a housewife alone at home, obsessed with playing hexic. needed a better way of wasting time so am trying (and loving) this blog thing.
use to be a teacher. was once good at expressing thoughts into words, into sentences. now, words are mispronounced, sentences are jumbled... and i regret opening my mouth.
this is a story of my life living in a somewhat small town in the midwest. a life i share with my husband chot and our adventures trying to fix a 54 year old house.
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Dina is 1 month today
1 month.
i don't think i can do this... taking care of an infant. this is it for me. the stress is too much, i worry about everything. i feel bad having to choose which crying kid i have to attend to first.
anyways, dina is currently experiencing a bad diaper episode. started as a diaper rash, progressed to red bumps n then broke. her skin is raw. at one point she cried so much she lost her voice. vicious cycle. she leaks poop... i change her, she cries n squeeze n poop a little more. i change her... she cries... squirt a little poop... i change her...
and why does desitin or butt paste is sticking to everywhere else but the area i want it to stick to. now, she's on a perscription cream for burn victim. seems to work (please work!!) but today just noticed another area getting red.
at times i feel i can't do it, i can't handle seeing her butt like that. but what choice do i have...
that's it... at 1 month... i am stressing over dina's butt.
Here she is, my second child : )... i'm still adjusting to the fact that i have 2 children n same with chot. we did have 9 months to prepare ourselves but the actual "kemunculan" of dina will take a few days to digest (just like it took us couple of days to digest news of being pregnant for the 2nd time : D ). PLUS, she was delivered fast... n i mean fast!!!...
so aside from the prelabor signs, serious contractions started around 1 am. by 4 am i took a shower n got ready for the hospital. maybe i waited too long coz by that time, contractions was like really2 close, i would even say less than 5 min apart (but i might be wrong considering my impared judgement) called them to let them know i was on my way n that was a miss communication. i said contractions stared at 1, they heard contractions just started 1 hour ago. so... they instructed i take some tylenol (that's like panadol) lie down n wait another hour.
15 min into lying down i was screaming with pain n crying. no way were we waiting... off we went to the hospital. luckily, it was 5 min away : )... if i waited and /or the drive was longer... probably delivered in the van!!!
was already 8cm n with each contractions i was getting closer (or rather further) from an epidural. or probably, epidural was already out of the question. so when they told me so, I FREAK OUT!!!... pain was unbelievable. remembered telling myself "wait!!! wait!!! i can't do this" until i got some sense n actually did what the nurse n doctor was telling me.
i kid u not, i actually felt a small portion of the water sack came out n pop... i swear i could hear the pop, like the pop of a balloon (i'm sure i was the only one hahaha)... with 3 or 4 push, dina was out. i cannot describe the relieve of not having any more horrid contractions. actually felt like a hero, which was short lived when doc started to stitch me up.
nura seemed happy enough saying "baby" non stop. kiss baby, hug baby, baby sleep, baby outside (i guess she wants to take baby home), baby sleep... shhhhh : ) hahaha, very cute.
tomorrow is the day. i was getting sick of all the coverage since the race started sooooooo long ago, can't believe it's actually here.
n now suddenly my hands are cold n i'm nervous thinking of the outcome. they made a mistake of electing bush for a second term, i hope they don't make another mistake by electing mccain.
just came back from first ever check up. heard the baby's heartbeat, comfirming comfirming there is indeed a little one inside. had a pap smear, n a culture for testing since i still have my abnormal cells in my servics but apart from that everything looks normal.
the due date is May 12.
today while chot kept nura company as i was being prodded he reported that nura was saying "walk... walk... walk" as she made her rounds in the building. probably she picked it up from me telling her to walk (instead of hugging my legs n asking to be picked up).
i have videos of nura limited but expanding vocabulary.
first two is of her making the biting into an apple crunch "kkrrrruuunncchh"...
no. 3 is self explanatory...
n the last is of her saying n demonstration "it's stuck"...
we started EARLY MAY 2008. ripping the flooring in the computer room. put in underlayment. felt good... on to the living room...
here's where we made our mistake. u should have ripped out everything, inspect the condition of the sub floors BEFORE buying our laminate. on the day this particular pic was taken, our new flooring came (ohhh... i dunno... all the way from canada but made in malaysia). we noticed a hump n as we proceed with tearing the old flooring... the significant slooping of about 2 inches from where i stood taking the pic to the fireplace wall.
chot's attempt to repair the hump.
this is in August, in an attempt to fix the slope, we (well by this point, i have given up, so...) chot piled layers of wood. but it seemed like the floor is moving each time. he put on inches on one side, came back the next day n found out it was higher. so off he went, rising up another section to match up the previous mistake... for months n months he kept at it. layers n layers of wood.
we (yes, we... i had to help when he pored the self leveling cement)... problem is it doesn't really self level itself despite us making it runnier than recommended. plus, for such a large problem to fix... this stuff pored in batches just doesn't cut it... what would cut it is a cement truck.
a couple of weeks after this pic was taken, chot came to the end of his "by hook or by crook, i'll lay the laminate down" insistent/ persistent. came to my "let's cut our loses n put in carpet" (dark) side.
also at this point, we were asking each other, how much weight can the sub floor hold. don't want to continue pouring cement n then having the whole floor fall into the basement!!!...
this was taken Oct. 26 2008, the night before the carpet guys were to come. chot took the day off to finish undoing all the layers of wood, all the layers of cement, grind each n every stapler head n put in new underlayment. he did it all himself...
the next morning, he was still cutting bits n pieces of underlayment in his handsome work clothes.
we all suffered i tell u!!!... he suffered from being tired with work, trying to finish his old pile before moving to the new position. suffered from fulfilling what is required of a jump to a new company. then came the orientation he was made to go to on top of the old pile of work he still had to finish... on top of the new pile of work he was given... (he is working in the same office, before he was a contract worker, now he's ammm... not. so his old boss can still find him n ask about that old pile of work).
came home n had to face the floors!!!... nuff said.
i suffered coz he wasn't around to take over nura duty. all the time i was experiencing 1st trimester symptoms... n an exhausted mother of a 1 year old.
nura suffered... from being cooped up in either her room, or my room or the kicthen. then it got cold outside... more trapped. she got sick (ok... all suffer when she's sick) with a runny nose. then she got a flu shot, fever from teething. not sleeping through the night, cranky n fussy. still teething at this point...
but alas, here we are 5 months later. we have our living room back. pic is of nura trying out the new carpet. she's unsure of all the space but happy regardless.
- this first trimester is harder than nura's time. i was at the point of nauseousness that made me picked up the phone to my OB-GYN asking for medication. it's getting better now (just passed the 11 week mark) n when i get queezy, it's mostly from gas (from not getting food in when i need to) n i take gas pills for that.
- am suffering from a bad cold. this is day 4. i thought there's nothing i can take for it so i was in agony. chot said to call the clinic just to make sure i was sure. n waddayaknow... i was wrong, I CAN TAKE SUDAFED n ROBUTUSIN DM. n throat lozenges is ok. writing this down so next time (i hope there's no more next time) i'll have the info handy.
- weight. i was at 135lbs when we conceived, i know coz i went on the scale a few times a day coz was trying to get back to original weight. now at 11 weeks, i'm 133lbs. not bad... they say with 2nd pregnancy, woman don't gain as much coz running n managing a kid will keep weight off... i sure hope it's true for me... i gained 42 lbs with nura, i was huge!!!...
- chot started as a JD employee monday. before we was a contract worker, working at JD. is it a step up??... well, not really just that this is more secure i guess. he'll be going somewhere career wise not like before, stuck in one place, no developement, no striving... he always describe his position before as "pencacai tua angkat najis"... i'll ask soon what he's describing his new position : )...
- he's been awfully busy with work n the transition n repairing this house. the flooring project went kaput. it's just impossible trying to level n uneven floor. i have given up a long time ago but he kept at it, wanting to put in the laminate flooring down by hook or by crook.
so now, the plan is for him to undo all the work he's been doing... so we can have carpet people install CARPET. the unused flooring will go to the basement for when we go get around to our angan2 to have it finished : )...
- nura. she's been clingy n whiny. refusing to nap n wanting to sleep later at night. i think the clingy n whiny is from not getting enough sleep (or teething)... but then i put her for her nap n i'll hear her yapping for 2 hours...
this not sleeping when one should is a classic trait of moi. so i guess serves me right. : ) reminds me of when we kids misbehaved, my mom would say to just wait, when we'll have our own kids, they'll be as bad as us.
she does say "bu" for me. n today, i was asking her to say "nenek"... n just like that, she said it. so i scrambled for a video footage. she's sure gonna make her "nenek" melt. i need to remember to put up pics of her grandparents n keep grilling her so she'll know to put a face to a word.
- says "moo" for cow. n show me her teeth when i say "gigi"...
- has choosen to stop breatfeeding on her won. the lactation consultant did say that pregnancy is a natural way to ween baby off the breast. when the milk gets harder to extract n the taste changed, baby will be uninterested. nura acts like she doesn't understands when i ask her if she wants "nenen". n when i do get her attention, she shakes her head. stops breasfeeding at 14 1/2 months when i'm 11 weeks pregnant.
gosh, i'm getting drowsy. so uploading pics n video.
showing me her "gigi"
she wants to do this at least once a day. push my shirt up n lay on my tummy.
saying "nenek"
(the spacing of a post will just go crazy when i upload pics after composing... which just drives me crazy!!!)
what i should be is sleeping... but logged in to leave comments for a friend n might as well update my own.
concentrating on the current.
nura (of course, mesti mula dgn nura) is 14 months old. has 2 teeth n getting skinnier. calls me "buuuuuuu" but she also says the same for books. sometimes she calls me ayah too. things she's saying right now, what i can remember...
-wass dat (what's that)
-dis (this)
-ish stuck (its stuck)
-duc (duck)
some are associated with movements or sounds
-penguin (she'll move from side to side, for waddling)
-apple (makes "kruppp" sound, for the sound biting on an apple)
-tiger (she'll "roar")
-tummy (she'll pat her tummy, sometimes she'll pat too high... at her chest) so far, for other parts of her body, she'll show me her hair.
-hat (pats her head)
she's down to 1 to 2 breatfeeding sessions. once in a blue moon, doesn't take any.
ALSO, i wanted to wait 2 more weeks but i might as well make the official announcement. chot n i are PREGNANT. am at 10 weeks.
was an accident n gave us quite a shock. ready or not... readykan jek lah. the fact has sunken in quite well, n infact, with running around n attending after nura, am too tired to remember that i'm pregnant.
also want to write, nura lately is very lovey dovey, lay on my chest n my tummy. when i pull my shirt up to give her milk, most often than not, she just wants my tummy to be exposed. refuse milk but gets angry when i cover tummy up. n today, is putting her feet on my tummy... hmmm... so do kids nura's age know when they have a little sibling swimming around in mummy's belly??... i do wonder coz nura is acting out of the ordinary.
my mom mailed this for nura's birthday. it's just hilarious!!!... she looks so alim... hehehe, AMEEN. she's screaming n protest, n if u squint real hard, u can see her two front teeth.
she just refuses to learn to say "ibu"... when i'm needed she just calls by grunting "ermhh... eerrmmhh!!!"...
also, kutnya, the fact that i'm always around makes it unnessesary to learn to say "ibu". like in her head she's saying "this lady is always here, why should i bother with a name for her" kindda thing.
now, when it comes to saying "ayah"... it's totally the opposite. she'll peep through doorways calling "ayah... ayah..." thinking chot is in the other room. n when chot gets home, i'll say "ayah, nura... ayah dah balik..." n she'll look around for her dad.
Nura is her father's daughter... here's the proof...
what a shocker!!!... this girl NEVER... i repeat... NEVER... took off her diaper before. i walked into her room after she woke up from her first nap, turned on the lights and my mouth just about dropped on the floor. she sat up n i saw her "pepet"... n before my mind could process this scene, i saw her diaper in her crib n POOP next to it.
POOP!!!!!!... oh my god!!!... there was poop on her fingers... n poop in her hair. she was also sucking her two favorite fingers. which made me pretty sure she had a taste of her no. 2. if all her fingers had poop crumbs, what are the chances those two fingers in her mouth didn't have some on them too... plus, she put everything in her mouth anyways.
i was blabbing to her how she can't take off her diaper again, bla... bla... bla... especially... especially when she just pooped, no!!!... no!!!... no!!!... dirty!!!... dirty!!! i told her. she only looked at me with her uninterested face. and after much wiggling n trying to escape from her bathtub (the kitchen sink), all wrapped up in her towel, was i able to let out the biggest laugh : D... HAHAHA... i went. followed by her hehehehe...
i blame Facebook for the lack of updates on this blog : )... i only recently uploaded pics of nura's birthday celebration in Peoria, forgetting that not all friends n family n blog visitors are connected in FB... yup, that's u audra : )...
anyways, here's the story (what i can still recall). we were suppose to go to the zoo saturday morning but it rained, so was pushed back to sunday morning. only did the picnic as planned. i think all had fun.
peoria zoo is not the greatest, still... we managed to spend a couple of hours there. a few highlights like the sea lions n the friendly goat. i guess the main attraction at the zoo are the tigers since the location was way at the back, wanting visitors to check out other (lame, n semi-lame) animals before seeing the great beasts. but when we got to them, they were napping, just like nura who went to the zoo right on her nap time, n maybe, was still tired from the picnic the day before, fell asleep without any fuss.
next year, nura n summer will have a friend to join in their birthday celebration. Mus n Teng welcomed their second child, Aleena on August 5th 2008. YUP, Aleena n Nura have the same birthdate... how cool is that : )... just like Nura's ibu n mak ngah (my sister).
i'm gonna say, i can't believe she's one. actually, sometimes, i still can't believe she's mine. got a little chocked up thinking about it these past few days. all babies are miracles, she maybe a bit more with the roller coaster we went through. n now she's one??... nevertheless, it's amazingly sweet to get to this day.
while chot was still at work, i got inspired to dress her up in her b'day gift from auntie ellie. then, she opened a present from auntie emmy (i saved the biggest box for today... the other two dah selamat di enjoyed)... also got a doll from auntie bai, she kisses the thing everytime she see's it... thanks u guys!!!
after waking up from her nap, we got her ready for a 3 person birthday party : )... got her cup cakes with red icing. a poor choice of color with maximum effect. it was a mess but worth all the cleaning up afterwards.
gave her her bath, and all went out for dinner n later, a haircut for ibu.
little girl has been active, waking n falling well, always on the go.
n not being well, vomitted buckets n scared the shit out of her parents. diarrhea n teething (we think but still no teeth, being a cranky n clingy butt).
some pics of nura behaving n misbehaving at home...
writing on her mouth
first HUGEST bump aka benjol on her forehead... took a good 3 weeks to completely dissapear.
waking up from her many naps. that's ballerina, her sleeping buddy. ballerina has been hanging around for the longest time, but nura only took a liking to her since 2 months ago. i think it's cute... chot is accepting the attachment to pink.
sharing a popsicle with chot n demanding more.
this was taken a few days back. she was terrorizing the sage bush.
wearing a dress her tok mama (chot's mom) made.
walking in shoes is not easy.
has been refusing to take her 2nd nap 2 days in a row. prefering instead to run around the house 3/4 naked : )...
- Downtown Waterloo is flooded. I watched in disbelief : (... many towns in Iowa are also facing the same situation.
- Nura took her first baby steps today. I watched in disbelief : )... i called chot right away to share the good news (good news ka??... ok la good : D )...
- she learned a new trick. when i say "kiss kiss, muah muah" she came close n lean over for me to give her a kiss. this evening, we both gave her the cue n she gave us her forehead to kiss. we melted : )... chot asked her "ok nura, what new toy u want?"
also, news that's not so new...
- On Saturday, water came into our basement for the 3rd n 4th time. once in the morning n once more that evening.
we have so much water... we should send some to California.
and tomorrow, nura is turning 10 months old. so that leaves me 2 months to shape up. it's pilates EVERYDAY or so help me god i'd just die showing up at nura's birthday party looking like a whale.
nura is bigger n taller (although only 25 inches, she's grown so much in my eyes). she is losing her chubby cheeks, face is squarer n we can see more of her neck. is standing unassisted in about 5 seconds intervals, macam teror ajek lepas2 tangan mula2 tu. but now doing it like it's nothing... still falling on her butt of course. trying to climb... she'll stand in front of an obstruction n lifts one knee... "no nura, u can't climb onto that box. it's as tall as u, silly girl"... n then she'll turn n gives me one of her toothless grin.
oh ya, still no teeth...
she is eating more too... recently, i had to include a light snack of fruits n/or dry cereal coz when she wakes up from her 2nd nap, she'd be bulldozing my chest even after i gave her milk. i can't keep up with her growling tummy...
also, i've started giving her meat for dinner. this week it's beef which i cook with rice n malay spices n garlic n ginger. she's soooo done with chicken. she's been eating yogurt for breakfast for the past 2 months n getting tired of it. i need to make breakfast interesting... the doctor did suggest cottage cheese, i need to remember to buy some.
so, that's 3 meals + 1 snack + water that i make her drink + water she accidentally swallow while playing with her cup + 5 milk sessions.
++++++
onto other news...
chot n i are in the middle of changing flooring in this old stinkin house. i can't remember when we started ripping out the vinyl n underlayment in the office. anyways, while working on ripping out the carpet n deteriorating padding (no wonder we always get sinus allergy. it's all this padding dust!!!... and gasp!!!... is that mold??... i hate this house) n underlayment, we found a sloping sub floor (that's the main/base floor... the one that keep u from falling into the basement).
the sloping sub floor is adding a good month (maybe more) onto these weekend warriors' schedule. we talked about some possible solutions, searched on the internet, tried at shimming the planks to make the sloping gradual but that is too much work. we're gonna try doubling up the underlayment (that's the plywood) n go from there.
what are we putting in?? laminate wood flooring. ordered it online, quite cheap for the 10mm thickness. came all the way in a big truck from Canada. BUT it's made in MALAYSIA... i wonder if i have wood parts from the illegal logging trade. they steal trees n gov people n news people only realized it after everything is completely gone. for goodness sake, they're stealing trees, takkan tak nampak kut!!!
some fat gov officials should get their asses whip... bad bad people for letting this happen. chot says they may be bribed to look the other way. that's very possible... ok, digressing...
so, wish us luck on the flooring project. we might get close to killing each other but we'll get it done eventually : )...
and previous entry. when my cousin post an old pic of us on FB, i really2 felt i was looking at nura. and then i put that pic n nura's pic n a grown up pic of chot on that look-alike meter, it says nura look like more like chot by 4%. waahhhh???... darn it!!!
also, that one huge clump of sentences up there. it should be 3 paragraphs. blogspot won't let me pull them apart. i bet this two last paragraph are merged also... if there's none... eerrr... nevermind.
is more mobile. crawling and pulling herself up like a pro... and falling like one too : D... she's into climbing now, when i feed her, her mouth is still attach but her body wants to go elsewhere. she'll climb on me, over me. also, likes to pat my jello tummy n lick n give me raspberries. i would shrill and she'll look up and give me a toothless grin.
i asked chot to exposed his tummy to nura but she wasn't even slightly interested. maybe she feels that bond with my tummy : )... must be... hehehe.
on accidents. a day before she turned 9, she got her first major bruise on her forehead. because she was in chot's care, i was a bit crossed. so i took her into her room and not 5 minutes later, elbowed her head... what fine rescuing : D...
and what's worse, that evening, while i was picking out something for her to wear, she flip herself off the footboard. one second she was sitting pretty on the bed and the next second, lying on her back on the floor. oh boy, my heart stopped and i felt soooo bad.
i knew falling off the bed is somewhat of a right of passage, a pre-requisite into childhood... so she has that under her belt. she's fine alhamdulillah. her room is carpeted.
as for her first cold. it dragged onto day 16. so i took her to the clinic. doctor think it might be from an allergy... because there was atopic dermatitis around her lips, it might indicate an allergic reaction. she is taking antibiotics. seems to work... her runny nose is not as runny. she's cranky though today... i wonder if it's from eating spinach...
see all this while the only vegetable she gets is sweet potato and squash. she gets symptoms of food intolerence from eating sweet peas. so i figured i shouldn't give her peas too. that leaves green beans... absolutely refuses to eat that. so doctor suggest spinach. geee... i sure hope it's not causing the crankiness.
anyways, chot is also sick. he was well enough for a soccer game but unfortunately fell ill again afterwards. i did feel a bit off but i refuse to get sick... i just can't... it's hard on everyone.
++++
MAY 11 IS MOTHER"S DAY...
my first one. so i was thinking, we'll commemorate it (and father's day) in a special way. make it extra special since it's the first. and asked chot to surprise me.... hahaha...
it's hard b/c i don't really have stuff i want. i don't casually say out loud "i want this, i want that". even when i do what something, i keep it inside n after awhile, it stop being a "want"... n more into a "i don't really need it".
a complete opposite to him. i have no problem getting him something, no problem at all. from a gps, to tools to more tools, to gadgets... he lets me know n i ignore him.
anyways, he began asking "so, do u know what u want yet??"... n after a good week of racking my brain (he basically gave up on the surprising me bit), threatened me with a GPS gift. so, i asked him for a handbag... hey, i always need another handbag : D...
he is getting tools... 2 sets he tells me... we'll see : )...
chot is out playing soccer n nura is asleep. i'm praying she sleeps through the night but realistically i so feel it's another sleepless night for her n me. she's starting to cough, deep rattling painful sounding cough... poor baby. in an attempt to give her a better night's sleep, i've called the clinic and asked if i can "drug" her with benadryl. they don't suggest it but said 1/2 a teaspoon is ok... maybe it'll work to clear her runny nose n she won't be awaken by mucous plugged nostrils.
on my end, i'm turning into a bit of a zombie. when i have time to nap/ sleep... i can't doze off... oh well...
the basement. so far, we're watching the weather closely. they say no more rain. and by mid week, the water situation will ease up. so much water from the melting snow n downpour raised the watertable n water backed up into buildings da... da... da...
so, the logical thing to do is to install a sump pump... and to do that, we need to tear down the basement bathroom. and i'm kindda happy that it's happening. that bathroom is a bit creepy for me n now we're getting all new stuff. new stuff cost money but pejam mata jek lah...
hmmmm... with the weather getting better, my mind is racing, thinking of home improvements i am going to do. i'm ready to go!!!!... slap on a lot of paint, tear out old flooring, put in new one hahaha... ehm ehm... hope my enthusiasm lasts...
for non malay readers (do i have any??)... the title means "give me patience"... or something like that : )... coz i sure need it...
our basement is flooded once again. i went down around 7 am after hearing suspicious noises. chot was already down there, trying to prevent water from spilling into the dry part of le basement. he was half way getting ready for work, in his undershirt and underwear... but wrapped his towel around his waist just so not to offend neighbors.
and i started shovelling water out using the snow shovel (kindda works well) while chot went to the home improvement store(s) to get a pump for is shop vac. unfortunately, he came home empty handed... all stores are all out of the pump. which makes me feel a bit better knowing we are not the only one facing this watery mess... but it still sucks BIG time.
can i sue someone for this mess??... : (
nura is still sick... n i'm sick with all the cranky-ness and this house sooooo pushing my buttons. we were planning to re-do the bathroom but now we have to think of the basement. chot has started to call contractors... we need a sump pump installed...
we went away last weekend and came home sunday night to a wet, musty n dirty basement. the drain that was suppose to take water OUT, let water IN. I HATE THIS HOUSE... SSSSOOO MUCH RIGHT NOW.
chot took a day off to do damage control. it's now close to 3 pm... he has been clearing n cleaning since 8 this morning. kasihan chot...
i did go to assist and now am so sleppy from nura waking up every hour last night. her nose is runny... n so is mine. eeerrrwwwhhhh...
ah... nura. these past 2 weeks, she has been pulling herself up in her crib n last weekend, managed to crawl forward. she did started to crawl before but when the whole i-felt-victorious-standing-myself-up-now-nothing-else-matters phase started, learning other tricks took a back seat.
i am going to take a few tylenols... getting sick is not an option. will update soon...
am here on the couch, waiting for my pasta to cook. a woodpecker is outside, pecking on our tree. and earlier, a bird flew into the living room window. a loud thud an i saw a black thing bounced off it. looked outside but didn't see an unconcious bird so i guess it's ok.
a lot of activities outside with the "wildlife", but still not warm enough for nura to venture out for a stroll around the neighborhood. wish it gets warmer soon.
nura is getting good at sitting herself up all by herself. so much so, it's all she does now. i go to get her after naps n there she'd be, sitting in her crib. but this new trick is a bit hazardous coz just last night she did it in her semi-sleep state. i thought she was cranky from gas (that's another story)... she was crying n crying so i decided to let her cry herself back to sleep. she did after 30 minutes... an hour passed n she cried again. so i decided to go in n console her a bit, put some vapor rub on her tummy. AND THERE SHE WAS, FOLDED IN TWO. at some point, she sat up and didn't un-sit herself. and after some time of crying, just lay her head between her legs. qua qua qua...
today, chot will come home early, he went to work at 6:30 am. i should go take a shower n finish cooking dinner.
i'm making myself write this post because tomorrow nura will turn 8 months old... yey!!!
let see, she can sit unassisted, a pro at it actually. and the acrobatics she's been doing was probably to push herself into a sitting position. so far, she managed to sit herself up on two occasions. both times were in her crib, sitting there, waiting n crying for me to come get her. i feel she gets that extra motivation she needed when she wails n protests at me for not coming to her quick enough.
she can also crawl a few steps forward. she put her hands out wanting to be picked up. prefers me over chot... she can push her mobile for more music and pull at the dangly mobile toys. she sucks on her two right finger non-stop. barely managing to suck on he toes... can't bear to be left alone. when we put her in her highchair, she'll cry from not getting her food quick enough, and soon after, cry from not getting out of her chair fast enough. hates, hates, hates getting her food pasted face wiped...
anyways, i always check on her before i go to bed. and yesterday i peeked in and saw her in the most unnatural sleeping position ever. so thinking i HAVE to relieve her from her suffering, i went in and flip her on her back. BIG MISTAKE... instead of making her sleep comfortable, i've succeeded in making myself UNcomfortable. *sigh* all i did was wake her up. and upon seeing me walk out of the room, she started to whimper, n whimper developed into cries n soon after, major major meltdown. she finally slept at 12 midnight (n so did i). SO if the baby had twisted herself into a pretzel in her sleep, unless she cries for help, don't undo it... saves everyone from unnecessary hardship.
i want to check facebook now : D... until next time.
this site says nura looks equally like me and chot... only after the 3rd attempt though : )... first try said she looks 3% more like me n second one says she looks 4% more like chot. although i think she looks more like chot but i'll accept this one!!!
i've been neglecting to blog. i even miss posting when nura turned 7 months old. i have to say, I BLAME FACEBOOK... more accurately, I BLAME MARINADELREY for introducing me to facebook.
we're doing well. some days are more hectic than others but ultimately, i'm doing well. maybe it has something to do with the weather, it's getting warmer n my bulbs are sprouting. but there was those bummer days when we got some"surprise" snowfall. hope my bulbs didn't get shocked into dying...
my little nura is going to turn 8 months this saturday. she is going acrobatics. trying to balance herself on one arm n one leg while the other arm is up trying to grab air n the other leg extended to her side. she's attempting to pull at her mobile n soon, we have to put her on a lower level in her crib. she's about 1/2 an inch away from reaching the crib railing (is it called that??... anyways)...
she's crawing backwards and doing it faster everyday. i once put her down on the comforter on the floor n caged her in with pillows while i prepare her lunch in the kitchen... yeah, coming back into the living room, my little girl successfully pushed herself back under the chair n tasting the carpet...
anyways, was toying with the possibility of shaving her hair. it is said that hair will grow thicker n longer after a clean shave but i'm a chicken of a mom. chicken of having to see nura bald. chicken of people thinking she's a he for sure. as it is she is confused for a boy.
another he's a she story. we were doing grocery an i dressed her in a yellow n green sweater. i don't think yellow n green are boy's colors but everyone else thinks so i guess (they might be boy's colors but this particular yellow n green are oh so soft). anyways, this time (this time meaning, there was previously a first time... she wore that sweater, she was called a he)... just to make it completely confusion/ frustration-4-me proof i put a yellow hairband on her. darn it!!!... she still got a "he"... lady!!! no mother would put a hairband on a boy...
i have pics... and more pics of her with hairband. hehehe... i have become a little hairband crazy : )...
the "i'm cross" look... who u calling a boy errrrhhh...
geee.... racking my brains thinking of something to write.
i turned 32 earlier this month. we were in peoria that saturday for chinese new year and i secretly thought chot had something up his sleeves. ya la, since all of our peoria friends were at bee's, it'd be easy enough to surprise me with a cake. but alas... no. i got a happy birthday wish in audra's kitchen that morning and that was it. (i guess u get what u give... i didn't do anything special for his birthday... serves me right... hehehe...)
nura on the other hand gave me the messiest diaper change that night. it started when she sprayed poop on me and that send chot & i into a premature butt washing. premature because (1) since we were sleeping at bee's and didn't want to ruin a friend's nice home, we freaked (2) unfortunately the little girl was not done pooping... she pooped on chot's hands, poop escaped the towel and poop droplets drop, drop drop on bee's comforters, pillow cases and duvet cover. A BIG MESS... very memorable, thank you.
i am less uptight, i think... life seems less of a blur... just a little. managing stress a bit better, taking less days to come out of a "stress frenzy" i put myself in. am starting to joke with chot and being more pleasant, i hope : )...
++++
nura???...
nura... is flipping to her heart's desire (and to our dismay...). she started to do it all by herself on feb 8, i know because i got it on the camcorder. we no longer change her diaper on the kitchen counter... and she was about 1/2 a turn away from diving off the bed a few days ago... oh, how my heart jumped (and the house shook from this baby hippo running across the room).
a week or so into this new development, chot said out loud that he was not ready for nura being mobile. which is funny considering he coached nura every chance he got and now when she is, he not ready??. funnier when he wants it done "on demand"... : )... on demand??... hahaha...
anyways, nura didn't flip on her tummy in her sleep until maybe 1 week after going it awake. point of no return. she does the half flip, the complete flip, the 90, 180 and 360 turn... and a combination routine. but yesterday i think she re-discovered sleeping on her back.
she's eating solid like a pro... when she wants to of course : )... am reluctant to have her try oat. she's eating 3 times a day and drinks milk about 5 times in 24 hours... with the food and milk not being back to back... just like the doctor ordered. but i have to say, the "stress frenzy" i put myself into in the beginning from trying to fit 3 feedings and 5 milk sessions AND not to give her milk right after food, from a 1 feeding and milk every 3 hours in the day time.... + naps + having her stay awake between naps 2 1/2 to 3 hours made me a very stressful mama and gave me a headache...
it's better now, her timetable but when she doesn't follow, i go around "macamana, macamana, macamana..."... am telling myself to learn to roll with it... ah... i hear her on the baby monitor... later...
tomorrow, nura will be 6 months old. time goes by so fast... sssoooo fast. macam tak percaya ajek. yesterday, coming back home from jalan2, chot prod her up on his chest and nura reached out to touch his face and then reached out to touch mine, went back and forth, then gave out a smile of satisfied (agaknya... anyways...) i mean, she reached out to touch (and scratched... and pinched) our faces before but yesterday's felt profoundly different, it was sweet and i felt warm and fuzzy all over... : )
how she'd grown. her legs dangles on my side when i feed her when before the whole length of her fits squarely in front. she's heavier too... of course... those chubby cheeks weighs 1 lbs a piece... : )
i read in a magazine of how babies at this age will concentrate on a specific development. some are like a wind up toy being set loose on the floor. some will be yapping non stop and some will be quietly observing everything. nura is the observer type. we try a lot of things to have her squeak but on the most part very little sound out of her (crying and wailing doesn't count). my MIL says it is due to me being quiet with her all day long. or maybe she's just the silent type like mommy... : D
6 months in age also equals 6 months of breastfeeding... OMG, i didn't think i'd get this far. many many times i felt like quiting because this breastfeeding thing is hard!!! and since it is recommended to breastfeed for a whole year i guess i'd press on for another 6 months, insyaallah.
well, that's it on the nura front. all nura, all the time...
it's close to 10 pm. we're watching anthony bourdain's no reservations and waiting for nura to wail.
yesterday night, we (putting it mildly...) LET nura sleep through the night. chot n i (mostly i) am so done with waking n stumbling out of bed to attend to her.
we'll see how it goes tonight. and the next night... and the next...
and to friends that left me comments... sorry lah for not commenting back...
ok... chot is looking at me... we should sleep... or try to sleep...
a housewife alone at home, obsessed with playing hexic. needed a better way of wasting time so am trying (and loving) this blog thing.
use to be a teacher. was once good at expressing thoughts into words, into sentences. now, words are mispronounced, sentences are jumbled... and i regret opening my mouth.
this is a story of my life living in a somewhat small town in the midwest. a life i share with my husband chot and our adventures trying to fix a 54 year old house.
chot's attempt to repair the hump.
wearing a dress her tok mama (chot's mom) made.
