her drawings, our newly tradition

nana started the ball rolling.  she was the initiator to all of the home-made birthday greetings received.

she would purposely find time to prepare, which most of time begins from her free period in the student care, and continues at home.  always checking her back as she draws, to prevent any peeking from the birthday gal/guy.  so, even when she misspelt,  there is no one to tell her so

i must thank the hubster for capturing these cards i received from  my girls.

iqah drew all five of us walking on a bridge.  notice the details – dina in her stroller. . . . that sour-faced fish and the evil laughing shark! arrgh

nana drew me a scene out of the recently watched lion king musical.  see all those animals? now, cast your eyes on the top of the cliff, and you’ll see that its actually drawings of young simba along with scar and the two hyenas.  what an effort!

she revealed yesterday that she has already begun with the card for atiqah’s upcoming birthday.  and she’s going to color it tonight, but nobody may see it yet.

atiqah then announced that she is expecting one from both ayah & mommy too.

the idea is to keep it simple and it has to be strictly a do-it-yourself creation.  i like!  this may be a start to yet another one of our own family tradition

jump

oh, she don’t want to be left behind.  she got tagged along on our second visit to the USS.  and while both her kakak were enjoying some of the rides with mak and yayie, baby Dina -with mommy’s help- got her first few jump shots

Tags: dina

let the wanderlust bug bite

i have been talking to the hubster for a family getaway, and it really takes little convincing for him to get all excited.  well, the truth maybe that he is the one who need the getaway more than all of us, what with his almost always irregular work hours, his studying and exam and us!  but then again, he has his jamming sessions to destress, albeit not often enough by him.  whereas for us girls, its mostly school/work and home and homework.  so let’s not fight, and agree that we all need a change of air, and what better way but to fly and enjoy the infant fare while we still can

period of travel?  march school holiday (we simply cannot wait for June or December – it will be too torturous a wait. we need them now if we can) 

here comes the tricky part – getaway to where?  it has to be family friendly and exciting or at least relaxing.  and since baby Dina will be an adventurous walking (or learning to walk) toddler by then, destination has to be somewhere with clean spacious accommodation, minimum commuting, minimum exploring, less crowded attractions with no snake of queues, zero language barrier and easy to find makan places.  

and so we had initially settled for langkawi.  it shall be a totally R&R kind of vacation. bliss.

then i got distracted by bali.  not kuta though.  the plan would be to stay in a villa near a private beach, and i got spoilt for choices.  i want us to try their food, expose the girls to bahasa, shop and bargain at their ‘market’, see their sunset, their magnificent sceneries, their cultural dance…..and it sounded more and more like MY holiday – not enough excitement for my girls. you see, when i do the vacation planning, i never think that there will be a second visit, unless its love and you’ll find reason to go or its our neighbouring country where its cost-efficent-family-friendly.  THIS may be our one and only visit.  we MAY enjoy it or otherwise.  but life is short and there are so many other places to see and taste and experience.  so, with that in mind, i thought its wiser if we adjourn this until the girls are slightly older when they can appreciate its nature, or cultural, or shopping, or its lively beach . . . .     

so now it appears that we want some excitement afterall. 

after witnessing how much the girls had enjoyed the rides at USS (twice this year), i thought maybe we should go somewhere with a themepark attraction.  and i remember how much i enjoyed Dreamworld and Movieworld with my sister.  and i thought now is the right age for my girls to experience and enjoy a farmstay – waking up to the sound of a rooster, feeding the animals, milking the cow, collecting chicken eggs for breakfast, sitting under the stars come nightfall.  it sounded like a totally new experience for them and i know they will love and enjoy it.  with excitement, i once again work out a costing spreadsheet and present it to the hubster for his go-ahead.  but he reasoned that it will be unfair to our little baby, since she will be too young to enjoy the rides at the themepark.  though she will look so cute running clumsily alongside the farm animals, she’ll be too young to even sit on a pony.  so once again, i planned too well and this too had to be shelved until Dina is at least 5 years or older …. 

and that’s how we actually arrived to the concluded destination of choice – hong kong, with disneyland as our main attraction for the girls.  with each other as company, we are pretty sure that they will enjoy all the rides and its characters.  we can always visit other disneyland when Dina reach her kakak’s age of fun. Insya’Allah 

i know its against all the ‘have to be’ criteria that we initially set.  everything will be excitingly new, as well as challenging as we will be tagging along a toddler.   and with flights and hotels reservation made, there is no turning back!  i am both nervous and yet excited.  oh my, can you imagine those mousey ears on my girls? so cute!  our first getaway as a family of five!  can’t wait!

now…. we just need to renew our passports! 

my beautiful girl

my girl is gorgeous isn’t she?

or i am just being a bias mother?

no lah, she IS gorgeous!

often nowadays, when i make any reference to my firstborn, she is always seen as a girl who is mature for her age. an old soul, they called it. maybe its her demeanor , the way she carry herself but boring or fiercely serious she is not. in fact, she is the joker in the family. the one with the loudest laughter, after her dad. but share with her something, anything and she is able to comprehend it with wisdom and seriousness of someone far beyond her age.

her weakness is that she is such a crybaby and her sister likes to push this button.

her most expressive features are her eyes. it lights up when she is excited and happy and bursting with news. when she’s unwell, it goes all sleepy and droopy and it’s the first sign of our house becoming notably quiet. she gets all teary alongside me, while watching a moving film. sulks and wet her pillow silently when her expectations met disappointment. oh how my heart ache thinking how she might cry her heart out with her first relationship heartbreak.

we went bowling on her sister’s birthday last month and i got a sneak peek of teenage her. soaking up the details, and marveling at how fast she’s growing up to be a young teenager.

Tags: iqah