Second

We had Alya’s birthday on the 17th. Watching her sleep now, it’s amazing how far away she seems from the tiny bundle swimming in the pink SJMC swaddling cloth. I mean, 2 years ago she was a 2.14kg baby girl who managed to avoid the incubator after arriving about a month early. She was only as long as K’s forearm, a hairy lil thing whose limbs were frequently trembling.

The same little girl can now converse pretty well (but with pelat of course), runs around while giggling and saying “Lajuuuu!!” and demands your complete attention. She’s freaked out by injuries (scrapes, blisters, blood) and suka kacau daun when her parents cuddle in front of the TV (“Abah tak leh pegang Mummy, cem cem, ak alu*”. Translation : Shame shame, tak malu) I had a huge laugh over it while K looked a bit incredulous.

I spent Friday night clearing the living & dining area of the numerous piles of stuff that seems to have popped up, chucking everything I can fit into the back room. Then Saturday was spent cleaning up the inside & shopping for the lasagna ingredients. The kids woke us up at 6am Sunday morning. Getting up was no easy task. K cleaned up his car stuff outside while I managed the kids and other lil bits of cleaning. Not an easy task as the kids were practically climbing up the grille to go outside. At one point, Alya (in diapers, don’t ask) was wailing to go outside and her brother (still in his sleepsuit) decided to ‘harmonize’. K & me were tiredly looking at them then at each other, before he commented “Inilah nasib kita”. That got us laughing loud enough to stun the wailing duo. Indeed it was.

I bathed them, stuck in a bottle each and watched them slowly fall asleep. Put my head down next to Dan-dan. Next thing I knew, K woke me up saying my in-laws were here. Sure enough, they were standing in front of the grille smiling away. We had been caught sleeping on the job. It seems they had given salam at the gate and seeing it was unlocked, let themselves in. Only to find us 4 beranak pretty much passed out in front of the TV as nobody stirred when they gave salam 3 times..!

K’s mum had come early to make nasi lemak. Both grandmothers were worried there wouldn’t be enough food for 30 hungry guests at lunchtime. So the original menu of beef & chicken lasagna, KFC and cake expanded to include nasi lemak, fried rice, bihun Singapura, kuih apam and fruits. K had ordered a number 2 cake since we couldn’t get it for Alya last year. A spread that saw about ¾ of the food polished off. Alhamdulillah, grandmas to the rescue.

The birthday girl was excited seeing her Abah bring in the big cake box that she tailed him giggling and saying “Ala nak nengok”. I took off the lid to let her have a quick look at her aquarium-themed cake. Mistake. She wouldn’t let anyone cover it up and kept insisting “Ala nak jilat..!” When everyone was singing the birthday song, she got all bashful and even tried to hide her face. She wouldn’t let me cut the cake, yelling “Nanak, nanak” everytime the knife touched the cake. K had to take her aside before I could cut it up and serve it to the horde..

The birthday girl insisting on sampling the goods

She got a lovely pair of sandals which she promptly wanted to wear – declaring them to be ‘atik!!’, a toy xylophone from my sister which was hijacked and fully ‘serviced’ by Dan-dan (thanks a lot, bingit umah aku), some stuffed animals, cookies which I have stashed away for safekeeping (read: Mummy’s snacking session) and many many angpows to help fatten up her savings.


I don’t think I can do this again in May for Dan-dan’s 1st. Both grandmas suggested a party at McD.. How?

Why am I in a Hawaiian shirt and holding this noisy thing? I feel like a posterboy for a luau band

The huge mosquito bite was from 2 days before the party..

The birthday girl.. 1 year on

One upper, one lower

There was some pertumpahan darah over the long weekend. It started off with Aidan slipping while crawling around, cutting his lip and upper gum on his two lower teeth. The 2 tiny teeth had come in early January and the big-ass upper teeth is slowly making an appearance (gigi kapak!!) Anyway, there was a lot of blood in his mouth.. Scared the hell out of me.. His upper lip swelled up almost immediately, K told me to ice it down.. I grabbed an ice cube, wrapped it in a face towel & started applying it to his lip.. The lil dude had other ideas as he had started to test-lick it.. I unwrapped the ice cube & let Dan-Dan suck on it, which calmed him & the swelling a lot faster..

Then we went back to Seremban to visit my in-laws. They have been doing some extensive renovation work since Dec last year, just a few details left to be done. While we were hanging out in the kitchen, I noticed Alya doing something funny. She was squatting and using the handle of a hairbrush to tap on the tiled floor. When I asked “Kakak, awak buat apa tu?” she nonchalantly replied “Ala wat keje!”. It took me a few seconds before I realized that the lil minx was doing what the workers did when they were laying down the tiles in the living room!! Man, we definitely need to watch what we say or do around her… Unfortunately, she has picked up a few bad words – bodoh, boobies… There were 2 occasions where she has used those words, much to our surprise & extreme horror..

Alya spends most weekends in Seremban, so as per usual we left her with K’s family while we went home Saturday night. On Sunday, she apparently fell & cut her lower lip. She had refused to take a nap and was playing with her Atok in a sleepy state when it happened. At least she knows it’s her fault. She gave me a blow-by-blow account last night, saying “Ala main ngan Atok! Ala atuh! Akit!” When I asked “Sapa buat?” she said “Ala buat…” I wouldn't be surprised if she smacked the floor hehehe..

Dan-Dan adores his older sister.. His goal in life is to get her to play with him and whenever she does, he will squeal & giggle happily.. He’ll follow his sister around and hijack whatever she’s doing.. Alya will play with something, he’ll drop whatever he’s doing, scoot on over and hijack it in the blink of an eye.. A toy piano, her stuffed toys and even a half-eaten biscuit.. Alya just stood there whining about “Dan-Dan amik, Dan-Dan amik” while the lil dude sits next to her munching away.. He’s super-quick & strong so I don’t think Alya stands much of a chance.. He really does lanyak his sister, no qualms about steamrolling her to get to something..

Hai, cuts on one upper lip & one lower lip.. I worry about whatever’s next?