My Babies

...look like triplets now...
















amir's been having high fever and diarrhea the past 2 days. it started on friday night when he was burning up. he wasnt in a good mood when we went to zu's housewarming. we went as early as possible to escape the lunchtime crowd. the food was great but it was difficult to eat with asyraf walking everywhere and amir being difficult. he even chided angela and i when we talk a bit too loudly in the car.

asyraf's wheezing has gone but i'm still administering the medicine. he's getting cheekier. he loves munching on biscuits and would have a great big smile on his face when eating. he knows to sit when i ask him to "sit down please" after getting his biscuits.

ariff is salivating a lot nowadays. is he teething?

amir's birthday is in a week's time and i'm planning small party for him at school. i bought the favours to match the theme he's chosen at toys r us. i still havent ordered the cake. it'll be a simple mickey mouse cake. i'll be on leave friday next week (since the thursday is a public holiday) so i plan to have the party then. he was so excited he wanted to wear his mickey mouse pajamas that night.
















before the boys were born, i was determined not to use pacifiers. i really hate that thing. but children have a way of pacifing themselves without the actual pacifiers. amir has to put his fingers in his mouth while watching the telly and before sleeping, while asyraf must carry his bottle everywhere.
















i noticed that the teachers have been calling ariff by his second name. how did they decide to call him that? i know i never addressed ariff by his second name. then i realised that it could be from amir. amir would always call his youngest brother "ariff kuuuuwannnnnn..." emphasising (extremely) on the iqhwan rather than the ariff. somehow i'm not too happy about it.

i remember once, someone asked me. it wasnt really asking but more of...tell me!! asyraf was playing near me and he was up to mischief. immediately i went (as i always do when asyraf gets into trouble) "izzuddin..." the person near me asked "so is it asyraf or izzuddin now?!" rather harshly. excuse me...first of all, i'm the mother...i chose the name...its my right to call him by his first, second or first plus second names. secondly...i've never hid the fact that i call him "asyraf" in front of you, so you follow my lead and call him by the same name.

another person also informed me...asyraf will be called acap...like its a known fact and unavoidable. she said it was true and confirmed it by saying all her friends whose name is ashraf/asyraf/ashraff/asyraff are called that. i told her...that's what a friend call because friends do that, they make up names for you, they cut and paste your name, they play around with your name. but just because someone calls his or her friend by a name, doesnt mean that the name is used by everyone. i doubt the person's parents or family members call them by the same name conjured up by a friend.

so for my boys, the A is preferred, while the I is for certain occasions. i think i've got to let the teachers know...

Packing For School

i love packing the boys clothes for school. this bit is like a subset of making lists...that's why i love it.

on sundays i usually prepare their clothes early in the day but for the rest of the week, i put their clothes together when the boys are taking their bath.

amir's bag is pretty easy. during school term, he has to wear his uniform on mondays and wednesdays, his sports attire on tuesdays and thursdays and baju melayu on fridays. i put another set of top and shorts to wear after his afternoon nap. during school holidays, i put a set of matching top and bottom and a t-shirt and shorts for him. since his teachers are toilet-training them and they dont put on their diapers in the morning, i put amir's underwear in his bag. i dont like boys who go around without diapers or underwear. so geli. i still put 3 diapers in his bag, just in case. amir uses probably 2 diapers at most, sometimes just 1 a day, so there are days when i dont need to replenish the stock. amir takes his tumbler of plain water and a tupperware of cookies for him to munch before breakfast. i also put amir's toothbrush and toothpaste starting this month. he usually just brushes his teeth at home but he should start brushing at school too. a towel is included in everyone's bags on mondays and are returned to us to be washed every friday.
















asyraf's bag contains slightly more things. usually i put 2 onesies, a set of top and bottom and another t-shirt and shorts, 4 outfits altogether. i put 5 diapers but i noticed that the teacher uses only 3 or 4 now. i think now that he's moved up 1 level in school he doesnt require his diapers to be changed as often. plus he doesnt get diarrhea much now, so not all of his diapers are used. asyraf's bag also comes with 2 milk bottles that i put in the right and left pockets. currently, i'm in a matching phase. amir and asyraf's clothes must match, at least for 1 pair. it doesnt matter if they match in terms of colour or picture or even the place i bought them. whatever it is, they must match.
















ariff' has more things in his bag. he has 5 top and bottom sets, 6 diapers, a cloth for swaddling, 2 small towels, his baby lotion, nappy cream and a container for his bottles complete with sterilised water. i'm still putting mittens and botties in his bag, but since i dont put them on him when he's at home, i'll slowly ask the teacher to do the same. ariff's baby bath was given to his school on his first day and i'll continue providing his baby bath during the first year, since they bathe in their own room.
















i noticed that the boys dont use as much diapers as they used to. amir is being toilet trained at school so he only uses a maximum of 2 diapers there. plus the 1 he uses at home (if no accidents happen) he uses 3 a day. asyraf is also using less (he was the one using the most, actually) now that he doesnt have diarrhea often. at school he uses around 4, then we change once after his bath and another before he sleeps. in total he uses about 6 a day. ariff use the same amount as asyraf. at school he changes around 4 times, then 1 after his bath and 1 before he goes to sleep.

speaking of sleep, all my boys sleep through the night now, alhamdulillah. amir is no longer taking daily naps. he sleeps quite early and would wake up the last. if asyraf makes a lot of noise when amir is still asleep, he would get up all grumpy. asyraf sleeps early too but he wakes up early. he's usually the first to wake up. during the day he takes either 2 long naps or 3 short naps. ariff, that good little chubby mok mok baby of mine, sleeps from 9pm to 7am. sometimes when we're about to leave the house, he's still sleeping. he doesnt wake up for a night feed anymore too. such a beautiful boy.

Visiting The Doctor

another visit to the peadiatrician today. this time we were given the afternoon slot. seems better actually as we only had to wait an hour, compared to almost two hours if we come in the morning. we were the first in the queue when the clinic re-opened after lunch.

asyraf & ariff had appointments for their monthly jabs while amir followed just for the horse ride. asyraf got more than he bargained for when the doctor said he was wheezing and immediately prescribed the nebuliser. ariff was given the clean bill of health by the doctor. alhamdulillah.
















i felt a lot of parents were watching us when we were waiting for the pead. maybe they were thinking we were nuts to not bring a maid with us, what with three boys to look after.

amir used to be very quiet when we visit the pead and can entertain himself with that one measly toy in the clinic. but now he's out and about and is so active. maybe because now he has a partner in crime in the form of asyraf. they walked everywhere together...and shouted too. god...so embarassing...

after the visit and all the walking and running and shouting, all 3 boys slept on the way home.

oh...i saw the most shocking thing on the way home just now. as we slowed down, nearing the shah alam toll plaza, i noticed driver in the car next to us was driving with a boy in her lap. the boy looked to be around amir's age or slightly older. if you dont believe in car seats, at least buckle him up. he's big enough. but what got me extremely upset was that there were two other people in the car with the driver and the boy. why cant the other two hold him? what were they thinking? then i saw her slowed down and passed the boy over to the person in the seat next to her as she was about to use the touch n go lane. i wanted to stop the car right there and then and scream at her. as meredith grey would say..."seriously!!"

p/s now that the boys have their own blogs for update, i think my entries will be shorter. sad...

New Year, New Look

i wanted to change my blog template for ages but i just couldnt get it in my head, how to do it? i was scared that everything i did on my page would be lost. then on saturday, i worked up the courage to try.

googled for a template site and found this (http://www.isnaini.com/). its created by an indonesian guy. his templates are really nice. i was torn between 4 designs but everytime my eyes went back to my current template. donno why i liked it. i dont really like the colour, maybe its the chocolate...hehe. (zie...i pun tak berkenan sangat initially). it slowly grew on me and i even changed my navigation bar to match the colour (sekarang rasa macam lawa pulak colour chocolate tu, faith)

i lost a few things...my slide, my links which i had to redo, my allignments ran (which i re-did for the entries on the front page). i changed my profile pix and added the boys pix. i even manage to center-alligned the picture. and at the bottom, i added prayer times. got a serious case of headache trying to change and running after 3 boys. but not bad...pretty proud of myself. pat on my back :)

normal...nanti i'll brief you on how to change your template ye?

mock...this is dedicated to you :)

Junior Bloggers

how kiasu a mummy am i? i started a blog for my boys...each! 3 blogs for 3 boys.

the blogs are mostly of photos and updates. i could have started a fotopages account as they will mostly consist photos but me being me...it must all match. so introducing...my boys' blogs...

amir

asyraf

ariff

Names & Plans

plans
i think no one at my age makes new year resolutions anymore. when i was younger, my resolution was always to "not miss prayers". once i achieved that, there was nothing else to list down. "save more, spend less?" that's the last thing a mummy of 3 can do. so this year, i thought i'd look ahead and plan my year. if only i can do the same for work but its just not interesting.

jan - amir turns 3 on 8 jan. take leave on 11 jan. have amir's party at school;

feb - i think my appraisal is due in feb;

march - family retreat is in march (correct tak, being normal?). hubby's due for confirmation;

may - taking leave on 2 may. hopefully the ker-chings will be debited in may. planning to buy water heater and air-cond for the boys' room and settle my credit card bills. ikhwan hasri turns 1. his mummy wants some ideas for his party;

sept - more ker-ching comes in from work and from tssc (insyaallah);

oct - taking leave on 3 oct. little ariff turns 1 on 8 oct. planning his party on either the 18th or 25th. my birthday & hubby's will not be during ramadhan (like the past 2 years) so maybe we'll go out to celebrate with the boys;

nov - asyraf turns 2 on 20 nov. no party this year for him, just a small family occasion;

dec - our big holiday plan. we plan to go off to the UK for 2 weeks. if that plan doesnt materialise, i want to bring the children to disneyland (hong kong being the closest) and take them over to singapore to experience christmas there. all our ker-chings during the year will be saved for this.

nicknames
amir
hubby & i call amir "pot". i dont know how that name came about. it just suits him because he talks a lot and is so cheeky and loves to laugh. the year i had with him was fantastic because he made me laugh with his antics and we were the best of friends...

















asyraf
asyraf is our "bum bum". i call him bum bum because he's got the cutest behind, with that 1 blue dot. he loves to walk around in his diapers which makes him bum bum look even cuter...
















ariff
although ariff looks like amir, he inherited asyraf's size. he's so big and round that we call him "mok mok". out of the three, he was the smallest at birth but he's the biggest at two months. he loves to pull his face back, emphasising his double chin...

Another Boring Raya

another raya...another day of trying. since i didnt do anything for syawal, i decided to cook this raya. opted to make nasi minyak & chicken curry, no need to think of the menu and its easy. as usual, i planned to start cooking while the boys are asleep. hubby said he'd make the acar while i cook. but he slept...so i cooked alone. didnt take me very long. i started around 9:45pm and slightly after 11pm, i finished cooking, cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes, took a shower and was all ready for bed.

i woke up at the usual weekend time. bathed the boys, dressed them in their baju melayu, made the bread pudding, did the laundry and found a green kebaya to match amir. then hubby came down after 9. he didnt dress in his baju melayu (he said since we werent going visiting) and he decided not to go for prayers. sigh...he said he was going out to see his friends for lunch. i was thanking god. malas lah see him without a baju melayu while everyone else was dressed. uh...do we actually need the excuse of going out to get dressed...apa-apa lah....
















breakfast raya morning was nasi minyak, chicken curry, acar timun & nenas, bread pudding & brownies. i loved the food. no, its not great and no, i'm not a good cook but cooking food that i like plus cooking how i eat equals food that is yummy.


















after breakfast hubby slept. i took pictures with amir and played with ariff. asyraf, as usual, was asleep. hubby woke up for 5 minutes and left for bangsar to meet his friends. so the boys and i sat in their room watching monsters inc.
















maybe this raya is not a big deal for hubby. again, apa-apa lah. we've agreed to disagree on how we celebrate raya so no point in bringing up. hey, the boys and i had fun together so that's a plus point for me.

Snips And Snails And Puppy Dogs Tails

are those what boys are made of? children should be made of tougher stuff seeing they always get into accident.

on sunday, amir fell off the chair while eating at the balcony. he now eats outside because of his ants followers. but the chairs at the balcony has a "bare" back. as usual amir cant sit still. one minute he was laughing on the chair, the next he was on the cement floor, crying. he got a big bump on his head and it was bleeding. i quickly took the cold compress and we zapped it on his head. then we gave him paracetamol, in case he'd get a headache. the cold compress took the pain away and he was happily showing asyraf what was on his head.

















yesterday asyraf fell in the kitchen. he was walking, munching his cookie and didnt notice the floor had 2 levels. he twisted his leg slightly and had trouble walking after that. i checked for swelling and discomfort but he was ok. he was still active, in fact. even when we were at the clinic, he wouldnt sit still. he wanted to walk everywhere. hubby and i were a bit worried about letting him walk, scared that he'll aggrevate the injury but the doctor wanted us to let him use his legs so that he wont have a phobia of walking. hubby was worried asyraf would be injury prone, he's put so much hope in asyraf being a footballer (heh...not just him, asyraf's mummy too)

















the accidents made me think of all the times the boys gave hubby & i scares.

amir usually fall from high places - the bed, the high chair in our kitchen, the normal height chairs in the living room and our family area. while asyraf usually falls when walking (except for that one time he fell from the bed). funny how once they fall one way or from one place, they will always fall the same way and from the same place.

if i remember correctly, amir fell 3 times from the bed while asyraf fell once. amir fell 4 times from the chair too. asyraf fell 3 times in 2 weeks while walking. his lips were swollen and his mouth was full of blood he almost choked on his blood. amir once fell while walking that he hit the edge of the door and was left with a swollen eye. amir also fell in his tub full of water and asyraf once fell from his bathtub onto the bathroom floor. i clearly remember asyraf falling next to hubby who was praying. i think i took this photo by accident as i was looking at the camera.

















alhamdulillah none of the falls require visits to the a&e and alhamdulillah hubby & i are usually calm when handling accidents. key word here is usually...there were times when i would cry before the boys cry (particularly during my early years as a parent) and there were times when the boys' pead would give us a long lecture on how to react when there's an accident (ie not to use warm towel to contain a bump, but to use a cold compress - contrary to what the orang-orang tua told us).

Dinner

went to eden at the curve for tssc's birthday. we were only given a choice of sirlion steak & grilled kurau as part of a dinner set. not so sedap. the dessert was also disappointing. usually i love banana fritters ala mode but this one was dry and orangey.
















hubby and i decided that this will be our last dinner outside. we got home almost 11:30pm, the boys were cranky and come morning, their mood still havent improved. from now on, we will decline all dinner invitations, its just too disruptive.

1. the boys schedule goes haywire. they are usually in bed by 9pm. if we were to go out for dinner, more often than not we only get home by 10pm. plus all the changing to pajamas and susu and wind down sessions, they would probably fall asleep around 11pm. one hour of sleep lost equals screaming and crying and whining the next morning.

2. we would have to leave the dinner early to keep to their schedule. what if food hasnt arrived or we're still eating. it would be rude.

3. the boys can only keep quiet for 30 minutes max. that's why hubby and i eat really fast. at home we eat standing up or while walking. more than 30 minutes they will start throwing things, scream, hitting everywhere.

4. our family are morning people. we get up really early and make our way to the mall even before the mall is opened. because of that, we are early to bed family. no matter how late the boys sleep, they will get up around 7am the next day.

5. we have to listen to comments thrown around about how the boys should be treated, by people who see them at most once in two months, as though they know our children better than us. hubby is better at turning a deaf ear than i am.

maybe when the boys are old enough, we'll join the "going out for dinner" crowd again...

Di-Tag-Ed

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
didnt laugh last night since we came back home late. but laughed like crazy yesterday with the girls (as, herza & zu) at work, although that wasnt at night...

2. What were you doing at 0800?
bathing asyraf & amir...

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
eating nasi lemak for (late) lunch...

4. What happened to you in 2006?
got pregnant with asyraf...

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
haa...nanti i buat...

6. How many beverages did you have today?
1 bottle of mineral water & 1 can of coke...

7. What color is your hairbrush?
black, but its more of a comb...

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
bekas of mixed fruit for snack yesterday...

9. Where were you last night?
at home with the boys...

10. What color is your front door?
dark brown...

11. Where do you keep your change?
in my coin purse...

12. What’s the weather like today?
slightly sunny, slightly cloudy, about to rain...

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
espresso in mo...

14. What excites you?
myboys...

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
very much so...

16. Are you over the age of 25?
yup...

17. Do you talk a lot?
of course not...and of course no one believes that...

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
used to but then it got weird...

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
steven gerrard??

20. Do you make up your own words?
no...

21. Are you a jealous person?
yes and no...

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’
alina...

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
all the kaks...

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
hubby...

25. What does the last text message you received say?
"what do hans isaac and awie have in common? they were in the same erra"

26. Do you chew on your straw?
no...rosaklah my braces-ed teeth...

27. Do you have curly hair?
no...

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
eden at the curve for tssc's birthday...

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
cant say...the person reads my blog...

30. What was the last thing you ate?
nasi lemak with ayam goreng...

31. Will you get married in the future?
uh...no...

32.What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
harry potter and the goblet of fire (for the thousandth time...)

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
my 4 boys...

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
10 minutes ago...

35. Are you currently depressed?
no...

36. Did you cry today?
no...

37. Why did you answer and post this?
because its saturday and i have nothing to do...

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
can i tag nad too? lia...azie...maria maria...ckn...and being normal (who i initially thought didnt have time to do tags :->)

When Mummy Is Working...

and daddy has a day off...

and the daycare is closed...