Welcome to the world...

This kindda belated, but still not too late - Welcome to the world lil Princess (2nd one!) of Mr FirdausBote & Ila. Was born on Sunday, 19/7/09 @ PCMC.

In the lift..going down..

At the surau..

Visitors lounge..with Abi..

and Mummy!

GD Baby Enrichment Centre

Hubby came across this on The Star, last Saturday. I then quickly called Fiona (her # is published on the ad) and asked her bout the Centre.

From what I understood, she was a staff at GD Spore and just came back to Malaysia. Her aim is to establish a GD Baby Enrichment Centre in Malaysia (Sri Kembangan) and share her expertise and joy teaching moms (and dads too) the art of teaching babies. She also added that at GDBEC, they believe that Moms are still the best teachers. This Centre is actually providing tools (GD kits and books) and also seminars for parents, not classes for babies.

Those who are looking for GD Reading Kits or books, you can get it from them :-)

^_^

My little helper

Alhamdulillah, at last, my Kenwood hand blender that was bought last 3 years @ Argos is now out of the box! Hoho. It's truly a life saver, a 'must have'(for me) in order to prepare the baby food easier and quicker. Above is pumpkin puree that I prepared for Monday.

To date, she has tried:

Day 1 26/7 Sunday @ home: Carrot Puree, Banana Day 2 27/7 Monday @ Ibu's: Pumpkin Puree, Banana

That night she woke up around 3 and cried and cried and cried. I suspect pumpkin is the culprit - caused colic or upset her tummy. 7am, I changed her nappy, she poo-ed already and it's very rare for her to poo in the morning. So, I decided to change back to Carrot for Tuesday.

Day 3 28/7 Tuesday @ Ibu's: Carrot Puree, Banana

She cried too around 2am, but not as severe. Since I only prepared Carrot and Apple puree last night, so that's what I put in her lunch pack today.

Day 4 29/7 Wednesday @ Ibu's: Growell, Carrot Puree, Apple Puree (Today)

Yesterday, I went shopping free for organic veges and some fruits to try. I'm so excited *_*. That will be my project for the weekend. I'm planning to buy this cube container for all the puree I prepared over the weekend.

Cute isn't it?

While looking for baby food container, I came across this and this. Annabel Karmel site is gorgeous! Truly inspiring.

My first day on (semi) solid!

Alas, I've made up my mind. I told myself yesterday, "Let's introduce her semi-solid and see whether she likes it or not". The pictures below were taken by Abi, while Mummy tried to feed nadirah with mesh carrot. Funny btol anak Mummy & Abi ni. Haha. Enjoy the picsss!

Jeng..jeng..jeng..Nadirah, Mummy nak bagi makan carrot ni...

Aaaaa... Good girlllllllll. Bismillahbarakatillah..

Erk, what's this Mummy? Why does it taste weird??!!

Abi helpppppp! What's Mummy trying to do to me??
Sayang, try again another spoon..Pleasseee..

I think Mummy has to polish her cooking skill la Abi.

I'm a helpless baby..

My thumb tastes better, really..

ok, last sayang, last...

I know what. Give me the spoon Mummy!

Hoyeaahh.. now I'm in total control.

Gosh..the spoon is nice..i loikeeeee..

Ok Mummy, I'm done.. Can I eat the spoon again tomorrow?
NO!

Photolog of our weekend

Friday night, there I was, waiting for Abi to come back from Sgmt. Mummy made me watching YBCR again. I want Abi, not Old McDonald and his cowss Mummyyy!

What? Old McDonald also has ducks, dogs, chicks, cats, pigs, goats, horses, hens? He has a zoo or what?! {extreme focus mode}

Mummy cooked yummehh prawn pasta for dinner.

Mummy bought my first arcopal set. The penguin is for my supper.

Saturday morning, Duckie-time with Abi and almost drowning Duckie.

Then, we went to British Council for my IELTS test enrollment. [for Mummy actually]

The counter.

The lounge is superb.

Sneak peek @ Top University Ranking 2009 in Electrical Electronic Engineering. Look, Soton is #2! PowerPuffGirls betol.

Then we had lunch at Rawsha!

Where's our Lamb Mandy Mum? Wait sayang, it's hard to mandi a lamb ok. Most of them don't like to mandi.

Kambing kami sudah mandi! Sedap bangattttttttt. We went so *high* eating the succulent lamb, masya-Allah. Top 1 must eat lamb in KL. Highly recommended!

Can't remember the name, Okdah Meat kot. This one is ok la, not top notch.

While Mummy performed Magrib prayer, I watch another round of YBCR. {extreme focus mode}

Walla. That's all peeps. Tomorrow I'll update more, i-Allah.

My 6-month-young baby

Dearest Maryam Nadirah,

Happy 6th month young dear. Mummy and Abi love you more and more everyday. You're our love, our sunshine, our inspiration, our head-ache (sometimes ;-), our guinea-baby (not pig ok..), our bantal peluk, our radio, our cuddly cat, our hand luggage, our bubbly bear, our lil einstein, our lil hafizah, et al. Your arrivals has been nothing but blessing and thank you Allah for such a wonderful baby..May Allah bless us with many more years together in Iman..Amin.

Love; Mummy


6th month development:

1. Very bubbly and talkative, just like Mummy.
2. Sudah mengesot dengan pantas. Kalo letak remote Astro, Nadirah dr jauh boleh terkam terus. Hoho.
3. Dah buat exercise angkat bum up and down, forward and backward, cumenyeh still static at the same position, not moving forward yet. Sometimes nampak mcm buat push ups. Hoho. Never mind love, take your time ok, Mummy x sempat nak child-proof the house yet. Hehe.
4. 20 oz day time. Malam still jage for milky time.
5. Currently @ YBCR Volume 3.
6. Sangat suke senyum and of course, kerut kening is her trademark.
7. Will let her taste semi-solid next week kot. Kot. Hoho. I'm too nervous and jealous (boleh ke?) to introduce her semi-solids. Kalau boleh nak suruh minum susu Mummy forever.
8. Kalo nampak Mummy, dah pandai hulur tangan nak suruh Mummy amik. Pricelessss.
9. Akhirnya dah x fever-virgin anymore. Paracetamol @ PCMC was her first, and hopefully last. Kerut muke Mummy doctor nak insert DRUGS into my baby's body. Antibiotic? Hellomoto-Big No-No.Hopefully pharmacists and chemists out there will discover alternative other than drugs and not making the drugs (dealers) company richer by day. Please have some mercy on us especially babies. Huhu.

Group 4 rocks!

Fasha Sanda (guys)
dan Jehan Miskin (girls)
adalah pelajar tajaan M4RA ke London. (all)

Teng teng teng.. (Izad)
"Assalamualaikum & hai to all, this your captain speaking. We are now flying on MH005 from KLIA to London Heathrow. Hope you'll have a pleasant jouney.." (Arif)
Teng teng teng.. (Izad)

[Song] I'm leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again.. (all)
Setibanya di London.. (all)

(Fasha Sanda=Ani) Alhamdulillah, cek sampai jugak kat London ni. Dah lamaaaaaa cek nak mai sini.. (longhat kedah)
(Jehan Miskin=T0njang) Oh, finally I arrived in London, veeeerrrry impresssive (longhat Kelantan)

[Song] Duhai Bonda (guys)
Duhai Ayahandaaaaaa (girls)
Dengarlah rayuan anakanda, yang jauh di mataaaa... (all)

Kring..Kring..Kring..Kring..(Izad)
(Fasha Sanda) Mak, cek ni mak dari London. Selamat Hari raya makkk, mak jangan la terghiakk, nanti cek terghiak jugakk
(Jehan Miskin) Apasal pakai baju cantik2 ni?
(Fasha Sanda) La, hari ni kan hari raya, hang x tau ka?
(Jehan Miskin) Hah??! Bile puase??

Keputusan peperiksaan pun diumumkan (all)
Fasha Sanda (guys)
Lulussssss (girls)
Jehan Miskin (girls)
Gaaagalllll (guys)

(Fasha Sanda) Ha, tu la Jehan, aku dah habaq, hang ketegak jugak. Skarang hang nak jawap apa pada M4RA?
Sorryyyyyyyy.. (guys)
Emph..emph..emphhhhhhHHH (girls)

Hoho. Moi wrote the script while listening to faci mase LDK. Hoho. Kantoi x dgr. Dengar tu dengar but my brain was doing something else ;-) Final touch up was done with Ani the Fasha Sanda. Fantabuloussss. Group 4 rockss!

Cont'

@ Surau in S3pri while waiting for Mummy

@ S3pri, I pumped trice daily. I should have done more but was too exhausted. Alhamdulillah the dining hall staff were very helpful and kind enuff to let me and another bf mom to store our milk in their freezer, in fact we were given a large empty compartment, just for milk!

Few days before going to S3pri, I've ordered a pair of brand new Medela Softfit Breastshield and also Medela QuickClean Wipes from Aja for my Freestyle BPump. Masya-Allah, the wipesssss are so handy and helpful for pumping mom stranded in the jungle. No need to sterile, just wipe the BPump parts that are in contact with milk and walla, they are ready for your next pumping session!

Medela SoftFit BShield, only RM68 per pair at Aja's BPump Shop

RM69.90 RRP, RM52 at Aja's, what a bargain!

These Quick Clean Breastpump and Accessory Wipes give mom a quick and convenient way to clean breast pump components anywhere, anytime. They are especially handy when you don't have access to soap or water. Simply wipe each piece to safely remove most germs and bacteria without leaving a residue.
Source: Amazon.com

Sungguh berbaloi beli wipes ni I tell yah! So practical and you can pump-on-the-go, provided having enuff clean, steriled bottles in hand. If you wanna buy Medela accessories at discounted price, I do recommend you guys to buy from Aja. I bought my FS from her and she sent it to Princ3 C0urt while I was confined there and let me used hers for demo! She's very helpful and the after service is excellent! Everytime ade masalah je, I text her and she never fails to text me back! First time [klutz] mom like me really needs an expert like her turn to whenever I'm stuck with bf dilemma. Hoho. I heart my BPump to bits :*:*:*

@ wan's house

After the Bi.Ti.En ended on Monday, we headed straight to Kuantan to send Wan to her home sweet home. Next morning, we went back to KL and on our way home, I noticed that Nadirah's body was warm. We then brought her to a clinic nearby our apartment and guess what, she had a fever, 38.5 dC! Mummy was so terrified coz it was the first time she had a fever! Her body temp was never ever been that high before. Hoho. The whole day was spent tepid sponging her and let her slept/play wearing only her diaper. Wednesday morning, Abi balik Segamat, Nadirah a bit dedar dedar and Mummy went back to work {argh}.

Demamz Mode

On Friday, the fever strikes back. Lucky me, MrJ had some work to do in KL on Friday. Saturday night, nadirah was so cranky, xde mood, and her body was extremely hot. Her temp was 38.5 ++. We stayed up that night and regularly sponging her whole body, mandi, amik wudhu' and @ 3am, her temp still remained the same. The next thing I knew was I'm here again at Princ3 Court, 330 am in the morning with an oven-hot baby and a sleepy hubby. [he didn't sleep at all, Mummy ade curik2 ayam gaks]

My babies

Doctor on duty examined her, and inserted paracetamol tru her rectum. Then a bunch of friendly and bubbly nurses menggomol anakku and Nadirah crying out her lung looking at the unfamiliar faces trying to cool her down. Kesiyannnn giler.. After an hour, ktrg pun balik but she's still demammm, 38.5 dc. On Saturday, she's getting better and by Sunday morning, her temp was back to normal. Alhamdulillah.. Fuhh, what an experienced! Susah sungguh mak mak kite jager kiter dulu mase kecik. huhuh. Mak, akak sayanggggg sangat pada makk!! Terima kasih makk jage akak dulu dari rahim hingga sekarang. Mintak maaf mak kalau akak susahkan mak selalu.. :-* [my mom reads my blog ok]

To sum up:

1. I didn't update the blog for so long coz of S3pri project and baby was so unwell.
2. The aftermath of S3pri trip, Nadirah dah ok and not nippy confusion anymore, alhamdulillah. Prolly she's serik Mummy xde lame sgt sampai 5 hari, and she misses Mummy too much. These days, when she sees me wearing tudung, she starts crying suruh angkat adoiii. Takot Mummy tinggal la tu..

Progress 4

This is a long overdue entry.

Hello peeps.

This mummy-mia was MIA (missing in action) since Thursday (not Thursday baru ni, last 2 weeks punya Thursday). Was abducted by a troop of Pak-pak Jurulatih Bi.Ti.En @ U1u S3pr1, N9. It was a very VERY last minute noticed. I knew it from MrJ, 3.30pm on Wednesday whereby they wanted me to lapor diri the very next morning, Thursday 8.30 am. Hoho. Alhamdulillah MrJ tergerak hati nak gi collect the letter @ PO Taman Melawati which was sent by Mara via Pos Laju. They tried to send it on Tuesday but K Zan didn't notice. Else, I'll have to rearrange to another date and honestly I have no more free weekends from now on I guess.

Anyway, the Bi.Ti.En was great. There were 106 bakal2 students whose going to study abroad, sponsored by government agencies. And out of 106, none is going to Edinburgh Uni. Hoho. MARA scholars - 39. The rest mostly are lecturers from IPTAs pursuing PhD and around 10% are Specialist (Doctor Pakar) going to do Sub-Specialist. GempakZ btol, dah jadik specialist nak buat sub-specialist lagik. Adoi.

Prior to going was the ultimate headache of my mummyhood. My concern was mainly with Nadirah's feeding pattern. It has changed dramatically since the last 2 weeks. She drinks around 20-25oz at ibu's and refused to direct feeding from me. She even cried if I tried to nurse her. Mummy terase ok.. Hoho. My wild guess, she's overfed during the day OR nippy confusion. I was lucky to get a consultation in the deep jungle from a doctor (MD) who'll be pursuing PhD in Women's Health at the States. Currently with USM, Kubang Kerian. She's actually very pro-BF and actively promotes it and that's part of what Women's Health is all about. Siap amik video of me telling my experience bf-ing my baby and working at the same time. Hehe.

After telling her 'bout nadirah's refusing direct feeding, she instantly said the later causes this to happen. Hoho. I thought so!

Ok, back to Bi.Ti.En. My MIL and MrJ are so supportive. MIL came all the way from Kuantan by bus to look after her dearest-9th-cucu. MrJ had a meeting at KLCC on Thursday (my 1st day of Bi.Ti.En) and took EL for Friday and next Monday. (final day of Bi.Ti.En) So, our arrangement was MIL and MrJ will look after Nadirah at Sri Msia Seremban and visit Mummy trice a day at the Jungle so that I can bf her. At night, nadirah bottle-feed and tido bwh ketiak Abi.

On Thursday morning, after sending Nadirah to Ibu's house, we then made our way to S3pri. While we were rushing to arrive there on time since MrJ hv to be in KLCC by 10.30, I made several phone calls to hotels around Seremban and guess what, all are fully booked! Some are just available for a day and not the other. Having a (smart) baby around, we thought it's not wise to pindah randah. I asked a friend at my office to google any phone numbers of hotels/rest house available around Tampin/Rembau area and found one, Tampin R3st H0use. We then decided to stay there. [not me of course; MIL, MrJ, nadirah and K zan only]

Arrive S3pri around 845 am. Angkat beg2 to Dorm 4B, tata MrJ and unpack and start pumping. Alhamdulillah I arrived early, I can choose any beds I like and of course, my bed is furthest from the door and facing the locker. Strategic and secure to do my pumping activity. ;-) Next to my bed is Dr Z4rina, pakar bius @ HKL. We instantly become good friend. She's going to Liv3rpool to do sub-specialist in bius for brain (belasah je ni, xpaham sangat medical term..haha) sponsored by KKM.

Around 730pm, MrJ and the rest arrived and welcomed by gigantic mosquitoes of S3pri. Hoho. I tried to nurse nadirah and she refused! Gosh. She's super-hungry i knew but she just rejected. Pujuk punya pujuk, tepuk sana sini, finally after 30 minutes of trying/negotiating/diplomacy-ing, she then gulping mummy's milk but not much. Argh. Grrr. I knew not many agreed with my idea of bringing her to the jungle just to nurse, 2-3 times daily. I have enough stock for a week, but but but, eversince she changed her feeding regime, I am very worried that I can't achieve my two-year-free-from-formula-target! Not even a year I guess if this condition prolongGggGGggGG. Ok, not so much of Mummy's target, dat sounds so selfish, but yes, I am selfish. All mothers are. For the baby's sake, moms just have to be selfish, right?

The first 2 days at S3pri was full with ceramah. Ceramah and more ceramah. My eyes were wide shut especially after lunch punye ceramah. Hoho. Last ceramah session on day-2 was watching movie "Hati Mal4ya". I loike! Siap menangis lagik jgn main2. Hehe. 2nd day, MrJ decided to check out from the dodgy r3st house and booked a room at Sri Msia Sban. Derang rase mcm tido dalam rumah tinggal yg ade dalam cerita Mastika. Siap ade broken windows, nyamuk menyerang without mercy, toilet seat yg menggerunkan, karaoke all night long yg menggangu ketenteraman awam and bangun pagi, nadirah kene gigit nyamuk kiri kanan pipi, simetri mcm artificial dimples. Nice! On the 2nd day, they came twice and as usual Nadirah jual mahal and I had to rock her to sleep and nursed her while she's mamai-ing. Else, crying big time punyeh. Adoila. Alhamdulillah she didn't fuss too much at night with Abi. At all actually. Finally Nadirah berdamai dengan Wan-nyeh. While Mummy was away, Abi and Wan spent the time flashing card to her, read from Little Reader and also YBCR.

3rd day, LDK started. We were divided into 9 groups, according to age range. My group from 27 to 30 yo, 7 girls, 5 boys. 2 TNBs! What a coincidence! During ice-breaking session (with all participants), the facis divided us into 2, short and tall. We then we asked to stand in rows, tall-babes facing short-dwarfs. Then, we had to close our eyes, listen to the music (Kitaro if I'm not mistaken) and act as if we're a conductor. (music not bus, ok) So moi being so expressive pun buat la gaya mcm conductor orchestra at P3tronas philharmonic hall. Layan habis sbb masing2 x nampak orang lain buat ape. Haha. Pejam mata kan. After the song finished, I was selected as the best conductor among the dwarfs! Hahahaha. Kelakar btol. Next, I have to stand in front of the dwarfs and pejam mata, the rest of the dwarfs too while the tall babes watching us acting as a conductor for the next round. I thought we were given the same-slow-mellow song but guessss what. Lagu seterusnya adalahhhh - Waheeeedaa Wassiniiii. Kahkahkah. Nak jatuh jantung aku! Of course la lagu ni lagi 'layan' jadi conductor, haha. Lucky me, I was facing the dwarfs, while the rest mengadap the other group. Hoho. Absolute embarrassment! The tall babes had to rate us, and the conductor (me-lorr) got 100%! Keskes. The group = 70%. Alamak citer dah terlampau panjang, ok, next, me and the conductor of the tall babes had to stand in front of the tall babes while the dwarfs enjoy the scene pulak. Tak aci btol, sudahnya I didn't watch any sbb asik kene perform je. Hoho. After that activity, I was known as "Puan conductor" at S3pri. Hahah.

After ice-breaking, we then started our LDK in small groups. First activity was of course, ta'aruf. Next one, we were given 3 sheets of paper full of questions. One sheet was just about Malaysia and I screwed up big time. Hahah. Dapat markah 4/25. Gilos. Failed. Inilah akibatnya tido time ceramah. I hope they didn't include dat in my overall marks. Else, re-Bi.Ti.En?? HELL*o-moto-No!!

4th day, still LDK and that (final) night we had to sing a patriotic song that was assigned to each group. Alhamdulillah lagu ktrg senang. "..inilah barisan kita, yang ikhlas berjuang.." Some dapat lagu yang aku x penah dengar pon. Hoho. Before singing the song, we did a short coral speaking. Funny2x. Will note down the coral speaking here, later.

Ayosh, nearly 2.30 am already. Till then ~~

Gotcha!

Walla. Almost a week with no 'real life' entry. Last 2 weeks I went to see Dr Kuljit again. And guess what was his first question to me..? Hahaha. Everytime I think about it I feel like ketawa guling2, seriousssss!

"Are you a blogger?"

My jaw dropped to the flooooooor. Haha. MrJ was sengih2 but blanko too. My brain was spinning faster than Ferrari trying to think what I wrote about him in this entry.

I didn't answer that question, hoping that he'll explain further. But eventually I said, "Why?" and my eyebrows looked like this.

Then is history. Haha. He told me that he's a blogger too, but he blogs about medical related stuff. Everytime there's a page on net quoting him, he'll know that instantly from his website and can track the source. Ok, so that's how he landed to moi blog.

Dr Kuljit, I know you'll be reading this, so big HELLLOOOOOO to you from the three of us!

Nadirah with her new toy - another LAMAZE, baby crawler.

Glenn Doman vs Shichida Method

@ Ust Sobri's place in Batu Caves, HnyB was 2-month young

“Glenn Doman and Shichida method of early childhood education is adopted all over the world. The main difference between the Glenn Doman method and shichida method is at the repeat rate.

Glenn Doman focuses on impression. Glenn Doman baby dot flash card method flashes for a few times and moves on. Glenn Doman treats dots, words and pictures are all pictures, images to kids’ brain.

Shichida baby flash card method focuses on repeated flashes. Shichida flashes many more times to kids, and tries to let kids memorize the pictures or images. It’s up to you to pick the focus, impression or memorising. ” – from PowerFlashCard website.