Hanaa is almost 8 months old now. I’m in total shock. How did the past 8 months fly by so quickly? I feel like she’s rushing me and growing up way too fast. What’s the rush Hanaa? Slow down…Mommy’s getting old.

Some milestones:
- eating solids (mostly)
- crawling backwards
- crawling forwards!
- being able to stand by holding onto something
- sleeping in her crib for 1/2 the night

Yeah, I try not to talk about her sleep issues anymore. It just drives me nuts and there really is no point on dwelling on it. We’re just trying to take it a day (night?) at a time and seeing how she progresses.

Also, Hanaa had her first flight a couple of months back when we flew to Texas for a conference Shakir had to attend. We also took along my sister and my sister in law with us so that a) they could get a mini vacation and b) help us out with Hanaa cause God knows we needed extra hands!

Hanaa enjoying the in-flight entertainment.

Anyways, all is good so far – Alhumdulillah. It’s wedding season now and from here on we’re going to be uber busy with all that – FUN!

Toodles!

pEACe,
FuZZy

So ever since Hanaa reached her 3 month mark, I’ve been attempting to establish some sort of a sleep/nap schedule. I’ve been trying to follow a bedtime routine more or less, in order for her to be able to sleep through the night and really know that it is time for bed etc. Needless to say, it has not been going so well.

In terms of a bedtime routine, most literature (re: mommy forums?) suggest the 4 B’s: Bath, Book, Bottle, Bed. Let’s analyze the 4 B’s and see just how it applies to our routine, shall we?

Bath – I give Hanaa a bath in the afternoon, usually after her morning nap. Why you ask? Simply because I feel that the evening gets a little chilly for her. Ever since Hanaa was home from the hospital, I’ve given her a bath in the afternoon (with the rare exception when she REALLY needed to bathe and it was later afternoon/evening). I do however, try to give her a massage with her night time lotion in an attempt to relax her and get her comfy for bed.

FAIL.

Book – This one I’m going to blame on my husband. Hanaa is what you call a tech-savvy baby. She loves her gadgets, DSLR, remote controls, cell phone and above all, her iPad. That’s right – HER ipad. She loves that thing. She is thoroughly entertained by the lights, sounds and ability to interact with the screen. Hanaa has two favourite apps. One is a piano for babies and the other is a called Baby Fingers. Because she is so highly stimulated by this gadget of hers, any book, regardless of the pictures, colours, size, textures, does NOT seem to capture her attention. Once i crack a book open, she’ll lean forward eagerly thinking its her iPad. She’ll tap the pages for a few seconds, move her little hands across the images but alas, she is not rewarded with the joyous sound of giggles, jingles and whistles. Soon enough, in under a few minutes, Hanaa is fidgeting on my lap and bored. I hope she doesn’t have ADHD. I feel like a terrible mother. *sigh*

FAIL.

Bottle – So this implies that we should feed the baby. Makes sense. I’m EBF at the moment so what this means for us is that I have to swaddle Hanaa up and lay down with her and feed her in bed otherwise, we are left dealing with screaming and screaching. Yeah – that’s Hanaa. At least this is the one ‘B’ that is actually being followed through.

SUCCESS.

Bed – Good Lord. As of right now, Hanaa has a bassinet that she starts off the night in. We have it placed beside our bed in our room so that we can get to her as needed through the night. Unfortunately this hasn’t worked out all that great. She will start off in the bassinet ONLY if she is placed in their when she is asleep (ie. she cannot fall asleep in it). Then, in about an hour or so, she’ll be up, screaming, wanting out and lo and behold, she ends up in our bed. In a way this is easier for me since she loves to nurse while sleeping and I can just nurse her laying down but with that said, it is a bad habit that we’ve allowed her to depend on being nursed to sleep and she hasn’t really been able to learn to self-soothe. Woops. =)

FAIL.

There is also some mixed evidence out there about the CIO (Crying it out) method of sleep training with infants. Essentially you let the baby cry for a short period of time, then go in to calm them down, then leave, letting them cry for a progressivly longer period of time, then go in to calm them again…and so on until they are able to fall asleep on their own. Apparenlty it can take 2-3 nights or even longer for some babies to be able to fall asleep on their own. I decided to try this out when Hanaa was 3 months old and was eager to have her sleep through the night in her crib (what was I smoking?!). In any case, initially I went in after 2 minutes of her crying, soothed her, left the room. Then after 4 minutes, then 6, then 8….. I think it took about 20 minutes or so before Hanaa fell asleep in her crib without further cries. I was so excited! I thought I did the impossible. That night Hanaa woke up 2 times – once to nurse and the second time just to be soothed back to sleep. The third time she woke up crying, I was so exhausted, I just picked her out of her crib and brought her back to our bed. =( The saddest thing about this was that she woke the next morning with a runny nose and cough. She must have felt too cold in her own room =( I felt terrible and haven’t tried that method since.

FAIL.

So all in all – Hanaa does well if she co-sleeps with us, which works for most days but she still struggles at times. It’s a LONG process I presume. I’m going to try to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. She just got her shots a yesterday so I don’t want to stress her out with sleep training again but maybe in a week or two (?).

We shall see, inshAllah.

Till then, I love her just the way she is. As long as she is happy and healthy – that’s all that matters. That’s such a Cliche thing to say but it’s true. *sigh*

Ok, she just woke up from her nap. Gotta go!

love,
FuZZy

On Sunday, October 24th, 2010 at 8:00am, we welcomed our first baby to the world – Hanaa Ara Hussein. Hanaa is a real joy and a beautiful addition to our family. Alhumdulillah.

Please remember our little family in your prayers.

- FuZZy

How goes it? Quite a while since I’ve posted on here (again!). I know I should stop starting each post with that lame opening line but anywho…

Let’s see, what is there to update you all on? Well, I finished pharmacy school so Alhumdulillah, I am now a practising pharmacist! I guess it’s not really news since it’s been almost a year since I’ve been licensed. Wow.

Another thing, Shakir and I got our own place. A little townhome. It’s still really close to my in-laws which is nice but it’s really nice to get our own space/privacy/rules to follow etc.

Lastly, we’re now expecting our first baby! We still have a few more months to go but we’re very excited and feel very very blessed to be in the situation we’re in now. Alhumdulillah!

We have it pretty easy right about now and I hope that we don’t forget these blessings even if we’re faced with trials in the coming future. May Allah (swt) give us the strenght to endure the tests and overcome them with grace and taqwa. Ameen.

All in all, not much else happeneing. Just been nesting for the past few weeks and working. I leave work in about 2 months so definitely looking forward to that!

Take care people and I’ll be in touch (maybe…).

pEACe,
Fuzzy

So today was the big day. The inauguration of President Barack Hussein Obama. Since I was sick and wasn’t able to go into work, I was able to watch the oath and inauguration speech that President Obama gave.  It was truly a historic event and will be remembered by so many and cherished and treasured by many more.

I pray this change in the world’s greatest nation brings out positive change in our world. I pray that peace and justice blankets the earth and that we can live without fear once more. May Allah swt bless us and purify our intentions. May He (swt) make it easy for us and for our children and give us a safe and secure future in this world. Ameen.

Please keep President Obama safe as well… God knows we’re all scared of what could happen to him.

pEACe,

Fuzzy