The day I wish we stayed on the ground floor so she could just climb in through the balcony....

Haven't seen each other for what felt like aeons, Miss N called this morning saying that she is nearby and would like to come over to visit me and the kids, syioknye.... I invited her to have lunch as I had just finished cooking. Waahhh, habis excited la waiting for her, tidied up the house and prepared the table for lunch.

10 minutes later, the door bell rang.. Opened the door and invited N in, just to get the shock of my life realising that the grill is locked! bear in mind, that the grill is never locked during the day, only when we are off to sleep that it is and it's the only key of the house that I don't have! I was optimist asking N to wait while I frantically searched for a spare key that might have been left by anyone to a freaking no avail!! Called Kols and found out that he'd locked the grill on his way out to work just one hour earlier assuming that a key is on the shoe cabinet. Punyela 'sedikit' hangin makcik ni terhadap suami tercinta!!!!

Anyway, long story short, I ended up talking to N through the bars and not one less felt like a prisoner on a visitation. Sadly, N had to excuse herself 5 mintes later, as she had to go grab a bite to eat before going back to the office. Kesian N takde rezki nak lunch at my house, maybe next time ye N. Please jangan serik nak datang lagi ok..

Four Weddings and A Child...

Ya Allah, Ya Rabbi, I'm almost a zombie!! Literally!!

I haven't got much sleep for the past five days as both Hannah & Sophie were nursing heavy cold and nasty coughs. Crankiness sky-rocketed to the highest of kerajaan langit (sky kingdom). Sophie was the most uncomfortable with the unwell-ness. Slept only 6 hours a night, waking up every half hour (Yes! I know, there goes my sleep trainee regime!), dear goodness me.. No good enough foundation can cover the black area under my eyes, I bet you! But anyhoo, Alhamdulillah, Hannah's recovered and Sophie is doing much better with only minor runny nose.

We just got back from my cousin's wedding and..We have three more weddings to go to tomorrow. I need to sleep now, while Sophie is... I'll leave you with this photo of Sophie. Does she not look handsome in a songkok?!

It sure felt like ages...

Rasa macam lama je... xupdate the blog. Maaf ye, anak2 ku dua dua masih tak sihat.. kusut kepala otak makcik nie! hahaha... berebut2, tunggang langgang, tak tentu arah, segala lah.. nanti ek, mereka dah sihat, I'll get to my next post ok. Toodles for now my dear readers....

Sleep Training Journey: The Final Day & The Day After

Yes, I didn't forget, last night was in fact the 7th day aka final day of sophie's sleep training trial phase (I didn't get the chance to blog about it last night) and today's the 8th day.

Guess what?? She went to sleep last night at 7.30 pm with no crying, at all! yes, my dear friends and fellow mothers, Nothing! Nada!! Niente!! I'm not kidding.. I'm indeed ever extremely happy and proud of what she'd achieved. Very very good job Sophie.

I was a bit concern about how she would do on the final day, because she was infected yet again by the nasty flu. And she's always more clingy when she's not well.. But she did it with much grace. Only woke up twice for feedings. And she pulled it off again tonight. I just can't quite express how proud I am. My Sophie is officially sleep trained! Alhamdulillah. Insyaallah a great beginning to better days for my darling Sophie and myself of course.

On an unrelated note, Mother & two daughters are sleeping without dearest ayah for the next two nights. Kols just left for balik kampung Johor to attend a kenduri. I decided not to go because of the unwell conditions of both Hannah & Sophie. They are with flu again! which will only lead to crankyness, grouchyness and many others on the 4 hours journey back and forth. Plus, it's only a very short trip. Kols will be back by Sunday evening. So, all the very best to me eh? taking care of the kids alone.

Milestones??

Probably this is my first ever milestones post?? Just thought of writing on it today. Alhamdulillah both are up to date with the milestones for their respective ages. So, instead of writing all kinds of things that they both can do, I'll just write in the few that I love and enjoy watching the most... So here goes..

Sophie's Milestones at 6 months, and 3 weeks and 5 days.

- She can drink from straws excellently.. Thank you to kakak Hannah who persistently thought her to do so by shoving her water bottle to Sophie.
- In the process of sleep training by yours truly.
- Tetiba je sekarang suka buat muka bengang bila nampak kakak Hannah. I don't know why. Most of the time, she would 'cemek' when hannah touches her. But doesn't mind when everyone else does.
- Crawls all around the house; Loves to climb over people soldier like. Konon dah besar sangat la.. gagah habis Sophie!

Hannah's Milestones at 1 year, 8 months, and 1 week.

- Getting better at putting pairs of words like 'hanna apar' (hannah lapar), 'Ibu bobok' (Ibu tido), 'ayah keje' (ayah kerja) and etc.
- Her Favourite phrases are 'Tu dia', 'Nii Hah' and 'Tidak' (If she doesn't like what we do to her, she'd cried 'Tiiiiiiidaaaakkkk" sungguh drama makcik!!)
- Will always say, 'sudah' when I ask her whether she has read her Iqra for the day and starts speaking in high volume 'Aaaa, Baaaa, Baaa, Baaa, Taaa, Taaa , Taaaa' (to prove she has read it even tho she hasn't)
- She would softly mutter everyone's name before she goes to sleep which always makes me wonder what she was thinking at that particular moment by doing so. But so comel...
- She understands her routine very well. Would be telling me, 'hanna apar' when she needs to eat, 'hanna aus' when she needs water, 'hanna bobok' when she needs her nap. And now, selang sejam lapar, will go and find nek nyang in the kitchen and 'nyang apar' (punyelah sedih neknyang everytime she does that sebab gaya macam tak makan satu hari)
- Still very afraid of her naughty corner. Would scream 'Ibu, nanak' everytime sent to the corner but wouldn't move an inch. When the time is up, she'd run to hug and kiss me.. Priceless!!!

Ada banyak lagi yang I cannot quite recall just this moment, Jadila tu for starters.. hehe

Sleep training journey: Mere 5 seconds?

5 seconds! Yes, that was all there is to her cries tonight. She went to sleep right away. I'm extremely proud of you Sophie! very very proud of you.... I was so proud of her, I shed a lil tear... I'm optimistic and more determined than ever! Aja-aja!

Update: She only woke up once for feeding! ONCE! Seriously ONCE! That's beyond miracle to me with my lil' Sophie!

Definitely not for the faint-hearted!

I'm sleep training Sophie right this moment. It has been four days to date. I'm using the 'cry-it-out' method aka Ferberizing. Finally after 15 minutes crying really really loud, she's fast asleep.

Addduuuuuhhhhh, berkecai kecai jantungku ini... It breaks my heart letting her cry that loud!

After much research done via the resourceful world wide webs, I've diagnosed Sophie as having a sleep problem hence why I started sleep training her. It's really worrying that she would wake up every half hour during her night sleep and has to be soothed with BF to fall back asleep. It had been going on for a few days before our sleep training journey. That caused her to be such an unhappy baby during the day and I wasn't too happy of a mommy either for not getting my much needed sleep.

I was so used to Hannah sleeping through the night. Sleep training Hannah at 4 months did not come by as hard as this! She was successfully sleep trained by the second day! Well, comparatively Hannah has always been a good sleeper. But not my light-sleeper Sophie. I hope I could be stronger to continue doing this. It's not exactly smooth sailing with Sophie. It's soooo tempting to pick her up and just dodoi her to sleep. I have to thank Kols for being very supportive and give reassurances, whenever I felt like Queen Drucilla of Bad Moms!

I'm sure there are just as many non-believers of the CIO method or the sleep training entirely as they are believers. And I'm sure there are pros and cons to any method existed. But I sleep trained Hannah successfully before and she's just as happy as any other 20 month old baby, so I guess I ought to try the same for Sophie.

I've seen great progress these past two days. She only wakes up two or three times for feeding during her 12 hour night sleep. She now cries less during the day and needn't be hold all the time. She crawls and plays around the house for two hours without needing my attention once! We have three more days to see through the success of our journey and I'm determined! Wish me all the very best my friends!

Jacob's Walk of Life

Yes, we were there this morning!!

When I thought going at 6.15am is too early, we had to park a kilometre away from the venue's main entrance. How wrong was I. But we certainly enjoyed the fun walk just as much as the other 7000 others.

Getting Ready

Still getting ready but just look at how poyo kols look, belum start dah minum air separuh botol and muka sengal. haha

the kids enjoyed it too

If only he knew...

He had trouble sleeping last night. If only he knew....

Apit left the house for work around 8am this morning as usual. Suspecting nothing..
But he came back up just after 10 minutes. Knowing apit, who most of the time absent mindedly left behind his wallet, his handphone, or even his packed lunch, we too suspecting nothing, going on our usual Thursday morning. That is until he entered mama's room where we all were, having our morning chats..

"Mama, Apit rasa kereta apit kenaa curik..."

as calm as the most still of still water!!!!!!

As shock as we were of the news, his composedness astounded us the most. Never in a gazillion times trillion years would we expect that kind of reaction from apit who always go maniacal at the slightest of inconvenience. And I almost fainted when he then said before he went off to make a police report,

"takpe, adela rezki apit kat mana2 tu kan ma"

just as collected.

As devastating of a news it is, I'm sure mama is so proud of him. I'm even more proud of you...

I can't help but condemning the night shift security guards for not being alert of the kejadian curik kereta when apit's well made up putra isn't exactly easy on the ears. It roars at the start of the engine.

Totally Random...

I took these photos of them this morning and thought of sharing it with my friends.. How they love cameras eh? I love you girls!!!!

PD Updated

OMG, I totally abandoned this blog didn't I? It actually took me three days to compile photos from our short break. Finally, I managed to do it after my whole wasted Saturday being so hung over from staying up until 5 this morning with kols to watch 15 final episodes of Ghost Whisperer Season 4. My head is still spinning madly because of the lack of sleep....

Anyway, without further ado....

Please view the photos at your own risk, there are s**t loads of them.

On the way

The prep for bbq that night by the beach (Pantai Saujana)

Our delicious food marinated by yours truly (the meat tenderizer sure did wonders!) fabulously cooked by kols and Izat

makan2

The next day, we headed for the beach early in the morning, picnicking and had just the most wonderful time mandi laut.

kols was supposed to be on the banana boat with us, but hannah cried so hard with babah, that he had to sit with her on the boat and missed out on the fun! poor kols.. maybe next time ye sayang...

School Holiday

We just got back from PD this evening. A 3D2N holiday with the whole family minus Apit. We had a blast bbq-ing by the beach, makan tanpa henti and mandi laut sampai hitam legam!!! hahaha.. kols couldn't resist making fun of how hitam berdengut Hannah is every chance he gets. I will update with photos tomorrow Insyaallah.

Luqman's Wedding Reception

Congratulations Luqman and wifey. You two made such a handsome couple! My best wishes to you..

The lovely lovebirds

kami yang memeriahkan majlis

The kids and dads

Be Alert, Dear Mothers

Please mothers, spend some time reading this. We do not want anything like this or worse happens to our kids..

My Love of Street Food Pt II: ABC & Cendol

My second attempt to give a review on the street food I love since the Man's char kway teow. This time it's the ABC & Cendol I don't mind having even after two hours working my arse off at the gym and the same ABC I'd go guling-guling on the floor to convince kols to drive me to. I can drive myself there just fine but I'd love it more, slurping the ABC & cendol with him. hehehe..

It's a rojak & pasembor lorry by the side of the road opposite kelana jaya lrt station along the ldp highway. See, how our table is just by the shoulder of the main road? Asap & debu di tepi jalan tue la made it more syiok having cendol & ABC by the road side.

The ABC is simply scrumptious with just the right amount of ice, palm sugar, evaporated milk and the perfect amount of red beans, cincau, kundur, and jelly. Heavenly delectable!!!!!!Exceptionally more pleasing as they are priced at only RM3.50 a bowl. Unlike some mamak restaurants who claim their crushed ice with nata de coco as ABC and charge RM4.50 for the lameness. There have been no where else I've tried, gave me this wonderful feeling of toothsomeness. *drool*

And the cendol??? hhhmmmmmmm.... sedapnye.......!!!!!!!! RM1.50 only. They also serve rojak, rojak mee, pasembor and cendol pulut.

Rightfully I-bu

At last, Hannah said it right! I'm 'I-bu'. Gone are the days of ba-bu, bu-bu and a-bu. She's been calling me I-bu for a few days now. Only today, I'm acknowledging it in writing.

Other than Ibu, I'm sometimes a 'mommy'. Ntah siapa yang ajar dia panggil mommy. The cutest thing is the mommy calling comes with a very soft and gentle caress on my jaw bone. Again, ntah siapa2 yang ajar. But it's ok. I'm still as happy as larry for the 'I-bu'...also the 'mommy'. Whatever suits you munchkin!

I bet I'll be a 'ba-bu' again Insyaallah in a few months with Sophie. ;) She is 'mamamamam'-ing and 'bababababa'-ing now.. And she's teething too. Alahai, dua2 dah besar...

Our Fun-filled Saturday

We owe today's outing to kols brain. He is already on the verge of going retarded after a whole 5 days of marking and remarking exams scripts. Along with a third degree of brain damaged, he had also been talking jabberwockies, dreaming of ghosts and monsters, and walking around like a zombie. He really needed the break today. He has to start his consultation work pulak tomorrow. So, we decided to spend the day having the most fun possible.

A warehouse sale at PJ Section 13 was our first stop. Bought some apparels at a great bargain. Went to have lunch at Pondok and bumped into Muiz, Ida and of course cutie Nadhrah who were just finishing their meals.

Our selections (Sup Suzy, Kuey Teow Goreng, Mee Rebus, Nasi Goreng Pondok, Choc-o-cino, Ice Lemon Tea, Sugar Cane and of course my two glasses of air kosong) were very delicious and satisfying. All that buruk lantaks meals only cost us RM28. best tak? sangat murah kan? But certainly not a single compromise on the quality of food, as they were all and sundry excellent! What a steal eh?! So whenever you are in Dataran Sunway, drop by ok.

Our meals

Later that night, after some relaxing time at home (to get the children and the ayah their naps), we went out for dinner at Chilis OU. With the bottomless beverages, massive starter and the big serving of each dishes, we were stuffed to the gills. Separuh pengsan nak habiskan makanan..

All said, we had a great time and just for the sake of food porn, we ditched all kinds of diets and stuffed ourselves silly today. Dengan itu, selamat bekerja tomorrow ye Sayang..

Clockwise from top left: Grilled Chicken Portabello, Southwestern Lamb Steak, Lamb Shank, Lamb Shoulder

While waiting for the seat and the food

Hannah's free kiddies meal: Pasta and Ice Lemon Tea

The Aftermath

Ayul's Wedding Reception

Some photos from Ayul's wedding reception at Perdana Felda last Saturday. Anne, when you upload photos from your camera, don't forget to tell the story of some MR-RSVP who was supposed to be at our table. *wink* Beriya je RSVP-ing for everyone.. hehe.. kecewa Arina..