Indoor vs Outdoor

In my previous entry, I have written about activities for parents and babies. Pardon me for the delay as I am over occupied by workloads and not to mention the never-ending symptoms of pregnancy which makes me feel super lazy and demotivated at times. Yes, I am now 9 months' pregnant, Syukur Alhamdulillah.. 

To think of being pregnant while working and at the same time having a little toddler at home waiting to be given the utmost attention plus Darling Hubby is working on shift basis; it really had taken me to the indescribable situation as a human at times! I know I am being unfair not only to my beloved son, the baby inside my womb but also to my Darling Hubby due to my mood swings, tiredness, negative work pressure etc. However, I always remind myself that Ilyas is in the phase of growing up and I have to deal with all the changes appropriately so that he would have a great memories of his childhood. 

So, what can I do to instill a wonderful experience during his childhood with my current situation now? There goes this indoor and outdoor activities entry =) Since I am used to take care of Ilyas without Darling Hubby with us all the time, I have to think of some activities which I can apply to my son indoor and outdoor. I will not be discussing further on the type of toys that we must get for our kids but I will be focusing more on the activities to be done indoor and outdoor for toddlers at the age of 2 years old.

Indoor Activities

1) Type of Activity : Drawing
    Tools needed : Pencil, Pencil Colour, Crayon, Paper

This activity is very artistic. Children are imaginative and it is good to have activities which can enhance their artistic ability such as drawing. First and foremost, teach your child on how to hold a pencil correctly. Give him a piece of paper and a pencil, ask him to sketch anything that he wants even though you might end up having a messy dotted circled curved scratched paper. Your child is developing his fine motor skill by running the pencil onto the paper with their fingers. When you find that your child is now able to hold a pencil in a right way, try to introduce him to a few pictures of familiar shapes.

Why shapes and not alphabets?

According to researches, by the age of 2, toddler must be able to draw a circle (Moreno, 2010). Drawing a circle is easier rather than to draw the alphabets which have many horizontal and vertical lines such as A, M, T, Z (it requires your child to have a better control of their muscles movement in order to draw those alphabets). However, it is a bonus if your child can easily draw alphabets at his early age as it shows that his fine motor skill is progressing really well!

2) Type of Activity : Blocks Building
    Tools needed : Colourful Containers, Lego Blocks, Boxes

Some parents might want to introduce this activity earlier to their children. This is because this activity encourages creative thinking. 

Anastasi & Schaefer (1971) defined creativity as the ability to see situations in a new way, to produce innovations, or to discern previously unidentified problems and find novel solutions. 

As for Ilyas, I have bought him Lego Blocks a few months back after the observation that I have made in regards to his interest. At first, Darling Hubby bought him Playdoh unfortunately he was not interested with the clay but he used the Playdoh containers and stacked them as high as he can reach. 

This is when I realized that he is now ready for blocks building activity. But as the first introduction to this activity; you have to be with him and show him how to stack the blocks tightly. It does not matter how he wants to stack them as long as he knows that the blocks need to be stacked correctly to avoid them from falling apart. Let him build whatever objects he wants and do not restrict him from building the same objects over and over again. He has yet to think out of the box so do encourage him whenever he failed stacking the blocks. Once he is confident to stack on his own, he might want to try build up a few objects which he can imagine. You may see how your child develop his creativity day by day using blocks as this is one of the way they can express their imagination. Creativity leads to a healthy brain development!

3) Type of Activity : Reading
    Tools needed : Flash Cards, Soft Story Books

I have bought those flash cards and soft story books since Ilyas was 6 months old. As he started to crawl and sit on his own, I have introduced him to alphabets, numbers and objects from the soft story books and flash cards. Whenever I read to him, of course he would not sit still and always wanted to hold the book as well. I just let him do so as I want him to love the activity which involves books thingy. I know at 6 months old, he could not utter the words yet but I want him to familiarize himself with those objects and shapes. Alhamdulillah, now he can recognize and pronounce a few alphabets and objects easily. 

Reading shall be promoted as early as we can due to children's ability to memorize is better when they are still young. Yes, I agree with the fact but as parents, we should at first educate ourselves with the knowledge of multiple intelligence (kindly refer to this link for a brief definition of multiple intelligence). 

Please take note,

High intelligence in one area does not necessarily accompany high intelligence in any of the others (Papalia, Olds & Feldman, 2009). 

Hence, once we have figured out our child's strength of intelligence, we can then vary the type of books to be introduced according to our child's age and type of intelligence that he has. For Ilyas, it is enough for him to have books with alphabets and pictures at this age. Widen his vocabulary is my main target now. I have yet to buy him a proper story book as I can see that his interest is more on the pictures rather than the story line. Furthermore, reading takes more time on mental digestion rather than physical which does not suit Ilyas's need at this moment.

4) Type of Activity : Movie Time!
    Tools needed : DVD of Selected Cartoons, Documentaries of Animals

Watching movie is fun but there must be a restriction to the genre of movies and time allocated for this activity to take place. From my observation, Ilyas loves to watch cartoons which resembles familiar common living characters such as Upin Ipin or Frozen. He does not favor Mickey Mouse, Spongebob or Tom & Jerry. But if I switched the channel to any animal documentaries for instance, he will be so excited to name the animals that he sees on the TV. But again, for this particular activity, parental guidance is necessary. Please make sure our child keeps his distance from the TV, do respond to his questions while watching the movie (there might be something that he will query) and monitor the time spent watching the TV (if possible not more than an hour and not everyday).

Outdoor Activities

1) Type of Activity : Swimming
    Tools needed : A Portable Swimming Pool, Foams, Floats

I found swimming is one of the interesting outdoor activity. Like I said, I have a very limited access to public swimming pool as Darling Hubby is not always at home. Thus I bought this portable swimming pool (below RM50) and put it outside at the garden or garage area of my house. I started to take Ilyas to swim at the age of 5 months old. Just to get himself comfortable with water. I was so happy watching him kicked his legs and splashed the water with his tiny hands. At least this activity encourages all of his muscles to work.

Now that he is already 2 years old, I am more confident to allow him to play inside the pool alone but of course with my 100% supervision. But this time around, I let him enjoy this activity by adding the foams into the pool and make bubbles together. It is a simple thing to do with your toddler outdoor in a safe environment.

2) Type of Activity : Playing at the Park i.e running, jumping, walking, throwing etc.
    Tools needed : A Ball, A Bottle of Plain Water, Wet Tissues

Ocay, this activity is applicable to me when Darling Hubby is with us. If not, I would not dare to take my baby out in the park. Just imagine me running around the park chasing after my baby and picking up the ball while my baby is at the other side alone, ohhh it is a BIG NO NO! I have suggested that this activity to be done once every week if possible during the weekend when both parents are available. 

The ball is actually an additional prop if you were to encourage your toddler to use his ultimate strength to kick or throw the ball. The park has a big space for this kind of activity, no worries. If not, you can always use whatever the park has provided such as the swings, slides, seesaws etc.

Safety always comes first no matter where are you at. As for this activity, choose a park which is situated farther from the main road. Avoid playing with rustic equipment at the park. Check on the cleanliness of the park in case your child might picking up any objects on the ground. Last but not least, always keep your child's hands clean after playing at the park. You may use the plain water (in case there is no toilets at the park) or get the wet tissues for clean up.

3) Type of Activity : Cycling
    Tools needed : A Bicycle, A Helmet, A Pair of Proper Shoes

I have promised Ilyas to buy him a bicycle! This activity promotes independence and bravery in him and that is what I want him to instill within himself. But this activity is quite risky especially when your toddler is overly excited but yet to have a better control of balancing himself while cycling. Therefore, parents need to do a lot of survey on which bicycle is appropriate and worth to buy according to the child's readiness on cycling. I guess this is one of the most 'expensive' outdoor activities for children as they might want different kind of bikes later once they have developed their cycling skills. 

To conclude my entry, I would like to highlight that playing is a normal routine for children. Do not hinder your child's will to play either indoor or outdoor. They are learning by playing and it is parents' responsibility to ensure that the environment is safe, conducive and appropriate for their children to play around. 

Let our children have the greatest childhood moments because they deserve it! 

The end. Thank you! =)

Ilyas The Explorer

Looking for the ball under the couch

Have you ever encountered these kind of situations with your babies?

• Your baby is busily pointing at things that captured his or her sight
• Your baby is touching certain objects that grab his or her interest
• Your baby is babbling and trying so hard to make the babbles understandable
• Your baby is struggling to self-feeding and avoid any assistance from the caregivers
• Your baby is expressing the moods and emotions more clearly
• Your baby is enjoying his or her play time with another babies and many more...

I believe most of the mothers out there will have the same experience as mine in regards to the situations mentioned above. This is what we call as the EXPLORING stage of development. Babies or I shall say toddlers at this age (birth to age 3) tend to be the BEST IMITATOR as they will imitate whatever they see and hear around them. They are EXPLORING the world without thinking of the rights or wrongs. Babies are born with pure hearts and souls. A baby is like a white cloth and the parents or the caregivers are the ones who determine how "colorful" the baby will be as he or she grows up. 

When I found Ilyas behaving unnecessarily (as in my perspective), I got the feeling that my baby is naughty and not well-behaved like other babies at his age. After consulting with the Doctor, I was told that those actions are the indicators that my baby is healthily developed; his cognitive, physical and psychosocial development are expanding, Alhamdulillah.. =) So, here I would like to share a few advice sought from the Doctor and of course through my readings and observations in regards to the first year of a baby's development:

When he was 1 year old

Cognitive Development 

(Definition : Pattern of change in mental abilities; learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning and creativity)

• We used to think that babies do not have bigger space of memory storage as compared to adults. It is true indeed but do you know that babies have the ability to learn and remember things since their early weeks at birth? That is why babies can easily recognized the mothers (especially) as they have stored the memory of their mothers' face, smell, gestures and voice since birth. The ability to remember is there, thus please interact more often with the babies and you will be surprised when they can easily smile only by looking at your face =). But this only applies for a simple event such as recognizing faces and voices as babies could not remember specific events until they are at 3 years of age because the brain is not yet developed to store those memories during the first two years of age. This is called as infantile amnesia.
• Apart from memory ability, I would like to share another aspect of mental ability which I believe is really important --> language ability! The first two years of development is crucial for language development. My Darling Hubby raised a question asking me to speak English with my son more often than Malay language. But it is not that easy especially when the environment doesn't cater for the needs of applying the second language. In preparing your child to be a bilingual at early age is very challenging as you need to ensure that you do it the right way for the language acquisition to take place accordingly.
• For instance, when I want to ask my baby to pick up the toy, I will say, "Ilyas, please give me the toy" (at the same time by pointing at the toy). Why talking and pointing must be done at the same time? First of all, my baby is in the learning process and he wants to synchronize the objects with the sounds (he is aware of the sounds before he knows the real meaning of the objects). So, when I say TOY (sound), and pointing my finger to the TOY (object), Ilyas will understand what I am saying. Secondly, don't blame your baby if he refused to pick up the toy for you. Why? Because he only learns to relate the sounds with the objects and yet to learn on listening to your instructions. Therefore, you have to show him the manner of giving the toy. You know what you've taught him by now? You taught him the name of the object (TOY) and you taught him on how to obey instructions (giving the object (TOY) to someone).
• However, if another person asks him to do the same thing but in other language, it might take a while for him to relate, "Ilyas, tolong ambil kan mainan tu" instead of "Ilyas, please give me the toy" (unless you show him what you wanted him to do). He can easily imitate, no worries. What I'm trying to say is, avoid giving the same instructions by using different languages at a time. If you want to acknowledge the cat as a CAT, then use the word CAT whenever you see the cat. Don't confuse your baby by translating the word CAT into KUCING as at this age, he couldn't store too many input. If you want them to be well versed in English language, kindly ensure that you use the language correctly and minimize the interruption of other languages during the learning process.
• Furthermore, when your baby is pointing at a new object, respond to him by naming the object. When your baby wanting to pluck the flowers, let him touch the petals at the same time teach him the name of the object. Please do not give up teaching your baby new vocabulary everyday as he needs your guidance in EXPLORING the objects around him.
• A gentle reminder to all; please do not use 'baby words' with your babies to avoid any problems with the speech articulation later on. If you want to say, "su-su", say it with the right pronunciation, do not say, "cu-cu" as if it is so 'baby friendly'. Why do I stress on the pronunciation? Like I said before, your baby is imitating whatever sounds that he hears from you and if you articulate the sounds clearly, he will imitate the exact sounds that you've pronounced (except for certain consonants that he might not be able to produce yet such as 'r').

Physical Development

(Definition : Growth of body and brain, including patterns of change in sensory capacities, motor skills and health)

• When I mentioned that my baby is in the EXPLORING stage of development, it covers his physical growth as well as his brain growth. Physically, at one year of age, babies shall be at triple their birth weight; so do the calculation for your babies. If your baby's weight is below triple from their birth weight, please consult your pediatrician as we do not want our babies to be lacking of any nutrition.
• Besides that, please bear in mind that the senses are gradually developed from time to time. That is why at this moment, you will find your baby busily looking and pointing at things, touching different texture of object such as the bubbles, foam, sand, rice, fruits etc. and babbling repeatedly as he is trying to absorb all of the new info from the senses to the brain. It is good when your baby is being overly excited responding to something which capture his interest as this shows that his senses are properly developed and he is adapting himself positively with the environment.
• This is also the time when you can introduce variety of taste to your baby. When preparing your baby's food, add a little bit of salt, sugar or pepper just for the sake of varying his taste buds. I know that we are not advised to let our precious to be consumed with sugar or salt at the early age but please allow a little space for TASTE EXPLORING. Believe me, your baby will enjoy meals time more than before.
• Other than the senses, do take note on motor skills development. Motor skills can be divided into gross motor skills (using large muscles) and fine motor skills (using small muscles). Do you know that research shows that boys are using more of the gross motor skills while girls are more advanced with fine motor skills? So, don't worry if your baby boy is hyperly running, jumping or rolling all over the places as that is how their large muscles functioning. On the other hand, don't be surprised if your baby girl is showing a very good skill in drawing or using fork and spoon accurately. The fingers are working perfectly for her =)
• Just a quick recap; please monitor your baby's diet (less sugar and salt, perhaps once a week?) and allow more freedom for motor skills enhancement and not to compare your baby's physical appearance with other babies. As long as your baby is healthy and active, it is more than enough. Like my Darling Hubby said, "Badan cergas, otak cerdas"

Psychosocial Development

(Definition : Pattern of change in emotions, personality and social relationships) 

• Crying, smiling, laughing ---> All of these are normal expressions from a baby to indicate his or her emotions. But how about if my baby is crying excessively and throwing all things out when his request are not fulfilled? What should I do? Is this normal? Yes, this is a normal situation in which parents should know how to go about it. 
• Have you heard about tantrum? Tantrum is an example of a negative temperament which occurs to most of the toddlers. I will not be discussing more on tantrums, but I would like to dig more into the actual meaning of temperament. Temperament is a style of approaching and reacting to situations (Thomas & Chess, 1977). It can be either positive or negative. Positive temperament is easily controlled but negative temperament is like a nightmare to the parents. How do parents deal with temperament? Be more responsive to your baby's signal of emotions and make sure that the environment is conducive enough for your baby to express his temperament. For example, if your baby is crying when his basic needs (food, sleep, nappy change) are not fulfilled, do not scold your baby as he is not capable of saying it out loud but will express the emotions by crying out loud. Other than that, if all the basic needs are fulfilled, but he is still crying, look at the other signals --> maybe he wants to play outside, or he wants you to play with him or maybe he is not feeling well (fever, stomach pain, ulcer etc.). All of these signal of emotions are usually expressed openly and it is our responsibility as parents to understand the signals.
• I realize that Ilyas has now become more independent and always wanted to do everything on his own. This is the sign of showing his independence. Erikson said that it is better to let your child being socially independent so that he will become more confident as he grows up.
• Some of the ways that I can apply to promote independence in him:

1. Let him walk and run freely without holding his hands.
2. Let him choose on which clothes that he wants to wear.
3. Let him decide where to go first after getting his shoes worn.
4. Let him talk first even though the words are not clearly spelled out.
5. Let him unbutton his shirt or unzipped my handbag.

• At this age, your baby is EXPLORING more ways to develop relationships with others. As for Ilyas, since I'm working he has to stay with my parents and since then, he has developed more attachments with others. He doesn't need me all the time as he can divide his attention to other relationships as well. At first, I was afraid that my baby will be lacking of my love and attention due to the separation but as time passes by, I found that I've managed to instill positive social relationships in Ilyas. He can now play and interact with others happily and I'm happy to see his progress. Alhamdulillah...
• In conclusion; let independence developed gradually and do not hinder your baby's wills to EXPLORE the environment. Always make your baby feel secure when he is with or without you. In other words, allow positive interactions among your baby and the caregivers as babies need interactions in order to feel secure, safe and loved. 

Thinking of ways to feed the fish or to jump into the pond

As parents, we are more concern on our child's development especially on his or her cognitive ability. We can find lots of educational books and toys which can improve our child's cognitive development. But one thing that we must take note; a child develops at his or her own pace. Intelligence is unpredictable. Do not force intelligence but find ways to promote intelligence. In terms of physical development, some of the development is genetically inherited. However, parents can also play their roles to monitor their babies' diet to avoid further health complications later on. I will touch on physical activities for babies and parents in my next entry. So, do check it out ya! =) While for psychosocial development, considering the fact that current situation is socially daunting, let's keep ourselves attached to our babies no matter what happens.

The end. Thank you! =)    

A Wonderful 18 Months

Happy 18th months, baby!

Syukur Alhamdulillah... I'm a happy Mama as today is Ilyas's 18th months of age. 

Why am I so happy of him being 18 months? 

First of all, I am so thankful that Ilyas can now accept formula milk easily as compared to before. Maybe my milk production is decreasing and Ilyas is in need of more milk supply as he is growing up at a fast pace. Looking at him enjoying the milk makes me feel relief and worry at the same time as the milk is currently OUT OF STOCK. 

For age 1 year and above

Since Ilyas was at 9 months old, I started giving him goat's formula milk - KARIHOME. I was inclined not to give him formula milk at the first place but since Ilyas did not really favor frozen EBM, he has been losing weight for nearly two months. It was frustrated and I told my parents that I wanted to give him goat's milk, will there be any goat's formula milk for infants? My parents searched for it and they found this product at Jusco Bukit Indah. But this product is rarely seen in the hypermarket and I usually buy it at Sensei outlet. The standard price for 900gm is RM89.70. So, for those who wanna try this, I suggest you to buy the large container as it is more cheaper than the small ones.

Secondly, Ilyas is beginning to articulate more comprehensible words. No more babbling. He can say words like Mama, Papa, Cat, Air, Lapar, Car, Cow, Dalam, Bye, Nenek and a few more correctly. Now he is trying to produce two words at a time and the one that he normally says is Tak Nak. I'm happy when he can utter the words and able to relate the words with the objects. At least I know that he understands the meaning of the words. Now that he is able to talk, he also can follow instructions. Ilyas is a person who will be more motivated when we praise him (it is normal, right?). So, whenever I wanted to teach him a new lesson, I will make sure that praises, hugs and kisses will follow after. Now he can help me to throw the rubbish inside the dustbin, putting back his toys in the container, sorting the laundry, taking his own shoes or my shoes before we go out and other simple instructions; "Ilyas, tolong ambil kan handphone Mama"; "Ilyas, can you please pass the remote to me? There, in front of you"; "Ilyas, tolong panggil kan Pak Cu turun makan. Cakap, "Pak Cu, turun" --> He will go the the stairs and say it out loud "Cuuu! Uuunnn!"

Drilling on Parts of the Body (in Malay language)

Thirdly, Ilyas is very keen to try different taste of food. He loves the spices! And the carrots as well! Whenever he looks at the food on the table, he will definitely want to taste it. Once he tasted it and the taste did not suit his interest, he will not be asking on the food again. So, the best approach to encourage him to eat different food is by sitting down together with him and provide variety of food choices on the table. My Darling Hubby always say that Ilyas will eat more when he combined rice with honey stars; porridge with maruku; bread with coffee and many other combinations that do not look tasteful to my eyes and my throat. But if that's how he enjoys the meals, it will be fine with me.

"Hmmm, I want to try the prawn (even though I will be getting allergic reactions to seafood)"

"Hye, can I order my drinks now? Why you don't even look at me? Hello, I'm here..."

"I want my meals now!"

And one more thing, Ilyas can kick the ball! Papa must be really happy!

Go, Ilyas Go! 

Oh, it's almost 5.30pm and I need to pack my things. It's time to kiss the birthday boy yawww! That's all I can share about my baby boo's development as at 18 months of age. I believe other babies might have the same development as Ilyas and as his mother, I am so happy that my baby is progressing well and Alhamdulillah, I can still breastfeeding him at night without failed regardless how much of the amount produced. Last but not least,

My Dear Ilyas Hidayat,

I might not be able to see you growing up in front of me as often as I can. I might be missing out the first moments when you can utter new words, showing new skills and I truly regret that I can't fully breastfeeding you anymore. But I know Allah knows what is best for both of us. As long as I live, I will make sure that you will not be lacking of my love and attention even though you can now slowly accept the fact that I could not be with you ALL THE TIME. In Sha Allah, one fine day, I will always be with you and I will not leave you even for a second (except for any urgency). Ilyas, I love you so much and no one can replace you in my heart. May Allah showers you with His love and blessings for the rest of your life. Aamiinnn...

Love You Forever, Mama, 11/02/2014, 5.28pm 

The end. Thank you! =)

From Bandung With Love

I just got back from a week's vacation and I truly enjoyed the time spent with my loved ones (except for Darling Hubby who couldn't be with us during the vacation). It's okay, we can always plan for next year's vacation, right? Moving on, here are some moments to share before, during and after the vacation.

BEFORE the vacation:

• I did not know that when I am travelling with an infant, I could not do online check-in before I added up my infant's name first at the COUNTER. I did not know why my baby's name was not listed during the check-in as I have already paid for the fees. Previously I did not face any difficulties while flying with my baby domestically and I had no issues about checking-in or printing out the boarding pass online. But this time, it became a big issue for me.
• The lesson BEFORE: Please check-in only when your infant's name is LISTED IN THE LIST. If not, DO NOT CHECK-IN WITHOUT YOUR INFANT'S NAME. You can proceed to the COUNTER to add in your infant's name. If you've ALREADY CHECKED-IN, you can CALL AIRASIAGO (for those who are travelling with accommodation package) and they will unchecked your name and added up your baby's name. However, you can only check-in at the COUNTER OF YOUR DEPARTURE. NO ONLINE CHECK-IN FOR TRAVELERS WITH INFANTS (that's the procedure, they said).

It was the first time for me flying with an infant abroad. Of course it was not that easy especially when your baby is already 1 year old and actively exploring the world around him. He does not want to sit still and that is the reason why stroller is not the best companion anymore.

Running Baby + Tiring Mama!

I went to Bandung, Indonesia and it was a wonderful experience being there. We hired a driver called Cecep Okta from a Travel Agency. A driver cum tourist guy is a MUST when you are abroad! We reached Bandung International Airport (Husein Sastranegara) around 12 noon (11 noon in Malaysia = 1 hour difference). We stayed at Arion Swiss Belhotel in the middle of Bandung City. The food was great and the service was excellent! I give you 4 stars, Arion! =)

The interior truly resembles Indonesian style and I love the ambiance there =)

We had our lunch at Warung Misbar and they served us Bandung hot tea for free. The taste was quite similar to Chinese tea. The restaurant also provides a big flat white screen for a movie show. Besides that, the wall is painted with jokes quotes like this:

EDP, of course it is long lasting! Haha!

After lunch, we went to some of the Factory Outlets nearby. In Bandung, people will normally go shopping at Factory Outlets as these outlets sell all of the branded items with high quality at a reasonable price. I did not spend much here but I did spend more than expected at Pasar Baru! So, what do they sell at Pasar Baru?

1. Clothings (silk, cotton, lace etc.)
2. Telekung (assorted designs and colours)
3. Shoes
4. Shawls and many moreeeee!

Chand Moda at Forth Floor

The best part of the shop here, they served the customers with Coffee, Tea or Juice regardless how many pieces that you bought and how much that you spent (no discrimination among customers). They do tailoring as well and if normal design of baju kurung or dresses, they can get it done in 2 (TWO) days only! My brother got his jeans tailored with his preferred designs and materials at RM70 whilst my father got his pants tailored at RM90 only! If you want to have your own design of coat, you may get it for RM200 only! The price is acceptable if you consider the materials as well.

Of course when you are abroad, you may not want to waste your time staying in the hotel watching tv or sleeping (unless you are unhealthy). Since the weather was rainy during the evening, we tried to go out visiting certain places as early as we can. We managed to visit Tangkuban Parahu (at first we wanted to go to Kawah Putih but the traffic was more hectic than KL).

Tangkuban Parahu

Please take note that if you wish to buy any souvenirs, DO NOT get them here! The price was totally unreasonable! Furthermore, do not touch the souvenirs or talk to the promoters if you do not want to buy them (it will pissed them off). Just smile and say, "Terima Kasih yaa. Saya lagi mau pusing2 dan foto aja di sini". Then quickly took off!

DURING the vacation:

• Time is your enemy and money is your best friend when you are abroad.
• The lesson DURING the vacation: Plan your daily trip with your tourist guy a day earlier. Start your day visiting the places which are far away from your hotel. Bring more small notes (as Bandung is popular with visitors giving tips for the services given). If you give them RM notes, they will be very happy even the amount is not that big. But DO NOT SIMPLY GIVE TIPS TO COMMONERS, you will be in trouble! Last but not least, get your mobile with another PREPAID SIM CARD for the ease of communication there (roaming service is expensive yaww!).

Time to fly off!

Enough of my days at Bandung City. Hmmm, I hardly took pictures there so my apologies for not having the pictures of each places that I went to. I also forgot the names of the restaurants where I had my lunch or dinner but what I remember most were the Garomi Bakar and Ayam Penyet! They have these dishes like in every restaurants! I had a really good time there and hope there will be next time for me to be there, of course with Darling Hubby as well =)

AFTER the vacation:

• Laundry!
• The lesson AFTER the vacation: Well, of course when you are travelling, laundry will be the most tedious routine of all! Make sure you get your baby's clothes to be washed as soon as possible. But for your own clothes, laundry shop is always open to serve your needs! 

Obviously, you will be restless due to the long journey. As for me, thinking of the next day to start working while I'm still in a mood of holiday was totally demotivated. But to overcome the mood is easy! Just set in your mind that you are lucky to be given the time off from the workload and this is the time when you should give 200% of your best to your respective company!

Be more efficient after the vacation =)

The end. Thank you! =)

Two Years Of Pure Love

Happy 2nd Year Anniversary, Darling Hubby! =)

credit to Darling Hubby for this comic script *wink*

Alhamdulillah, we've made it through. Two years passed by and we are more than delighted to have our Little Highness whom beautify and makes our lives more meaningful. No matter how tough the challenges that we've encountered, I am still blessed with Darling Hubby and Cheeky Baby to stay with me throughout the journey. May our love remains till Jannah! 

Well, in every celebration, there is always be plans and preparations. As for me, major celebration is not necessarily needed especially when Darling Hubby is far away (physically). Just to make this event special as it is special though, I am stealing a few minutes of my time writing an entry to share some ideas on A Simple Yet Memorable Anniversary Celebration. Here goes!

1. If you want it to be fairly celebrated (by both Hubby and Wifey); a day before the anniversary, let's give a hint like this, "Oh, sayang! What do you want for our second year anniversary TOMORROW? Any special request?" --> The brain will automatically and unconsciously set the date! So, on the day itself, both partners will be excitedly to wish one another.
2. On the special day, for those whose partners are staying together, start your day with conveying a sincere apology for every mistakes done; give a warmth big hug and sealed your love with a kiss!
3. For working partners, if possible please arrange a lunch or dinner date with your partners at his or her favorite restaurant. To make it more meaningful, ask a favor from the waiter or cashier (without your partner's notice) to wish you a "Happy Anniversary" instead as this will show that you are happy to share the special moments with others. But if you are not confident that the waiter or cashier will deliver your message, please ignore the favor and just enjoy your meals. Haha!
4. The gift? Don't think of flowers or chocolates anymore. Just spend your time together with your partner doing leisure activities such as watching movies, cooking a simple meal, playing board games or cards and anything that can buy your time wisely. The reason is for you to feel that your partner is not only a partner but your partner is also your friend, your enemy and your soul mate!
5. Partners with children; please ensure that you put your kids to sleep early so you can have your own sweet time together on your anniversary.
6. If you still do not know how to celebrate the event, just write a simple note or text message or whatsapp or whatever means of delivering your message --> "To my beloved Hubby / Wifey, Happy Anniversary! I Love You!"
7. Last but not least, always pray to Allah to bless your partner and hope that your marriage would last forever and ever.

Everything seems so simple but to make it happen is the most challenging part. To some people, celebrating Wedding Anniversary is not a big issue but for me, it is such a vital element in a marriage life because it resembles the day you tied the knot with a person that you love for eternity. When you celebrate the day, you will appreciate your partner even more as both of you have undergone the obstacles and challenges successfully!

Still waiting for Darling Hubby to choose on which of the ideas that he will apply for our 2nd Year Anniversary Celebration! Haha..

The end. Thank you! =)

Injury Treatment

Panic! Yes, that is what I feel whenever Ilyas walks a step. I shall be happy as he already learns how to walk on his own but this little fellow is too confident (or over confident) to walk without me holding his hands anymore. I know he needs a space to explore his motor skills and as a parent, I do provide him with more freedom to practice but the panic attack always interferes during the learning process. Why? Because tripping is too prone for him especially when he is so excited to walk and run at the same time!

Shall I walk or run, Papa?

Last week, he bumped his head into our dining table and the swelling looked painful and he even got a scratch mark on the forehead! My feeling? Hah, if I had a heart attack, the beat will definitely stop pounding as the incident happened in front of me yet I still could not save him. So sorry, baby =( I remember my Darling Hubby once told me to put an ice cube on the affected area when swelling occurs. But my mother argued that we should apply a warm cloth onto the swelling area (I also have the same thought that heat will ease the blood flow and it can prevent blood clot from occurring). Thus I asked my Darling Hubby to help me out sourcing the actual information as I need to know how to treat this kind of injury effectively. Previously I did not even bother of knowing how to treat swelling but when it happens to my baby, then only I started to react. This is a normal mother's instinct, I guess. Hehe..

So, here I would like to share some of the information that I have gained throughout my readings and observations on how to deal with injuries (can be applied to babies and adults):

1) If swelling occurs, what should I do?

• Get the ice cubes or ice packs or cold water (whatever reachable).
• Make sure you have the ice cubes wrapped with a cloth as direct contact with ice onto the skin is not advisable (please do not ask me on the scientific reason, but I think when ice cubes are applied directly onto the skin, it will give different signal to the brain which might generate negative kind of reactions; "Stop putting the ice! It is so cold! I'm feeling dizzy! I'm dying!" --> Oh! That is overreaction). Thus the result we might just stop the process immediately! Hence do not apply the ice cubes DIRECTLY onto the skin.
• Please ensure that you apply the process onto the affected area between 10 to 15 minutes and not more than 30 minutes (to avoid frostbite).

2) I got muscle cramp, how to treat it?

• First of all, you need to identify the actual time the cramp occurs and if it lasts for more than two days, you can use heat treatment such as applying a deep heat lotion/oil or cream, a warm cloth or hot water bottles onto the affected area (do not use heat for new injury as heat will promote the blood vessels to widen and encourages more blood into the affected area).
• Avoid direct contact of the heat with your skin as it might cause burning to your skin. Still apply a cloth to cover the heat from touching your skin directly (this reminds me of the 'tungku' process during my confinement period as my mom wrapped the 'tungku' with layers of cloth before giving it to me).
• Do not use heat treatment for more than 30 minutes (to avoid skin burns).

In a nut shell, use cold treatment for swelling kind of injury and use heat treatment for muscle cramp injuries! It worked for Ilyas and it might work for others who are facing the same injuries as well. But always seek for your Doctor's advice if the injuries become worst after the treatment.

Left - The bruise after applying the ice pack onto his forehead (no picture taken during the incident as he was crying and the mother was at a panic state of mind!)

Right - The swelling became less visible the day after

No more panic attack after this, peeps!

The end. Thank you! =)

A 'Rare' Moment Like This

*wink wink*

Darling Hubby gave me this wiring cover printed with our names last few weeks. This cover is normally printed with codes for technical wiring but when the 'sweetness' feeling struck into my Darling Hubby's, it turned out like this! Thanks a bunch for this 'rare' thoughtful wiring cover, sayang! =)

When we are apart, I can feel that our relationship becomes much more stronger than before. I am truly blessed as Allah has shown me the right way to love and to be loved by someone that I love. The distance does not put us in a suffering situation in fact it brings us into a situation which involves a higher sense of appreciation and tenderness.

We are stronger than we know!

I do value all of the moments of the three of us since it is quite 'rare' for us to have the feeling of togetherness (due to the distance factor). But what I love most is when I see both of my precious being together as this moment of closeness is 'rarely' captured and it shall be treasured for the rest of my life.

Bonding time for Papa & Son

I know from the day Darling Hubby came back home, I should not be wasting our times thinking of unnecessary problems or arguing on little issues as I know that his return is worthy and I will try not to spoil it. It is 'rare' for me to think like this as previously I would always create an argument over silly things with him. Since I 'rarely' see him, the maturity is building up within me and to my surprise, I am now becoming a person with a tolerable level of patience. This might be a common thing to most of the people out there but this is a 'rare' thing to me and what I can say is Alhamdulillah...

As a mother and a wife, there is nothing more meaningful other than seeing your loved ones the first moment you open your eyes and always hoping that they are the ones that you will be seeing before you keep your eyes closed. I will not be questioning on how different my life is as compared to others because I know there's no single individual in this world shares the same journey as mine. BUT... When Darling Hubby gave me this padlock (or should I say a gift instead?), yes I know this padlock is not 'rare'. But to be given a padlock from Darling Hubby all of a sudden is just 'rare' and it creates a huge difference in my life which others might not have!   

A 'rare' padlock of mine

At this stage of life, I am lucky enough to have my unpredictable Darling Hubby and my cheeky Baby MIH in my life. I don't wish for more than I should have. Syukur dengan apa yang ada =)

The end. Thank you! =)