the sisters

Sisters, best friends, play mates, 'teacher-student', 'boss-worker', sis-nemies whatchamacalit... :)

Its fun to see their relationship, how it develops and the interactions between them. My hope is that they will grow to be in the best sister relationship any sisters can have and to be there for each other no matter what.

hello there

I have been away for too long. Thought i might give a little update or two. :)

Kakak has been in standard one for about a month and a half now. She's on holiday today because it is a 'hari peristiwa' decided by the school. But I only got to know about it the day before yesterday. So, cant plan to take leave since I was on leave yesterday.

Kakak got a few friends from kindy in the same class with her now. So I guess she felt right at home even during the extra classes that they got prior to the start of school in January. In fact, she has a friend that she goes to tuition with thats in the same class. To top to that, they have already made plans to meet up for a playdate this Saturday! And it is not the first time too!

But i must say, i have a feeling the thing that got her excited the most about her new school must be the canteen and the bookshop!! She would find the smallest reason to buy something in school. Sometimes she would just bring back what she bought and happily pass the biscuit etc to her Adek! :D Her very first purchase was a mineral water, btw!!

Her Adek, on the other hand, is very happy to be able to get something new from her Kakak. Adek is a very determined little girl! Whatever Kakak has, she got to have it too! Whatever Kakak is doing, she must be doing it too, and, at the same time!

Imagine me, trying to get Kakak to practise her piano. The minute she got to the piano, there goes Adek, insisting on playing the Piano at the same time and they will fight for the space on the little piano that we have! There are times when I wish I have two pianos at home!

Adek's vocabulary is slowly increasing but she got her baby 'pelat'. So, its not so bad now communicating with her cause we can sort of 'understand' what she wants. She knows how to say 'mine' in order to insist that its her thing and not her kakak's. Some of her words that I can remember now:

mousse - Mickey mouse

bibo - Dibo the gift Dragon

doya - Dora

lagu - song

tatit - sakit

atuh - jatuh

mine

hot

oup - soup

titen - chicken

piyo - her favourite bolster

tin - her pacifier

nyanyuk - mosquito (so funny to hear her say nyanyuk instead of nyamuk!)

She can call out to most of the family members of both sides of the family and she warms up to people easily and is very close to the family!

Her favourite thing to do now in the morning is to take the phone and passed it to bibik and ask her to call either her Nena or her Popo. And she will 'talk' until she is happy. 

She only take one afternoon nap now and will have rice + lauk + soup (her favourite) with dessert twice a day.

Her favourite time of the day would be when she gets to go to the field where most children from our neighbourhood gathers. She will always bring a ball along with her. So, you should see how she kicked a ball now. Just like any football player on tv! ;)

Both of the girls love to sing, so now, the minute we get into my car, Adek will insist on 'agu', that is for me to switch on the radio and their favourite songs now are from Yuna's Decorate album! Because thats what been playing on the player all these while! so the little girl will sing along to the tracks and in fact, kakak will have her favourites too! Track No 7, 9 and 10. Adek's fav is track No1. Dont ask me the title coz i know the songs by the track number too! If only i can record them singing along to the songs. :D

Maybe I should start uploading new songs and play it in the car! More nursery rhymes and ABCs song i guess! :D

My name is not MiMi

But that is what my second daughter kept calling me at the moment. She can get 'mummy' the first time around, and then for the next 10 times later, its MiMi alll the way..

I find it cute and amusing and everyone around us now kept using MiMi also when talking to her . So, i dont think it will wear off as quickly as I would want it to be. She has other names like Mama or mamak or other similar sounding 'Mummy' names for me too

But... let me tell you. She says daddy or daddad perfectly well. Even has the 'manja' intonation that comes with it sometimes when she calls out for the Daddy. hmm

Arina is 'tat-tak' to her.

And bibik..hmmm sounds perfectly Bib-bik (with the manja intonation again) *rolled eyes* hehe what to do..

And she can say the word 'baby' everytime she sees a picture of a baby and 'nenna' quick clearly too.. :)

Her other vocabs are still developing but her baby talk is so cute that I must, must record it one of these days!

Till then, Selamat Hari Raya & Maaf Zahir Batin to all celebrating! (never too late to wish, right? :D)

Standard One

 *Image is borrowed from azmanhizam photography ..thx dear! :)

My eldest girl is going into Standard One next year! Standard One! Yes, I have to repeat that and say that to myself time and time again! hehe! Can you tell that this mummy is still somewhat in disbelieved that time flew by so quickly and that her little girl is growing up oh so fast! She is even doing the multiplication table now in kindy ..I was even taken aback with that too! :D

Am I prepared for all this, I ask myself..?? (see?! how I am still quite not absorbing it all yet?!) Well, enrollment and school is a whole different story altogether. Will get to that later.. Also, Mandarin will be another language we are hoping for her to learn to speak and write too :)

we wanna follow u daddy!

These pictures were taken when Daddy-o was busy packing for work and was going on a 6-day trip last weekend. The two girls were busy getting in the way + the little one was actually trying to take out the things that Daddy-o had already packed in the bag! Hehe

Cheers, Daddy-o! We always wanna follow you wherever you go (if only that is possible!) - well, there was one time when we got lucky rite! ;)  well, here's wishing for many, many more :D

Little girl and handbags

Just something I wanted to post here since I have not update anything here for quite a while.

Yesterday, as I was getting ready for work, Ayska walked in with a handbag in hand, just like a lady carrying her handbag, complete with hand gripped into a ball and pointing up to stop the bag from slipping down her shoulder hehe (note: handbag belongs to Arina) She’s all freshen up with her hair combed back and a smile!

She picked up my phone and passed it to me. She knows which phone belongs to who, she will pass my phone to me, Daddy’s phone to the Daddy.. And then she went to pick up the cap of her milk bottle from the floor and then her bottle from our dresser and tried to put it together while walking to the maid to get her to fix it on..

Now, the funny sight was actually watching her walked back to my room with the bottle in one hand and put it into my opened bag and then picked up my bag to go out again! I just cant get the picture out of my head! What actually goes through her mind, I wonder?! Maybe she wanted to follow me to office, right?! Hehe

She’s definitely a girly’s girl though as she just loves handbag and pretty necklaces ;)

Happy 1st birthday lil sunshine!!

 (sorry! hehe the pic should read I'm ONE! I kidnapped this photo from Daddy's FB *peace*)

omg! I feel so bad i miss posting this yesterday!

We had a great time celebrating with the family a day before (coz Daddy-o was working that night on her birthday)..

She was feeling under the weather and thus was a bit cranky that night. She got a slight flu after we came back from our Kuching trip and so, any slight mistake (or rather, when she didnt get what she wants) or when we try to wipe her runny nose (it was very messy), she'll show her tantrum!

But it was such a surprise for us all, when we took out the cake and start singing the birthday song, it was like she knew it was meant for her and i guess she saw all the attention on her, and immediately her mood changed!!

She was smiling and DANCING!! yeah, bouncing up and down to her birthday song and swaying left and right, like really enjoying the moment! And the adults around her was so excited that I think we sang a total of more than TEN times around just for her!! :D

Of course, the cousins and her big sister helped to blow the candle for her..but she was so HAPPY nonetheless.. She even had fun cutting the cake, first with the help of her sister, then of course, she would not let go of the plastic knife!! almost butchering the cake! But it is her birthday cake, so she got to do what she wants with it!!

It was really a wonderful moment to witness that! Well, not the making a mess of the birthday cake, but just to see how she has grown over the ONE year and her enjoying the moment and especially celebrating it with our loved ones around her!


I really am thankful that the whole family was there to make it extra special for her.


I can't find that many words to describe the feeling of seeing her grow and that now, she is already one year old! How time flies so quickly, it was as if yesterday we were heading for our check up and found out that day was the day that she would be borne! Wound that up to a year later and that now, she is there, standing and laughing and running in front of us! Our little precious Ayska, our little sunshine and pride and joy!

Mummy and Daddy and Kakak Arina loves you dear darling! We want only the best for you! Happy First Birthday! Muahh!

My two little miss cheongsam...

my lil cruiser...

Both photos above were taken sometime in Jan 2010 (took me a while to upload it here, eh!). In fact, we took out the playpen in the picture already last month..

I somehow managed to get a photo of her standing and trying to get two, three steps forward.. It was really, really exciting to be able to see that! Really! I mean, I can hardly describe the feeling of seeing her taking the first few steps and even though we went through it before with Arina, I was still amazed and happy and excited! And to think that she was already taking those few wobbly steps at that stage really surprised me. I guess she really wanted to catch up to her kaklong quick! hehe

Ayska is now 11 months old and quite the cruiser.. though sometimes she looks like she's dancing, breakdancing, line dancing whatever you call it...trying to catch her balance back hehe and there were some funny moments when she walks like a mabuk person haha oops!

She will fall on her bum, on all four, sideways etc but she never gives up! She will have this 'selamba' face on and gets back on her feet and continue wobbling about.. hehe Only when it really, really hurts and when something frustrates her would you hear her cry.

Another 27 days and she will be ONE year old! How time really flies!! *sigh*

Arina's Birthday ticker

I wanted to post this into my header, but it had a max no of character and i really dont know how else to add this into the blog. So let me post this first for safe keeping in the meantime.. :D

ten things...

Eversince I was pregnant with my first child, I had subscribed to Babycenter.Com and without fail receive its weekly-monthly articles either on updates/progress/development following my children's age/growth. Some are very spot-on and I was tempted many a times to post it here and to share how similar the article describes what my children were going through then throughout their growth and development.

And somehow, this particular article that I received today caught my attention and I just wanted to make sure I post it here so that I wont lose it. Just a little note to myself and very good read, IMO.

**Ten ways to build your child's self esteem
by Sarah Henry
Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board

Nurturing your kindergartner's self-esteem may seem like a hefty responsibility. After all, a feeling of self-worth lays the foundation for your kindergartner's future as she sets out to try new things on her own. "Self-esteem comes from having a sense of belonging, believing that we're capable, and knowing our contributions are valued and worthwhile," says California family therapist Jane Nelsen, co-author of the Positive Discipline series.

"As any parent knows, self-esteem is a fleeting experience," says Nelsen. "Sometimes we feel good about ourselves and sometimes we don't. What we are really trying to teach our kids are life skills like resiliency." Your goal as a parent is to ensure that your child develops pride and self-respect — in herself and in her cultural roots — as well as faith in her ability to handle life's challenges (for a 5-year-old that may mean standing on one foot for several seconds). Here are ten simple strategies to help you help boost your child's self-esteem:

Give unconditional love. A child's self-esteem flourishes with the kind of no-strings-attached devotion that says, "I love you, no matter who you are or what you do." Your child benefits the most when you accept her for who she is regardless of her strengths, difficulties, temperament, or abilities. So lavish her with love. Give her plenty of cuddles, kisses, and pats on the shoulder. And don't forget to tell her how much you love her. When you do have to correct your child, make it clear that it's her behavior — not her — that's unacceptable. Instead of saying, "You're a naughty girl! Why can't you be good?" Say, "Pushing Nina isn't nice. It can hurt. Please don't push."

Pay attention. Carve out time to give your kindergartner your undivided attention — this can do wonders for a child's self-worth because it sends the message that you think she's important and valuable. And it doesn't have to take a lot of time. Stop flicking through the mail if she's trying to talk with you or turning off the TV long enough to answer a question. Make eye contact so it's clear that you're really listening to what she's saying. When you're strapped for time, you can let your child know without ignoring her needs. Say, "Tell me all about what you did at school, and then when you're finished I'll need to make our dinner."

Teach limits. Establish a few reasonable rules for your kindergartner and, when appropriate, ask for her input when you make or update the rules. For instance, if you tell your child she has to wear her helmet when she rides her bike in the driveway, don't let her go without it at a friend's house. Knowing that certain family rules are set in stone will help her feel more secure. It may take constant repetition on your part, but she'll start to live by your expectations soon enough. Just be clear and consistent and show her that you trust her and expect her to do the right thing.

Support healthy risks. Encourage your child to explore something unknown, such as trying a different food, finding a best pal, or riding a bike. Though there's always the possibility of failure, without risk there's little opportunity for success. So let your child safely experiment, and resist the urge to intervene. For instance, try not to "rescue" her if she's showing mild frustration over trying to shoot her basketball into her kid-sized hoop. Even jumping in to say, "I'll help you" can foster dependence and diminish your child's confidence. You'll build her self-esteem by balancing your need to protect her with her need to tackle new tasks.

Let mistakes happen. The flip side, of course, of having choices and taking risks is that sometimes your child is bound to make mistakes. These are valuable lessons for your child's confidence. So if your child breaks a beloved toy through rough handling, help her fix it and encourage her to think about what she might do differently next time. That way her self-esteem won't sag and she'll understand that it's okay to make mistakes sometimes. When you goof up yourself, admit it, says Daniel Meier, assistant professor of elementary education at San Francisco State University. Acknowledging and recovering from your mistakes sends a powerful message to your child — it makes it easier for your child to accept her own struggles.

Celebrate the positive. Everyone responds well to encouragement, so make an effort to acknowledge the good things your child does every day within her earshot. For instance, tell her dad, "Julia helped cook dinner." She'll get to bask in the glow of your praise and her dad's heartening response. And be specific. Instead of saying "Good job," say, "Thank you for waiting so patiently in line at the grocery store." This will enhance her sense of accomplishment and self-worth and let her know exactly what she did right.

Listen well. If your child needs to talk, stop and listen to what she has to say. She needs to know that her thoughts, feelings, desires, and opinions matter. Help her get comfortable with her emotions by labeling them. Say, "I know you're sad because we have to go home now." By accepting her emotions without judgment you validate her feelings and show that you value what she has to say. If you share your own feelings ("I'm excited about going to the zoo"), she'll gain confidence in expressing her own.

Resist comparisons. Comments such as "Why can't you be more like your sister?" or "Why can't you be nice like Makayla?" will just remind your child of her difficulties in a way that fosters shame, envy, and competition. Even positive comparisons such as "You're the best player" are potentially damaging because a child can find it hard to live up to this image. If you let your child know you appreciate her for the unique individual she is, she'll be more likely to value herself too.

Offer empathy. If your child begins to compare herself unfavorably to her siblings or peers ("Why can't I read as well as Maia?") show her empathy and then emphasize one of her strengths. For instance, say, "You're right, Maia does read well. And you're a great singer." This approach can help your child learn that we all have strengths and weaknesses, and that she doesn't have to be perfect to feel good about herself.

Provide encouragement. Every child needs the kind of support from loved ones that signals, "I believe in you. I see your effort. Keep going!" Encouragement means acknowledging progress — not just rewarding achievement. So if your kindergartner is struggling to sound out words, say: "You're trying very hard and you almost have it!" instead of "Not like that. Let me show you."

There's a difference between praise and encouragement. One rewards the task while the other rewards the person. ("You did it!" rather than "I'm proud of you!") Praise can make a child feel that she's only "good" if she does something perfectly. Encouragement, on the other hand, acknowledges the effort. "Tell me about your drawing. I see that you like purple" is more helpful than saying, "That's the most beautiful picture I've ever seen." Too much praise can sap self-esteem because it can create pressure to perform and set up a continual need for approval from others. So dole out the praise judiciously and offer encouragement liberally; it will help your child grow up to feel good about herself.

** Article was taken from Baby Center at http://www.babycenter.com/0_ten-ways-to-build-your-childs-self-esteem_66717.bc

diaper, diaper, less, less, yeah yeah!

It was Arina's first night off her diaper! Yeay! And i am so thrilled with the news. You dont know how many times i high-fived her and kissed her and hugged her this morning.. and she had this sheepish smile all the while - the big kakak smile! hehe

You see, she has been diaper-free only during the day, a few months since she attended her first kindergarten when she turned three.. But she had never managed to be diaper-free at night time.. Well, there were a few odd occasion when her diaper were not soiled at all in the morning.. but it was very seldom.

I've talked to her often about it, just to rub in the thought more into her sub-conscious mind - if that can make any difference.. hehe But she can even negotiate with me, telling me," when i am 6 years old ok mummy!" (she'll be turning six end of the year btw)

It became quite stressful for me sometimes to even ask her to pee before sleep at night. In fact, she has even mastered putting on the diaper all on her own!

But last night, after our bedtime book reading, i try once again and told her lets not wear the pampers tonight since you are a big girl already.. and she, without much fuss or excuses (she's very good at this now! *rolled eyes*) obliged. I was surprised but went along and didnt say much then..didnt want her to change her mind suddenly. I quickly wished her goodnight and left her room.

And so, she sleeps on her own bed, in her own room diaper-free!

My little girl is a big girl now *sigh!*

( I pray and hope that this will continue again tonite and then after!) *fingers crossed* ;)

She turned five!

This was taken on her birthday and you can tell she was happy coz even though I
asked her to pose for me, which she often dont want to, she did this time and with a smile too! hehe
(all this was while she busy opening her presents hehe)

My eldest girl, my little 'kaklong' and darling little first born baby has turned FIVE!!! (ok, i know this post is so late but i still want to have a special 5yearold birthday post for her) :D

She was of course so very excited about it. In fact, she was counting the days to the event. She still didnt quite grasped the idea that she had finally turned FIVE when that very day came though(hehe), you see, she got confused because she knew that we were planning a birthday party for her the coming weekend and it was a Monday and I was working while Daddy was away. It was after a few people (like my mum, my sis-in-law called and spoke to her) asked her how old she was, she was still insisting that she was four and not five yet! She was relaying to me about the conversation that she had with her Nenna and Auntie and then it only hit me, that I didnt explained to her properly that THAT day is already the 28th, which is her birthday and we are doing a party for her later because it was a weekday and even Daddy was not around then.

And so, she turned to me with a wide expression and said
"I'm Five, mummy!" and continued
"And after that, I'm going to be 6!!"

It was so funny remembering that moment. But when she started asking me, when is she turning six, whether its this year or next year and when is she going into Std One, then it just hit me too!

My little girl is not so little anymore.. *sigh*

She is still attached to her little Tigger, the soft toy that is her 'security blanket' especially when drinking milk (yes, she still does take her milk in the bottle) and when going to sleep at night.

We decided to put her in the morning session in her kindergarten, mainly because I know that for the next two years after that, she will be in the afternoon session that we enrolled her in for Std One. But I wasnt sure how she would cope with the morning session, knowing very well that she's not much of a morning person.

But somehow, she adjusted. Well, we had to adjust her and get her into a new routine which mainly involves sleeping early! hehe yeah, obviously we've been very laid back about her bed time all these while too!

We are now adjusting well in a new school routine where we even managed to enrol her in an al-quran and fardhu ain learning session in the evening after her kindergarten. It has a fixed time also. I was worried (well I know all mummies tend to be a lil' worry-wart with their lil kids, who doesnt rite) about tiring her with too much activity but she seemed to be enjoying it too! To my surprise, she has even tried to recite the prayer during sujud!

Anyway, back to her birthday, and so we had a small celebration with just our families for her that very night (sans Daddy-0). She was so very happy with all the attention and presents too, thanks to all the family members who came and help us celebrate it with her. I only wished I had taken more photos that night..

Anyway, Happy 5th birthday my lovely little princess!

Scabhetti Nite (thats what my little sister used to call spaghetti)

We had a lovely dinner at my mum's house last night.

I went there straight from work whilst Kakak & Ayska came a few mins later with Daddy-0. Kakak came in pulling her schoolbag with her and told me, "I bring my school shoes too, mummy". I wondered for a few sec about it, then only I realised that just the night before, she said that she wanted to sleep over at her Nenna's house. I had forgotten about it and I thought she did too. She brought everything, even her favourite Tigger!

Anyway, here I am with my little Ayska, who is now a pro at kicking her blanket away. And my little big Kakak having a sleepover at her Nenna's house on a school night (which she hadnt done so for quite some time, most probably since we had Ayska too!)

Its kind of late; I got carried away on my laptop and I told myself this is going to be a short one.

Also, I cant wait for the weekend to come, simply because its midweek and I want a break already :D

(And the other reason is I also got the Goss:ipGirls in my externaldrive. GG marathon, here I come!)

xoxo ;)

watching the teevee

Both Arina & Ayska now loves watching High*5 (not the bread ya!) :D and Dor* the Explorer! For now, those two are Ayska's favourite!! And Arina is also so much into High*5 that we get into a small quarrel just because she wants to watch for the hundredth time her High*5 Cd. Its favourite cd at the moment. And the same cd can catch Ayska's attention and keep her still for quite a while!

Talking about keeping Ayska still, this only happens when she is either asleep or watching her favourite shows. Other than that, even when we are carrying her, she'll be all wriggly and even wants to "climb" on you! :)

She has started crawling and can even sit on her own..she gets into a side-pose position and voila! she's sitting! Tho it is still a bit wobbly and not that stable, but yeah, she's crawling!

Her bedtime varies but she still wakes up at night (whereas her kakak slept through the night at two months' old). And because of that, she still bf at night. But just last week, I tried the pacifier again. When she's awake crying at nite but still has her eyes closed, I'll give it to her. Just trying different ways to soothe her back to sleep.

She has no fixed position of taking her bottles. Can either be held/cuddled or lying on the lap but facing away from you and sometimes even sitting up. Yeap, she decides..whatever suits her fancy la kan.. She doesnt finish her milk at one go, she sometimes continue to finish it like 15mins or even half an hour later but her kakak will always finish her milk at one go..her kakak will never drink back the same susu even 10mins later..

Somehow rather this particular saying comes to mind - to each their own. ;)

Nite2 and have a great week ahead! To me and to you! :D

Hasta luego!