:: ady rifqi's 3rd birthday party ::

 

 

Ady Rifqi turns three (3) on 17th June 2014.

 

 

THE PLAN

Few months before his birthday we have decided to throw a birthday celebration for him. He had his first birthday party when he turned one, but we did not have any celebration when he was two except for cake-cutting. I have been wanting to plan, decorate and host my son's party - it's among one of many things in my bucket list and it made me so excited. The first thing I did was asking Ady what theme he would like for his party. He loved Thomas and Friends and have started playing Lego so I asked his preference between the two. I asked the question once in between few days and even rotated either with Thomas or Lego as the first preference because sometimes kids give answer to the first thing they heard. Being Ady he always knows what he wants, and he answered Thomas every single time, so that's it. He will be having a Thomas-themed birthday party.

 

The party was planned to be held on Saturday, 21st June 2014 at our own crib. I have informed closed family members and friends to save the date earlier and one month before the actual date, an invitation was sent to guests through Facebook calendar of event and mobile messages. The colour code was based on Thomas' main colours - red, blue & white. Party checklist was all in my head and since then I started wearing my party planner hat when ever I had the free time. Until the day arrived, together with my husband we completed everything in the checklist:

 

1. Personalisation is important. With a bit of research I came up with a 'branding' for Ady Rifqi's 3rd Birthday Party. Instead of colourful cartoon design I wanted something that is simple and urban so I played with stripes, polka dots and chevron. After getting approval from the other half (it's a team affair, always remember to consult the co-organiser :-D) then only the actual designing and printing works started.

 

2. Designed and printed out our own party labels for the mineral water. It is an advantage that the company I'm working for produces mineral water in small bottles so I bought them and replaced with our own party labels.

 

3. Using the similar design we printed out stickers and printed materials for other party stuff such as garlands, table decorations, party favours, etc.

 

4. A guest book is a must. Instead of buying a ready-made or producing one with coloured papers (which I did for Ady's first birthday) I made a mini photobook via photobook.com.my. The photobook contains Ady's photos since day one and blank pages for guests to write.

 

5. Bookings and orders for cake, desserts, caterer for F&B, clown and photographer. Fila voluntereed to purchase and bring the helium baloons (thank you so much babe!).

 

6. Prepared party favours in goodies bags for the kids. I felt so lucky when I found polka dots paper bags in red and blue at Mydin USJ 1. It was the cutest and the most acceptable design available there. Did candy shopping at their wholesale area too. We had two types of bags. Red bag is for younger kids which contained a tub of mini playdoh and candies (mini chupa chups, mini mentos, mini m&ms and granola bars). Blue bag is for the not-so-young kids which contained a set of colour pencils, customised Thomas colouring sheet, a snack and almost similar candies.

 

7. Designed and printed photo props, but Nor assisted to prepare them on hard papers and sticks (arigato gozaimasu cik Nor!).

 

 

 

 

D-DAY

Hubby and I started arranging furnitures and decorating the corridor since early morning. We turned our dining table to a cake / candy buffet by wrapping it with papers. We placed everything necessary on the table and made paper garlands backdrop. There was a dedicated table for the photo props and guestbook, complete with colourful sharpies and stickers. The caterer arrived early and we had two big round tables for the guests. We ordered roti jala with chicken curry, singapore fried noodle, chicken drummets, nuggets and cordial drink. My mother-in-law voluntereed to prepare teh tarik and my mom brought coconut jelly all the way from Seremban. As for desserts we have the birthday cake, cupcakes, blueberry cheese tarts, mini donuts, 'love letters' and candies.

 

We managed to complete decorating just in time before the scheduled timing, 3:00 pm. Guests started coming followed by clown and photographers. Everything went on according to plan, only that it was such a hot and sunny day. We did not rent any tent so most guests had to mingle and stay inside the house. It was a bit crampy and we really apologise for such inconvenient. The birthday boy on another hand did not take his afternoon nap because he was too excited so he was a bit cranky during the party. He also got very excited accepting gifts which he proudly opened one after another. Note to parents - please accept birthday gifts and keep them in a room during birthday party to avoid similar experience.

 

 

 We had cake cutting, followed by party game led by the clown. The only time Ady happily participated was during dance session because the clown played his favourite tune - Gangnam Style. He danced to that song from beginning to the end.

 

Most guests left home by 6:30 pm. We started packing and cleaning after that. Everybody left except my family members as they spent a night with us (and helped finishing some of the food... haha.)

 

It was a memorable day for us and I have another checked item in my bucket list, Alhamdulillah. I realised I didn't get the chance to have long conversation with all guests, but hopefully they enjoyed each other's company and the experience. To family members, friends, neighbours and colleagues, we THANK YOU for spending your time with us. As the hosts, we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience occured. On behalf of the birthday boy, we appreciate all the gifts. Ady received Thomas & Friends playset and tableware, Hot Wheels playsets, a huge toy truck with cars, educational toys, building blocks, a lot of clothes and even cash (already deposited into his personal account). We did not expect that but thank you, thank you, thank you everyone.

 

  

Here are some of many beautifully captured moments during the day. I am so satisfied with the outcomes, thanks to mister photographers.

 

 

 

To our lil boy Ady Rifqi, you're growing up too fast baby. You have cherished every single day of our life since day one and our prayers are always with you. May you grow up to be a good muslim and continue to be a good son. No word could ever describe how much you mean to both of us and we promise to take care of you as long as we live. 

 

We love you, baby!

 

 

 

*keywords: thomas party ideas, thomas the tank engine birthday party, children party ideas, kids party ideas, third birthday celebration

 

:: ady's biodata ::

Pics taken between June to October 2013

One significant memory of childhood is having an autograph book. The book was passed around to one and another, and to be completed with wishes as well as individual's biodata. The autograph book is a memorabilia so I thought why don't Ady has his "autograph" here

(but prepared by me, of course ^_^).

BIODATA

Name: Ady Rifqi bin Abdullah Adil

Birthdate: 17 June 2011

Birthplace: Hospital Putrajaya

Birth Time: 9:09 pm

Birth Weight: 3.12kg

Current Weight: around 13kg

Nicknames: Ady, Baby, Sayang, Cho'ang

 

Hobbies: Watching toys reviews or nursery rhymes on YouTube, playing with toys (Thomas & friends and other vehicles), playing games on iPad 

 

Favourite Food: Nothing specific - usually eat what ever parents feed him

 

Favourite Drinks: Iced tea, Chatime pearl milk tea, syrup, Vitagen - grape flavour

 

Favourite Flavour: Chocolate instead of vanilla (Team Mama wins)

 

Favourite Colour: not yet identified

 

Favourite Place-to-Go: Petrol station (refer all stations as 'Nonas' aka Petronas)

 

Favourite TV Programs: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, High 5, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Elmo's World, Pocoyo

 

Top 5 Words: Nak, Nanakkk, Jom, Eeeiii, Alaaa

 

Top 5 Gestures: Bye bye *waving*, Handshake, Flying kiss, Giving a kiss, Giving a hug

 

Current Obsessions: Transportation & Surprise Egg

 

 

Okay, no more idea to write autograph.

***

In general Ady is a cheerful boy who is also cheeky. I would say he is a bit of 'prim and proper' as he usually sit on his stool behind the table before eating even if he is eating snacks alone, hardly forgot to turn off the tap before leaving the bathroom, even willingly show his dirty hands to be washed and others.

He might be well behaved most of the time but he is still a very young boy who sometimes tested his parents' patience and temper with his crankiness and screaming over slow internet connection that caused his youtube video to load slowly. He might not listen to instructions all the time, but one thing for sure just feed him well before going for a shopping spree because just like the malay saying, 'gendang gendut tali kecapi, kenyang perut suka hati'.

 

 

...just something he did to melt my heart...

 

 

...and something I did to win his heart...

Being his playmate, going up and down the slide at McD play area :-D

 

:: whuzzup with ady rifqi ::

It has been 5 months after our little hero celebrated his second birthday. Haven't shared anything about him ever since but although I still call him 'baby' most of the time, our Ady Rifqi is now a toddler who is busy exploring things around him.

I wish time could move slower so he won't grow up too fast. I want to spend more time with him while he is very dependent of me because sooner or later he will become more independent, prefers his own space and going to spend more time with his friends rather than his old mama.
...and I'm so gonna miss this moment forever :-(

Although people usually refer two-years old kids as 'terrible two', I may not totally agree with that. In my opinion it is a lot more easier to handle a two years old Ady than the younger version of him because he can now understand and convey what he wants. Within the past five months his development is tremendous and the most significant of all is his ability to talk.

Ady may not be fluent enough talking and he is still babbling in his own language, but knowing what he needs is good enough. Among his favourite lines are "nak milk" (want milk), "nak air/eat" (want water/eat), "nak balik umah" (want to go back), "nak main train" (want to play train), "jom main" (let's play) and he also likes saying "eeeeeiii" when he saw gross or nasty things. Although he is still building his vocabulary to talk, he understands some instructions and even what people are talking either in malay or english. He can also now tell us when he is uncomfortable with his diaper or just had a poopoo - helpful info indeed.

Ady surprised me with few of his behaviours and one of them is being pro-active at throwing rubbish into the trash bin. Whenever he sees empty wrapper or anything identified as trash he will pick up and throw it without being asked. He also likes to help cleaning after our cats finish eating their wet food. If he sees the empty plates he will stack and put them on the kitchen counter next to the sink and throws the newspaper into the bin. When he did that for the first time I was really surprised because we never taught him the process. His actions reflected how kids can learn only through observation and therefore as parents, we should be more careful at what we are doing.

In addition to that, Ady is a concern fella. If he heard either of us saying we are in pain he will go into our room, open the drawer, take out bottle of aloe vera gel, bring it to us and even apply the gel with his fingers on our pain area. We always use the aloe vera gel on him if he got bitten by ants or mosquito, which he refers as pain so he replicates that. Again, the power of observation.



Growing up with five cats made our little gem a cat lover too. Among the five, his closest furry friend is Neslo. Neslo is a male cat and the biggest among the five. He is the 'house cat' type. He sleeps with us almost every night and even love squeezing himself in between us when ever we sit on the couch watching tv (he is now sleeping next to me while I'm typing this). Almost every day Ady grabs Neslo and kisses him with a "mmmuaaahhh". He even hug / cuddle the cat, sit on top of him, pinch his face and sometimes pull his tail but Neslo must have love Ady too because he either sit still or run away. Ady never had a single scratch from Neslo.

He still plays with the other four, but the cats sometimes run away from him. One of them, named MiuMiu used to give Ady a lot of scratches until he cried but Ady never stop wanting to play with him. He is always excited when he sees cats anywhere we went to. Actually Ady is not only fond of cats but other animals too. We even had to accompany him to pet shops because he always want to stop and watch the fish, cats, dogs, hamsters and birds. Will definitely bring him to the national zoo one day.

Alhamdulillah since 1 to 2 months back Ady can already count 1 until 10 in english by his own. He still couldn't recite A to Z without guidance but he knows the sequence and able to recite the alphabets together with us or with the song. The positive side of being a YouTube addict made him able to sing and understand few nursery rhymes and also increase his vocabs especially on transportation, because he just love them! Even most of his toys consists of cars, trains, busses, airplanes, trucks and others.

I couldn't wait to see whether Ady would follow my footsteps in the area of art, so when he requested to have a set of colour pencils I got all excited. Bought him a colouring book but I ended up colouring some of the pictures because the little boy only knows how to scribble. Or else he just requested me to draw something and most frequent one is to draw him a bus.

Since Ady is still unable to control his hand with the colour pencils I somehow got an idea to utilise them in a different way. On a printed out sheet with colourful circles, I taught him on colours and put a matching colour pencil to each of the circle. After two days Ady managed to do it by his own and the result is on the picture above.

In order to make him explore his creativity, I have made Ady a homemade play dough out of flour, salt, oil, water and food colouring. It was his first experience playing with dough and guess what, he did not want his hands to be dirty at first. I had to make few shapes and even finger puppets out of the dough before he got interested. That homemade dough didn't last long though and turned yucky on the next day. What a waste. We then bought him a Play Dough instead and he likes playing with it.

Ady is surrounded with people who love him. Not in the picture are his Nenek, Opah, Tok Wan, rest of the aunties, uncles and cousins.

There might be more development progress that I do not share here but on top of all I am glad and happy to see Ady becoming a well behaved boy. He still nags, cries on top of his lung, runs when ever to whereever he wants or says "nanakkkk" (don't want) loudly with a struggle in front of shops he doesn't want to enter, but that is just him being a kid.

We are proud of you, little boy and continue making us proud will ya?

xoxo,
Mama.

:: whuzzup? ::

Hello people. It has been months since my last update. I really miss blogging but what stops me from writing is 'time'. In June I was transferred to another unit and life has no longer been the same. Being in a new team requires me to adapt, learn a lot of new stuff and with a major project that we are currently having, time is one of our 'enemy'. Call me workaholic but I couldn't help to think do work every night and day. There was this day in Ramadhan when I stayed up through out the night doing a presentation slide and ended up knocking someone's car bumper on the next day because I felt asleep for a few seconds at the traffic light. I don't need to mention how tiring and challenging it is (since I'm also a wife and a mother) but despite all these, I do love what I am doing and that keeps the whole thing going.

In these few months, I had the opportunity to travel from one state to another, interact with company's management team, observing qualities that are required to become good leader but one moment that truly inspires me was when I had the opportunity to accompany our company's GCEO for lunch. There were only three of us so I took the chance asking him a question; whether he had ever imagined himself to be at the current position. Maybe I should asked better (and more intelligent) question than that but I did not regret asking because his answer was inspiring and a mind opener. He mentioned about the importance of having value and purpose in life and at work; and when believed we are doing the right things on the right path, good things will come inevitably.

Although I didn't update my blog, I was still active in the social media especially Instagram. I just love Instagram-ing photos especially when they are captured moments of my not-so-little-anymore boy and moments that I would love to remember. Below is a small collection of my Instagram @yatoque photos to recap what has been going on in my life during my hiatus from the blogging world since June.

HIGHLIGHTS #01:

- Ady pretending to sleep. Not sure about the pouty long lips but he always does that everytime he pretends sleeping :-P

- My new pairs of killer heels bought from trendyfairy. The one with spikes is a weapon in disguise and I am the first victim, now left with scars on both feet -__-

- "a kiss from a furry friend"

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #02:

- Ady dancing Gangnam Style in diapers and sunglasses

- Few photos of us in Brisbane and Gold Coast (will blog about this later)

- Me featured in Cosmoderm's ad in few local women magazines. Thank you Cosmoderm!

- Raya gifts from BFF during our annual iftar together

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #03:

- Ady helping Atuk washing his car during a weekend in Seremban

- Food platter Ady sent me for lunch while I was doing office work at our dining table. I was touched.

- Photos of myself while on duty for TM booth at career fair in KL Convention Centre

- Photo of babyAdy captured and printed by sis-in-law. Love the pic!

- Ady helping Papa washing Mama's lil red car :-)

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #04:

- Few pics of myself as the WonderWoman during our 'superhero' themed annual Group Awards Night held in MMU Cyberjaya

- 17.06.13: Ady turns two!

- Our five kitties (clockwise: Neslo, MiuMiu, Nescafe, Teh Tarik and Milo) having their special weekly dinner

- BFF friendship keychains for each of us. Made these with the girls during our karaoke night-out

 

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS #05:

- With BFF during our girls' nite out at Redbox The Gardens

- Short visit to i-City Shah Alam with family

- 06.06: Our wedding anniversary

- The day when Ady received his first Thomas play set

- The night when we went up to Genting Highlands for a stroll and coffee / hot choc

- The room in Majestic Malacca: my first out station after many years & first time sleeping without my baby

 

***

Selamat Hari Malaysia peeps!

:: happy birthday Ady! ::

Happy 2nd Birthday to our little diamond, Ady Rifqi. No word can ever describe how grateful and lucky we are for having you in our life.

posted from Bloggeroid

:: prince of my heart ::

Top: 06.04.2013  |  Having his favourite Chatime milk tea at The Curve

Bottom: 10.04.2013  |  In the car on the way to school

Ady is 22 months (young) today. My little baby is no longer little! His set of teeth is almost complete and he can also walk, jump, run and dance but until today he still could not talk properly -_- He babbles a lot in his own language though and only say 'nah' (here it is), 'nak' (want) and 'ba' (bus) but he could understand instructions and what people are talking about so I am still not worried because I was a late talker too. Nowadays Ady is more independent and ever since coming back from Hong Kong he is such a happy fella. Since we travelled a lot on bus, Ady is now a big fan of the transportation. He likes holding our London double decker bus fridge magnet and points at bus when ever he sees one.

At times, Ady can play on his own. He really loves car and likes to stack his collection of cars (he got 26 new mini toy cars during our 6-days vacation!) or being a cook at his kitchen play set. Writing about this reminds me about list of how to bring up a child according to gender that people shared on Facebook and one of it stated do not let boy playing girl stuff such as cooking. I would say different people have different opinions but to me, allowing a boy to role play as a cook does not change his gender or personality. Even today many famous chefs are guys and most of them are straight, so I guess what is wrong with cooking for the boys? Unless you let them play with make up or let them wear skirts and dresses, then that is a different story. We bought the kitchen play set in Shenzhen for only Yuan120 (around RM60) and Ady's aunty Dibah, who is my youngest sister also likes playing with it when ever she came to our house. Apart from that Ady also likes riding his mini cars. He has two cars, one is a gift from Opah and Tokwan and another is a gift from his own Papa. If he has a playroom in this house, I bet it is already full with toys. We do control the purchasing though so he would not be too pampered and used to get everything he wants.

Like other children, Ady loves playing at the play ground too especially with the slide so we have now become regular customers at kids gym or play area available at any shopping mall we visited. If we are too tired to hang out at shopping mall we just bring him to the nearest McD and let him play with the slide there. So far the best kids gym we have been to are the one in Setia City Mall and Mid Valley. Both are paid ones with wide range of facilities but these days many shopping malls have prepared free play area for the kids and so far we have been to those in Sunway Pyramid (in front of Cold Storage), The Curve and also in Giant USJ.

He is still into nursery rhymes but he has started to appreciate cartoons on tv. Almost every morning he watches Disney Junior and among his favourites are Bananas in Pyjamas, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Club House, Timmytime and even Hi5 but I noticed that he does not fancy Agent Oso. Nowadays Ady does not play with iPad as often as before. Since 3 - 4 months ago he already knew how to operate any touch screen gadget and play YouTube by his own which is good enough to me. I prefer him to play with the toys to stimulate his senses and broaden his imagination. I could not wait to teach him to draw, well if he is into it-lah. As for now he is more like his father but that is good too. That reminds me to buy a new set of toy hardware tools for him so he could be a handyman, just like his Papa :-)

Ady loves car so much and he rides a Bugatti Veyron :-D

Nowadays trip to the shopping mall is quite tiring for hubby and I because we have to use a lot of energy to curb Ady from running around. He does not like to sit in the stroller so we still takes turn carrying him most of the time or let him walk. We already bought a leash and made him wore it few times in the shopping mall but instead of controlling him from running around to unnecessary place, I ended up running together with him! The leash defeats its purpose so we already stopped using it. Moreover in this country public still could not accept child wearing a leash so imagine how many stares (and even bad remarks) we got. Hmmpph.

For 22 months Ady has been accompanying me every single day without fail and my life has been cherished with his smile, laughter, crying, screaming and shouting. As a woman my life is complete with a king and a prince, and I thank God for such blessing. Alhamdulillah.

Happy 22nd month birthday sayang! No word could describe our joy for having you in our life. Mama and Papa love you so much, and you are always in our doa.

*BIG hug*

:: 1 year 1 month ::

If 1901 hotdogs has special discount date every month which is on the 19th, we have 17th as a special date because Ady was born on the 17th and so does I. A month has passed after Ady's first birthday. He is another month older and as at today, our baby...


...can walk! He started with standing without holding anything for few seconds during his first birthday week and he has improved ever since that with walking a step or two forward, then able to stand from a sitting position until he can walk by himself. Nowadays he keeps on walking around the living room but still not confident enough to walk at shopping mall.

...can climb up and down the bed and sofa to play with his toys. Ady is into colourful blocks and still into real stuffs like bottles and boxes. Mama can have some 'me time' now that he is able to play on his own *yippee yeay*

bubble bath time with his favourite bottles

...can clap his hands when I sing 'If You're Happy', ABC or when he listens to any music he likes. The cutest moment is when I sing the song while he is not doing anything. Once I started singing, his face somehow brightens up and he automatically raised his hands and clap clap clap. Cuteness.

...can convey message through gesture and facial expressions. For example, Ady will turn his face towards me or make sound if he doesn't want something I offer and I know he wants milk if his face brightens up together with a laugh when I show him the feeding bottle.

...waves his hand to say goodbye. Actually he only waves his palm up and down but at least he understands when people say "bye". When he is in good mood, he waves with a smile but if he is not in a very good mood he waves with a stern or expressionless face and it was funny to see him like that.

...still speaks in his own baby language. We keep on teaching him to say 'mama' or 'papa' but he usually repeats with "atah" or "tah". Well, maybe that is mama and papa in baby language? Anyway, we always catch Ady singing in his baby language song when he is playing on his own and it is so adorable!

"Who's the boss? I'm the boss!"

Our son is taller and bigger now but I still cuddle him like a baby. Alhamdulillah I can still breastfeed him until today (although not exclusively) and that might be one reason why he is so attached to me. Until today I still love watching Ady sleeping and this is a pic of him taken in the morning of 17.07.2012.  

 How could I resist to look at that serene face and pouty lips?

Mama loves you, baby!

* this entry was posted on 17.07.2012 and edited on 20.07.2012 *

:: just the two of us ::

I suddenly remember about this particular scene in Austin Powers 2 where Dr. Evil and Mini Me sang "just the two of us" when they were in prison. It was funny and sweet.

So here is our rendition of that song in photos.

Just the Two of Us - Mama & Ady ♥

"...Just the two of us, we can make it if we try
Just the two of us, (Just the two of us)
Just the two of us, building castles in the sky
Just the two of us, you and I..."

:: ady's 1st birthday bash ::

Warning: This entry contains more photos than text

Before I have a kid I wondered why parents spent so much for their child's first birthday whereas the child is still very young to understand. Now when I am in that shoe I know the feeling and how excited it is to commemorate our child's one-year milestone. I have planned to organise a party for Ady's first birthday since three months back. I proposed the venue to hubby and he agreed so I booked the place exactly two months before the date. We are lucky this year because 17th of June falls on Sunday so the event could be done exactly on Ady's birthday. The party was held in A&W 3K Subang because it is near our home. Moreover, when I was a kid I have always dream of having a party at A&W because the bear mascot will be there celebrating the party together. I remember the excitement when the bear made his appearance so it will be a fun event for everybody.

It was not a huge celebration so we only invited close family members and friends. The party was supposed to start at 3:00 pm but we waited until majority of guests arrived to kick it off. While waiting, some guests wrote their birthday wishes for the birthday boy in the guest book that I have prepared. It was a last minute idea actually. I thought it would be memorable to have a guest book on Ady's first birthday so he will know who attended his first ever birthday and read the wishes when he is older later. At the same time, we also went around and snapped photos of the birthday boy with the guests using my Instax to be given as door gift.

:: ady rifqi is 1 ::

17.06.2011

17.06.2012

"Happy 1st Birthday to our beloved son, Ady Rifqi.

You are the greatest gift we have and no word could ever describe how grateful we are for having you in our life. You mean everything to us and we love you with all our heart."

...updates and photos of Ady's 1st Birthday Party will be uploaded soon...

:: l.o.v.e ::

"There is one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it"

posted from Bloggeroid

:: 1 month to 1 ::

Today, Ady Rifqi is 11 months old. Only one month to his first birthday, yet we still call him "baby" although he does not look like a small baby anymore. I did not get the chance to blog when he was 10 months so there is definitely a lot to talk about him this time.

A day before Ady reached 9 months (16.03.2012) I discovered his first tooth. It was accidental when he was crying on my lap with his mouth wide open or else I would not see it because it was an upper tooth. Not long after that his other teeth came out and as at today Ady already got two upper and two lower teeth. We already feed him rice now with chicken, vegetables or fish and he rarely reject any food offered. The other day, I was talking to hubby while putting my finger near Ady's mouth and he eventually open his mouth to accept the 'food'. Quite funny but pity him. He must have thought there is something to eat. 

Anyway, Ady had never eat on his own so Thursday last week I bought a pack of Heinz chocolate flavoured finger biscuits for him to hold and bite as finger food. He was interested at first, holding and tasting it but after one bite he started playing around. As a neat freak mom, I took away the biscuit and hold it for him because we were in the car heading to KL for dinner. However, he did not want to eat the biscuit again after that and even the day after so in the end, the mother became the baby and finished up everything. The biscuits tasted good and it also came in apple flavour, in case you are interested. Ady may not like biscuits but I am happy enough because he loves eating two of my favourite food; bread and potato. Well, at least he inherits something from me ;-)

Ady already knew how to drink from sippy cup now although it took me months to train him. I bought Avent's sippy spout when Ady was 6 months plus and it came with a rubber shield to protect water from leaking. He did not know he has to suck for the water to come out so I usually had to take out the rubber for the water to flow, but last weekend he finally learnt to suck from the spout. Apart from that, other significant developments include of:

- More babbling and even 'singing' in his own language.
- Pick and drop things from a high place like bed or sofa then look down and stare at the item.
- Crawl on his hands and knees faster than before, even climbed up the stairs.
- Rocking his body from side to side especially when he is excited.
- Showing tantrum. He already learnt that he can get something if he screams or cry loudly.
- Walking and running around the house in his walker.
- Slapping our face to make us wake up from sleep -_-

Not only he looks more like his father, Ady also likes doing something or having activity with his hands so he still likes to knock his palm continuously on the table if there is nothing else he could do. One thing we discovered about him is his interest towards 'real thing' instead of toys. He got a set of rubber ducks and a Pokemon that can flashes light, but he is more interested playing with shower gel bottle while bathing. Not forgetting, he is still into gadgets - from mouse, keyboard, headset, handphone to iPad. I am fine with that though so instead of buying normal toys, I bought a set of plastic tools consist of hammer, spanner and types of pliers for him to play and he likes it. Due to that, you can now find a plastic plier in my handbag even when I am at the office. 

Last but not least, anoher thing that makes Ady excited is .....

..... car steering. 

Ady Rifqi is definitely Adiel Jr.

:: 9 months ::

This is the first ever pic of my baby when he was 12 weeks in my womb.

 

I carried him for 38 weeks before we welcomed him into this world on 17 June 2011.

It has been 9 months. Watching him growing is another wonderful experience for us and no word could describe how grateful we are for having such adorable sweetheart who cherish our life every single day. 

Haven't share his milestones for few months already but as at today, Ady could:

- Sits on his own without support. He now sits in baby high chair when we dine out.

- Crawls to move around. He is like a mini tanker, crawls over anything including us.

- Stands while holding onto something.

- Passes item from one hand to another and purposely drop and pick the item.

- Speaks in baby language.

- Make the "want" gesture by holding up his 2 hands if I offer to carry him.

- Knocks his palms continuously on the table.

- Eat a large size (4 scoops) of KFC's mashed potato and a piece of roti canai.

 

 Ady celebrating his 9 months anniversary wearing his first shades

p/s: Baby, we love you so much with all our heart.  

:: mama {heart} ady ::

Mother & Son

Saturday, 030312

:: kuning itu yellow ::

posted from Bloggeroid

:: ady's first food ::

Ady is 7 months in a week time. Half of this post was already in draft since last month but I couldn't publish it because I don't have time to finish it up. At this point, I'm quite disappointed for leaving my blog unattended for weeks and I already owe myself a long list of posts. I really need to put blogging in my schedule everyday because Nor told me before that serious bloggers scheduled their time to update their blogs. Being a serious blogger is not the main intention though, but at least I won't leave any great moments passed by just like that without capturing it here. Guess I really have to find the time and try harder then. 

Anyway, Ady had his first solid food on the day he turned 6 months. As parents, we were both very excited and hubby even recorded video when I first spoonfed rice cereal into Ady's mouth. Ady's first solid food was plain rice Neslac and Ady loved it very much. He ate slowly at first, but after few spoons he started making noise when I late feeding the cereal into his mouth. He just couldn't wait maybe because he was hungry and in the end, a small plate of rice cereal was completely gone.

** Ini dia rupa budak kecik yang kenyang **

So far Ady eats rice cereal as his staple food but instead of giving him plain cereal all the time, I boiled carrots, mashed and mix them together. I did boil red apples before we went to Singapore but didn't feed him because it was quite sour and I didn't want to take any risk since we were on vacation. Maybe I will do it again this week and see whether Ady likes it or not. During our stay in the hospital two weeks ago Ady was given pureed porridge, either fish or chicken. I think he preferred chicken porridge because he managed eating half adult-size bowl. My mother already told me few times to cook porridge instead of continue feeding Ady rice cereal but I couldn't do it because our blender is used to blend chillies. We have to buy a dedicated blender to puree Ady's food and now I have no excuse to prepare pureed food for our baby because I already got this new tool yesterday, thanks to mr.Hubby :-)

It is a hand blender. Retail price stated in Philips website is RM229 but it was sold at RM209. For that purchase we got RM10 Tesco voucher and the SA was kind enough to give us free Philips plastic containers. I got very excited so I straight away cooked rice porridge when we reached home. It was already 3 something in the morning but I was very eager to test it so I did. I have to admit that I don't cook often but I am always intrigue with sophisticated kitchen appliances. That stuff is superbly awesome and I got a bowl full of pureed porridge in a minute. Not only blending knife, the set also came with a whisk and chopper to turn it into a hand mixer and food processor. Hah! no more reason for not cooking -_-

Anyway that item below the blender is actually a fish & vegetable steamer. Bought it in Melbourne 2 years back, it can be used to steam fish and vege inside a microwave with only 1 - 2 tablespoons of water. I actually forgot about its existence but since I was very excited to make Ady's food last night and wanted to steam broccoli, I somehow remembered it. After two trials and over steamed broccoli, I now know that it only takes 1 - 2 minutes to steam vege with that thing. How easy is that. Okayyyyy...I have to repeat...no more reason for not cooking!

I guess that's it for now then. Couldn't wait to feed Ady with his first mama's cooking tonight. Toodles!

:: tips untuk jadi kurus ::

No need to spend $$$ for slimming centres. If you want to be slim, it is easy when you are a full time working wife with a growing baby and no maid or assistant at home.

Testimonial: I am now thinner than pre-pregnancy. Yesterday I managed wearing my wide legged office pants that I have ignored for 3-4 years. Several weeks before I managed wearing my size 25 Levis comfortably which I no longer fit way before pregnant. I.am.happy.

posted from Bloggeroid

:: apple of my eye ::

Ady was attacked by fever last week, his third so far. I have started feeling worried because he had fever every month since I started working, which also means since he started going to nursery. People around me said it is normal for babies to get fever. They called it 'growing fever' or fever due to transition of month (demam membesar / beralih bulan) and also maybe due to teething. I'm not very sure whether Ady is teething, but yeah maybe he is because he keeps playing his tongue and lips with his gum but I still could not see or feel any tooth yet. This is his worst fever so far because it came in combo with running nose and cough, which made him uncomfortable and cranky.

Watching my baby suffering with fever, blocked nose and cough broke my heart into tiny pieces. During its peak, I was so worried about his condition and wish I could absorb all those germs so he could be healthy again. Thank God, after 4 days he recovered from fever but is still left with light flu until today. I went through my office emailbox last Friday and found an email sent from an ex-colleague on how to reduce cough effectively. The email which also came with testimonials said rub Vicks on the feet then cover them with socks before going to sleep. I tried it on Ady since that night but got frustrated at first because he was still coughing. However on Sunday night I noticed he only coughed two times during sleep and tonight he is sleeping next to me safe and sound. Does that means it really worked or is it a coincidence? For those who are coughing, please try it then share whether it also worked on you because the email said it can be applied to babies, children and adults too. Hopefully it really works so all of us can benefit from the simple tips as it is a healthier choice if compared to taking drugs.


Anyway, Selangor was on public holiday yesterday in conjunction with Sultan's birthday so Ady's nursery was closed. I could not take leave because I was very busy in the office since last week processing December's salary. Please note that December's salary is always earlier than usual due to Christmas and for us in TM, pay day is on the 20th while for government servants, it falls on the 19th. I bet most government servants knew that because they anticipatedly waiting for their year end bonus and oh, congrats for the increment too (with a jealous tone). Ah let's forget about all those money talks. So since Ady's nursery was closed and I could not take leave, hubby then decided to stay with him at home. Only later in the evening hubby brought Ady to his shop, so he joined the big guys until I came and brought him home. Little that I knew, Ady had a good time at Papa's shop before I arrived. I saw these photos on hubby's FB page when I reached home and they made me happy because I knew our baby is healthy again. Alhamdulillah.

Ady Rifqi is definitely the apple of my eye.

:: hijacked ::

Hubby gave me an iPad as a birthday gift early this year. I'm not a gadget freak but I can never thank my hubby enough for that lovely, practical prezzie. My pinky iPad has been my loyal companion, day and night. You see, I'm such a lone ranger. I have my breakfast alone almost every time either at the indoor foodcourt or row of stalls we called 'the Riverside'. It sounds pathetic but that is the truth.

Previously I felt a bit awkward especially when tables around me were full with people who came in groups so I usually grabbed a copy of the Sun as reading material. There were also moments when I purposely played with my mobile phone to avoid stare from others who were sitting opposite me. Yeah, I don't mind eating alone in public area but it did feel awkward sometimes and I don't want to be misinterpreted as a looser for not having any friend. Apart from not having many friends (yes that part is still true) I personally like being alone in the morning while enjoying my meal rather than listening to gossips or disturbing news. Don't get me wrong friends, I don't want to be avoided but there are times when I want to be alone and times when I'm in the mood to socialising, especially in the morning.

When I'm alone these days, I'm not entirely alone actually because my iPad is always with me as a companion. Not only in the office and also while driving, it also accompanies me at home especially when I'm nursing Ady. I love my iPad. It is solely mine but not until last Saturday night because my iPad was hijacked!

*jeng jeng jeng*

...and the hijacker is no other than my lil munchkin o_O







Since few months ago I noticed Ady staring at the iPad screen ocassionally when I was reading or scrolling the browser but he never interested to touch it until last Saturday night. I was nursing him on the bed as usual and reading something on the iPad which was placed behind him so he was not distracted of the light when he suddenly stopped, turned, looked at the screen and then touching and moving his hand on the screen. I thought he just did it accidentally but I put the screen off and placed him back to the usual position so he could continue drinking milk. After few minutes I opened the iPad back to continue my activity but Ady also stopped and did the same thing as before. Whoa. That time I knew he was interested to play so I opened an app that I have installed for him just-in-case-but-now-useful Piano for Babies and he started moving his hands on the screen. He was excited and kept moving his hands because he must have realised that the movements created sounds. He continued playing, returned to me, played again and it went on for few times until he decided to stop and sleep.

That night I knew my iPad was no longer mine alone but I'm more than glad to share it with my own lil baby bambam. Playing iPad at 5 months old. Ahhh kids these days!


* You're such a cutie and a clever boy Ady Rifqi. Mama and Papa are proud of you. We love you more than everything in this world. Mwahhhh! *

posted from Bloggeroid

:: hijrah ::

Oh my, it has been a week since my last post. Sorry for the long silence. I actually have a lot to share but too little time or too tired to write. It is already 3rd Muharram 1433H but I guess it is still not too late to wish all Muslim readers Salam Maal Hijrah. The 'old book' has closed and the 'new book' is ready to be filled so let us all wish for a better year ahead. Insyaallah.

I started my long weekend early because I took urgent leave on Friday. Apparently Ady was allergic to antibiotics given by the doctor for his ear infection so we had to refer him back to SDMC. His infection has nearly gone but it came back after we stopped giving him antibiotics. We realised about the allergy because he suddenly got rashes on his cheeks and chest. At first we thought it was due to the hot weather but we knew something was wrong when his skin was not as red as before on the next day after we skipped giving him medicine the night earlier. From the internet we learnt that allergy to antibiotics or the penicillin family is common and as parents we have to take note on this so we could advice doctor before giving any medical prescription. Usual indication that can be seen if your baby or child is allergy to antibiotics is development of rashes, upset stomach and diarrhea. We informed the ENT specialist, Dr. Hj. Md Husain on the condition and instead of prescribing another oral medication he gave us another type of ear drop. As of yesterday, the infection has almost gone and hopefully Ady is fully recovered in the next few days.

On another note, Ady reached a milestone as he has finally managed rolling his body on the first day of Islamic new year. I left Ady lying on his back besides hubby who was napping before I went into the bathroom and after I came out, hubby asked how did I leave the baby because he was already on his tummy. Okay, we did not see how he did it for the first time but when we were at parents-in-law's house later than night, Ady showed his new capability by rolling his body in front of everybody. All of us were cheering after he did it and it was funny because he then looked around with an innocent expression on his face as if asking "what have I done?". Yes, you did something baby but it was something that made us proud of you.  

Look at that muscles!

(please pardon the mess though)

It was a weekend with achievements because besides rolling his body Ady has also learnt to sit without any support. At the moment he can only do it for a while but that is good enough for a start. Man, our baby is growing so fast and I'm so going to miss this moment later in life...huuu!

"I'm a big boy now, mummy"

Those might be Ady Rifqi's definition of Hijrah and as for myself, I had never adore a baby this much in my entire life until motherhood changed me. It is such a wonderful experience and I thank God for the wonderful gift. Ady Rifqi, you are everything to us and we love you so much!

Salam Maal Hijrah 1433.