Morning Routine, Winter 2015

Sometimes I like to write a post about our morning routine, just so I can see how much it has changed.

It represents how much the kids have changed. 

And it reminds me that the changes are good- they may be moving further and further away from chubby babyhood, but that's ok. They are relying on us in different ways than they used to, and they are closer to us in ways that wouldn't have been possible when they were still infants.

So. Nowadays, Nooriya wakes up first, around 6am, and goes potty and brushes her teeth. Then she changes into the clothes that I laid out the night before. Then she goes downstairs and grabs the cereal bowl and spoon and cereal off the counter, and puts them on the table, and then opens the fridge and grabs one of the two cups of milk that are on the lower shelf. She has her breakfast - sometimes early enough where Taher gets to have breakfast with her - and by this time, Yusuf is usually up. He goes through the same potty/teeth/change/breakfast routine that Nooriya just completed.

At this point, I am wide awake but trying to stay in bed until 7am. I usually accomplish this. I then walk out of my room and call Nooriya upstairs so I can brush and braid her hair, and I remind both kids to make their beds. If Nooriya doesn't have her glasses on yet, I remind her to put them on.

While I am getting ready for the day, the kids are either playing together or reading side by side. When I come downstairs and I see them sitting next to each other, noses buried in books, I am reminded of how different life is now. When they were babies, the morning meant crying and milk and diapers and wrangling and juggling - and I rarely got to shower in the morning. 

But alhamdolillah, although we have left the wrangling behind, they are still so cuddly. This morning they don't have school, so they came into my bed and we just hung out for 20 minutes before starting our day. 

Alhamdolillah. Did I say that? Is it even possible to say it enough?

small now

i haven't blogged in a while. i need to do it more often, so here goes!

every now and then i suddenly realize that my tiny children will one day be teenagers, and that, according to everyone who has older children, this will happen "before i know it" and "in the blink of an eye" and "so quickly". and in response to this realization i quickly scoop up the nearest one and plant kisses all over him/her and relish in how easy it is to make them laugh.

i know there are great things to come, inshallah, but i hear older kids don't cuddle freely and smile with their entire bodies and their skin doesn't look luminous even in harsh direct sunlight.

and if you tell them something super cheesy like, "hey, you know what? i loved you before i even met you!" their response is closer to the eye-rolling end of the spectrum than the nod-enthusiastically-and-offer-hugs end of the spectrum.

not that i can blame them. i say some super-cheesy things. and if karma exists, i will be the recipient of much eye-rolling in the years to come.

waras mubarak, Nooriya!

Nooriya's 1st waras is this Friday- our tiny newborn is now a rambunctious toddler, and it's been an honor to watch her develop so far.

taher and i talk a lot about our own perspectives when it comes to this relationship between us and Nooriya, and how much we have changed and accomplished over the past year. but really, it's Nooriya who we should applaud- her list of achievements in the last 12 months are endless. she is walking now, and when i think of how vastly different that is from her first month as a tiny, swaddled infant, i realize that she is just amazing.

all babies learn to roll and laugh and walk, and Nooriya is not different in this regard, but to me she is outstanding and unique and the most beautiful girl in the world. amantobillah.

mubarak, baby girl. i love you.

morning person

yusuf's colic can be challenging at times, but lately, as his personality emerges, my days are becoming more and more rewarding. he is such a morning person, giving me these immense smiles and batting his mile-long eyelashes.

i know now that he recognizes me, and that my presence can calm him down. it's a good feeling, having this little cute-ball's love.

time supposedly flies

yusuf turned 2 months old a few days ago, and while everyone says that children grow up quickly, i feel like time has gone by very slowly. the reason for this is that i am always looking forward to the next stage and wanting to see yusuf begin to laugh and clap and crawl and talk and read and discuss and drive and... you get the idea :)

at the same time, i am enjoying his baby-ness and how small he is, and how cuddly, and how cute. he makes faces that make taher and i want to just gobble him up. i can see that the day will come when he won't fit into my arms anymore. although inconceivable to me, he will one day grow taller than me. it's so strange, i want him to remain a cuddly baby forever, but i also want to see him grow up.

there is no turning back from this avalance of contradictory, overwhelming and totally new emotions i have been experiencing since entering the motherhood club. and i wouldn't change a thing.