oh yes. since i’d already uploaded these, i might as well mention it here.

as you know, he spends a big part of the day at his oma’s, where he gets all his daily meals. and you know how it is with grandmas/helpers, they’d much rather plonk the kids in front of the tv and spoon-feed them than sit them at the table to eat together. simply because, according to them, it’s the only way to keep them still and not make a big mess.

so every chance i get, i’d sit him with us while we eat, sans tv, so he’ll see how we behave at the table and let him make that big mess, be it with a small spoon or his bare hands. coz well, it’s the only way he’ll ever learn to eat properly and independently, no?

it’s easier when we’re outside, coz heh, we don’t have to clean up afterwards! :p

whipped potato is easy. it sticks to the spoon, so he can’t exactly fling it around ha ha. it’s fun you know, watching him scoop the food up and aim it right into his mouth, in imitation of us. i don’t think self-feeding is that easy a skill to learn for a child. even dadam who’s two still has a bit of a problem with it.

these days when we eat out, my choice of food is very much dependent on what is suitable for him to try. like this plain tomato pasta at fish & co we had on my b’day. it keeps him VERY busy while we eat in peace. (of course, 70% of it was probably squished to death and ended up on his lap and floor than in his mouth, hurhur.)

another thing that’s easy for him and us – plain rice. just plop a few scoops in front of him and he’ll happily smear it all over his mouth, savouring the taste of each grain. (again, 70% ending up squished to death and on his lap/floor. but he has finger-lickin’ good fun!)

in short, he likes eating (and making a big mess), so this self-feeding thing will be an on-going process which will, as all other things, test my patience and sanity.

wish me luck. :D

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it’s that time of the year when you declare what your Album of the Year is.

i say mine is this one. luv luv luv.

now, izad says his is this one.

(not only are the stars blind, they’re deaf. har har.)

ok ok, i think he was kidding lah.

i suspect it’s actually this one.

that song hor, ‘my lup’, quite lomantic lor.

and aniq?

why…

THIS of course! :D

he IS kid A after all.

actually, we the parents were the ones who ended up being lullabied to sleep with it. vair nice.

and the cd sleeve is very fitting for our little future rock star. check out question #4…

hurhur.

ps: thanks, is! <3

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the next few posts will be about the little one’s adventures with the various toys we’re opening bit by bit (so he won’t get bored with everything at the same time mahh).

we’ll try to stretch them for hmm, a year, maybe? though at the rate we’re going, they’ll probably last a few weeks, at most!

oh, these would also be ‘helpful’ for those wondering what to get for little boys on their first birthdays, hurhur.

so, after the drums and xylophone-from-unknown-source, we tried out one of the mega many mega bloks. easy enough.

now, should i be a musician or an architect? hmm… so much to contemplate, us toddlers.

not long after, he proceeded to fling them all over the house.

mega mess.

we may just live on a house made of mega bloks by the time he’s through with his entire collection. :D

then we broke out the bead mazes, one of which we placed at mum’s.

but as you can see, the box apparently holds more interest to him than the actual toy. ARRGGHH!!

ouhh, this toy is great!

then we brought out the fire engine. nee noh nee noh nee noh…

where’s the fire hose, daddy?

he fiddled with the many buttons on it, but twasn’t easy to keep the hat on him. (pina, looks like he’s not cut out to be one of the hunky SCDF boys in uniform that hang around you all day long after all, LOL!)

my head’s on fire! geddit off me!

soon, he went back to his USUAL toy with many buttons to fiddle with – the remote control. grrrr.

ok. i give up.

but fret not, aunties/uncles! he DOES enjoy them ok. just… in different ways. he IS a child after all, and they have a whole different perspective from us adults when it comes to playing.

… though, i think he’s somewhat musically-inclined you know, coz we broke out yet another toy this evening, and he banged away at it quite keenly.

i’ll upload the ‘music video’ tomorrow.

i say, watch out chris martin, you got a rival baby….

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so yeah, we DID crack open the tin of wholesome moo-ness the day after One. (and you thought i’d chicken out eh, anne? heh.)

twas… thick. and bubbly.

i made sure he was really thirsty by then, so he gulped the whole thing down in a jiffy.

doo-dee-dooo…

you’ve been punk’d, hunny! HAHA!

erm, that tasted… funny. *burp*

so there. not such a big deal after all, huh? :p

i’m still expressing, though not as much, so he’ll still have his daily fixture of TekMilk for that boost of antibodies. also, i intend to keep the factory working for a bit longer, especially for weekends coz, erm, i’m still not too keen on being a ‘milk bartender’ when we go out. (bad, lazy mum.)

and besides… $24 PER TIN, NO JOKE SIA!

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this one’s for the aunty who gave him the drumkit.

ho ho. somebody’s been watching too much mtv on the sly. coz the way he pauses for dramatic effect after crashing the cymbals, and steps on the foot pedal, and taps the sticks together in the air, can only mean he’s been observing them ‘professional’ drummers.

or… there could really be a rock star in him, somewhere. :D

and no, we don’t mind the racket one bit.

it’s music to our ears. (well, for now anyway. not so sure if we’d still be amused once he upgrades to an actual drum of the zildjian kind…)

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his first picture of the day.

in his birthday suit, no less.

:)

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December 09, 2005

contractions and coconuts

mum came over around noon, still worried. showed her the blood, which she’s never seen before in pregnancies. her own pregnancies went by uneventfully, she said.

meanwhile, the contractions HAVE begun. i think. from early this morning, even before izad has woken up for work.

what do they feel like?

exactly like menstrual cramps, or segugut, just like the doc, mum, and everybody else has described it. how amazing that this biological phenomenon is so… universal.

it comes like an intense, sharp cramp at the lower part of the abdomen and around the back of the waist… then passes by, fading away.

my last recorded time sequence:

2.12 pm
2.20 pm
2.31 pm
2.42 pm
2.52 pm
3.01 pm
3.12 pm
3.20 pm
3.38 pm
3.49 pm

so… that’s an average of ten minutes apart, yes?

i’m just waiting it out. it’s pretty bearable for now. don’t want to be staying at the hospital too early.

meanwhile, he bought me something to drink. “they” say it’s for the baby to come out cleaner, or with lesser vernix, the waxy white substance that covers a baby’s skin at birth.

macam-macam air saya minum.

Posted by hana at December 9, 2005 03:53 PM

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i’m gonna backtrack a bit these few days leading up to The Big One and dig up some old posts from our archives exactly a year ago (THANK GAWD we still have them!).

am feeling… nostalgic. :)

December 09, 2005

labour drill

been having slight brownish tinges on the panty liner since yesterday, and this evening, i noticed blood mixed with mucus when i wiped myself with toilet paper after bathing.

“izad…” i called, so very calmly that he hardly bothered to respond. finally he showed up, and i showed it to him.

so *that’s* the bloody show. how bloody exciting!

we were getting ready to have my birthday meal out, so we stuffed the rest of my “important” bits in the hospital bag and brought it along with us.

it was like a fire drill, but with less drama. you can call it a labour drill.

we were scarily calm coz i knew the real action wasn’t going to take place just yet. i was still having only braxton-hicks, not the cry-out-loud-in-pain contractions. in any case, we called the doc for advice. he said it could still take some time for labour to begin since i wasn’t having contractions yet, and if still in doubt, i could drop by the clinic tomorrow. as long as the baby is still moving, i’ve nothing to be worried about.

the birthday meal went by, with my mum looking very worried that i wasn’t looking worried.

when we got home (with our hospital bag in tow haha), i checked again.

looked kinda familiar. you know, like light menses on the first day?

sms-ed a reliable source of info who assured me that hers *was* like menses, and true contractions may happen only 36 hours later, or even a week.

a quick google check confirmed it:

Bloody show: Loss of mucus plug

During pregnancy, a thick plug of mucus blocks the cervical opening to prevent bacteria from entering the uterus. When your cervix begins to thin and open, this plug may be discharged. You may notice stringy mucus or a thick discharge. It’s typically brown and sometimes tinged with blood.

Losing the mucus plug is a sign that labor may begin soon, but it’s not a guarantee. Labor may still be a week or more away.

MORE waiting! hah.

the plug itself hasn’t come out, this was just a preview. i think.

meanwhile, the space between my boobies and abdomen is now TWO handspan wide. googling is very useful, coz i now know this is called ‘lightening’. and i can literally feel peanut wiggling his way further down.

let’s make 10th or 12th our target dates, ok boy-boy?

they’re nice even numbers, see…

Posted by hana at December 9, 2005 12:53 AM

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ahem.

so yes, today i’m officially one year short of the big three oh.

a big UH oh.

once again, esah wins the Fastest Finger Award for being first to sms at midnight. (thank you luv.)

and the Husband wins the, erm, Best Husband Award (like i have so many husbands hor) for being first to hand me my gift, also at midnight.

i MUST say i’m impressed with him this year for his:

a) promptness (no postpone-till-payday/bonus this time round!)
b) stealthiness (where in heck did you find time to sneak off to shop for it??)
c) good taste (even i’m surprised you picked it out on your own.)
d) choice of words on the card (you probably exaggerated, but i’ll take it anyway hehe.)

well done, Husband! i is happy. not just for the gift lah, but more for the abovementioned factors.

so, this time my turn to ask you: malam ni nak makan apa?

(don’t worry, i won’t cook.) :p

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the past few nights, after everyone’s asleep, i’ve been up in arms with scissors, coloured paper, blue tack, scotch tape, and an assortment of stationery i’ve not laid hands on since my school days.

macam art project ok.

the deadline is near, can pass up on time or not?

i *think* i may be going slightly bonkers and spiralling down the dark pit of obsession. i… can’t… help… it..!

i can’t say i don’t enjoy it, though. i’ve always loved fiddling with scissors, coloured paper, etc. i didn’t take up art in jc for nothing you know. (eh wait, i DID take it up for a reason – it was the bloody easiest subject to score, ha ha.)

meanwhile, there’s just something therapeutic about cutting up pieces of paper and getting cramps in your hand after the fiftieth piece. yeah yeah, they may only be for little kids who’d most likely carelessly toss away my handiwork within a mere nanosecond with barely a glance.

but my obsession for the little details is somewhat of a debilitating disease, that reared its ugly head at its peak some three years ago when i was preparing for That Wedding. now That, was pure madness. phew~

ok. i’ll have to let go a bit, and loosen the grip on those scissors.

… as soon as i’ve finished that fifty-first (or fifty-oneth, as some would say) piece…

now, where’s that LOOOONG ‘To Do’ list of mine…?

*gah!*

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on another note, they say we melayus are NOT making enough babies this year.

HUH? YOU SURE OR NOT??

TODAY reported that for the first time, Malays gave birth to fewer babies than were needed to replace their population last year. The replacement rate has been pegged at 2.1 and according to figures released yesterday, the fertility rate of Malays fell to 2.07… There were 37,500 births which is an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to 2004 but well below the 60,000 or so babies needed to replace the population.

so we need 60,000 or so babies, huh? hmm *whips out abacus*… that would take 60,000 wombs and eggs, or less if you factor in twins/triplets/sextuplets. oh, and a WHOLE LOTTA sperm. (but please eh, si dektu yang terperuk dalam jail, we don’t need anymore of yours, ok. sor-ry.)

and i thought we’re doing quite well, from the record number of babies i’ve visited and pregnancies (and re-pregnancies, if there’s such a word, heh) galore i’ve heard about this year alone.

after a whole year of repeatedly being asked when my next one will be, i may actually be running out of time and excuses.

speaking of which, my body has also sent me a “signal”. last friday, actually. the Full Moon FINALLY arrived, after a long period of absence. (or rather, a long absence of period, har har.)

it’s almost as if there’s an egg-timer (pun intended) in there or something. the timing really couldn’t be better, because we’d made a decision to start The Weaning Process right after his first birthday. periods, for the uninitiated, cause dips in milk supply, something i hadn’t gone through, thanks to the monthly no-shows this whole year.

so yeah, we’ll finally crack open our first tin of formula come monday (i think).

hmm, does it call for a celebration and fanfare, you think? ;p

i’m not sure how we’ll take to it, and which of us will have withdrawal symptoms. sometimes, it’s as if the boobies are his drugs. “macam ketagih,” says mum, chuckling as he buries his face on my chest after a day at work away from him, not about to be swayed by anyone else who tries to lure him off my lap.

who the “ketagih” one is, is your guess.

i remember writing that i wish for the day he’d run up to me when i come home from work and bulldoze me to the ground with a loud “MUMMY!”

i guess i got my wish after all. come 7pm, his oma would say out loud “mummy balik! mummy balik!”, he’d turn his head towards the door where i’ll be standing, and he’d scrunch up his face and grin before trotting over with a “mmMA!” and throw his arms around my legs.

the feeling is – FWAH.

so yeah, my one year of TBF – no regrets. at all.

sometimes i wonder, will i be able to do this all over again when the second (or third??) comes along? will i have the same energy and drive?

i have friends (and an aunt) who feel they’ve ‘shortchanged’ their subsequent children with a “penat lah, tak kuasa” stance, after they’ve been all gungho with TBF the first time round.

but, i guess i’ll only know when i cross the bridge.

meanwhile, honey… bottoms up!

and here’s to MORE melayu babies to come… watch out, chingjiapore! (which was really the original topic of this entry, wasn’t it?)

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my jaws dropped to the floor in disbelief when i read the article on BH’s front page today.

they’re still there somewhere on the floor right now.

a monster in the shape of man lives in our midst.

ten wives, thirty-three sixty-six children, and yet he still preys on his own daughters?

sick doesn’t even begin to describe the situation. Very Very Extremely sick, maybe.

a few pages down, another monster of the same kind lives, in another part of our earth.

scary stuff, the things you read in BH.

maybe someone could write and produce a film about this.

a malay version of ‘Silence of the Lambs’ or something.

‘jeritan sepi si anak-anak kambing’ has a nice ring to it.

(and no kak m, ‘anak kambing diam’ and ‘anak kambing bisu’ do NOT make the same impact.)

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my abang dadam had something called a “febrile fit” on friday, which sounded reaaally scary. he’d been feeling feverish on and off lately, but i guess his temperature spiked up suddenly that evening while his mummy was sponging him, then his eyes rolled upwards and his body made jerky movements. brrr…. :(

so we all went to visit abang dadam at the hospital. seems quite fun, this hospital place, i don’t know why he kept saying “dadam nak balik”. look at that funky curtain! mummy was tempted to steal it and bring it home to put up at my new playroom. my mummy ah, closet kleptomaniac, i tell you.

“saaayang… saaayang..”

his cot bed though, i didn’t like so much. reminds me of that show i always watch on thursday nights, Prison Break. do you watch that? mummy likes it coz of that skinny bald guy with lotsa tattoos. my mummy ah, closet nymphomaniac, i tell you.

abang dadam didn’t seem so sick leh. he was yakking away as usual, telling us about the cool “ambulance” he rode on, and how “cold” he felt. mak long said that he was asking the nurse for something, and then said to himself, “cerewetnye aku”. HA HA! he is such a mak nenek. i must learn from him.

did i tell you abang dadam is OBSESSED with shopping centers? he kept wanting to follow my mummy go to a shopping center, but you wanna know a secret? he’s scared of “mannequins”! HA HA! he’ll cover his face when he passes by a mannequin, while saying “mannequin! TAKUT!” he is so weird. i must learn from him.

“chak! lerr abang dadam ni, weaks betol lah, takut ngan patung plak…”

daddy brought me to the hospital’s “play area”, which, according to my mak long, is pathetic. i concur. but i’m not one to complain. i like this beaded maze thingy vair muchly, so much that i *think* someone’s getting it for me sooon. eh, how did i get hold of such classified info ah?? i must be psychic. heh. ;p

“good for fine motor skills, mum? whatever! i just wanna godeh godeh the thing.”

i think he’ll be fine and fit as a fiddle, my abang dadam. wrestling sessions will resume… soon. :D

“goody! he’ll be too weak to beat me up during recovery, hur hur…”

ps: just heard that my brudder naufal is in hospital for stomach flu too. oh no! get well soon, brudder! you gotta make it to you-know-what this weekend, ok?

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we may not have been the first couple to stand in queue six hours before the official opening and win $1k worth of vouchers. (we’re not that terminally insane or desperately in need of free furniture.)

but we came, we saw, we elbowed the next person for the free giveaways, we conquered.

well, ok, not quite. we haven’t done much damage yet. project playroom is still in the works, and full-fledged spending will be done, erm, soon.

it IS barely a ten-minute drive away, so we’ll definitely be back. we hope to see shorter queues and more trolley-pushing space then.

oh, and that muis chop too.

it’s a brilliant concept, this circular play area within the restaurant. keeps the children happily-occupied while you dine around them, literally. they’re right under your noses at the same time, so no kidnapping can take place (unless, of course, you’re concentrating too much on those swedish meatballs).

the little one hardly cared where i was or what i was doing. (which was, btw, smelling the neighbour’s fried chicken wings. ouuhhh yum.)

after a few hours jostling the crowd, exploring the maze and taking a few wrong turns (and bleeding my foot with a sharp trolley wheel in the process), we finally left with, as is usually the case when we visit ikea, a few unnecessary items. (you just GOTTA, no matter what.)

yeah. we’ll be back.

“wake me up when we get home… in, ohh, ten minutes or so?”

so, have you ikea-ed? :p

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