no more excuses!

I always used sumayah as an excuse for not going to gym. But no more! This morning Yaasier suggested we all go to gym and just try her out at the childcare. So off we went and I was fully prepared to start 5 minutes of my workout only to be called out to console a crying child. But what do you know, while signing them in, Sumayah waltzed into the play area when she saw the other kids there and I didn't even have to sneak off! I just waved at her and said I'd be back soon and off I went. For about 15 minutes I kept expecting someone to call me, but I soon realised I had nothing to worry about.
Though I should give credit where credit is due. I don't think we would've tried this and I would even say part of the reason she was fine is because of this tuesday past. Yaasier was graduating after a long and stressful year of studying and assignments and I desperately wanted to be there. So our very dear friends, nay, rather I should call them family agreed to look after the kids. And this despite having a toddler of her own and being in her third trimester. And Sumayah had a marvelous time! Sure just about the time we were returning she started getting crabby, but that was to be expected. So thanks again to the Joulays, u are awesome friends! And here's to many more family visits to the gym.

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An awesome gift

My brother gave me an awesome gift for my birthday. He is one of my most avid blog followers, that he even gets annoyed with me when I lapse in keeping up the posts. So he had this mug specially made, carefulle designing the graphic to match my blog template... pretty cool don't you think? Love you Rameez :)

movie clip monday 5

This clip is from Sumayah's birthday last year. When I watched this clip again I marvelled at how much she's grown since then!

wordless wednesday 35

Separation Anxiety - The Sequel

Just before Sumayah's 1st birthday, I posted about her separation anxiety. I remember being frustrated by it, but optimistic that it would pass as just another phase. Well it did pass, but I'm afraid it has emerged once again... but this time for very different reasons. This time it developed after a short period of time in her life that was bursting with change. And as we all know, change is the Kryptonite of childhood. Bilaal also experienced quite alot of change in his little lifetime, but it was managed over  a period of time. But this past festive season was very hectic for Sumayah.We had 2 weddings in 2 countries with 2 different families. The first leg of our little adventure began in Cape Town, where we were preparing for my sister-in-laws wedding. Sumayah had a marvelous time bonding with her grandparents and meeting all her cousins and aunts and uncles. Then we left the warm but windy (Sumayah hates the wind) Cape and departed to the UK to prepare for my sister's wedding. She was showered with love and affection and lots of attention once again, but this time by her other set of grandparents and aunt and uncle. To top it all, daddy and boeti were not with us so although she was loving her time in the UK, she really missed them terribly. Then finally, we took another long plane ride home, where she was once again very well behaved, only to discover that the next day all those warm fuzzy people she had just grown to love were once again nowhere to be found. Understanderbly, with me being the only meaningful constant among all the change, she has become very attached to me. She doesn't let me out of her site and the first few nights of sleep (or rather lack of sleep) was hellish to say the least. She has been sleeping alot better as she settles back  into her own room, but when she does wake and doesn't see me there next to her she screams a tormented cry... poor gal. Tomorrow I am supposed to return to work so I am a bit worried, but fortunately I am in a position to ease her into it gradually. In the mean time, Bilaal started Grade R this week, and it was an absolute breeze. In fact to him it was like no big deal at all. He entered the class and just slotted in as though he had been there for a whole year already. But more on that in another post.

movie clip monday 4

As I suspected when I introduced the idea of movie clip monday, It would not be easy to keep it up. Nevertheless here is a video of Bilaal in his school play. As you can imagine, I was very proud?

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insomnia strikes again!

1.5 hours! That's how long it took for Sumayah my little insomniac to fall asleep! I cannot describe what that feels like to me. It starts with annoyance, then progresses to irritation, which mounts into frustration, till I become so overwhelmed that I just want to cry! About an hour after trying everything from walking with her to sitting to lying, with rocking and patting to singing and praying, and still watching her eyes droop and roll but never shutting... At this point I normally tell myself that if she's not sleeping within the next 15 minutes I'm giving up. Only to find myself half an hour later still trying and eventually she does fall asleep. But there' been times when I have found myself feeling hopeless after 2 hours of feeling frustrated alone in the dark and then just bringing her out of the room awake and ready to play! What adds to the frustration is that there doesn't seem to be a logical reason that she struggles to fall asleep. She's not crabby... On the contrary, she lies quietly and you can see her teetering on the edge of blissful slumber but no amount of pushing on my part will get over to fall in. Her eyes will roll close momentarily, sparking in me some hope, only for her to roll her lids back up again. I really don't know what to do about this except to hope that she will outgrow this problem... Hopefully soon!

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My new toy

My awesome dad bought me this phone I had been ogling for some time. So now I can blog from my phone using android technology. Just trying it out for the first time ;)

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wordless wednesday 34

Trains, buses and 5-story toy stores...

When we returned from the UK in 2008, Bilaal couldn't understand why we no longer travelled everywhere by bus or train, or why there was no Underground Ernie (the name of the children's animated story about the tube network). He still asks us to take him on a train in South Africa. Sumayah on the other hand only knows the car. So being here in London, she is enjoying the whole experience of travelling by train and in the tube. Today we visited the awesome 5-story Hamley's toy store and she had a fantastic time playing with and on all the demo toys. By the time we were done there it was dark so she also got to see the Regents street Chrismas lights. Tomorrow I want to take her down to the Thames River where we so often took Bilaal to feed the ducks ad wave at the passing boats. But the best part is really the quality time is getting to spend with her grandparents, who she has not known until now. She of course really misses her daddy and her boeti, but Yaasier recorded her a lovely message on my phone which I have to play for every morning on repeat. In the mean time, Bilaal is having the most fantastic time with his dad in Cape Town. They have been up table mountain, to the aquarium, swiming with the penguins at Boulders and frolicking at the beach. Before I left, Yaasier kept asking Bilaal if he was sure he didn't want to come with me to London, but as Bilaal said, Sumayah is going to have fun in the snow with mommy (not that there was much snow left when we got here) and he isgoing to have fun in the sun with daddy.