Part 2 of to have or not to have....

Yesterday, while waiting for my lunch partner to get his food, I was looking around the food court of Sogo. Saw some familiar faces at another table. It was the IMR gang! Almost the whole gang was there - Puteri, Ten, Norrizan, Aliza and Julaina. The ones not there are Dr. Rahimah and Roshidah! It was nice seeing those familiar faces again... we did bump into each other in Sogo a few months back. Since I started with EPF project, my lunch venue has been almost everyday Sogo Food Court!! Too lazy to go anywhere else.

Anyway, we managed to catch up. I asked Aliza how is she coping with 3 kids? She gave birth to a third one quite recently. If I'm not mistaken all her 3 kids are below 5!! She said she sometimes turned into a female lion when the kids are getting too much! With no maid to help her out, I'm sure it is very very stressful! I couldn't help it but laughed. I think all mothers do turn into lions every now and then. Especially those with young kids! Even I who have only 1 child do get very stressed and agitated and of course turned into lion too! I just don't know how people who have more than 1 kid handle those kids?! I just don't!

Ten asked me whether I'm planning to have a second one. I told her... No!! Then luckily Norrizan supported me and said that I shouldn't think of having a second one since my first pregnancy was quite bad - the high blood pressure issue. Now older... my blood pressure issue might be even worst. So, no more kids for me! Anyway, Iman always declared that she's a baby! Not a kakak! I agree with her!

Lately on channel 77 - Home and Health, they have been showing the shows where there is this family in US - The Duggars who now have 17 kids!! The wife is in the 30s and she has been giving birth 13 times - twice she got twins! And their kids are all very well mannered and well behaved. Each one of them has their own jurisdiction (chores that they are responsible for)! Even the 3 year old who is in-charged of sending the everyday garbage out of the house to the big bin. Imagine that! When I saw that I just couldn't help it but salute her and the husband. I don't think I will be able to handle such situation like her.

I told Julaina to have a comma to her plan to add anymore children to her now 2 kids! She said she's planning not to have another one so soon. Her 2 girls are just one year apart and she's still coping ok with the help of a maid! Good idea, Julaina... take the time to enjoy each child.

International Day @ Young Ambassadors

This week 21-25 May 2007, Young Ambassadors has chosen as the International week for the kids. For every day, the kids are encouraged to dress up in the national costume of each country. The parents are asked to send snacks and/or information of each country on each day. The kids will learn about those countries on each day. For some countries, the teachers in-charged have invited someone to give a talk about those countries.

Teacher Asnah, Iman's teacher has asked me to help her out with the arrangement for France Day. I thot I should help her out. Since she didn't tell me what she wanted me to help specifically, last week, I looked up for some info on France on the Internet and print them out for her. She invited me to join the kids during this International week, unfortunately this week is a very hectic week for me. We are doing UAT (User Acceptance Test) everyday with the users in EPF! So, no chance of joining Iman at all.

As a responsible mummy, I had to think of how to dress Iman up and what snack to send to school everyday! Wow! That's quite a stressful thing ... Everybody couldn't believe that I had to do all that for a 2 year + kid!

So, how did I dress Iman up and what did I send to school everyday during this week?

1. For Monday (Malaysia Day), I told Iman to wear her baju kurung (the raya one!) and she brought keropok as the snack.
   
   
2. For Tuesday, since Iman doesn't own a kebaya (Indonesia's National Costume), I let her wore another pair of baju kurung and sent a kek lapis as our contribution of snack. She came back with an Indonesian Flag! Didn't know whether they learn how to make the flag themselves or someone made the flags and gave to each of the kid. I supposed they couldn't make M'sian flag because it is difficult to do the crescent and 14 point star!
   
   
3. Today, Wednesday, is Middle East Day. I had to leave early, so Izani had to handle getting Iman ready for school. He asked me what should Iman wear today before I left the house. I told Izani to let Iman choose which baju kurung she wants. Iman chose a purple baju kurung that Nyonya (my tailor) has sewn for her and Izani sent her and gave kurma (dates) as snack for Middle East!
   
   
4. Tomorrow, Thursday, will be France Day! I went to Sogo today to get a baguette and some mini croissants for Iman to bring. What will she be wearing tomorrow? I'll let her decide. If she wants to wear baju kurung again... and if there is still some clean baju kurung she want to wear, then she can do that. I've not done washing since Monday so 3 of her baju kurung are now dirty. Hmm... talk about a good mum... I actually did a load of washing last nite but have not folded them yet.
   
   
5. Friday, the last day of school will be Japan Day. I've bought a packet of rice crackers (cheese flavour) from Giant on Monday when I went to buy the kek lapis for Indonesia Day, so tonite I don't have to think of what to bring anymore! Hurray!
   

That's going to be the end of the International week for this year. I wonder what countries will they pick for next year. Hope it won't be some countries difficult to find the suitable snacks. Whatever it is I still think it was a good idea that Young Ambassadors thot of doing this kind of thing. At least the kids can start learning about other countries. 2 weeks school holiday starts tomorrow!

Finally l can start blogging from my O2!

My O2 is finally setup for me to start blogging from! Thanks to Amier, a collegue, for helping to set it up. He might be helping me to ensure l choose him as my future son-in-law! Ha ha ha. He is 27 and eyeing for Iman, my 2 yrs almost 5 months old princess!

Hang on there, Mas! Don't jump! I know we said we want to match up Iman with your son Imran, but, I still want to give Iman a chance to fall in love with anybody who is meant to be her husband later. I'm sure you want Imran to decide for himself too, right?

I love u

I love u, u love me
We are happy family
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won't u say u love me too

I love u, u love me
We're best friends as friends should be
With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you
Won't u say u love me too

When Iman is older she might not even remember all these words of Barney's song that she's been singing... so I just want to pen it down here so that she can always read and remember those days when she was young.

Out of the box

One of Iman's favourite show on tv is Out of the box. Well at least for now it is one of her favourites! She likes Vivien and Tony, the hosts for the show. She will always be looking forward to the show and ending of the show because she likes the goodbye song they always sing at the end of the show. She knows the wordings now and can sing along or sing at anytime by herself.

So long farewell to you my friends
Goodbye for now until we meet again
I say so long farewell to you my friends,
Goodbye for now until we meet again

It's been fun to sing and play together (Out of the box)
But its time to say goodbye....
So long farewell to you my friends
Goodbye for now until we meet ......again.......

Then Iman would wave and say, "Goodbye Tony! Goodbye Vivien!"

Cockroach....

I've been told that we shouldn't scare our kids so that they will grow up being a brave person. I used to believe that. When Iman was younger, I make sure she is not scared of the dark, of monster etc coz I never scare her with any of those things. She grew up not scare to go into a dark room by helf and I was rather proud of that fact.

Then she turned 2! Not scare of anything and started to be quite stubborn when we told her not to do something. I ran out of patients and find that I need to make her scared of something so that I can use it whenever she doesn't listen to me.

I found out that she is scared of cockroach! So, everytime she didn't listen to me and started to act up, I'll tell her that the cockroach was coming for her and it works like a charm! Iman will always said that she didn't want to be friends with me. I would tell her that if she's not friends with me, the cockroach will come and take her away, but if she is friends with me, I'll chase the cockroach away and the cockroach is scared of me! I told her that cockroach can't see in the dark, so if she cries at nite, the cockroach would know where to find her from the sound of her voice. That would stop her crying! It told her the cockroach can see in the day time, so if she is naughty, the cockroach can see and would come after her! She would listen and stopped being naughty. Izani was not happy with my method but I thot since it works, why not?! I would rather deal with a scared kid than a kid not scared of anything. Parenting is so confusing....

The Family First Trip to Tekam Plantation Resorts

Last Saturday, 12 May 2007, we drove downwards Jengka to go to Tekam Plantation Resorts. It was our first trip on the East Coast Highway. When Izani asked Iman and I to accompany him to attend a meeting in Tekam, my first reaction was, "Tekam? Where is Tekam?". He looked up for a website of the place and sent over to me so that I can have a look at how the resort looks like and what it can offer, and decide whether to go with him or not. I was intrigue by it. Here's the website in case ada sapa-sapa interested to view: www.plantationresorts.com.my. Here's so photos of the entrance to the resort. Cantik kan?


When we arrived, we joined the family day activities of Felda staff. Here's so pix of the family day activities:


Quite fun but it was very very hot and I was all sweaty! Iman kept on whinning about wanting to go swimming at the resort's pool. We had a hard time trying to persuade her not to coz it was still so hot! We didn't want her to get burnt other than it was not healthy to be swimming in the hot sun.

After we had lunch with the Felda officers, we checked in. It was so nice to be in the air-con room after the hot sweaty weather out there. Both Iman and I fall asleep while Izani had to go for his meeting. Pity him... but then again, that's the whole purpose of his trip there, so a man got to do what a man go to do! He was so envious of us! Luckily his meeting didn't last that long. After all of us had our evening nap we wanted to go for a swimming in the pool but by the time we got there, the pool was being cleaned, so we ended up walking around the compound of the resort. Not bad for a resort located all the way in Jengka!

The main Lobby of the Resort


Inside the lobby




The new block of hotel rooms.






The bungalow where our room was:



The Chalets

That nite in the resort, we attended the cultural show organized by Felda for their family day, after dinner. Iman was not feeling well, didn't want to eat or drink much. Her temperature was quite high.

We went back to our room by 10:30 but those Felda guys were teasing Izani about going back to the room so soon. So I told Izani to go back and join those guys while I try to get Iman to sleep. As her temperature was going up, I sent an sms to Izani asking him to get Cool Fever (the thing that we can stick on the child's forehead to lower their temperature) if he goes out for supper. He didn't reply my sms. Apparently he was laughing at me. He thot it was such a ridiculous request! "Mana nak dapat Cool Fever in Jengka and at that hour!" There is no 24-hr shop around and he didn't think that there is any shop that sells Cool Fever. Oh well?!...

Iman was restless all nite and I didn't sleep as soundly too. Was worried in case her temperature got higher. So, by the time we got up for Subuh, we packed our things and got ready for breakfast. We just picked Iman up to go and without giving her a shower.
Some pix during breakfast showed Iman was getting better after she had some mee goreng I fed her.










We finally checked out and left Tekam at about 9:15 a.m.! The drive back was smooth and nice. We reached home by 11:00 a.m.! The trip was a good one. Wished I had brought medication to cater in case of emergency like Iman getting fever out of a sudden like that. We could have had a better time if I had given her something for her fever. Lesson learned, as a mum, I should always travel well prepared! No shortcuts!

Iman's Trip to Great Eastern Mall

Today Young Ambassadors has organized another field trip for Iman and her other 2 & 3 year-old and the 4 year-old groups. As usual, 2 & 3 year-old group has to be chaperoned by someone, either a mum, a dad or anybody. Teacher Asnah specifically called me on Friday to request that I go with them. So, by default it is Mummy's job to do the chaperoning.

We were told to give RM5 to the kid to buy fruits and vegetables. When I told Iman that we were going to supermarket to buy fruits and vegetables, she told me she wanted to buy strawberries! I was thinking, that's going to cost more than RM5! How do I tell her that she can't buy strawberries?! Oh Gosh! I know it is going to be tough. As far as she is concern, with me she gets to buy anything she wants... but I need to follow the teacher's instruction otherwise her purchases cost more than the others. Hmm...

We had to be in Young Ambassadors Taman Setiawangsa by 8 but as usual, we can't keep to the time. At first Iman didn't want to wake up until we mentioned that she's going for a trip on a school bus! Finally barulah dia nak bangun. So by the time we got to the school dah 8:15. Luckily we were not late.

By about 8:35 the school bus came to pick them up. Iman was so excited!! It was quite difficult to contain her excitement. She almost ran out of the gate! When we finally got on the bus, as usual, because Nurin's mum didn't come along, she will tag along with Iman. So the 3 or us sat together. Nurin even call me Mummy! He..he..he..


When I let Iman wear her sun-glasses Nurin was quite upset because she didn't have hers. She kept on telling me that she didn't have her sun-glasses. Macam broken record... So, I told her that next trip we will make sure she bring her sun-glasses. She nodded and kept quiet for awhile then started again.... Oh well... I guess budak-budak memang macam tu.

We went to Young Ambassadors Taman TAR Ampang to fetch the group from that centre. That centre is much smaller than the Taman Setiawangsa. It was good that we got to spend a long time in the bus, at least Iman was happy!

When we arrived in Great Eastern Mall and assembled in front of Cold Storage, Iman started to act out. She saw a Cinderella balloon and wanted to have it. She just didn't want to listen to the Cold Storage Manager explaining to the kids the different type of fruits and vegetables. I had to carry her away from the balloon and continue to carry her so that she won't go wonder back to the balloon area. I almost broke my back!! Finally she was quite ok again until she saw some candies in guitar shape container. She cried again until I gave in and took the candy. The guitar cost RM4.90 and I thot maybe it was ok coz it is still within budget but it was not what she was supposed to buy. Anyway, I wanted her to stop crying so I decided to give in. First she wanted pink colour guitar, then she changed her mind and wanted a yellow one. Then finally she said she wanted the candy like smarties. Bought RM1.00 worth and she was so happy telling me that "kena bayar dulu." By then she didn't want anything else already. I bought for her an apple so that she can eat with her friends at school coz all of them either bought an apple or an orange for themselves.

After we paid for the items, we went out of Cold Storage to wait for the others. She opened her plastic of candies and started to give to her friends. One of the parents told me that I should buy the candy! I got quite pissed off coz I don't like her to eat candy too but we are in public place so I don't want her to cry all the time! It's annoying to be corrected by another parents, isn't it?!

Anyway, I'm so glad to see that she is not stingy with her things. She's always willing to share with others. I'm glad she doesn't have "the only child" syndrome. Anyway, as she was happily chatting with Aiman and her other friends, a whole lot of the candies fall out of the plastic! Her friends started to step on those candies and made a mess right in front of the Cold Storage!!

Then her attention went back to the balloons and started to cry again. Oh God!! It really got on my nerve! I just don't know what to do! Under normal circumstances I would have just bought the balloons! At least it will stop her crying. I was so torn between wanting to be a strict mother and a mother who just doesn't want her kids to act up in public. To give in will be seen as weak but not to give in will make her continue to cry and I seemed heartless. Finally I decided to give in but then she decided she didn't want it anymore. She wanted a real Smarties that cost RM17!! That I decided I won't give in. She cried at the counter and I let her sit there. Then she went to one corner and stayed there. One thing about Iman, whenever she is upset, I prefer to let her cool down by herself. When the group decided to leave (they were supposed to go to the Pet Shop too but the Pet Shop will only open at 11 a.m. and most of the kids were already restless!!), I just walked off leaving Iman at "her sulking corner ". She cried because she thot I was leaving her. So, I told her that I thot she didn't want to go with me... that's why I walk off without her. Of course that works! She just followed me and started to behave properly. Phew!! Finally!

When we were waiting for the bus, she was so good. She came to me and hugged me and kissed me. She even said "sorry Mummy..." to me! Ha..ha..ha.. sometimes when she did that I just couldn't help it but melted. She really knows how to win back my heart.

We got on the bus, she had her "milo" and started to suck her thumb! She seemed tired. Then she fall asleep on her Barney bag! I let her sleep till we reached back to Setiawangsa. Then I told her to go inside the school with her friends because I had to go to work. Groggily she just walked in and I quickly drove off before she changed her mind and wanted to follow me home!

Another tiring day, very trying but I know the years to come we'll remember this day with fondness.

Mother's Day

Iman came home on Fri with a Mother's Day card and a rose made of paper that her teacher taught her how to make them. I was so excited to see them! My first Mother's Day card from Iman!! Eventhough I know she doesn't understand anything yet, it still meant a lot to me to see the card!

Today is Mother's Day! But no special celebration except I made Iman wish me Happy Mother's Day and she did! She even said "Happy Mother Day, Mummy Dear!" So precious.... It's been great being a mother. I guess being mum is a reward of itself... so even if tak de celebration on Mother's Day... everyday as a mum should be celebrated. I am so luck I was given the opportunity to be a mum!! Syukur to Allah for His gift to me... Alhamdulillah...

Iman's Favourites

Cartoons and Characters

• Characters in Shrek - Shrek, Fiona and Donkey
• All the Princesses - especially Snow White
• Barney
• Pooh
• Characters in Madagascar - Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman
• Elmo

Books

• Snow White
• Alladin
• Peter and Jane
• Book on Nature
• Grimms Fairy Tales

CDs/Movies

• Shrek 1 & 2 for now
• All Barneys' CDs
• Madagascar - off and on... starting to watch it again since Tues 8/5/2007
• Educational - Alphabet Jungle, Bumblebee Series, Iqra'

Iman's Sense of Fashion and Colour

At age 2, Iman is already very particular about her dressing. To her, denim pants, which she refers to as jeans, are her uniform for school to be worn with her school t-shirt. Because of that she usually refused to wear jeans during the weekend when we were getting ready for outings. Denim skrits are ok for weekends but not denim pants! So, for weekends, I must offer her something else to wear, otherwise it would got her into foul mood.

Colour of T-shirts and sandals or shoes must be matching, otherwise that will also got her into those mood. She has to wear either yellow sandals (which match her yellow uniform) or blue sneakers (which will match her jeans) when she goes to school! If things are not matching, she will keep on saying "tak sama" like broken records! I have to qualify that these genes are coming from the father!!

I wonder how she will be when she is a teenager... Scary.....

The Saga of New Air-Con

Anybody reading my blog would probably be wondering why am I so hung-up over the air-con story. But this story need to be told for the sake of recording what happened and to share with everybody the miracle of "kalau memang your rezeki...barang yang hilang will still come back to you."

After the old air-con has been removed from the Master bedroom and moved to Iman's future room, the new purchased air-con finally was delivered on Friday 4th May. 3 Malay guys came to fix the air-con. Izani was at home to see that the work got done while I took Iman to see the Paediatrician. By the time I got home, the 3 guys were gone and Izani has cleaned up the mess. I'm so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband!! (side track sikit to show my appreciation).

On Monday nite 7th May, I wanted to take photo of Iman. Then only we realised that the faithful digital camera that had been with us since Iman was born to capture all those Kodak and non-Kodak moments is now missing. We search for it high and low... but the camera was no where to be found. Then we realised that it could have been taken during the air-con fixing day! 3 days has passed! Oh God!! It is gone! With sad sinking feeling we had to accept the fact that the camera is definitely gone! Stolen! Since that's the only time we had a stranger coming into our house, we couldn't help it but suspected that one of the air-con guys must be responsible for taking it.

Izani asked me for AD's (the sales girl we bought the air-con from) hp number. He said he just wanted to inform AD what happened. I was thinking to myself "what is the point of telling her... we can't prove it that one of those guys has taken the camera!" Anyway, Izani went on to tell her the news. By the time we went to bed that nite I've decided that we will have to buy a new camera before we go for our next school holiday trip. Duit lagi....

The next morning (Tues), while I was in a meeting, I got an sms from AD saying that the representative of the contractor company who sent those men to fix the air-con will be calling me. Then the rep did call me! Told her that I would have to call her back because I was in a meeting. Only got to call her back by 12:30 after my meeting was over. I knew she would be apologetic but I didn't expect her to say that she got the guy who took the camera to admit and she would be coming to my house that nite to return the camera! Imagine that?! I was still quite sceptical and didn't tell anybody about it yet other than Izani.

Just before Maghrib, Vivien (the rep) called me again and told me that she would be there by 8! We had our dinner, prayed Maghrib and just got ready to wait for these people. Vivien in the end didn't turn up but sent her technician (Chinese guy) who brought that Malay guy who took camera. The technician apologize profusely to Izani. The Malay guy passed the camera to Izani and apologized to both of us. He said his parents asked him to return the camera to us! Of course he has deleted all our photos from the memory card but it's ok... I had backed up all the photos to the computer during the public holiday (Wesak!). He used the camera to take photos of his bowling outing with his families and friends! But the battery kong out on him... so the camera was then useless to him without the charger! I deleted all the photos he had taken once I get to power on the camera! Izani didn't even want to see those pictures and asked me to just delete them.

I just couldn't believe it that we got the camera back! Alhamdulillah... That's what I meant by "if memang rezeki kita, barang yang hilang will still come back to us!" I offered my syukur to Allah for His blessing....

Iman's first trip to Zoo Negara

On 9th of Mac 2007, on the last day of school before the 1 week school holiday, Young Ambassadors had organized a trip to Zoo Negara for the kids. Their main objective was to celebrate the birthday for those whose birthdays were in Jan, Feb and Mar. Rather than celebrating it in school it was definitely cooler to celebrate @ the Zoo Negara.

The parents of 2 and 3 year-olds were requested to accompany the kids, so naturally, as a dedicated Mummy, I joined the fun of going with them.

It was a very exciting outing since it was Iman's first trip on the school bus!! I was rather excited myself sharing the excitement Iman was feeling.

Left pic: Iman with Nurin and Teacher Asnah's daughter in the bus on the way to Zoo Negara.





Right pic: Iman and Nurin on the train in Zoo Negara. On the bench behind was Faza, Afiq's mum.


Left pic: Iman and Nurin when they first arrived in Zoo Negara.

Right pic: Iman and Kalisa when they stopped for makan and while waiting for the performance of the parrots, monkey and seals.



Iman and her classmates - the 2 & 3 year-olds wearing yellow uniform.
L-R: Afiq, Nurin, Johan, Aiman, Iman and Kayla (next to Kayla is Yuni, Kayla's mum).

It was a very tiring trip for this old mummy... the humidity in the Zoo was getting unbearable. Lucky thing it was just a half day event. Mummy had to rush to the office for an afternoon meeting after Ayah came home to take keep Iman's company while working from home. The things Mummy and Ayah would do for our precious Iman.

It was a good end to the first term of the school year! Bravo to the teachers of Young Ambassadors for organizing the event. Looking forward to more events.....

Maulidur Rasul Event @ Young Ambassadors

Puan Yasmin of Young Ambassadors has suggested that both centres (Setiawangsa and Ampang) should get together and celebrate Maulidur Rasul on 31st March 2007. She has suggested that the event should be organized by the parents of the students of Young Ambassadors. A few parents from both centres were selected to be committee members, including your truly, Iman's very active and involved Mummy!!

A few of us got together to form the committee. From Setiawangsa were Faza (Afiq's mum), Yuni (Kayla's mum), Yang (sorry Yang, if u r reading this ... I can't remember your daughter's name coz she's not in Iman's class), Fazrina (Kalisa's mum) and me! While from Ampang were Fairuz & Su (they are husband and wife team), Aida and Ira.

We had a few meetings to discuss about the events. Fairuz and Su are the chairpersons of the committee, Faza and Aida took care of the food pot-luck, Ira took care of the party packs for the kids, Yang took care of the rental of tents and chairs and decorations, Fazrina took care of finding someone to give the talk, I took care of finding sponsors, Yuni took care of buying presents and decorations and plates and cups. Everybody did their part brilliantly! And we worked closely with each other. I'm glad that this committee got along famously and we made friends from this whole thing.

On 31 March 2007, the turn-ups were quite good! There were plenty of food. The talk was given by Dr. Wan Sabri from University Malaya (he happened to be Izani's old friend - small world!). There were nasyid performances done by both centres.

Her friends performing Ya Muhammad Nasyid. Iman had performance anxiety attack so couldn't join the the Nasyid - Ya Muhammad with the rest of her friends.











Iman queueing up waiting to perform... just before the performance anxiety attack. If the queueing up was not so long, I think she would have been able to perform the nasyid. Too bad.. Anyway, when we left the school that day, she told me that should couldn't sing because "Iman batuk..." That was her excuse for not performing. He..he.. he.. I just agreed with her. Told her, next time lah she can join.

Her principal, Puan Yasmin said that by end of the year when they have the concert she thinks Iman should be able to overcome her performance anxiety. I really hope so... for Iman's sake. But then again, when I first went to Seri Puteri in form 1, I had problems handling anxiety of being in a crowd that I couldn't go to the canteen when everybody are there. I had to wait until the crowd lessen before I can go to canteen. In fact I had to take medication to handle that anxiety. I hope Iman is not carrying that gene....Almost impossible, isn't it?

Iman watching the performance from the tent.

Iman's First Trip to Colmar Tropicale

We took Iman to Colmar for the first time to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. She was not very happy about the trip because she was looking forward to go back to Kota Bharu and didn't like the idea of us stopping anywhere in between. What can I say, Iman is really really a Kelantanese. She loves her cousins in Kelantan and very close to them even though we didn't get to meet them very often. She also loves all Kelantanese food, particularly laksam! She also loves Dikir Barat!!!

When we arrived in Colmar, she asked me, dah sampai Kelantan ke? We said esok baru balik Kelantan... tonite we'll spend the nite here first. She started to grumble. Oh gosh?! I was thinking... "it is going to be a long nite if this is how she feels." Luckily she was quite excited exploring the room which is in the attic of the building.

Iman with Ayah and Mummy in the Japanese Tea Garden just before it started to rain.

Iman at Rabbit Farm

Anak Tupai

Ado seko anok tupa (Ada seekor anak tupai)
Atah jula mokte (Atas dahan rambutan)
Kudong eko (Kudong ekor)
Pegruk lapa (Perut lapar)
Jale cagri make (Jalan cari makan...)

Ni lagu Dikir Barat by Halim Yazid - Iman's favourite Dikir Barat.

Dia dah pandai nyanyi sendiri.....

Iman @ Young Ambassadors

Iman is now attending an Islamic Integrated Playschool in Taman Setiawangsa called Young Ambassadors since Jan 2007.

She is in the age 2-3 Pre-Kindie group with 12 other kids in the age group. Some of her friends are: Nurin, Afiq, Nur Iman, Kayla, Ijlah, Aiman, Johan, Fairul, Kalisa, Arabela, Afifah.

In pix - Afiq (black pants) behind Iman, with Nurin (grey pants) and Afifah (blue jeans) and Aiman (red pants).

Her class teacher is Teacher Asnah and the maid who helps out is Sharmini. Iman likes Teacher Asnah and Sharmini very much!! Her school starts at 8:30 a.m. (but we rarely reach on time!) and ends by 12:30 noon. After 12:30 she stays on for the After Care with Teacher Ina and Sharmini will stay on too to help out. The After Care group is not very big... the ones that stay back for After Care are: Nurin, Afiq, Ijlah, Aiman, Irfan, Jasmin Amina and just 2 or 3 more.

The other teachers are: Teacher Mazni, Teacher Azah and Teacher Ira, while the Principal of the school is Puan Yasmin.

The school is very serious about giving good service that weekly reports have been sent to parents to share the students' progress.

One of the reports received from Teacher Asnah was : "She seems to be dreaming." I thot it is ok for her to dream for now....for I had to write my remarks to Teacher Asnah that I will do something about her dreaming habits. When I told Cik Minah (my dear teacher from Seri Puteri time about the comment on Iman's habit of dreaming, she told me that I should let Iman continue to dream....)

Alhamdulillah after 4 months in Young Ambassadors, Iman is now able to recite Al-Fatihah (with some guidance) and Al-Ikhlas (with minimal guidance). We make it a ritual to recite Al-Ikhlas together before she goes to sleep. My comments to everybody who commented about me sending Iman to school too soon: - I will not be able to accomplish what the teachers in Young Ambassadors have managed to teach Iman if I didn't send her there. I am so thankful that they are capable of doing that and they are so loving and warm to Iman.

Nak gi FRIM

On Monday evening when Izani went to pick up Iman, her first word to her father was "nak pegi FRIM". Izani at first didn't know what she meant but when he recalled the signboard posted by Young Ambassadors about the trip to FRIM for the 5 and 6 years old kids, he realised that Iman just told him that she wants to go to FRIM. So he just said to Iman "nanti cakap kat Mummy!" He thot as a Mummy I will be able to meet anything Iman wants?!

She was not quite herself that evening when she came back from school. She told me that "Iman muntah!". I put 2 and 2 together and asked her "did you cry in school today?" She said "Yes!" I know why she muntah... it is her body reaction whenever she cries...

When I sent her to school the next day, Teacher Mazni was told me about her vomiting incident in school the other day. She was concerned about it. She thot there is something wrong with Iman, that's why she vomitted. I explained to Teacher Mazni that Iman will always vomit whenever she cries.

Iman wanted to go to FRIM not because she knows what it is.... she was jealous because those older kids get to go in a school bus for the trip. I told her that Teacher Asnah will bring her class to Great Eastern Mall soon to visit the Pet Shop and the older kids can't go with them! ... She seemed pacified. Phew!!

To have or not to have

To be is not to be... that's what Shakespear said. Tapi in my case it is really to have or not to have.... What is it about?

I've been harrassed by so many parties about not giving a younger brother or sister to Iman. Everybody thot it is about time Iman has a companion. Little did everybody realised is that the deciding factor should be the person who is going to go thru 9 months of pregnancy and 18 years of bringing up this new child!!

When I raised that subject to my dear old friend, Rose a.k.a. Mummy, her answer to that is.... "this can only be decided by you..." Only I will know what I would have go thru during the pregnancy - my blood pressure will surely be high again! My feet will be all swollen, which is the least of the discomfort but due to that, I can't really be actively working. Otherwise my blood pressure will keep on going up. By the time I was in my third trimester with Iman, I was on maximum dosage of blood pressure medication! 12 tablets per day!! I was so worried that she might be affected with that much of drugs being pumped into my body on daily basis. So, the idea of that happening again with another pregnancy is not something that I'm looking forward to.

Of course the other issues to think of is the "not being able to get enough sleep" all over again after the baby is out of the tummy. The whole cycle of getting up to feed the baby every hour or every other hour, if I'm lucky, will start again. Argh?! Rasanya tak sanggup pulak. Especially now that Iman sleeps thru the nite on most days. And going for outings with Iman now is much easier...

Anyway, my dear friend Rose commented that I shouldn't be peer-pressured by this whole thing at my age. And as usual, she is right. I shouldn't but I am only human.... so I get affected every now and again with this sort of harrassment. I will have to learn to deal with it and not let it affects me. So... rasa-rasanya macam I dah made up my mind that I'm already too old to have a second child. He...he...he... At least for now that's how I feel.

Iman's Trip to her Paediatrician

Yesterday, 5th May 2007, Iman and I went to see her Paediatrician, Dr. Khairul Zaman @ Klinik Naluri for her follow up check-up. Iman had been coughing for quite sometime about a month back. I've been giving her bottle after bottle of cough medicine. The good thing is because she is so used to taking the cough medicine, she didn't really protested whenever she had to take them. After about 3 weeks of cough, I was advised by a Pharmacist to give her Ventolin Expectorant. According to the Pharmacist, just to strengthen back her lung. I was getting worried that Iman might gotten the asthma gene that I had carried with me and passed to her. I was really hoping and praying hard that somehow the gene didn't get passed to her among other things that I could be passing to her.

 

Anyway, after we finished the Ventolin Expectorant bought from the Pharmacy, I decided that maybe it is better for us to go get a second opinion from her Paediatrician. So, we went to see Dr. Khairul 2 weeks ago. He said that her lung seems to be clear but he wanted us to continue with the Ventolin for another 2 weeks. To top it up he also asked me to give Iman Claryteen. Somehow I am on both medication too... so looks like she has gotten the genes alright?! Oh well.... what can we do...  I guess I just have to face it. After another 2 weeks of Ventolin and Claryteen, Iman's cough is finally over. But since we should go for a follow-up check-up, we went to see Dr. Khairul again yesterday. He confirmed that her lung is clear but advised me to give her Ventolin the next time she cough. When he looked into her nose he found that Iman has rhenitis, which is causing her to have runny nose almost all the time. Apparently Rhenitis is an allergy to dusty particles. So, Iman is now on Rhenitis medication, which is a nose drop thing and also continue to be on Claryteen for another 2 weeks!!

 

And I just found out the eggs and strawberry and other berries and fish are something I should try to avoid feeding Iman other than all seafood. Kesian Iman... she has to be deprived of all the good food...

Testing blogging via email again

I've tried to email from my O2 but somehow the email didn't go thru. So testing sending email via my Yahoo acct again.

The Old Air-con From The Master Bedroom

Yesterday, while Iman was at school (yes, her school was opened eventhough we were all on Public Holiday coz they took Monday and Tuesday as their off days), we had the air-con man removed the old air-con from the master bedroom removed and fixed in the middle room, which we plan to convert it as Iman's room once she is old enough to sleep by herself in a separate room. We have already bought a new air-con set to be fixed in master bedroom tomorrow evening.

By the time Iman came back from school the clean-up activities have been done. She came back and was watching cartoon on Playhouse Disney Channel until about 7 pm! After taking shower (which was too long that her father was worried that she will get flu - which was the cause of the fight between her and the father), she never went into her future room, which is currently being used by Izani as his praying room and also study room.

This morning, just before we leave the house, Iman went into Izani's room and noticed the air-con! She frantically commented to me, "Mummy, air-con Mummy tu! Dah letak dalam bilik ayah! Bilik Mummy dah tak de air-con lagi!" Then she went to our master bedroom and showed the empty slot where the air-con used to be. How observant I thot! For a 2 years 4 months old to noticed and be able to acknowledge that!

I told her that we have already bought a new air-con and it will be fixed tomorrow. Barulah dia calm down. We was worried that we have no more air-con! Ha..ha...ha...

Anyway, I thot it was kind of surprising that she is so observant! I am glad that she is!

The Many Faces of Iman

Pictoral journal of Iman - Pictures courtesy of Aimy Fazida of Flipside Images (Iman's Alang).