Gibberish? Noo....

Only Ibu would understand what it is Nazrin is talking about, because I practically spend 24/7 with him. So, let's decipher his current gibber, shall we?

1- Ak de-de = Up (stepping up) and down (stepping down)
2- Nak tik = nak sikit/nasi/roti (ikut apa yang ada) <-- Malay for "want some"
3- Jom adi = jom mandi <-- Malay for "let's take a bath"
4- Nak a-i = nak air <-- Malay for "want some water"
5- Tut-tut = kasut <-- shoes
6- Woo-woo = the big black dog that's terrorizing our space

There's a lot more but I just could not think of anymore, dang! I know I should have written them down somewhere after he said them.

Well I'll save those for later then, now a little bit more about Nazrin's progress.

1. He understands simple commands like sit down, over there, NO!, enough etc.
2. He loves to dance to music. You should see him wiggle his butt while the Hot Dog Dance (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show) is playing on TV.
3. At first I didn't understand what he was doing but as he kept doing it, then it hit me, he was imitating the Little Einsteins! What he does is pat his knees while saying "Dadadada" and looks at me expectantly, as if waiting for me to provide him with the next step to the "Rocket's Blast Off' routine. The routine goes, Leo the leader would pat his thigh to give Rocket 'the power to blast off' and then say 'now raise your arms as high as you can and BLAST OFF!' while shaking his whole body. So, we've been doing these a lot lately, since he'd suddenly sit down and pat his knees, looks at me expectantly and waits for me to say the whole routine, heh.
4. At the word "Jom" <-- let's go in Malay, he'd grab one of my hijabs* from the hanger and hand it over to me, then run to the front door to grab his shoes. How cute is that?
5. If he doesn't get what he wants, he would run away from me while wailing as loud as he can, do an about turn, runs back towards me and stop. If I still say no, he'd do it all over again. He used to throw himself on the floor, a good 'Stop, drop and roll' example and waited till I come and get him. After being repeatedly ignored when he pull this trick, he'd taken the new approach. I'm just gonna wait and see how long this trick will last. Heh.

*I always wear my hijab when I have to go outside. I think after watching me put it on everytime I say "Jom" to him, he has associated the word to the hijab. So clever, that boy of mine.

Giddy with excitement over these...

(a) (b)

TADAAAAA!!!

Okay, sorry about giving you a crick in the neck but I really don't know how to flip these over. I've tried doing it in Paint but the image got to large to manipulate and I don't have any other programs to work with. I'm not so computer savvy *sigh*

Well, picture (a) is my old glasses. It was the cheapest glasses I have ever owned, only RM60. It was a packaged deal for students as offered by the optometrist. I got it nearly 4 years ago, well, the plastic lenses that is, the frames were changed a year and a half ago because of the same problem. The handle got broken, the last one was by Shahrin and this one was by Nazrin. I only wear glasses at night, after putting my contact lenses away after taking my bath. I hate wearing glasses. I hate the way they fog up after you come out of an air-conditioned space or if you are sweating a lot, I hate the pressure on the bridge of my nose, I just hate them. Thank GOD for contacts.

Anyway, since I can't wear contacts all day long (wish I could but my eyes would get very tired if I continue to wear them past 12 hours), I needed a new pair of glasses. So, yesterday, I went to my optometrist and got (b). They are a bit pricey*, RM130, frames and all. I've never had large frames before, in fact I always go for the thin frames like in (a). But there's always a first time for anything, right? While I was trying to choose the frames, my eyes kept coming back to the frames in (b). Something about the color and the dash of white really grabbed me. So, I tried it on, while mentally trying to overlook the price and fell in love with them. Since Hubby got himself a pair of Raybands last month, I figured it's my turn to splurge a little.

The optometrist told me he could get it done by 6pm, so I waited at home, patiently. At 6.05pm, I was already at the store, hands sweaty, eagerly waiting to get a hold on my new glasses. Came home and quickly put them on after putting my contacts away for the night. OMG, after trying them, I just couldn't stop showing them off and there were only Shahrin and Nazrin around! Haha! Even Shahrin got excited over them, after seeing his mother going completely bonkers, prancing around the house in her new glasses. Shameless, me. Hehehe.

*Like I said, I hate glasses and would prefer going for a Lasic treatment if I could afford one. I only wear them at night, thus the feeling of throwing money away over pricey glasses. However, needless to say, I don't regret buying (b) yesterday. Felt good to own something that I love right away.

Just a quickie.

Just a quick post with pictures of my boys.

Here is Shahrin with his 3 weeks old picture puzzle. He had turned them into a race track.

This one is yesterday's newest addition to Shahrin's toys. His grandmother (Hubby's mom) bought him a battery operated 'Rail Master Train Play Set'. He slept with the coal car last night and tonight too. He used to love trucks but since watching Thomas & His Friends,
he's switched gears to trains. *sigh*

Nazrin here is showing of his new bottle-feeding skill. Since I plan to work, someday soon, I've been teaching him to have formula as a substitute for breastmilk.
Judging from this picture, I think we're on the right track.

Maternal love.

Notice: If you are squeamish around small furry animals, please stop reading, NOW.

I have originally wanted to write about snuggling into a good book while it rains outside since its raining cats and dogs. But I don't have anything to read. So...

The picture you're about to see is two baby mice, just minutes after being born by their mouse (I prefer mouse over rats BTW) mother. I was folding my laundry in my room when I heard soft squeaking coming from my dresser, so I decided to check it out. Then, I saw this:

What really made me took this snapshot was the she-mouse, standing guard over her babies. She didn't run away like any mouse would do when approached by a human, she just scampered around amongst the green blanket there. I jiggled the dresser in the attempt to shoo her away and she did, for a while, then she came back, snuggling her babies one after the other. It was like she was counting them, making sure they were all there. Can you see her? Just peeking under the blanket at the bottom corner of this picture.

I had to 'take care' of the babies, couldn't afford to let them grow big and rummaging through my trash in 3 weeks time. But, it broke my heart to do so *cried*. They looked so innocent and helpless. I kept telling the mother, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" while she ran around in my room, looking for her babies. I tried catching her but she was too fast. I almost regretted what I did. As a mother, I pray I wouldn't ever have to go through what she had.

Then, there's this:

This picture was taken about a month ago. She had her litter right outside Hubby's mother's side- storage area. There's 7 of them, 4 blacks and 3 whites with spots.

See her sad expression? Like she's saying, "Please don't harm my puppies." Luckily she moved them all by the time I checked back. I really didn't want to have to deal with them.Then, about 2 weeks ago, my MIL's neighbor and I kept hearing whimpers coming from the drain/sewer between our houses. The dog had moved her litter inside the drain. It's been dry season for the past month so I guess it was cooler inside there.

We have tried asking Non-Muslims; an Indian uncle who collects bottles and a Chinese pet shop owner to come and get them, we'd even offered paying them for their labor but neither wanted anything to do with the puppies and the bitch. Then today, around Maghrib, it started raining. I mean POURING! It was like the sky suddenly burst open and poured down heavily onto the earth. I could barely hear myself thinking amidst the loud rain outside.

Around 9pm, the rain finally drizzled to a stop. What a downpour! As the sound around me became clear again, I heard loud whimpering from outside. THE PUPPIES! I suddenly remembered that they were in the drain and they could be drowning. I looked outside and my fear was true. 3 of them were in the middle of the drain, barely treading water. The other 4 had made it onto the bank (well, although the drain was only ankle-deep, after the heavy rain it was quite deep indeed) and were shivering in the cold. I thought about ignoring them, I mean, I really don't want to have to go through the hassle of cleansing myself with dirt water (1 part) and clean water (6 parts) as required by Islamic rules. But as a mother, I couldn't just let them drown. It's a different feeling compared to the baby mice. I don't know how to explain it.

So, I wore plastics over my hands and wrap my feet with more plastics and I went out to rescue them. The bitch was there, she looked at me helplessly and then ran away. I scooped up the 4 on the ground and put them in a box, then I used a stick to coax the 3 in the drain to swim to me. All 3 were shivering so much, I could feel them practically shaking in my hands. Then I put the box right back where they were born, in front of my MIL's side-storage area. The mother came after I went back inside, checking inside the box, counting her litter. I hope she feels relief after knowing that all 7 are safe.



As a mother..I pray to ALLAH to protect my families; my parents, my siblings and their husbands/wife, their children, their in-laws, my Hubby, my in-laws and most of all, my Shahrin and Nazrin. Dear Merciful ALLAH, keep them safe from the evils of human and demons. Please protect them and shield them in YOUR loving embrace. Amin.

Simple pleasures.

Yesterday evening, Hubby called to say we could go shopping since he'd be coming home after finishing his work. We needed to buy Shahrin a pair of sneakers for his Day Care Center's Picture Day, which is today. He was really excited about buying another pair of new shoes (we'd bought him a sandal for Eid Fitri) and couldn't sit still. By the time Hubby got home, which was around 7pm, I was at the limit of my patience with Shahrin. He wouldn't stop asking when his father is coming home because, "I want to buy a new shoe NOW!". He jumped up and down, ran here and there and was basically being a cranky 4 year old.

On the way to Parit Buntar, he kept asking, "Are we there yet?" till Hubby scolded him. That got his attention, so the rest of the journey was pretty quite. Upon arrival at the parking space near the bus station and seeing the shops there, he started doing it again. Heh.

We went to just 2 stores and finally decided on this pair:

Shahrin picked this one over a red and orange stripped BUM shoes. It looks sporty enough for a child and not too much detailing, which I love. Shahrin loves it too and that is all that matters to us. He carried it himself and couldn't stop talking about it. As we were leaving the shop, I saw these and decided Nazrin needs a new pair of shoes too:

They are super CUTE! But Nazrin was sleeping while we shopped, so we just carefully fitted them on his feet. We bought them without bothering to check out other choices. And look, it fits into my palm perfectly. CUTE!!!!

This morning, upon waking up and forgoing his usual breakfast of a bottle of formula, Shahrin asked for his new shoes. I practically had to hide it from him till both of them were all dressed up and ready. Shahrin didn't want any help, neither did Nazrin, even though he only saw his new shoes this morning. They were both so excited about their shoes and it made me so happy to see them happy. They ran around in the house, playing pee-ka-boo and showing of their shoes to me while I got ready. So, enjoy these pictures! I hope they could convey the joy and happiness shining through from my boys to you, as I saw them this morning.

Shahrin in his brand new uniform.

I do have something to complain about today though; we registered Shahrin in Jun, that's already half-way through the school year, right? So I asked the owner's daughter (she handled students' registration at that center, they have 4 btw) if we would need to buy a uniform for him because we are planning on registering him to pre-school next year, so buying a uniform for the day care center would be pointless in 7 months anyway. She said it would be okay for him to just wear his everyday clothes when at the center. So, I thought, well lucky for us for not having to dish out RM30 for a uniform. Then last week, his teachers told me that they would be organizing a Convocation Day for the 6 y.o in November and that all students would be involved. They are also required to wear their uniform. At the time they told me that, I figured, well, maybe I can borrow one from his friend or maybe I could rent it from the center. Then, on Friday last week, I was told that there's going to be a picture day on Thursday of this week (today) . On Monday I asked if one of his friends can lend him a uniform. Only one friend was about his size but the boy's mother told his teacher that he only has one uniform. So, I asked if I could rent a uniform but that request was also turned down. So, since I have no other choice, I paid up RM30 and got him a size S uniform. What really bug me is the fact that if someone from that center had informed me earlier of their Picture &Convo Day, I wouldn't have wasted my money on a uniform that's only going to be worn till end of next month. If they had told me from the start, at least Shahrin would have the chance to wear it for 6 month and not just 2. What a lousy management!

Novice crafter much?

I love going blog-hopping from one art/craft/DIY blog to another. Most of them have link-y parties where anyone who has done something can link to the host blog to be featured.

Some links showed how the blogger has revamped furniture by re-painting it or Mod Podge-ing it. Some link in their DIY projects: bedroom redo, seasonal decorations, sewing crafts etc. Everybody seems to be crafting and showing their labor of love on at the blog-link parties.

Last night, Shahrin and I did some crafting too :p

Jungle Junction Wannabes.

I don't think a tutorial is necessary, this is a very simple craft, you just need a sheet of hard plastic and fold it in half, then draw the desired animal character. Take a scissor and cut around the character, and TADAA!! Shahrin now has a Jungle Junction collectibles. I did an Ellyvan, a Zooter and a Bungo character since they are the simplest to draw.

Double decker school bus.

This one is a very mediocre attempt at crafting heheh. I took an empty box and let Shahrin colored in the windows and doors with black marker. Initially we taped four 50 cent coins at the bottom for wheels but I had to take them off since Nazrin could choke on them. I'm thinking of looking for four bottle caps, poke a hole through them and poke a stick through 2 each to make the wheels. Shahrin says this is a double decker school bus. He took it to school today and showed it off to his teachers. I'm glad I did these crafts though I wouldn't be linking this post to any parties. Not yet.

Looking for the silver lining.

My moods are running amok these days. Sometimes I'd feel so happy; with the boys, with Ahmad, whom by the way has started telling me "I Love You" again *sigh*. Other times I'd feel so overwhelmed, by anything and everything.

I try reaching out to my FB friends but when their comments struck a nerve, I'd get defensive and feel even more depressed.

Maybe I have a bipolar disorder? Think I'll go search for that next.

I took a look at the clouds this morning, searching for a silver lining.

Hope I'll find it someday.