July/August 2003

6th: Our sweet baby doll was here for a week, and I’m already missing his warm cuddliness. Rabia was out a lot, and he mostly stayed calm and happy but would sometimes get fussy, at which point we'd all panic 😂 He is fat and beautiful – dimply elbows and knees, round little toes, pudgy thighs, and perfect hands. His big toe is insane – it can probably control the universe. It has to be seen to be understood. He looks at us and smiles, and he adores mama (as well he should!) When we take off his diaper, he waves his feet around so much – I was leaning over him today and he put both feet on each side of my face – so cute 😊 He has a Kick N Play that he loves, and I always sing along – he LOVES Bingo. Can’t stand how cute he is. After he leaves, I always hear phantom baby shrieks around the house (that wasn’t meant to sound spooky!)

We had given Shoaib a going-away (to UGA) tailgate party, and the piece de resistance was Aden, dressed in red UGA shorts and a t-shirt that read "I'm a little bulldog" - sitting in a styrofoam UGA cooler 😂 (with no lid, of course - and he was sticking way above it, so it was mainly just a booster seat!)

9th: It’s my birthday, and Rabia called with an extra gift – Aden’s laugh! He just started laughing this week, and today started responding to tummy tickles! It was the sweetest sound.

I’ve been missing daddy terribly. The only thing that makes it better is holding Aden – when I hold him, with his head on my shoulder, it’s as though there’s nothing wrong with the world. He’ll never know how much he saved us ❤

11th: So today’s Aden news: he giggles when tickled under the chin or in the armpits. Also, Rab washed him in his tub for the first time (he’s getting too big for the sink) and he completely loved it – slapped around his feet so much that he drenched his face and Rabia’s! 

27th: Went to see our baby doll yesterday 😊 He now wants to interact – smiles when we play baby games with him, and kept smiling and then ducking his head, as though he was shy! Aden also has this incredibly cute baby sound, that’s part sigh – “hhhhuu.” 

August 16th: Aden was here last weekend, and will be back in about an hour 😊 He was unbelievable cute last weekend, and we didn’t know how were not going to see him for weeks (this weekend’s visit was last minute.) He talks to us now, so earnestly and intently, like we’re making great conversation. He’s so excited when we baby talk back! One afternoon, his parents were gone for brunch, and I took Aden to sit outside on the deck for 20 minutes, and I’ve thought about that every day since they left. He stares intently at the trees at the very back of the yard. When we were sitting down, he started playing with my hand that across his chubby little stomach, then he peers to the left and wraps his little fingers around my left hand and pulls it up around him too – it was too cute for words! Rabia dressed him up in the outfit with the red cap that I got him from Cincinnati, and they took him to Perimeter mall for a couple of hours. Rabia sent a picture of him in that outfit via email, and mama said she was going to pass out. Thank God he’ll be here soon!