House hunting

This has been harder than I thought. It is not that there are no spaces available, it is hard finding the right one in the right location. First of all, it seems 90% of the population lives in flats. With a city of 18 million people, this seems like the best way to go.
For me this is not an easy thing to accept as I am used to my beautiful home in the US with lots of space and a garden all around.
At the moment we are on the 11th floor of a 12 story building. The whole street is flats, and the next street and so on.
There are places where you can buy a house with a garden but it is not close to the center of town.

Initially the distance wasn't that big of a deal but with the polution and heavy traffic a few people pointed out that it is better for Omar to live relatively close to his school and activities.
The school is in Maadi, the club is in Zamalek and we currently live in Nasr City.
Maadi and Zamalek are outrageously expensive. Sure we can get something there but it would be very small.
We have until the end of April, which is when our things arrive from the US.
I like Nasr City, as the mall and the big park are right here. But I really hate the amount of traffic.
I love Zamalek, as it is right on the Nile and there is lots to do and everything is relatively close.
I also like Maadi, but all I have seen so far is Omar's school.

If you look at the pictures you can see it is a lot different than what I am used to. This is the view out of the dining room window. It is the street we live on. As you can see there are a ton of cars, the sidewalks are crap, it is impossible to walk on them with a stroller. The middle section of the street where the grass and trees are have a little sidewalk too which is a bit better but every couple of meters is a street lantern planted right in the middle of it so you can't walk on there with a stroller either!
The worst is probably the constant honking, Egyptians like the sound of their horn. It is ridiculous really. Every few seconds that horn has to honk, can you imagine all these cars and all that honking? And this lasts throughout the night, it goes on 24/7.

Today I finally ventured out by myself. As Ramy is out of town I really had no choice but to go out and go to the grocery store alone. I had put it off for a day but could no longer. All morning I was nervous getting ready for 'my big outing'. I know, it sounds crazy but I was scared!
Foreigners get looked at, whistled and honked at all the time, and it is only worse when Ramy is not with me.
So anyway, we got out and it was nice and warm out. I tried my best to stay on the sidewalk as much as possible. The supermarket is at the end of the street which is like walking to the Bloom supermarket from my old house in the states. About 15-20 minutes?
After some honking and stares later we arrived at the supermarket right as they were closing. I forgot it was Friday prayer! Ahhh. We had to wait an hour for them to reopen.
We then walked over to the park across the street to waste some time there but Omar was not in the mood. He wanted to go home. After a while he fell asleep and I stood and waited in front of the store until they reopened. It was lovely there too, people stopped and stared like I was a white ghost or something. After dropping half the things on the floor while pushing a sleeping Omar around I managed to get to the cash register. He told me I owed him 4 and 5 in Arabic. Did this mean 45 pounds or 54 as the Arabic writing is reversed. I couldn't really tell so I showed him my money and he took what he needed. Maybe not the smartest thing to do but I just needed to get out of there! Looking at the receipt which was all in Arabic wasn't much help either.
I was just glad to make it back to the building, overall not too bad of an experience I guess.
I do need to try to make it out more as Omar and I are extremely bored here in the house. He hardly has any toys here and I have nothing to do but try to entertain him.
The one planned activity we have is soccer on Sunday. This will be the first time I take a taxi on my own. I am already nervous!

Pre-school and new friends

We’ve been here almost two weeks now. It feels like we’ve only been here a couple of days though.
Time has gone by fast, at times I feel like I have done absolutely nothing and then at times I am so busy it wears me out.

Most of our time we have been spending at the club, as Ramy does his Taekwondo there. Doing things here take much longer than at home. We don’t have our car here so our only means of transportation is the taxi. Most things are on the other side of town which requires us to spend about an hour in the taxi each way. Rather than going back and forth we just decide to stay at the end of town for the whole day.

On Monday we had an appointment at a German pre-school for Omar. Ramy wants Omar to go to a German school, as he went to a German school here in Egypt and it really is the best education here.
Getting there wasn’t too bad I thought, we arrived in Maadi within half an hour. The trick was finding the street. The taxi driver couldn’t find it, not even with the directions given directly on the cell phone. We spent another 30-40 minutes before finally arriving. This didn’t give me a very good feeling. If the taxi driver couldn’t find it with arabic directions, what would make him find it with just me and Omar in the car speaking only English?

The school was European looking. The owner, Frau Yasmine was really nice. They also had a garden outside with a sand box which Omar loved. He is supposed to start on April 1st. Classes are 5 days a week from 9am-2pm.
They only are allowed to speak German in school. They are pretty strict about it.
Omar doesn’t speak any German which obviously concerns me. Ramy thinks he will do fine, and the teacher said it will take about three weeks for him to adjust.
The reason Ramy wants him in this particular school is that it is one of two pre schools that prepares the kids for the actual German school which starts at age 4. This is the school Ramy went to and it is very hard to get into. Of the 300 kids that apply each year only 50 get accepted. Each child is required to take a test. Now, acing the test doesn’t guarantee you getting in. Children with German parents or children born in Germany, parents with a German back ground or children speaking German all have priority.
Omar is required to take this test in 2010. The teacher feels Omar will have enough time to master the German language by that time.
We will see, if he doesn’t like it after two months or if he doesn’t excel I will pull him out. Pre school is supposed to be fun not military school. This place looks like a lot of fun though, and the teachers are very nice. At least that part puts me a bit at ease.
For his first day we are only going to go for an hour and I get to stay with him, then slowly we increase the hours. So it won’t be totally shocking to him.
Will keep you posted on the whole school thing!

Yesterday we were invited to a birthday party for Ramy’s friends daughter who was turning three.
When we got there the house was full of little children and toys, Omar couldn’t believe his eyes. He was shy for about two minutes before getting into the crowd and forgetting about me.
He made instant friends with another two year old boy named Aly. The party lasted four hours which is very normal here. Most birthday parties last all day! So I have something to look forward to when it is Omar’s turn. At the party I met most of the moms, they were all part of a baby group, like the play group we have back home. I met about 9 or 10 and most are foreigners married to Egyptians. They told me they meet twice a week for play group and then twice a week for soccer.
After the party we went to the club as it was right around the corner. Omar took a nap in the stroller for about an hour before we headed to the soccer field. At the party some of the moms told me that they hired a private coach to teach their kids soccer. Normal soccer classes start at age four and because most of the kids are around age three they decided to get a private coach and split the cost.
Omar was just waking up when the class started so he watched for the first half hour. He then went over and participated for a little bit. He was pretty shy but was happy to see his friend Aly.
After soccer we walked over to the children’s area and Omar had lots of fun playing. He actually was laughing and having fun with the kids. Finally I saw the old Omar emerge. We stayed until it got dark and then went home for dinner. Omar was exhausted but happy and took a mini nap on the ride home.

For most of the afternoon I talked with Heather from Texas, another woman from the US and Mariam, Aly’s mom who is Egyptian but has a French back ground and speaks only French with her kids.
I finally feel a bit happy and not so lost after yesterday’s day out. I am glad I made new friends and am part of a play group again.
Being at the play ground with all the new kids made me miss the kids from Omar’s old play group. They all seemed so comfortable with each other, playing, and hugging. It made me so sad as this is how Omar was with his old friends.
I know everything takes time and we are one step in the right direction!

Long day

After getting back to bed this morning, I did get a couple of hours of sleep in. We went to Giza to meet Ramy's step dad who had just opened a restaurant there. Giza is where the pyramids are. It takes about an hour to get there with traffic. It is funny, on the ride over a bus with school children passed us and they were very excited to see me. The yelled at me and waved and when I waved back at them they were so happy. I felt like a celebrity!

The restaurant is beautiful, Ramy's step dad had bought a palace and transformed it into a high class restaurant. We sat in the garden for most of the afternoon enjoying the sun. Then we went up to the VIP where we waited for lunch/dinner? to be served. I am not sure what people consider lunch or dinner here, as they usually eat really late and several meals. The food was fantastic and we had a good time.

After we left the restaurant we went over to Ramy's cousin who we had phoned earlier in the day to ask for a good pediatrician. She told us she would take us there. Apparently doctors offices are open at night after seven so we were going to go then. When we got there they had a spot open for 10.30pm. Can you imagine taking your two year old to the doctor at 10.30pm for a regular visit? It is very normal here. We got there a little before 10 hoping to get squeezed in earlier. The little children waiting to be seen looked tired. We did manage to sneek in earlier and Omar thought it was all lots of fun. The conclusion is that Omar has an ear infection on both sides. He prescribed anti biotics and we were off. We called in the prescription and they delivered it to the house. We were still at Ramy's cousins house and it was getting late. Omar loved it there, she has two boys and two girls around Omar's age. Play heaven!

They ordered sushi from his other cousins restaurant which was incredible, but it was just getting so late. It was his cousins birthday and Ramy also hadn't seen her in years so we couldn't just get up and leave.

It is a bit odd for me to eat dinner at 11.30 at night. Omar fell asleep on the ride back which was great so we'd skip the crying part. Traffic was still bad, I found out that stores and restaurants here are open 24 hours, you can shop till you drop and eat when you feel like it. The restaurants and cafe's were packed, people were out shopping for shoes and such. It was strange yet exciting!

Tomorrow we are going to the children's garden, I can't wait to see what they have!

Getting adjusted

Yesterday we went to the Gezira Club. It is like a Country Club sort of. They have any kind of sport you can think of. We had lunch there and took Omar to the children’s section which is huge. It is this incredible playground that seems to never end with little places to sit where waiters will get you anything you want, surrounded with tropical trees which make you feel like you are on vacation in an exotic resort. Omar had a blast and needless to say it was almost impossible to leave.
We stayed there for the whole afternoon and left around 8pm. It was very relaxing.
The weather has also been great, it is in the low 70s during the day but in the evening it can get quite chilly.
Getting Omar to bed hasn't been easy, he would not fall asleep until 3am!
I really hope his jet lag wears off soon.

Today we went to the Club again, had some lunch and went to the play area while Ramy worked out in the gym there. It was another lovely day and I was very excited as Omar finally ate a decent meal and was fever free.
We spent most of the day there before heading to the mall to grab some dinner. I do love how everything you order here is made fresh. It does mean you have to wait a bit longer for it but it is well worth the wait.

So what do I think of Egypt so far? As I have only been here a couple of days, it is rather hard for me to make up my mind. I do like the weather, the laid back attitude, how they treat foreigners like kings and queens, and I love the food. Most of the food I get in Holland is sold here, so lots of yummie stuff!
I like how there is a taxi on every street and they cost only a buck or two. Who needs a car then?
I do not like the pollution, there are so many cars on the road, they make up their own rules on where they drive and when they go. Traffic signs, stop lights are obsolete. They turn a two lane road into a three lane road whenever they feel like it. Oddly enough nobody runs into each other, and I haven’t seen any accidents. This city has 18 million people living in it, it feels a bit crowded!
Nobody wears seat belts or uses car seats. Omar has been on my lap on every taxi ride so far.
As there is so much traffic, everyone drives slow so I am not too worried about safety. Another funny thing is that in a public rest room a toilet lady sits at the door with one roll of toilet paper. She hands out a couple of pieces of paper to you when you go, sometimes they make you pay for it sometimes I feel obligated to pay. But why they don’t just put a roll of paper in each stall puzzles me. If she wants to make money then why not put up a sign to pay 25 cents to use the facility like they do in Europe?

I am trying very hard to get Omar back in routine, gave him a bath after dinner and tried to get him in bed. He finally fell asleep around 1am, crying his eyes out. Woke up a million times crying saying his face hurts. I now think he must have an ear infection as he keeps pulling his ear and jolting his head to the side. I gave him some motrin and he is finally sleeping. I can't sleep now so I am sitting here at 5.30 in the morning updating the blog. I guess I have to find a doctor first thing when he wakes up as he is in so much pain.
I am sure this will be interesting. Will keep you posted!

We are finally here

The trip was quite an ordeal. Omar got sick the day before we left, and I was hesitant to go but as we had already postponed once, I couldn’t postpone again. Omar woke up around 1am shaking and trembling, he was freezing. I held him and rubbed him for an hour until he stopped trembling and he fell back asleep. Then an hour later he woke up with a high fever. I think he must’ve been hallucinating, he was saying the oddest things, he was very hyper too. I gave him motrin, and an hour later his fever was still 103. It didn’t go down. Finally around 5.30am we managed to go back to sleep for two hours. I got about three hours of sleep and as you can imagine I was dreading the trip now.
The last two days leading up to this were very hectic, the movers were at our house all day long packing up everything. It was stressful on all of us. On the day of leaving, my cats were very upset. Omar was just sick so I couldn’t really tell what he was feeling.
It was such a chaotic situation, but we did manage to get in the car and head to the airport without forgetting too many important things!

It took a while to get everything sorted out at the airport with getting the cats checked in, and figuring out all of the excess luggage. We had a total of eight pieces to be checked in. Crazy!
But we did manage it all, thanks to a kind manager who was very helpful and my dear friend Melissa who kept Omar occupied and me sane at the same time.
The hardest part was to say goodbye, all morning long the phone was ringing off the hook and of course I had some tears to shed. And then to say goodbye to Melissa was really the hardest.
Waiting in the security line Omar got upset that she left and kept saying where did Melissa go?
He knew we were finally going on the big airplane mommy had been talking about for weeks.
Everything went smooth until we got on the plane. Omar had a huge fit, he cried and cried, screaming ‘Mommy come back!’. His way of saying ‘I don’t want to go’.
He did calm down after we took off, slept for a little bit and then we watched Thomas the Tank Engine. He was running a fever again and he threw up as well. I wasn’t feeling very good myself and had the one throw up bag that I could find handy just in case. Luckily I started feeling better after an hour or two. The last two hours of the flight, Omar slept. The flight attendants were extremely helpful, I was the last person to exit the plane, with a sleeping child and three bags, jackets in hand etc. They helped me carry my bags got me my stroller and made sure I was well taken care of.
I love KLM!!!

Our flight arrived earlier than expected, so my dad was still getting there. I made a quick stop in one of the stores to get some toothbrushes and browsed around a bit before heading out. Omar never woke up, he was out!
Finally my dad came and we headed over to my grandma’s house. Omar woke up and was hysterical. I could barely get him in the car, let alone the car seat. I finally resorted to holding him and he threw up again.
After being at my grandma’s for an hour he finally calmed down and got happy. I brought his trains and he played with those. My grandma had bought him a dvd which he watched for a bit as well. He played trains with my dad for quite a while, he liked that my dad smashed the trains together.
Omar and I took a much needed nap, and then a shower. My grandma made us an awesome dinner and Omar actually ate!
Then it was off to the airport again. I didn’t tell him we were going there, I didn’t want him to get upset again.
I had asked him a couple of times if he wanted to go on the airplane to see daddy and he consistently said no. He was still upset with Ramy for being gone so long.

Saying goodbye at the airport was hard, it was so great to see my dad and my grandma again but yet it was too short.
After going through customs we walked around looking at the shops as we had two hours before departure. Omar got real whiny again, I got him a train in the store which kept him occupied for a bit.
At the gate we had to wait a long time, finally when it came time to board, it was a mad house. Everyone was pushing and shoving trying to get on the plane. What ever happened to common courtesy? Omar had another meltdown, I can say this one was probably the worst ever. I had to take him out of the stroller and he refused. He threw himself on the floor screaming and crying, while we were standing in this huge crowd who were shoving and pushing trying to get into the plane. Of course nobody offered to help, I had the stroller, now four bags and a flailing child. I just started crying with Omar, I felt so helpless. I even yelled at him to just shut up, I couldn’t take it anymore. Finally a flight attendant came to my rescue, she took my bags and got us to our seats. Omar threw himself on the floor in the middle of the hallway, while everyone was still boarding and the flight attendant suggested to just give him a minute on his own. I then held him and rocked him until they closed the doors. Finally got him in his seat and he was a bit calmer until it was time for take off. He went nuts when I put his seat belt on. And it went on and on... we just weren’t taking off!
They then announced we had to wait longer because three more passengers needed to get on board. So I had to hold Omar again until he calmed down. It was such a nightmare. The best part was when we circling over Cairo, waiting to land. There were lights everywhere, it seemed like it was only early in the evening instead of 3am. We took a bus to the terminal and had to wait in the passport control line another 45 minutes. The guy who gave me my passport back was real flirty and I decided to take advantage of that and ask him if I can take my cats with me now. He went to look for someone to help me.
In normal circumstances they overnight until the veterinarian inspects them and decides when I can pick them up. Horus was so loud, he was screaming the whole time. Another guy came then and asked if those were my cats, I told him yes and he told me to follow him. Then he told me I pay him now and he will take my cats out. I felt like I was in some secret spy movie or something. I told him okay unless he took all my luggage as well.
He got another guy and they got all my stuff and went towards customs. I saw Ramy standing behind the glass waiting. At the customs they were unsure of what to do, they all gathered together, having some kind of meeting about it and because I was quite loud talking back and forth to Ramy they decided to let me pass without even checking a single piece of document.
I was very nervous at the time but also very relieved I got through!
Ramy’s dad said he was very happy we got everything as the normal procedure would have probably taken us six hours at the agricultural department to get the cats back.
I only gave the guy 20 dollars but in Egypt it is like giving someone a 100 bucks!
Omar went wild when he saw Ramy, he made these weird laughing noises that I never heard before. He was so incredibly happy! The fussing and crying stopped and he transformed back to sweet Omar.

By the time we got to the house and in bed it was gone 5.30am. It was lovely to sleep and we managed to get a good couple of hours in before getting up again.
That afternoon we took a trip to the supermarket and the mall. This mall called City Stars is huge. It has seven floors and just about anything you can imagine in it.
I had no idea this existed and it is only 5 minutes from the house. They even have a Starbucks but I haven’t gone in it yet. By the evening I was exhausted and so ready to go to sleep. Omar wasn’t tired at all and he finally managed to fall asleep around 1.30am.

We are moving!

The craziness has started. Today was day 1 of packing to move. They started at 8.30am and finished around 6.30pm. I didn't realize there was so much to pack!

Omar is doing pretty well all things considering. He enjoys jumping on the packed furniture.

Today they packed up the basement and the first floor, except the kitchen. They also did part of the master bedroom.

While Omar was sleeping they packed up all of his toys, I got some of it in a separate box which I will take with me on the airplane.

I also sold the Mustang today, so it seems to have been a productive day!

Only three more days and we are on our way to Egypt. I still cannot grasp the whole concept of it.

This morning I was very sad, the movers came and started packing and I just cried. I love my home. I know to some people a house is a house, but to me it is more than that. This is my home, my place, my sanctuary if you may call it that. A place I can't wait to get to after a day out.

This is the first house we build as a married couple, this is where we had our son. It is much more than just a house. This is where the memories are.

I am being sentimental I know, but why shouldn't I?

At the same time I am very excited to see what Egypt has to offer, and how different and interesting our lives will be there.

It has been over a month since I last saw my hubbie and my son misses him terribly.

I can't wait to see the look on Omar's face when he sees his daddy.

Now that we are through day one, my concerns have shifted to the long flight, which is 25 hours and how my cats will do. I am actually really anxious about it, I know Omar will be fine, but I have no control over what happens to my cats. We leave Thursday night and arrive Egypt at 2.15am on Saturday morning. We have a 14 hour!! lay over in Amsterdam. They told me they will be in a kennel there, which made me feel better, at least they will be taken care of. When we get to Egypt they will have to overnight at the airport until the examiner comes to work the next day, which according to Ramy can be whenever he feels like it. Just that part makes me nervous. My poor kitties will be in a crate for almost three days!

A good week ending not so good

We started the week off pretty good. On Tuesday we met some of Omar's play group friends at a coffee shop in Brunswick called Beans in the Belfry. We had never been there, and I was really surprised. It was a very cool, not your normal coffee shop. It was in an old church, very comfortable with couches and stuff, and a place for the kids to play. We were running a bit late as usual. Laura and Grayson were already there. Omar was very excited to see them! Later on Melissa, Ella and Ethan joined us as well and we enjoyed a nice lunch with some good conversation that I really needed. The kids had a blast together.

Then on Wednesday we took a trip down to the aquarium in Baltimore with his friends Daniel, Alex, Ella and Ethan. It was such a different experience this time around then when Omar was 10 months old. I enjoyed his enthusiasm very much and he loved looking at all the sea creatures. Towards lunch time he did have a small melt down and we all stopped to eat. Unfortunately the dolphin show was closed for maintenance which was disappointing.

Today we had a lazy day at home. In the afternoon Omar went into the other room to play with his trains but he didn't turn on the light as he was going nr.2. All of a sudden I hear this big bang and a huge scream, I was on the phone with Ramy at the time which I dropped, grabbed him and his forehead which he was holding and walk into the living room. I felt this warmness in my neck and when I pulled him from me, there was blood gushing everywhere. I couldn't even see one of his eyes.

I completely panicked, which made him more hysterical but I totally was not prepared for all of this blood as there is nothing in the room where he was playing that he could hurt himself on. Thoughts were racing through my head as I couldn't see where the blood was coming from, I thought it was his eye. Omar kept screaming he had a boo boo and that it hurt. I finally saw the cut on his forehead and started putting pressure on it while trying to call Ramy who was not answering. I called the neighbors who were not there either. Then I called Melissa who came right over and helped me calm down. She drove us to the hospital and Ramy met us there.

Things went pretty quickly from there, we were taken back and then the doctor had a look at Omar's cut. He took something, peeked inside of it and told us it needed a couple of stitches. Omar screamed and cried so hard it was heart breaking, he kept yelling at me that he was stuck and he wanted to go home. I think the needle and the thread that was dangling in his eyes totally freaked him out.

He was okay once we got home, I was so relieved Ramy was with us, and stayed with us as it made Omar much more at ease. Now we have to go to the pediatrician in 4 days to have the stitches removed. I am already dreading it!Lets hope the rest of the week will go a bit smoother.

Never a boring moment

I am not sure where to start. We've been kind of busy with little things here and there.

I have been enjoying my time with Omar very much, not so much the terrible two part, which is also interesting, not to say the least.

Omar is really into 'projects' at the moment, so we make beautiful pictures or paintings, or build towers with blocks, weird creatures with play do, or some other stuff like imitating a story from Thomas the train on his train table. What I also really enjoy is when Omar reads me story books instead of vice versa. He has a good memory and tells me pretty accurately.

The other day he really surprised me when we came out of the supermarket at night and while I was loading the car, he looked up at the sky and said 'look, the moon.' I was like, yeah, the moon. Then he said 'how did it get up there?' It totally surprised me, so I turned around and said what? He repeated himself and I just didn't have a response to it. I was not expecting the question at all.

Omar is growing up so fast, I was just looking at his baby pictures that same morning and now he is already two and talking up a storm!

We also had a lot of snow a couple of days ago, Omar loved it, we played outside for a long time, and made a big snowman. We did eventually have to go in because he got really cold. The next day it had all pretty much melted but I am sure we will have more snow days for him to enjoy! I need to get him a little more prepared as the snow pants from last year are way too small.

Dentist

Omar had his first dentist appointment today. I've been dreading this day ever since he turned one.
He absolutely hates getting his teeth brushed. I have to hold him down to do it and then it barely lasts a minute.
He loves brushing his teeth by himself but it goes nowhere and he ends up eating the toothpaste. We have gone through at least 10 different tooth brushes, including two electric ones.

We got to the office, and it was very kid friendly. Omar knew immediately we were there for him and he was very clingy. I had a really hard time filling out the forms. The waiting area was nicely painted with kid stuff, they had cool toys, a big TV with a kid show and two flat screen TVs on the side for games and stuff. Omar was not interested.

Then we got called to the room, I had to sit on the big chair with him on my lap facing me. The dentist then brought out this cool pillow with cars on it, and I had to recline Omar's head onto the pillow so he could have a look. Omar screamed but didn't move. As I suspected, the kid is getting cavities on the top front four teeth. Those are the hardest ones to brush, he won't let me near them.

The dentist then got some fluoride paste out that he put on the four teeth which will protect them for three months. So we need to come back every three months for that until he is around four. Everything else looks great, and I finally got to see his two year molars.
That was that!

The nurse opened a drawer with tons of little toys in them but he didn't want any, he wanted James the train I had promised him.
So off we went to Toys R Us and he was very happy.

I wish my dentist appointments went this smooth!

Finally

That's right! Omar is finally sleeping at night!
This is really strange for me as we have been getting up 3-5 times every single night for the past two years.
It was rough for the first 3 days, a lot of crying, kicking, hitting, screaming. All things I am not used to from him. He has never hit or kicked me before and all of a sudden he intentionally is trying to hurt me.
But after day three it got a little better, no more kicking and hitting, he would hug me again, then the crying stopped.
The past three nights have been so much better, and last night he slept through the night! He has only done that twice in his whole life when he was a little baby.
I did wake up like 5 times listening, looking at the clock, wondering if he was alive ha ha
The only problem is that he hates going to bed now.
Before he would ask to go to bed, he loved going to sleep. Now we are up reading books until 9 or 9.30pm, the door has to stay open and he has gotten scared in the dark! I had to pull out a night light.

This was pretty hard on both of us, but I think it was for the best.
The hardest part for me was that I could tell Omar thought I stopped loving him, or was rejecting him. And in turn it hurt my feelings that instead of letting me comfort him at night he would push me away and hit and kick me.
I am so glad we passed this stage and he is his own loving self again. It was tearing out my heart.

The new year is starting out pretty good!