starting to walk

Our little boy is growing up! :) He has started to walk. He's been getting his legs for the last couple of days, and tonight at the corniche he walked for a good bit all by himself! It was the sweetest thing to watch. At one point, he started swinging his arms back and forth as if to say, "ok, what's next!" :)

Here's a pic of him in the car and one of him standing while we were out tonight. He was watching some guys play cricket while we were in the car. I've noticed that he really takes to watching anything that has a ball. He LOVES balls and seems mesmerized whenever he sees them when were out.

I'm loving how he's changing. He now gets excited about the little rides at the park, loves to look at helicopters in the sky and makes such serious faces when he hears them. He says a few words now - "this", "that" and "burr" for bird. Sometimes I think I hear him repeating words I say, but I'm not sure.

He has such emotion and has even started to tell me when something hurts him and points to where it is. Everything is a little emergency with him and if he does something, he calls to me so that he can show me what happened or what he did. It's the sweetest thing. and wouldn't ya know it... this little one loves to help momma clean! He'll grab any cloth or piece of clothing around him and start wiping down the floor, chair, cabinet... :)

He's also starting to get very independent and boisterous. I got a little bit of footage w/ my camera of him walking the other morning... i'll try to put it on tomorrow.

His auntie bought the little crocs he has on today while we were out. He loves them. One of my gf's told me that he'd love crocs, but I thought for sure he was too young for them. I guess not.

Before I was a Mom

Recd this from a friend of mine a few days back. It was for Mother's Day. Hope all of you new moms (even you wise moms) out there enjoy it... I did.

Before I was a Mom

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

where i find myself

i find myself at a loss as to what to say to ppl sometimes. for instance... some friends came over to our place w/ their small children. we've recently put up an outdoor pool that has this big blown up ring around the top. well what do you know, but one of the kids took something and pierced the ring twice and now we have to repair it. this same child, for as sweet as he may seem, seems like a little demon seed when you get him off by himself and around our cats. he'd take anything and everything to throw at the cats anytime he'd see one of them. i tried, unsuccessfully, to talk to him and get him to stop, but he'd run away from me each time and only continue to throw things at them. he took several of naief's toys and threw them in to the pool, i realized two days later... one toy being a play phone that gave numbers, words and phrases in three languages, and this toy just happened to be one of naief's favorites - well, it went into the pool and is now ruined. ok, it's only a phone... yeah, i realize that, but it still really pisses me off. i've invited these ppl over to play in the pool, but hubby gave me strict instructions that they are to come no where near the pool again..... phew. i find myself only hoping it's not a phase that all boys go through... i really have not a clue. but i'll tell ya... what eerks me is that his parents were not a foot away from him during this evening and i don't understand why no one said a word about what he was doing except for me... and he didn't listen to a word from me!

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we went out two days ago and bought naief a cute little riding duck thingy. i don't really know how to explain it other than it has three wheels on it. one in the front to turn it from side to side and two in the back. it has a duck head, a bar that comes down to keep naief from falling off the seat, petals that he can't use yet and little things that come out upon which he can set his feet while i push him w/ the stick that comes up from that back. it also allows me to turn the head from side to side in order to steer the little thing. he loves it. it's his first toy like this and one upon which he wants to ride all the time.

yesterday we set out around the neighborhood and when we go past the in-laws, i hear his cousin in the yard playing, so i peek in and invite him to come along on one of his own similar riding toys. nothing would do him. as soon as he saw naief's riding toy, he threw a fit and insisted on having it. i told him "no, it's naief's" but it did no good. he continued to tell me that he wanted it w/ my telling him that he couldn't have it. he probably has 10 different riding toys, from tricycles to electric cars/jeeps. naief is way too small for any such thing, that's why we bought what we bought. now mind you, this wasn't really costly. we paid BD12 for it, which i find to be a pretty good price. altho, these types of things can be found at less expensive stores for BD5... but they're not the kind of things that stay together for long.

well... as soon as his mother saw the toy, she let his cousin come w/ us, but only w/ the reassurance that i'd allow her son to ride naief's toy at some point. ok, no problem, i thought. well, he pouted the entire way, constantly insisting to ride it. so, after about 10 or so minutes, we switched toys. naief got in his stroller and he got on naief's toy. what did he do? immediately try to tear it up. i was constantly telling him not to do this or that... thankfully he listens, or at least a little. so... today, being the one that wants negativity in my life, i suppose, took naief out for another walk. again stopping at said cousins to see if he might want to go. well, his mother bought him a riding toy... one that could be pushed from the back, like naief's. but... even w/ this toy, the boy wasn't satisfied. again insisting on naief's toy. i told him he couldn't have it, that he had many and naief only had one - this one.

anyway... again we walked around the neighborhood and again i let him get on naief's toy. when we returned to the in-law's house, i was told that MIL wanted to see naief's toy... so in we go.. we me wondering why anyone needed to see his riding toy. but... they did, so we did. i think the whole point behind this was to make sure that said cousin got to play w/ the riding toy... and going inside was one way to ensure this. as soon as we get inside, he started messing w/ the toy. i called hubby to inquire as to when we'd be eating and, thankfully, was reminded that i needed to get cat food. great excuse to leave and to take riding toy w/ us.

maybe all children are this way... wanting what they don't have. but i disagree w/ this thing based on the fact that a child shouldn't be given everything they want from the very beginning because they will want everything their eyes see, and if they don't get what they want, they'll throw a fit until their parents give in.... which is the case w/ the cousin. i just hope that i'm teaching naief differently than this... i really hope it sticks and he doesn't get like this as he gets older... but whose to say how it'll be. maybe i'll find myself in the same type of situation. only time will tell.

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naief is starting to test the waters w/ walking. over the last several days, he has started to walk from place to place slowly. he likes to hold onto my hands as he walks, and i see this as a good thing... as long as he's feeling his way and knows that it's safe to let go and walk on his own.

we finally got rid of this housemaid. two weeks ago matter of fact. i've been doing the duties at home and have really been enjoying it. i feel like i'm actually doing something and know that when something is cleaned, it's cleaned to the best of my ability. i take pride in the house being clean, and seeing that it's our home, i take pride in it's appearance, which makes a big difference, i think. it's also making me really tired... so sleeping has been tons better!! the other night i feel asleep at 9 in the evening! it felt good and i needed it.

the net is back up at our place.. so i've slowly been making my way around some of my favorite haunts.

i'll post some new pics of naief soon. he's grown so much.

good evening friends!

real quick post

Thought I'd post real quick since I'm at the in-laws and have a bit of time.

Just wanted to tell all you ppl here in Bahrain that if you haven't checked out the photo exhibition at Seef, you should. It's really great. Brought tears to my eyes many times over. There was one photo of a gorilla that had been killed and they were carrying his body outta the jungle. Did you guys know that there are only like 300 of these great creatures left in the jungle??? Apparently, they're being killed, execution style, and they're not sure why. That's not the only great photo, there were so many... have you seen them?

Naief is doing good. I've been wanting to post a picture, but just haven't had a lot of time as of late. We cut his hair... actually twice now. This past time, we cut it short. It's cute. Looks a lot blonder when it's short, and you know how I feel about that! ;) He's 15 mths now and isn't walking yet. I find myself worrying a bit about it, but am trying not to. He stands and takes steps... probably about 5 at a time, but wont walk any further than that. I asked him one morning if he wanted to walk and he shook his head "no".... and he hasn't. It's as if he knows I really want him to and just refuses to do it. I read that a child will wonder why a parent wants it so badly and feels that if they want it so badly there must be a reason not to do it... and I guess that's what he's doing. :) He's a smart little booger, that's for sure.

No talking either, except that he started calling me "mommy" yesterday and hasn't stopped. Matter of fact, it's non-stop. I like it. It's so sweet and melts my heart.

I've been reading, and blogged about it earlier, this book called A New Earth. I must say that it's really changing the way I do things, think (thank God) and helps me to stay present in the moment, which is the greatest gift of all, actually it's changing my life.... yes, I know that's a huge thing to say, but it's true. Before, I used to write a lot of poetry about my mind and thoughts... about not being able to control them and feeling outta of control because of it... never realizing that it was my ego controlling me.... now, I am gaining control of it and it has slowed down considerably. I still have days where I will get carried away in my mind and it takes a bit to come back to the present, but it's getting better. This book is absolutely incredible. All this time, all these years, I've been looking for that ever escaping "peace" in my life, only to realize that it will only come when I'm Present.... when I'm just Being. Hope that makes sense... because if any of you out there want to just "be"... want calm in your life, want your world to slow down, want your mind to be clear.... I suggest reading this book.

that's it for now... our internet is messed up at home and we have none right now.... I'm hoping that hubby will fix it tonight, and we have no TV either... so... soon, I hope to be back reading blogs and visiting again... but haven't I said that before!?? ;)