Trip and Treat

Yesterday was a public holiday. Knowing that Tai-tai was bored at home since the beginning of her confinement, I initiated for all of us to enjoy a short-trip to Putrajaya Alamanda - me, Tai-tai, Aisyah and Aliyah. What was planned to be "short", i.e. not more than two hours, was actually extended to five. And that included one solid hour spent in the Nappy Change Room alone!!!

Actually, it was not that bad after all.... me and Tai-tai underwent the same situation with Aisyah almost three years ago...it was just getting ourselves accustomed to it..he!he!

Although it was tiring, we had fun. Pity my daughters, both of them dozed off when we were queuing up at the hypermarket.

Aisyah

Aliyah

Despite all that, me and Tai-tai managed to cook dinner last night. Our menu:

1. Coney dog
2. Cream of Spinach Soup
3. Stirred-fried broccoli, carrots and shitake mushrooms

Daddy: Yummmyyyyyyy!!!!

Anak bapak

I was in the shower this morning when Tai-tai suddenly knocked on the bathroom door.


Tai-tai : Yayang!!!!

Daddy : Huh--huh--huh... (opened the door a bit so that she could see that my face was already smeared with Facial Cleansing Foam (Lore@l...because you're worth it!!!)


Aliyah was crying out loud. Tai-tai tried her best to calm the baby down but unfortunately it did not work. I noticed that with Aliyah, four out of five times, I was able to soothe her down when her crying was at the top of the decibel range.

I'm not too sure why but I guess it must be the amount of fat that my arms have accumulated all these years, something that Tai-tai is currently lacking. Aliyah probably felt more comfortable in my arms, probably her alternative version of soft and bouncy mattress. In the above-left pix Aliyah was wearing a jumper set with the words "Daddy's Little Girl" printed on it.

Pix above : Feeding time using Special Needs Feeder

My daughter - a future accountant?

As a member of CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), I am entitled for a copy of the Institute's periodic publication "Financial Management". I received my latest copy a few days back, but only had the chance to take it out from its packaging yesterday evening.

I just stepped out from the bathroom when Tai-tai asked me to look at Aisyah. Well, the pix below says it all!!!


Daddy : Aisyah will turn 3 next month!

Public Forum on Cleft Lip and Palate

Last Saturday I took the day off from work and attended a public forum on cleft lip and palate which was jointly organised by CLAPAM, Universiti Malaya and ING. It was the second time the event was held, and I understand that it will be a yearly event.

There were a lot of kids who were born with cleft lip and palate there.... and for the first time I felt that I was not alone. In fact, I was very proud to have Aliyah as my daughter. One of the fathers spoke about his experience. The father, now working as a full time clown, shared his experience in a rather emotional way. My emotion also lost the battle and gave way eventually for the tears to fall of my cheeks. He said that cleft children are gifts from Allah, and He has chosen the right people to become parents of cleft children. It's a privilege that not everybody will get..in Malaysia only 1 out of 700. A lot of blessing and "hikmah"...Insya' Allah.

Sing along with Daddy

This happened last night around 9.30 pm.

Aisyah : Old McDonald has a farm. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo...

Daddy : And on his farm he has some ducks. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo... And the quack quack here, quack quack there... here quack there quack everywhere quack quack...

Aisyah : (Smiled)

Daddy : Old McDonald has a farm. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo...And on his farm he has some sheep. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo... And the mbekk mbekk here, mbekk mbekk there... here mbekk there mbekk everywhere mbekk mbekk...

Aisyah : (Still smiling)

Daddy : Old McDonald has a farm. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo...And on his farm he has some pigs. Eiii yah eiii yah hooo... And the oinkk oinkk here, oinkk oinkk there... here oinkk there oinkk everywhere oinkk oinkk...

Tai-tai : (From the Kitchen) DADDY!!!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING???????????

Aisyah : (Puzzled)

Man of the House

As the clock ticked to 12.23 pm on Monday, 24th November 2008, my life has changed for better... I became a father for another child...another daughter of mine. She was named Aliyah. Her crying was very much anticipated and reminded me of my additional responsibilities as the man of the house.

As I hold Aliyah to begin the recital of Azan and Iqamah, I realised that her eyes were directly staring at me. My voice trembled and I was about to let my tears falling from my eyes as I uttered "Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar!". I could feel that Aliyah was asking me to take care of her... and give her unconditional love and care as much as possible.

Daddy promise, Aliyah...don't worry! I will love you as much as I love your sister Aisyah and also your mummy!


I took Aliyah to see the plastic surgeon at HUKM yesterday. Our experience was great. The nurses were very helpful plus the doctor was friendly. He said that we should not be worry of Aliyah's condition and we should continue the way we feed Aliyah the way we have been doing - by syringe.

Introducing Aliyah

Name : Aliyah
DOB : 24th Nov 2008 @ 12.23 pm at An-Nur Hasanah Bangi
Weight when born : 2.95 kg


Daddy : Another darling Angel of mine....will update more later!!!!

Salah panggil???

We managed to reach home early yesterday...well not really that early (around 9.00 pm) but that was much better than the two previous nights.

Lately Tai-tai and I noticed that Aisyah would call both of us "Bibik" instead of "Mummy" or "Daddy". She would call us "Bibik" one or two times before realising her mistake and corrected herself immediately. I could feel that Tai-tai was a bit disturbed on this subject matter. Right now, I am more worried that Aisyah has too much of "close bonding" with the maid...which is not OK considering that the maid is going back for good in March next year.


Daddy : I hope to spend more time with Aisyah, and I promise to take her out "jalan-jalan" this weekend.

In"trap"ment

Tai-tai worked late again last night. She wanted to clear her work as much as possible just in case Aliyah pops out at any time. Lucky for me I brought along my laptop so I managed make significant progress on my costing template project.

By the time we decided to pack up, it was already 11.10 pm. And by the time we got to the basement carpark at her office (Head Office Bank cap Rimau) it was already 11.15 pm. We drove the car to the usual exit and guess what.... THE ENTRANCE / EXIT SHUTTER WAS ALREADY DOWN AND LOCKED!!!

We were informed by the guard that we had to wait for the Chief Security on Duty, who happened to be on his routine round at that time. Me and Tai-tai waited for 30 minutes before he showed up. He told us that the shutter is automatically locked at 11 pm on weeknights and if we wanted to stay back, we should have parked our car near the GM car park foyer. Tai-tai recalled that earlier this year we went back at 12 midnight and we did not encounter this situation. Puzzled by our explanation, he insisted that this has been the standard procedure and that there was no way that we could have exited ourselves last time. Anyway, to cut the story short, he willingly helped us..thank you sir!

Later on our way back, Tai-tai suddenly remembered that last time, I was based in Bangi and did not have access to her basement carpark...so I must have parked the car at the GM car park foyer then!!!

My exact words...

"Oh ye lah..... mana ade kita park kereta kita kat basement masa tu.... I park kat GM foyer..sebab tulah kita takde masalah nak balik tengah malam!!! Kesian pak cik guard tu...patutlah dia puzzled masa kita mati-mati cakap dulu balik pukul 12 tengah malam takde masalah pun!!! Kita yang silap info rupanye...."

By the time we got home, it was already 12.30 am. Aisyah was already asleep...just like the day before... sorry Aisyah, nanti esok Daddy bawak Aisyah jalan-jalan...OK?

Morals of the story:
1) Do not work late at office
2) Remember where you park the car
3) Family must come first

Cleft Lip and Palate Awareness

Just for your awareness...kindly click on the brochure for enlargement

Visit to Doctor

We took Aisyah to our local doctor last night. Aisyah was not terrified at all. On the contrary, she was very pleased to see the doctor and gave full co-operation during the examination.

My daughter is a big girl now...she should be OK to visit a doctor (provided no jab is required!).

Aisyah's medication (from left) : Antibiotic, ubat cairkan kahak, ubat selsema and ubat batuk. Kat depan tu complimentary syringe untuk masukkan ubat dalam mulut.

Supper pix

Aisyah in the backseat all by herself enjoying chicken nuggets during our supper outing at Bandar Tun Hussein Onn last night... she woke up this morning with a terrible cough. I promised Tai-tai to take Aisyah to clinic later this evening.

Monday blues....

Tai-tai is on leave today, and that adds on to my Monday blues syndrome factor. I'm in no mood to read even the newspaper, so I decided to update my blog while waiting for the official office hour commencement.

Last night I put Aisyah to bed. The standard 3 ft single bed looked so small with me and Aisyah crammed in it. But that was not a problem at all. I enjoyed putting Aisyah to bed, and I hope that our father-daughter bonding will go stronger and stronger each day.

Welcoming Aliyah...

Tai-tai is now 37 weeks pregnant. We've got most of the things ready as Aliyah is due to pop-out anytime soon. In fact, the maternity bag that should carry most of the required items like newborn diapers, napkins, feeding bottles and maternity pads is in our Kelisa most of the time. Since last weekend, Tai-tai has started her weekly check-up with her Gynecologist. The Gynecologist also advised me not to do any outstation traveling after 20th November. In view of Aliyah's condition, coupled with Tai-Tai's history of anxiety disorder, it is well understood that my role as a husband is vital during the birth process.

I love Tai-tai... she completes me. And I love my daughters - Aisyah and the soon-to-be born Aliyah very, very much. I consider myself as very lucky.. have a wonderful wife, beautiful kids, a nice house, cars that are in working condition, good job with good pay, supportive members from both sides of the family, and a wonderful life (although it is undeniable that I crave for more leisure time lately..ha!ha!)

Daddy : Will be the man of the house..literally!!!

New words

For those people outside there with kids, have you ever come across moments where your kids utter some words or phrases that you have never ever taught them?

It happened to me last Sunday evening at my in-laws house. My daughter suddenly uttered the words "Its spooky dark" as soon as I opened the door...gosh!!! I myself have never used that phrase before!!!

Health check

I gave my blood sample for test last week following a very high blood pressure reading of 170/110 in the middle of Ramadhan. The results of the test came in yesterday.

The Verdict

I would say that I failed marginally, but I still got some room for improvement. Already lost about 5 kgs during the fasting month, I am determined and motivated to keep shedding the kilos off.

The Punishment

Today's lunch will be my second day on homemade salad (I mixed the salad myself last night). Pure veges didn't taste that good, but with a bit of help from blue cheese dressing, I managed to swallow it down my throat.

Shopping for the Baby...

Well.... it has been some time since I put my last post in this blog. BUSY... not LLB, but BBB!

Tai-tai's pregnancy is now reaching the last few weeks. If I'm not mistaken, she should be around 32 or 33 weeks pregnant by now. Yesterday, me and Tai-tai did some shopping for Aliyah (our second daughter who is in her mummy's big tummy right now kicking and punching the uterus wall at almost every single moment...). We spent around RM261 on baby products alone... OK lah.... I didn't think it was a big amount. But what sadden me the most was that I could not find a special bottle + teats for cleft babies... the one that we have currently was given to us when we signed up as member with CLAPAM - Cleft Lip and Palate Association of Malaysia. Since Aliyah will most probably be born with cleft lip and palate, I guess I have to drop by at CLAPAM to make my purchase later..

Aliyah...whatever it is, rest assured that you will be Daddy's little angel just like your sister!

To my princesses - Daddy loves both of you!!!

Eid - Raya Datang Lagi...

I'm back at work today..on the third day of Eid! Only my body is in the office, my mind and soul is someplace else...

As usual, my family celebrated Eid in modesty... just like what they say in the news "Hari Raya disambut secara sederhana tetapi meriah". That's their exact words on TV news every single year. Tak percaya? Check it out for yourself next year!

We went to Mak Long's house on the first day..it was the second house that we visited after Pak Lang's. As always, I would get kisses on both cheeks by Mak Long, a customary gesture of her whenever we paid her a visit..he..he..he.. I'm already 30 and still get kisses from my Auntie.. and not only that... she also kissed my wife, my daughter (my mother and my sister tak usah cakaplah..tu dah memang compulsory)...and also my MAID!?!!?

Playing with the kids

I could never imagine myself jumping ups and downs like a little boy until last night. In the middle of my mum's living room, together with two toddlers aged 2 years 8 months (that's my daughter and my nephew) we jumped and jumped happily like nobody's business... wasn't it good to behave like small kids once in a while???

Welcome to the world of blogging

Here I am... Testing my ability to create my own blog, thanks to the help and guidance from a friend who has tasted the fun of blogging (thanks Binx!). Not bad for someone who is a self-confessed "Oh I am sooo not into IT kind of things...." and mind you, I only signed-up for Facebook last May!

It's the second last day before Eid and I'm still in the office. With lots of things to do (it's the budget period again!!!) I know that I'm supposed to clear off my work as much as possible and spending time learning how to blog is definitely not on the list. Unfortunately, I'm not able to put in much concentration today...so let it be lah..

It must have been around two a.m last night when I finally dozed off. Me and Tai-tai engaged in bedtime talk... no..it wasn't that "thing".. it was serious conversation.