The week that was

This week back in KL has been a whirlwind of activities. My itinerary of social engagements began even before we reached home on Saturday, with Abg Ashraf's eldest son's birthday party in Shah Alam. Initially Nuaim was not keen, but when we arrived, albeit one hour after the party was supposed to be over, there were still many of my cousins and their offspring around. By dusk and it was time to leave, I had some difficulty prying my children off the various wheeled toys.

The party mood continued the next day with an outing at Taman Desa Water Park to celebrate Naufal's birthday. He is two months younger than Aiesyah but a couple of inches taller, and they got along like a house on fire. With his cousin around, Naufal appeared more gungho and less timid, and my daughter was literally leading him on in her usual flirtatious manner.

Monday till Thursday I had a packed training session. There was a large group of us, about 18 persons, and as the last two days involved individual practicals (it was a Training of Trainers course) we only finished at six in the evening.

I was looking forward to a relaxing Friday but my kids had other ideas. They were looking forward to the Dino's Alive! exhibition at the National Science Centre, so my brother and I took the three of them there on Friday afternoon. I had learnt not to expect much, so I did not end up disappointed. Apart from a large T-rex and Apatosaurus in the foyer and two replica fossils in a chamber just inside one of the exhibition halls, the rest of the 32 models were small and repetitive. There must have been at least six velociraptors in various poses, mostly based on their appearance in Jurassic Park. My kids and brother had more fun playing with the permanent science exhibits and demo equipment. Fortunately the science exhibit is free, so I will make it a point to take them there for another visit in future.

That night Ain and I had to attend a wedding on behalf of our parents. It was the son of a close family friend who happens to be distantly related to my parents, and the bride's reception was at PJ Hilton. We were a bit stumped when a member of the meet-n-greet committee asked if we were attending Anita's wedding - neither of us had bothered to check the invite, and we weren't too sure of the groom's real name either (he had always been Abg Wi to us). Fortunately there was only that one wedding there, and some recognisable faces had already arrived so we joined them at the family table.

Saturday morning was shopping time. I had to buy Nuaim his new school clothes, and to get him to agree I promised that he could go to Kidzport after that. And so three sets of school uniform, two sets of sports clothes, two pairs of shoes and a new set of briefs later, the trio were safely dispatched to the play area and Ummi was RM90 the poorer for it. That amount of money also bought me about two hours of solo shopping, which of course meant more money was spent. This was in addition to a significant amount I already spent on stationery the day before. Kudos to Jasema for being a Pilot G2 retailer in so many colours.

Dinner was a family outing of sorts - Abg Wi's parents threw a small alfresco party just for relatives at his aunt's business premise, and the whole household was invited. The kids had a fun time running around, obviously there was still some excess energy from the day's events. However they had a dear price to pay for all that exertion.

Nu'man woke up the next morning complaining of a fever. After a dose of Panadol, he seemed better, but by teatime his temperature was high again. Since it was Sunday, I had to take him to the hospital where they administered a suppository to bring the fever down. This morning, after another dose at bedtime, he appears on the road of recovery. Unfortunately his brother is now suffering and received the same treatment from a private clinic.

Right now we are on our way back to Alor Setar with my inlaws. I am praying that the girls are hale and hearty enough not to fall ill like their brothers, and that the rest of the year will be smooth sailing. This week has been memorable enough.

Here's hoping for a vibrantly colourful new year! (One pen for each month)

Nu'man feeling better on the journey to Alor Setar.

Nuaim and T-rex

Aiesyah and cousin Naufalsaurus.

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Siren Song

She waits.

His image is a shapeless thought, she is wary to give it a true form. Afraid of what the thought can be, and the calling that comes with it.

There is a familiar thrill, like an old friend returned from a long journey unchanged. But she herself has changed, and she is afraid of what this thrill can lead to.

He is near, too close by to miss her song if she sings it. She lets her thought form a name, hesitates to say it. Already his image is clearer, she can see his face in her mind. The name and the face. Nothing else.

She sends the thought out into the night air without a voice. And waits.

************

He feels her song probe his mind. A voiceless call, yet it thunders in his soul. He has been waiting for it, knowing more than she that eventually it would come to this.

The siren cannot refuse her nature, and her call must be answered.

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Red Woman

She is strong and tough, sometimes stubborn. She expects to be in command, and others to willingly follow.

She is a woman of ambition. To be the best that she can be, first among equals.

But she is also a woman of needs and desires, and wishes to be needed and desired.

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10.10gmt @10.10.10

Nuaim has school on Sundays, so I marked the auspicious moment by watching tv with Nu'man and Aiesyah. As the long hand of the clock moved to the mqgic number, Aiesyah started crying for her bottle of milk, while Nu'man had fallen asleep. There was nothing else to watch on TV but a Ben 10 movie on Cartoon Network.

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Weight by arithmetic

Today Sofiyyah is five months old. A month ago, just before Aidil Fitri, she was 7.5kg. This morning, I stepped onto the weighing scale with her in my arms.

Weight with Sofiyyah = 58.7kg

Weight without Sofiyyah = 50.1kg.

?!?!?!?

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Sofiyyah's Progress

At birth
Weight 3.3kg
Length 48 cm

4 months later
Weight 7.5 kg
Length 65 cm

She's already outgrown 6mth clothing. I had to buy 12-18mth sizes to fit her chest and thighs.

And I think she's teething. Breastfeeding is beginning to turn into a painful activity.

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Reminiscing Raya

As a child, Aidil Fitri meant a 10-hour drive back to Kelantan - a necessary evil for me who suffered from travel sickness. It was worst when travelling by day due to the heat. In those early years, the route to Kelantan was via Kuantan then up the coast of Terengganu. We would have to cut through hills and a mountain range, and the sight of the barren rock faces flanking the roads would send waves of nausea throuh me.
I tried taking pills to stop myself from throwing up on whomever was unlucky enough to sit next to me in the car, but I could never swallow them, despite their tiny size and my mother's attempts to make them more palatable by incorporating them in bread or banana. Eventually I would have to crush the pill and down it with lots of water to take away the bitterness. At times I would plead with my father to travel at night, but Mak would tell me off for selfishly making him drive when he was tired and sleepy.
As we made it a point to celebrate the eve of Aidifitri at my father's kampung, there were times when we would have to break fast on the road. One time we arrived at Tok Wan's house just in time for sahur. While everyone immediately filled up, my brother refused to eat because Tok Wan did not prepare sweet sour garoupa (we'd been having it constantly throughout that particular Ramadhan that our kitchen expenses were higher than for other months). After some cajoling, he finally agreed to have an omelette instead. The next day my grandmother scoured the markets of Pasir Putih and finally managed to find a small specimen to cook her favourite grandchild his favourite dish.
Tok Wan was famous for her ketupat daun palas and satay. On the eve of Eid, she would spend hours in the kithchen threading pieces of marinated meat on skewers or filling up glutinous rice into cones made of palas leaves. Sometimes I would help her in these tasks, but I never worked on them long enough to inherit the recipes as there was always something more exciting happening in the front lawn - Ayah's fireworks display.
Every year without fail he would stock up on a variety of colourful and splendid fireworks, and all the children of the village would gather in front of Tok Wan's house, while the ladies watched from the windows. We would clap and cheer at the multi-coloured bursts and whizzes as Ayah lit up one firework after another, and the night would end with handheld sparklers that would invariably find a victim or two.
I can't remember the last time I saw that firework show. After SPM I went directly to England for my A-Levels and first degree, so for 6 whole years I celebrated Eid away from my family. The first Raya after I finished my studies was subdued - Ayah had passed away two years previously, and Tok Wan was never the same cheerful person ever since. That year she was particularly ill, and it was a week after Raya that she was diagnosed with advanced stage intestinal cancer. She passed away on the 14th of Syawal that same year. No more ketupat daun palas, and the fireworks sparkled no more.

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Caftan oh caftan

Inspired by my friend's post (http://ladyverde.blogspot.com/2010/08/settled-kautimbaju-raya-checked.html), I decided to check out some caftans near Damansara Perdana yesterday. I wasn't really intending to buy one for raya, just to see what I'd look like in one.
The first boutique I went to was Puteh. It carries a range of caftans designed by Rizalman Ibrahim, and I've seen enough of his designs to know that they're gorgeous. And really they are, but with a 4-digit price tag and extra-long length I decided to just admire them on the rack rather than on my body.
The next boutique I went to was Galeri Muslimah just round the corner. It's actually a showroom for a range of tudung and accessories as well as clothes, and does both retailand wholesale. I picked out a gold satin caftan and matching yellow tudung to try on. It looked quite big, but with hidden tiebacks to alter the fit. Sorry no photos :-))
I have to admit I felt like a goddess, and began to picture myself lying on a chaise-lounge like Cleopatra witj the voluminous sleeves spread all around me, but when I stepped out of the fitting room to show Hubby his first response was: "Ni nak pakai tidur ke pi jalan2?"

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An angel in the morning

This is the face I see when I wake up from sleep.

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Golden Goose

This article was sent to me by Hubby some days ago.

Remember the tale of the goose that laid the golden egg? How the owners got greedy and killed the goose to get at what they thought was a horde of golden eggs inside the goose, only to find nothing but goosey guts?

Although the moral of the story is primarily about greed, the writer of that article took another angle, and took the goose, instead of the farmer, to represent individuals with unique talents and abilities. What if, he asks, the goose allowed itself to be victimised? The golden goose that allows itself to waste away.

I'm expanding the theory even further here - what if the goose has already laid its last golden egg, but the farmer is still expecting it to produce wealth? What if you've expended the last drop of your creativity and skills, and have nothing more to offer, but because of this crazy competitive world the farmer keeps urging you on, believing that your glorious past is still present well into the future?

I feel spent. I hope it's just a phase, and that this phase, like the others before it, shall pass.

Money money money

What would you spend money on? Assuming you have more than enough stashed away for retirement, would you spend money on material things or life experiences? And would you spend it all on yourself or on your loved ones?
I find myself in a dilemma when I have extra cash in hand. Of course like any other member of the female species I like beautiful clothes, jewellery and luxury items - but another side of me (the side that turned me into an engineer, obviously) will want to rationalise every purchase that I end up not buying them. It's either because I already have something like it or I don't have the space to store it. I really do not mind spending a lot of money on something if I get good mileage out of it and it does not end up cluttering my already limited real estate.
The same goes when I buy stuff for people. By all means my mother and sisters can go shopping on my account, but I have to believe in their cause. Which is why I'd pay for my sister's work clothes but not another one's date outfits. And why I'd fork out a large sum for a new kitchen with additional storage space and new appliances, but not rebuild the wet kitchen as well just because there've always been two kitchens - despite one being totally underutilised except as storage space for items you didn't even know you had. I'd rather spend the money on foodstuff and travelling and good service.
So, where shall I go on holiday as an excuse to buy a beautiful knee-length winter coat from Zara?

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Needs and Wants List Updates

Referring to my needs and wants post, here's an update:

• Car seat - I went for the Combi Coccoro in Carrot Cake - the 4C's! I haven't tested Sofiyyah in it yet, though.
• Nursing clothes - I bought the Diva tank tops from The Baby Loft one in each of the 5 colours. To ge with these are cheapo leggings that are for wearing underneath my coveralls.
• Newborn teats - MIL already bought a pack of 3 a few weeks back, and I also bought some extra bottles. Which is a good thing, because Sofiyyah is quite a guzzler and I've used up all the 150ml bottles that came with the Medela Harmony pump. Hopefully the 5 bottles of EBM stocked in the freezer will be sufficient for at least two working days. Just in case, there's some standby Formula milk, although I hope it won't have to come to that.
• Milk collection shells - the ones online are sold out. I'll have to find some when I go back to KL next week.
• Haircut - Not yet.
• Fix watch - Not yet.
• New phone - my phone is very temperamental nowadays, losing signals and battery strength with unpredictable frequency. I am torn between two phones offered by Maxis:

Samsung Galaxy S

HTC Desire

Or should I just wait for the QWERTY versions to hit our shores?

Post-natal resolution

Having 4 babies certainly has obvious physical effects. It could also be age catching up - it's true what they say about hitting 30. I definitely need to put in a lot more effort to get toned. This is going to be tough - sit-ups, crunches and any form of regimented exercise has never been my thing.

So in a bid to get me started, I have bought new sports shoes, a yoga mat and signed up to play netball at the office. There's also some magazine cut-outs ("How to get Gorgeous Legs in 4 weeks" - I wish!) that I will put into practice with semi-religious zeal. And hopefully nursing the baby plus running after the 3 older kids will make up for all the work-outs I've already put off.

When nothing seems right...

...what should one do? Fix things one at a time, or just blitz everything to obliteration and start straight from scratch? Is there a limit to what's fixable, so that you know when you've gone beyond that limit (the point of no return), it's better to just get rid of all the broken and irreparable and begin with a fresh clean slate.

And what if it's your life we're talking about here?

Balik Kay Ell

Alhamdulillah, we arrived at my mum's house in Damansara safe and sound around 5.30 p.m. Although there was a slight drizzle before we started on our journey, the weather was kind - no rain, a bit cloudy, a few sunny spots but not too hot - perfect for travelling with kids over a 444km distance.

Sofiyyah was an angel - she spent most of the trip sleeping. Even the few times she was awake there was hardly any sound from her, let alone a cry, but her eyes were open to take in the different scenery. Despite this being her first trip in the SUV, she settled into it very well - must be a familiar sensation from all my driving during pregnancy. Even Nu'man's horseplay didn't bother her.

My brother apparently has been really busy. He had installed a ceiling fan and new lights in the guest room where I usually stay, bought a new sofa bed for the kids' playroom, and a new HDTV. The existing TV set has been moved downstairs "so the boys can easily play video games" - which they are happily doing now.

As for me, it's back to the familiar Confinement regime - already agreed for Kak Yam to come in first thing Saturday morning for my massage. I've got a hot water bottle behind my back, and no more fried fish or chicken in my meals.

I'll be spending 2 weeks here, which means the boys get an extra week off school. I hope it doesn't mean they'll miss much from kindergarten - especially as they've got tests immediately after we arrive back in Alor Setar!

To buy or not to buy?

Poor Sofiyyah! Being the baby of the bunch means she gets mostly hand-me-downs from her brothers and sister. However, I am thinking of making an exception here.

I was initially planning to reuse Nuaim's old car-seat, however after 6 years it's beginning to look tattered and worn out. Besides, it's BLUE! Aiesyah already has to suffer with a blue Graco car-seat (another hand-me-down from Abang Long), so I'm thinking of a more gender-neutral colour for Sofiyyah.

So last night, I surfed through the Internet and found a couple of really nice-looking car seats, including seat/stroller combos such as these on The Baby Loft:

Halford Premier Zeus Baby Car-Seat (up to 4 years)

Combi Coccoro convertible car-seat - apparently these take up very little space in the car,

The Halford Cosmo DX Travel System,

or the Quinny Zapp-Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix (at 25% discount!)?

Or should I make use of the Maclaren RM100 voucher I just discovered in one of the baby gift packs this morning? Except that they only have strollers, so I'll still need to spend an extra amount of money on a car seat - and end up with 2 strollers.

Oooh, the Quinny Zapp is beginning to look so attractive!

The Children's Progress

Sofiyyah is now 24 days old. It's been 17 days since she was G.I.-Janed, and her hair is now about 5 mm long. She has also developed a triple-chin, and her cheeks look like she is hiding two golfballs in her mouth. And all on breastmilk (except for the first 1 and a half days at hospital)!

Sofiyyah is also a very strong baby. She can already hold her head up, although not while lying on her tummy. Her legs are pretty mean, too. She usually uses them to signal that she wants to go for a walk, by pushing and kicking on the lap of whomever is holding her at the time. I'm pretty sure her aunts and uncle in Damansara will be surprised to see her in 9 days' time.

Nuaim, meanwhile, celebrated his sixth birthday at kindergarten yesterday. As requested, he had a square cake, with white icing and strawberries.

And for his birthday gift, he wants toy dinosaurs - and not just any old dinosaur either. He specifically asked for these:

Tyrannosaurus

Triceratops

Liopleurodon (I had to google to find the right spelling)

Apatosaurus

There were a few others that I cannot remember and can only imagine to spell. He listed out the ones he wanted - spelling them phonetically therefore less accurately - and gave the list to his maternal grandmother. My brother's got the list now, and he's doing some internet-based research to find out what they really look like so they can buy the correct ones. Only Allah knows what kind of tantrum Nuaim will throw if we get them wrong.

As for Nu'man and Aiesyah, they go through each day fighting like cats and dogs one minute then being the best of friends the next. Since they're closest by birth, being only 18 months apart, they share similar tastes and behavioural traits, especially at play. Aiesyah tends to copy her brother, and she's just as likely to play Racing Cars as Nu'man does. The boy, on the other hand, tends to have a go at every toy bought specifically for his sister - including dolls and tea party sets. Just in case anyone's worried, be rest assured that his mannerisms with these toys are definitely unfeminine.

Physically, though, they're as different as chalk and cheese. While Nu'man hardly seems to be growing despite all the food that he eats (he expends all the energy through highly intense physical activities), Aiesyah has visibly grown taller and her face is rounder. She's also very vain about her looks, and sulks very easily whenever she gets ignored or reprimanded. I suppose that goes with being the baby for a long time - in terms of age gap, Aiesyah-Sofiyyah's is the longest at 2 years 7 months. But Aiesyah is also the most helpful and obedient of them all, so far.

My only concern with Aiesyah is that she tends to pick up my Indonesian maid's pronunciation of certain words. First it was 'Cat' pronounced as 'Kek', which I've managed to correct. Right now I'm having some issues with her calling her baby sister Amirah SoPiyah instead of SoFiyyah.

Post-Confinement Needs List

I've noticed that most, if not all, of my clothes have acquired a semi-permanent aroma of massage oils. It is not necessarily a bad thing if I'm just staying at home, but would definitely be a problem for work. Granted, most of them are not really work clothes anyway - which brings me to another potential problematic scenario.

Since I am now working in a plant, I would need somehing that I can easily change into or wear underneath of my fire-retardant coveralls. And since I would also be expressing breast milk at the office, they will need to allow easy access for said activity. I found these wonderful tank tops on Baby Loft that would be just right. I'm thinking of getting several of them, if not in all colours.

I'm also planning to get some milk collection shells. So far the supply is adequate, sometimes exceeding demand, but during workdays I would like to make every single drop count. I'm still haunted by the memory of squeezing out only 15 oz over 2 days, just to spill half of it when I got home to feed Nuaim.

A new set of newborn teats to go with the Medela bottles, too. Somehow I cannot find Medela teats on the website where I bought the pump and bottles from - do they even make any? But since Medela bottles are standard size (unlike Avent), I can just buy any BPA-free bottle on the market to use.

A new haircut is something I need to get as well. The hot weather is making any length beyond shoulder unmanageable. Especially now that I'll be expected to spend more time out of the office and in the plant (albeit not in the process area due to breastfeeding).

And last but not least, to get my watch fixed. I can't keep depending on my phone since I won't be allowed to bring it in the plant. Maybe I should get something cheaper as well that I can wear daily and save the other watch for only special occassions.

Since I mentioned phone, I'm sneaking in a want - a brand new 3G phone with a QWERTY keyboard. Touch Pro2, maybe (I'm partial to HTC for some reason).

Half-way through...

Tomorrow I hit the mid-way mark of my confinement. Officially, it ends on 18th June. Which means it's 20 more days before I can be free to go (almost) anywhere I like and eat (almost) anything I desire. However, that also happens to be the end of the 2-week school holidays, which starts next weekend. My sons are really looking forward to spending their holidays in Damansara or Shah Alam, and I know my siblings and parents would love to have them there.

So as a compromise, I'll be leaving for KL on the 9th of June, just after Sofiyyah gets her 1-month jab & check-up. It'll probably mean that the boys get an extended school break, just so that I get to do a few of my own stuff in and around KL after my confinement is over. So here's my wishlist:

1. Toy Story 3 opens at the cinema on 17th June. I would love to bring the boys to watch it as their first bona fide cinema experience, maybe on the first Monday of school to celebrate my freedom.
2. Secret Recipe's Blackforest Cheesecake. The one time I had it was a week before I delivered. As everyone else at the table was sharing/sampling food, I passed it around when I was halfway through the slice although I really wanted it all to myself. It never came back. So this will be a solo trip for me, downed with a nice caramel latte.
3. Meet up with my Coachee at KLCC to prepare for her assessment in July. I could probably squeeze in a shopping trip while I'm there.
   

That'll also be a good time to start my EBM regime with my brand new Medela Harmony breastpump. Yes, after all the BPA horror stories, and comparing prices through various online stores, I've switched allegiance from Avent to Medela. It will also help that the bottles are different sizes so they do not get mixed up with Aiesyah's 4 oz bottles (she's still not giving them up, and refuses to share - big baby!). I got quite a good deal from The Baby Loft, which includes 4 extra bottles, a cooler bag and a sleek Citystyle bag to carry it all in. In fact, the Citystyle is so sleek I could pass it off as a normal handbag!

Introducing Amirah Sofiyyah

As promised, photos of the new Princess. This is she just after returning home from hospital.

And this is Sofiyyah, 7 days later, sans hair. According to tradition, the whole head is shaved, the hair weighed against gold (or is it silver) and the equivalent value donated to the poor and needy.

Confinement in Kedah

Since I blogged quite extensively about my confinement regime after my third child, Aiesyah, I thought I'd do the same for this birth. This time, I'm spending the 40-day period in Alor Setar with my mother-in-law, so I get to sample Kedah-style 'pantang bersalin' for a change.

It certainly is a change from my previous experiences. Number one item is the food. I'm not complaining - it's a lot tastier than the typical Kelantanese offering. Although Mak would certainly not approve of all the frying and sauteing that goes into the food preparation!

A main feature in the menu seems to be 'ikan talang kering'. I'm a bit skeptical about the exact benefits of eating salty preserved fish as part of post-natal recovery, but it seems to be the staple confinement food here. The first week, even at the hospital, I would be served a small portion of this fish that has been fried (I can hear my mother gasping in horror!) with ginger and onion. Sometimes it would be 'masak asam' - similar to the fried variety but with a sourish gravy. Even the soup and vegetables I can tell have been cooked with some oil in it.

Cik Dah came up to Alor Setar with Mak on the third day and stayed on till the weekend, so during that time I was served with the more familiar menu of chinese herbal soups, 'sambal lada benar' and 'ulam'. And my favourite red dates drink! I also had my 'mandi teresak', which thankfully has become part of the current regime (I was so missing it before Cik Dah arrived). But now that she's gone back to Damansara, the Kedahan menu has returned.

The discipline of applying all the oils and wraps are also missing, in the sense that it's mostly up to me to decide whether to put them on or not. Whereas Mak was very strict about making sure I always have the 'barut'/bengkung' on, and that someone (usually Cik Dah, if not the masseuse) always applies 'minyak panas' on my legs and back before I go to bed and after I shower, there doesn't seem to be an urgency to do that in this household (saya sendiri pun malu nak mintak orang tolong - kalau dengan mak atau suami sendiri senang sikit nak mengada2). I suppose since MIL had C-sections for all 3 deliveries, the only 'pantang' she could observe was regarding the food.

It wasn't until the baby was already a week old that I had a massage. Hubby's aunt, Mak Chak, had recommended a lady called Mak Lang who had performed similar 'urut & tungku' services for her daughters during their confinement. She would only come in after my stitches healed. Well, I don't think they healed completely after just seven days, but my legs were starting to feel half-dead so I insisted that she come. So she did, for three days.

Mak Lang brought a set of oils, jamu and 'bedak boros' - a form of 'bedak sejuk' that looks and smells like kurma paste - that I apply all over my body after my bath. We started off the day with a massage, then tungku, after which I take my shower. Unlike my previous masseuses, she did not help me put on the bengkung. In fact she didn't even mention it once. Luckily I managed to put it on myself. On days or nights when I feel a bit lazy, I just use an elastic tummy wrap.

I need to engage her again after the 20th day, maybe for another 3 days. I've finished the bedak boros (only enough for 5 applications), and now using Losyen Yusmira (a 3-in-1 consisting of lime juice, citronella extract and ginger essence) instead. Less of a mess, I think.

Creative people do creative things

Some blogs I go to just to have a look at the wonderful pictures and creativity:

1. Tablescaping
2. Interesting workdesks
3. Fashion designers

Numero Quattro

Baby number 4 arrived at 3.24 a.m. on 9th May, 2010. A perfect Mother's Day gift.

It's a girl. Her statistics:

Head: 33 cm.
Weight: 3.3 kg
Length: 48 cm.

That makes her the second largest of the brood at birth, after Nuaim, except that Aiesyah @ Kak Teh is more bigheaded. Heh heh :-)

Sorry, no name and pictures yet. Will get round to it in the next post, InsyaAllah.

07.05.03 - 7 years on

Today is my wedding anniversary. We celebrated by spring cleaning our bedroom to await the arrival of the baby. Correction - Hubby spring cleaned the room while I spent time watching various cartoon shows and mediating fights among the kids. Since we've already had a fancy-ish dinner a few days ago (I was so sure the baby was going to come early!), tonight's anniversary dinner will be Hubby's own home-made roti canai. Sungguh romantik!

Despite my earlier prediction that Baby was going to arrive before the due date of 9th May, there's still no sign apart from the irregular contractions. My hospital bag is packed, I've been nesting like crazy (or maybe it's just a manifestation of my natural obsession with tidiness and order) and my legs are so tired I can hardly stand for more than 5 minutes - yet I'm still a good 60+ kg in weight and probably 60+ inches in girth.

Maybe my decision to take early leave, coupled with the intent to get Hubby to spoil me rotten to make up for all those months in Sudan has left me so complacent that Baby decided to do the same. Maybe it's because I was too relaxed during this pregnancy, compared to the previous ones (which always coincided with peak project periods). Or maybe Baby wants to present itself as a Mother's Day gift, which this year coincidentally falls on the same day as my EDD. Or I'll get my wish for a nice birthdate i.e. 10.05.10, to follow the pattern of Nu'man and Aiesyah's.

Whatever it is, I hope and pray for the best. And that Hubby will be around to accompany me in the labour room.

22 days and counting...

I still don't know whether it'll be a girl or boy. Having another girl would be nice, although letting Aiesyah rule as sole princess would still be fun.

Either way, let's hope for a safe and sound delivery.

Nu'man's birthday 06 April.

Nu'man celebrated his 4th birthday at the kindergarten. He had a fever the previous week, but recovered just in time.

He received a birthday gift from his teachers.

The teachers also arranged for the whole kindergarten to celebrate. Here he is waiting to cut the cake with big brother keeping watch while his classmates surround them.

Nuaim has decided to celebrate his birthday at kindy too, but he wants a square cake 'with strawberry icing instead of chocolate.' Very specific - so engineer-like.

New Year updates

New Year, new home, new kindergarten, new clothes, new shoes, new school bags, new car...

After almost 5 years, it's time to sing:

Bye, bye Miss American Pie

Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.

Hope your next owner treats you better.

A New Year, A new decade

So the Noughties are over. What do we call this decade - the Teenies?


No resolutions for this year. None for last year either, so I have not failed to keep any ;-)


The last decade also marks my first decade as a career woman. Now that was certainly something to think about. And I am now at the beginning of a change in my career - different location, different boss, different environment...perhaps even a different career path?


This year I'll also be welcoming a new baby, and by the end of this decade, my current brood will be either in the middle or on the cusp on teenhood - and judging from their personalities, it'll be an exciting and dramatic period.


Bring on the Teenies. And the Tweenies, for that matter.