Milestones - 5 Months

Our little baby is 5 months old! Okay, he's actually 5.4 months old, or 23.4 weeks, to be exact. Where did the time go? At his last pediatrician appointment on January 15, 2008, Zayd weighed 17.4 pounds and was 26" long. Khalid and I estimated that he was about 16.5 pounds, so we were a little surprised. He has officially doubled his birth weight...plus some. He keeps me laughing every day with his antics.

Here are some of his new tricks:

-Grabbing for and grasping objects within reach.
-Rolling from front to back and back to front.
-Scooting backwards.
-Sitting up unassisted for short periods of time.
-Attempting to put every object in his mouth.
-Screaming "dth dtha dtha dtha" at the top of his lungs.
-Laughing -like real deep hard belly laughs.
-Developing preferences for different toys.
-Smiling and flirting with anyone within a 10 mile radius.
-Looking at his fingers in utter amazement.
-Whining (I love my child, but soooo annoying).


Khalid and I swear every weekend that we're going to purchase baby gates the next weekend. Since we both witnessed our child do this strange scoot-roll thing off of his baby gym, stopping maybe 3 feet later, we think that next weekend is really going to be the big day.

Zayd still loves riding around in his Ergo Baby carrier. He sucks on the straps and watches the world in blissful contentment. He still thinks the "little boy" in the mirror that he sees on a daily basis is fresh to death. He loves to scream and blow rasberries. The kid is wild!

Since I posted pictures of Zayd in his highchair, I've received a lot of inquires on whether he was eating solids yet. As much as he seems to want to, I've decided to postpone his introduction until he reaches six-months. I know that is the California hippie in me, but my local La Leche League leader has been very supportive of my decision. For now, he just uses the highchair as another play area. As of now, he is still a milk-milk baby.

We've noticed that Zayd has substantially decreased his daytime feeding. He's too busy exploring the world to focus long enough for long sessions. This has created an sharp increase in nighttime feedings. This has not been a good thing. Last night I felt like the boy was attached to my breast all night. Although I can sleep a little while he nurses, it's not th same as real sleep. I find myself yawning a lot in the morning.

Zayd is Feeling Better!!

Alhamdullilah, Zayd seems to be feeling much better. He still has a hoarse voice, which makes him sound like a baby reptile, and some "snot issues," as we like to put it, but he seems to be back to his regular happy self.

I think we were both beginning to feel like caged animals. We'd been in the house since late Sunday nigh and the walls were starting to close in. The days and nights felt the same for me and nothing seemed to amuse Zayd anymore. Our life seemed like a continuous cycle of sickness.

When Tariq & Muslimah (aka The Newlywed Lovebirds) invited us over for a Sunday Obama Brunch, we were all more than happy to accept. There are few things more fun than going over to their place and watching them play with all their cool kitchen gadgets. I admit that I'm not really into politics, but I could happily pretend for a day out of the house.

Zayd decided to go kind of Neo-Soul, with his yellow Oaklandish tee shirt, his brown chill pants, and his favorite brown boots. Not everyone is a fan of his fuzzy brown Roobez boots, but since he's my kid and I like them, he likes them too.

The brunch was lovely - great people, thought-provoking political conversation, adorable kids, a spirit of change in the air. Uncle Ismael and Nicole even came by to join in on the fun. Did I mention the food? The Belgian waffles were so fluffy that that it tasted like eating a deliciously hot, brown, crispy, yet soft, cloud. We might invite ourselves over their place a little more often for more waffles.

Zayd is so vocal now. He seemed like he was on a mission to over-talk everyone in the room. I guess the kid has caught the Obama bug, because he just had a lot to say! I was also impressed on how much the child can move. He rolled and scooted all over the place. I predict that we're going to be running after him very soon. It was good to see him feeling better.

Sleepless Nights

Poor little Zayd. He had another rocky night. He ended up just sleeping on my chest. I actually think he rolled off during the night, because when I woke up, he was sleeping beside me on the pillow.

I felt triumphant after the morning booger snot battle. I suctioned a considerable amount of goo out of his nose.He was so grateful that he immediately lay down and went to sleep. I think I'll do the same.

Zayd has a Cold

My poor baby has his first official cold. We flew down to Texas to see the family for MLK weekend, so we think that he likely caught the bug on the plane ride. He's trying to be a trooper, but you can tell that his inability to breath out of his nose is really hard on him. The last two nights have been awful. He'll sleep for an hour or so, and then wake up all upset and congested. We're using the humidifier, saline drops, increased nursing, and that baby snot sucker thing, which he hates like a mortal enemy. Please make du'a that my little baby feels better soon.

Home Sweet Home

Over time, Zayd and I both got back into the swing of things. We both really missed this person


Who came to stay with us for a few days and show off her belly



and teach Zayd how to properly play with his toys




We also watched this little person for two days, so her soon-to-be physician mommy could interview for her residency.



I thought maybe Zayd would be inspired to drink from a bottle again. His new thing is that he rejects all bottles and pacifiers... joy.



We had brunch with our favorite little lovebird newlyweds

I told Zayd that she's taken!



We got new toys









and learned to love some old ones




Best of all, more quality father & son time.

We're Back

Okay, I officially dropped the blogging ball, but I'm going to just get back in the saddle and start up again where I left off. Zayd and I are back in Maryland with Daddy, and it feels really good to be a family again. Several people have asked me how Zayd reacted to his father after being away from him for over a month. I was snazzy enough to have my camera ready for their reunion.



Hey Pops!



Where ya been?



Look how big I am.

The first few days home were a little rocky. Zayd didn't like to be left alone for any preiod of time. By day three, he was back into the swing of things. A few days after I got back, I left him with Khalid all day for a much needed hair appointment. By the time I got back, they were, once again, the best of friends.

I had a little mini-breakdown returning to the house and really noticing for the first time just how fast my baby is growing. I went through his dressers and cleared out a good 80% of all the clothes that he'd grown out of. I'll have to admit that I got really tear eyed looking at all his little newborn onsesies and infant gowns. I will never forget that special time when he first came home.

Zayd came home and decided that he no longer had interest in a lot of the toys and gadgets that he once loved. The mobile, which previously made him hoot and holler like he was at a Michal Jackson concert or something, was no longer of interest to him. He also tried to boycott the swing, but Khalid and I nipped that in the bud. We brought out the activity tray attachment for him, and he seemed to develop a new appreciation for the soothing rocking of the baby papasan. ... we don't play that.

Khalid was amazed how sturdy and active Zayd became in such a short period of time. I warned him that the boy was now prone to trying to leap out of your arms if he saw something that he thought was interesting. I laughed really hard while Khalid tried to lasso Zayd into watching a football game, when Zayd had other plans. Khalid remarked, "He's a hand-full now!". Now maybe he realizes why I was sleep, or close to it, when he'd call late at night.

This was the first time ever that I flew into DC and didn't get that happy excited feeling I used to get when I came back into town. I mean I missed Khalid, don't get me wrong, but I really, really, really enjoyed being home with my family. I feel as if my heart is divided between two coast. I hated taking Zayd away from the plethora of people that love him, but I know that our life is here. I also miss having all of the extra hands to help us with raising this child. I just came home and immediately began to feel isolated. Okay, true, it might be a partially self imposed isolation, but I had a little bit of the I -miss-my-family funk.

How could you not miss all of this love?