Here we go again - 2013!

The principle: To keep it short and simple. A good look-back on what all I’ve been up to now that so many things are changing/progressing around me!
The Year took off with one of my besties leaving our lil city forever. Will definitely miss them, Eshaal would too I'm sure. It would be hard finding replacements for them! But, loved how our last day together was. A neat lil dinner at this extremely bright, white place called Gusto’s, the hunt for a molten Lava cake which led us from NUAsia to Esquires to starbucks and finally we settled for a Mint chocolate cake from Baskin (it was GOOD!) Took pictures, bummed for a bit and bid our farewells! Will miss you Kanwal and Anes! :) Best of luck and wishing awesome-ER things for you guys!

The lazy-river and the waterfalls

My life has strewn off course. It’s about to hit the stage where I ‘almost’ become overwhelmed. I am not of course. Since my mum-in-law went home, I’ve been on lazy over-dose. The organized Fiz has gone into hibernation and in the meanwhile this useless, sloppy, lazy bum has taken over her physical self.

People living in the middle-east have it too easy. Yes some of us miss our families, but you have to admit with Skype around, it’s not that bad. Plus it’s just a 3 hr hop-into-a-plane-ride. Let’s just admit something. Regardless of how much we miss home, when the time actually comes to go back, we are fretting over the halaat, the load-shedding, dengue and oh the garmi! Snobbies is what we’ve become.

So back to me being lazy. I have so much on my plate. Eshaal’s become big. I am serious. Although as independent as my baby is, she does have her needs. And her mother being on a lazy-spree does not help. I actually ignore her. We should be well into toilet-training. We should be learning plenty. We should be swimming. We should be learning how to feed oneself. It’s frustrating. I really need to step up! My child needs me. Immediately!

The house needs me. I have stuffed things into closets, drawers, and cabinets. Although I know where things are, Asad doesn’t. Though that would not be the reason for me to actually clean up. Considering he won’t remember after 3 minutes anyway. And then of course there is my awesome Mum and the whole Masters program. I fell in love with Shakespeare but then I cheated on him with lame soaps. I need to get back on the love-train. July is not too far now.

And the best for last. The one thing I am actually doing with my heart and back into it. Asad’s diet plan. It’s been 2 weeks now and he’s going strong with the Atkins. It has been fun preparing his meals, marinating food, planning and reading, doing his research. Not getting our hopes high, but this just might be it. Although he misses bread, he’s putting on a good show. But it is hard when you work so hard only to find that the dieting-guy is off the things he’s supposed to eat! What the hell do you feed him now?

P.s: My Birthday is in 2 weeks. Yaay me!

Let the Exciting Begin!

‘Tis been a while. A brand new year with a bunch of seemingly-no-nonsense resolutions, that might never materialize! I don’t mind. I like the surprises life throws at you, so much more fun than planning and running after things you aren’t even sure about...

The years only begun and I’ve got my feet already dipped in a big puddle! There’s this boisterous 20 month old cookie monster who takes off her diaper, rubs baby oil on her dolls, screams ‘mor’ at the sight of food and has learnt a new favorite word ‘godee’. Then there’s my very wise mother who’s enrolled me into an external program for English Literature. Reason: ‘You have too much free time, do something worthwhile’. Although, I'm proud and happy with her for the idea, I’ve begun to get a lil' skeptical now that I’ve actually seen the syllabus! There’s not a single damn chapter which uses normal words in them! Then there’s this food-block that I’ve fallen victim too. These days my cooking is lackluster! It has never happened before. I'm truly panicking. And let’s not get started on social life in Bahrain. Weekends come and go in a flash, with only whizzing memories of lots of food, friends, wailing babies and pictures!

*Sigh* and in the midst of all that, there’s my knight who can discipline Eshaal with just a stare!  I don’t know what I’d do without him. The year’s only begun and I'm pretty sure ‘something’ more would pop up soon!

(Starring Eshaal in A Very Wonderful 2011 Alhumdullilah)

How Bubbles came to stay!

I almost gave away my cat, Bubbles, today. It had been really frustrating managing Bubbles and Eshaal together. There’s fur on the couches, behind the couches, on the rugs, under the rugs. There are scratches on the leather and a million disturbances that come with a pet cat. But, those issues are the least of my worries. Bubbles, although friendly isn’t one to be bullied by Eshaal. She reacts and hits back. So after many disagreements with Asad (did you see the underline?)...

Asad:     If you can’t manage her why do you have her?

Fiz:         Cuz' you just don’t chuck out a family member!

Asad:     You’re waiting for Bubbles to scratch Eshaal?

Fiz:         Bubbles won’t do that...

Asad:     What if Eshaal eats Bubbles poop?

Fiz:         Ewwww…. Eshaal has common sense, she won’t!

Asad:     Yes, like the time her common sense made her drink tiger balm!

… I made up my mind to give away Bubbles. Logic: Eshaal’s well being is more important to me. Also, we won’t have to make arrangements whenever we go on trips, there won’t be a cat screaming in the house and waking everyone up at 6 o clock, there won’t be any Eshaal/Bubbles wrestling matches and most of all no cat-in-heat-find-an-appropriate-mate dilemmas. This little girl called me up to ask if she can have Bubbles and I said yes. This was yesterday and I’ve changed my mind. It will need hell lot more to give away Bubbles than these reasons. Eshaal loves bubbles. That’s the most interesting thing for her when she wakes up in the morning. I can’t do that to my baby... we’ll just have to deal with vacuums and rollers...  Bubbles stays!

Bored of the Boring!

After you have a kid, things change so much on the marriage front. What used to be engaging banter is now discussion on a series of chores and everyday responsibilities regarding Eshaal. Your child becomes the nucleus around which your whole universe seems to be revolving. What you say, what you do, where you go, all such decisions are thought-through with the yardstick that is Eshaal’s moods/routine/behavior! It’s almost as if Asad and I don’t have lives of our own. Even our arguments have taken a funny turn. We used to argue about people, issues, the right and wrong. And now, we argue about Eshaal and Bubbles, Eshaal and Tv remotes, Eshaal and Kitchen limits, Eshaal and Psychology. This little being has taken over our lives! For the most part I love it. But things have changed...

I do miss our old lives where it was just Asad, I and the whole world full of opportunities. Now the ‘whole world full of opportunities’ is basically a bunch of symmetric differences with Eshaal’s world. The two cannot co-exist. But being very clear, it isn’t just Eshaal’s grand entry into this world that is responsible for this. Sometimes, a lil head of opportunity does pop up behind the door, but were too tired, lazy and uninspired to take hold of it. It’s almost as if we’ve settled for the daily ruts of life rather than making something of it! I, for one cannot settle for this! My life deserves bigger, better and more fun! I am taking charge now.. 

(Steamy thoughts! Hilarious..)

Nostalgic Me!

It’s been a while.. Eshaal’s growing up so fast and I can’t seem to stop her (not that I want to either) but just looking at her old baby pictures and those funny home videos, just makes me sigh out loud! Soon she will no longer be my wee lil’ one who I can carry around! I love that she’s such an independent and feisty baby (mashAllah). Sometimes I wish I had actually penned down the things I had done with her training, the successful ones and the mistakes I could have learn from. If my second one turns out to be like Eshaal, I will be very very lucky! (not that its anytime soon..)

Things are going well on the Eshaal front.

• We’ve got a control on the Binky addiction. I did two things, introduce Poochy (the brown teddy) for daytime/car rides and make the rule Binky-cant-leave-cot.
• Eshaal does in-toeing when walking and it’s getting worse. There’s a name to her problem, Internal Tibial Torsion (can u believe that!) Just waiting for a second opinion before making a decision. Hoping for the best!

Dubai Travels!

I’m back. We were on a 10-day holiday to Dubai (Long story). It was a fun, relaxing and learning experience. From meeting up with family to the shopping, from the adrenaline rushes to the wow-ing and of course the lazy mornings and the good food! All-in-all I loved it! The highlight of the holiday was of course Eshaal. She behaved remarkably well and I learned that babies are super-flexible when it comes to such trips. She slept without her cot, ate only Cerelac, worked well without her stroller and car seat. She has made me realize that come what may, she can deal with it (Alhumdulillah), so long as she has her Binky (which we almost lost once on the trip btw.)

(Our few moments from Dubai- Burj Khalifa the tallest building in the world. Dubai Mall Aquarium, the largest indoor aquarium in the world. Ferrari World, the fastest Roller Coaster in the world).