Nadiah's 11th Birthday

Today is Nadiah's 11th birthday. Oh how she has grown from a tiny little baby of only 1.9kg to being 70kg is just 11 years.. I have no idea. Time sure flies really fast.

As usual for her birthday, I made some cupcakes and prepared goodie bags for her friends in NASOM. Too lazy to have a party. The goodies were given out last Thursday as it was the last day of school before her birthday.

                                   

                                   

                                 

Today we went to Secret Recipe to have a small celebration for just the three of us. Some cakes and time with each other was good enough for us.

                                   

                                   

Then at home it was present time... yeahhh!!! As usual, we always bought lots of simple stuff for Nadiah; a mixture of things that she likes. It's not the price of the presents that's important to her but it's the tearing up of the wrapping paper is what she likes best. 

                                                      

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY DARLING NADIAH. MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU ALWAYS..

Autism Awareness Month

April is Autism Awareness Month, and we at NASOM Alor Setar had planned to celebrate the month by having a special day dedicated to the children as well as adults suffering from autism. We call it Autism Day and yesterday, 20th April 2013, was that special day.

NASOM Alor Setar, together with other select private companies and Government Departments like AKR Sdn. Bhd., the Health Department, Kedah State Library, Universiti Utara Malaysia, POLITECH and several others worked together to make this day a special day for everyone, especially the autistic kids. We had activities like the big giant bouncing castle, magic show, sand art, fashion show, colouring contest, a mini concert by Umar Hasfizal, food decoration contest, jumbo sale and also they can get health and teeth check ups from the mobile health department.

Nadiah's favourite was that big bunch of balloons that was going to be used as the opening ceremony where the president of NASOM Alor Setar would cut the ribbons and the balloons would fly away. Nadiah was also excited to see the mobile dental clinic. She waited in the clinic for hours for the dentist to finally show up. But then again, mama did not mind because the inside is air conditioned so it's cool and breezy rather than sitting outside in the hot sun. When the dentist appeared and it was finally her turn to get her teeth checked out, she pulled out her iPod and took a video of herself getting her teeth checked up. Hahahaa.. funny Nadiah. The dentist said her teeth are very clean and healthy. That was really good to know, but then Nadiah brushes her teeth twice a day religiously without fail. I'm glad she keeps up this good habit from when she was little.

Me on the other hand could not wait to meet up with other parents coming up from KL whom I met through the FB group Autisme Malaysia. This group is an amazing support group that I found, sharing our mutual concerns and interests in autism. They are parents, teachers, caregivers and therapists who are directly involved with autistic kids and adults. If you have any queries about autism, especially in Malaysia.. do join this group. 

Today, my friends from Autisme Malaysia came over for breakfast and we had an absolute wonderful time chatting and laughing. Mom cooked nasi lemak lemuni with sambal ikan bilis (yumms!!!) and we also bought some roti canai in case the kids were not keen on the nasi lemak. 

All in all both days were great days and we all had a good time. I hope we can have Autism Day every year for the kids.

We Got New Cats

One night, we were coming down the elevator in Souq Al-Bukhary and as soon as the doors opened down in the basement, there were 2 adorable kittens right in front of us. One was white and the other black and they were about 3 weeks old.

Nadiah of course wanted to take them home. She just wouldn't leave the spot unless the cats go with us. We asked the people at the shops around there and they said the kittens' mommy is dead. So hubby grab them and placed them in the car and we drove home.

When we arrived home, we realized that both cats have eye infections, fleas and the black one is so sickly I was afraid she wasn't going to make it through the night. Since it was already night time, all the pet stores are closed so hubby searched on the internet about feeding sickly kittens. We found out that egg is good so mix that with some warm milk and spoonfed them during the night.

The next day we went to the pet store and got some kitty milk and these cute tiny bottles and started feeding them and praying they would survive.

That was 2 months ago. Now they are big and healthy and so cute and naughty I just feel like squeezing them to bits. Honestly I am actually allergic to cats but I just can't help it. They are just so cute!! I'll pet them and groom them everyday and when my eyes starts to get itchy, I just pop a tablet of Clarityne and I'm good to go. Heee....

Ironically, the one person who soooo wanted the cats and had refused to come home if the kittens didn't come with her... played with the kittens for a few days and that's it. She'll come out and play with them when we force her to but only for a few minutes. Sighhhh... it's left to her baba and me to care for the cats in the end.

                                      

                                      

Swimming Classes

This year, we decided to sign Nadiah up for swimming lessons. She has always loved swimming but we did not know how to teach her the right way to swim. Mostly she just floats in the water and play around. 

We found an instructor who is experienced in teaching and coaching kids with disabilities. He is also the coach for the Kedah Paralympics team. So we signed Nadiah up for classes every Tuesday morning. 

During the first lesson Nadiah was so excited that she could hardly concentrate on what the coach was telling her. Plus the coach was too gentle with her that she wasn't listening to a word that he was saying. Me and hubby were on the side telling her off to stop playing and listen. Needless to say that that first lesson was a failure but she definitely had a wonderful time splashing around.

But we persevered and Nadiah attended her classes regularly and slowly she starts to learn the breathing techniques and slowly moving to leg movements. It's been two months now and I can see some progress albeit slow, but she's doing it. She's learning to swim the proper way. 

I'm glad we signed her up. I hope she would be a good swimmer one day.