Mama(n)datory

I've spent my few days watching Harry Potter with my daughter, Mayesa the other week.
I am not a fan obviously since I've only watched the first(Sorcerer's Stone) and the third(Prisoner of Azkaban) movie. But now that I've watched the franchise's back-to-back, I can now see the relation between each chapter/characters. It's quite interesting, I admit.

So I finally went for my first solo trip last Sunday. Well it wasn't really a solo trip per se; I went with a friend instead.

We took one of the earliest ETS of the day to Ipoh. (I'm relating my story to the Harry Potter movie..the train..can't you see? i'm so lame, I know. My friend here is an avid die-hard fan of Harry Potter, too, please and thank you).

The train departed on time (regardless the 3 hours delay somewhere in Sungai Buloh, like seriously). We didn't care much about the delay though. It was a free and easy trip for us both so we just make use of the time to each other's company and started planning our lunch (supposedly breakfast) destination.

---I bought our train tickets over the counter. If you'd like to book yours online, you may do so on Bus Online Ticket or any other ticketing agent on the web. Convenient, hassle-free and with no extra charges---

Once we arrived in Ipoh, we took Uber  (in fact, we took Uber to each of our pitstop in Ipoh) and made our way here for lunch.

New Hollywood Restaurant, Taman Canning

We then checked into M Boutique Hotel on Jalan Hala Datuk 5 in town. Indeed it is a small, cozy, paying homage to the Straits Eclectic Architecture from a bygone era (as stated on it's homepage). Although I would very much prefer a brighter lighted hotel, it didn't disappoint either. It wasn't the best of location, but the interiors and the warmth and friendliness of the hotel staff totally made up for it. You may click on this link to book.

The beautiful lobby

We chose the second floor with the theme 'Majestic'

Excuse me but this is going to be a lengthy post if I don't stop blabbering so I might as well leave this post with a trail of pictures to sum up our 1 night trip to Ipoh.

Coffee in Oldtown for teatime

And free hotel breakfast in Oldtown the very next morning. (Oldtown is in the same premise as the hotel and the hotel sub it to them to handle guests' breakfast)

We decided to watch the movie Kingsman: The Golden Circle in Ipoh Parade after having a shared light dinner of chicken soup at Dataran Jam. It was a good enjoyable movie, for real (I'll write a review soon, if time permits). Planned to go to the massage parlour next but we went around to a few, and none had available two masseuse for us so we head back to the hotel, freshen up and fell asleep soon after.

Before taking the train back to KL Sentral the next day, we went to Pekan Lama to see what it has to offer other than the mural wall arts.

A cozy cool-looking Plan B in Jalan Panglima

Did not dare to buy this, though.

Nasi Ganja at Yong Suan, Jalan Yang Kalsom

We spent a longer time than planned in Pekan Lama but nevertheless we managed to squeeze a little bit of time to have Nasi Ganja at Yong Suan. Hands down it was so so good I secretly wished I could have another plate of it.

But luckily I didn't.

I was literally drugged out!

I slept almost throughout the whole train ride back to KL; still felt so sleepy soon after and slept early that night right to the next day!

Real drugged out for good - to really sum up the trip to Ipoh, I'd say.

The previous post is not who I really am, or at least not who I intend to be.

Of course I was just being hormonal (who doesn't, when you just weaned your child?). Overwhelmed with mixture of emotions while having to do chores and handling two active toddlers equals to a cranky old lady who could just burst into tears from mental and physical exhaustion.

Errrr, exaggerating much?
But that is the honest truth.

I didn't mean to scream at my kids. But when you're 24/7 together, you just wished for at least a quiet moment to yourself without a single disturbance. I couldn't even have ample shower moment, or even a pee break without either one(sometimes both) of the girls knocking on the door or screaming at each other rumbling over the same toys or something.

i know I should control myself, and not let my emotions take control. I am trying my best but there are just some days where you feel down and becomes a bad mom, unintentionally. We are all guilty of that, yes?

But at the end of the day, you'd still cuddle and kiss your precious little kids goodnight.

And when the morning comes, just pray that it's going to be a joyful smooth day.

*buckle your seatbelts mommas*

I've been a bad mom.

I get cranky on most days. I get pissed off easily; I either ignored my kids or I'd scream at them ever so often.

I've been a little too hormonal ever since I stopped nursing Sofia. This has got to stop. Husband's been advising me to go on my solo trip for a few days, to get my mind off things for a little. Yes, I've been browsing flights almost everyday, I've locked in a few routes, but I just couldn't get myself to proceed with the booking. Too many things on my mind that's holding me back.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid and thinking  too much.

Maybe all I need is a single relaxing day at the spa.

Maybe all I need is just talks over dinner  with some friends.

Maybe I don't even know what I need.

A cup of coffee sound good right now.

I remember having quite a rough time weaning Mayesa but I did weaned her at 22months.
Now that it has been a week, I can officially say Sofia's weaned - at 21 months!

 Continuation from my previous post, some may wonder why not 24 months? Sebaik-baiknya menyusu anak sampai umur 2 tahun.

To be honest, really, as much as I love to nurse them, I have had the urge to wean both of my babies even from after confinement period is over. Reason being, lack of rest/sleep/everything; just loads of indulging/stress/hairloss.

I am one of the lots who could only direct feed, but could never produce any when pumped. Irritating at most times, really, when you thought of just slacking for a moment but you instantly and constantly being pinned down to nurse.

One day I've decided I wanted to end it and I abruptly weaned Mayesa. Tak ada belas kasihan, I just immediately stopped giving her any. *Cue screaming and crying for hours* Very fortunate she was fine with it in just 2 days, although I initially thought it could take months for her to completely settled. Hence, she was fully weaned abruptly at 22 months.

Sofia on another note is used to being breastfed and formula-fed since she turned 3 months-old. Nevertheless, she was just as clingy and as latch-y as her big sister. I caught her napping one day all on her own. That was when I started to distract and lessen her need for nurse-to-sleep. She took it well and after a couple of days she decided to no longer nurse, forever. Oh, and she immediately sleeps through the night, too! Double joy!

I miss the beautiful bonding moment sometimes. Alhamdulillah I am still forever grateful I get to nurse both of my babies, even not up to 24 months. Willpower dan rezeki masing-masing, tak perlu nak dipersoal.

I've tried weaning Sofia a couple of times. Tak tertahan sakit badan, tidur tak lena, kerja tak berjalan. Stress, tahu? And when you're stressed, the milk supply goes down. Not that I have a good supply though; not  as much as the time I used to nurse Mayesa.

But that didn't bother her at all. I'm forever hers.

When I badly wanted to wean, it didn't happen. Now that I played it cool, like "yeah, go ahead. I'll just lie down for hours, don't make me get up to get anything else for you"-kind of cool, I guess she eventually got bored.

She is such an attention seeker, this little one. The lack of attention I gave to her might be the reason she left me off for something that's more fun. Atau mungkin sebab malam tu dia menyusu sampai tertidur dan gigit katup kuat mama sampai mama jerit tepuk-tepuk muka dia. Read:light taps.

September 8th, 2017.
That early morning feed was her last.

All I had to do when she asked to be nursed was to play-pretend my boobs was in pain because she bit me the previous night. She'll lift my shirt up to peek, then she'll just go "huhhhhh" with an annoyed face and leave me to get her bottle.

I thought nap time would be tough, but surprisingly caught her napping while holding on to her bubu(baby doll) that evening. Tidur malam pula she just toss and turn a little bit before she sleeps through the night. Never happened before, this sttn with her. Ya Allah, you are such an easy baby, Sofia.

I remember having quite a rough time weaning Mayesa but I did weaned her at 22months.
Now that it has been a week, I can officially say Sofia's weaned - at 21 months!

Now I can regain my good night's sleep.
I'm free!
I AM FREE!
(Prays that I wont be knocked up so easily again, post-wean)

Mayesa's turning 5 next year. It is finally time to get her registered into a pre-school.

I know ramai yang dah mula hantar anak-anak pergi tadika dari umur 4 tahun. As I am a stay-at-home-mom, I figured why not I just teach her the basics and only enroll her into a pre-school when she turns 5.

And I did.

And Alhamdulillah Mayesa now knows her ABC's and 123's both in reading and writing. She's good in arts. Dia suka menyanyi, menari and role-playing. She loves to draw and paint. She can also read and write a little bit of Jawi; can clearly recites dzikir and memorized a couple of short dua's as well as the basic of wudhu' and solat. I am going to start teaching her to spell and read next.

I think I did good.
She did great!
Syukur. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

For the time being I've shortlisted only a few pre-school in USJ/Subang Jaya area:
Smart Reader Kids
REAL Kids
Sri Comel
Krista
Brainy Bunch
Little Caliph

I've only visited Smart Reader Kids and I am liking it so far. Mayesa loves it too, but I can't say much since I've yet to visit the rest of the pre-school. I will definitely make a different post on the pros and cons, the likes and dislikes of each pre-school once I have done my research.

Or perhaps I might stumbled upon or choose other pre-schools which didn't even cross my mind at first, no? We'll see.

Now that we have two daughters, people have been questioning when's the little guy arriving?

Dulu masa zaman sekolah rendah, cikgu selalu tanya "bila dewasa nanti nak jadi apa?". Or remember the biodata book where it was passed around to be filled up?

Nama: Hana
Umur/Kelas: 3 Kekwa
Makanan kegemaran: Pasta, Nasi Lemak & Mom's cooking
Minuman kegemaran: Sirap Limau
Cita-cita: Doktor, Pramugari, Guru

Tetttttttt!

If you eventually became one from your then ambition list, Alhamdulillah congratulations. But if you did not, like me, h-to-the-olla!

I have worked at numerous places, with quite a number of different jobscopes. I love the paycheck, the experienced as well as the knowledge that I have gained. It's just that I was never a team player. I was never keen to step on the career ladder unlike most of you ladies.

I somehow have set in my heart that I will just be a housewife someday.

And I did.
And I am happy and Alhamdulillah grateful.

Why, you ask?

I'll share in another post.

Now let me just share a snippet of conversation I had with Mayesa the other day.

Mayesa, What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a doctor, and.. a princess.
Princess Belle!

Now that is one unique ambition.
She gotta find herself a prince then; hopefully not a beast.

Mama : Ok, let's go to bed. Papa balik lewat malam ni.