We had my cousin, Abang Wan come visit us in the midst of his business trip here.

Thank you Abang Wan for coming to see us. Every visit with a family is always a happy one. Till we see you again next year (as you have promised!).

In the meantime, Ely is addicted to M&Ms. From the plain M&Ms to the MEGA sized ones. Care for some M&Ms for breakfast anyone?

Baby talk...

Who says babies can't speak? This was taken when Suraya was 5.5 weeks.

Aftermath...

"More than Suraya handling herself well, my beloved wife handled Suraya well. In fact, Ely had to spend the majority of the time with her out of necessity. I am forever grateful to my wife for all she did on this trip, as are my grandparents and other relatives. I've said from the beginning that this trip is no vacation, but it's just something we must do, as my grandmother may only have one chance of ever meeting her only great grandchild. We couldn't have asked for a better family visit, and I hope Grandma can hang in there a little while longer so she can watch little Suraya grow. And I hope that Ely and I can see 65 years of marriage just like my grandparents...

Posted by sid presley 1/22/2007 1:46 PM"


With that comment, it means that I do not have to explain why we went to Florida.

Its been 48 hours since we came back from the trip. Suraya is still trying to get use to the Pacific time...being 3 hours later than Eastern time. Her bedtime is 3 hours earlier and she wakes up 3 hours earlier too.

The flight to Florida was a breeze. It was night time and both flights were not fully booked. Staff gave an an extra seat so that I could put Suraya in the seat next to me. It helped me a lot of not having to hold her all the time. We were not so lucky on the way back to SF. Since it was a Sunday, no extra seats available and I had to hold Suraya most of the way...that explains why I was so mangled. Every limb of my body ached. Took me 2 days and a 600mg Ibuprofen to take the pain away.

But we experienced watching a very scarey situation on our way out of Florida en route Charlotte, North Carolina. We were boarding the plane and there is a mother with a baby (about 1 year old) in hand. The baby was crying non stop for 15 minutes as soon as he boarded. Then all of a sudden we heard 'Hey, you need to BE QUIET YOU HEAR ME???'...I thought that was the father yelling at the baby but it was another passenger yelling at the baby! The mother in defense, yelled back and said not to yell at her baby. Then the ignorant passenger said 'Well, your baby is disturbing my peace and I am sure others feel that way too!'. But I also heard one passenger said 'No we don't' and I said 'Go get a first class ticket next time buddy!'. Geez...I think I would have reacted worse than the mother if Suraya gets yelled at. How ignorant some adults can be. It was not as if the parent was not trying to quiet the baby.

Well anyway, thats how travelling with an infant was for me. Suraya will be a world class traveller by end of this year. So many relatives to visit for a little baby lke her. For me, I am sooooo done travelling either by car, plane or train. My mother in law in Reno can wait until I am up to travelling again cos this mama and her baby is done for now! This goes to the husband too...ya hear me husband?

We're home and I am so mangled from the trip. Like I said, the mother is always the one who suffers after vacations.

Click here to take a look at all the photos while I take my time to recover...

If I did not have time to update this page before our trip to Florida, I am leaving these smiley pictures for you.





See you soon...

How to travel with a baby

Our Florida trip will be on Tuesday, January 16th...

Now now, I have not done this for the longest time....travelling with a baby. Yeah sure, my 2 older kids are excellent travellers since they were babies. We travelled by bus to Malaysia all the time and my parents used to haul my son by plane to Indonesia and the kids were never missing (like Home Alone) neither were they fussy travellers. Their 1st trip to the US several years back were also pleasant for them as they knew what to bring with them in their packpacks to keep them entertained for 21 hours in flight.

Infant? Baby? You can't entertain them but pray hard that they will not scream on top of their lungs during take off and landing in 2 separate planes on the way to Florida and back.

Like what the old people say 'Orang kecik, barang segerobok' (means : small baby but so much stuff). The smaller the baby is, the more troublesome it is to travel. Seems like the husband is oblivious to this...but he will know pretty soon!

Stroller : Suraya's stroller is the car seat/stroller seat and it combines with the car seat frame to turn it into a stroller. Since Suraya will be flying on our lap (or should I say MY lap?) and using the Baby Bjorn barrier...so lugging the car seat with us into the plane would be too much of a hassle. Our only option is to check the seat and the stroller frame into cargo. As we all know, cargo men DO NOT give a rat's ass if the stroller is new or not yeah? so we shall anticipate some broken parts and scratches when it reaches Florida.

Milk : No problem, just take ME and the breast pump along, this one's settled.

Clothes and diapers : Again, I shall bring half of her wardrobe with us for constant changing. Don't forget the lingerie net, don't want to clog the in laws' washer with her mittens and tiny socks (we learned it the hard way...a mitten got caught in our washer...$100 to take it out!). We shall bring about 20 diapers with us for the plane trip and the rest we could get at Target...if you're still in America, Target is always just around the corner.

Anything else? : Don't forget her gripe water! This will be the life saver for ibu and paps and the in laws! The in laws will borrow a crib for a few days for Suraya. To me, she could always sleep with ibu if there's no crib. Oh and don't forget my beloved Kakak Mas. Mas is so independant, she knows how to pack and what to bring so I never worry about her. She will also get her own room when she gets to the grannies house. We just owe her a good time.

Yes I am nervous flying with an infant...so leceh! But I have to remind myself...it will be as leceh as I want it to be yes???

Monday, January 8th

Today's Kakak Mas' first day of school after the fortnight winter break. Its 8:46am and the house is so quiet. I don't hear a 12 year old waking up and kelentang kelentung fixing herself breakfast...as she did the same thing at 6:30am this morning! No ticking of the laptop in the living room, no tv....very quiet.

So its just Suraya and me (and the cats) again since everyone's busy fulfilling their responsibilities at work and school. I know, now that Suraya is sleeping, I should be in bed catching up on my sleep. But I can't sleep until the cats are fed, dishwasher started, the breasts get pumped and milk put in freezer (must keep up the supply mah!) and blog hop or update my blog, where applicable.

Today will be Suraya's 1 month check up too at 3:45pm. Told the husband that he does not need to take us there as I could drive the baby to the Dr myself, picking up Kakak Mas from school on the way.

I also need to bring my pre-pregnancy clothes back up from the garage. Have to tell myself never to stick to pregnancy clothes as I am not pregnant and need to force myself to 'loosely fit'...I repeat 'loosely fit' my body back into those tiny clothes. Ohhhhhh and I also need to beg the husband to lug the stepper machine back upstairs...but first I have to think of where I could put this thing.

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Tuesday, January 9th

The pediatrician visit was great. Suraya had gained 3 lbs since she was born. I told the Dr that she was very fussy yesterday. Yes, I had to take a 2 minute shower and put on my jeans and blouse with one hand, the other hand holding on to her while she was crying hysterically.

The Dr said that she is 4 weeks. Babies get fussy and are at their peak of fussiness at age 4-6 weeks. In short, Suraya is at the peak of her fussiness and in 2 weeks, her fussiness will go away. Errr, well, I was not convinced as I insisted that she had gas.

Dr said that all babies have gas. He checked her tummy...nope, not that much of gas and if the baby is fed and clean, means that she is fussy. He also told me that giving her an ounce of Camomile tea will help her body to be more relaxed. Oh and another thing, the Dr says that baby girls tend to be more dramatic when they go through this phase...gee, thanks for letting me now!

Alas, when we got back from the Dr's the Colic Calm that I ordered online was at the doorstep! Yay..could be the end of her fussiness tonight! Yeah right...took her 2 hours to calm down and 2 dosage of Colic Calm to knock her out...which means, she slept from 9:30am and did not ask fro milk till 3am. Being used to getting up every 3-4 hours, I was awoken by her peacefulness. I made sure that she was breathing...who knows! And when she finally woke up for milk, at least I knew that she was alright.

Suraya is such a good girl today. Maybe the remnants of Colic Calm is still in her body...maybe till about 6pm when she starts her fussiness again!


Here's Suraya, sleeping peacefully last night before I put her in her crib. Such an angel especially when she's sleeping. Click on image for larger version.

Quick note : Lost another 5 lbs since I last weighed myself 2 weeks ago. 15 more lbs to go. And no, I have not started my diet yet, just eating 'smart'.

The Jalan jalan

Was a wonderful day today! We went to Muir Woods this morning and had a long 2 mile walk. I say that that was the first walk I ever had since I was 7 months pregnant! Doing brisk walk also energized me...oh how I miss walking so much!

Suraya is 4 weeks old yesterday. How time flies when we're having fun! As per my previous posting, we could say that Suraya gets more gassy nowadays hence, she has been crying a lot past few days. So we got her Mylicon (Walgreens brand) drops and for now, she is sleeping soundly and not fussing around. I have also bought a Homoepathic 'potion' called Colic Calm. This 'potion' is said to reduce gas and fussiness in babies. It also helps calm teething babies. It is not cheap, but hey, I'd do anything to make her a pleasant and happy baby.

Tomorrow will be the end of Kakak Mas' 2 week winter break. Mas has been such a wonderful big sister/nanny to Suraya and a daughter to me. She helps tend to the baby when I was in the shower or when I cook. I will miss her greatly when she starts school on Monday. No more couch potato Kakak Mas hehehehe.

Mak could not get an early ticket to fly here. So she is coming after our Florida trip...that would be on the 23rd of this month. I am getting excited. Yes, I do miss my mak, have not seen her for about 5 months. Having her around would be of a great help to me.

The Florida trip will be in 10 days. I always LOVE going to Florida. Love the hot and humid weather, the husband's family and the jewish deli. I am still nervous about flying with an infant. It is also going to be a night flight via Las Vegas. I don't like night flights, hopefully it would not take a toll on my body and the baby's.

I have also decided to take the Family Paid Leave all the way till mid/end March. I do miss my work however, work can wait, I know that I will not regret this time bonding with my baby and mak.

Sometimes you wonder how a baby that looks and behaves like an angel when you see them would behave like a monster when noone's looking? I could not believe it myself...

Like my mom says 'Baby dalam hari, banyak kerenah' (baby who are younger than 40 days are very fussy), which of course, is true. How could I forget when Mas was crying non stop for hours and days, me not knowing what was wrong with her. Sometimes you felt like you wanted to squeeze her or just give her a sleeping shot. And then comes Suraya. She is not as bad as her kakak Mas but she does have her fussy times and she surely knows how to make it known to everyone in the house.

Sorry to paps, this happens when he comes home and when its dinner time. This little girl would behave like an angel until we're ready to eat dinner. Her crying would continue till about 10pm or if I am lucky, maybe around 8:30 or so. You should see her when she refuses to sleep but is sleepy and tired, she would stiffen her body like a piece of hardwood, looking at me and eventually cry at the top of her lungs. Each time without fail, when she finally goes to sleep, I would crawl into bed, wasting no time to catch sleep as I know that she will start her siren again for milk in 3-4 hours. There was once when I crawled into bed at 6pm when she was sleeping and did not wake up till her next milk time...poor me!

Last night, she started to get fussy from 6:30-10pm. She always stops fussing by 10pm. I was already mangled by then, the husband was already snoring and into lala land. Kakak Mas was feeling so bad for me, knowing that I had been trying to put this baby to sleep since 3 hours ago!

Sometimes I could see the husband getting super irritated with her fussiness especially at dinner time. Its amazing how we mothers do not feel perturbed by the baby's ridiculous behaviour...maybe cos we're so used to missed meals and sleeptime, and the baby's fussiness during wake hours are nothing...or is it the mom and baby bonding that would make everything seem so easy? I guess this is our way of life that paps need to know and as the baby grows, it might get worse!

So this morning, after her 6am feed, I tried to catch some zzz's which did not happen till about 9am...45 minutes of naptime for ibu. Better than nothing. Let me see if I could catch some more zzz's after this.

Nazrah : This is why you have not seen me during these hours anymore. There's a soap opera happening right here in my house each night!

Good ole days...

Tip for new mothers : Blog as much as you can while the baby is sleeping to prevent withdrawal symptoms due to lack of internet time!!!

Reading my niece's blog and her friends' reminded me of when I was her age. So young, the time when we learned to NOT be innocent (which apparently, over ratedly showed!).

I stumbled upon words like 'seh' (example : aper seh, boring seh), 'silent break' (when you have a boyfriend and then he avoided you, means he doesnt want you lah, wonder if there was even a relationship? haha), and then this disturbing word 'siak', which is actually a substitute for another bad word. Example of these words, can sound so disgusting when I hear kids saying them back home but...when I chat with Nazrah, once in a while, it was kinda fun rekindling the pass...with Nazrah playing along, testing her adoptive Singaporean bebudak slang hahaha. We always end up laughing when typing such silly words.

Remember when we hated school work so much but loved school cos of our friends? I think all teenagers feel that way. Kakak Mas feels miserable now as she is on winter break and my niece is celebrating today being her first day of school.

I also remember the time when I kept telling my parents not to 'pressure' me and I was already highly pressurized. What was 'pressure' at that time? Well, tonnes of homework, tuition, tests and all. I loved to study when I was in secondary school. Always in my room with the radio blasting, doing my homework and catching up with my History, Math and Literature...to catch up with those chinese classmates who were so kiasu (meaning : scared to lose).

School shoes and bags. Since we wore uniform to school, those were the only 2 gadgets that would measure our coolness. No cell phones then...just those stuff.

And I must admit, having been to an Anglican school with very few malay kids, I was labelled as the 'belacan terselit kid' who dated non malays, dressed and had a haircut like Ah Lians...well it was more 'new wavey' style. I didn't care what people said to me. Some said that I 'tak sedar diri' (forget my roots) and sombong (snobby) as I didn't mix with the malays. But that was not why I did not mix with them.

Some of the malays in my school tend to have the same style. Hair braided in 2, long socks that look like stockings, short skirt 'wannabe' style and talked trash. For me, I had pointy canvas shoes, short new wavey hair, normal looking skirt and Depeche Mode posters on my folder instead of Search...and I didn't really talk trash, well, I spoke how the valley girls say their stuff hehehe. I sounded like an american wannabe eh? No wonder my girlfriends kept telling me that I have the 'Most likely to marry a Mat Saleh and move somewhere else' statement on my forehead.

Oh, talk about dates. I once dated this half malay and half chinese guy who could not speak malay for nuts. Very 'cina' in his style and to me, he was cool! But the malays called him 'ah beng' cos he did not project himself as a malay. I was 14 then. But we broke up after 5 months...maybe he got scared of me hahaha.

And remember the numerous crush we had on boys? Those underaged and under'haired' boys? I once had the longest crush on this guy. He ended up liking my best friend instead who ran away 10 miles as soon as she found out as she totally oh so did not like him hahaha.

Sigh...those were the days...miss 'em so much!

This is the beginning of a new year....2007, it came as fast as when we were in 2006 and then gone again to another year.

What have I achieved in 2006? Alot I can say. From achieving a satisfaction in my job, to losing 27 lbs on a diet, and then got pregnant, gained 40 lbs and have a baby! Of course, there's always a 'down' part of 2006...where my son decided to live in Singapore, 6,000 miles away from me...in the most 'unidealistic' way.

But that was 2006. It is 2007 now. Mak called last week and said that she would love to come and stay for 3 months to bond with Suraya. After what my family had gone through, having mak here would be a good boost for us. Maybe my family will mend someday, but I am not hoping for a miracle. So hopefully mak will come in 2 weeks or so.

Whatelse do I anticipate in the year 2007? A promotion when I get back to work. A new office in April. Talk about work, I am contemplating on taking and extended Family Bond Leave until April or so. At first I was thinking, should I go to work ASAP or should I send more time with my baby? 9 out of 10, it is best for me to stay home longer as there is nothing to lose but gain stronger bond with my family yeah? And insyAllah, maybe a new house to purchase (don't know where). Oh and don't forget, to lose more weight!

Thank you to Sam, Salizah and Alya for coming to visit on Aidiladha yesterday with rendang, daging masak merah, large sambal prawns, tahu telor and nasi kuning. Yes...such a large spread for us and I did not even lift a finger on the cooking (guilty me!)...but I shall come back with a vengeance okay Sam and Sal...this time maybe rope in my mother for the spread hehehe. By the way, Mak called this morning saying that she did qurban aqiqah for Suraya...maybe her kambing is kambing #6!

Oh and also...HAPPY BIRTHDAY SALIZAH!

To all readers, hope that your 2006 was a good one and may the year 2007 be a better one for you!!!