Happy Birthday Dear Rameen

Help Me Be Good

Last night before reading bedtime story to my kids I had a little chat with my elder son about his school. He was so excited telling me about his friends and teachers when suddenly he fed me with this bit of information ; ”Cikgu cakap kalau kita tipu nanti Tuhan akan hantar surat kat ular suruh ular tu masuk dalam rumah dan patuk kita…” I don’t know whether the teacher did say that or he just made up stories, but I was quite annoyed when I heard the statement. I understand the good intention of the teacher but I do feel that it should be done in a proper manner so the kid won’t get the wrong idea. I remembered the book about lying and decided to read the book instead of the usual stories. I bought this set form Grolier since I was 6 month pregnant with my first child. Though it’s a bit pricey I thought of it as an investment for my child. Now after 7 years I found that this series about help me be good is really handy when it comes to instilling values to your kid at least in my case. During the reading session I gave him a few examples, much simpler ones so that he can relate them to his daily life situations. In between of the few pauses of reading and explaining my son keep asking questions and he also provides his own examples. When I gave example about breaking a vase and throw it in the dustbin is also a form of lying, suddenly he interrupted with few strange questions…vase yg macam pasu mama tu ke? Macam mana mommy dia tahu dah pecah? Bila dia tengok kat tepi dan belakang pasu tu ek…? Hmmm…something is not right somewhere…so I said to him by throwing the broken vase the girl actually has made two mistakes…1) breaking the vase, 2) by telling lies to her mother…so when you make mistake the best thing to do is to say sorry. He was quiet after I finished reading. Just right after I switch off the light I heard him mumbling his apologies under the blanket – Ammar tak tipu pasal pasu mama, Ammar dah cakap sorry pasal pasu yg rosak tu…sorry mama…so that confirmed my suspicion about the weird questions. I praised him for being a good boy nonetheless and deep down inside I know that somehow I managed to instill good value in him.

New Chapter

I've stopped writing for quite sometimes so hello again. It's not that I don't have anything to write but I was so engrossed in my grieves and other problems. So many things happened last year and I was lost for words since words were not enough to express my feelings at that time...Hope this new beginning of the year will open a new chapter in my life. I'm up to everything that life might have in store for me...

Nature's Wonder

When my little baby has cough and runny nose it turns nasty due to his narrow airways. It is clogged with phlegm that makes him difficult to breathe. When I took him to the clinic, the doctor said there’s nothing much that could be done since my baby is born premature and still underweight. Since choices of medication are very limited Rameen has to take nebulizer for at least three days in a row and see how the progress goes. If the cough is getting worse then he has to be admitted for suction. He would suffer this every time he has cough and flu. I am so grateful that I’m blessed with kind people around me. My elder son's teacher has suggested that I use traditional Indian remedies to reduce the cough and lessen the phlegm. It’s the cedar leaves – I don’t know what it is called in Malay. It’s very useful and I think it’s good if I can share it. The trick is to apply some ‘vicks’ on the surface of the leaf and heat it on flame for a minute or two then carefully placed the leaf on the baby’s back and chest especially near the lungs. It is believed that the leaves absorb the phlegm and make the baby feel better. She also intoduces me to a very good baby sitter. She helps me a lot in taking care of the baby and continue to do the chores of applying the leaves– well I guess this is a bonus when you send the child to a baby sitter compared to a day care center. I've tried this for a couple of days and miraculously when I took Rameen for check up the doctor aborted the idea of getting him warded.

Now my baby is suffering from the same problem again and with the aggressive outbreak of h1n1 in these days it really worries me.The fact that he’s not yet completed the vaccination is really terrifying because there’s a high risk of him getting h1n1.Frankly speaking the idea of going near the hospital is not really appealing because I know that my son could be exposed to all sorts of illnesses especially the influenza A. Again it's the baby sitter who reminds me about cedar leaves which I almost forgotten about it. So during these few days apart from daily visit to the clinic for nebulizer I applied the leaves twice. Hopefully my son will get better soon. It tearing my heart every time I hear him coughing.

Photo Frenzy

Ammar has aquired a new hobby. He just love snapping pictures and here are a few of his master pieces for display. Of course mommy is 'thrill' and dad says let him explore...he has so many things to discover. It seems that mommy's phone will be on loan untill the novelty wears off...and of course mama's friends will get updates from Ammar every now and then; messages, calls...whatever it might be...;o)

the willing models

little assignment at mama's workplace

favorite show

Technology Savvy

Some people say it's good to expose your children to IT at the early age so that they won't face problems later on. In my case I think I don't really have to expose my 4 year old son to those things because he himself shows an ardent interest in exploring things. Dad's phone has been his favorite toys and the father is very surprise when he realizes that his son managed to operate his phone without supervision. Ammar now has his own lap top, a present from dad so that he could 'work' side by side with dad. As the novelty of the computer wears off he now revert to his old hobby - play with the phone but this time my phone. Now he likes to snap photos using the phone camera and my oh my... he snaps photos of almost everything! Tonight I discover that he has extended his skills to writing message...well I should have expected this to happen knowing him and his little adventures! Just recently around 7 p.m my phone was screaming madly signaling the incoming messages continuously one after another. Everybody was asking about the mysterious message that they got including my EX BOSS. Right after that my mother in law called to check if everything is ok...(so she got the message too).When I checked the phone it seemed like my son had scribbled his ‘hello’ and sent the message to ALL people in the phone book. No wonder!So I had to write an apology to everyone and everybody and later was laughing madly reading all the replies. My friend said it’s very cute and I was about to agree with her but decided to change my mind when I read the last message…well my beloved son had SUBSCRIBED God knows what via the phone and I got a thank you message for that plus the RM5 charges. Yeah...very creative indeed!

Latest Addition to the Family

Finally the baby has arrived...born at 34 weeks ,1 month early like his brother. Doctor said the next child would also be early - if there's a next one...;0P-, so when I'm approaching 30 weeks I better get everything ready and start packing. Oh..forget about the private hospitals because none would accept me as I'd have high risk case/cases so I should book a room at any government hospital for at least 3 weeks. So, here's the little fella...he's now two months and he's already smiling and gurgling every now and then.Only now I managed to upload Rameen's pictures. Most people say that he looks just like his brother and he's more Kudin than Ammar. Well, nampak gayanya mama dapat sakit ngan penat la yang banyak...rupa semua boleh dadad. May be later if we have a girl she will look just like me.

Ammar sayang adik, tapi kekadang tu dengki jugak. Dah kena hempap ngan botol susu, ketuk kepala, baring atas dada...sume dah kenakan adik. Now apa yang dadad buat kat adik mesti kena buat kat dia sama. kalu tak mula la keluarkan ayat-ayat kesian dia..."takde sapa pun yang sayangkan saya" @ "takde sapepun yang pedulikan saya"