The Clever Boy

Oh my...this entry is about to applause my handsome boy.

You know Emir, he is 4 years old this year. But he still doesn't look like 4. His speech/vocab not that varies and still on diaper. Compared to Zahra, she was potty trained at 3 years old. It's a one year gap.

I think, part of it, because I still treat him like baby. But on my defends, he does look like a baby. So adorable and baby-like. Hahaha..seeeeee!

Anyway, we had PTC (parents teacher committee) meeting last two weeks and we were strongly advised to potty train him, because he's going to be in 5 year old class next year, which is big boy already. The funny thing is, the teachers are ready to potty train him at school, but of course we need to do it as well at home. So, all this while, mommy yg tak ready. So after the PTC, I am keen to do it.

I was like "Ok, let's do it now, like nowwww" Haha semangat ok.

The most important part is to ready myself, because I'm the one that going to clean his "accidents" right, plus my husband la. So I am ready and said to Emir;

"Emir..today kita tak pakai diaper ok? Emir dah big boy. Kalau Emir nak kencing, let mommy know, we go to the toilet together"

He insisted to wear diaper, I think because he feels a bit empty down there? But after few days of persuasion, he finally agrees not to wear a diaper.

And guess what...

Not a single accident happen! After 2 weeks. Except for one time he was scolded sampai nanges2 and then he peed in his pant.

Wowwwww... I never thought potty training him will be this easy. Alhamdulillah! Such a clever boy.

During the first few days, I did asked him like every 2 hours if he wants to go to the toilet. But after that, he will tell me if he wants to. No need to monitor already. 

We even went out diaperless, to a speech therapy session and a visit to Aquaria. But at Aquaria I have to insist him to go for toilet break within the tour because my mother's instinct says so. So he peed in the public toilet and no accident at all. MasyaAllah..such a brave and confident boy. Mommy so proud of you and I thank God but this easy path.

The only problem now is on the poop part. He will wear diaper to poop, which is not a big deal to me. But my worry is, he poop less..I think because he doesn't want to poop since he is not wearing the diaper all the time. He just don't know how to ask for the diaper. Previously, he pooped after woke up while still on the diaper (from last night). So, I need to remind him all the time, that it is ok to poop. You don't have to hold it!

Other than that, you are doing great my handsome boy! Keep it up and don't worry about the pooping part. Mommy tak marah lah! Hehe.

It's been a while..

Oh hi, blog?

Woww...it's been like, almost a year I leave this space. I'm pretty much alive and kicking, and I do exist in social media, except they are very brief (instagram, FB) and gosh, it makes me realize how much I love a very lengthy writing, which only blog can provide.

There are times when I feel like writing bunch of things, but privately. But then, I didn't because I feel that those things need to be shared cause it might benefit others? Even in the simplest word, who knows. And then, when the thought of writing public comes up, I back off because it scares me. I've observed for quite some time and thing has really change. Social media has become a scary thing nowadays. People tend to see the negative instead of the positive and there are lots of bullies out there. I am not scared of the bullies, it's just the negativity that is not worth it.

But then, I want to share, even though the stories seem petty.

Oh well, such a fickle minded.

So!

Here I am rambling again.

After some thought, I really feel that I need to blog. Oh, not need, but want. So, just do what I want as long as it brings good? That's my thought for now.


Somehow I feel writing feeds my mind. So, this will be a new start, and for a better one, insyaAllah! ;)

IKEA Chilli Crab and I'm not leaving ;)

Chilli crab buffet!

First, I love this crustaceans but we rarely eat out these days due to very hectic schedule and with two growing up kids? I rather tapau KFC and eat in front of the TV.

So, this is kinda impromptu action. It started like this..

We went to the IKEA on the weekend (before the buffet) because nai-nai promised to bring Zahra to the IKEA kids playground. So while waiting around, I saw this chilli crab banner and said

"Sayang!! We must go to this event!"

If you know me, I'm quite impulsive, compared to MrComot whom is well planned type. And since our schedule is very hectic, I didn't really mean it. I mean, I just say that I want to go..but I know we won't go haha. It just something that splurt out from my mouth (and my mind? LOL). Plus it was on weekdays. Totally a NO, right? rush back from work and not.

And until that day (Tuesday), around 4pm like that, MrComot whatsapp me if I want the crab thingy and I was like...what? It is totally unplanned ok. I mean, I already plan what to cook that night, and I didn't tell my MIL to pick up my kids. And it is weekdays!

But it's kinda exciting, so we made last minute arrangement for my MIL to pick up the kiddos, and MrComot will pick me up at home right after work. The thing is, he is in Cyberjaya that day, and the traffic was mean!.

The buffet  has 2 sessions, one at 6 and another at 8. Just around 7.00PM I noticed that you HAVE to buy a ticket before going in, and obviously I didn't buy any...so I called up IKEA and they said I still can buy it at the counter after the buffet has opened but no reservation, it has to be first come first serve.

I was thinking to go to IKEA first and buy the ticket, tapi malas la pulak nak drive 2 cars. So just gamble la to go there later.

We reached there around 845PM and thank God they still have slots for us.

What a luck!

Welcomed by this gigantic grab

The crowd wasn't crazy like normal days (where you have to queue and scout for tables). We still need to queue and wait for few minutes coz the staffs need to refill the crabs. It gone in jiffy the moment they put it in the tray! The carnivore in us haha. 

Three trays of crabs and replenish almost immediately, all the time

Swimming in chilli gravy

Dessert. Some pudding and pie. I didn't manage to taste any :(

The famous IKEA meatball

Mashed potato and gravy

Poached salmon with chives gravy, which I didn't get to eat at all due to time constraint. And full belly of course.

The main attractions is the chilli crab. But they also served their famous IKEA meatballs and poached salmon. The desserts were pudding and brownie which I didn't have any as we were busy savoring the crabs from beginning til end. Eating crab is really time consuming and 2 hours is not enough! In fact, we were among the last persons to exit the kitchen hehe..

MrComot digging in

This is fried mantou to be eaten with the crab gravy. The mantou sangat sedapppp!! It's crispy at the outside and so soft in the inside. It's kinda sweet actually, so I think they fried it with some sugar, hence the crispiness and thin glaze at the outside.

The aftermath. We had like 6 crabs each and totally worth the money.

And greedy human being greedy human whenever it comes to buffet, they took like everything and didn't finish them, like this table that I saw when we were walking out of the restaurant, still has a FULL plate of meatballs, which easily can feed a group of people :(

See the leftover in the middle? Such a waste :(

About the chilli crab, the gravy has good balance of spiciness, sweetness and sourness and very tasty. But the crab itself is kinda bland. They poached the crab separately and then pour the gravy on top of the crab. The crab is not sweet either, I think they are being frozen or being poached for too long.

Overall, it's worth your money since the extra food is quite good (plus salmon is not cheap ok). And they give back IKEA vouchers worth RM10 per card member. Not bad right? But if you are a crab lover, chilli crab is not IKEA's forte I'll say.

Last but not least, this dinner really come as a big surprise to me. Knowing my husband and his bz-ness, I really didn't expect it.

Come to think, must be because I was talking to him earlier, about why women leave (from marriage). Not that we were in argument at that time, but just so happen I stumble upon the article and intrigued about the finding, so I share it with him for fun-fact of the day session - random stuff we talk in the car.

So back to the article, says the marriage counselor, the women leave not because of the husband is bad or what, but they leave because he's not present. Being there doesn't mean you are there. So, pay attention to your wife ok? Hehe.


Edited: Gigih I cari the article to share because it's really interesting and I honestly think it's the truth.

"Women in my office tell me “Someone could come and sweep me off my feet, right out from under my husband.” Sometimes the realization scares them. Sometimes they cry."

It IS scary to me. Go read the full article here ;)

http://www.justiceschanfarber.com/marriage-why-women-leave-cheat/

❤ Earth Costume ❤

Ok, so do you still remember my last year project where I did some mascot costume for my kids' sports day? It involves few character and one of them is earth!

I've blogged about the previous one in this entry - Cloud Costume

So, earth costume is a bit constructional. I really have no idea what is the best way to make it. Initially I want to make it from a big balloon, blow it up, patch with paper maiche and the pop it. But then I couldn't find the right size of balloon. Then I plan to make the frame with wires from scratch and patch it with cardboard, but playing with wire is not my thing, so finally after some thought and scouting, I decided to use lantern as the frame. The downside of lantern is, it's kinda destructible due to soft wire..so I tried to preserve the frame structure as much as I can.

The largest paper lantern I manage to find, it's about 18" in diameter. 

I used PVA glue and tissue paper to cover up the lantern lines. Turn out it's not a good idea as the glue is very very very wet and won't dry at all. Thank God I just used a small patch then I decided to switch the technique.

Switched to spray adhesize (leftover from Cloud Costume) which is super cool as it lays and spread a very thin of glue and dries quickly.

Smoothen out layers of paper. I used couples of layers and don't worry if it's not perfect. Because that's how the earth rolls right, all the bumpy mountains and land. Imperfection is the real perfect ;)

I used this cloth tape to strengthen the core

Like so.

Then I roughly sketch the arm area for the hands to poke out and cut it using wire cutter.

Warning, you need a real wire cutter, like this.

Not some random cutter even though how strong it can be, it's not designed for wire. Like this pruning scissor as it only cuts twigs.

And it will damage the blade if I insist on cutting wire. Can you spot the blade? it has small serration :(

The base with arm holes. I also trimmed the bottom for some room for the leggys

Being dried properly before spraying it with some colors.

 I couldn't decide which blue I want to use, so I bought 2 shades of it

Both give nice hues but I preferred the right one as it's stronger.

Spraying under the strong sun. My only advice is to put old newspaper under the globe before you spray it. I forgot and it left a circle mark on my grass :D

My model of the day. She looks like a giant blue pumpkin right? The base is not sturdy enough and will bend in if you rest your hands on it. But oh well..

Add on some maps cut from felt. Home is where heart is.

Some other random maps, which is shapely right (kind of) but not geographically correct.

Sorry! It was really a last minute touch up and I couldn't bother to get it right, globally.

So this is how the costume look from the front. The sides bent a little bit as the wearer rest his hands on it.

It looks perfectly rounded when the hands are inside haha. Mind the blurry photo. This captured from far using my phone.

So that's it! What I like the most about this costume is I get to play with spray paint..and the challenge of getting the shape. I bet it's easier and sturdier with balloon and paper maiche.

And for the #imadeconstumewoohooo and @guessthecostumecontest, I put this picture and got this guesses:

• ball gown
• disney characters elsa and sofia
• doraemon
• humpty dumpty
• toucan

I wish it's a ball gown though! That will be very fun!

Splashy Splash!

If you have me on your IG feed, maybe you notice that we already stop giving them iPads, which is super cool! Seriously..the kids are more attentive and plays better now. I hate the most when they are too engrossed in iPad and didn't hear me when I'm talking to them.

Anyway I do sometimes miss the time they are glued to the iPad so I can do some personal work, like gluing myself to the phone ;)

But since they are off iPad for good, I better don't start it back.

So, since they are not on iPad anymore, our weekends are full of play and play and *crafting* (in small coz I rarely do that anymore) and play again that I think they are ready to venture in something outdoor related. We are not park or hiking people, so I was thinking to send to them swimming class.

I started to search about Superkidz in Shah Alam and was planning to send them there when suddenly on one fine day I was walking out of Giant KD after groceries shopping, a small booth gave me a flier, Supersharkz is opening in KD!!

Don't you think that's a sign? A big one!

So I did some call and missed their opening, but they invite us of a trial class.

Somebody was also very excited that he refused to take off the new swimsuit

They wear it most of the time. Emir siap tanak bukak the goggle

The trial class

So, we sent them to trial class and both looks ok with it. I was worried with hensem boy initially as he has problem in speech but throughout the lesson, he able to do whatever the instructor asked them to do, like blow bubbles, walk, run and jump in the water. In fact, he is the bravest of all. Once he was jumping, he kinda slipped, and fell into the water, but he rose back and fell again, rose back and continue jumping to the end of the pool, without crying! Such a brave and strong boy!

The sister on the other hand, keep on whimpering "Tanak masuk air..takut..takutttt"

She wasn't afraid of the water, but a little intimidated by the environment.

So after the trial, we decided to enroll both of them for 1 class where they will learn how to doggie paddle. Each class will have 8 session which equal to 2 months as the session is weekly event.

Mesyuarat tingkap

The interesting part starts here. For the first session, Emir missed it as he was under the weather, so Zahra went to the pool without the brother. On the second session, both of them in the water but Emir has been crying out loud, for the whole session! He refused to go into the pool but we let the instructor to handle him and there, menangis la dia. The funny thing is, ada geng ok, another one boy also macam tu, crying throughout the lesson. Halfway both of them kinda tired of crying, so they take turns! Lepas Emir cry, that boy cry, then repeat haha.

According to the instructor, it's normal for some kids as and they can handle it. So ok lah...

But on the 3rd session (aka 3rd week), Emir refused to go into the water. In fact he refused to wear the swimsuit totally! We brought him in pyjama as it's very early session and he insisted to be in that pyjama, watching his sister swimming. Boleh?

Second session. Jangan tertipu dengan muka sweet ni. Lepas tu melalak satu kolam.

3rd session, the little brother not joining.

He's more comfortable being the audience, in his pyjama!

Since he didn't coorperate much, I decided to withdraw him from the class to avoid unnecessary wastage. So we manage to put the lesson on hold for him, or transfer the class to Zahra later if she wants to go to the next level.

On superkidz, the place is kinda new, I think we are the first batch here so the place still under renovation. Lots of dust which is not my cup of tea. But I like the idea they sold me that, not only to teach the kids how to swim, but, swim fitly. Water power!

So there goes our weekend activity. Can't wait to see my little one doing the doggie paddle as I also can't do that! Haha.

Speak Up, not....yet ;)

Gosh!

I seriously considering to close this blog for good due to time commitment. And yet, I have so many ideas to do in my head, like making youtube channel, like, heloooooooooo! Your blog is barely breathing and yet, another fast pace media? I know I know..too ambitious, but if you know me..well, that's me!

So I guess, no more procrastination (I think I've said this millionth time! Duh!)

Anyway, I think sometime you need a little push in your life to kick you out of the comfort zone. As in my condition currently, my comfort zone is blogging...in my head.

Many things happen, but none of them get to get me write in here, until latest incident with my handsome boy.

So what's up with him?

Nothing much, he still cheeky, playful, bright, and handsome lad, except that he doesn't say much, as of his age now, 3 1/2yo.

Wait, he does talk, but most of the time, I couldn't get him and he doesn't have that much vocab accordingly to his age.

As per mentioned previously, we went to a private evaluation and confirmed that he is not autistic, only just a little delayed in his speech. That was in last November. I was thinking to bring him to speech therapist. Then things got a little busy and finally I get to set an appointment with government hospital (Hospital Sg Buloh) for an evaluation.

The story as not quite simple. It started in January 2014. I was quite worried he still didn't say much (he was 2 1/2yo that time) so my regular paed referred me to ENT as that is the first preliminary in speech delay. So we went to Tropicana Medical Centre and as per checkup, his hearing looks fine except there is a liquid in his ears. But the liquid is quite normal for kids with flu and somehow will go away, and coincidentally he had a flu during the test.

But still, doc gave me a referral to Hospital Sg Buloh as they are one of the best audiologist in Malaysia. 

And being the reckless me, I thought the fluid will go away, and time got us..busy with work and whatnot, then it's in March 2015 (yes, that's now :-/) that I get to see the audiologist. I still don't worry about his hearing because he seems fine, so I made and appointment with Otorinolaringologi (pheww, I had to google that department) for a speech evaluation.

Based on the evaluation, it's determined that his understanding is at par with his age (3-4yo) but his speech is kinda delayed (at 1yo). So doc is quite worried and he needs to go for speech therapist.

And the funny thing is, I need to see audiologist (based on last referral) but I forgot to make an appointment for that, and for government hospital, you need months for an appointment. I just made appointment for the speech therapy because I ASSUME his hearing is alright. But thank God, I brought all related letters, including the expired referral (Jan 2014, one year ago) and the nurse caught that and point out that I have to see audiologist as well.

Since we already there, she make a few call and managed to squeeze in a slot for us straight away for audiology test. God bless you sister! *sniffles*

So we see Dr Aziany where did some test that includes shooting some wave into the ears and found that his ear drum doesn't react well. 

Ok let me explain it in simple way

So! When a sound enters the ear, it will hit the ear drum, where the ear drum will vibrate to emphasize the sound. 

In Emir's case, the ear drum is flat (doesn't vibrate) because there is a fluid/liquid (called middle ear fluid) in front of it that resist the vibration.

And again, it could happen if your kids have flu/cough/on medication/etc. And coincidentally again, Emir has minor flu that day so it's kinda uncertain that how long the fluid been there.

Flu or not, the fluid shouldn't been there more than 2 months because it cause hearing loss and hence, will disrupt child's speech.

And looking at last year result, where the he already has the middle ear fluid, doctor wasn't really happy about it.

She also did some hearing test and found he has mild to moderate Type B hearing loss :(

So, we need to see ENT to check further and clear the fluid but too bad the slot is only available in June. So we opt for private ENT and that is scheduled end of this week.

The vibration reading is flat. It should have a peak when the wave is shoot through the ear.

So that pretty much sum up about my handsome boy.

Even though it's treatable and not too late to start with speech therapy, I still feel bad that I didn't take this thing seriously. But, he doesn't show any indicator of hearing impaired. He turned when I call and responded to my instruction. Except he always put the iPad speaker at max. Sigh.

Pray for us too will ya!

❤ Cloud Costume ❤

So! Remember the I made something-something for Kiddos School?

Recap: I was involved in making mascot costume for my children's kindergarten. They have 5 sports house which is pink, yellow, green, blue and orange.

The sports day was inspired by Japanese sports day - Taiiku No Hi. So basically there are cloud, fire, mother earth, air and water to represent each sports house color.

And today I would like to share with you guys how I made the cloud costume representing the pink sport house color.

This is my first time sharing tutorial so I miss few pictures to show you what I did but basically you'll get the picture I hope.

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E isn't it?

Basically, these are the tools that I used:

• Felt
• Loose fibre / polyfill
• Adhesive Spray
• Spray paint

As I don't really have the exact measurement of the wearer, I took my Emir's pyjama (he's 3yo and in PINK team) for rough measurement and fold blue felt into two, and sketch the bubbly cloud free-hand.

Cut the two pieces of felt to resemble basic shape of the cloud 

 Sew side by side and two pieces of elastic on top of the bubbly cloud.

Sorry no real picture, but basically it's something like this. The elastic has to connect to two pieces so that the wearer can wear it like an overall.

 I used spray adhesive to stick the loose fibre (polyfill) to the felt pieces

 Do it slowly one side each time

 Like so! 

 And you need to touch up for prominent holes. Spray more adhesive and stuff more fibre at the gaps. This seriously need time, so take your time.

 Until you satisfied with the outcome

 And put on your child just for fun. Zahra is kinda tall for a 4yo, so the costume looks small for her. I asked her to pose nicely and she gave me this face. Oh well....

On a second thought, it looks more like a sheep than a cloud. But...never mind =D

 Then I spritz some pink spray paint (as it is pink sports house remember?) which makes it more like a sheep *roll eyes*

Sheep or not, it is sooooo adorable!! The elastic was kinda low, so the teacher knot them up. Perfect!

 A cloud among others

And can you notice that the cloud has rainbow legging? Suuuuperrrr adorable!!

It's pretty easy to make but the cons is, the fibre couldn't hold throughout the event and decided to fall off slowly *insert horror face here*. Imagine how panic I was...I mean, he is a mascot and the costume is falling apart. Oh noooooooooo......I feel like running into the performance area and fix it up haha.

Actually, the spray adhesive is pretty strong but the fibre is kinda hollow and it just break randomly.

I was so excited about this project and IG/FB-ed about it, and made a contest even! Under hashtag #imadecostumewoohooooo and #guessthecostumecontest if you would like to see it.

So, the guesses was

• olaf
• biri-biri (sheep)
• a wig
• para-para yassin senario (even I don't know what's that haha)
• cotton candy
• clown
• burung helang (an eagle)

Soo..sooo...soooo funny!! LOL!


Ok..so that's it. What do you think about my cloud costume? Be honest! I won't bite! =D