of Crabbing Good Times @Pantai Batu Burok

The kids love beach as much as I do although I have stopped doing things I did before i.e. getting wet in seawater. These days I just sit on the sand and watch them having good times.

Pantai Batu Burok.Not very far from my inlaw's.The kids beg (and nag) us to bring them there everytime we go balik kampung.We can't go out as much as we did now that my PIL has passed away last January and that my MIL is not very well herself.

Kite flying is easy here at the beach :D Lucky thing yang 3 beradik tu tak ambik pot pasal lelayang that day. If not 'kchennngggg' out duit raya beli lelayang.

They are more interested main air. As Adam puts it 'Besarnyaaaaaa swimmingggg poooolll ni Ummiiii' :D No matter how I have cautioned them not to wet themselves too much, kids will always be kids.

Adam - mocking me *sigh* when I asked him to get out from the water. Cheeky I tell you, this boy. A ball of bursting energy (and fun!)

 

 

 

Told ya, they had some crabbing good times! :D

Brightheart & Stripey

Selamat Ulang Tahun ke-7 Muhammad Iman

Semalam, 7 tahun lepas. Jam 1.37 petang.

Saya melahirkan seorang bayi lelaki seberat 3.3kg. Mungkin dia tak sabar-sabar nak ke dunia koporat. Pakai tali pusat di leher. Macam pakai neck-tie. Bezanya, pakai neck-tie sekali lilit di leher. Dia ada 3 lilitan tali pusat di leher! Macam-macam teori orang tua-tua yang kami diberitahu termasuk teori gantung tuala di leher dan teori kain pelikat. Korang tanya lah orang tua-tuan because I'm not telling them. Tapi, the truth is semua teori itu tak kena langsung!

Muhammad Iman.

Nama yang Abah pilih. Muhammad itu memang wajib. Itu nazar saya. Kalau lelaki anak kedua ini, Muhammad lah sebahagian namanya. Muhammad itu Yang Terpuji. Why not? Semua orang mahu anak-anaknya menjadi Yang Terpuji. Hatta anak perempuan pun harus bersifat yang terpuji. Cuma jangan diberi nama Muhammad pulak yer. Iman itu Abahnya yang pilih (Sebenarnya nama semua anak pun Abah yang pilih. Sukahati dia lah. Anak dia pun. Janji maknanya baik-baik ajer. Plus harus simple saja) Even dengan nama mudah macam tu pun saya tersasul-sasul. Contohnya pagi tadi saya memberi arahan bak komandor waktu turun kereta dalam renyai-renyai hujan.

'Iman dengan Abang turun dulu'

'Eh silap..'
'Adam dengan Adik turun dulu'

'Eh silap lagi!'
'Boyssss!!!! Turun berdua, share payung'
Tapi ini bukan sebab-musabab nama.. ini tanda-tanda age is catching up bukan?

Mungkin itu jugak ditakdirkan anak-anak saya ada 3 orang ajer! Bertukor bimbor bak kata orang Terengganu.

Dalam demam-demam tu sempat lagi acara 'ketuk-ketuk'. Mulanya nak potong kek di rumah ajer. Dah alang-alang nak balik kampung Raya Korban nanti, kami cadangkan potong kek di kampung saja, sama Atok, sama Wan. Iman setuju.

Tapi, lepas tu dia nak potong kek dengan kawan-kawan di taska pula. Okay takpe. Layankan ajer. Dapat jugak pahala belanja anak-anak kecik makan walaupun cuma 2 biji kek besar.

Tapi, katanya kek yang nak potong di kampung tu pun dia nak juga! Adoi..

Layan.

Apapun, dia sangat gembira semalam. Katanya 'Saya tak tiup lilin sebab tak ada lilin. Tapi mata saya kelip-kelip macam ni' sambil buat mata kelip-kelip macam malu-malu.

Apa-apa sajalah Muhammad Iman.

Selamat Hari Jadi ke-7 buat Iman. Moga seluruh kehidupan akan diberkati Allah. Jadilah anak yang soleh sepanjang hidupmu.

ps - Di sekolah dia baru belajar rukun iman. Dia pelik sebab sama dengan namanya. Beriman kepada Allah, iaitu percaya kepada Allah. Beriman kepada Rasul, iaitu percaya kepada Rasul. So forth and so on. Dan anakanda Iman, membuatkan saya percaya kepada banyak perkara. Percaya bahawa kasih itu tiada sempadannya. Percaya bahawa mimpi-mimpi juga boleh jadi realiti!

tapi Iman belum jugak hafal-hafal rukun iman itu :P..

Selamat Hari Jadi ke-10

birthday cake

birthday girl

Hari ni birthday Kakak ke-10. Big One-Owh! Big girl she is now. I now have to prepare myself for the next phase, teens!

We had small celebration last Saturday tho her birthday is today. Al-maklum lah working days ni tak boleh jamin balik rumah cepat kan. On Saturday, we had ample time. Beli cake from Secret Recipe, apa nama tah, tak ingat. The one that has stawberry layer between slices of cakes.

Iman dah order cakes for himself and keeps on asking if November is still along way to go (his birthday is in November) while Adam pulak kept on singing Happy Birthday to You for 2 days kat Kakak dia.

Happy Birthday Kakak. May you have blessed life ahead.

1st Ramadhan 1432H

Salam Ramadan! Alhamdulillah masih ada rezeki kita berpuasa bulan Ramadan tahun ni. Jom tambah amal ibadat. Jangan culas-culas ber-terawikh. Kalau rasa liat bangun prepare sahur tu, ingat-ingat pahala yang menanti. Uruskan rumahtangga pun ibadat jua..

Unlike the past 2 years, this year takde bibik. Domestic helper, yilek. Means I have to carefully plan and manage my time. And unlike last year, this year I am back working. Means, limited time to spend kelentung-kelentang kat dapur for iftar. And probably very simple sahur as well sebab pas sahur nak bersiap-siap ke ofis pulak. No time to scrub many pots and pans. (I will not leave things dalam sinki before going out, other than 1 or 2 small things like sudu or cawan).

Apalagi la kan, wiken lepas giat betul mengupas, menyiang, memotong, memerap (perap makanan yer, bukan memerap tidoq), memblend, merebus dan sebagainya. Ini semua bagi mengelakkan huru-hara kat rumah nanti. Punyalah bergiat kat dapur, sampai lupa basuh kasut sekolah anak ha ha. En Suami went to Pasar Kajang on Sunday, katanya ramaiii lah sangat orang. As if esok-esok dah takde jual ikan. Cakap orang, we all pun sama heh heh.

I did few thing in prepation untuk seminggu nyer iftar/sahur. Marinate ayam 3 jenis (ala Cina, ala India, ala Melayu <-- i tak racist taw.. memang dalam buku resepi tulih gitu) and one type of beef marinate. Ikan tak perap, just apportioned them into one serving in each bekas. Also potong-potong ayam and daging, ready as perencah nasi or mee goreng.

gigih melabel bagai ha ha

As for sayur, we stock up timun, incase tak sempat masak sayur. Kalau ada masa, we'll do sawi and kailan. Sayur ni pun selalunya maknya aje yang makan (despite all ceramah kepentingan makan sayur :P). En Suami is very selective when it comes to sayur. In fact he is selective of his food. Unlike wifenya yang mengketedarah je apa jua asalkan halal.

Baru je bagitau En Suami that I would not blog so much about food bulan-bulan puasa ni. See.. bad bad me.

Anyway, since Iman is 7 this year, we've been coaxing him to fast. In fact for the last one or two weeks, we've been orientating him on the importance of fasting and what to expect should one fasts. Semalam was his first day. Thank God, Alhamdulillah, getting him up for sahur was easy peasy. Getting him to eat his sahur was also easy peasy. Part yang susah ialah menahan si Adam dari menayang-nayang makanan depan Iman. Semalam, at 11.45am, he succumbed to hunger and break-fast. Boleh lah kot, as a first-timer kan. It could've been much later should Adam tak makan aiskrim keladi depan Iman *sigh*. And today, on the way to Atfal Sayang (taska) he announced 'hari ini saya cuba bertahan' tak boleh tahan ayat si Iman ni hi hi. Gambar bawah ni masa sahur around 5.00am. Gambar lagi bawaaah tu pulak 'buka poser' jam 11.45am :D

Semalam was a very simple iftar of Ikan Bawal Putih Goreng, Snow Pea+Egg Tofu and Mushroom Crisp (cendawan goreng guna tepung tempura, tapi nama cam kelasssss la konon kannnn).

Err... food again? Someone please spank me..

Adam is T.H.R.E.E

Today Adam turns 3. How time flies. Macam baru je rasa terkejut sebab terpregnant heh heh. Now the baby is 3yo oredi. Sungguh banyak kerenah and aktiviti dia sampai rasa everyday ada ajer my blood goes upstairs hu hu.

Kami takde buat apa-apa celebration pun today. Semua orang pun sibuk dari pagi sampai ke malam. Adam pun sama sibuk jugak, sibuk dan menyibuk. Orang sibuk bersiap nak ke sekolah, dialah orang paling kecoh cari bag, pakai kasut etc. Orang sibuk masak kat dapur, dialah yang paling kecoh memunggah periuk, senduk, sudip. Not to forgetting to mention, tukang tambah gula, garam etc sampai pernah kena buang nasi goreng sebab dia pi tabur garam.

Hadiah pun kami tak beli untuk dia. Pasal apa? Pasal every week dia memang pulun beli ultraman. Segala suku sakat dia dah beli. Yang paling bahayanya, koleksi dia masih belum lengkap! Besar kemungkinan dia akan terus menge-pow abahnya heh heh.

Apapun, walaupun kelahiran dia tak dirancang, walaupun kadang-kadang penat emosi dibuatnya, Adam tetap menceriakan hidup kami dengan keletahnya.

Happy 3rd Birthday Adam. We love you. Jangan nakal-nakallll!!

:: Entry terkejut sebab terpregnant back in 2007, baca di sini.
:: Kisah kelahiran si Adam, baca di sini. Sungguhpun si Adam baby paling berat (3.74kg) ai pernah beranak, pengalaman di bilik bersalin tak se ngeri bersalinkan si Iman, baby ai paling ringan (3.3kg).
:: Cerita 1st birthdaynya di sini, dan yang 2nd nya di sini.

Al Kisah Spek... Pet Pet, Bawang dan Ikan Bilis..

Hari ni Kak Mon kulu kilir. Translate dari bahasa Pahang ialah 'ke hulu ke hilir'. Kata orang Terengganu pulak 'gi mari gi mari' atau 'mmusing ketang'. Biasanya pun memanglah kulu kilir, gi mari gi mari atau mmusing ketang tapi hari ni extra sikit. Sampai 2 kali menjengah Carrefour. Pagi-pagi tu Bibik inform diapers Adam tinggal 3 keping lagi. Adoi. Kenapalah tak cakap masa ada belen lagi 10 keping? Terpaksa lah tergedik-gedik pegi membeli. Adam pulak pagi tu sembelit sampai nangis-nangis nak keluarkan poop dia tapi tak berjaya. Mengukuhkan lagi lawatan ke Carrefour sebab nak beli prune juice. Dan oh ya, London Swiss Roll budak 2 beradik tu dah sapu licin. Kena top-up. Dan tambahannya lagik, nak membeli spek Adam. Lepas hantar Iman kat sekolah, gedebuk gedebak membeli, bukan takat Pet Pet, Heinz Prune Juice dengan London Swiss Roll aje dalam troli.. kepek, chips, air 100Plus, roti, drummet etc. Typical huh? Benda dalam list tapi tak beli ialah spek Adam. Benda penting tu.

You ols taukan my elder two tu kena pakai spek kan (baca sini dan sini juga) Speknya siap dah lama tapi sebab sebok ntah apa-apa, Rabu baru ni baru ambik kat HUKM JRMA. Mana boleh 2 orang pakai spek, sorang lagi tidak kan? Bagi mengelakkan perang saudara, makanya spek yang 2 orang tu belum lagik dipakai. Tak boleh pakai selagi Adam takde spek. Meh Kak Mon tayang sikit spek budak dua orang tu. Kos semua-semuanya RM620 untuk 2 spek ni.

Ni spek Kakak. Purple. Kat kaki (ke tangkai? ke tangan?) ada floral prints. Sesuailah untuk gegirl macam dia.

Mata kanan - distance Sph pl, Cyl -4.00, Axis 170, V/A 6/12.

Mata kiri - distance Sph pl, Cyl -4.50, Axis 175, V/A 6/12.

Apa nih?? Kak Mon pun tatau jugek. Yang cyl tu merujuk kepada astig rasanya. Lagi satu, takde rabun. Expert, sila clarify.

Kat bawah ni pulak spek Iman. Dah Kakak pepel, dia pun nak pepel jugak. Metrosexual sungguh spek ini kan :D

Mata kanan - Sph +1.25, Cyl -3.00, Axis 180, V/A 6/9

Mata kiri - Sph +1.75, Cyl -3.00, Axis 180, VA 6/9

Oh ya, berbalik kepada cerita asal, petang tadi waktu nak siapkan bahan-bahan Nasi Goreng Lobster (sila ambik perhatian, ni isi lobster kering je, bukan fresh lobster lengkap dengan kaki, ekor, cengkerang tu semua okay), rupanya bawang kecik dah takde. Jengah fridge, bawang kisar pun dah sikit. Daaaaaahhh kena buat misi beli bawang pulak. Dikuatkan lagi dengan nak membeli spek Adam. Sebelum ambik Iman kat sekolah tadi, pegi lagi sekali ke Carrefour. Lama-lama sok boleh jadi duta Carrefour kalau gini. Belilah 3 jenis bawang tu, bawang merah, bawang besar, bawang putih. Tengok spek budak-budak, gi** mahal! RM20++. Letak balik. Beli bawang je. Turun bawah, tengok ada kedai sepit-sepit rambut tu jual spek mainan. Angkat satu, RM5.00 je. Kaler mestilah pepel jugakkan. Kang tercetus perang saudara, susah.

Ni spek Adam. Rawk!! Belasah je lah. Buat syarat.

Takde gambar spek dengan tuan punya spek. Semua orang dah tidur time sesi fotografi spek ni dibuat.

Dah sebok cerita pasal bawang, ni lah bawang-bawang yang Kak Mon beli tadi. Pathetic sungguh ha ha.

Spek settle, bawang settle. Baru teringat ikan bilis baru habis semalam.. isk...

Ke Mana Tumpahnya Kuah..

My boys have things in common. Dah nama pun adik beradik kan, apa lah Kak Mon ni kan. They both cling to me. I am one proud mom when they quarrel over who should sit beside me during lunch. Other than that, they both looveeee to help around in the kitchen while I cook or while I prepare to cook.

This is Iman He'd do as told. Mintak tolong potong, dia potong. Mintak tolong basuh, dia basuh. Mintak tolong kacau, dia kacau. Kalau mintak tolong keluar jangan sebok kat dapur, dia tak layan.

Yang ini pulak Mat Kacau :D Pembantu yang amat tegar. He does as he's told and also does things he's told not to do and things I don't even mention for him to do. Pusing kejap aje, dia tambah garam. Pusing kejap aje, dia bubuh gula. Pusing kejap aje, dia masukkan air. Kreatip yer budak ni. Sampai ada resepi 'Nasi Goreng Garam'. So, those are my boys. Both me and Tebby suka masak (suka masak tak semestinya sedap okay :D), maybe ni kuah dah tumpah la kat 2 pinggan nasi ni. Mana Kakak while these two staging their commotion kat dapur??

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Hurmph... Obviously ni kuah dari Ummi ni. Kecik-kecik dulu jejak dapur nak makan jer. But she's helpful when in comes to dishing out the meals, prepares great teh-o and does her red lemonade to perfection.

Check Mata @HUKM JRMA

Lemme just pen this down before I futher forget.

You see, we've just became the patrons of HUKM. Loyal ones too! It began with Iman few months back. So far he has 4 files in HUKM Cheras, 1 for consultation with Child Psychiatrist, 1 for Jabatan Oftalmology and another 2 for his therapy sessions (Occupational and Speech). Last month he opened another file in Jabatan Optometri HUKM in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz (pasni ai letak JRMA okay, panjang amat nak tulis) (near Kg Baru). And earlier today Kakak followed suit. If I were to compile their files in various clinics in various states, I may have to do it in volumes!

Anyway.

Today we went to HUKM JRMA, second time for Iman and first for Kakak.

The first time we went there, it was 24th February 2011. Just Iman. Due to his conditions, we have to have him thoroughly checked. Ears and audio checked. And we were advised to check his eyes and vision as well. Furthermore, he's been complaining he can't see what's written on the whiteboard at school. The initial step was bringing him to Jabatan Oftalmology HUKM Cheras. Then we were referred to Jabatan Optometri HUKM JRMA. In Kakak's case, we just book an appointment right awat at HUKM JRMA.

Before I stori mori about today, let me just recap what happened the first time we were there, 24th February 2011. It was our first time there and I was (still am!!) not fimiliar the way around that area, Tebby took a day leave. We were a little lost and I gave them a call. Rupanya the gate was just a few metres away. You all tau le around KL ni, silap ambik simpang aje can cause you tersangkut jem berjam-jam lamanya. Tebby dropped me dekat entrance and he went to park the car. Oh ya, please bring your smallest car possible because likewise HUKM Cheras, this HUKM punya parking lot juga adalah kena rebut-rebut.

We spent almost 3 hours there! Tapi still not conclusive. We knew Iman kena pakai spek tapi tak dapat concluded necessary readings. Mula-mula tu dia okay. Pastu dah lama-lama (eh, tak lama mana pun he he) he got distracted and started experimenting with the alat-alat inside the room. He adjusted the chair himself, up and down, up and down. When lenses were put, he took them away and shoved them in any way he fancied inside that spek gajah tu (spek yang guna untuk check mata tu la). He occasionally complaint about how boring the visuals used were. He asked where the cafe was and if the food was good. Amazing, isn't he? For someone who just started talking at 5 yo! He sure is a chatterbox nowadays.

They did a thorough checking. I've been wearing specs for the past 15-17 years and have been checking my eyes in banyak kedai specs but some of the instruments used when they checked Iman, I haven't seen them. And those really added the excitement for Iman. Oh btw, since Iman is just 7, they put an eyedrop in his eyes. Something to do with his eyes's muscle. Padan le depa tanya tanya tahap kesihatan and the related history in details. Especially asthma and heart problem. Lepas letak ubat tu, the next day Iman ada simptom-simptom asthma attack. Dr in Klinik Kita confirmed that those could be the side-effects ubat tu. Ever wonder why kedai-kedai specs biasanya takmo ambik cases budak-budak? Well, this could be one of the reasons and risks they don't want to take.

Since Iman's checking was not conclusive, we have another appointment scheduled. Which, on that day, he was still experiencing coughing, runny nose and a bit of fever. Last-last kensel and I booked today, 14th March sebab kebetulan cuti sekolah, boleh bawak Kakak sekali.

So, now we continue dengan cerita hari ni pulak ye.

Hari ni En Suami tak boleh cuti. Eh, cuti sekolah pun gigih lagi nak bermeeting bagai? Kenot complaint maa. For the past 8-9 months, dia sorang-sorang je gigih menyara hidup kami 5 beranak. Siap dengan Bibik lagi tu. Tima kasih Yang. Lagipun dah memang cuti panjang nak uruskan anak-anak, ambikkkkkk.. uruskan le sepuas-puasnya he he.

Eh side track. Back to cerita hari ni. Hari ni a little after 7 dah bergerak dari rumah. Dah syak dah jalan akan agak selesa sebab cuti sekolah. Kalo idak, haruslah jam 6.45 dah kluar mengadap jem kan. Sampai tol batu 9 best giler. Boleh drive 90km/j. I took MRR2, pon selesa. Takde masa kereta berenti statik. Pastu ambik Jalan Ampang. Ni kenalah ada statik pasal ada traffic light kan. Pastu belok kanan menghala ke Bulatan Pahang. Jalan terus sampai jumpa traffic light memula, masuk kiri. Tempat yang dituju adalah pagar kedua. Masuk dan silalah berinteraksi dengan Pak Guard kat situ and pastu cariklah tempat parking kereta. Ai bawak si kecik aje, senang nak park. Eh, macam le reti bawak keta besar ha ha.

Sampai tu jam 8.15am. Walopun traffic agak clear, sejam jugaklah nak sampai sana. Bayangkan makcik dengan spek tebal bawak ViVa sambil tercangak-cangak cuba nak ingat simpang kat mana. Bayangkan makcik yang drive dengan keadaan tak relax sebab hampir-hampir macam nak peluk stereng aje ha ha. Anyway, masih buleh park keta dengan selesa. Masih ada dalam 10 empty lots so boleh lah ngengada nak park masuk buntut dulu. Pastu bawak anak-anak pi makan kat cafe dulu. Food, okaylah. Tak banyak pilihan tapi yang anak-anak suka makan ada, so on je lah kan. Tengah mengadap tu, Iman tetiba muntah atas meja. Alamak. Kenalah ai mencuci meja kat cafe pulak. Sebab sebok bersihkan meja, dah terlewat for appointment. Patutnya jam 8.30. Ni jam 8.40 masih gigih mengelap meja. Teruslah dapat reminder call. Bagus jugak depa ni kan. A day before appointment pun depa hantar SMS reminder.

Hari ni cam havoc sikit pasal both Kakak dengan Iman nak check mata and I couldn't be at two places at the same time kan. Memula ensure Kakak dah comfortable and I have given all the details they wanted. This time a big NO-NO to eye drop. Kakak pun ada history asthma and I don't want her to get the attack again. Then kena attend to Iman.g at This time yang check dia orang lain, fomfuan. Iman ni pulak, kalau fomfuan dia memang cooperate lebih sikit :D. Dalam a little more than an hour dan conclude his reading. Right eye 1.25, left 1.75. Astig both eyes 3.00, which is high. Astig ni in layman term, we call it 'silau'. From my pemahaman tadi, it is due to keadaan lengkungan mata yang tak sama. Supposedly lengkungan mata (tak ingat bahagian mana) melintang sama dengan lengkungan mata secara menegak. Bila astig tinggi, difference between the two is high. Bila tengok something, they don't see it as one whole thing. Maybe nampak atas aje or bawah aje, or kanan aje or kiri aje. Hence the term 'silau'. Bayangkan kita tengok TV pastu ada silau matahari, kan tak nampak sebahagian TV tu kan. Anyway, Opto kata mungkin masa kecik budak-budak suka gosok-gosok mata secara keterlaluan, tu yang shape mata jadi gitu. Or budak kuat nangis, sapu-sapu air mata kuat-kuat or yang allergik debu, mata gatal.

As for Kakak pulak, I owe her big time. I am so sorry Kakak. The Opto said our eyes stop growing at the age of 8 (approximately) so at 10 (Kakak is 10 this year), her eyes will give minimal respond to whatever stimulants (specs, eye therapy). Macam Iman, he's 7 so there's still time. She has first complaints tak nampak when she's 8 or 9 camtu. All I did was mintak cikgu letakkan dia kat depan. Then I went to kedai specs untuk check mata dia, semua refused and mintak pegi ke hospital, which I have been procrastinating, until today. Yes, I do feel bad about it. And now there's nothing much we can do about it. But whatever left that can be done, will be done. That Ummi janji to Kakak.

Ai forgot to ask for the latest reading tadi. But initially I was informed hers were 4.00+ for both right and left eyes and he astig is even more higher than Iman! Itu 4.00 is my reading at 35yo! While waiting untuk buat specs, we now have to do therapy (Ummi lepas ni boleh ambik kursus jadi therapist) for her eyes. Cover one eye, use the other to do activities like reading, writing, drawing, coloring for an hour. Then alternate with the other eye, also for an hour. Do just a cycle a day.

Since tadi both Kakak dengan Iman were there, and both have high astig, they cross-checked my kids' files and concluded that Adam should also undergo eye/vision checking when he's older but no more than 5yo.

Since tadi En Suami a.k.a En Banker was not with us, makanya specs tak buat lagi. Khamis ni we'll go again untuk buat specs pulak. Welcome to the club kids! Now Abah has 2 more persons to nag.. letak spek elok2, jangan main sental je lense tu, jangan tido pakai spek. Ha, sapa tido pakai spek? Maknya lerr.

I'd like to share some points about this whole 'mata-xperience'..

1) Don't hesitate to bring your child if diorang komplen tak nampak, pastu kalau balik sekolah asik pening kepala for no reasons. No harm to just check. At HUKM JRMA, untuk check, adalah free aje okay. Remember that our eyes grow sampai umur kita 8 tahun ajer (ni I quote opto okay)

2) Be mindful that in HUKM JRMA, checking akan dibuat oleh student med kita. Ada supervisor diorang nevertheless. Like Kakak's case tadi, since rabun dia agak teruk, supervisor took over. And be mindful HUKM is a government hospital. Bagi yang rasa-rasa jatuh standard or rasa-rasa tak tasty langsung government hospital ni, silalah ke hospital swasta okay.

3) Contrary to the popular belief, the waiting time is so short. In fact masa I called up the first time, I was told to come the very next day.

4) The checking will be a thorough one so it takes time. Do bring toys, snacks, water to occupy your kids. And for you, bawak le buku cerita and for the net-savvy, selamat ber-fb while waiting.

5) To ensure kesihatan mata, do eats loads of vege and fruits. Take vitamin A if you must but through diet lagi bagus. Practise eye-hygiene i.e. tengok TV dengan jarak yang betul, baca buku with enough light, don't tenyeh2 mata.

I don't know if we can get cheaper frames/lenses there in HUKM JRMA (ada kedai specs siap kat dalam tu) since budak2 ni tak buat specs lagik. Nanti come Thursday, we'll know. Even so, I plan to also have my eyes checked there.

So peeps, take care of your eyes okay.

March Oredi??

Wahhhh.. dah masuk March ye kawan-kawan. Another 4 more months to go before ai masuk keje balik. Yep, ai masuk keje semula. Segala proposal VSS dan resign telah ditolak buat sementara waktu ni atas beberapa sebab musabab. Thing is, kerja semula, maybe for 1 or 2 years and see how it goes. One step at a time, lepas tu fikir apa nak buat. Nak jadi SAHM terus, or terus bekerja dengan T* atau cari keje dekat-dekat dengan rumah.

March ni bulan appointment. Iman ada 4 appointments.
2/3 - check mata kat HUKM dekat-dekat HKL
3/3 - speech therapy
23/3 - occupational therapy
30/3 - check mata kat HUKM Cheras

Maybe cuti sekolah nanti nak slot in check mata Kakak jugak kat HUKM. Few suggested we go here or we go there but for now we stick to HUKM. Jimat kos babe. Checking FOC ajer. Nak buat cermin mata tak sure berapa kosnya lagi sebab belum sudah-sudah check mata si Iman. He gets restless easily. Tak dan nak check betul-betul, dia nak turun dari kosi la, lapar la, nak kenc*** la etc. He even asked for gambar lain to look kalau dia rasa gambar-gambar yang ada for the test tu membosankan dia.

And sebelum cuti sekolah, anak-anak yang berdua tu, si Kakak dengan Iman ada exam Fasa 1. 8-11 March 2011. Berdebar Ummi tau. Iman first time exam. Kadang-kadang dia tau jawapan tapi sebab dia cepat bosan, dia buat sikit, the rest dia tinggalkan (contohnya kerja sekolah or kerja rumah). Whatmore nak transfer jawapan a,b,c to kertas yang kena hitamkan tu.

Si Kakak pulak dah peringkat kedua sekolah rendah. Dah Tahun 4. More subjects, more things to remember, to practise etc. Yang buat ai risau (among all) is penulisan in both BM and BI. Tahun lepas she did quite well sampai boleh lompat 2 kelas ke depan. When she's in better class, more competition kan. Apapun I hope both will do their best.

We have decided cuti sekolah ni tak kemana-mana. Abahnya sibuk. Maybe just go anywhere within KL je. Bird Park ke, Pusat Sains ke, Butterfly Farm ke, Kuala Gandah Elephant Santuary ke.. Cam Adam tu memang kena bawak dia keluar to vent out. Of late, that boy is a ball of energy. When we are out, rasanya I need to use that harness thingy lah. He's everwhere! Btw, cuti pun seminggu aje. That leaves me thinking and planning on activities. Else, they'll irritate me 24-7 he he!

HUKM Lagi!

Owh.. buat seketika ai lupa ai ada blog! Sila salahkan the other rangkaian sosial - mukabuku! Sebenarnya di mukabuku pun ai tak le rajin update bagai. Hidup pun biasa-biasa je. Nak kata sibuk sangat, tak jugak. For a while, takde mood nak update blog. Oh, mungkin ai boleh salahkan PMS kot.

So many things happened, I don't know where to start. Hurmpp. Let's start with what just recently happended la kot. Semalam (yang hangat).

Semalam 21st Februari hari ai bawak Iman pegi his OT (Occupational Therapy). Like usual, dek sebab nak berjuang dalam jem plus HUKM memang susah nak dapat parking spot (even for tiny miny car like mine), I hit the road at 7.15am. Appointment jam 9.00am. A little before 8.00 ai dah sampai. Iman merengek nak breakfast. Kena hantar appointment card dulu ye Iman. Sampai kat kaunter, the girl checked in their system and I was told nama Iman takde dalam list appointment hari tu. Hangat. Yes I was. Bertambah lagi dengan peristiwa minggu sebelum tu yang buat ai hilang sabar.

Jom backtrack kisah minggu sebelum tu, hari Rabu 16 Februari 2011.

Iman ada 2 appointment hari tu. Mula-mula ST (Speech Therapy) jam 9.00 then jumpa Psychiatrist jam 10.00am. Macam biasa, sebelum jam 8.00 ai dengan Iman dah sampai. Did all the usual drill i.e. hantar appointment card, ambik slip hantar kat kaunter. Then pegi breakfast. Around 8.50am kami dah menunggu nama Iman di panggil. Jam 9.15am belum panggil so ai tanya kat kaunter. Katanya tunggu kejap. Tunggu sampai jam 9.30am. Ai dah hilang sabar. Kalau jam 9.30 belum start, berapa minit je nak buat ST sebab jam 10.00am dah ada nama orang lain. Ai dengan penuh kehangatan pi tanya what really happened. Bila di bagitau yang si Cik Terapist pegi jumpa doktor, lagilah ai naik angin. Hellooo!!! Awak dah tau ada patient tunggu, yang ***** pegi jumpa doktor tu buat apa? Tak boleh ke buat time awak free? Ai datang awal-awal ikut time awak tau, bukan time ai. Pastu suka suki awak je nak jumpa doktor la, apa la. Apa jenis attitude macam ni? Ai ingatkan zaman-zaman sekarang serba moden ni dah takde orang perangai gini. Adeh. Ai mintak dia turun. Tau dia kata apa? Tak boleh turun, nanti turn dia hilang. Hello!!! Aku tunggu kau ni apa weh? Selfish punya worang. Dia mintak jumpa ST lain. Cik Terapist, kalau ada therapist lain memang ai nak tukar aje terus taw. Tapi malangnya dengan sistem yang rigid, ai kena jugak ngadap muka awak tu. So, apa jadi? Appointment kensel and next Iman jumpa dia will be on 3rd March. Bazir masa taw. Nak kena tunggu another few weeks baru boleh jumpa. Bazir masa ai menunggu on that particular day. Ai paling hangat dengan attitude dia yang endah tak endah tu. Hello.. memang lah ai tak directly bayar gaji awak tapi ai ni taxpayer taw. Okaylah, tahun lepas tax ai sikit je pasal ai keje 1/2 tahun. Hasben ai bayar tax banyak taw. Tolonglah. Wake up.

End of cerita on Rabu, 16th February 2011.

Oh, remind me to tell her that on 3rd March ya peeps.

Anyway, semalam turned out as a BIG ok. Dalam sistem takde tapi dalam buku appointment si Ayu (OT), nama Iman ada. So ai tak jadi nak men-singa-kan diri ai. Ayu, is a pleasantly looking young lady and my son ni ada some spot for ladies as such. Ayu panggil aje nama dia, cepat aje dia sarung selipar ikut di Ayu masuk bilik. I was there in the beginning. Mula-mula main-main dulu. Iya, main-main is a form of therapy. Naik jambatan gantung, then naik 'buaian' pulak. Panjat tangga, lalu titi. Lari dalam gelung-gelung then masukkan bean bag dalam basket. And oh yes, he loves jumping on that trampoline. Iman had tremendous fun. Masa di GIMC, kalau time dia OT, cuma dia sorang-sorang. Di HUKM, ada budak-budak lain. Dia kan suka berkawan. Lepas tu pindah bilik lain for Visual Perception activity (korang gugel lah ye apa benda tu). Semalam dia buat 2 items under Visual Perception i.e. Visual Discrimination (VD) dengan Visual Memory (VM). Mothers, even if anak-anak you all takde masalah apa-apa, it's good to jog their brain. From my observation, for VD Iman was asked to identify 2 same objects/shapes. Mula-mula shape tu simple-simpe aje like tanda +, -, X and the likes. Pastu mula jadi complicated. For VM, he was shown a shape then dia kena identify from another sheet. Ni nak jog ingatan dia. For VD he scored 16/20 and for VM 13/20. Ayu kata attention span Iman just 10 minutes. Kalau ikut chronological age dia, he should be able to focus for around 20 minutes.

Next appointment dengan si Ayu yang cantik molek will be on 23rd March 2011.

Penat tak jadi ai? Kadang-kadang penat jugak. But then there's always new things. That's what makes it interesting. My son may be 10% or 20% lag behind his peers but I always tell myself I can and will give my 110% or 120% to cover that, insyaAllah. Even 140% or 160% pun insyaAllah ai sanggup! Who knows he'll exceed his peers in years to come?

Here's some photos. Masa ni Iman sorang-sorang je.

swinging on the vestibulator. he first did that masa kat GIMC, sampai termuntah-muntah :D

up and down, up and down on the trampoline

HUKM - Speech Therapy Iman

Penat 12 jam perjalanan KT-KL semalam still terasa. Banyak kali stop, pi toilet, makan, hantar anak sedara then pit stop kat Temerloh jap. Bertolak jam 9.00 pagi, sampai BTHO jam 9.00 malam. But then kena jugak pegi HUKM hari ni for Iman's speech therapy. His second session. This time he was assigned to another therapist as Haslina (Iman's case under Haslina actually) was away bercuti.

Well, the session was a lot livelier, merrier and Iman did almost everything without hesitation. In short he cooperated and even told her that his favorite color is purple (yes peep, my son loves purple!)

The therapist whose name I didn't get, I, the socially-incapable-being forgot to ask, told us to do few things to help improve Iman's speech (plus what I saw she did during the session).

1) Always try to lengthen conversation whilst adding up adjective, nouns, verbs to a sentence. Example beads - say big blue oval bead, the black cat tries to eat the white mouse.

2) Using visual card, practise 'what's missing'. Example, in card 1, a boy is brushing his teeth but no toothbrush on card 1, instead on other card. After mathing them correctly, ask him what the picture tells i.e. the boy is brushing his teeth using a toothbrush. For this, we'll need few mathing cards.

3) Using visual card as well, play memory game. Ask for 2 or 3 cards. Give me an umbrella, a duck and an elephant. See if the child can remember.

4) Sticker book. Done with the stickers, ask him to tell about the pictures.

5) Widen his vocab with new words as well as things with same function but with different names such as kerusi, sofa, bangku. All is used to sit on right tapi nama lain-lain. Same goes to helo


Always, use rewards system. If one thing is done correctly, give him something to play with such as blocks, building a robot etc.

these are what I made him read while waiting

Recaps

Been occupied with 'I-also-donno-what-I-was-so-busy-with' last week. Here's recap:

Hari Isnin bawak Iman pegi HUKM jumpa psychiatrist. Sampai kat HUKM, parking lot ada dalam 1/4 lagi yang kosong, alhamdulillah. This time Iman kena buat Learning Disability Assessment. Tulis ABC till Z in caps and small letters. A bit of math and reading. Also some vocab assessment. Almost all dia tak cooperate. He wrote so big sampai kertas tak muat and at times he went under the table as protest. Part dia paling excited was the time he was asked to name animals that can and can't be eaten.Findings? He's showing some dyxlexic features but it's too premature to confirm (based on just 1 test would not conclude anything yet). And oh, btw, since En Tebby was not on leave, Kakak and Adam were left at Aftal Sayang, their previous taska. When I left, Adam macam terpinga-pinga but he didn't cry.

And Adam pulak kena chicken pox! Jangkit abang dia si Iman la tu. Dia ni takde simptom demam panas, tau-tau je ada small blisters kat belakang dia. Dia punya bintil were smaller than Iman's tapi lagi banyak. Bila pecah je, mulalah 'atit' 'atit'. Suruh letak ubat (calamine losyen). Ada one time tu blisters dalam mulut dia pecah, dia nak tuang calamine dalam mulut! Alhamdulillah dah kering dah. I hope no one else will get it after Adam.

So, as of today, I haven't been out for 8 days! In fact since x-bik ran away, I haven't been out much. So jimat duit heh heh.

So, that's about it lah my life for the past week. Other than doing laundry and folding them afterwards, mopping, dishing out meals, nagging etc. Interesting? Hurmppp...

Of Tidying Up & Kids Art

I've been busy for the past week. Biasalah no helper, more chores to do kan. Projek going on (almost finish anyway) ialah mengemas the kids' toys. Kakak decided not to keep many things, which in a way is a blessing because the boys' toys sahaja dah ada 3 tong. There's a tong of baby toys which are of no use anymore but too cute to be given away. But, it is better to give away and put a smile on some babies' faces than to keep them collecting dusts dalam stor kan. Hurmp.. Why do I have to be so kedekut?

Here's one of the categories (owhh.. ku sungguh pathetic, toys anak2 pun ada sorting system), toy cars. These are what I decided to keep. Half is going for donation. Ni pun rasanya dah banyak sangat hilang ntah ke mana.

Btw, my SIL was here for some of the medical courses. She came to my house semalam and brought the eldest 2 to Jusco Bukit Mahkota Cheras. Balik tu both has their hands on their back with wide proud smile on each face. Ingatkan belikan Ummi hadiah ke apa.. rupanya they went to an art session (unplanned, coincidently ada session running) and had fun trying their hands on some canggih play-dough and these are the result..

*drumroll*
LADYBUG by Kakak.

Btw, kaler sebenar bodynya ialah biru. Memfoto dengan HTC tak berapa canggih beserta dengan lampu mentol kuning adalah tidak digalakkan.

*drumroll*
CROCODILE by Iman.
I was doubting if he did this himself until Kakak said 'I saw with my own eyes Ummi. Iman buat sendiri'.

Nampaknya lepas ni kelas play-doh Ummi (read here) mungkin tutup terus lah, now that they know there's a more canggih option.. nearby some more!

Thankful

I have always believed everything happens for a reason.

It's not even a week yet and the kids are behaving relatively well. Less quarelling, less spilling drinks, less tantrums. I was suprised (and very thankful) that Iman even let Adam share his collection of transformers and they had good time playing those ultraman. And goofing around. Together.

Kakak helps around more. Whenever Iman or Adam suara kuat sikit, cecepat dia datang and ask what's the matter. She prepares tumbler after tumbler of orange drink and keeps them in the fridge. Bila habis je, dia buat lain.

The only downside now is that, I can't teach at home Iman consistently as I used to. Maybe I should include Adam as well so that he doesn't kacau so much.

But, by writing this, doesn't mean I am thanking x-bik for running away.

Salam Maal Hijrah

Alhamdulillah.

Tahun baru.

Masih panjang umur meneruskan dan menguruskan kehidupan di muka bumi ini. Salam Maal Hijrah kepada semua yang beragama Islam.

Hari ini banyak perkara baru. Mencemaskan tetapi berakhir dengan penuh kelegaan.

Saya sendiri menjalani TSAHM full fledge sebagai suri rumah tanpa helper. InsyaAllah. Penat sedikit tapi hati puas. Lantai bersapu dan bermop. Kain siap berlipat. Mainan anak-anak bersusun (ada lagi 3 beg besar nak kena sort, never thought we had THAT much!). Kain baju yang sepatutnya bergosok, dah pun digosok. Anak-anak pun alhamdulillah tak makan megi aje! Anak-anak order makanan itu ini. Iman nak donut, pau inti kelapa, apple pie. Kakak nak agar-agar kaler coklat. Agar-agar done. Inti apple pie done. Lain-lain tu, sabar ye anak-anak. InsyaAllah Ummi buat.

Iman pulak, dah baik dari chicken pox (ingat entry saya di sini?). Makanya bermulalah tuition cuti sekolah untuk dia. Jam 9.00 pagi saya pasang semula car seat Adam dalam kereta kecik tu. Berangkutlah ke pusat tuition empat beranak. Mula-mula inform kehadiran (dah register minggu lepas), lepas tu temankan dia ke kelas. Adam pun sibuk sama bawak beg and duduk kat meja. Orang keluarkan pensil, dia keluarkan ultraman! Waktu kelas nak mula, nasib baik Adam nak keluar tapi Iman dah mula berkerut-kerut nak nangis. Nasib baik tak lama kendian, cousin dia datang (I live berselang beberapa rumah dengan my SIL), terus ceria, babai suruh balik. So off we went, Ummi dengan Adam balik rumah.

Part yang mencemaskan ialah, hari ni first day Iman naik van. Walaupun dekat, risau amat. Bimbang dia tak naik van. Bimbang dia main turun je kat mana-mana. I entrusted Iman to his sister, Kakak. Kakak kena ambik Iman from his class, then make sure naik van sama-sama. I had faith in Kakak but still, I paced to and fro at our living area from 11.30am (the time class ends) right up to the moment they showed up at front gate around 20 minutes later. Okaylah tu, brisk walk dalam rumah! Alhamdulillah. Selamat sampai anak-anak. Tanya Iman how was school? Dia kata tak best. How's the van? BEST! Oh well.

Anyway, ingat my complaint here? I saw the person in-charge and conveyed my concern. Accepted with open heart and promised to look into the matter. I was not trying to be-little anyone. I think when there's something wrong, why should we ignore it kan.

Thanks to frens who left comment on Bibik thingy, in FB and those text messages. Really appreciate your concerns and thots. *hugs*

Iman's Vision Test HUKM

A busy week indeed. Today I brought Iman again to HUKM for vision test. New cases will be entertained between 7.30 - 9.00 am. Hit the road at 7.00 am, reached HUKM around 7.40 am. Alhamdulillah I didn't have to resort to abang valet as half of the lots were still empty. I took my time rear-parked my little car and leisurely walked with Iman. Sampai kat Ophtalmology, well.. well.. well.. orang sudah ramai. Dropped Iman's referral and waited.

I have to mention here that there was a notice on the wall stating one should make sure to eat before coming or bawak bekal. I got an uneasy feeling reading that while rummaging thru my bag to make sure I did indeed brought sepapan potato bread and a tumbler of plain water for Iman. Thank God I did.

After almost an hour, Iman's name was called and we got number 1011, room 10. This is for emergency or walk-in. Tunggu lagi. Nasib baik bawak notebook and a pen for Iman to scribble in. When it was finally our turn, Iman refused to cooperate. Whatmore dengan nurse yang sangat tidak pandai mengambil hati anak-anak kecik. We were sent to Room 12 then. Petugas yang lebih child-friendly and took a bit of time asking me what exactly Iman's case is all about. with all smiles and no frown.

We were then asked to go to room 1. Kena tunggu lagi for our turn. This one sangat lama. Iman habis makan sepapan roti potato, drank 1/2 tumbler of plain water, drew approximately 10 pages of cartoon, read 2 sets of flash cards, almost threw a series of tantrum.

When we were finally called in, Iman sangat bosan and again, refused to cooperate. I had to sit down with him sitting on me. Nasib baik Dr tu child-friendly and knew how to 'connect' with a 6yo boy. Ultraman, robots and all. The test went well and the results were okay. Nevertheless, we were referred to HUKM's branch near HKL for further assessment. Next appointment with HUKM Cheras will be 30th March 2011. But before that we need to go to HUKM's branch near HKL first.

The whole process in HUKM took around 3 hours, plus journey back, almost noon sampai rumah (singgah beli pretzel sama jco donut sat) Nasib baik I am on long leave, kalo idak, harus stress!

Octopus Ampang Point

After sending off Iman to Ampang Hilir, Kakak and I went to Octopus, @Ampang Point. Sushi time. Too bad tak banyak choice left. Maybe sebab it was after lunch and nearing teatime kot. I had to order for the ones with orangy fish roe on top (which usually rolling away in abundant on the conveyor). That's Kakak's favourite. She had 2 servings while I had 2 for myself. She had strawberry ice blended while I had hot green tea.

We both had good time.

Play-Doughing Thier School Hols

ain't no babyfood y'all!

Little something to spend quality time together. I kneaded 1/2 kg of flour (mix with salt, water and cooking oil). Made six different colors for the kids to enjoy. I used the ol' food coloring our moms used in the olden days to make raya cookies. I had the kids teased their creativity at our car porch.

Kakak, Adam & Iman.


Adam kata latt.. latt (ulat)

Iman trying to do a dino. Therapist Ayu suggested making small balls but he decided on something more complicated. Layan je lah.

The result? Good time (albeit some frustrations when things didn't turn out they way they wanted), nice creation and lotsa scrubbing!

butterfly by Kakak

Ummi's

Iman's volcano (gunung hijau with pinkish red lava) and pinkish red pearl on top of clam. For Ummi, he says. Owwww..

rattie rat by Kakak

cattie cat by Kakak. kucing siam ni, mata biru!

ready untuk dijemur