Hermit crabs

Omar has three hermit crabs now, two small ones and one big one. the small ones are the size of a quarter(or a euro), the big one is the size of a softball? Maybe a bit smaller. As I did some research these little critters require quite a bit of work! I wasn't anticipating that. But alas, we got them a bigger tank and filled it with the appropriate things, including a humidity and temperature gauge. They seem happy, the big one already changed to a bigger shell and now seems huge. (and heavy)
After thinking long and hard about what we are going to call them we decided to go with cool dutch boy names. (As I am not sure if any of them are female and I don't really care for finding out)

So the big one is called Daan, the smaller two are Sjors and Koen. It was a toss if the big one was going to be Daan or Koen but after he escaped out of the cage last night he has become Daan. This morning I went to check on them and I couldn't find Daan, I thought maybe he buried himself but my cats were acting weird so I knew something was up. Although nothing was stirred on top of the cage. Then I noticed crab poop on the top corner, and the knife block had fallen down. I really didn't want to find a dead crab with limbs everywhere so I very carefully peeked behind the cage and there he was, intact and just staring at me. I guess the knife block caught his fall and his big shell protected him from the claws of my cats. What a little dare devil, I couldn't believe it. Now I stuck some heavy things on top of the lid, hopefully he will stay inside tonight. Here he is, mischievous Daan.

Isn't he huge? He is as big as the hut for the little crabs!

Omar really hasn't seen much of them as they have been hiding. I read that is a common thing to do as they need to de-stress from being taken away from their natural habitat to a dealer then pet store and finally my home. My cats are really fascinated by them though as the crabs come out at night to eat, drink and play. Here they are just staring at them walking around.

All we need now is a crab the size of Daan so he has a play mate and a good spot for the tank where the cats can't jump on it but Omar can still enjoy watching the crabs.
The fun thing about them is that they eat just about anything we eat (besides dairy) So they have had carrots, pears and dried fruit and tonight they are having banana.

They can live up to 15 years in good living conditions so that sounds promising!

I know, not much about Omar but these are his first pets, so I thought I'd mention them!

It has been a busy two weeks

With getting things ready for our trip and doing all the other stuff in between. And with the weather being too hot to play outside its been a challenge entertaining Omar. Luckily he doesn't mind running errands with me.

We went to see the fireworks on the 4th of July with his friend Ella. It was a miserable day with rain and thunderstorms off and on. We were very lucky we didn't get wet and still managed to see the fireworks. Omar absolutely loved it, he was running everywhere and pointing and laughing. It was really cute.

On Saturday evening we went to the park because the band Milkshake was playing again. Omar fell asleep on the way over and woke up close to the end of the concert. It was really crowded and hot. Some of our friends were there, but he was not interested in them at all when he woke up. He was tired, hungry and hot, so you can imagine his mood!

We had play group yesterday morning. Omar had so much fun with his friend Ella, they played piano together, had a screaming match of who can scream the loudest, and the cutest thing, they kept hugging and kissing each other until Omar bit Ella in the arm!
Then they started running up and down the hall screaming each others name. Ella tripped and hit Omar in the eye with her chin, so Omar's eye is red and swollen.
At the end of play date, both kids had some battle wounds.

After play group we had to take Ramy to the airport for his trip to California. Omar and I stopped for lunch in Rockville and then visited some friends before heading home. As there was no traffic we stopped at the pet store for cat litter and believe it or not, came home with a hermit crab. Omar thinks he is very interesting and so do my cats.

As I read up on hermit crabs last night they like to have friends so when we drove to the supermarket this morning we quickly went into the pet store and got two more. When we got home Omar saw Ramy's car in the garage and got really excited. He looked for him in the house and when he didn't find him he started crying. It was so sad. He did this once more when Ramy called, he got on the phone with him and started crying again.
I don't think he is feeling very well, he's been having diarrhea off and on and hasn't been sleeping good. His diaper has been soaked at nap and night time and he wakes up drenched.
He went to bed an hour early tonight, I really hope he feels better in the morning.

Fingers crossed!

Omar's new tricycle!

This was a totally not expected buy as we went to the toy store to pick up a DVD for a friend. We passed the bicycle section and all these kids were there driving around. Of course we stopped to look and noticed a lot of little kids on tricycles. I took Omar out of the cart and let him try out all the little bikes and stuff and he had a blast. We stayed a lot longer in the store as planned as there were a lot of other little kids that were also playing around there.

It seems that I am always the last to think of things that Omar is old enough for now, so when I saw him climb on this tricycle, he put his feet on the paddles and tried to go! I was very excited and couldn't believe it, he is not a baby anymore. I let him try out all the tricycles they had and then he picked one. I let him ride on it for a little while longer to make sure he liked it and he did. It must be the dutch blood in him that he just put his feet on the paddles and started going haha

We bought it and back home he rode it outside for a bit until dinner time.

Yesterday we had his friend Ella over for dinner and they both had a lot of fun with it outside, then they didn't want to part with it and it came inside.

So today Omar has been riding it in the kitchen. (I actually took a go on it as well)
Here he is with his new little bike this morning in the kitchen. My little dutch boy.

The haircut saga continues

We have had our ups and downs with getting Omar's haircut. It all started when Omar was about 5 months old or so and I went to get my hair cut. Omar's hair was already long when he was born, but he was a baby so it was cute. My hair dresser didn't think so, and made a couple of comments that I totally did not appreciate. To top it off, when Omar was on my lap she insisted on at least trimming his hair and before I knew it, snip, snip she was at it! In situations like this I tend to get quiet, but did manage to ask for a little envelope to save Omar's first hair cut. Another remark came, but she did give me the envelope. Needless to say I never went back there, and when I got home Ramy was a little disappointed to see Omar's baby hair had been cut.

As the months went by, I decided to purchase a professional hair clipper and trim it myself. Omar didn't seem to mind so once in a while I would trim his hair and slowly it became shorter and shorter. When his first birthday arrived I finally took him to Cartoon Cuts. They specialize in cutting only children's hair. It wasn't a great hair cut but it did for now. Figuring I'll ask for someone else the next time it would be better. And it did, the next lady, who seemed to be the manager did a pretty good job.

Then about a month later we went for another haircut and a woman that I had never seen before cut his hair. I did not like her but Omar didn't seem to mind as he was watching the TV they had there. All of a sudden Omar started fussing and then crying and got really upset. I wasn't sure what was going on until I saw blood. She had cut him above and around his ear. I told her to stop that it was enough and we left. I was very upset but I am not the person to make a scene, so we paid and left. In the car I noticed Omar was bleeding pretty bad, she had cut him three times near the same ear. Thank God I told her to stop. After going back and forth on what to do, I went back and talked to a manager and complained. They refunded me the hair cut and of course, we never went back.

I kind of had given up taking Omar for hair cuts after that, but then one day as we were passing the shopping center next to my house, I decided to stop at the hair salon there and ask if they cut kids. Luckily this really nice girl Jessica had just started working and only cuts kids. I was so happy and took Omar the next day. he loved her, and she did a great job! For the next couple of months we would see her every three weeks, and Omar got to have a lolly pop after each hair cut.

When we called two weeks ago, she had quit! I was so upset, but they assured me this other girl was just as good. We got there and had to wait a long time, then finally a different woman told me she would cut Omar's hair. I did not like her, and she didn't look like she could but we went ahead and tried her. I don't have to tell you that she did a horrible job, Omar screamed bloody murder, cried the whole time clinging to me for dear life. His hair cut looked like crap! I was very disappointed and now we are in the same boat as before. No hair dresser for Omar.

So today, after he fell asleep I just couldn't bare looking at those patches on his head and pulled out the clippers. I did my best turning him around, here and there while he was sleeping. As the patches were so short I had to go one size down on the clippers so the sides are shorter than normal. He didn't wake up and it was actually quite fun to do! At least the patches are gone;)
Here is a picture of him after the hair cut and still sleeping away.

And here he is awake with his new do! What do you think? Should I become a hair dresser? :)

What a night

I am still a little upset, but here goes. Omar was having a nice dinner, and for dessert I gave him cut up strawberries. I don't cut them very big, in eight pieces and he always does fine with them. Not tonight obviously. I got up to put the dishes away and I hear him choke. I run over to see what is going on and he is really choking on a piece of strawberry! I try to see how bad it is and then he throws up. Thinking that is it, he gasps for air and is clearly still struggling, I am then totally panicking and call for Ramy who comes right away. We are both panicking so he calls 911. I don't know why I could not do anything as I have done infant and adult CPR and first aid. I just didn't know where to start, what to do, what the fastest thing is to do. Ramy is on the phone, Omar is still throwing up and and gasping for air so I run outside hoping someone is out there that is going to help. I couldn't find anyone, I hear Ramy yelling for me, I run back in and Omar had finally spit out the strawberry piece. You have no idea how horrified Ramy and I were. There was throw up on everything and everywhere. After double checking Omar's breathing I took him up and stuck him in the bath tub, clothes and all, while Ramy cleaned up the huge mess in the kitchen. As soon as Omar got out of the bath, the police was at the door to make sure he was okay. We went over the infant Heimlich and CPR with the officer who was really nice and made me feel much better. I am glad they came to check on us.

Omar was exhausted after the whole ordeal and went to sleep right away. I just sat there looking at him and stroking his hair, thinking the unthinkable, what if?

In all my 9 years of taking care of children I have never had a child choke on anything. I probably experienced everything else, but no choking. I thank God Omar is okay and I hope we are done with the big scares for a while!

Daddy day

We had such a nice day today, Omar got to spend a lot of time with Ramy and he loved it! Ramy took Omar to his swim class today. Omar had fallen asleep before we got there, but when I took him out of the car he woke up and got really excited. He saw the pool and daddy! It was colder than yesterday so I put a little swim shirt on him, hoping it would help in the water. But it was very cold and Omar was shivering. Nonetheless, he had a good time with Ramy and tried his best. I took him out of the class 5 minutes early because he was just so cold. Even after rubbing him and changing his clothes, he was still cold. When we got home Ramy went to take a shower and Omar was still shivering! I couldn't get him warm so I put him in the shower with Ramy. Oh boy, what fun Omar had, he didn't want to get out! He got to use Ramy's shampoo and body wash, and he felt like a really big boy! It took some crying but he did finally come out after about 20 minutes in there. Omar had so much fun with Ramy this morning that after the shower he gave him a big kiss and hug. It was very sweet. Ramy had to go to work then, and Omar went and took his nap. He took a really long nap, three hours. It was very nice, I got to make dinner while he slept. By the time he woke up we played outside for a bit, and he found a box had been delivered to the door. I had ordered him a blues clues mini magna doodle for our flight to Holland. When he saw the box, he was so excited, he started screaming blues clues, so I had to open it and give it to him. So much for a great surprise on the plane. He played with it for the rest of the night. Ramy came home early, so we were able to all have dinner together and Omar got to play with him before bed. We all went down to the basement together so Omar could play a little. Ramy and I had a good laugh as Omar entertained us with singing and dancing from his favorite arabic dance dvd. It was really cute and I wish I would've video taped it. Omar was so excited that he didn't fall asleep until 10pm, holding his blues clues magna doodle!

Taekwondo

As you know, we had a photo shoot at our Taekwondo school last month. Well we finally got the pictures yesterday. I think they turned out really nice so I wanted to share them with you all!

I can't wait for Omar to start taking real lessons!

First swim class

Omar started his first swim class today. It actually started yesterday but we were unable to make it. We got there really early as I thought class started at 9.15am, it turns out it didn't start until 9.35am so we had to keep Omar busy for a half hour. Omar went wild when he saw the pool. He is usually such a calm child but not when it comes to water. He was running all over the place, going inside to the kiddie pool then running outside to the big pool. Ramy would chase him inside and I would chase him outside. As there were classes going on we were not allowed in the water, so it made it even harder to contain Omar until class time. It was quite a work out, it was already hot and humid outside so we worked up quite a sweat. Finally it was time for class. Ramy took Omar in to the water while I video taped. The class had five other little kids in it and two instructors. They were very nice instructors, Omar had a really good time with Ramy. When the class was over he didn't want to come out of the water so Ramy swam with him a little until the life guard told him he really needed to come out. Omar was very upset again, but quickly calmed down when I got him dressed. He was exhausted! In the car he just sat really quietly and when we got home he asked to go to bed!

Tomorrow is swim class again, but then I have to take him by myself. I am wondering how I am going to handle him without Ramy there.
We have swim class every morning for the next two weeks, I know Omar will have a blast!

Milkshake concert

Omar went to see his first concert today. I actually never heard of this band, but one of the mom's from play group had emailed it out to us and it looked like a lot of fun for the kids. As Omar loves to dance I thought it would be great for him to go. They also had Dora the Explorer, Sponge Bob and Elmo! I had to have Omar go on the picture with them! I had to wake Omar when we got to the concert, so he was not really in the mood for loud music. Dora the Explorer looked rather scary so I didn't even let him get close to her. We got a balloon which he loved and a deputy sticker from the Sheriff that was there. After the first show was over, we all went to eat at the Mediterranean Grill. We had to wait forever for our food and because it was so crowded we were sitting outside. It was pretty hot but the kids all did great, they sat for over an hour and did really well! Omar was still a bit crabby, but when he started eating and the next concert started playing he really got in a good mood. He had brought his little drumstick from home and was drumming and moving to the music while eating his lunch. I am so glad we went, Omar was happy to see his friends Grayson, Bethany, Ella and Griffin again. I absolutely love our play group, I think Omar and I are extremely lucky we are in this play group as Omar loves each and every child in there, and plays really well with all of them. He can even say all of their names except Kaitlin's, but he is working on it. His favorite name to say is Grayson, and he gets all excited when he sees his picture, he calls him Kraykon. I love all the mom's, we all get along so well, there is no rivalry or other weird stuff that I have experienced in other groups. They are so supportive and I know I can always get an honest opinion or some sort of parenting help whenever I need it.

Later in the day we drove to Ramy's mom and had dinner there. It was very nice, Omar had a good time taking everything out of the cabinets and playing with everything he is not supposed to play with.

Now all I am hoping for is a good night sleep and we would have a perfect ending to this day!

Close call

Today we met Ella and Bethany at the park. Omar was very excited to see his friends and to be at the park. We had a good old time, the kids played nice together, going down the slides, and playing in the sand boxes. Then something happened. Omar decided to go to the other side of the park, which was fine because it is fenced in. I looked over and saw that the gate was closed. I thought he was just going to play in the sand box with the other kids that were there from a day care.
Next thing I know I look over and he is gone. Then Melissa says, is that Omar over there? Someone from the day care had opened the gate and not closed it so Omar had escaped. Which isn't that big of a deal had he gone the other way but he was heading straight for the road. We all started screaming his name and I was running like crazy trying to get to him. He saw me running so he thought it was a game and went even faster. I looked to my right and saw a car coming, at this point Omar had gotten to the road and was in between the cars. I was screaming so hard for him, and all I could think is why am I wearing these darn slippers and not shoes????
As Omar was about to emerge onto the road I howled his name in such panic that he stopped and looked at me for a second, which was enough time for me to get to him and sweep him up before the car did. Thank God the car was slowing down as I think the driver must have heard my screams. He could not have seen Omar. This must have been the worst experience for me ever, as it seemed I could just not get there fast enough and by God I ran! How did this little 18 month old get to the road so quickly, I don't look at him for one second and something like this happens. Thank God we are all okay, I am still a bit shaken up about it. I had to think about this little boy that got run over by a car last month who was the same age as Omar. I am very upset that a day care can be so careless by leaving a gate open while they have a responsibility to take care of other peoples children. I made a comment about that and the day care workers just looked down and didn't answer. I wonder if they were embarrassed.
I will not forget this easily let me tell you!