Uber Amazing Blogger Award

Terima Kasih to Arnie n Isabelle yg memberi award ni. Malu i, dah la lambat gile nak wat post. Wat dah lama, tp sket2 add, sbb asal buat, Aisyah bgn / kacao etc. But it really made my day, and it kinda motivates me to keep blogging up. Sometimes this blog just feels like my eternal monologue (kerana kurg response, silence readers maybe? Ye.. perasan). At least now I know that ada org actually DO read my blog, and thinks it's read-worthy heheh.


Ok, meneruskan adat, here goes:

Nyatakan 5 fakta menarik tentang pemberi award nie (Arnie):
(1) Kenal hanya melalui dunia maya, tiadalah pernah berjumpa
(2) Tp rupanya member kpd Yzma n Jiah kerana sek men skali
(3) Pro-Breastfeeding dan sumber inspirasi aku di kala malas mengepam
(4) Ibu kpd 2 org anak - Hakim n Humairah. Muda2 sudah ada sepasang. Best!
(5) Suka collect Sophie Kinsella nyer Shopaholic series. And ini ada satu confession dari aku, okay: sbb dia beriya2 cerita psl koleksi ini, aku yg sebelom ni tahu kewujudan buku ini tp x amik port pon, tiba2 aku dah bole ada hampir semua buku Shopaholic series nih. Tinggal Shopaholic Ties the Knot je x jumpa lg. Yg lain tu semua beli kat Charity Shop la. All less than a pound each. Gigih gak menjengok kedai2 charity shop tu. X pe, second hand book pon, janji murah and content nya sama aje :)

Nyatakan 5 fakta menarik tentang pemberi award nie (Isabelle):
(1) Juga kenal di dunia maya sahaja
(2) Also an academic like me!
(3) Another BF buddy (yay!)
(4) Plans to pursue her PhD in two years' time

(5) Mother to a baby boy with the nickname 'Cikebum' :) Anaknya sgt comel, especially time senyum tu, amboi... geramnya... and shhh! between u an me la kan isabelle, aku rasa cikebaum ni mmg fotostat muke mak dia...hehe..


Ok teruskan lagi...

Setiap blogger mestilah menyatakan 10 fakta atau hobi diri sendiri sebelum memilih penerima award yg seterusnya :
(1) Ibu kpd Aisyah Nurzahirah
(2) Tgh wat PhD kat University of Plymouth
(3) Pro-breast feeding
(4) Start blog ni asalnya utk rekodkan pregnancy (Journey to Baby), pastu sambung rekodkan development baby diluar uterus (Journey With Baby), pastu skang mumbo-jumbo so rasanya nak kena tukar title dia kpd 'Journey to PhD, With Baby'. Ok x?
(5) Pernah miscarried sekali masa kandungan dah 10 weeks, this was before Aisyah. Masa tu rasa sedih x leh nak ckp camne

(6) Suka baca blog
(7) Suka pakai kain batik, even kat Plymouth, in the middle of winter
(8) Dah lama meninggalkan high heels (sejak dtg Plymouth) n hand bags and pakai trainers with knapsack instead. Lebih flexible. And student-like. Serious, I can pass as middle-schoolers any time. Janji x tolak stroller Aisyah la kan
(9) Rasanya dah lupa mcm mana perasaan drive kereta
(10) Tengah berjinak2 main squash

Anda perlu memilih 10 penerima award seterusnye dan describe ttg mereka. Bole x kalo x nak describe siapa mereka, tp justify kenapa mereka? :
(1) Mama Aqilah, kerana dia gigih meng-upload gmbr2 Aqilah. So comel!
(2) Diyanazman, kerana dia nya writing skills gile best n sgt lawaks, begitu jg anaknya yg cute, ci miki. My daily dosage of laughter, totally!
(3) Shue Plymouth, kerana dia tgh pening2 ngan PhD tu, and hope this makes u feel better
(4) Bard Plymouth, kerana dia baru nak berjinak2 ngan dunia blog, semoga jgn hangat2 tahi lembu
(5) Zafi Plymouth, kerana dia upload blog hangat2 tahi lembu. Smg lebih kerap weh, aku jemu baca paper je.. hehe jgn marah
(6) Maslina, kerana dia jg istiqomah dlm menulis blog, even dah ada baby Umar pon
(7) Che Fadh, kerana dia sumber inspirasi ku!
(8) Nabil, kerana dia sudah lama giler kekal ngan blog dia tu. Bagus!
(9) Farid, kerana wife dia di kejauhan. hehe... mesti dia xde keja nih
(10) Teman2 blogger tegar lain yg mempunyai blog sema saya pass kan kpd anda. U r uber amazing bloggers, you guys!

Trip to Bournemouth, UK

Ni adalah entry yg aku janji kan itu - Trip to Bournemouth yg diadakan pada Isnin lps. Ramai geng Plymouth yg ikut trip ni, hampir semua la. Ada 4 kereta you, and even then satu tu 7-seater. Imagine that! Aku dan Hubs pecah dua. Aku naik kereta Mael, Hubs naik kereta Zali. Mael ada anak seorg gak, nama Aqil. Carseat utk Aisyah pinjam Zali punya yg extra. Aku risau gak takut2 Aisyah menangis all the way there (all 160 km+ ok? = 2 jam lebih naik kereta). Pengsan la kalo dia wat perangai mcm masa gi Bath naik kereta my cousin Izdihar dari Bristol hari tu, dah la ayah nya naik kereta lain. Mau Ibu pon nangis sama kalo Aisyah melalak 2 jam straight utk ke Bournemouth tu. Dah la jalan ke Bournemouth tu half of the way kena ikut jalan kampung. Mabuk aku dibuatnya...

Tp aku pesan kat dia every night sebelum tido utk 2 mlm sblm trip ni, bisik kat telinga dia agar jgn buat perangai yeh. Alhamdulillah dia dengar. Mungkin jg sbb dia tgk Aqil sgt good behaviour, so dia pon duduk diam2 n tido most of the way. Plus kitaorg bertolak pkl 7 pg lg, so mmg dia tgh ngantuk time tu. Sampai2 pkl 9 lebih tu, just nice la, waktu dia breakfast. Terus berpicnic. The adults makan nasi lemak, nasi org lain masak, telur org lain masak. Yours truly wat sambal. 3 kali menumis, sbb kuali kecik hehe. Lg ada yg sponsor bihun, mee, sandwich, muffin, dadih, air. Sungguh yum!

Lps mkn, pusing2 park, then naik Helium Balloon (Bournemouth Eye). Harga tiket in case ada sesapa nak gi jln lps ni adalah 9.50 pound utk adult yg ada student card, and 12.50 pound utk adult x de student card. Tp kalo naik ramai2 as a group mcm kitaorg (max 18 person, dpt la student 8.50 pound, non-student 11.50 pound. Kanak2 bwh dua thn - free). Dari atas bole nmpk seluruh Bournemouth, including beach dia. Pantai kat Bournemouth ni berpasir, as opposed tu pantai Plymouth yg berbatu batan. Jadik nya, pantai nya landai n memutih, sangat sesuai utk mandi manda. Kita org je yg pelik berbaju penuh, org putih lain dah berlengging dah, berjemur nak sun tan la konon. Last2 kitaorg x mandi pon sbb PANAS TERIK, even more garing dari Msia. Sket pon x berasa angin bertiup, x mcm kat Plymouth. So lg la banag kan. Sudahnya dok sibuk cari tempat berteduh bawah jambatan. Mula2 nak wat BBQ, tp baru perasan no BBQing kat beach before 6 pm. Hok alos. Last2 gi bakar ayam dalam park balik. Hehehe... bawah pokok, redup sket. Lps mkn tu, jln sket2, terus la balik Plymouth, sambung mkn ayam BBQ dlm oven kat umah Zali. Ha ha ha. Apa2 pon, the trip totally rocked! N Alhmadulillah, weather sgt2 cantik utk trip kali ni. Lain kali kita wat lagi, Insya Allah! Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Aisyah's Medical Review

Ah.. lama x update. Bkn apa, dari hari Jumaat ari tu agak sibuk sket, pastu cuti panjang plak (Bank Holiday) kat UK nih. Patutnya Che Fadh dtg, tp last minute x jd oleh sebab2 yg tertentu. Tp sempat jg join geng Plymouth gi Bournemouth hari Isnin yg lps. Alhamdulillah cuaca panas dan best, tidak seperti hari, hujan dari pagi, disertai angin standard Plymouth. Entry Bournemouth tu aku akan postkan lps ni la yeh. Hari ni nak cerita psl Aisyah nyer 6-9 Month Review dekat Seventrees Clinic pd td. Sementara masih panas2 n sblm basi ni... Hehe...

Nama je 6-9 Months Review, tp Aisyah nya dah 11 months pon. Clinic lambat arrange utk dia. Oleh itu, dlm hujan lebat pg td, kami gagahkan lah jua pergi. Gagah naik teksi la jawabnya, kalo x jln kaki aje x sampai stgh jam kliniknya. Plak lalu park, cantik, mmg seswai la sebenarnya kalo nak jln2 berlenggang kalo x hujan tu. X pe la.

Yg diorg tgk hari ni ialah weight, height, development, motor reactions etc. Yg bulanan tu setakat timbang berat je kan. Kiranya ni lebih terperinci lah. Overall, Alhamdulillah, semua lulus. Berat = 7.86 kg (9th percentile). Ni x leh nak wat apa, tiap2 bulan pon kena syarahan psl berat. Tp yg bestnya, hari ni they found out that berat dia x menjadi masalah after all, sbb Aisyah mmg konsisten naik ~200g je tiap2 bulan. Pastu, daripada penelitian td, Aisyah nyer weight started to drop off around 6 months, when solid food was started to be introduced. Kata nurse td, kalo baby yg selama ni mmg exclusively breastfed, tiba2 bg mkn solid, mmg akan drop weight, bcoz dia akan kurang dapat susu ibu. Lebih best lg, Aisyah gained 200g secara konsisten menunjukkan dia actually sudah menjumpai berat dia yg ideal, bkn la fluctuate bulan ni byk, bln dpn sikit, vice versa. Lega hati aku mendgr nya. Bkn apa, x nak la org associate kan isu berat badan ni dgn breastfeeding. Satu lg yg best ialah, aku diberitahu, after next month nye weigh in, Aisyah x yah lg tanggal2 baju utk naik atas scale. Terus bole naik atas scale aje berbaju penuh, bcoz dah 1 year old. Hooray!

Tinggi plak, dia skang tgh growth spurt kot, 72 cm (25th centile). Dua bulan lps 67.5 cm (9th centile). Ok la tu. Nurse kata sesuai dah dgn berat dia, in fact, maybe dia akan tinggi kalo compare to berat badan. But too soon to tell la kan. Personally, kalo dia dpt baka Ayah dia bab height ni, aku sgt x kisah. Me, at 156 cm, mmg shorty la kan.

Bab2 hearing, sights, speech, tgn clap2 ke, kebolehan mengutip dgn jari ke, head bopping ikut muzik ke, nyanyi ke, jogetke, Alhamdulillah, lulus dgn cemerlang. Kebolehan berdiri dgn tegap, merangkak, duduk unsupported, hip structure, jg tiada masalah. Aku bgtau yg sedikit concern sbb Aisyah lom boleh berjalan (altho' hari tu dia dah melangkah setapak tanpa sapa2 pegang, sbb mata dia dekat TV, dia pon x perasan dia buat! Dia ni 'berhati2' org nya aku - dalam kata lain, penakut sket la kot). Nurse tu kata, jgn risau, sbb baby nyer range utk berjalan tu sampai umur 18 bulan. Kalo by then x jln jg, then baru concern. Plus dia kata kalo dah menapak tu, makna nya soon akan start berjalan betul2 la. Cumanya mmg kategori berhati2 la Aisyah ni. Nurse kata, ada la benda yg membuatkan dia x konfiden tu, contohnya, takut jatuh ke. Siap bg nasihat lg, jgn rush anak2 utk membesar, coz they grow up so fast! Oh, begitu rupanya.

Pastu ada discussion psl immunisation Aisyah. So far, semua on track. Tinggal nanti dia 12 months nak bawa gi jab utk MMR (I). Duk sini untung sket, x yah bayar. Semua free. Plus kat sini, on top of program immunization Msia (DTP/IPV/Hib, BCG, Hep B), diorg bg bg Meningococcal C (utk meningitis) and Pneumococcal (Msia ada jg, tp optional, sendiri byr). Tp sini x wat Hep B, cumanya Aisyah dah buat sbb lahir kat Msia, so sambung third dose kat sini masa baru2 sampai hari tu. Nurse tu tgk record Aisyah siap gelak lg, sian Aisyah, tiap2 bulan kena amik shots sehinggalah umur dia 6 months. X pe la, dpt best of both worlds, kata aku (mcm Hannah Montana plak rasa - terus x bole hilang lirik lagu tu dari kepala - adeh).

Last skali kami diberi bag berisi mcm brochures. Ada yg psl panduan menggosok gigi (aku selama ni dah gosok gigi Aisyah, tp x pakai tooth paste, sbb x tahu mcm mana nak suruh Aisyah spit out. But nurse kata, x pe, guna yg baby punya tu mmg utk ditelan. X harmful. Baby mmg kena telan coz they need the fluoride. Nnt dah pandai spit baru tukar toothpaste utk budak besar sket, baru lah suruh ludah kan keluar. Oh, itu mcm ka?)

Lagi brochure psl Breastfeeding Support Group, sini panggil Plymouth Latch On. Ingat this Friday nak join la. Saja, nak cari member2 BF, kot2 ada yg pumping lg best. Kat Uk rupanya x ramai yg BF, ramai lg kat Msia aku rasa. Less than 9% BF sampai 6 bulan. Sedihkan. Pastu nak tanya gak diorg wat camne nak tido kan anak dsb nya, sbb BFing ni, anak mmg melekat aje tido bersama, nak jg tahu ada x tips utk anak pandai tido sendiri. Berangan la kan, tp mana la tahu, didikan org putih ni, disiplin dia kuat sket pd org Melayu, at least masa kecik2 la. Masa tido budak2 sgt strict, pkl 8 dah tido. Pkl 7 tepat dah dinner. Kita org Melayu suka hati aje. Anak tido pkl 12 pon x pe. Mkn plak mmg omputih ajar kat meja. Mana ada main kejar2 suap mcm kita. Tukar lampin mmg atas changing table, mana ada belasah atas lantai, atas katil, atas meja, atas stroller pon x pe mcm kita. Hehe... Tp masalah jg, kecik2 displin konon, besar melawan makbapak jadi biadap / hantu plak. Mana yg baik tu ambil la, yg buruk tu buang. Bak kata Hannah Montana lg, best of both worlds la kan hehe...

Satu lg brochure yg aku rasa best ialah Play Date. Tiap2 hari Wednesday, pkl 1.30 - 3.30 ptg. Nak kasi chance Aisyah bermain2 dgn rakan sebaya. Plus kat situ ada toys, slides, dan mcm2 soft stuff utk Aisyah try out. Asyik berkurung kat rumah je, kesian dia. Ni la masanya nak try things that are free hahaha... Sebenarnya esok dah janji ngan geng ibu2 Melayu kat Plymouth ni, nak gi Children's Library. Tp kat situ aktiviti dia nyanyi dan story telling je kot. X pe, we'll see how it goes. Children's Library ni cross jalan je ngan Uni aku, so bole la cilok jap dlm sejam. Tema esok ialah Pyjamas Party. Mana aku nak cari Aisyah pyjamas ni, dia tido pakai onesies aje. Pastu kena bawak favourite teddy. Mana pernah ada teddy dia ni. Aku la teddy dia. Ye la, dah BF tu kan, mlm2 tido bersama, bkn main erat dia peluk, x yah teddy2 bear haaa.... X pe, demi development Aisyah, akan ku cari teddy itu. Even tho teddy nya bentuk gajah. Janji event nya free hehehehe....

Eh dah pjg aku merepek. Ni nak tunjuk gambar Aisyah yg tgh seronok dgn board books nya. Dpt 2 bijik free. Kira kempen minat membaca la ni utk anak2. Dpt Book Start Bag for Babies free of charge. Dalam beg tu ada buku2 kertas keras, so x kan konyok atau koyak la. Bagus jg mcm ni. Selama ni duk beli buku yg dibuat dari kain. Tp mahal sgt. Buku cam ni affordable sket kot. Dlm 3 ke 4 pound sebuah. Tgk brochure cam ok je harga. (Menjadi la kempen dia, I dah ter'hook' you!).

Ni plak gmbr 'The Little Red Book'. Bkn Red Book spt zaman Mao Tze Tung nye revolution tu yeh, ni Red Book rekod kesihatan Aisyah. Semua baby kat UK ni ada satu. Tiap2 bulan catit kat sini. Yg examination td pon record ke sini jg. Aku bersyukur Aisyah sihat dan sempurna. Semua kotak pon dicatit 'S' utk 'Satisfactory'. Jg bersyukur kerana di kotak 'Breastfeeding', tercatit Big, Fat, 'YES'. Alhamdulillah.....

I Choose To Be Happy...

Hari ni smgt sket sbb smlm discuss dgn Sake psl cara2 utk meningkatkan produktiviti. Antara yg paling simple ialah mengehadkan masa check e-mail, facebook, YM dan blog. And altho aku x off kan YM, tp dgn hanya check email sekali bg td, then cpt2 tutup, sudah terasa keberkesanannya. Ahh... refreshing... best, best... Kalo nak tgk video nya di youtube, check this out.

Lagi satu, aku blaja hari ni ialah, the happier you are, the more your sense of well-being is. Which means that aku lah yg menentukan sama ada nak stay happy, atau nak stay low and sad and just pathetic pd mata org lain. So I choose to be happy. At least for today *clap! clap!*

When you are given lemon, just turn them into lemonade. Semasam2 lemon pon, kalo dah tambah gula, and air batu, yummy, manis and sedap aje lemonade tu. Yay!

Another note psl kenapa aku ceria? Well, aku nyer project proposal yg submit bulan March dulu dah lulus. Alhamdulillah. No biggie, tp all the more reason to stay happy. And motivated. Ok break aku dah habis. Sambung keja balik. Berdisiplin gila aku skang ni. Semangat seh!

Oh, speaking of happiness, ini dia gmbr insan yg carefree and happy all the time. Best kan? Kerjanya tolak toy dia shj, no problem in the world... hehehe

'Will You Be Friends With Me?'

.. mungkin itu lah kata2 dlm benak Aisyah.

Kesian dia, kalo dgr anak2 jiran sebelah rumah main2 kat depan umah diorg, mesti dia gi tingkap and intai2. Nak berkawan agaknya. Ada skali dia marah sbb curtain x bukak, so dia x dpt tgk. Bila dah selakkan curtain br dia senyap. Budak2 tu bermain ngan anjing pet diorg la, kdg2 sesama sendiri, tp hari2 kluar main kat dpn umah la. Budak2 dlm baya sekolah rendah. Apa nak buat Aisyah, kat sini x de kawan... Yg ada semua boys, tp x mo kawan ngan Aisyah... Kesian anak aku... kalo kat Msia dah tentu x cukup tgn yg nak main ngan dia... makcik2, pakcik2 dia, x masuk atok2 and nenek2 dia...

Speaking of the curtain insiden, Aisyah dah pandai merengek / marah / membebel dlm bahasa baby dia kalo apa yg dicita x dpt. kdg2 tu kena trial n error je, sbb x faham sgt apa kehendak hati dia. Kesian dia, nak berkomunikasi ngan Ibu Ayah tp x jelas.

Amik contoh, smlm, aku makan biskut Jacobs tu sorok2 sbb dia dah bersih lps mandi, rumah pon dah bersih, malas la kalo dia mkn nnt comot balik. Tp dia tangkas menghidu perbuatan aku, lalu merangkak ke dapur. Aku ingatkan dia x perasan aku mkn apa, so dukung bawa dia keluar. Dia punya marah. Menangis2.

Ok, ok. Bwk masuk dapur bg dia biskut tu. Bawa semangkuk gi depan. X puas hati jg. Menangis sampai kluar air mata. Masa ni x brpa faham dia nak apa dah. Pastu kluar dari mulut dia, "Ayyerrrrr...". Oh nak mkn biskut sambil minum air. Lps amikkan sippy cup dia, terus dia mkn biskut atas sofa dgn rileksnya sambil ngadap TV. Sebelah tgn pegang cawan, sebelah tgn suap biskut, menyandar je atas sofa sebelah Ibu tgk TV. I was just amazed that this teeny tiny baby dah ada kehendak and nak dah cuba nak cari cara menzahirkan kehendak dia.

I guess lps ni dlm rumah dah x leh ada junk food (kang dia mintak kang, susah plak nak pujuk. Jg x leh buat benda pelik2, sbb dia cpt tiru. That's why dia rajin tolong kemas katil la, jemur kain la, tiru org tua la tu. The other day I caught her playing with the vacuume cleaner, muncung hala ke karpet, konon2 menyedut sampah la tu, mcm yg slalu dia tgk Ayah dia vacuum la kot. And the other day I saw her playing with my hair brush, and when I sat next to her, dia ala2 menyikat rambut Ibu. (Tau plak rambut dia sikit haha!). And last night, dia sibuk2 nak tgk gmbr dia kat dlm laptop (ni salah satu hobby dia, tgk gmbar sendiri, vain sungguh *shakes head*). Anyway, dia, sibuk nak tekan2 segala mala keyboard. So in attempt to stop her from doing just that, aku ckp, tekan button ni je (the one on the most bottom left, arrow mcm ni tu -->), so that the next pic will come up. Lps a few times tunjuk, dia dah x tekan keys yg lain, duk tekan yg tu je la, for everytime dia tekan, gmbr dia yg lain akan kluar. Tersengih lebar tgk muka sendiri full screen. Suka la tu ada respon dari komputer tu.

So I guess, never underestimate the mind of a baby huh? They learn and grow so fast!

Eh, eh, dah lari dari topik asal. X pe la...

During the Hot Summer Days..

I like to dress Aisyah in a cute little flowery patterned gown and a cute sun hat to match, whenever we are going out. She doesn't get to wear much skirts or dresses here, bcoz we mainly dress her in long sleeve T-Shirts and pants when it's colder, so she doesn't get the chills.

But sometimes, in the house, her idea of staying cool involves just going pants-less!





Aisyah, Aisyah, ingat ni Msia ye sayang?

(ps: this was two weeks ago. last week was wet, wet, wet. this weekend, it was way too windy, even for Plymouth's standard. I almost need socks! Brrr....)

Mee Sup Utara

At the risk of being laughed at all Northerners (especially Shue and Zafi la kot di Plymouth ni), aku nak post jgk gambaq aku masak Mee Sup Utagha. Actually pasta-celuq-dlm-ayaq-kunyit sup utagha, sbb mee kuning x dak. Apa nak buat, teghingin... ni la bahana tgk blog org. Org dok ceghita pasai mee sup utagha, ngan aku2 skali terliuq. Depa x pa la, start motor teruih gi kedai dpn umah, aku? Hmmm... beghusaha gigih la kat dapuq, haha

And surprise, surprise, a little imagination can go along way.Ada ghupa dak? Siap wat sambal merah tu. Minus daun bwg, daun sup, celery, etc (sbb buat on the spur of moment, guna pa yg ada dlm peti jek la) and also minus the internal parts la, sbb kat mana nak cari hati, lidah, paru lembu etc kat sini... P/S: yg mcm dessert tu puding roti. Ni masa angin rajin tgh mai la nih, wat mcm2 nih...

Hubs kata, rasa dah ok, cuma lg sedap yg pakcik berbini dua yg meniaga kat UUM masa dia wat degree dulu. Semangkuk RM1.50 :P Oh dan jg kurg garam. Aku tau, sup utara biasa masin sket, tp maleh nak wat masin2 aih, nak bg anak dara aku mkn sama, so kena compromise sket la dari segi rasa (cheh cheh alasan).

Ok, ni typical setting utk dinner kitaorg. Skang kitaorg dah implemen no TV masa mkn. Bagus2. Mmg setuju, sbb masa ni fokus utk one-to-one ngan family. Best.




Ni plak the aftermath. Haha. Notice how muka Aisyah sgt berkilat? Dah namanya mkn mee sup, habis satu muka kena sup agaknya. X pe la, janji makan. Dia kalo pasta mmg suka abis. Standard la tu, after every meal pon tunggang langgang mcm ni. Nmpk pinggan yg tergolek dok kat karpet tu? Jg standard. Nak train bg dia pandai suap sendiri la kata kan, kena byk bersabar aje la. Biasanya divide ngan Hubs la chores lps mkn ni, either you clean the table, the plates and you sort of the mess on the high chair and floor, or you give Aisyah a wash/shower, change her into her night onesies.




Ni plak rupa slps dah mandi. Ni giliran Hubs mandikan dia, hence solekan and hair 'do yg belah tgh tu sila credit kan kpd Hubs ye...




Oh, sblm terlupa, nak add jg, sbb Aisyah dah bole mkn udang, pg td utk breakfast buat cucur udang. Mmm.. best (perasan sedap - mmg kena kuat imagine la benda tu sedap, it's all in the head!). Alhamdulillah Aisyah ok x de apa2 reaction la.

Aisyah Dah Naik Pangkat Sket...

...ops, belum nak jadi Kak Long la.

Naik pangkat sbb dlm mggu ni dah try beberapa benda baru yg sblm ni amat berwaspada nak bg dia mkn. Namely, peanuts and shell fish (udang).

Alhamdulillah, tiada allergic reaction. Kat sini amat strict guidelines dia, patut baby under one year old x leh mkn ANYTHING yg ada traces of nuts, or shell fish. So selama ni mmg nak beli biskut kena check, takut prepared with a machine that may have come contact with nuts (sini sgt particular, di box mmg ckp). Also, selama ni kalo masak lauk udang atau sotong, mmg aku kena masak satu lauk lain Aisyah. Takut jg dgr kalo sampai kena asphyxiation tu kan. Kat sini byk kes2 mcm tu.

Slps dah test drive bbrp mlm ni, Alhamdulillah, lulus. So dia dah pandai makan roti dgn peanut butter (suggestion dari Health Visitor utk menaikkan berat badan), dan lebih best smlm masak bihun goreng bubuh udang kering. First time ever Aisyah makan bihun. Dia suka! Habis dia mkn suap sendiri. Pastu dia x buang2 mcm klo mkn nasi. Pg td pon breakfast bihun lg. Hubs tersenyum bangga, sbb mmg favourite dia bihun tu, so kiranya mengikut citarasa dia la tu. Anak jawa la tu. Eleh... Aku je yg malas nak wat bihun, satunya, susah nak beli kena gi kedai Asia, senang lg wat spaghetti goreng, dan duanya, mmg x minat. Tp lps mkn smlm tu sodap plak bihun air tgn aku nih. Keh keh... Ni mesti kes dah lama x mkn. Kalo kat Msia, org angkat bihun lps mesy ke, seminar ke, komplen. X nak. X minat. X best. Dah jemu. Dah duk jauh baru tahu :P

Oh, sblm lupa, awal mggu itu hari gi timbang Aisyah. Berat dia naik 200g. Dah 3 bulan asyik naik 200g tiap2 kali. Konsisten sungguh. Total berat dia 7.8 kg. Of course, HV x happy, ringan sgt tu, kata dia. So in summary, kena bg mkn Aisyah food yg byk carbs, also kalo bg mashed potato, bole bg dgn loads of butter. Kalo bg cereal, bg dgn full milk, bkn semi skimmed milk. Kalo buah, bg banana or avocado. Kalo roti, put loads of peanut butter. Kalo buat macaroni and cheese (aku buat ari tu, yum!), bubuh tonnes of cheese. Basically, apa yg adult kena avoid kalo nak langsing, bg baby mkn. Sbb baby nak kena bykkan fat until they are 3 years old baru slowly avoid mknan fatty mcm tu. Jeles plak mendgr nya, sbb kita kalo mkn tu kjp ajo sudah gemuks.

Ok itu saja la summary nya. Ni gmbr Aisyah mkn crackers atas peha Ayah dia. Manja nya... Ni masa aku baru balik school, and hari kedua dia start pandai mkn biskut Jacobs cracker. Dia amat suka!

Busy Week

Baru lps abis jumpa SV. Alhamdulillah, lega...

Patutnya jumpa SV smlm, tp aku yg kansel sbb pgnya ada session 'Effective Poster Presentation' sampai pkl 12.30. Pastu disambung ngan Postgrad Society Lunch Exchange (ps: mknan sgt sedap, n good way to socialize). Ptg nya plak aku volunteer jd bahan ujikaji utk ada psychology test ni, kena pki EEG cap gitu mcm ni. Gmbr aku pki cap tu ada, tp x leh share sbb nmpk rambut :) Before balik sempat main squash, so risau kalo2 experiment tu over-run kang, naya je SV aku tggu.

Jdnya terpaksa la aku gi school hari Jumaat. I am indebted kpd Hubs yg sanggup keja overtime hari ni jaga Aisyah, sbb nya Jumaat patut aku x gi school, leceh, Hubs nk gi masjid etc. So around 1 pm, I met them dkt simpang masjid n bwk Aisyah balik lab.



Gini la rupa Aisyah masa di lab aku. Main btg reket squash aku. Dan aku dlm background yg tgh prepare2 apa yg patut before SV masuk. X de org nk letak gmbr ni kat Kosmo! ke? Buat artikel tajuk 'Ibu, Isteri, Pelajar... Di Perantauan' ke plak? Kih kih... Just kidding... Saja je aku nak nyakat cik Yzma, yg kini glamer you, masuk Kosmo. Petikan akhbar tu di sini.

Anyway, not long after Hubs n Aisyah beredar, perjumpaan ku bermula. Perjumpaan ini in my standards, bagus and membuahkan hasil. Tolong la jgn label aku riak, bkn niatku. Just that before this, entry mcm byk geram, down, mencarut, etc, asyik negative ajo, sampai my parents kerisauan di Msia. Alah, Umi & Ayah ni, mcm x kenal anak perempuan korg yg sorg ni mmg sgt2 over dramatic. hehe... So skang letak benda yg positif plak...

Perbincangan td kejap je. Tp bermakna. Sblm ni duk buat manual segmentation, by ear je. Nak test market, kata org. So hasil perbincangan last perjumpaan, kena find a way to segment audio automatically, and preferably put some kind of fade-in, fade-out effect utk enveloping pada setiap segments supaya tidak ada clicking effect.

So antara masa yg lps dan masa yg skang ni adalah dihabiskan dgn mencari jalan la utk wat benda tu. Ada time rasa bosan and ragu2, betul ke aku buat ni, coz it felt like the days go by mcm sia2, coz searching endlessly over the Internet ni byk makan masa, and belom tentu membuahkan hasil. I tried to find tools aje, spt yg byk made available kalo berplatformkan Linux, sbb yours truly malas nak compile and debug and correct code org. Bkn contribution pon lg, just testing the water je dulu, so malas nak get all dirty. Teruk2. Of course, ada aje software yg x free, berlambak, tp sapa nak byr?

Anyway, dlm mencari2 tu ada la jumpa mcm2. Some downright useless, some appeared like there could be something, rupanya useless, some at one point useful, pastu sbb author dia dah tarik dari Internet so jd useless la utk aku. Tp byk jg yg useful.

So antara yg useful tu la present kat SV. And diskas the pros and cons of each. Kot2 la ada reader interested, bole search under Adintool, Audacity Beat Finder, AudioSeg, Multi-Class Audio Segmentation Tool (MATLAB), WavSplit, Slice Audio File Splitter (WINDOWS) and Aubio (yg x buh bracket tu by default Linux). Of course la masa wat pemilihan tu kena la bg summary of what parameteres they optimized, what algorithm, pitch detection mode, blah blah they used. Di sini la kena tunjuk mcm kita bkn search aimlessly, so kena la presentkan benda2 yg dah baca dari theses diorg tuh.

Actually, in my humble opinion, Aubio is quite good at doing the job that I need to do. Dia segment mengikut onset yg ada pd audio file yg dinyatakan. Aubio ni hasil PhD work Paul Brossier, dari Queen Mary beberapa tahun yg lps. In fact, SV aku ni yg jd external examiner dia, so dia pon teringat balik how relevant his work could be to what I am doing. Excited my SV. Dia pon dah x ingat la tu hehe... Plus, the thesis was quite easy to follow step-by-step, kira mmg bagus la penulisan mamat ni. My SV pon puji2 lg, 'he was a good student, and his thesis was very clear. Maybe this can inspire you to write like him'. Woh!

Aku ni mmg slalu insecure, so confessed la kat dia, 'rasa mcm blur2 la wat benda ni'. Dia jawab, 'Ah, yes, when you are doing a research you can sometimes feel at lost'. Aku jawab la balik, 'I just hope I am not drowning in my own research', to which he replied, 'No, no, no, you are not drowning. This is good.'

Oh! Music to my ears. Btw, insert gosip sket, did I tell you my SV is Brazilian, bkn British? Makanya, accent dia adalah sgt chumil. Spt, 'Nu nu nu, yu er not drew ning. Dis is guuud...'

Serius comel kan?

So gitu le lebih kurg nya meeting tersebut. Next goal, autosegment kan all the dataset (lagi bagus kalo leh dpt yg dari MIREX - pergh!) and re-start concatenation. Next meeting in two weeks. We'll see what the result of concatenation is....

Oops, dah dkt pkl 5 ptg. Seeing that hari ni patutnya hari cuti aku, nk balik ah. Have a nice weekend, y'all!

We're In the Same PhD Boat

I had been under a lot of stress lately, juggling work, motherhood, Ministry of Finance (isu elaun ciput la, apa lg), pumping, etc etc... Hari ni I had a refreshing chat with a few different friends yg sama2 tgh wat PhD, and they kinda turned me around.

Shue had said, 'PhD ni mmg susah, but struggle belajar tu sbhgian aje. Sebahagian besarnya struggle nak manage life and things and things that go around whilst trying to get that PhD'. And I have to agree with her.

I'm feeling the heat right now, but talks with frens made me realize that everyone who steps into the world of PhD goes through amost the exact same thing. Be it male or female. Single or mother-of-six. Social science or Physical Science. Semua org ada bhg masing2. We're all in the same boat.

PhD mmg mencabar. And kita pernah dgr kes2 org bercerai berai, laki kawen lain, ahli kluarga meninggal, ahli kluarga sakit, semasa buat PhD. And that is satu cabaran yg berat. In real life, I know of friends yg terpaksa berpisah ngan suami n anak2, coz elaun sket x cukup nak sara semua, or suami kerja x dpt unpaid leave. Or suami x sihat terpaksa stay back. And I know friends yg empunya diri plak x sihat, dlm tgh PhD duk berulang alik ke hospital.

And I have friends yg al-kisahnya di other way around, bini plak di Msia kerana menunggu hari utk bersalin. Or yg terpaksa tangguh majlis kawen kerana kalo kawen awal pon belum tentu bole bawak bini bersama kerana kos sara hidup yg gila tinggi menggunung, maka amik keputusan membujang lah lebih lama lg. Also I heard lots of stories psl rumah tgga suffer bcoz PhD takes a toll in their married life. And even bigger ujian, I know someone who knows someone yg Allah telah ambil kembali anak tercinta yg dipinjamkan sementara di dunia fana ini semasa buat PhD di perantauan. Masya Allah, besarnya dugaan (inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji'un)

So, yes, slps perbincangan begini, terasa what I'm going through does not even measure up to some others. And aku insaf, and paling penting, bersyukur. Perbincangan ptg ni telah merubah persepsi aku, yg benda2 ni adalah cabaran, dan bkn nya masalah. Maka tabahlah mengharunginya, serta bersemgt la meneruskan perjuangan dan amanah ini....

I know of a few real life friends and oso (online / blogging) friends yg bakal menjejakkan kaki ke alam PhD this coming semester. First off, a big welcome to you guys... secondly, tahniah for choosing to take this move fwd in life. And most important of all, don't be scared, just be prepared. In. Every. Way. I mean it :)

After all, 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?'

And to Hubs, thank you so much for being here with me. I love you (and bila I buat perangai, and komplen2 bagai org x tahu bersyukur, pls redirect me to rujuk this entry, ok?)

'Cheerish for friends and loved ones now, for in an instant, they may be gone'

Pumping Is An Uphill Climb

"Aisyah habiskan 5 oz sekali minum. Hari ni dia minum dua botol!" said Ayah, as he beamed proudly at me as I picked up Aisyah and planting a big kiss on her forehead, as I always do the minute I got back from Uni. And Ayah was reporting me the developments that I have missed during the day.

This piece of news I received warmly. It had been a struggle to get Aisyah interested in drinking the amount of EBM that she was supposed to the last few months. Mainly because she flat-out refused Hubs' attempts at shoving the bottle down her throat. Or maybe she was lashing out at me for leaving her so long during the day. Or maybe she was too busy figuring out how to crawl. Or maybe she's adjusted to the routine of not seeing me during the day and is now okay with it. Or perhaps the fact that she can now hold the bottle by herself made her drink her EBM more willingly. Or she's just going thro a growth spurt now and needs more milk. Whatever it is, it's a good piece of news and hopefully it will show on her weigh-in session next week. I'm getting pretty tired of hearing the 'she's-a-little-small-for-her-age' talk from the health visitors.

Anyway, this means that I need to get more milk pumped during the day. Not something I look forward to, seeing that I am already low :( I never really thought that it could happened to me though, my supply was good and always over the top. I could stock the fridge from end to end. But that was five months ago, maybe. How can getting 4 oz per br3ast gets miserably down to 4 oz per pumping session? *SIGH*

I have a new found appreaciation for mothers who pump at work during the day after their baby is 6 months, and an even higher admiration for those who can continue to do so until the baby is two years old. Never mind that it takes much time, it is pretty much testing a mother's last straw. But still, it's okay, as long there's enough to go around.

I also noticed that the more I eat, the more I can get pumped. Now I understand why cows graze all the time *Duh* Anyway, I have unintentionally (but very, very gladly) lost some unwanted weights, I thank the walks and exercizes and tight daily routines I have to face each day and pushing almost 20 kilos of weight uphill (stroller + Aisyah + groceries) on our weekly grocery shopping. So having shed a few kilos, I feel a bit reluctant to start grazing again, although I know I'm allowed 500 calories more from my daily intake than an average non-breastfeeding women. Ah, dilema, dilema... what to do... what to do...

Also the fact that I still 'hutang posa tahun lps' means that I have to qadha' my fast mid-summer. Where the fast starts from 2.30 am till almost 9 pm. You bet your ass I'm also gonna lose weight from that. So how to increase milk supply woh?

Some suggested air longan, but where in the UK can I get that? I tried parsnips (lobak putih), loads of it, that my taste bud no longer detects its rasa yg supposedly pahit maung, anymore, it just tastes normal now, but no effect, it seems. Horlick? Not seeing much improvement either. But Oats, yes. That seems to be helping. I can handle having oats for breakfast every morning. It's not like I can just stop on the way to Uni and beli nasi lemak tepi jalan anyway. Huhu... I miss Nasi Lemak Bungkus... yang buat sendiri x sama... huhu...

Anyway, still staying very ceria and positive thinking here. I know a lot of Moms are in the same boat, just writing my piece of mind so that you guys know that we are in this together. Be strong, ladies. We can do it! Insya Allah ada rezeki utk anak2 kita, cuma kena teruskan bersabar... Ayuh lah berjuang!

Aisyah's Walking Aid

Ni favourite toy Aisyah skang. Actually bkn toy, tp utk aid dia blaja berjalan. Cara guna nya ialah dgn menolak benda tu ke depan sambil tgn pegang handle bar, ala2 kita tolak trolley supermarket tu la. It's much safer than Aisyah tolak walker dia, coz it will not go at a crazy speed spt yg bole berlaku klo tolak walker.

Sbnarnya ni adalah pemberian Mael, sbb anak dia dah pandai berjalan. And I have found it to be very, very beneficial utk Aisyah. In fact, Aisyah pon sgt suka kat benda ni. Kadang2 siap guna masa showerkan Aisyah lg, bawak masuk shower stall, so that she just stands there under the running water coming from the shower head. It is much easier that way. Besar jasa benda ni. So, terima kasih daun keladi buat Mael n family.

PS: Susah nak amik gmbr anak dara tu skang, sbb asal bukak kamera aje, dia dah tahu dah. berlari2 dia dtg dekat kita ni ha... Bkn nya dia nak posing, tp sibuk nak pegang kamera tu, nak tarik2 dari tgn kita, cpt2 nak tgk gmbr dia kat playback. Budak dah besar n bijak, mcm ni la..... ish ish...

PS2 : Yup, dia dah pandai minum dari cawan, spt yg dpt di lihat di gmbr no 2 tu. Dah lama dah bole, tp masih tumpah2 lg la. Tp sejak beli cawan plastik, bole bg can la dia minum sendiri. But most of the time pakai sippy cup lg.

Update Saja2

Gambar yg x de kena mengena dgn cerita

Fuh... kejar masa ni... so bullet-point je la yek...

Let's see, otak tgh sarat dgn things to write ni... so mumbled jumbled... x de spesifik order la yeh point nya, mana2 yg ingt itu yg ditulis dulu:

Ok, last Monday, sini cuti May Bank Holiday, aku wat karipap. Kulit uli sendiri ok? Hehe.. karipap sardin ajo, sbb nak wat time2 tu gak, tp ayam dlm peti dah habis, daging lak beku lg. Sardin + kentang + bwg byk2... Jadi la.... Rasa sebijik mcm yg tepi jln dah (minus asap kereta hehe)... Rupa not bad, tp selekeh tang kelim tepi... sekali tgk mcm Cornish Pasties pon ada gak, sbb tebal sket, ahah... I have a greater appreciation utk makcik2 yg jual karipap tepi jalan, but still, u gotta be kidding me la klo jual karipap sardin seringgit dpt dua... cekik darah la makcik oi!

blaja wat karipap ni cilok resepi dari zafi. terror dia, tanya apa resepi dia bole kasi. teringat zaman kerja dulu, asal ptg dlm pkl 5 aje singgah bilik k sal, tanya dia nak masak apa ari tu, then tukar2 resepi... Ah.. kenangan... skang k sal dah jauh di australia...

Apa lagi ek? Study... study this week mcm kurg produktif... sedikit disappointed dgn diri sendiri. Dpt baca dua paper aje. Tp berjaya jumpa jalan utk automatic segment kan audio by time, by number and by silence detection. Masih x jumpa jalan nak wat by pitch. X pe, cuba lg. Nekad: minggu dpn harus start keja pkl 7 pagi dari umah ok? Last week tu asyik tido sampai pkl 9, sbb Allah bg cuti hihi...

Speaking of Subuh, skang Subuh di UK ni masuk pkl 2.45 pg mcm tu, habis waktu plak pkl 5 pg lebih. Kalo kat msia, pkl 5 pon lom masuk subuh lg. Iyer, konfem tido balik lps Subuh. Dah la Isyak pkl 11 mlm br masuk. Slalunya aku dah tido ngan Aisyah dulu, dekat2 Subuh br bgn utk wat Isya'. Sbb x larat nak tggu. Anyway, main concern, aku ada byk hari lg kena ganti posa nih. Pengsan la, nak posa from 2.45 pg - 8.45 mlm. Dah pernah cuba dah. Mencabar gak la. 1st time buat terus sakit tekak then selsema then demam. Sini kering beb... Lapar x rasa sgt, but haus... Rasa mcm kena fidyah je tahun ni huhu... dah la tgh bekerja keras nak up kan jumlah pendapatan EBM. Xpe kan, wanita menyusukan anak ada rukhsah dia kan?

Sebut psl susu, Aisyah skang minum 5 oz skali minum. Tgh growth spurt kot. Kalo aku g pkl 11 pg bertolak ke school, ada la dia minum dlm dua botol sehingga aku balik umah pkl 7 ptg tu. Harus memerah dgn lebih kuat lg. Smgt Oyis, smgt You can do it!

Undang2 di rumah sudah digubal semula. Antaranya, tido mesti by 11 mlm paling lewat, sbb nak train Aisyah bgn awal and breakfast before 9 pg. Lg kalo tido awal, lampu tutup awal, jimat letrik. hehe... And aku mesti balik rumah paling lewat pkl 7 pm kat umah dah. Sbb by pkl 8 mlm dah nak make sure mkn mlm. (Masak mcm lipas kudung). No more mkn pkl 9 pm. Balik awal, masak awal, makan awal, tido awal.

Ok update Aisyah. Dia dah pandai salam tgn org. Wah, berbunga2 hati ibu dia bila dia pandai sabut tgn kita dan ditarik ke hidung dia, pastu dia kiss tgn kita tuh. Adui la... siap dia tepuk2 tgn lg lps tu, tanda happy... hehe

Masih lg rajin menolong ibu jemur kain dan kemas tempat tido...

Gigi dia rupanya dah ada 2 batang lg yg pushing through. Dah kluar dah pon, tp x perasan. So skang ada total 4 batang gigi. Sudah start berus gigi since 2 minggu lalu. Berus 2 kali sehari.

Makan.. mcm org dewasa dah. X main dah blend2 nasik ni. Terus bg dia macaroni atau pasta aje. Letak atas pinggan plastik dia, dia kutip mkn sendiri satu persatu pasta tu. kena make sure ayam / ikan dah boneless aje. Kalo nasi blend dia x nak dah. Dia sudah besar, kata dia. Hehe... Kalo bg sudu pon dah pandai suapkan ke mulut sendiri. Cuma x slalu masuk mknan dlm mulut aje, sbb jatuh atas baju. Makan dekat atas high chair skang ni. Kira mkn semeja la ngan org dewasa lain. Makan masih tumpah, but it's okay. Ayah ada. Dia vacuum after every dinner. Aisyah dah x takut bunyi vacuum sbb hari2 mesti vakum dua kali sehari cleaning up after her mess. Hehe...

oo... lps tu dah pandai angkat tgn, kalo kita tanya, mana aisyah? Siapa nak tido angkat tgn? (ni soalan tanya tiap2 mlm bila dia dah ngantuk, n usha2 nenen kasi signal nak tido)... Or tanya lg, sapa sayang ibu? Biasanya dia akan angkat tgn, ikut mood dia la. Kalo tanya sapa syg ayah, sampai subuh pon dia x angkat tgn.. Hahaha ... kecik hati Ayah nak, oi... seharian jaga Aisyah, angkat tgn tanda sayang pon x nak... Kiss apatah lg. Dgn ibu dia kiss lebih2 bila kita suruh kiss, dgn ayah, x mau.. pastu siap klo Ayah nak kiss, dia elakkan pipi dia. Ini tandanya, pipi Ibu gebu, lemak berkrim. Ayah ada janggut, dia x suka kot.

Jg dah pandai menzahirkan keinginan. kalo dia nak remote, remote la yg dia nak. kalo di substitute kan dgn toy dia, dia akan tepis / campak toy tu, tanda x puas ati. Amboi...

Ok, before lupa, nak tulis, aku skang dah start main squash. ketagih woo... best2... biar x terror pon, janji kluar peluh... main ngan shue, zafi n afiq.. masa main teringat kat mas rina, sbb dia rajin main squash... mmg best rupanya...

pastu smlm lps squash, gi lepak tgk budak2 laki melayu lain main pingpong. then sempat menggatal main se-game mencelah. Fuh... hilang gian kejap.... lama weh x main. eti, rindu la nak main pingpong cam dulu.... eii... as i'm typing this pon tgn ketar2 excited nak pgg bat pingpong. Dulu after opis hour je, turun main pingpong. Aku citer kat budak2 sini, dulu dgn baju kurung ke, kebaya ke, belasah je main.. dgn high heels lg jgn main2... how time flies, eh?

Hari Ahad ni ada perjumpaan pertama utk penubuhan Kelab Melayu Plymouth. We'll see how it goes... should be good...

Itu saja sari berita utama. Saya, Oyis Owee melaporkan dari Plymouth, United Kingdom.

Ibu Ku Pulang Dari School...

Ini la lagak Aisyah every working day sekitar jam 6 hingga 7 ptg. Menunggu Ibu pulang. Dia dah cukup tinggi utk bgn sendiri and jengkit2 tgk luar...

Ini lah pemandangan yg Aisyah dpt lihat. Bunga2 penuh dah kat garden depan tu. Spring/summer is definitely here. Alhamdulillah...

Almost of all the time she looks like this adorable cutie pie when she greets me at the door...

But sometimes she looks this, just up after her evening nap because the door keeps making creaking noises as I enter the house. Bad hair day ke sayang? But very the cium-licious one.... with that pipi and that trademark 'just-up-from-nap' smell that all baby has... heavenly, kan?

Aisyah Anak Dara Ibu Yang Rajin

Aisyah skrg pandai dah menolong Ibu & Ayah dia buat keja2 rumah sket2. Hik hik... Contohnya, kemas tempat tido, tolong masa jemur kain etc. Semoga besar2 esok jd anak yg ringan tulang ye sayang ye...