Nura is 1 Year Old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NURA!!!

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.

what has she been up to?

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).

we went to Omaha 2 weekends ago. had a good time. unfortunately, forgot to bring our camera. But saved by ellie's ailing olympus : )... pics are here http://elliesookram.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album50. thanks auntie ellie, uncle mahesh n jeffrey!!!...

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 : )...

everything is a toy...

Pictures

News Flash

- 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.

- nura is climbing.

10 months

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.

what do u think?

Nura is 9 months

she turned 9 months old 2 days ago.

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 : )...

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...