April 2015

I guess updating blog is now a monthly affair? Haha. Well, at least it is still updated. I always write imaginary posts in my head but very seldom they actually came to life here. Now now. Where should I start.

Let's start with something small. Haziqa's 2 front upper teeth have started showing. Haziqa's constipation problem is still lingering since 2 weeks ago. A couple of times, she needed to be assisted just to pass motion as the poop was just to big to come out naturally. I nearly cried the first time I assisted her. The second time it happened, it was during the day and the maid, Bik Su, helped her. Currently her poop is still hard but somehow managed to come out without any assistance.

We are now annual pass holders at Legoland, Malaysia! On 3rd of April, it was hubby's weekend off from his duties at the petrol station. We went for an impromptu getaway to Johor. So impromptu that when we exited Nilai, we had no idea where we were going. Since Johor had more activities for the kids, so we decided to go there. Stayed at Le Grandeur Palm Resort near Senai airport. It was a nice quiet place for our supposedly relaxing weekend. Went to Sanrio Hello Kitty Town for the first time and since we were quite late, we went to The Little Big Club only (on the 2nd and 3rd floor. Hello Kitty Land was on the 1st floor.) It was okay but we couldn't believe people would rate this place higher than Legoland. The next day, instead of going back straight, hubby surprised Tricia by bringing her to her favourite place in the whole wide world, LEGOLAND! It was raining when we arrived and that didn't stop us from having fun. Luckily, the rain didn't last long and we went back at almost 7pm that day.

Being too stressed from working, hubby had been asking to take a break, away from the kids, for a weekend. I, on the other hand couldn't stand being separated from the kids at night so I wouldn't want to go away overnight without them (which lead us to Johor that weekend). But coming back from the trip, he still felt tired and not rejuvenated that he asked for my blessing to go on a solo trip for ONE WHOLE WEEK. Initially, I freaked out. I did't think I could be separated from him that long, especially without a valid reason (i.e. not work). But after having a heart-to-heart talk with him, he said I can come along if I want to but he just wants a week of solitude... not caring about anything in the world. So in the end I gave up and let him go. While I obviously will make through just fine from this one week getaway of his, I am not sure how her daughter Tricia would survive. T_T First night, my MIL called me when I was on the way home because Tricia was already crying that her father was not home. This morning she refused to go to school because her papa was not around to send her. 6 more days to go. And worse still, I'm joining my husband for the weekend for 2 nights. 1 night she and her sister will be away at Tokma and Cacik's place in KL but 2nd night... they will be back home to normalcy, which I think would make her feel our absence even more. Hope we will make it through the week in one piece. x_x

On a more awkward note, Tricia has started asking me when will she start growing boobies. =_= Too early to worry about that, sweetheart.

March 2015

It had been a hectic year so far at work and given everyone's tight schedule, it's harder to take leave these days. However, last weekend I managed to take 2 days and it was so much joyyy!!! Haha.

Friday:

Didn't achieve much on the first day of leave. Wanted to renew our passports and make a new one for Haziqa but we arrived at immigration Menara Ikhlas at 11am and they were out of numbers. Actually we can still do Haziqa's passport but I forgot to bring her birth cert. Went back to have lunch in Nilai and got Tricia's ears pierced!

And then, hubby and I left the kids and rushed to Shah Alam and he bought me this!

After that, we rushed to Bangi for our cousin's akad. Then rushed again to KL to have drinks at the Helipad, Menara KH.

Saturday (The Reception):

Sunday: Spent time with hubby at the station in the morning and went to PGL in concert with mummy in the afternoon and Red Lobster, The Quill right after.

Monday: Finally managed to renew my passport and made Haziqa's passport and renew my licence! Did shopping to furnish the Starzvalley house before GST. Oh yeah, I received the keys the week before. ^_^

In the evening, celebrated Haziqa's birthday, a week later. Just a low key affair with the family.

At 11 months, can drink using straw.
At 12 months, can walk more steadily and still in the process to grow her confidence now.
At 12 months, first 2 teeth FINALLY coming out.

Haziqa's eczema. Tricia's first day of school. Tricia toilet trained.

Two weeks ago, both my daughters fell sick. Tricia was down with high fever on Thursday so we came home from work and brought her straight to the nearest clinic. Luckily we got the "insert" medicine because her fever shot up in the middle of the night. That same night, Haziqa couldn't stop crying. Initially, I thought she was just being cranky. She cried non-stop until I couldn't take it anymore and I passed her over to her father. My husband... sleepily... took the baby, turn on the lights and remove Haziqa's shirt and found the problem in 10 seconds. Her body was red all over and she was crying because it was very itchy for her. T_T poor baby. Mummy didn't think of that at all. I put her expensive QV lotion for sensitive skin (because she has eczema. Don't know where/who she got it from.) all over her and rub her to sleep. Only after that she managed to sleep.

Having very little sleep that night, I asked my boss whether I could take EL the next day, which I did. Brought the kids to their paed in Seremban and Haziqa got a cream for her fungal infection on her skin. Then both of them had to use the nebulizer for their phlegm. Tricia was weak the whole Friday and since she didn't recover on Saturday, my mom agreed that it was time to take the antibiotic that was given to us earlier. Only after that, she returned to her normal active self. Phew... what a long weekend that was to me. 

I was on regular leave on Monday because it was Tricia's first day at her kindergarten. My husband, my mom and I went to send her off on her very first day. She didn't cry, which was expected because when I brought her over to survey for schools earlier, she seemed excited and eager to start school. She looked worried to be left behind but after I explained to her that we will pick her up, she put on a brave face and went on. 

Oh, she was toilet train (during the day) for about a week when she started school (YEAY, FINALLY) so she refused to wear pampers to school. "Pagi pakai spentot, malam pakai pampers" she would say. But her father was worried she's still not comfortable with the teachers that she might have some "accidents" later so before I left her, I brought her over to the toilet and explained to her the situation. She let me put the pampers on and went on to join her classmates.

 

Tricia is 3. Haziqa is 8 months.

I find it more and more difficult these days to find time to update my blog. So quick summary.

We went to Legoland Malaysia twice, just one month apart. Weekend 10-12 October and last weekend 8-9 November. The first time I just wanted a getaway. But Tricia had so much fun, she asked to go again every single night after we came back so we went again on her birthday weekend.

That said... on 10 November 2014, Batrisyia Hana is THREE!!! Oh how time flies.

Hubby and his guy siblings are opening a shop in Seremban 3 selling stationeries, handphone accessories, photocopy services and many more. I foresee very little weekend time together after this.

And while we were leaving the shop yesterday, Haziqa fell head first onto the pathway. My heart broke into pieces to see she scraped her forehead. Although her injuries are limited, I cried when I was comforting her. T_T Oh she's 8 months today. ^_^ My darling little baby. Been standing up with support for 2 weeks or so already.

I am down with flu and cough now actually. Got it from the kids last week and it got so bad up to the point that I slept whole day last Thursday, got 2 days MC for Thursday Friday, went to work for a bit on Friday, and again down with fever Friday night. When was the last time I fell this sick? Can't recall. Good then, I guess.

Haziqa 6m: Crawling phase

Before I missed this update out, here's a quick one. Haziqa has started her crawling pose for a few weeks now... to my surprise actually, coz I just told hubby I thought she would be starting all these muscle exercises later since she is quite clingy. She definitely likes to prove people (who look down on her) wrong.

6 months also marked the day I could open her ASB account, which I did. On top of that, I had also opened a Tabung Haji account for both my daughters and registered them for Hajj. Their turn would be in year 2075. 

Tricia 2y9m

1) Left hubby and the kids in the car while I went to pray at a petrol station. When I was done, hubby looked like he was searching for something. He kept asking where were his glasses. I thought he meant sunglasses because he was wearing his daily glasses that time. When he couldn't find it, he asked Tricia... "mane specs papa?". Innocently, she pointed to his eyes. "Tu!" Wahahahaha. It WAS what he was looking for. It was so funny. 

2) Hubby has never been the one to scold Tricia but whenever Tricia hurt his feelings, he would give her silent treatment. There had been a couple of occasions where I had to teach Tricia to pujuk her papa by saying sorry and hugging him. Sometimes I nearly cried when she tried so hard but hubby still ignored her. However, recently, the table turned. Hubby was tickling Tricia even though she kept telling him no. When he wouldn't stop, Tricia gave HIM the silent treatment. I was so shocked. Her papa was begging her to say something... and kept laughing nervously... trying to break her silence. After awhile, he said sorry to her. Only then she stopped her silent treatment. OMG! I really couldn't believe it.
3) That same day in the car, Tricia suddenly made a statement that shocked me. "Mummy tu, asyik cium adik je." What????? Though I knew the statement is true, I just didn't expect it to come from her, at this age! So I said... but you never let me kiss you. Come here. She came to the back... but was quite a distance from me. I asked her to come closer to kiss her cheeks but she INSTRUCTED me to kiss her head. When I kissed once... she asked me for more. "Lagi... Lagi... Lagi..." Errr, why suddenly mummy kene bully?

4) It is known and expected that mummy will always bring her milk powder and can produce her milk on demand. When I told her, "susu takde". She looked at me and said "buat la". =_=

5) Took leave last Monday to scout for kindergarten. Went to see 3 schools. Hubby brought Tricia and I to the last one we went to. While talking to the teacher, Tricia said "papa... taknak sekolah nih". Err... quite surprised to hear her voice out her preference. The last school is nice... very elite but less "kindy".
The one we (Tricia and I) like is unfortunately quite far from the house. No transportation available. Unsuccessful to persuade Aleep's (Tricia's cousin) parents to move him to the same school, hubby told me to just go ahead if that is what I really wanted. He will work something out. I am really touched by hubby's gesture. So I guess we have picked a kindy already! Tricia is excited to start her session soon coz she's been telling everyone, "mummy bawak Tica pegi school". ^_^

Toilet training Tricia

I have been "slightly" peer-pressured into toilet training Tricia. Moreover, I wanted to send her to kindergarten soon and most kindergarten would require the child to be toilet trained. I can't depend on the maid to do it especially now that we were left with one, instead of two, to look after the kids. Since this weekend and next weekend would be a long 3-day weekend for me... I felt that maybe I should just give it a try. 

Day 1: Despite telling her many times to tell me when she needs to pee, she kept having "accidents" and peed in my room, the kitchen, the living room. She only told me after the accident happened. Whenever I scolded her for not peeing in the toilet, she cried and promised me to pee in the toilet the next time but then accidents happened again. 

The first two times was probably my fault. I didn't bring her to the toilet often enough. But the third time, I just brought her to the toilet 10 mins before. I didn't have the heart to scold her so many times so when she took her nap at 7pm, I told her to put on her pampers again. Enough training for one day.

I know my friends told me that I can't do it on weekends only. The training must continue during weekdays. But given the circumstances, it is not possible. I would stick to my weekends routine... until she is more in control of her bladder. 

Who knows parenting can be sooo difficult. =p

Love doesn't come easy

Hubby and I have always agreed that LOVE requires hard work. It doesn't come easy. 7 years of courtship before marriage had definitely thought us that. We had our fair share of ups and downs but Alhamdulillah, we got through the storms and kept running back to each other. But this post is not about spousal love... I want to talk about family bonds.

Growing up, I was not too close to my grandparents. I don't remember both grandmothers... and both grandfathers were too far away to be visiting me often. Today, looking at how close Tricia is to her grandparents, I feel happy for her. But her closeness doesn't come for free. I don't mean financially, though both sides of the family provided her with plenty, but I am referring to time and energy.

Let's face the fact... Tricia is not easy to look after. She is a bundle of energy that is very Very, I mean, VERY active. She's also nocturnal, like her father, which is the opposite of me. So when her father is out, and it is past mid-night, I would normally go to sleep so she either had to force herself to sleep (which is highly unlikely), entertain herself or disturb other people. Whenever we are in Bangi, she normally would have to mind her own business but when there's other people around, she would most definitely choose the last option. I am lucky to have family around to help me with her. When in Nilai, sometimes my SIL abby would take her in, sometimes my parents-in-law do. When in KL, either my mom or my brother would take on that job.

Mind you, my mom is 64 this year and my in-laws both are in their late-50s. They are strong for their age and are capable to take care of Tricia BUT they are not that young anymore. Having to keep up of that bundle of energy is definitely not easy. But they do it anyway and I am sure out of love. They sacrifice their time and energy to entertain this little stubborn being because she doesn't want to go to sleep. 

Is it all a waste? Is it worth it? Because of time and effort put in by them in raising her, she is, unsurprisingly, close to all 3 of her grandparents. She knows her routine to go to Atuk's and Wan's house during the day and during weekends or holidays, she now knows how to demand to visit tokma and cacik. She loves all of them dearly and it is because they effort they put in to raise her. It is not free. Love is not free. Love is hard work.
Thank you everyone, who loves her dearly and help us in taking care of her. We value your effort tremendously. Kiss kiss.

Haziqa 4 months. Tricia 2y 8m

How time flies. I didn't realised Tricia is 2y 8m already.

Haziqa at 3m3w: Tokma was complaining that she had not started turning. Tokma said Tricia turned before I went back to work. Honestly, hubby and I both couldn't remember that detail but I'm not worried at all. But Haziqa apparently understood Tokma's concern because as soon as she put her down, Haziqa straight away turned! Wow. Last night, at 4m 2d, I put her on the floor while she was strengthening her muscle holding her head up while lying down on her front, I was playing my phone beside her. Before I noticed it, she was not at her previous spot, which means she turned twice i.e. managed to roll herself to a new spot already. Proud of you, sayang.

Tricia: I'm sorry I couldn't find more time to document your progress at this stage, honey. And I am also sorry I couldn't find more time to teach you new skills, which I am quite worried about currently. While I haven't toilet trained her and she hasn't learn her ABCs and colours and speaking English, she is currently developing her conversational skills.

1) Mama ina testing her whether she can take Haziqa home with her

Mama ina: Tica, mama nak bawak balik adik, boleh?

Tica: Boleh.

(Papa asked mama ina to ask Tricia if mama ina could bring back her papa too.)

Mama ina: Mama nak bawak papa balik boleh?

Tica: Hmm... *pause* boleh TAPIIIIIIIII jaga elok2 tau. =_=

2) Couldn't find her milk bottle

Papa: Tica, mane botol susu?

Tica: Takde.

Papa: Mane tica letak? Cari laa betul2.

Tica: Tak tau. Takde.

Papa: Kakak letak mane?

Tica: Ade dalam kerete papa kot. 

(It wasn't in her father's car but now she knows it is a possibility.)

3) Went to 7Eleven with papa and bought bread and biscuits

Papa: Tica, papa nak roti.

Tica: Nanti tunggu sampai rumah eh papa.

Papa: Papa nak biskut.

Tica: Nanti tunggu sampai rumah eh papa.

4) While out in the car and she wanted milk.
Tica: Mummy, nak issue (susu/milk)
Me: Susu takde.
Tica: Buat lah.
Amboih. Demanding. She expects I always bring her milk powder with me anywhere we go.

Tricia as a big sister

Hello Hello. Abandoned the blog for a wee bit too long. Now that I have started working, and it is Ramadhan and I have moved back to Nilai with the in-laws, I just find myself always tired. With the travelling back-and-fourth and my working hours, I have very little time to spend with my beloved husband and babies. Gotta cherish what is left of my day.

Realised I didn't record Haziqa weight since birth coz unfortunately, we don't have the same record book for her like Tricia because we went to a different Paed for her jabs. 

Birth weight: 3.19kg

1 month: 3.77kg 

2 months: 4.7kg

3 months: 5.6kg
4 months: 6.2kg

I actually intended to record Tricia's journey as a big sister but I just didn't have the time to update it here. I kept "writing" the stories in my head but never got to type them down. Forgot most of them already so must quickly type down whatever stories I still remember.

On Haziqa's second day, Tricia came over and slept with us in the hospital. One time, I went to the toilet and left a hungry Haziqa crying with her father. Tricia panicked as to why her little baby sister was crying. When her papa told her that her adik was hungry, she ran all over the room looking for milk bottle and gave it to her papa. She said she couldn't find adik's bottle so she gave hers. It was so touching seeing a 2-year-old cares so much for another human being.

As time goes by, she observed that adik is breastfed. She saw how I put on the nipple shield to feed her adik and sometimes watched me pumped my milk into the bottles. She would quietly steal my nipple shield when I was not looking (because I would go berserk if I caught her did it) and put it on her own body. She was not too sure where exactly that thing goes so she simply stick it all over her body... even on her belly button. LOL.

There was so many heart-warming stories between Tricia and Haziqa. Although she acted out (in order to fight back our attention on her and I fought with her a lot because of that), she loves her sister dearly and never had bad intention towards her little sister. Some are undoubtedly dangerous moves but I believed it was done out of love.

One time, we went out for dinner with the big family. While serving us, I noticed the waitress was looking intently at Haziqa. I wondered why was she looking at my baby like she never saw a baby before... only to found out she was looking at Tricia's hand feeding Haziqa peanuts! So slick that elder sister... She was facing the table, not looking at Haziqa but her hands was pushing the peanuts into Haziqa's mouth. I think she didn't want her adik to be left out because everyone else was eating it and no one was feeding her little sister. 

During confinement, she stayed in Nilai during the day and when she came back at night, the first thing she would do was look for her adik and went to kiss her. Not me... Adik first. She would sometimes pick up adik's mosquito net and tried to hit adik with it. Not to hurt her... but to play with her. Was quite scary that time as you had to always watch her. But now, I don't see that behaviour anymore. She started playing differently as adik could respond to her already. So she would show adik upin ipin played on our phones or simply just talk to adik and adik would "talk" back and smile at her big sister.

In the morning, when I left Haziqa's side to shower or eat my Sahur, I would sometimes find  Tricia hugging Haziqa and even made Haziqa her pillow and sleep on her tummy. Haha. Tokma said "adik memang best buat bantal sebab die debuk debuk". And amazingly, most of the time, Haziqa was not bothered by it. Can't wait for Haziqa to grow up and be Tricia's playmate.

Tali pusat

Both Batrisyia's and Haziqa's tali pusat came off at 10 days.

2years 4months

2 nights ago, I was putting up our photoshoot pictures up our staircase wall. I already pasted the double sided-tape onto the pictures but haven't peeled the sticker off them yet. Tricia came over to me and insisted to help. I told her to go down and watched her TV but she refused to budge. While I was pasting one picture on the wall, she managed to find her way to peel off the sticker on another picture. By the time I looked, the picture was ready to be pasted on the wall. Wahhh, mummy's little helper!

Last night, when we reached home, as usual, we were sitting on the couch and this conversation took place:

Tica: Mummy. Nak tgk kantun (cartoon)

Me: Cartoon kene tengok tv sana. (the smaller TV)

Tica: Taknak. Nak tgk TV ni

Me: Sini cartoon dah habis. TV ni ade Monster(s Inc) je

Tica: Ok la. Tgk Monster

Me: Kesian laa papa. Papa nak tgk TV

Tica: Kesian tica

Me: =_= *flips channel to Monsters Inc*

My full-of-surprises hubby

My hubby is known to be full of surprises. Although he is not the totally romantic kind who celebrates my birthday or even our anniversaries, sometimes he does caught me off-guard.

Last last Sunday for example, on a random free Sunday, after we attended a wedding in Putrajaya, we actually went to Melaka... supposedly to attend his cousin's event but we went to Ayer Keroh instead of Alor Gajah, where the event was held. Since we were already there, we went for a foot massage, had dinner at Portugese Square and then went up the Menara Tamingsari. What a wonderful unplanned date.

Friday night was supposed to be Valentines Day and since we don't normally celebrate Valentines Day, it was just like any other night for me. However, on my way back, I was on the phone with him and maybe it got sentimental somewhere because suddenly, he told me he wanted to make a quick stop at JJ Seremban, which was not very unusual so I let him. He came home with a cake and ushered me into the jacuzzi with Tricia. I came out to this.

The house was actually lit up with candles but I can't show you the whole picture because it was very messy. Haha. He even dressed up for the occasion in pants and shirts. I was half naked in towels. So not fair. It was very very sweet of him and totally unexpected that I cried. He said, this is not to celebrate Valentines Day but to celebrate you. I scolded him for buying me flower on that specific day, when they are more expensive than usual. His reply was... I celebrate my wife whenever I feel like doing it. Doesn't matter what day it is.

On Saturday, we went for our check up in SJMC. Relaxed at home the whole day after and took Tricia to the Dr in the evening because she was coughing non-stop. Apparently, she had tonsillitis but her body was strong enough that she didn't have fever with it. So had to take another course of antibiotics, which wasn't surprising because the week before when we did the blood test, the was some indication of viral infection. That night, we hang out at Mak Long's house in Bangi before hubby took us out for a drive. Unfortunately, Tricia got into a coughing fit halfway and vomited in the car before we managed to reach home.
Since we didn't do anything Saturday and had no plans on Sunday (was supposed to go for a cancer charity walk in Bangi at 7.30am but I only woke up around 9am), hubby just drove us without telling where we were heading to. When we passed Sg Buloh tol, I insisted he told me where we were going. He only smiled. Then only I realised we were going to Cameron Highlands. So random!!! Although it could be tiring to keep up sometimes, especially in my final weeks of pregnancy, I just love the spontaneity in him. I love him for making an effort to keep things alive between us and how he includes us in his crazy adventurous life. The love of my life. I am so very lucky indeed to have him as my husband.

Potty training

Hubby was down with food poisoning last night so he slept early. My daughter, who is nocturnal, of course couldn't sleep that early so I had to take over watching her. She got bored because I dimmed out the lights so she couldn't play with her toys. She asked to watch Monsters Inc again and again. 3 times to be exact! Towards the end of the 3rd round, I was already sailing into dreamland. Heard her crying for me to change her pampers, when actually I just changed her pampers like an hour or two before. I knew she didn't poo... she just peed. But she really insisted... And when I ignored her, she finally gave in to ask for milk instead.

Well, I did change her pampers again before I went out for work this morning. But the incident last night made me think... maybe it's time to potty train her as she can tell you already when she peed. Quite nervous to start though. Don't want to have urine spots all over the house. Maybe we'll start when mummy is on maternity leave, if you are ready baby.

Tricia's Low Hemoglobin Level

I mentioned in previous posts that around end of last year/early this year, Tricia had high fever on and off. I took emergency leave on 2nd January 2014, first working day of the year when it was very busy and Soke Yee was on leave because I couldn't wait any longer. So I worked from home first half of the day and took Tricia for a blood test at her Paed in Seremban in the afternoon. I was impressed that the Dr only need to prick Tricia's finger to do the blood test. No need to draw blood from her vein.

Result in January:

The Dr explained that not only Tricia was having a viral fever, she also had bacteria infection. (I only learned yesterday that it was explained from LYM% and GRA% reading. High Lym = viral. High Gra = bacterial) That was it. What my mom saw was a different thing. Why was her hemoglobin level very low at 8.4. She freaked out and kept pestering me on and on about it. Good thing was, she went and investigate Tricia's milk content and found out it was not the milk's fault but it was actually our fault. We prepared her milk not according to the right level so her milk was super diluted. 1) She didn't get enough nutrients. 2) Her milk didn't taste good. We also went to search for food with high iron content and went with Cerelacs Honey and Wheat (not any other type) to be mixed into her milk.

After a month, yesterday, we went to see Dr Oo again to follow up with the hemoglobin reading. We actually asked a few other clinics/labs beforehand whether they can do the same blood test by pricking her finger rather than taking a whole chunk of blood from her veins but no luck. So off we went to Seremban. Lucky mummy didn't have anything else to do so I got to drag her along since she was the one that was freaked out with this whole episode and kept thinking it could be some minor thalassemia disorder/G6PD/iron deficiency disorder. I was pretty sure Tricia didn't have any blood related disorder because no one else in the family has it and Tricia had been pretty strong so far. Granted she fell sick on and off but it was never that serious. She was never admitted YET (touch wood) so I really didn't think she had any kind of blood disorder, which was supposed to make her prone to falling sick.

New result:

Hemoglobin level up to 9.7. Yeayyy! Joy. Although it is still very low from the normal range, at least it is improving. Mom was very happy. She wanted to have some reticulocyte count or something from the blood test. I called Dr Oo's clinic before and the nurse said they don't have it. Mom asked Dr Oo personally and he said it could be explained by other measures. I didn't understand what they were talking about but mom looked satisfied so I guess it is good. Dr Oo told me very low possibility of having all that blood disorder thing from the reading. No wonder he didn't point out anything before. 

Mom, finally satisfied with the explanation, said that was exactly why Doctors cannot treat their own family members because it is easier for them to freak out when it comes to their own loved ones. Amazing what food intake could do to one's overall health. So what we should do now is to continue to monitor her food intake because it is very difficult to make her eat solid food. Unfortunately, mom kept reminding me that she inherited that from me. =_= Now that her milk is not so diluted anymore, she has been drinking a lot more but in return, reducing her solid food intake. As long as she gets the right nutrients in, she is on the right track to recover from the low hemoglobin episode. To all my family members, thank you for helping us in monitoring her food intake. Your contribution is very much appreciated. ^_^

02022014 - Escape Room round 2

This weekend is a long weekend due to Chinese New Year holiday and Federal Territory day. So we are off Friday to Monday. We spent our Friday cleaning up the house and went shopping for the new arrival on Saturday.
On Sunday, my friends and I made a date for our second (first for most of them) trip to the Escape Room at E@curve. There were 7 of us and we went to Prison Break room this time and surprise, surprise... We managed to escape in 36 minutes!!! Woohoo. See. I told you. Headcount is important and teamwork gave us success. There was me, Hudam and Cyan as the recurring contestants and Asserk, Aizat, Lisak and Shasha Id as first timers. Asserk broke the 1st clue. Hudam unlock us out our hand-cuffed. Was supposed to break a clue on a box and then a pouch. But Shasha managed to unlock the pouch without solving any clue. Cheating a bit there but what the heck. We didn't break anything. What comes next was a bit tougher. A physical challenge, which Lisak successfully completed for us. I unlocked the 4th padlock, giving us access to the next clue, which the team solved together to unlock the next one. And the final one, was again a team effort. Don't think we would have made it with fewer headcount. *I hope this doesn't qualify as a spoiler*. Sorry orn. I knew you would love to join but Sunday is the day with the most people so we had to go with the majority. A few people asked whether it was fun. It definitely WAS. Of course, you have to go with great company but the game was what made it fun, right?

Before:

After:

Since we were all so very happy after the win, we went to celebrate at DipNDip. I didn't know they have a branch there. Luckily someone pointed it out.

Fettucini crepe. The only dish I managed to capture a picture of.

While I was away with friends, mom and brother helped to look after Tricia who was having a blast at Yukids Island. She was there since 2pm until I went to pick her up at 4.30pm. Guess that was quite convenient eh?

My husband's story was kinda funny. He thought he was supposed to attend a kenduri that day, which was why I picked Sunday to spend time with my friends. He woke up late, left the house, then only realized the kenduri was the day before. So he drove to KL and joined us in The Curve. After that, had a drink at Bubba Gump Shrimp before sending mom and bro back home. A happy day indeed.

2 years 2 months

A few weeks ago, I bought Batrisyia her first set of magic colour pens. Like any other kid, she was excited to start scribbling everywhere including on her own body parts like her hands, legs, nose, chin, you name it. Her father had a hard time cleaning them of her. Haha. Then not long after, she went and scribbled on her favourite hello kitty soft toy forehead. After which, she kept asking me to clean it, which I refused. I gave her so many excuses like can only do it in the morning so that it can be left under the sun to dry, I won't do it or you will just do it again, serves you right for scribbling on your favourite toy etc.

Tired of hearing my excuses, last Monday, she took the opportunity to take her soft toy into the bathroom when she saw the toilet door was open. There were so many people around so no one noticed what she was doing. SHE WENT TO WASH HER SOFT TOY! It was all wet, of course, but all the magic colour marks were gone. She really cleaned it... HERSELF! Mummy is very very impressed. Wow sayang. 2 years old eh? So smart. So independent.

Happy new year, 2014

Am I too late to wish all of you a Happy New Year? I guess I am. Haha. We went on a quick holiday near year-end but Tricia was having fever for a week around new year, which has kept me awake most nights and left me tired after the nightmare was over. So no time to blog. It was a nightmare not because the fever was severe. It just won't go away. Whenever we gave her meds, the fever would disappear for 6 hours or so until the meds effect worn off. Went to take her blood and Dr Oo confirmed there was viral&bacteria infection in her blood but what worry my mom was her hemoglobin level was very low at 8. Mom worries it might be iron deficiency anemia/G6PD/minor thalessemia. We will let her body recover whatever supply for now but we will have to revisit that issue later.

I still owe myself lots and lots of vacation update but I guess that will just have to wait. My dearest colleague, Soke Yee, got married recently and although she wanted to keep her marriage leave for later, I told her to take it now because she will only be going for her honeymoon after I got back from maternity leave. By then, her marriage leave would have expired already. Hence I'm quite busy at work now.

Towards new year, I heard one topic in the radio talking about worst memories in 2013. My initial thought was none. Then I remembered. My dearest father passed away in 2013. It may not leave as big an impact on me as it would on his other family members, but I felt the loss nevertheless. Sometimes I felt like calling him but he is no longer around. So I will just divert my attention to focus on the arrival of our new family member soon.

Hmm, that's all for now. Wanted to update on our most recent trip to Tasik Kenyir but too lazy to start digging the pictures. Hehe. Later then. Going on another trip this Friday to Tanjung Jara Resort. Woohoo!!!

Tired but fulfilling weekend of BWM, BBW and EscapeRoom

Hello peeps. First day back at work after a 3-day weekend and I'm feeling extremely tired today. Took Monday off to rest and re-energised but it was exactly the opposite of what really happened.

Friday night

Hubby and brothers went for badminton session from 12-3am. I was SO sleepy already so I told hubby I'll just wait for him at home in Nilai. But when my little girl, who is nocturnal, looked at me and said let's go... I relented. After all, no work on Satuday. So I went and kept chasing her around until 1.30am or so when finally I couldn't take it anymore and fell asleep on the chair... in a sitting position. Went back home with Kak Azah around 2am and this happened:

Qys: Mummy, kenapa perut auntie Farah gemuk?

Kak Azah: Sebab auntie Farah mengandung.

Qys: Owh, auntie Farah makan byk sgt sebab tu laa mengandung.

Adesss... I ate too much and that's how I got pregnant. But what I LOVE about this conversation the most is the innocence in that statement. Kids are way TOO advanced nowadays... with rape/sexual assault commited by children as young as 7 years old, it is just worrying. So it is extremely nice to hear such an innocent statement like that coming from a kid.

Saturday

Woke up "early" around 9.30 or so to pick up our new baby. Arrived at the centre around 12 but only managed to leave the place around 1.30pm. That was only after I stormed out the office because we had been waiting way too long than I could tolerate. We already called one day earlier to say we were going to pay via credit card and when we arrived that day, they told us the machine broke down. Only when I stormed out he suggested to pay at another branch's office. Pfffttt. They love to test the patience of a pregnant woman, huh?

From Puchong to Cyberjaya to Nilai to Bangi to Setapak to Ampang to Setapak to Bangi to Nilai. Cost us RM90 petrol. Is that expensive? I can't tell... Went to Tamarind Springs in Ampang that night to have dinner with mummy and abang. It was a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL place but 4 plates of rice, 4 king prawns, 2 bowls of tomyam and 1 plate of fish cost us RM400! Damn expensive T_T. Went back to Nilai and had durian fiesta before calling it a night.

Sunday

No plan on Sunday. We just wanted to sleep in. Was supposed to call someone to clean the house but the woman didn't call back. Anyway, I asked my friend Uda to go to the Big Bad Wolf expo with me and we managed to arrive there at 8am. Here's my catch for the day. 15 books for RM111.15 after 5% discount with OCBC card.

Was a lazy day the rest of the day where we hang out in Nilai to pass the time and spend time with family.

Monday
Woke up in Nilai because we were going to Seremban to take Tricia's 2-year-old jab. It was for Hep A, first dose and an optional one. Had breakfast first cooked by my lovely MIL. Got no 15 and had to wait for 1 1/2 hours. Then, I rushed back and picked up Irna for our date with Cyan and Hudam for our escaperoom session. I called to ask which room was suitable for pregnant woman, and the guy who answered suggested we tried Mummy or Prison room. Since mummy's difficulty was lower than prison, we chose that one for this round. It was our first time and the experience was awesome although we didn't manage to crack the code for the last puzzle on time. We were given 45 minutes and we could ask for clue two times within the time limit, which we did use. Would definitely go again to try other rooms. More info at escaperoom Before I went, I was looking for cheatsheet or spoilers online. Lucky I couldn't find any as it will definitely kill the fun! So yeah, I am not going to be the fun buster and post any spoiler.

After that, we went back to Cyan's place in Damansara Damai for our cake and cupcake session. Went back, picked up Tricia and did a bit of cleaning that I could manage and woke up today feeling extremely tired. But all-in-all, I had a fulfilling weekend.

my girl on a date with her papa while I was away with friends

Kakak

I didn't expect my little girl would ever be ready to become a big sister. I didn't even expect her to understand the meaning of having a younger sibling now as she is still very young. But she does. 2 nights ago, I was accompanying her taking a bath in the jacuzzi. Hubby walked over and touched my belly while trying to talk to adik. When Tricia saw her father touching my belly, she stopped playing with her ducks, walked over and removed her father's hand from me, while shouting "Papa!!! No! Jangan kacau adik!" I was speechless. Whaatttt???????????

And then, over this 1 week, whenever we called her Tica, she would reply "Bukannn... Kakak!". She insisted people to call her kakak already. Oh my gosh... I'm so proud of you, my little girl. Maybe not so little anymore. My big girl. The kakak.