The Good Cancels The Bad

the year didn't start out in a positive way. coming down from a high, after a terrific, terrific holiday (did i mention it was oh-so-terrific??), we were faced with amir's hernia surgery. then it was work & work all the way, non-stop until end march. everything about this 'work' was, errr i reserve my comments but those who know would know.

another major negative bit that happened early this year, was an eye-opener. one of my very best friends, whom i considered my closest friend ever, turned out to be a great disappointment. the hurt is beyond words, i still can't get over it and don't think i ever will. i've always heard people say, don't give your trust 100% but what would a friendship be if there's no full trust. but alas, when you give your all, this is an example of what can happen and 100% can turn into a 0%, and maybe that's worst than a 90% becoming say 50%. ok so now the mathematics side of me is talking. whatever number i assign to it, the trust built over the past years have deteriorated and it would take a lot of work to grow it back. unfortunately i don't feel up to sowing back the seeds. ok, so that's my emo bit for the year. tis so embarassing to emo-nise my blog/facebook...oppsss itu bukan saya, saya tak pathetic macam itu hahaha.

so off to the sunshine in my life - my little EAIs. not so little anymore, they have been growing right in front of my nose! one important growing up factor - all of them are circumcised!! yeay to the mummy who stayed the course and prayed every night and day for this day to come. i still blame you-know-who for going back on the circumcision decision (they rhyme!) way back when. so now that they're all cut-ted and cleaned, one major phase is out of the way. another one is of bottles and formulas. shoo away! akmal have been formula-less and bottle-less for exactly one month now. okay, so there have been instances when he cried so much in school seeing his friends with bottles that his teachers give up and give in to him but i'm not counting them because they were beyond my control and out of my jurisdiction. just in time with my aim to stop bottle-feeding at 2 years old. again, yeay! so now there's no more bottles and formulas and milk time in our schedule.

individually, i've seen many, many developments with the boys. amir & asyraf have somewhat grown together. both of them, at the new school, have started reading. they have taken up the skills at a faster rate then i expected. earlier on it was difficult because i was too excited and they were not at the same pace as me. there were a lot of screaming and sighing and frustration but they've proved they can do it. so well, in fact, that 4 months on, amir has been selected to represent his class in a spelling bee and asyraf is one of the 3 black pearl-ians up on stage in a story telling competition. i can't ask for more than that and i'm such a proud mummy.

another good thing i like is the discipline both boys have. not in every aspect of their lives (tho i'm praying endlessly for that) but more of what to do before going to school & what to do after coming back from school. in the morning they bathe and brush their teeth and dress themselves. then its picking up their bags, making sure their tumblers and lunch boxes are packed (i usually just leave them on the dining table) then putting on their shoes and once in school, walking to their classes. every evening, they would put their shoes next to the door, the dirty clothes in the basket and the tumblers and lunch boxes back on the dining table then off upstairs for their bath and they dress in their jammies waiting for bedtime. on schedule, every day. wonderful!

amir's slowly coming out of his no-eating phase. he's still skinny and scrawny and all skin and bones but he's been showing some inclination to actually eating recently. he's still somewhat choosy about what he eats - cereals, bread, some types of rice instead of just lauk, pizza, burgers, eggs & beans, grapes but he's still not a pasta fan and he just stay away from white rice and some lauk. i hope he picks up better eating habits as he'll be off to primary school next year where teachers pay less attention. plus he needs the energy to stay in a class for 6 or more hours.

asyraf is like a balloon. sometimes he looks small and lite, sometimes he sports a round tummy as thought he's been eating for 5. he is forever asking for nasi lemak and can take 2-3 bowls of pasta. not a big fan of non-white rice except nasi goreng. he eats a lot and drinks a lot. asyraf is quite easy when it comes to drinks - he's a fan of plain water and milk. that's it. he doesn't drink much of something else, maybe the occasional milo kurang ais. asyraf memorises a lot of things. we thought amir had excellent memory but asyraf surpasses him. he remembers 'the gingerbread man' and 'the 3 billy goat gruff' and his many, many peter & jane books from cover to cover. but he can't remember to bring home his tumblers and lunch boxes and communication book, argghh!

ariff and akmal are my next set. they are close. akmal calls ariff 'dikkkkk', which is short for abang adik that sometimes he acts like he's the elder one. they are forever laughing in the car which is beautiful to hear after a long day in klcc plus the journey back and forth. akmal holds the record for crying whenever he's left in school - he's been doing it for 2 years - but he can remain calm if ariff is dropped off in his school with him. ariff comes home with 'mummy, tadi kita main lari-lari dengan akmal dekat taman'. i think they seek each other out during their evening plays and its wonderful to hold that thought in my head.

foodwise, they are identical. both of them love food and are forver eating & munching. rice, pasta, soup, cookies, cereal, cheese, anything. at the dining table, they would be the last 2 leaving their chairs. after leaving their tables, they would continue eating on the stairs, in front of the tv and even in the bathroom before screams can be heard for them to put their food outside. they drink loads too. they have their own tumblers in their rooms. akmal would drink until he's gasping because he loves water. he's only on plain water and fresh milk. he hates any other drinks, not vitagen, not cordial, definately not any flavoured drinks.

school wise, they are miles apart. ariff is now in tadika while akmal has finally accepted the fact that he needs to be part of the 2-3 playgroup class. he's been hiding in the 2 year old room since the beginning of the year, refusing to go down with those in his age group. ariff is a lazy boy in school, he refuses to write, colour, do maths, everything. he can't even write simple 1-10 or A-Z. he gets scolding in school and at home. he takes his time and refuses to listen. very frustrating and is even worse than asyraf was at the same age.

akmal on the other hand, is a surprise. after the 3-months drama of refusal to go down, he was forced down when he turned 2 years old, right smack when the playgroup class had their exams. his teachers were not sure if they wanted to let him sit for his exams but he showed interest and he sat for them and he got no 2. he's also excited to participate in his first sports day and have been performing pretty well during the daily practise sessions. let's see how he performs on the actual day next week.

amir acts like the typical big brother. he's always showing off he knows more than his adiks. he's always correcting them when they're singing or writing or dancing or reciting a movie script. but at the same time, he's very brotherly and protective. he knows what asyraf is up to in school and hugs akmal everyday when we come home. he assigns everyone a character or a colour and ensures everyone keeps to them. one thing about the boys, when they are assigned a characters or a colour, they really stick to them. if they are given the wrong colour of cup or bowl they would nag til the cows come home. once i wrongly put amir's tumbler into asyraf's bag. when they came home they greeted me with a - mummy, salah botol lah nanti kita kena jadik buzz lightyear pulak, mana boleh, kita woody - from asyraf.

asyraf and ariff are almost similar. being the middle boys, they can be the abang or the adik depending on the situation. akmal is, of course, the baby. he's extra manja and soft at heart, at home and in school. when he cries everybody run to him, when he's laughing everyone laughs with him. he's given the last bite or the leftover since he's the baby. akmal, in some way, is similar to amir as they're both very emotional and feels attached to everyone. he's easy to talk to like amir. i think out of the 4 amir and akmal would become my friends when they grow up. asyraf & ariff are a bit too in their own world to pay attention to mummy's problems and woes. but similar or different, they are excellent, they are stressful, they are funny, they are devious, they are loved, they take my bad phase away.