Kambu

Iman has introduced a new word to our family! One day when Iman saw Mummy hasn't taken bath after work, Iman said "Mummy ni Kambu lah.." Apparently that's a cross between Kambing and Lembu because both animals don't like to take bath! So, nowadays, whenever anyone of us in the family has not taken our bath, that person will be referred as Kambu! It proves to be a very nice personal joke in our family and somehow all of us will be Kambu at one point or another. Iman is usually the one that take bath the earliest in the evening, so she is rarely a Kambu!

Iman and her new Shrek Book

We just bought a new Shrek book for Iman from Popular Bookstore in Ampang Point last Saturday. She was so excited about the book! Everyday Mummy would have to read a few rounds of the same story to Iman and every now and then Mummy will just omit some words in the story and Iman would just filled in those words because basically Iman has already memorised the whole story. In fact sometimes Iman will start "reading" (= telling) the story herself. Her favourite term - by myself which means she's doing it herself.

What facinated Mummy was that Iman needs to hear the word once and those word will be memorised! That's how the child's mind works, I supposed! They are really like sponge! Absorbing anything and everything that we have to be very careful sometimes not to use certain words in front of her.

Iman's Concert

Iman's school concert and graduation was planned for 25 November 2007 at Kelab Darul Ehsan. Her class was supposed to present a Dikir Barat and Iman has been practising hard during the school hours. Mummy and Ayah were looking forward to see Iman perform that day. We were quite worried that she might get performance anxiety when the time comes... the way she was during the Maulidur Rasul the other day. Iman was having some sniffles a few days back and also on Saturday 24th Nov that Mummy was quite worried that Iman wouldn't be well enough to go to the concert, let alone perform at the concern. So, Mummy was really trying to medicate Iman to be well enough on Sunday 25th Nov.

Alhamdulillah Iman seemed well enough by Sunday. Since the concert was at 3 pm Mummy thought Iman should take a nap latest by 12:30 noon. Unfortunately Iman was really really excited about the concert and also she just got her colouring book we bought from Ampang Point on Saturday, so she didn't want to take a nap at all. Mummy was rather worried that she would be sleepy by the time we drove to KDE. Mummy kept telling Iman not to sleep while in the car and she just laughed because she knew she's not going to sleep... she was just too excited and looking forward to the concert.

We arrived in KDE about 2:30 p.m. Registered ourselves and sent Iman to the is0lated room so that she can with her friends before the concert start. Usually if the kids are with their parents, they would lose their cools and probably decided not to join the performance. So, we didn't want Iman to start getting cold feet so Mummy quickly 'disposed' Iman off to her teachers!

Iman and her classmates was the 4th to perform. It was so funny to see how the small kids came on the stage. Very cute ! Mummy's heart was so proud when Mummy watched Iman perform that day!

Iman is off the pampers!!

It has been less than a month the teachers in Young Ambassadors started to toilet train Iman and she is off her pampers with no 'accidents' at all for the last one week! If it was up to Mummy, Iman would be having her pampers on till she's about five, I think! Somehow Mummy just didn't know how to toilet train Iman and when to do it. Luckily the teachers in YA decided to take things into their hands and started the toilet training themselves. Mummy was the one who get to learn how to carry on the training at home. It was great to see how Iman has more control over her bladder and managed to not get into 'accidents' anymore. The first two weeks she was off the pampers there were quite a number of accidents where it really got Mummy and Ayah mad with Iman! Iman was scolded and her bum beaten up quite a few times everytime we had the 'accidents'. Somehow it was really taxing on both Mummy and Ayah having to clean-up after the 'accidents' that we thought it was definitely easier on us to have Iman on pampers. Lucky thing Teacher Yasmin taught Mummy how to continue the toilet training at home that now we had no more such 'accidents'. In fact eventhough we put on the pampers for her and get her to 'she-she' before before Iman goes to bed, we noticed that Iman will not wet her pampers at all. She will only 'she-she' in the toilet when she is up! Mummy's baby is a big girl now!!

Iman went to see Disney Live!

10 November 2007

Mummy was so excited about us going to watch Disney Live! as it was Mummy's and Ayah's first time too watching all those Disney characters live! When we were going to Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil, Mummy didn't really explain to Iman what we were going to see. Mummy didn't want to get Iman too excited. When we reach the Stadium Putra, Ayah told Mummy not to linger in the lobby otherwise we would ended up having to buy all the merchandise being sold. So we quickly walked to the inside.

We got quite good seats! We were the first row above the VIP seats so we got better view of the stage. Iman was rather excited to see the stage with Mickey's ears! When she heard Goofy's voice before the curtain was raised, her eyes lighted up! She recognized the voice and was wondering how come she was hearing Goofy's voice there! When the curtains was raised and Mickey, Minnie and Donald came out, Iman's eyes almost popped out! It was a pity we couldn't bring in a camera. Not so much to take pictures of the performance but to capture Iman's expression and excitement everytime she saw each act by those characters. She was really really excited and happy to watch the show.

One of the funny moments was that when the host who was also an illustionist was teaching everybody the rules of the show. He told everybody that whenever he asked for the magic word, everybody must say "Ab·ra·ca·dab·ra!". It really confused Iman coz as far as she is concerned the magic word that I thought her was "Please...". So everytime the host asked everybody what's the magic word and when everybody said "Ab·ra·ca·dab·ra!", she has a puzzled look on her face. It was funny to see that but I didn't want to confuse her further by trying to explain during the show, so I just let her watch the show.

It was a great show! All the princesses were there too. Snow White was there! Cinderella was there too... first in her shabby clothes and when the fairy Godmother appeared, she changed Cinderella's dress to a beautiful white gown! Iman was smilling and so happy to see all that! Then Jasmine appeared, but to Iman's disappointment, Alladin was not there! Luckily Magic Carpet was there too! Ariel was dancing on the stage. Mummy had great fun watching the show and Iman's expressions. It was really worth it!

Until today whenever the advertisement of the Disney Magic Show was shown on Astro, Iman would be so excited! She kept saying "Iman dah pegi tengok Disney Magic Show with Mummy and Ayah! Hurray!!" Mummy was glad Mummy decided to bring Iman to watch the show. It was definitely a good decision. Mummy is sure Iman has good memories of that show too.

Kuching Trip - Day 4

8 November 2007

It was Deepavali Holiday in Semenanjung but a normal working day in Sarawak! We were leaving Kuching that day. Had a very lazy morning because we didn't plan to do anymore sightseeing before we finally go to the airport to catch our flight. We booked a taxi at 10:30 a.m. but Iman just couldn't wait to go home that she was bugging us to leave the room by about 9:30 a.m. We had quite a task trying to get her to watch tv for a while just to kill time. All our stuff have been packed including her portable DVD player, so it was difficult trying to get her to watch tv rather than her own favourite cartoon. She wanted us to just leave and go!

We finally went to the lobby by 10:00 a.m. Settled the bills and had to wait for a while before the taxi came to fetch us.

Our pictures at the airport:



We bought Xpressboarding passes we found out that the plane was almost full. We didn't want to have to fight for our seats with so many people. Somehow we were among the other 3 more people who bought Xpressboarding passes. While waiting to board the plane we met Cik Han , Iman's Aunty, who just arrived from KL.

We were the first ones to board the flight and Ayah chose the first row! The feet space was definitely great but the arm rests couldn't be moved. Therefore Iman had to sleep on either one of us, rather than across the three seats as what we would do if we were seating on other rows. So, moral of the story, don't need to take up Xpressboarding next time to go for the first row if you are travelling with a kid! Might as well save the money for the snacks in the plane. He..he..he...

Some pictures taken in the flight from Kuching back to KL.



We landed 20 minutes earlier than schedule. That was great! Everything moved fast. Managed to collect our luggage and get the brochure for our taxi while waiting for the luggage. We left LCCT at about 3:50 p.m. Iman wasn't very cheerful during our ride in the taxi. Somehow when she said she 'sakit perut', Mummy knew that Mummy had to look for a plastic bag! Didn't know what actually was wrong with Iman, by the time we just passed UPM, Iman threw up, not quite into the plastic bag! Some actually dripped onto her Froggie and mostly on Iman's t-shirt. Luckily we were passing BHP, so we told the taxi driver to stop for a while. Cleaned her up and changed her. We finally reached our home by about 5:00 p.m. That's the end of the holiday. It was great to reach home.

Kuching Trip - Day 3

7 November 2007.

Another leisure day. We walked about on the beach and decided to head for Kids' Village at the far end of the beach. The hotel has a very well equipped place with loads of toys and activities to fill up children's time even when it rains!

Iman happened to be the only kid that day! So she had the place to herself! And the caretaker of the place to herself too! The lady spent her time to entertain Iman by playing blocks with her among other things. It was great because Ayah got an urgent matter to handle and had to go back to our room to do his work. Mummy suddenly got a call from the office, so Mummy could take up the call coz the caretaker was entertaining Iman! She thought Iman was quite bright to be able to identify colours correctly at her age! Not even 3! Mummy was so proud!!

We went back to the room after spending some time at the Kids' Village. Ayah was busy with his work then had to go to the Business Centre to send some emails. Iman and Mummy spent lazy time in the room. Iman watching her cartoon CDs and Mummy watching the hotel tv! We then had our buffet lunch at the hotel's cafe aje. After lunch we went back to the hotel for a short siesta! Tidolah.. what else.. after a heavy lunch!

That evening we decided to give the Clifftop a try. Clifftop is a restaurant located at the Hilltop area of the Holiday Inn Damai Beach. It was quite a climb up, but it was definitely worth it! The scenery was so beautiful and the swimminjavascript:void(0)
Publish Postg pool there was deserted!



We had the whole area to ourselves! Ayah had not been swimming for quite sometime, wanted to, but did wear his swimming trunk! Mummy asked Iman to wear her swimming suit but she didn't want to. Now nobody has the swimming attire on. But the swimming pool was so inviting. Mummy told Ayah to remove his t-shirt and just swim with his shorts. Not a bad idea, Ayah thot and off the t-shirt went! Mummy told Iman to do the same, remove her t-shirt and swim with her pants but Iman didn't want to get her pants wet. So we came to the most radical decision! Iman will swim naked! So, there she was swimming in the nude with Ayah (who had his shorts on!).

Kuching Trip - Day 2

6 November 2007.

Our second day. Woke up late. We had our breakfast leisurely and decided to go to Kuching town today following the hotel's shuttle van. We took the 11:10 a.m. shuttle. The ride to town was quite bumpy! Mummy and Ayah were both so worried that Iman will throw up due to the bumpy ride. There was no plastic bag or air-sickness bag in Mummy's handbag, so Mummy had to put a napkin ready in front of Iman's face. It was great to see Iman falling asleep on Ayah's shoulder. At least we knew that Iman won't be throwing up.

When we reached Kuching city, Iman was in deep sleep, so Ayah just continue to carry Iman on his shoulder. Mummy was worrried that Ayah would be tired, so Mummy suggested that we put Imna to lie down on the bench in the gazebo by the riverside at the Waterfront. Iman continued to sleep on the bench! That is definitely Mummy's gene! Mummy can sleep anywhere in any condition! Even in a disco! Mummy had done that before in Mummy's younger days. Iman is like that too! Ha..ha..ha...

Ayah had a few calls to make and a few messages to send, so Mummy took the time to take some photos while waiting for them to do their own things - Iman still sleeping and Ayah still busy with work. The camera was acting up! Mummy couldn't really get nice pictures as usual. Somehow the camera needs to be serviced soon. Meanwhile we had to just make do with the quality of the pictures that Mummy could get.

Some pictures of us at the Waterfront.



After Iman got up we walked along the Waterfront, went to a Bazaar to buy some fridge magnets and tried to find a place to eat. We finally ate at one of the small stalls that were opened for lunch at the Waterfront itself.

That's the end of the Kuching city tour. Somehow there's nothing much that would interest Iman and it looked like it was going to rain, so we decided to go back to hotel and rest. By 2:15 we caught the next shuttle back to the hotel.

Here's some photos of the Gunung Santubong that Mummy managed to capture during our journey in the shuttle van.

We decided to give Iman the beach experience. It was great! Iman had a nice time at the beach. Other than "mandi laut" Iman got to build a sandcastle with Ayah.

Here's some photos of the beach experience.

Trip to Kuching - Day 1

5 November 2007.

The trip was booked a few months back when AirAsia offered free tickets to anywhere in Malaysia. Mummy thought since we are trying to get free tickets, we might as well go as far as we can on that free tickets. Mummy have been to Kuching before and kinda like the city, so Mummy tried to get the free tickets for Kuching and Mummy actually got it!! Mummy ended up paying RM130 per person for both ways - that's for the Admin Fee and the Airport tax and Fuel tax or something like that. Anyway, it was worth it! For a 2-way flight that's going to take about 1 hr and 45 mins!

By the last week of October, both Mummy and Ayah were getting quite worried because we were quite busy and somehow no longer looking forward to the holiday in Kuching. But since the flight tickets were paid for, the hotel has been booked and too late to cancel, otherwise Mummy would have to forfeit my Legend eligibility, so we decided to just go ahead and have the holiday!

We flew off from LCCT on 5th Nov and the flight was on time! Thank God! Mummy bought for Iman AirAsia t-shirt that Iman wanted to put on right away and AirAsia luggage tag that Mummy fixed to Mummy's handbag's handle.

We were met up by Salmah Jobeli, Mummy's old friend from SSP days, at the airport. She actually came out of her office to fetch us from the airport and send us all the way to Holiday Inn Damai Beach!

Photos of Iman (wearing the red AirAsia t-shirt outside her own t-shirt) and Mummy with Aunty Sal when we arrived at Holiday Inn Damai Beach.



We checked in and had lunch (tapau from a restaurant where Sal stopped to let us buy our lunch - we initially wanted to treat Sal to lunch in the airport but Sal already ate and she needed to go back to the office after sending us to the hotel) in our room.

Some pictures of the hotel room.



After eating our lunch and had our rest, we start our sight-seeing of the hotel's surrounding and the beach.

Pictures of the scenery around the hotel and the beach.



We had to run from the hotel lobby to our room, in the drizzling rain because we didn't want to get stuck at the lobby. All of us took our bath, ordered room service and had our early dinner. Mummy had a splitting headache, took an Actifast and dozed off before 9 pm!! Lucky thing Ayah took care of Iman. Apparently both Ayah and Iman were fast asleep by 9 pm too!

Iman's Best Friend

Tuesday 30 October 2007.

This day is a very memorable day for Mummy! After coming back from a very tiring day attending a training and 2 meetings, Mummy was accompanying Iman watching cartoon on PHDC - channel 613. It was Make Way for Noddy on tv! Tessy Bear said to Noddy "Oh Noddy! Thank you so much! You are my best friend!". Iman was smiling when she watched that. So, Mummy asked Iman "who is your best friend, Iman?" Without hesitating Iman replied, "My best friend is Nurin ... and you, Mummy! You are my best friend!"

Tears came to Mummy's eyes and Mummy could feel my heart was growing in my chest like it was going to explode! It was definitely what Mummy has always wanted in my little girl - to be her best friend! Mummy just couldn't believe it! It was so great to be thought that way by your daughter, eventhough she's not even 3 years old! Mummy had mixed feeling then when Mummy remember watching the shows "Who rules the roost" on TV and "Parenting for Dummy" where they are saying that a parent shouldn't aim to be the child's best friend or even friend! He or she will have his or her own friends her age! A parent should just be a parent! Oh well...

For now I would just enjoy the feeling of being regarded as Iman's best friend. Mummy want Iman to always feel free to come and talk to Mummy about anything and everything and anytime... Mummy hope Iman will continue to feel that way about Mummy - as one of her best friends.

Mummy don't think Mummy knows what best friends means when Mummy was 3 or 4 or even 5 years old. But then again... Mummy didn't go to playschool or kindergarten! Mummy only know the meaning of best friend when Mummy started school at the age of 7! Mummy hope Iman will cherish all the exposures Iman has for years and years to come and learn to appreciate the things that Mummy and Ayah are providing to Iman so that Iman will be a great and intelligent and kind and nice and friendly and many many more type of person.