At work and yet so free

I really miss the time I was at home during my maternity leave. My in laws were in India and I had my little family just to myself.. It was pure bliss to look after my kids, tend to their every need, pamper them, lotsa hugs and kisses. I knew it was just a matter of time before I am back at work so I relished every moment..
Now that I am at work, I cant help but wish that I could just quit and be at home. I know its not possible – not just financially but also that I rather not be at home with my mil. I think the only reason why I had no major fights with her during my nearly 5 years of marriage is becos of the limited time we spend together. She is not really a difficult person but someone who doesnt think before speaking. That gets on my nerve and I do tell her off at times..Of cos I try to be very nice abt it even though I will be fuming with anger. At times I get the pleasure of doing it back to her and she will have nothing to say to me.. Cheap trills I know! I share a very strange relationship with her. I miss her when she is not here and I loathe the times she is.. confusing right?
well.. I have no choice but to live with her cos my husband is never going to live without his parents. I am not complaining.. Every child must be filial to his parents! On the same note, I just wish that my in laws could give us a tad more freedom and privacy..

grossly overdue post!

Gasp!! My last blog post was like more than a year ago..  Have I been really that busy or just plain lazy? I think it’s the latter.. haha!!

So now that I have my blogging mood back, lemme just highlight the ongoing in my life..

- We were blessed with a beautiful angel on 9th Mar 2011. We named her Nur Sharifunnisa. I know the name is lil long but you can call her what Taufiq lovingly calls her.. Isha!

- My son is now 2 1/2 years old. He is still not able to converse but I am not so worried.. cos he says a few words and completely understands instructions. I think he is just lazy.

- My husband finally understood that his father’s shop is not his liability and no longer slogs there. He spends more time with us and I see him taking an extra effort to bond with the kids.We have fights and misunderstandings like every other normal couple do. But I feel our marriage is strong enuf to withstand any storm.. I love my husband and I can’t imagine a life without him.. haha! I know wat you are thinking Stonedeyes.. Was it just two weeks ago, you were at the receiving end of endless messages of frustration? Well.. i didn’t mean half of wat i said..

- We still don’t have a house in our name thanks to my in law’s old-fashioned thinking.. it’s almost 5 years of marriage. Hopefully we do something about this soon.

- Still rotting in the same office.. I am almost suffocating and looking for a new job with new job scopes.

- I am looking forward to two very important weddings. My cousins’ will take place on the 16th of Sep 2011 and my brother’s in April 2012. I pray everyday that things goes smoothly for these couples and that I don’t get a heart attack before I see them hitched.. am definitely not exaggerating!

well.. that’s it for now! Its 5pm and I need to rush back to prepare for Iftihar. Have a blessed ramadhan.. actually wats remaining of ramadhan!!

randomly..

Me: Jaan, erm.. There is a John Little sales going on!!

FK: uh huh.. I’ll transfer you a hundred later..

Me: I am not asking for money!!!

FK: Then??

Me: duh! I need some time of yours… **This is after seeing my hubby for hardly 1/2hr for three days straight**

FK: Jaan! pls understand..

Me: uh huh! (I am trying very hard but I still fail to understand)

my daily prayer nowadays : Dear Allah, Pls get FIL to sell his shop and finally retire. It will do good for both his health and my marriage!!!!

mindless..

wats up with people and their not updated blogs? I know I am not a frequent updater myself but still I fare better than someone whose last post was before CNY, right???

Last week was a craze! I was on mc for two days – thursday and friday so that made a good long weekend to rest my butt.. literally since my mc was for constipation! But no! my father made a life changing decision for my brother and that got us busy and stressed to the max. Anyway all settled and everybody is very happy with his choice of bride.

so here am I already planning my bro’s engagement though it will be only next year.. Faizun BBJ and Chichani, pls get ready to supply me with ideas and of cos, to volunteer your help in making of the gubahans!!

I think I need to see a doctor. My mind is never at one place. Forever wandering.. like i was just making a reservation for a passenger when I suddenly had the urge to say hi to the virtual world. And while typing this post, I suddenly miss my son so much that I am going through his photo album. And now, I have to get back to work becos if I dont call my passenger within the next twenty minutes, I wont be able to issue his ticket. sighz!

Anyway here’s a pix of Taufiq in Red Fort, Agra. I like how the colours of the flowers brighten up the foto..

Till my mind wanders again……..

planning stage 1

You’ll get to read a lot of “second baby”  in this post because we are now planning for no2. Insyallah!!! So this entry is about wat I’ll do differently…

I think those who read my blog already know the bf issues I had with Taufiq. No matter how stubborn the baby is (if the baby follows his elder brother’s step), I will be more patient and not give up.  

Taufiq was a baby solely brought up on disposable diapers. I had already made up my mind before my delivery that I was not cut for napkin laundering. Still remains the same.

I started Taufiq on semi solids too early. At three months!!! GOD!! I feel so guilty now. The next baby will start on semi solids strictly after six months. Not giving in to any family pressure.

Ever since Taufiq started on solids, I can count the number of times I made porridge for him. maybe a total of 8 times! And then I was more daring to blend wateva we were cooking to get him used to adult food. He loves fish, chicken liver and anything with vegetables blended in.  And I can vouch the blended version tastes much better and very much more healthier than those commercial bottle foods. When I have my second baby, I am not buying any of those baby foods. Everything is going to made at home with lots of mom’s love.

Bonnisan, Drapolene Cream, Minyak Telon, Baby lotion will still be the most important things in my baby basket. hint hint!! Pls dont waste your money on baby sets when you visit me. Get me useful stuff like diapers, baby wipes, johnson baby products etc. Diapers dont expire so I dont mind any sizes!! If your budget is higher, then you can just give me cash.. I really dun mind!!

Anyway I am still not pregnant so dunt call me to ask if I have any good news. Will immediately update (by calls for loved ones and blog post for virtual friends) in case of any good news.. Till my next post, Happy Weekend people!!

its all about Fiq!

Taufiq is finally teething at 13 months – four teeth at one go!

And thats after loading him with fruits rich in calcium. From birth, Taufiq didnt like milk. Dont ask me why. I had to suffer engorgement becos he refuse to take my milk. I’ll probably feel guilty for the rest of my life that he didnt breastfeed but he was just one stubborn baby. And then I tried numerous formula brands before settling on Similac which was the only milk he didnt refuse. With his pickiness on milk, I wasnt surprised on his low calcium which lead to slow teething.

I try to read to him everynight. At times he is too tired and sleeps before dinnertime. Those are the days I skip. At times when I feel lazy and try to put him to sleep, Taufiq looks at the shelf and then at me questioningly. Then I sheepishly take the book and read to him. But I have to say that my knowledge is  growing with his. I now know Shajarah means tree and ‘ibil is camel. And while reading the bedtime stories to him, I am also refreshing my knowledge about Islam. I know the stories but seem to have forgotten some.  Maybe I’ll become a better person through Taufiq.

Counting down to our Delhi trip. Twenty more days to go!! Taufiq is all set and packed to go. And I am more excited than him to bring him on his first flight!!!

recollections of a road trip..

31st Jan- a road trip to Melaka. Usually its the good things about the trips that stays in our memories but for this trip, the highlights were wat went wrong!  

-I didnt change any money thinking that we could change once we reach Melaka. But I didnt think everybody else in the group would have thought the same thing. Very big mistake! cos our “touch and go” card didnt have enough value for the tolls and we ended paying in exact sing dollars eg SGD24.90 for RM24.90. They did say we can collect the sing dollars in exchange for ringgit when returning. But I didnt trust the fella. He looked greedy to me.. 

-My husband was the driver for the going up journey. And becos the road was clear, he accelerated to 200km/hr and remained at that speed. And everytime his fren, Nasir, asked about the petrol, my smart hubby replied ”plenty.” Why smart? cos he was looking at the temperature gauge and not the petrol level. He finally realised his mistake when only one bar was left. We frantically prayed and looked for a petrol kiosk and finally found one that accepted credit cards (remember none of us had ringgits!). Luckily Nasir had brought his whole stack of cards and his Citibank Mastercard saved our day.

-So we reached Melaka and parked our car at the biggest shopping centre there erm.. i cant really remember the name but I know its opposite Mahkota Parade. It was 9am. We were hungry and the money changer was not opened yet. **pulls hair** Again we were lucky cos I saw an OCBC branch. OCBC allows you to draw cash in malaysian currency using your atm card for a surcharge of SGD2. And I had an OCBC account!!! so I drew money and we had breakfast at their local fast food restaurant.

Rest of the day relatively went ok. It was very very hot and wearing a black blouse made it feel like I was in a oven.

hot!! very hot!!

We went up the skytower which was freaking 110meters high and to Melaka’s landmark church.

Taufiq enjoying the view..

 

Melaka's Landmark

ok ok lah.. Like I said, the highlights were wat went wrong and not wat went right!

-We left Melaka about 6pm. The road was jammed and we had to drive very slowly. We reached the first toll station and wanted to collect our SGD and repay in RM. That took us nearly 1/2hr becos the guy who took our money thought we will not return and pocketed the sum (see! I knew he couldnt be trusted).. anyway we got our money and left the toll station at 7.05pm. shortly after driving into the expressway we heard very weird noises from the back of the car and I could see Nasir trying very hard to control the car and bringing it to a stop at the side. FK jumped out and said ”Guys! we are not going anytime soon so you can come out of the car to rest.” huh??  Becos the rear left tyre was torn/burst and we were stuck in the middle of the expressway that had no lamp posts and was very well known for robbers. We must have been quite a sight! All the groceries lay at the side of the road, Taufiq in his pram and two ladies - helpless and unable to help, and three guys who didnt know how to change a tyre. They say He always helps when you ask Him. and truely a patrol car came by and helped to change the tyre. Done in ten minutes flat. And we were safely buckled, locked in the car and resumed our drive.  Nasir asked if we wanted toilet break and all of us vigorously shook our head. We just wanted to go home!

End of story? not really! add a e-brake that would have sent Taufiq flying if not for his car seat and a blady malaysian fellow who was waving a big spanner at us.  I cant be bothered to elaborate more on those two incidents so if you want to know more, call me.

Tips

1.always change money before you go Malaysia

2. have a baby seat if you are travelling with a baby

3.Travel with someone who knows how to change a tyre

4.Ignore and keep a distance from anybody waving a spanner or hammer

4.Learn to enjoy the trip even with the misadventures..just like we did!!!

related yet a stranger..

I was surfing FB when I stumble upon **dramatic** a long lost cousin’s profile. It was someone I didnt really know. She was my uncle’s daughter from his second marriage. I only met her when my uncle passed away 8 years ago. She stayed with her siblings at our place during the funeral and the weeks that followed. For someone who is the only gal in the family, it was quite nice having a little gal in the house calling me big sister.

I dont know if we gave the wrong signals or we were too helpful cos her mum collected the kids and refused to answer any phone calls after that.  We understood she didnt want to keep in contact so we gave her the space she needed and she plus the kids disappeared from our lives totally. Until I found my cousin today..

Looking through her fotos, I feel sad. Sad becos I dont know this gal although she is my cousin. Sad becos we were not given a chance to be in her life. Sad becos she reminds me of my uncle’s last days. 

I need a coffee to perk me up.. bye guys

Taufiq’s first steps in reading

I borrowed a couple of books from the library for Taufiq in hopes of cultivating his interest in reading. My mil found it amusing but was in support of me trying. So everynight after his dinner, we sit down to read a book before turning in.. yeah sort of a bedtime story.  When I told Abba about this, he asked why not islamic books? actually yah! why didnt I think of that? So we drove down to a bookshop @ Kandahar Street. Muslimedia.com, as the name suggests, sells mainly islamic books. Of cos the lady at the cashier looked at me weirdly when I told her my son’s age. She directed me to a shelf with books for young minds – that includes one year old rite?.. I picked up two types of flashcard for arabic alphabets and one bedtime storybook – Goodnight Stories from the Quran. 

Hopefully it will broaden my knowledge too. The purchase minused abt $55 from my bank balance and as usual I am not telling FK.  

Sighz! Taufiq sayang!  I dun mind spending the $$ but pls show mummy that you are interested..

PS: will report on his progress soon!!

Taufiq’s temper..

Oh dear! Oh dear! I am getting quite worried about Taufiq’s show of temper.. If I take away a toy or something from his hand as a punishment, the small punk goes arghhhhhhh and turns red!! If I pretend to beat his hand, he beats me back yes he beats back harder.. If he thinks he doesnt need a diaper change, he kicks when I try to and his kicks can be quite painful.

I thought I was the only one noticing his antics but apparently no. He put on a grand show for my mum and dad just this morning. I know temper runs in the family but wat I didnt expect is a temper tantrum from my boy.  

Abba commented I should recite Surah Wl’ Asri to Taufiq often to ”soothe” his temper. Which I will  immediately start tonight..

but any other ideas/suggestions guys??