Dayana at 7 months

today Dayana is 7 months old! the past month has been rather hectic, with Significant Other flying overseas, mil leaving the country for a long holiday and also my first trip overseas since 2 years ago (not to mention suffering from the worse memory loss ever) so i haven't managed to keep track of this month's progress. not to mention this is the month she starts on solids, so here's roughly a list of milestones for this month that i can still remember:

1. she started solids the first day she turned 6 months old, on February 28. started her on baby rice, then apples, peas, bananas, sweet potato, avocado, carrots, and mangoes. a bit akward during the initial phase, but gradually beginning to enjoy mealtime each time she sees her spoon =D. gave her a bit of rusk and managed to 'chomodify' herself with it. lol. milk intake is decreasing, which means milk production is also decreasing =(

the art of food

2. sometimes would make a grab for the spoon - konon she mau feed herself. what she does most of the time is often to stick the spoon far too deep down her throat until she chokes.

feeding herself? =P

3. makes that 'pbbbbbbt' sound with her tongue more often now whenever she feels like it.

4. sometimes all that it takes to get her to nap is for her to grasp an object, for instance your pants (if she's lying next to you), a scrunchie or even her chewy, and that will be just enough for her to fall asleep on her own. although sometimes you might want to jiggle her around abit and sing to her, unless she screams in protest. hehe.

5. is more distracted during feeding time. it's impossible for me to breasfeed for 5 seconds until she breaks away to see where a sound came from, or to look around to see what's going on. so kepochi ini minah. haiz.

6. still no sign of teeth. or no indication of any as of today.

7. turns more frequently now, sometimes even at her own accord. although not an olympic champion yet. is more willing to do so and try to grab nearby objects placed strategically around her.

8. i tried teaching her the 'no more' sign. she stares attentively at my hand while i demonstrate it to her, and secretly tries to do it herself when she thinks no one's watching. my mom tried to teach her to open and close her fingers like you do when you sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. she finds immitating my mom a bit easier, and she does this more often too.

9. is bored of her toys. went to Nedd's house the other day and found those race cars you can buy from Shell petrol stations more fascinating.

10. gets excited whenever Little Einsteins theme song is playing on TV. also recognizes a few other shows on PHDC as well =D. must restrict her TV time when she's older.

watching her favorite show

11. puts everything into her mouth, tak kira lah. she especially loves plastic. i think it's because they make that crinkly noise.

12. she still loves to bounce on her feet each time you hold her up.

13. when she finds someting amusing, she'll laugh. i remember reading to her the other day and each time she tried to touch the Snake's tongue, i'd go 'bzzzzzzz'. she found it hilarious.

14. she loves grabbing on to people's long hair. hehe. her own hair oso dah panjang. i now use a comb to attack the tiny tangles in her hair.

15. acknowledges people she recognize with a sound that sounds similar to 'hye' =P

16. is more tolerable to strangers. tapi ikut her mood.

17. already retired all of her tiny baby clothes. Nedd found it amusing that Dayana is still able to fit 0-3 months outfits even at 7 months. lol.

18. her poop is more smellier! *pengsan tidak ketawa*

19. when we brought her to the Doctor for her sixth-month jab, Dayana took one look at the Doctor and burst out crying - she can already associate painful jabs with the Doctor's face? haha. she's 6kg now at 7 months old, and increase of 500g from the previous month. yay!

well, that's a long list. bits and pieces of what i can remember. i hope i'll be able to record her progress more accurately for her 7th month =)

toodles!

heartfelt velvet

i had a lovely heart-to-heart conversation with a dear friend last night. we haven't spoken to each other in ages. these days people rarely make time for each other to catch up on things. that's life, i guess.

one thing i have you know is that i'm the type of person that tend to box up all my emotions inside (i was reminded of the term 'closed box', which made me remember that i once mentioned to my friend during our Uni years, 'who would want to be an open box?' wahhhh that was soOoOo long ago, i've forgotten...). if i'm sad or unhappy or if there's anything that i'm usually not in favor of emotionally, i choose to forget, setting it aside in an isolated section of my brain, with little intention of accessing it later. i find this much easier to do than to face all the hardship and pain-wrecking emotions that i am eager to leave behind and forget. i realize that this isn't really a good habit but it's one of the ways that make me able to cope.

after hanging up the phone, i realized that there's a lot of the good things in my life that i've really forgotten. it seems that in the process of forgetting the pain and the sadness, i've also accidentally forgotten the smaller, happier moments, those tiny moments that people tend to overlook, that actually makes living worthwhile. last night we talked about life, how we could have made different choices if we were given the choice to turn back time, whether we were happy with how life turned out to be... well, mostly crap =P. but heart warming crap... i'm surprised my friend could remember so much which happened years ago, while i realized just how bad my memory has detoriated - unintentionally ok!

well, either that, or i'm suffering from some very severe memory ailment. lol.

we summed the conversation up to one simple rule: make the best of what you have, and cherish every little moment that you get, especially the good ones. because it's those little moments we tend to ignore that really counts. choosing to ignore problems in life isn't a healthy way to solve them in the first place. and just because all the bad stuffs happen to you, it doesn't mean that good things will never happen to you. you wouldn't know what's gonna happen in the future (i hate this sentence nevertheless, people tend to be impatient and demand to know what's gonna happen in the future. pffft, like that's ever gonna happen).

and another thing? my friend is usually right. ironically enough, me and my friends will do the total opposite of what my friend has recommended, i.e we never listen. haha, go figure.

anyway, don't be surprised if the next thing you know, i suffer from MPD. lol.

drop the plastic bag

today i'm back at work. and i arrived late. why? all because i was stupid enough to forget to load my lappie bag into my car last night before heading off to my parent's for the night. i remember shutting down my lappie and stuffing everything into the bag, preparing Dayana's bag and also my overnight bag. and i thought i had only forgotten to bring Significant Other's camera along with me (he was adamant to have me download all the photos taken in Jakarta so that he could post them up a.s.a.p. in Facebook). i only realized i had forgotten the most crucial item about 10 mintues after i arrived at my parent's place. bwargh. and i had already planned to leave for work from there, and KL was much nearer here than from my place. unfortunately i had to double my expenses and distance to drive back all the way home which was at the other end of town (not to mention i wasted precious minutes of beauty sleep and time) just for my laptop. jergh. i should've just declared EL today.

my dad suggested following him since he works somewhere near my house so i could just grab my laptop bag and he can dump me off at the komuter. but the thought of taking the komuter back home later in the evening gives me the shivers since i'd be wasting my time 1) waiting for the komuter to arrive, and 2) waiting for a komuter i could actually squeeze myself in. i got in late to office, no surprise there. to add oil onto my fire (is there such a saying?), the parking lot where i always park my car whenever i drive to work was having some sort of event thingy until the 30th so it was already FULL. i had to park my car at Avenue K, which i found out doesn't seem to practice the flat rate amount per day any more. sigh.

since i had no pending emails to answer (they probably had forgotten about me since the TDA i was working with resigned) me and Sarah went to Tiny Tapir during lunch hour today =D. we had planned a few weeks ago to go for a visit once pay day arrived this month =P. i had planned to purchase a reusable bag, either Roo Shopper or RuMe that Tiny Tapir was selling at an offer price (due to an Envirosax fiasco that made me lose interest in purchasing one in the end). last night i was rummaging through my plastic bag collection and oh my, i didn't realize how many plastic bags were there, even after recycling those Tesco bags for wastepaper baskets! i can't remember who taught me to fold the plastic bags in such a way that they end up being small triangles and you save alot of space keeping them like that. though i think i should've labelled them by size because it's annoying when u open them up and realize it's not the size that you're looking for. hehe.

remember i purchased a mini Roo earlier? (i bought one early last month, not sure if i mentioned it before). i found that the mini RuMe was slightly larger than mini Roo, which i now regret buying since it's a bit too small for even a simple shopping spree (think those small bags that we ladies tend to bring along whenever we go out for lunch to stuff our handphones and purses in, it's roughly about that size i suppose). i don't think i can fit a large box of Dutch Lady milk, a can of tomato soup and some fruits all together into the mini Roo. i was undecided as to whether i should get the mini RuMe or the regular RuMe because i find the the regular sized one a bit too roomy to put in only one or two items, although it would make a perfect bag if i were to shop alone at Tesco =). i checked out the medium Roo as well since it stated that it was roughly the size of a standard plastic bag, but Roos are a bit pricier compared to RuMes and Envirosax. i wanted to get a medium Roo previously but because of the steep price, i chose the mini Roo. big mistake, in my opinion.

i would rate the quality of material from best to less, being 1) Roo, 2) RuMe, and 3) Envirosax.

in the end i bought one regular RuMe to try. the design i bought was Fifth Avenue Spring in NY - a pinkish-orange combination color. i now have my eye on the mini RuMe though =P. Tiny Tapir is selling certain designs for the regular RuMe at RM28, valid until the 31st of this month (normal price is RM36), so i'm thinking of getting another one, because if you think about it, when you do your monthly grocery shopping, you usually won't end up with just one plastic bag. and regardless of the bag being able to carry up to 23kg, i don't think you'll be putting everything into just one bag unless you want to break your shoulder blades or something. Sarah already has one, but she has yet to try it =P.

RuMe - Fifth Avenue Spring in NY

i don't mind not getting a bag or plastic bag for every purchase i make at a store, but i'm wondering if the store doesn't mind if i refuse a bag and decide to use my own reusable bag, because if you think about it, the bag they usually put ur purchase in carries the store logo so you're sorta like doing an advertising stint by just lugging the bag around. i read that at some stores, the cashiers give you a weird look whenever you refuse a plastic bag. sometimes i feel like the items aren't considered paid until they are bagged in the store's plastic bags (they'd usually stick that SOLD sticker on items that are unable to be bagged, so that's why i think this way). do give some insight on the matter, people! one bag i could probably do without are those big La Senza paper bags. you buy two bras and they give u a gigantic paper bag. i don't mind if they stuff my purchases into a smaller bag. i usually end up disposing of the bag anyway.

anway, apart from purchasing a RuMe, i also bought a Baby Kanga CD in Vineyard, a reddish-maroon hue. i initially wanted to get it second hand from another CD-ing mom, but apparently she didn't reply my sms after a few attempts of trying to reach her, so i decided to just get it at Tiny Tapir. heard some nice reviews about this brand of CD so i thought of trying it. Sarah bought one Bumwear trainer in lilac color (she's a purple-crazed mom). it was pouring outside by the time we made our purchases. it seems to rain alot lately in the evenings.

Vineyard Baby Kanga

Earth Hour is this Saturday. my friend Juney jokingly said that the government should just shut off the electricity supply for maximum effect. lol. i dunno if Significant Other would be agreeable to this. i can't imagine him living without his beloved PC and air conditioning. i'd love to see the skies to KL going dark. i haven't had anything planned. Significant Other will be back tomorrow, so we'll see how things go.

Earth Hour 2009

back

i'm back. and apparently not as contented as i wish to be.

i'll jot down my thoughts later. i start work tomorrow, bwah.

sometimes the days keep on getting longer and longer. i'm glad Dayana keeps me occupied.

anyway, til then...~

the lifesaver

i am so grateful for my pouch. i never realized how handy it is to have one until i actually forgot to bring mine during one of my outings with Dayana, just the two of us. and strollers are just not an option for me if it's just me and the baby. the mothercare stroller my pil bought for us is kinda bulky for me to fold and assemble quickly (i doubt Dayana has the patience to wait for me to finish assembling it), and i don't think i have the patience to wait for the elevators each time i wanted to move up or down a floor. i can't imagine why a parent wouldn't get one for themself (be it carrier or stroller, whatever that fancies them).

so there i was, successfully managed to find a parking spot and only realized my pouch was sitting nicely at home in my room, grrr. so i had to carry her around until my arms broke off, what more with a diaper bag to lug around summore *pengsan*. my daughter should roughly be about 6kg by now. i cannot imagine how i would be carrying her once she reaches 8kg and without a carrier of some sort. i think i would've cancelled whatever i had planned if that were to happen, lol. Dayana, of course, couldn't care less just as long as she could go jalan =P.

determined not to waste RM1 worth of parking and gas, we went to La Senza to check out some stuff. to me La Senza is only worth it if you're buying during a sale. you could buy an item worth rm169 for only rm70+ after discount, and that's saving alot. the only thing i dislike about sale is that nice items seem to disappear quick into thin air. imagine me having to juggle her in one hand while browsing through the items on the rack with the other. Dayana also sibuks browsing through the items as well by trying to grab anything on the rack that came within arm's reach T_T. the sales people there were kind enough to offer to hold Dayana while i tried out a few items. surprisingly she didn't even burst out crying, yay. when i was paying there was another customer at the counter who asked me if i could manage or not, or if i had a baby carrier of some sort to use instead of carrying her with my hands. i realized i attract different kind of reactions when i use my pouch, and when i don't use my pouch, haha (although i prefer reactions from the former, babywearing rocks!).

i was about to ring up my former colleague who was working in MV but my mom called instead, asking me if i could come fetch my mom and my sisters at KGNS, they had just arrived from Terengganu via Firefly and they needed transport to get home. i was fine with it; i was about to cut my trip short anyway because i was finding it impossible to juggle a baby (without a baby carrier), a diaper bag and my shopping items all at the same time. before i left i dropped by the money changer, and seriously their rate is quite good. the guy behind the counter also asked me how come i didn't put Dayana in a baby stroller *sigh*. rub it in, why won't you people? i wanted to tapau nasi ayam at the food court but they won't bungkus the soup. wth? who takes away nasi ayam without the soup? jergh. in the end i had to tapau mcD because i was too tired to think of another alternative. i got lost at the parking lot looking for my car because i was at the wrong level. hahaha. stupid.

on wednesday morning i sent mil to LCCT and dropped Dayana at my mom's because i supposedly wanted to carry out some errands. i ended up just doing my hair at USJ. i wanted to cut my hair in a side swept fringe like my bil's girlfriend, but i don't think i can pass off that look. sigh. the hairdresser even commented that my hair is thinning. which is true since lately each time i comb my hair i get lots of strands of hair stuck in my hairbrush. i run my hands through my hair and a couple of strands fall out. my colleague scolded me for doing that one day, she said i would go bald faster that way. haha. i wish that wasn't one of the cons of delivering a baby =(.

gesty =P

today i went to apply for roaming at Pyramid with my sister and Dayana. this time i made sure i had my pouch with me =P. i find it stupid because i called up Maxis yesterday and the guy on the phone told me the main line holder has to do it himself (i'm using supplementary line) so i would need a formal letter from Significant Other to allow me to apply on his behalf. so fine... i prepared the letter, along with the documents needed.... but yet they asked if i could contact Significant Other to verify the request. haiz. he's out of the country for God's sake. and roaming charges are expensive. if you still need to contact him personally, then what's the point of me painstakingly composing the stupid letter for you? jergh. i think it's rubbish. why do they need a copy of the holder's passport anyway? does that mean if you don't own a passport but want to apply for roaming just for fun, you're not able to do so? crap crap crap.

i dragged my sister to La Senza, but i didn't manage to hasut her to buy anything, although she was eyeing this pair of sleep pants her friend owns that i find a bit horrendous looking. haha. i was starting to get hungry (despite having a breakfast of rice + kari ikan, nyum nyum) so i treated my sister to Pizza Hut. i asked her whether she wanted Wendy's or not (i like their chili) but she was afraid the burger bits would get stuck between her braces *pengsan ketawa* so pizza it is. we went to MPH after that to get a book each; my sister bought The Alchemist, while i bought a book on Prophet Muhammad's most favorite wife, Aisyah. i wanted to browse around some more, but it's no fun to shop when you're broke. so we headed home because my dad was about to leave his office and my sister was going to follow him back home. photos stolen from my sistah's blog =P.

my sistah a.k.a. weekend bibik

express nap in Pizza Hut

so fast wakey2

i haven't finished packing yet. actually i have alot of things to complete before my flight leaves tomorrow at noon. i totally forgot to buy avocado for my daughter. i also need to exchange a bit more foreign currency just in case. and drop Dayana at my parent's. it was nice of my bil to offer to send me to LCCT, i just needed to sponsor the gas, lol.

btw, did i tell you about my sweet potato puree story? i bought two of them from Tesco. after washing one thoroughly and chopping it into medium size pieces, i steamed them for 15 minutes and blended away. apparently i could collect five containers full from just one sweet potato. and Dayana seemed to like it. yummy =).

note to myself: Dayana fell off the bed for the first time, on the morning of either the 16th or 17th of March. i had forgotten to place a bolster above your head. Mommy woke up after hearing a loud thud and found you sprawled on your tummy on the floor. luckily you were alright with no bruises, but you wept angrily at Mommy and gave Mommy an accusing look for not looking after you properly =(.

i'm sorry sweetheart! i'm just glad it was nothing serious *sweat*.

cartoon cartoons

i'm still up at 1am in the morning. Significant Other left for a business trip yesterday (technically speaking, since today is already Monday), and he'll only be back after two weeks. of which i don't really mind though; i think it's good to get a breather from each other once in a while. i'm really amazed at those couples who've been together for almost 30 years, i wonder what's their secret. me, Dayana and mil sent him off at KLIA. i haven't been to KLIA for such a long time. Dayana was particularly excited, especially when she got hold of mil's plastic bag (the one in which you declare your liquids to bring into the cabin) and refused to let go if it. i checked out Tie Rack in KLIA and seriously i'm not quite sure what the big deal is about these scarves. or maybe the selection at the airport were not too exciting to begin with. hehe.

Dayana is snoring beside me on the bed. the tv's on and tuned in to Cartoon Network. right now Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is showing on tv. this was one of my favorite cartoons to watch when i was pregnant in my first trimester, no kidding. even Significant Other got hooked. i first saw this cartoon during my Bangkok trip. it was on every morning at 7.30am when i was up and about getting ready to go to the client's office, so it was rather convenient for me to watch it. back here i watch it at 1am in the morning =P. today's episode is about Bloo's (the main character) first encounter with the hiccups. it ends off with Bloo having a hiccup competition with another imaginary friend. naturally, Bloo won. hahahahhaha.

foster's home for imaginary friends

the shows i watch on tv has changed ever since having a daughter to look after. from Starworld and AXN, to Cartoon Network and Playhouse Disney. and i think the mommy is actually the one watching the shows on tv rather than the daughter, who has a really short attention span and gets bored easily. hihi.

another favorite to watch, lol

this one Dayana likey

last weekend was a bit hectic due to Megat and Hasmah's wedding on Saturday, and Significant Other's preparations to fly on Sunday. so Dayana didn't really have a proper meal that weekend, poor thing. my mom started her on bananas on Thursday, and she took to it pretty well, in fact =). today is actually the day she starts on sweet potato, but i woke up late and i didn't have time to prepare, so i guess it's one more day of banana for Dayana, lol.

i have so many things to settle by the end of the week, and so little time and money to do it. it doesn't help that a nail got stuck in one of my car's tyres recently, and after sending it to the shop to be patched, further inspection revealed that my tyres have crack marks and are in danger of exploding (is that the word? the guy said that the tyre might pecah if i kept on driving with the tyres in that condition). and one tyre costs about rm200+ *pengsan*. but they're actually due for a change anyway. i haven't changed them since i first got the car (oops... my bad...). and my car is due for it's 60,000km service. huwaaaaaa... more money flying out the window... anyone wanna sponsor me a tyre?

i'd like to babble more here, but then i'm afraid i'd get too emo. and i hate it when i write when i'm emo. i'm lucky my manager has approved my long leave, i got a little over 10 days to finish by the end of the month. at least i can unwind and relax abit (even though i can never manage to get rid off my financial woes =P). mil is leaving for UK on Wednesday for close to two months, so there are other matters to think about. but i'll leave that to be told at another time. so anyway... taa~

touch and then fast fast go

yesteday on my way home via the expensive way, a very 'smart' kelisa decided to hold up traffic at the SMART tunnel's T&G and SmartTag lanes heading towards Sungai Besi. i was in queue behind two vans and the kelisa at the SmartTag lane. just by looking out the window i could see that the lady in the kelisa was trying in vain to touch her T&G card at the toll stand but to no avail. it's bad enough that she attempted it once and nothing happened, but she had to give it another go, which, as logic goes, resulted in the same thing - nothing. behind me the cars kept on piling up. i had no idea what was going on at the other lane though, but it was backed up as well, also by a kelisa. and there was no one at the toll plaza to help sort things out. haiz.

seriously people, don't you know that you can use your T&G card at all lanes except for the SmartTag lane? it wouldn't be called that if you were able to do so, you'd hold up traffic and defeat the whole purpose of a SmartTag lane. and that's another thing. people take their own sweet time getting all touchy feely each time they pass through the T&G lane. omg. it's Touch and Go okay. not touch here, touch there, hello, goodbye then only Go. sigh.

when the lady managed to compute into her brain that her T&G card was simply not going to allow her to pass through only then did she put her car into reverse and switched to the proper T&G lane. i had no idea what happened after that though. i just wanted to get pass the toll and head home. i just hope the toll lanes were fully functioning. it would be a shame to curse people for holding up traffic, only to find out that they're actually innocent and it's the toll that is actually at fault. hihi.

so next time if you don't want to piss people off at toll lanes (which are a tad too many in Malaysia i might add), please ensure and take note of the following:

1. if you own a SmartTag, make sure it's operational i.e the batteries are not dead. i dunno if the lady's Smart Tag device kong or what but if the batteries did die, please go home and replace the batteries!

2. T&G card alone will never be able to let you through the gate that is specifically meant for SmartTag. go and buy a SmartTag already if you still wish to pass through the SmartTag lane.

3. always ensure that your T&G card has enough value for you to pass through. i remember one time my T&G value ran out and i told myself i'd reload it later. but since passing through the SmartTag lane was almost like a subconscious routine i tried to pass through it anyway. luckily i eased up on the gas pedal or else i'd have ended up ramming the gate barrier dengan penuh bangganya. haha. malunye... was lucky there wasn't a long queue behind me =P

weekend jalan-jalan

i had an eventful weekend.

on Saturday we went around Subang to hunt for a new shower head which Significant Other had managed to vandalize (which occurs pretty often too). before this i bought a replacement at a store in SS2, but the brand was a bit flimsy and didn't last long (despite what the store person had told me). we finally found one at Bunham Bath Shop in Taipan USJ. hmmm. after hunting around for the showerhead i realized that there aren't many bath shops in the area, why is that. unless of course they're there but they seem invisible to the public eye. if not where do people get the materials for the bathroom? =P

we dropped by Subang Parade after that to check out Tumbletots. i came across it after bloghopping (i forgot which blog) so i wanted to check it out for myself to see if the programmes available are suitable for Dayana or not. according to them Tumbletots is designed to develop children's motor skills. by enrolling in the programme your child would be able to develop positive personality traits of self-confidence, social skills and independence, to name a few. so it wouldn't hurt to try it out since there's a trial run for only rm25, and each session lasts 45 minutes. besides, Dayana could do to make a few friends, couldn't she? it's time she hung around people her own age. lol. the programme runs once a week (for Dayana's age group) and the fees are inclusive of 3 months. i might just go for a trial run of the class this weekend before deciding to enroll Dayana or not.

Daddy's Joey

Significant Other wanted to buy sunnies, but apparently the one he liked costs a whopping 1K *pengsan*. even my Oakley costs about rm400 after discount. macam ini if i were a robber the first thing i would curi is their sunglasses. hahaha. imagine 1K worth of merchandise perched on your nose, when your baju is all bought from Bundle saja. hahahhaha (ok i'm kidding. but the idea really tickles my fancy). Dayana fell asleep in my pouch again but in the position that she was in, it looked abit uncomfortable so i changed her from the front carry to cradle carry. unfortunately once i did that she became fully awake *slaps forehead*.

we had dessert at Dessert's Bar in Subang Parade. they gave us a coupon which entitled us to a free dessert, but it's only useable the next time we dine there. and it's only valid for only one week. wth? better la you don't give the coupon in the first place. chis.

dessert's bar

Daddy with Dayana

Mommy with Dayana

Our drink and dessert

Our egg and mushroom sandwich

Dayana oso mau minum! =D

Daddy's failed attempt at burping Dayana

i bought another Fruit Of the Earth hand and body lotion at Watson's because the one i had amazingly poofed into thin air, just like Dayana's Drapolene cream did. i don't know if i could believe that things have the ability to disappear into thin air. usually there's always a logical explanation to its disappearance, except for when i think back to the time i lost my brooch which until now i have never managed to recover (as well as for my other jewellery items, sigh). i remember in Harry Potter or some other magical book that once offered an explanation that magic creatures tend to play practical jokes on humans by shrinking items, so humans think that the items have disappeared when they're actually still there where they last left it. hahahaha. anyway, i went snooping in my brother in law's room when he was out and found it there. apparently he had stolen it, gwah. so now i have two.

i also bought frozen peas for Dayana's solids journey =P i hate peas. i pick them out one by one (struggle ok =P). Significant Other bought frozen corn (konon ask me to make corn-in-cup lah) and his favorite, seedless grapes. i did more or less the same thing as i did to make apple puree, with the exception of adding a bit of water to the peas to get a smoother consistency, as well as putting the peas through a seiver to get rid of the skins before giving them to Dayana. i didn't get the opportunity to feed Dayana peas though. but my mom said she gave the disgusted face as usual. i accidentally made alot since i still don't know how to estimate the amount Dayana needs yet (she eats soOoOo little) so i now have two frozen pea-cubes in the freezer.

so on Saturday was supposed to leave for Segamat earlier in the day to attend Significant Other's cousin's nikah that night, and reception was held the next day, but you know how procrastinating can get to you =P. we reached home at 6pm so while Dayana and Significant Other pengsan on the bed, i got everything ready. haiz. we waited for Jo and Dee to arrive before making a move. when they did arrive at our place around 8ish, sempat lagi main Nintendo Wii T_T. Significant Other was a bit put out by his cousin for not personally informing of his mariage, he had to hear it from his aunt at a last minute notice summore. huhu. anyway, by the time we left, it was almost close to 11pm. sent Dayana to Bangi first (because i know it will be a hassle to bring her along, plus he weather might be hot, which was true).

we had supper at Nasi Lemak Ayam Kampung (i'll confirm the name later) in Bangi. not bad la, but it was a bit expensive. and we wanted to order seconds, but they were out =(. i fell asleep immediately after entering the PLUS highway, but i think the rest of them talked crap about life and love stories throughout the journey to Segamat (i know because halfway into the journey i sorta 'woke up', and i vaguley recall a police roadblock at one point, but i drifted back to sleep =P). we reached the hotel at 2.30am+ (i personally think Significant Other was speeding =P). the neo pegasus hotel seemed like a really cheap budget hotel. the room was pretty basic, but neat and tidy. however the room we got had two twin beds instead of one queen sized bed. haiz.

since we woke up at around 9-ish, we missed Noreen's invitation to breakfast so we decided to meet up with Noreen and family in town, at Jackal trading where they were busy purchasing kain (more like borong tak ingat dunia). we bought some kain for the three of us this raya 2009, but i have no idea where to have it tailored. color theme of the year: purple!

about 12ish we proceeded back to the hotel for checkout. there were a huge turnout of relatives, both from the Sabah side and Auntie Kar's side too. after taking numerous of gedik photos, we convoyed to the bride's house in Labis, which was a half hour's drive from where we were at. the weather turned abnormally sunny when we arrived, sungguh panas ok. i was glad i didn't bring Dayana along, i wouldn't know how she would take it, with the hot sun and the many many strange people around her.

the food was good, i wasn't complaining. each of us received a ceramic mug as a keepsake, packaged nicely in pink and purple boxes with matching ribbons (i saw a box in red though but so far i didn't notice anyone getting that). Auntie Oya jokingly said that if all of her family received the mug in the same color, they could end up with a complete set of 6. hahahha. we left at 3pm+ after taking family photos, each of us went our separate ways.

we wanted to go to Umbai in Melaka for seafood. since we didn't know the way, Jo and Significant Other competed to see whose GPS was better (in my opinion, neither seems to be =P and i suck at GPS directions. like they say, pusing pusing and you still end up at where you wanna be. unless there's a ton of Jalan Sehala of course). so there we were, half following the directions given by the GPS, other half following road signboards. while one GPS was busy proclaiming, 'in 2 kilometres, turn right', the other GPS challenged back with a 'please slow down'. hahahha. bowngoks.

we finally reached Umbai at around 7pm+. the sun was about to set and there weren't many people yet. the food was yummy! since we were given the task of ordering, me and Dee hentam ordered lala masak halia, siakap masak tiga rasa, pari bakar chilli, kailan ikan masin and udang goreng tepung. at first i thought the portions were gonna be alot because we had otak-otak for starters, but we managed to clean off our plates. i would've enjoyed it longer if it weren't for those mosquitos doing their ritual dance beside me. haiz. but remarkably we were charged at a reasonable price. i'd definitely go again if it wasn't too far away from home =P. after taking some photos (sudah gelap daa), we made our way back to KL.

initially once we arrived in KL, we wanted to pick up Dayana then only head back to SA, but then Significant Other suggested going for a movie, so we went to Alamanda. however there were no midnights at Alamanda (chis), and the last movie showing was Upin & Ipin at 10.20pm. apa itu? *pengsan*. so i called Abang up to reserve tickets online for Watchmen at the Mines TGV. after picking up our tickets, we had some drinks before the movie. Significant Other ordered ABC without the C (if you know what i mean).

i didn't really enjoy the movie, but it was OK. i was half asleep, half freezing due to the fact that i was sharing half of a jacket with Significant Other, and i didn't really like the story line. Jo slept through the first half of the movie, Dee slept through the second half. lol. the movie was a whopping 2 1/2 hours long too, mau pengsan. since by the time the movie ended it was already wayy too late, we decided to see Dayana in the morning so we headed back home and reached our doorstep at 3.30am.

photos will be posted later after i've downloaded them into my PC. cheers!

die u roach!

my friend is crazy =P. here's a snippet of the conversation we had yesterday in the midst of going out of our minds from sleepiness and utmost boring worko:

xx! says: btw tell u something very gross -.-
xx! says: i killed 2 cockroaches when they were making out
ri**y*na says: wahhhhhhhh
ri**y*na says: =)) *rotfl* so evil
ri**y*na says: yucks
xx! says: they scared me
ri**y*na says: how they scared u if they making out?
xx! says: they still can move around
ri**y*na says: isit? mating dance? =)) *gelak lagi*
xx! says: no idea
ri**y*na says: sungguh kesian
ri**y*na says: but gross
xx! says: lol
ri**y*na says: first thot i had was that u killed them by pijaking them
xx! says: i dont' dare
ri**y*na says: u spray?
xx! says: i just poured them with detergent
ri**y*na says: u suffocated them :O
ri**y*na says: detergent?
ri**y*na says: lagi teruk =))
xx! says: i was in bathroom
xx! says: i poisoned them

death by detergent! ooooh, the CSIs are gonna have a field day... ahahhahah.

gross. i hate cockroaches. especially the flying ones!

cockroach trying to be smart... (image taken from here)

speaking of roaches, i remember during form 4 (or was it form 5) in one of our biology lessons we had to bring a cockroach, a frog and a fish (was it a fish?) to dissect. i understand how one could go around catching a frog, or just buying it at a store, but to catch a cockroach? i wonder how rathi did it. she was the one had brought one to class last time. gross. and i also remember that she dissected it sampai hancur. hahahahaha. another friend of mine was crying tears over the frog she was dissecting. talk about being emotional =P. you would be too, if you had to dissect the frog that you painstakingly caught, especially when you 'ter'bonded with it. hee.

you know you’re an adventuregamer when…

i always get a crack out of this each time i read this. i'm recording this down in my blog so that i won't forget, being the absent-minded person that i am. i got this from Munira's dusty old and almost-forgotten blog, so i hope you don't mind me pasting it here? it's about time i do spring cleaning in my Favorites folder... i've been bookmarking pages at random until i forgot why i bookmarked them in the first place =P.

anyway...

you know you’re an adventuregamer when…
(my favorites are the colored ones)

- The first thing you do when you enter a room is check the wastebasket.
- You don’t have conversations, you have "dialog trees".
- When the teacher asks you to do something, you say "I’m sorry. Those don’t work together.”
- You try to pry a piece of bubble gum off the floor with a crowbar.
- You have very liberal view on “borrowing”.
- Eerie graveyards always make you check your pockets for a shovel and you don't even question whether you can fit a shovel in there in the first place.
- You flip all the light switches in the house off and on in different combinations to see if anything happens.
- You see a cursor guiding your every move.
- Your gravestone rhymes.
- You wear the same outfit for days and days.
- You can travel all across a country in one day.
- You use a walkthrough to get through your life.
- You keep distracting people and stealing their stuff.
- You carry loads of different stuff around and try putting everything together with everything else and see if it works.
- You can afford to travel across the world in search for clues about the ancient mystery you've been dragged into, but you can't afford a sandwich in the shop next door.
- Cheap MIDI music seems to follow you around the place.
- You say the word 'examine' at times where everybody else would have said 'look'.
- You never have to eat any food, and can walk back and forth across huge landscapes or cities for hours on end without getting tired at all.
- People look into their pockets for change; you check your “inventory”.
- You can carry an innumerable amount of objects without any visible sign of them on your person.
- You can fit ridiculous gargantuan objects in your pocket (e.g. a ladder).
- Instead of “Youch!” or “Ouch!” you say “Ah Pappapishu!”
- You expect the soundtrack to swell as you do something important, like handing in your English paper or step off the bus.
- You die intentionally just to see what happens.

and my personal favorite:-

- You die, do you want to: Restart, Restore or QUIT?

apple puree

i'm lucky that i carpooled with Significant Other yesterday. and i'm glad i don't take the train anymore. if not i would've gotten stuck in the 2-hour sardin-packed crowd at the lrt yesterday *shudders*

yesterday i bought some red apples from Cold Storage as i wanted to make apple puree for my daughter. hahaha. she had already taken 4 days of baby rice cereal in small quantities and seemed to get the hang of eating solids (from what my mil says lah). but that's baby rice and a little of EBM. now it's purely apples *wicked grin*. i can just imagine her disgusted face.

... i pulak terexcited.

i chatted with ieta yesterday (my most trusty babysource online =P) on how to make apple puree. in my mind i imagine it turning to apple juice after blending it. but she says it isn't so. (probably juicers are better equipped at filtering out the fibres in the fruit, leaving only the juice as your end product). anyway, at 12am tengah2 malam buta there i was in the kitchen, armed and ready to make apple puree. hahaha (ni la kerje the inexperienced Mommy - excited over the little things that's considerably normal. lol). thanks to the person who presented the steamer to us for our wedding present =D. while waiting for the apples to be steamed i got out the mini blender we bought using the voucher Significant Other received from PwC.

basically here's what i did:
1. cut the apple, leave the skin on
2. steam the apples for 15-20 minutes
3. take them out and wait for them to cool for a bit
4. peel off the skin and cut into smaller chunks before putting them into the blender
5. blend blend blend! until whatever consistency you wish to acheive. lol.

this is my first time using the blender and i have no idea how long i would need to blend the apples so i hentam saja. while chopping up the apple into smaller pieces i tried tasting one, it kinda reminded me of apple sauce. anyway, blend blend blend and then scoop them out into small containers, two to be kept in the fridge for today and tomorrow, another two to be kept in the freezer. i only got a small amount from one apple. i was thinking i'd let her acquire the taste of apple first before making more. let's hope she doesn't choke on it or anything. too bad i didn't take photos of the whole process. hahaha. i felt like blending all of the apples ok. jakun punye pasal.

next up... peas!

updated:
apparently Dayana doesn't like apples after tasting it for the first time. haha. mil didn't succeed in feeding the puree to her, so when i got back home i tried feeding it to her myself. she just spat it back out. so i thought of adding breastmilk to the puree. she accepted it more readily though. but after swallowing it she puckered her face as if she just tasted something sour. cheese~! i tried it myself before i added bm to it, it didn't taste weird to me. in fact, it tasted really sweet. lol. funny lah Dayana ni.

early. wow

wow. i'm the first one in on my side of the office. kagum. even the 7am guys, wh and eh aren't in yet. hebat!

... tak hebat lah. i just happened to sleep early and ter-woke up early. so decided to get in earlier to avoid the stupid jam in front of LHDN which i was unfortunate to get caught in for almost 1/2 hour yesterday (and that was just for that stretch alone ok).

word of the week: which.

6 months!

Dayana is 6 months old. time flies really fast! pretty soon i'll be missing the newborn i started out with as she toddles her way into toddlerhood (which, in my opinion is another mind boggling matter, but i'll deal with it when i reach that milestone =D).

baby's progress (that i can think of):

1. at exactly 6 months old, she weighs at 5.5kg. that seems light, don't you think? planning to bring her to her paediatrician to gauge her progress later.

2. she has stranger anxiety... she'll cry if an unfamiliar face looks her in the eye. i haven't been over to my fil's place for so long that Dayana has already kinda forgotten about them. so when Uncle Alfie wanted to play with her, naturally she burst into tears T_T. i wonder what i should do to overcome this. i see some people's baby seem open to unfamiliar faces and wouldn't mind being carried by a total stranger. i am soooo hoping that Dayana will be like this. makes Mommy's life easier =P.

3. puts everything in her mouth! the first thing she'll do when she gets her hands on something, she'll aim it straight for her mouth. i caught her trying to put a chopstick wrapper into her mouth, and she made this weird face as if it tasted horrible. haha. she can take out her pacifier from her mouth but she has yet to master putting it back in her mouth. my brother wants to bet rm50 that Dayana is a lefty. aya nak bet?

4. she has preference for things now. like for instance the other day i handed her a new toy to play with which i bought a long time ago but never gave her, a bunch of toy plastic keys (because i read somewhere that babies tend to get bored with the same thing) but she chose to ignore it and play with her older flower teether instead. and she prefers Mr. Spidey to Freddie the Firefly.

with Mr. Spidey

5. i dunno if she has a favorite TV show yet, but i let her watch Little Einsteins on the Disney Playhouse channel. you get to pat your hands together during the rocket launch (patpatpatpatpatpatpat), and Dayana always gets a laugh out of that whenever i help her pat her hands together (and i like how they'll feature a classic composer in each episode. and the way one of the character will go "i cannn-not beee-lieve it!" whenever they're one step closer in solving the puzzle. hahahah).

6. laughs at her reflection if we play peekaboo in front of the mirror. dunno whether she knows that she's actually staring at her own reflection or not. she laughs and babbles in a very loud voice too. she laughs if we talk to her in an exaggerated voice, like what my mom likes to do when talking to her.

7. in the earlier days towards her 6th month mark she loved to touch her toes. now i can't really recall if she still loves to do that. when she's free from her diaper during a diaper change she'll start kicking her legs everywhere until she moves off her changing mat T_T. it gets more and more difficult to put a diaper on her.

grabbing her toes

8. been teaching her her ABCs with some flashcards i printed and laminated. so far only made it to the letter J. she seems more interested in getting her hands on them and putting them into her mouth. now she smiles whenever i sing "ABCDE~". dunno if she understands that it's from the alphabet song or if she just like listening to the song. lol.

9. gave her water in her sippy cup. will gladly accept the cup but when she takes her first sip and finds it not containing her usual milk, most of the sippy cup contents will dribble down her chin and drench her clothes. haiz. she'll also give me a disgusted look. did i mention she started her solids on the exact day she turns 6 months?

10. she can anticipate things if you do them repetitively. like for instance if i count to three and then bounce her in the air, she'll squeal with delight. the next time i count to two then stop, she'll squeal anyway (kene tipu) =P.

11. rolls depending on her current mood. if we set her down on her tummy she'll immediately try to roll on to her back, but if she's on her back, she'll wiggle to the side like an ulat. means i don't have to start worrying about a rolling baby yet. heck, we haven't even childproofed the house yet.

12. doesn't like to sit still in her bathtub. loves to strech her legs out, so she'll end up slipping and sliding in the tub. she'll lompat sakan if we suppot her under her arms. and her hair sungguh serabai, no matter how many times i brush it.

i started Dayana on solids last Saturday, the day she turned 6 months old. initially i wanted to give her her first taste of solids during lunchtime, but since the earlier part of the day was taken up with sending Significant Other's car for a car wash and Dayana's 5th month (delayed) jab, i ended up giving her first taste of baby cereal at 6pm (also due to the fact that Significant Other wanted to catch her first solids intake on videocam but the cameraman wanted to have a snooze first *smacks forehead*). i mixed one spoon of baby cereal with 3 spoons of breastmilk. then i set her down in her bumbo seat, complete with the tray and tied a bib around her neck (which wrote 'Daddy's Little Princess'. hehe).

it ended up in a messy disaster. hehe. most of the food ended up on her mouth and on her bib. and she was more interested in getting her hands on the spoon. and when i wanted to spoon baby cereal into her mouth, she ended up blowing cereal bubbles! ahahahah. but she really lookes like she enjoyed herself. i guess it was a new experience for her. i'm sticking to the 4-day rule, so i'm gonna introduce to her red apples next =D. no pictures on the first day though, because Daddy was busy handling the videocam and i was busy trying to get some food into Dayana's tummy.

but here are some photos i manage to take the next day while my mil was feeding her. after she finished with her food (the next day progressed a bit better than the first) my mil allowed her to play with the spoon, which she ketuk sepenuh hati on the tray. my brother commented that we should buy a drum set for her. see how lousy the photos are? my camera quality is detoriating! uwaaaa~~~

the BEFORE photo

the AFTER photo =P

yesterday i decided to cook daging goreng kunyit and cheese omelette. as well as french beans with sambal, just to finish off the french breans before they go bad. my brother dropped by too, with an empty stomach, so decided to cook for three. i got the recipes from the Salt & Tumeric blog my friend had given me ages ago but never got around to browsing it. the dishes kinda turned out OK, but i wish i had fried the potatoes in advance before adding them in the recipe, so i took longer to complete my cooking expedition. and my brother helped me out abit =P. sungguh kelam kabut ok. my brother complained that there was no kuah in any of the dishes (ei slow slow la, next time i try kari ok =P). the omelette turned out to be rather plain (i only added milk and cheese to it), and it looked slightly penyet since i failed at folding the omelette nicely. but if you like cheese, you won't need to complain. hehe.

today is only the second day in March but i'm already bloke = blur + broke. sigh.