Thursday, October 25, 2007

That Red Spots

Aliff confirm kena chicken pox semalam...

I thought I'm mentally ready for this..but when the reality sinks in....arghhhh!!!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

In my other window

Alhamdulillah, Ashraff is recovering tremendously from his chicken pox. Except for that one big scar on his nose, which I doubt will fade anytime soon, the rest of the spots are diminishing. By the way, that scar on the nose is resulted from hasil korekan padu oleh Ashraff ketika pox tersebut masih belum kering menyebabkan ia berdarah dan kemudiannya berlubang...Urgh! When we showed him the scar on the mirror, he was scared to death to scratch another spot. Dia akan tahan je gatal, selagi terdaya. Thank God, doktor ada bagi ubat tahan gatal, which really does help. But, as a mother, I really hope the scar will fade. Kalau tak, kurang hensemlah anak I...hehe.

As for Aliff, so far no sign of chicken pox, which is good. However, he still has phlegm and cough quite often...and have a restless night. Kept on waking and crying almost every hour. Maybe due to teething coz I can see him poking his finger in the mouth..and saliva keeps on drooling. As for his development, I shall update in my next posting...with photos somemore...

Oh now, as per my post's title today, I just want to inform you that CMOG has received orders from the fan club of one Akademi Fantasia's winner. I'm not a huge fan of AF, but receiving order from a public figure is indeed a priviledge for us. Do u want to know who I'm talking about? Pls check it out here!

Lesson for Ashraff...

I've posted this in my earlier posting, but I think I should make it a stand-alone post just for my record purposes. So, here's is it...cut and paste from my earlier post...

"Ashraff saw Ultraman Nexus's figurine at one of houses we visited on the way back to KL and he wants to own one too (For our record, the date is 17/10/2007). We immediately made a deal with him that if he can sleep on his own without us patting him on his buttock, we will give him RM1 each time it happens. So far, he has RM4 in his pocket...hehehe (date of our last post : 19/10/2007). We'll let him count the money so he appreciates it. Teach him the value of money. Our plan is as the money reaches RM20, we'll buy him the Ultraman Nexus (altho that Ultraman thingy is more expensive than RM20)...or anything that his heart desires at that time. I hope that this reward-based strategy works well. It's about time he learns to sleep on his own. Come on lah, he's already 3 years old..."

Well, if you have been reading my entries since the last era, you should have known that Ashraff has problem dozing off without any assistance. When he was baby, we had to resort using the pacifier to make him sleep, although we dislike very much the idea of using a dummy. Even with pacifier, we had to carry and rock him to sleep. He didn't know how to lie down, that's the problem. Instead he chose to cry and cry while walking about if he's tired and sleepy. We tried to force him to lie down, so he could sleep, but lagi kuat pakcik tu menjerit! We were left with no choice, but to carry and rock him to sleep. We had to do that till he's about 1 1/2 yo. Imagine a besar panjang toddler being carried and rocked to sleep...imagine how sakit my belakang is...

Then after that, a pat on the buttock with a pacifier on, makes him sleep. That lasted until he's 2 1/2 yo, where he finally decided to wean from pacifier. Alhamdulillah...it was an easy weaning process, but we had to continue patting on the buttock until he falls in deep slumber. Sometimes we patted for 10 minutes, sometimes 20 minutes...sometimes dah nak kat 1 jam pun ada...Imagine how lenguh our tangan was...

Now, he's another step of 'weaning'. Weaning from patting or 'kopok' (as the way Ashraff likes to put it). Alhamdulillah, despite the difficulty in raising Ashraff, Allah makes it easier for us to teach him how to throw away the old and"not so nice" habit. He has been cooperating with us, all the time, from that old carry-and-rock stage, till throw-away-the-pacifier stage, and now patting-the-buttock stage.

Actually we did not plan on what method to use. It all came out of a sudden. Just out of no where, suddenly me or hubby will throw the idea to Ashraff and he will buy it. Like when we wean him from pacifier, all we need to say is "puting ada ulat warna black" and he refused it immediately much to our suprise.

Same goes with this latest idea of buying the Nexus. Hubby had enough of "kopok"ing when he suddenly said "Ashraff, kalau Ashraff tidur tak payah kopok, Ayah beli Ashraff Ultraman Nexus macam kat rumah yg kita pergi tadi." And I added," Macam nilah, Ibu bagi Ashraff RM1 bila Ashraff tidur tak payah kopok. Bila dah banyak-banyak, kita beli Ultraman Nexus." Ashraff was excited and said "Beli Ultraman Nexus macam kat rumah tadi ke?". We both answered "Ya!" and I sempat winked kat Hubby. And he immediately dozed off to sleep. Boleh pulak. Now we realised how mengada this little lad is...

Alhamdulillah, from there on, dah tak berkopok lagi dah Ashraff. He can finally sleep on his own, after 3 years. It makes our life much easier...We can just sleep first if we want too. But what saddens me is that he refused to let me lie on his side sebelum tidur. He will "halau" me away. So unlike before, where he needs me or Hubby to be beside him to pat him before he sleeps. I know I shall miss the days where I lie, hold, cuddle and pat him to sleep, no matter how tiring it is. I will have to accept the fact that my boy has grown up...and soon another step to follow which is letting him sleep in his own room.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Hari Raya with a difference

Back in the office yesterday and have been blog hopping almost the whole day. Hehehe..still in Raya mood maaa...Well, almost all the blogs I visited, it's either there is no new update as yet or there is new entry talking about Raya, with lovely Raya's pix. So I want to join the bandwagon and talk about Raya too. Hehe.


For those who have received my Raya-wish sms, you have heard the news about Ashraff. Yes, he was diagnosed with chicken pox last Tuesday, 3 days before Raya. Prior to that, we have been going back and forth to clinic for his continuous blocked nose and cough's medication. That has been going on for two weeks, before the pox actually surfaced. We were suprised at first coz from what we heard and experienced, usually chicken pox started of with high fever. Ashraff did not have fever at all...

Ashraff's Raya Look

If you are wondering whether we have taken chicken pox vaccination for Ashraff before, the answer is NO. Even a compulsory 1-year old jab, we took it when he was almost two. So what more with "jap sunat" macam chicken pox tu. I know, Ibu and Ayah are just a bunch of forgetful procrastinators.

Then in between taking care of Ashraff, Aliff also suffered a runny nose, but just a minor one. Off and on. With medication it stops, and then it started again. And moi, I guess, due to lack of sleep, was also down with flu two days before Raya. And am still coughing till today.

With the pox's virus circulating in the house, we had to seperate Ashraff and Aliff. Ashraff was quarantined in his TV room downstairs with Mak in-charge. While Aliff was upstairs with Bibik. It's not the easiest thing to do coz by noon, both boys have been missing each other badly. Aliff will crawl to where the TV room is, macam tau-tau je Abang dia ada kat dalam tu. And Ashraff, the moment he heard Aliff's voice outside the room, he will open the door and say"Jomlah masuk."

Back in Pontian, it's even harder to seperate them. There is no upstairs and downstairs in Pontian. Semuanya satu level je. There is only one tempat berkumpul in the house, which is kat bahagian belakang. So takkanlah I nak duduk kat bahagian depan rumah with Ashraff, while the rest of the family is at the back, chit-chatting away. Plus, it breaks my heart to see the boys missing each other. So I just langgar je pantang larang, and let them play together as usual, praying that Aliff won't catches the pox while preparing mentally should Aliff terkena jugak serangannya.


Alhamdulillah, the pox isn't that bad. Probably because we do not let Ashraff minum air kelapa. Orang cakap kalau minum air kelapa, keluar semua. We refused to do so because some advises us that air kelapa can cause brochitis or asthma knowing the fact that Ashraff has a bad cough at that time.

Ashraff also is still in his usual active mode. Kalau orang tak nampak muka dia bercapuk, pasti orang tak tahu yang dia kena chicken pox. Although at times, he is a bit cranky due to lack of sleep. Not so much because of the pox, but more of the coughing. He coughed badly at night and vomitted few times. On 2nd day of Raya, he coughed continuously sampai dah tak sanggup nak dengar. So on 3rd day of Raya, we brought him to the paeditrician, and he was put on nebuliser immediately. He lost quite a weight...

We thought at first there will be no Raya for us this year due to the sickness. But hey, beraya jugak rupanya. Except for no Muar, Kulai or Pasir Gudang trip, our Raya went on as usual. We still had our customary photo taking session in the morning, before heading to JB to visit my parents.

It's Aliff's first Raya!

At my Tok Mak's house in JB - Ashraff & Aliff impressed by the flying helicopter.

We visited nearby relatives' houses, but Ashraff has to be left at home with Bibik. We had to warn every guest who came to our house, especially those with children that our little boy has chicken pox. And we had to educate Ashraff not to get near to other children because of his pox. He seemed to be cooperating. I've also overheard him saying to the one of the guests that he has chicken pox. The only time Ashraff visited relatives' houses is on the way back to KL.

Hubby with his mother and siblings.

Alhamdulillah, on the fourth day of Raya, selamatlah sudah kenduri aqiqah untuk Ashraff. We did it at Pontian with the help of Mak Pontian. Meriah sungguh. And the kambing, according to Hubby, is super-delicious. Sorry folks, I don't take mutton..hehe. So now, another two kambing for Aliff pulak, which we plan to do it Raya Haji nanti, insyaAllah. Tak jadi nak buat masa birthday nanti.

Hubby and adiknya, enjoying the mutton dish.

Ashraff is not feeling well on the kenduri day, but he still makes an effort to smile.

Oh, Ashraff saw Ultraman Nexus's figurine at one of houses we visited on the way back to KL and he wants to own one too. We immediately made a deal with him that if he can sleep on his own without us patting him on his buttock, we will give him RM1 each time it happens. So far, he has RM4 in his pocket...hehehe. We'll let him count the money so he appreciates it. Teach him the value of money. Our plan is as the money reaches RM20, we'll buy him the Ultraman Nexus (altho that Ultraman thingy is more expensive than RM20)...or anything that his heart desires at that time. I hope that this reward-based strategy works well. It's about time he learns to sleep on his own. Come on lah, he's already 3 years old...

I guess, that's our Raya story this year. How about yours?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Siblings are meant to be together...

...Through good times...



...And bad times...




Internet connection is soooo slow these days! Sampai berhari-hari tertangguh nak post this entry...So ala-ala entry dah basilah ni...

Oh well, after days of having iftar at home, finally we had our buka puasa outside the house for a change...for three consecutive days.

On Friday night, hubby and I (with Aliff tagging along) had our iftar together with the rest of Hubby’s "kawan-kawan kapal" at Tupai2. This is our second time buka puasaing there. Our first was 2 years ago. But have to say the atmosphere and the foods are still the same. An extensive selection of foods with quite an affordable price. Too bad I can’t enjoy the food that much with Aliff “attached” to me almost all the time. He has developed somewhat a serious separation anxiety. He will play only if I’m around. But once I’m out of his sight, he’ll cry like there’s no tomorrow. Even Ayah could not come to the rescue. No photo taken. Bawak camera, tapi tak sempat nak ambik gambar. But I have to tell you, the foods are super-delicious. We were thinking of dining-in at the restaurant during the non-puasa period. Orang cakap the speciality there are the asam pedas and thriffle. Yummy!

On Saturday night, our good buddies, Sheila and Atan invited us for a buka puasa at their house. It was a potluck arrangement so foods are a bundle. The couple together with Nissa & Shahnaz are me and hubby’s uni mates (kitaorang ni kawin sesame budak U jugak..hehe). It was quite a gathering for us, after a long time. Yelah masing-masing busy with work and family.


Now each couple has two kids each. Cuma the combination is different. Like Sheila, she has two girls, me have two boys, while Nissa has a pair. During the short gathering, we plan to actually go on a holiday together. Still deciding on the right time and place. Should be fun kan…Now our kids are also best buddies…



Kaum Ayah jaga yang sulung…Kaum ibu jaga yang no 2…


Then, on Sunday night, we had our iftar at Izreen’s residence to celebrate her daughter’s (Nadya) first birthday bash. Time flies really fast. It seems like yesterday when I visited Izreen during her confinement. Now 12 months have past…Cepatnya!

I had the priviledge to deliver Nadya’s party favors…


And I come out with something different for Nadya’s pressie. Actually, I really don’t know what to give her. Wanted to shop for nice baju kurungs or hari raya dress, but I found out that I’m poor with the girls’ department. Maybe after having two boys, I’ve lost touch with the latest trends in girls’ fashion…hahaha…So, I comeout with something called the Survival Kit.


Inside, there are few ordinary items that I can think of that are suitable for someone who is no longer a baby. Oklah, let’s share ok…

Ada four items altogether…and I put a tag at all the four items…

1 – Times Bookshop Gift Voucher – “for lots of books so Nadya could learn and get ready for school”.

2 - Toys R Us Gift voucher – "for lots of toys so Nadya could play".

3 – A washable crayon so Nadya could scribble everywhere.

4 – A Barney CD – “for in-house entertainment so Nadya could sit at one spot at least longer than the usual”.


I wanted to make a personalized T-shirt but seriously tak sempat. Sorry Nadya, nothing special coz Aunty Rafiqah is extremely busy the last few weeks…

So, this shall be our last week of puasa. I hope it's not too late for me to wish all my fellow blogger’s friends, Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir Batin sekiranya ada terkasar bahasa ketika blogging, ataupun ketika meninggalkan komen di blog anda. For those who travel back to kampung this festive season, please drive carefully. Here I leave you with some of our lampu likur photos…kitaorang dah pasang lampu ni since last week. Thanks to Hubby for lighten up my Raya mood!



Tuan tanah dan cucunya

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

RaYa SpIrIt

When you seldom blog, you will end up with mental block…and your writing skill will go rusty (macamlah ada skill sangatkan..).

I think I’m going through this phase currently.

But we can't let this situation prolongs right? So I better start writing before I lost touch with blogging completely.

Emm..what should I talk about? My life seems to evolve around the same thing everyday, with quite the same schedule. Cam orang yang sedang dilanda keboringan je kan? And I don't take interesting photos of the boys lately. Our camera are full of CMOG's accomplished projects, which I'm yet to make a posting in the other window. I think I should carry the camera around more often so I could snap those "Kodak" moments..especially when the two boys play together. It's lovely sight (as opposed to fighting).

Well, fasting so far masih penuh, alhamdulillah. I expect a full month puasa this year. Still haven’t got my menses after Aliff’s birth. I think I've gotten it as soon as I returned to work after confinement. But hell, no. It’s not menses. It just shows up one month, and never again the following month. Some suggested I go for a check-up..and some suggested I pergi mengurut since it’s almost one year. Tengoklah macamana. It might be due to breastfeeding. But then again, it’s no harm if I want to go for a check-up.

Now on Raya. It's going to be my fifth Raya with hubby. I still remember our first Raya together on how we make a pact to celebrate every Raya's eve at MIL's house in Pontian. Not that Hubby is being unfair or something, but that's just the way it has to be. My parents will go back to my grandma's house in JB, which is full of other 30 other unmarried cucus (I'm the first cucu), who have no choice but to spend their nights at JB house. Thus, there is no room for the married cucu like me to overnight there. Atok Mak pulak tu disallowed us to tidur kat luar..with us being newly married and what not. Thus, we then decided that we shall overnight at Mak Pontian's house. And the very next morning, we shall shoot to JB to pay Mak Abah a visit. I don't mind at all since I love to stay at Pontian anyway. Lovely kampung environment. After all, I see Mak Abah everyday, but Mak Pontian, hardly. So, basically that's how it goes every year.

Our first Raya, it's just the two of us. We were almost 11 months married then. Every time we met people, they'll ask..Dah mengandung ke belum? Pressurenye lah. Not like we didn't try. Actually, I was pregnant at that time, but I didn't know. Until after Raya, we found out the great news. As for Raya photos, I thought I have no digital image of our first Raya together, but as I did some housekeeping of all my PC folders, I found one, courtesy of my cousin. We don't have digital camera back then. Theme colour for the year was greyish blue. And I still remember I baked like 3 Raya cookies that year. I don't like cooking, but I love baking. Baking cookies, to be specific.

Then came our second Raya. We've got a new family addition i.e. Ashraff. He was almost 4 months old. Already an active young lad. I thought he was still too small to wear baju melayu, but atok-atok dia bersemangat. He got two baju melayus at that time, from both side of the family. Theme colour - pink. Hubby nak tak nak kena agree with that colour...hehehe. I didn't bake any cookies that year coz I really didn't have time. Ashraff was a handful with his evening colic..and I didn't have a helper. Since we've lost all our digital images when Ashraff was younger, here's the only photo that we have. Nasib baik I upload it in my frienster.

Gelapnya Ashraff masa tu...hehehe. He was born dark..like really dark, dengan bibir yang lebam ala-ala heavy smoker. Nasib baik sekarang ni tidaklah segelap dulu...

Third raya, the theme colour was brown. Hubby was being extra generous that year. We spent the eve of Raya in JB..and only went back to Pontian at around 12 midnight. Ashraff was like 1 yo 3 mo then. He's full of antics. Being the first and only cicit, he seemed to be in the centre of attention. And dia pulak, having that "celebrity personality", akan buat je apa orang suruh buat. Kalau orang suruh nyanyi, dia nyanyi. Orang suruh senyum, dia akan senyum. I baked 3 raya cookies that year, but too bad, semuanya tak menjadi. Entah kenapa. That year I would say is one of those rare moments when I actually put on weight. Lots of them. Semua orang ingat I was preggy again. Bengang je...I still remember my plan to go on a diet binge that year...

The night at TokMak's house in JB


Di zaman kegemukanku suatu masa dulu...

Came fourth Raya, I was even more bloated! I was heavily pregnant with Aliff back then. I'm due on the second week of Raya. We were contemplating on whether to go back to Johor or not. But, we took the risk and went back. In fact, that year we went all the way to Mersing for "adat merisik" for my BIL. Nasib baik tak terberanak kat Mersing! I guess, so far, this is the only Raya where I wore gown instead of baju kurung. I didn't make any cookies this year. Kepenatan. Our theme colour was dark blue. Ashraff was 2 yo 2 mo then. He seemed to enjoy Raya so much this time. He followed Mak Su Siti (Hubby's sister) around kampung to deliver juadah Raya. That's the best thing when you have a "real" kampung to celebrate Raya. Meriah sangat! And if I'm not mistaken, that's the first year I got to celebrate Raya with my BIL who is an army and was forced to work during Raya. He managed to secure a Raya leave that year.

On the 10th of Syawal, Aliff was born. A lot of people insisted us to give "Raya name" to Aliff...like Fitri or Aidil or Syawal. Sorry folks, Fitri is taken. That's his father's name. Syawal is way out of list. Aidil? Not bad. I was thinking of improvising the spelling to maybe..errr..Aidiel? But Hubby don't quite like that name, plus, we've decided on Aliff long time ago. Now that I think of it, I've never actually blog about this Raya. I went straight for my maternity leave after Raya holiday, leaving me with no internet access to blog.



This year...hmmm...unlike the past years, I don't quite plan well for this year's Raya. I guess we are too busy planning for the holiday trip we had earlier and A&A's party, till we 'overlook' Raya altogether. No new baju Melayu for both hubby and Ashraff. They are going to wear the same baju they wore for BIL's wedding, which makes our theme color for the year Red. I haven't really try the baju on Ashraff yet to see whether it still fit. Kalau terkecik, parahlah! Kenalah beli baju last minute. No home-made Raya cookies this year either. Semua beli. I have not shop for my tudung Raya..and I need new brooches as well. Most of my brooches are mismatched..and "urgh" looking. Ashraff still does not have sampin. Sampin dulu dah kecik. I think I need to pay Jalan TAR a visit soon. Kain baju melayu Aliff baru dibeli. Nasib baik MIL is willing to sew. Seriously everything last minute this year. I just hope everything turns out okay. Yang penting Raya pertama tu kena perfect for the customary salam-salaman and photo taking.

Oh, this year, Pontian's side has two additional family members One is 11 mo Aliff. And another one is BIL's wife. Mak would be very happy with the growing family member. If only we could get together one fine day, and go to photo studio to get our family photos taken. I always wanted to have a formal family photo with Hubby's side. Too bad, my late FIL (whom I've never met) is not around to celebrate Raya with us.

This year jugak, rezeki, alhamdulillah melimpah ruah. Just got my long awaited bonus. Few days after that, gaji pulak masuk. And then few days after, I received two cheques from IRB for tax refund. I’ve settled my credit card bills in full amount, put aside for A&A’s party end of this year..and some for savings and other good course. Just when I need them the most, they are here…alhamdulillah. When I think about salary increment, revision and bonuses, rasa sayang nak tinggalkan 9-to-5 job. But when we think about those highly-stressed moments, rasa macam masa tu jugak nak tender resignation…hahaha...

Oklah, better stop here. Hey, I think I still haven't lost touch with blogging. When you put your heart and soul to it, you can do it. Tengoklah berapa panjang my entry this time...hahaha. Err..how should I end this post ye? Raya wish? Maybe later. Too early for that...