Kaniz & Abbas +2

As some of you know, I come from a family of five boys. Growing up, I always knew that my dad wanted a daughter, but I don't know if I ever really understood why. Now that I have two daughters of my own though, I completely understand. Every parent-child relationship is special, but (and I may be a little biased here), the father-daughter relationship is extra special. In my case, it helps that Syra and Samarah are nigh-perfect, not to mention super cute! :) Syra turned 5 weeks yesterday, and boy, was that a quick 5 weeks! Kaniz and I are already feeling like she's growing up too fast. I'm guessing that this particular parental feeling isn't go away anytime soon. She definitely isn't a newborn anymore, having already graduated to size 1 diapers, 0-3/3 month clothes and staying awake for hours at a time. Based on all the picture of her sleeping, I know you may not believe this, but Syra is one alert baby. Unfortunately, she's dealing with a rather bad case of bab...

Well folks, as of 6:10am EST this morning, we're official two weeks into being parents of two kids! So are either of us going crazy just yet? No, not really, unless you count buying a minivan last week. Our little Nissan Sentra just wasn't cutting it with two car seats, so we caved. I gave up on acting cool/hip once we had Samarah, so switching to a minivan isn't going to be a big deal. I'm not sure how or why Kaniz caved, but the bottom line is that we've now got seating for 8 (and no, we aren't planning on using any of the extra seats on a full-time basis!). Anyway, aside from our mobility challenges (which will end this Tuesday when we pick up the van), things are going quite well: Syra is a perfect, healthy baby; Samarah is a perfect, happy big sister; and Kaniz and I are getting enough sleep so that we aren't hallucinating during the day. We've got a pretty decent nighttime routine going, so both of us are able to get some sleep. I'm also back a...

Baby Syra is one busy gal! Well, not really.. she's mostly busy sleeping, eating and pooping, but with 8-12 feeds a day, followed by as many dirty diapers, 45 minute feeding sessions and 2-3 hours of sleep at a stretch for mommy and daddy, there seems to be a lot going on. All joking aside, Syra's first week went by well enough. Her weight was down a bit more than it should have been, so the doctor advised us to supplement with formula.. now after a couple of days of milk (and a bit of formula), her weight is back on track. The extra milk also means that Syra's been sleeping longer, although we still have to feed her every 3 hours, so not a lot of sleep for us (especially mommy). When Syra is awake though, she's a lot more alert (she has really pretty eyes). Big sister Samarah has been absolutely fantastic. She loves her baby sister! There haven't been too many signs of jealousy, but lots and lots of pokes, taps, holds, hugs and kisses. She pendulums between intense...

Needless to say, it's been an interesting 48 hours. I'll have to blog about some of the details later, but I wanted to post the photos from Days 1 and 2. So enjoy! Photos from Syra's Days 1 and 2 P.S. Just a reminder that if you want to follow along with our blog updates, the easiest way be to subscribe to the mailing list. That way, any new posts will get delivered to you rather than having to come back to this site.

Quick update: Looks like both mommy and baby are cleared to be discharged from the hospital this morning! This is great news because we were told we might have to stay at least till tomorrow. We really miss Samarah and couldn't imagine being away from her any longer, and we're really looking forward to see how she interacts with Syra at home. I have a lot more pictures to post, but that will have to wait until after we get settled at home. Thank you to everyone for their well wishes! Syra is lucky to have so many caring people in her life.

Hi everyone. Kaniz, Samarah and I are proud to introduce our dear princess Syra Zeynab Rizvi. Syra was born today at 6:10am, weighing in at 6 lbs, 1 oz. Needless to say, she is simply adorable. Not much time to write out the details now (Syra is taking a nap), but enjoy some of these early photos from the delivery room. Syra - Day 1 (part 1)

A quick status update for anyone keeping track.. We moved into the labour & delivery room around 4:30 in the afternoon and there's been quite a bit of activity since. The membranes are broken, epidural has been administered and the oxytocin is flowing freely. All of this should speed things up, but as much as we were hoping to have a January 15th baby, +2 might wait till after midnight. So things are progressing smoothly. As expected, Kaniz has done very well - she definitely deserves a treat after! The staff here at the hospital has been wonderful - one of the reasons we came back to this place even though there are other hospitals closer to home. Aside from all the drama in our room, there's been a lot of activity outside as well. I certainly don't recall the blood curdling screaming in the delivery ward from last time. Definitely a few moms that opted against the epidural. This will be the last post before +2 makes her way out. Photos to follow soon after.

As the title suggests, we're at the hospital, basically waiting for 'things' to start happening. Looks like +2 is pretty comfortable where she is now! Kaniz is having minor contractions, but it won't be until her next exam until 3pm that the docs will try something more potent. The hospital stay has been pretty uneventful. We're in the exact same room as last time when Samarah was born, and aside from some new staff, not much else has changed here. So far, the hardest thing has been being away from our +1. Anyway, since we're pretty much sitting idle here, I thought I'd finally catch up on the pictures. The set below includes pictures from our hospital stay.. the next post with pictures should be ones of +2, so stay tuned. Photos from January (Part 1)

Hi everyone, Just a quick update - we are now at the hospital. Kaniz is scheduled to be induced this afternoon, so I think we'll have a +2 sighting within the next 24 hours. Stay tuned!

As Abbas and I sat with friends awaiting the countdown to 2010, we discussed the relevance of this decade in our lives....we met, I moved to Toronto, we got married, we bought our first house, we had our first child....that`s a lot to stuff into 10 years! But what an amazing 10 years it`s been. We`ve also managed to travel to Asia, Europe and the Middle East - (hopefully this continues once +2 is well settled into life :-) We`ve met wonderful people and established strong friendships with those whom Samarah and +2 will grow with and be influenced by. I certainly had my hesitation about leaving a comfortable, well rooted life in San Francisco, and moving to Toronto, but I can honestly say, it was the best decision I`ve ever made. I`ve learned to love this city, make it my home, and even miss it when we're away! Here's to the next 10 years! ( Enjoy the last pictures from 2009 )

First off, Happy New Year to everyone out there. We hope that you all had a restful holiday season, and managed to spend some well-deserved time with your friends and families. May the new year bring each of you much joy, health, peace and happiness. Speaking of peace, I keep hearing from friends that have 2 or more kids about how much crazier our life is about to get, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. I'll probably be eating my words in a month, and this sense of preparedness I have is likely the calm before a storm. In either case, Kaniz and I are both pretty excited and anxious to have +2 make her world debut! As you'd expect, the preparations are well under way for the arrival of +2. As you can imagine, Kaniz has been busy making lists of things we need to do before the baby gets here, which is great, because it helps her feel more in control and I get a kick out of crossing off 'to-do' items from the list (the trick is to put even minor things on the to-do li...

Well, it was about time we changed the blog title.. and I decided to take the opportunity to change the look up a little. I'll be posting the rest of the pictures from 2009 as soon as the year is over.. stay tuned.

A busy month, as usual. The three big highlights from October were: My youngest brother Zain getting engaged (boy, does that make me feel old)... congrats Zain and Aliza. Moving on up to the toddler room at daycare. The transition has been great for Samarah and she's been able to pick up a lot of positive things from the older kids in the new room. Our fabulous road trip to New Hampshire (via Thousand Islands and Lake Placid). If I had to guess Samarah's favourite part of the trip, it would be a toss up between seeing the cats ("meow-meows" as she calls them) in Gananoque or meeting Melissa and Feargal's dog Happy in New Hampshire. Halloween: Samarah finally got to wear her cow costume! She was supposed to wear it last year but we were in California at the time and it was too hot for it. The costume was a bit tight, but Samarah looked adorable (of course). Here are some of the photos - enjoy!

In a single day, there are so many moments with Samarah that I wish I could remember forever. She's not even two yet and I find myself straining to remember details about her as a newborn or an infant. I suppose one of the reasons Kaniz and I decided to create this blog was so we would have a (more reliable) record of how much joy Samarah has brought into our life. Maybe one day, Samarah will read these words, look through the pictures, and get some sense of the immense love we have for her. So.. I thought that while I was taking my (rather short) trip down memory lane, I would write down 10 random things about my time with Samarah that I want to remember for the rest of my life: The way she wants to hold on to me (or Kaniz) when going to sleep. The way she keeps yelling 'Abbas' if she loses sight of me in a public place. (this is great for finding Kaniz and Samarah at crowded food courts - I just have to follow the yelling!) The look on Samarah's face when she fina...

It's hard to believe, but Kaniz is already in her third trimester with +2. This means that I've got to stretch out my flabby blogging muscles and get back into tip-top posting shape. I have to be as fair to +2 as possible, and at the very least, that means having as many blog postings and photos about her as I do about Samarah. So, expect to see posts on a regular basis from here on in.. and to get us started, here are some of the pictures from September. Enjoy! September, 2009

.. when you're busy chasing after a feisty toddler! Hi again everyone. Been a while since the last post, and since I finally got done sorting through the pictures in July and August, I figured it was about time for a post. So a lot has been going on in our life. The biggest news, of course, is the expected arrival of +2. The new news (although it isn't very new anymore) is that Samarah is having a baby sister! I'm not sure if we decided to find out the gender because we simply couldn't wait or because we wanted to know if we could re-use all of Samarah's stuff. Probably a bit of both. :) In any case, Kaniz and I are super excited about +2 - we think she will be a great little sister to Samarah.. and they'll never ever argue, fight or whine and always share and be helpful. Ok, so maybe a little wishful thinking on our part, but one can hope. Between the doctor's visits, busy work schedules, library visits, outings to the park, shopping trips, and a couple o...

Isn't she beautiful?!

Without further ado, a selection of our photos from Paris! (Again, remember if you want to watch the slideshow in HD, click on the link below to go directly to Vimeo.com) Paris, 2009 from Kaniz Sivjee on Vimeo .

Although we haven't started paying full fare for Samarah just yet (she turns 2 in March) and obviously +2 gets a free ride Skip the hotel, rent an apartment: You'll get more space (Paris hotel rooms are tiny), you'll (most likely) get a full kitchen and laundry facilities (lots of cost savings) and it'll probably be for the same price or cheaper. For our trip, we used VRBO.com to search and book our apartment. While most of the apartments are privately owned, they are usually managed by a property management company. While I'd like to think that sites like VRBO do some due diligence on the listings to make sure they're not scams, we found it reassuring to search other sites like Trip Advisor to see if other travelers had dealt with the same company. Here are a few things you might want to consider when getting an apartment: Location (of course) A/C (or at least some fans) if you are planning on visiting in the summer. Elevator vs stairs: Most of the Hausmann ...

So if the title of this post hasn't given it away as yet, Abbas, Samarah and I have some big news...we're having another baby! We're all very excited and looking forward to the big day but to be honest, time is just flying by these days and I find that being pregnant isn't always in the forefront of my mind - as it was with +1. Did I just say that?! We're trying to make sure we do everything for +2 as we did for Samarah, and that includes being as enthusiastic and prepared so I've got some catching up to do. Here's a pic of +2 for you to enjoy. Stay tuned; you'll undoubtedly see more.