Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Button Is Mine



Perbualan semasa giving Aisyah her shower this morning...

Aisyah was fiddling with her pusat.

Aku: What's that?
Aisyah: Tummy
Aku: No, not tummy. Belly button.
Aisyah: [berfikir sesaat] No, not 'Billy' button. AISYAH BUTTON
Aku: LOL!

Kids' logics are the cutest!


Monday, March 28, 2011

Potty Wotty



Punya susah nak dpt update lately ni kan? Alahai... mcm2 in my to do list, berselirat meminta attention, kdg2 work pon ter-pushed back shhhh!

Tp nak letak pic of the little missie yg tgh potty train skang ni. Kdg2 hit, kdg2 missed, mostly missed haha. Tp so far dah berjaya wee wee atas toilet for 2 or 3 times I think, and once in the shower. Lain2 tu, atas karpet, atas kerusi... you name it, we've had it.

Ada tips x mummy2 yg dah berjaya graduatkan anak2 mereka drpd nappy? Aisyah kept requesting to have her nappies on again, maybe nak kena sorok kot the stash. Nak buang terus x leh sbb mlm2 or time keluar still pakai kan lg. But siang2 hari dah pakaikan sepentot kanak2 tu la. Itu hari gi beli lebih sedozen kat primark, hamikkk... tp dlm sehari bole habis pakai 7 helai, walah, siapa sangka ek? Kerja basuh sepender aje la skang ni hehhe

Dia jenis yg tau nak wee wee, tu psl kept saying, 'I wanna wee, I wanna wee...'. Tp dah naik atas throne tu x nak go plak. Takut kot. Walaupon dah tunggu sambil pegang tgn lg. Kdg2 sampai 7,8 kali bawak ke toilet, tp x de apa2. X sampai 5 minit nanti kang dia ckp dia nak wee lg. Angkut lg ke toilet. Gitu la sampai either berjaya wee wee atas toilet or kalo x bernasib baik tu, tau2 je dah basah. Pernah jg dia terbuang air besar dlm panties, God, that was funny. Siap tergolek seketul, nasib baik dlm shower dah hehehe...

Ke nak kena beli portable potty yg bole letak dlm living room tu? I am trying to avoid this sbb malas nak er... transport kan bahan kumuhan ke dalam tandas selepas selesai qadha hajat. Tp my biggest alasan is nanti dia dah pandai pakai portable potty, one day kena jgk train the real toilet. So ingat nya nak langkau step ni la, direct aje buat ke tandas. Camno tuh?

Dah cuba jgk pakai yg pull up pants from Huggies tu. Humang aih, mahalnya, 6 pound tu dpt 14 kpg ajo. Nyesal gak gi introduce option ni kat dia, sbb sudahnya Aisyah suka pakai yg tu sbb ada gmbr Disney's Princesses, pastu wee wee dlm tu aje x ckp nak gi toilet dah pon. Selamba... Kena sorok nih.

Aku mmg agak kurg sabar la bab2 training ni, Hubs lebih flexible. Aku kalo dah berkali2 sgt ke toilet tu, mula la rasa nak marah sbb we were so close to getting it right (sbb dia dah tahu signal and cue), tp refuse plak nak membuang bila di atas takhta. Tau2 dah slmt kat merata alam. Takut tinggi agaknya atas toilet tu. Ntah la... Memandangkan ini anak pertama dan aku plak x pernah mengasuh anak2 sedara or budak2 kecik ni, I am quite clueless of what to do. Tips anyone?

Apparently, Aisyah ni dah agak 'veteran' utk potty training. Di UK diorg slalu train from 18 months lg, tu yg carer kat nursery hint2 dah tu suh start training. Menjadi requirement utk nursery di sini supaya x memakai nappy lg bila dah masuk kelas utk umur 3 tahun. Okay people, we have exactly 2 and a half months to get this right. Can we make it? Let's hope so!

Bukan senang yang oii, nak train toilet ni rupanya ye. Berapa hari dah menuang lab, tunggu and train. Sbb kalo kita sibuk atau x ready, baik x payah train lg. Buat kacau jiwa aje, nnt sama2 frustrated.

Makin lama jd mak, makin insaf dan sedar besarnya jasa ibu dan bapa. Walaupon selama mmg dah menjadi doa wajib mendoakan mereka, tp bila lalui cabaran2 begini, time baca doa 'Rabbigh fir li waliwa li dayya...' tu kan, terasa lebih bersungguh2 la sket. Byk cabaran yg x pernah ter-imagine pon rupanya, diorg dah lalui dulu nak membesarkan kita... Nak kasi ko pandai kencing bertempat aje dah berminggu ye diorg invest time kat kita, belom lg nak train ko kasi pandai cebok berak sendiri! Tu 'besar' punye cabaran tu...

Sama2 la berdoa Aisyah cpt2 dpt tangkap konsep toilet-training and lulus praktikal nya ye? Say no to kebabasan!


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Gamelan Sneak Peek



Hari ni angin blogging tiada mari, nak cerita psl kerja pon x brp ada mood, sbb kepala otak ni lately drifting around so many other stuff. But for today, just nak letak gambar sekeping of our Gamelan class that we had on Wednesday. Impressive kan alatan dia? I am always awestruck tgk alatan2 muzik tradisional spt ini. Yg berdiri in black tu our instructor, and she is about 30-weeks preggo. Masih smgt sih mengajar.

We are due to perform a gig in mid May, so skang it's a bit serious lah, altho it's still only a two-hour a week practice, but we are working around that gig. We have sussed out what songs to play, including Gambangan, Longgoran, Gopola, and maybe even Sekatian. Each piece will roughly be about 5-7 minutes long. I must say I am quite excited. At first I was a bit stressed out because I was struggling with my playing, I was constantly lost and lagging, and what's worst, I am the only postgrad student in the class, the rest are undergrad Music students. Sungguh isolated. Rasa mcm x leh nak relate sbb diorg kept talking psl assignment dued in, or exams blah blah membuatkan generation gap tu terasa lebih jauh. Bab the only head-covered Muslim girl tu jgn cerita la, mmg aku sorg aje dlm kelas tu, tp smg punya psl buat2 x tahu je la.

Having no professional music training myself, I had volunteered to play the bass, but peliknya, despite my struggling, cikgu aku ni menaruh keyakinan jitu gitu kat aku, suh main jgk Kantil (it plays the melody, of medium difficulty, but much, much harder than the bass, especially tang kena damping laju2 tu). Normally I play the onbeat note. Alhamdulillah, I think I have improved quite a lot, and even sama par dgn a few Kantil players yg lain, so x la rasa mcm dragging the whole team down. As for being isolated tu, aku rasa dah x de masalah dah sgt skang ni, we have bonded and gotten to know each other better now, although masih belum sampai takuk minum2 coffee after class sesama lah for me (I always make a mad dash back to the lab or if not, straight home kena masak plak). But I feel much comfortable in the class now, and realized that, bkn aku sorg je kena shout at, semua org pon had a fair share muahahha...

Sayangnya x sempat nak record lagu yg kitaorg prektis smlm, but I nicked this from YouTube. Lagu Gambangan jg, but the one we play is of a different arrangement a bit. Plus we are not that groovy yet, but hopefully we'll get there soon.




Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Springy New Look On Life


Spring is definitely in the air. Up until a month ago, masih lg psg heater pg dan ptg. Alhamdulillah, skang berstokin pon x perlu dah. Funny how easily we've forgotten what the cold was like. Ni yg bila summer mari senang lupa diri, bila winter je mengokol2 nak balik Msia cpt2...

Well, spring is synonymous to new life, new beginning...

Aisyah pon kitaorg start training potty smlm. Quite late, I know. Tp bkn salah dia jg, salah aku yg x amik masa ajar before winter hit last year. Skang dah nak panas balik bole la try, seluar basah cpt sket kering, dan Aisyah pon dah x kisah berseluar pendek dalam rumah, suka lg ada, pemanas budaknya, mcm aku. Ni dia painting smlm.




Potty ni mmg trial and error betul. Sbg parent, aku harus keep cool apabila accidents berlaku, or apabila anak dara ku x brp grasp lg konsep wee wee in the potty. Dia hanya ckp bila dah berlaku. 'I wanna wee wee...' Tgk2 dah sudah heheh... Floor 2, Potty 0... (we're keeping scores now). Tp bila dia dah start lakonkan semula dgn teddy dia, kira faham la tu (bucket tu toilet yeh). Siap gayung semua skali lg (teapots tu). Pastu dia buat bunyi shhh shhh shhhh dkt teddy dia. Oooo pandai, bila turn dia x kuar plak kita tggu2...


Td jumpa SV. Hasil perjumpaan tu di harap membuahkan new beginning jg, moga2 tercapai, amin ya rabbal alamin... Esok dah Khamis balik, cpt nya masa berlalu, from week to week!

Hopefully, decisions that we make this spring yg lain2 pon sama2 membawa erti new beginning pada kitaorg jg dan diberkati Allah. Semoga segala kekusutan dan kesuraman baik dari segi pembelajaran or life in general, dapat dihilangkan dan digantikan dgn nur yg baru, spt nya sinar suria menjanjikan bahagia di musim spring ini. Amin :)

PS: Tadi ada terbaca fadhilat surah Taha ni bagus utk menambahkan ilmu pengetahuan dan mencapai maksud. Insya Allah molek lah kalo kita semua amalkan ek, especially yg sama2 study tu ye...



Monday, March 21, 2011

Aisyah and Her Monkeys...


Pegi Toys R Us nak cari hadiah utk anak member yg ada sambutan bday last Saturday (Baby Zarin turned 1!), tp spt jangkaan asalku, sah ada 'hadiah' extra kena beli. Budak dah pandai demand la katakan skang ni, aduhai... Ayah nya plak cair hati pada hari tu, pemurah lg penyayang, hah, dpt shopping trolley mainan ni, suka la Aisyah... Pastu ada hadiah tambahan lg, dibelikan orang utan ni seekor. Hish, walhal dah ada seekor lg monkey kat rumah pemberian boss Hubs kat tmpt kerja Xmas yg lps.



Tp si Aisyah ni mmg suka sgt la kat monkeys. Tgk aje la ni.. sayang nya dia... Sejak beli ni gi mana2 pon bwk monkey tu aje. Even ke bday party smlm tu pon. Even gi tgk anak si Shue td pon hah. Tido apatah lg, jgn cerita la, wat peluk wat cium. Sama2 naik katil ngan kita.


Siap buat tea party lg ngan monkeys dia (plus teddy as jemputan khas kot). Very imaginative... (aku x campur, dia main sorg, tau2 dah susun gini, so aku pon snapped aje lah sekeping)


Pastu hari ni, masa Hubs gi food shopping, aku ngan Aisyah duk umah aje, and we were messing about with the camera, disuruhnya aku amik gmbr dia posing ngan monkey kesayangan dia. Hok aloh... berkeping2 plak tu. Sayang tiada berbelah bg la tu. Mcm2 gaya dgn monkey...





Yg bestnya, Aisyah suh bg turn kat dia plak utk guna kamera. Of course model utama si monkey dia tu lah. Dlm shopping trolley lg.


Quite good la pics yg dia amik, aku impressed, sbb gmbr2 dia mmg centre. Pastu dia amik gmbr aku plak. Siap gmbr aku pon nmpk kurus lg, ni camera yg terror ke fotografer yg terror ke aku mmg dah kurus?




Apapon, better la drpd gmbr yg aku amik ni kan. Aku mmg fail budget amik gmbr sendiri nih, selalu tercantas2...



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Running Pics Lagi

Meneruskan entry psl running. Seminggu x jogging sbb x sihat, perut x sedap mual meloya asyik membuang je, kena bug kot, so mmg x berani x lari2. Ni Alhamdulillah sambung balik...

Keluar around 8.30 am. I don't run that far pon. Abis kuat a mile lebih sket je. Tp I love to choose the hilly roads. Challenge la konon, so kalo brisk-walk pon x bersalah sgt, sbb it's still a hard climb up, psycho psycho. Anyway, pg td pilih jalan yg uber slopey, gila ah, sampai puncak terus sesak nafas nak throw up! X pernah la exercize sampai over gitu skali hahaha. Just saja nak get the heart pumping, unclogging whatever arteries la kan.

A bit off-putting sbb dah jogging pon x de kesan visually, tp apa bole buat. Just got to keep pushing on and hope for the best la kot. Bab mkn pon dah cut down jg. The tummy bug was a blessing in disguise sbb for about a week x leh mkn more than 3-4 mouthfuls at a time, sbb perut sebu. So skang I try to eat smaller portions jgk la, konon2 dah jd habit, but of course more than 3 mouthfuls lah kan hahaha. I'm glad it sort of kick start my food portioning je.

But the visual stimulation is good. Rasa happy tgk sekeliling. Hari ni fascinated by trees. From the top of the road leh nmpk laut lg, beautiful! Spring is definitely in the air :)








And on a Sunday like today, when you're out in the morning, hanya lah ada runners yg lain jg on the street, whilst most of the neighbourhood is still asleep, you kinda share a secret smile with them bila bertembung. That made me feel good too.


Saturday, March 19, 2011

My Very Own Figure Watcher

Hari tu my good blogging-buddy Isabelle ada bukak cerita psl ‘Figure Watcher’. Siapa biasa baca blog Hanis Zalikha pasti tahu benda ni. Aku mmg x pernah ada figure watcher yg tetap, cuma ada la seluar or baju blouse yg bole buat indicator. Normally ianya adalah makin ketat, ketat dan ketat, x pernah la plak dpt indicator makin loose dan loose. So last2 fed-up terus x pernah simpan dah figure watcher tersebut, buat sakit hati.

Anyways, who needs a figure watcher when you have the makcik cleaner?

Ada satu makcik cleaner kat Uni ni, mmg baik la ngan aku, slalu tegur2, tanya psl perkembangan Aisyah. Tup2 tgh kita nak masuk stall bilik air tu, makcik cleaner bole tanya, ‘Are you pregnant?’

Oh. My. God.

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, muka aku mesti merah padam….

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, aku mesti tergamam lama, pastu sbnarnya dlm hati nak ckp, ‘Mind your own business, a$$hole’…

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, aku sure nangis teresak2 lps tu, mengenangkan nasib diri yg pernah pregnant kemudian keguguran, tp tetap la ada pouch di perut…

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, mmg sentapzzz abis la, bad mood dgn semua org, satu hari duk jaja cerita betapa insensitive lg ignorant a person can be …

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, org di alam maya pon akan ku cerita sama kesentapanzzz itu, naik lunyai la keyboard aku taip dlm blog, kutuk2 dan mencarut2 sambil melabelkan org itu sebagai nosey, presumptuous motherfuc*er …

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, jenuh la Hubs mlm tu nak cari jalan nak meredakan bini dia meroyan….

Lima tahun dulu kalo org tanya mcm tu, mula la x bole buat kerja berhari2, obsessing over the fact that aku gemuk, or aku x de anak, or worst aku gemuk dan x de anak….


But this time, Alhamdulillah aku dah bole gelak2 seraya berkata,

‘No, this is just fat,’ sambil mencekak spare tayar ku.

OK, I’m not proud la kan badan dah naik ke apa, but really, can I still complain with the life that I have been blessed with now? Plus I’m not really bothered sbb I have started exercizing too, and eating a little healthier, so give it some time to work its miracles hehe. Kalo kurus tp byk penyakit pon or cholesterol tinggi ke, x elok jg, so amik aje la jalan bersederhana spt dianjur dlm Islam.

Mmg betul la pengalaman dan hardship masa lalu mengajar kita berpikiran lebih matang, menghandle situasi dgn lebih dewasa dan utk tidak cpt melatah. Cuma sambil senyum2 sendirian lps tu, I couldn’t help but list ways to answer this question lightly in the future, such as...

No, this is just fat

No, but three years ago I was

No, I just had chilli and beans for lunch

No, but ask again next month?

No, but my friend (insert name) is – eventho cleaner tu x kenal pon org yg aku sebutkan itu

No, but I would like to be again? Hehehe…

Tak pon jawab je macam Malcolm in the Middle punya lagu tema:
Yes? No? Maybe? I don't know? Can you repeat the question?


Oh well, it's never flattering when it's made known you've gained some pounds, so now it’s either upping my game (more exercise, less calorie), which I am trying to do now anyhow (read my previous running entry), or going to Dear Hubs and shout, ‘Oy, impregnate me! Now!’ hehehe… (just kidding!)




Friday, March 18, 2011

Another Doctor Flown Home

Satu lg warga Melayu Plymouth dah balik. Keluarga nya si Wak, or skang dah bole panggil Dr MHJ la, sbb dah lulus viva dgn cemerlang baru2 ni. Aku mmg sedih sgt la diorg ni dah balik. Baik family nya, byk kitaorg ni terhutang budi kat diorg. Apa x nya, Wak la org pertama kita jumpa di bumi Plymouth ni, sbb dia yg jemput di stesen bas. Mal, isterinya plak, mmg mcm second mother dah pada Aisyah. Sblm gi nursery lg dah ajar tinggal dkt umah Aunty Mal, time2 terpaksa dan terdesak xde sapa bole jagakan, Mal came to the rescue. Byk lg la yg diorg tolong kami, especially time2 baru sampai, tolong bukakkan akaun bank, tunjuk tempat beli2 brg dapur, tunjuk jalan, etc... Haziq anak diorg pon dah jd ala2 bestfren Aisyah jg, kemain suka x nak balik dan x nak kasi balik kalo dah bersama2 tu.... Alahai....

Tapi adat la kan, yg bertemu pasti berpisah. Yang bermula pasti berakhir. Kini journey Wak sekeluarga dalam pursuit to PhD nya dah pon tamat, with a very high note plak tu. Aku betul2 bangga dan inspired. Tahun ni saja Alhamdulillah, 3 org member serumpun dah dpt Dr. Moga2 aku berpeluang jg mengikut jejak kejayaan mereka x berapa lama lg, Insya Allah.

Sabtu sblm mereka berlepas tu, aku ada ajak Wak sekeluarga dtg mkn. Aku masak biasa2 aje, asam pedas, ayam goreng tepung, blah blah. Aku paling suka tgk gmbr Aisyah dan Haziq main, mcm akrab aje.








Ni plak gmbr Rabu lps, masa Wak dah nak berangkat ke Heathrow. Diorg amik limo hantar straight ke airport sbb Plymouth ni nak ke London 4-5 jam drive. Kalo naik tren lg hazab, 3 kali tukar platform. Nak senang amik la limo kan. Aku mmg sayu sgt dah masa, time peluk2 Mal tu my waterworks broke down hehehe. Bkn apa, mengenangkan Aisyah dah terpaksa berpisah ngan Aunty Mal kesayangan, aku jd hiba. Plak Aisyah wat adegan peluk Abg Haziq x nak lps2, lg la tersentuh jiwa ni. Mmg la balik Msia nanti Insya Allah jumpa lg, tp terngiang2 plak senikata dalam lagu 'Bintang' nyanyian kumpulan Budak Kaca Mata, 'Kita akan tetap bersama untuk selama nya, cuma lain suasana.....'








Tu yg buat sedih tu. Ye la, lps ni life in Msia dah x sama spt di sini. Even jumpa hari2 pon, hubungan x dpt nak maintain mcm kat sini, masing2 akan sibuk dgn life dan kerja masing2. Even Mal pon dah berdebar tu, sbb dah almost 4 years jd full-time housewife, balik kena resume balik position mengajar! Tp x pe, yg penting, memory yg tercipta kekal sampai bila2.

Kpd Wak, Mal dan Haziq, all the best di Msia. Halal kan segala makan minum, pakai dan guna, maafkan segala yg terkurg terlebih, terkasar bahasa dan perilaku. Doakan kejayaan kami yg masih lg berhempas pulas mengejar cita2 ye. Insya Allah, ada jodoh kita bertemu lg di tanahair :)

In an effort to ceriakan sket entry ni, ni muka2 yg telah di identified x gi lab pada hari tersebut. Bersalah wal kantol.




Skang ni Aisyah ada aunty baru, tempat tumpang bermanja - Aunty Nad. Kalo dtg manja dia, Aisyah akan sebut, Ani Aniya (Aunty Nadya), heheh :)