not sure why, but when she saw my 11-yr-old nephew, she flashed herself – and kept doing it when she met him another day (means she remembers him specifically; she doesn’t do it to anyone else… i hope). then she kept tugging his shirt from behind, giggling when he carries her.

omg. smitten with boys at 18mths?? :S

speaking of reaching 18 mths, have been thinking of placing the lil one in either her brother’s previous playgroup for a daily 3-hour programme, or half-day care at his current childcare centre. asked him if he would help look out for his sister if she were in his school. he said he would. “adik can go in baby class,” he says.

i like that the boy is largely independent, too curious for his own good, mischievous to no end (!!), but loving and lovable in his own rambunctious way. his sister has somewhat similar traits, but a girl being a girl, has a certain… je ne sais quoi that makes her a bit more adorable AND annoying at the same time. (how do you explain the nuances of ‘mentel’ and ‘menggeramkan’ in english anyway?)

sometimes we like to try to figure out who or where they get their particular traits from – her hard-headed stubbornness from mummy? his playfulness from daddy? – then give up, because it didn’t matter; they’re a mishmash of DNAs, each the way they are as a result of personality, circumstances, environment; a cocktail concoction of nature and nurture. and as they say, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. besides, i’ve asked mum on several occasions whether i was ever like either of them in terms of behaviour, and she could never confirm or deny, excuse being she “can’t remember”. i wish i knew, coz from the few unsmiling pictures of me, i figured i was quite a grumpy child. (not much has changed then.) on the other hand, EVERYBODY on izad’s side of the family tells me he was the naughtiest and most mischievous of the lot, so looks like that part didn’t skip a generation (darnnit).

so anyway, back to my so-called ‘planning’ and ‘strategies’. sure, letting the lil one hang around at home would be the easiest solution. it’s not so much for lack of support from the grandparent or hired help that i seemingly ‘banish’ them to playgroups and childcare. but rather, for the chance to explore, discover, adapt to other activities and people, big and small, in the expansive world out there, outside of the house and the gogglebox, that i wish to contribute to their whole, with whatever limited means that i have. do they really need it? will they be deprived otherwise? maybe, maybe not. i don’t know, i lean more towards the ‘let’s-expose-them’ camp than the ‘let’s-shelter-them’ camp.

but meanwhile, err, let’s not over-expose yourself there, lil one, and STOP FLASHING YOUR BRITNEY BITS!

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and i thought i was never gonna taste the slurpy eggs anymore in my lifetime, when a trip to batam reunited me with one of my childhood comfort food.

like a lost lover found, the taste was all too familiar, memories of my childhood kept flooding back as I took large slurps of the runny egg. some may enjoy it while others just detest the slimy texture and taste but i belong to the former.

we used to buy them every time my family goes for our weekly marketing at geylang serai which is now just a distant memory. i guess, i was like aniq’s age when my dad gave me a taste of the telur penyu. maybe we were trying to save the turtles from extinction when the government totally ban the selling and buying of this delicacy. But for whatever reasons, if you feel like tasting the good ‘ol telur penyu and reliving your childhood, it’s just a ferry ride away.

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we used to do this on aniq to amuse ourselves, now it’s her turn.

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(purely for recording purposes):
i guess i should note for posterity, like i did the last time with the elder one, that she’s weaned herself off b/f-ing at around 16 mths (11 of which were exclusive). a mean feat? i think so, seeing she wasn’t as much of a guzzler.

guess we both didn’t have the drive to keep going till she turned two years after all. which was just as well, coz the supply had gone dismal, and we’re both happy being independent off each other.

so yeah, no more baby hanging on mah titties! *throws confetti* (though there’s actually little for celebration, as i’ve learnt the last time, re: deflated boobs, slower metabolism, etc.)

OH WELL. bbbffffbbbbffffff.

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quite possibly my favourite pic during our short (by our standards) convoy raya visiting this year. courtesy of our in-house ‘art director’ and resident perv.

watch out for that ass! *szzzzzz* (sizzling sound)

too many last minute things cropped up among us this time round – so much for advanced planning. but important thing was getting to meet, catch up, salam-menyalam, peluk-memeluk, maaf-bermaafan (ahem)… and, of course, MAKAN!

“come, adik natra, since you can’t eat the yummy kuihs, i share with you my milk, ok?”

“ok, kakak auni. can’t wait for us to grow big and look silly like our mommies.”

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