To the hospital...again!

Baby is still pre term i.e 35 weeks and 2 days today. Doc is not confident that I can hold the baby any longer but I hope baby will remain inside till 40th week.

And little Shaura never fails to make my day when I'm feeling down :)

It's a boy!

The then 8-month-old Shaura looked like a boy, right?
Expecting Baby No. 2 to look like this!
Good that I can recycle all her boyish accessories and clothes.
Hehehe!

Now that's what I call forward thinking.
Yeah right... :p



Joke aside, here's a smile that makes me happy and sad at the same time. Sigh.

Been spending more time at work than at home. Working mothers, do you feel me? :(

Looking forward to the 4 months maternity leave in Feb.

My New Year resolution: To spend quality time with my babies!

Swimming Good Times!

Shaura loves water so it's just natural when we first introduce her to swim, doing simple kicks in her buoy. She loves it! But it's been a long time since we had a swinging swimming good times! The first post on Shaura's swimming lesson was posted here back in Dec 2010. At 16 months, Shaura has definitely outgrown her bumble bee swimsuit. Thank god for the suit which Kakak gave on Shaura's birthday, it fits her albeit tight-fitting. Sigh. It's true, baby does grow very fast!

 Seen above, Fazlan's blowing air into the buoy. Blow, wind, blow!

We lost Shaura's coconut tree buoy (picture above) and had to buy a new one - a red patrol car meant to be recycled for Shaura's baby brother. Hehehe.

The best part about swimming - we get to meet Hani Natasya, the proud owner of Kiki, the cat. Shaura loves Kiki, you can tell from the way she holds him dearly, just like hugging her favourite teddy bear.

This picture says it all. Shaura's supper happy just to be near Kiki.

And of course, Shaura is even happier when she's in the pool.

Hubby and I are thinking of enrolling Shaura for a proper swimming lesson when she turns 2. The difficult part - to coax her out of the pool after every session. She'll definitely kick up a big fuss :/

Introducing Maths

My husband is better at Maths than I am. I'm not really interested in the subject until I had Shaura - strange, how motherhood has changed me. I started using flashcards when Shaura was still a newborn (even though the great Einstein never believed in using this method)

....and we gradually progressed from finger-counting which has proven to be more meaningful than flashing a bunch of "meaningless" cards to singing nursery rhyme "10 Little Indians" as I realized Shaura learns better through songs. Will try to post updates about her development on fractions next. Till the next entry!

Decoding Shaura Marissa

Shaura: Dog
What she's trying to say: There's a dog barking.

Shaura: Car

What she's trying to say: I want to go out.

Shaura: Kakak Tua

What she's trying to say:  I want to sing (Burung Kakak Tua).

Shaura: Maaaa... (and laughs)

What she's trying to say: I'm imitating the sheep.

Shaura: Duck

What she's trying to say: I want to bathe with Duckie!

Shaura: Star

What she's trying to say:  I want to sing (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).

Shaura: Huh! (pause) Huh!

What she's trying to say: There's an airplane flying above!

Shaura: Duk.

What she's trying to say: I'm tired of standing. I want to sit.

And if she says this at night,

Shaura: Teddy!!!

What she's trying to say: Bring me my Teddy! I want to hug Teddy!

And that's her favourite Teddy for everyone to see! :)

Senyum

Perasan tak? Apabila kita dewasa, kita semakin jarang tersenyum kecuali jika kita benar-benar berasa gembira? Jika senyum itu satu sedekah, betapa besarnya pahala kanak-kanak yang tak pernah lekang dengan senyuman. Bersyukurlah kita diberi mulut untuk bercakap dan mengukir kebahagiaan melalui senyuman yang ikhlas.

Modelling for an article

  

7 Ogos 2011
EKSTRA!

CILIK CANGGIH

Ada pakar yang berpendapat mendedahkan anak kecil kepada alat-alat berteknologi tinggi boleh membawa kesan sampingan negatif

TERIAKAN anak teman saya yang berusia sekitar setahun semakin kuat.

'Dah lapar budak ni,' ujar ibunya, yang sibuk mengeluarkan makanan untuk anaknya yang sudahpun disiapkan dalam sebuah bekas kecil.

Setelah meletakkan anaknya di atas kerusi bayi, suami teman saya dengan pantas mengeluarkan iPad lalu memainkan kartun Dora The Explorer.

Tangan kiri bapanya memegang iPad untuk anaknya menonton kartun, sementara tangan kanannya pula bermain dengan iPhone.

Pada masa yang sama, teman saya pula sibuk menyuapkan makanan kepada anak perempuannya.

'Wah! Macam raja!' usik saya.

'Memang! Kalau tak ada kartun, anak aku tak nak makan. Nasib baik sekarang ada iPad. Senang!' jelas teman saya.

Memang ini bukan kali pertama saya melihat ibu bapa menggunakan alat canggih seperti iPad, iPhone, komputer riba ataupun alat pemain DVD mudah alih untuk melayan bayi atau anak kecil mereka.

Bukan sahaja lebih banyak ibu bapa muda kini memiliki alat-alat tersebut, malah ia juga cara mudah untuk 'mendiamkan' anak.

Seorang anak yang sedang melalak sekuat hati besar kemungkinan akan senyap apabila menonton gelagat watak-watak lucu dan berwarna-warni pada skrin iPad.

Tetapi, dalam perbualan saya dengan dengan guru sekolah gim anak saya, beliau memesan agar tidak mendedahkan anak saya kepada peralatan elektronik tersebut.

Ini kerana, radiasi daripada alat-alat itu boleh meninggalkan kesan kepada kanak-kanak, apatah lagi bayi.

'Daya visual seorang bayi masih belum matang dan pendengarannya masih belum bersedia untuk menerima keamatan skrin peralatan-peralatan elektronik ini,' jelas guru sekolah gim anak saya itu, Encik Lawrence Lee, yang juga pengarah program bayi Glenn Doman.

Saya agak terperanjat mendengar penjelasan itu.

Saya sendiri suka menunjukkan video YouTube, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, kepada bayi saya sebelum dia tidur.

Lantas, saya buat kajian di Internet dan menemui sebuah artikel di laman web electromagnetichealth.org
Menurut Dr. Thomas Rau, Pengarah Perubatan di Klinik Paracelsus, sebuah klinik termahsyur di Switzerland, mendedahkan kanak-kanak kepada radiasi boleh merosakkan fungsi otak dan secara tidak langsung menghambat proses pembelajarannya.
Dr Rau turut yakin bahawa radiasi daripada gelombang elektromagnetik merupakan antara punca penyakit barah.
Eii! Seramnya dengar!

Walaupun maklum dengan pandangan sesetengah pakar ini, teman saya tetap mendedahkan anaknya kepada alat-alat elektronik.

Baginya, masih belum ada kajian saintifik yang mengaitkan radiasi daripada alat seperti iPhone sebagai penyebab barah dalam kalangan kanak-kanak.

Lantaran itulah, beliau sanggup berbelanja ratusan dolar untuk membeli aplikasi seperti kad tayang (flash cards), buku bacaan elektronik dan lagu-lagu kanak-kanak selain menayangkan DVD lagu Melayu kanak-kanak kepada puterinya itu.

'Bagus menggunakan kaedah ini kerana animasi dan bunyi-bunyiannya dapat menarik perhatian anak aku ni.

'Sekarang pun dia (anaknya) dah boleh sebut beberapa perkataan. Ini semua hasil daripada pendedahan kepada alat elektronik ni,' ujar teman saya.

Untuk mengukuhkan hujahnya, beliau menambah sekiranya kandungan yang ditonton itu bersifat pendidikan, tidak salah untuk ditonton kanak-kanak.

'Zaman dah canggih! Kita mestilah manfaatkan teknologi-teknologi ini,' kata beliau penuh yakin.

Namun, apabila membaca beberapa buku berkaitan pembangunan minda kanak-kanak, saya dapati pendedahan berlebihan kepada televisyen pada usia muda banyak kesan buruknya.

Alat-alat dengan keupayaan audio-visual seperti iPad dan iPhone juga mungkin mempunyai kesan yang sama.

Menurut sebuah buku yang saya baca, pendedahan berlebihan itu boleh menyebabkan kanak-kanak mengalami masalah attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) atau masalah perwatakan berkaitan dengan tingkah laku yang terlalu aktif.

Lantaran itulah, saya tidak lagi menunjukkan klip video Twinkle Twinkle Little Star kepada anak saya.

Sebaliknya saya sendiri akan menyanyikan kepadanya, lengkap dengan aksi tangan. Ternyata, reaksinya berbeza berbanding apabila saya menggunakan iPhone. Beliau lebih mudah menguntum senyuman dan mengikut gerak geri tangan saya berbanding dengan reaksinya yang sekadar terdiam sahaja apabila menonton iPhone.

Tetapi bagi ibu di luar sana, tepuk dada tanyalah selera ya...

Bola (Bulat)

Ajak

Shaura's new word of the day besides:

• Ayah
• Abu (Ibu) and...
• Ada tak?

I'm proud of you, baby!

Shaura & her 2 teeth

Don't you ever give up, Shaura Marissa!

Cos you're special in every way.

Love,

Mummy

February is here!

My favourite month of the year! :)

Gap Casting Call 2010: Hey, we did not win but it's okay!

Join us in congratulating the finalists from Singapore: Dyanna Ashlyn Simge Erkek, 3 years old,
Jerry Chew, 5 years old, Julian Foote, 8 years old and Sean Lim, 10 years old!

Way to go, Singapore!

She's growing!

Time flew past us too quickly.
It's 6 more months to Shaura's 1st birthday.

Don't grow up too fast, Darla :(

*Pictures taken from Hana's handphone*

I'm happy with work. Just that I'm unhappy to be away from her :(
If I could bring her to work, I would. O God, please give me strength.
I don't want to miss her first crawl, her first walk, her first word, first everything :(

GAP Casting Call 2010: Last day (7 Jan) to vote for Shaura Marissa

Shaura Marissa's current standing does not even qualify her to the next round so here's ONE LAST CHANCE for you to increase her votes :)

Voting can be done through Facebook in 3 simple steps:

(1) Go to http://apps.facebook.com/gapcastingcall/?country=3

(2) Click alphabet "S"

(3) Find "Shaura Marissa" on Page 2 and press "Vote"

Voting ends TODAY, 7 JANUARY 2011. 
So quick, cast your vote now!

Previous posts on GAP Casting Call can be found here, here and here.

Much Love, Hugs & Kisses,
Zalinah

Survival skill: First swimming lesson

I've been waiting for the right time to bring Shaura to the swimming pool.
After all, it's important that I start early to teach her to be at ease with water,
especially after the flash flood incident that hit Singapore last July.

It affected my family. Shaura was barely 2 months old then.

I knew right from the beginning that I should teach her

the most important survival skill in life - to swim!

Here's the tricky part - I know Shaura loves bathing time but that doesn't mean she loves water activities.

Just like if you love to eat, that doesn't mean you love to eat e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. 

I'm sure you'll be selective when it comes to food, right?

The same theory applies.

I've done a checklist to ensure Shaura is comfortable for her first swimming lesson. 

I want her to have FUN, and at the same time, keep the activity within budget!

I'm glad the first lesson went really well.

Shaura simply loves being in the pool, doing splish-splashing and getting curious

by touching her tree-looking buoy. We sure look forward to the next water activity!

Here's a very happy Shaura Marissa...

Her first swimming lesson in a summary :)

Do note: Never leave your baby alone during water play. 

Young children have been known to drown in small amounts of water. 

I see colours in you

If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, 

keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.

Wedding Invitation @ Seremban

Understanding Shaura through her cries.

Sometimes it doesn't take us long to decode - she just want to sleep.

My mother is a poem I'll never be able to write, though everything I write is a poem to my mother.

Dear Shaura Marissa,

When a child is born,

A mother is born.

The woman existed, but the mother, never,

Until you came along.

In understanding fact and fiction,

We hope you know the difference.

You can digest both but you can't eat them.