Ode to Beebee

I love the noor that shines from your big blue eyes.
And the way your lashes flutter like pretty butterflies.
I love the way you squeeze my lips with your toes when I kiss them.
I love your bare little gums. When your teeth come, I’ll miss them.
I love the way you grab and squeeze me to make sure I’m there.
And all the silly little styles of your chocolate brown hair.
I love the way that you giggle and the way you love me.
You’re the best thing in my world.
My sweet little Beebee.

Standing! Surfing! Being a Super Cutie!

Aliyah started standing up three days ago. The first time, she was in her crib early one morning. She usually whines and pushes down on the crib bumper to get a good look at me through the prison bars. This time, that just wasn't enough, and she pulled herself up and held onto the rail. We lowered the crib mattress after that. It seems like everytime she learns something new, she's immediately a seasoned professional. She's been pulling herself up onto everything the past few days. This morning, she stood up on a tin of cookies and thanks to a wood floor and the laws of physics, she walked a few inches on her own. Ironically, the tin was Walkers brand. She also had some fun body surfing on an empty cardboard pack of bottled water. She laid on top of it and pushed with her feet to slide across the floor. Who needs 'toys' when you have so many wonderful 'found objects'.

Anaagee likes to let Aliyah taste her finger at the dinner table and now it's harder to get her to eat bland food. I was trying to feed her some peas and brown rice mush the other day and she lost interest due to that blasted finger! So I gave up and blended some daal in with her food. The next day, I boiled some daal with carrots, chicken broth, and a little piece of lamb and made a really tasty jar of mush. So now Beebee has chicken and lamb on the meat menu.

She likes to say ba ba and da da; she rambles on sometimes. She likes to blow out of her mouth, making her lips vibrate, and she also has fun strumming her lips like a guitar to make cute little noises.

Aliyah loves other kids, especially Camilla, whom she squeals for. She tries to grab her and kiss her (slobbers on her face with an opened mouth). When Ahmad and Camilla come over, she studies them as they rush in like a tornado of fun and excitement. Then she tries to join in but is too little to gain acceptance. Soon baby! When you can walk, you'll be able to chase after them more effectively. But she doesn't seem to mind too much when her toys are stolen or her outreach efforts are rebuked. Everything is still so new that she's easily distracted...not that I appreciate that distraction so much when I'm trying to feed her.

She's my life...she sucks the life out of me. =D I love her!!!!!

Beebee's First Eid

Yesterday was baby's first Eid al Fitr. She played with Ahmad and Camilla, got a haircut, and early that morning she went with Mommy, Daddy, and Ama to the masjid. She was so good and my only complaint is maybe that she distracted me during my salat because she's too cute. She just layed there contently on a blanket in front of me, checking out the women next to me in line. The day was filled with money (eidie) and lipstick kisses on the face. We went to Haaji Padar's house that night and everyone marveled over how cute she was. She cried a little bit because there were so many people, all coming to hold her and tell her how beautiful she is. She was a little scared. At one point, Amin's aunt was talking to her and Aliyah looked at her with a little whimper and then turned to touch my leg to make sure I was still there...looked at her...touched my leg. This repeated maybe five times. She gets frightened sometimes but she's secure in the fact that there's always someone familiar there to protect her.



Aliyah has such a wonderful disposition. She entertains herself so well (I type as I simultaneously discover she was playing contently with a dirty swiffer sweeper). She doesn't whine much...usually only when there's something's wrong...if she's hungry, sleepy, uncomfortable or scared. Sometimes she whines because she's lonely or frustrated or impatient but she's overall such a good, sweet baby. She's so amazingly cuddly! I love to kiss her chubby little cheeks and nuzzle her face. She likes it too. She's so soft and warm and sweet!!!

A coolness for my eyes, the eternal light in my life. If Allah never answers any of my other prayers for the rest of my life I'll be content; He answered my prayer so graciously in so many ways with this perfect daughter of mine. She's everything I asked for and more than I even imagined.

Some funny things:

One night, I put her to sleep and went about my business. I came back into the room a little while later to check on her and expected to see a sleeping baby in the crib. Instead, there she was, laying wide awake, staring up at me with her tongue sticking out! Heh heh heh. It startled me so much!

I don't know if I mentioned it, but she has a pink nose (and sometimes pink eyes) indicator that lets me know when she's sleepy. It's so cute!

It seems like every time she takes a bath, either right before I pour the water in or right after, she pees. It's so funny but then I have to drain the water and rinse her before we continue. She loves to suck on a wet washcloth and gets upset when I take it away from her. She tries to grab at the watering can that I use to wash her hair and sometimes she gets a hold of it and gets water all over her face. She likes to splash and sometimes she sort of bounces up and down with her pelvis, just to make a funny splash. Pretty soon I'm going to have to bathe her the the big bathtub because her tub is getting to be too small for this growing girl.

Beebee has been sitting up by herself for a while now. She's getting better at crawling and gets into a lot more trouble now. She's been eating lots of new foods. I try to make everything fresh for her but sometimes just don't have the time or patience and give her the jar food.

Well that's all I can think of for this cutie pie update. =D