PhewWwww

I finally called the guy who rents out tables and chairs for any event (it was SUPPOSED to be Faliq’s duty) today and he said “sorry buy we are completely BOOKED on that day”. *faints followed with seizures*

A mini video of my guests sitting on the floor played on my mind. Well of course, it’s freaking THURSDAY, obviously everyone is booked out because there’s always a wedding EVERY fantastic weekends!

I asked Wawa for anyone else, I googled, and I asked Leey. Leey gave me a number and THANK YOU ALLAH, he said he has tables and chairs for rent.

Hip Hip HOORAY!!

I told him what color tablecloth I want and he said he has it. Can I trust him? I really hope he’s telling the truth. I would be so angry if he comes with a COMPLETELY off color. I will so chop chop him off verbally.

Another important thing to do is off the list.


Feeling Good Mommy

Farah

Presenting Maya's Candyland Invitation Card

My best friend Leey designed this card for Maya. She custommades invitation cards etc. I LOVE her work. If you guys have a wedding etc coming up, holler at me and I'll give you her details. I can assure you, you'll be 100% satisfied just like this MOMMA!

Lollipop Fan
Farah~

Somebody Sweet is Having a Birthday

I’m in the midst of planning Maya’s 1st birthday party. Thank god I have my SIL. She has helped so much and she is truly a God sent. *me love you Wawa*

Invites are out. I’m still waiting about 70% of them to response *grrr*
I’ve placed my order with the caterer. *Yabidabeedoo*
Photographer is officially hired. *wee*
Leey is working on all printing works. *Yeehaw*
Kak Yanie is sponsoring the birthday cake. *yahoo*

And the list goes on.

I sometimes feel like I’m planning a wedding. I’ve had countless nightmares about the party gone wrong. However, I’m enjoying the whole party planning thing. I really do.
I started brainstorming about this party since Maya was only 3 ½ months old and I really can’t wait for the “unveiling” day.

I’ll post Maya’s invitation card soon. I just LOVE it!


Birthday Girl’s Mommy

Farah

This Made Me Smile

As I was drying my bottle (for pumping) in the restroom, my boss came in and as soon as she saw what I was doing, holding a feeding bottle under the hot air hand dryer, she asked “eh, you’re still doing that?” and I proudly said “yes I am”.

Even though I dread my self nowadays when the time come calling, I’m glad and grateful to Allah S.W.T. for giving me the best rezeki to feed my baby my milk.

Please don’t dry up on me.

Happy Lactating Mommy

Farah~

Aloha April

So I’ve been MIA for nearly a month now and many things have happened thus far.

“What had happen was…”

Faliq, Maya and I surprised our family in the US with a visit (only few people knew about our trip). They were expecting us in August but who can wait that long? I missed them too much and still am. We were there from April 4th till 13th. Our time there flew so quickly and I am saddened that there were few friends and family that I didn’t get to see. It sucks being too far away from your loved ones.
Nevertheless, I had an enjoyable time there and Maya was such a good sport. Alhamdulillah ☺

On our way back to Malaysia, we spent a night in Frankfurt, Germany; and that made Germany as my first Euro country (mini) holiday.

I’ll post pictures in my future post.

I discovered three teeth popping out of Maya’s upper gums when we were in FL. I heard someone grinding his/her teeth one early morning and it didn’t click to me that it was my baby girl because my sister Aza grinds her teeth E-V-E-R-Y-T-I-M-E she sleeps which bothers the hell out of me.  Soon I found out it has been Maya all along. Hehe.. Sowwie Aza  :p

5 is the number of teeth to date.

Maya just turned 11 months old on Monday and NOPE she’s not walking yet. I hope she can walk by the time her birthday party comes around.

I’m planning Maya’s big ONE birthday party with the help from my SIL and MIL. I’ve got a bunch of things for the party from US. It’s so much cheaper there and A LOT OF choices to choose from. I can spend hours and hours in the party stores there. *sigh*

I can’t wait for the outcome.

Baby Party Frenzy Farah

Car Seat

I feel sad to see that car seat is not a norm here in Malaysia. It’s “normal” to see families travelling with babies/toddlers with no car seat. It’s either they do own one but it’s completely under usage or they don’t even bother buying one.

Yes, we all know babies/toddlers do NOT get along well with car seat. Believe me, I have my days when Maya will not cooperate with us and yes GUILTY that sometimes we travel, MOSTLY short distance, with her on our lap instead of her in her seat. However, 97% of the time Maya is usually in her seat.

Anyhoos, I would like to share this article that I came across on Parenting.com about the right way to place your car seat. I know, it’s a bit lengthy.

I hope mommies and daddies will take this matter seriously. If you have no children yet, please remember this post and do convey this message to any parents you know. Your action is very much appreciated!

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In a new policy statement published in the April 2011 issue of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics now advises parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age two, or until they exceed the height or weight limit for the car seat, which can be found on the back of the seat.

A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age two are 75 percent less likely to die or to be severely injured in a crash if they are rear-facing. Another study found riding rear-facing to be five times safer than forward-facing.

“A rear-facing child safety seat does a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body,” said Dennis Durbin, M.D., F.A.A.P., a pediatric emergency physician and co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report.

Parenting talked to Ben Hoffman, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and a child passenger safety technician, to get answers to parents’ most pressing questions about the new policy.

Although the new baseline is now age two, the AAP has advised parents since 2002 to keep kids rear-facing until they reach the height or weight limit of their car seat. Why are parents so eager to turn their car seats?

“Parents are interested in milestones, and the minimum of one year and 20 lbs has been interpreted as gold standard instead of the minimum,” says Dr. Hoffman. “Parents are always looking for the next stage of development because in every other scenario, that’s a good thing. With car safety seats, however, that's often not the case."

But isn’t forward-facing easier for everyone?

Yes, it’s easier to interact with your child when she is facing forward, and less awkward to get her into the seat. But safety should be the main concern. “I would ask parents to consider the protection of the child in addition to comfort,” says Dr. Hoffman. “It’s minimally acceptable to change to forward-facing at a year, but parents can do better than that.”

What about squished legs?

Kids who have only been rear-faced will most likely not be bothered, since they don’t know anything else. And it’s completely fine for their feet to touch the seat back, or for their legs to bend. “Once you make the switch, it’s hard to go back, so try not to ever switch them before they are ready,” says Dr. Hoffman.

Why are so few parents aware of even the older guidelines that say kids should stay rear-facing as long as possible?

There may have been some confusion with the message, with many parents mistaking the minimum for the ideal age to make the switch. The AAP hopes that by making age 2 the new guideline, the message will be less confusing for parents and for pediatricians.

If my child turns 2 before he reaches the height or weight limit for the seat, should I keep him rear-facing?

Yes. The safest decision is to keep him rear-facing until he reaches the height or weight limit for the seat.

If my child reaches the height or weight limit for my seat before age two, what should I do?
Once your child exceeds the height and weight limit of his infant car seat, purchase a convertible car seat with a higher height or weight limit (most go to 35 pounds rear-facing) and continue to use it rear-facing until age two, or until your child hits the height or weight limit for rear-facing use. At that point you can make the switch to forward-facing—or you can purchase a convertible car seat with a higher weight limit for rear-facing (some go up to 45 pounds). “That’s a very personal decision for the parent,” says Dr. Hoffman, one that may also be influenced by the size of your car, the arrival of a younger sibling, or your budget.

What should I do if I’ve already switched my under-two child to forward-facing?

The best advice is for parents to consider switching their child back to rear-facing. But the next best thing is to, at a minimum, make sure you correctly use the seat you have: Make sure the seat is harnessed tightly to the vehicle, that the harness is snug over the child and the chest clip is in the correct position, and that the seatbelt or LATCH system are installed correctly.

Why didn’t my pediatrician tell me about this?

“Pediatricians should be talking about this,” says Dr. Hoffman. “But given everything else that needs to happen in a well-child visit, sometimes this message gets left behind. I would love to see a day where every family-care health provider knew the best possible advice and shared it with their patients.” Hopefully this new policy will keep things moving in that direction.


Farah~

10 Months Old Tomorrow

Maya is turning 10 months tomorrow!! Felt like it was just yesterday when the doctor placed her on me as soon as I pushed her out. This also means that I have only two more months left to plan her party. *yikes*

Anyhoos, lets not sidetrack here.

So what can Maya do by now and what are the things she always/likes to do.

She loves playing underneath the dining table and crawl in between the chairs. It’s like a little maze for the little explorer.

She can now push the Vtech walker without any assistant. Well we do need to watch her close because she tends to push it really fast or maybe the walker’s wheels are too smooth that it rolls quite fast for little walkers but Maya is controlling it well. (By far, this Vtech crawler is my best-est buy for Maya, she plays with it daily and hasn’t gotten bored with it) *WOOHOO*

Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we get to see Maya standing on her own without supporting on anything. I can’t wait to see her start walking!

She can drink from a glass. So whenever she sees me drinking from a glass, she’ll scream to signal me to feed her some. How cute. Well not really the screaming part. She also knows how to drink from a straw. Just A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I’ve seen kids who are slightly older than her that do not know how to.

I’m also amazed that at this young age, she knows how to throw tantrums. For example, on March 15th, Maya cried and wailed in her carseat all the way from Ampang to KL Sentral. It was by far my WORST car ride EVER! I was sweating bullets and at one point when we were about to reach KL Sentral, approximately 1.5 miles, as I looked in my rearview mirror, I could see Maya turning around, her back was facing out and she was literally “kissing” her seat, even though she was STRAPPED down. My poor cousin, Kak Saz, had to climb over to the backseat with her HUGE belly just to positioned Maya back. I’ve realized that she will only do such a thing when she knows there’s someone else besides the driver and her in the car. She wants to be out of her seat just so she can look around and “play”. Nevertheless, when it’s just the two of us in the car and if she starts to cry, I will almost will sing her the Hokey Pokey followed by all the nursery rhymes that I know. She would clap along and slowly doze off.

Another thing that I really love is her kisses. When we ask her for a kiss, she’ll lean forward to give us a kiss or we give her the kiss. She doesn’t know how to give a proper kiss, sometimes she licks and sometimes her mouth is wide open, BUT what matters is she knows that she needs to lean forward when we ask for a kiss or kisses. Faliq discovered this one fine afternoon when she was maybe 7 ½ months or 8 months old. She was in her crib and Faliq knelt down eye level with her and asked for a kiss when his lips was in between the bars. She then bend down and gave him a peck. From that day on we couldn’t stop asking for her always sloppy kisses. ☺ 

When Maya gets excited from anything, it could be from our singing or just ANYTHING, she will do this cute little dance. Eeeeeeee, gewammm…

Ok, writing this post when I’m away from her (office bound) makes me miss her too much!


Proud Mommy

Farah~