Showing posts with label F. Show all posts
Showing posts with label F. Show all posts
Monday, July 27, 2015
The Little Seed That Could Grow Only in Winter
Farah is 6 years old, in K2. This is what she wrote yesterday. This is done as a project with her 7-year-old cousin, Sofiyah. They decided that each of them would write a few stories based on a little seed. Their ultimate aim is to present these stories to their other cousins as part of their Sunday Nonsense.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
The Middle Child
Have not written about Farah for quite some time so here are some things about her which are interesting.
1. Even though she doesn't have to be in school until 9am, she gets upset when we do not wake her up together with Huda at 6am. When she gets upset, her glare is enough to melt an iceberg.
2. She is extremely generous with her food. Whenever we eat fried chicken or fried fish, she will share the crispy skin with everyone although that is her favourite part.
3. She loves reading and she reads well for her age.
4. She doesn't understand some of the words that she reads. She used to just infer the meaning of the words (not accurately sometimes resulting in her saying things like "my tongue feels so disappointed" ~said in mid 2014) but these days she would ask us to explain the meaning of the words.
5. Sometimes, she'll ask us the meaning of the words in very random situations. A few days ago, she asked what 'possessed' meant. I thought it was something to do with spirits but I sought clarification from her anyway.
"Where did you see the word?" I asked.
"Once upon a time, in a land far away, a single drop of sunlight fell to the ground and grew into a magical golden flower that possessed healing powers."
(Yes. She quoted verbatim from a storybook she read a few days earlier.)
This happens very regularly. Sometimes she's about to sleep and she would ask the meaning of a word and would quote the sentence it appears in. I'm impressed with her memory.
6. A little voice within me and a few voices around me told me that I should send her to a madrasah. She would definitely be able to cope with the syllabus, they said. But, I am not sure if *I* can cope with it.
7. She is very loving to her little brother but less so to the older sister. Often, before she goes to school, she tells me, "Mak, can you tell Ihsan that Kakak Farah loves him very much?"
After months and months of this, I asked her why couldn't she just tell him herself.
She said, "I don't want him to forget me when I'm in school."
8. Her treatment of Ihsan when they play together reminds me of Elmyra from Animaniacs. At times, I have to stop her from being too rough with the little boy.
9. I love how much faith she has in Allah. She believes in the power of du'a and many times, her du'a is answered. Her du'a for now is for everyday stuff. Food, ability to do things (like, unscrew a jar etc). Once she made du'a for nenek to cook her favourite pucuk manis masak lemak (otherwise known as 'the green vegetable with the yellow gravy'. I forgot about it and that day, when we went to my mother's house, my mother happened to cook exactly that. Another day, we had leftover beef soup for sahur and there weren't many pieces of potatoes left. She wanted more and to pacify her, I told her to make du'a for potatoes. That evening, my mother gave us a potato dish for buka. Masya Allah. The power of du'a.
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My du'a for Farah, Huda and Ihsan is for them to always have complete and unwavering faith in Allah. I du'a that they will always be hardworking and will always strive hard for their goals. Being 'clever' when you are young is meaningless if it's not accompanied by a desire and the will to better yourself throughout your life.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
30 November 2014
(I resolve to stop writing titles. I will just write the date I start writing each post.)
Ihsan
Ihsan is now almost 4 months old. I am so very grateful that he has been an easy child to take care of. I only realise just how easy he is when he was cranky this morning, possibly because he had very little sleep yesterday.
He,like Middle Sister (as she would like to be known as now) Farah, is extremely curious about everything. Yesterday, when we were at his paternal grandfather's place, he stayed up during the entire 6 hours or so that we spent there taking in the sights and sounds which are less than familiar to him. I let everyone carry him, only taking him back to feed him, as I'm afraid that in the coming months when he can recognise faces, these faces that he does not see as often would only be howled at should they carry him. So, now, when I can enjoy some freedom and can have my arms to myself, I better enjoy it. The moment we left, at about 9 pm, he fell asleep in the baby carrier only to be rudely jolted awake at about 10.30 pm as I insisted on bathing him before changing him into his pyjamas.
This morning, he was not his happy cheerful self when he woke up. He normally just whimpers softly for his milk. When he's ready to wake up for the day, he coos and smiles; such a happy camper! But this morning, he cried each time he was put down. It was the first time in his entire life that I had to carry him, pacing back and forth, to calm him down. Not typical at all. But after a long afternoon nap, he was back to his calm, cheerful self.
Ihsan's Schedule
He normally wakes up 2-3 times a night for his feeds. He normally sleeps by 8-9 pm. He sometimes wakes up at 11pm for a round of milk, but not always. His next feed will be around 1 am followed by another one around 4.30 am. Around 8 am, he wakes up for a brand new day.
He takes naps throughout the day. A few hours in the morning and a few more hours in the afternoon.
When he's awake, and if I'm not busy doing housework (of which there is no end), I will spend the time talking to him. Well, errrr, I hope that's enough stimulation for the boy. He doesn't need colorful objects et al hung above him, right? He does see the rotating fan when he lies down on the sofa. Hur hur.
Me & Birth Control
When I was first admitted to the hospital last July, Dr KT Tan had a long conversation with me and strongly recommended ligation as another pregnancy could very well end my life. But, after that long conversation on Day 1 of my hospital stay, I had too much time to google the side effects of ligation and came across websites upon websites of women who supposedly suffered from Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome. So, in the end, I decided to go for Intra-Uterine Contraception Device (IUCD). As Dr KT Tan didn't visit me anymore after that, there was no one to tell me that IUCD wasn't suitable for me. All the other doctors I spoke to seemed to be okay with IUCD for me. Unfortunately, during the C-section, they found that my womb was paper thin. I suppose that was why after I delivered, Dr Tan came to visit me and chided me for changing my mind about ligation. Prior to this, I had been a model patient, always listening to her.
In the follow-up appointments, another doctor from the team of doctors who treated me, Dr Sim recommended Implanon. Research shows that among all the birth control methods, this has a very high success rate, higher than ligation and IUCD.
And so, Thursday came - the day for me to be fitted with the Implanon rod.
I have a tendency to over-research (that's how I came across Post Tubal Ligation Syndrome) so I did not want to do that again. I kept strictly to the medical websites, steered clear of forums. But I couldn't help googling 'Implanon and breastfeeding'. Official research shows that the volume of breastmilk was not affected and only an insignificant amount of the hormone seeped into the breastmilk. But, some women complained that their supply was affected.
I became wary.
So, I prayed and prayed for this Implanon to have no negative effects on me. Please please please.
Day 1-2 of Implanon insertion - my milk seemed to take a beating. I have always felt very engorged when I wake up in the morning but the first two mornings, I felt rather, well, just slightly full (of milk) when I wake up. I remembered what one of my friends told me, "The breasts can be trained" and fed the little boy non-stop. I knew my milk supply was affected when one side no longer sufficed. Prior to this, each feeding session required only one side. But on Friday and Saturday, I had to feed him from both sides. I didn't press the Panic Button. Yet. (Panic Button = "TheHusband, we need formula milk!"
Day 3 - I woke up to a wet top and damp bed sheet that smelt of milk. Hooray! The milk supply is back. Insya Allah, I will always have enough milk for my baby.
Other than the slight reduction in milk supply for the first 2 days, I have not had any negative side effects and I hope for it to remain that way. Amin!
Back to Implanon. It's a small rod, the size and length of a matchstick that is inserted just below the surface of the skin. The procedure does not take long. The doctor will first clean the site with alcohol, then inject a local anaesthetic to numb the skin. That will be the most painful part of the procedure. 1-2 minutes later, the doctor inserts the Implanon rod. If you wear long sleeves, make sure it is loose and can be pulled all the way up. After that, the nurse will clean the site. She will place a plaster where the rod was inserted. A piece of gauze on top of it. And a bandage that goes round and round your arm. You can remove the bandage after 24 hours. The plaster has to be changed and TheBraveHusband is tasked with this job. TheBraveHusband said that the insertion point looks like a tiny pimple now.
I do not know if the rod will show. I have not really inspected the site. If it does, there goes my swimwear modelling career. Not. It will be somewhat interesting to have this matchstick-like protrusion on your skin. Oh the tales I can weave with this to scare little people! (I came up with some fantastic tales to frighten innocent little people when I had braces once upon a time. Hee!)
Big Sister & Middle Sister
I am actually now quite wary about writing too much about them. Especially the Big Sister. She is a big girl, after all, now, and I don't want to embarrass her in future. I want to be honest here and write about everything, not just the good stuff.
(I can always delete the entries, right?)
Until I have discussed this with her extensively, I think she will only make occasional appearances in this blog.
Now, the Middle Sister is all of 5 years old. Feisty like what-lidat (to copy my nephew's favourite simile; I can feel all EL teachers rolling their eyes). You don't want to cross her path and make her mad. First, there is her scream. Very loud. Not a girlish shriek, mind you. She does not have a girlish voice. Then there is her piercing stare. Even a hardy cactus will wilt under that glare. And finally her stomping which attempts to wake the dead.
When does she employ this? When she perceives that injustice is done (more eye rolling). It's terribly annoying what they see as unfair: "You only want to play Kakak's game; you don't want to play my game!" (We've been playing Snap/Memory Game/Snake and Ladders almost every single day. One day, Kakak wants the family to play Monopoly. After a fun game of Monopoly - which went past their bedtime - she takes out her Snap cards and wants us to play Memory Game.)
"You always let Kakak carry Ihsan. I don't get to carry Ihsan!" (Never mind the fact that after 5 seconds of carrying Ihsan, she will ask somebody to relieve her. Or the fact that she tends to squeeze Ihsan too much. Or the fact that she just carried Ihsan in the morning.)
"You always sit beside Kakak. You don't sit beside me."
And a host of other "You always... You don't..."
I really dislike that adverb, always. Don't you?
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But she is also the more expressive one between the two. Huda is not one to open up and share her emotions with others. Farah is very expressive. She declares her love for one and all. "Bye bye Nenek! I love you!" She hugs me when she is going to school and when she comes back. She openly declares that she misses me when she's in school. When I tell her I love her, she asks, how about Ayah/Kakak/Atok/Nenek/insert family member. So now I tell her, I love you and Kakak and Ayah and all our family members, near and far.
The Big Sister is quite different here. She is not as expressive as her sister. Outside her school, she doesn't want to hug me. Huaaaaarrrggghhh!!! The Big Sister is growing up too fast!
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Sometimes, I ask them, if you can exchange me for any mother, who will you choose? They are pretty undecided about this one. I have yet to hear a name being mentioned. What I am so grateful for is that they are very close to their cousins and all my siblings and in-laws are as neurotic as I am. Since we are all about the same, swopping mothers with their cousins does not seem to bring any benefit to them. (There will still be highly limited screen time. So, no fun.)
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All righty! Must stop now before I accidentally write so much about the Big Sister without consulting her!
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All righty! Must stop now before I accidentally write so much about the Big Sister without consulting her!
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
November 2014 Updates...
I have a few hours to myself now. Ihsan can nap for 2-3 hours in the daytime now. Huda has gone off for a Tarbiyah Programme conducted by sister-in-law's company, Little Muslim Readers. Farah is at the childcare centre. I'm supposed to straighten out the big store room but this blog requires some updates. Heh.
In no particular order and with no organisational skills/planning put into this entry, from the top of my head...
1. November 24
I turned 37 yesterday! Alhamdulillah, I'm still alive, in pretty good health, blessed with a good husband, lovely kids, a supportive extended family, very good friends, in decent financial state.. what more can I ask for? Alhamdulillah. Allah has been really kind to me and I am always grateful. (Forgive me, Allah, when I sometimes complain and whine. I try to cut it out but I am a weak human.)
I complain sometimes about insects which find my home extremely attractive. Like these creatures that decided to wave at me and (according to Haryati) wish me a happy birthday yesterday..
Talking about homes - I have stopped looking for a bigger flat. I like the view outside the window too much to give up this place. What we'll do instead is to renovate the entire house sometime next year or year after next. There will be lots and lots of hidden storage space, airconditioning and there should be no need for window dressings. I actually hate curtains and it's such a waste of greenery outside when it's all covered by curtains. We have to engage an ID consultant for this. TheHusband and I only have vague ideas of our dream design and we need a professional to make sure that it happens.
Of course, a key thing that we will have will be some kind of 'invisible netting' to prevent all the insects from coming in. Yes, all those greenery come hand in hand with creepy crawlies but surely there is a way to tell them to stay out of my house!
2. Ihsan
He is now almost 4 months old! 110 days; 3 months 18 days to be precise. (I didn't count. I used an online duration calculator.)
He smiles and laughs a lot. He is quite a guzzler, drinking milk noisily as if he is famished. He wakes up 2-3 times at night which is fine by me. He sleeps in a cot beside my bed but always ends up on the bed with me because I tend to fall asleep while feeding him.
He used to poo about 6 times a day. Small amounts of poop but boy, are they stinkbombs! Now he poos once or twice a week only. But it's a whole lot of poop which requires many many wet wipes and a complete hose down after all the wiping.
Knowing that this is most likely my last and final child (and perhaps the fact that I am an older mom therefore calmer, less kiasu etc), I am a lot less uptight about many things. I am not checking developing milestones every other day and ensuring he meets them. As long as he is developing well, I am fine. So what if he is not turning yet. Eventually, he will. I remember what a worrywart I was with Huda. I was concerned that she was taking a long time to start walking. But, it doesn't quite matter at which point you start, because you will get there someday. And so by the time Farah came around, I had made some realisations so I was relaxed about her toilet training. No point forcing it on her. When she's ready, she's ready. And so Farah practically toilet-trained herself.
And then, there's this poem I read recently. It was one of those poems which made the rounds on Facebook. About how this particular thing you do for your child could very well be the last time you do it for your child. No, not in that morbid way that you or your child will die. But, the fact that your baby grows up so fast that today, you are bathing him in his plastic bathtub and tomorrow (okay, more like many months from now), he will be standing up without the need for a tub. So I don't grumble (much) and just enjoy the moments.
Anyway, this boy enjoys his bath time very much. He kicks the water, smiles and coos during bath time. Absolutely adorable. And here are random pictures of him.
Actually, I wanted to write about the girls too but I think that has to wait because I absolutely must must must do housework now. So, goodbye for now!
In no particular order and with no organisational skills/planning put into this entry, from the top of my head...
1. November 24
I turned 37 yesterday! Alhamdulillah, I'm still alive, in pretty good health, blessed with a good husband, lovely kids, a supportive extended family, very good friends, in decent financial state.. what more can I ask for? Alhamdulillah. Allah has been really kind to me and I am always grateful. (Forgive me, Allah, when I sometimes complain and whine. I try to cut it out but I am a weak human.)
I complain sometimes about insects which find my home extremely attractive. Like these creatures that decided to wave at me and (according to Haryati) wish me a happy birthday yesterday..
 |
| Stuck on the outside of the living room window. Yikes. |
Of course, a key thing that we will have will be some kind of 'invisible netting' to prevent all the insects from coming in. Yes, all those greenery come hand in hand with creepy crawlies but surely there is a way to tell them to stay out of my house!
2. Ihsan
He is now almost 4 months old! 110 days; 3 months 18 days to be precise. (I didn't count. I used an online duration calculator.)
He smiles and laughs a lot. He is quite a guzzler, drinking milk noisily as if he is famished. He wakes up 2-3 times at night which is fine by me. He sleeps in a cot beside my bed but always ends up on the bed with me because I tend to fall asleep while feeding him.
He used to poo about 6 times a day. Small amounts of poop but boy, are they stinkbombs! Now he poos once or twice a week only. But it's a whole lot of poop which requires many many wet wipes and a complete hose down after all the wiping.
Knowing that this is most likely my last and final child (and perhaps the fact that I am an older mom therefore calmer, less kiasu etc), I am a lot less uptight about many things. I am not checking developing milestones every other day and ensuring he meets them. As long as he is developing well, I am fine. So what if he is not turning yet. Eventually, he will. I remember what a worrywart I was with Huda. I was concerned that she was taking a long time to start walking. But, it doesn't quite matter at which point you start, because you will get there someday. And so by the time Farah came around, I had made some realisations so I was relaxed about her toilet training. No point forcing it on her. When she's ready, she's ready. And so Farah practically toilet-trained herself.
And then, there's this poem I read recently. It was one of those poems which made the rounds on Facebook. About how this particular thing you do for your child could very well be the last time you do it for your child. No, not in that morbid way that you or your child will die. But, the fact that your baby grows up so fast that today, you are bathing him in his plastic bathtub and tomorrow (okay, more like many months from now), he will be standing up without the need for a tub. So I don't grumble (much) and just enjoy the moments.
Anyway, this boy enjoys his bath time very much. He kicks the water, smiles and coos during bath time. Absolutely adorable. And here are random pictures of him.
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| Must take pictures of him crying. Heh. |
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| Kakak Farah squeezes and squashes him on a regular basis. |
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| Kakak Huda and Ihsan look alike, yes? |
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| Kakak Farah boring him to tears, no, sleepyland with a book about fairies. |
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| I took all three kids on a long MRT ride all by myself. Felt accomplished. Hehe.. |
Actually, I wanted to write about the girls too but I think that has to wait because I absolutely must must must do housework now. So, goodbye for now!
Thursday, May 01, 2014
About All the Other Stuff
Here's an update about everything else.
1. Blog Condition
Sometimes, I'm ashamed of my blog. It's so bare-bones, compared to everything else on the Internet. But, I'm doing practically nothing about it. My updates are erratic; most are done when major things happen - like a pregnancy. Hur hur.
But I am not going to spruce up the blog. Other than putting more words here. Because I'm lazy like that.
2. Scrabble
I have downloaded a Scrabble app. And my Scrabble kakis (ie, my brothers) and I are playing too many Scrabble games in a day.
3. The Girls.
They fight and fight. Then play together like best friends. Then fight again. TheHusband and I are impervious to their frequent fights. Sometimes, one party will exaggerate and cry for an extended amount of time. Generally, they will still be ignored. Heh. Such excellent parents we are. Examples of their fights:
a. Farah took Huda's rubber band. Then, she sat down on the sofa and started reading a book. Huda wanted the rubber band back but Farah completely ignored her. She focused all her attention on the book she was reading, ignoring the sister. Huda got increasingly agitated by the second and started shouting, screaming and wailing. Farah remained cool, calm and collected. The wailing reached fever pitch and when my ears finally hit the threshold of pain, Huda got the bigger share of the scolding. Huda's response? "Farah always takes my things so that I get scolded for the rest of my life."
b. Huda is a law abiding citizen and gets upset when the sister does things which are socially unacceptable - like speaking at loud volumes. Farah has a naturally loud voice and it is quite a challenge for her to speak softly. She has been scolded numerous times for not using a lower volume. Her loud voice is always a source of pain for Huda and many, many quarrels result from Huda's failed attempts to make Farah speak softly. Huda's way of showing her anger at her sister involves pinching her or mouthing some banned words like "crazy" and "stupid". Farah would retaliate by shouting back at her sister - her speaking voice is already too loud; imagine her shouting voice. It's a miracle the neighbours had not complained to us about the noise we generate.
4. Kids Reading
The girls are avid readers. It's a good thing (sometimes). Whenever we go out, they will insist on bringing a book each. (Actually, they want to bring more but we don't allow them to. The bag will be too heavy.) Farah, at 5 years 3 months, is a fluent reader. Many times, quarrels between both girls break out because the older sister refuses to lend the younger one books she has borrowed from the school library. When they are not quarreling, they can sit down for hours reading one book after another. Often, this results in crying fits. They don't want to sleep because they want to read. Or they wake up too early in the morning and insist on switching on the light to read. Farah has been caught a couple of occasions reading by the bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning. We hope Ihsan will also be as voracious a reader as his sisters.
5. Huda's Progress
When Huda was born, her prematurity and low birth weight were major shocks for me. The more I read up, the more worrying it got. So many things could go wrong. The only solution lies in prayers. And effort. That was part of the driving force that strengthened my resolve to eliminate (now it's simply reduce; elimination is just not possible) screens in the first few years of her life. Another thing I did was to make sure that she had a good diet in her first few years. But she was such a picky eater in those first few years so all those salmon, kurau and cod that I regularly prepared for her ended up in my tummy instead.
Given this background, I am very proud of how far she has gone. Last year, she was a prize winner during the annual prize giving day. It was a prize for Malay Language. (Which actually is somewhat questionable considering her command of English is better than Malay.) But a prize is a prize and it should be commended. And last year also, she was nominated to be a prefect. This was amazing because she has always been very timid. (At the end of her K2 year, worried about her fear of public speaking, we talked about this with her neonatologist whom we still have to see annually. She suggested seeing a psychologist. Fortunately or unfortunately, the earliest psychologist appointment was on the first day of her P1 life. We didn't want her to miss such a momentous occasion so we decided to put the psychologist appointment on hold. Now, I can safely say that she no longer needs such an intervention. As long as Allah wills it, of course.)
This year, she is tasked to lead the afternoon session pupils in pledge taking every
Wednesday. Imagine that. My premature little girl who used to have major problems with Show and Tell can now confidently stand on stage before all the P1 and P2 pupils.
6. Oven
I have a microwave-convection oven but the convection oven is only partially working. I can't set the temperature I want and I can only choose from three preset settings. That is terribly annoying. Last week, I went to Farha's house and she served the most delicious roasted chicken. It is so delicious I couldn't stop thinking about it. As a result, I am going to get a proper oven. Now, I really really regret not having a built-in oven when we did our kitchen some 10 years ago.
Actually, we made some rather poor decisions when we renovated our flat before we moved in. That's why we are considering having a major renovation in 2 years or so, after HDB is done with the Home Improvement Programme. This is, provided, we still cannot find our dream home within the next few years. I'm hoping for us to move out because I cannot imagine the headache with renovating a flat we are presently living in. All the packing, having to move to a temporary location, choosing enough items to last us for that 2-month stay at the temporary location, then blah blah blah... you can imagine the headache involved. But, the problem is, that perfect unit is elusive. The one and only unit that spoke to us had been sold to someone else because Malays couldn't buy the unit. Boohooohooo.
Anyway. Coming back to the oven. Farha told me that I could buy a built-in oven and place it on the countertop cos some of these companies like Mayer can provide boxes for built-in units so that they don't look too strange sitting on the countertop. But, it might be a bit too big on the countertop. So, maybe I'll get a medium-size oven instead.
I fantasise about oven-baked chicken and chocolate chip cookies making regular appearances during my next round of unpaid leave.
I just hope that the oven does not become a white elephant.
7. Work
I think, after many, many years, I can safely say that I like my work. There are aspects that I don't enjoy, of course. But I love the core aspect of my work. And for that, I thank Allah for guiding me to this route. (It helps that I can take a few years off and still be assured of a job when I come back.)
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That is all.
1. Blog Condition
Sometimes, I'm ashamed of my blog. It's so bare-bones, compared to everything else on the Internet. But, I'm doing practically nothing about it. My updates are erratic; most are done when major things happen - like a pregnancy. Hur hur.
But I am not going to spruce up the blog. Other than putting more words here. Because I'm lazy like that.
2. Scrabble
I have downloaded a Scrabble app. And my Scrabble kakis (ie, my brothers) and I are playing too many Scrabble games in a day.
3. The Girls.
They fight and fight. Then play together like best friends. Then fight again. TheHusband and I are impervious to their frequent fights. Sometimes, one party will exaggerate and cry for an extended amount of time. Generally, they will still be ignored. Heh. Such excellent parents we are. Examples of their fights:
a. Farah took Huda's rubber band. Then, she sat down on the sofa and started reading a book. Huda wanted the rubber band back but Farah completely ignored her. She focused all her attention on the book she was reading, ignoring the sister. Huda got increasingly agitated by the second and started shouting, screaming and wailing. Farah remained cool, calm and collected. The wailing reached fever pitch and when my ears finally hit the threshold of pain, Huda got the bigger share of the scolding. Huda's response? "Farah always takes my things so that I get scolded for the rest of my life."
b. Huda is a law abiding citizen and gets upset when the sister does things which are socially unacceptable - like speaking at loud volumes. Farah has a naturally loud voice and it is quite a challenge for her to speak softly. She has been scolded numerous times for not using a lower volume. Her loud voice is always a source of pain for Huda and many, many quarrels result from Huda's failed attempts to make Farah speak softly. Huda's way of showing her anger at her sister involves pinching her or mouthing some banned words like "crazy" and "stupid". Farah would retaliate by shouting back at her sister - her speaking voice is already too loud; imagine her shouting voice. It's a miracle the neighbours had not complained to us about the noise we generate.
4. Kids Reading
The girls are avid readers. It's a good thing (sometimes). Whenever we go out, they will insist on bringing a book each. (Actually, they want to bring more but we don't allow them to. The bag will be too heavy.) Farah, at 5 years 3 months, is a fluent reader. Many times, quarrels between both girls break out because the older sister refuses to lend the younger one books she has borrowed from the school library. When they are not quarreling, they can sit down for hours reading one book after another. Often, this results in crying fits. They don't want to sleep because they want to read. Or they wake up too early in the morning and insist on switching on the light to read. Farah has been caught a couple of occasions reading by the bedroom window in the wee hours of the morning. We hope Ihsan will also be as voracious a reader as his sisters.
5. Huda's Progress
When Huda was born, her prematurity and low birth weight were major shocks for me. The more I read up, the more worrying it got. So many things could go wrong. The only solution lies in prayers. And effort. That was part of the driving force that strengthened my resolve to eliminate (now it's simply reduce; elimination is just not possible) screens in the first few years of her life. Another thing I did was to make sure that she had a good diet in her first few years. But she was such a picky eater in those first few years so all those salmon, kurau and cod that I regularly prepared for her ended up in my tummy instead.
Given this background, I am very proud of how far she has gone. Last year, she was a prize winner during the annual prize giving day. It was a prize for Malay Language. (Which actually is somewhat questionable considering her command of English is better than Malay.) But a prize is a prize and it should be commended. And last year also, she was nominated to be a prefect. This was amazing because she has always been very timid. (At the end of her K2 year, worried about her fear of public speaking, we talked about this with her neonatologist whom we still have to see annually. She suggested seeing a psychologist. Fortunately or unfortunately, the earliest psychologist appointment was on the first day of her P1 life. We didn't want her to miss such a momentous occasion so we decided to put the psychologist appointment on hold. Now, I can safely say that she no longer needs such an intervention. As long as Allah wills it, of course.)
This year, she is tasked to lead the afternoon session pupils in pledge taking every
Wednesday. Imagine that. My premature little girl who used to have major problems with Show and Tell can now confidently stand on stage before all the P1 and P2 pupils.
6. Oven
I have a microwave-convection oven but the convection oven is only partially working. I can't set the temperature I want and I can only choose from three preset settings. That is terribly annoying. Last week, I went to Farha's house and she served the most delicious roasted chicken. It is so delicious I couldn't stop thinking about it. As a result, I am going to get a proper oven. Now, I really really regret not having a built-in oven when we did our kitchen some 10 years ago.
Actually, we made some rather poor decisions when we renovated our flat before we moved in. That's why we are considering having a major renovation in 2 years or so, after HDB is done with the Home Improvement Programme. This is, provided, we still cannot find our dream home within the next few years. I'm hoping for us to move out because I cannot imagine the headache with renovating a flat we are presently living in. All the packing, having to move to a temporary location, choosing enough items to last us for that 2-month stay at the temporary location, then blah blah blah... you can imagine the headache involved. But, the problem is, that perfect unit is elusive. The one and only unit that spoke to us had been sold to someone else because Malays couldn't buy the unit. Boohooohooo.
Anyway. Coming back to the oven. Farha told me that I could buy a built-in oven and place it on the countertop cos some of these companies like Mayer can provide boxes for built-in units so that they don't look too strange sitting on the countertop. But, it might be a bit too big on the countertop. So, maybe I'll get a medium-size oven instead.
I fantasise about oven-baked chicken and chocolate chip cookies making regular appearances during my next round of unpaid leave.
I just hope that the oven does not become a white elephant.
7. Work
I think, after many, many years, I can safely say that I like my work. There are aspects that I don't enjoy, of course. But I love the core aspect of my work. And for that, I thank Allah for guiding me to this route. (It helps that I can take a few years off and still be assured of a job when I come back.)
---
That is all.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
March 2013
It was Huda's birthday yesterday! We always pray for our children to be good, upright Muslims and always to seek Allah's pleasure in everything that they do. Amin.
And (as one of my friends on facebook put it) - my C-section scar had turned 7 years old.
---
I like that my kids enjoy reading. I'm quite sure that it's partly a girl thing and partly the absence of TV. While Huda can read fluently now, Farah is still at the beginning stage but with the memory of an elephant that she has, I'm quite sure that she'll be reading simple books on her own in less than a year. However, now, she has a tendency to memorise stories. Read to her the story more than 3 times and she'll be able to recite some parts of the story back to you. This ability is not very helpful for her to begin reading, though.
---
Ngaji. Farah is giving poor Kak Mal - her ngaji teacher - a lot of grief. She refuses to read sometimes and when she finally does, she reads everything in an exaggerated sing-song way.
---
School holidays. It's the school holidays finally and 10 3/5 weeks of being in class is sheer torture. As a testament to my ageing self, my body is taking a long time to recover from ailments that had their beginnings in the final week of the December school hols. The sore throat is still a problem and the after-effects of the cold sore at the bottom of the lower lip is lingering still. I can live with the sore throat but that cold sore scar looks awful. I don't know how parents I spoke to last Friday managed to keep up a decent conversation with me when I have a raw open wound staring at them. That wound is taking its own sweet time to heal thanks to the nature of my job. Couldn't possibly keep my mouth closed on the job, could I? So, the poor wound, just about to be sealed after 8 hours of beauty sleep got ripped open the moment I got to work.
But, today, as I was putting things away, I chanced upon a small bottle of propolis which a kind neighbour gave for my sore throat. I decided to apply one tiny drop of the propolis on my cold sore wound and hopefully, in the days to come, it will heal completely. (After I had this stroke of ingenuity, I googled and found out that propolis cream is used to treat cold sore and wounds. But, this is pure propolis that I'm using. Recovery should therefore be almost immediate?)
---
The daughters are asleep. TheHusband has gone to Johor with his friend. It's actually time for me to start on my much-delayed work. But, but.. oh the laziness of it all!
---
The kids in school had to update their blog as part of the ICT curriculum and one of the kids very confidently announced to his classmates that he was very sure Mdm N had a blog. Errrrr, yes kids. I do. But seeing that none of you could sniff out my fb account, I doubt any of them can find this. Hur hur hur. (My fb account is a case of I-find-you.You-don't-come-looking-for-me.)
---
Blog. I need to find out how to put links here. And how to change the appearance of this blog. And start going through every single post and weed out the drafts and the privatised entries which were all exported here from multiply.
---
Okay. 10.42pm. The bed beckons. Forget about school work already. :D
And (as one of my friends on facebook put it) - my C-section scar had turned 7 years old.
---
I like that my kids enjoy reading. I'm quite sure that it's partly a girl thing and partly the absence of TV. While Huda can read fluently now, Farah is still at the beginning stage but with the memory of an elephant that she has, I'm quite sure that she'll be reading simple books on her own in less than a year. However, now, she has a tendency to memorise stories. Read to her the story more than 3 times and she'll be able to recite some parts of the story back to you. This ability is not very helpful for her to begin reading, though.
---
Ngaji. Farah is giving poor Kak Mal - her ngaji teacher - a lot of grief. She refuses to read sometimes and when she finally does, she reads everything in an exaggerated sing-song way.
---
School holidays. It's the school holidays finally and 10 3/5 weeks of being in class is sheer torture. As a testament to my ageing self, my body is taking a long time to recover from ailments that had their beginnings in the final week of the December school hols. The sore throat is still a problem and the after-effects of the cold sore at the bottom of the lower lip is lingering still. I can live with the sore throat but that cold sore scar looks awful. I don't know how parents I spoke to last Friday managed to keep up a decent conversation with me when I have a raw open wound staring at them. That wound is taking its own sweet time to heal thanks to the nature of my job. Couldn't possibly keep my mouth closed on the job, could I? So, the poor wound, just about to be sealed after 8 hours of beauty sleep got ripped open the moment I got to work.
But, today, as I was putting things away, I chanced upon a small bottle of propolis which a kind neighbour gave for my sore throat. I decided to apply one tiny drop of the propolis on my cold sore wound and hopefully, in the days to come, it will heal completely. (After I had this stroke of ingenuity, I googled and found out that propolis cream is used to treat cold sore and wounds. But, this is pure propolis that I'm using. Recovery should therefore be almost immediate?)
---
The daughters are asleep. TheHusband has gone to Johor with his friend. It's actually time for me to start on my much-delayed work. But, but.. oh the laziness of it all!
---
The kids in school had to update their blog as part of the ICT curriculum and one of the kids very confidently announced to his classmates that he was very sure Mdm N had a blog. Errrrr, yes kids. I do. But seeing that none of you could sniff out my fb account, I doubt any of them can find this. Hur hur hur. (My fb account is a case of I-find-you.You-don't-come-looking-for-me.)
---
Blog. I need to find out how to put links here. And how to change the appearance of this blog. And start going through every single post and weed out the drafts and the privatised entries which were all exported here from multiply.
---
Okay. 10.42pm. The bed beckons. Forget about school work already. :D
Monday, December 17, 2012
Stories
1. Yesterday, somehow, the kids got interested in the story of their birth. And it got me thinking about this blog.
2. This afternoon, I took them to my school. They have not been to their own school for more than a week. We went to Bandung and after that I happily let them ponteng. It's December, after all. Their job was to collect the printouts from the printer but changes to the security system meant that I had to go to the printer myself to activate the printer. So, instead, the girls - after about 10 minutes of quiet work - spent the rest of the 1 hour 50 minutes we were there tearing the place down. Thankfully, I was the only one in the staff room.
3. Bandung shopping is best. It's perfect for makcik-makcik like me. I got myself 5 long-sleeved top. Should have gotten more. What's significant about the tops is not the quantity (I often end up with more at gmarket) but the colours. Finally, my wardrobe has more than just three colours. (It used to contain just black, grey and maroon.)
4. Farah said this just now:
F: Mak, you said you are going to take me to see a doctor?
Me: Huh? For what?
F: My voice. It's so loud.
I might have told her that I wanted the doctor to remove her vocal chords. She really has a major problem speaking softly. I keep on telling her, "Telinga mak sakit tau?" But, aching ears or not, she's as loud as ever.
5. My attempt at speaking Malay is finished. I'm speaking more English now because I got to combat the bad English that the children are using.
2. This afternoon, I took them to my school. They have not been to their own school for more than a week. We went to Bandung and after that I happily let them ponteng. It's December, after all. Their job was to collect the printouts from the printer but changes to the security system meant that I had to go to the printer myself to activate the printer. So, instead, the girls - after about 10 minutes of quiet work - spent the rest of the 1 hour 50 minutes we were there tearing the place down. Thankfully, I was the only one in the staff room.
3. Bandung shopping is best. It's perfect for makcik-makcik like me. I got myself 5 long-sleeved top. Should have gotten more. What's significant about the tops is not the quantity (I often end up with more at gmarket) but the colours. Finally, my wardrobe has more than just three colours. (It used to contain just black, grey and maroon.)
4. Farah said this just now:
F: Mak, you said you are going to take me to see a doctor?
Me: Huh? For what?
F: My voice. It's so loud.
I might have told her that I wanted the doctor to remove her vocal chords. She really has a major problem speaking softly. I keep on telling her, "Telinga mak sakit tau?" But, aching ears or not, she's as loud as ever.
5. My attempt at speaking Malay is finished. I'm speaking more English now because I got to combat the bad English that the children are using.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Mid-November 2012
Completely unimaginative title, I know.
1. H is about to start primary school now and I hope I've made the right decision putting her in this school. The only viable alternative is to put her in the school I'm teaching in and the reason why she's not here is because I was planning to get pregnant and did get pregnant at the time when registration was in session and so I thought I was going to leave forever. But now that the pregnancy was a short-lived one, it seems like I'll be with the school til forever (or at least, until I leave the service). I'm trying not to fret about the decision. I must convince myself that there is a reason behind everything and so I must be at peace with this. I MUST. (Saying that slightly louder to quell that noise at the back of my head that goes "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.")
2.We just had the P1 Orientation and the P said that there are no exams in P1 to ease the pupils into school life and to let them enjoy learning. We also had the final Parent-Teachers' Conference with H's teacher the same afternoon during which she said that Huda can read, write and do her Math well. Alhamdulillah. The teacher said that we had nothing to worry about. No. I think not. A parent's job involves a whole lot of worrying and it's somewhat unnatural not to worry. Huda is, thankfully, like me, (and confirmed by the teacher to which we pretended to be somewhat concerned but we really are not) not at all blessed in the performance arts. So, with that, she can't join any of the time-consuming things like dance ensembles (have you seen how much time they spend preparing for SYF?). That leaves her with academic pursuits like reading, writing and arithmetic. Hur hur hur. All nerdy pursuits given stamps of approval by both parents.
3. I am thoroughly upset about the student care that we had picked for her. Initially it was owned and managed by AMP but AMP decided to sell it off to focus on the school-based student care which presumably are more profitable than under-the-block type of student care centres. With this, I am in doubt about my own working future. I know for a fact that I'll be working for the entire of 2013. But, I am really not too keen on using this student care service for more than a year so one good alternative is to transfer H over to my school by 2014, go on half load so that I can finish all my work by dismissal time and then go home with her. See? This is the "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.'" noise that's going on in my head since today's P1 Orientation.
4. ME & Kindle
I bought a Kindle last month and have been obsessed about it since. I've downloaded USD130 worth of books in it so far. Some - I'll never read. Like, J.K. Rowling's Casual Vacancy. I don't read to get depressed and I couldn't get past the first page. But, because the book costs quite a bit of money, I won't delete it from my Kindle. Serves me right for buying based on the author's reputation alone. I thoroughly regretted it after I read reviews and synopsis of the book.
One good read is One Day by David Nicholls. It was good until I hit Chapter 18 and that's when I used up one entire box of tissue paper and caused some kind of flooding in Woodlands. I don't read to get depressed and I hated, hated, hated David Nicholls for a good 2 days before I (and another box of tissue paper) went back to the book anyway and continued reading.
Now, I thought I would love to go back to a physical book but Kindle has spoiled it for me. I used to think of myself as a book snob (not in that way) but in a way that physical book is superior to any form of technology. I've always felt that way when I read from the iPad. But, Kindle has changed that for me. Have you seen a Kindle in action? It looks just like a real book and for the old fogeys like me - it DOES NOT STRAIN your eyes!
And then, there's the dictionary function. I was aware of this function when I saw my friend's husband using a Kindle and he showed me the dictionary function. You just have to touch the word whose meaning you want to know for 1-2 seconds and the dictionary will pop up with the meaning of the word there. To go back to the book, you just press one button and there you are, back to your story. It's just too easy!
And of course, nothing can beat the convenience of having all the books you want in one device. I am in between at least 5 books now. I go back and forth between books depending on what I feel like reading. It's such joy. Just make sure you are the only one using the Kindle cos if you are sharing the Kindle with someone and the other person is reading the same book you are, the Kindle will open up the book to the last page you read. That's a bit annoying so I'm grateful that I'm the sole user of Kindle at home.
H sometimes uses my Kindle to read Fantastic Mr Fox but that's the only book she reads from my Kindle. I downloaded some picture books for her (Harold's Purple Crayon etc) but picture books are best viewed in the physical form. Besides, the Kindle is a black/grey and white/off-white device so children's books and Kindle don't go well together. Unless you get the Kindle Fire. Which is not really as great because it is not a dedicated reading device. If you get a Kindle to read, then you should just get the e-ink readers. This will prevent you from doing something else instead of reading.
Back to children and Kindle. No, I won't recommend it for young readers. Some still need to point at the words while reading and if you get the Kindle Touch or Paperwhite, the device will go to the next page. So, no go.
Let me wax more lyrical about the Kindle, okay? The battery life - it lasts! And lasts! Energy is consumed only when you turn the page so can you imagine how long the battery lasts? If you take this with you on a one-week holiday, you don't have to worry about charging it! I had to charge it quite frequently in the first few days because I was used to charging my toys the moment I see a less-than-full battery bar. And also because I was toggling between a lot of books in the first few days of ownership. But now that I have overcome the early euphoria, I cannot even remember the last time I charged the Kindle.
5. On the topic of reading. There's F's reading. H started off reading on a diet of Baby Can Read. It works as long as that is the only moving images your child sees. No other TV shows or videos. With F, I started her off on Baby Can Read and Baby Signing Times. Baby Signing Times were a whole lot more exciting than Baby Can Read so very quickly she developed a preference for Signing Times. Naturally, I killed off both. Now that she's almost 4 and in my warped world, at a rather late age to start reading, I'm starting with sight words for her. And I spell out the words. So she knows how to spell the/is/you/my etc and can recognise these words but there's not enough recognition on her part for the words to form a coherent meaning. Lesson learnt: Do not show any other videos other than Baby Can Read. In any case, F is read to often enough and I hope she picks up some words there.
6. F is also not using the Iqra' books to learn how to read the Quran. She got started on Iqra but I switched to the Tilawati series. There are only Tilawati Books 1 & 2. So far, F is halfway through Book 1. It's challenging teaching her, just as it was with H. But, I've learnt my lesson here. Stop before the child wants to stop and do not make it miserable for both mother and child. So, I go at her pace. Thankfully (and for this, I thank God each time this happens), she's self-motivated. She'll take her book, place it in front of me saying "Nak ngaji." Then, I must stop everything I'm doing and teach her. Each page takes about 5-10 minutes to cover. And then, that's it. I don't try to fore her to do more than she wants to do lest she gets sick of it (and me).
It's 12.18am now. I'm going to sleep. Good night, all.
1. H is about to start primary school now and I hope I've made the right decision putting her in this school. The only viable alternative is to put her in the school I'm teaching in and the reason why she's not here is because I was planning to get pregnant and did get pregnant at the time when registration was in session and so I thought I was going to leave forever. But now that the pregnancy was a short-lived one, it seems like I'll be with the school til forever (or at least, until I leave the service). I'm trying not to fret about the decision. I must convince myself that there is a reason behind everything and so I must be at peace with this. I MUST. (Saying that slightly louder to quell that noise at the back of my head that goes "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.")
2.We just had the P1 Orientation and the P said that there are no exams in P1 to ease the pupils into school life and to let them enjoy learning. We also had the final Parent-Teachers' Conference with H's teacher the same afternoon during which she said that Huda can read, write and do her Math well. Alhamdulillah. The teacher said that we had nothing to worry about. No. I think not. A parent's job involves a whole lot of worrying and it's somewhat unnatural not to worry. Huda is, thankfully, like me, (and confirmed by the teacher to which we pretended to be somewhat concerned but we really are not) not at all blessed in the performance arts. So, with that, she can't join any of the time-consuming things like dance ensembles (have you seen how much time they spend preparing for SYF?). That leaves her with academic pursuits like reading, writing and arithmetic. Hur hur hur. All nerdy pursuits given stamps of approval by both parents.
3. I am thoroughly upset about the student care that we had picked for her. Initially it was owned and managed by AMP but AMP decided to sell it off to focus on the school-based student care which presumably are more profitable than under-the-block type of student care centres. With this, I am in doubt about my own working future. I know for a fact that I'll be working for the entire of 2013. But, I am really not too keen on using this student care service for more than a year so one good alternative is to transfer H over to my school by 2014, go on half load so that I can finish all my work by dismissal time and then go home with her. See? This is the "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.'" noise that's going on in my head since today's P1 Orientation.
4. ME & Kindle
I bought a Kindle last month and have been obsessed about it since. I've downloaded USD130 worth of books in it so far. Some - I'll never read. Like, J.K. Rowling's Casual Vacancy. I don't read to get depressed and I couldn't get past the first page. But, because the book costs quite a bit of money, I won't delete it from my Kindle. Serves me right for buying based on the author's reputation alone. I thoroughly regretted it after I read reviews and synopsis of the book.
One good read is One Day by David Nicholls. It was good until I hit Chapter 18 and that's when I used up one entire box of tissue paper and caused some kind of flooding in Woodlands. I don't read to get depressed and I hated, hated, hated David Nicholls for a good 2 days before I (and another box of tissue paper) went back to the book anyway and continued reading.
Now, I thought I would love to go back to a physical book but Kindle has spoiled it for me. I used to think of myself as a book snob (not in that way) but in a way that physical book is superior to any form of technology. I've always felt that way when I read from the iPad. But, Kindle has changed that for me. Have you seen a Kindle in action? It looks just like a real book and for the old fogeys like me - it DOES NOT STRAIN your eyes!
And then, there's the dictionary function. I was aware of this function when I saw my friend's husband using a Kindle and he showed me the dictionary function. You just have to touch the word whose meaning you want to know for 1-2 seconds and the dictionary will pop up with the meaning of the word there. To go back to the book, you just press one button and there you are, back to your story. It's just too easy!
And of course, nothing can beat the convenience of having all the books you want in one device. I am in between at least 5 books now. I go back and forth between books depending on what I feel like reading. It's such joy. Just make sure you are the only one using the Kindle cos if you are sharing the Kindle with someone and the other person is reading the same book you are, the Kindle will open up the book to the last page you read. That's a bit annoying so I'm grateful that I'm the sole user of Kindle at home.
H sometimes uses my Kindle to read Fantastic Mr Fox but that's the only book she reads from my Kindle. I downloaded some picture books for her (Harold's Purple Crayon etc) but picture books are best viewed in the physical form. Besides, the Kindle is a black/grey and white/off-white device so children's books and Kindle don't go well together. Unless you get the Kindle Fire. Which is not really as great because it is not a dedicated reading device. If you get a Kindle to read, then you should just get the e-ink readers. This will prevent you from doing something else instead of reading.
Back to children and Kindle. No, I won't recommend it for young readers. Some still need to point at the words while reading and if you get the Kindle Touch or Paperwhite, the device will go to the next page. So, no go.
Let me wax more lyrical about the Kindle, okay? The battery life - it lasts! And lasts! Energy is consumed only when you turn the page so can you imagine how long the battery lasts? If you take this with you on a one-week holiday, you don't have to worry about charging it! I had to charge it quite frequently in the first few days because I was used to charging my toys the moment I see a less-than-full battery bar. And also because I was toggling between a lot of books in the first few days of ownership. But now that I have overcome the early euphoria, I cannot even remember the last time I charged the Kindle.
5. On the topic of reading. There's F's reading. H started off reading on a diet of Baby Can Read. It works as long as that is the only moving images your child sees. No other TV shows or videos. With F, I started her off on Baby Can Read and Baby Signing Times. Baby Signing Times were a whole lot more exciting than Baby Can Read so very quickly she developed a preference for Signing Times. Naturally, I killed off both. Now that she's almost 4 and in my warped world, at a rather late age to start reading, I'm starting with sight words for her. And I spell out the words. So she knows how to spell the/is/you/my etc and can recognise these words but there's not enough recognition on her part for the words to form a coherent meaning. Lesson learnt: Do not show any other videos other than Baby Can Read. In any case, F is read to often enough and I hope she picks up some words there.
6. F is also not using the Iqra' books to learn how to read the Quran. She got started on Iqra but I switched to the Tilawati series. There are only Tilawati Books 1 & 2. So far, F is halfway through Book 1. It's challenging teaching her, just as it was with H. But, I've learnt my lesson here. Stop before the child wants to stop and do not make it miserable for both mother and child. So, I go at her pace. Thankfully (and for this, I thank God each time this happens), she's self-motivated. She'll take her book, place it in front of me saying "Nak ngaji." Then, I must stop everything I'm doing and teach her. Each page takes about 5-10 minutes to cover. And then, that's it. I don't try to fore her to do more than she wants to do lest she gets sick of it (and me).
It's 12.18am now. I'm going to sleep. Good night, all.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
The Kids
Huda is going to start school for real in less than 2 months while Farah will be moving on to N2 come December this year. How my kids have grown!
What have they been up to?
In no particular order, here are the milestones they met and the grouses I have.
1. Farah can speak quite well for a 3 year old. She speaks more English than Malay, unfortunately. And unfortunately too, a lot of Singlish creeps into her language. I have no issues with Singlish if they can codeswitch efffectively but not if that is all they can speak. Her speech is clear and she can use complex sentences in her speech. Hooray!
2. Both kids are eating well. Huda - too well. Huda's eating habits are a bit strange. She eats A LOT. For dinner (which is at 5.30pm on schooldays because she comes home absolutely famished), she has at least 2 full servings of rice. We are not talking about 2 tablespoons of rice per serving. We are talking one entire rice bowl per serving (and more sometimes). She will eat that and ask for seconds. And thirds sometimes. And occassionally she wants even more and I will discourage her.
The surprising thing is, despite this huge amount that she's eating, she's still terribly underweight - at the 3rd percentile - so the checkup last week showed. At 1.06m, her desired weight should be at least 21kg but she's only 16kg. But, I no longer worry about her weight. I'm happy to see her eating well. The only thing that perplexes me and anyone who sees the amount she eats is, where does it all go to?
3. Huda has problems with her teeth. The front upper teeth have some decay in there. So, she's been going to see a dentist (the one at the polyclinic) about it. She has to start using adult toothpaste which she abhors. If I don't supervise her nightly toothbrushing ritual, the toothpaste will end up all over the kitchen sink. (Toothbrushing takes place at the kitchen sink cos it's so much bigger than the bathroom.)
4. Farah can be so adorable. She'll make the funniest of faces when she wakes up in the morning, all on purpose.
5. But she can also be so contrary. Being a kid, she has very little respect for hygiene. So she has no qualms picking up ice cream sticks, sweet wrappers or just about anything off the ground. I'll get so mad. The madder I get, the more she will do exactly what she's not supposed to do. In fact, when it comes to anything that makes me mad, she will do exactly what she's told not to do. I am not going to try reverse psychology on her just yet. Instead, I will keep calm, tell her succinctly what she's not supposed to do and move away. I am hoping for that (the keeping calm part) to work.
6. She is also completely off diapers now. Her nighttime diapers went away after a few nights of dry diapers. One night, I truly forgot to put on her diapers for her before she slept and the next morning came without any incidents. So I tried again, always making sure she goes to the bathroom before she sleeps. And what do you know? We're saving a bundle without diapers now!
7. Farah picks things up quickly. She gets irritated by her sister when her sister goes "pink colour". She'll tell the sister, "Teacher Inah says pink is a colour. You don't have to say colour, right Mak? You just say 'pink'."
Each time she tries to teach her sister something, it's always preceded with a 'Teacher Inah says..'. That's her teacher in N1 who deserves a whole lot of credit for Farah's language development.
And then, there's her loyar buruk-ness. How do you translate that to English? Once her sister snapped at her, "Padan muka." Serves her right, the sister said. Her reply? "Don't call me padan muka! My name is not padan muka."
8. Now, while Huda goes for her wushu on Sundays, Farah goes for her madrasah at the same time. Kids Alive's madrasah programme is only for kids in K1 and above so until Farah is old enough to join the programme, she'll be going for this other madrasah conducted by Little Muslim Readers. While both kids are away, I intend to start jogging. The keyword here is intend.
9. My father and sis-in-law bought the special Quran Waqaf from Pergas and Masjid Al-Raudhah and Huda has been using that for her nightly Quran reading. No more ipad cos it was getting pretty annoying with the screen moving everywhere when we accidentally touched it or when I'm jabbing at the letters in frustration. She's now starting from the back where all the chapters are shorter. She spends up to two weeks per chapter (slow progress is mostly due to my laziness in insisting on a more regular schedule) which also includes memorising. At one point in time when I was pregnant, I was just too tired to teach and left everything to the Ustazah who comes in twice a week to teach her. Now that I'm in the pink of health, I have gone back to daily reading (no discounts on weekends either). I set myself a target of 6 times a week which means I can only slack a bit once a week.
10. I've left Huda to read on her own these days but realised just now that I must get her to read aloud to me to check on her pronunciation. I saw her buried in a book when I went to pick her up from school this afternoon. I asked her what she read. She said, "Danger on the High Seas." Only that danger was pronounced da-nger, like the nger in singer.
11. She doesn't want to nap in the afternoon on weekends so I told her that she could stay up when Farah is napping as long as she is quiet and allows me to enjoy my Kindle Paperwhite (this one, I may just dedicate one whole entry for it). One afternoon, after Farah slept, she sat beside me, took out her English-Malay picture dictionary and started reading it for the entire 2 hours that Farah napped. Huda loves her picture non-fictions. She loves the Disney's Words books - Words that Tell You about Things, Words that Do Things and Words that Name Things. (Those books are tough to find and I definitely did not pay Grolier $3000+ to get those books! I'm glad she loves them!)
12. Farah was reading her Iqra' book. ah, bah, bah she went, recognising the basic sounds the letter makes when a stroke is placed above the letter. Suddenly she went, "Ba ba ba balik kampung. Oh oh oh balik kampung..." breaking out into a Sudirman song.
Okay. That is all for now. I am going to spend some time with my Paperwhite now before turning in.
What have they been up to?
In no particular order, here are the milestones they met and the grouses I have.
1. Farah can speak quite well for a 3 year old. She speaks more English than Malay, unfortunately. And unfortunately too, a lot of Singlish creeps into her language. I have no issues with Singlish if they can codeswitch efffectively but not if that is all they can speak. Her speech is clear and she can use complex sentences in her speech. Hooray!
2. Both kids are eating well. Huda - too well. Huda's eating habits are a bit strange. She eats A LOT. For dinner (which is at 5.30pm on schooldays because she comes home absolutely famished), she has at least 2 full servings of rice. We are not talking about 2 tablespoons of rice per serving. We are talking one entire rice bowl per serving (and more sometimes). She will eat that and ask for seconds. And thirds sometimes. And occassionally she wants even more and I will discourage her.
The surprising thing is, despite this huge amount that she's eating, she's still terribly underweight - at the 3rd percentile - so the checkup last week showed. At 1.06m, her desired weight should be at least 21kg but she's only 16kg. But, I no longer worry about her weight. I'm happy to see her eating well. The only thing that perplexes me and anyone who sees the amount she eats is, where does it all go to?
3. Huda has problems with her teeth. The front upper teeth have some decay in there. So, she's been going to see a dentist (the one at the polyclinic) about it. She has to start using adult toothpaste which she abhors. If I don't supervise her nightly toothbrushing ritual, the toothpaste will end up all over the kitchen sink. (Toothbrushing takes place at the kitchen sink cos it's so much bigger than the bathroom.)
4. Farah can be so adorable. She'll make the funniest of faces when she wakes up in the morning, all on purpose.
5. But she can also be so contrary. Being a kid, she has very little respect for hygiene. So she has no qualms picking up ice cream sticks, sweet wrappers or just about anything off the ground. I'll get so mad. The madder I get, the more she will do exactly what she's not supposed to do. In fact, when it comes to anything that makes me mad, she will do exactly what she's told not to do. I am not going to try reverse psychology on her just yet. Instead, I will keep calm, tell her succinctly what she's not supposed to do and move away. I am hoping for that (the keeping calm part) to work.
6. She is also completely off diapers now. Her nighttime diapers went away after a few nights of dry diapers. One night, I truly forgot to put on her diapers for her before she slept and the next morning came without any incidents. So I tried again, always making sure she goes to the bathroom before she sleeps. And what do you know? We're saving a bundle without diapers now!
7. Farah picks things up quickly. She gets irritated by her sister when her sister goes "pink colour". She'll tell the sister, "Teacher Inah says pink is a colour. You don't have to say colour, right Mak? You just say 'pink'."
Each time she tries to teach her sister something, it's always preceded with a 'Teacher Inah says..'. That's her teacher in N1 who deserves a whole lot of credit for Farah's language development.
And then, there's her loyar buruk-ness. How do you translate that to English? Once her sister snapped at her, "Padan muka." Serves her right, the sister said. Her reply? "Don't call me padan muka! My name is not padan muka."
8. Now, while Huda goes for her wushu on Sundays, Farah goes for her madrasah at the same time. Kids Alive's madrasah programme is only for kids in K1 and above so until Farah is old enough to join the programme, she'll be going for this other madrasah conducted by Little Muslim Readers. While both kids are away, I intend to start jogging. The keyword here is intend.
9. My father and sis-in-law bought the special Quran Waqaf from Pergas and Masjid Al-Raudhah and Huda has been using that for her nightly Quran reading. No more ipad cos it was getting pretty annoying with the screen moving everywhere when we accidentally touched it or when I'm jabbing at the letters in frustration. She's now starting from the back where all the chapters are shorter. She spends up to two weeks per chapter (slow progress is mostly due to my laziness in insisting on a more regular schedule) which also includes memorising. At one point in time when I was pregnant, I was just too tired to teach and left everything to the Ustazah who comes in twice a week to teach her. Now that I'm in the pink of health, I have gone back to daily reading (no discounts on weekends either). I set myself a target of 6 times a week which means I can only slack a bit once a week.
10. I've left Huda to read on her own these days but realised just now that I must get her to read aloud to me to check on her pronunciation. I saw her buried in a book when I went to pick her up from school this afternoon. I asked her what she read. She said, "Danger on the High Seas." Only that danger was pronounced da-nger, like the nger in singer.
11. She doesn't want to nap in the afternoon on weekends so I told her that she could stay up when Farah is napping as long as she is quiet and allows me to enjoy my Kindle Paperwhite (this one, I may just dedicate one whole entry for it). One afternoon, after Farah slept, she sat beside me, took out her English-Malay picture dictionary and started reading it for the entire 2 hours that Farah napped. Huda loves her picture non-fictions. She loves the Disney's Words books - Words that Tell You about Things, Words that Do Things and Words that Name Things. (Those books are tough to find and I definitely did not pay Grolier $3000+ to get those books! I'm glad she loves them!)
12. Farah was reading her Iqra' book. ah, bah, bah she went, recognising the basic sounds the letter makes when a stroke is placed above the letter. Suddenly she went, "Ba ba ba balik kampung. Oh oh oh balik kampung..." breaking out into a Sudirman song.
Okay. That is all for now. I am going to spend some time with my Paperwhite now before turning in.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Japan (Part 2/3 - Disney Resort)
[20 July 2013 - All pictures from Multiply have disappeared! Booohoooohoooo! So, until I develop the technical know-how, this will be a pictureless entry.]
Everyone should visit Disneysea & Disneyland. They are possibly the best man-made production ever!
Everyone should visit Disneysea & Disneyland. They are possibly the best man-made production ever!
(As always, wrote the first few lines eons ago and now, must finish writing before I forget.)
Tips when going to Disney Resort Tokyo. (I'm going to put a number of pictures here so just wait for them to load, okay? Most pictures will be irrelevant to the text. :D
1. Go on weekdays.
The carparks were empty when we got there on a Wednesday morning. But by Friday afternoon, there were cars everywhere!
Disney Resort Line. Cool stuff.
See the empty parking lots?
2. Avoid Japan school holidays.
Unless you love crowds.
We saw lots of little girls dressed up in princessy outfits. LOTS.
3. Go when the opening hours are extended to 10pm.
We were fortunate that the opening hours were extended to 10pm for the entire month of June. We managed to go back to our hotel to make the kids nap for 2 hours in the middle of the day so that we can go back to the park and stay til closing time.
Had we gone in March, the parks might have closed at 6pm and that will be a mighty shame.
Disneysea. So nice, right?
3. Bring your own food because halal food is difficult to find.
We managed to make contact with a VERY VERY nice person from the Tokyo Disney resort whom we met at the Natas fair. After asking him a whole string of questions and then some, we asked about the ease of finding (vegetarian + seafood - alcohol) food at the Disney Resort. A couple of emails later, he managed to list down a few restaurants in both Disneysea and Disneyland where we can get food that meets our requirements.
At Disneysea, we can eat the tempura set without the miso soup at Sakura Restaurant.
At Disneyland, we can have the tempura set at Hokusei Restaurant or the vegetarian set from the Eastside cafe.
Once we got to the restaurant, we told them that we had allergies to pork, beef, chicken, mirin and sake and the restaurant staff would take care of the rest. At Hokusei restaurant, we were seated and waiting for our meals but we were told that the oil used to fry our tempura was also used to fry the pork cutlets. So, off we went to Eastside cafe. The vegetarian set was surprisingly good!
Fortunately, we brought had our instant rice and some instant Brahim stuff too so we didn't go hungry during the Disney leg of the journey. Instant noodles came in handy too!
Our nice contact person from Disney Resort also managed to arrange a (vegetarian + seafood - alcohol) breakfast for us too. We took it on the first day but decided to skip it on the second day because of:
i. time - When you have breakfast at the restaurant, you have to spend time eating there and you lose precious time especially if you book a hotel that gives you a you-can-enter-the-park-15-minutes-earlier pass.
ii. price - It was possibly the most expensive breakfast we've ever had in our lives. It cost us about SGD120 for 2 adults and Huda. Farah ate for free. So we had it once for the experience and decided that a SGD120 breakfast experience is best had once in a lifetime.
Expensive breakfast. But really appreciated the effort made by the restaurant staff to ensure that the food met our requirements.
Vegetarian food at Eastside Cafe. Possibly the nicest vegetarian spaghetti I've ever eaten.
TheHusband's favourite character - Donald Duck
4. Avoid breakfast at the restaurant
As above. What you should do instead is, pack your food. Wake the kids up at 8.15am. Get them ready. Leave the hotel at 8.30am. Go to your desired park. Enter at 8.45am and see all the others just die of envy. Take pictures with Mickey Mouse without the queue. (He is the most popular character. Queues to take pics with him are terribly long!) Watch people run into the parks at 9am.
If you don't have enough food, there are 1-2 shops that sell pastries. Kalau tak was was, you can buy from these shops.
5. You need to spend at least 4 days there.
We went to Disneysea on the first day and Disneyland on the second day. We didn't have enough of both. Despite what many people say about Disneysea - that it is more suited for bigger children - we disagree. Our family happen to adore Disneysea a whole lot more than Disneyland.
Perhaps it's because we visited Disneysea first, so we were completely awed by the magic of it all. By the time we went to Disneyland on the second day, some of that awe had been chipped away?
Why 4 days? 2 days at Disneyland and 2 days at Disneysea. The parades are amazing. The rides are just as spectacular. Heck, even the view is something to go "Wow!" about.
We had to skip some parts of Disneyland because we simply did not have the time. But thankfully we were there during the non-peak period so Huda the thrill-seeker managed to ride the roller-coaster (the kiddy one, of course) 3 times each at both Disneysea and Disneyland.
6. You will end up buying those mouse ears (and an assortment of souvenirs)
I told the kids early on that I will not buy those hairbands with mouse ears for them. They are ridiculous, I told the kids. You won't ever wear them when we get back home, I added. They'll become white elephants, I further emphasised my point. Then, I turned out to be the one who insisted on buying them those mouse ears.
If you see a product you like at a particular shop, don't think the way I thought - "I can get them later. Don't want to lug all those Monsters Inc lunchboxes all over Disneyland. I can buy them at the big souvenir shop near the entrance when I'm leaving the park." You thought wrong. Once you leave that particular land, you will never see those cute Monsters Inc lunchboxes anymore. The souvenir shop at the entrance only sells Mickey and Minnie products. Princess characters/Monsters Inc/Lilo and Stitch etc can only be found in their specific lands. So, don't hesitate. Just buy.
And that will include the popcorn buckets. You can buy cute fat buckets for your popcorn at both Disneysea and Disneyland. If you see a bucket that you like at Disneysea, BUY IT. I didn't, thinking that I was going to Disneyland the next day so I might as well buy it there. Big mistake. The designs are different and for the month of June, the designs at Disneysea were a lot nicer than the ones at Disneyland. Grrrr.
It got rather chilly at Disneysea once night fell. But as a kiasu mom, I was well-prepared. I had jackets, gloves and scarves for the girls but nothing for myself. Had to sit on my hands to keep them warm.
7. Get a stroller
If you didn't bring your own stroller from home, rent one at the entrance. Absolutely essential. You can also see the stroller parkers at work. They are amazing. (All Disney cast members are amazing. Digress a bit more - All staff working there are called cast members. Even the cleaners. Because they are part of the magical formula of Disneyworld. Their level of service is unparalleled! You can ask just about anybody for help. The cast member who was sweeping the area would put away his broom and dustpan and answer your queries as best as they could.)
Back to stroller parkers - Their job is to make sure that all strollers parked near the rides are orderly. If say, someone who is done with the rides takes away his stroller that's parked between a couple of strollers, the stroller parker will swiftly move in to ensure that there are no gaps and that all strollers are parked in the most orderly fashion.
Of course, this being Japan, people don't steal the valuables that you leave in the stroller. So, you just bring your wallet with you and you can leave everything else in your stroller - even that much-coveted popcorn bucket that is no longer being sold at the resorts.
Sleeping Beauty with the Sleep-Refusers
8. Watch all the parades and the shows
MUST MUST MUST! This is why you have to spend 2 days at each park. There is no way you can watch all the parades and shows and still soak in the sights and sounds and take the rides AND queue up to take pictures with the characters. If you go during the non-peak periods, you will have a chance to be right in front with absolutely nobody blocking your view. I love it!
9. Stay at the Disney hotels
You gotta get the full Disney experience. We stayed at one of the Disney hotels and we appreciated the convenience of being able to return to the hotel to get the kids to nap, among other things.
Kid-size room slippers + stool for kids. So attentive to detail!
10. Lock your jaded self up in the hotel safe
If you are going to go there and act like everything is a big conspiracy theory ("Why are the cast members so happy? Are they in some kind of cult?") or if you think that you are way too cool for this Disney stuff, you might as well not pay the Disney resort a visit. Somehow both TheHusband and I were captivated and dazzled by our entire Disney experience that we talk about going again (right after we file for bankruptcy for this trip) and spending at least one week at the Disney resort.
One is too big. The other one is too small.You girls are just not meant to live in a castle.
After I cast this spell on you, you socks-and-sandals-wearing-woman, you will learn the error of your ways and learn to dress up the way princesses ought to. (Needless to say, the fairy godmother forgot to charge her magic wand so the spell didn't quite work.)
I think I've covered all the essential points. So I'm going to send this off for publishing!
PS: I doubt that an Osaka segment will ever see the light of day seeing that it took far too long for this one to appear. So, just in case it doesn't, here are some tips which I was saving for the Osaka bit:
1. Get Takuhaibin service
Takuhaibin is bag delivery service. We took the train everywhere and it will be ridiculous to lug everything on the train especially when we have to change trains frequently. (We had 2 average-size luggage, one duffel bag, a stroller and one box containing food. So, from Tokyo, we sent some of our stuff to Osaka and bring only one suitcase with us to Disneyland. (Recap: We went Tokyo -> Disneyland -> Osaka.)
The bag delivery service is quite reasonable and very dependable. For an average size luggage, it costs about SGD20 to get it delivered to your hotel. You can ask your hotel lobby about this service and email the receiving hotel to inform them that your luggage is coming earlier.
2. Take the bullet train
It is an amazing ride! The interior of the train itself is drool-worthy. The speed is astounding although TheHusband couldn't feel it.
3. Watch what the staff at the train station do when the trains pull up at the platform.
They bow to the trains!
4. Take the Rapid train from the Osaka city centre to the airport.
Then, when the train reaches the airport, hang around at the platform til the train is good to go. See the seats turn around.
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