Girlfriends are forever!

Y'know what they say, girlfriends are forever (not diamond ok, and I think I've just made that up :P)
Me and Marlia, we go waaaaaay back.
Back in primary school we went to different school (rivalry school though, same school different session), dubbed the best primary school in Kluang. At first she's kinda cynical, because her best friend had a crush on me (or some sort puppy love,whatever you wanna call it, we never date at all!) I remember her giving me a cold glance whenever I pass by her class.
That was standard 6. Oh, I forgot, she's also an athlete, particularly netball, hockey(?) err correct me if I'm wrong darling, hehe. So you get the picture, the popular one ;)

Amazingly, by form 1, we clicked instantly, went to the same school. We were literally inseparable, like sisters! Sleepover, double dates, yang paling tak boleh blah, we wrote to each other almost every day! Crazyyyyyy! So we shared our secrets,gossips, boys we had crush on (like any normal schoolgirl!), sometimes we'd go sulking for days. Man, this is starting to sound like a typical high school series except ours was a rated U (unrated for you overseas readers) version, hehe.

I'm glad that after all these years & separated for a couple of years, we're still the same. Still here for each other and now even our husbands are good friends! (Funnily enough, we both married eldest, footie fan, kinda reserved men)
They also love our children like their own ;) How cool is that?

There's more to write but I'll leave it at here, bottomline is, I just wanna express how lucky I was to have a girlfriend like her :) Here's to many more years of giggles, cries & wonderful memories to come!
<3

Little update after long hiatus

Been slacking off again. Not so much has happened the past few weeks anyway other than Zara been admitted on 23rd March for high fever which leads to febrile fit :(
It was the longest yet scariest 90 secs of our life which will be written in another entry soon.
Marlia blogged about it here right after she visited us. (thank you darling for being right by our side, you both know we LOVE you right?)

We don't really have so many friends but we know who they are & they're always there for us :)
Zara loves, loves having 'em around during those thoughtful visits.
Surely make us feel loved all those phone calls,smses, do'a & get well wishes!
My family came (that includes my brother, SIL & grandma) & brought laughters with them.

Most of all we thank Allah for blessings and reminder not to take high fever for granted anymore.
We're all prepared with thermoscan now ;)

          

          

On another note,I'm all geared up to focus on Aresha's reading lessons. Problem is she can read & thinks she can read.
She thought reading is about making up own words (especially her favorite books).
So, she excel in those books & clueless on other material. She has limited patience on spelling one by one. However there's one trick that works everytime. Spelling info on PHDC channel!
See, wasn't that easy to raise an artist. Understanding that little mind of hers take loadsa patience and mommy ashamed to admit sometimes she ran out of it :(

Haih, this is definitely random update. Am now typing away without specific direction on where the next sentence is heading to.

It's 2am now, off to la-la land! Keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow will be another entry! xox

So much for au naturel!

I'm aiming for natural products when it comes to nursing & baby gear so it's not a surprise when Zara chose 'natural' soother!

On another note,there are bound to be bumps & hurdles when introducing new stuff to your baby. I'm ashamed to admit that after two kids, and organic cloth diaper, mommy deliberately infected poor baby with nasty nappy rash!
When using diaper cloth, MUST change immediately when baby poo unless you want to cry a little everytime seeing the 'aftermath' of your 'little' mistake.
That's what I learn last week, thank you for reading!

the young artist

She has wild imagination and often caught talking to herself.
She could spend hours doodling/drawing/colouring.
We've come to a conclusion that even if she's not going to excel in academic, we'll encourage her to be an artist,  in any field she like ;)
Her drawings is beyond the tender age of six.
Darling, by now you already know how proud we are having such a talent in the family.

Mama's birthday

Last Sunday was mama's birthday. We had early dinner at Al-Rawsha. Didn't actually book a sitting room but since it's still early, we managed to secure a room which is soooo comfy & the kids had so much fun having a private space all to themselves! Missing Fara though, mama kept saying, wishing our youngest sister were there. Loving the red mint tea and the succulent Mandy of course!

Reaching for the stars

Day 1 completed brilliantly I must say, she's working hard towards her goals ultimately Barbie Rapunzel.
Amazing how 'little' push & motivation leads to positive outcome.
Thanks to Lu, the Beijing-based child counsellor for her advice ;)
Mind you,it's pro-bono and when I ask for help,we've just sat together for 10 minutes!

Will update more on the chart I'm working on, meanwhile I'm loving this!

Next,potty training Zara! Wuhooo!

Kids say the darndest thing ;P

Was cleaning up the kitchen drawer  & found a piece of paper where I scribbled some notes, bet this is at least 2 years old ;)

*As we watch the baby's sonogram
It's a girl!
Now, what's her name?
Girl!
Just girl?
Yes, girl!

*Then, when she realized, baby is a human ;P
What do you want to call her?

Pikachu!

Can I touch the baby?

Mommy, did 'adik' move?

Come, put your hands on my belly!

Wow! She move!

*Going through her old clothes
This is for  my sister :D

*She put on her old (fake) wool jacket
I can't get this (her hands) out!
It's too small sayang,
Ok, let's give it to adik!

Nature calling!

mommy's boys

we're tight alright!

luxury

ciggie break

pure luxury ;)

chef/organizer & her assistants

oozing with deliciousness

Royal Tennenbaum

Riverside rocks!

ever so accommodating host :)

We had fun alright! The best way to spend time with (incomplete) wacky bunch of the Rezas'

Ina did all the hardwork from booking to preparing barbeque. I must say, she did a great job!

Staying up all night playing Twister,cards & Bingo.

Oh man, can't wait to be reunited again, every 2 months, right, Mak? ;)

Later be a stupid girl

We were watching end credit of a movie with a band & female front playing a song for a wedding.
Aresha danced away in the living room.
So I asked, "Do you want me to send you to a dance class?"

"No,"

"Why not? You can learn ballet..."

"Don't want! Later be a stupid girl!" complete with a grin.

Oh my! What has dancing got to do with being stupid?
Where did she get that idea?

Cats DO NOT cause asthma

It makes me wonder how did people come out with a theory that cats(fur) causes asthma? I've read blogs and comments that no matter how much they love cats, when baby comes, they would give away their cat(s). It's sad isn't it?

I learnt't the hard way. Pre-baby we had a Kasut, 8 years old female cat, who loves me so much that she'd sleep the same pillow as mine & waited for me to come home everytime! When Aresha arrived, she wants to sleep with her too! Back then I didn't think of asthma, it's just Kasut is an outdoor cat. Her fur were always dusty. Being a new mom, I became paranoid and chased her away. Cats have feelings, this is for real, she left an never came back, used to look for food from the back door but after a while we couldn't even catch a glimpse of her. I feel bad and couldn't forgive myself :(

So, when we move out, the first thing we did was adopt one from SPCA as Aresha's birthday present. She's always been surrounded by cats since she was born and she knew how to take care of 'em at the age of two! Naturally, Bambi( the new cat) slept with her and now goes to school & come home together!

Aresha & Bambi

Eventually from one we have four, even Zara had her own, Tiger, who died before New Year :(
Tiger is much more special, he slept with everyone including guests who stayed with us. Cousin Eyda who came for few hours even remembered how manja he was :) In a stint of 2hrs, Tiger slept with her on the sofabed! When we adopt him from Mak, 2 months after Zara was born, we quickly decided he's gonna be the baby's cat. Little did we know, Tiger loves Zara so much that he lets her do whatever she wants without clawing or scratching her once! Zara would roll over, poke his eyes, most of the time they'd lie down together like brother & sister ;)

Zara & Tiger

It is important to teach your kids how to handle pets. It really pisses me off when the neighbour's kids tried to scare our cats by making doggy sounds "Woof! Woof'. We even saw them trying to step on those felines. The parents would just stood there as if the cats deserved to be treated that way.
One time I heard the other neighbour told a boy she babysits not to touch Bambi, because it's dirty. Oh my! No wonder kids these days treated animals like shit, they were told not to get near let alone keep one!

Kids were born naturally curious & love animals. If you don't like to keep pets please at least educate your children to respect them.

Here's a nice write up on Cats & Kids
also, Ain tweeted about Cats & baby can coexist

To be  honest, I think myth on cats causes asthma escalated by cat haters :P

Number ONE!

Lately I've been bombarded with the same question, every single day.
"Mommy, why you want more than one kid? I want to be the only one!"
I was like 'What?"
And she kept reminding me she's number one and Zara's number two.

Can you see where she's going at? She's numero uno, priority must be given to her. whatever I do, I have to put her first before anything else!
Why do I have to bear with such torment? I mean is it really our fault to plan the 4 year gap?
Come on, you're too young to obviously know that what we did was kinda a mistake?

Oh, don't remind me countless times she knocked her off while running.
"Oops, I didn't see her mommy,"
Of course, she didn't see poor little creature just right above her waist.
To scold or not to scold, to be angry or not to? I mean she's just a sucker for attention, be it constant eye contact or just " Why did you do that?"

I'm sure little sis will grow up to be tough cookie, I mean with that kind of training who wouldn't? And sometimes it hurts to see how she'd get up, and with a wide grin, like nothing happened.

Oh, this is a gentle reminder, do not, I repeat DO NOT say that her sister is cute.
She's the cuter one, baby sis, NOT cute. ;P

It ain't easy peasy, but you'll get through it ;)

This entry is dedicated to Ain ;) Congrats on your gorgeous baby Mariam!

When I was 12 I saw my aunt breastfeeding her baby and I was 'Yuck! That is so outdated!' If I were to have a baby, bottle is the way to go.

Little that I know, I'm very much a (self-proclaimed) breastfeeding nazi now. It all changed after we went to Ante-natal class by Jennifer from Jenlia Maternal Services. She opened my eyes on how important breastfeeding for babies (and mommies too!) I went from zero to pro-breastfeeding.

It's all in your mind, she kept telling us. If you WANT & DETERMINE to do it, YOU can! It's a myth that your boobies are too small, you're producing insufficient milk yada, yada, yada. You've got to get it your head, 'I want to do this, for as long as baby needs it' (2 years, max!) Be prepared, sometimes it's your loved ones that becomes obstacle in your effort of breastfeeding exclusively.

Tell them, you want to do this, no matter how hard it looks ;)

Breastfeeding is NOT easy. Especially the first week. I didn't have any problem the first night with Aresha. She latched on like a pro the first time but wasn't the same for Zara. I had the worst first night with her. She cried all night,  I'm literally drained out from all the sucking & not being able to sleep a wink! Please bear in mind that the first 3 days only colostrum came out. Your baby might not be satisfied with the yellowish,thick liquid but they have to suck it all out  before the milk came in.

To be honest I almost quit the first time when Aresha bit my nipple. Excruciating pain, bleeding & close to mastitis. I broke down in tears and refused to nurse from that side but that's not helping either. Engorgement is waaay more painful! We bought Medela nipple shield which didn't help much but when you get through that phase, it will be a second nature ;) That only lasted few days, it's not the baby's fault, you just gotta latch on properly. Make sure the baby open her mouth as wide as she can before shoving your boobies, voila! 

To think that if you've breastfed for 2 years, it will be a walk in the park for the second one, is also not quite entirely the case for me. Zara bit the same nipple Aresha did 4 years ago till bled, ouch! But this time I'm prepared. If that happens to you, apply few drops of breastmilk & let it dry.  Insya- Allah in a couple of days it will be as good as new ;) Also when your boobies engorged (in my case because I can't bear the pain to let her feed after the bleeding) try ice cold lettuce leaves as an instant reliever. Just place it on your boobs & you'll feel much better ;)

The first week is also crucial to just feed as much as the baby needs (feed on demand) Be it in the middle of the night, or just half & hour after the last feed. This is to enhance your milk supply because your body send a signal to produce milk when baby drinks frequently. I know one of the pantang (a big no, no) is NOT drinking too much water, if it means that you have to sneak in 2 litres everyday, DO it! That's what skuirtgun did with Aresha. Luckily mom & atuk totally understand after that & they always make sure I have enough supply. Read more on how to increase your milk here. Snack frequently, hot milo & 2pcs of cream crackers an hour before & after feeding would help tremendously.

That's just the first week, more tips coming soon!

At 4 months, we took her backpacking, no bottles needed,

meal on-the -go!

In the bus from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Bangkok.

Oh btw, I found these links very useful ;)
Babycenter & La Leche League

Better late than never!

I've always wanted to use cloth diaper but didn't start immediately after Zara's born until she's ONE!

Went to a shop in Bangsar Village & give Gro baby a try, as expected she did no 2 the first time!

It's quite easy actually, just remove the soil, don't worry about the stain.

Once you wash it (machine wash,hot) it will be gone!

So I've just got 2 sets & extra 2 soakers. She'll be disposable diaper-free starting from..... tonight!

Thank you uncle, you've just made my day!

Before reading further, please note that this entry is no way indicating that I'm not in favor of certain ethnic group but merely a frustration over things that I've experienced while shopping at JJ Maluri.

This is not the first but second over the span of 2 years.
Went to shop for groceries, MIL, SIL, moi et mes enfants.  Came totally prepared with trolleys from the carpark. Since it's 31st, we ordered our Baskin Robbins ice-cream first, carts parked outside. Some idiot stole one of them, MIL suspected a family who's waiting for their order as well.

I'm like WTH but not wanting to make a fuss, look for another outside.
Saw one being emptied and asked politely " Can I have this?"
Guess what? All I got is ," Sure, I've waited for it!"

D'oh! How would I know that you've waited for it, it looks like you're a family of that lady!
I'm really pissed! I mean how rude is that?
I was just asking, can't you just reply with,
"Sorry, I've waited for this," Spare your sarcasm please!

I'm not gonna tell ya where he came from, definitely one of those rumah haram!
If I were his 'kind' I'm sure he wouldn't be using that tone. Pfft!

I've never encountered such experience in OU (well anywhere in Damansara to be exact), not even at Pasar Pudu! Only in JJ, and last night I was hit twice. They roll their eyes, even when all I did was asking politely.

Oh yeah, the food & drink promoters (that offers samples on weekends) only gives out to their own people, whenever Aresha wants one, we gotta ask and wait.

I love this country, where sometimes I've been treated like illegals :P

Put a smile on your face

The death of eldest teacher's mom, reminded me that it's been more than two weeks since we last visited mama & papa. Since New Year to be exact. You don't know what you got till it's gone. To be honest, while witnessing the whole funeral process/juggling with two kids inside surau, keeping their voice down & abstaining Zara from flipping my baju kurung in public, I feel extremely guilty for not visiting them more often. Two weeks! What was I thinking?

I couldn't even sleep last night, other than the heat, I kept saying to myself " I could never forgive myself if mama's gone and it only takes 40 mins drive!"
I cried in my sleep, no joke!

The looks on mama & papa's faces to see us this morning is just priceless! Their faces lit up, smiling from ear to ear ;)

Such a joy to see their grandchildren et moi arriving. A million dollar couldn't match that.

Six!

So The Killers didn't become a part of our Anniversary celebration, boohoo! Unforeseen circumstances forced them to cancel Asian Tour BUT will continue doing Aussie, bah!

We've traded roadtrip to SG, Zam-Zam Murtabak, Badoque Cafe, meeting my SG girls, eye candy at Orchard, queuing to get the best spot of our stage front tix & having a blast at the gig with calm, yet private night out with our girls ;) I must admit it wasn't as fun, still bummed & in disbelief (yeah I'm bitter, so what?) but it's a blessing in disguise.

The kids had so much fun tho', Zara especially enjoyed her two feet wandering around the mall. Aresha being a big sister, carefully keeping an eye on her sister, wanted to hold her hand but the trigger happy baby sis refused to!

Anywhere with my loved ones makes me complete. And I did get to show-off my new purse! (Well, not really, by the time we finish, even the mall is about to close)

Being in the arms of my dearest & girls would be the celebratory dance for this year, yayyy!