MC - Makcik Pitam Semalam!

Uwaaa... I want Big Apple donuts, especially hak yang ada shaved-choc yang gulung2 kat atas tu. Pastu kat dalam tu ada pulak choc filling... nak.. nak.. nak... Dah le miss makan bubur kacang yang specially ordered hari ni sbb MC. Oh ya, saya MC 2 hari. Malam semalam makcik pitam okeh. Buka mata, satu bilik cam pusing-pusing. Sib baik budak2 dah tido. So I just had myself to deal with.

Nothing interesting actually. Kat ofis ada tsunami transfer. Punyalah ramai orang mintak transfer. Something is wrong I think. Heard things like grading. Environment pun satu jugak. I know it's their rights to ask for transfer tapi mungkin pendekatan tu boleh dibetulkan. Sebab some people went direct to big boss and tak bagitau direct-supervisor. When they got to know the news, naik angin lah masing-masing kan. Sampai sekarang saya ingat kata-kata ex-GM saya, 'don't burn the bridge just yet, I may be your boss in future. furthermore, an army cannot choose his commander but a commander can choose his army'. Sungguh keras ancaman itu. I met him a year back during Tebby's convocation (Tebby did his MA and my ex-GM, PhD). Still the gentleman he always was. Yang tak tahan tu, sokmolah nak hulur tangan salam-salam bagai.

When I first joined here in 2004 pun, I didn't like the division. Semacam okeh. I did not like the people, the job. Even the table and chair that were given to me. And I could not figure out which one to debit and which to credit when those were among the things people expected me to be an expert in. I went thru lots of masa-masa yang kurang menyenangkan, menyedihkan and tah apa-apa lagi. Sok sek sok sek mengatakan - apalah budak marketing buat kat sini. Supposenya orang accounting/finance (the 2 areas I was and still am weak in). Tiba at one point, I decided to stand up and at least tried to live up to it. Btw, saya pulak dapat bos baru. Bos lama switch dengan bos baru. Really hope under his management/supervision, things will take a better turn. Cuma saya pulak yang tak ter-cope ni ha. Baru aje dia masuk, banyak benda yang dormant sekian lama dah start to move on. InsyaAllah lepas confinement, I'll be in full gear. Yahh semangat.. semangat..

Btw, we have 5 vacant executive posts. Grade 22. Main task is to manage debtors. Interested, pse mail me abrozila [at] tm [dot] com [dot] my for further info. Sorry, this is internal only.

It's now 7.10pm already. Tengah tunggu Tebby balik. Since his promotion, he's been coming back home late. Weekend pun kena buat kerja from home. Well, what did we expect kan. Takkan naik gaji tapi keje makin kurang kan. Like I said to Zarid, we can't have all. Budak2 pun masih kat taska. Did not dare to drive there ambik diorang. Buatnya makcik pitam masa tengah drive tu? Nauzubillah. Lagipun memang I can't fit into the driver's seat anymore. I'm too big, can you believe that?

Still A Big And Round Me

Updates on Monday 21st April 2008

:: Still pregnant.

:: Stopped taking morning strolls from Menara to Annexe. Just too heavy, I could tripped forward easily. Whatmore while carrying a laptop along. I don't normally bring it back home unless during weekends or day-off.

:: Project 3 accomplished. Bought water-heater somewhere in Bt11, Balakong. Similar dengan hak kat kampung so we did not have to teach the kids how to use it. We even have the shower-head intalled a bit low. Now we can have hot shower kat toilet bawah as well.

I'm still pregnant!

Jumaat lepas, the time was almost 10pm, I thought I was in labor already. Tebby was still in a meeting. I was home with the kids. There was no labor show, no water leakage, no bloody discharge. But I swear I had contractions. Or were those braxton-hicks.

It sent me searching the net. In the absence of leakage or bloody discharge, another labor signs is contraction. Use the 411 rule. Contraction every 4 minutes, each one lasts for 1 minute and the pattern continues on for 1 hour. That is labor. The contraction will begin from the back and then to the front. Note to myself and to those expectant moms. My two previous kids' labor began with bloody discharge.

Given my size at the moment, I have to admit sangat tidak sabar to hold Adam in my arms. I have difficulty walking and standing for a long time. Long here means 4-5 minutes.

But like I said earlier, I'm still pregnant.

Muhammad Adam - One Big Guy

Muhammad Adam. We've decided that would be his name.

Last Friday, he was already a 3.3kg foetus. He's head down. Should he be born now, insyaAllah he can survive on his own already. By now, his internal organs should have developed and physically okay. Panic? Yes I do. He was already Iman's size at birth! Takut? Of course. Masa tu I had 4 more weeks to go. The past 2 weeks, Adam gained like 800gm. Do your math. I did and the result scares me. I was issued an admission letter already. Packed my bag and Adam's. Ready. I asked my gynea on what to expect should I carry Adam until 40 weeks. He predicted I'd manage a 3.5kg since Kakak was 3.5kg at birth. But anything like 4kg, we may resort to OT. Given my size, I could not help but to wonder where else Adam will fit himself in my tummy for another 3 weeks. When he's quiet and remain still, I had to poke him to make sure he's ok. I guess things are getting pretty stuffy inside there. (Good boy, now he's moving) Oh yes, just for information, I've expanded additional 17 inches in waistline. Yes, a good 17 inches. Should I cut off that expanded portion and lay it flat, it would be longer than pembaris panjang you.. Scary huh!

Anyway. Since I may be in labor anytime, I'd like to apologize to my blog readers for my wrongdoings. Anything yang membuatkan anda terasa atau marah atau sebagainya. Pse pray for Adam's safe delivery. Since I'll be in KL for confinement (except during cuti sekolah, I'll be going balik kampung. Tebby may have to go abroad that time), I'll have full access to email so watch out for Adam's debut on the net okies.

Oh, sharing some preparations I made for this little guy..

hak ni mak dia punya. para jamu-jamuan dan ubat-ubatan.

beddings, caps, saputangan, bib


mittens & booties. at the back are socks.

towels, wipes, shirts

bodysuits, baju pendek, via storage, cotton balls and my good old Avent pump

napkins, blankets and yess... my new medela pump

more beddings.

steriliser baru. last time i used pigeon. now the price lebih kurang dgn Avent's jek so I settled for Avent.

Project 1 - Port Lepak Confinement

Alhamdulillah, Fasa 3 Project 1 (Port Lepak Confinement) dah siap terlaksana. The room smells unmistakenably of IKEA at the moment. Nothing fancy, seme hak yang murah-murahan saja. After my 36th week check-up last Friday, went to IKEA kejap. Within just an hour semua dalam list dah selamat dalam troli. Tak banyak pon, just 3 bulky items, which were a bed frame, a tall book-rack and a dresser. In case you were wondering what the he** a book-rack is doing in this confinement thingy, the room also serves as storage for Kakak school items while waiting for our Project 2 (Library / Reading-cum-working Area) to take-off. Dalam En Tebby menyorong troli tu, sempat lagi si Mak Yong ni ngambik foot-stool and an apple corer. Ish ish.. foot stool tu hak yang buh dalam bilik air tu. For Kakak since she's having hard time looking at her teeth in the mirror after brushing. As for the apple corer tu, well.., I was looking for a thong (a kitchen thong okay) tapi takde so ambik apple corer as replacement. Boleh? Cam takde apa-apa kaitan pun kan.

Those things were delivered to our home petang Jumaat tu jugak. Kekonon cam tererlah, takmo upah diorang pasang. Nak pasang sendiri. Lagipun the room was still in some kind of mess so kena clearkan dulu kan. Takkan nak ajak mamat-mamat IKEA tu sama-sama ngemas bilik pulak kot kan.

The rest is told in these photos..

En Tebby sedang memulakan kerja-kerja kasar.
We had planned to paint the room sebenarnya tapi tak sempat.
I drool for olive-green or light-coco.


Before. Tempat toys budak2. Tengok pintu tu.
Hasil keras tangan Kakak.


Before. Tingkap belakang.

After. MELDAL bed-frame with tilam single beli kat kedai apek.
Memula nak rapatkan kat tingkap belakang. Pas pasang takleh
pusing so himpitkan ajek kat situ.


BILLY book-rack. 40cm width, 202cm height. Nampak tak
ada bahagian 'cork' yang mengadap ke depan? Silap pasang
but Tebby was too tired to redo the whole thing. Bolehlahh tuhh..

MALM 6-drawers dressers for En Adam.

Inilah ghopernya dari pandangan sudut.

One more angle. Tataulah sapa yang akan lepas atas katil tu sudahnya nanti.
I got the feeling katil itu akan dikerjakan oleh kakak dan abang En Adam nih.
Curtain courtesy of my SIL. Borrowed and never returned back sejak day 1 kami
menikah 8 tahun lepas he he

Happy Birthday Mr Tebby

Happy 34th Birthday to the most wonderful man of my life.

I thought of getting him a watch to replace his worn-and-torn Tissot. I've been warned that I could very well give birth anytime now so the idea of scouting alone for a watch is a big no-no at the moment. I think I'm gonna drag him somewhere, and let the birthday-boy chooses for himself.

Yang, Selamat Hari Jadi. I Love You. Much more than you think I do.

On Being a Mother

Updates on Kakak

:: Seboleh mungkin saya atau Tebby cuba spend masa everyday dengan Kakak untuk buat extra exercise on Math, Science, BM and BI. Tak lama, around 15 minit aje dah cukup. Alhamdulillah this week, so far, ada kelapangan tiap-tiap malam lepas balik kerja sementara menunggu waktu Isya'. Kami buat 2 subjek satu malam. Tiap-tiap subjek cukuplah satu atau dua mukasurat. Kakak ni attention span dia pendek aje. Lama sikit duduk dia mula resah. Saya nampak dia kelemahan dia ialah (i) tak boleh tumpukan perhatian untuk satu jangkamasa yang lama (ii) tergopoh gapah nak selesaikan kerja cepat-cepat tanpa baca arahan/soalan dengan teliti, langsung cuai menjawab. After a few days, dia pulak yang insist nak tambah barang semuka dua lagi exercise.

:: And lately, lepas Isya' and dinner, dia ambik buku cerita and on her own accord, baca sampai habis.

:: Bila nak masuk tidur, tak perlu lagi saya ingatkan dia untuk masuk bilik air, buang air dan gosok gigi. Semua dia buat sendiri.

:: Oh ya, last 2 weeks, dia pergi a camp of some sort di sekolahnya berkaitan dengan latihan solat. Balik tu dia bawak kertas kuning. Rekod solat untuk sebulan. Lepas sebulan kena submit semula kepada Ustaz. A good start for us all. Alhamdulillah, walaupun tak sepenuhnya 5 waktu setiap hari, dia dah mula bersolat. Setakat ni dia masih sembahyang jemaah dengan Tebby. Sudah tau waktu ini untuk solat apa. Solat yang ini berapa rakaatnya. Dari segi pergerakan dah hampir ok, cuma dia susah nak diam. Pelan-pelan nanti kena introduce bacaan pula. Yang tak tahan tu, bila Tebby baca al-Fatihah kuat, dia pun sama naik kuatkan suara. Kalau weekend tu, pukul 9pagi dah tanya bila nak solat Zohor.

:: Saya dah contact KUMON berhampiran dengan rumah. Malangnya sesi hujung minggu ada satu saja sedangkan seminggu kena hadir 2 sesi. Bayaran tetap sama, RM120 sebulan untuk satu subjek. Tak sampai hati saya nak dia pegi masa weekdays. Habis sekolah agama jam 5.30. Pukul 6 nak ke KUMON pulak sampai pukul 7. Walaupun satu hari saja sepanjang weekdays tu. Mungkin Tebby dan saya ke sana Sabtu ni untuk bincang-bincang. Jika arrangement bersesuaian boleh diusahakan, insyaAllah Kakak akan ke KUMON untuk Math. Kalau tidak terpaksa cari alternatif lain. Every parent mahukan yang terbaik untuk anak-anak dan mahu anak-anak jadi yang terbaik but I don't want her to miss being kids playing with dirts or run around in the field. Saya tak mahu satu hari anak-anak berkata 'my father pushed me too far academically' or 'I grew up too fast' or 'I was denied of having friends since I was small and now I finally am in control of my life'. Sounds fimiliar?


Updates on Iman

:: Anak yang sorang ni masih ligat. Masih melompat-lompat. Iman. Nama pilihan abahnya. Sedari bayi dia memang mencabar keimanan dan kesabaran kami suami isteri. Dengan ligatnya, dengan sakitnya. Dan masih belum boleh bertutur sepertimana sepatutnya. Saya contact Atfal. Iman ada menunjukkan perubahan positif. Sudah boleh terima dan ikut arahan (walaupun kadang-kadang dia memilih untuk ignore saja dan buat aktiviti dia sendiri). Orang sebatang pensil warna, dia mahu 2 atau 3. Orang buat barisan, dia main gelongsor. Feveret dia time menyanyi. Dia akan masuk join menyanyi. Lagu apa? Apa-apa pun boleh. Tapi dalam bahasa dia lah.

:: Dulu ada dalam 10 orang budak-budak satu geng dengan Iman. Bimbangnya saya takut Iman jadi ring leadernya! Selepas sebulan dua, tinggal 4-5 orang dan Iman masih dalam kumpulan itu. Sekarang tinggal berdua, salah seorangnya ialah Iman! The other kid memang ada problem dan menurut Atfal, mungkin budak itu akan ke kelas special. 'Istimewa'kah juga Iman? Teacher dia berpendapat Iman sekadar 'lambat' dari segi pertuturan tetapi elok juga dibawa untuk pemeriksaan lanjut. Being Malay, mungkin itu cara halus dan bersopan mengkhabarkan kepada saya supaya 'berbuat sesuatu' dengan Iman. InsyaAllah. InsyaAllah, selepas saya bersalin dan selesai confinement, saya akan rujuk semula paednya dan minta nasihat. If need be, dia harus pegi theraphy, then let it be.

On a more happier note, Fasa 1 Projek 1 dah siap!! To refurbish the maid's room jadi port lepak saya waktu confinement nanti. Seketul bulky item iaitu study table Tebby dah keluar. Printer pun dah keluar. Lapang! Yang menyakitkan mata cuma kotak-kotak berisi barang-barang yang kami susun tepi dinding. Fasa 2 pula postpone ke satu masa yang lebih sesuai. Masa tak cukup. Cadangnya nak cat semula tapi nampak gayanya En Adam ni sempatlah menengok mural ciptaan En Iman dan Cik Athirah. Fasa 3 ialah membeli kelengkapan. I am thinking of a metal bed, a chest of drawers and a book rack. Bilik tu sekarang ni mmg tempat port toys anak-anak dan harta benda persekolahan di Kakak. Tak sabar nak mengemas. Tebby pun dah naik panik. I look as if I'm gonna pop the baby anytime now. Sangat besar okay. In fact pagi ni saja dah 3-4 orang yang komen betapa saratnya saya.

Projek 3 saya simple aje. Nak install water heater di bilik air bawah. Nothing big, tak perlu hack down the wall, pakai casing aje nak cover wiring tu. Kot nak 'tanam' kat dinding, kang kena ganti tiles pulok. Panjang ceritanya. After this, tak perlulah saya rebus air like I did masa Iman kecik2 dulu. Dan saya pun tak perlu turun-naik waktu confinement untuk mandi. Kalau tak confinement pun, memang saya pantang mandi air sejuk. Hatta tengahari pun.. he he. Tebby nak cari tong air 1/4 round to replace the big plastic tong. Ari tu budak2 tu pegi masukkan sabun dalam tong tu, then bukak paip kuat2. Pesta buih I tell you! Cuba bayangkan, dengan tong air besar tu, penuh dengan buih sabun. Haii... terkejut mak dia nengok sorang-sorang badan berkilat dengan buih dari kepala sampai kaki. Bila dah jadi mak ni, baru saya tau apa makna 'sabar' dalam ertikata sebenar. Kalau ikut naik angin saya, mau sorang-sorang dapat barang sedas dua. Sabar.. sabar.. nanti En Adam ni ikut sama berangin, susah pulak!

Growing Pains - Terimalah Dengan Redha

Semalam saya lewat ke ofis. Menyelesaikan masalah yuran sekolah agama si Kakak. Fee Mac dah pun dijelaskan tapi kami dapat pula surat cinta alkisahnya pihak sekolah belum terima. Tanya Kakak, dia kata dah bagi. Call sekolah. Sekolah kata nanti nak siasat. Lepas 10 minit, guru kelas sendiri call saya. Katanya betul dah terima. Kalau macam tu, mana resitnya? Katanya resit dah bagi pada Kakak. Kalau resit dah keluar, kenapa rekod sekolah tak kemaskini yuran tu? Semalam singgah kejap, bersua 4 mata, senang nak selesaikan. Terus saja saya bayar sekali untuk April, May dan Jun. Kerani tukang tulis resit takde lah pulak. Pesan saya, resitnya nanti bagi saja pada Kakak. Sebaik saya nak melangkah keluar, cikgunya bersuara. Kakak ni slow sikit. Stop. Slow macamana? Suka berangan. Fikiran seolah ke tempat lain. Cikgu suruh buat hafazan, dia menulis. Dalam hati saya, masalah sama masa dia di tadika dulu. Dreaming. Dia senyap ke? Alhamdulillah tidak. Kalau dia tak faham, dia tanya. Memang saya pesan sangat-sangat pada Kakak. Kalau tak faham, tanya. Jangan diam saja. Saya minta jasabaik cikgu pastikan dia di barisan depan dan kalau perlu ditegur-tegur, silakan.

Saya khabarkan cerita to Tebby. Tebby himself was a late bloomer. He admitted dia pun ada problem belajar masa kecik-kecik dulu tho later in his life he was a MENSA member. Kalau gitu Kakak ni macam you lah. Sebab masa I kecik-kecik, I terer. He.. he.. Somehow along the way, I degress. Toksah ceritalah nak jadi member MENSA kan. Masuk MRSM pun tak pass.

Is she a late bloomer or somewhat having learning problem?

Is she too tired having to attend sekolah agama at 2.30p.m after finishing her sekolah kebangsaaan at 1.00p.m.?

Is she not interested?

Or is she just plain lazy?

Semalam dia bawak balik report card keputusan penuh Ujian Fasa 1. Among all, she got B for bahasa Melayu spelling, C for Math and Bahasa Arab. The rest are A with Pengajian Islam scoring 100%. If she has learning problem, surely result dia lagi teruk kan. But I was and still am bad at Math. I once calculated the price of sebotol kicap in a test and got like RM300++ for one. But hey, I completed my degree a year ahead than most of my friends despite my RM300++ kicap!

Later that night, we interrogate her, sort of. Apa yang dia ingat masa dalam kelas that she daydreams so much. Barbie! Good, now we have a doll to put the blame on. Just like we blame Kikkor for Iman's inability to converse effectively. In fact if you meet Iman the first time, he'd introduce Kikkor to you!

It is not easy to take it when people tell you that your child is somewhat slow or a little bit behind as compared to his/her friends. I choose to accept and adress the matter. The teachers mean well and being frank. They have nothing to loose telling us that and we have nothing to loose either to accept the fact. Well, a bruised pride maybe. But should we let our kids be the victims of our pride? We're thinking of sending her to KUMON for Math. But that's it lah. I don't want to push her too much. No matter how I want her to be so terrer (bukan terror tau), I don't want to take her childhood away.

Just do whatever me and Tebby can to improve her, as far as she can take it. And leave the rest to Allah, shall we?