Rina and I both agreed that we DO NOT like Houston. It’s a place that takes husbands away..;P

Last yr hubby left us when Dina was merely 2 mths’ old.

3 trips over 3 yrs. That shld be it.

1 week down, 2 weeks to go..

1. Mek kata Innalillah..:) But No, i haven’t gave up on this space..:P Not yet, at least. See the thing is i usually rant bile nak lepas geram. So you can take it as things have been good, alhamdulillah.

2. Gambar raya ade di FB. Nanti kalau rajin, I’ll post some here.  

3. Nothing really new about work; aside from my frequent trips to Putrajaya and the new team members. Work is work..At the end of the day, I look forward to going home to my loved ones.

4. Dina is seriously growing up too fast. She can mumble almost all of her friends’ name at school. She’s singing the ABC song, Baba-black sheep, Head-shoulders, Twinkle2, Row2 boat2, I love u, Mr Sun, almost without help. But unfortunately, still waking up at night..8-)

5. Auntie Rok1ah cikgu besar sekolah D1na glamer masuk TV3.

6. Two weekends back, had 4 weddings in a day. Was too darn tired by the time mlm; I missed Rozanna’s. I fell asleep on the couch while waiting for maghrib.

7. Dah habis byr hutang denda ‘habis awal’ MAR4 yg duk bayar mcm semut. Hoorrraayyy!!

Salam Aidilfitri

Maaf Zahir & Batin

Dengan Ingatan Tulus Ikhlas

Helmi, Nadiah, Irdina

Countdown to my first real holiday this year..:)

1) Mmm..am thinking of weaning Dina fr the “shu-shu”..she’s still waking up at night..and am a bit exhausted esp during Ramadhan. Plus she’s no longer taking powder milk. So her bekal to school is only the 2oz I am able to pump out daily. Tp mummy cair everytime she ’masuk position’ and asks for it nicely, with a smile..

2) Am moving offices to focus on a specific sector coverage – officially start fr the Sentral office today! I’m amazed by how quickly I packed my 2 yrs away last Friday, in 4 boxes. Still need to handover some folders to ppl who were away aritu. Bye2 to lunch shopping and errand running  at KLCC..But yeay – am closer to home, less traffic AND I’ve got free parking!!

3) Went vacation-shopping yesterday at Alamanda on our way back fr MIL’s. They were all for Dina, really.. although Adik told me that I never have to buy any clothes for Dina ever again (apparently they’ve already stocked up a pile in Geneva.  -> benefits of being the first and only niece/grandchild). So we just bought a cute sweater, a pair of shoes, leggings and some pants. Papa said the leaves were changing colors and falling already.. 

4) Hubs is going to far-far-away-land for 3+ weeks in November. Am already worried and thinking abt how to make it feel shorter..:P

5) Bank has still not disbursed our loan! So still haven’t gotten the keys yet. Doesn’t look like a raya open house at new crib is happening this year. Perhaps, Dina’s 2nd birthday party?

No wait, scrap that – I’m exhausted..Really exhausted.

Had to go to work on Sunday right after iftaar all the way till 3 am; thankfully Dina managed to fall asleep on her own. Then continue balik at 9.30 am next day all the way till 7.30 pm and rushed home so I can be w/ family. Then, after buka and cleaning up, I took a quick break to pray, then pumped the-little-milk-I-have-left for Dina, and continued working past midnight..

We’re supposed to get the 2nd half of yesterday off, but of course that didn’t happen..

Thing is, it’s not even my deliverable. Of course, I’m part of the team. But why is it then, when it comes to my deliverable, I have to drive and do ALL A-to-Z on my own, with ZERO ‘team’ support whatsoever?

I shld ask for a raise. SB suggested that I leave.

Really need some time off to recuperate.

And yes, I’m bi*ching in Ramadan. Sigh..

We went on the very last day of the fest; so weren’t really surprised that most of the flowers were dried up and almost dead. I think the sponsored mini-gardens were absolutely gorgeous.

Dina had plenty of fun walking about and pointing to the pretty colorful flowers. Penat sungguh. Masuk2 kereta je terus tido..:P

We’ve been planning for our last trip to Geneva for this coming raya since I don’t know when. And by planning, i mean constantly eye-ing for the cheapest flight tix out there.

I saw a good deal a while ago on 3tihad airlines, tRM60xx for all 3 of us..Not bad, eh? But at that time, we just cldn’t purchase our tickets yet as I had to wait for my ex-gratia payment, and I don’t fancy the use of credit card too much. But i’d been closely monitoring the price; just in case.

One day in June, I was doing my usual price check up, and of course, the price went up by 1k! I panicked and started looking at other options again. Nearest competitor was Qat4r at RM68xx..Kebetulan my ex-gratia pun masuk – hubby and I booked our tix immediately, takut harga Q4tar pulak naik..

Today, abt a month down the road, I saw the 3tih4d airways website up on my lappie; prol’ abang trying to look for his tix..So out of curiousity, i tried key-ing in our route, same time and date..and voila! Price for all 3 of us inclusive of taxes was RM59xx!!! What the ……!!!!

Rugi je lapan ratus ringgit..sigh.. Ape nak buat, bukan rezeki kami..:(

Dina turned 15 on the 15^th! The only other time this will occur, is when she’s a teenager! Mmm..I pray that God graces me with good health and long enough life to see her turn 15, insyaAllah..

 Her progress thus far:  

• She talks a lot! She blabbers as if we can all understand her. She CAN however utter a few meaningful words. Her favourites: “Pa-ppa..”, “Maa mii”, “Shoee”, “nak nak” (most times while pointing to mummy’s chest..sheeshh..apply some discretion Dina..), “bea” – for Bird, “Tet” – for Cat, “Dag” for both Duck and Dog..:P
• She can understand, “tido”, “duduk”, “Mickey”, “Barney”, “takde”, “abis..”, “water”, “tlg amikkan..”, “kipas”, “lampu”, “mata”, “nose”..etc..
• And ooh, did I tell ya – she can count up to three!
• Is shy now when she meets strangers. Kalau dulu nak jugak main mata & salam. Now cam jeling2 je or pretend that she can’t see them..
• Is obsessed with Mickey Mouse..kalau keluar gi mane2, and she sees anything at all with a Mickey Mouse figure, she’ll hold on to it mcm it is rightfully hers. If we try to take it from her, die nangis sedih sgt – cashier nak pinjam sekajap utk byr pun die sedih. Thank God the Mickey sheets kat Aussin0 tuh ada 70% discount..(yes, even sheets!)
• Tgk CD barney mata tak berkelip, and of course loves the signature ”I love you” song..goyang2 badan and will hug mummy & papa on cue..
• Kuat merajuk, as above, and as Auntie Rok14h at school keeps telling us..
• Is walking and almost running like she’s been doing it for yrs [tipu je, terkedek2 lagi]..she started her first few steps when she was abt ~13 mths..
• Likes to open all the cabinet doors in the kitchen..suke bawak keluar maggi.
• Can play make belief already..suke buat2 suap mummy or papa die..be it gune tangan or sudu..
• Suke mandi & main air – kat mana2 boleh, dlm tub, dlm pool, shower..and oh, isn’t afraid of the ocean anymore..! we went to a friend’s beach wedding in PD a mth ago and discovered this. She loves playing with sand too!
• Suke main anything yg ada penutup; eg. botol susu, bekas Tupperware, drinking bottle, dsb..
• A bit choosy now when it comes to food. I no longer bekalkan her with home-cooked food when we send her to the nursery – to let her eat what her friends eat. I still cook [and freeze] some porridge once a week for Dina’s dinner. Dina tak suke telur, but in love with keropok and NASI, likes cheese, yoghurt..favourite is still of course, mummy’s porridge cooked with love [perasan]..
• Is no longer fully on BM..work has been super crazy. I never have time to pump.., but maybe it’s just me not making time ..i pump only once a day now, either on my way home or when I get back home, which is obviously not enough..and get abt 4-5 oz, enough only for 1 or 2 feedings at school. So we supplement with enf4grow..but expensive lah this one! but this is the first one we tried, and Dina seems to like it, but still, refuses to take the bottle from anybody else outside the nursery..I shld look at alternatives..

On another note, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the importance of early childhood education/pre-school; particularly for children aged 0-5, and that starting school at age 7 is simply too late, as abt 90% of child’s brain develops during the first 5 yrs of life. Sweden, knowing the significance of this, has been developing various programs, including giving universal access to their young ones since three decades ago! I am, simply said, overwhelmed by the wealth of info/research on the area..will highlight some of the key findings later.

Argghhhhh…I need my baby! Left my pump at the office and went for an offsite meeting, haven’t expressed since pg and am in so much pain!! #q*3!?/(**#..I can barely move/drive! Stuck in traffic pulak..tsskkk..

Kesian baby no bekal for tomorrow..sigh..