Wordless wednesday 79

Houdini

Houdini was a hungarian born stunt performer who became famous for his ability to escape from different forms of confinement. Well it would appear that Yusuf has an uncanny ability to do the same. There has been more than one incident that has highlighted his unique talent.

Incident 1:
I was loading something into the boot of my car about 2 weeks back, and had Yusuf strapped into his car seat ready to go. Now if you have kids and use a car seat you know that these straps are really hugging to the body, especially when your kids is wearing bulky winter clothes. And for those who are not familiar, it has a y-shaped safety harness which goes over the shoulders across the chest to buckle into a strap between the legs. But the next thing I see Yusuf standing looking at me through the boot hatch with complete glee on his face. At first I thought perhaps I had not clipped the buckle in fully, but when I went to strap him back in I saw the straps well and truly fastened. So i strapped him back in and went back to loading my boot, this time keeping a keen eye on Yusuf to see if he would try it again...and he did! I watched as he quietly wriggled and jiggled till he managed to get one arm out, then the other arm, then pushed up on the sides of his seat to lift his knees out one at a time...and voila! Job done. Fortunately he only does this when he's been waiting in a stationery vehicle for too long and hasn't tried this yet while we are driving!

Incident 2:
This feat came at no surprise given the car seat incident. Yusufs feeding chair has the same safety harness configuration as the car seat so it was no surprise he was able to break free from his shackles one dinner time.

Incident 3:
Yusuf is obsessed with the pantry cupboard. It is a long cupboard door at an angle to the kitchen counter which has a cupboard underneath. So we tie the handle higher up to the handle lower down with a lanyard to prevent access to the spray and cook he keeps grabbing at, and the blender in the adjacent lower cupboard. So when you open one cupboard, both doors open with very limited opening between the 2 doors to fit even my arm let alone Yusufs fat head. But, once again with great will and determination Yusuf managed to wiggle his chunky self between the 2 cupboard doors and alerted us to this fact by his shrieking in delight while inside the cupboard. Of course in order to get him out I had to first shut him in the cupboard (there's plenty of standing room) to untie the lanyard. He didn't mind being inside a dark cupboard for a few seconds one bit. In fact he saw it as an opportunity to open a packet of rice!

Incident 4:
Any parent of small children will tell you that steps and staircases haunt us. The minute your little rascal becomes mobile this area of a home becomes enemy territory to you, but utopia to the little mover. We have a security gate at the top of the stairs, which also serves as a handy safety barrier for Yusuf. Then one day I caught Yusuf lying on his tummy with his legs under the gate as far as his thighs, feet dangling over the first step. He couldn't go any further because of his bulky nappy, but given his history I wouldn't have been surprised if he figured out a way to overcome this little hurdle given enough time and motivation. His motivation in this instance was the toy he dropped which landed 3 steps down. So from then on I keep my ears keenly aware when he walks on the landing. The minute I here him so much as touch the gate I go running. His latest attempt has been to climb up the gate to get to the key.

the space under the gate is much smaller than it looks

Incident 5:
Since the arrival of Uthmaan, Bilaal and Sumayah have moved onto a bunk bed. Although there is a ladder Sumayah is constantly climbing onto the top bunk at the back of the bed. Yusuf of course saw this and decided to mimic the behaviour. Fortunately Bilaal and Sumayah were playing in the room, but unfortunately looked up from their game too late to catch him in the act. I heard Bilaal shout 'no Yusuf!' And then 'mommy!' I came running to find Yusuf sitting on the top bunk looking very pleased with himself!

spiderman

Incident 6:
In true Houdini style he has left the show stopper for last...well at least I wish it will be the last...
Yusuf loves playing at my bedroom window. He hides behind the curtain or he watches the birds on the balcony. Its a long window so he can reach the handle, but there are burglar bars. But let that not stop Yusuf! Thanks to his  shrieks of excitement Yaasier was alerted to his whereabouts. Yusuf WAS ON THE BALCONY! Yaasier rushed to get the key for the security gate and door while Bilaal called to him from the window trying to get him back to the window and away from the bacony fence. I was in the adjacent room when I heard the commotion and looked up to see Yusuf on the balcony just about the climb the fence as though it was a step ladder. My heart must have skipped a beat! But Yaasier got to him just in time! In the first place he figured out how to open the window, but then most remarkable of all is that he managed to contort his way through the burglar bars!

my view of the balcony where Yusuf tried to climb up!

When they say you need eyes at the back of your head when you have kids, they fail to mention that you also need to be able to see through walls, have more than 2 arms and maybe even be able to be 2 places at one time...with Yusuf the Houdini Abrahams I certainly do. And lest not forget he turned 1 just 4 months ago...he is only getting started!

I couldn't have put it better myself

Head, heart, spirit

Another year, another Ramadaan, another addition to the family. Amidst all the angst, the excitement, the joy, and the stress of having another child, comes the dawning of another month of Ramadaan. And with all the intensely spiritual atmosphere it brings to the home, it also makes you truly appreciate family. So what beautiful perspective it brings when you realise that we are welcoming another little soul into the home. And that the pureness of his soul as a new human being is but a blessing in this holy month. For acwhile now I have been reflecting on certain things I wish to improve about myself, many very spiritual in nature. It's not easy but then nothing truly worth doing ever is. For many this month is, to muslims, what new years resolutions are to non-muslims...a chance to reset...a chance to detox the body, the mind and the soul...the chance to be the best muslim you can be for the sake of your creator. And I think it is that awareness of creation and the gratitude to the creator that makes us long to share this beautiful month with our loved ones, especially those physically far and no longer with us. So we make our resolutions to be better and we practice as best we can...but we all know that resolutions are not easily kept. Sadly when the month passes and celebrations have passed the difficult task of maintaing that spiritual growth begins and it is here that the true transformation begins. I have some personal goals which are not new but I will not give up in pursuing them. I almost didn't write this post because for me issues of faith and spirituality are so personal because it is about your relationship with your creator. But speaking to a good friend today who has some similar goals I realised that the struggles I face are shared by others and perhaps by being honest about my spiritual flaws I will be more committed to improving them because it is out there, but also that it need not be a journey taken entirely alone. So may tonight be the first night of a beautiful transformation for me in head, heart and spirit Insha Allah and I wish all the same to all my gorgeous family and friends observing this sacred month together Insha Allah. Love to you all.

Wordless wednesday 78

In other news...

Above and beyond the breaking news of our unexpected arrival there has been alot of other significant happenings in the Abrahams household. Aside from adjusting to having a newborn in the house, we've also been sitting with 2 sick older kids at home for almost 2 weeks now.

Bilaal has this chronic problem every winter with post nasal drip which causes bouts of coughing. In previous years we have managed it with frequent trips to the doctor and medication. But this year it seems to have hit him pretty hard. Last tuesday he was sent to the sick room at school because he was coughing too much. He stayed home on wednesday and we had intended to send him to school on thursday, but then we ended up rushing to hospital instead. Friday he developed a fever so he was home again and then just got progressively worse over the weekend, which didn't do any favours for my my first night home with Uthmaan. On top of that Sumayah was also home from the monday already with tonsilitis. To say she was miserable all week would be an understatement! Sumayah is that age now where change is not embraced easily, even good change. But it is also in her nature to be emotionally overwhelmed by changes in her universe. So can you imagine her being sick and miserable with a sick older brother sharing the tlc and further down the week I go away for 2 days only to bring home with me a baby, which follows with grandparents, aunt and uncle and even great grandparent arrivals sleeping in an already recently rearranged, redecorated home...

Needless to say my first weekend home was pretty wild, but we leave that for another post. In the mean time sunday comes around and we have ourselves a very sick Bilaal with an extremely high fever, coughing like a dog, shivering, crying, in pain. Monday rolls round and a trip to the doctor brings home a bag full of medicine. So every morning and every night we spend at least 20 minutes giving him his medication, nebulizing him and just generally trying to help him feel more comfortable. And just when he looks and acts as though he's better, the fever spikes up again! And then there's the all night delirium that ensues in a humurous but annoying way only Bilaal knows how. All night you hear him talking to soneone ranging from lengthy explanations to arguments to complaining or moaning about something he imagined Sumayah to be doing. According to the doctor the antibiotic should start being effective after 4 to 5 doses when the fever should go away. Today, thursday, after a whole week at home Bilaal's fever finally broke. He will be home again tomorrow seeing as there's only one day  of the week left, but I really hope we will have our regular, annoying little 8 year old cheeky, talkative, happy boy back.

Sumayah I am pleased to report went back to school today. It was so cute to see how much her classmates and teachers missed her. They even phoned last week to find out how she was doing. When she stepped into class this morning the whole class immediately started chanting and knocking on the tables 'su-may-ah, su-may-ah...' over and over again. I was worried that after such a long absence and Uthmaans arrival she might cry when I left but she must have felt so special that she immediately went to sit with her friends with the biggest smile on her face.

Needless to say, amid  all the excitement, life... still happens...

A whirlwind birth

My previous doctor, the late dr Emmanualle Bareiro-Duarte used to tease me that the 6th kid would be free. I would just laugh at him especially after Yusuf was born and he kept saying he would see me again soon. Little did I know that I would in fact be contacting his office less than a year later only to discover that he had sadly passed away in his sleep shortly after being diagnosed with cancer. It was just last year that he delivered little Yusuf into this world, almost missing the birth because he was born so quickly. He jokingly told us that next time I would give birth in the parking lot. And guess what...I almost did!

Yaasier and I had a sense that this little man was in a hurry to join our family so we expected he would be born before his due date, but not a whole 2 weeks! My last doctors appointment was on tuesday and I said to her that I didn't think I would last another 2 weeks. But I expected I would at least make it to my next appointment which was scheduled for next tuesday. But just as short and fast as this pregnancy was made known to us, as quickly did little Uthmaan make his appearance...half a pregnancy and half the labour time...

It all started on wednesday night at about midnight when I experienced some really bad lower back pain. But I was still able to sleep and still able to see to Yusuf when he woke for his bottle at 3am. It was only at about 6am that I felt my first contraction. But it was mild enough that I could still tend to Sumayah when she woke up crying and mild enough that I was able to go downstairs to make myself some tea. However the regularity of the contractions made me stop to take note and the intensity started to increase quite quickly. By the time I finished drinking my tea I had timed non stop contractions of 30 seconds duration every 5 minutes. So I went upstairs to tell Yaasier. He was busy getting ready for work so I decided to take a hot shower to see if the contractions would subside. They didn't. They continued to get more intense and started to last longer. So we knew...this was the day. Quickly we had to put arrangements in place for the other kids in the event I was still in labour late afternoon. As it happens both Sumayah and Bilaal were home sick. Fortunately we had Abigail on her way who would be there with the kids when we went to hospital but she could only stay till 4pm. My neighbour kindly made herself available from 4pm onwards despite having 2 young kids of her own. The problem was that the au pair who normally comes from 5pm till 8pm just so happened to have an exam that evening so she wasn't available. But judging by the progression of labour we were expecting baby to be born by 4pm latest...little did we know...baby had other plans!

While waiting for Abigail to arrive I tried to make sure I had everything I needed in my hospital bag, which I was so relieved I packed just the week before. We also phoned all our loved ones from the UK to the Cape to let them know what was happening. But by the time Abigail arrived at 8.30am labour was in full swing. Bilaal was super excited, but Sumayah didn't understand what was happening. I recall bracing myself on the kitchen table in excruciating pain and Sumayah nonchalantly asking me 'mommy, are you going to make me something to drink?' Bilaal got so annoyed with her and reprimanded her 'how can mommy make you something to drink, she's gna have a baby, can't you see she's in pain?!' And then he proceeded to ask me where does the baby come out! While Yaasier was getting my bags upstairs I suddenly started feeling the urge to push so I decided to get in the car so long and recall shouting from the garage 'Yaasier! We need to leave now!' Poor Yaasier was moving as fast as he could all the while I'm telling him 'we need to get to the hospital NOW! But don't drive so fast...slow down...just get to the hospital quick! Aaaah!' Fortunately the hospital is just 5 minutes from our house and as we approached the entrance I said 'I'm not going to be able to walk in!' So Yaasier just left his car in the drop off zone at the hospital entrance to help me in and I just plonked myself into the first wheelchair I saw and shouted at the security guard 'go quickly!' We arrived in the maternity ward at about 9am and as we approached the nurses station I shouted 'I can feel I need to push! Dr Loock!'

There was a huge rush and scramble with a flurry of activity all around me it was all hands on deck! I recall hearing someone say 'lets just first get her bottoms off or this baby's gna be born in her pants...' I had one person pulling off my boot, one pulling off my bottoms, another person trying to put on my hospital gown and a whole bunch of scrambling around to  get me on the bed and prepped for birth. Then I hear the nursing sister say  'ok just move her into delivery now I can see the head!' No kidding! The sensation to push was getting stronger! As they rush me into the delivery room knocking into walls and doorways on the way I remember hearing one of the nurse's phones ringing to the song 'ice ice baby...so now stop, collaborate and listen...' while the nurses are telling me not to push yet and me shouting in pain. And then suddenly...no pain...the calm before the storm...I could see the waters bulging and the next second I felt a really strong contraction coming on. My waters burst and within seconds, at 9.13am baby popped out onto the bed crying his healthy little lungs out just as my doctor ran into the room.

And that is how Uthmaan Abrahams made himself known to the world...tiny, vernix covered perfection. I looked up at dad and knew that we were both instantly in love with our new little man. One of my favourite moments after every birth is watching Yaasier brim with pride and instant love for both baby and me. He's always so filled with admiration for me yet I know that I would not have the strength I have without him by my side. And we will need each other now more than ever now that we are officially parents of 4!

Welcome to the world baby Uthmaan

Baby Uthmaan Abrahams...born 9.13 am on this day 23 May 2013. A whirlwind, movie style delivery...details in my next post!