The Boys in London

one of the main reasons why we're excited about the trip is to see from the boys' point of view. of course the reminiscing at kent is wonderful, visiting the stadiums are great, the shopping...jangan cakap lah kan. but to see their reaction and to learn what they absorb is priceless.

we've been telling the boys about the trip since we decided to go back in january. as we plan, they learn. as we discussed, they listen. we were very scared, to say the least. scared of the crankiness, scared of the cry outs, scared of itchiness and rashes, scared of the fever, scared of flu. but alhamdulillah, as we reach the halfway mark of the trip, they have been great (of course with doses of cries and cubits and pukuls here and there).

amir is the best out of the lot. of course being the eldest, he gets to share more with his parents. he's also more adaptable and knows more and absorbs more than his brothers. he's not scared of the weather and sometimes, is so arrogant and would prefer not wearing his winter jacket and gloves - then he shivers and asks to be carried. he understands the places we visit, remembers almost all he saw and relates back to us what he feels.

amir fell ill the first day we were here. a bit of a shock because of all the boys, we didnt expect him to be unwell. we finished off 4 voltaren suppository on him and almost half bottle of piriton. it was the same in langkawi and we have a feeling its because he doesnt eat during traveling and when we arrive he's hit with angin and is lethargic. alhamdulillah amir is not one to be so sickly and recovers quite well whenever he's under the weather. by the 3rd day, he's already up and about and showed no signs of being ill.

asyraf, like amir, understands quite a bit too. going to school early helps him a lot. he's opened his eyes and learn along with amir. he looks up to amir and absorbs a lot when they talk. usually what amir knows, he would speak out loud and asyraf grabs quite a lot from that. he usually parrots amir and if amir is on the right track, more of than not, asyraf follows suit. he doesnt take in as much as amir, understandably, but its good that we dont need to explain in great detail to him as that's done by amir.

asyraf, not surprising, is the first boy to be hit by rashes. his body is full of small rough dotts caused by the dry weather. we've packed a couple of tubes of qv cream and they helped a lot as its not as bad as the one he suffered in perth. but out of the four, asyraf's the only one with dry nose. he doesnt have flu, which is wonderful.

asyraf however is very moody and cranky. if he doesnt get his way he would hit and scream and shout. he was terrible when we couldnt go up the roller coaster in Thomas Land, he was not a happy camper when we didnt get him the toys he wanted in Hamley's, he would cry out bloody murder when we wants to get out of the car after being in it for hours. unlike amir, asyraf doesnt listen to reason and would just scream and shout.

ariff...oh, where do i start with this boy!!!! i dont understand why so many people refuse to accept his true nature and still thinks he's the quiet baby he used to be. that's 3 years ago...he's grown and aged and developed a terrible personality. trust his parents who have seen the change in him. ariff is one hard-headed boy. he would just attack his target without care in the world. if he wants to go somewhere, he would just march to his destination, regardless the danger, the shouts for stop. if he wants something, he would just grab, regardless who owns what he wants, whether its safe or otherwise. that explains why he went missing in doha airport. 1 minute he was seating at the table with us eating chips, the next he was gone. we were right in front of him, at the same table in fact.

when ariff doesnt want to sit in his stroller he would scream and shout. he wants to stand on the buggy board like his abang long and abang but doesnt understand that we cant let him as he is a wanderer. he also refused to sit on the booster seat and was screaming and shouting to be let out. when looked back at him after 5 minutes, he legs were on the windows and his head was on the car floor. just because abang and abang long were not using boosters.

the worst part of ariff is his cries. he has such an irritating cry, complete with a 3-4 fingers in his mouth. terribly irrating...

akmal...oh how beautiful he is. we were scared for him the most. from flu to fever to stomach bug and dirrhoea. and that leads to crankiness and mood swings and tiredness. we had bad signs on the plane coming over as akmal couldnt sleep not being the bassinet and cried out so much. once he got a place to sleep on the second leg of the journey, he was better. when we arrived, he adapted to the cold weather and the layers of clothing so well, it was wonderful. he doesnt bother about the cold, doesnt cry, doesnt get fussy, no problem whatsoever!

he was alright sleeping in the cot the landlord gave, he was ok falling asleep on the strollers while being pushed around the whole day, he's great when he was put into the car seat and would sleep throught the journey. he's ok being smothered with qv cream every time after bath, being slapped on with lip balm every so often, he doesnt mind wearing gloves and snow caps and mufflers. we didnt bring much of his formula, just enough for the flight and first day here. we bought formula here and face the risk he may not like it. but he just frowned and then drank the whole bottle the first time trying 'cow & gate'. he's really so very easy. maybe that's why he's everyone favourite adik baby.

he did get the flu though and had nose bleed but that was about it. the piriton and ibuprofen helped quite a lot. he also hated to bathe in the cold weather. everytime he sees the tub he would scream 'nanakkkkk...' and when asked 'tak nak kenapa?' he would shout 'jukkkkkkkkk...' but once in the tub, he refused to come out.