Joe's pizza on the couch while reading Mo Willems and just had a great evening cap to a lovely (if sweaty) afternoon.
These kids are amazing. I am already dreaming up our next scheme to ride the trolley.
From top left: 1. Zayd really likes to be near Zahra. So even though he has a nifty skateboard on the back of the stroller. He prefers to sit in her lap and she doesn't mind... 2. A very col art cow in the Central Library. Zayd loved it but screamed moo about a hundred times. 3. Checking out the ball statues. 4. Again, he's a lap sitter. 5. A modern day sword in the stone.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Zayd's Future Career as an...Escape Artist!

These photos are in order. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!





Nope, that didn't work. Back inside.


Try again.




Nope, need some leverage. Pull that arm back through.


What, mom? (He just realized I was standing there.)


Bye!


Monday, August 12, 2013

Tis the Season, for Eid!!

The kiddos and I went to  Houston to celebrate Eid with our family this week and what a wonderful holiday we had. It is one of my favorite Eids that I can remember.

We woke up (early) on Eid morning to do presents. I have decided that the 3 presents at Christmas rule extends to birthday and to Eid as well.

Zayd got a garbage truck with lights and a horn and a motorized arm that he is obsessed with. He also got a book about garbage that I very much dislike (Amazon book purchase). Lastly, he got a block puzzle with farm animals. He LOVES this toy too and I can just see his brain churning to work it out.


Zahra got a book about Global Babies that I am LOVING. She seems interested as well, which is great because that isn't always the case with her. (Though lately, I see her nerdy side emerging.) She also got a box of wooden montessori inspired toys that I am loving from an awesome Etsy store called The Baby Bungalow. (And calling two toys. There is a puzzle set with a sphere, egg, and little person and matching containers. There is a silk handkite. And lastly, something called a princess (hysterical) which is a wooden stacking toy. So far the rings are just chew toys for Zahra and my mom's dog Porsche. :)


Eventually, we got dressed. OMG! Zahra had her lengha on and Zayd had a traditional Arab dress but I will have to add that photo soon.

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Then we went to Uncle Moon's house to play with our new Eid toys in front of a lively audience. Nana Moon sat on the floor the whole time we were there doing puzzles and playing with trucks. My heart beams just thinking about it! What a lucky bunch of kids I have!













Zahra, generally speaking, dislikes men. My cousin Amaar was so sweet with her. He sat and "played drums" on the couch for ten minutes before she dared crack a smile at him. Then, she started playing back!




That pretty much wraps up our Eid holiday. Zayd and his cousins read Old Hat, New Hat as I repacked the toys and off we headed. Zayd was in bed by 9pm! A late night owl just like a real Desi! 

Here are a few photos from the weekend that I can't skip over!

Zayd's current "cheese" face:





Zahra playing with her Eid gifts.




We've really gotten this potty thing down. And there is no better way to potty than reading Old Hat, New Hat while wearing a "Too feathery!" hat.


Zayd is currently obsessed with "Happy Birthday". Here we are singing to him while he waits to blow out candles on his "Cake". 

His imagination is awesome lately. Every night after bath, he goes hunting for frogs in our bed and tells us about all of the crazy colors they have and whether they are sticky or slimy, stinky or sweet-smelling.