Curious Ilyasak

Recently I introduced Ilyasak to the 'Curious George' series. He enjoys it very much-be it being read to or his usual daily 1 page reading practice.Although, he tends to mimmick the George the monkey's behaviour too which irritates me ever that much but still put a smile on my face at the end of each stunt which he pulled.
Sadly, the Peter and Jane series are long forgotten. Even the mummy temporarily stash the peter and jane series. Mummy has to get back him read Peter and Jane nevertheless.
When I get him to start reading one of the book in the series-Curious George flies a kite, I was filled with utmost sheer joy as I heard him reading to an almost fluent level. Who wouldn't? When one see your 3yrs 9 months old preschooler reading at such a level without any formal lessons in any phonics school/class. This makes the desire of extending my current SAHM status even longer. Ehmm...

I love balloons!

B's current favourite are balloons. That is the one item she will look for once she wakes up. She would sashay around the house with balloons on sticks which her doting grandpa has put. Its a wonder that such a simple item could create such a strong interest in a toddler.
On some days, you would see her with 3 balloon sticks in her hands. This pretty much occupy the availability of her hands and you would see her trying to scoop up her snacks using her mouth. Her obsession for balloons forbids her from letting go of either one in her hands.

My little linguist

My little linguist is churning more and more words which are not in the dictionary. They are just made up according to his interest. His recent new word 'legorry'
'You wait and see, I will 'legorry' you'
For a while, it got me thinking, is he using the sand threatening technique I use on him each time he keeps his food in his mouth. Oh ya... In case if you are wondering, feeding is still my No. 1 problem with him.

The 2 wheeler

Ilyasak has graduated from his tricycle to a 2 wheeler- thanks to my parents. They conducted 'sort of' an intensive cycling workshop for him last Saturday when he was there. My father strongly believed that he was ready and asked my mom to remove his pair of little wheels. He had 2 intensive practice sessions with my parents- one in the morning and another in d evening.
I was totally surprised when he told me,
"Umi, I can ride on 2 wheels now"
He has progress so well, I must say. His psychomotor skills are so much better than mine. I definitely can't ride a 2 wheeler at 3 yrs 9 months. According to my mom, it was easy for him because of his frequent practice on his 2 wheeler skate scooter which train him to balance very well.
Well done Ilyasak, you just need to put in more strength to press on your brakes. You definitely must eat more in order to have the strength to do that.

Appreciating nature

Ever since I had children of my own, going to parks has become my favourite activity. I try my very best to minimise trips to shopping malls which deemed to be quite meaningless to children I think. Don't get me wrong, they do need to have some kind of shopping experience but in my opinion, fresh air , the sun and nature by far are more meaningful to children.

We set off for Jacobs Ballas in the late morning of Sunday. Well A and I always plan to set off early but si far, we have never succeeded (still trying though)with the kids around. Yup, we reached the park in the afternoon and it was pretty warm but hey! it is no joke getting a preschooler and a toddler ready with homemade packed meals! Thumbs up for me...Yee!Ha!

As usual, we need to feed the Ilyasak and B lunch. Feeding time is time consuming and it did not help when both Ilyasak and B are picky eaters. Basially, when it comes to food, it has to be force down their throats. Yup! Sounds bad but we have no choice given the nature of their feeding patterns. We thought we wanted them to enjoy the park while they were having lunch only to realize that we invite strange stares from the park goers. Ehmmm! strange I thought but I ignored it. It finally made sense to us when the park ranger told us that no food was to be comsumed in the park. Gosh! we were so embarrassed.

We won!

We won! Technically my kids won.The win took us by surprise. We were not expecting any, well we hope to get at least some consolation though. Alhamdulillah, by god's grace they won 1st runner up in the Most Photogenic Siblings Contest. A was happy that he received some kind of return of investment. The contest fee was not cheap. He had to pay an amount which is a little less than $50 for the two categories which we signed the kids for. The freebies which came with it was worthwhile- received a sling Fila bag ( I like it very much and its definitely handy), 2 cans of Similac stage 2 milk (successfully sold them off since Balqis was in need none of it as she was on total breastfeeding still), large XL Drypers nappy ( successfully sold it off too as we predict that Balqis will not reach an XL size based on our experience with Ilyasak) and XL Drperes drypants (waiting for a buyer still).

Based on all the freebies sold off (total sale of $31.50), the kids managed to earn $90.50 ($15.50 top up to the $75 prize money they received)each. A good sum I must say. They also received a $100 Delphin voucher which is yet to be redeem. Woohoo! I was the one which was excited and it took me a week for the victory to sink in.




We took part in 2 contest, Most Photogenic Siblings and Most Sporty Baby (for Balqis only)and wanted to signed up for Most Healthiest Baby but Balqis was overaged. Balqis was unable to perform the task for the Sporty baby contest as she was unable to place all the rings onto the cone- she was in her own world immersed in her own set of activities. I guess she was too young for it also as the other competiors were much older and mature than her- the oldest being 24 months and she was just 1 year and a week old.

As for the Most Photogenic siblings, we were in the studio for a mere 4 minutes I think. It was truly brief as compared to other participants. We were like, 'Huh! that's it! No other poses? Ilyasak and Balqis were cooperative though unlike their usual antics when a camera is placed before them.

We were all praying hard that we got lucky during the lucky draw but we received a much better gift and surprise.

Thanks Ilyasak for bearing with us to delay your 'Toilet 'time for your big business. It was worth it.

Balqis is one!!

My little pumpkin turns one. I could not believe it that my sweetie pie is one. How time flies. I still remember the time when I was in the labour ward waiting anxiously for her arrival. The baby who was so comfortable in my womb that she refused to come out to see me, her abi and bro. She was an overdue baby but despite all that she gave me an easy birth- labour was just under 4 hours (3hrs 50 mins) to be exact.
She has given so much joy to everyone around her especially to me, A and her bro and never fail to surprise us with her antics everyday. We love you so much Balqis. Happy Birthday to you!