Collage of life

The Dunstan Baby Language

2009-04-12T11:36:00.003+08:00

I found this article in Babyzone.com and watched it once in Oprah. A good info for mothers and mothers to be. Enjoy :)

Research tells us that the higher-pitched the cries and the shorter the pauses between them, the more urgent and unpleasant adults perceive them to be. Hunger is, of course, a common reason for a newborn to cry. Studies of crying before and after feedings confirm that babies cry less after

they are fed. (We're sure you agree!)

The Dunstan Baby Language system may set you on the road to interpreting your baby's cries. This program claims that sensations within babies evoke certain cries:

"Neh" = I'm hungry
"Owh" = I'm sleepy
"Eh" = I need to burp
"Eairh" = I'm gassy
"Heh" = I'm uncomfortable

So far I detected "Neh" and "Owh" from Ayra's cries. So at least I know when she is hungry and sleepy. :)

Baby Month 0 - 2 : Getting to Know You

2009-04-08T15:50:00.007+08:00

At six or eight weeks, just when you're feeling bone-tired and your baby has hit a wall of fussiness, she starts to smile. Suddenly you're doing everything you can to coax out another grin. Until then, try these ways to enjoy your newborn.

Memorize every feature of your baby's face while she lies in her crib.
Watch her fall asleep on your chest. You may think she'll always be a lump, but this stage really doesn't last long.
Dance with your baby to music and decide which songs are her favorites.
Walk everywhere with a front carrier and marvel at the droop of her neck when she falls asleep.
Join a mothers' group, where you'll get support and notice your baby's individuality.
While she's eating, feel free to muse upon your dreams or read poetry aloud—she won't stir at this point, unlike later when the slightest noise will distract her.

It's a GIRL!!!

2009-04-08T15:19:00.007+08:00

Yes.. I was pregnant for the last nine month. Not a lot of my friends knew about it coz, I was tired for the first 3 months of the pregnancy (slept most of the days) so was not really in the mood of blogging and telling people about it. The next 3 months I spent my time reading and eating. This continued till the end of the pregnancy with a couple more addition to the activity such as shopping for baby stuff and eating everything and anything I want ;)

I delivered a beautiful baby girl on March 18th, at 8.59 am, in Sabah Medical Centre. Weighing 3.725kg she's a big one!

We named her Ayra Azzahra. Ayra means respectable and Azzahra means intelligent.

Merdeka Celebration

2008-08-30T20:02:00.006+08:00

Parents were invited to attend LIS (Labuan International School) Merdeka celebration on Friday 29th Aug at the school center square. The students were wearing the Merdeka T-shirt (which is too expensive if you ask me) with black or white bottoms.

I arrived around 8.45am and already the school parking lot was nearly full (hmmm semangat juga parents lain datang rupanya). When I reached the centre square it was already full with students and the front seats are filled with proud parents. I was given a seat on the third row (not too bad still can take pictures from there). I went to find Athirah and found her lining up with her friends. She was soo happy to see me. Took some pictures and went back to my seat.

My neighbour Joeriana called me on my cell (her daughter Elisa is in Reception 1), told me she was dropping by for the event as well and ask me to save a seat for her.

Athirah with Mdm Liza

Athirah with friends

The event started with some teachers reciting a poem about Malaysia's history and how we achieved our independent. Next was Reception 1 and 2 performance. Athirah was in front (I guess because she is short compared to her R2 classmates) singing "Saya anak Malaysia". A funny story about this song told to me by one of the teacher. One of the R1 student (Bagus Alwan) who is an Indonesian refused to sing this song saying "Nga bisa deh nyanyi lagu ini...Bagus kan anak Indonesia, bukan anak Malaysia" :). Good thing other students from other nationality didn't feel the same way. :)

Singing "Saya anak Malaysia"

Ice Capade

2008-08-30T18:38:00.015+08:00

I took Athirah to High School Musical Ice Tour during the school holiday. We went with my best friend Ejet on the 20th Aug ( the last day of the show actually). We arrives quite early around 6.30pm, and got a good parking spot under a tree. The show starts at 8.30pm so we decided to have an early dinner. Athirah was too excited to even eat anything... we coax her to eat some mee goreng... she refused saying "Mama we will be late for the show" :)

The first half of the show was songs from the first HSM movie. We sang along and Athirah was so excited to see Sharpay (her favourite). After a 20 minutes intermission, the second act starts with Sharpay driving her pink car. So cute.

We really enjoy ourselves... Athirah was singing and laughing the whole show. It was worth it. Too bad hubby couldn't join us.Looking forward to our next ice capade together.

2 X 2 Meme Tag

2008-08-29T16:53:00.003+08:00

Tagged by Linachu.
Here goes:

Two names you go by
1. Mayra
2. Shax

Two things you are wearing right now
1. a blue t-shirt ( a bargain at FOS - those that say buy two for RM16 / RM10 each) :D
2. shorts

Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. Money
2. Money - don't we all?

Two things you did last night just before bed
1. Help Athirah with her homework
2. Finish reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Husseini

Two things you ate today
1. Roasted chicken wings
2. Rice

Two people you just spoke with
1. Joeriana (my neighbour) regarding our girls school activity
2. Hubby who called from Penang

Two things you are doing tomorrow
1. Pick up hubby from the airport
2. Do some ironing ( the clothes are piling up!)

Two longest car rides
1. Kudat to Tawau ( Kudat to Tuaran = 3 hours, Tuaran to Tawau = 8 hours) you do the maths..
2. Loughborough - Dover, then Calais - Paris. (didn't mind the loong ride at all - too excited to get to Paris!)

Two favourite beverages
1. Teh Ping
2. Watermelon Juice

2+1 persons who are chosen to do this tag
1. Ejet
2. Dolly
3. Lolyta

A stormy night

2008-08-12T20:32:00.008+08:00

It was a stormy night. I was alone with Athirah in the house since hubby is in KL for training. I was chatting with my friend Z*n (on gmail) when suddenly there was a LOUD crash outside. I open the front door to take a look and saw Athirahs' playhouse (which my dad built himself and transported it to Labuan from Kudat on his double cab) was blown away by the strong wind and got smashed on the fence wall. Poor playhouse..... how am I going to tell my dad??

Not long after that my neighbour J** called and told me that my roof "tercabut" - according to her description. I panicked, thinking why did this happen when hubby was not around.

The next day J** and hubby Mr C came around to look at my roof and offer to help. Mr C even took along his ladder and climb up to have a look.

Here's what it looks like. Three of the roof pieces was blown away by the strong wind and was on the ground. One piece was smashed into bits while the other two was still ok.
Called a contractor to ask for a quotation and he said around RM150 - (labour only). Hmmmm.... will try to ask the developer tomorrow, maybe they can fix it for free.

Civil engineer out there.. any comment?? I would really appreciate the advice.

Summon

2008-07-31T11:06:00.005+08:00

Here’s what happened to me on Monday... I was on my way to town to meet with my insurance lady to discuss about opening an Education fund for Athirah.

On the way I decided to stop by at Labuan airport to withdraw some cash. I usually withdraw there because:

1. Its on the way to town

2. The airport is always empty – meaning I don’t have to queue at the ATM

3. Air conditioned

4. The ATM is just near the entrance so I don’t have to walk far to get to the ATM from my car. Just park – withdraw- drive off.

So like always I park on the side of the road just behind the “VIP” parking space not IN the VIP parking space. I went in to withdraw. Being a woman I just can’t stop noticing that they have a Sale @ the duty free shop and I must have a look if they have a special offer on the E*** bag that I have been eyeing for a loooongggg time.

Aha! It was on sale 20% off! I just can’t resist it so I bought it.... Now maybe 10 minutes has passed and I totally forgot about the car. As I was happily walking back to my carwith my new purchase, there he was -a traffic officer standing next to my car and writing something... (tulis samanlah of course kan!).

I walk as fast as I can (but still composed),

Me : “Er....Assalamualaikum... saya kena saman kah?”

What kind of question is that?? OF course lah kena saman babe! And guess what he said?

Traffic : “ Alah bukannya banyak 30 ringgit jer..” (What he didn’t inform me is that actually the summon is RM70 and if you write an appeal letter you will get off with RM30)

Me (Dalam hati): “ Tiga puluh ringgit nda banyak kunun... sia2 ja dapat 20% off the new bag...”

So the lesson I have learnt is...a) never park at Labuan airport - if you have to park just park at the VIP spot , and b) never assume just because the airport is empty therefore NO traffic officer will cari mangsa there.

Reluctantly I paid the summon today and now I feel guilty buying the bag. Should I just consider paying the summon as paying full price for the bag? :)

The beginning....

2008-07-29T07:32:00.008+08:00

I always wanted to start a blog... but I keep putting it off for so many different reasons. Mostly because I said to myself I have no time for this... I'm a busy mom. Nowadays I feel that I have so many free times in my hands and I should start blogging to fill those empty portions in my day.

So here I am typing away..... letting my fingers do all the talking. Speaking of 'talking'...I never have problem with talking before... but since I lost my 2 year old son in May, I find it hard to talk about my feelings to anyone. I feel depressed and missing him all the time. I kept my feeling to myself and cry mostly during the day. Then one day my husband told me that he wanted to make a book containing pictures and letters for my late son. He ask me to write something to put in the book. I took a pen and a piece of paper and start writing poems. I never knew that I could write poems, let alone an impromptu one. There I was on the dining table writing away with tears running down my cheeks.

When I was done I gave it to my husband and he started crying too.
Its been a difficult year for us.. we love Aariz so very much and loosing him is like having our hearts ripped into pieces.

Anszar My Soul

Is it possible to live without my soul,
Is it possible to breath,
Will I be able to hear,
Will I be able to see.

Life will be empty without my soul
Laughter without a sound,
Crying without a tear,
Like breathing without air.

My love, our separation is only for a while,
My laughter will be heard,
My tears will fall,
And my tears will dry,
I will be breathing again,
When my soul and I are one once again.