aaammmm...

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...

and now, pictures : )...

sabau jek lah

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...

I HATE THIS HOUSE... the end.

oh boy!!!

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...

snips of stories

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.

Tomorrow

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.

Nura's Look-alike Meter

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...

Nura with action n sound

trying out posting videos...

to stress or not to stress... of course not!!!

hello... : ) how is everyone??...

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...

6 MONTHS

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...

monday night

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...

write it down

1) nura is sleeping by herself now. we started 2 weeks ago... chot n i moved to the other room n gave her ours. easier since she only needed to adjust being left alone. in the beginning, pure torture!!! chot n i were feeling bad, letting her wail n when she whimper, rasa sangat kasihan. i experienced some major seperation enxiety... chot??... u have to ask him.

now, she sleeps at 7 pm... n wakes up 4 food at around midnight n another at 6 am. when will she sleep through the night... i soooo dunno... but hoping it's soon. and since she doesn't get food every 3 hours at night, she doesn't poop... so chot's sleep is rarely interrupted.

naps are a different story. naps are not in any kind of schedule... am still working on that. but i make sure she gets 3 naps of about 45 minutes or longer. she is happy throughout the day compared to before when she was only getting 2 naps of 30 minutes.

2) we started her on rice cereal. play eating. some days she'll be into eating but usually hates it. she'll do her "let me out of here" routine after spoon # 4...

3) rash... darn... rash. her's is lingering n may not be from using aveeno. her's will be coming n going until she grows out of it, or so the doctor said.

4) still not flipping.

5) oh, am quite bothered by strangers using "he" instead of "she". and some would ask 'is it a boy or a girl??"... lady, she's wearing a pink snow cap!!! ok... very very light pink. so, i'm on a mission to girly-fy my little nura.

i'm using olive oil for her scalp. helps with the dryness n insyaallah, she'll grow more hair so i can put bows and clips and brush it. oh, how i love to brush little girls' hair.

6) winter. we're so ready for the season to end. it snowed again today n chot is not looking forward to clear the driveway. he's talking of moving to texas... n dubai... n australia.

7) oh, also chot is asking for another baby. waaaaa???... whaccatalkinbout lewis...

nura being "manja" to her ayah...

"help... i've fallen and i can't get up"...

"noh ho ho... noh ho ho..."

happpiiee...

clueless mommy

some women are born to be moms, some are not and then there's the clueless. i'm one of them.

some moms take charge, think forward and then there's those that's always a few steps behind. all i can say is, i should have read more on ways to take care of a baby BEFORE the baby came. instead, i'm winging it, only refering to my baby book when i'm stumped.

i know i'm making nura confuse with her nap n sleep schedule. i totally don't remember how it was last week... all is a blur really. last weekend, i told myself i have to figure a schedule for her and stick to it coz the "baby will tell me if she's tired routine" can only go so far. and have her learn to fall to sleep on her own. and stop sharing a room with her...

i'm reluctant to travel, afraid i'd mess up her routine n having her out of her usual element. last time we were in peoria, she refuse to sleep in the pack n play. ended up sleeping in between chot n me. but want her to be versatile too since we use to travel a lot before... see clueless...

well... anyways, have a funny pic of her but i can't go get the memory card...

some of my fav pics of nura at 4 to 5 months, plus other stories

if ur in my facebook circle of friends, u've definately seen these pics. double duty keeping both my blog n facebook as current as possible....

@%$&*@#... RATS... I PUSHED THE WRONG BUTTON N IS LEFT WITH ONLY THE ABOVE 2 LINES... RATS...

WELL... JUST PICS OF NURA... NO OTHER STORIES...

baby nura will be 5 months tomorrow

so very true, babies grow so fast. she used to be sooo tiny and as of yesterday, she weights 16lbs 4 oz!!! and 24 1/2 inches. found a site that teaches mommies to wear their babies using any piece of cloth readily available around the house. chot offered one of his kain pelikat (alamak, how to spell??) to be cut into one big flat piece. first attempt was iffy looking but nura's butt and weight anchored her in place n she fell asleep. i'd show u guys the pics but all has a view of my huge ass... ummm ass... the pics really reaaallly look atrocious. hmmm... i'll post the least offending, don't get nauseous ok people.



anywhoo... i was advised to get fall/ winter clothing for next year (i mean this year) that's on clearance... save money that way. i am to look for 18 month sized clothing n i think she's set. But the dread i felt, 18 months??... i'm not ready!!!... too soon to be buying big girl clothes...



nura n her milk. she loves her milk too much that she still wakes up in the middle of the night to feed. which is ok, i don't mind... i get thirsty in the middle of the night too. so she takes from me and she poops for chot without fail. and we tried giving her diluted rice cereal twice so far... wanted to start on a daily basis so she can cultivate the ability to eat from a spoon but can't find the time. And maybe when we start her on solid, she won't need her middle of the night feeding.



she got a major rash attack that started about 2 weeks ago. we thought we'd try a better/ pricier lotion and to our horror... red patchy, bumpy and painful looking rash appeared. DARN IT!!! gorgeous skin ruined!!! i was saying sorry to her to no end. anyways, i was told to use certain creams n in 3 to 4 days rash will go away but n.o.p.e... her's stayed n even got worse. so we took her to her doctor. moral of the story, if it's not broken... don't fix it.



what else... she's still not flipping on her tummy on her own. since she hates tummy time, we kindda neglected it. her back is strong and she can raise her head up when on her tummy n push her torso up too. we help her roll over so she knows there is that option n think we'd let her decide when the time is right for herself. although, there is the possibility of bypassing flipping n crawling all together.



ok then, baby nura is up n her diaper's smelly. then, i'll attempt to carry her on my back so i can do laundry. oh... here's the website... give it a try, wear your baby... whip out that kain batik that u never use or that alas meja n have fun with it...

too busy for words

ok... maybe a few words. some of our most recent pictures... after all, most of you guys (if not all) really want pics to see anyways. i know i go around people's site looking for pictures.

oh... and happy new year and selamat hari raya haji... and selamat la semuanya.

gowd

she made me eat my words...

acted out last night... screamed her lungs out for being put in her crib... i gave in at 3 in the morning...

torture...

well tq nura for a memorable 4 month old "present", u really shouldn't have... now, please behave...

morning

i've been feeling extraordinarily tired and constantly hungry. i was sure i'd lost a few lbs from feeling so drained this past week but my weight miraculously stayed put. i do feel lighter or maybe what i felt was lightheaded-ness : )...


nura will be 4 months old tomorrow. chot's co-worker said, as babies reach these milestones, they'll act up a bit. so, i was hoping that is the case with nura. she refuses to take her naps in her crib, preferring ( eerrrmm demanding...) to be held instead. but alhamdulillah, she still wants to sleep in her crib at night.


she shocked us this morning by making a 90 degree turn in her sleep. i should have taken a picture... anyways...


this is still a bit surreal for me. having a baby and her growing so fast. felt like no time at all and she's already 4 months old. or maybe i'm slow... coz as i am just getting use to, easing into having a newborn, she's suddenly 4!!!...


but i love it, this motherhood thing, i think... (yeah, like a have a choice now...) no... i love it, i love her... my yummy baby.

i have pictures from trips we took to Omaha to visit ellie and peoria for a birthday party. go to myphotoalbum ya...

dreaming of blogging

it's been so long since i've written anything, not that i don't want to but caring for a little one is a fulltime job. chot is a good dad... is a pro at changing diapers.

nura??... well nura is bigger and healthy. what's funny about her is that she is very vocal now... she'd "sing" very loudly when she's pooping half of the time. other times, she'd grunt... but sometimes she's give us silent stinkers, out of nowhere we'd hear "proop... proop... proop" from her butt.

she's better at sucking her own fingers... she'd drench her hands with saliva and half her face would be wet. and she spits and make bubbles. she's also getting good at grasping things and attempting to put stuff in her mouth.

her back is stronger and she can lift her head without much trouble. when we put her in her boppy pillow, she'd instantly want to push herself up, using her elbows and crunching her tummy.

oh yeah... she LOVES to jump... legs are definately getting stronger.

alamak, she's awake...

anyways, i find myself hating my 3 month pregnant looking tummy... kept saying to myself that i need to start on pilates but saying and actually doing are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

ammm... want to blog more but i have to stop... i end with a pic of nura... bundling up to go out.

Nura is 3 months old

a sweet milestone. she smiles, coos and laughs (currently, only chot can make her laugh)...

she's aware of her surroundings... so much so, she won't stay put when i feed her in an unfamiliar place. also, would want to see who's talking... pulling and tugging...

she's about static weight gain wise. height... i'm not sure.

it's confirm... nura has a unibrow. hmmm... what can i do... but it's a cute unibrow!!!... hahaha

i have more to say, just can't remember what about... and i have recent photos... still in the camera.

but i have these to share... nura's range of expressions

HER ANGRY FACE

HER SMILEY FACE

HER SURPRISED FACE

HER WORRIED FACE

HER THINKING FACE... HMMM... POOPING FACE ALSO BOLEH...

Nura's First Eid

we in waterloo celebrated eid on friday oct. 12. didn't really feel like eid, until we went to peoria on saturday (peorians 1st syawal, oct. 13).

it was nice... seeing friends and enjoying the food. nura was a good baby... a bit off schedule feeding wise since she and i were out of our normal surrounding. i paid with pain of engorgement...

i love this photo of her, taken in the van on our way to peoria. all pictures are here.

Well, Selamat Hari Raya to all. forgive all of my wrongdoing.

First Immunization

She went out happy and smiling...

came home cranky, with bandages on both thighs...

so, she got her first round of shots. why do they have to use long ass needles?? they were close to an inch long... i was afraid they'll poke her bones. anyways, next immunization will be in 2 more months.

she weights 13 lbs 4 ozs... no wonder my arms are errmmm... more muscular. she's at the 95th percentile weight-wise but at 21 inches in height, she's only at 5 percent!!! my short and chubby little angel.

Nura is 2 months old

nura will be 2 months old tomorrow. she feeds every other hour and naps in between boobs, so as soon as i'm done feeding and burping and changing her diaper... it's feeding time again!! so exhausted at times, hard to breathe.

but she makes up for it with her smile, cooing and funny faces.

at 2 months, she sleeps longer at night. usually 5 hours before she asks for food or i wake her up.

her lashes are long and thick... but the eyebrows are a bit scary looking. hopefully they'll grow less of a unibrow... (I BLAME CHOT) : )...

and i think she has a dimple on her right cheek... i think...

she weights 10 lbs 8 oz or so about 2 weeks ago. and grown a bit taller.

ok... times up.