Six, One & Four years olds

Ziezi had a birthday bash for all her kids on Saturday, 8th December 2007. Naqib turned 6 on 10.11.07, Heleyna Zahra turned Uno on 1.12.07 and Nelysa Khadija will be four on 30.12.07. So, why not have them all at once? Penat sekali je..

We were supposed to come in early to help out with the preparations. But we had some errands to run that morning and didn't get there until 2.30pm (the party was scheduled to start at 3pm). heh heh heh It was very festive-like, loads of balloons, streamers and brightly decorated tables and chairs. There was a nail art station and sand art station already set up. I volunteered to open up a face painting booth for the kids. (Cover datang lambat, maa) Though I could not eat the meehoon goreng and Nasi Dagang served at the party, we did have a lot of fun.. Check out the collage!-dillz blogging out-

Khaleeq Ku Sayang

My son Khaleeq and a Magna Doodle sketch of him made by my dear hubby. Sebijik, right?

Being a rather loud person *ehem* and finding that I rarely ever run out of things to say, I was a little concerned when Khaleeq was barely talking at the age of three. We made him undergo all sorts of examinations and meet all sorts of specialists. ( Read about it here! ) We also enrolled him in the same playgroup as Khadra to speed up the oratory skills.

At this juncture, I am pleased to report that he is not JUST another pretty face. It has been quite hard to shut him up these days for he is always yakking. :) Not that we understand ALL that he says, but we could kinda guess most of them. His favourite phrases include; "Khadra, SHARE!!!", "Hey! It's missing!!", " (Missing item) , where are you?" and "Gimme the (item of interest)"; So, that's great progress! :)

I do believe his biggest influence in terms of his vocab and slang (he definitely has one) comes from his favourite shows; (like : Wiggles, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Blue's Clues, Elmo's World, Sesame Street, Barney, Dora the explorer and everything else on Playhouse Disney Channel) as well as his elder sister, Khadra. Khaleeq has this tendency to add -ya at the end of a word. For instance; tv-ya, tree-ya, A-ya, E-ya (for the alphabets) - just too cute! One of his teachers even asked me if he had a Furby at home coz he speaks like one. Boleh? heh heh heh

I also noticed that as much as he loves to dance and sing; he kinda sucks at it. Kesian dia singing out of tune. I normally try to hold in my laughter out of pity. Khaleeq has two distinctive voices, one that he uses when he is trying to be all manja-manja and another when he gets pretty upset. The first is very soft and sing-songy and kinda makes your heart melt instantaneously. The other is shrieky and loud and just plain irritating. Unfortunately, it is the second voice that he utilizes to sing. Nevermind the out of tune part.. heh heh heh His dancing skills, most unfortunately, is by imitating the Wiggles and Steve from Blue's Clues. Horror, I tell you! :)

Khaleeq is just a joy to watch. In the mornings, he would come up to me and greet , "Good Morning, mummy" and plant a kiss on my cheek before scurrying off to watch his morning dose of Playhouse Disney Channel. He is also our in-house clown. He just loves to make people laugh. For instance, there's the Knock! Knock! jokes.
Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Stinky Shoes!
Stinky Shoes Who?
*2 seconds silence*
Knock! Knock! - and another Knock! Knock! joke will commence. You wait and wait for the punchline and there's none. So, you'd just laugh because it is so NOT funny! And this would go on for a few good rounds. (or until I m just too lazy to answer him)

In the fashion-front, Khaleeq truly has a mind of his own. To the utter dismay of our Bibik Parmi, he tears down his wardrobe in order to create his own ensemble. He sometimes changes his clothes up to five times a day. (H is actually asking me to change his shirt as I type this)

However, I find that bringing up a little boy is totally different from bringing up a girl. With Khadra, I use a lot more reasoning (when I am in the mood for it) and with Khaleeq, I tend to lose it more (ie more shouting). It's just that he is so darn active and when he is in one of his moods he could be a little too physical. (ie pinching, pulling hair, literally jumping on people and throwing stuff) He is also a little harder to control when we are out. So, I have to resort to the cuddly monkey harness when we go to public places.(just have to ignore the "looks" that the public gives me though) So, I am now trying very hard to cut down on the yelling and pinching his butts. Just have to remember to take a deep breath and chill during one of the episodes.. :)

For all the joy, laughter and yelling that you have brought me, little boy, please know that I do love you.. Unconditionally.. the good, the bad and the ugly.. just bring it on..

I love you, Khaleeq boy!

-dillz blogging out-

Eee. Bee. Emm

I have always known that I would breastfeed my babies even from early on. Of course, the advantages are aplenty : nutritious and everything in just the right amount, hassle free when you are mobile - no need to bring the thermos of hot water, bottles and formula when you go shopping and not to mention, cost effective ( especially if you plan to have several kids). With Khadra, I exclusively breastfed (only drinking mommy's wholesome milk) her for 7 months, that was until I was 5 months pregnant with Khaleeq. Khaleeq had a longer span of exclusive breastfeeding - 11 months. However, I carried on breastfeeding him whenever I was around him. Only when I was away, our trusted Bibik Lidiya would make him formula milk instead. It was a huge relief for me then coz it also meant that I could stop expressing milk at work. This went on until he was 2 years and 3 months. Not bad, not bad at all... I hope this time round I'll be able to match my experience with Khaleeq. Just taking it one day at a time.. We'll see how it goes..

So far, I think we are on the right track. It is Day 30 and my little stash of Expressed Breast Milk a.k.a EBM is now at 23 bottles. I have a couple of 2 oz., 2.5 oz. as well as 3 oz. bottles to cater for Khaleeda's current milk intake while I am out and about town. (merayau la, mana lagi..)

I started expressing since Week 2 and hopefully, I'll be able to hit 60 bottles of 4 oz. by the time I get back to work in January next year (or more, who knows.. ) It's not all that impossible, you know.. I personally know at least 2 people who came back to work with 100+ bottles of EBM stocked in their freezer. (which was especially bought to store them milk, by the way.. And NO, they were not especially well-endowed if you know what I mean..)

I have been tempted to switch my old skool Avent ISIS manual pump to the double automatic pump most of my friends are using, but I really do swear by my Avent pump. Seriously.. Eventhough Avent has come up with an enhanced version of the classic pump as well as a more intelligent version of the pump, obsolete me am still using the good old pump I bought during Khadra's days. All thanks to the purchase of the pump spare parts way back then.. The bottles, sterilizer unit as well as the warmer has also been brought out from storage, so I did not have to spend much this time round. (Lega... heh heh heh)

Excuse me, I am off to pump some milky!

-dillz blogging out-

Belated Welcome!

Sorry babe, but I have yet to announce another addition to the Zaghlol clan; grandchild number 9, Miss Laiqa Akhyar binti Wafi Nazrin. Born on August 28th, 2007 to my third sister, Illa, Laiqa is the long awaited princess after three boys. She came out just a tiny 2.9kg, but this little makcik has already been to Bangkok. Jangan main-main... heh heh heh
Here's a picture of her during her recent aqiqah - so serenely sleeping in the Graco swing.

And here's a little picture of my Khaleeda in her other crib that was also beautifully decorated for the same event. Khaleeda was only 4 days old then. Yes, we attended the event. Can't deny it 'coz we've got pictures to prove it!

-dillz blogging out-

Busy As A Bee!

Have been busy, people.. Mainly because that time of year is here yet again... I have been running around town to prepare / assemble / acquire / tailor costumes for the children's concert this coming 12th of December. Just like last year and the year before last, the kids will be performing their year-end concert as a finale, before school is out. This is truly an event that I look forward to every year. The theme this year is about Children of the World. They will be travelling around the world, showcasing the different cultures through songs, sketches and dances.

The costumes I need to prepare for Khadra are:
1. Sexy Indian costume for her Bollywood dance;
2. Cowgirl costume;
3. Customized "Kemban" for her role as Hang Tuah's gilfriend, Melor; and
4. Bikini set for her hula dance.

For Khaleeq:
1. A Chinese boy costume complete with the headgear with the braided hair and tanglung for his lantern dance;
2. Baju Melayu for his role as extras in the Hang Tuah sketch - orang kampung je; and
3. Swimming trunks for the hula dance.

Status update: So far, all have been obtained pending the tailored Melor outfit and Khadra's Bollywood skirt that had to be altered. These will hopefully be ready for pick-up this Sunday. Pheww!!

Also, just like previous years, I am officially the designated artist for the concert's backdrops this year. Not too many backdrops this year; just three new ones. And because of my pantang status, I am only designing and sketching the backdrops for other mommies to paint. (Who knows, I might just paint a little bit of it..) I'll definitely get a snap of my fruits of labour once it's done, okay?

Yes, I know I am still in my confinement... But, I make sure that I have my barut and socks on when I am doing all of the above, though.. After all, a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do, no?

-dillz blogging out-