Beautiful Aliya

Rob took these beautiful pictures of Aliya. What a gorgeous baby.

Maddi and Aliya

Madison is getting more and more comfortable with Aliya. Aliya loves to watch Maddi from across the room but now that Maddi is getting closer Aliya is loving it. She reaches out to touch her but Maddi is still not to keen on that yet. I am hoping eventually we can get a saddle and Aliya can ride around on Maddi! :)

Poor Aliya had lost all her hair. I miss her hair. She is now sporting a nice stripe across the back of her head. She almost looks like she has a mullet going on.

Perfect!

Finally a cup that is perfect for Rob's morning cup of coffee!

Free Museum Day!

Free Museum Day is a Daylong city-wide celebration of St. Petersburg's cultural community. Residents of Pinellas and Hillsborough get to enjoy the museums for free! Throughout St. Petersburg select museums give the public the opportunity to view their collections by offering free admission to residents. We first went to the Dali museum. It was very cool and had lots of Dali’s work including the Lincoln/girl looking though window painting, some glass sculptures, some wax moldings and sketches. It had a good variety of pieces from the 40’s through the 80’s. Rob loves Dali. Aliya was very good; she slept through most of the Dali Museum. Before we went in Rob heard that someone needed an ambulance and they were looking for a doctor. He stepped up and helped an elderly man who had fallen. Everything turned out okay for the man, I was so proud of Rob. After Dali we went to the Florida International Museum. They had really neat sculptures and pieces. It was a good blend of photography, sculpture and paintings. It had some very contemporary art mixed with more traditional pieces. Our next stop was the Florida Craftsman Gallery. Aliya was more interested in her mobile than in the art there but Rob and I liked it. What was neat about that gallery was all the prices were up and you could purchase any of the art. They also offer classes in everything from jewelry making to photography. The fine arts museum was next. Rob and I were both really impressed with how big it was for a smaller city. The museum had my favorite art piece I had seen all day and for that matter ever! I fell in love with it. It was a mosaic piece made from handmade paper. I just loved the colors and everything about it. The name of the piece is The Healer it is by Allison Massari. Our last stop was the history museum. It was a bit of a let down, very small and kinda boring but I found the average height in 1528 was my height 5 ft! I would’ve fit right in! We also saw these calves. They lived 6 weeks. Aliya was awesome all day. We tried to take her to the children’s museum but the wait was over an hour. Everywhere else we went we never waited in line, always found parking and had a great time! I am so glad we went and we will definitely go again in the future. Not a bad deal for free!

Bucs Game

Sunday! Football day! Ali watched the Bucs today with her daddy. I think it is going to be their thing together for a long time. As you can see Ali didn’t make it all the way through the game but unfortunately she didn’t miss much…we lost. I think they still had fun watching together. I know I have never see Rob in such a good mood when the Bucs are doing poorly in previous seasons. I think Aliya has a good effect on her daddy!

Teething

Poor teething girl! Ali likes to put anything in her mouth that can help sooth her gums. Her favorite things are her fingers, my fingers, Robs fingers, and now the sunshine on her jumper. She has to wear a bib all the time now to catch all her drool from the teething. I feel so sorry for her.

Happy 4 Month Birthday Aliya!!

Aliya received this jumper at my baby shower. We have been waiting for her to be able to use it and what better time than her 4 month birthday! Rob put it together for her and she lit up when we put her in it. She loved it. I can't wait till she figures out how to spin around in it and get to all the toys. We also didn't have any "C" batteries so the piano doesn't work yet but we will get them for her soon. I think there is enough other stuff to entertain her in the meantime.

I can not believe Aliya is 4 months old. Time is flying by and she is getting big fast! Her big milestone right now is rolling over. She can roll over from her back to her tummy and back onto her back. She does it better when she is asleep. Her hand control is the best its ever been.

My poor baby is teething now; so she is in pain. I have been giving her Tylenol to take the edge off. She hates, I mean really hates, Baby Orajel. She makes the cutest squinty face, then spits, then screams, then spits again. Her smiles are getting bigger and bigger recently and she is so much fun to play with. I love my baby and I am so proud to be her mom. Happy 4 Month Birthday my baby girl!

Aliya's First cut and band-aid

With 15 down and only 5 left to go I grabbed the her left foot and started cutting her nails. First the big toe and as I was working my way down to the pinkie she just keep getting more and more restless. She was kicking and screaming I thought she was just tired of me cutting her nails little did I know that I had placed a gaping wound in her big toe that was bleeding out and could've required blood transfusions. We are lucky we didn't loose a toe! The size of that wound, I may as well have cut her toe off! She never cried. I, of course, feel terrible to have hurt my daughter. I managed to patch her up with a band-aid. I think she'll live but I am not so sure I will be cutting her nails again in the near future. Maybe her daddy can take over for a while, at least until I get my nerve back.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

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Home Again!

The best part about going away for a vacation is coming home! We really missed Rob on this trip. Aliya is such a trip she loves to sit and watch TV with her daddy. We don't let her very often but it so darn cute. Check out her big smiles. I have noticed such a change in her since we left. She can now roll over from her back to her tummy from the left side. She reaches for her toys and really knows how to use her hands. She picks up and puts (or tries to put) her chocho (pacifier) in her mouth and she was sucking her thumb today! I am so impressed with her. One thing she has learned to do that I am not that fond of is screaming. She has a good healthy set of lungs on her and she can yell! I don't know why she started to but I am not a fan!

NYC!!

We arrived at the airport in time. Aliya had her very own boarding pass. Security was no problem so with time to spare we bought breakfast and were making our way to the gate. I was official time keeper and according to my watch we still had over 20 minutes to take off as we approached the gate. All of a sudden we hear over the intercom last call for Rawji and Kent party. We look at the gate and the ticket taker was urging us to hurry up! I thought to myself, what’s the rush. We boarded the plane and sat right down, since dad had upgraded us to first class. When we sat down I realized that my watch was running slow and we had less than 5 minutes to take off when we boarded so in typical Rawji fashion we were late even though we were on time! Mom and Dad sat in seats 1A and B and I was in 2F with Aliya. I was sitting next to a very nice elderly gentleman whose face read “Oh, Crap I got stuck next to a baby!” He was very kind throughout the whole flight and Aliya was a doll. No one would have guessed there was a baby on the plane she was so quite. She slept for 20 minutes and just sat in my lap peacefully the rest of the time. I even changed her diaper on my lap, a little nerve racking but an uneventful event.

When we arrived in Newark NJ airport we got a cab to our hotel, The Westin in Jersey City. We dropped of our luggage and headed to the path station, the subway from Jersey to New York. We finally figured out how to buy tickets and 15 minutes later we were in New York at 33rd and 5th. We wanted to buy tickets for the Double Decker bus tour. The Red guys and the Blue guys were battling it out for our business. The blue guy was so annoying he would not leave us alone to make a decision. He followed us all around and seriously I thought I was going to kill him but persistence pays and we bought our tickets from him. He told us he would split his profits which were $15 but we let him keep it all.

We took the downtown tour. We hopped off at China town, The Staten Island Ferry Stop where we saw beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and then Time Square. After our bus tour we went for dinner at Teds Steak house. Dad told us he passed by Ted’s everyday when he lived in NY as a teen and always wanted to eat there but was never able to afford it. I have to say my Filet was really good. After Teds we headed to the Empire State Building. 2 elevators later we landed on the 86th floor. Aliya was starving by this point so I nursed her on the top of the empire state building, how many people can say that! The views were, of course, awesome! Aliya only took two 20 minute naps all day. I was so impressed with her. She wanted to take everything in. Her first flight, first cab ride, first train ride, first time in NY, first time on the top of the Empire State Building, and first hotel stay! She finally went to bed at 11 when we arrived back at the hotel. What a big day for such a little girl!

Friday, dad headed to his seminar and mom, Aliya and I headed to the city. We first went to Macy’s 9 floors of shopping heaven. This Macys has 4 Starbucks, 2 restaurants, 9 floors, 8 elevators and so many things to buy. We spent most of our time on the 7th floor – baby dept! Mom had some business to take care of on the phone so we hunkered down in the dressing room where it was quite and she had a good signal. After moms work was done we jumped on the tour bus for the uptown tour. We saw central park, the MET, and Harlem. Mom was tired and Aliya was asleep so we didn’t hop off the bus and ended up right where we started. We debated taking the night tour but it was getting cold and mom and Aliya were tired so we headed back to the hotel. On our way walking in downtown toward the path station we used 8th instead of 6th and found Grays Papaya hotdog stand. Dad had been craving one since we landed in NY. We picked him up a “recession special.” 2 hotdogs and a cup of papaya juice $4. 95. I saw a really good bakery on the way as well and picked up a fruit covered cheesecake for mom, since it was her birthday. It was suppose to be a surprise so I asked her to wait outside but a minute late she snuck in and said she wanted to see the bakery too, So much for that surprise. We meet up with dad for dinner at Raaz, an Indian restaurant near the hotel and then ate the best NY cheesecake I have ever had. I wish I knew the name of the bakery because the cheesecake was so scrumptious. It was light and fluffy and decadent. It was honestly the best cheesecake I have ever eaten. Dad surprised mom with a dozen long stemmed red roses. Mom and Aliya headed to bed and Dad and I hit the Jacuzzi. After another night of earplugs, noise cancelling headphones and music I fell asleep.

Saturday, dad went to his seminar, Mom, Aliya and I woke up late and headed back to the city again. As we headed out of the hotel we saw a bridal party walk in and the bride was all made up with her dress in tow getting ready to have a memorable day. We decided to take the downtown tour again. We stopped at Bleeker Street to eat at Bleeker Street pizzeria. They were voted best pizza in NY 3 years in a row by food network. It was good but to be honest it tasted just like Sbarros pizza that you get at the mall. We went to an apothecary store and bought Rob and Adam tea. This store was so cool it looked like a witch’s store closet with glass vials and bottles filled with all sorts of spices and herbs. She, the owner, even had 2 cats roaming around the store, Olivia and Sophia. There was a street fair going on outside so we moseyed about checking everything out. It was so much fun. We jumped back on the tour bus and got off near time square. There were so many street vendors selling purses, perfume and other knick knacks. One guy had a huge sale where all his purses were $1! Mom asked if I wanted to buy any but I wasn’t about to fight the mob attacking his station. There were at least 40 women jumping over each other to get to the purses, something you would only see in NY! Instead of heading back to the hotel we decided to meet dad at the journal square station in NJ and head to India Town on Newark St. I fed Aliya at the station and she so sweetly pulled of the hooter hider and flashed me for all of NJ so see. Thanks Aliya!

We walked to Newark St and were hit with hundreds of Indians all around us! Mom took me to a mandir, a Hindu temple, it happened to be the kali maa temple, Kali maa is the black mother, a very powerful god who is known as the destroyer. It was very interesting to see the Hindu temple next to a halal meat store next to a vegetarian restaurant and all people living so peacefully and nicely together. We ate at the Dosa House. It was crazy busy but the food was aweseome. We had green peas dosa, dal, samosa, puri and mango lasi. Next door was the pun store. Mom and Dad said it was some of the best pun they have ever had. We picked up some more for maa and bapa. We ate pista kulfi, 2 for $1 and got some kara gulab jambo to take back to the hotel. We stopped in the grocery store and some clothing stores just to get a feel for the whole place. As Mom and I walked out of one particular clothing store we saw dad who liked to wait outside instead of coming in to the shops. But there was no Aliya! Oh S***!! Where was my daughter! Dad said we had taken her in with us but I swore he was going to watch her. I am in total panic mode now, not sure what to do next or where to go and out comes Aliya sitting peacefully in her stroller from behind the corner where dad had hidden her to scare me and mom. It worked! The last store we came upon there was a young girl and her brother selling bracelets and henna tattoos outside. I asked her how much one of the tattoos was and she said $2.50. I asked her how much she would sell me 4 of them for, thinking I would get a deal and she punched some things into the calculator and said 4 for $12.50! Not such a great deal! We went into the store and looked around when we came out dad was telling us he had been observing them. The girl had sold the tattoos for $1.50 to some other patrons. He like to watch her and her brother fighting about prices and sales. Mom had a liking for this girl and wanted to buy something from her so we decided on 2 of the tattoos. Mom had a $5 bill in her hand. When she told the girl the 2 that she wanted the girl instinctually said “okay 2 for $3” but changed her mind really quick when she saw the $5 bill and said “no, I mean $5.” Mom, dad and I had such a good laugh it was worth the extra $2 bucks! We got back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday, our last day and Eid, was a calm day we woke up and packed. In the morning Aliya was having tummy time on the bed and crawled to mom. I use the word crawled lightly, it was more like scooted a tiny bit. Aliya was so close to rolling over the whole trip as well but never quite made it all the way onto her tummy.

Mom didn’t know what to do with her beautiful roses so we took them with us and as were checking out in the lobby mom and Aliya saw the bride from the day before and gave her the roses. She was so happy she gave mom and Aliya hugs and kisses and thanked them for “making her day!” We walked around Jersey City and had a peaceful lunch. We walked around the mall and then took a limo to the airport. First class again for us! Seats 1A, B and E all next to each other in a row. I was so looking forward to another peaceful flight with Aliya but she had the devil come out in her. She screamed, not cried, but screamed for 20 minutes straight! I know everyone was thinking this was going to be the worst flight they have ever taken, including me! Nothing would calm her down! Finally she fell asleep, right before takeoff and was pretty quite the rest of the flight. We watched a movie on the plane, and mom was laughing so hard at one point she woke Aliya up so we had about 5 more minutes of crying.
Aliya’s first New York trip was awesome. She is awesome. I really want to thank Mom and Dad for taking us on the trip. I had a fantastic time. We love you so much! Thanks!
Aliya is a great traveler and I think she had an immense experience. She had a lot of firsts on this trip and I can’t wait to take her on a second trip!