18 Months

My baby is one year and a half already.

Hari Rabu haritu bawak dia gi 18 months doctor's appointment. Alhamdulillah berat dah 9.4kg (a bit on the low side), tinggi dah 78cm. Head circumference aku lupa brapa. Dr. Anthony kata semua ok and Afif ni friendly and social btol. Hehe. 

Pastu kene cucuk DPTa. Dia bagaikan dah tau nasib nak kene cucuk, takmo baring atas katil doktor. Cucuk smbil dukung je. Nasib baik nanges kejap. Pasni dokter kata takde kene cucuk dah smpai la masuk skolah nanti unless nak amek optional Hepatitis A jabs masa umur 2 tahun. 

Meh bebel pasal milestone:

Feeding

-dah kurang memilih. Apa aku bagi dia telan je. Yayyy!

-babysitter kasi makan 2 kali kat umah dia: pagi n petang. So malam aku akan kasi jugak makan

-kalo ada lauk baby-friendly kat umah like masak kicap or sup ayam/sayur/ikan, aku bg je lauk tu dgn nasik. Kalo tak, aku masakkan porridge/sup/pasta/mi goreng.

-his current favorite is fried carrot noodle with tomato n salmon. Laju dan licin. Wan pon suka. 

-since aku masuk kerja ni, aku still pam kat office. Tp ebm tak cukup jugak utk bekal kat umah babysitter. So campur ngan FM. At times dia mmg reject FM. Babysitter akan ganti ngan Ribena or susu kotak Dutch Lady coklat.

Development

-berjalan nak laju aje tapi clumsy. Kadang tu laju sangat smpai tak sempat brake/lose balance pastu jatuh. Aku stress btol kalo jatuh n kepala benjol. Tapi lantak la asalkan tak mudarat.

-loves to sing and dance. Paling dia nyanyi n joget is twinkle twinkle little star, wheels on the bus and theme song Timmy Time. Suka tengok dia joget kat Timmy Time theme song.

-dia ni makin friendly plak aku tengok. Kalo mood baik tu jalan kat mall semua orang di lambai nya siap kata "haiii.." Dia ingat dia Prince George ke ape. Pastu suka jugak salam random people magadddd! 

-thankfully, bila strangers mcm sales girl or waitress panggil or nak dukung, dia taknak, siap nanges. 

Activities and hobby

-dah kurang obsess ngan iPad, alhamdulillah

-dia suka build tower block, sepak-sepak bola, main air (pantang tengok pintu toilet bukak, laju je masuk. Aku takleh lalai kene make sure pintu toilet tutup at all time), menconteng (takleh kasi magic color dah sebab nampak dia nak conteng sofa and dinding aritu)..

-suka pusing and spinning sampai pening huyung-hayang

-current fave dia adalah main hide and seek ngan aku. Bukan nyorok betol pon. Nyorok blakang dinding/pintu/kerusi bajet orang tak nampak. Baahaha. Suka betol dia smpai malam pon gigih kami nyorok nyorok.

-his current fave shows are Timmy Time, Tayo the Bus, Mickey Mouse Club House and Tom & Jerry. Kalo ada cerita2 ni memang kusyuk la the first 5 minit depan tv. Pastu sibok la cari remote tukar channel.

Hearing & Speech

-Hmm.. sebenarnye tak banyak progress sangat. His frequently pronounced sounds are aaaaa, mammamamma, and he can say "hai!" and "bye" fairly clearly
-dia dah pandai ada tune lagu. Paling obvious bila ada barang jatuh and we say "ah-haa tak tau siapa buat?" he will say "aa-aa a-a-a aaaaa.." in that sing song voice. Also bila nyanyi lagu Minion yang Banana tu, dia pandai jerit at certain part yang minion tu jerit. Hihi..
- but sounds like tatata, bababa, eeee, etc belom ada..
-my suspect is that maybe the hearing aids don't amplify certain sounds in the best way. We're currently in the process of taking audio tests to get full results. Will post about this later.

That's my baby.

Beli kain kat Jakel pon nak sorok-sorok kejar-kejar

Kisses for you

Ni masa favorite uncle dia, Uncle Redha nikah. Masa nikah pon dia sibok nak berkepit ngan Uncle.

Suka memanjat walaupon tak berapa terror lagi

The only way to get him to sit down at a mall: gi toy store and test toys

Nak bebas je kalo kat malls.

Ilyas nak suap Afif air

After about a year of tak berjumpa, dapat jugak bebudak ni jumpa masa makan-makan kat rumah Kak Yulie.

From left: Adam anak As, Ilyas anak Chuna, Aisyah anak Shim and Afif anak aku.

Hide and seek. 

The New Babysitter

This week is the second week that i'm back in the office. It also marks the 10th day that i left Afif with the new babysitter, Kak Wan.

Every morning when i leave Afif at Kak Wan's, i die a little inside. First day was no problem as i left him while he was asleep. After that.. He cries when Kak Wan hold him and sees me leaving him there. 

Masuk minggu kedua, dia dah cam rumah Kak Wan. Traffic light pon dia cam. Sampai kat traffic light depan umah akak tu, dia start muka gelabah dan buat bunyi "hmmmm.. hmmm..". Bila berenti je kereta depan rumah Kak Wan, he'd look at us sambil nangis. Siap melompat ke hubby/my SIL on the driver's side and peluk kuat-kuat sebab dia tau, aku yang akan hantar dia ke dalam rumah akak tu. Kene pujuk untuk kuar kete. Bila ditinggalkan tu memang takyah cerita la mendayu nangisnya. Sedih weh. Sedih aku.

Mula-mula cuak la jugak. Apsal anak aku menanges beriya ni. Kene dera ke ape (biasa lah paranoia aku bila tinggalkan anak).

But alhamdulillah makin lama dia makin improve. Contohnya semalam, dia tahan nanges. Dah kene dukung ngan Kak Wan baru nanges. Hari ni, takda sedih cebik dalam kereta. Kene tinggal baru nanges. Maknanya tidak lah kene dera ke apa sebabnya bila akak tu hulur tangan nak dukung, dia hulur jugak tangan walaupon terpaksa. i hope next week it'll be better for him. InsyaAllah.

Harap Kak Wan tu dapat jaga Afif sebaiknya dan pakaikan hearing aids sepanjang waktu. Harapan cerah sikit untuk Afif dapat more attention compared to the old babysitter sebab ada Afif and Zara je yang Kak Wan jaga. Zara tu pon dah 2 tahun, banyak mulut pulak. Harap Afif boleh becok and blaja bercakap jugak dari Zara tu. hehe.

To Pack Up and Leave

As i'm typing this, i'm actually in the deepest shade of green with envy. It seems like lots of my friends are on vacation/bussiness trip all over the globe. Japan, Paris, Milan, Yangon, Krabi, Mabul, Kota Kinabalu, Melbourne..

And here i am. Dealing with work and water rationing.

Sigh.

I'm becoming restless. 

My heart is longing to pack up and board the next plane ANYWHERE.

Sigh. 

I have always been a (self-proclaimed) traveller. I dont mind not having designer bags or shoes. Barang kemas tak banyak. Rumah pon tak cantik. Baju pon jarang bertukar (ok this one is not entirely true). 

But one thing i've always always made sure: i go travel. Paling kurang setahun sekali. Tak kisah la jauh ke dekat (tapi lagi jauh lagi best). Yang penting get out there. See new places and faces. Spend a bit of that hard earned money for a dose of the world. Embrace their culture. Just.. Be.

It's already April and we have no plans whatsoever to go anywhere. The biggest reason for that is, of course, money. We have to save up in case me OR my husband has to take more unpaid leave to look after Afif. And this time, if either of us take unpaid leave, it's gonna be for a long time as the goal is until Afif can talk.

Dah la kenduri kawen adik-adik aku bulan 6 ni. Takkan la akak diorang ni tak sponsor sikit pon kan?

So.. Yeah. 

Sabar je lah. At least for this year.

Bangkok and Pattaya. Our last trip with the in-laws in November 2013.

Tapi tetap berdoa supaya ada unexpected rezeki untuk melancong. 

In a Blink of an Eye

Just like that, my 3 months leave had passed.

April 1, 2014. I have officially returned to work, people!

2 weeks before returning to work, memang aku meroyan habis. Everyday membebel kat laki "how am i gonna leave Afif at homeeee? He needs meeee"

It was hard to return to work after 3 months of spending every minute with my baby. Suddenly those tiring moments of running after him, those bathroom visit with him dangling on my leg at the toilet bowl, those cheeky i-did-something-u'r-not-gonna-like smile.. They didn't matter. Coz the point is i watched my baby grow with my very two eyes. The satisfaction of  knowing he is well fed, he got enough attention, and he's happy. It's every mom's dream..

The doctor suggested my husband or i to stay at home and care for him full time as that's the best for Afif's hearing and speech development. At least until he can combine two meaningful words like "nak makan" or "naik kereta". Sampai umur dia 3 tahun camtu lah. 

Admittedly, we are still unsure of what to do. Do i take more leave or is it better if he takes the role of stay-at-home-dad by taking unpaid leave? Do i get a full-time maid to look after Afif at home where Wan could supervise? We're still figuring it out.

For now, i found a new babysitter for Afif. She cares for Afif and another girl aged 2. Hopefully he could have more attention compared to when he was with the last babysitter who has too many kids on her hands. We'll see his progress. If he progresses well, takyah la aku or husband amek cuti. If not, we'll think of something. Whatever's best for him. 

Afif's first day at the babysitter, a day before i return to work. My heart weeps everytime we left him there.

P/s: April 1 is also the first anniversary of me donning the hijab, alhamdulillah.