100th post :)

On Adam..

Adam woke up early as usual this morning.. As I let him play around me in silent, suddenly, I heard him say “Milk”. I was like, am I hearing this right? My boy just asked for his milk! It was the first time ever he asked for his milk. Usually I would ask him, “Adam, do you want your milk?” and he would reply with “nak! Nak!” and accompanied by a little cry if he was really hungry for one. Other time, he would just show to the door and say “nak! Nak!” and when I opened the door, he will show to the counter where I usually mix his milk.


As we were about to leave my tailor’s place this evening, the tailor said bye bye to Adam, and for the first time ever, he said “Bebai”.. It was very clear.. usually he would just waive his hand to say goodbye.. I am so proud of my son :)

On my resolutions..

1. Project Adam 365 is still on track.. 1 month down.. 11 months to go..
2. So, far I managed to fast for 10 days.. another 31 days to go..
3. On reading, I managed to finish reading only 1 book this month.. Not too bad.. my aim is to finish at least 1 book a month.. Aiming for 2 books in February :)

hari yang mencabar

Dah lama tak puasa jadi bila start puasa hari ni agak mencabar la.. Dahla masih srott srott... Tadi pulak ada meeting dekat Phileo 1 so I have to walk there for the meeting. Yela, tak logicla nak drive and park kat situ kan.. Dahla dari semalam teringin nak makan nasi lemak. Terbau bau dah nasi lemak masa google resipi nasi lemak tadi :p And sekarang ni, the biggest challenge, the lovely smell of coffee yang my colleague baru buat... Huhuhuhu.. Sabar Kam sabar.. Kuatkan iman.. huhuuhuh..

mampukah saya masak nasi lemak se'tempting' begini malam ni..

Adam 365: Day 9 - 15

Day 9: Playing hide and seek with Daddy @ Aunty Za's house

Day 10: Boom with Asyraff on Aunty Tasha's plush carpet

Day 11: Waiting in style @ clinic

Day 12: Makan ubat; rela dalam paksa

Day 13: Playing his favourite game; rebut bantal!

Day 14: Adam cuak tengok first scene Ice Age 3 (walaupun da tgk byk kali masih cuak jugak)

Day 15: My neighbourhood = My territory :)

kecewa

I followed my friends to Atria for lunch. Was not feeling well so opted for KFC. I don't know why but when I am sick, I always crave for Zinger burger.

I was told they only have Zinger Tower burger. Thinking that it would be the same yummy Zinger burger with some extra piece of chicken I said OK. Then my friend told me they added a piece of hashbrown to make it a tower. OK, I can still accept that. So I just ate the bottom half first (the hash brown, cheese n bun), saving the best for last. To my horror, it tasted totally different!

It's a little sweet to my liking. I just don't like it. This is what I get from Sun2Surf.

"The new KFX Zinger Tower burger brings a new twist to the classic Zinger with its juicy Hot & Spicy chicken fillet topped with hash brown, cheese, lettuce and laced with zesty chilli lime sauce - tucked between a warm Kaiser bun."

The sauce is just, urrgghhh.. Why oh why did you take away my  Zinger and gave me this yucky thing instead.. The taste of the lime sauce still lingers in my mouth.. urrghhh.. I read somewhere that the promotion is for 2 months only. Dear Colonel Sanders, please return my favourite Zinger burger!

Belated entry - Our New Year Eve

As mentioned in my previous posting, we spent our New Year eve at Palm Springs, PD. This is the second year we celebrated New Year here thanks to Amir and the gang who were kind enough to organise it.

The plan was to spend the New Year eve at PD then to go to Ulu Kernas, Kuala Kangsar on New Year. Travelling with a toddler is not easy and I don't think Adam would be able to appreciate the beautiful waterfall just yet. It would be hard to handle a toddler at a river stream with slippery rocks and all. So, we opted to just join the first half of the program.

We reached PD at about 9pm. Learning from last year's experience where we only get to eat at about 11pm, some of the gang went to PD earlier to set up the BBQ pit and start BBQing. When we reached there, they are all ready to be eaten :D

We welcomed the New Year eve with celebrating Bob and Che Jai's birthdays. We could only hear the sound of the fireworks but could see none at all. Last year we could see the fireworks from the place we have our BBQ. Maybe this year they have moved the firework to elsewhere.

That night, we were lucky enough to experience the lunar eclipse. At one point of the night, the river besides our BBQ area totally dried and an hour after that it was back to normal. SubhanAllah. Amazing isn't it?

Anyway, food was really great. Companies were even greater. We rarely see each other. So, after tucking the kids to sleep, the guys played cards all night long while the girls gossiping, sharing stories and learned how to play cards :p

Woke up quite early the next day as Adam forced me to play ball with him. After a great breakfast, we joined my family in A Famosa.

I hope next year we will be invited again :) So here are some pictures (credit to Che Jai) of the fun night we had :)

yummy yummy yummy food

eat, eat, eat

the setting.. cantek kan..

some of the guys kekenyangan :p

the girls playing rebut bantal with Adam

Adam blowing the candles

the birthday boys

eh eh Daddy, ada girl laa

lucky Adam got to kiss a pretty girl on New Year!

Adam oh Adam

Adam's appetite seems to have improved but he is still refusing milk and has severe diarrhea..

Just found out our medical card (thanx to hubby's employer) is one of the rare few that doesn't need GL to see specialist for kids below 12 years. So, we are off to KPJ.. see ya!

*update*
Dr Ling was not around so we went to Dr Yasmin instead.. I love her! So soft spoken and gentle to my baby.. Adam did not shed a single cry.. Anyway, she suspected the pervious antibiotic causes the diarrhea and the rashes.. so, she changed the antibiotic and gives Adam lactose free milk for the time being. Get well soon sayang..

is tonsillitis contagious?

i think so.. Coz i think i have developed the symptoms of sore throat.. Itchy throat, runny nose.. So not comfortable..

New Year Resolutions #3

I managed to fast for 7 days before Ms P came to visit last week :p So, 34 days more! The best part is, my colleagues in the office also fast with me but with different reason of course. This makes the fasting much much easier. Thanks girls!

So far, I have been able to shoot Adam's picture everyday. Hubby also helps to shoot Adam's picture on the days I had to go back late. Thank you for the support sayang! :)

Let's welcome Alya Adriana!

One of my best friends, Hazila Natasha, whom I met through netball, gave birth to a pretty little princess, Alya Adriana, on 27 December 2009. A few days after she delivered, her son was admitted for a couple of days. It was a chaos for the family. Finally last Sunday after everything has settled down, she texted me saying it's OK for us to visit her.

I really love the name. Such a sweet sweet name. My hubby said he doesn't know how to address the baby coz both names are beautiful. Even the parents haven't decided yet :p

Baby Alya behaved very well. She was sleeping the whole time we were there. So we could not see her famous dimples.. Girls with dimples are very pretty aren't they..

Cepat Alya besar nanti main netball dengan Mommy Kam eh :p

julie & julia

Just finished watching this movie. Just like Julie, most of the time I am only enthusiastic during the beginning of a new project. After some time, the adrenaline is gone and I abandon my project. To be able to finish a project is ok if it is in just a short time. But 365 days? It's a really huge task. This reminds me of my Adam 365 project. I really hope I could complete it. Wish me luck! :)

tonsillitis

When we woke up on Saturday morning, Adam was having a fever. Thinking it was his molar teeth sprouting out, I just gave him paracetamol every 4 hours. That night, he woke up in the middle of the night with a rather high temperature. Still assuming it's his teeth, I just gave him rectal supp and tepid sponged him. I switched on the laptop and let him watched Ice Age 3 to sleep.

On Sunday, Adam still had his fever. He was very cranky and I noticed he has a foul smell breath. I was thinking "takkan kecik-kecik lagi dah ada gigi rosak".. I looked into his mouth and saw no rotten tooth.. His upper gum was still swollen. Very swollen. So, I still presumed that his fever was due to the molars. I still continued giving him his paracetamol 4 hourly.

Monday morning came. Adam woke up very early and he was very uncomfortable. Even Pocoyo could not make him quiet. His body was very hot. At 7am, I decided to give him a bath to reduce the temperature as tepid sponge didn't seem to work.

Later in the morning, I brought him to the clinic. Our favourite Dr Nik Suzet was on leave and a locum was there instead. He asked me many questions and was surprised to know that I had done all the things I should have done. Duh! Parents do read ok. As Adam's temperature was more than 39c, he gave a rectal supp to Adam. This doctor is quite young. He didn't seem to be experienced enough in handling children. Never before had Adam screamed and cried as much as he did this morning. The locum didn't seem to know what was wrong with Adam since he did not have any cough, runny nose or ear inflammation. So, he referred Adam to the specialist for blood test.

cranky Adam waiting for the doctor

I was worried it could be something  serious like dengue so I called my maid and asked her to pack Adam's stuff. I dropped by to pick up the bag and went straight to KPJ Selangor to see Dr Ling. I was prepared for any possibilities because I know human don't just have a fever without any reason. From my little knowledge, I know that when our immune system is fighting with virus or bacteria or whatever, our body temperature will increase at the same time. And 3 days of high fever was not a good sign.

Dr Ling was as nice as ever. He was very gentle with Adam and Adam did not even cry when he tried to look into Adam's ears to rule out ear infection. When he checked Adam's throat, he told me not to worry as Adam just had some tonsil infection. He prescribed an antibiotic and gave paracetamol to reduce Adam's fever. It was such a relief. I know tonsillitis is still a serious illness but it is much less worrying than dengue.

So, in conclusion, these are the symptoms and what you can do to take care of your child with tonsillitis..

• High fever for no apparent reason that lasts more than 2 days even after you continously give him/her paracetamol every 4 hours. Though Adam did not have runny nose or cough, sometimes tonsilitise come with cold as well.
• Foul smell breath that smells like someone did not floss his/her teeth
• Less appetite or no appetite at all due to the swollen tonsil.. It's ok if he/she refused to eat just make sure he/she has enough of milk as substitute.. According to Dr Ling, try to feed the child with small portion but more frequent than usual.
• Wakes up in the middle of the night and cranky because he/she is uncomfortable
• Snoring in sleep - sounds like something is blocking his/her breathing due to the swollen tonsil. So, don't try to adjust his/her sleeping position because it won't go away and you'll end up just disturbing your child's sleep (that's what I have been doing the past few days before I knew Adam's tonsil is swelling)
• Enlarged gland at the back of his neck that signs an infection is occurring somewhere nearby.
• If you can get your child to open his/her mouth, with a penlight, examine for redness around the edges, white spots and swelling of the tonsils or the uvula as seen in the picture below..

picture googled :)

If you need to know more, you can refer to these pages:

• Baby Center
• netdoctor
• wikipedia
• Dr Greene
• Child Health Australia

The information given are almost similar in all the pages. If you are still unsure, just bring your child to see your family doctor. They know better. Take care!

Dinner @ Za's crib

We lost contact for quite some time. Out of the blue, a couple of days ago she added me in FB. I was so happy to chat with her. Za is now married and is a mother of a 5 months pretty little baby. So, last night, my family and I went to her house in Bandar Bukit Raja.

Za was nice enough to make us dinner complete with appetizer and dessert.. Her masak lemak ketam was marvellous! I love her caramel pudding too. We ate and we gossip all night long.

Our husbands also click instantly. Yeay!! This means more session with Za and family in the future :p

This is a picture of us together.

When we were younger and I was much thinner, many people thought we were twins. I don't think so but that's what we always get. Do you think so? Here is a picture of us during my wedding...

Netball

I used to play netball before. I used to play netball everyday. I have played for schools, universities, clubs, companies, states etc.. Along the way, I made many friends. I made many best friends too. And in a couple of minutes, I am about to go for dinner at one of my netball friend's house. One whom I haven't met for quite some time. Chiow!

Adam 365: Day 5 - 8

Day 5: Siapa suka makan nestum, angkat tangan!

Day 6: Khusyuk makan Chipsmore sambil tengok Noddy

Day 7: Smiley potatoes for bereakfast.. Yeayyy!!!

Day 8: I can read and play ball at the same time :p

p/s: looks like this week's theme is makan :p

Langkawi

I am helping a cousin to organize a family trip to Langkawi this CNY. There will be around 40 of us I guess. We were thinking of chartering a bus to Kuala Kedah, leave the bus there and take a ferry to Langkawi. In Langkawi we were thinking of renting a few 10 seaters to bring us around. Then, we will take the same bus back to KL.

We have yet to decide on the accomodation as well. As for the programmes, we might have to divide ourseleves into a few groups as there are shoppaholic, avid golfer, adventure seeker, nature lover and parents with baby among us.

I would greatly appreciate if you could give us some advice, tips or any recommendation on anything at all with regards to the trip to ensure our trip will be the greatest trip ever! Thanks!

Twenties Girl

Have you read Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella?

I had just finished reading it and I love it! Her last few books was quite boring so that's why I was not very keen to read this book before.

My sister recommended it and she was right when she said the book was damn funny! The characters were well described and she told the story so well it made the story came to live. I can actually feel what the character was feeling along the way. I really really really love it..

The book made me think of what was my grandmother thinking when she saw the grandchildren wearing kebaya nyonya and all. Did we reminds her of her young self? And how is she feeling now? Does she feels like it is still the 20s when she was still very energetic and full of life? I wish I know! And how would I feel when I am that old?! I wonder..

When I told my sister that I kept imagine Jennifer Aniston as Lara and amazingly, she said she thought the same!

As for Ed, this smiley face came to mind :p

It's Denny the ghost from Grey's Anatomy or his real name, Jeffery Dean Morgan (which I just found out when I googled his pic just now ;p)!

However, if they ever film this book, I might not want to watch it. It will just spoil the lovely image I had in my head just like what they did to Confessions of a Shoppaholic. It's all ruined now. Anyway, whoever wants to read the book, I can email it to you :p

Our New Year

We spent our New Year eve with my husband's friends at Palm Spring, PD. Malangnya, all the pictures were corrupted. So, kena tunggu the rest of the gang pass me the pictures baru boleh blog about it.

The following day, bangun aje, Adam ajak tengok bird kat luar. Memang banyak sangatla burung kat situ. Suka la Adam kejar burung sana-sini.. Bagus.. tak payah dahla Mommy bawak Adam pergi Bird Park :p Lepas dah penat main kejar burung teman Adam main bola pulak sementara Chef Rozie prepare the Big Breakfast yang sangat sedap! Adam makan 2 servings of the scramble egg.

After perut dah kenyang, the rest of the gang sambung pergi Ulu Kernas pulak while my family and I joined the rest of my family dekat A Famosa Resorts. Sampai-sampai aje tengok my father, my uncles and my cousin dah tengah tunggy my hubby dah. Biasala kalau cuti-cuti family ni, the guys mestila nak golfing tapi kat A Famosa tu, a group of Korean dah book sampai February. So, they had to go to Tiara in Ayer Keroh instead.

Adam and me joined my aunties and the rest of the cousins masuk ke A Famosa Animal World Safari. Tengok dekat kertas dia bagi tu ada 2 pilihan makanan. I opted for Western food which is slightly expensive supaya Adam boleh makan fries. Nasib baik I pilih western food. One of my aunty and a few cousins yang tak diberitahu boleh pilih meal, kena makan Nasi Ayam yang dah nak basi. Kesian diorang. Cashier yang dekat western food tu pun tak friendly. Bila I tanya ada pilihan apa dia just bagitau Chicken Chop or Fish N Chip. Tengok-tengok lepas tu ada yang makan Grilled Chicken. Nasib baik my Chicken Chop was not that bad.

Lepas dah kenyang, kitorang naik bus/train untuk masuk ke wild animal area. It was quite a bumpy ride yela konon-konon dalam hutan kan.. ada dua tiga kali bus/train tu macam mati enjin. Cuak I! Yela dalam kepala dah imagine macam mana diorang nak transfer semua passanger masuk ke new bus/train kalau dah memang xleh jalan with the wild animals roaming around. Takdela banyak sangat wild animals dalam tu. I was hoping to see wild boar ke tapir ke tenuk ke panda ke.. Yang ada cuma a few types of harimau, a few types of lion, pastua ada deer, ostrich, camel, bull hyenas and bear kut.. Ada la kut lagi dua tiga tapi memang tak banyakla.. Tak rasa macam kat dalam Animal Planet pun.. Masa nak balik tu, dia bawak laju and bumpy sangat2 sampai Adam nangis.. kesian Adam..

Then, kitorang jalan pegi tengok Multi Animal Show.. OKla.. biasala asyik2 Orang Utan yang perform.. Masa ni Adam dah boring dah.. Lepas tengok show, kitorang pergi Chicken Farm. Adam really enjoyed himself playing with the chicks :) Mula-mula tu bila suruh pegang Adam geli and takut.. Penatla I fikir macam mana nak suruh dia pegang. Pastu teringat yang Adam dah paham kalau kita kata nak. So, I said to him "Adam, Mommy nak".. I cakap banyak-banyak kali sambil tunjuk kat chick tu. Mula-mula dia macam blur. Pastu, tetiba dia scoop one of the chick and nak bagi kat I. Tapi sebab I jauh from dia and dia dah tak tahan geli dia lepas je chick tu. Heheheh.. A few times jugakla tactic tu menjadi.. sweet kan Adam.. berkorban geli dan takut demi Mommy tercinta :p

After Chicken farm tu, kitorang lalu kambing, donkeys and some other animals. Masa depan binatang tu Adam akan senyap je tapi bila dah lepas cage tu barula Adam repeat bunyi animal tu.. Agaknya dia kaget tengok the characters in his book came to live :p

Our final stop was the Elephant Show. Not bad la.. Adam panggil elephant Elly :) Masa one of my cousin dukung Adam dia sibuk tunjuk ank pergi dekat Elly tapi bila dah dekat dia takut.. From my observation, I think he enjoyed the show.. bila orang tepuk dia pun sakan tepuk..

Malam tu kitorang pergi makan dekat Umbai. Kitorang pergi makan dekat food court yang baru tu. Kesimpulannya tak sehebat Parameswara dekat tempat lama tu lah.. Lain kali tamo pegi dah tempat baru tu.. Nasib baik masa sampai tu terus suap Adam bubur McD sekejap je habis satu mangkuk yang large tu.. Tak lama lepas tu Adam tidur so Mommy and Daddy Adam dapatla makan sambil bergelak ketawa bersama cousins yang lain..Taktik yang baik nie.. lain kali boleh diamalkan :p

I would give 3/5 star to A Famosa Animal World Safari and 2/5 star to Umbai new hawker centre.

Adam at 16 months

I just realized I haven't update on Adam's progress for quite some time. Well, here are some random facts on Adam at 16 months:

• Adam can run! Not that fast but faster than walking :p
• Adam is much taller than his cousins Amirul and Arisya who are 3 and 4 months older than him
• Adam weighs a hefty 14kg!
• Adam loves noodle, spaghetti, udon and the likes..
• Adam loves keropok so much! He loves Chipsmore too!
• Adam can chew his spirulina two at a time :)
• Adam used his finger to show his teeth and bat his eyelashes when he is asked to show his teeth/eyes
• Adam can sometimes show where is his nose and hair (have to remind him by giving a hint :p)
• Adam runs to the car door and will try to climb in the car when he sees a car door opened
• Adam knows how to make animal sounds:
• cats = aaaa
• cow = boo
• goat/sheep = baaa'
• birds = chip chip
• horse = make the sound with the lips, continued with eeeeeih (the opposite of what I tought him)
• Chicken = ook ook ook
• car/truck (erk, animal jugak ke? :p) = brrrrrroommm
• Among his verbs:
• Bird/chick = bebeeeeeeeek
• All animals with horns or spots like cows = buuuu
• Amazed of something = waaoooowwww
• Surprised = heeek (while covering his mouth with hand) oook oow / mmmk emmmm
• Daddy = Daajii (No Mommy yet.. huhuhuuhhu)
• Moon = boo
• Cartoon = boboooow
• Nak = nananannananaaa (with his finger pointing to the thing)
• Adam can understand if I ask him do you want your memilk? He will answer with nanananaa if he wants it.
• Adam can raise his hands when we ask him to angkat tangan to take his shirt off
• Adam can act on clap, pat and bye
• Adam will dance when he hears something that resembles music even when it's not music like stirring the coffee cup, tumbuk sambal belacan etc.
• Adam loves the mirror since forever :)
• Adam can kick the ball with both his legs
• Adam can eat on his own using his hand or spoon but of course half of the food will go the floor
• Adam is still not keen to touch furry animal/soft toys
• Adam loves to bite his Tigger's tail
• Adam loves to play pillow snatching on the bed
• Adam will roll on the floor if he refuse to go forward in the shopping mall
• Adam knows how to kiss and hug
• Adam knows how to kiss people's hand when asked to 'salam'
• Adam has 10 teeth including 2 molars
• Adam knows how to pretend to cry if he is scolded
• Adam knows how to divert people's attention if he is scolded
• Adam will shake his head if he refused to eat/drink
• Sometimes Adam wants to be cradled to sleep
• Adam will dance when he saw Dibo's picture or figurine
• Adam doesn't like to share his toys with other kids - He can share with adults though
• Adam will make eye contact when he tries to explain something to you
• Adam has started talking gibberish
• Adam loves reading books
• Adam will read to people whom he thinks doesn't know how to read
• Adam will sit on your lap if he wants you to read to him
• Adam will sit on your lap if he loves the food you are feeding him
• Last but not least, Adam loves both his mommy and daddy :)

16 months Adam pretending to cry :p

Kids and TV

What do you think of allowing kids to watch TV when they were still young? Personally, I think we should allow kids to watch TV but moderately of course! Apart from that, we also have to monitor the types of shows they watch.

I let Adam watch TV since he was 2 months old. I don't know if he could understand the show or not but he seems to enjoy it very much. He especially loved Dibo the Gift Dragon and My Friends Tigger and Pooh.. His eyes would be glued to the TV while his hands and feet wailing as if imitating the characters movement. Sometimes he even made noise as if he was interacting with the cartoon characters.

I found cartoon shows nowadays are more educational and would benefit them in the long run. Shows like Little Einstein, Word World and Special Agent OSO taught not only the kids but parents too :p This is so different from the cartoon from our days like Bugs Bunny, Road Runner where it all revolves around playing tricks and killing each other which of course without us realizing it, translates to violence.

Two of my cousins speak fluent English just by watching the cartoon shows. Their ranges of vocabs are even larger than mine. When I was their age (maybe till today), I am sure my English was not as good. Considering I may only afford to send my kids to the public school where the quality of the English teachers are doubtful (you should read some of the English teachers' blogs that I have read), I need to prepare my kids with good English foundation before they go to school. Some friends were making fun of me when I speak mostly English with my son saying we are in Malaysia and not in England. That's the point! If we are in England where everybody speaks English, I would speak Malay to my son.. As we are in Malaysia, I am sure soon enough he will be able to catch up on his Malay even with Terengganu slang..

Apart from shows on Playhouse Disney, I also bought alot of educational DVDs for my son. He could dance and jump while learning to talk. He could improve his motor skills and exercise at the same time. Of course I don't let him watch TV all day long.. There are times I would read his books to him and play other toys with him. Limit should be set since they were young so they would know that there alot of other interesting things besides the TV.

Personally, I do not approve Astro Ceria. I found the shows sometimes are not child appropriate. I have discussed about this with one of my friend and she shared how her 2 or 3 year old nephew said to his grandmother "nenek ni macam ibu tirilah" when she scold him. He learned it from watching Hikayat Putera Shahzan where they potrays stepmothers as the angry creature who would scold kids for no reason. This should not be in the mind of 2 or 3 years old. Apart from that, I found the voice over for some of the cartoons that were translated into Malay are very boring. They use adult's voice for kids characters. So not appropriate!

As parents, we are the one responsible to mould child and get the best out of them. If you believe kids should not watch TV at all or you think Astro Ceria is the best channel in the world, so be it. Only you know your kids and only you know what is best for them :)

Cheers!

Adam 365: Day 1 - 4

Day 1: Playing with chicks at A Famosa Animal World Safari

Day 2: Breakfast @ Pantai Pengkalan Balak, Melaka

Day 3: About to "boom" on his Garfield bolster

Day 4: First taste of Chipsmore and he loves it!

New Year Resolutions #2

So far I have fasted 5.5 days! So, another 35.5 days.. :)

Inspired by  Munirah's Project 365 on her kids last year, one of my resolutions this year is to take photos of Adam every single day.. Photos of him eating his breakfast, photos of him playing football, photos of him watching tv and even photos of him sleeping (if I did not get the chance to spend time with him on his waking hours).. The best daily photo of him will be updated in this blog and my FB.

Wish me luck!