Kaniz & Abbas +2

Pratiksha, Rahul and a few other cherished friends were kind enough to organize a baby shower for us this weekend. Thanks to everyone for your time, generous gifts, advice and well wishes! It's nice to know that we have so many wonderful friends around us (who will be just as understanding as they are wonderful when we turn into recluses with +1's arrival). A special thanks to Maria (from NYC) and Melissa (from Boston), both of whom made it to the event despite winter storms and flight cancellations. Thanks also to Allan who was kind enough to rent out the party room at his condo building. Lots to say about the baby shower, but it's a little late tonight.. so in the meantime, here are some pictures for you to enjoy:

Saturday was the second and last of our prenatal classes (Child Emergency Care & Baby Care still to come). We wrapped up with a group discussion on what both parents will go through emotionally come the first few weeks after delivery, what types of interventions can occur during Stage 2 of labour, breastfeeding basics and finally a hospital tour. I was really excited about the tour and, while WCH is a very old, somewhat decrepit hospital, I'm still happy we chose it as I've had nothing but great care from the doctors. The good news is the L&D ward is closing and moving to Sunnybrook by 2010, just in time for our +2 ;-) I'm sure there will be some fancy rooms and amenities. We made some progress on the nursery as well. Abbas put the change table/dresser together as well as a nightstand for me next to the glider. It all looks great and I can't wait for the crib to complete the room. Another date of significance...my last day of work...March 20th! I can'...

Phew - it's been another hectic week. I was out of town on Thursday and Friday , but that gave me a chance to catch up on some over due reading and finish The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer (by Dr. Harvey Karp). As the title suggests, the book is all about soothing fussy or colicky newborns and only covers the first three months. While the information and strategies in the book will be invaluable to new parents, I think the entire book could have easily been a two-page pamphlet - but then again, you can't really sell a pamphlet for $15 US (or $21 CDN). A lot of the book is Dr. Karp's explanation of why some babies are fussy and why his theory on soothing babies is better than others. Essentially, his view is that human babies are missing a 'fourth trimester' which they need to develop some vital skills (e.g. self-soothing) - so in order to help our babies, we need to provide conditions that closely mimi...

Tonight, Mommy and Daddy took me out to my first sporting event - a basketball game! Well, Mommy bought tickets for daddy and I just snuck in. It was a lot of fun... well, I couldn't really see much (my Mommy's tummy was in the way), but it sure was loud! We got to watch the Raptors (my fav team) beat the Nets - it wasn't even close! I thought that Vince Carter guy was supposed to be pretty good? And afterwards, I got to eat some yummy ice cream! I can't wait till I can actually get to see a game, not just listen to it.

Phew, what a busy weekend. Aside from the continual list making, to-do's doing, and general running around, Abbas and I had our first (real) prenatal class on Saturday. It was from 930am to 430pm...because we opted for 2 Saturdays instead of 6 weeknights. While we didn't learn a ton (Abbas and I knew a lot of the stuff we talked about), we still really enjoyed it. We learned (and got to practice) some breathing & massage techniques and shared some fears / thoughts with other to-be parents in the class. We also watched 2 videos that focused on Stage 1 labour and how both the moms and dads are feeling rather than Stage 2 labour which is really just the pushing. All in all, I thought it was well worth getting up early on a Saturday for and I am looking forward to the second class this Saturday. On Sunday we met up with our +1's partner in crime, the Huda +1. Our good friends Minaz and Muslim are due right around the same time as us and so it's been great to share exper...

Given that Kaniz is a Hillary supporter (I know I know, we can't all be perfect), it's a pretty good bet that +1 is going to be an independent thinker, if the above picture is any indication. I'm not even sure how +1 managed to get all those people to hold up those signs! :) +1 also found this neat video on YouTube with an Obama speech turned into a music video - enjoy!

Boy, it's been a busy week for Kaniz and I, so the +1 blog didn't get any love (much to the dismay of our regular readers, I'm sure).. but now that it's the weekend, we'll make sure everyone gets caught up. First of all, people started buying gifts for the +1 off of our Babies R Us (BrU) registry, and unlike other store registries where the gift recipient can choose to pick up purchased items from a local store, BrU's registry is a little retarded (as are most of their store staff, but that's another story). If you buy an item off a BrU registry online, you have to pay for shipping.. and if you buy an item in-store, you have to handle the delivery yourself. Anyway, I digress... Here's a picture of few of the items we've received so far (change pad not shown) - +1 thanks all the aunties (Namgyal, Maria, Mashad & Iris), uncles (Jeff, Ted, Hasnain & Eli) and grandma Rizvi! Second, Kaniz and I used our store credit at Moms To Be and bought an awe...

Today, +1 took the 'rents to go see grandma Rizvi and the West Side Crew in B-Town (Brampton, for those of you aren't in the know). We had lots of fun hanging out with the entire gang!