HelP.

I don't normally write often here but I'm having real trouble keeping Harry Potter (what a nondescript so-not-hero name that is) and friends (and foes) out of my head.

After rereading Half-Blood Prince on Wednesday (yes, I bought the book), I told myself that I shall make Thursday and Friday Harry-Potter-free days yet my dreams are still tormented by Dementors. (And I cant help re re reading...)

Tomorrow's only Friday? Gaaaahhh!! I need Saturday to come real quick!!

Unrelated stuff:

 

a. Notes to self:

1. Practise that half-clutch and next driving lesson, I can only kill the engine a maximum of 2 times

2. Fill in the insurance forms

3. Book a date for the driving test

 

b. I quite like the Anthologies of Love series. A welcome change from all the reruns and kiddy shows on prime time (Spell Cast, for example).

 

c. I finally know why Huda babbles in Tamil. My teen neighbour living on the first floor often has conferences with his pals around Huda's bedtime and I suppose, that's the language that makes the most impression on her.

 

d. Final note to self: Never attempt to cut Huda's hair on my own anymore.

Mosquito

Should I? Should I? Should I?

I've been revising my Harry Potter by reading the books again. In the past, a lifetime ago, I could easily finish Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in a day (sleep, eat, poo, pee, bath, social life all sacrificed to do the all-important). Now? I've been reading it from Friday and still have not finished. I can't re-read Half-Blood Prince because my brother, to whom we sent the book when he was still in Egypt cannot find the book now. As I'm anal-retentive, I've got to buy the book so that I have a nice, complete collection. And that reminds me, Prisoner of Azkaban is also missing. I remember lending it to someone (but I can't remember who) and it's still missing.

Anyway, I now have two choices.

1. Order the final instalment and collect it at 7am on Saturday morning and then spend the entire weekend reading it, only ocassionally (I hate this word cos I'm still not sure whether it's double c single s or double s single c so I anyhow spell) lifiting up my shirt to feed Huda (who will be in the good hands of The Husband throughout the weekend)

OR

2. Wait for my sister to finish reading her copy and borrow the book from her but must bear her gloating that she finished reading it first and that she knew who died

Of course, I have other problems like some of the books are paperbacks and some are hard covers. So, all these will affect my collection somewhat. I *am* super-duper anal about these things. Maybe, I should just wait for the boxed set to be released.

I think my insane side which I have successfully (really?) repressed is showing up more regularly now.

Rat

The Husband, siblings and I were playing Pictionary and they knew that I had to draw an animal whenever I laughed like a maniac. My inability to draw is legendary. After many failed attempts and what looked more like charade than Pictionary, someone managed to guess rat. It would have come out sooner or later, considering that they were guessing all animals from aadvark to babirusa to tyrannosaurus rex.

Now, now. What's the point of this entry?

Nope. No point. Just talking about the rodent. And, also making full use of Huda's naptime. Ooops. I'm supposed to iron some clothes.

Cows

I hate trying to come up with titles for blog entries so from now on, all titles will be completely irrelevant. Today's title is inspired by polite cows that may help in keeping the global temperature in check,

Anyway. My father (of all people) received a pair of tickets to Harry Potter's movie premiere which is happening this evening. I thought of making full use of the tickets with my sister. We have it all planned out:

5.30pm - Leave house

6.30pm - Reach there in time for the light refreshments

7.15pm - A quick trip to Crowne Plaza for Maghrib

7.30pm - Movie starts

9.30pm - Rush back home

10.30pm - Home

But. I can't bear to leave Huda for 5 hours and (me) missing her bedtime, even though The Husband does not mind being the sole caregiver for the night. The main problem is, she only drinks milk straight from the source and refuses the bottle. And, I can't bear the thought of her wailing for her milk from about 9pm onwards. What am I to do? Then again, it may not be too bad an idea as it may result in a successful attempt at reintroducing the bottle to Huda. (Right.) Sigh. What am I to do?

On another note. Third driving lesson earlier and these are points to remember for the next lesson:

1. Don't panic. Everyone's scared of an L-plate and will give the L-plated car a wide berth.

2. The scenery is for passengers. My eyes are supposed to be on

  a) the road ahead

  b) the mirrors

  c) the blind spots

3. Don't wear sandals with thick soles.

4. Keep within my lane when turning!

 

The instructor has been very kind so far and very patient. But I need to break out of this need to hear him telling me before stepping on the clutch or brake or accelerator or for him to hold the steering wheel steady while I change gear. Am I dangerous or what? If I ever get my license, I'll definitely take a course on how to drive an auto car and hopefully, I'll be good enough for the roads.

 

Oh. And, my maximum speed so far is 40km/h. If I were to drive at this speed to my grandmother's place in Malacca, goodness knows when I'll ever reach her place! Top that off with my frequent engine stalling... I think, I'll need a good 6-hour lead time before the rest of the convoy sets off.

 

But that's wishful thinking. Let's see if I can get from my place to my mom's within half an hour. (My mother's place is a $2.50 taxi ride away.)

Can pass or not?

Aiyaaaaahhh..

My final theory test is this Wednesday, 27 June and I've barely started studying. I think I'm going to fail lah.

I should have signed up for driving classes the moment I passed my Basic Theory Test but you know me lah - lazy like anything. So, I kept on postponing it. When I realised I absolutely must arrange for an instructor some two weeks ago, Huda had her fever and I felt really bad leaving her at my mom's while I go for a spin (if you can call it that).

Now, I'm just days away from my test and I have no idea how to do a half clutch - oh goodness! - don't get started on how brilliant I am, wanting to learn how to drive a manual instead of an automatic car when such options are available these days.

Die die die!!!

I'll go for the test, nevertheless and between now and Wednesday, if I just tie the book to my head, perhaps, some useful info will filter down through my thick skull.

Crying Child

Somewhere in my neighbourhood, there's a baby who has been crying for at least one hour.

 

Poor kid.

 

And poor parents.

 

(Huda used to do such things too. Only that she'd choose a really good time like 3 am in the morning. It's now only about 11 at night. So, this crying child is still doing okay.)

Developmental Milestones

Let me put up all these bits of info which I may forget soon.

 

Flip Over - I can't recall when exactly she could do this but it was about a week after 5.5 months - which is equivalent to 4 months, corrected age. Her physiotherapist showed us how to make her flip over and after a few days of practising, she could do it all by herself!

 

Crawl - It should be about 7 months (real age) as it was during Hari Raya and my sister-in-law commented that she could crawl.

 

Pull to Stand - She could pull herself to a standing position at 8 months.

 

Walk - This only happened recently - at 14 months.

Pedia Sure?

Today we went to see Huda's neonatologist.

Not surprisingly, Huda is still below the 3rd centile for both height and weight although she's advanced in all other areas. We are grateful for that. Alhamdulillah.

The doctor recommended Pediasure. For the uninitiated, Pediasure is a formula targeted at fussy eaters. Just to recap, Huda is a *very* fussy eater.

The Husband and I decided to introduce it slowly to Huda. Breastfeeding will still go on and the ultimate goal will be to have Huda drink 225ml of Pediasure once a day. Today's target is only 50ml of Pediasure.

We failed.

Huda liked playing with the bottle. She liked sucking from the teat but she absolutely refused to tilt the bottle to ensure that the milk is drunk. We even tried to stuff the bottle in her mouth while she was sleeping but she shook her head this way and that and the vanilla-flavoured formula ended up on the mattress. Oooh... Won't the ants be happy.

So we are revising our target. 25ml daily for the entire week and we'll see how it goes from there. We know it can be done. We just have to be persistent and start distributing ear plugs to all our neighbours within a 2-kilometre radius.

(Kailing, you may want to collect the ear plugs soon. Our feeding session is around 9pm daily.)

 

Sawadee Kap

We kena ketuk-ed by this tuk tuk driver. 100 Baht for a very short distance. But, I suppose it was for the experience of a lifetime.

We couldn't say this to all those who said this to us. Somehow, we felt that our tone was just so wrong. We only dared to go 'Sawadee kap' on the last day when we thought we got it right.

So we went to Bangkok last week on a whim. The Husband's leave was confirmed and off we went. I was rather apprehensive at first and ensured that we were well-insured before the trip. There was the obvious traffic jams along which came heavy pollution and of course, the political instability and the bomb that went off just days before our trip.

But, all the worrying was unnecessary. We enjoyed ourselves and we'll definitely be there again (when our Automatic Shopping Stopper is all grown up, perhaps).

Our Auto Shopping Stopper kicked into action from Day 2 onwards.

The first day we were there, we went to Mah Boon Krong and our little darling slept peacefully in her stroller after we've had our lunch. We went from floor to floor but did not do much damage to our bank balance (yet).

The next day, we went to Bobei Tower - a place which reminded me a bit of Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market (but they sell clothes, not vegetables). Kids clothes are plentiful! But my auto shopping stopper started to whine and get uncomfortable so we had to go back to the hotel.

That night, we went to Suan Lum night bazar and my, oh my(!!), there are a million pretty, pretty stuff there! I figured that if we ever move house, I'll chuck everything out and get everything for the new house from Suan Lum. Unfortunately, as usual, our auto shopping stopper started to fret and we headed back to our hotel.

The next day, we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market. We started off really early as everyone told us that Huda may not be able to withstand the heat. But, it wasn't really hot. The sun was hidden behind the clouds the whole morning and Huda didn't even whine one bit. It was her parents who had to put up the white flag and surrender. Our legs were killing us (thank you, lack-of-exercise).

In the afternoon, we trawled the area around Pratunam and we saw the cutest of twins. There were these tiny little angmoh twins, who look no more than 4 months. They had the chubbiest of cheeks and they were the centre of attention. I found myself squealing when I saw them. I wish I had taken picures because they actually looked like dolls. But, being a shameless parent, I say that the only one who can surpass them in cuteness is my litle doll. Yes, she may stop us from shopping but she's the most adorablest of all babies - especially when she's sleeping - like now.

Coming back to our hedonistic shopping trip, we went to MBK again in the evening. Do I need to say why we went back? To shop til we drop.

The next morning, we went back to Chatuchak. Heh heh.

And then, it was time to go.

Huda refused to sit during take-off and landing. While she was well-behaved during our flight to and from Lombok a few months back, she refused to sit without a fierce struggle this time round. This made me very grateful that we have decided to postpone our trip to that faraway place which would otherwise take place this June. Whew!

April

Picking up all the little bits of dry leaves and grass gave her much joy.

What happened in April?

Rashida welcomed us to her new home in Tampines where I met her nieces and nephews who reminded me so much of the rambunctious lot I meet on Sundays.

Yati and Fahmy dropped by. Huda received something that actually kept her occupied for hours!! (I've almost given up buying her toys because sometimes, she doesn't even care to look at her new toy.)

Then, I started my new exercise regime - a hike up the hill ever morning with Huda. It lasted three mornings.

And then there was that trip to Desaru. Desaru was very, very nice! There's so much to do there. We wish we had gone with the entire family so that we could get extra hands to keep Huda occupied while we jet-ski-ed or played pool (would have been my maiden attempt!) or go-kart-ed. But a dip in the pool with Huda was very fun too!

The month ended with a night at Dan&Ju's but unlike those days long gone, 9.30pm saw goodbyes and see-you-soons. A child really changes your life in all ways. :)