Big Z starts the big school ...

(this post goes out to, specifically, parents sending their firstborns to the big school ... and all other parents in general)


having your firstborn in the big school is something new altogether. you prepare yourself for the transition - days, weeks, months prior ...

: packing only the sharpest of pencils + colour pencils will now be a daily routine :

... but it doesn't fully equip you still till (in my case) after the fiasco of the first week has phased out.

as newbies, us parents were allowed to be in the school (albeit, by the canteen area only during class hours) throughout the first week. we chose to come every recess time, saw Z through his recess meal + playtime, and left after he's sat back in his class. we were back in school in time to see him pack up, line up, thanked his teacher and said his goodbye to his friends each day. but this week, starting today, we're only allowed to do the drop-off and fetching sessions. fair enough ... this is after all, NOT a kindie.

so. this morning called for a strong mommy in me. in truth though, i had wanted to be able to stretch the morning routine a bit. steal more glances, hold onto his hand longer, watched as he took his pencil case out and sat patiently for the day to begin. and then later on mid-morning, i had wanted to walk him to the canteen, see that he washes his hands properly before and after his meal and walk back to his class (and not be confused and walk into some random class, because well, you know, Z's a lil funny like that). but of course, had i gave in to all these 'wants' that i had, it'll only leave me looking like a fool, and a rather spoilt mom too, while at it. instead, i took the 'tunjuk berani + calm' route. walked him to class, saw that he settled in OK (bag down, then lined up with the class outside to make their way to assembly).

before i left, i reminded him where to wait for me after school, and looking back at me was this confident lil young man. it hit me then. sure, he'll always still be my lil boy needy of my every assistance. reality is, he's grown up. he's learning to adapt to things, new people, new surroundings, new routine, and he's done me proud thus far to have adapted to all of these 'newsies' so well.

: my resident BFF all grown up now :

on that note ... here's to school runs, PTA meets, mommy breakfasts, homework checks, exam revisions, sports days, school competitions, and all the other wonderful things that make up your typical local big school. (i'm conveniently pretending that only good things happen in his school ... none of those bullying + cheating + over-competitive parents issues to live through)

Ya Allah, give me much and much strength to fully embark on this new chapter ...

down to the last 2 weeks ...

the school holidays have already begun ... for most kids, at least. Z's school closes for the end-of-year break in 2 weeks time.

last weekend, i found myself in a store looking at clothing items i last had close contact with some *ahem* more than 10 years ago ... let's just say lah.
my 6 year old is now the proud owner of 4 white shirts + 3 dark blue pants ... all set to officiate come late December (on the orientation day). that's right. rather than wait till the mad rush period later on, my friend and i decided to bring our boys (best friends to each other, they claim to be, by the way) out to get their (big) school uniforms, ready for their first day in January.

this second last week of his school term, they'll be introduced to the less-fortunate kids, those living in special homes + orphanages. there'll be talks + activities related to this topic and parents are encouraged to contribute certain items - mainly food stuff and toiletries - to the pre-selected homes. i'm looking at getting them bags of rice or sugar and possibly Milo and some simple plain biscuits. i should really find out if they'll welcome some old books and toys as well. what better way to let go of your unwanted things.

next week, his very last week in CH, there'll be a little farewell do for him. i'll be handing out some gifts for the teachers, as well as his classmates. they aren't big gifts, rather, ones that i hope will come in pretty handy at some point. more on this later on.

next week is also when we leave home for a much-needed holiday. well, work and holiday, though the work part only involves the husband really. i have yet to pack our things, the most i've done is to take out and air our suitcases. there's still more than a week to go ...

till the next update ...
to all moms with schooling kids, my thoughts are with you. having them at home those extra hours can always get a little ... challenging, shall we say? happy holidays to all!

sibling love

a common sight at home will be of the Zs teasing each other, picking on each other, sharing food + snacks, fighting over the same toy or a limb of mine, laughing together and if luck's on our (my) side, soundly asleep next to each other. oh so rare! but we hope still and cherish the two, three times that that actually happened.

here's a typical Z-sibs moment together ...

: that'll be her laughing, not crying :

the Zs at Big Lime ...

no excuses this time. i got to a point where i realised i just never was prompt and efficient enough to update this blog. each time i had a 'story' in mind to share, i got distracted by someone or something. kept putting it on hold, till finally last night i decided to 'pretty up' the blog's look a little. now that it's slightly more lively than was the previous layout, i may just be more inclined to update it as regularly as i did before (which was never all that regular to begin with).

will summarise the Zs' developments in this entry.
so. picking up from where i left you ... May, was it? talk about 'putting things on hold'!

..........................................................

: on Zarif :

: he's all of 6 years old now, attending his last month in kindie

: he'll start the big school come January ... it's the Mummy who's feeling anxious + excited, he's mostly just excited, especially now that his best friend's been accepted to the school too

: he's showing more sides of him that make me go "aawww ..." (even if just silently to myself), growing more independent by the day ... of course, with that comes a lot of "but i know it already, Mummy ... you don't have to keep telling me how to do it" moments

: he was in the hospital for 4 days, for severe dehydration + food poisoning + high fever back in June ... 2 weeks of bad health, was a real champ in the hospital though despite going to the loo over 20 times in a day! it was heart-breaking to watch, especially when he kept apologising for being ill, thanking me over and over for taking care of him ... (insert "aawww..." here)

: he's finally started his menagji class which he seems to enjoy ... granted, it's also a once a week playdate with his best friend

: had "the best birthday party ever, Mummy" when he turned 6 couple months back, where i indulged in planning + hosting a (very!) last-minute Transformers party for him

: he is his sister's biggest fan, but manages quite a bit of sibling fights + jealousy just the same

: has a few times asked me to have another baby, ".. because ... i already have a baby sister, i need a baby brother now ... so that i have 1 girl and 1 boy .. and then enough, Mummy. no more babies!"

: is starting to show some interest in football now .. pretty late, considering the Daddy's such a footie fan

: still eats anything and everything, and still is fussy with drinks .. only water, occasionally Milo or chocolate milk

: started to puasa this past Ramadhan ... though only puasa makan, he still drank ... and only for 3 days


some random photos of Zarif since May ...

: enthusiastic :

: focused :

: his 6th party :

: precious #1 smile :

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: on Zayaan :


: she turned 20 months few days back

: as far as weight charts go, her current weight at 20 months is at the very peak of the curve ... healthy, let's just say *wink*

: she's got as much enery as her abang has, and then some!

: she's very alert + observant, which as a result can impress + amuse you and then annoy you soon after when she mimics every.single.thing you do, i kid you not!

: her vocab's pretty good though, dare i say ... she's definitely picked up language at a faster rate than the brother did at this age ... as much as i can recall now, some words + phrases she can say now include mummy, daddy, abang, nak, tak nak, no, ya, here, there, this, that, what's this, what's that, who's this, who's that, where's this, where's that, apa tu, come, open, tutup, cushion, bam (when she wants to lie down), baby, car, daw (doll), susu, te-gen (Vitagen), ball, shoes, duduk, take out this, u'oh, jatuh, tow (throw) bottle/botten, spoon, bowl, cat, eyes, teeth, tummy, poo-poo, Pooh, Emma (Elmo), bear, tees (fish), atok (my dad), nana (her girl cousins), ama (all maids), book, down, one, too (two), tee (three), kaiiss (five), teex (six), sebben (seven), A, B, tee (C), hewwohh (hello), bye

: she adores and idolises her big brother too much ... she'll follow his every move, making her quite good at the whole Transformers acts and poses and "boom-ing" of cars and such

: she fights considerably with the brother too, often bullying him ... the bullying is more her to him, rather than him to her

: she has very little toys ... after noticing her favouring everyday household objects (bowls, colanders, spoons, cups, books, boxes) more than she does pretty girly dainty toys, we basically haven't bought her that many toys ... but she does like them wooden puzzles and building blocks though

: besides her occasional reaction to extreme heat and certain foods with high egg content, she pretty much eats anything and everything ... i'm blessed, i suppose, having kids who eat anything, nevermind that it's almost constantly too!

: her current favourite cartoon characters will be Pocoyo, Elmo and Pooh

: she's very much her Daddy's little girl ... everytime he's out of town for work, she will almost immediately fall ill, leaving me with mad sleepless nights, he comes home and she's back to her healthy self ... it's weird, but according to my parents, i was just the same as a little girl; would be down with high fever when my dad went away for work, he gets back into town, and i'm fine again ... funny watching how your kid(s) inherit your certain trait(s)

: she'll be turning 2 in 3 months time ... this time last year, i was already busy preparing + making little bird things for her 1st BIRD-day party ... this year, i haven't done a single thing yet for her party, but have finally decided on a theme ... yay me! (more on this as i progress along with the party preparations)

some random photos of Zayaan since May ...

: observant :

: intrigued :

: meticulous :

: focused :

: precious #2 smile :

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quite a 'summary' that was!

reuse + recycle

In the spirit of "reuse + recycle" and the whole general concept of utilising everyday things around the house, I found the Z-boy in this state on his bed sometime last week.

:: busy arranging ::

I had asked him to practice some maths - addition and subtraction work. As I juggle my time between the two Zs (just two and already they make quite a circus the pair of them!), I often find myself not able to sit down with the Z-boy while he does some written work. Normally, I can manage some 10 minutes before having to watch over the Z-girl, who's determined to be the busiest 14-month old girl this side of town. Honestly, there's the bookshelves, the toy boxes, the kitchen cupboards (where only plastic containers are stored), the cushions on our sofas - all of which she sees her responsibility to fiddle with, arrange and rearrange a good dozen times a day. To save all from accidents and falls, I must have at least 3 pairs of eyes on her at all times. That'll be my real eyes, my glasses and that magical pair of eyes moms normally have at the back of our heads. ;-)

Back to the Z-boy then ...

He had taken a stack of his Thomas and Friends books (ones he no longer reads since "Thomas is not cool anymore, Mummy") and laid them out on his bed, adding to and taking away from the whole lot where appropriate. I wouldn't say it was the most affective method to the sums. He was very much into the play part of arranging and tossing away of books. But it also got him finishing 4 pages of sums that afternoon with no complaints.

He did pause a few times though when suddenly realising he's got a certain book. Kind of like how the Mummy is when trying to toss out old clothes ... pauses a bit to reminisce how a particular shirt once fit her so well or how she bought it on her way back from college all those many years back (a little too sentimental at times, yes).

:: ready to toss a book away ::

:: recording the answer ::

That's the tale then of how the Z-boy practiced some "reuse + recycle" concept into his homework. Old stuff put to new use.

Do you have a greener "reuse + recycle" tale to tell? I'm sure you do. Do share! :-)

wordplay

I'm possibly one of the few moms around this end of the world (the competitive Asian end :P) who hasn't yet enrolled the Big Z in some enrichment class after school hours. Aside from reading books, the most extra bits he does will be the workbooks and some random homemade-by-me worksheets. In a good week, it'll be a daily thing. On a not-so-good week (shame on the mommy too), it'll be say twice a week.

Off late though, when it comes to copywriting work, he gets a wee bit too cheeky. The Daddy begs to differ though, citing his cheekiness as a sign of intelligence. Hmm ... we'll see. So, what I've spotted to date (some that i can recall, that is), were the following:

:: he had to write the word "saw" under a picture of a saw ... he wrote the word, but then flanked the 'saw' with two other words. it then became a simple short sentence "I saw you". ::

:: the word was 'well', under a picture of a well, yes. not too generous with his words this time, he added just one word before 'well'. more of a statement, it read "not well". ::

:: writing the names of animals' young ones ... when it came to a goat's lil one, instead of writing just 'kid', he wrote "skid". the illustration was of a running kid, so he possibly found the word 'skid' somewhat apt? ::


Little things then to illustrate further just how my 5 year old is by nature. Give him a task, he'll do it, yes. How he does it is a different story though. I still say it's his way of annoying me and the Daddy still says it's the genius in his son showing through.

Wordless Wednesday :: Earth Day 2009

to marry or not to marry ...

was tucking in Big Z to bed the other night. laid down next to him till he was dozing off. few moments went by then he woke up again and asked why i was still there next to him. said that i could leave and that he's fine and asleep already.
the following conversation then took place ...

..................................................

me : but you're my favourite son and favourite boy .... i want to hug you a bit more

him : okay Mummy ... but you can go now. i'm sleeping already. see?

me : i know ... just a short while more. you go to sleep.

him : (mumbling away and still convincing me to leave him already!)

me : and soon you'll be a bigger boy .. and then when you're 10, maybe you'll say you don't want Mummy to hug you much already.

him : (restless in bed now) .... but i don't want to get married!

me : married?? you don't get married at 10!

him : yes ... but when i'm so big like Daddy ... i don't want to get married coz then you don't want to hug me.

me : (aaawwww ...) you don't have to get married so soon .. or you don't have to get married at all. BUT ... if you don't, you can't have kids. mummy married Daddy and Allah gave you and Zayaan to us. that's a good thing, right?

him : hmmm ... ok. yes. maybe i want to get married. i want kids also. but i don't want to get married now. only when i'm so big.

.............................................

with that, he hugged me tighter and told me to stay till he falls asleep again. tee-hee ... i bought me extra hugging time.

"is it only English in the big school? or there's Bahasa too??" ...

we're going away for a short holiday tomorrow. nowhere that far from home, but it'll do us (rather, me) good, i'm sure.

..........................................................

Big Z's on his two-week Easter break. plan is to go on this short holiday this week and then hopefully next week, i could be the productive + creative mom to think up some fun home activities with him. oh, and his sister too, of course.

this is his last year in preschool before starting proper school next year. to say that i'm all ready and confident about the transition would be a lie. i'm nervous and anxious and paranoid. a bit much too, i'd say.

there's the big school + new environment + cleanliness of school + bullies + bigger, more serious school subjects + language. at the risk of sounding a bit 'orang putih', my son speaks and understands not-much Malay. in his present school, they have Bahasa Malaysia (or is it Melayu? i can never be at par with our education system and syllabus ... constantly changing their minds on one too many things!) twice a week. and on those two days, he cringes before leaving for school, just coz he knows he isn't comfortable with the subject. when i checked with his teachers, they say he does the work correctly, but is still a little fearful of the subject. he still gets his numbers wrong at times. for some reason, he can't seem to get 'lima', 'enam', 'sembilan' right. 'satu', 'dua', 'tiga', 'empat', 'tujuh' and 'sepuluh' are fine.


so. next year should be interesting, if not terrifying for us.

.......................................................

*oh. and the title above (Farah, i finally got one! hehe) is Big Z's famous question(s) to me whenever i talk to him about primary school. *

gotta love little man's speak!

some randomly-picked (read: randomly-recalled) mini conversations with the Big Z ...


.....................................................


Big Z : hey Mummy ... if you're 30, and Daddy is 30 too, how come you're not the same size?

me : (laughing and thinking up an answer)

Big Z : ahh ... i know. coz boys can be bigger than girls.

me : u'huh. you're right. that's why. (and then laughing still ...)

.................................

Big Z : okay Mummy, ill go downstairs and play and watch the movie (Transformers) first, then come up and sleep.

(hardly 15 minutes later, he came back up, looking all shy)

me : what's up? the movie's finished? how come you're up already?

Big Z : coz i think i miss you. i miss your face la, Mummy. so i came up.

me : (a hug i couldnt resist!)


........................................


Big Z has lots to say. well, no surprise there! often, i'd be too tired to have lengthy thought-provoking-provoked-by-a-5-year-old-no-less conversations with him. so, this came about once ...

me : hey Zarif ... you don't have to talk all the time, ok. and don't have to ask me too many things too.

Big Z : aahhh ... ok Mummy. but i cannot do that. i have to ask so many questions.

me : okay. how bout you ask me 2 questions - one in the day and one at night. and save the other questions for your teachers in school. how bout that??

Big Z : awww Mummiieeee!!

me : (nope, that didn't go down quite well with him .. didn't like my idea)


..................................................

welcoming the new year ...

today, the 7th January '09, Big Z started his new term in school. his second last term at CH before starting primary school next January. where did the years go??

how have your (your child's, rather) first days of school been so far?

today, the 7th January '09, also marks exactly seven Wednesdays away from Baby Z's first birthday. where did 2008 go??

party preparations are very much in progress at Big Lime studio here at home. a theme has been decided and as much as i can allow myself to, or rather, as much as the creative mode in me allows me to, i've plans to decorate and adorn the party set-up as well as party favours to the theme. much like how Big Z's parties have been previously. it won't be quite as big as his parties though, i don't think so. but we'll see.

of sibling love (and a mother's joy) ...

Moments like these make it all worth the long days ... and nights.

Big Z picks a book to read on his own, nevermind that it's close to 11pm (!!).
Baby Z tries her best to get to her brother's book and to distract him, before finally settling for her toy.

"abua, abua, abuaaa ..." (that's abang in her speak)

:: the book was The Gingerbread Man ::

but they'll still always be our lil ones, yes?

Big Z now goes to the loo by himself. He wants no help from us and insists he's big enough to clean up after on his own. It's been this way since early this year, but with the occasional shout for help (to clean up) every now and again. But the past month, he's suddenly decided he's all very grown-up; goes to the bathroom, locks the door behind him, sings while busying himself on the throne (yes, one should not waste time not singing, just because one is occupied ;-)), flushes and then washes up. I on the other hand, will be the restless mom waiting outside the bathroom for him to come out all clean or to call me in to help. So far, it's always the former though. He comes out not only having cleaned down there, but so too his arms and legs and sometimes hair. He might as well take a shower after each session!

It's always been "pee" in our household (as opposed to "shee-shee" or "pee pee" or "kencing" - do excuse my lingo here for a minute). So, imagine my surprise when I heard him say as he walked hurriedly to the bathroom some 3 nites back "ohhh ... i really need to urinate now". "urinate" ... like seriously?? Even I don't use the word. It's good, yes, but wow ... I didn't see that coming.

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And Baby Z will turn 7 months day after tomorrow. SEVEN months??! Explains her very lip-smacking ways when she sees us eat. I guess a bigger meal portion for her should be seen to now.

never too young to be ambitious ...

back in my school days (circa '85 to mid '90s) when we had to fill in those yearly school forms indicating our ambitions (3 to be precise), it was always 1.architect, 2. interior designer or kindergarten teacher and 3. housewife. that's right, yours truly was never really one with such great big ambitions and/or a taste for many things. i carefully picked my interest and narrowed it down. the second choice alternated between the years; one year i thought i'd give interior design a go, the next, the thought of surrounding myself with keen and innocent kids to teach in colourful environments that are preschools seemed very appealing. if choices 1 and 2 failed, i'd resort to being a housewife; a safe bet, and nevermind that i wasn't too big on the idea of getting married though ... but that'll have to be another blog entry.

now that i'm all of 30 years (ah yes, the big 3-0 greeted me nice and well on the 30th of last month), it's enlightening to see how even from the tender age of 7 to the not-so-tender-but-still-young-nevertheless age of 15, i had clearly seen 'housewife' as a job of sorts. an ambition and role noteworthy enough to be listed on such forms.

as it turns out, i obligingly met my list. the third option, no less, but that counts still to meeting my ambition, yes?

just a bit of background check here ... i did get myself into architecture school at uni, but having spent all of a semester there (that's right, shame on me!), i realised it wasn't really me after all. i could appreciate the field in itself, but i really couldn't see myself practicing it. i ended up graduating with a degree in Marketing Communications, something i had never thought i'd have an inkling towards, but as it turned out, was something i had a lot of passion for and considering (i wasn't your straight-As student in school), i did pretty well in uni with the degree. ok, but that wasn't my point. not quite at least.

...........................................

see, the past few days, Big Z has been asking me lots. as per usual, i guess. lol ... but this time it's been on ambitions and one's job. this conversation took place between him and i (and my dad).

we were watching my er DVDs one night ...

Big Z : so what are they doing there now? is the kid gonna be alright? is he still going to feel the pain?

me : no ... if they look after him well enough and he takes his medicine, he'll be well again

Big Z : oh, ok then. so that's the doctor's job, right? the kid's gonna be well coz the doctor is helping him, right?

me : yup, that's right. when you're not well, you see a doctor and he'll make u feel better, but u must take the medicine he gives you. ... do you like watching this? you like er?

Big Z : yes! i like it. i like it coz i see the kid not well and then he's well again. .... i think i want to do this la, Mummy.

me : do what? be a doctor?

Big Z : yes. so i can make people feel better.

me : ahh .. good. that's nice, Zarif.

Big Z : oh, but wait, Mummy! ... doctors ... do they have a lot of money??

me : hahahaha .. yes ... they'll have money, yes.

Big Z : ok. i think i can be a doctor then.

..............................................

at a later date, one night before going to bed ...

Big Z : hey Mummy ... what's Atok's job again?

me : ok ... what does Atok do? do you remember?

Big Z : yes! he built my house ... and his house ... and other houses too, right?

me : that's right. and offices and hotels and mosques too. he's an architect then .. he designs and builds buildings.

Big Z : whoa!! ... yes, architect. i forgot. ok ... what bout London? did he build London?

me : no ... (thinking by saying this i'd end conversation early ... how wrong i was!)

Big Z : what??!! he didn't?? .... awww Mummy ... you call Atok now, please. call! ask him why he didn't build London.

a quick sms to my dad relating this query from his grandson, my dad calls me up ...

Big Z : Atok ... why you didn't build London??!!

Atok : (in between laughs) i didn't build London .. but i DID design some buildings there .. some offices.

Big Z : whoaa!!! really?? ... hey Mummy .. he did laaaa!

me and Atok (on phone) : laughing at the enthusiasm that is the Big Z

Big Z : so did you build Thomasland too? in London?

Atok : no ... but i also designed some (buildings) in Maldives and Bangkok

Big Z : yea?? ... what land is Bangkok? is it Thomasland? (notice how Thomas is still his top priority in life! haha)

Atok : what land? Bangkok is Thai-land

me : (was containing my laugh at this point and my dad was already cracking up on the other end .. haha)

Big Z : heyyyy ... what land is that again?? (and then looks at me strangely, holding the phone away from his face a bit while giving me this look as if to say his granddad is mocking him ... haha)

a short while later, he ended the call with my dad.

Big Z : so ... can architect have money?

me : yea ... they can. you want to be an architect then?

Big Z : hmm ... okaayyyy .. but, i also want to be a train driver so i can drive my own train. but Mummy ... i build the tracks and the buildings too, and then i drive the train.

me : (trying hard to just be supportive and not laugh at 5 year old son's innocent ways) ok sweetie ... you do that then. what bout being a doctor?

Big Z : aawww man! ... so many things i have to do now.

lol


...........................................


that's my son then. makes me wonder what else he thinks about in his busy head.
going back to my own list of ambitions/jobs ... i wonder if he'll end up as a train driver, an architect or a doctor. any of those, none of those, or if he had it his way (his 5 year old way, that is), all of the three! haha ... though let's be real here .. i'm not sure how to react if my child ends up telling me he really truly wants to be a train driver, and nothing else. oh.dear!

and he's F.I.V.E.!!!

you hear it often - "time flies", "has it been that many years already??!". true enough, time really did seem to fly past us. we now have a 5 year old son. how did that happen, ey??

.................................................

previous years, we celebrated Big Z's birthday with the whole commotion, excitement and tiredness that are big birthday parties.

held a month after moving into our own home, Big Z's 1st birthday party also served as a housewarming party. there was no theme that year, but i did have fun preparing favours for the kids. i bought plastic beach pails and filled them with toy cars for the boyss, lil girly accesories for the girls, plus some candy and a lil book for all.

his 2nd birthday was my first attempt at organising a themed party. theme was 'colours' and i had prizes for most colourful guests according to gender and age group. favours were packed into colourful wrapping paper folded into lunch bag type of bag.

my personal favourite was his 3rd party. 'polka dots in blues, greens and dark browns' was the theme. i had so much fun making the favours and invites, i don't mind doing it all over again! how's that for utter mommy madness? haha ...

:: favour bags, each 'polka-dotted' differently; filled with polka-dot DIY wall art kit, handmade doodle book amongst others ::

his 4th birthday saw a different venue. held at my parents', it was the first party i had incorporated games with lots of prizes to give away on top of the individual party favours i had already prepared for all kids. the theme was 'pyjama party in red, blue and white'.

:: favour bags filled with bedtime lotion, toothbrush + chocolate cookies ::

so when this year started, i was gearing up to prepare another themed party for him. turning 5 seemed a rather big deal to me. 4 is still all-too-cute and cuddly an age, but 5 to me, is like the start of a new lil man. 5 year olds are old enough to understand things better, to think for themselves (and often this comes with the consequence of having to put up with their countless of opinions on everything under the sun!) and to show more of what they'll possibly be like in the near years to come. so, while on the one hand, a party to plan and host promised some good fun on my part, i was equally keen on keeping it low-key; just within the family. having a new baby in the family was key to my final decision. it was decided then (with Big Z's approval, obviously!) that we keep it low this year, that Big Z would be celebrating his birthday with just the family. of course, there was also the birthday do he had in school (which the school does for all kids come their birthdays). but big themed party was not in the works at all. nope. not this year.

...................................................

his turning 5 started with the lil party held in school. nothing grand and big, it was just among his immediate class/group mates. the teacher narrated his life to date (as per my notes to her prior to the party date) as he performed the birthday walk to mark his 5 years. following this, the class sang to him and he cut the cake which was very simply decorated by yours truly. he then picked a book to be read to the class during storybook time and then party favours were distributed. short and sweet, enough to leave him happy and shy all the same.

:: favours for the boys ::

:: favours for the girls ::

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three days before he actually turned 5, we had the family over for tea. both sides of the immediate family came and it was again, very simply organized. a bit of food to keep 'em tummies happy, bubbles for the kids, lots of toys from Big Z's ridiculously huge collection (of trains, mainly!) and a lot of running around and screaming was the scene for that day. again, it left him happy and satisfied with the celebration. this time round, we ordered a Thomas the Tank Engine cake since he's been asking for one and seeing as there was no theme to the 'party', a Thomas cake would fare well.

:: favours for the cousins; persoalized ::

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on his birthday, at precisely 1:36pm on Wednesday 20th August 2008 (incidentally, it was also a Wednesday on his actual birth date, 20th August 2003), Big Z was waiting for his fried noodles in Hong Kong Disneyland's Plaza Inn restaurant. that's right. at the very last minute, we decided to fly to Hong Kong for a quick holiday for our family of four. Disneyland was to be the highlight of the trip and that we were to visit the park on his birthday. so visit the park on his birthday we sure did. it was a 'no frills' holiday for us; we flew in, took each day as they came by with very little planning done for each day. relaxing to a certain extent and a good 6 days of spending quality time with only each other. Hong Kong was never a holiday destination i had wished for. never. but in that last minute of wanting to go away somewhere, i had budget, plus amusement for Big Z in mind. Hong Kong was the closest and cheapest. at the end of the trip, i asked Big Z if he'd like to come back to Hong Kong some time. his reply, "no Mummy .. enough of Hong Kong already. too many days in Hong Kong. it's someone else's turn now". lol ... fair enough, i suppose. and by 'someone', he really is referring to some other city/country.

:: Big Z + Baby Z on Main Street Hong Kong Disneyland ::

:: the happy 5 year old ::

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i still on occasion find it hard to believe my son's already 5 years old. as a baby, he wasn't the easiest to care for, for the simple reason that he only really wanted me. honestly, i pretty much did nothing else besides tending to his every need. social life was as good as none for me in his first year especially. but despite the lack of sleep, the abundance of stress and emotional challenges, i wouldn't trade it for anything else.

in Big Z, i not only have a boy to call my own, i now have a lil man to call my best friend (i'm his best friend too, by the way .. though it comes with lots of condition!). he amazes me with his innocent child-enthusiasm for life in general. his meticulous self when drawing trains and designing new tracks is inspiring too. his wit and sense of humour is just entertaining and his love for his family is what i'm most proud and thankful for. i'm looking forward to watching him grow more and to jot his coming antics, interests and pet peeves as he clocks in 5 more years and many many more to come.

mixed plate

a bit on Big Z, a bit on Baby Z, a bit on the one responsible for giving birth to both Zs. haha ...


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me : what's your number 1 favourite animal?

big Z : snakes!

me : eeeewwww ... why?

big Z : coz i like it!

me : k, what's your 2nd favourite animal?

big Z : oso snakes, Mummy...

me : ok ... your 3rd?

big Z : the killing snakes (u'huh ... coz the previous two snakes don't kill, i suppose?)

me : and what's at number 4 ?

big Z : the snakes again ... coz you know ... they don't live in our planet ... so i have to like them too ... they're on another planet, but they can be our friends too, Mummy. (ok ... now planets come into the equation too, i see)

me : and the 5th?

big Z : panda!!!

me : eh? no more snakes??

big Z : no ... enough already with the snakes, Mummiiieeee. it's panda's turn now.

me : haha ... why do you like pandas then?

big Z : coz it's funny, right? you know, like Kung Fu Panda. see ... funny!

me : haha ... and your 6th?

big Z : ohhhh Mummy! that's enough. only 5 times, ok.

me : hahahaha


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and a lil question on Baby Z. any of you have babies or had babies on soy milk? Baby Z is now on soy formula as her previous milk caused her pretty bad eczema. since the switch of milk, her skin's improved but have we got ourselves quite a poop machine now! honestly, her poo has never been more foul than it is now that she's on soy. it's like everytime she takes a dump, it's for the whole week's consumption! haha.


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for those interested in paintings, or possibly just like clicking on links from any one blog you're reading, do click on my 'patterned' blog for some latest paintings i've put up.

got name?

I had just finish feeding Baby Z and was just cuddling and playing with her when Big Z came into the picture.


Big Z : hey Zayaan ... hey Zayaan Atiyaaaa ... is that Zayaan's name, Mummy?

Me : yea, that's her name .. her full name's Zayaan Atiya Izmet Iskandar ... what's YOUR full name?

Big Z : Muhammad Zarif Izmet Iskandar ... right, Mummy?

Me : yup

Big Z : ok, what's your full name, Mummy?

Me : it's Sabidatul Mrika Hajeedar

Big Z : (pauses and smiles with startled expression in his eyes) ... hey ... but that's Atok's name, Mummy!! (looking startled and smirking this time finding it hard to believe his mom) ... and it's your name too??!!

Me : (laughs with him) yes, Zarif, that's Mummy's name .. my full name .. my full name has Atok's name too coz he's my Daddy.

Big Z : (can't quite wipe the smirk off his face) ... sigh ... oh, okayyyy Mummy (still not able to believe his mom completely)


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I guess for Big Z, there's only one Hajeedar .. that's his Atok. So to hear that his Mummy has his Atok's name in her full name was just that bit difficult to grasp. After a bit of staring into space and singing, he resorted to "OK Mummy ... i think i'm going to sleep now ... i'm going to have my Iggy Arbuckle dream now ... OK ... good night Mummy, love you Mummy". And off he went to bed. That was about a quarter to 9pm. By far, the earliest he's gone to sleep! Maybe if I 'shock' him with such facts each night, he'll sleep as early as before 9pm. Heheh ...

he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me!!

Big Z last night. Was telling him to stop playing. It was almost nine and he had to get to bed. This was his response.


"if you scold me, Mummy ... i'll go away. i'll go to all the hotels. everywhere! aalllllll the nice hotels only. and then you come with me".

Say what?

"yea, you come with me to aalllll the nice hotels coz i love you, Mummy .... much and much always".


Glad we got that sorted then! He'll take me with him on his hotel stays, but following him getting scolded by me for not behaving. ... Now for us to rope in the Daddy in this plan. LOL

know your mother tongue, my dear ...

Big Z thinks in funny ways, I'm starting to think that. No wait, I most possibly knew that all this time, but humour me, why don't you? :-)

We generally converse in English to each other. Of course there are the Malay words thrown in between our sentences, but truth be told, it's pretty much English rest of the time for us. Big Z though has decided he should be fair and kind to the maids (once a week I borrow my mum's maid to help me with the housework; rest of the time, I'm THE chief maid at home ;-)) when he's something to say in front of or to the maid. The following were some things he said at different times; the ones I managed to overhear.

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Big Z wanted some cold water ...

"Kakak, nak air cold please. Muhammad nak air cold please".

Firstly, note how he says 'cold water'. It becomes air cold, like one would say in Malay, air sejuk.

Secondly, when he uses a bit of Malay, he's suddenly Muhammad more than he is Zarif.

Big Z was lying next to Baby Z and I was trying to get him in the bathroom for his shower. The maid happened to be just outside the family room we were in at the time ...

"Oh Mummy ... wait just a little bit, ok. Jap je ...... Muhammad nak baring next to Zayaan. Just a lil bit, Mummy".

Again, the Muhammad name is put to use here.

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It was his school's Open Day earlier this week. Had a chat with his teacher and while he's doing well in school overall (for which I'm very thankful and glad), once a week he has a one-to-one session with his teacher for Bahasa Malaysia. Says the teacher, she speaks to him in Malay, he replies in English. He understands Malay, but just thinks quicker and replies accurately in English.

:: Big Z showing me his school work at the Open Day

(more photos over on my Facebook page) ::

So there you have it. My Big Z who thinks he needs to use his first name when conversing in Malay. I just think it's interesting how he's chosen Muhammad to be the 'Malay' name and Zarif the 'English' name. LOL

Big Z speaks ...

Big Z after finishing his sandwich.

Mummy : Zarif, did you wash your hands? ... I don't think so, I didn't hear the tap on.

Zarif : (ponders a bit, complete with index finger on his chin) Hmm ... No, I think so. Yes, I think already. Yes. I think.

Mummy: OK ... you didn't wash your hands. Go wash them now.

Zarif : OK. yea, I forgot, yea ... but don't tell Daddy, ok Mummy??

Yes, he is a lil afraid of the Daddy; with me, I can be screaming away, he thinks I'm still playing. *does he EVER take me seriously*


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Zarif's been having a bit of a sorethroat and cough.

Zarif : (clears his throat quite a bit) Oh Mummy. See! Now I have to do the M, M, M. See, like this. (clears his throat again, this time shaking his head in disbelief)

He can be such a fuss pot and an old man at times!