Amani is Four Months Old

it feels like forever yet it feels like time just fly by. i feel guilty at times, hoping everything would just speed up and that amani would be sitting and eating and walking and going to school. i should be thankful that she's sleeping through the night and easy with naps during the day.

i'm a bit worried about amani's strength especially her head control. although she can hold up her head, she cant seem to push her head up when in lying position. while not comparing to amira, she does seem more relaxed and not as active as kakak.

while not confirming the fact, i feel amani's inactiveness is due to her heaviness. we have changed her formula hoping that she would be more lean and be more active as a result. i initially planned to change her formula once she reaches the 6 months milestone but i'm doing it earlier as she's been very inactive and i was getting worried.

amani's been toning down her cries. she used to cry...like a lot, like almost every single time she's left alone and tired and hungry and just every time. but she's better now, only keeping her tears for when she's tired and sleeping. she's been drinking at the same time everyday, very on schedule, and i've prepared myself to be ready for her feeding so that her cries would minimise.

amani is drinking usually 4 bottles a day. each time a full 9oz bottle. she does wake up for night feed but only occasionally, maybe around 1-2 times every fortnight and usually around subuh time.

amani's super alert now. her eyes would widen when she hears her abangs and kakak and she would follow their movement whenever they are around her. she would smile at them, laughs when they peek-a-boo with her, responds when they call out her name.

her teeth finally made their appearance after 4 months of waiting just under her gums. when she was discharged from the SCN, the pediatrician asked to monitor her teeth. if they cut the gums early we would have to see whether they needed to be cut as they may pose a risk to her. after 4 months of feeling her gums daily, they finally cut her gums. we'll have to wait for her check-up next month to see what the doctor recommends.

i cant wait for her to turn 6 months so that she can start eating. i'm super excited to give her all the fruits and veggies like i did when amira first started eating.

Happy Second Birthday Amira

masyaAllah...time really flies. seems just like yesterday when i was all in denial, and going through the motion of the 9 months check ups, and planning around all sorts of school events, and of course, the delivery and the back to square one and the nightly feeds and the firsts. and now...she's two.

amira...my sunshine, my screaming partner, my pot-pet friend, my little coach potato, and mini me, whether i like it or not...is two. two lovely years watching this little on grow up right in front of my eyes, planning her daily activities - which is basically just eat, sleep and run around the house - watching her develop and develop further, watching her move from frozen to peppa pig to moana to dora and now to baby shark.

she is such a joy. she's the little baby sister to her abangs and she's the big kakak to amani. she runs and jumps and counts and play lego and sings and carries pinky pie and elmo and scribbles and then she screams and cries and stomps her feet and falls down for a nap before starting her run-jump-count-play lego-sing part II.

amira is so on schedule. she wakes up at the same time everyday, does the same thing when she wakes up, eats breakfast at the same time, waits for the van with abangbee at the same time, waves bye bye and makes a sad face as the van drives off everyday, plays with abang long everyday, naps at the same time everyday and ends her day falling asleep at the same time every single day.

she's now eating a whole range of food, she not a fussy eater at all. she's talking a whole lot, sings like a broken record, picks up new words and new tunes (she's even singing the lite fm jingle in the car), dances to many songs, and loves jumping up and down in soapy (muddy) puddles after her bath.

amira's stopped taking formula and bottle. she's been off milk for almost a month. but she shows a bit of jealousy when amani's takes her afternoon bottle. she's pretty ok with morning and early evening and even nighttime feeds but that afternoon naptime feed, she gets a bit moody seeing amani getting her bottle and she doesnt get any. sometimes she quietly takes amani's bottle after she is done with her feed but just hold on to the bottle, not doing anything else.

amira's talking about school. she says she wants to go to school. i would love for her to join a playgroup but at the same time i'd miss her so so much, so i guess it can wait a bit. i'd like to take my time and survey schools and choose a good one as amani will soon follow suit and i'm not one to change halfway through. now she insists on bringing her lunchbox everytime we send asyraf & ariff to school every afternoon, just to have the feel of going to school.

amira's cake this year (baked by the wonderful juzcakes baker) has a picture of moana and maui. she's very into moana at the moment, and it kinda suits the daddy & daughter birthday combo. we didnt have time to grab her a birthday present but she got a lego set from pappy and she's super happy with it.

Happy Tenth Ariff

it was ten years ago when i was admitted for probably my easiest delivery out of six. pre-delivery wasnt that easy. i actually felt contraction, as in labour contraction and not the pain-nice contraction, for the first time. at 8am, i went to the hospital all pale and in super duper pain and was not at all skipping with joy. but that only lasted over 3 hours because we welcomed ariff before midday.

over the years ariff's been triggering a lot of emotions in us. calm and cool initially, that we could still focus on our emotional asyraf but then he turned into a force to be reckon with. a talkative, tearful, screamer, hitter, whiner (and he has not stopped whining!!) boy.

ariff was a difficult student. its like a cycle with him. he refuses to learn and he's find school difficult, yet he will find school difficult if he refuses to learn. he had a difficult first three years in school, he was constantly bringing home red marks, particularly for maths and science. and not surprising, when he entered year 4, and class streaming commenced, he was in the second last class. it was sad to see but it turned out to be the best thing that happened to him in school. he suddenly brought home his first As for core subjects and alhamdulillah, he ended the school year much, much better and was able to jump up 2 classes. he's not so excited for school and is so motivated to do better.

having said that, ariff's been getting a few prizes at his agama school, particularly in the activities they have during school celebration.

at home, ariff's been super helpful. he sets the table, prepares amani's susu stuff for the night, prepares everyone's water tumbler, he would make up everyone's bed if they all slept in his room, he would bring up the laundry basket & sort everyone's clothes, he would help me get amira ready or at least bring down her pajamas every night.

the downside of ariff is his lack of interest outside of planes and cars. he doesnt like sports, he doesnt like outdoor activities, he's not showing any interest in musical instruments, he doesnt like to be on stage, so his extra curriculur does not shine at all. he tried out archery but that didnt last long but now he has mentioned that he would like to take up swimming. let's see how that turns out.

ariff's also has an interest in cooking or at least would like to know what i'm doing when i'm cooking. my dream is for him to take up a culinary course and see where that would take him. but that's a long way away yet, so we're not setting anything in stone.

happy tenth abadik, you're a big boy now :)