Legoland Resort Malaysia Review

Note: Excuse the “weird” language. Dah lama tak post. :p

Alhamdulillah, last February, we had the opportunity to spend a weekend at the Legoland Nusajaya, Johor, staying at the Legoland Hotel. we decided to take the kids there, since we cancelled off having a party for them this year.

Finding our way there.

Our journey from Puchong to Johor started after lunch, and took almost five hours since we had to make several stops, to rest and recharge, as well as to clean up the “mess” as the little one threw up twice from Ayer Keroh to Nusajaya, and once more upon arriving at the hotel parking. Moral of the story: Do not feed your toddler ice cream (dairy) on a road trip if you’re not sure of his reaction!! I learnt that the bad way, obviously, as we had to wash his car seat cover, the roof of the car, the seats and many more things upon arrival, and still had to bear with the stench from the vomit all the way home. Sigh!~

For me the Legoland Resort was lovely. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, a week after a major holiday so the place was pretty quiet. We love the huge lego warriors that greeted us at the entrance, the decor at the lobby was both amazing and amusing, and the kids enjoyed running around and playing with the lego pieces placed in several locations around the lobby. Check-in was a breeze but payment had to be made upfront if i’m not mistaken.

The rooms were decorated according to themes, three all in all in this resort. There’s the pirate, adventure and kingdom theme. We chose the adventure theme as we thought the room looked brighter and the kids might enjoy it more. Going up to the room, we had a surprise upon entering the lift as a disco ball lighted up and a disco song played as soon as the lift door closes. Disco dancing in (Legoland resort) lifts had been our norm ever since. Well, except for that one time when hubby went down with the kids (sans moi) and the little one vomited all over the lift. Another moral of the story: Tak payah nak menari2 kalau anak belum recover from motion sickness.

A Lego Knight greeting us at the entrance from the parking.

 Kalau notice, di belakang knight ni parking area untuk hotel guest.

Lego cowboy.

Lift lobby (at the Adventure Rooms floor)

Lift opens and..... Disco baybeee!!

The rooms were decently sized and offer privacy for the parents, since the bunk bed and the king-sized bed were separated by a lockable sliding door. There were 2 tv sets, one at the bunk bed area and the other one at the king sized bed area, other regular hotel amenities, a treasure box, which the children get to unlock upon solving a treasure map, and a lego duplo set. Memang best the way the resort thinks about little children. Even the toilet has 2 wash basins/sinks with different heights complete with mirrors and plastic glasses.

The bunk bed.

Media centre at the kid's bunks.

To the right of this media centre is a sliding door that opens to the king bed area, with its own TV. Yeay!

The small roof top swimming pool.

Malam tu we just had dinner at the restaurant downstairs. Makan is a bit of a problem if you don’t go out. Don’t fret though. There’s a street mall just outside the hotel (walking distance, about 2 minutes, not that tiring) that has quite a number of fast food restaurants (will elaborate further).

There area 2 restaurants at the resort. One is a family restaurant that serves buffet all day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you decide to have lunch and dinner there, you don’t have a choice but to go for buffet as they don’t take a la carte orders. The other restaurant is a fine dining restaurant but we have been advised by the concierge that the restaurant is non halal. Since it was late, makan la buffet dinner. The buffet spread for dinner was pretty good with a variety of choices. They even have a chocolate fountain for the desserts, but i didn’t quite enjoy it much for some reason. Don’t know why.

We had an early start the next day, of course to enjoy the park as early as possible. Had buffet breakfast (included in the package), again the food is just mediocre. Spread is good, but taste is so-so. Soon after that, dashed to the park and got in line at the turnstiles by 9.20-ish (park opens at 9.30 if i’m not mistaken.)

Legoland!!

At park opening, there was a welcome dance by the staff as well as 2 characters from the Lego Movie, Emmet and the ninja girl (sorry.. haven't watched the movie, don’t know her name.) After entering through the turnstiles, we proceeded directly to the boating school to avoid the crowd. I recommend getting the park tickets online as you can get a 20% discount for advance purchase (at least a week before).

Surprisingly the park wasn’t that busy on that particular Saturday. The longest wait was around 10 minutes, which was for ta second round of he boating school, later that day. The little girl enjoyed driving school tremendously as she get to drive a lego car on her own, and get her very own lego license. Other rides that we went on were the Flying School, Dragon’s Apprentice (little roller coaster) and this knight riding on the horse thingy.

We had lunch at the Pizza place within the park, and the little boy had a good play at the Duplo play area. Lunch was standard theme park price (read: expensive) but the taste was ok. There was a quartet singing during lunch at the restaurant.

After lunch, we got back to the hotel for rest, prayers and naps, and returned to the park later in the evening until the park closes at 8pm to repeat the rides that we liked, walking through Miniland and Lego shopping. Quite spoilt for choice of the many Lego stuffs at the shops dotted around the park.

We had dinner at the street mall just a leisure walking distance across the park. There were KFC, Burger King and The Chicken Rice Shop just to name a few. After that, back to hotel and crashed.

The street mall across Legoland entrance.

Some of the shops in the mall.

Next morning, breakfast and check out. Check out is early, at 11.00 a.m. After checking out, we headed home but made a pit stop at the JPO for window shopping and lunch. After that, looong drive home.

Itulah dia, a short (kah?) snippet of our Legoland Visit. The kids enjoyed it tremendously. Even the little one can’t stop talking about riding on the boat and the car (although bukan dia boleh drive the car pun.. duduk dalam lego car yang tak bergerak kat luar driving school tu je pun). Alhamdulillah, no more vomiting drama going home. :D

Kalau ada budget lebih, I highly recommend a stay at the Legoland Resort. At least dekat jugak kalau nak balik rehat tengah hari, and it’s a very fun resort, a little different from your usual hotel environment. As for the park, I think one day is enough to cover the park, if the park is not that busy. Tapi tu dry park je la, tak termasuk water park. Kalau nak pergi water park sekali, maybe dua hari la kot. Bear in mind that it can get very hot in the park. Queueing area tu might be shaded but most attractions are not covered, so don’t forget your caps and sunblocks!

Anxiety and Disappointments.

Hmmm... life's challenges. Sometimes when it comes, it comes pouring down on you, doesn't it?

Being a mom is really wonderful. However there are times when you question yourself and your actions. Sometimes you even question if you're worthy of being a mom.. well.. maybe you don't.. but i know i do. *Sigh*

It had been two weeks now since i sent my lil boy to daycare. Not fully two weeks. Nine days to be exact. And for all those nine days, he cried and cried and cried some more. Sometimes it could be a tearless cry, but then, who knows? He comes back with a cracked voice, from calling out for mommy & daddy the whole day and this week, he even cried getting into the car in the morning to go to school. As a mother, my heart breaks looking at him being so unhappy like that. As much as i try to keep a straight face and a "dry heart" (read:hati kering), it hurts me so deeply that i question our decision to start sending him to daycare. And this weekend it's even worse because he's clinging on to me all the time and refuses to sleep/nap and cries a whole lot.

We need him to go to daycare. He needs to learn to socialise with other children and the teachers. But does he? At what expense? I can't help but to worry if this move (starting daycare) is going to scar him for life! 

We also need him to start daycare because i'm going back to work soon. That kept me thinking too that maybe all of this wouldn't have happened if i didn't take a 2-year leave. If i had just sent him to daycare when he was a baby, the transition might have been easier, like his sister. Then, as i scroll down some of the posts on Facebook, i question if i should be working in the first place. I'm basically working for myself. For back-up, should anything happen to hubby. We could still afford to get by if i don't work. Sometimes i ask myself if i'm being selfish to work instead of being a full-time mom which is supposed to be my responsibility? *Sighs again*

Comes to a point where i really don't know what to do. I leave it to the Almighty as He is the only one who knows what's best for me and my family. For now, i'll just sleep and cry it off, as and when the need arises.

Of Daycare, Weaning, School and such....

Happy 2014! :)

Countdown to back-to-office: about 90 days or so.

With that in mind, i've already started to send the little one (who's turning 2 end of this month) to a pre-nursery program. Where? Why.. where we sent the kaiak last time, of course. Yeah.. we liked it better before, but i guess since they have replaced the principal of the kindy, we're more comfortable sending the lil boy there, plus the timing and location is convenient for pick-ups.

He has also weaned from bf-ing during the day. I used kunyit this time around. I can't really remember how i did it last time with the kakak, but i think kunyit helped at that time too. He's getting the hang of it, although sometimes he asks for it, with a cheeky look upon his face, like trying his luck kinda thing. Heh. Good luck trying! But malam, i still allow him his fix, considering that he has the right to until he's 2 years. Will need to start to think of ways to get him to stop completely soon.. and then hubby and i can claim our bed back from that lil guy! We used the "big girls sleep in their own bed" trick with his sister. Dunno if it'll work on him.

The big kakak... Talkative as always. Siapa la dia ikut pun tak tau. Takde pulak makan tongkeng ayam like ever! Isk... Today she was telling me that her teacher told the class about Florence Nightingale... Bla..bla..bla.. tiba2 end of the story, i want a pet rabbit?? Kaitan??? Dia kata, cikgu kata Florence Nightingale used to take care of her pets and the family helper when she was sick... Baik punya mukadimah to ask for a pet. Cheh! :p

Been dropping by to the old office after sending the kids to school these couple days. Had some catching up with friends. Frustrated just listening to their stories about not-so-smart people up there. Promoting people for reasons other than their capabilities is just a recipe for disaster. Ramai orang yang tak bersalah, yang pulun kerja kuat untuk rezeki halal jade mangsa, when orang yang dinaikkan pangkat tak reti bust kerja and just dump everything to others. Dah ada pangkat, cari lagi jalan macam mana nak up lagi pangkat. Kerja la wey.. jangan kejar pangkat and RM je. Yes, money is important, but it's not everything. Yang penting rezeki tu halal. Memang la kerja makan haji tu secara lahirnya halal. Tapi kalau kerja yang dipertanggungjawabkan tu tak dijalankan, dok tai-chi lat orang, dok ngelat, mana letaknya halal haji yang diterima tiap2 bulan tu??? Takyah bangga la dengan pangkat. Dia yang bagi.. anytime Dia boleh ambil balik.

Hisy.. blogger ni pun.. What's with the auto correct?? Sigh! Malas la nak layan auto correct ni. Better retire to bed. Early morning tmrw. Soccer mom, here we go (for the next couple of months!!) :D

More on Kindy Search

Last week, i felt so elated because i felt that i may have find THE place to send my boy to come January 2014. I found out about that particular kindy upon stumbling on its website whilst researching for kindy in the vicinity of my workplace. 

Can't say i was impressed with the layouts of the website. However, the programs that were laid out seemed interesting, and judging from the fee structure, it probably has a cozy and enriching environment for growing children. Annnndddd... given that the person i spoke to and the language used on the website was english, i was really over the moon that this place is islamic, and at the same time uses english language as the medium of communication, and will nurture these little angels to become tahfiz.

As soon as i stepped into the facility, i was met by the person that i spoke to over the phone. We sat and she asked us on our little boy's background; who are his current caretakers, feeding schedule, allergies, etc. At this point of time i concentrated on the conversation and didn't look around the facility much. And then, just out of nowhere, that person started to explain about the fee structure. I find it odd that they charge for laundry, because from my previous experiences, no other daycares charges for that because the service wasn't provided. However, that person said that the laundry fee will be waived since my boy is "still little and they don't dirty their clothes that much". Whatever.

After the lengthy explanation on the fee structure, the conclusion was that they're charging RM400+ per month for daycare, not inclusive of diapers and milk, of course. Still oblivious of the whole area, i asked to check on the daycare area. She asked us to wait while she checks on the kids. As soon as she showed me the daycare room, all my dreams shattered! The place was pathetic!!

There were three children in there, if i was not mistaken. Two babies, i presume, were sleeping in "buai", on the floor, atop a comforter. No baby cots, no toddlers' beds, no bright and colourful posters of alphabets or animals that you usually find in a daycare. Not even toys! It was just a room with a door with a couple of comforters strewn across the floor. You don't expect little kids to spend the whole time away from their parents to be confined into such a small place with no educational toys or any activities to engage them, do you?

And for that pathetic thing that they call a daycare, they're charging RM400+ a month????? Daycares that charges RM200 probably have better facilities than that! I'm sure many parents don't mind forking out that amount of money to ensure that their children receive the best care when they're out working, but it has to be justified with the service rendered, right? Which should include the facility itself!

I am truly and utterly angry, upset and disappointed. This particular kindy promotes so much on nurturing little tahfiz, and promises to provide a good system to raise good muslim children. Seriously? In that kind of environment??? A place that looked so deprived whilst a lot of RMs are spent by parents wanting the best for their children. A load of bull if i may say.

Please lah. Stop using religion to sell your products. That's just wrong.

Pencarian Daycare/Kindy Bermula!

Alas, the full-time housewife period is going to be over soon. Well, in about 7 more months or so, but believe me, it'll be over sooner than i might like to think. Heh.

A part of me is happy to go back to work. A part of me.. well.. not so happy.

Anyways... since dah nak mula kerja balik, sedang giat cari kindy untuk the little guy. We found this place. No big names/popular kindy franchise whatsoever. It uses the montessori method and we really liked the place. Classes are small, and i spent a couple of days there and i was quite amazed to see that the place is pretty quiet and serene for a kindy. You don't hear too much of kids screaming and teachers yelling in response. Everybody speaks softly. Truly amazing!

However... the problem is... my lil guy seemed not ready for a school environment yet. We were given 3 + 4 days free trial.. and he was only ok being left in class by himself on the first day, before he discovered that mommy and daddy will not stay with him at school. The rest of the days, i had to stay in the class with him. Huhu..

Cabaran jugak bila jaga anak sendiri full time, lepas tu nak transition dia pergi sekolah, ek?

Oleh yang demikian, i was thinking that i should leave him at home with the maid under the supervision of my in laws more often. Thus, i'm thinking of taking on tailoring classes. Bila nak buat? Tak tau. Asyik rasa berat hati nak tinggal dia. :p 

The second thing that i thought i should do is to enrol the lil guy in a playgroup of some sort. So, i scouted around for playgroups near my place, and came across this particular playgroup. I called the place and they signed me up for a trial session. To my surprise, they're charging RM50 per child per trial class!! And it's just a one hour class for God's sakes! 

I mean.. i just came from a week of trial classes in a real kindy that uses a proven method of teaching children, and the classes are around 4.5 hours a day, and they gave my kiddo a snack and lunch each day, and they didn't charge us anything! And then, this playgroup trial class wants to charge RM50 for one hour of dancing and arts and crafts??? 

I'm sorry. I can't help but feel that this particular organisation is a rip-off. To add salt to the wound, i didn't receive any reply after i texted my cancellation of joining the trial session. Masa hantar text suruh transfer duit lajuuuuu je. Dah la tu, you charge people heftily, and then you just use free service to communicate with your clients. Pakai whatsapp instead of sms service. Semua kira nak maximize profit je kan?

Sigh! Entahlah. Anyways, i found another playgroup closer to home and we're attending the trial session this Saturday. This playgroup charges RM25.. I think it's reasonable la given that this operator only offer one session a week for a class of less than 15 children. She still needs to pay for the materials and take care of her overheads kan? I get that. Tapi, takdela sampai mencekik darah kan?

Apapun, i hope to see improvements in my lil guy, and i sure hope i can enrol him into kindy come January '14. Mudahkanlah urusan kami ya Allah!

Green

Thinking out loud... 

Have you compared yourself with others and then feel bad about yourself, because you feel that you've achieved so little, whilst others so much more??

Sigh...

A self reminder - you get what you deserve to get. The Almighty knows what's best for you in the past, present , and future.

Please dear heart, do count your blessings. Silent the whispers that seeds ungratefulness.


“Is, then, He Who creates comparable to any that cannot create? Will you not, then, take heed? For should you try to count Allah’s blessings, you could never compute them…” (An-Nahl 16:17-19).

Battle of the Bulge

More often than not, i think most women have one issue or another with their (gasp!) weight. Too fat, too thin, too flabby, too muscular... Sigh. Once too often, women just love to pick a fight with their own bodies, whether or not there is a presence of provocation. 

And, yes. You've guessed it. I'm one of those women. I was born a normal weight infant, but my weight started to increase faster than the ideal growth rate since i was about 5 years old or so. Once that started, it never stopped. I never knew how to stop my weight from escalating. I guess, neither did my parents. 

You think being an overweight adult is hard? Try being an overweight kid. You face ridicule in every corner, not to mention the embarassment of not being able to find anything in your size in the kid's department. And, remember the weighing in that you have to do repeatedly in school? Lucky for me i attended an all-girls' school, so less ridicule from the opposite sex. (But i do still get them from inter-school activities, tuition, mengaji classes, bus rides, you get the picture, right?..oh not to forget, sharp-tongued relatives!)

So, childhood for me wasn't really the best time of my life. And i blamed that on my weight. Until now, i always feel that if only i wasn't a fat girl, i could've achieved so much more. Not that i'm not grateful with what i have now. I am. It's just that things could've been different, you know?

That said, I've vowed to always keep my kids' weight in check. So, please don't give me crap about not letting my kids enjoying life by banning candies and junk food.

Back to my battle.

I graduated from high school a whopping 75kg. I went into college, shed some weight, thanks to increased activity and self-induced bulimia. I can credit that to peer pressure (and influence). So my weight always hovered around 70 - 73 kg. Maintained that weight zone through uni. 

Had a breakthrough dieting & working out period in which i managed to get my weight down to 60 kg, eating only fruits and veg, if I'm not mistaken, and only those listed under negative calorie foods. Workout consisted of walking on a daily basis, plus aerobics every other day. But of course, the weight loss didn't last. Before long, i was back at my "comfort" weight zone.

I was at my heaviest during my second pregnancy, during my last few weeks, I think i was at 98 kg.. It felt horrible! (Not the pregnancy, only the heaviness!)

One year down the road from my second pregnancy, my weight's back to the higher end of the "comfort" zone, but I was so upset looking at my mid section. Cutting the story short, i was again embroiled into dieting, and from my research this time around i came about another diet. 

I went on this diet for 45 days. I lost almost 5kgs. My weight actually came down lower than the 70kg zone! I was (and am still) elated about the result! For now, i've already ended the diet, because i need to do my qadha' fasting before the fasting month comes, but I'm certain to go back onto this diet after Raya. I've never been quite so excited on a diet before, and somehow, being on this diet I didn't really feel like wanting to get out of it.

Anyways, I'm not describing the nature of this diet just yet, so as not to jinx it, kind of. We'll see how long this weight loss is going to last, ok?

Music for the soul (and brain development)..

I can't remember where and when, but i had read somewhere that music can help the brain development of young children. 

Therefore, I enrolled our firstborn into a music class when she was 4 years old. The only class i knew back then was Yamaha. :) I didn't actually have a plan on the direction of her musical encounter. For me, i just wanted her to learn music to ensure more connections of neurons in her brain. I could be wrong.. but it's something that i believed in. 

Anyways, so we enrolled her into this Junior Music Course (JMC) for children aged 4 to 6. The course is delivered in a classroom environment, where there's a teacher who'll teach the kids to sing, play and move to the music. One parent have to be present during classes to help their kids out. The instrument at this stage is the electone as the keys are "softer" thus easier to respond to little fingers. 

We were quite clueless about the course initially. We didn't know that it's actually a two-year course. At the end of the course, there will be an assessment, named the Fundamental Skills Survey, in which students will be assessed in their singing (pitching/tone, i think?), instrument playing (the students need to play 2 ensembles from any of their 4 books), play one song in which they had partially composed, sing solfege by listening, identifying chords (at this stage 4 chords - C, G, F major and D minor) by listening and identifying musical notes. Given that most kids at this stage are 6 years old, that's quite an achievement in itself, don't you think?

That's what my kiddo will go through next month. She's almost completed her JMC course and i can really see her progress. Her teacher is giving her a trial exam next week. 

Some might question the need to make little kids go through such pressure, right? Well.. in our case, we didn't pressure her into doing it. She wanted to do it. She wants to practice everyday. Even when selecting the songs to play for the assessment, she picked quite challenging pieces. We're just following her lead and give her as much support as we can.

Now.. since we didn't have a plan, again, I was quite dumbstruck when the teacher asked on what's our plan after the JMC. Hubby was really hoping to get her a personal tutor at home. Teacher at yamaha suggested continuing with Yamaha music course... Gasp!! Confused!

So, i did some googling and asking around. Just to share with you parents who are also in the same boat as i am. 

Basically, three things pop up while i googled on piano lesson in Malaysia. JMC/JXC (yamaha courses), ABRSM and Trinity Guildhall. ABRSM and Trinity Guildhall are examination boards and are accredited to graded exams in music. On the other hand, yamaha music courses is actually a music education structure with its own exams (not governed under neither ABRSM nor Trinity). The yamaha system is age sensitive in which each key stages correspond to a particular age group, starting at age 3, and finishing off at age 12 (Yamaha grade 5).

From my research, yamaha focuses more on music appreciation in the sense that it not only focuses on score reading, but teaches children to listen as well as compose songs. A lot of people are saying that yamaha students tend to be able to play by ear and are not restricted to having a score to play a musical piece. ABRSM and Trinity on the other hand has a more technical approach and teaches more on classical pieces.

Yamaha courses are run in classroom environment (for JMC and JXC, not sure for other levels), whilst ABRSM and Trinity are based on one on one interaction between the student and the teacher. Meaning, parents have to be more hands-on for the yamaha courses, whilst for the ABRSM and Trinity, parents can take a back seat. 

So, taken all that into consideration, we are going to continue with the Yamaha system for now. We've asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to continue with classes, so that's what we're gonna do, for now. The yamaha teacher said that many parents take both classes, yamaha and ABRSM so that their children will learn both, but for us since our aim is not really to go for the paper qualification, that approach might be a little too much for us. But we'll see as time goes.

Whhoaaa.. Too Long!

How many months has it been now, since the last post?? Too long... wayyyy too long.

The new year has come. Ten more days before my little tike turns one! Which means that it's been a year of me being a full-time housewife. I've been asked many times about what it's like to be a stay-at-home-mom. Honestly, for someone who's used to meeting people on a daily basis, it can get quite depressing sometimes just staying at home. The only other people that i see apart from my kids, husband and the maid are my mother, brother, sis-in-law, mil, fil, hubby's cousin who's doing renovation on our house, his wife and his workers.. oh.. and the paediatrician, once in a while. I don't see friends or colleagues or other people, i don't really talk about other things and don't gossip much (which is a good thing). It's not like hubby doesn't allow me to go out and see my friends, but I feel that it's gonna be such a hassle trying to do that and i feel that i can't leave the baby with anyone else (since he's fully breastfeeding and i don't pump - my bad!)

Well, the price i have to pay for being so "kedekut" to share my children with others. Well.. it's not that i'm being kedekut, but i tend to get jealous when my kids spend more time, thus get closer to others rather than me (or their daddy). Just the thought of it makes me sad. That's why, even with a domestic helper present at our home, she doesn't really care for the kids, except for the instances that i need her to watch over my kids eg. when i cook or pray or need to use the WC. She helps out in the area i needed help the most - cleaning the house! :D For most of my friends who knows me, I really suck at cleaning up. Huh.

As mentioned earlier, Seth's gonna be 1 in 10 days! He's starting to take a few steps, but he does it infrequently. He much prefers crawling or being ferried by mommy. He's so adorable and much more manja than his sister. His sister is manja, but more manja with Daddy, and this boy is more manja with me. That's how it usually works, right? At eleven months, he's also starting to imitate what others do. He tried to put on a pair of socks, he tried to brush kakak's hair, tried to put on a hat on his kakak... He's lucky to have a sister ho loves him and adores him to bits. She'd just let him do whatever to her. It's amusing and amazing to see them play together (not to mention nerve-wrecking too, sometimes).

Sarah's growing too. She's gonna be six next month. Wow.. hard to believe that i gave birth to her almost 6 years ago. She's such a chatterbox!! Hubby and I think that not being able to speak would be a punishment for her. She talks, and talks, and talks endlessly. I really wonder where she got that trait from (hubby!). 

I was looking forward for a trip planned this May. A trip to a place i've always wanted to go, and always wanted to return to with la familia. But, given the condition of the company that hubby's working with right now, i'm not sure if it will happen. Sigh! Hoping for the best.

Hokaayy... my sleepy eyes begets me. Routine's waiting for me tomorrow. 

Cheers.

Eid Mubarak!

Alhamdulillah, hari kedua Aidilfitri hari ni. Syukur, Allah masih beri peluang menikmati kemanisa Ramadhan dan Aidilfitri kali ini. Syukur juga, this year dapat puasa penuh! Alhamdulillah. I can't remember the last time i had the opportunity to puasa penuh. Allah Maha Kaya.. last year Dia tak bagi aku puasa, tahun Dia bagi aku peluang puasa penuh. :D 

This year, my little princess dah mula belajar puasa!!.. She was eager to fast everyday, but i only allowed her to fast on weekends. Masa weekdays dia pergi sekolah, kesian pulak bangun awal sangat for sahur. Mengantuk pulak nanti kat sekolah. Alhamdulillah, the last day of puasa, she completed fasting the whole day!! Percubaan2 terdahulu biasanya tamat dalam pukul 12.00 onwards. The first day she tried, dah pukul 5 nak buka puasa.. Hehe.. Akhirnya, hari terakhir Ramadhan 1433H, dapat juga dia habiskan puasa.. We didn't force her, she insisted on it herself. We only offered support. :)

As for the little one, it's his first Aidilfitri! Sempat jugak tempah baju melayu siap sampin untuk dia.. Hehe.. comel je.. Cerita raya nanti lah.. mengantuk pulak... 

Retiring for the night. Salam Aidilfitri! :)

Schools, schools, schools!!!

I'm looking for a perfect school for my children, but let's face it. Nothing's perfect. Makes you wonder why there's such word in the first place, doesn't it?


I was browsing the net to get some insights on the school that we would enroll our daughter t,o come 2015. I've to tell you, it's a big headache! Gone were the days when everything was so simple, when a child comes of age, you just enroll them into a school. It's almost seem automatic. Now, you're spoilt for choice, but to find a perfect school.. not one is even close. Having said that, the interpretation of perfection differs amongst people anyway.


Parents want the best for their children. All level-headed parents are like that. Hubby and i included. We want the best education and the best nurturing environment that our children can call her school. 


I was doing some research and i would really love to send my kids to AISM or Alice Smith.. but of course, the fees are quite steep. It's something like 25 grand a year, not inclusive of other fees such as security fee, ICT fee, registration and school uniforms. Furthermore, Alice Smith is so inconveniently far from our residence. Why these schools? Because of the curriculum that they offer, the class size, the teachers, the after-school activities and the children attending the school. The other thing that urged me to reconsider is the lack of religious foundation classes.


Then there's the private school. Personally, the only thing that picked up my interest to consider sending my kids there is the vast options of the co-curricular activities offered. Other than that, not much. It teaches the same curriculum as the public schools, and from my research, discipline could be a lot more relaxed than some public schools. Plus, i wouldn't want my kids to get big headed  should they attend private schools, you know what i mean?


As for public school, our major concern is that we are afraid that the curriculum offered in early primary might not be challenging enough and bore the kids' inquisitive minds. Plus, our daughter speaks more English than Malay, and she's quite advanced. We can't help but to worry that she may get victimized, if not by her peers, by the teachers. We would like to give the public school system the benefit of doubt, but some stories that we hear about the schools aren't much help. However, those are the things that the kids need to learn to manage, as that is real life! 


I, for one went to public school. My alma mater was one of the missionary schools. I picked up discipline, English, social skills and good education there, thanks to my dedicated teachers and friends from diversified backgrounds. I went through good times and bad. There were times when peer pressure made me feel inferior, there were times when i got scolded for not completing my homework, there were times when i got punished in a group, times when i had an argument with teachers, but for the most part, i enjoyed school thoroughly. I would like my kids to have a wonderful schooling experience as well. And most importantly, i want the school to complement our efforts to shape our children minds and spirits to enable them to face the challenges ahead and be successful in life.


Sigh. Tough decision. Gonna continue researching.

Ramblings

Alhamdulillah, Ramadhan bakal muncul tak lama lagi. I have one more day to qada' my previous years' fastings. Hmm.. not last year's.. the year before.. I had a total of 7 days from year 2010 brought forward since i couldn't do it last year due to the pregnancy. I kept bleeding when i attempted to fast. Last year's fasting month, i only fast one single day.. meaning i have to qada like 29 days (or is it 28??) which i have yet to start. So.. marilah membayar fidyah.. :)

Risau jugak nak puasa ni, in terms of my milk production. I hope i can maintain a good milk supply for Seth and not be too tired during the day. I hope the days in Ramadhan this year won't be too hot, and i hope that i can fast the whole month through, InsyaAllah. I was reading a few blogs about their experiences during the fasting month. Some said that they took Alfalfa and Vitamin B complex to boost their milk supply. Some swore by having dates for sahur and iftar. Wallahu'alam. I think i'll try to have some oats and soy bean milk during sahur and iftar, and try to drink as much as i can during the night to ensure good milk supply during the day.

I noticed something about Seth's poop when i fast. Usually, Seth will poop 2 -3 times a day. But on my fasting days, he'll poop less, in frequency and quantity. I hope that is a good thing.. :)

Sigh.. my mind wants to tell a lot more but my eyes are getting sleepy. Ok lah. Retiring to bed. Ciao!

Updates

I've been wanting to post an update on the little boy's development for my own records, but i guess my lack of ideas to write got the best of me. :p Right now, the notebook's battery is running low pulak. Isk... Better hurry up.


Seth had been able to turn independently at four months. His first effort was rather accidental, from his back onto his tummy. He was lying sideways on the edge of his mattress, on the bed. The mattress was about half an inch thick so he had some leverage when he tried to reach for me and ended up on his tummy instead. :) However, he doesn't really turn much. I'm not sure if its because he has yet to get the hang of it or he just dislikes being on his tummy.


Sometimes, i do put him on his tummy though. And he can turn himself onto his back, which he does more than turning from back to tummy. The book that i refer to mentioned that usually the tummy-to-back turn will happen before vice-versa as the back-to-tummy need stronger back muscles. Waalhu'alam. One interesting thing that i had observed is that Seth can move himself forward and sideways, even if just slightly. I think that's quite amazing, given that he doesn't really get the hang of turning onto his tummy quite yet.


We've started to give him some water, fed from a cup since he was so eager to reach out for my mug during mealtimes. He can actually hold on to the cup handle, and uses his other hand to push the bottom of the cup so as to bring the cup to his mouth. All this at 4 month! Once, i gave him an empty cup, and he brought it to his mouth, and complained upon discovering that it was actually empty! Lols!!


Updates on his big sis. Hehe.. One day, on the way home from school, while daddy was driving, another car suddenly came into daddy's lane. She shouted. "Mangkuk!".. Daddy asked where she learnt that from.. and she said. "I think from Mommy..".. Huhu... guilty as charged! Have to control my mouth better while driving...


Ok.. signing out before this thing auto shut down..

..and the numbers keep increasing! :)

Alhamdulillah, masih diberi kesempatanuntuk bernafas sehingga hari ini, genap 32 tahun berada di bumi Allah ini. Syukur atas nikmatNya.


Had a wonderful day today. Hubby treated me to breakfast at Old Town and a scrumptious dim sum lunch at the Marriott. The kaya toast that used to be one of the crown jewels of the kopitiam had deteriorated in quality so badly! It used to have a massive amount of butter to accompany the rich kaya.. but now the toast is just downright pathetic! The slab of butter was miniscule! Price remained the same, tapi cut corners everywhere. Yeah, prices have gone up, but it's not like they're using the best grade butter anyway. Reduce la sikit profit margin instead of reducing the quality. :p 


Haih.. tersasar pulak dari cerita birthday.


The dim sum buffet at Marriott?.. They are a bit kelam kabut la on weekends. Harini banyak steamed dim sum je.. yang fried ada dua plate je. Haiyoo.. what has happened to the nation's services industry? Isk.. tersasar lagi.. huhu..


Anyways, finally had the rainbow cake that i had been wanting to have since last year's fasting month (i was pregnant then, tak larat nak cari the cake, so that may explain my little son's slobbery-ness). Nothing great about the cake, really. Just that it has six lovely coloured layers of butter cake. However, the icing is a bit too sweet for my liking. Too sweet to complement the cake. Hmm.. should've have whisk coffee bar's velvet cake instead. Takpela.. teringin sangat punya pasal.


The best thing about today? My dear daughter got me a purse for my birthday, and she had my mother in law get it for me. Isy.. budak tuh.. She knows that she can wrap her gramps around her little finger! 


I think everyone had a great time today. Both the kids enjoyed themselves so much. Yang kecik pun, excited sangat sampai tidur pun sekejap2 je. Now, dua2 dah in bed, Alhamdulillah. Hope they sleep well so that mommy and daddy can sleep well too. :)


Ok.. past my birthday already. Time to go to bed! :)

Weight Gain

For the first time ever, i'm soo excited with weight gain. Well.. not mine, of course; of my darling son. Alhamdulillah, at his 2 mths + checkup, he gained about 900g and the paed was quite happy, and in turn made me happy. :D And that's an understatement.

Alhamdulillah, looks like i do have enough milk for him to grow. :D I may not have enough milk pumped into a bottle (which i can only get around 0.5 - 1.5 oz per pumping session), but that's not what counts, right? Considering that i'm not going to work and i can bf him directly full time. It's the milk that gets into his tummy that counts.

Speaking of which, just to share the news, my application for 2 years unpaid leave had been approved! :) Next week i'm going to the office to clear my stuffs. I'm ecstatic about the leave, but i can't say that i'm not worried at all about my financials. I still have bills to pay on a monthly basis you know. Yes, i do get allowance from my husband, but its not the same as getting paid and having your hands on your own hard earned money, is it?

Now i can't just spend in a whim. Don't get me wrong, i'm not (really) a spendthrift. It's just that aku takde la berkira sangat kalau nak beli toys / baju for my kids or books / treats for me. Now that i won't get paid for the next 2 years, kena jimat cermat la sikit. Takleh la selalu nak charge to credit card. Huhu..

Takpelah, for the sake of the kids. :)

Full TIme Housewife

Alhamdulillah, my unpaid leave of two years had been approved by my superiors. So, lepas ni, jadi la full time housewife, jaga anak2, masak, etc, ala-ala domestic goddess gitu.. ;)

Monetarily, banyak jugak loss yang aku kena suffer for the next 710 days.. tapi takpelah, family punya pasal. Duit boleh cari kan? Lagipun, dengan pelbagai kes baby tercekik susu yang makin berleluasa lately ni, risau nak hantar baby to any nurseries/babysitters, unless of course it's my own mother. Tapi susahla pulakkan, 60km nak hantar kalau mama jaga. Huhu. Therefore, bersyukur2 sangat2 sebab we can still afford for me not to work and take care of the kids. I hope i can make the best out of the two years. Kalau nasib baik, dapat pulak sambung belajar bergaji penuh.. Sambung lagi cuti, tapidengan gaji.. hehe.. kalau nasib baik la..

The baby is doing well. Berat dia, tak tau for sure since we don't have a proper weighing scale for babies. Tapi kalau ikut digital scale yang sedia ada ni, dalam 4.5kg berat dia. Masa 7 weeks haritu berat dia 3.9kg. So it's going up, although it's definitely not in the 50th percentile. He's fully breastfeeding, with the occasional supplements of soy based formula. Kadang2 je, when we're out and about and we're pressed for time.

Apparently, he can be calm in his car seat while being driven around, provided that he's not sleepy and hungry. Otherwise, i'd have to feed him and ensure that he sleeps before buckling him up and drive around. Alhamdulillah, so far he's been quietly sleeping while i'm driving (baru dua kali je punnn... huhu..) Mak dia dah jarang drive because she's so paranoid that her son's going to wail all the way while she's driving. I've forgotten about how I handled that situation during Sarah's time.

He is also falling into a routine. Malam he sleeps around 9, all the way to about 4 am. He feeds, wakes up at around 6 (because he will be interrupted coz mommy have to wake his kakak up for school). He'll stay awake until around 7+, when kakak goes to school, and then he'll sleep, wake up again around 9. After his bath which he thoroughly enjoys, he'll sleep again til noon, giving me enough time to cook lunch. He'll be awake for a while before going back for nap at around 1+ (while still attached to the B, of course).. and will sleep until around 4 for a snack, and continue on til about 6. Then we'll get ready for the night... he'll stay awake for a while before nursing as long as possible before turning in for the night. Alhamdulillah, his nap patterns takdela erratic macam dulu. Huhu.. Cuma, his mommy is still nervous nak bawak dia keluar, risau dia nangis2 in public. I guess i still have some inhibitions about breastfeeding in public. Isk.. tah hape2 mummy dia kan?

Walaupun demikian, we still take him out on a weekly basis, at least for grocery shopping. Initially, dia tak tidur kalau keluar..but recently, dah boleh jugakla nak tidur, although tak la lena macam tidur kat rumah.. Although sometimes i wish that i can use my ring sling more effectively. Tak berani nak pakai lagi bila keluar rumah. Belum cukup confident. :p

*Yawn* Oklah.. dah lewat. Got an early day tmrw. Taking sarah for horse riding, and Seth will come along too, InsyaAllah. Lama dah tak bawak Sarah naik kuda. :)

End of Confinement

Alhamdulillah, it's been past 44 days of confinement. Both mommy and baby are healthy and doing quite well, although baby didn't gain significant weight, he's still gaining weight. Mommy lost the water weight and baby weight, but still very much overweight. :p

Anyways, mama went back home today, so now i'm on my own to care for the little baby, the preschooler and the husband. Thank God i have a maid to help me out this time around. I didn't have a domestic helper back then with my firstborn. Did everything myself, hand-washing baby's clothes, ironing hubby's uniform, cook, etc. How the hell did i do all that then? and how come i'm so bloody freaked out now with my second baby as soon as mama walked out the door?? I was in tears when mama left.. Sigh!

My confinement had been pretty much stress free, except for several occasions, way different from last time. However, i can sense that all the stresses are coming now, with baby's weight gain, his schedule which are not quite clear yet, the big sister's schooling, homework, piano... It's all too overwhelming! Haih... *Deep breaths*

Anyways, back to breastfeeding, just to remind myself, should i get myself into this again. The breastfeeding consultant asked me to do these in my plight to ensuring my baby's weight gain:

1. I need to eat 6 times a day - 3 main meals and 3 snacks. She suggested one hot drink (horlicks/milo/etc.) around 6, a breakfast at 9, lunch at 1, high calorie tea at 4, dinner at 7 and another hot drink before turning in.

2. I need to massage my Bs to stimulate them and increase the fat content of my milk.

3. I've to ensure that baby drinks milk and not fall asleep while feeding for at least 30 minutes to ensure that baby gets the hindmilk.

4. I've to make sure that i feed baby every 2 to 3 hours and wake baby up if he's asleep.

I followed most of her recommendations, just missing numbers 3 and 4 a couple of times, and i do feel some difference in my Bs.. it feels much fuller now than before. I'm going back to the paed this Tuesday and i hope baby gains well..

Hoping and praying that everything goes well. May Allah help me. Amin!~

... and baby makes 4: Part 2 - Breastfeeding

As natural as breastfeeding may seem, nobody will tell you that it's gonna be easy. Some lucky few will experience smooth sailing experience right from the first latch, while most of us will go through some bumps along the way.

I had always thought that the second time around would be a whole lot easier. Heh. Better luck next time (for me) in the breastfeeding department. I thought sore nipples and latching problems only occurs for first timers. Was i wrong! The second time around, i was as eager to breastfeed my baby in the delivery room as i did the first time. This baby, just like my firstborn, is reluctant to open his mouth wide enough to allow ample portion of the areola into his mouth. As a result of that (and me being impatient to wait until he opens wider), i got an episode of sore nipples that lasted for the first two weeks. Things got harder when he didn't sleep much, which made everyone tell me that he didn't have enough to eat, which of course made me panicky about my milk supply. I succumbed to the pressure and gave my baby some supplement in the form of glucose water on occasions. Regrets? Hell yeah! But then again, thinking about the sleepless nights, soreness and fatigue, the decision probably helped the situation a little (or so i would like to think).. so, redha je la...

I started having my makcik urut coming to give me post natal care somewhere around the 6th day post delivery. She advised that maybe i should give the baby a little portion of formula milk once at night. Out of exhaustion, i ditched the glucose water and gave my baby 2oz of formula milk at night, at the end of one of the night-time breastfeeding sessions.

My biggest fear is to not have enough milk to nourish my baby. My fear was realized when my son's pead wasn't very happy about his minimal weight gain past the one-month mark. He only gained about 400 g, when most breastfed babies can gain until about 1kg! He advised that i should supplement the feeding sessions with expressed breast milk, and come in again for assessment in two weeks. :(

I had been expressing milk since before my makcik urut comes.. but of course, i couldn't collect much. And, the few that i collected, were used during my massage sessions, which i had booked for 15 days (i have 2 more days to go). So, apparently, i don't have enough EBM to supplement after each feeding session.

I tried to breastfeed on demand (as i always did anyway), and one feeding session sometimes lasts forever, ending with baby sleeping in my arms. He will wake up soon after we put him on the mattress, which results in me not having the chance to increase my pumping sessions, and skip my snacks.

Anyways, i set a personal target that he should weigh 4.5 kg at the 2-week appointment (increment of 800g from previous visit), so my 1 week goal is for my baby to gain at least 400g. I promised myself that i didn't meet that goal, i was gonna increase si formula milk supplement to twice daily - once during the day, and once at night. I went to the hospital again for my postpartum check today, and took the opportunity to weigh my baby. Sadly, he only gained 200g from his previous weight, a far cry from what i had targeted.

Since i wasn't on track with the baby's weight, i went to see the lactation consultant.. well, she's not really a consultant i think, just assistant, trained one la. So after a good chat and assessing my diet and my latch, she advised that i have to ensure that the baby remains AWAKE and feeding for at least 30 - 45 minutes and to not allow him to sleep in that period, and to ensure that i feed him every 2 hours. I also have to eat 5 to 6 times a day.

I did some calculations, so i'm gonna have 2 hour nursing schedule during the day and 3 hours at night. Which means that it's time for me to wake my little munchkin. Sigh.. he's sleeping so peacefully.. kesian pulak nak gerak.. But i guess, it's for his own good.

Do wish me luck on my breastfeeding journey this time around. Harap dapat exclusive breastfeed sampai he's 2 years old. Amin!~

(Edit ) Note : I've decided to make the baby post into several entries, to share about my experiences, as well as to remind myself of these beautiful (and sometimes trying) moments of birth and brastfeeding and all things related..

... and baby makes four! Part 1 - The Birth..

Alhamdulillah, our little bundle of joy has arrived! The littlest addition arrived on Jan 25th, at 11.39 pm (It was my due date, FYI). It was a very long labour.. but well worth each and every minute.

Compared dengan yang first born haritu, this labour experience had been more difficult. It started with my water breaking at around 2.45 am on the 25th Jan. I didn't experience water gushing down, in fact it wasn't much at all, just wet my undies a little. Didn't even wet the bed. I woke up surprised, smelled my undies to be sure that it wasn't pee (sorry.. TMI.. heh.. By the way, amniotic fluid smelled sweet!) and when i succeeded in convincing myself that it wasn't pee, i woke hubby up, we went blur for a while, got MIL and FIL to come and wait at home for Sarah, and left for the hospital. Upon arriving, an internal was done to check how far along i was, and i was only 1cm dilated then. That was around 3.30 am or so.

Obviously, i couldn't sleep that night.

Around 8 something (a.m.), my obgyn came to check on me. Still around 1 - 2 cm dilated. Obgyn said that since my water had broken, i would have to deliver within 24 hours so as to not risk infection. He said to wait until around noon to see if things progresses, otherwise he will start me on pitocin drip. And that was just what happened. I was given 5 units of pitocin around noon, but not so much progress. By evening, another obgyn checkup, i was only about 3 - 4 cm dilated. By that time, i was getting exhausted of waiting. I couldn't sleep, nothing feels right.. macam ayam berak kapur. :p Obgyn increased my pitocin drip to 10 units and said that he could still feel the membranes, meaning that my water bag didn't entirely break, ergo the lengthy first-phase of labour. So he broke my water bag and said that insyaAllah, i'll deliver by midnight.

From 4 cm to full dilation, makin resah gelisah. When i was about 7 cm dilated (not sure what time it was, i know it was night time..) i asked for the entonox. I swear the mask didn't work properly. Laughing gas tu macam tak ada je. Takde effect langsung! Last pregnancy, i could feel that the gas made me high. Yang ni memang tak ada langsung. Hampeh! Anyways.. tak tau la memang sebab penat, ataupun dah lama sangat menunggu and tak cukup tidur, i was really tired and i felt that the contractions really, really hurt. Mungkin gak sebab umur dah bertambah kot, so ketahanan towards pain dah kurang. Huhu..

Around 11 pm, i was fully dilated. Nurses kat situ called the Dr when i was 8 cm dilated which was a bot a couple of minutes earlier. So i had to wait for about 4 to 5 cycles of "bearing down" moments before the Dr finally arrived and i can finally deliver my baby. Masa tu memang dah penat sangat. Takut sangat tak larat nak push and terpaksa surgery. Tapi, Alhamdulillah, Allah beri kekuatan, push pun tak lama, baby keluar.

Bezanya, masa first pregnancy, i felt that i was more in control. I could still control my breathing through my contractions, even masa deliver pun tak ada la macam tak tentu arah. Kali kedua ni, breathing memang ke laut, masa deliver pun tak boleh nak control.. memang tak tentu arah sangat2! Apapun, amat2 bersyukur, deliver tetap mudah, banding dengan orang lain yang kena vacuum etc, kan?

Jadi, sekarang baby dah 21 hari.. dan dia sudah bangun. Gotta go change his diaper now. Til next time!

Ermm.. Nope.. Still Not there..

Going into Week 39 now. One more week to due date. Still nothing yet. Just minor pre-labour symptoms: lower back ache, pelvic pressure, Braxton Hicks.. things like that.

Last check-up, again, obgyn reiterated that my baby has dropped (as in into the pelvic area). My weight has dropped too, he said common for mothers near labour in which the amniotic fluid would have lessened. He also did and internal on me, and said that although my uterus is already soft, it has yet to dilate. So, probably gonna take another week (or less) or so.

Personally, i think this baby will either come out on his due date or slightly later, but within 42 weeks. Hehe.. your guess is as good as mine. :p

Having said that, hubby dearest will have to go back to work next week. Luckily he's rostered to do only 2 flights, and both will be day flights. Alhamdulillah. He'll be around at night, and i sure hope that he'll be around when i'm in labour. Apapun, whatever that happens is for the best for all of us, kan?

Oklah.. I have another week of leave ahead of me. :)

Before i end the post, kepada sahabatku Nura yang jauh di perantauan, Happy Birthday dear friend! Semoga dipermudahkan urusan, dan diredhai Allah selalu. :)