Zeeroteen and Oneteen

So Kareem already identifies the numbers from zero to ten, but after teaching him the numbers eleven to twenty, 10 becomes zeeroteen not to mention that 11 is oneteen!

Khalto Diana

Guess what Kareem is calling me these days.
Khaltoo Dianaaaaaaaaaa, khalto Dianaaaaaaaaaa
He heard his cousins calling me that, so he liked the idea :D
Kareem is almost two years old now.
Am I back to blogging? Well, I hope so but I can't promise. I miss this place so much.

Random Thoughts

I feel so sorry and guilty for neglecting this blog. But what can I do? I have no time AT ALL to update it :(. However, I posted something here that included some updates about Kareem.
Anyway...
-Kareem is sick, he's been sick since a while actually. Cold and fever every couple of weeks. I know it's normal, and it happens to all children, but I hate to see him weak and cranky. And I'm worried about his loss of appetite.
-He talks a lot :D (Of course we understand a word or two) and repeats anything he hears. He is sooo CUTE mashAllah. I can barely stop myself from biting him.
-He's been a very peaceful and ahbal baby, and I was worried about that cause he never shows any attempt to defend himself whenever another baby attacks him or does anything wrong to him. Until out of a sudden, there was a HUGE change, he not only knows how to defend himself now, but he's the one who starts the fight sometimes :S
As much as I wanted him to stop being ahbal and learn how to defend himself, I don't feel comfortable about the whole matter anymore because he kind of zawadha. He's saying (and doing) too much "diddi" these days, even to us, me and his father. And I don't know what to do about it! I've been told to totally ignore him and things will get better by themselves. But I just can't, I need something faster and more efficient.
Struggling with behavior and displine already, eh? :D

Midnight Blabbering

Kareem is thirteen months old now. I intended to post something on the blog on his first birthday, to talk much about him, about me, about us.. about the past year.. but I couldn't, I was internetless then..
Anyway, while I'm supposed to be deeply asleep now, I find myself blabbering here... I missed this place, I miss so many things in my life.. and most importantly I miss me, myself, my old self.. I fail to recognize who I am anymore.. I fail to have this connection with my inner self ..
Is it only me, or being a wife/mother is really a tough job?? I mean I see other mothers who don't seem to be having a hard time in doing their jobs, Allahoma la 7asad, and seem to be enjoying their lives, finding time to go out, to watch TV, to spend a couple of hours online, chatting or whatever.. in addition to many other things.. Why don't I have time to do that?? Is it something wrong with me or with organizing my life or what is the problem exactly? Why don't I have time to watch TV for example ? Nefsi a7darli shi movie aw shi mosalsal, lol, I only watch snippets. I miss reading, I got this new book, and believe it or not, I read the first page like ten times, you know why? because everytime I start reading ,something happens , el tabkha, el walad, ma ba3ref sho..., and I leave the book, come back later, start all over again, then leave it, start again, and so on... Eventually I gave up and threw it among the other books. And this small incident made me feel bad and made me feel pity for myself.
Not that I'm not enjoying being a mom and a wife, I mean Kareem and his father mean the world to me and I love them so much and can't imagine my life without them, but it's just one of those times when I feel that I'm totally exhausted and drained and need a break. I was counting on the vacation to have some rest, but the vacation is over, back to school tomorrow, and Mr. Rest hasn't arrived yet :D
We had to move to a new place and stuff, so we spent the vacation here in Dubai. Not going to Lebanon, and not seeing my mom, who misses Kareem terribly, is also something that makes me feel bad.
Anyway, Kareem is a walker now, he starts walking like a couple of weeks ago, and he's enjoying it :D runnig around the house all day long... Seeing him walking was so heartwarming, my little man is growing fast..
His babbling is really funny, I wish I can know what exactly he's trying to say :D But of course he says some recognizable words like: mama, baba, may (water), num(food), batta(duck), babeh(tabeh=ball), yayeh(jajeh=chicken), bye, ayo (alo), ban (laban=yogurt), ban can also stand for baloon :D, bayi (barney, his favorite show), and guess what? he calls his father Ammaaaaay :D He hears me calling him Ammar Ammar, so he now calls him Ammay instead of baba :D
OK, that made me feel better, I guess I must go get some sleep now. My sleep debt is growing bigger :S
Have a blessed Ramadan everyone! :)

The Sleepless Mom

So, finally Kareem fell asleep.. and as it is the case every night, I take advantage of being alone and free at last to have some "me" time before he wakes up again. By "me" time I definitely don't mean going shopping or going out with friends or relax or watch a movie or maybe read a book or something, as I used to do before, my me time these days is no more than check mail, send a message, make a phone call, or take a quick peek at my favorite websites, not to mention enjoying a cup of hot cocoa or ice-cream or any other guilty pleasure. I actually cherish this time when I am finally all alone, when I can do what I previously mentioned without having to be in a hurry...
*sigh*

So, instead of heading directly to bed to get some sleep after a hectic day, I find myself seduced by a state of silence and solitude to stay awake and enjoy it as it lasts.
Every morning, when I wake up so tired and sleepy, because Kareem wakes up like every hour or two at night, I blame myself for staying awake after my baby sleeps and decide that I'll never do it again and I better have some mercy and get myself some sleep cause in my case, every minute of sleep counts! And here I am, can't overcome the temptation of having some time for myself, and can't fall asleep despite the severe sleep deprivation I am suffering from. I don't remember when was the last time I had a good night's sleep. I've been sleep deprived since I was pregnant, so it's been more than a year now.... Sometimes, I feel lucky that I still remember my own name, LOL!! Seriously, I'm losing it! Can't function or focus, can't concentrate on anything. And guess what?? I'm looking for a job! Isn't that funny! :D

I'll talk about the job thingie later, and why I am looking for a job, but now, what was I talking about?? Oh yes, the sleeplessness, I need to find a solution sooo badly. Remember when I let Kareem cry himself to sleep? I felt so guilty afterwards and decided never to do it again no matter what, and completely abandoned the whole idea of letting my baby cry it out. So I searched and searched and read so many articles about this problem until I came across this book, The No Cry Sleep Solution, read it and just started following the instructions. Now I have my fingers crossed hoping that this plan will work and I finally get some sleep and start functioning like a normal human being again, lol .

Our First Anniversary

Exactly a year ago today, we got married. I don't believe it's been a year! As if it was yesterday, despite the many events and changes that took place during this year.
Leaving Lebanon, celebrating our wedding in Jordan, moving to Turkey, then back to Lebanon, then moving to Dubai, and now back to Lebanon... getting pregnant.. and the most important thing my angel's birth...
Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I became a wife, and a mother!
Ammar and Kareem, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm blessed to have you in my life.

Happy Anniversary my love, I love you :)

Thank you Foof!

Wafaa' made us this beautiful card on the occasion of Kareem's arrival! We decided to post it in our blog.
That was so sweet of you Foof. We love you. xoxo

Going Out for the First Time

I've been told that I went out for the first time last week. I'm saying "I've been told" cuz I really had no idea that I did! Since I need a passport, we went to take passport photos. Unfortunately, I fell asleep before going out and remained so all the time. They say that I opened my eyes after various attempts to wake me up and the photographer took advantage of the moment and photographed me before I closed them and fell asleep again! Then they went to a friend's place and stayed for a while and I remained peacefully asleep during the visit until we went back home.

So, I missed my first meshwar! This is so unfair mommy! :@
Anyway, I heard that I'll be going out next week too (I'll be one month old) , to visit my doctor this time. I hope I don't miss that too!!

Pee Pee Time!

A couple of days ago I peed on my mom while being changed :D
I did the same to grandma once but I kept the big surprise to mom. She felt a warm liquid pouring on her clothes from nowhere before she discovered that this liquid was nothing but my pee :D
She was shocked at first, OHHHH NOOOOO, but then she burst out laughing. You naughty little thing, shame on you!
Sorry mama, I tried to hold it in but couldn't :S :D

Hello World!

Hi everyone! This is Kareem blogging :D
I arrived to this world on Saturday, July 12, 2008, at about 11 a.m. I was supposed to arrive two weeks later but since I heard that mom was in a hurry and since I got bored in there I decided to come early. I am two weeks old now. Mom says that we must party and sing happy birthday to you tralala :D, she said the same last week too :D
Mom seems very happy and excited at my arrival. The moment I arrived she forgot all about her pain and the things the doctor and nurses were doing to her and turned her head towards me with eyes full of love and tears.
I love the songs mom made up for me. She usually hums them in the morning when she is still in a good mood. She says that I am the most adorable and the cutest baby she's ever seen! She's my mother you know and I wouldn't have believed her haven't I heard everybody else saying the same too, especially mom's friends. I'm glad that gorgeous ladies like me and think that I am so cute :D
I haven't met my father yet, he keeps asking for my pictures and videos, and I can't wait to see him.
Life is not bad so far, I spend my day mostly in sleeping, crying, and drinking milk. .. hmm sho kaman,OK that's it for now I guess. Since this blog was created especially for me, I'll be sharing it with mommy. Will be back later..

Kareem, our son, has arrived!

Our little bundle of joy, our angel, Kareem, arrived on Saturday, July, 12, 2008, 12 days before the due date.
As if he was reading this post, and found in this caricature a good idea to surprise his mom :D
We're both fine El Hamdulillah and I just can't describe the joy he brought to my life :)