Over And Over Again...

Have you ever been forced to listen to the same song incessantly over and over and over again hours upon end?

Last night Nadiah found an old birthday card that plays the birthday song upon opening. She was so intrigued by it that she kept opening and closing it. Then she decided to keep it open and left it like that so the song kept playing continuously.

After about an hour, I decided I've had enough and went in search of the card to put an end to it. To my surprise the card was nowhere in sight. When I went into the bedroom the sound seemed to be coming from the TV room. But when in the TV room, it seemed to be coming from the bedroom. I searched and searched but just could not find it. The sound was loudest at the door and I finally realized that it was coming from the partition wall.

With torchlight in hand, I directed the light into the slit between the sliding door and the wall. Sure enough, I could see the card lodged deep inside. No way of getting it out.

And so the song goes on and on and on until the batteries run out. Hopefully soon!! In the dead of night the sound was unbelievably loud. It drove me crazy all night.

It is now 9:21am…. and it’s still playing over and over and over….

Visits To The GH

Gosh! It's been one hectic week after another. For the past two weeks we were the regular faces at the Alor Star GH. First there was the setting up of Nadiah's appointment for Speech Therapy (ST). Since this is our first time dealing with the GH, we thought it was a simple case of making an appointment and then walking into the room at the appointed time, like we always do in Penang with Mr. Alex.

How wrong we were to think so!

Alex had told us that we would need a referral letter, preferably from a health clinic or doctors or anyone in the medical field as long as he or she is government based. So he couldn't give us a letter. Fine. We tried to think of anyone we know who could give us one and I remembered a school friend of mine who is a doctor and is now working at the GH. The problem is I don't know which department.

So we keep putting it off. But one day while visiting nephew Daniel at the Kedah Medical Center (KMC) (here's another guy who's a regular at a hospital for the last month or so but that's a whole different story), I met the said friend and took the chance to ask her about the therapist and how do we go about getting an appointment. Hint! Hint! Hoping that she would make all the necessary arrangements.

(Photos are meant as a distraction so you won't get bored reading this :))

Then she said to get a letter either from Alex in Penang or Nadiah's peadiatrician in KMC and to bring it to her and she will write another letter. Of course we chose Dr Razif who was right that minute only 2 floors above us.

So with the referral letter in hand, I went to the GH to see my friend. She had said to just go in through the back door so that I wouldn't have to take a number (hah ha! I love having doctor friends...).

After getting a letter from her, I went straight to the ENT department to set up an appointment. Surprisingly we got an early one which was the next week.

OK, all of my life, I have never been to the GH for any medical attention except to visit patients and when Nadiah was in the incubator for a month right after she was born. Neither has Shukri but in his case, he seldom needs any medical attention anyway. I'm not a snob or anything; it's just that that's the way it was. Most of the time I'll go to KMC or on several occasion to the private clinics. So I have no idea what the system is like in GH.
Nadiah with her new shades she got at school

Boy, were we in for a big surprise. On the appointed day, we left the house at 10am to go to GH because that's the usual time we always go to KMC. At the registration counter, we found out that we were number 69. At that moment the nurse was calling number 25. Wo! Such a long way to go. We reckoned our turn will only come after lunch time, so we went home. It's only a 5 minute drive so we'll be able to take out own sweet time.

At 2.30pm, we were back but the waiting area was quite empty. When we asked the nurses, it seems that the doctors do not stop at lunch time and afternoon sessions are only for appointments with the therapists or special cases or something like that. And apparently we can't go straight to the therapist but instead have to see the ENT doctor and then we'll get to see the therapist. So we had to reschedule to the next week.

Come the next week, I made Shukri go to the hospital early and get a number while Nadiah and I will follow later on. He was there at 8.30 am and still only managed to get number 30-something. Nadiah and I were on standby since 10 in the morning waiting for Shukri’s call to come to the hospital. The call finally came at 1.30 pm. SO we rushed to the hospital and had to wait for only 10 minutes. Alhamdulillah Nadiah did not post any arguments with waiting and was fine going into the doctor’s office. Dr Siti was really nice and Nadiah seemed to like her. After some Q&As, she suggested Nadiah to go through Audio Test, ST, Occupational Therapy (OT) and a formal assessment with the psychiatrist.

Phew!! I thought initially we were only going to ST. How did we ended up with all these other stuff? Never mind. If it’s going to help Nadiah, then we’ll go through everything. The nurse got appointments for us for the audio and ST because it was in the same department. But we would have to go and get our own appointments for OT and the psychiatrist. And of course it WOULD have to be in other buildings which are on opposite sides. So off we went. OT for the next week and all the others for the week after that.

To cut the long story short, Nadiah did OK at the OT; even managed to leave her alone with the therapist for some one-to-one session. The next OT session will be on the 30th May.

Green-fingered Nadiah planting pokok temucut (don't know what it is in english)

At the psychiatric counseling session she refused to go into the office so the counselor asked for just me to be present while she did some interviews. Then we were given a date to see the consultant psychiatrist and hopefully he will successfully conduct the assessment on Nadiah. While I was in the counselor’s office, Nadiah was golek-golek-ing out at the reception area. Still in the throes of her tantrum. Shukri said that people were starting to look and then there was this one guy who approached him, and from Shukri’s telling I gathered the conversation went something like this:

Guy: You know, you should try and take her to see Ustaz Jamil
Shukri: Oh really? Who is he?
Guy: He treats people. He was one of Harun Din’s students and has an office around here
Shukri: So what is he good at treating?
Guy: He’s good with mental people. You know, I was a mental case before but now look at

me, I’m OK now
Shukri: Ooo-kay… thanks. *and walks away with Nadiah*

Yeah like he’s going to take advise from a nutcase!!

Anyway, yesterday was the audio and ST appointments. Uh-uh… did not go well at all. We have to reschedule the audio test because she was not responding at all. Although the tester said there might not actually be anything wrong with Nadiah’s hearing, she would like to do the test just to be sure. So we’ll have to come again in two weeks time. Then at the ST, she cried all the way through and refused to do anything. But then again, Nadiah has always been wary of new faces and new places. It was the same when we first visited Alex but after that she was always the first one to go through the door. Hopefully the next visits will be better. Even if she just sits at the table not doing anything, please don’t let there be anymore tears. I can do without the tears. When she cries, I feel like crying too because I feel so helpless and frustrated. I don’t know what she wants and she won’t speak to us and it’s just so heartbreaking to go through these episodes.

While all of these were going on, my Mak Lang (mom’s sister) had a mild heart attack. We got the call at 1.30 am last Friday and rushed to the GH. But she had already been admitted into the CCU so my mom and I kept my cousins company outside the unit. But at 3am we decided to go home since there really wasn’t anything to be done except wait.

Inai on her nails

The next day we made a visit in the morning but still weren’t allowed to see Mak Lang. Were only able to see her during the evening visiting hours. She looked frail but was holding herself together. Most of the aunts and uncles and cousins came back to be by her side. But I am now happy to report that after three nights in the CCU, she was then taken to a regular ward for another 3 and is now back at her house. She would have to take it easy for this couple of months and hopefully be back to her usual self.

So that’s what’s been happening these past few weeks. A couple more weeks I think I would know the hospital from one end to the other. Alas, they will be moving to the new hospital, an even bigger one, sometime in July…. and me and Shukri will once again be threading Nadiah behind us looking for the ST, OT and psychiatric blocks. Hopefully we won’t get lost. Hopefully Nadiah won’t cry on every first appointments at the new place. And hopefully they have more parking spaces at the new place….

Mother's Day Party

Yes, I know it's been days since Mother's Day, but I've been busy with beading and hardly had anytime to write about the party. So what do you think happened? Did we have a good time? Did we win any prizes?

OK, so here's the story.

After the survey that I posted on which dish to take with us as our contribution, I finally decided to go with the custard cocktail pudding. Why? Because it's the only one I could serve in a little disposable plastic containers so that I wouldn't have to bring back any breakable dish back with me. (Sorry for those who voted for apple crumble... I personally would have chosen that as well).

So the night before the party me and mom decided to make the pudding earlier so that the next day we wouldn't have to make it early in the morning. All this while mom has always been the one to stand at the stove stiring the custard until it's done. But that night she asked me to do it because she wanted to watch the AF concert. Let me tell you, it was so darn tiring. I thought my arms were going to come off but instead I developed more muscles... hehehee!!

So here's the finished product.... ta da!!!

(Wait a minute! I can't seem to find the picture. I am sure I took it but it's not showing up in the camera. So sorry, no picture of the puds.)

On Sunday at 2 o'clock we arrived at Nadiah's school all set with the 60 cute little pudding containers. Everyone was ushered into the school hall. But even from the car park we could hear loud voices over the speaker. And Nadiah knowing Nadiah, she stated to slow down her steps and refusing to go into the hall. Instead she ran away to the swing sets. Her teacher came out to coaxed her but to no avail. So we asked for a little time for her to settle down and will proceed to the hall when she's feeling better.



After a while, we tried getting her to the hall but stopped short at the door. She sat on the steps and cried. And we sat right along with her and waited some more. Whichever teacher inside was conducting a game for the parents and children and she was shouting..... into the microphone. I don't understand why she needs the mic since the whole school could hear her. Nadiah wasn't the only child refusing to go in. There were few others as well. In the end her teacher offered to stay with her so that Shukri and I could join in with the other parents. We were reluctant but she insisted so we left Nadiah in her care.

When the activities were over and it was time to eat, we were the first ones out. No, not to the food table but to see if Nadiah was feeling better. She was playing choo-choo train with her teacher and another girl. She seemed fine but still wouldn't join the others even if it was only to eat. So I picked out some food and took it over to the playground. She only took a bite off some cake and went back to the swings.



It was so not the Mother's Day party that I had imagined. I thought it was going to be a day where we could all join in with the other parents and children and have such great fun. Instead when the teachers asked all mommies to stand on the stage with their children and be celebrated, I didn't feel at all like celebrating. When they had the children presenting prezzies to their mommies, my child was out there doing other things. I didn't have fun and couldn't wait to get off the stage. It felt like everybody was looking at me although I know it was just my imagination.

OK enough already with the pity talk. I don't normally get like this. It must be something in the air tonite. Anyway, after a little food and conversations with some other parents, we made our excuses. Nadiah seemed happier when she realised we were leaving. She actually waved goodbye to her teachers and there was a little skip to her walk.

And so that was how the party went. All in all the party was so-so. Food consisted of mainly store bought cakes and those others that was home cooked was sadly limited to us muslims. We only had a choice of baked macaroni, curry puffs and my pudding. Although everyone was reminded to bring only halal food, we dare not touch the others for fear of the cooking utensils used in making them.

Anyway, I know it's late but Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all fellow mommies out there. Hope you had a good one!!

Round Up

Friday
My mom and dad planned to go to SP. We decided to tag along as it’ll give Nadiah a chance to go swimming at The Club. So right after Friday prayers, we were on our way.

Nadiah’s first time as the swimming pool was when she was about a year old. She screamed her lungs out the whole time and refused to let go of Baba. It was such a distressing time for Shukri and me especially when she peed all over Baba. The funny thing was she loved water and still does. She enjoys a good long bath in the bathroom and would get really excited when she sees a basin full of water. It must have been the size of the pool and all that water that was freaking her out.

So for the longest time we had never taken her to anywhere near a swimming pool. One time cousin Amir wanted to go swimming and we were all there at The Club and tentatively re-introduced her to the world of swimming pool and she screamed her lungs out again. But not from refusing to get into the pool this time. She screamed because we wouldn’t let her. We didn’t bring any swimming gear with us and wasn’t ready to trust anyone with her in the water.

The next day we were back and all ready for a day at the pool and Nadiah took to water like… well.. fish took to water. It’s been a few years now but each time she would only stay in the kiddy pool, not venturing to the other pools however we coerced her. Part of it was because she was scared, I think, and another part was because kids like her loves routine and hates changes.

But that particular Friday, she got out of the kiddy pool and tried her feet in the other two pools. She had her arm floats on so I wasn’t worried that she would go under. Anyway, Shukri and me were there all the time to grab her should anything happens and the water only came to her chest.

At first she would jump into the bigger pool for a second and climb out again. Then the second became two then five, then a minute and eventually she stayed in for more than 10 minutes. At first hanging on to the sides and slowly kicking away towards the middle doing a beginner’s backstroke. I was so proud of her. She was gaining so much self-confidence that she was venturing forth on her own.

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Saturday
On Saturday, Chik, Kak Yam and me decided to look around the Hari Penyayang festival hosted by the Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah and held around the vicinity of the Stadium Darulaman. It’s an annual event which we usually get free coupons and it wasn’t to be missed.

There was so many things going on at the event: food stalls where you can get kuih cara daging sultan (the actual recipe made by the same lady who serves the Sultan) and many more mouthwatering delicacies you can feast on. The were exhibitions, auctions, extreme games compertition, Larian Bendang marathon, a mini concert featuring Awie, Farah and Adam AF and many, many more going on.

As I was browsing around the exhibition stalls, the end of my eye caught the word NASOM (National Autistic Society Of Malaysia). I made a bee line for the booth and asked the guy handing out pamphlets if there was a NASOM center in Kedah. I was told that there is one newly opened in Tmn Muhibah. Great!! More Qs&As and I found out that the center seems to have quite a facility and have links with therapists at the GH. When the guy introduced his wife, who is running the center, it turned out to be my old school mate from primary school. What a small world. I was urged to come and have a look at the center anytime and left the booth with a smile on my lips. I can’t wait to check it out.

One round along the food stalls and coupon-less later, we drove back home with the car boot full of nasi tomato, ayam golek, beef rendang, cheese cakes, muffins for Nadiah, tapai, coconut jelly and dried spices and instant noodles and bottles of chili sauce and ketchup. It was coupons well spent indeed.

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Sunday
Sunday is a school day for Nadiah. After sending her to school Shukri and I decided to lepak at City Plaza until it was time to fetch Nadiah. As usual when we get there, Shukri went off to the basement to check out his computer stuff and I went straight to the bookstore. Got myself some books to read as well as adding them to the online bookstore.

I bought:

• As I Was Passing by Adibah Amin
  
• As I Was Passing II by Adibah Amin
  
• Confessions of An Old Boy: The Dato’ Hamid Adventures by Kam Raslan
  
• The Shadow In The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Fazon
  
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
  
• The Dubutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes
  
• Fikah Harian by Dato’ Haron Din
  

After paying for all the books, I made my way to Secret Recipe to wait for Shukri for our ‘date’. We seldom get to spent time just the two of us so 2 hours, three times a week are all we have when Nadiah is in school.

********************************************
Monday
It was 7 am and Nadiah was already up. As much as I try to linger in bed, I eventually had to get up and bathe and clothed her and get breakfast. Nadiah seldom eat breakfast because she’s usually up late and goes straight to lunch.

Since she was up early, I decided to take her along to check out the autistic center. I had the address on hand but didn’t know the exact location of the house. After 15 minutes of driving around, we finally found the right one. It wasn’t far at all from the turning into the taman, and which I completely missed earlier.

I was all set to unlock the door and get down from the car when disaster struck. Disaster in the form of loose vcds. You see, Nadiah takes around an inch thick of loose vcds everywhere she goes. And these vcds has a particular arrangement: Elmo’s World MUST simply be at the bottom. Then comes all the other Elmos, then The Books Of Pooh and something, something else and lastly Sesame Street’s Zoe’s Dance Class must be on the top. No one, and I mean NO ONE can rearrange the vcds or there will be trouble.

Anyway, when I stopped the car, Nadiah’s vcds went flying down to the floor. I tried helping her pick them up even though I knew that I absolutely CANNOT touch the vcds because of her particular way of arranging. She started to bawl when she realized one was missing. I didn’t though. I thought they were all there and no matter how many unflattering bent with my butt sticking out of the door and looking under the driver’s seat could unearth the blasted thing. I tried telling her there was nothing under the seat but she didn’t believe me. What do I know? I’m just the mother.

In the end I got behind the wheels and drove back home with Nadiah still wailing in the back. Back at the house, as I was getting out of the car, there it was, stuck to the side of the seat. Not under, but on the side. The second I handed her the vcd, Nadiah stopped her wailing altogether and gave me a bright big smile and hopped out of the car.

Hmmmph…!!

Music And Lyrics

Last night I watched a new movie called "Music And Lyrics"

Movie trailer:

First you're hot, then you're not...and then you're Alex Fletcher (HUGH GRANT). So when the sizzlingest tween-queen on the charts asks the has-been '80s pop sensation to write her a song, he grabs for another chance at stardom. Problem: Alex can say it with music, but he sure can't say it with words. Enter Sophie Fisher (DREW BARRYMORE), his beguiling if quirky plant lady, who has a green thumb for lyrics. Together, they go after songwriting success -- and discover that if you want to write the perfect love song, it helps to fall in love. With Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore at the keyboard and Marc Lawrence (Two Weeks Notice) directing, Music and Lyrics is a witty, wacky romantic comedy that faces the music...and laughs!

*******************************

I love this movie, but then again, I've always loved this sort of romantic comedy, feel good, chick movie. Especially when it has Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Both were at their best being funny, quirky and weird, not forgetting Grant's English sarcasm.

I do admit I have a thing for British actors like Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. I think it's in the accent and their ways in pulling a dry joke with a straight face.

The theme song, A Way Back Into Love is a hit. The movie started with a video clip of the song "Pop! Goes My Heart" by Alex's has-been group, Pop. This one was crazy funny with it's 80's theme that brings back Duran Duran, A-Ha and Frankie Goes To Hollywood to mind... I just couldn't stop laughing watching this.

Here's the song A WAy Back Into Love sang by Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore in the movie

More clips:

Pop! Goes My Heart

(check out the hair-do, the acting in the video and the hip movement... heheehee!!)

A Way Back Into Love

(the full version sang by Hugh Grant and Haley Bennett)

Choices

Which one should I bring to school?

Nadiah's Birthday

Nadiah's birthday was on Thursday. In the morning I went out to KLCC to do some shopping and have lunch with my friend, Iza. Nadiah (who was still in bed) and Baba were left at home while I had my precious "alone time".

I had a good time walking around KLCC window shopping. I had planned to go to Ampang Point to look for a secondhand bookstore but for the life of me, could not find the store. I knew it was on the second floor and that was it. Since it was already noon, I decided to return to KLCC for my lunch date. Lunch was good and the company was even better. Would have stayed a few more hours reminiscing about old times if it wasn't for the fact that I was suppose to get Nadiah's birthday cake. Even then, it had gone 2 pm before we decided to part ways.

So I rushed through the traffic all the way to Sri Hartamas and spent about 30 minutes looking for a parking spot. I had almost given up hope before finally found one on the roadside. I quickly park the car and prayed that Mr Policeman would not leave a love letter on the windshield while I’m gone.

Since I didn’t have the time to order a cake beforehand, I was hoping the shop would have something suitable. But what they had did not look like any 5 year old birthday cake. The only one they had that would be close enough had already been taken by another customer just a few seconds earlier.

I was already late, the day was very hot and I had to walk quite a long way from the car and by then sweating like mad and I still have no cake. I just hope there was another bakery nearby. So walked around some more and saw in the window a chocolate cake with milk and chocolate buttons decorated on top that would do for Nadiah. Looked up at the sign and it said ‘Vegetarian Bakery’. What the heck.. as long as it looks like a cake and taste like one too, I’ll just go ahead and get it. So, with the oh so healthy vegetarian cake in hand, I made my way home.

Nadiah was already up and jumping about and when she saw the cake, got even more excited. As soon as I got all the candles out, she started blowing them even though it wasn’t lighted up. With Baba, Mak Tok , baby Irfan and me looking on, Nadiah blew out the candles making her birthday official. Everybody had a piece of cake except Irfan who just looked on, drooling all over the place. The cake didn’t taste bad at all. Like I said, it was a healthy cake and so it tasted… er.. healthy.

In the evening, we took her to Toys ‘r Us to choose her present. After walking around for 15 minutes, she decided on a baby doll with all it’s bits and pieces: milk bottles, baby fork and spoon, change of clothes and a pacifier. It was an apt choice because the day before she cried out “baby doll” as soon as she saw Irfan. She must have thought she was getting another Irfan, albeit a smaller version.

At home she couldn’t wait to feed the baby its bottle. Not satisfied with feeding the baby, she tried to feed Irfan as well. Luckily we were fast enough getting Irfan out of the way. Since she could not get Irfan to drink the milk, she must have thought she’ll just feed herself instead and proceeded to do so.

Back in Alor Star, we had another cake to celebrate with cousin Amir and his parents. Unfortunately Nadiah did not get to blow out the candles this time because we couldn’t find a lighter anywhere in the house. The one person who smokes was out and took his lighter with him. By the time we thought to light up the candles from the kitchen stove, Nadiah had stared to eat half of the chocolates and strawberries decorating the cake. So we skipped that and got Amir to cut the cake instead because Nadiah was busy munching on the keropok lekor being served.

All in all, I think Nadiah was happy with her cakes and presents she got. Apart from the baby doll, there was also a box of BLOpens , 2 sets of Play-Doh and lots of money from various aunts and uncles.

ENJOY THE SLIDESHOW...

Arts And Crafts

Remember from my previous post about parents’ class and that I’m suppose to have Nadiah do some exercises? Ok, she’d done them all and I think she did well.

So here’s what she was supposed to do:

First we’re supposed to teach her what glue is by showing that a small scrap of paper does not stick to another without anything on it. Then by applying a little bit of glue, they do stick to one another. But I skipped this part because I felt she had passed this part with flying colours already.

The next part we have four A4 papers with circles, squares and triangles on them. I then cut out the shapes and have her stick them to the corresponding shapes. She did great with the circles and squares but the triangles were a little crooked in the beginning.



Then using the shapes made them into a picture of a house. Lastly sticking the shapes together again to make a house but instead of a picture she was to make a free standing house. And here’s the result



Not bad eh?

Here are some other creations she made:

We have here 2 butterflies. Mama’s is the one on the right. I made this one as an example and Nadiah made hers by observing which goes where. Not too bad I think although the wings and the antennas are warped but the general shape is there.




This ones are ladybugs. Again Nadiah’s is the one on the left. The legs seemed to be all over the place and it’s missing a few spots but on the whole it’s fine.



The last one is a spider. I trace her hand on a folded piece of paper and cut out the shape. Remove the bit where her thumb is supposed to be, open up the paper and we have an eight legged creature. Stick some eyes, a cute lil nose and a smiling mouth. Voila!! You’ve got yourself a smiling spider.


Got this from watching Barney. Cute huh?

Well ok, so mine wasn't that great either but it's the love that I put into them that matters ;D

Happy 5th Birthday, Nadiah

Today is Nadiah's birthday. I can't believe she's 5 today. It seems like it was only yesterday that I took her home from the hospital. She was so tiny then because she was premature. She weighed at only 1.9kg.

We’re actually in KL today and will have a small celebration. I’m planning to get a cake for her later from this one shop in Sri Hartamas. My SIL once bought us some mini cupcakes and they were so cute and colourful.

It’s sad, but I don’t think Nadiah actually knows what birthdays are. Oh she knows when there’s a cake you HAVE to blow the candles. But I doubt she understands the meaning of the number of candles she’s blowing. But hey.. if she’s having a good time, why should I worry too much right?

Anyway, I’ll update more on her birthday later on and put up pictures when I’m back in Alor Star.

What's In A Name

For as long as I can remember, we've been doing our grocery shopping at this sundry shop: Kedai Ah Beng (the actual name of the shop is Kedai Eng Huat, but the proprietor is called Ah Beng; hence the name).

Ah Beng has an assistant who up until a few months ago we only call 'kuli Ah Beng'. Nobody knows what his real name was. And the funny thing was, nobody ever thought of asking him. We keep asking each other what his real name is, but not the person himself. Until one day when he came to deliver groceries and my dad asked him.

"Ah Seng" he said.

So everyone went "Ohh... Ah Seng".

After that whenever we pass him on the road, someone would say "Hey, there goes Ah Seng".

But two months after the discovery, Ah Seng is back to being 'kuli Ah Beng'. Well... I guess some guys just can't be "Ah Seng".

Parents' Class

Yesterday was the first time Nadiah's school held a parents' class. It was good despite the fact that we all had to sit on these tiny chairs and crammed our knees under the low, low tables. At the end of the session, Shukri not only got information and knowledge, but also a whole dose of pain shooting up and down his right leg. Ahh.. the things we would do for our children.

Anyway, the class was good. Apart from the fact that it gave us a chance to get to know the other parents and exchange stories, we get to learn how to help our children. Yesterday’s lesson was on arts and crafts. Things like pasting and shapes and using the shapes to make it into a picture like a house. Although I’ve been doing these exercises with Nadiah, I’ve never realized there was a step-by-step method or a proper way of teaching Nadiah to do it. This exercise is good in developing fine motor skills and strengthen her finger muscles. And so we’ll be seeing a lot of gluing and pasting in the next week or two….

I’m looking forward to the next class which will be held in a fortnight…. but not the chairs, though.

Travel Blog

Well, it's about time. I've been postponing this project for a long time now. I finally started on my Travel Blog. Hopefully it'll be a continuous project.

Check it out....

Somebody told...

It was supposed to be a surprise, but somebody told....

Yesterday was my mom and dad's 42nd wedding anniversary. Bro#2 and I decided to have a party. Well, nothing fancy, just a cake and some kuih. Afterall Bro#1 and Bro#3 and their families won't be there.

We planned to have a tea party and everything was a secret. Around 5pm, they arrived with the cake. Amir even got a party hat for himself and Nadiah. Not a minute after he arrived, he went up to my parents' room and asked them to come down for tea. Mom thought there wasn't anything to eat and was asking my dad to go out and buy something. So Amir said,

"It's OK. There's a cake downstairs. Do you want to blow the candles off or do you want me to do it?"

So there goes the surprise.... ehheheh

But really, the cake WAS in fact more for the kids to than for the grandparents.

HAPPY 42nd ANNIVERSARY TO MAK & BAPAK

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A Surprise for Baba

Last night Nadiah went to bed early; around 10 pm (that’s early for her). Unfortunately what I had thought an uninterrupted slumber into dreamland turned up to be just a nap. Around midnight she woke up, rested and ready to play. I was so tired that night that I told Shukri I was going to bed for a few hours and switch the sentry duty with him later on.

This was actually told to me by Shukri. Apparently while I was asleep, Nadiah had a great time with Baba. They played puzzles, they drew, they cut up pictures and basically just making a mess in the room... as usual. Anyway, when Baba was comfortably watching TV, Nadiah brought a present for Baba. She handed something small and thin to him. Baba didn’t know what it was so he brought the ‘present’ close to his eyes.

Upon closer inspection, Baba promptly cried out, scaring even himself, and sent the ‘present’ flying through the air. So what was it?

A DEAD AND DRIED UP LIZARD BABY!!

And Nadiah had a good laugh at Baba. Hehheheh!!! A cheeky little kid is what she is.

Hot-Hot Chicken Sh*t

We all have our hot-hot chicken sh*t (or the Malay proverb "hangat-hangat taik ayam") episodes. Some more so than others.

In this household, the word 'exercise' is usually received with a lot of enthusiasm.... at first. When any one of us announces that he/she will start an exercise regime on the morrow, everyone else would start giving encouragements, pat on then backs and the likes. But seldom the plan lasts for more than a week.

So when my mom suggested that we paint a badminton court on the driveway (mind you, this will be our third court over the years), we were all for it. So soon after, mom and me laboured over measuring and painting the court. Yes, the men in this family are always good for giving advise but somehow disappears when it was time to do the actual work (OK, so G helped paint one side of the court, so let's give him some credit for that). 

Nadiah was so amazed with the newly-painted court, she thought it was a giant hopscotch squares

The signature

Dad also had some people constructed the poles on the sides of the court where we can 
stretch the net across.

This was over a month ago and right after the court was ready, we all played badminton diligently every evening.
So what happens now? Yep, you guessed it. Just another case of hot-hot chicken sh*t!!


G showing Nadiah how to serve


Nadiah chasing G around the court

Weekend Ramblings

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog. I have been crazy busy that there was hardly time to breathe!! (ehheheh... exaggeration alert!). Of course, that does not stop me from going up and down to KL a couple of times.

Anyway, over the last few weeks a few events took place. Shukri had a birthday, Nadiah went to school in her new uniforms, she also lost her tooth, nephew Daniel went off to MCKK, had a family dinner in SP and I met up with an old friend.

Shukri's birthday was a quite one. We went out for dinner at Pizza Hut of all places. Nadiah loves the place and it's the only restaurant where Shukri and I can take our own sweet time to enjoy the food. Most times, other than McD, we're always rushing through our food and usually end up taking turns to eat as Nadiah will get bored easily. By the way, I still owe Shukri a present. Been meaning to get him one of these handheld back massager thingy. Hmmm.. must remind self to do so or it'll be another birthday before he'll see one.

Nadiah finally got her uniforms. It was on the last day of school before the Chinese New Year holidays that she got hers. So we had to wait a week before donning her new uniforms. As precaution, in case she refuse to wear it, we had a practice sessions at home before the school re-opened. Missioned accomplished and she went to school in her new uniform and black school shoes just fine.

A few weeks ago I discovered that two of Nadiah's lower incisors were a little shaky. But it wasn't ready to come out just yet so I just left them as it was. Then a few days later, I noticed that she was busy pushing around something in her mouth and there were traces of blood. Upon closer inspection, I found out that one of the two was already halfway out. I quickly took her to mom's

room and let her handle it. I didn't think I'll be able to pull it out myself. So mom tied a thread around the tooth and pulled it out. After three tries, it came out. There were some blood but I had Nadiah sucked on ice cubes and it stopped. When she saw her tooth hanging on the thread, she quickly grabbed it and tried inserting it back in it's place. She got upset when she realised there was another shaky tooth and insisted that my mom pulled that out as well. Poor darling. That night she went to bed crying because we refused to pull out the other tooth too. So now she's missing one tooth and very soon it will be two.

My nephew Daniel finally got into Malay College Kuala Kangsar on the second intake. He was dissapointed when he found out that he didn't make the cut on the first intake. Everybody tried to make him feel better by telling him that boarding schools are not really that great and that it's usually haunted.. bla bla bla. But now that he made it, they're all singing a different tune. Most of us gave him going away gifts, mainly money, and reminded him to study hard, make your parents proud and things people usually say when wishing luck. But brother #2 gave him money and told him that should he feel he doesn't like it there, he is to use the money to pay for the taxi or bus fare to get home. What an uncle!!!

Daniel was at his new school for 10 days and it was time to come back for the school holidays. So last Saturday before he had to return, we had a small family dinner at the club in SP. It wasn't a complete family dinner as brother #3 and family wasn't there. But it was a nice one. It's been some time that we are all together for dinner like that. The kiddies had fun too because they could go swimming before dinner. Although we hadn't planned on going swimming, Nadiah had other ideas. She made Baba walked with her to the pool and proceeded by jumping in the wading pool with her dress and shoes on. Luckily I had brought spare clothes or we would have to say bye-bye to dinner and has takeouts at the chalet instead.

Weird Facts

I’ve been tagged by Ana. It looks like an interesting one, so here goes:

RULES: People who are tagged should write a blog post of 6 weird things about them as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog....
(These are the rules created by… I don’t know who, but I try to stick to it..)


Fact 1
Some of you may know that I’m a tidy and organized kind of person (sometimes frighteningly so!!), especially when it comes to stuff like… my books. I have loads of books and not only are they neatly arranged on the shelves according to authors, they are also catalogued in my pc.
Ok, so that’s not so weird. Many people do that… I think. But whenever I’m at a bookstore, casually browsing along the shelves, I’ll catch myself rearranging the books, shelving them in the ‘right’ order.
Hey.. at least I’m doing the store a favour. People will be able to find books a lot easier.

Fact 2
I’ve got really strange hearing. Whenever I hear something on my right, you can bet you life that the sound is coming from my left, and vice versa. Same goes for front and back. Due to this, a lot of people have been kept waiting at the gate because I always assumed that the honking was coming from the road at the back of the house.

Fact 3
Every morning when I get up from bed, walking towards the bathroom, I always stop at the dressing table and brush my hair even though I know that I’ll be getting into the shower in a few minutes. I’m not vain or anything because when I brush my hair, I don’t necessary look in the mirror. It’s just a process that I go through every morning.

Fact 4
I can’t let go of stuff. I keep things for their sentimental values even though I hardly have enough space for them. I still have all those movie stubs from my UK time. And some of them you can’t even see anything anymore because the ink has been rubbed off. But I can always flick through and see that I watched Lion King and Forrest Gump THREE times!! EACH!! At the movies!! (And cried all of those times too!!!)

Fact 5
When I eat rice, and all it’s ‘lauk’, I have to make sure that the fish or chicken or veggies does not go on the rice itself. But would have to be arranged around the rice in a semicircle. If anyone were to serve me and placed, say the chicken, right on top of my rice mount, I’ll move it to the side and patiently pick out all the bits of rice that’s sticking to the chicken. (Gosh!! I’m starting to sound like Jack Nicholson’s character in As Good As It Gets!!)

Fact 6
I love durians... but only the fresh ones. I cannot stand durian flavoured ice-creams, or durian cakes or durian eaten with something else like sticky rice.
Give me fresh durians anytime, and no thank you to the others.

So there. All my idiosyncrasies revealed. I hereby tag Iza, CS, G, Spectacularwave, Akmal and Fasha.

Soooo Stressed Out!!!

I need a break!! Desperately!!!

I’ve got tons of things to do. There’s a bundle of clothes that needs beading, book details to upload to my website, clothes to wash and iron. Then there’s the odd errands that needs doing for my dad like going to the bank, to the post office, to the electrical shops. There’s also shopping to go to with my mom. Apart from that, Nadiah needs looking after, or running after is more like it!

Last of all there are all those books I’ve bought for the last two months to stock up my online book rental store and have yet to read. And read them I must because I simply CANNOT bear for other people to rent them before I’ve had a read through.

I am soooo STRESSED!!!!

I’m going to and get a KitKat now…..



P/S
As you can see, my book rental website is up in the MY OTHER BLOGS/WEBSITE link. It’s up, but it’s not running still. More books have to be uploaded and other stuff. But you’re welcome to have a look and browse around. Have fun and please leave me a feedback if there’s anything you’re happy or not happy with. Thankx

Mama... I love you

I was taking Nadiah to the bathroom yesterday when she said the most amazing thing. While helping her out of her clothes, Nadiah suddenly said, very softly

"Mama"
"Yes" I said
"I love you" said Nadiah
"I love you too" I replied

I just smiled at her, blinking away tears. But my heart just bawled over. This sure is the happiest day of my life. Something so simple
and yet means the world to me.
Hearing Nadiah called me "mama', which has been significantly absent
these last two years.
A fitting present for a day that's devoted for love, don't you think?

Here's to my darling Nadiah.....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, SAYANG!!