Reality Check

off the topic of the trip for a weekend. this weekend is dedicated to finalise the boys' school items.

i've bought amir & asyraf's school bags a couple of weeks ago. used up the isetan vouchers i got during the k amazing race. the boys both wanted toy story bags. unfortunately there was only 1 design, so i bought the same for both of them. i wanted a slightly smaller bag for asyraf, him being smaller than amir but had to settle for the only 1 sold. also bought their water tumblers for school. ariff also got a new school bag. he wanted a bullseye bag but i could not find any (maybe because bullseye is only a supporting character...sorry ariff!) but we managed to pujuk him with a nice mickey mouse bag & water tumbler. akmal has a thomas bag that we used for weekend jalan-jalan and since its off a good size, he'll use it for school next year.

hubby and i went over to 1utama to get a few things, amir & asyraf's school shoes and socks, among them. went to bata but could not find any in their size...weird. i wanted to get a bubble gummers pair in beige but hubby said to be safe and get a white pair. so we walked some more and i stopped just outside parkson where they were selling bags, uniforms, shoes and other school-stuff. we decided on a nice ben10 pair in white for both of them, amir in size 11, asyraf size 10. we also grabbed a few pairs of socks on the way to the cashier. the boys dont need to get books and stationeries just set, so school stuff is done.

in a few weeks time, both will be starting the new year in their new school. i'm a bit anxious, sometimes i feel like its my first day of school. the registration's been paid, documents & pictures been sent. we're waiting for the timetable so that we know what they'll be learning in school as well as what to wear on which day.















amir's pretty excited about the new school. he's a bit upset about leaving haziq, his best friend though. everytime he talks about his new school, he would ask 'haziq sedih kan mummy?' i'm sure he is, amir. he's also been asking haziq to come over to the house on weekends. its even sad for hubby and i to see the 2 part, haziq's been amir's best friend since they were 2 years old. apart from haziq, he's quite looking forward to the new school. he's very excited about learning english more intensively. he's been trying to use english at home but its a bit difficult when he doesnt know many words and when his brothers dont converse in english. i guess it turns him off sometimes.

asyraf, on the other hand, is kind of so-so. he's pretty ok with the thought of going to a new school, he calls it 'mat reader' for smart reader. he doesnt have a close friend that we know of, he's leaving behind. more of a favourite teacher, than a close friend. but at the same time, he doesnt understand english as much as amir, so its quite worrying sending him to school which uses english as the main medium. i do hope asyraf can adapt quickly with the change. he's been doing so well in school, it would be terrible if the change brings him down.

we're thinking of circumcising asyraf when the school term begins. yes, a bit weird when others do it during school holiday but we're a bit busy now and we'll be away very soon. maybe we'll do it nearer the chinese new year break at least we'll be home to keep an eye on asyraf. once that is done, we'll be happy parents of 4 circumcised boys...finally (rolling eyes towards a certain EI). on a similar note, all boys are up to date with their immunisation. they're pretty much have settled their primary jabs, amir and asyraf only has the 6-year-old jab while ariff and akmal has the 4 & 6-year-old jabs pending. once those are done, we're sorted.

ariff now is in his toilet-training phase. we're been over-using the 'let daddy & mummy know if you need to doodoo and pee' sentence for a couple of weeks now. we've tried on and off but always met with accidents. this week ariff's been diaperless in school. i think he's had 3 accidents in school and 2 when he's at home but the past 2 days have been better. the problem about ariff is he would not open his mouth when it comes to things like that. he would not let anyone know he needs to go to the toilet and that's where toilet-training becomes a hassle.

what is even more irritating is ariff would cry easily and cry non-stop when the slightest thing doesnt go his away but to open his mouth to let us know he needs to go to the loo is such a burden for him. our patience is sorely tested with this boy at the moment.

akmal, alhamdulillah, has been fever-free for 2 months. i was a nervous wreck when it was almost a month to the time he last had his fever but, alhamdulillah, the high temperature didnt come. he did have other stuff - slight flu, stomach bug, diarrheoa but that was it. nothing major that had him sporting a high temperature. he was well enough to get his final primary jabs about 2 weeks ago. hopefully the monthly fever phase has passed.

akmal's changed a bit in school. his favourite teacher aka cikgu fakin aka mama left early last month. akmal's been on his own since then. he has another teacher to berkepit but its not the same. akmal last saw his teacher when the boys had their convocation, fakin requested akmal be sent over after the convo ended and he stayed with her until he slept that night. now he calls her quite often. smiling and laughing when he hears her voice over the phone.

akmal's grown up a lot over the past month, he's picked up a few things. he absolutely love to sing and dance to the '1-1, saya sayang ibu...' song. he loves pointing to his nose, head, ears and eyes, he loves to eat - he can finish 3/4 of an adult portion of fried rice, he can say a few words here and there 'susu', 'seluar', 'tak nak', 'nak', 'daddy', 'meow' are the main words. his favourite question is 'ne??' as in mana/where. its the same question for everything said to him - akmal, ambik towel tu...akmal, jom ikut mummy...akmal, sapa letak bottle sini. his reply would be...'ne??'

while he's grown a bit, he's pretty much the same - still falls asleep easily, and still sleeping in his cot, still easy when he's out with us, stays put in his stroller, car seat or the high chair, plays comfortably on his own, still using his changing table after his bath time.

ahh my boys. they grow up so fast *sigh*