The Original Juice

It was on my birthday on 22nd Dec last year when I finally finally decided enough was enough. I am not letting Tufeil any of milk anymore! Don't mention about the pain and discomfort and lack of sleep from his 2 hourly snack through the night, but its more for both our mental well being, I imagine. LOL

Anyway, we just came back from our Turkish/Spanish holiday and were terribly jetlagged. I took one day urgent leave that was followed by the Xmas long weekend to recover from it. And so I thought, let's kill two birds with one day and take this opportunity to wean Tufeil off.

Firstly, was to get a change of scene. Me and Tufeil slept with my mum in her room while my dad had to sleep in mine. For the first 3 nights he didn't sleep till 3am. Dad helped to entertain him and mum helped to shush him when he woke up. He tossed and turned tossed and turned but finally he was too tired and fell asleep. If he woke up and cried for milk i just kept telling him "Mummy's milk is sick" and he would understand.

On the 4th night, we graduated back to our own room. He went to sleep watching videos from the computer. Luckily I have a wireless mouse so i could still lay down with him while at the same time click Replay on whatever is his favourite Youtube video of the moment. Initially I thought that its better to just play a longer video / movie for him so that he can fall asleep easily because there's not much excitement of changing to the next video or whatever. But turned out the opposite is true. A short video of say... 3 min is most ideal because it remains exciting even if you replay 5 times and usually by the 5th time, Tufeil would have fallen asleep.

I was a bit worried that school was about to reopen and his sleeping pattern was still not corrected. But the day before we went out and he got so tired he slept early. and by early i meant 12mn. And then slowly after the first week, his bedtime crept earlier and earlier till now he sleeps at 9.30pm back to usual timing before being weaned off. However, at this point of writing, he's been waking up at around midnight, cried like crazy just as I was about to go to sleep too that I couldn't pacify him. He let himself out, cried at the hallway waiting for my mum to open her room door and slept with her. Although I was relieved to not have to listen to him cry... i found myself not able to sleep without him on the bed with me =( It's been two nights like this. I hope it gets better.

Yes, I totally feel disconnected ever since I stopped breastfeeding him. In good times, i would bear hug him, tickle him senseless and everything but once he started crying, i just switched off. I don't know why he just won't be pacified by me and want his grandparents instead. But then again, kids are clever, they know how to play you. For eg: Tufeil, at bathtime, if it's my mum who brought him to the toilet, who would cry asking for me. And if it was me, he would ask for my mum. Aiyoooo!!

Anyways, immediately following the successful weaning, I had to work late a couple of nights and didn't really get to spend time with him. And our bond, to me, grew distant. When he was having fever, I thought, "Nahh it's ok... my mum can help to take care of him" I did not feel the urgency or need to be with my sick son. Is there something wrong with me? To be clear, i did take childcare leave on the 3rd day and he got well soon after.

So for the record, Tufeil was 2yrs 9 months old when he finally weaned off the Bmilk.

Sunday 18th sept 2011

We woke up from our nap at 4pm and Tufeil wanted the choc i promised him if he took the nap and wanted to watch TV in the living room.

He stopped short at the end of the dining area where the fan is, looked at the sitting area and said




"ada monster!" (there's a monster!)

I dismissed him and proceeded to turn on the lights and fan to prove to him its ok. But instead he started to cry!

Now.. As a mother u tend to know when ur child is genuinely hurt or he's just milking it. And at tt point, i knew his fear was real. I quickly grabbed him, read a string of prayers and went into my parents' room. They jumped awake hearing him cry. And i thought to myself, "thank god im not alone!"

We talked and played on the bed for awhile... Then when my dad was ready i asked him to bring Tufeil out for an "its alright tour".

Later that evening, we went out for dinner and some errands. We reached home quite late almost 11pm. The moment we stepped in, he pointed to the living room again and said "ada monster". I didnt dare to analyze his cry, i blocked out my own fear, went straight to our room while calming him down.

Last night, ny parents picked me up from work at 9.30pm, then went grocery shopping. Reached home 11pm again. He started whining.. His face told me he was afraid but i believe its more bcos he still remembered the image he saw the other day rather than it was really there.

Seriously, i need to do something. The usual Ayat Kursi and 3 Quls dont seem to keep them at bay. The nightmares keep coming...

Recently, Tufeil's learnt to make the hand peace sign... or number 2 sign.

Tufeil disturbing his nenek's rice to make ketupat.

What are you wearing, Tufeil?

Don't get me wrong, he still cries. Need to coax him, pep-talk him then he'll open when he's ready. To be honest, even way before this he did exclaim "Tufeil tak nak baring!" (Don't lay me down) or "Jgn pegang mulut!" (Don't touch my mouth/face) but we couldn't do anything else since he refused to open up.

A Sarban that Atok helped to put on

Speaking of medicines, I got a bit worried that after a week of medicine, the symtomps (spellcheck!) still prevail. He had persistent cough esp in mid of the night. His runny nose is like a permanent resident making him look forever unkempt with dried cooties on his cheeks! Melayu cakap "dah berkerak!" LOL

Smaller one

So the GP suggested to start him on a Lung Tonic. Basically this is antihistamine. to be taken twice a day 5ml each time religiously for a month to see if it's effective on him. Success rate 6/10. If it is, then we hafta continue with the medicine till whenever. If it doesn't, we hafta escalate to Level 2 or see a Paed. We hafta do this before he becomes officially asthmatic.

Gasp!

 Bad news is this might increase his appetite! "Oh no!" I said, "I don't want him to get fat because of this!" As it is, he's a good eater already.

But we were told to avoid FRUITS altogether except room temperature RED APPLE. Even bananas can cause phlegm. =( HOW!? Doesn't Tufeil need the vitamins from fruits? He doesn't eat veges (like his mum), fruits is his saving grace amongst all the fried stuffs, fast food and junks. I better get those Halal Gummy Bears Vit C ASAP!

Action merajuk Alamak seluar pendek pulak.

Tuesday, 9th Aug 2011

What a relief to finally have a Public Holiday after a dry season in Jun and July! HAHA Badly needed sleep. Me and T slept till 11am after our pre-dawn meals for the fasting day ahead.

I made a double batch of Sarang Semut (Literally: Ant's Nest), a cookie made of castard flour and Chocolate Rice. Somehow, my second time of making this turned awry. (Read my first attempt here - includes recipe.)

It was very very dry!!

The last time I made it, it was extremely soft!! This time around, I bought the normal Bird Eye's Custard Powder. I dont have the weighing scale at home and I think somehow my conversion from gm to cup is wrong.

200 g castard flour = 1 2/3 cup?
100 g plain flour = 3/4 cup?

Before baking

See.. I hardly needed to grate them, it crumbled on its own! haha. I baked 3 full trays before calling it quits. I saved the dough. Am thinking of adding more butter but not sure how (Like should i melt it first or something?) and how much. Thankfully, my sisters said it still tastes nice, it just doesnt stay together.

Because Tufeil had woken up late this morning, I had a thought of not letting him nap so that he could sleep early that night, so I took him out to the playground. We went from one to the next to the next until we ended up at a a Woodhaven condo showroom across the next street (quite far) because T saw this intriguing snake balloon.

*SQUEALS!!!*

We reached home close to 6.30pm. He scraped his knee just a few metres from home on the way back. and became very cranky... he was sleepy I know. So I let him watch the National Day Parade which was just starting.

Finally, he saw real soldiers marching

 I don't know why everytime I see a contingent of soldiers in the parade, my heart will swell and my throat choke with pride. LOL



LIfe-sized Food Costumes

 Even till today, Tufeil still asks me, "Mana soldier nye?" (Where are the soldiers) "Oh dia dah marching eh?" (They've marched away?)
We were so engrossed by the show that we missed iftar by a few seconds. Astaghfirullah!!!

These canons looked impressive on this vessel

But somehow it kinda disappointed me. The sound was very faint!!! *Yawwwwnnn*

By 8pm, Tufeil was already asleep! But at 10pm he woke up and was FRESH!!! He wanted to play and play. At 1am, I decided enough was enough. He had to sleep, or else! So i took away the iphone and commanded him to lie down and sleep. He cried hard. So I left him in the room in semi-darkness and closed the door. And waited about 5 seconds before entering again.

He still asked for his hippo (and dog) on youtube and I said NO, YOU MUST SLEEP! IT'S LATE! When he started crying again, i left him in the room again. After yet another 5 seconds, I came into the room again. I gave him an ultimatum, he could stay in the room alone or nurse to sleep. He cried for a few more seconds while I lied down shutting my eye... and then suddenly he snuggled up beside me and promptly fell asleep. It was 2am. But only after 3am did I finally sleep myself, on the floor, due to a hardcore blocked nose. (Am still having one as I type now 3 days later!)

I can tell you that this is quite a bold move from me. I'm learning to be a FIRM mother by reprimanding Tufeil when need be. I used to just ignore his wails and tantrums, tuning it all out. But I realised that this won't help Tufeil in distinguishing what's good and what's bad as he is in the phase of testing boundaries.

So I consulted with my 11 Besties (on whatsapp as we've been for the past 3 months or so) and we exchanged ideas on parenting and disciplining children. I feel much better now and in control of the situation, sort of, instead of being bullied by my own 2 yr old!

Wish me luck in discplining Tufeil!

Tufeil is such an extrovert. I don't know where he got it from cos I certainly was an extremely shy girl. Prolly still is.

This month he's shown me how he can make friends anywhere young and old.

A makeshift swing from an adult's "gym"

He's good at drawing circles...

"Oooooo"

He recognises numbers (thanks to school) 1, 2 & 4 being his favourites.

At a carpet shop in JB w Syifaa'

At last, he can listen to a specific command "Smile at the camera".

Sitting in his laundry basket

He's discovered that he can rest his head in the bathtub.

That's not poo but Chuggington's Puffer Ol Pete

Other than these, I DIG that he can finally climb on my back while I give him a horse ride.

And there's a National Day celebration as school today and he's dressed like this:

Nan will find this shirt familiar

This bag is good for his size

Sunday, 24th July 2011

Bored again. After Tufeil's nap, we went out for lunch at LJS. He was a good boy that day as he didn't make a big fuss about having to sit down for long (30min). I decided to try that indoor playground at Turf City again. This would be our 2nd time the first one being before he was even 1yr old!! He took a cab there. Again Tufeil was quite ok during the wait in queue.

Don't know why Tufeil loves this section of the playground

Hmmm Quite persistent in getting what he wants

He's scared of the holes. Is this normal?

Don't you know it (Jgn tak tau...) I'm so thick I couldn't get past one of the barriers! *BLUSH* And then there was one time Tufeil accidentally went down the swirling slides on his own before i was prepared and he got kinda stunted! Then we went to an open one, we went together he was okay even though it was very steep. The next time he was so excited he went down on his own again and bumped his head backwards. After that, he was really scared to go down again. He went down the same way he got up while i rode the slide. What bad timing because tmrw he's going to AMAZE @ Jurong playground with the school!!

At the kiddy section, Tufeil showed some unfavourable behaviour of not wanting to share the toys =( I had to bribe him with ice cream to make him let it go. And then he started crying when the one cup had finished and i didn't let him have more because it was time to go home. I had to carry him for a bit.

Had to wait 20minutes for the free shuttle bus to come, so we went looking around in a kiddy shop.

Tufeil soothing a crying Jap-Caucasian girl

The bus dropped us at Toa Payoh int and we took the train from there. I had to carry him though. I think he was tired from walking the length of TURF CITY and more. And I had to tickle him a lot to keep him from sleeping! It was already 6pm by that time.

Thankfully, he was willing to walk again at the walkway from the mrt to our house. And then he suddenly made friends with these 3 big kids, running around on the field playing catch. It's so nice seeing him be so outgoing with other kids and how other kids are also willing to entertain him. The language was a bit difficult though. The big kids could only make out "No more kite" from what Tufeil had been chattering about in English & Malay mixture.

Sat, 23rd July 2011.

So boring today my parents and 2nd sister's family went to Malacca for 1N. Luckily, Tufeil woke up only at 11am so that's like half a day gone. And Ash was not working that day so we went out for lunch at Breeks.

Afterwards, I managed to squeeze in a visit to Nisa and Sameer the Bhai just for fun. Also because there's a direct bus to her house, it's easy. The not so easy part was, Tufeil fell asleep just 5min before destination so I had to carry him... add to that, I alighted one bus stop earlier so I hafta walk further. (Arms still aching.)

Tufeil was amused by Sameer's Cars Bedsheet. Thank you Nisa for the lovely green banana custard which T loved.

20th July 2011,

One Tufeil's first week of sch, he had international Friendship Day where he donned his shalwar kameez.

Yesterday was Tufeil's first Racial Harmony in school and he wore an Arab (Moroccan? Nigerian?) jubah courtesy of his grandma from when they went for Umrah.

Ustaz Tufeil? teehee

This one is very comfortable with much room to run around in.

Need to wear pants inside

Alamak, posing sey

Too bad I decided not to buy that Syrian costume last year. It would be perfect for the occasion! Perhaps when we next travel, we should get one!

Sat, 25th June 2011
Tufeil was so happy when I announced that we'll be making cookie. He was prolly excited to be eating the dough again! He tasted everything every step of the way. Even the butter and sugar mixture he said nice. *shake head*

Like an Indian boy w face paint

Should I be worried of bacteria??

Yummm

We don't have a kiddy table. So on the floor it is

Difficult to take it out

Tufeil's dough pressed over and over

He kept insisting to play with MY dough! Cheh. And he kept breaking my nicely cut-out but fragile elephants and bear! He didn't eat much of the dough this time around prefering to break them to tiny little pieces and scatter them around (outside the newspaper lining)! *heart pain trying to clean the mess*

But we did have fun. Hope to do it again when Syifaa' is around. And this time i think i should put T on the high chair to limit his destruction!

I picked a recipe from here but the dough was too soft i added some more. and even after baking double the time required, it didn't brown (as i like them). A few more minutes and it came out brown. And hard. but edible for adults and tasted very nice =)

Monday 13th June 2011,

We went to visit my internet friend from donkey years ago, Sis Norza. Her first daughter, Aisyah, went to Hanis too, only at a different branch. I marvelled at the activities she organised for her daughters at home because i can barely get Tufeil to do something for more than 10minutes before he'd be asking to be let out.

I brought along my one and only specialty, Beef Meatloaf & mashed potatoes, while she prepared Chicken Rice.
We busied ourselves with their extensive book collection.



Alamak Tufeil! How can sit on the table!

Lunch is served!


It was such a relief when I can eat in peace while T feeds himself!

I totally should get this kiddy table so Tufeil can feed himself properly. He's in the phase of not wanting to eat chicken. He only ate the rice with a bit of soup. Sometimes he would be distracted with the toy blocks, and then he'd go back to eating, play, eat, play, eat. As long as the plate is still there, he would eat. So I had to take it away and it was quickly forgotten.

Really, Tufeil eats ALL THE TIME!! I'm a bit worried!

In any case, next is COOKIE TIME! After Mdm Norza had prepared the dough, she set out brown paper and cookie cutters for the kids to play.




There were Doraemon and Doralin cutters! CUTE!




This is not powder, Tufeil, this is flour




Working the dough, baby yeah.



Finished products!

 Watch the video how curious Tufeil was about the taste of raw dough. In the end, he ate more of the raw dough. I also took a teeny bite of it, just to know what Tufeil feels, its actually kinda nice. sweet. So I don't mind letting him eat more. HAHAHA


Sarah warmed up to Tufeil in the end

The moment we set out, i think close to 4pm?, Tufeil immediately slept in the stroller for a nap long overdue.

Next time, hopefully, Sis can come over to our place for us to return the favour of being waited upon the hosts. Thanks!!

My parents are going to Vietnam next week Mon-Thurs. That means I hafta take leave too to take care of Tufeil. Of course, ideally I should go to. Alas, @ $595 per adult and god knows how much for toddler, I can't afford it. Saving for December holiday, instead.

I'm a little nervous at the prospect of being with my own child 24 hours a day for almost 8 days straight. Almost because, I'll get a brief respite on Fri when I get back to work before the weekend hits again. Having said that, my schedule is quite jam packed already. We'll be going out almost everyday... Or rather, T would. We'll be meeting two of my housewife friends I haven't met in so long and we got a birthday party to get to this Sunday.

Actually, the biggest fear I have is a second start to weaning T off breastmilk. Because I've been through it before in March and it was VERY VERY VERY VERY TOUGH, I almost dread to face it again now. But I told myself, June should be a good time to start. For one, he's almost 2yrs 3 months. Another, it's the school holidays, so whatever sleep he's gonna lose due to discomfort wouldn't affect school.

This time around though, I'm gonna arm myself with vinegar. I'm just trying to figure out how to apply it in the middle of the night when T wakes up and cries. I mean, I can't just leave him in the room to go to the toilet and put it now, can I?

I've heard of a friend's friend who took 6 weeks to wean off their 2yr. He cried for 6 weeks straight. Imagine that! But I bet the child slept through the night, so at least that's bearable. Tufeil wakes up every 2hours. Everytime he woke up the last time I was training him, I'd hafta carry him around for another 30minutes or so before he'd go back to sleep. Even then sometimes, he would instantly wake up again when i tried to put him down on the bed.

Why can't he be an angel and accept my hugs and kisses and soothing voice in place of the BM???

Sunday 5th June 2011,

Almost missed my first ever Parents Meeting Session with Tufeil's School. Luckily, a friend's daughter goes to the same school and she tweeted about it and I remembered mine is Sunday but called to sch to confirm the timing. 10.30am.

It was raining cats & dogs that morning when we had breakfast and got ready. Mum told me to wait for her to come back from class at 11 so they could send us by car. But I insisted on being independent. Besides, I didn't wanna be too late lest I might disrupt the rest of the appointments.

So T and I went out with umbrella in hand and him in my arms. It was quite a walk to the busstop. My arm was aching halfway and had to switch to the other side. Mostly, Tufeil behaved himself at the busstop if you didn't count him touching the wet benches and spreading his legs until his knees were almost touching the wet ground!! But he didn't attempt to run to the road too much.

We reached only 5mins late. That's not so bad.

Firstly, the teachers brought me into the room and went thru with me his Development porfolio. I was pleasantly surprised by the effort the teacher puts into this. I mean the photos and all! Printing and pasting. *blown away* I can't even take a decent picture of T, myself!



The cover all laminated and binded!

 

Unfortunately the description of Practical Life is too small. But yeah Tufeil is getting better at spooning himself




Had to X-Large this picture. Wait. At you licking your own cooties, Tufeil??




I noticed that Tufeil recognized 1 too. I should point out more numbers to him




No photo for this one cos it uses the same format of material as previous




I bet the "more focused" comment is due to him running around to look at other people's work! LOL


 His teacher mentioned that his Arabic pronounciation is not as good as his English possibly due to less usage. He also needs a lot of prompting to remind him of what the next line is.


I guess I hafta say colours in Arabic now then




Mudarrisah said Tufeil remembers Arabic 1 2 3 well but not the rest.





4 steps were already introduced but he kept mixing the sequence

 To this, I said, "Yah at home, he always starts with leg first!"

I guess I really hafta promote Arabic from now on, although, at this point in time I don't plan to send him to full time Madrasah (Islamic School).

I was then given a piece of paper to write any feedback and was welcomed to the food. Surprisingly, I don't have any idea what to write besides, "I like the organized systems and good communication." and without anything more constructive to write, i just added, "But I wonder when is colouring and writing going to be introduced?" I feel so stupid.

While we were eating the Aunty came to me and said, "Tufeil is sooooooo talkative (in a good, i-cant-believe-it tone)!" She continued, "Nanti kat toilet mula lah dia bercerita Tufeil naik bus tau.. double decker bus.. dengan atok. Dengan nenek naik taxi."(Translation: At the toilet, he will start to story about how he took the bus, a double-decker one with Grandpa. With Grandma took the taxi.)

And the principal showed me a picture of the boy Tufeil always hangs around with. I've always liked Mdm Nor's touch at communicating with parents. She seems to know what kinda information we wanna hear. Or at least it works for me. I want to know of T's personality and social behaviour, not just academic / curiculum based.

All in all, am very happy I decided to let T start early and at this establishment.

Afterwards, parents did fetch me and we went to airport for lunch.