pewfie.com

Gone so soon...

Well, my promised updates during Maham and Zahrah's visit just never materialised. They're back in Ottawa now recovering from their hellishly long flight back (about 20 hours from door to door).

First, we do in fact have all the pictures up and online! Hopefully this new format is a bit easier to navigate. Each of the following are clickable links (so click them!); Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7 and finally Day 8.

The first night we made it to the airport only to find out that their flight was inexplicably delayed by an hour or so, so Kadin did not meet his puppo's until nearly 11 PM (and a fine mood he was in!). He took to them right away though, then stayed awake the entire ride home even though everyone else quietly passed out.

The rest of the week was something of a blur. Not because it was not memorable, but because it seemed to go by so FAST! Kadin was spoiled rotten by his puppo's and Dadi/Aba-Jan; he received several toys, a mountain of clothes, some wonderful books with his name engraved on them, and likely some other wondrous gifts that I just can't think of right now.

Coincidentally, just a few days prior to Maham and Zahrah arriving, we turned a miraculous corner regarding Kadin's bedtime. As many of you know, bed time for Kadin involved somewhere between 30-75 minutes of either Tonia or I sitting silently, in the dark, waiting for Kadin to stop crying/screaming and then fall asleep. We would then sneak out and hopefully not wake him up in the process. That was of course 30-75 minutes after we had read him the usual two stories with the lights on.

So after spending 3 nights of reading him two stories then leaving the room to let him fall asleep on his own, bed time became a wonderful experience. Here is a typical evening now;

7:00 PM --> I give Kadin his bath.
7:15 PM --> Kadin gets into his 'jammies.
7:18 PM --> Kadin gets his final bottle of the night.
7:30 PM --> Kadin has a huge poo, then makes a stinky waving motion by his face (Tonia taught him that, I'm sure!)
7:35 PM --> Kadin gets his last diaper change
7:45 PM --> Bed time is announced. Kadin smiles and says "nigh nigh" as he waves good-night to Tonia, Daisy, and possibly even the entertainment centre.
7:50 PM --> Kadin is placed in his crib, and I sit down to read him two stories.
8:00 PM --> Upon finishing the second story, I give Kadin several kisses, wish him goodnight (he wishes me "nigh nigh" and waves), and the light is turned off and I leave.

........and that's it!

Sometimes we hear him talking to himself quietly, but over the last 2 weeks it's primarily been silence from that point onwards!

Oh yes, back to Maham and Zahrah's visit! I could give a dry, fact-based account of everything that happened during their time here, but the 2 of you still reading to this point would likely stop reading right now if I did that.

Instead, let me just summarize and saw that it was wonderful for Tonia and I to see Kadin spending time with his doting puppo's. We're very anxious to have them all together in the very near future, likely with us visiting them in Ottawa as soon as possible.

Saying goodbye was incredibly difficult for everyone, however Kadin woke up in a delightful (no really, he was!) mood at 4:30 AM to give them hugs and kisses.

Now, time to sleep. Good night!

More pictures...

...and now pictures from Day 2 and Day 3 are up! Enjoy.

THEY'RE HERE, THEY'RE HERE!

After several very anxious weeks, Maham and Zahrah finally arrived on Friday night! It was a tense night, as Kadin was awake several hours past his bed time and their flight was inexplicably delayed by nearly 1.5 hours, but it was all worth it once they finally were there.

Kadin's been having one hell of a time with his two doting puppos. Pictures are in the photo gallery under the heading "Maham and Zahrah Visit - Day 1", or you can just click on the link to go right there. More to post later..time to do some sight-seeing!

Funny story and pics

So this Chinese gentleman says to a friend of ours at the work place "Have you seen my cah-ny-fee?"

A few moments pass and she realizes she has no idea what this Chinese gentleman means, so she asks. "What were you looking for?"

He responds "My cah-ny-fee. It's newfie for knife!"

WHA? Is that level of make-fun even allowed? Anyways here are some beautiful pics of our son as he gazes lovingly into our eyes and begs us to stop.

By the way Hasan hasn't posted it so I will....Kadin has said Abu a few times now. AND the big story....he goes to bed on his own. Two bedtime stories, we leave the room and within about 10 minutes he is out. We finally grew some "coconuts" about it and were steadfast. Welcome to Happy Land. :) I am sure that Kadin's puppos who are coming this weekend (everyone is VERY excited) will be pleased to have the evil one....I mean Kadin go to sleep at a good hour.

and other admitted addictions

So I have been using the internet for a bit now (heh) and to be honest most things on here bore me. I may find something interesting and make it a part of my routine but only momentarily until something like having a baby distracts me and I have to shorten my routine somehow.

For me it really is about routine. I get up every morning with Kadin just about the same time. I change his diaper, pee, put dirty diaper in garbage - his diaper...come on people - and then I sit at the computer for what may be the only time I have the chance to.

I check Hasan's email, my Yahoo email and then my hotmail account. But throughout this emtire process I cannot actually wait to get to the real reason I am sitting there in the first place - www.dooce.com.

Hasan turned me onto the site telling me this girl was some sort of internet phenom. "Everyone reads her site Tonia....everyone."

Really? Well lets just see how long this Heather/Dooce individual lasts in my routine!

I've never looked back and I never miss an entry or a pic of the day. Why you might ask? Well I won't answer cause I am sure it is the same reasons everyone gives for reading. Ok... gosh darn it...here goes.

Dooce is smart and witty and a fantastic writer and funny...but for me she is honest...to a fault really. She tells us about her day and her little girl and her husband and all the things she has done in life - the good the bad and the oh so dirty.

Many times I have tried to figure out how to jump on the www.dooce.com bandwagon and have people all over the world read my site and all about my little boy the way they read about her, but alas the intensity I had about that is humourous to me now.

I really just want to read her site everyday and enjoy it just for myself. A part of my daily routine I have left for me.

I was always such a blog doubter and thought it to be silly. Even when setting up this site I was so determined to have things a certain way and to only allow my family to see the site. I even had Hasan password protect the entire site! hehe

But now with Heather's site I can see the door's she has opened not only to the internet and for the internet, but for herself. I can see how she uses her site to reach out to everyone including her family and friends. How she uses the site to make valid points about government, real life craziness and super selling Avon ladies. Now that's not to say she hasn't suffered for her level of openess - go ahead read the site and you will see that her success with Dooce has come at a price.

Anyways OK before I start to sound too mushy and crazed I will stop. I just want people to go and have a look and enjoy. Today I chose to write about her because what she wrote about the U2 performance last night on the Grammy's; and I think she just about summed up everything I would have said about the show. I was floored by the words of the song and sadly how it all too often affects all of us in our relationships with parents.

My greatest fear - as I'm sure is every parents - is that I will screw Kadin up somehow. That one day I won't support him when he needs it most or I'll make fun of something he thinks is quite serious or I will tease him at the worst possible time and the result will be him becoming a huge rock star and making millions and singing a sad sad song about me in front of thousands of screaming fans..........or ya know...something else terrible like that. hehe

Yeah I'm not so good at emotional stuff but I think the 10 people who read this site know what I mean. Thanks www.dooce.com.

Addict

I have become a Dr. Phil addict...there I said it. I just think he has it right about 95% of the time...and 100% of the time when it comes to kids. This yankee really knows his shit and I am doing my best to follow his advice religiously especially when Kadin is acting like the devil himself...as he has been for about 2 weeks now.

Today's show hit home for me. It was about meddling in laws, relatives and family members who hate each other and what not. The thing that hit home for me was when he was talking to the two mother-in-laws who hated each other.

The daughter of one of the above mentioned in laws was so fed up with their behaviour - especially in front of the kids - that she was threatening to cut them out of their grandchildren's lives. Dr. Phil said he really wanted to help because the absence of grandparents can "damage the psychological skin" of a child forever.

A child understands early on the relationship they have with their grandparents, and they know it is unique and special and different from the one they have with their parents. To try and explain why it doesnt exist can be very hurtful to them.

Kadin's grandparents live on the other side of the country, all of them. And although we have wanted to move there and find work there and stay there it just isnt happening for us.

We have not given up on it of course. Newfoundland or Ottawa being the places of choice but somehow life finds a way to make getting there so hard and staying here so easy.

That section of the Dr. Phil show today was heartbreaking for me. More then anything Hasan and I want Kadin to be closer to all of his family and yet we find ourselves in a situation where we can't make it happen...no matter how badly we want it....and apparently how bad Kadin needs it.

I would suggest - if given the chance - that everyone should see the show.

And now for today's Canon PowerShot A85 picture of the day!

OK OK...I had to put both up. Who could choose? :)

Questions....

Is this what small town living does to a man? Makes him wear things he would not normally wear cause he thinks.....what??? What could he possibly be thinking?

Could Hasan get any sexier in this get up?? Please note the untied laces of his new steel toed boots.....which by the way he says are so comfortable that he just wears them everywhere we go! Awesome! I bet you can't wait to hit the town with him eh Maham and Zahrah? hehe

WOW! Is that where you live?

Only because I want everyone to see how beautiful it is where I live now I had to put these pics up. The view is outstanding and I love seeing it everyday.

Kadin has been a handful lately but he too has gone through a big change. He has a new little friend downstairs. He plays OK except for sharing (we are working on it) and well she is a little girl and doesn't really like Kadin touching her or her mommy in anyway...but we will figure it out.

Also we have decided that starting next Saturday Hasan and I are going to take Kadin to the public pool here and every Wednesday they have book readings for kids at the library so we are gonna hit that this week as well. I am sure we will take way too many pics and put as many as we can up, but until then enjoy these.

This is the view to the left as you look out over our balcony.

The next three are the views as you look straight ahead. I eat every meal at my table now just to look at this.

And of course the right....which I think is the most beautiful. Imagine this is my view....I get to look at this every minute of the day. Have I made anyone jealous yet? hehehe

And finally I have included a few shots of the apartment. Only of the living, dining room and kitchen. Hasan and Kadin were asleep so I was limited but enjoy nonetheless. I really like the place. Its very bright and open. Great for Kadin playing. OH and excuse the mess....we did just move in.