meet Elmo and Cookie Monster

last Sunday we brought Dayana to meet Elmo and Cookie Monster at One Utama. i got the mailer at the last minute and since Dayana is in Sesame Street mode at the moment (pagi petang siang malam she'll demand to pasang Elmo's World on the computer, repeat seribu kali pun tak apa) Significant Other thought it would be a great idea to bring her to see Elmo live in person. hahaha. she's a BIG fan of Elmo. we have 4 Elmo's at home: two birthday gifts from her Auntie 'Enn' and Significant Other's former boss, and two mechanical Elmos: the TMX Elmo and Elmo Live! (she recognizes Spongebob too btw but there's nooo way i'm having her own a stuffed toy Spongebob, eeeeeee).


they were having a promotion selling tickets for 'Sesame Street Live: When Elmo Grows Up' at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil from 3-5th September later this year. Significant Other memang wanted to bring her for this show since she was already familiar with some of the characters of Sesame Street (according to him, he used to be exposed to huge doses of Sesame Street on tv so that's why his English is good - so he says la hahaha). i don't mind. i was brought up watching Sesame Street when i was younger too. the theme song still rings in my head until now.

"can you tell me how to get,
how to get to sesame street~"

there's a 10% discount for early birds if you buy early. there's also a 15% family discount if you buy a minimum of 4 tickets under the family package (baby #2 doesn't count as the 4th party hahahaha). we bought tickets for ourselves and scored a free photo printout of ourselves with Elmo and Cookie Monster, lol (we got the 4R size. some got the 6R size. does the size depend on how many tickets u buy?).

Dayana was pretty excited when we arrived, she saw photos of Elmo on banners and excitedly went to point at them. she became even speechless when Elmo and Cookie Monster made their appearance at 5pm, with the Sesame Street song playing in the background. i was quite afraid she'd make a scene during the photo taking since this is her first time seeing a live-sized Elmo up close, but i think it went pretty well, despite staring aprehensively at both the Sesame Street characters like they were about to kidnap her. hahaha. she even waved goodbye as we were about to leave.

dayana meets Elmo & Cookie Monster for the first time irl!

meet Cookie Monster & Elmo

observing from afar

Cookie Monster: me wants CoOoOkie!

Elmo: Oh no! Cookie Monster is hungry!

guy behind counter: work first, then only eat!

posing with one of the promotional ads they set up in the mall

she knows who Big Bird is!

the only thing i'm worried about is 1) it's during the fasting month, and 2) i don't know if i've popped or not by then. what if i pop during the show? do i get free-for-life tickets to watch concerts at the Stadium? wahahahhahahahahahhaha

more information about this event can be found here.

lepakked for abit at One Utama. she's starting to show interest in these rides. i think she particularly likes the steering wheel. tak letak duit pun tak apa.



after One Utama we headed to Bangi for dinner where Significant Other got to watch his no-miss F1, followed by the World Cup match where England got creamed. hehe.

her first allergy reaction

Dayana was sick the past week. every 4 hours of taking her meds her temperature would shoot back up. but she was still active despite the high fever. not to mention it was the World Cup season, she could barely sleep soundly through the night what with the Daddy sleeping late.

anyway, after 3 days and no sign of the fever getting better, i decided to put her on antibiotics. the maid administered the first dosage in the morning so i wasn't around that time. but when i got back from work that evening she seemed to have spotted red rashes all over her face and body and her lips were chapped to point of bleeding. huhuhu. at first we thought it was a side effect of the antibiotics, a sign that the antibiotics was doing its job (i read somewhere about a viral rash or something). the fever was subsiding a little but the redness all over her body still didn't go away, plus they were starting to itch so i had to bring Dayana back to the Dr. to see what was up.

the Dr. suspected that Dayana might be allergic to the antibiotics so she was given a different set of meds to help with the rashes. i found it abit weird that Dayana was quite agreeable at seeing the Dr. that day. she usually screams her head off each time the Dr. comes close to scrutinize her. she even said ' bye Doctor' as we left the room. hehe. i had to fork out almost rm100 for two visits to the doctor, just because some companies only cover the employee and not their family members. sigh.

true enough, Dayana eventually got better, her temperature went down, the rashes weren't an ugly red anymore, and she was drinking more with the exception of pooping liquid as she always does each time she gets a fever (and is always without fail accompanied by ugly diaper rash, sigh).

so. we learned something new today. Dayana is allergic to ********** (name of med to be inserted later). a reminder for me the next time the Dr. asks if she's allergic to anything or not.
i hope that's the case, i wouldn't want to be worrying about her like that again, huhu.

on another note, i tried to teach her to recognize who Barbie is in an attempt to get her interested in more girly stuff (she's so into balls and cars these days). too bad she didn't take the bait. she only learned how to say 'babi' instead... and went off to call her Barney 'babi' pulak. haih.

at least she's interested in 'asak' (masak-masak). now that's something. lol.

fluffy mail out the door

fluffies out the door earlier this morning... (minus the Guess heels of course). hope they arrive their destination shortly! i'm in recycling mode, so sorry if the packaging seem to appear very the buruks!

(i haven't posted out these many items in one go before @@)

registered mail seems to be really slow these days. do i really need to pay more just to get them going faster? at this rate i'll need to revise all shipping costs next time... anyway i'm just happy all 5 items reached their destination safely.

flat-chested in 2D

i vaguesly remember coming across a conversation in Facebook on the difference of watching the normal Prince of Persia movie and the Prince of Persia movie in 2D.

i mean, why watch in 2D when there's such a thing as 3D technology? i didn't know the answer to that, so i was curious to see the replies.

someone cheekily answered, 2D is when you see that the heroine will be flat-chested in the movie.

haha. bongoks.

overexcited

punya la excited sampai end up being a blur

i just had to post this photo in my blog! sungguh kiut oh. i like it when Dayana gets to mingle with other people her size, lol (fraternizing with oldies, yours truly included, doesn't count). sungguh excited until she ended up being a blur.

the cute little future heartbreaker is Farrah's eldest. kawaiii desu!!! (i curiek this photo from her blog).

i just wish she didn't look soo tomboyish with her short hair.

yesterday while waiting for her to unwind for bedtime she demanded to be placed in her crib. mau pulak she nak masuk crib, dulu each time i put her in she'll sense that it's not a good thing and demands to be brought out again. since she isn't sleeping in it anymore i've tossed all her stuff toys and all her pillows and bolsters dunno what other junk in the crib.

anyway, once i placed her in the crib she decided to spring clean and longgok all the toys and stuff at one end until she managed to empty out the other end to make just enough room for her to baring. haha. sungguh kelakar. she did sleep for a while in the crib after the lights went out, but she woke me up not long after so i brought her to the bed to sleep with me.

baby #2 has been doing alot of kicking lately. i'm guessing it's because i've been sneezing so much the past few days, i end up jolting the womb around too much, much to the baby's annoyance. haha.

guess it's goodbye

ack! i've finally sold these beauties off! i'm wondering if i'll ever look back and regret this sale... i can't remember the last time selling was soo hard. the more i keep coming back to look, the more reluctant i am to sell (padahal if i didn't sell the item will probably end up back in the closet collecting dust as how my cloth diapers are currently experiencing). yesterday i was hunting for the heels in the store room when i came across a whole lot of other shoes that i forgotten i had (including the Nine West heels i bought in Texas recently, arrgh). my sis wore a pair of forgotten Vincci heels to a wedding the other day and the heels reput and came off, kekekekeke. i don't know why i can't do peep toe heels. adakah sebab my toes are gemuks? (for the record, i don't suffer from water retention during pregnancy, just the usual muscle strain which i hate).

anyway, life must move on. the closet must be cleaned out. the old must go out, and in with the new. haha.

i miss my shoes already. and i haven't even posted them out yet.

this saturday will be going to the post office. got lots to post out. i'd like to apologize for the delay to those waiting for fluffies. things have been pretty hectic these days. and i'm getting pretty sick of the parking conditions in my work area. MPSJ suddenly decided to go on a saman rampage. and somebody's car got stolen i heard (and remember my side mirror mishap? grrrr).

i'm back to puking mode. sungguh tak bes. and i'm sick of the food here. i want nasi ayam and nasi campur KLCC. air tebu too. kat shah alam kat mana makan bes?

baby #2 checklist

i've been procrastinating. but i guess i better list the items that i need to get within the next couple of months before i pop. good thing is, i get to recycle some of the stuff i bought with baby #1. bad thing is, some of the items on my list are mainly to satisfy my WANTS, kekekekeke.

my previous list for baby #1 was here. now i've revised the list (only because i've grown a bit wiser as to what's useful, what isn't so - konon, haha). things that i don't need to get - because i already have them - will be greyed out for my reference.

apparel: Dayana has a bunch of gender neutral outfits (at the time i was superstitious and didn't get anything in pink, most of Dayana's pink outfits were gifts from the fil =P) so majority of the clothes for baby #2 will be hand-me-downs (unless i can escape to the nearest department store to buy a bunch of new ones lol. i'm a cheapskate. i don't buy MC outfits until the baby is older, huhu).

..6-8 long sleeves/short sleeves
..onesies + pants
..5 stretchy sleepsuits
..1-2 hats
..mittens and booties
..socks
..1-2 receiving blankets
..dress-up outfits
..laundry detergent
..muslin squares (i don't care i want new fresh white ones haha)

nursery: most of the stuff will be recycled. i get to save alot here.

..baby crib and mattress
..cot bumpers, fitted sheet, comforter (i want a new set for the baby. Dayana has only one crib set, sungguh kedekut nk beli last time because they're really expensive)
..mattress (latex or foam)
..waterproof bedpads
..blankets - Mothercare (Dayana made them her security blankets. tsk. next baby needs to get attached to something much smaller!)
..pillow and bolster (contemplating looking for a better pillow)
..dresser bin (i don't have space for baby #2's stuff!!!)
..baby bouncer - to assemble
..baby mobile - to assemble

bathing: i have a lot to learn in this department.

..bath tub (a stand would be nice tp malas lah. i got no space at the house for a stand)
..bath seat for mommy
..6-8 wash cloths (preferably a more softer one on the skin. borong cloth wipes ok tak?)
..baby body wash and shampoo - Buds
..hooded bathtowels - 3
..baby powder and lotion/oil - EMAB
..soft bristle hair brush
..medicine dropper / syringe
..nasal aspirator
..nail clipper (i need a new sharper one)
..baby thermometer (Safety Plus)
..changing mat
..top & tail bowl
.. a container to hold all these bath items =D

diapering: again, depends on your preference on what you need.

..baby wipes
..disposable diapers
..kissaluvs =P
..scented plastic bag for soiled diapers (travel use - i still have a bunch of these left, sayang nak guna)
..drapolene baby rash cream + EMAB (thanks Sarah!)
..cotton balls + container
..gripe water

feeding essentials: i can just go bankrupt in this department.

..milk storage containers & liners
..bottles and teats - avent bpa
..bottle brush - avent
..sterilizer - tommee tippee (thanks so much Auntie 'Enn'!)
..breast pump
..breast pads
..pacifier
..bottle/food warmer
..bibs
..burp cloths (borong more cloth wipes! =D)
..bottle drying rack
..ice packs
..breastpump bag (or maybe i can get someone to fix the lining... hmmm)

travel: the most expensive in my opinion.

..moses basket
..car seat
..duo stroller (WIP)
..baby carrier or sling (i have millions. enuff already)
..travel changing mat + megoriginal
..diaper bag - to fix avent zipper
..mattress - snugglenest?
..playmat
..car seat head support

for mom: ahhhh.... just for meeeeeeee!

..maternity or nursing bras
..maternity pads (sudah banyak cloth pads. but i guess i should buy some dispo just in case)
..sarong
..nursing tops
..socks
..mothercare hospital bag =D (this is one of my WANTS) <- sudah pupus
..disposable breast pads - Avent
..disposable briefs

yay! the question is, bile la mau pigi shopping ni? should i wait for the August baby fair?

her first library trip

i brought my dot to the library the other day. Significant Other wanted to study and thought it was a good idea to expose her to books at a young age. there was a children's section in the library where she and i could hang out while he studied for his upcoming exam.

i'm not sure if it's the very same library that me and Nedd used to go to when we were younger. my aunt would always take the trouble to drop us at the library a couple of times a week during school holidays just to make sure we were utilizing our time productively. we had to go for gruelling tuition as well. one class that i was grateful for attending was our Accounts class. from failing in Form 4, to passing with an A1 in Form 5. it was a plus that the tutor was cute =P.

anyway, it wasn't Dayana's best first time experience at the library, for one thing she fell asleep as soon as we pulled into the parking lot (she was due for her afternoon nap anyway) and she woke up not long after that in the library still looking abit sleep-deprived (which also leads to crankiness more often than not). then she took off her sandals and demanded to wear my Skechers in the library. and she threw a tantrum on the floor when i didn't allow it T_T (sungguh malu ok. the whole library could hear her scream her lungs out).

i had to drag her into the children's section (luckily it was separated by a glass door, so her screaming wouldn't carry into the main section of the library) and forced her into one corner of the library until she calmed down. she was already in tersedu-sedu mode, tsk. and she still wanted to wear my shoes. luckily the library was carpeted.

i started handing her some books for her to read but i guess even the junior section was still too advanced for her, the books had less pictures and more words so she wasn't remotely interested in flipping through the books. instead, she was more interested in picking out book by book and making a mess on the floor. and each time i got a book for myself to read, she'll pick the book right out of my hands. kemut betul budak ni. ajak her read with me tak mau. kasi mommy diye read pun tak mau jugak. tsk.

it was lucky i packed her sweater in her Barney bag, it was really cold in the library. unfortunate that i didn't bring mine though, and the car keys were with Significant Other. we weren't allowed to bring bags into the library, so her diaper change and whatnot were all in the car =(. and she decided to poop in the library. sigh (they say if your baby poops at one place, she'll have the tendency to visit the same place again. is that a good thing that she pooped in the library then? O_o).

i noticed she was more interested in playing with the other kids in the library than checking out the books. problem is, most of the kids were much older than her (they seemed to appreciate the books in the library more) and there weren't any kids her age around. they even hung out in groups so they seemed abit skeptic when Dayana ran over barefooted and tried to join them (i observed at a far distance. i was still frazzled with the earlier incident and was further coming down with a cold due to the chilly atmosphere).

i salute her determination at trying to befriend those kids. she even ran back to me excitedly just to take her Barney bag to show it to the others. she clambered over the sofas set in a cirlce to proudly introduce 'Marnee' to them. some of the kids were quite friendly to her at first but it was obvious because of the age gap she didn't quite 'click' with the rest. i even heard one of them say 'diye datang sendiri' (sort of like Dayana kinda intruded on them lah). i felt abit sad when i heard that.

Dayana was also kinda smelly due to her diaper (i didn't like the library facilities, there wasn't enough space in the toilets to change a diaper even) so each time she climbed over the sofa to join them, she'll eventually be placed back out again. i was just relieved she didn't seem to be put out by this, instead running back and forth handing books to me like nothing was wrong.

it was abit heartbreaking to watch when the kids were about to leave the library, Dayana tried to follow them out with a book in her hand and her Barney bag slinged around her neck like she always does. again i had to deal with another round of protests and screaming as i stopped her from following the other kids out of the library. huhu.

i tried another attempt at getting her to be interested in the books there, but she was simply more interested in trying to play with the other kids. at one point she even managed to get an older kid off her chair so that she could sit (yeah she likes to do that, dengki betul). finally at one point she burst into tears and came crying to me insistent on me following her when Significant Other finally wrapped up his studying and came to meet us. boy, was i RELIEVED.

and while we were on our way out she decided once again that she wanted to walk out of the library wearing MY SHOES. arrrggghhhhh. boy was she pissed when i told her NO.

i think she's too young to appreciate the library yet. she needs to hang out and mix with kids her own age. which is why i need to find a good nursery / daycare center somewhere within my area. anybody with suggestions? hanging out with the maid for the whole day isn't doing her much justice either. i'm thankful for the babywearing meetups where she gets to meet up with kids her age (while the Mommies get to chill with people their own age, haha).

i actually disliked the feeling i felt when i saw how the older kids were with Dayana. true, they're just kids, but i can't help but feel like wanting to protect Dayana from all the negative feelings that exist in our world (it probably would've been better if she didn't decide to poop then and there too lol).

but i can't do that, can i? she needs to learn. she needs to know how to be independent. she needs to grow. and i can't always be there protecting her from every single bad thing. i can only protect her to a certain extent, and give her space to be her own person. on another note, i also need to teach her how to share. she's even kedekut with my cat Rusty ok. she doesn't allow him to sit on her green rocking chair even when she's not sitting in it. tsk.

bah. i hate being a mother sometimes. i can just forsee myself being an overprotective mother in the near future. eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

who loves fabrics

amy butler fabrics photo source

i can understand why some people can go nuts over fabrics... there's like hundreds of fabrics to choose from, and everything also mau sapu. lol. i am so wishing i have sewing skills. it all comes down to this: interest, and determination =D

doing justice

what will be leaving the house:


- cj silk moccha souffle rs
- ergobaby in organic brown
- aidafiqs dusty rose mt
- ellaroo christiane


(alhamdulilah, may they do more justice to the new owners than it ever did me)

*updated October 2010:
fast forward a few months later (and a whole lot of accidents -.-) can i finally say i'm reaching stashification? =P

when thank you is just too much

me: Dayana, can you give Mommy *name of item to hand over* please?
Dayana: *hands over the item to me solemnly*
me: thank you very much Dayana, good girl!
Dayana: *while walking away* too much...

i've been trying to get her to say thank you each time someone gives her something (the courtesy of P's and Q's) but so far the only words that got lodged into her brain were the last two, and even then it got mutated into 'too much'.

i guess sometimes thanking someone can be a little bit too much, eh? HAHAHAHAHA

what's up with June

i guess you could say i'm 27 weeks pregnant now (according to the ticker la. i've lost count these days). i'm back to the babywearing sickness phase, where i now feel like selling off all my wraps and my mei tais. haha.

oh oh i got myself into the customs list! i was over the moon about this because i never seem to have any luck when it comes to first come first serve. it didn't help that my internet connection got disrupted a few minutes after the custom list opened. i am so happy to actually be in the list, although i barely made it (other M'sian mamas had better luck than i did) but still, i find it a plus to be at the back of the list coz i don't need to rush in deciding right away how i'd like mine to be. heehee. and i get to recover my funds first =P. i'm seriously contemplating using mandarin as leverage for later.

work-wise... i'm slowly adapting to the environment a bit better compared to the first few months i was here. probably due to reporting to a new boss (who kinda resembles ming na wen) who seems so much more understanding in a whole lot of ways, or probably i've passed the so-called transition process and am finally 'adjusting', but i'm not totally out of the woods yet. i'm still not sure what i see myself to be doing long term, but i have to agree i've learnt alot more here than i ever would if i were to stay loyal to my former company. i can't entirely blame what i feel about work right now on my pregnancy situation, but i remember i used to have the same feeling last time - a total disconnection. bahh.

i haven't been keeping up with updates on Dayana these days. i guess i'm going to regret this at some point in my life.

in another 3 months Dayana will be 2 years old. Daddy is exposing her to doses of Sesame Street daily. Daddy wants her to grow up to be a smart girl, so we plan to send her to school once she turns two years old. she picks up Malay words faster than she does English words. it gets harder and harder for me to figure out what she wants sometimes, which makes it frustrating for the both of us, haha. some words she pronounces in her own way:
- flower : fai
- frog : flossie
- keropok : pokok
- aikim : ice cream, chocolate bar also she calls it 'aikim'
- air uncle : any colored drink i.e. orange juice, sirap... tsk
- akut bike : the first word means 'scared', but i have no idea what 'bike' means. she's trying to tell me she's afraid of something but i have no idea what -.-

sometimes she has a tough time making up her mind on whether she wants milk or water before she goes to sleep at night. when you give her milk, she'll say 'air' but when you give her air, she'll say 'susu'. tsk. she usually sleeps in the adjacent room that's connected to ours. but in the middle of the night if she wakes up she'll come all the way to find me to ask for susu, and she'll drag her Chewy along (her main pre-requisite to get her to fall alseep every night).

she is still loving her Spongebob. the other day at Najua's daughter's party when giving out party favors, my daughter chose the yellow Spongebob bag over the pink Barbie bag. hahaha. we bought her a Barney bag recently at Toys R Us for her, and she loves that too. she'd sling one of the straps around her neck and parade around the room with it. she calls it 'mani'. she had sooo much fun in Toys R Us at the Empire the other day, i guess it's like to Toy Heaven to her. everything also she wanted to grab off the shelves and haul it around the store. rambang mata tengok lego, thomas, mickey, the toy bikes and goodness knows what else. she found an abandoned toy stroller in one of the aisles and started pushing it about. hehehe. a good way to keep her distracted while Daddy went off to see if he could find anything for his Transformers collection.

my little shopper hard at work lol

when i'm busy cutting my nails or if i'm in the midst of putting on some lotion, she'll come up to me and offer her leg, saying 'kaki' or 'kuku' or 'minyak' depending on whatever it is that i'm doing. apparently she also wants in on the fun of putting lotion on her leg or cut her toenails. lol. when she's over at my mom's she loves to bully her two aunts Angah and Ashu. she'll force Angah to get her down on her knees to the same eye level as her, and sometimes even asks Angah to carry her (mana Angah larat! hahaha). she loves eating out of Angah's bowl. she still pick fights with Rusty over the green rocking chair. sungguh tak reti nak share ini budak. tsk. and when my mom's in the kitchen preparing food, she'll go and steal a couple of my mom's pots and pans and say 'asak' (she also want to masak lah) and she prefers to play with real utensils as opposed to her toy set. chee~.

when her diaper is full, she'll come to me and say 'mami yak'. when she poops also she does the same thing. but she doesn't show me any indication before she passes motion. so i'm not sure if i should start potty training her now, or if i should wait a bit until she turns two (it's more of a matter of mommy-is-malas-to-potty-train-her hahahah).

football season is coming up. we got Astro to come by to install Astro Beyond (after i had to call them up practically every day because they never delivered as promised within the specified time frame). and for the past few weeks we kept getting disruptions in our channel services, despite the day being sunny! (it's like we're paying for nothing, grrr). hopefully with the installation of the new dish the services will resume to normal. Dayana hasn't had her dose of Cartoon Network, Playhouse Disney and Nickelodeon for quite some time already. haha.

it's raining outside and i'm really sleepy now. i was so hoping for iPhone 3G to land in June but apparently it got postponed to July pulak. tsk. at this rate iPhone 4G will come out first and 3G will merely be considered as a way to get rid of the old stock. haha.

letters to persia and prince of juliet

oh how i wish i could kick butt like her and stay beautiful at the same time. LOL.

i thought i was going to fall asleep during the movie but i guess i was wrong. i used to play Prince of Persia on my DOS computer back when computers were still in the stone age era. there was a cheat code that you could use to skip all the boring levels and get you to the final level, which seemed the easiest to attempt. hahahah. i didn't remember the game to be as colorful as in the movie. isn't the game supposed to be in some kind of gloomy dungeon or something? heck, while watching the movie i was more reminded of my husband's Command & Conquer Zero Hour game, what with all the persians, clustered housings and all the attackings and whatnot.

i watched Letters to Juliet prior to Prince of Persia that very same day. i read somewhere that the movie wasn't up to standards; that was partly true, but i find it a good romantic movie all the same if you don't put such high expectations on it. especially when the soundtrack included Colbie Caillat's 'You Got Me' and Taylor Swift's 'Love Story' (Significant Other's latest obsession after watching her play this psycho cheerleader in 'Valentine's Day'). you might know Amanda Seyfried from HBO's Big Love, but Chris Egan is new to me. he reminds me of the late Heath Ledger in a way. i'm not sure why.

how easy it was for her to get her happy ending =)

we would've gone on another movie marathon, but for the first time there were no more movie options left to see! grrr. oh oh guess what, i saw the movie poster for 'Lagenda Budak Setan'. omg i sooo want to watch it. i grew up on the Budak Setan books, the very few Malay books i actually took interest in when i was younger (not to forget the book 'Hati Yang Terusik' =P). and i hate reading Malay books, mind you. i still remember how often the words 'melabuhkan punggungnya ke kerusi' came up in the book to describe the character sitting down. AHHAHAHAHAH.

gosh if anybody comes across any of these books anywhere, could you let me know? i want them for my nostalgic collection!!!