Happy Halloween!

One of my favorite things about the Fall is Halloween. Aydan seems to share the love for this crazy holiday with me. Being pregnant drained me of going out and getting a pumpkin so I made a point in taking Aydan to Pumpkinville. It's our city's annual Halloween festival. Our family in crime the Khan's joined us. The kids had a blast!

Ameenah and Aydan enjoying the ball pit at the end of the bouncy castle.

Sophia and Ameenah sitting on a huge pumpkin!
While Aydan golfed to his heart's content!

Aydan loved the petting zoo!

He also enjoyed playing in the hay!

On Halloween night, Sulman took him trick or treating. Putting a costume on Aydan was harder than I thought. He refused to try anything on when we were out shopping so I had to put together a costume from some things he already had at home. And on Halloween night, we had Aydan the knight ready to go out and get some candy!

I will add pics soon, I just realized they haven't been uploaded from our old camera.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of Aydan clearly loving the petting zoo!

Nani

I fell off the blogging radar again. This time it was because I was avoiding writing a post and have been avoiding it for a very long time. I think I'm ready now to really express how I feel and to share everything else that has been going on.

On October 7, 2009 my grandma unexpectedly passed away. Nani was a wonderful grandma and an even better great grandma. I was always so happy for Aydan that he knew his great grandma, he had the chance to know someone from another generation.

Nani would always tell me to teach Aydan Urdu so she would be able to talk to him too. I would tell her that he understands it but doesn't really speak it and she kept insisting I make sure he speaks it too. Aydan out of the blue has started speaking a little bit of Urdu and I know Nani would be so happy if she was here to see it. He may not be able to speak to her now but when he's older I'll always tell him that his Nani who loved him a lot wanted him to know how to speak Urdu.

Aydan really loved Nani and anytime we would be going to my parents house and I would tell him that everyone is going to be there, he would always ask me, "Nani coming too?"

A week before she passed, we were all at my Uncle's house -that was the last time most of us saw her healthy and happy. A few hours into the party, Aydan noticed Nani. I guess he missed her during his rounds of hello to everyone. When he saw her, he genuinely got so happy, he came running to me and was telling me "Nani, Nani!" I told him to go and say hello to her, and he ran over and gave her the biggest hug and kiss. That is one of my last memories of Nani and it may even be my favorite. I use that memory to block out seeing her sick on the hospital bed.

I just wish Nani hung in there to see another great grandchild but she didn't. I know she is happy and pain-free now and that's all that matters.

I miss you so much Nani and I'm sure Aydan does too!

Whose Tushie is that?

I just had to add this video of Aydan playing with his Abu. Please be advised there is some nudity involved:

Where did the summer go?

Wow -it's been a long time since I posted. This summer really took a toll on us. We had Aydan's Tay-abu (dad's older bro)and his family visit. Once they left Aydan's grandparents came from Saudi for a few weeks. Being busy with them -left no time for me to post.

This summer was great! Aydan has really evolved into a little person -he has so much personality that even after he goes to bed, we talk about him and how much he entertained us thoughout the day.

He really enjoyed Bomanville Zoo with his cousins Sophia and Ameenah. I think his fav part was the petting zoo. He was not afraid of any of the animals and was adament about having their attention. He even touched a snake!

Here's Aydan downtown with Elsa and Zaina:

He even went to Niagara Falls and loved it! He often asks to go back so he can see 'So much pani!'

But Aydan being the typical boy that he is was more amused with some rocks and stones at our picnic spot. He sat there and played for a very long time.

Overall it was a great summer! There are lots of pictures that I will upload later and I plan to update the blog more often before baby arrives!

I want money!

I was driving to work one morning this past week and dropping Aydan to daycare is usually the first stop. On some Friday's I stop at the ATM to withdraw cash to pay the daycare.
Well while driving to work, Aydan stop singing along to the music to say,
"Mama, I want money!"
I chuckle and say, "Welcome to the club Aydan. I want money too!"
"No Mama, Danni wants money!"
"Not today Aydan, it's not Friday! We go to get money on Fridays."
"I want money Mama. Danni money, no Noreen money!"

I just had to laugh. What does my two year old want to do with money?

Happy Father's Day!

Aydan spoiled his dad on Father's Day. It started with breakfast in bed! Sulman couldn't be happier until Aydan ate all his pineapple!
And then we suprised Sulman with this! Aydan loves it and watches it everyday -about a hundred times!

Happy Fathers Day Sulman !

And the winner is:

Here's one of his b-day gifts from his cousins Elsa and Zaina. I love watching him play with this because he gets soo excited!

Aydan is two!

Aydan turned two on June 9, 2009 and has already started acting more grown up. Since his birthday fell on a weekday, Sulman and I decided to give him a 'Birthday Week' where he would have a treat everyday and then a birthday party on the weekend with his cousins.




Aydan knew it was his birthday and would smile from ear to ear anytime we wished him a Happy Birthday!

On Saturday we took him to the harborfront in downtown Toronto to look at the boats. During the drive down I realized he may not even know what a boat was. When I asked him what a boat was he replied with, 'Nope!' but when he saw one he couldn't be happier. He checked out boats, he fed the birds and ran around having a good time.

One of the suprising things was that he actually listened and sat in his stroller. He is usually running around like a mad man not wanting to go near it but he co-operated so much with us that day. Maybe he's getting more mature and wiser -nah he's still a kid!



We found a park nearby with a playground so Aydan enjoyed playing there as well. Anyone who knows Aydan knows that he is strict with his bedtime, however he could have cared less that it was getting late. He was having such a great time he didn't even eat on schedule.

Speaking of eating, Aydan also had his first taste of street meat!

Nothing like a Toronto veggie hot dog on a warm summer's day!
Here are some pics of him playing and looking at the birds!

The following day, when I asked him what he wanted to do he said CHUCK E CHEESE! And away we went! Here he is riding a bike with his dad!

Aydan loves air hockey and whenever we go to the mall or McDonalds he always wants to play. Usually the table is too high so he ends up sitting on the table to play. At Chuck E Cheese they were just his size.

Aydan is a huge fan of any sort of balls. So naturally he took a liking to this game. This token lasted forever since he couldn't actually get the balls into the holes.

During the week he had tons of suprises. Chocolate, candies and little treats. He recieved a Thomas train track from his parents and a party at his daycare! But the real treat was his party at home with his cousins.

Aydan loved being the centre of attention!

But I think he enjoyed his green Brobee cupcakes more!

No I'm wrong, he loved his bike that his khala got for him most of all!
And here he is the morning after, still smiling :)

Happy Birthday Aydan!

The next Atif Aslam?

Ever since Aydan was born he's had a knack for good music. He especially loves Atif Aslam and the song Yakeen. As a baby it would soothe him in the car and I often sang it to him at bedtime.
Well he's started singing along, he's a line ahead usually but it's the only song he sings (other than Happy Birthday).

The perfect long weekend!

Whoa! Was this past weekend ever full of adventure, action and lots of hugs and kisses!

Aydan's cousins came to visit him all the way from Saudi Arabia. I think as soon as he saw them on Saturday night he remembered them instantly, having just met them a few months ago in Pakistan.

Aydan and Elsa really hit it off. They loved chasing eachother, playing basketball and just playing. Aydan became somewhat addicted to her company. He didn't want her to leave his side even to go to the bathroom. He saw outside the bathroom door and cried, waiting for Elsa to come back out.

Towards the end of the weekend, I think she started getting annoyed by this little kid following her everywhere. She just wanted to sit down and watch some Noggin but Aydan preferred jumping on her back and trying to make her wrestle.

Zaina on the other hand is a different story. She seemed to be terrified of Aydan. She avoided him as much as she could. He really tried to get her to play with him and kept referring to her as 'Baby' but she just ignored him. The funny thing is, as soon as Aydan would go up for his nap or for the night, Zaina went nuts! She would start running around and playing with every single toy Aydan has, enjoying her time away from him. It was so cute!

Elsa and Zaina are here for a few more months and I can't wait to see how their friendship with Aydan grows. They have such a strong bond now, it can only get stronger.

This weekend was the perfect start to what looks like might be a perfect summer.

This video just gives you a glimpse of what our weekend was like:

Who's that Boy?

All winter long I had visions of Aydan having cute long hair. Maybe because I'm somewhat of a celeb stalker and it seems like all of the celeb baby boys have long hair. Considering Aydan is so much cuter than them all I decided to attempt to grow his hair.





All winter we avoided haircuts, only trimming the front a bit.

Well it's May now and we finally got the look we wanted. My crazy toddler has the hair of a surfer dude and I love it!



Sulman and I loved it but everyone else kept telling us to cut his hair because it was getting into his eyes. Not only was it getting into his eyes but he would wake up from naps sweating bullets. He would wake up looking like he just took a bath.



It's only going to get warmer so we gave in and got his hair cut!




We got up early yesterday morning and took him to his favorite hairdresser Sue at http://www.littletotshairshop.com/ and got it all chopped off! And guess what I love it!


Never mind that he looks like such a big boy now but he has his chubby cheeks again! I can finally see his ears now which makes cleaning them a breeze. He looks like a whole new person. The funniest thing is that everytime he looks in a mirror he looks at himself and grins!

The after shots aren't the greatest (it actually looks like a mug shot) but playing in the ball pit afterwards messed up his style. Here he is, the new and improved Aydan:

A note to Aydan: Please forgive me for dedicated a whole post on your hair!

Aydan's first loss.

Aydan's beloved 'Happy' passed away on Friday. Happy is Aunty Akila, mom to his day care provider. The daycare Aydan attends was started by Aunty Akila many many years ago. She raised hundreds of kids and left a good impression on all of them including Aydan. We were introduced to her by my nieces Sophia and Ameenah. They always spoke highly of Aunty Akila along with her whole family. So naturally when it was time to find a daycare for Aydan we thought immediately of Aunty Akila.
Happy suffered from a fall a few years ago which resulted in surgeries on her spine. Surgeries gone bad which made her very weak. Even though she lost a lot of weight, she still spent time with the kids. Her daughter Noreen eventually quit her job to take over the daycare but more importantly spend time and care for her mom.
Aydan napped with Happy. Noreen often told me when I picked him up that Aydan was happier upstairs with Happy. Every single day, while I buckled him into his car seat, he remembered Happy. "Bye Happy, bye" He says it every day.
Happy caught pneumonia and was too weak to fight it. Happy left all her kids on Friday May 1, 2009. She left them all knowing they would be okay with Noreen because she needed rest and peace. She is finally pain free.
While her own family is mourning her loss, how do I even begin to explain this to Aydan.
I've been telling him that Happy is gone to Allah now and when he goes to daycare she won't be upstairs. I keep telling him Noreen is going to be sad but to behave and listen to what she says. I don't even want to think about and imagine what he will do when he goes upstairs to look for Happy and turn to ask Noreen where she is?
Aydan has learned so much from Aunty Akila and I really hope he remembers her. It's amazing how someone so little can talk so much about someone. When he says something new, especially about Islam, and I ask him who told him that, he always says Happy.
Aydan is giving Noreen some time to grieve this week. I really hope she will be okay to take care of all her mom's kids in her mom's house without her mom. And I'm sure when he returns next week, while he's being buckled in he'll say, "Bye Happy,bye!"

A lot going on!

So Aydan's been busy the last few weeks. It started with hosting a sleepover for his two cousins Sophia and Ameenah. Aydan had a blast. He got to stay up late, pig out on pizza and popcorn but more importantly he got to wake up his cousins by jumping on them. Even to this day whenever he passes the spare room he puts his finger on his mouth and says,'Shhh baji sleeping!'

Here they are enjoying breakfast!

Aydan is also obsessed with trying on everyone's shoes but his own. He sneaks to the front closet and stomps his way around the house in his Abu's shoes.

More importantly he's started to help me around the house. He is obsessed with the vaccum or as he calls it the cuma! He will open the closet and attempt to take it out on his own. He practically begs me to vaccum -the only good thing about this is that at least my carpets are always clean!

Not a baby anymore...

Today started off as an ordinary day. Aydan and I got up, had some milk, watched Blue's Clues and got ready to start our day. Well it seems as though Aydan gained some height overnight because he was able to reach a little bit higher today.
As I went out to start the car, my little monkey decided to lock the door behind me. My heart sank a few inches when I heard the sound of the lock turning. My keys, my cell phone and my baby were left inside. After trying to convince him to open the door, I realized he just didn't understand.
While I was running around outside the house to check on him, my baby was busy playing ball, looking through the dvds and just hanging out. He managed to reach on top of the counter, for the first time and get my vitamins, shake them around and dance. He opened the kitchen drawer, took out some spoons and banged them together. He was having a great time and I was panicking.
I had two great neighbors who helped keep me calm until we got the door open. And when I got inside, Aydan looked up at me and said 'Mama, open door!' How could I be mad when he was so innocent?
Today I realized, Aydan really isn't a baby anymore. He was alone and he was okay but I wasn't. Today was just a taste of what is to come and honestly I"m alittle afraid.

It's been way too long!

I cannot believe I never updated this.

Aydan is no longer a baby but a little man now. He has the most amazing personality and the best wet kisses!
Today was the first time he said, "I love you!" and I have never heard anything sweeter!