Toddler Activity: Bathroom Painting

Ok so Afif loves the iPad. i came to realize that after two mornings of him getting up and out of bed and point the iPad at me. Now before you bash me, don't worry. It's not an addiction yet. Setakat ni tak pernah la lagi dia mengamuk tantrum kalo tak dapat. Phew phew..

But yaa.. Of course we have to plan stuff for him to vary his activities. Mainan banyak tapi kejap-kejap main dia bosan. Dia suka main air, aku layan la jugak kat toilet tapi susah sebab takot basah hearing aid dia. Main hide and seek pon layan. Dia layan gak crayon, pencil color and magic color tapi lelama dia ada idea conteng dinding plak (-____-) so i minimize his contact with those.

i got him this Crayola Washable Kids' Paint a few weeks ago. The first time we painted was one rainy day after he got up from his afternoon nap. Kononnya fun activity. Tapi time tu dia cranky, dia conteng sekali dua je pastu marah aku cat tapak tangan dia pastu we wrap up. So much for being artsy.

The supplies for painting activities.

 End product

Cranky kene paksa melukis

Then yesterday i had this bright idea of combining his favorite place, the toilet, and some art stuff. Maka terjadi lah bathroom painting!

Bangon pagi dan brekpes, i stripped him down. Ingatkan nak mandi la tuh. He got excited pon seeing the paint i laid on the stool in the bathroom. Then i started painting the house and tree, he followed suit. But of course, no house, tree or even stick figures from him yet. Conteng-conteng ikot suka je.

Muka puas hati main conteng-conteng

Our masterpiece.

He was so happy experimenting siap cover toilet bowl pon dia conteng. i think this activity is good to train our baby's motor skill and also to teach them colors. i even mix a few colors together to create a new color for example blue+yellow=green!

The best part is this Crayola Paint is totally washable. After our painting session, simbah air kat dinding tiles tu and gosok sikit-sikit pakai tangan je terus hilang color tu. No mess for lazy moms like me.

p/s: malam tu dia amek pencil color dan conteng dinding rumah while i was busy in the kitchen. Laki aku gelak je "siapa suruh ajar conteng toilet?" katanya. Haihhh..

Weekend in Kuantan

Last weekend, we went to Kuantan. Main objective is to attend my cousin Allan's akad nikah and wedding reception. Secondary objective is to jalan-jalan makan angin. Wahhh mampu ko siap ada primary secondary objective bagai..

Patotnya nak bertolak Jumaat pagi.. Tapi kene gi klinik audiologi plak nak betulkan setting hearing aid Afif sebab dia suka tarik-tarik. 2 jam jugak lah baru settle. Kami laki bini lemau melayan budak ni hide and seek and sepahkan klinik bagai. Pas settle tu baru balik, makan, and kol 2 baru gerak gi Kuantan.

Wan and Mak Ngah ikot skali gi Kuantan ni. Memang sempit lah kereta sebab ada carseat Afif lg. Masa pergi tu alhamdulillah Afif senyap je tido dalam carseat dia. Dah nak sampai baru jaga.

Sedap dia tido. Mama terkebil-kebil.

Sampai Kuantan around 5pm trus check-in kat Vistana. Memula nak lepak kat Hyatt sebab kononnya nak main pantai. Tapi tengok banyak bad review kat Tripadvisor, we changed our mind. Dok kat Vistana lagipon dalam bandar. Kitorang amek connecting room ngan Wan and Makngah kat bilik sebelah. Bilik dia cantik.. Sebab lepas refurbished. Cuma kecik sket bilik dia. Cam biasa lah budak kecik tu excited explore bilik, masuk kuar toilet and almari.

 First thing dia explore kat bilik hotel adalah jamban. Baahaha.

Malam tu gi rumah pengantin pompuan tengok diorang nikah. Diorang nikah kat dalam umah, aku dok luar je la area depan pelamin. Ntah apahal excited lebih Afif. Semua mak nenek yang ada kat situ dia salam, joget-joget, cubaan memanjat pelamin. Rakan-rakan sebaya dia plak sibok nak dekat-dekat ngan dia.. Mungkin sebab pelik tengok hearing aid dia.

 Buat rumah orang cam rumah sendiri. Gamba dia panjat pelamin tak sempat amek.

Akad nikah.

Weh aku suka gila wedding orang Pahang ni sebabnya ada ikan patin tempoyak hamagaddd.. Makan cam onggiler aku. Kalo tak mikirkan ni rumah orang, memang 3 kali kot aku tambah.

Kol 10 lebih camtu Afif nak sibok meraba nak nenen. Aku dok dalam kete breastfeed dia sambil tunggu diorang settle berinai. Dalam kol 11pm baru kitorang balik hotel. Barai la jugak weh.

Esoknya tengah hari gi reception diorang. Balik hotel melepet je kitorang. Petang tu bertegas kejotkan laki ajak gi picnic kononnya. Plan asal nak gi teluk Cempedak tapi mak haiii jam nya jalan. Last2 kitorang gi Pantai Batu Hitam which is like 15 minutes from Teluk Cempedak. Pantai lagi luas and lagi aman. Motif utama nak kasi Afif main pasir and laut. Aku tak puas hati btol masa kat Langkawi aritu dia geli pijak pasir.

Congrats Allan + Along!

 Afif dan dua pupunya, Rachel Hannah

Bila letak dia atas pasir, memula dia geli and mintak dukung. Second time aku letak je and lari cecepat. Nak tak nak dia terpaksa la berlari kejar aku. Lama-lama dia okay je. Yezza! Seronok la kami berkejaran siap laki aku beli bubbles main ngan dia. Pastu bila main air, memang bertambah suka la. Memang nampak muka dia pelik tengok air laut menerjah kaki siap berpasir-pasir. Lepastu memang ligat nak masuk dalam air. Hamboi hamboi. Aku memang tak kasi dia basah. Seluar je basah sket. Bila diajak balik, dia takmo eh. Nak masuk air jugak. Terpaksa la angkut dia masuk kete. Nasib baik takde drama.

 Happy boy discovering the world by our Creator. 

i hope you grow up to be part of the world, son. 

To see what the world has to offer. 

To appreciate.

The next day we left Kuantan at around 2pm. Sempat gak la bawak Afif berendam kat pool before check-out.

Perjalanan balik kali ni memang mencabar sebabnya Afif tanak dok dalam carseat eh.. First time aku kasi iPad dalam kete, lenguh gak tangan pegang. Bila simpan iPad, mula lah meragam. Dia either nak berpeluk ngan aku dok kat riba laki aku yang tengah drive. Maka memang tahan je la aku 3 jam tu dok blakang bersempit ngan carseat and Wan sambil riba Afif. Mak Ngah dok seat depan sebab dia besar.

All in all, we had fun. Ni yang aku teringin nak gi beach holiday lagi ni. Haih..

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.

MH370: Stand Tall Malaysia

Today is the 21st day that MH370 airplane went missing. 

Vanished into thin air. Literally.

I have never posted my thoughts or opinion on social media. I'm no expert and with everybody posting a piece of their mind on it, mine doesnt matter.

But that doesn't mean i dont care.

Everyday i pray for MH370 to come home safe, with all 238 people onboard. My heart aches for their family.. How horrible it must've been to not know what happened to their loved ones. How crazy i'd be if my husband/child/parent/family/friend was onboard.

Most of all, i'd like to know; what the hell happened?

All kinds of stories, rumors and speculation (or speculashit, as my girls and i call it) swirl around the internet. It was hijacked, technical problem, cockpit on fire, pilot suicide, planned hijacking to get stolen item by the USA.. All kinds of thing.

Like everybody else, i have opinions. All kinds of scenarios. They made me lose sleep. They gave me nightmares. In the end i concluded "F- it! I'm not gonna have opinions anymore. Even if i do, i cant bring back the darn plane" I've gotten my sleep back since taking that approach. Calmer and not so paranoid.

Now the biggest thing that's bothering me is that MY COUNTRY AND RELIGION ARE BEING ATTACKED.

They say we Muslims kill the 150+ Chinese onboard.

Our government is pathetic at handling the situation.

Malaysians are murderer.

Our government hides information.

We are terrorist.

We are liars.

All these Malaysia bashing by the people of China, its close-minded celebrity and the stupid CNN. 

WHAT IS THAT?

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

I'm lost for words. 

These things are suppose to happen in movies, not to my country.

Oh Allah, please protect this country that i call home from harm. Please give us peace and keep us away from war and danger. Please help us unite and stand tall amidst trials. Please help our Muslim brothers and sisters all over the world be strong in facing fitnah. Please give us the answer for the mystery of MH370. Please..

P/s: pray for Syria, Palestine and Egypt too. Life is too fragile nowadays.

Balik Kampong

Last week kitorang plus Wan balik rumah in-laws aku kat Kuching. Balik ni pon aku yang ajak sebab alang-alang aku tengah unpaid leave ni boleh la balik lama sikit. Plus aku rasa Afif jarang jumpa atok nenek dia tu. Nak harap laki aku ajak memang idok ler dier heran nak balik Kuching tu haa..

We took a noon flight to Kuching on the 26 February, ngam-ngam lepas Mr. Chenta abes shift dia. Honestly i was unsure of what to expect bila Afif dalam flight. Ye lah dah dapat kaki ni. Turned out dia nak berjalan je. Had to distract him with his book, toys and my phone. Pastu dia tido kejap. Masa nak dekat landing tu baru bagi dia jalan-jalan.

Flight delay setengah jam.

Dia dok vroom sana sini.

Kantoi daddy tido hikhik

Takmo diam.

We spent 6 days in Kuching. The in-laws baru renovate rumah, diorang baru buat a detached car garage. They now have a sun room which is my favorite part of the house; an area with floor-to-ceiling glass as walls. Siap ada lepak area and ping pong table. Langsir tak siap lagi which is why i so love it sebab nampak bilik tu terang and airy. A perfect place to read. Tapi memang siang hari panas la sebab kaca kan. Macam green house effect. (hint for husband nanti ada rezeki nak jugak sun room gini, panas tak panas belakang cerita)

Beskal ni sejak dari pregnant dulu aku teringin nak naik. Sekarang Afif dah setahun lebih baru dapat naik.

Amek Adeq kat sekolah, pastu stop kat post office jap. Dia tengok uncle dia buat homework, dia pon sebok nak buat homework.

Kat sana aku banyak dok umah je. Plannya nak gi dating supaya Afif boleh bonding ngan atok nenek dia tapi the first 2 days tu dia demam (i saw 2 red spots on his gums and a sprout of molar. Yeayyy gigi geraham nak keluar!) maka memang tak sanggup la tinggalkan dia yg cranky ngan in-laws. Pastu dah weekend pulak di mana kitorang keluar gi Serikin and also buat bbq makan-makan. Isnin tu dah nak balik KL. Memang idok ler berjalan berdating. Tak sempat jugak makan mee kolok and white lady huwaaaaaa!

The sun room i talked about. Afif pon suke main kat sini. Sebab lapang agaknya.

Penat la Atok kejar dia.

BBQ night. 

Kembang jap orang puji kat MIL yang ayam & kambing aku marinade sedap and home made black pepper sauce pon sedap.

Sakan main kejar-kejar.

Kesayangan saya.

Btw, Afif is in the phase where his separation and stranger anxiety are peaking. Dia takmo kat atok nenek dia okay.. Kat adik-adik ipar aku pon dia taknak. Stress jugak aku sebabnya aku tau mak n pak mertua aku rindu kat dia. The only cucu (so far) katanya. Adeq (youngest BIL) pulak emo bila Afif tanak kat dia ("he hates me.. i'll never be his favorite uncle" he says). At times aku tinggalkan je Afif dengan diorang. Dia okay la tapi bila nampak aku je bye bye atok nenek! Takpe la, jarang jumpa. Nanti besar sikit dia nak la tuuu.. Kan?

Selfie ngan Atok & Wan kat airport sebelom balik.

We came back to KL on March 3. Flight delay sejam lak tu stress aku. Nasib baik Afif good mood and tak meragam. Dalam flight dia dah boring main toys, kitorang bagi je tengok Barney kat iPad. Either that or letting him loose on the plane. Hehe.

Aircraft nerds.