happy 59th birthday

it was my father's birthday last sunday, his 59th....alhamdulillah, he is still well, active and healthy at this age, after 3 years pensioned....we had a little celebration at home and later had a lunch out - a feast of nasi baryani....

i made a special chocolate mud cake...the kids were excited having to blow the candle and cutting the cake...

we pray that you have a wonderful year ahead and have a healthy life and may Allah bless you always...

loves, mak, along, angah, asrul, jihan & imtiaz....

Jihan at 4 1/2 year old

recently, i introduced Jihan to an interactive website on learning to read with phonics method Starfall.com .... i found it very interesting and i managed to get my girl to read....she is so fascinated with the animation and the interactive activities....

i also bought a set of the Read Easy Phonics books... she is a fast learner....i will make her read the book first then reward her with the computer session on the website....

i make and attempt to facilitate her to read everyday....but it is not easy for me who is always busy...for me, a short session is better than none...how i wish i could spend more time to coach my children on my own but that is impossible right now...

i'm very glad she's making a very good progress and hopefully she will continue progressing from time to time...

11 months old Imtiaz

yeay! it's less than a month to a BIG 1!!!...how time flies...my little boy is now a BIG, macho boy! we are planing to throw him a birthday party soon...Jihan is so excited to have a birthday party...she's the one who is busy deciding what cake should i make for his little brother....

so, let's see Imtiaz's milestones at 11 months:

• the upper incisor is coming into picture...looks like it's gonna be a big one...
• he loves to crawl like a Spiderman, sparing his knee on the floor....
• he understands the word "ball", "kakak", "atok", "wan"...
• he'll say "mama" when he wants to breastfeed...
• he likes waking up kakak early morning by biting on kakak's hands or feet and by giving a hard pat on kakak's tummy...
• cruising onto furniture very well...
• wave bye- bye and clap his hands very well...
• he is able to eat his biscuits on his own (before tossing it again and again on the floor)

i still fully breastfeeding him (bravo!) and he loves food very much....

so far, he is in good health and we always pray he will always be...

weekend getaway- kuantan

an ad hoc plan to have a short weekend getaway in kuantan in early January and this time we headed to swiss garden resort and spa....the kids were excited as usual, even us were so excited to have good feast of food there....

the kids had so much fun in the sun at the swimming pool...Jihan got tanned and her body was like a chocolate eclair....half tanned and half normal skin colour, following the shape of her swimming suit...Imtiaz continued his excitement in the bathtub in our room as well....it was hard to get him out of there....

we had good food as usual....the "must-do" list on our feast - Ana Ikan Bakar Petai, satar and keropok lekor at Kuala Kemaman... we also had lunch at Pantai Batu Hitam and a mamak style dinner at Taj Point...

Imtiaz had a change of his usual food...no more porridge but he had ikan bakar, satar, roti canai and roti naan, and omellete for breakfast....

before heading back to KL, my dear friend Dilla invited us to her house for lunch and we had an array of delicious kampung-style food - ikan patin, kerabu umbut and sambal udang....wow!!! that was the best meal ever we had during this trip...! thanks buddy....

our next stop...? hmmm....we'll let you know later..

The Marmet Technique

i say, all breastfeeding mothers need to know this technique on how to manually express your breastmilk with your hands....it's simple, easily available and for sure you won't forget to bring your hands with you....having a breastpump is an advantage but not a must for breastfeeding mums...i have a friend, Dr Ning, who successfully hand-express her breastmilk when she was breastfeeding without any assistance from the breastpump at all...!! Bravo!

it is very easy to learn...only 5 steps to follow..even if you have a very good and efficient breastpump, i recommend you to learn this technique as well...who knows, one day you really need it to do it manually...

Train The Trainers for Peer Counselors Program

i was very honoured to become one of the 19 wonder women in this pioneer program... the first of its kind in Malaysia was made possible by the efforts of The Nurturing Concepts Sdn Bhd and it was funded by UNICEF and strongly supported by WABA (World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action)... the 6 days training was conducted by the experts from The La Leche League International (LLLI), Kathy Baker and Pushpa Panadam...

our aim is to form a network of a Mother to Mother Support Group in breastfeeding in Malaysia...the training is provided to the pioneer participants so that we are able to train our Malaysian Peer Counselors (PC) based on the syllabus from the LLLI, specifically tailored to our local settings...the PCs will then reach all women out there in promoting breastfeeding and supporting breastfeeding mothers to increase the number of breastfeeding mothers in Malaysia...according to the National Health Morbidity Survey 2006 (NHMS), reported a high proportion of Malaysian mothers initiating breastfeeding but the practice of exclusive breastfeeding for four to six months was low (14.5%)...

the sessions were held in a leisurely manner, even though the schedules were quite packed, we managed to come out with brilliant ideas to make it work...Shida and Suraya even brought their 2 months old baby to the workshop as they need their mummies breastmilk frequently..not forgetting Linda who brought along her almost 2 year old girl who is still breastfeeding to the course...others (Suria, Yatie, Shikin, Farah, Faridah, Zatul and myself) were pumping our breastmilk for our children who were left at home...

we had lovely times together, sharing our experiences, tears and joys of motherhood and that made us all connectedat heart....Kathy and Pushpa were fantastic ladies and i was very much enlightened with their experiences with breastfeeding mothers.... and i was very glad meeting these enthusiastic and powerful women and breastfeeding mothers (except for jess, she is still single ; D) and we have the same mission here aiming towards success...

so, we are ready to get move on with it and bringing the best in you, fantastic moms out there and your little ones, as they deserve the very best from us - our very own breastmilk...

Imtiaz- 10 months old...

imtiaz was upset and angry when Jihan took away his toys

how time flies....my little boy is already 10 months old...he is still an avid breastfeeder and on top of that, he eats almost everything that is given to him... he still drinks 4.5oz x 2 bottles everyday when i'm at work and nurses avidly throughout the night...he weighs slightly more than 8kg and most of the time is wearing a 1 year old clothings, though at times we put on his old tight-fitting clothings on him and he looked like The Higglytown Heroes....

he's a master in commando crawling...lifted his chest and straightened his both arms occasionally but put it back down and proceed with commando crawling....steadily sits on his own and able to pull to stand on his own too....he is very stable nowadays and started cruising onto the furnitures...and each day, he becomes very good at climbing stairs too..now in the process of getting down from the stairs....

his favourite toys..? ball...he loves playing football with his papa....will chase the ball, catch it and throw it away....cannot resist water...he'll jump into the swimming pool or his small bath tub or even the bathroom if the door is left opened...

he loves climbing up my body when i lie down...and put his head on my chest...he is very upset when Jihan takes away his toys and loves to pull the sister's hair....

it's less than 2 month till his first birthday...can't wait for it and we are going to have a birthday party...! yeay!

a short PD breakaway

thanks to lovely cousin, Ana for inviting us for an overnight stay at Sri Pena Port Dickson, a few days before New Year....me and hubby went there right after work...the kids went earlier with their grandparents...

we arrived at almost Maghrib...the clans had already started barbequieng and my little boy had already asleep...Jihan said, Imtiaz was really exhausted after playing in the pool...and the aroma of the barbeque chicken and satay were really fantastic!!

had a wonderful potluck dinner and barbeque....! and had a good night sleep too....

the next day, me and hubby rushed back to work, leaving the kids to stay a bit longer with their grandparents...

even though it's a short one, the kids had so much fun in the pool....and we plan to have fun like this more often next time....

Happy New Year 2010!

yes, it's new year...! meaning that, a more blasting year ahead...! ok, what is going to happen in 2010...?

• Imtiaz will turn 1
• Jihan will turn 5
• our marriage is growing stronger entering its 6th year
• both me and hubby are entering the 3rd decade of life
• i'll be sitting for the IBCLE in July, insya allah
• starting on my research by doing its proposal and stuffs
• planning to have a good vacation with the kids
• probably an intimate holiday with dear hubby
• to improve on myself - be the best Muslim, the best wife, the best Mom, the best of everything
• to save more money
• to shed off a few more kg of my weight and keep myself slim and trim - meaning that cut down on the unnecessary calories and hit the gym more often
• to continue breastfeeding Imtiaz until he is 2 years old

i had a good year in 2009...we were blessed with our gorgeous prince, Ahmad Imtiaz Iman...both of us passed our 1st part exam of our Masters programme, so, it's going to be another 3 years to complete...lots of good memories and events happened in 2009 but there were always some potholes that needed to be improved...

my hope, 2010 is going to be another good year...may Allah bless our good intentions and deeds and reward us with Jannah...

my new gadget

Imtiaz has been breastfeeding for almost 10 months now, alhamdulillah...and i'm so motivated to continue until he is 2 years old....

and i have been a loyal user to my good ol' Medela Pump In Style Traveler breastpump for the past 5+ 8 months at work (5 months when i was breastfeeding Jihan and almost 8 months while i'm breastfeed Imtiaz now)...yes, i only express my breastmilk at work using my beloved Medela PIS (and mind you it's the old version of PIS, not the advanced version) , and i used my Medela Harmony occasionally when i intended to express my milk at home...i really like the PIS mechanism very much, thanks to Sis Rita of Momslittleones.com for teaching me how to manually work out the stimulation and expression phase with the PIS...

and the amount that i got in each pumping session was superb using the gadget...i love the bag and it's matching cooler bag too...i carry them to work everyday without fail....and it's quite heavy, plus that i had to carry another big bag to stuff in my books, laptop and other things too...

when i managed to breastfeed Imtiaz past beyond 6 months, i thought of getting a more portable, lightweight breastpump that i can use for the next few months and for my next babies too....so i did a few research over the internet and based on few testimonials from my friends who bought the latest innovation from Medela, the Freestyle, i thought of getting it....

so i got a good deal of Medela Freestyle and started using it for almost 3 weeks now...at first, i didn't like it because the suction was not as great as my ol' PIS and i got to pump for 30 min to get 4-5 oz..maybe at that time my milk production was low because i was about to have my menses and i was nervous about using the Freestyle....after a few days, i got mastered in attaching the hands-free attachment....and the milk production was good and today i managed to pump out 6 oz in just 15 min...!

it's good to have a great breastpump like this but it's not a must for every breastfeeding mums...other breastpumps can work wonder too if you make full use of it...before buying a breastpump, it is wise to first try on it to look at its suitability on you....you could start saving a few ringgit per month to invest in this valuable gadget as the price is expensive...and this gadget is not used only for a baby but for the next to come....

my ol PIS..? i don't intend to sell it because that's my "first love"...i'm going to keep it and maybe my sister can use the motor when she has her own baby...it is nicely packed and kept for her...

imtiaz @ 9 months old +

it's a little too late to write about it but it's better than never...

went for a routine check up and 2nd dose of Prevenar....he weighed almost 8kg....not that much despite good appetite and excellent food intake and breastmilk intake...it's probably due to his active lifestyle that keeps him in shape...

a very good commando crawler and sits steadily with a little help (right now able to do it on his own)...very good at articulating "papa", "boo-ahh", "teh-teh"....he can pull himself to stand onto the furniture and stuffs, and loves to do "head-first" stunt from the bed or couch, like a superman...

not to forget a little bit hot-tempered too, especially at feeding time....sometimes, he just love screaming at the top of his voice!....

and now, he can climb the stairs right to the top, not once but repeatedly not feeling tired at all!! and it is so tiring for us who escorted him to the top repeatedly...

2 lower incisors in good shape....lucky me he doesn't bite when he breastfeeds...

a healthy little boy that always make my day....

Imtiaz's gastronomic experience...

my little boy simply loves food so much....i would say he's addicted to food....! he can't hear the sound of cutleries or plastics or people munching, he'd scream and try to get hold of it, thinking that it'd be his food and it's feeding time....

since he started weaning at 6 months, he had rice porridge with carrots, potato, cauliflower, broccoli, fish or chicken, all mixed together....i tried feeding him with pasta with chicken, carrots and potatoes, he loves it so much....my mum made him pancakes for breakfast and he finished it...he also loves breads and buns of any kinds....i gave him cheese slices and he took that well too....i made him pasta with cauliflower, spinach and potato with cheese and he licked the whole bowl up...not forgetting homemade banana smoothies, he swallowed 2 bowls of it for prebreakfast and subsequently had a slice of french toast....!

a few days ago, while i was having my dinner at the table and he was crawling on the floor (he alredy had his dinner) and while everybody else was busy doing their stuffs, my little Imti cried wanting to sit on my lap with his lips smacking all over...i was eating rice with chicken in soy sauce and fish in yellow river (masak lemas cili padi), and he reached for my plate....i gave him the inner meat of the chicken and i possibly had a trace of chilli and he gobbled that too....oh my...!

so far, he has no problem with food- no allergies, no diarrhea or constipation...he is still breastfeeding actively despite all the foods he is eating...he is such and active baby and his weight gains satisfactorily...

i tried to give him variety fo food for him to taste and experience them naturally...i have not introduce salt and sugar into his food and avoiding sauces and artificial sweetener and flavour, he is taking everything in natural flavours and aromas....

all his food is roughly chopped and mashed, not smoothly pureed anymore as he has 2 lower incisor teeth and he is actually good at chewing using his gum...

Bravo little boy...!

pullman putrajaya getaway....

dear hubby had promised us for a getaway after my exam...he booked a night stay in pullman putrajaya before my exam result was out....so, i guess if i didn't make through it, i won't be enjoying my stay at pullman...alhamdulillah, i got through it and i really enjoyed myself with my beloved family at pullman....

the place was superb and marvellous exteriorly and interiorly....our room was cosy and spacious enough for Imtiaz to crawl all over...

the kids really enjoyed themselves at the pool...it's Imtiaz's first experience and he loved splashing the water....

we had good dinner along with my friend, Dahlia...she helped me in the exam by giving a one-to-one tutorial in obstetrics and gynaecology....

we got a good bargain for this stay...thumbs up to pullman....