Parents-Teachers Meet Little Caliphs Bandar Seri Putra

last saturday, we went to the parents-teachers meet of Little Caliphs Bandar Seri Putra to see our little darling's school performance and achievements...

from my observation, Jihan had made such an improvement since she started going to kindergarten..being a busy working mother of 2, it is not easy for me to give my utmost attention to her and to coach her by myself...that's why we decided to send her to kindergarten at the age of 3 and a half year old because we were aware of our limitations as parents...alhamdulillah, sending her to the Little Caliphs program, an English- Islamic Integrated education was a correct choice...Jihan was able to grasp and digest the materials well...though she seldom tells us what she learned at school ( even when we asked her many, many times), she unconsciously shows her intelligent and talent when she is doing play role as a teacher herself...sometimes, she reads aloud her books and she loves to improvise her readings and making her own story...

during the last semester, she received good comment from the teachers, although she was quite playful and talkative...and this time round, her teacher told us that in term of achievement, she is actually far ahead from most her friends...she reads both malay and english well...and her iqra' also has improved..she is currently going to book 6...her achievement during this ramadhan, being able to fast fully, has become an example to other students as well..she is able to solat and recite the readings in solat well too...alhamdulillah..even though she is naughty and sometimes stubborn, she performs well in school...

i believe, the teachers and the parents complement each other in our children's education...and choosing the right method in early education is also essential as a core for our children's foundation...

we pray that our children will continue to pave their way to success, insya allah...

iftar with the unfortunate orphans

yesterday, we were invited to break fast with a few unfortunate orphans from Darul Izzah Bangi and Kajang area at Dewan MPKJ Kajang..the event was organized by Susuibu.com, Nurturing Concepts, Sdn Bhd, Sands Consulting Sdn Bhd and MPKJ....

i was glad that we were given this opportunity to do some good deeds in Ramadhan and to contribute some duit raya to the unfortunate children...i took this opportunity to teach Jihan to be grateful to Allah for what He has gives us and how fortunate we are to still have our parents with us...

Imtiaz, as usual kept on running around the big hall and it was quite difficult for us to enjoy our meals :( nevertheless, we had good meals of kambing bakar, satay, white rice and delicious lauk and kuih...

Imtiaz also helped me to distribute the duit raya packets to the kids while Jihan and papa ate their meals...

alhamdulillah, until today, Jihan has fast fully since day 1 of ramadhan...she is such a strong girl...we are very proud of her...

i hope we can continue to help the poor, the less fortunate and the needy as much as we can...and i hope to instill this good value in our children from now on and hopefully they'll grow up to be good muslims, insya allah...

Jihan's Ramadhan Journey - day 10 today

alhamdulillah...we are entering the 10th ramadhan today and i'm very proud of my girl who has been fasting fully for 10 days all these while!! congratulations, dear...at first, i thought it was going to be quite hard for her...after she went through her first few days with a bit of crankiness towards the end of the day, now she is more calm and more patient waiting for iftar...

as usual, her appetite has always been big since the first day of ramadhan...she has been requesting me to buy murtabak almost everyday...luckily, that's everybody's favourite too...at the end of the day, it was us who finished it for her...

and my little boy, Imtiaz is not bad too...he will have his iftar with us and likes nasi kerabu or any other couloured rice very much!...he wakes up for sahur and enjoys his meal very much...and during the day, he somehow eats a little less than usual..fasting as well, huh..?

alhamdulillah, we are enjoying ramadhan very much...and insya allah, we'll sail through the rest of ramadhan in barakah....

Jihan's first attempt fasting...

alhamdulillah, my little girl is getting more mature....yesterday, she fast the whole day and broke her fast together with us...she was so excited to break her fast with us and demanded a Chicky Meal from KFC....

it was easy to wake her up for sahur and she had a proper meal during sahur....later, she went to school in the morning and many of the children in the school also fast....she told us that she mostly read books rather than playing with her friends in order to conserve her energy....when she came back, she slept for an hour before going for Iqra' class...

i called her a few times asking her whether she is still fasting or not and i was very proud of her achievement....

when i came back, she was so excited looking at the kuihs and some dishes that i brought home for iftar....and when the time for iftar was almost there, she sat at the table and kept on looking at the clock....

and when it was time, she put almost everything on her plate and drank a whole glass of fruit juice to quench her thirst...

alhamdulillah, she made it on the first day...and today, she was very eager to fast for the whole month...and when i called her just now, she is still fasting...

congratulations Jihan...we are so proud of you..!

Ramadhan Al Mubarak 2010

Ahlan Ya Ramadhan Kareem....alhamdulillah, this year He gives us the opportunity to celebrate Ramadhan again...this is my 2nd year fasting with Imtiaz still fully breastfeeding...alhamdulillah...since Imtiaz is still reverse cycling, there is no worry for me to express enough breastmilk for him during the day time...although i do express them to maintain milk supply, twice a day, 2-3 oz each session....i've blogged about a few tips during ramadhan before to maintain the milk supply, here and here...

insya Allah, this Ramadhan, i'm trying my best to spend more time to do extra good deeds and ibadah (i already missed last night's tarawikh due to tiredness and Imtiaz was a bit cranky and kept on breastfeeding every single hour)...

and this year, Jihan is trying her best to fast for the first time...! she had been very excited before the Ramadhan month and kept telling us that she is 5 year old and must fast...and her Atok's friend told her if she fasts throughout the Ramadhan month, she can get money!

so this morning, it was easy to wake her up for sahur....and she ate a plate of rice and drank her favourite strawberry yogurt drink until he stomach was full....and Imtiaz joined us for sahur as well, enjoying some pasta and soup....

we should encourage our children to start fasting at the early age... there is no harm to give some kind of reward at the end of the day, at the same time educating them that fasting is obligated among healthy Muslims during Ramadhan...

i found this interesting free download fasting chart from ALIM Kids Bookshop.. perhaps this will encourage our children to fast this Ramadhan, insya Allah....

One Minute Simultaneous Breastfeeding

in conjunction with the recent World Breastfeeding Week 2010, the Mother-to-Mother Peer Support (MMPS) group held an event, the "one-minute simultaneous breastfeeding" where mothers breastfeed their babies for one minute together at the same time...

this year, mother and baby pairs who were unable to attend physically at the event were able to participate as well by joining them on 7th August 2010 at 3.30 pm...

Imtiaz and I showed our support by participating this event yesterday and we were proud to be part of 175 mother-baby pairs this year who participated in the event as well...this is our 2nd year doing the similar event...last year, we physically attended the event at Kajang...here's the post about it...

congratulations to all of us and breastfeeding rocks the world..yeay!

Happy Breastfeeding Week 2010

i hope it's not too late to wish all of you a Happy Breastfeeding Week 2010, which is celebrated every year on the 1st week of August....

the theme for this year, "Breastfeeding: Just 10 Steps- the Baby-Friendly Way"...

it is well known that research shows that the best feeding option globally is the initiation of breastfeeding within the first half hour of life, exclusive breastfeeding for a full six months and continued breastfeeding through the second year or beyond... breastfeeding improves short and long term maternal and child health thus contributing to a happy, healthy nation...

UNICEF recently noted that the reduction of child deaths from 13 million globally in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008 is partly due to the adoption of basic health interventions such as early and exclusive breastfeeding...more and more studies have shown that implementation of the Ten Steps with continued postnatal support contributes to increased breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding at the local, national and global levels....

Recent studies have shown that with more of the Ten Steps in place, the more likely women are to achieve their breastfeeding goals... this confirms that importance for every maternity, hospital, clinic and community to strive to increase the number of steps in place, even if they cannot achieve all ten steps immediately...therefore every step counts!

*adapted from WABA WBW2010

my little Imtiaz is still fully breastfeeding..in fact, he is reverse cycling now....he refused to drink the expressed breastmilk during the day or when i'm away...so he'll wait for me to come back and get hold to my boops till he finishes his business....at night, he just won't get off me at all....

i really treasure every moment with him now...especially when he is breastfeeding and looks into my eyes and gives me his charming smile, with his hands exploring all parts of my face and upper body....this moment will soon wear off, eventually.....

he is thriving well, active and healthy...and he loves mama's milk so much!