Selamat Hari Raya

Dear Amir,

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go!

We're heading to Alor Setar for our weeklong Raya hols and will be dropping by Penang for 2 nites on the way back.. yeay!

This Raya we have kinds splurge on you. And consequently that leaves me and papa with just one pair of decent baju raya. Hmmpph.. We've also succumb and got you your first pair of Nike shoes btw.. mama yang excited! We've also tried some of the raya gear on you so that you get used to it by the day.. (lesson learnt from your birthday party)

Hope our journey today will go well and safe ..stay put in the carseat ok?

Selamat Hari Raya to all. Maaf Zahir BAtin from me and family. Hope you have a blessed and great one. Also, drive safe... Ta!

It's 14 months la..

Dear Amir,

When we were out last few days, a mom with a little girl who was sitted next to our table during berbuka asked me how old you are. I confidently answered "15 mths". She then glance to her little cute girl and said that she is a month younger. Then we were sharing random info about you and her. Then the father came and the lady related our conversation to him. "Oh.. he's a June baby then. She's born on 2oth July." he told me. I realised then that I was a dufus and has just forgotten how old my son was.. it's 14lah Mama.. Amir's 14 mths. Around the same time i realised that I owe you this entry.

So 14 months now eh boy?

14 is always my favourite number and this 14th month has been wonderful so far. You're beginning to find your appetite back (after the series of fever). Your fav food is satay, cheese crackers and karipap - you definitely take after your Papa's palate. Yesterday, you were introduced to a good bowl of laksa utara.. and i think you really enjoyed it judging from the slurp and the 'aaaahhh ..' that follows after every mouhtful. You also prefer to self feed now, especially when given a chance to use the spoon.. not that you get any food in pun. Sometimes, when i feel like it, i just let you have fun with it. In fact bottle feeding has reached another comfort level now that you're willing to hold your own bottle and cleverly hand me the bottle sometimes with the cap once you're done. Even in the wee hours of the morning. Even when you're in the stroller.

You have also mastered a new word.. "Nok" which is really Nak (I want) in Kelantanese slang. I'm very pleased that you took after the slang.. and it made it extra cute when you insist on things, mostly food. "Nok..mamamamaa...nok!" Hahah.. i'm getting ambitious and hope the next word will be "tokse" which is tak nak (I dont want). But really, i didnt make a concious effort to teach you the slang anyway.. which shows that your parroting skill is kicking in.

You comprehend a lot of things too now. You understand what to do when we ask you to 'sit', 'sleep', 'salam', 'put back' and 'close'. We thought you to salam recently since Hari Raya is around the corner, half hoping that this new trick will earn you big angpow.. haha..opportunist betul. Just a few rounds of demo was all you need. But when you do salam, it will be sometimes followed by a quick retract of the hand and you clapping away in pride (as though you've achieved something - i think your friend Yazid went through this once too!). Sometimes it is accompanied by a kiss, either a sloppy one complete with the sound effect orr you'll draw the person's hand and rub it against your cheek. Cuteness!

Despite all these happy development, we're also beginning to see the onset of the terrible twos behaviours. The tantrums, the shrieking.. the never ending energy to do almost everything at odd hours of the day. Especially now that you wake up during sahur, sometimes.. and refuses to sleep after that. But so far you havent been avoiding my cuddles yet.. and for that I'm so happy. In fact you love cuddling so much, even more. Perhaps you understand that soon you will have to share me with a more needy dependant baby. Most nites now, you'll doze off my arm as your bolster.. ( a good one that is.. one of the benefits of having a 'fleshy' mom..haha) It breaks my heart that I have to wean you off our bed around this time too.. in preparation for the next bed invader. But the progress been great though, so I guess I have to tough it up and cherish the fact that you're cooperating.

Tok Ma said you're learning so fast now that when we didnt go over to her house during weekends, she'll find you doing new stuff by Monday. Haha.. It's been fun watching you grow day by day. I hope I will remember to still indulge and enjoy this when adik arrives. Sometimes when i think about it i feel overwhelmed that we're gonna have another child soon cos having you alone is already so much fun! I cant wait to see you grow as an elder bro soon. I bet you'll be a dotting one. Whatever it is, you'll always be my baby.. i love you and nothing in the world can ever change that. Happy 14th mth Amir!

Jazmibear 32

Dear Amir,

Today, the love of our lives, our fav guy, Papa, turned 32.

The three of us spent some time together running errands and doing some last minute Raya shopping (finally!). We also went for my check up and saw 'little adik' squiggling around. You were in the best mood throughout everything. It was tiring, but we had fun didnt we? After buka puasa (you ate porridge and buns like there's no tomorrow) and running after a cute girl, you doze off in the stroller giving us a chance for some dessert n lepak2. But Papa was worried that you would be uncomfy and start to cry in the middle of our planned 'romantic supper', so we went home instead..

But i do have a surprise installed for him later : )

Pls keep it between us k Amir? :P

To my beloved husband, my best friend and my favourite bear (haha!)

Happy Birthday dear and hope you have a blessed life ahead with lots of cuddles from your loved ones.. : )

Thank you for every single thing that you have done for me, for us.

We love you so much and more...

And.. the surprise..tungguuuuu...

Love,

Your Noreenbear and Budak Tembun

Raya shopping - the mission impossible

Dear Amir,

This weekend is the last weekend before we head back for weeklong balik kampung to Alor Star. So, i tot i'd squeezed in some last minute shopping. Noticed that you only have one baju melayu (your first!) and that's it, for Raya. I dunno wat got into me but i really dont have mood to shoplah lately (maybe cos no money..haha!)

Aunty Adniz gave birth to her lovely firstborn girl on Thursday nite. So we made plan to visit her the next day while including a short shopping trip before/after the visit. But we left late, and tak sempat for anything except for the visit n then buka puasa on the way back. You were also cranky by dinnertime, so that's it lah. Anyway, the little girl was soo tiny and cute. Very sharp features for a one day old! You enjoyed the trip playing around with Uncle Khalid and was in the best of mood. But when i held the baby, you started acting weird and got clingy. I think that was jealousy, and it was our first time seeing you react like this. Hmm.. how timely..

On Saturday, i kong-ed. Cant stand, bend over or even watch tv cos i felt very nauseous. I cant even talk at some point and it's a big deal cos I havent experienced such thing in this n previous pregnancy. So basically my plan to clean the house and then go out for the much anticipated shopping trip went down the drain. Thank God you decided to just hang around and nap for 3 hours! When i felt a bit better, we went out to visit my old friend and then buy our dinner. So again, no shopping.

Yesterday, we went to KLCC, to accompany Papa who went for his site visit at a nearby building. Papa dropped us at Isetan.. how strategic! Isetan was having a 3 days only mad sale, and i immediately KIVed a few items to purchase for you, but shopping alone with you made it quite impossible. So we hang around at the toy/play section while waiting for Papa. When Papa arrived, i quickly gave him a rundown of what we should get for you. He was agreeable but for some reason we walked out of Isetan and decided to scout for place for berbuka instead. That leads us to KLCC park.. dont ask me why. And here.. i'll just let the pics do the talking.. We didnt bring a cam along, should have, but then again it was suppose to be a shopping trip right.. There were many ppl with their supercool SLRs around the park, and quite a number stopped to take your photo.. and you, my boy were grinning away macam bagus! Anyway, again, we end up berbuka and left home empty handed

So, basically our last weekend, which was supposed to be very hectic and see everything done (ie shopping, cleaning house, sorting out baju to bring back) went by just like that, and nothing was quite achieved.. hehe. But i enjoyed our weekend out though.. we should do it more often.

Being fair

Dear Amir,

As much as I want to claim myself as a visionary far sighted person, the reality is i'm a not.

Hence, when I wanted to create a blog for you, amirchampion seems like a nice name. (and it
was available!). What i failed to see was that we want to have many kids.. and now with 'little adik' on the way, i'm contemplating how i should make room for the arrival without taking your personal space.

I didnt get a chance to track my pregnancy progress with you. Partly in fear that it'll jinx the whole process.. (adeke?). With little adik, i think i want things differently. The only thing is, is it fair to write for/about little adik in your journal here? Or should i create one solely for him/her too? And if we do end up with 5 kids (your Papa is still hopeful), does that means I'll have 5 blogs to handle?? Haha.. i'm quite certain that's quite ridiculous.

So here starts the dilemma for me as a parent. Keeping this equal and fair for everyone.

But i think i've decided, I'll be fair (and realistic) to myself. You get the privilege as the big bro. As 'the leader'.. so amirchampion it is. But from now on, it'll contain about my other little championss (insyaAllah). I hope you dont mind. You must also starts to learn to share, right? And i really wanna start you early. But of course, you'll still be the main cast. For now. : )

Manja little abang!

Ramadhan and my food cravings

Dear Amir,

Yesterday we started fasting. That explains why both of Papa and I have been waking up in the middle of the nite to eat! I know you looked very confuse when you woke up at 5am to see us makan nasik but that's how it works and it's called sahur. When you're older, i'll teach you about the whole deal ok?

The start of this Ramadhan was ok for both of us. I cooked on the first day. Nasi jagung and your Papa's favourite ayam masak merah. We also had fresh watermelon juice, which was also enjoyed by you. Today we settled for what Papa bought from pasar ramadhan. I made popiah, been longing for homemade popiah. Those popiah they sell with overflowing sauce on top doesnt do it for me lah. By the way, Papa was really upset with his purchases.. macam tak ikhlas berniaga he said.. pity him. I'll try to cook more often if i have the energy to.

Papa was a bit concern about me fasting since i'm still in my early weeks and been having headache quite often, especially when i'm hungry (but couldnt eat cos loya). But i think with good niat, God will help me through it. Well, first day was fine.. in fact i managed to cook n clean up the kitchen, mop the whole bedroom cos you suddenly puked while happily playing (?), change the bedspread.. quite somethingla since we havent been sleeping well the last two nites since you were very restless and wailing like never before. In fact the only reason you stop was because you lost your voice and Pooh was in sight. (We wont be having Pooh for a while, cos you vomitted all over your poor friend the other day)

Anyway, talk about food and all, i've been having 'some' cravings (already??). But luck or rezeki has really been on 'little adik's side. Last 2 weeks, I crave for Pasembor Penang and was in fact planning a trip with Papa there, that very evening, we went for a neighbour's bday party and guess wat?? Pasembor was the main item.. sedap pulak tu! I told the host I was craving for it and help myself to a few servings of the treasured dish. haha... tak malu! Then last week, I wanted JCo Donuts.. promptly enough Uncle Wan was in Sunway Pyramid so he bought me a box that evening. I never ate donuts that many and that fast in one go!

I also got my Tony Roma's onion loaf. We went for Tony Roma after your/my check up the other day(belated anniversary) and that was the main thing i ate even though we ordered quite a number of things. Then last weekend, we went for Nyonya food, cos suddenly i found myself drooling over some pics of assam fish and pandan chicken. Also last weekend, our neighbourhood was suppose to have a bbq to menyambut ramadhan, but it was changed to steamboat instead. I was frustrated. That nite itself, Tok Ayoh Loh called asking us to go over and help them finish the abundant bbq lamb, leftover from their earlier makan2.

All I can say is alhamdulillah. Hope i havent been melampau with all these sudden urge to eat this and that. Papa is worried that 'little adik' is going to be a spoilt baby, with an expensive taste too.. hehe.

But one thing remains elusive - the authentic 'aussie' shawarma kebab complete with tabouleh, sour cream, melted cheese n all. Just like the one the lebanese sell in australia. The one that I've grown tired of when we were in australia, cos that's the easiest, cheapest halal food around. And now i'm craving for it.

Which is almost sad cos I've been craving for it since my pregnancy with you. And now it's back.

We'll see if i'm in luck this time.

Nonetheless, alhamdulillah for all these rezeki Ya Allah and wish everyone a blessed Ramadhan ahead.

p/s: Papa bought kebab from pasar ramadhan today, but the soggy piece of pita overflowing with cheap sauce is no consolation i'm afraid. Thanks dear... i appreciate it how you try and try..