my little angel's journey

Moved...

2009-12-02T22:41:00.002+08:00

Hi All, I have moved to a new blog :

http://phatmummy.blogspot.com

reason : nothing, just realized that my blog yantie + edie = yantiedie
could also be read as yantie die...
choyyy!!! heh...

so, hope to see u there!!! :)

Maternity

2009-11-19T08:50:00.004+08:00

I was driving when I heard the hot chat segment on hot fm regarding English misinterpretation. And this brought to mind, one particular incident involving The Lovely Person (TLP) and The Other Lovely Person (TOLP). Names are not revealed to protect their interest. Heh.

This incident happened in SOGO. As usual, during sale, we were frantically shopping when I come across a lovely blouse.

Me : Cantiknya blouse ni...(and come closer to have a look. TLP and TOLP is right by my side)
Me : Ala, baju maternity la pulak...
TLP and TOLP : Oh...

(and we walk away)

Me : (suddenly remebers that TLP often misinterpret meaning of words)
Me : TLP tau ke baju maternity tu apa?
TLP : (in all honesty) I know...I know....tu brand baju yang mahal tu kan
Me and TOLP : stood motionless for 5 seconds than burst out laughing like hyenas. I think our peal of laughter could be heard all the way to Pertama Complex.

Sara : 10 months

2009-11-18T10:37:00.003+08:00

Its been a while since Sara went to the clinic (2 months to be exact), so we have no idea how much she weigh. Last week, she went to the clinic with Nenek (Mommy has a meeting) and guess what? She weigh 9.2 kgs and only 74cm in lenght (I guess she's gonna be petite, like her Mak Tok ;p)

She can crawl for almost two weeks, so now she has moved in to another phase, the trying-to-stand-up phase. If she get a hold on something i.e sofa, chair or even Atuk, she can stand up on her own. Her struggling face to stand up (complete with sound effect) is too cute to watch ;)

Her favourite TV commercial is everyone connects by TM. She'll drop whatever she's doing upon hearing the Bunkface's song in that commercial. That one time, she was already asleep when the commercial aired. She opened her eyes, watched the commercial and rolls to her side and falls asleep the moment the commercial ended. Cuteness overload.

She knows a lot of things now. She can point to flower, butterfly, cat and she even knows how to differentiate between the TV remote and the fan remote. She'll hold the remote in her hand, point upwards for the fan remote, and point to the TV for the TV remote. My baby is a genius. Haha!

What else...Hmm, at 10 months, she knows her nose, her head, she can crawl and get her comb and proceed to comb her own hair. She seems to know a lot of things, and I'm pretty sure she understands us most of the time. She knows how to reason and can be patient if we talk nicely to her. For example, when I put her in the high chair and she's all excited to eat, but her porridge is still too hot for her. She'll start to scream and sort of get mad like"I want food now!!!" (so like Mommy, always impatient when it comes to food). I'll just say, "Sara, be patient. It's too hot for you. Wait, okay" and she'll calm down. Gotta love her for that. :)

And last but not least, her physical aspect. Her hair got soooooo long, we have to tie it "pokok kelapa". With her big round eyes, she looks just like a samurai. Heh.

Sexy Baby

2009-11-09T15:58:00.004+08:00

I have a list of things that I want my kid to learn. One of it is swimming. Since I can't swim (don't know why, but my body just refuse to float. Heh), I am adamant about the fact that all my child have to know how to swim. So, to kickstart this ambition, I bought Sara her first swimsuit.

Hah! Too cute, I know :) Here's to hoping Sara and Mommy will finally go on the swimming lesson I always wanted. It's kinda hard to find a place for swimming lesson for mothers with babies in this area. Suggestion, anyone?

Smoke gets in your eyes - in my case, they went straight to my lung...uhuk!!uhuk!!

2009-11-02T17:06:00.008+08:00

You'll never guess what tempted me to write this post. Well, this post is written to rant about my beloved b*ss who smokes cigars (cheap ones, and they smell like trash!) in the office. Personally I do, sincerely, I do understand the need to smoke, the addiction to it. I'm not complaining about smoking per se, I'm simply mad to those who smokes in public places, to those who smokes in air-conditioned, confined spaces.

I don't hate smokers, majority of smokers I know are very good people with pleasant personality. What I hate about smokers is when they have utter disregard for other's health. Don't you guys know that the smokes you emit can do harm to us, the non-smokers?? Have you no brain inside that big head of yours? Or have your brain gone poofed, along with the smokes you puff everyday??

I still remember this one incident (please keep in mind that this happened when I was only fourteen, hence the language. Heh)

This incident happened in a bus full of passengers. My friend and I were lucky enough to have a seat. All was good, until suddenly, one teenage boy in his school outfit (SMK Teknik Kulim..haha) started to lit his cigarrette and proceed to pour the ashes on top of my friend's head. The hell???

Me : I thought this is a non-smoking bus
Him : Kecoh aa lu minah. Lu ape hal??
Me : Hmm, tak sangka babi pandai berkata-kata
Him and all the other passenger on the bus : ..........
Him and all his friends after 10 seconds : Macamla bagus sangat!!! Blah la lu!! (and all other sentence in that form) Me : *Whatever. I feel victorious. Bluekkkk!!!*

KATAKAN TAKNAK PADA MEROKOK!!

Bad Mommy!!!!

2009-11-01T13:25:00.002+08:00

I am known for my complacent attitude, my wait-n-see outlook in life. For example, I know that Sara can crawl and we've taken safety measures by sleeping on a mattress without bed (on the floor).

However, silly me left her upstairs WITHOUT closing the room door which is just adjacent with the stairs. What if she got up and crawl to the stairs and fall down 20 steps??!!! I'll kill myself if I let that happen. Gahhhh!!! Bad Mommy!!!

Must.Never.Let.That.Happen.Again.

Baby Food : Congee with Soup

2009-11-01T13:15:00.007+08:00

Since earlier this week, Sara seems a little bit bored of her usual meal. So, I decided to introduce her to congee with soup. Yum!!

My recipe is quite simple, really.

1 small shallot
1 small garlic
2 cups of water
2 large pieces of poultry (chicken/meat/fish)
Approximately 2 tablespoon of veggies (carrots/potatos/spinach)
Approximately 1 tablespoon of celery
1 tablespoon of oil
A teenie weenie bit of salt

Heat the oil. Add the shallot and garlic and fry. Add water, wait to boil then add poultry and celery. I usually add the veggies when the soup is almost cooked to retain the nutrients. Since Sara isn't teething yet, sometimes I'll blend the poultry and veggies with her congee.

My current addiction ;)

2009-11-01T10:32:00.000+08:00

I feel somewhat ashamed admitting this, but I am now officially an addict to this :

It has been a long time dream for me to own a cute little cafe (because I like cooking cafe meals). Tak dapat own yang real pun, virtual pun jadilah ;)

Papadom rocks!!

2009-10-31T09:05:00.001+08:00

Last Wednesday night, my sister, hubby and I went to watch the much talked about Papadom. And I have to say that it does live up to its reputation.
Personally, I think it is Afdlin's best movie yet. The father-daughter relationship is so heartwarming to see. The comedy scenes were also refreshing to watch, there were no slapstick jokes thrown around. Even Harun Salim Bachik who is known for his somewhat slapstick jokes manage to tone down his usual spirit to more suit the humour in this movie.

Norkhiriah, as always was wonderful. Vanida looks sooooo beautiful and I think no other actress could have played the character Miasara better than Liyana Jasmay. Sure, she can seem precocious and a bit pretentious at times but hey, it works with the character.

I also love Que Haidar in this movie and I think he has potential to become a very good comedy actor. One more thing worth mentioning is Mia's bestfriend, Yvonne. I think Chelsia Ng is a great actress who is greatly under-estimated by lots of people. Farid Kamil and Scha were good, but that is to be expected.

I would have like to see more of their relationship while Mia is growing up. For example, the first time Mia got her period. That would have add more depth to their relationship, I think. I would also like to see more of Mia's friendship with Yvonne and maybe more information on Saadom's and Mia's extended family. A Nenek or Opah would be nice to see ;)

I was switching from laughing and crying throughout the movie. Overall, I think this movie is on a different league than all movies in Malaysia, no wonder they bagged all the major awards in FFM. Papadom rocks!! and as he said, Power to the people ;)

She Crawls!!!!!!

2009-10-30T08:33:00.002+08:00

Yeay!!

Bibik - extra help or extra work?

2009-10-29T12:38:00.000+08:00

I have heard soooo many talks about having a bibik (maid) in the house. Some agrees that its good having an extra set of hands around, some argues that teaching the maid to be competent is a hard task on its own. Honestly, if it was up to me, I am somewhat reluctant to have a maid living in the house (macamla rajin sangat ;p). But, one look at my mom's exhausted face every time we reach home after work convinced me that we do need a maid to help her around the house.

We have gotten our maid for two weeks now, and she's like God's gift from heaven. The first day she came, we gave her some time to adjust but already she insisted on cleaning every room. Heh! The next day, she vacuum and mop the entire house. Then, she clean every room and she does all the cleaning with an enthusiastic spirit, and the best thing is, we don't even have to ask!

Of course, we paid quite a hefty sum to get her, but I'm glad to say that each cent is well spent. Even Sara can get along with her (and we all know that Sara hates strangers!). She's also a fast learner, for example, she caught us ALWAYS talking to Sara in simple English instead of Malay, so the first time I left Sara and bibik alone (I was actually spying from upstairs), I caught her playing with Sara and singing twinkle-twinkle, brother john and when Sara started crying, she would soothe her and say, "Sara, don't cry...come, we see bird" and carry Sara to the backyard to hear the birds chirping.

Okay, I know it has only been two weeks and she is still on her best behaviour but I believe she is sincere and again, thank God we have her. Having said that, until now, we haven't left her alone with Sara in the house. I guess I'm not ready to do that just yet.

Happy Birthday to me!!

2009-10-27T09:32:00.004+08:00

PhatMoMMy has turned 29. One more year to the dreaded three-oh. Overall, I think I am where I want to be in life, hmmm, lets see...on my checklist:

a husband (checked!)
at least one baby (checked!)
a stable job (checked!)
a house (checked!)
a car of my own (checked!)
a whole lot of money to spend - this, I'll have to postpone until I'm forty :(

My mom told me that out of us three siblings, I was the only one who never missed out on a birthday celebration from I was one year old until I finished primary school. After that, since I was in boarding school, we only celebrate my birthday if I'm back at home. Back then, each and every celebration was special. A must. But now, as I grew older (erk!) there are more important things in life than having a big party for my birthday.

This year's birthday is extra special for me because I am now a mommy. I don't care about presents anymore, I have the greatest gift in the world :)

Happy Birthday Mommy - she says with fingers crossed...
Hmm...now what does that suppose to mean?? :)

My Idea of a perfect Friday's long lunch break

2009-10-23T16:02:00.004+08:00

Hanging out with two of my most wonderful girlfriends. We usually go out in quartet (me, Mama Idraki and mummy-to-be), but Mummy Allysha is still in confinement.

On Friday, we will have 2 1/2 hour lunch break (one of the beauty working for the Government). We will spend our time with window shopping, catching up on gossips, eating good food but mostly just talk. Girl talk. A pouring-your-heart-out *read : whining* session (mostly done by yours truly ;p)

I don't know about them, but I treasure our Friday getaway and I look forward to next Friday and the next one after that. Girls, you bring spice to my mundane life and thank you for lending your ears to my emotional outbursts every now and then.

Sara's update

2009-10-19T23:17:00.004+08:00

Sara is now 9 months! She can now officially sit unassisted. So much so, the first thing she did when she wakes up is sit down and slap the wall, that gave us the fright of the day ;p

We haven't been to the clinic for check-up so I don't know her current weight, but I think she's around 9ish kgs. Maybe she dropped a few pounds due to the food poisoning. All in all, she remains a happy baby. She's showing signs of crawling. She can get down to all fours but haven't quite grasp the moving concept yet. She'll remain on her hand and knees for 5 minutes than back to sitting down.

Her hair got sooooo long, I've had people suggested that we cut 'em short. It hasn't reach the masuk mata stage yet, so I guess I'll leave it at that for the time being.

She has learned lots of other things such as:

"flying kiss" - she'll pucker her mouth (kiss) and put her hand on her mouth but haven't quite got the concept of "flying" yet.
"clean yourself" - she'll rub her hands all over her body as if she's soaping herself ;p
"who's the champion??" - she'll raise her hand (sometimes right hand, sometimes left)

Now, we're teaching her twinkle-twinkle-little-star. I'll try to capture her video once she can do that. I know I always said this, but that little bum is growing up sooo rapidly. I'm so gonna miss cradling her like a baby.

The chronicle of food poisoning

2009-10-19T14:13:00.003+08:00

Thursday (15 October 2009) - Hubby text me saying that he has severe diarrhea coupled with nausea and light-headedness. I was worried, but he's a big boy, I'm sure he can take care of himself.

Friday (16 October 2009) - My little angel began to develop such symptoms. Her body felt warm, I thought she was feverish due to a little tooth that is beginning to show. However, during midnight, she began to puke her milk. Twice. I'm beginning to worry.

Saturday (17 October 2009) - I brought Sara to the clinic and it's confirmed that she also has food poisoning. On top of that, she also has a fever and a very bloated tummy. She pukes during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her big round eyes lost their usual sparkle and I felt soooo powerless, I couldn't make her feel better.

Sunday (18 October 2009) - Hubby is better. Sara is still puking, we've tried every remedy to help alleviate her bloating tummy but nothing gives. But, she begins to feel better as evening comes. HOWEVER, my dad and I begin to develop severe stomach ache. I feel like the pain is worse than contraction. Ha! We had diarrhea all night long and the pain was excruciating.

Monday (19 October 2009) - Despite the pain, I still have to go to work since I have a few pending task. Tsk. Sara is getting better. Alhamdulillah.

The doctor at the clinic told us that this food poisoning does not necessary means that the source is from the food Sara consume. It may also come from her bathe water (I suspect this is true, last week the water quality in Selangor was sooooo bad), her contact with person with same symptom (in my case, most probably from hubby ;p) or the toys and other things that she puts in her mouth (I very much doubt this, she seldom put things in her mouth).

It's really heartbreaking to see my lil angel who loves to eat becomes somewhat afraid to eat, because if she eats, she'll just puke it back out. We really hope that this episode will never happen again in the future.

Baby Food Intake Guide

2009-10-11T11:20:00.001+08:00

Disclaimer : The below post is excerpt from "Panduan Pemakanan Sihat Untuk Bayi" prepared by Unit Pemakanan, Bahagian Kesihatan Awam, Jabatan Kesihatan Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. I'm merely putting it in my blog for mu future reference. God knows I'm a complete mess when it comes to keeping and organizing hard copies ;)

As a reminder, the guide also states that if you are breastfeeding, BM should be given first before each meal to encourange prolong breastfeeding. Other important facts in the guide are:

1. A balance meal for babies should include four categories of food :- CARBS (cereal, rice), PROTEIN (fish, meat, chicken), FIBER (veggies, fruits) and FAT (butter, oil)

2. You have to add oil, butter or any form of fat in your babies' food to increase the energy content in each food intake.

3. Food texture has to be prepared according to the baby growth :- 6 months (blended food), 7-9 months (mashed food), 10-12 months (finely chopped food)

4. The most important advice is "Make meal time = fun time for your baby". Do not force the baby to eat if he/she is not ready and doesn't want to.

Our Open House

2009-10-10T11:00:00.002+08:00

First of all, thank you to those who came to our open house last week. Second of all, sorry for those who came late and only have mee goreng and nasi himpit to eat. Third of all, sorry for those who didn't receive my invitation. Honestly, I'm quite forgetful these days and I forgot to post the invite on my facebook. Sorry guys.

Anyways, our open house was a blast. I mean, what's not to love? Good food + good company is always welcomed in my book. This year, we serve nasi minyak with ayam masak merah, acar and kuah dhal, nasi himpit with kuah kacang, konnyaku jelly, cupcakes (as picture above - made these myself), fruits and Grenadine Neanderthal (sirap la!)

This year is also the first time our main dish is finished (tak cukup!) and not enough for all the guests. Just for my own personal record, there were 8X4 (32 cups) of rice, 7X14 (98 pieces) of chicken, 7 cucumber and 2 pineapple for the acar, 4X5 (20 packs of nasi himpit), 2 kgs of sugar (for the sirap), 150 cupcakes and konnyaku jellies. So, next year, if we plan to do the same, we should add at least for another 20 guests or so.

It was d*mn tiring not only because of all the home made cooking but because my beloved dad has this so-called policy regarding open house.

1. "Kalau nak buat open house, masak sendiri. Kalau nak panggil katering, baik ajak kawan pegi makan kat kedai"
2. "Jangan nak guna pinggan polisterin. Buat apa beli pinggan mahal-mahal, banyak-banyak tu kalau tak nak guna"

Since we don't have any helpers (maid/bibik) to clean the dishes, we end up doing everything ourselves. Which is why my little angel and dear hubby slept like a log ;)

Penat gile, okeh...

Still standing

2009-10-09T10:00:00.000+08:00

See Mommy, I can stand...bluekkk

I can even let go of my hands...

Okay, my legs are getting wobbly now...

Mommy, I'm falling...catch me!!

Yeah, she STILL can't stand on her own ;)

Mashed Potato with carrots

2009-10-08T22:39:00.004+08:00

Recently, I read a guide book by the Ministry of Health Malaysia on how to start feeding your baby and various baby food recipes. I tried one the other day and it was yummy (even Mommy likes it). Here's the recipe :

1 medium-size potato
1 small-size carrot
1 table spoon of butter
1 egg yolk (boiled)
A teenie weenie bit of salt
Milk or hot water

Just boil the potato and carrot (skin the potato after boiling, helps preserve the nutrition in it). Add everything else and mash with fork. In my case, I'm too lazy to mash everything so I just blend everything together (I did try to mash them but the mashed version comes off too grainy)

As for eggs, I know that some medical opinion said that you shouldn't be feeding eggs to babies below 1 year old. HOWEVER, the doctor at the clinic told me that it actually would be wise to start feeding your baby egg yolk at 8 months old. This is because at 1 year old, the baby will receive an injection which consists of egg yolk to determine whether the baby is allergic to eggs. However, at one year old, the baby could be eating lots of other stuffs so it would be hard to know whether the baby is actually allergic to eggs or other stuff that he/she has eaten.

For me, I'm inclined to believe that explanation. I have been slowly putting egg yolks in Sara's porridge and so far, she appears okay with it. Alhamdulillah.

My current TV addiction

2009-10-07T13:33:00.006+08:00

I am so into True Blood right now. I just love the whole complexity and manipulation of each and every character. For those close to me, they know that I can watch TV like nobody's business. I can watch soap dramas, Korean and Japanese series, cartoons, anime, reality tv series and the list just goes on and on...

My favourite TV series are Grey's Anatomy, The Amazing Race and True Blood. I don't foresee any major problems with Grey's and TAR, but True Blood is somewhat a heavy drama with lots of gory scenes (something that I doubt any good parents will approve)

Its true what they say, becoming a mommy comes with certain sacrifies. I mean, I will gladly trade watching True Blood with The Wiggles if it means I never have to answer questions like "Mommy, why is that man biting into that woman's neck" from my little angel's mouth ;p

Clingy Sara

2009-10-06T15:24:00.004+08:00

My Sara is now at a separation anxiety phase. She'll cry on stranger's arm. She cried when we were back in Kuantan for Raya. She even cried on her babysitter's arm. Perhaps it was because she now lives with Nenek and the familiar faces she sees everyday is only Mommy, Babah, Atuk and Cik Ngah.

During Raya, I have to hold her all the time. See the above pic, she's crying because I am the one taking the pic and she wanted her Mommy. I'm not complaining though, I just feel sort of guilty towards her Mak Tok and hubby's family. I read somewhere that this separation anxiety phase will last until she is one year old. Don't tell anyone but I'm secretly loving it though :) (helps me to avoid doing household chores. Haha)

These last few days, Sara is obsessive with her Atuk. She'll cry every morning when Atuk goes to work and her face lits up every evening Atuk came home. She even cries when we try to take her off Atuk's arm. She's so lucky she has that gorgeous, huge, sparkling eyes that can melt your heart.

On another note, she can now wave bye-bye, make aeroplane sound and scrunching her nose if we say "bad smell". She also still remembers to clap her hands EVERYTIME we sing pok amai-amai, and pat her chest when we ask "where is adlyna qaisara?" BUT she no longer dance to sounds of music. As for her physical development:

can she crawl? NO.
can she hold on to something and try to stand? NO.
can she hold her own milk bottle? NO.
yeah, she's a lazybum ;p

Sara's prominent features

2009-10-04T21:53:00.005+08:00

Everywhere we go, the thing that people would comment about my little angel is usually :

Her mop of thick, black hair
and

Her big round eyes :) and, do I have a specific thing that I did during pregnancy to ensure she have those features?
Yup, I did.

I just watch a lot of anime. Heh.
See that mohawk black hair and big eyes? Hihi...(Mommy *heart* Sasuke-kun, eventhough he became a baddie ;P)

Don't look back in anger...

2009-09-28T08:41:00.004+08:00

Remember this post? Well, my patience was certainly tested the other day. So, I wrote an SMS to dear Mr M

" Salam En. M, it has come to my attention that you are apparently dissatisfied with the fact that I went back early from PD. Sila ambil maklum bahawa saya ke sana untuk menggantikan En. A yang cuma boleh hadir pada hari ini. Harap maklum"

background story :
As most of you know, I am working for the Government. I do not always agree with what I have to do, with the policies and whatnot but I do sincerely believe what I am doing right now, is for the greater good. I believe that in some miniscule way, I play a part in ensuring our nation's sovereignty is intact.

Eventhough I am not particularly fond of my "demanding" boss, what makes me love the place I'm working right now is my colleague. In fact, I would go as far as calling them my comrades. In my section, we have the smart, hardworking and fun soon-to-be momma, the sisterly, bright and experienced Mrs H and the superbly cool dude Mr. A along with highly cooperative, sweet and helpful staffs. I love all the people in other sections as well. We got along really well, we can discuss about anything and divide our work equally (or so we thought).

I have a very high respect for all my colleagues, I am sometimes in awe of how they can maintain their cool facade when faced with all sorts of nonsensical things. So, when we are burdened with the task of organizing a workshop on the fifth day of Raya, everyone is hesitant at first, but hey, its people first, performance now so we roll up our sleeve and just do it. Our section was in charge of logistics, so we have to be there through out the workshop. Mr A had already went back to his faraway kampung and since this the first time momma celebrates Raya with her hubby and bun in the oven, I thought I'd give them a chance and offered to be there on the first day. Mrs H also offered to be there on the first day and Mr A would take over the next day. So, between us (in our section) it's pretty much settled.

On the first day, Mrs H and me arrived early and facilitate in whatever way we can to ensure the smoothness of the program. True to her nature, momma also came along (since she's the one who is actually in-charge of the whole thing) and took care of the whole thing. Bless her :) We had fun there, we brought our families along, Sara got to see the beach, all was good.

On the second day, I had to go back after breakfast since hubby was working and Mr A will be arriving. All was still good, nobody complaint about anything so I went back. In the car, I received an SMS saying that Mr M is questioning the fact that I went back early. Mr M? Questioning me and my ethics? Err, bitter much? He was my dear friend, in fact we were in one group during DPA. The fact that he was questioning me AND ridiculing me behind my back pisses me off soooooo much. He said that everybody have their own problems, what gives me the right to go back early. He even said that if my hubby has to work that day, why did I brought him along...I was fuming with anger, smokes are emitting from my nose.

So, I wrote the SMS above to him. And did he at least have the courtesy to reply that SMS? NO!!!! I know its Raya and all, month to forgive and forget....NOT!

* edited to omit a few words that I think is inappropriate for my lil angel to use (Mommy has to stop using bad words..hehe)

Selamat Hari Raya

2009-09-22T21:18:00.002+08:00

Hi everyone, although its a little late, we'd still like to wish everyone a very happy Hari Raya and as usual, maaf zahir batin...hope everybody enjoys their holidays :)

Where is Adlyna Qaisara?

2009-09-15T06:14:00.006+08:00

Wow. Sara is now officially 8 months (well, 8 months and 4 days to be exact). How time flies *sigh*. And her newest and most recent habits are:

1) She loves sticking out her tongue. In fact, she can copy any sound we make using her lips and tongue i.e the kissing sound, the hissing sound.
2) She still loves her bath time. And now, she can sit in her tub. She loves splashing the water and get Mommy all wet.
3) She still loves to eat and still NEVER spat out her food. Gotta love her for that :)
4) She still cries when left alone - budak manja
5) She can sit unassisted BUT only when somebody propped her into sitting position. She can't bring herself from all fours to sitting YET.
6) She still doesn't crawl or move forward or backward. Seems like her development is more on the mental side rather than the physical side
7) She looovvveeessss to dance (by dance, I mean rocking back and forth) to music Nenek or mommy makes. Haha.
8) She knows aeroplane, cats and birds. She will look up if we say "Sara, look at aeroplane" or "Sara, bird.." and she'll look down underneath the car if we say "Sara, where's the cat?" (the cat always sleeps under the car).

and the most cutest thing of all is when we ask her "Where is Adlyna Qaisara?" she will proudly pat her chest as if to say "I am Adlyna Qaisara". It's beyond cuteness, I tell ya... Check out the video below :)

sorry for the tilt-your-head video, mommy is not very good at using camera ;p

One Grand Richer

2009-09-09T09:32:00.003+08:00

Mommy is now officially one grand richer courtesy of darling hubby. So, this post is dedicated to all the wives out there; a how-to guide to extract RM1k from your beloved hubby. The "coercion" goes as below :

Me : Eh, yang baju pink ni dalam gambar yang kita dapat plain, tapi rupa-rupanya bercorak eh..
Hubby : Eh, bukan mmg plain ke?
Me : Bercorak la
Hubby : Plain la...sayang ni, cuba tengok betul2...apa la
Me : Bercorak la...sayang tau la, sayang yang amik
Hubby : Plain, sama mcm dalam gambar tu
Me : Bercorak la (getting annoyed)
Hubby : Plain. Konfiden je cakap bercorak..
Me : Dah memang bercorak (getting pissed)
Hubby : Plain. Kan ada abang tengok hari tu. Plain la. Apa pulak bercorak

- ok, this is where I am getting super pissed. When you know you are totally right about something and people just refuse to believe it? Yeah, THAT feeling. I bet anybody would have felt the same way then. Arrrggghhh -

Me : OK. TAK PERCAYA SGT CAKAP SAYANG. KITA BETTING. SEJUTA, NAK??
Hubby : Taknak la sejuta...RM 50, nak?
Me : Ah, tak main ah RM50. Seribu, berani?
Hubby : Errr...
Me : Aii...tadi konfiden sangat...kalau abg sure dress tu plain, apa nak takut?
Hubby : Abg sian kat sayang nnti kena bayar abang seribu
Me : (getting super-super pissed) Cepat ah, berani ke tak??
Hubby : Ok.
Me : OK. FINE. SERIBU EH.

The result is:

bercorak, ok?

So, there you have it. A story on how a wife succefully gain RM1,000.00 in 10 minutes of conversation. Yeay!!

my confinement method

2009-09-03T08:10:00.007+08:00

disclaimer : This post is written by me, who has absolutely no medical expertise whatsoever. My methods may work for me, but the result will differ according to your pregnancy and delivery. Please do not take my writings and ramblings here as some form of expert opinion. I am merely jotting down my experience for my future reference.

I was always 53-55 kg before pregnancy. With 165cm height, I think it was an ideal weight for me. During my pregnancy, the first trimester I gained almost 10kgs. Heh. Blame that on my desire to eat lots and lots of carbs and good food. Luckily, as I entered my second trimester, it was ramadhan. So, I had to cut back on eating rice and other things. Like most mommies out there, I had ~~morning~~ all-day sickness as well. I would vomit after eating breakfast or sahur but the funny thing is I will immediately search for food after a session of vomiting. (The worst thing to puke is spaghetti bolognese...oregano tasted sooo bitter and disgusting)

Anyway, in total I gained up to 20 kgs ++ during my pregnancy. I was 75kg ++ when I delivered and I went home from the hospital still looking like 9 months pregnant. I was worried. My tummy was hard as a rock. So, I was determined to follow traditional Malay confinement method (Pahang traditional method to be exact)

7 months pregnant II 3 months after delivery

Basically, my daily schedule during my confinement is as below:

6.00 am - 7.30 am : bertungku (I usually falls asleep during this :P) note to self : do it yourself - it'll help you burn all those unwanted and unsightly "chicken wing"

7.30 am - 7.45 am : breakfast (oats or few biscuits with horlicks/milo)

7.45 am - 8.00 am : bathe (my mom made a mixture of hot bathe water using various type of leaves "daun serom" and a mixture of "biji kani" for the va-jay-jay (per dr bailey grey's anatomy..heh)

8.00 am - 8.15 am : rub the "jamu" mixture on the stomach area and bengkung (I use the traditional bengkung Jawa - sooo hard to wear, it's a long cloth (7 metres long) but very comfortable and makes u feel secure if worn properly

8.15 am - 10.00 am : relax, watch TV, watch Sara being bathed, tend to Sara, massage (I only did this 3 times during my confinement), sleep - basically just relaxing and chilling out (thank God for my mom and MIL who took care of everything else)

12.00 pm - 12.30 pm : ate lunch (no food that could made you itch, lots of hot foods i.e black pepper. I usually eat a slice of spanish mackerel (tenggiri) grilled with bits of tumeric and salt seasoning plus lots of black pepper. After 2 weeks, my mom would made me "singgang" with lots of herbs and ginger and I drank "air sepang" for two weeks.

12.30 pm - 4.30 pm : chilling out, sleep a little, have a little snack, this is the time where I usually play with Sara alone and she amazes me everyday with each tiny movement that she makes :) I miss newborn Sara

4.30 pm - 6.00 pm : one more bertungku session. *yawn (My mom will bathe Sara during this time)

6.00 pm - 6.30 pm : bathe and bengkung. Usually hubby is already home, so he can help me wear the bengkung. It's very hard, I still haven't had the hang of it. My bengkung keeps riding up like a loose panties..haha

6.30 pm - 7.00 pm : have dinner, rice with fish (again!) and air sepang

7.00 pm onwards : relax, cuddling with Sara, watch TV. Sara wakes up every two hours, so eventhough I am not doing anything, waking up every two hours is certainly tiring. Everybody (my mom, my dad, my sisters, my hubby would be groggy and zombie-like in the morning).

notes to remember :
1) "biji kani" - must have item. helps to heal wounds faster. grind it on hard stone and rub it to the va-jay-jay
2) "daun serom" - mixture of lemongrass leaves, pandan leaves and a whole lot of other plants/leaves (just found a cool blog explaining all the details). I bathe with this for 10 days. After that, just hot water.
3) "jamu" mixture on stomach can also be replaced with limau nipis + kapur
4) I think 3 times of massage session is not adequate. Should do 7 times and then once a week until the end of the confinement period
5) all foods must be of "hot" nature. No cold food are allowed. Iced water is a no-no.
6) "air sepang" - dunno other name for this drink, but it is the boiled water of "kayu sepang" plus bits of saffron. The colour and taste is like hot tea, quite nice actually. It'll make ur body warm all over.
7) "bertungku" - always rub a little bit of cooking oil before putting the tungku stone on fire. For the first 1 week, I use river stone, but my hubby over burn it and it broke into 4 pieces. Heh. Then, I use the traditional northern tungku (see pic *credit to nanabizmom.blogspot.com - she even sells it) and it works wonders. I will compile another post explaining the details about bertungku because it has specific methods.
8) "bengkung" - I use the traditional Jawa bengkung, will also compile another post explaining step by step the method of doing it.

I am somewhat lucky because I do not feel the urge to eat anything during my confinement. Partly because I was soooo in pain during my confinement. I'm back to my pre pregnancy weight within two months after giving birth. In fact, now I am slimmer than before. Now, I only weigh about 50-53 kg. It helps that I don't really like to munch on chocolates, junkfoods, biscuits or anything of that sort. I only enjoy heavy food in particular hot rice. Haha.

I am also the luckiest person on the planet because my mom, my dad and my sis are around to help me and hubby. All of us sleep together in the living room and they wake up everytime Sara cries out. Family support is very important during confinement period. Thank God for them...

Tribute to Mama aka Nenek

2009-08-25T11:59:00.008+08:00

It's true what people say, that you will have a newfound gratitude for your mom once you yourself have become a mommy. The agonizing pain of labour and what not plus the hard work to raise a child really takes my respect to my mom to another whole new level. So, this is for you Mama, a tribute for all that you have done :)

My mom was married when she was 22 years old. My mom is madly in love with my dad and vice versa (though my dad is typical man, who seldom shows how he feels). My mom got me two years after they were married and my sisters 5 years after that. My mom is a great wife ( I can never be like her in a million years :p) She never fails to cook for my dad, she's the one who did all the chores around the house (she has three very lazy daughters ;p). In fact, I think my mom is a superwoman. When she was still working, she cooks breakfast everyday (we normally have very hearty breakfast - nasi lemak, mee wantan, fried mee/meehoon, nasi himpit etc.) She will also cook dinner everyday with two or three delicious dishes. I'm not saying that her cooking is delicious because she's my mom, but her cooking is the best. Almost everybody said so.She can also sew. All the curtains, pillowcases, our baju kurung are made by her.

My mom is a very beautiful woman and she has aged gracefully. My mom despite her talkative-ness is actually a very shy person. She was always conscious about her figure (which I think is nonsense, she has excellent figure for her age) When I was little, I used to watch her applying her make up and wished that one day I will become as pretty as her.

My mom absolutely dotes on Sara and even though she won't admit it in a million years, part of the reason she retires early is to take care of Sara herself. During my confinement, she was the one that took care of me and lil Sara. I had a very bad experience during my confinement period (what with my failed attempt of breastfeeding plus the stitches down there that refuses to heal...waaaa) Anyway, she was the one that bathe me and Sara (hee, I have no shame, I know!) In short, I seriously don't know what I'll do without her.

She bought Sara her walker, wardrobe, bracelet, necklace and a ring! uh-oh, bila la mommy nak kaya ni. I am somewhat ashamed that I can't provide for my mom as much as she did for us. If possible, I wanted to give her everything she ever wants, be it a new dining set, renovation of the porch, a maid...everything...but the time has yet to come (my salary is just enough for my little family).

Mama, I just wanted you to know that I'm the lucky one to have you as a mom and I can only hope that I am worthy enough to become your daughter. Thank you for all the wonderful things you have done and you will do (definitely!). You are a wonderful listener, a great motivator, a superb chef, a comforting shoulder to cry on in one gorgeous package. I love you, Edie loves you and lil Sara loves you too...Though we have had our differences and we will surely not see eye to eye on everything, I hope you know that I do value your opinion and whatever I am today, is all because of you.

So, Happy 52nd birthday!! We love you so very much...mmmuuuuaaaahhhh!!!!

*will edit later to include pics

How to get your baby to eat?

2009-08-22T11:51:00.008+08:00

I guess I am one of those lucky mommies because Sara just loooves to eat. She got that from me, I guess. During pregnant, I puke a LOT, but I can immediately eat after a session of vomiting. In fact, I'll puke more if I don't eat. So for me, its like, chew-chew, gulp-gulp, bluekkk, -need-to-chew-some more-or-i'll-puke, chew-chew, gulp-gulp, ahhhhhh (satisfied stomach)

Anyway, since I got some friends asking me what I did to ensure Sara eats, I guess the rule of thumb is to never give your baby what you wouldn't eat yourself. I enjoy Sara's food as much as I enjoyed mine. Even Sara's friend at her babysitter's house loves to finish her food. Since she started eating solids (5m ++), I gave her porridge twice a day. Now, I slowly introduce her to breakfast and tea. I don't know about other mommies out there, but I am determine to give my baby home cooked meal instead of instant and ready made foods. Makes me sooo proud when she finishes her food and look at me with beaming smile and full stomach. My recipe for Sara's porridge is :

1/2 cup of rice
3 cups of water
2 big chunk of poultry (chicken/meat/fish)
1 1/2 chunk of veggies (carrot/potato/broccoli/spinach/pumpkin)
A teenie weenie bit of salt

Normally, I will put the rice and water in the slow cooker for a whole night and add the others early morning (my mom usually does this, I'm so not a morning person). Let it cool, then take two spoons of the porridge along with chunks of veggies and poultry and blend them into a fine texture. I also add a teaspoon of butter for the fat requirement of growing babies. Then, mix the blended mixture with the remaining porridge and voila, Sara's favourite dish is ready :)

The thing that motivated me most about giving Sara home cooked meal is the way she enjoys her meal. She needs no coaxing from me, she will voluntarily open her mouth wide upon seeing her red spoon with porridge. No prodding needed...hihi...She's also a neat eater and most importantly she NEVER (until now) spat out her food.

Since I started introducing her to breakfast and tea, I sometimes gave her rusks biscuits, oats with prunes, steamed apple with honey, steamed pumpkin, mashed potatoes. Next on my menu is crushed avocado...and pasta with bananas (found it in some blog)...Yum!! To all the experienced mommies out there, I will highly appreciate any new recipes for babies...Please, do share yours here :)

My mum is amazing by Zain Bhikha

2009-08-21T10:22:00.003+08:00

Have you guys ever heard of this song? The lyrics are soooo touching (apart from the last two verse)...makes me wanna cry...To all the mommies out there, this song goes for you :)

She wakes up early in the morning with a smile
And she holds my head up high
Don’t you ever let anybody put you down
Cos you are my little angel

Then she makes something warm for me to drink
Cos it’s cold out there, she thinks
Then she walks me to school, Yes I aint no fool
I just think my Mom is amazing

chorus
She makes me feel like I can do anything
and when she’s with me
there’s no where else, I’d rather be…

After School, she’s waiting by the gate
I’m so happy that I just can’t wait
To get home to tell her how my day went
And eat the yummy food, only my Mom makes

Then I wind her up cos I don’t wanna bath
And we run around the house with a laugh
No matter what I say, she gets her way
I think my Mom is amazing

In the evening, she tucks me into bed
And I wrap my arms around her head
Then she tells me a tale of a girl far away
Who one day became a princess

I‘m so happy, I don’t want her to leave
So she lies in bed with me
As I close my eyes, how lucky am I
To have a Mom that’s so amazing

Then I wake up in the morning, she’s not there
And I realize she never was
And I’m still here in this lonely orphanage
With so many just like me

And as my dreams begin to fade
I try hard to look forward to my day
But there’s a pain in my heart that’s a craving
How I wish I had a Mom that’s amazing
Would be amazing

The compulsory pose :)

2009-08-20T06:35:00.003+08:00

Last month, we took Sara to be photograph into what we call a compulsory pose in the family. I too, have exactly the same picture...let's see the resemblance and the difference...

Sara @ 5m++

Mommy @ 4m++

I think Sara has more prominent face features than me. Sara has clearly defined eyebrow and she smiles for the camera whilst mommy looks like in a state of shock. Heh. We both have the same thick hair but mine refuse to lay flat. My mom said that my head was drenched with water while this picture is taken, else I would look like a porcupine. Haha. What do you guys think? :)

The proof of maturity and calmness :p

2009-08-17T13:29:00.007+08:00

I am a 29 year old mommy. By right, I am a mature and calm woman. But those who are close to me, knows that I can be a b*tch sometimes. I often get tangled up in a confrontation that ends up with inappropriate words :) But, I guess its true what they say, becoming a mommy does change you in a lot of ways.

Instance No 1, a confrontation with a very rude clerk

Her : Buat meeting malam-malam, mana ada katerer nak sediakan makan?
Me : Takkan la dalam Putrajaya, Kajang takde langsung
Her : OK...SAYA BAGI NO FON, PUAN BOLEH TELEFON CARIK SAMPAI JUMPA (with a very rude tone)
normally I would burst in anger and utter some rude words..heh...
Me : Saya tau, CC banyak pengalaman, dulu kerja di ** banyak handle event besar. Mungkin takde meeting last minit macam ni. Tapi CC kena faham ye, kita masuk tempat baru, kita yang kena adapt dengan tempat tu, bukannya tempat tu yang adapt dengan kita. Di *** ni, memang banyak meeting last minit yang kita handle, tapi kita masih kena sediakan makan minum macam biasa. Kena sacrifice la sikit.
Her : OK! SUDAH! SAYA FAHAM! SAYA YANG MENURUT PERINTAH! SAYA FAHAM! OK! DAH! (while putting her hand up to my face - how rude is that??!!)
Me: CC jangan macam ni, saya cakap baik-baik ni. Saya tengah cuba nak berbincang ni.
Her : OK!! DAH!!
Me : Oklah kalau macam tu. No hard feelings ye. Kita kerja ni kena bekerjasama.

Instance No. 2, a phone conversation with a lecturer

Me: Ok, skng ni apa masalahnya?
Him: U buat macam ni, semua lambak kat sini, mana boleh. I ada kelas sampai lewat malam the day before. U guys buat keja macam mana ni?
Me: Tak, kan hari tu kita dah putuskan dalam mesyuarat that ** akan handle semua berkenaan kursus ni. In fact, saya dah sediakan semua requirement yang pihak u mohon. Bukan kita nak lepas tangan, tapi memang kita agree semua penceramah akan disediakan oleh **
Him : U tau tak, u buat macam ni tak betul. U tau tak apa itu **? U tau tak??!!
Me : (silent)
Him: U cuba cakap, u tau tak apa beza antara ** dan **? eh, come on la, u guys supposed to know all this
Me: (silent - malas nk layan org gila..haha)
Him: U guys have got all the raw material, takkan la tak boleh buat
Me: Ye, memang kita ada all the resources, tapi what we need right now is a so-called expert advice on how kita nak mengolah banda tu supaya jadi lebih berkesan. U said in the meeting that all this cannot be learned in one slot of the course, so saya bagi one full day untuk betul-betul belajar benda ni.
Him : U guys memang tak patutla buat macam ni. Bagi je semua kat **? - plus more blabbering and whining, malas nak dengar betul-betul
Me: Oklah, skng ni macam mana kita nak solve ni? U memang tak boleh nak hadir ke?
Him : I'll see what I can do la (and hang up!)
wtf?? I hate people who hangs up the phone before the conversation is over

Anyway, I think I portray a very high degree of tolerance in both events. I know my youngest sis will be like "Is this truly Along??" Heh. Hope I can be that patient to my little angel as well :)

My LITTLE big girl

2009-08-09T23:31:00.002+08:00

Did you notice that more and more babies and kids accessories resembles our own accessories? Even their clothes is similar as ours, only miniature in size. Recently, I bought Sara some hairclips and she looks soooo grown up wearing it...she looks like such a big girl... *sigh* I miss newborn Sara...I feel like she's growing up too fast...

My little "Naruto"

2009-08-09T23:17:00.004+08:00

Sara was feverish a few days ago (fine, it was last week...Mommy is such a lazy blogger :P)...anyways, we put Koolfever to her head and she looks soooo cute...just like a konoha ninja...

Here's my little Naruto

And she was such a good baby, even though she was feeling unwell, she finished her porridge, she drank her milk and cries out for attention once in a while. Other than that, she remains as happy as a clam...Sara, Mommy and Baba loves you to bits...Thank god you are fine now...

A perfect place for a garden wedding

2009-08-02T10:03:00.005+08:00

Yup, I know. I've been married for almost 4 years (in fact, only 19 days to our 4th anniversary). BUT, when I saw this place, I knew that it would be a perfect place for a garden wedding *sigh* rasa macam nak buat wedding lagi sekali je bila tengok tempat ni

Anyway, the place is at The Royale Chulan Hotel (somewhere in Jalan Conlay - I dunno, I'm very bad with places and names of streets). I went there for a short course and the ambiance, the foods, the service were top notch. I've tried to capture pics to show how this place can be perfect for wedding, but since I'm using a compact camera, it doesn't quite translate the surroundings.

There's an open place in the middle of the hotel (behind the lobby). It's covered with glass-type roofs that lets natural lights into the whole area. So, you will get a garden wedding minus the heat (how great is that??). They also have a platform ready for bersanding, a waterfall for outdoorsy-type photograph...

I dream of Sara getting married in a place like this. BUT, that will be like in another hundred gazillion years... :p

Our weekend getaway...

2009-07-29T16:35:00.001+08:00

Remember this pic? Guess where we went on Sunday? Mommy, Sara and Cik Ngah went to Deerland and Elephant Sanctuary in Lanchang, Pahang. Not by choice. More like terpaksa. ;p As expected, we were running late. Poor Dilla, Iki n Harry had to wait for us. Sorry guys! We drove ourselves to Genting Sempah (to bathe Iki, Sara had already bath, she doesn't mind the cold) We arrived in Deerland just as all the other participants are entering it.

Walaupun lambat, sempat posing sebelum masuk!!

As most of you already know, Mommy is deathly afraid of any moving live object (i.e any animals), so I didn't enjoy one bit of the trip ;p. The weather was not very friendly either. Sara was soaked with sweat and I'm one lucky Mommy because she's a very happy baby eventhough she's hot and sweaty.

I think this is when Azlan snap our pic...err....yeah, I think he totally photoshopped the pic to appear that beautiful...haha

The Deerland is sorta like a petting zoo where you can feed, pet, touch, take pictures with the animals there. Eventhough the name is "Deerland", there are all sorts of animals there. Rabbits, bears, snake...u name it, they most probably have it ;p....there was sooo many mosquitos, luckily I brought Sara in a sling (so she's protected from all the big, small and bad animals..haha)

Next, we went to Elephant Sanctuary where we met lots and lots of elephants. Supposedly, we can do all kinds of activities with the elephant (feeding, bathing etc) BUT apparently, that kind of tickets are limited. So, lotsa kids went home feeling gloomy and sad for not being able to play with the elephants. As for Mommy and Sara, we lay down picnic style and just lazed around. Mommy has no intention of even going near those big animals...haha

Sara and Iki...eventhough they are only 11 days apart, Sara looks sooo much bigger...macam kakak pulak... :)

Overall, it was an okay trip, but I think Sara will definitely enjoy it more IF she is able to understand and appreciate the wide variety of animals, the nature and what not. (yeah...i'm still bitter about having to join the trip...can u tell? ;P)

The love of my life...

2009-07-21T12:58:00.002+08:00

Although we appear so serene and peaceful in this pic, in reality we were soaking wet and drenched in sweat. More on that later.. ;p

Autobots...transform and roll out

2009-07-13T12:26:00.007+08:00

Last week (or last two weeks...can't remember...heh), I went out with my sisters-in-law to watch transformer : revenge of the fallen and that movie rocks...can't wait for lil Sara to grow so that I can bring her to watch movies with me (Mommy's a movie addict!).

I was sooooo amazed with the movie, words can't even begin to describe the way I felt watching that movie. I was giddy and excited throughout the movie. Too bad my sis-in-law doesn't feel the same (she even slept at some point!). I love the structure of the whole story, how Sam at first was reluctant to be a hero but end up saving the whole world. There are sooo many things about this movie I wanted to write about, but since I have a double meeting today (hate work!), I'll just put it in pointform in no particular order

1. Megan Fox is still hot but I hated the fact that she seem to have done something on her lips (collagen perhaps?) but I do love the fact that she doesn't seem as skinny as she was in the first movie.

2. That decepticon chick (Isabel Lucas - Alice) creeps me out! Her steely gaze and sultry looks is just scary. I sometimes wonder why do all actress have to pout the way Isabel pouts in the movie to appear sultry. Seem like she's pouting in all her scenes, doesn't she get like mouth cramps or something. I know I would...Ha!

3. I am totally and completely in awe of Shia LaBeouf acting skills. He make this whole movie believable and fun to watch. (However, its weird that I don't have a crush on him...I usually loooovvvveeee all my favourite movie heroes :p)

4. I love Bumblebee to bits...He's a big baby...He's like a cute little kitten trapped inside a robot's body
I love how they portray all the robots to have feelings. I even have tears in my eyes watching the scene between Sam and Optimus Prime...(I'm a big sap, I know)

5. I hate the noisy twin robot. They remind me of my facilitators during a helluva long course...just blabbering non-stop...ugh!

6. Sam's new roommate is bordering between annoying and cute...I almost hate him...heh.

7. LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE the fact they borught back the Agent Simmons who provided comic relief when Bumblebee is not around...

8. I love this movie more than the first one, can u tell? ;)

To Sara, grow up quickly, then we can spend every Wednesday watching movie...just the two of us...don't tell anyone ;p

Updates on lil Sara :)

2009-07-10T14:26:00.007+08:00

Since a few weeks, Mommy has been very busy with work. Of course, in the mean time, lil Sara is also busy growing up and I feel like I haven't recorded her progress like I wanted to.. :(

Anyway, Sara can now roll over and have started eating solid food. She only likes thick porridge and she hates it when the porridge is too watery. Heh. She can now sleep on her own, I just put her beside me, turn off the lights, she'll roll to her right, then to her left, a couple of cute whimpering and off she goes to sleep...it's beyond cuteness, i tell you (haha, mommy usually falls asleep before her).

Sara sleeps with Nenek

I've also bought Bumbo seat for her (finally!) and she seems to love it. She looks darn cute sitting in it. I regret not buying the tray along. Anyway, I got it from ebay for half the original price but I think littlewhiz.com is having a sale for this item and you can purchase it for RM149 (that's RM50 cheaper than original price) but I dunno whether the sale is still available or not.

Sara has also develop quite a few attitude. She loves to mimic whatever we do. Once I caught her trying hard to snap her finger because Atuk loves to snap his finger to get Sara's attention. I am thankful for the fact that Sara has a lot of people doting on her :)

I love watching her grow. What makes me sad is that, I can't spend more time with her and I can't concentrate fully on her now that my workload have tripled. I hate my new boss and the fact that he sometimes can't decide and keep on having discussion after discussion. Letihla...

Sara's cute little habit...

2009-07-06T11:45:00.005+08:00

Sara has develop a very cute habit...She will close her eyes with her cute little finger whenever she wants to sleep (more like poking her eyes). It's too cute to watch :)

Sometimes, it seems like she's mad because her eyes just won't let her sleep..haha...i once caught her poking her index finger right through her eyes because her bolat eyes won't let her sleep...

Sara's great grandfather passed away....

2009-06-30T09:43:00.003+08:00

On Sunday, my grandfather passed away. He was the only grandparent left after the death of my beloved "tok", "atuk" and "wan". We were all shocked as he didn't have any serious illness at all. But I guess, everything happens for a reason and we have to look for the silver lining...

My grandfather was a typical grandfather. He appears very grumpy and silent but he spoils me very much when I was a little kid (I basically grew up with my grandparents). I still remember, he bought me my first dictionary (the one with large picture in the middle and tiny pics around it) when I was in primary school. He always massages me to get me to sleep and he often brought me to his place in Beserah (near the beach) where I would play on the swing and pray that none of the animals there (cats, chicken etc) will come near me (I'm terrified of animals)

My mom said that he used to send me to school when I was 7-8 years old. One day, I didn't "salam" and kiss him as usual and he felt sad and ask if he did anything wrong. My grandpa. Asking my mom whether he did anything wrong to me. After checking with my grandma, my mom knew that I was mad with him for cutting my nails too short (I always hate it when people cut my nails too short)-mengada betul! Anyway, mom made me apologize and kiss him. Hihi, we made peace instantly.

He was the one that us family turns to when I am down with fever (he would recite some doa and made me "air jampi"). He was the one that made spoke on my family's behalf during my engagement and merisik. He was the one that made my air selusuh. He has been there through it all and I'm glad that Sara got to know him even if it's a short one.

We grew apart as time grows by. It makes me sad that I can't maintain a close relationship with him but things happen. Lots of things. Aki, I want you to know that I do love you. For all that you have been and for all that you are...I love you and semoga Aki ditempatkan di kalangan orang yang soleh....Amin....

Cik Ngah is very STRONG

2009-06-12T09:32:00.003+08:00

The other day, the most unbelievable thing happened....never thought there was a BADANG in my sibling

see, don't play-play with my sister, she's VERRYYY strong.. :p

Sara says...

2009-06-03T13:26:00.007+08:00

My angel says:

It's not easy being gorgeous

.
.
.
One has to endure being cuddled and kissed all the time

One has to watch what one eats

One has to constantly exercise

One has to get enough beauty sleep

One has to bathe twice a day :P

and last but not least,
one must wear beautiful and cute clothes bought from here
hah..sempat lagi nak promote kedai...bluekkk... :)

Mommy's shattered resolution :(

2009-05-29T17:25:00.003+08:00

When I first started this blog, I promised to myself that I will record all my little angel's progress including even mundane things like when she first look me in the eye, or when she first successfully put her hand in her mouth. But I didn't even blog when she first roll to her side, let alone when she first successfully roll on her stomach. Yes people, my precious little angel is all grown up....she can roll on her stomach in record time....she knows how to wiggle her hand from under her belly and can prop her head for quite some time without support. Guess its time for the compulsory pose of our family...eheheheh....

Mommy is so very busy with work lately....This is what happen when you have a kiss-a$$ supervisor :( trying his damnest to impress his supervisor...bluekkkk!!

Anyway, back to more happy story, Mommy will leave her busy work for one whole week to be with her angel (Sara's babysitter applied for leave, so I have to take leave from work as well...yeay!) I'm planning to give Sara her first ever solid food during this weekend. Hope that goes well... :)

P/S - a mental note for myself...-must update blog and put lotsa picture of Sara...MUST!!

Sara eats... :)

2009-05-20T12:56:00.001+08:00

My Online Shop

2009-05-19T08:52:00.004+08:00

Hi everyone, sorry for not updating regularly..but I have a very good reason...I've opened an online shop...I'm selling branded and affordable babies and kids apparel. So, feel free to visit...(mention this blog and I'll give u special discount) tunggu apa lagi, jomla shopping baju branded (GUESS, OSHKOSH, GYMBOREE, GAP) for your little angel.

http://rockamybaby.blogspot.com

Happy Mommy's Day from my little sailor

2009-05-11T15:45:00.003+08:00

Happy Mommy's Day

Sara wishes her Mommy and all Mommies in the world happy mommy's day. Sara even wrote a card and gave Mommy a lovely present, a self-stirring mug for her sangat-malas-nak-basuh-sudu-kat-ofis mommy...yeay!! We went to OU to celebrate and Sara wore her new outfit...my little angel becomes my little sailor...tee hee hee...

Mommy have been very busy lately...my office is under massive re-org, plus some very annoying people that makes my simple job becomes harder (apa kejadahnya sampai cek aset pun susah sgt..bluekkkk!) anyways, mommy is happy that her little angel is growing up all happy and healthy...Sara loves playing with me in the car and moments like that (just the two of us) is the ones that I treasure most...her cute cheeky face looking up to me...rasa macam nak benti keja n duduk jaga sara kat umah jek...huhu...

Sara's update...

2009-05-05T11:08:00.005+08:00

Hi everyone...it's been a while since my last update...Mommy's very busy lately...and while Mommy is busy, her little angel is also busy growing up...hihi...Sara now knows how to pout...she often pouts (and I think she'll ponder in her head whether she wants to cry or not...if she decides to cry, she'll wail and scream oh-so-loud, if she decides not to cry, she will be very quiet and will stare at my face in mute misery...) that face always melts my heart...and makes Mommy go all gooey inside...hehe...Sara also is starting to roll to her sides but she always manage to roll only her upper body...hehe, montot berat tak boleh nak pusing :) her hair also is getting longer and sooooo thick, she even surpass Mommy and Baba's hair...

The first night we brought Sara home, she cried for almost one hour...both me and hubby were starting to panic because she never cried for that long and she's beginning to develop a fever. Her tears were flowing endlessly and she starts to weep. She wouldn't stop weeping no matter what we did. She wails, cries and weep for almost one hour until she exhaust herself to sleep. At first, I remain cool but I couldn't stand to watch her precious tears and the sound of her weeping. It's no longer the cute cry I love to listen, it sounded like she was sad and mad because we left her in Kuantan for three whole weeks. And then, Mommy starts to cry as well, so that left Baba to maintain a cool facade. Heh. (lesson : never ever leave your baby that long...huhu)

Anyway, now Sara is back and she's still adjusting back to her old routine. She cried the first time I put her in her car seat, she cried the first time Atuk and Baba "talks" to her. But, the cries are getting lesser now...Mommy wants her baby to be happy and smiles her cheeky smile always...

Sara is back!!!!

2009-05-03T00:02:00.003+08:00

After three loooonnnnggggg week at Kuantan, Sara is finally back. Mommy and Baba are sooooo happy...She has grown up so much...her cheeks are so chubby...she now loves to giggle and can drink milk from her bottle without spilling...hihi...she's almost 4 months now, so a lot of her clothes are not suitable anymore...i'll update more later...for now, i just want to watch my little angel sleeps...

Mommy is not in the mood

2009-04-23T17:34:00.002+08:00

Mommy is not in the mood lately. She misses her little angel...Can't wait for 1st of May 2009...gonna go fetch Sara in Kuantan, gonna hug her soo tight and never let go...miss her soooooooo much....

Sara meets Aqil Syahmi

2009-04-17T16:37:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday, Sara meets Aqil Syahmi. Aqil Syahmi's mommy is my friend from UTM. We shared good old time stories, but I couldn't get over the fact that her voice has become so "lecture-y" hehe...I'd never thought she would become a lecturer, much less an electronic lecturer huwaa...sgt terer okeh...aku ambik 18 kali pun fail lagi electronic tu rasa

Aqil Syahmi is a very cute and active little boy. He likes babies and asks his mom for a baby to play with hihi...noni...dia nak adik tu...anyway, it was an evening well spent and Sara looks forward to meeting Abang Aqil Syahmi again...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO NENEK & ATUK

2009-04-14T17:59:00.002+08:00

Today is Nenek & Atuk's anniversary. They have been married for 30 years. They have been through so much together. I just hope that I can learn from my mom who has always been so patient with my dad. I wanted to write so much but I'm so busy lately. I'll put up a tribute for them as soon as I got the time. In the mean time, I want them to know that I'm honored to be their child and they will and always be my idol in life. Me, Sara and hubby love them so much and wish them all the happiness in the world.

Tribute to Cik Ngah aka Yanie aka Angah

2009-04-10T11:47:00.003+08:00

I've been meaning to write this tribute a long time ago, but knowing me, I procrastinate as long as I can. I meant to finish this in time for her birthday, but 5th February was long gone...heh. Anyway, Angah was the second child in the family. And it's true what they say about the second child, we use to butt head over a lot of things when we were small. I in particular, wasn't fond of having somebody else steal all the attention lavished on me. (My bad.)

She was a very adorable child. (Some people said that Sara resembles her) She has this most gorgeous dimple that is apparent everytime she smiles.

She was a very timid child. I guess its because she has a very loud sister (huhu). She has always been the beautiful one but she went through a major physical phase in her life (involving a very wild hair and plump figure..haha) which we like to call "zaman gelap angah". I can't find it in my heart to post her picture during that transitional time (hihi...that's how bad she looked then)

She didn't shine academically during primary and secondary school but ironically, she was the one that never fails to get 3-pointer during uni. I guess she found her calling in accountancy. I know that she often felt that my parents are always comparing us but trust me, (now that I'm a parent), Mama and Papa never intentionally compared us in any way. They love you for who you are, not for what you would become. Look at you now, more successful than ever.

She has a very big heart and with that comes her big head. Hehe, that combined with my ridiculous temper always resulted in our disagreement over a lot of things. Luckily, even though we butt head a lot, both of us remain as close as ever. Compared to all us three sisters, she was the one closest to my dad. Probably because she was the one who resembles my mom the most.
She has a lot of admirers. I think she had like two serious relationship and currently, I'm not quite sure whether she is seeing someone or not. Her priority in life now is her work and family. She spoil Sara with a lot of gifts and most of the clothes she bought are too big for her. Hehe, she just couldn't understand why Sara couldn't fit into all those clothes. Mekacih cik ngah, nanti Sara besar, Sara pakai baju cik ngah bagi ni...mesti comelll

I'm not sure how she feels about my hubby but they get along fine. We can hang out together all the time. We have very similar taste in movies and once, we spent an entire night watching anime (of course me and angah actually watched the anime while hubby dozed off :p). One more thing that she have in common with hubby is their fascination towards games. She loves playing games on hubby's PSP and PS2 (before those were stolen...damn u robbers!!)
She has a fetish for shoes and loves heels. She use to wear flats all the time until one day, she develop an instant liking to high heeled shoes/sandals. One more thing that must be mentioned with her is that she never hesitate to spend money on us. Since she's earning the most with the least amount of commitment, she always treat us gifts and dining out.

Among us three sisters, she is hardly the most organized nor the most fond of cleanliness. HOWEVER, she was the one that can't stand the smell of Sara's poop. Haha. During the first week (when Sara's poo-poo is blackish and has a very pungent smell) she puke the first time she saw her niece's poop.

To Angah, I love you sooo much and I wish you all the success in the world. Although sometimes I know that you hated my unfair temperaments, thank you for remaining close and supportive.No matter what people say, to me you are beautiful, inside and outside (but you would more beautiful if you wake up at decent hour during weekend :p ~kidding~)

I wish that you will find a man that will love you unconditionally because let's face it, you are quite difficult to please...hehe...But, no matter what, I want you to know that I'll always support your decision and I will try my best to respect whatever decision you make in your life. Eventhough I may not agree with the way you handle things, I will certainly try my best to respect and support them.

I love you...Sara loves you and Abedie loves you too and we want nothing but only the best for you...muahhhhsssss.....

Mommy's hectic schedule

2009-04-08T16:38:00.002+08:00

I'm beginning to feel very tired lately. I guess having a baby really does change your life in soooo many ways. Usually, my schedule goes something like this : wake up, go to work, come home, watch tv, go to sleep. I thought it would be good idea to record my daily routine since Sara arrives so here goes :

06.00 am - Sara usually wakes up around this time for feeding.

06.15 am - Put Sara back to bed and take a bath.

06.30 am - Pray and get ready to go to work.

06.55 am - Bring Sara downstairs to change her nappy and clothes (usually hubby will do this..hehe)

07.10 am - Take my breakfast or "tapau" if I don't have the time. (hubby will attend to Sara during this time)

07.20 am - Hang the washed clothes, put Sara's things in the car

07.40 am - Off we go to Sara's babysitter's house. We play and talk a lot in the car.

08.05 am - Arrive at babysitter's house. I'll usually kiss and cuddle Sara for a little while before leaving

08.30 am - Mommy arrives to the office and work until 5.30pm

05.45 pm - Picks up Sara (she's usually asleep when I come to fetch her)

06.30 pm - Arrive home, put Sara in her playgym or let her play with Atuk and Nenek

06.40 pm - Sterilize Sara's bottle, load Sara's clothes in the machine

06.45 pm - Pack Sara's clothes for tomorrow (2 sets of clothes, baby binder & mittens & booties, 1 towel, milk + bottles and pacifier)

07.15 pm - Bring Sara upstairs, take a shower, perform my prayer and recite a bit of Quran while Sara listens.

08.00 pm - Feed Sara and let her play with Atuk and Nenek or watch TV

08.20 pm - Have dinner and hang Sara's washed clothes. Load our laundry.

09.10 pm - Finally, my time to relax and play with Sara but she's usually a bit drowsy and grumpy around this time.

09.30 pm - Feed Sara and put her to sleep (sometimes she will cry her heart out before finally going to sleep. we had bunch of recording of her crying. soooo cute, the way she pouts and wails..hihi)

12.30 am - Change Sara's diapers, feed her some more and she'll go right back to sleep

03.30 am - Sara will wake up for some more feeding. It is usually around this time she'll want to play before going to sleep. Waaa....Mommy is sooooo sleepy but hearing Sara cute little giggles and her cooing, I'll play along for a little while.

04.00 am - ~~Force~~ Put Sara back to sleep because Mommy is darn sleepy :)

and repeat from top

Seeing my minute-to-minute schedule, I will be amaze if I can find time to cook dinner. Hehe, luckily I'm living with my parents so my mom does all the cooking. Besides, I don't know if I can handle the pressure of cooking for my dad (the ~~worst~~ best food critic in the world. Ha!). To Nenek and Atuk, thanks for being around. Don't know what I'll do without you.

My post feel incomplete without my angel's pics...hehe...this is my favourite pic of Sara. She's asleep while waiting for Mommy and Daddy to get ready to take her out. Check out her oh-so-cute shoe-sock.

Sara goes to the wedding Part 2

2009-04-07T12:16:00.006+08:00

Since the wedding was held on Saturday, we decided to go to Kampung Beng (the village I stayed during my one of the modules in DPA-something like homestay). Anyway, my so-called "parents" and "relatives" were ecstatic to see Sara. I felt guilty for not keeping in touch with them more often because they lavished us with soooo many dishes and their great hospitality.

I still remember, the first time I came here, we had to come by boat (actually this village can be reached by land transportation, but the facilitator of DPA course thought it might do us some good to send us by boat :p). According to "abah", this village is popular amongst drama and film producers due to its lush and uninhibited nature.

I'm glad that I got the chance to bring hubby here to show him the place where i had to live for three weeks. I'm also thrilled that hubby and my "family" got along superbly.

I sincerely hope that I will be able to maintain the relationship between us and my "family" over in Kampung Beng because I feel that we can learn so much from mingling with people from all walks of life. I'm glad I had the chance to live a pure village lifestyle and I hope that one day, Sara will be able to experience the same thing. I want my child to learn and love the nature and all its animal (haha, I don't want Sara to be like me - I'm even afraid of ants, let alone cats and basically all types of animals)

Sara goes to the wedding Part 1

2009-04-06T15:08:00.005+08:00

This is actually the second wedding that Sara has been to. The first wedding was my friend Ryana and being the klutz that I am, I forgot to snap any pics. Heh. Anyway, this was my cousin's wedding which was held in her hometown Padang Rengas. We went for the akad nikah ceremony and also the reception. Sara was restless along the way. We stopped by Simpang Pulai and there was a loud welding noise from the construction of one of the stall. The funny thing was, Sara was sooo excited and kept on screaming her cute baby squeal towards the construction guy (I think she thought the sound was a cat's meow because she will squeal everytime she hears "meoowww") yana, mcmana sara sukaaaa pun kucing, i'm still scared of those darn animals, ok?

We arrived at Kuala Kangsar Rest House around 4pm and Sara wore her new blouse (she looks like such a big girl in those clothes).

During the reception on the next day, we met a lot of our relatives. Luckily, Sara is back to her happy self compared to last night when she grumpy all the time. She was a bit overwhelmed seeing all these new faces though.

baby mikail (i know...he's soooooo chubby) and the cute myra

our big family (on Atuk's side)

with abang rayyan gadaffi

Morphing Sara

2009-04-02T11:00:00.001+08:00

Most of my friends and family said that Sara looks exactly like me when she was a newborn but has now slowly morphing into her daddy's face...haha...

Sara @ approximately 10 hours after delivery

Daddy's little girl :p

I've tried loads of different photos in the family heritage but it always yielded the same result : Sara looks equally like mommy and daddy

What do you guys think? More like daddy or mommy?

Sara in her little car

2009-04-01T21:07:00.002+08:00

To Kat..here's a picture of the place where I bought Sara's Maclaren. The name is Chicco Italy (near Jusco) in One Utama Shopping Centre. They also sell the Quinny Zapp for RM799 (also cheapest that I can find).

To Yana aka Abek, here's pics of your one and only niece smiling happily in her little car :)

~ The excited little angel ~

~ The more excited parents...hihi ~

Wearing Sara :)

2009-03-31T10:05:00.012+08:00

Much has been talked about baby-wearing and I must admit, I was influenced by all that I read about the benefits of babywearing. You can google for the benefits of babywearing but personally for me, the benefits are:

Sara becomes a bit restless if we put too much layer of clothes on her but she gets cold easily so, when I put her in the sling, she will feel the warmth and will immediately calm down.
She still needs me to cuddle her to go to sleep and when I put her in the sling and walk, the sensation of swaying motion will lull her to sleep.
The sling looks so stylish and I've had more than a few people asking me how to get one (err...i dunno whether this falls under the category of benefits, seems more like vain phatmommy...haha)
The sling is sooo convenient, I can even eat sizzling mee and steamboat while carrying Sara.
It helps a lot during Sara was about a month old, when she refuses to be left alone and wanted to be carried around all day. Sara even helps mommy wash the dishes, hang the clothes, tidy up the house...hihi
It can double up as a blanket in the car seat or in the stroller.
But, most importantly, Sara loves it and that alone is all I care about.

All in all, I'd say I have an amazing journey with the baby sling. I know a lot of people think that wearing the sling is quite troublesome but I promise you, once you have the hang of it, it will be no trouble at all. However, having said that, my hubby is still having trouble with the sling. As for where to get the sling, I'd recommend searching for it online. There are a lot of online baby stores offering various choices of baby slings. I bought mine for RM65 from this website (the cheapest one I could find because I wasn't sure I'd be able to fully utilize it) but there are very gorgeous choices out there. You can also try here for beautiful designs.

There is one more alternative to baby sling which is the baby pouch. It is relatively easier to wear as you don't need to adjust the length. But since me and hubby are wayyy different in size, we opt for the sling instead. But I'm still contemplating on buying the pouch especially seeing these pictures.

To dear hubby, if you read this, our baby wanted you to know that she's bored of the turquoise sling she wishes to be carried around in this pouch :)

For those interested, these pouches are from wanitamelayu.com (look for moleygarden hotmama pouch). thebabyloft.com also offers variety of choices on baby pouch and sling. For those of you who are interested on wearing your baby but don't know how, you can also search on youtube about babywearing. Loads of short clips are available on how to properly wear your baby. As they say, practice makes perfect so be patient if your first baby wearing experience gave you shoulder ache or back ache or if the baby cries. I sometimes even hesitate to put Sara on her stroller, car seat or on the bed watching her cute face sleeping so peacefully in the sling.

Sara @ 1 1/2 month old refusing to be put down so I have to carry her around in the sling :)

Sara the cover girl :)

2009-03-30T15:26:00.002+08:00

Sara's little "car"

2009-03-30T14:26:00.004+08:00

Remember I mentioned I wanted either Maclaren Techno or Quinny Zapp for Sara's stroller? Hehe, I ended up buying her a Maclaren Quest. We went to OU on Sunday along with Cik Ngah to look for the stroller. We went to EVERY baby shop in OU and as usual, Mommy couldn't resist buying Sara's clothes. Hehe.

Anyway, we went there to compare prices on the Maclaren Techno, but after some demonstration by the sales assistant in one of the shops in OU, we decided that techno is wayyy too big for our compact car. We ALMOST bought the Quinny Zapp with the Maxi Cosi seat (this is after hubby saw a baby sleeping contently in one of those) but I insisted on buying a Maclaren Quest. Sara's almost three months so there would be no problem for her and besides, she's a big baby. Most people thought she was 4 months anyway.

I've done research on the Net on how much this stroller costs and found out that it retails at RM849 at Mothercare, RM809 at littlewhiz.com and the cheapest is RM764 at mybbstore.com. After hours of fruitless search, we decided to go to mybbstore in jalan kuchai lama but on our way back to the parking lot, we stumbled across one more baby shop and decided to just ask the price since we saw one on display. And the price for the stroller is only RM679. Can u believe it? That's like THE CHEAPEST MACLAREN QUEST EVER. Hehe, dunno if anybody found one cheaper than that, but I am satisfied with my purchase and so does my little angel. Hehe.

Stroller-mania

2009-03-28T17:40:00.003+08:00

I have been searching high and low for the best pram/stroller/buggy (whatever you want to call it - its still basically a thing to put your baby in :)

However, there are million of good choices out there. I'm currently eyeing the quinny zapp and maclaren techno. As I'm driving a very compact car, I really need a stroller that can be folded as small as possible. The only gripe I have with the Quinny Zapp is the lack of recline for baby to sit cormfortably. But it can be folded oh-so-stylish like this :

However, in order for me to fully utilize the Zapp, I'll need to buy the maxi-cosi cabrio seat which will cost me another RM700++. Currently, littlewhiz.com is having a sale and the Zapp is only RM799 which is the cheapest deal you can find in Malaysia. Call me a scrooge but I think spending almost RM1600 on stroller alone hardly worth the usage. But I'm seriously in love with the compactness of this stroller. Waaaa....

As for the Maclaren Techno, it can't be folded as small as the Quinny Zapp but it can be used from birth and the seat reclines to four position so that Sara can sleep cormfortably. The retail price is RM1200 (still too expensive for my liking). I've tried looking at other brands but none seem to met my expectation...

So, eventhough I am on the net almost 10 hours everyday, I can't find time to update my blog because phatMommy is busy looking for the perfect stroller for her little angel.

My Little Princess

2009-03-25T12:08:00.001+08:00

People say that a picture is worth a thousand words....

and I wholeheartedly agree :)

Sara's update...

2009-03-21T23:02:00.008+08:00

Eventhough I have just updated Sara's progress a week ago, there have been sooooo many changes in her...I'll try to make a list of all the new things that Sara can do now..

1) She loves sucking her finger

2) She loves riding in the car sleeping away in her car seat

3) She loves sleeping in her baby sling (eventhough I think my frame is too small for her to sleep cormfortably)

4) Her hair grows sooo rapidly (thank god! I got tired of answering my angel is a GIRL...)

5) She can now respond to people calling her name and can babble for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time...

6) She gets mad and WILL POUT if she wakes up and nobody is by her side...(such a spoilt child..huh)

7) If I feed her at twelve midnight before she goes to sleep, she will sleep peacefully until 4am.

8) She loves singing along to "pok amai-amai", Twinkle twinkle little star and play peek-a-boo. Too bad I can never seem to get a perfect picture or video of her chuckling and smiling to all the songs.

9) Sara now weighs 6kg...that is what probably cause me my chronic backpain...

Hee....

2009-03-12T20:52:00.003+08:00

I just couldn't resist snapping this pic....tee hee hee

My Little Baldy

2009-03-11T20:50:00.004+08:00

I have always intended to shave all of Sara's hair. So, the day after the cukur jambul ceremony, my mom came over to PIL's house. Nenek (my mom), Atuk (my dad), Mak Tok (hubby's mom) and Tok Bah (hubby's dad) were the ones responsible for shaving Sara's head. Hihi. Of course Atuk only voiced out a few suggestions here and there and Tok Bah was the one actually doing the job. I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.

Before

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MY LITTLE BALD ANGEL

Sara's "Cukur Jambul" Ceremony

2009-03-11T12:52:00.012+08:00

On 7th March 2008, my little angel had her "cukur jambul" ceremony at her granny's house in Kuantan. We arrived in Kuantan the night before around 2am and I was afraid Sara would have one of her tantrums during the ceremony. But, lo and behold the most best-behaved baby in the world.....

I feel like shouting and telling all the other babies "Look, this is how you should behave in a kenduri!" Heh. Anyway, the ceremony went on smoothly with a few glitches here and there.

Before the kenduri, I made cupcakes as gifts to all the guests. It wasn't perfect as I had to pipe the icing with my right hand while my left hand is carrying and cuddling Sara.

I promise lots of people photos, so these are few of the photos of my little angel with both sets of the family.

Sara with hubby's family (her great grandparents, Uncle Shazril & baby Elisha)

Sara with Nyai, Mak Ngah & Mak Su

Sara with the youngest granny and aunties... :)

Since I was not able to hold a camera, I had to depend on my SIL to snatch pictures here and there. But, she was under the assumption that Sara was the princess of the day, so we end up with no picture of the actual event. Anyway, during the event, first we had the berzanji and marhaban. Then, I carry Sara on a kain songket to the elderly for them to snip a little hair. I carried her to about ten different people who snip her hair, put salt, sugar and dates to her mouth and kiss her but my perfect little princess didn't cry even once. I was beaming with pride. My child is such a good baby. Heh.

Then, we had the endoi or a ceremony in which we put Sara into a swing. Her swing was bought by my parents-in-law and decorated by her Nyai. My little princess looks so small and scared when I put her in the swing. Heh. The ceremony ended around 11.30am. All in all, the ceremony runs smoothly. However, I do feel a bit pissed because there was no photo of the actual ceremony. Grrrr....

I invited my dear friend and ex-housemate, Wani to the ceremony but she couldn't come in time because of work. However, she did come in the evening. I last met her when I was 4 months pregnant. She looked beautiful and her daughter is adorable. Damia is such a good girl and soft spoken with a big voice. Hehe.

At the end of the day, I felt exhausted but satisfied. It was good to meet friends and family and it was certainly heartwarming and touching to see the ceremony. I feel like my little angel is growing up so rapidly. To Sara, remember that both sets of grandparents worked hard for this ceremony. Everybody loves you very much and Mommy hope that you will be a good daughter, granddaughter and niece.

Sara's Passport

2009-03-05T13:41:00.002+08:00

Today, we took Sara on her first outing. My mom and sister took the day off to settle our passport arrangements. Although I am back to my pre pregnancy weight, I still can’t fit into most of my regular clothes. Grrr….Anyway, after checking the immigration website, we decided to go to Metro Kajang. When we arrive, we asked around for the immigration office and were told that they have moved a looonnnggg time ago.

I was enraged. What is the purpose of having an official website when you don’t even update the information in it??? We end up having our lunch and taking our passport photo there. Remember I told you that my Sara is the cutest baby alive? Hee hee, she certainly is but her passport photo begs to differ. Haha…take a look at this pic.

I HATE SPECULUM

2009-03-04T11:58:00.002+08:00

I swear, whoever invented that item is one sick person...they bloody hurt...I HATE SPECULUM!!!!!!!!!!

Sara and Mommy goes to the clinic

2009-02-22T21:20:00.006+08:00

This is a backdated post... Sara and me survived going to the clinic on 11th February 2008. Sara is one month old, weighs a whopping 5.25kg (I know! I was surprised as you are), 56cm in length and appears to have no medical illness...Alhamdulillah...As for mommy, I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight..yeay! I'm so proud of myself to have shed almost 15kgs of my pregnancy weight...

Sara received her second HepB dose...She was such a good baby, she didn't even cry during our waiting time at the clinic...she did scream when the kind nurse injected her but just for a few seconds...hee..I'm soooo proud of my little girl...Sara wore her new romper courtesy of Aunty Kmie..but unfortunately I forgot to snap any pictures...

Anyway, this is a picture of Sara that I totally love...Actually, this is the first time she wore non-baby clothing...

Sara and her BCG

2009-02-22T20:50:00.005+08:00

Sara received her BCG immunization as soon as she was born. I never thought the BCG would develop into something nasty like this

Thankfully, Sara didn't cry out in pain. In fact, she seem rather nonchalant about the whole thing. It sure look like it hurts, but I guess it doesn't. Heh...luckily, now its okay already...hope u guys who have any experience in this leave me a comment and tell me whether this is normal or should I do something about it...anyway, now her BCG has developed into something like this...

Sara : Driving Me Crazy

2009-02-06T12:43:00.001+08:00

Last night, Sara was driving us crazy...She just COULDN'T STOP CRYING and WAILING...First she would emit a whimpering sound...very cute by the way...and then she would do this very adorable babyish sound which makes you want to hug and kiss her forever...and then out of the blue, with no warning whatsoever, she would scream on top of her lungs crying like we have done something wrong....

And then, when all of us have gotten up to her side checking her nappy, she would stop. Just like that. When we finally lie down trying to get some sleep, there she goes again. And this annoying loop would continue again and again until morning. We feed her every two hours, so she couldn't have been hungry. We checked her nappy frequently. Arrggghhh....Crying Sara makes Mommy crazy....

Sara : Pacified

2009-02-02T22:35:00.000+08:00

I’ve always hated parents who put pacifiers to their kids in order to get them to stop crying. But, last night and today, Sara couldn’t stop crying. And worse of all, she can’t get herself to sleep without feeding. After every hour of feeding, of course she’ll get too full and start to throw up. And still she refuses to go to sleep without hogging her milk bottle.

And so, we decided to put a pacifier into her sweet tiny little mouth in hope that she will be lulled to sleep. After three failed attempts, my little baby Sara is now pacify-able. Huh. Guess sometimes we can only plan what to do with our own child but it all depends on the child itself. Oh well…

Sara : Perfect little fingers

2009-02-02T22:28:00.001+08:00

I love every inch of my Sara. But the thing I love most about her is her tiny little fingers…they are so long and her nails are perfect….When she’s feeding, she’ll always try to hold to the bottle by herself using her tiny little fingers…Heh..

Sara : Growing Up

2009-02-01T14:52:00.001+08:00

Two days ago, we discovered that my little baby have accomplish another process of growing up. Hehe...She managed to roll to her side all by herself...I swear...we put her to sleep in her usual baby position (which is flat on her back) and then she wiggles her way around to this position..

It seems like she's growing up so fast. Even her face and expression changes every day...and I thank God that I am able to see her growth...To Sara...Mommy loves you very much...Mommy hopes that you will be a great person and that you will be able to achieve anything you want...

Sara : Day 1 to 10

2009-01-29T13:03:00.001+08:00

Me and hubby is the eldest in both sets of our family. So, that makes Sara the first grandchild of both families. Until Sara was born, I never thought that both grandparents would be this overjoyed especially hubby’s parents. I mean, they never seem to care so much about me when I was pregnant, nor did they seem overjoyed by the fact that I am pregnant. But, I guess seeing Sara for the first time as a living person changed everything for them. They were both ecstatic and fell in love with her from the first look. Everybody was gushing, oohing and aahing over her like she was the most prefect little baby in the world. Which she was.:)

Me and Sara spent Night 1 at the hospital by ourselves. She was the best-behaved baby in the ward. Now and then, I could hear babies crying all night long. But my little angel is content with her sleep. She woke up twice for breastfeeding and once when she poo in her diapers. I had to go to the toilet for quite a while but Sara is very understanding and doesn’t make a peep.

On Day 2, I was discharged and we went home. I don’t know whether its because I was induced to get into labour or what, but I didn’t look like I gave birth. In fact, I look like 7 months pregnant. My tummy was still intact, I felt like they left another baby in there. During the night, Sara is beginning to show signs of jaundice, which I feared but I was determined to give her exclusive breastfeeding. Even though my nipples are cracked and bleeding, I let her clung to it and boy…my baby sure takes her time feeding. She can go as long as 1 hour per breast. And I actually fell asleep and dreamt about everything nipple-related. In short, breastfeeding for me is not easy. Everytime she feeds, I feel like Hayden Christensen in Awake (where the surgeon cuts him open while he was awake).

Day 3, Sara begins to develop a fever. Her body feels warm and her eyes and skin turned yellow. Me and my mum was worried to death. Worse of all, my breast suddenly refuse to produce anymore milk. I’ve tried every remedy but none of it works. We didn’t even have any formula at home since I am determined to breastfeed her exclusively for at least six months. During the night, Sara cried a lot. My mum was the one holding her as I am not strong enough. My mum had to feed her plain water to get through the night. When morning came, my hubby went out and bought formula milk. I was so frustrated at the time because I couldn’t feed my own child.

Day 4, my mum brought Sara to the clinic and we discovered that she has jaundice and were almost admitted to the ward. When she came back home, I was once again determined and willing to sacrifice my sore nipple to give her breastfeeding. After 2 days, we brought her back to the clinic, and her jaundice reading dropped so much to the doctor’s surprise. I also went for my check-up and even the nurse was shocked to see the state of my sore and cracked nipple and advised me to stop feeding for a while.

During the following days, it was always a struggle for me and Sara during breastfeeding. After some hard thinking, I decided to let go and stop breastfeeding. It was the hardest decision ever. But, I couldn't even wear proper shirt, and worse of all, I couldn't even hug my own child. So, I quit breastfeeding, and she was one happy baby because she doesn't have to try so hard to feed and finally I can hug my baby to sleep.

Sara's favourite position to sleep

Sara : The delivery

2009-01-28T21:10:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone! On 11^th January 2009, I became the proud mother of Adlyna Qaisara (Sara). I use to hate those parents who swear that their offspring is the cutest and most gorgeous baby but my Sara IS the cutest and the most gorgeous baby girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. Seriously. Heh.

Anyway, I was admitted to the hospital on 8^th of January 2009. My precious Sara was supposed to be born by end of December but for some reason, she found it too comfortable to leave Mommy’s tummy. After two induces, my contraction is still too far apart and wasn’t strong enough. On 10^th January 2009, the doctor decided that Sara is taking too long and decided to break my waterbag. It sounded quite scary and gruesome but to tell you the truth, it doesn’t feel a thing. I don’t know whether it’s because I have a high tolerance towards pain or it really doesn’t hurt but even the doctors commented that it is sort of weird that I didn’t scream or even whimper during the procedure.

At 4.30pm, I was transferred to the labor room. Mind you, I didn’t feel any pain or any contraction during the time. I was then strapped into a machine to monitor my contraction and Sara’s heartbeat. I was given another induce through IV drip and a gas mask containing some sort of painkiller to be taken if I feel the pain becomes too unbearable. A male doctor came (and apparently he’s the specialist for the day) and check my opening (2cm) and gave me 4 hours to try and deliver the baby normally. If by 4 hours, my opening does not exceed 8cm, he’ll perform caesarian to get the baby out. I have nothing against the procedure, but I have always wanted to deliver my first baby normally. I wanted to feel all the pain and be able to tell and brag about it afterwards. Heh.

At four hours (and with the help of a female doctor and a nurse who understands my need to deliver this baby normally), my opening was only 7cm. Luckily, since the baby’s heartbeat is still okay, the male doctor decided to give me another 2 hours. I’m sure many of you will think that I am in agonizing pain but really I’m not in such a pain at all. I only took two inhale of the gas mask they provided. Even the nurse asks me to take the gas more frequently but like I told you, I don’t feel the excruciating pain. Yet. At 12.45am, I started to feel stronger contraction and took the gas once.

At 1.00am, the nurse went in and woke me from my pain-induced slumber and asked me to push. I was like “What?! Push? Now?” My darling husband who was right beside me from 4.30pm was also shocked. Shortly afterwards, the doctors came and yelling ensues. Heh. Not from me, mind you. All the doctors (I lost count after 5 doctors and nurses came in and out of the room) were yelling to me on top of their lungs instructing me to push and whatnot. The PROBLEM is, I AM NOT FEELING ANY CONTRACTION. My contraction only occurs once every ten minutes. How am I supposed to push when I am not feeling any contraction? Huh? It’s like forcing yourself to crap when you don’t feel like crapping. Heh.

My beloved parents, sisters and in-laws who were outside the labor room since 4.30pm who were also exhausted and worried as they can hear all the yelling from inside the labor room. My mom was reduced to tears and we had everybody worried. At 1.25 am, the baby’s heartbeat weakens, and the doctor decided to use the vacuum. I wasn’t afraid for me, I was more worried about the baby and agreed with whatever they are about to do, as long as the baby is safe. My husband was asked to leave the room. I heard snips of scissors. I feel a strong contraction coming, I pushed with all my might (of course the vacuum helped) and with two pushes, Sara popped out of me at exactly 1.31 am. She didn’t cry due to lack of oxygen so I only got a glimpse of her then the doctor took her away to give her oxygen. So there I was, all alone with no baby and husband to endure the pain of stitches. The doctor certainly took her time stitching me up as I was not yet finished by 2.00 am.

Here, I lost track of time. I remembered my husband telling me that the baby is okay and it’s a girl (we know beforehand that it’s a girl so it doesn’t surprise me). At the time, I drifted in and out of sleep dreaming bloody dreams of hands in my uterus. Heh. I really needed to see the baby to help me forget the trauma I just experienced. At 4.30 am, a nurse came and brought to me my precious baby. And you know all the things people say about how you forget the pain of giving birth melts away once you see your baby? Well, I’m happy to report that it’s true. Seeing the tiny little face with the cute tiny little hands reaching out to you is like magic. Sara weighs a whopping 3.66kg and 51cm in length.

Upon seeing her, me and hubby was like, Wow! She's really cute. Not because she's our child, but SHE IS REALLY CUTE. Heh. So there you have it, the story of how my precious Sara was born into the world . And to prove that she really is the cutest baby in the world, take a look at this pic. Hihi. (And if you don't think she's cute, go have your eyes checked but please, just agree with me that she's cute. Humor me. Heh.)