Sumatran tremors

everyone in the office felt the tremors. at first i thought the feeling i was experiencing was due to the blood pulsating through my body (that happens sometimes you know).

then i thought someone was shaking his legs too hard, causing everyone with connected desks to feel the vibrations too.

i looked around and saw the keys dangling at my desk drawers swaying slightly.

and then colleagues started milling around and murmuring to each other with slightly worried looks on their faces (as if the towers were about collapse any minute).

Sally came out from her office to tell everyone that they should go home earlier in case anything unwanted were to happen.

and all this while did you know what my beloved deskmate was doing? he was totally oblivious to the whole thing. while everyone was busy hoo-haa ing over the tremors, and there he was, busy laughing away layanning youtube with earphones in his ears. and he didn't even notice the whole commotion until i bopped him on the head with a pillow. lol. katun betul.

can read more about it here.

moving up the ladder to 13mo

so my little dot turns 13 months today. for the record, here's what she's been up to ever since she turned One...

# she's good at figuring how things work on her own, after seeing someone doing it. like i was lifting the end of the carpet in my bedroom to sweep under it and she saw me. later on i caught her sibuk-sibuk peeking under the carpet, looking for goodness knows what. she also enjoys opening boxes and emptying them out, only to make a huge mess strewn all over the floor. no guesses as to how she figured out that boxes can be opened.

# her sleep patterns has changed a bit. sometimes she can go on for hours on end without daytime naps. probably because of sugar high. must remember not to give her any sugary stuff before bedtime.

# she's good at throwing tantrums by making her body go limp / keras if doesn't get what she wants. especially if we take things from her. she has a strong grip. she'll start babbling nonsense (in protest) and starts crying once we manage to take the item away from her. usually it'll be things that she's not supposed to play with in the first place.

# she babbles nonsense now - spanish? german? swedish? i can't really make out what she's trying to say. at what age will baby babble start to make any sense?

# whenever Daddy tells her no, she'll start to cry. it's as if she understands that what she's doing is wrong, hehe. buat muke kesian pulak.

# if she's holding a toy and we ask her to give it to us, she'll hold her arm out, then tarik balik, like main acah-acah only, huhu. but sometimes she'll hand it to us if she's in a good mood, but then she'll mintak balik the toy, haha. otherwise she'll just campak jer kluar her crib. that's her favorite thing to do these days. my back dah patah just picking up the pieces off the floor.

# she understands a few words now, like she'll point to Mickey Mouse if we ask her where Mickey Mouse is, or where is Ashu, then she'll point to her youngest Aunty. things like that. people and those little things that she often interacts with. been trying to teach her to salam but so far to no avail. now we're working on her to kiss Mommy and Daddy =P.

# she's a clapping pro now. whenever she hears Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, she'll make genggam-ing motions with her fists. she hasn't managed to master the technique yet, but that'll suffice at the moment, haha. she sways to the music too, macam dancing, kekekeke.

# she's still stuck onto her Chewy. and she still uses her pacifier to sleep. i think i need to get another Chewy for her. she loves to gnaw on the ends of the blanket. she won't go to sleep as easily without her Chewy. haiz. she's just like her Daddy.

# she's showing signs of wanting to eat by herself, but i shudder each time i think off the potential mess that i have to clean up after. i think i need to get a high chair and a splat mat first. a mobile-eating baby can end up in disastrous results.

# 4 teeth is out, another top 2 looks like they're about to appear soon. i have no idea how to brush her teeth. the other day i stuck my finger in her mouth and she clamped her teeth shut and bit as hard as she could. OUCH.

# she doesn't teeth on her teething toys, she prefers to gnaw on her crib instead -.- is there a place that sells those plastic protectors for the crib? she's gnawing the paint right off the crib.

# i can assure you she hates wearing anything on her head. be it any kind of hat or sunnies, she'll surely try her hardest to get it off her head. sigh. the only thing that i can do which she doesn't mind is to tie her hair up into a coconut ponytail. her hair is really wavy i've gotten tons of compliments for it =). i love it too.

trying to rip the hat off her head

# if last month she didn't like to smile for the camera, this month she does now.

showing off her teethbuds

# sudah terrer menjerit. screaming, testing out her lungs capacity.

# you know the art of swinging a baby? i think munirah of tripletsplusone exercises this with her kids. some parents might think their limbs might tercabut, or seem hazardous, but Dayana absolutely loves it. i'll look up the benefits of this and let you know later.

# she knows she can view children songs on Daddy's iPhone. previously she was only interested in my flip phone and didn't even glance at Daddy's latest gadget. now that she knows songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABC can be viewed on the iPhone, she'll demand for it each time she sees Daddy pulling it out. hehe. habiss.

# she eats practically everything given to her - biskut raya, grapes, even nasi. i noticed that if there was a choice between her porridge and our food, she'll prefer our food, spitting back out her porridge. sheesh. we need to get a high chair for her soon. Ikea is in mind. simple and cheap.

# sibuk nak tekan the keys on the laptop just to annoy Mommy and Daddy, especially when she knows that she shouldn't do so. sometimes her eyes are somewhere else, but her fingers are all over the keyboard. multitasking kot. every nook and cranny oso mau perosek.

press press press...

# she still loves to flip through her books without actually reading them. but sometimes when i abandon her in her crib, she'll entertain herself by actually observing the colorful illustrations on each page. hee. still have to stick with boardbooks though. she'll tear paper apart.

# she's more friendlier towards people, surprisingly, although not 100% of the time. i noticed during the raya celebrations that she'll warm up to you much faster if you choose to initially leave her alone to explore by herself, as opposed to you coming up to her and breathing down her neck.

# shows signs of wanting to walk, attempting to stand most of the time with her feet wide apart to stabilize herself, haha. usually 2-3 steps before she lands on her butt. she knows how to climb stairs, but she doesn't know how to climb down them.

# she loves our Tickle Me Elmo. unfortunately the mechanism dah lingkup. does anyone know of a place where i can fix Elmo?

# she likes trains! Daddy's thinking of getting her a Thomas (... waitaminit, is this for Dayana or Daddy?)

on a separate note, Daddy is now fixed onto the show, the Wizards of Waverly Place. hahahaha.

back to work

it's Monday and i'm back in the office... with a tons of email to reply, with tons of work to finish, with tons of bills to pay, with tons of photos to upload, with tons of entries to blog about =P

how was your holidays? i'll blog more about my raya happenings... when i have the time.

toodles! =D

i want this =P

i know i'm on a shopping hiatus at the moment, but i can't stop thinking about this one...

i just hope this baby is still there. for some reason i like this design.
i'm gonna have to buy the carrier too (pandai kan they separate the parts sold separately? chis)

okay, that's all for today =P

salam aidilfitri 1430H

i've got a bunch of posts yet to be published, all of them saved as Drafts at the moment. got no idea when i'm gonna find the time to complete them all, things have been pretty hectic for the past week, but for now...

here's wishing everyone a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin.
drive cautiously, and hope everyone reaches their destination safely in one piece.
here's to looking forward to kuih raya! and yummy nasik minyak and nasi dagang! insyallah.
spend and save wisely! (this refers to those who are still eligible to receive duit raya, lol).

with love,
E`n1x & Family
xoxoxoxo

Dayana says hye~! ^_^

baju raya for my daughter

does anyone know where to get baju kurung for a one year old? no thanks to the st*p** tailor my daughter won't be having her very own baju kurung to wear this raya.

and i was soo looking forward to wearing matching outfits this raya too =( *sob*

i'd ask her to replace the kain she misplaced but today's already Thursday, it will never arrive in time before raya.

so now i have to buy a readymade baju kurung for my daughter with hopes that it will somehow match mine. but i have no idea where to get one for her.

our supposed theme this year is purple. it would be greatly appreciated if anyone could help to recommend me a few places to look. i don't have much time.

not to mention that my budget is pretty tight as it is for this raya, sigh.

oh what the heck, nobody reads my blog anyway.

updated: managed to find a decent baju kurung for my dot, but unfortunately the shade is 0% similar to mine. sigh. oh well. i have no energy to hunt for another one, so this will have to do.

i realized i've been riding quite and emotional roller coaster the past few weeks *hish, sabar Ly, sabar...*. i hope i get back to my usual self soon!

updated lagi: rupe2nye it's that time of the month again... no wonder! lol. never ever cross the PMS lady!

life sucks today

i'm having a really sucky day today.

the letters are finally out (after a 3 month delay). the figures are as hell not good. the future's looking really bleak. i feel under appreciated. seriously.

i need to move on. leave my comfort zone. it's no longer comfy.

my tailor lost the extra meter of kain i sent her to make my dot's baju kurung. raya is less than 5 days away. now what's my daughter gonna wear for raya? i specially wanted hers to match with mine *sob*. benci la. next time please focus on one customer at a time, ok?

sales are getting slower these days. either people are getting smarter or they're getting richer.

i'm getting thinner by the day. i feel ugly. why is the world hell bent on the thinking that fair and beautiful people gets everything?

i need to be brainwashed, change my perspective on life. i need to release the bad kurma karma inside me.

now if only i get the proper motivation to propel me to do it. geram!!!

on a slightly more brighter side, happy birthday wishes to:
1. wanie, my closest friend ever back in high school. we should meet up one of these days, okay
2. shaliza, my childhood school friend back in DU. all the hugs to you dear =)
3. rem, the guy i had the most 'history' back in my Uni days, hahaha. a great friend to crap with.

books for my dot

i was browsing through the forums again in hopes of finding book recommendations for Dayana's age when in the process of googling i came across a few familiar books that i used to read wayyy back when i was young =P. Dayana seems to have lost interest in cloth books now and prefers to flip through books meant for older children. the thing with this is that i'm afraid she might overdo it and end up tearing the page in the process. so i'm in search of good board books for her to flip through to her heart's content. funny thing is, i don't think the books in my list are actual board books though =P

the forum mamas were talking about an Eric Carle, so i just googled up books by him and i was surprised to see that i've read one of his books when i was a child.

The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle

the book is about the tiny seed's and its journey on how it became a lovely giant flower. i think i still have this book somewhere at home. thanks to my mom who hoards close to everything that we've owned ever since we've lived in the States. US products always last, too bad i can't say the same for local made products. even the crib Dayana has been using at my parent's place used to be my sisters i think, bought from the US =D. although, there are some things that aren't worth keeping around the house, yet we still sayang to get rid of it =P.

another one by Eric Carle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

one mommy was looking for this book last time. then everyone else chipped in by recommending which children books their child liked, so now i've compiled a small list of books i'd like to get for Dayana once my paycheck is in =P, two of which are Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See? and Baby Einstein See and Spy Shapes (i've gotta teach Dayana her shapes sooner or later, won't i? lol). so this caterpillar book is also on my list =D.

If You Give A Mouse a Cookie... he'll ask for a glass of milk

i also used to have this book when i was young. i hope my mom still has it somewhere hidden among the jumble of boxes in the house. it has really cute colorful pages.

tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo~!

another book i remember having. but i think this is for older children? but then again babies won't care what book you give them as long as they're colorful and nice to look at, lol. heck my daughter even likes tearing up newspaper, if i left her to it. this book is about how you should never name your first child loOoOoOoooooOoOoOng names, otherwise it will take forever to pass on the message that your child is sitting at the bottom of the well. haha.

goes to show that books last a lifetime =). if you keep them away carefully they can be passed down from generation to generation, for your child, and your child's child, and so on.

i hope my Dayana inherits her Daddy's brains and her Mommy's passion for reading.
Mommy is into fiction, Daddy is more into facts of life. so 50 50, eh? =P

which ssc?

so i'm in search of an ssc. but i don't think i'll be buying any time soon, i might as well wait until my daughter gets bigger and heavier for me to start considering two-shouldered carriers (or until i get some sort of durian runtuh, lol).

being a petite mama, it's kinda difficult to find the ONE carrier that will really fit me nicely. so i've been reading up on the carriers by brand that are available and am trying to make my final decision based on people's reviews and recommendations (not to mention the designs as well =P). in a way i'm lucky that i'm petite, i get to narrow down my choices as not all carriers fit small mamas. but unlucky in the sense that i need to have them custom made (tambah $ lagi!) and i really really need to be sure with my final decision because if i buy and it can't fit, then rugi duit only.

pickles!

so after mingling around in the forums, i've narrowed down my choices to the following carriers (note i haven't tried any of them out IRL yet).

1) Angelpack LX Grandiflora
farrah has this one. she's been doing alot of research and according to her, the APLX is really suitable for petite mamas. i got a feel of shida's Angelpack last weekend at the meet up. the body felt kinda soft and squishy (i prefer a sturdier body for an ssc) but i think hers isn't an LX. i'm not too fond of this carrier, probably because i haven't found the love yet, so far action photos hasn't managed to convince me. i like this print however=D.


2) Beco 4th Gen Cocoa Butterfly
to me, the beco 4th gen looks more petite than the butterfly i and ii. there's a mama who owns a beco and was kind enough to let her beco go travelling to let other mamas have a try =). i resisted the urge to just grab one online without trying it on first. they don't produce this anymore, so there's not alot of them out there. i can't wait to try it out for myself. it comes with a chest strap and hood.


3) Petite Calyx Parterre
i'm not sure why i suddenly felt like looking this brand up, but i like they way it looked 'petite'.
i think farrah kept mentioning that this brand was more suitable for petite mamas, besides the APLX. hani says it's more suitable for back carry than front carry. i guess i need to read up more on this first. this is the only color i wish i could have at the moment. if anyone sees this up for grabs, please pm me!


4) O&A Purple Hearts
okay so this one might be a bit big for petite mamas like me, but i can't help it, i love the design =P. luckily the amount of pp that i have stopped me from bagging this beauty. i was lucky to see and feel elly's o&a in real life and decide that my daughter might drown in it (along with me as well, you'd only be seeing the carrier instead of me hahahah). the o&a was really soft and heavy, but really surportive. without even trying it on, i wasn't sure if it was for me. i hope i get another chance to meet up with elly next time. i am determined to sumbat my daughter in it to try, lol. (yes lix, i was smitten by this too. it's just too pricey even after having 2 owners, huhu).


or i could just go local and try Syaz's latest soon-to-be-launched product, the Jumpsac SSC. fast-fast let me test it out, girl! lol


or Liz's new SSC. i don't think she's put it up for sale yet, though. it's her first one =)

090909

what a lovely date today is, don't you think? my favorite number too =P.

i'm presuming the Chinese will be rushing to register their marriages today due to the auspicious date - triple happiness?
i wonder if there are any Malays getting married today.

today i woke up for sahur with a terrible tummy ache =(. so now i'm in the office with very heavy eyelids due to sleep loss T_T.
Dayana's sleeping pattern seems to be changing too. even with the lights off she's refusing to drift off to sleep easily like last time. hmmm. i lose more sleep trying to get her to sleep.

happy birthday Noriza! =)

mini babywearing meet up

last weekend i dropped by Liz's place to have my hotslings pouch resized. even at the smallest size 1, the pouch was still loose on me that Dayana would be practically swinging away from me each time. i still had to support her with my hands so what was the point of the pouch, right? so ever since i received my hotslings i had never really felt the love. until Liz offered to hold a little babywearing meet up at her place in Bukit Jelutong on Sunday.

it's kinda like an informal meet up for mommies who'd (in Liz's words) like to venture into babywearing to try out different carriers, learn more, or just to chat and let your kids play with kids their age. A sewing machine will be available for minor fixes and pouch resizing, we just need to bring our own thread. i was more than thrilled. frankly, i can't sew for nuts. since i said i'd be coming, Syaz handed me a couple of carriers to pass at the meet: Farrah's new wraps, and an RS for Ito. Liz wanted to check out the OMT, and Nita wanted a feel of my Ulli, so i brought all of them to the meet. hehe.

i initially planned to go earlier because i knew i wouldn't be able to linger as long as i would have wanted to, but then things came up so i was only able to leave the house at 3pm. Dayana at this hour was getting cranky having missed her morning nap so i decided to leave her behind with Daddy while i went to the meet up (big mistake, i wasn't able to try out all the SSCs! sob). Bukit Jelutong was definitely near to my house, but i had trouble locating Liz's address on Garmin (chis. nampak je canggih!). and there were three exits leading into Bukit Jelutong so i had to call Liz's OH for oral directions. from there on, i managed to arrive in one piece =D.

a bunch of mamas where already there trying out all the yummylicious carriers that were strewed about the living room. i finally got my hotslings resized! =D i just hope it will fit more snuggly now. i hope it wouldn't be too tight either, i haven't even tried it out with Dayana yet. i brought the wrong color thread for my hotsling, but it's not noticeable to the naked eye =P. in my head i kept wishing i had brought Dayana along. elly's o&a (it's quite heavy in real life), the APLX (quite... lembiky?), and Liz's SSC (tartanny! yum yum) were all laying there calling to be tried on. chis chis chis. elly brought her kipawa too. sigh. i love the colors. if i have the budget i want to slingify one, hohohoh (wrap lovers i don't care what you say about mutilating a wrap, hahaha).

i was eyeing an o&a before this but after seeing elly's i'm not so sure if the sizing if perfect for me and dot. for one thing, it seems as if Dayana would tenggelam out of sight in an o&a, despite being 16". haha. which is why i wished Dayana was with me at the time, i could've put my mind rest in peace on figuring out the suitability of each carrier. i fail at estimating based on just looking. trying out would be the best choice.

i stayed for a bit to watch the mommy antics before heading back home. photos are from Liz and ito's FB, i didn't take any photos of my own. i can't wait for another babywearing meet up like this. there's plenty of room for you to try out all the carriers without having to feel rushed like you would usually feel if you were at a shopping complex, and you get free advice too! (although i prefer to try them out within the comfort of my own house =P).

meet the hostess and little Afya

Liz & Nita. check out the lovely applique

Liz thinking whether she should subject her Ellaroo to the same fate as the Violet Waves

Syahidah with the friendliest baby ever

Ito wearing my Violet Waves, with the 'borrowed' baby =P

inspecting Snuggbaby merchandise =P

ito handed me an RS to pass back to Syaz, which i passed to her earlier this morning. it's her new style shouldered RS, in hot pink linen blend. it was soOoOoOoo soft to touch compared to mine, probably due to the extensive travelling it's been on. geramnye! me wants one!!! i'm creating a mental list of what i plan to get from Syaz now. hahaha. i can't wait to try out her SSC too =).

Dayana's key teething rings have gone missing. i've searched high and lo for it, but to no avail. wth? keys can't just stand up and walk away by itself. don't tell me the cockroach took it! the keys usually accompany Dayana during bath time. grrr. i hate it when things like this happen. when you want it - POOF! gone with the wind.

operation buy-nothing has been smooth so far. have been avoiding temptations atm. tomorrow's agenda: to change duit raya!

another two weeks to raya. see how fast time whizzes past? =P insyallah we'll be heading up east for raya =). i miss!

liberated feeling

my shopping obsession sprees... have finally caught up with me.

i went down to Maybank during lunch hour... to cut up a card.
it's been in my possession ever since Dayana was born.
although unused, it posed a potential threat to be utilized to the pathway of doom.
in fact it was literally screaming to be touched. my precious, one would think.

so the easiest solution? dispose of it altogether.
snip snip went the scissors as it expertly sliced the card in half.
you could almost hear the card screaming, pleading for help, begging for your mercy.

it felt soo liberating.
but that was just the beginning.

one down. a whole lot more to go.

where is anywhere?

i drove to work early this morning only to find out that the Wake Up Your Brain segment i've been following every weekday morning has been won.

Congratulations to Azura who won
RM28,200! in Fly FM Wake Up Your Brain.

Question: Malaysia has the 3rd highest number of ...
Answer: Billionaires in Asia Pacific

aaaaaarrrggghhh!!! goes to show a lot can conspire in just a couple of days of not listening to the radio (because i kept coming in later for work than the usual). *sob*

if you think about it, the clues windows and gates and ocean makes much more sense once
you know what the answer is. but it never occurred to me that ocean simply meant Asia Pacific. people kept guessing things like oysters, and underwater pipelines, and oil once that hint was released. haha. demn.

they have a new Wake Up Your Brain question now: 'Where is Anywhere'? and no, according to them, it's not a trick question. whatever that means.

God, please grant me a miracle.

irina's potluck

not long after Dayana's little birthday party Imran messaged me on FB asking whether i was free on Saturday evening. Irina was having a buka puasa potluck style, and wanted to know whether we were free to come. about 15 people were invited, most of whom were her colleagues at PwC, who also happened to be Significant Other's friends, so we decided to join in.

potluck, as you all know, means we each had to bring something from home. i was out of ideas of what to make, but i didn't know what to buy either. i thought of trying to bake a casserole, since Munira wrote on her blog that it was quite simple to make. Significant Other suggested me to make macaroni pasta, i haven't made that in a while. i said i'd do a little bit of both. so, okay. at least if my first attempt at baking a casserole fails, at least there's the macaroni. lol.

so i dashed off to Tesco to get the ingredients, the bill rang a bit high because i had to get meself a casserole dish (there wasn't anything smaller than the one i bought, i was hoping to get a tiny one, oh well). i really didn't know how to budget whipping up a dish for roughly 15 people, so i just hentam beli the amount of ingredients, and tried not to go wayy over budget. the main ingredients i had to get were:

- cheddar cheese (just nice)
- macaroni (wayy too much)
- spaghetti sauce (overshot by 1 bottle)
- casserole dish (rm20+)
- brocolli (one stalk (stalk?) too many)
- minced beef (just nice)

so i'm not gonna tell you about my cooking experience, because i sucked too much at it anyway.

so it was already time to break fast by the time we reached Irina's place. luckily we've been there before, else we would've spent an extra 15 minutes getting lost just searching for her place. some of the peeps were already there, some unfamiliar faces because they were VTs at the company so i've never met them before. the food was already laid out on the table. i was from worrying that the amount of food i brought wasn't enough, to worrying that the amount of food was a little too much, hahah (i blame it on the huge casserole dish).

the hostess

the first phase of food

the second phase of food

i'll let the photos do the talking of exactly how much food there was that night (photos taken from Fahmi and Significant Other). i wish i had enough room to fit practically everything into my tummy. lately ever since puasa started i'm eating less and less. people's starting to notice my thinning figure (oh please don't let me phase off into walking skeleton mode. haha). anyway, i especially liked the sandwiches, Dayana had a bit of those as well. the roti jala was superb (ahem ahem)! but there were alot of dishes that i didn't manage to sample =(. i wasn't sure if it was because of my poor appetite or because i had a little toddler to look after. she was a bit bolder in exploring the floor herself that night. hehe.

the PwCers

Dayana exploring all by herself

time for a break

Dayana =)

i even sampled my own casserole for the first time. hahah. ok la, it didn't really suck, just so-so. i think it needs more stew, or something. it's quite hard to cook when you're fasting, especially if you're a novice like me. i think Dayana would be able to eat the casserole, i didn't add in too much extra flavoring or anything. just realized that she eats pasta now, earlier at home i fed her bits of macaroni while waiting for the macaroni sauce to cook. i love my mil's casserole dish though. it has always been my favorite. i just don't know how to replicate it.

Irina ended up with more food than she could bargain for. i think the amount of food left over could last her for a week, hahahahahah. apparently i should've guessed that people don't really eat that much during berbuka, settling on sampling a bit of every dish before they declare their tanks are full (for buffets, however, people pile up tons of food on their plates merely because they think they're famished and greed got the better of them just by looking at the wide selection of food choices). so i brought a huge doggy bag home =P. just wished i had tapaued the sandwiches though. i keep thinking about those sandwiches. who the heck brought them? i think they've been hoodwinked or something =P.

as Fahmi puts it, the Guardian of the Sandwiches, haha

so we had to rush off early to catch the Final Destination at Pyramid, and that bugger decided to pull a disappearing act on me and reappear at the last minute (grrr) so i had to leave my casserole dish behind. luckily mil at Subang was available to look after Dayana while we went for the movies. i can't imagine bringing Dayana along for a movie, i'm afraid she might scream or babble away or something. i'm impressed at how some mamas manage to do it. i do remember watching Dennis the Menace at the cinema with my family when i was wayyy young and my youngest sister, being quite young then, so my mom held her facing away from the screen throughout the whole of the movie. hahahahha.

the movie was OK. after 3 installments and this being the 4th one, there isn't much to be said. haha. the one thing i absolutely hate about TGV Sunway is the ticketing lanes. even though you've already purchased tickets online, you still have to queue up along with the rest of the idiots at the reservation counter. i say idiots because even though the tickets are reserved, these people end up coming in late to collect them so they have to re choose their tickets and everything. some of them even take more than 5 minutes just to collect their tickets. and sometimes only one counter is open for reservation. he-llo! what's the point of me buying the tickets in advance if i still need to queue up like no tomorrow?

TGV should get smarter and create a separate lane for ticket collection for those who've already paid for their tickets. seriously. Significant Other blew up once at the indian lady behind the counter because she didn't seem to care that people were taking up too much time at the counter (we ended up missing our movie, but after Significant Other's outburst we were given complimentary tickets for the next session). if like that i can just cut the whole winding queue and head straight for the reservation counter and pretend i lost my booking number, just to save time queuing up. the TGV people should be firm and only attend those with valid reservations and online purchases. geram ok. i don't encounter this problem whenever i'm buying tickets at GSC though. i wonder why?

ok enough with the outburst. hahaha. we got back to find Dayana happily asleep at my mil's.

which reminds me, one time, my sister in law 'expertly' left her car at the Carrefour parking lot because she wanted to take the ktm, and then she arrived quite late to collect the car and got stranded there because the security guards didn't allow her to remove the car tengah-tengah malam buta. hahahahah. sungguh pandai ok.

gonna be missed...

a tribute to one of the cutest kittehs i've ever laid eyes on =(.

Baby

photos from: Sade's FB

useful motherhood links

Mawar,

i'm not sure which forums you are talking about and what you are exactly looking for, but the forums that i usually frequent on a daily basis (more like stalk daily =P) are as follows:

Malaysian Babywearers
this is where i usually hang out to find out more on babywearing, cloth diapering, breastfeeding,and others related to mommyhood and baby. we have occasional gatherings and meet ups, the mommies that hang out here are really friendly, you can ask practically anything and there surely will be someone to help you out. some mommies sell stuff here too.

The Babywearer
this is where i stalk FSOT for used baby carriers, excellent for mommies who love wearing their baby and wish to expand their collection =P. some carriers are better bought secondhand since they'd already be broken in and really snuggly, and it'll be relatively cheaper compared to buying first hand, unless you have the budget to knock yourself out. there are also forums you can browse through to help you search for your dream carrier. this is an international forum though, and you have to register first before you can browse. for a cheaper budget (considering expensive shipping costs) there are some local mamas who have their own brand carrier, that are equally as good as imported carriers =)

Diaperasia
this is where mommies sell their used or brand new baby stuff. you can find a bunch of cloth diapers for sale here, as well as other baby stuff, all divided into their respective categories. i've sold a couple of diapers here myself.

or, if you're interested in buying baby stuff brand new locally, there are links on the left side of my blog page, under mommy's favorites.

it's too lengthy to send you an SMS so i'm posting it here. hope that helps!

xoxo

on a side note, i will access my yahoo mail and facebook every day without fail =P

tiba-tiba

tiba-tiba i teringin nak makan fried oyster kat Uptown.
demn.

who wants to watch the Final Destination with me? i'll be the one watching the movie, peeking from behind a gigantic pillow. yerp, that will be me.

funny. before i got pregnant with my daughter i was all in for scary movies. now that i have her i realized that i now have a faint heart for this kind of genre =P. my husband pulak yang semangat gigih tengok all the horror movies now (which is funny, because he's the one that wouldn't ride the solero shot and rollercoasters after watching the FD movies. i'm still ok with these kind of rides, provided you don't psycho me first!).

since i got in to office late today, i guess i'll probably break fast somewhere downstairs before i head back. thing is, i got no idea what to buy. can i just hentam KFC? each time i pass by to get to Maybank the yummeh aroma never fails to get me. sinful, i know. yet really tempting. hee~

it's already September! and raya is just around the corner? hands up for those feeling suddenly overwhelmed with the expenses in life *raise hand*.

PS3 ejector rosak. sent it for warranty claims yesterday. temporarily rockband-less (not that i have the luxury to play everyday). you can choose to fiddle with the drums, but you'll get a thwack thwack thwack sound instead *Nine In the Afternoon song filling my head now*. when will Final Fantasy 13 come out???

LG DVD player pun kong juga. luckily it's still under warranty. i now wish there was a more efficient way to track warranties other than hoarding a boxful or receipts in a box under your bed. sungguh tak efficient i tell you. luckily Sony kept our details in their system. now that's efficient.

iPhone 3GS is Significant Other's new wife now. if we take photos for uploading into FB later, he takes photos to upload into FB instantly. no wonder these people are FB efficient. i think i will love the iPhone for its accessories and that particular application. haha.

please let the yellow color be in favor of me this month. oh, and purple too. i want that ssc!

i end this post with the Elmo #3. we have Grandpa Elmo (center), Window Elmo (right), and Cuddly Elmo (left). what a family reunion. i love the vibrant red.

la la la la, elmo song~~

updated later: i ended up buka puasa with Significant Other, Zahrul and Mier at Delicious, nyum nyum =D. and i just realized that no matter how hard i try to like salmon, the actual fact is that i really HATE salmon =P

Dayana's 1 milestone

my baby has finally turned One! she's officially left babyhood behind her, moving on to toddlerhood. God, it felt like only yesterday i gave birth to her (okay, maybe i'm overdoing it, since i don't really remember the pain i went through trying to bring her into the world, haha).

it's been a hectic 12-month - 1 year transition, what with planning her birthday and all (August was a really congested month!) so before i forget, here's her One Year progress (those that i can remember):

-- she still pull my glasses off when she suddenly feels like it. not sure why. she doesn't really throw a tantrum if i take my glasses away from her like she usually does whenever i take something away from her involuntarily. i think she does this only to annoy Mommy. haha.

-- she loves to pull my hair whenever i get too close! haha. sakit ok when she pulls. she thinks it's funny or something. she doesn't like Daddy's hair, it's too short to be pulled (but she does find Daddy's carpet of a janggut geli to the touch, kekeke). sometimes she pulls her own hair. but only if i put something on her head and she'll try her very best to take it off, be it hats or sunnies or headbands.

-- i tried teaching her to wave, but she doesn't do this often. only when she feels like it. i first noticed her waving on her own one time when we had dinner with Megat and Hasmah and we were about to part ways. she will never wave bye bye to Mommy and Daddy. i think she thinks that if she does, it will mark the finality of Mommy and Daddy abandoning her for the day, lol.

-- i'm also trying to teach her how to raise her hand. like, 'siapa nama Dayana, raise their hand?'. she needs a little prompting before she will want to raise her hand. sometimes we'll have to raise our hands first before she does. haha. i don't think she understands what's going on yet.

-- this month i noticed that she doesn't really like to smile for the camera anymore. maybe it's just a phase. or maybe Mommy's been talking too many photos of her and she's tired of all the 'publicity'. haha. and i realized in the photos of how much her mouth resembles the Daddy.

-- she loves turning the pages of a book, be it any kind of book. turn turn turn turn, not even stopping to see what's on the page. i haven't even finished reading the page to her when she insists on turning to the next page. @@

-- whenever she wants to mengamuk, just give her my SE phone and she'll be all smiles again. i mean give you this really big grin each time she sees my wallpaper of her face in my phone. she doesn't really fancy other kinds of phone, just mine. probably because it's a flip phone? her own toy phone pun kalah. she's really good at pressing buttons now. the other time she even managed to call Hasmah in the middle of thie night T_T. i just can't figure out how to lock the keypad of the z610i. anyone knows?

-- when she's up to it, she'll throw everything out of her crib. her pillow, her bolsters, her blanky, her chewy, her stuffed toys Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Elephant, Bear, and every other stray item in her crib. spring cleaning, perhaps? she finds it hilarious each time i pick them up and put them back in, and do you know what she'll do? she'll throw them out again! grrrr. like i got nothing better to do picking up things on the floor for her amusement. i think in the BabyCentre they mentioned somewhere about how children this age love to see things drop to the floor, and even love seeing the mommies and daddies pick them up. and repeatedly do the same thing for whatever reason i do not know. haiz.

-- she finally has teeth visible! after months and months and months of waiting. usually people will say the bottom two will come out first. in Dayana's case, her top two came out first. the bottom? only one. weird. hehe. i'm gonna have to look up brushing for babies. once i tried brushing my teeth in front of her. she seemed fascinated enough then.

-- Dayana fell sick for the first time, not because of an injection. we were pretty worried too. the poor thing fell sick a day before her first birthday. we actually brought her to the clinic twice. with the h1n1 running amok throughout the world, you could never be too cautious. and mind you, i've never had the experience of nursing a sick child back to health before, so you could say i kinda panicked. especially when there occasional spikes in her temperature, i quickly sponged her down with tepid water with the hopes that her temp will go down. thank goodness my little one is better now =).

looks like i got lots to read up on how to care for and educated a one year old. my previous readings were only for babies below One!

(pics later)