Kaniz & Abbas +2

It looks like I'm a week or so behind in the pictures.. and even though Kaniz is the one that is supposed to be suffering from less than optimum memory, I can't seem to recall all the things we did during days 51-57.. good thing we've got lots of pictures as reminders! One notable thing during this time was our family trip to College St. (our old neighbourhood) for some dinner. Samarah, as expected, handled the outing exceptionally well. Aside from a feeding, she slept through most of it. Having seen plenty of toddlers have meltdowns at restaurants, I think Kaniz and I need to take advantage of this low-maintenance time as much as possible. Aside from that, we went out a bunch of times to visit with friends and family.. and we had a few guests drop by. Thanks to everyone for coming by, and bringing such wonderful gifts. Aside from diapers, we haven't really had to buy anything for Samarah! Here are the pictures - enjoy!

As usual, the last week just flew by. As I write this (12:11am), Samarah will be turning exactly 8 weeks old in 5 hours (adjusting for daylight savings). I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I can't believe that time is flying by so fast! It may sound a little silly, but I really miss Samarah as a tiny 4.5 lb baby whose crying sounded just like the squeak of a mouse or a tea kettle about to start boiling. Despite the 'nostalgia', it is incredibly rewarding and humbling to see her get bigger and learn new things every day. This week's installment of photos are, in my opinion, pretty interesting.. we've got a few nice shots of Samarah's bathtime routine, which generally consists of bathing in a plastic bowl in the bathroom sink followed by a gentle massage with some lotion.. and since her head was shaved, we've also been putting some baby oil gel on her head. For Mother's Day, I have to admit that I wasn't able to think of anythi...

As I mentioned in the previous post, we shaved Samarah's head last weekend, in observance of Islamic custom.. Although Samarah looks super cute with her Kojak/Sinead O'Conner look, I still miss the hair a little. It'll grow back soon enough (it's already started!)... Enjoy the pictures!

Another busy week for Kaniz & Abbas + Samarah. A few highlights: We bought a crib mobile! I'm not sure why it took us this long, but we finally got our act together.. Samarah isn't sleeping in her crib full-time yet, but she takes her naps there and she really seems to like the mobile. Our friends Jamie & Kim came over with their son Sebastian for a weeknight dinner.. in the midst of all the excitement before Samarah's arrival, I forgot to write about how Kim totally helped us out by installing our car seat for us (so, belated thanks Kim!). It was fun to see Sebastian try to cover his head with rice.. can't wait till Samarah starts playing with her food! (or starts eating food, for that matter). Janelle, Scott & Karen visited us on Saturday. Karen really like Samarah (almost as much as she liked ghantia - a salty, deep fried snack made from chickpea flour). Saturday evening, we got together with Kaniz's parents and my brother Hussain, my sister-in-law Ba...

Samarah turns 6 weeks today.. so I thought I'd share a list of six things we (or I) couldn't live without as new parents: My Brest Friend nursing pillow - we looked at the Boppy and Jolly Jumper nursing pillows but opted against them. The Brest Friend pillow wraps around the body, ties securely, provides back support, and is made of much firmer material. Definitely makes feedings a lot easier. GR8X receiving blankets - I've mentioned these already, but I like them so much, they deserve a second mention. The problem with most receiving blankets is that they're a little too small for a proper swaddle. GR8X blankets are larger, they're soft and they're stretchy - and most importantly, they let you give your baby a tight swaddle.  Sleep positioner - I'm not sure what brand we have (it's a hand-me-down) but the thing is fantastic.. not only does it ensure that Samarah is sleeping on her back while in her bassinet, we've also used it to let visitors (wh...

Where does the time go? When Samarah first arrived, I figured I'd have plenty of time to keep the blog up to date, but between working full-time, running errands and hanging out with Samarah, the days just fly by! I've still managed to take pictures of our little treasure every day, and hopefully I'll be able to do a fun 'year in review' DVD for her first birthday! In any case, here are the latest pictures that I've managed to process.. this brings us up to April 26, so I'm not doing too bad, right?