A day of tranquility...

As i read 'Tuesdays with Morrie'

on a quiet afternoon Sunday

i glance upon my daughter

on the pillow, napping, soundly

it is really such a wonder

when resting feels oddly silly

but never to be kept at bay

for a chance to sigh - 'tranquility'...

Swim, swim, swim!

A trip to Nana's condo saw us, and emmil's family and nia, playing in the pool. Has been some time that we'd wanted to expose Dina to the water. So, packed with Dina's sexy swimsuit and her huge yellow float, like emmil's, off we went to give dina a swimming lesson.... well...a dipping lesson was more like it.

Pic on right shows dina a bit hesitant when she saw the mass of water. i guess swimming with a toddler should be an enjoyable experience for both parent and child. If your toddler is not used to being in the water it can be a strange and slightly scary experience for them...it is important to follow your toddlers lead and let them get used to the experience slowly...important tip is always use a float ...

oh yes, another tip is to monitor your kid at ALL times. infants and toddlers must have constant supervision while in a body of water...

Dina: papa, i dont have suntan lotion put on my skin yet!
Papa: No need. papa swim dulu2 tak payah pun suntan lotion, putih jer macam sekarang..
(Dina also did her 1st pee at the pool...a lesson for all when it comes to swimming...hehe)

ok...such floats can be seen on the pic on the right here :) but i think this one pun you gotta be careful as if the thing flips over, your toddler could fall out or become trapped under the water. So keep your eyes peeled, people...

::Dina and Emmil with their trusted floats!::

Second tip is to look at the weather and apply suntan lotion..That day the weather was very redup , rather cloudy. not the typical sunny skies that is most ideal so that your toddler doesnt feel the coldness of the water so much. wasnt really necessary to put on an SPF suncreen or whatever BUT if the sun is out..PUT IT ON! A toddlers skin is extremely sensitive to the sun and must be protected. Something i read dulu says that you must apply the highest SPF sunscreen 15 minutes before going swimming. waterproof sunscreen is d' best . and you got to reapply often ya...

right...so we didnt stay that long in the pool...just a mere 15 mins or so...cos dina was shivering already...and her next meal was due...we packed everything and later went up to nana's apartment.... i brought frozen pies and papa bought american doughnuts...like Jco's....

later that day all of us went to this Steamboat restaurant for dinner...somewhere near Kg pasir/bt antarabangsa...forgot the name of the place...the infamous disaster area was not near the place we ate but to our surprise the joint was empty.. as in there were no customers when we arrived...and we were the 1st! good!! we got to the buffet table of fish, lamb, etc all to ourselves...hehehe...YUMM!

::Dina gulping down the air cincau which she really enjoyed that night::

All in all...it was a good day spent...with family and loved ones... plus the good food. we would definitely do this again...:))

Trip to Genting Highlands

this a backdated post y'all... one which should have gone after the post 'ON HER FEET, FINALLY!'...

had a mgt retreat at awana genting highlands last november. on the last day, mummy, daddy, neer, faizal and emmil joined us for a quick drive up to the dry park. the weather was mildly cold with some showers, one i really favored as it reminded me of autumn/winter in Lancaster, UK, where i used to study. aaahhhh.....i LOVE UK life..ze besttt!...

ok got sidetracked there. so, had lots of fun at the dry park although we didnt really play much.. it was just for the sake of exposing dina and emmil i guess, to bright lights and funfair... got up the hills around 3pm... papa bought us the tickets..cost about 30 or 40rm each for all the trips you want to ride on in the dry park... kinda reminded me of the time i went to blackpool and alton towers in the uk.... you get your wrist wrapped with this sticker thingy...

some pics to share...

:: dina with papa on the carousel::

::fun in the ferris wheel with mama and tok mummy::

:: on the waiting list for the ferris wheel ride, mummy neer, emmil and daddy faizal::
emmil: aarr..cant wait! cant wait!..arrr...


::dina and emmil - partners in crime and fun! ::

::a happy family::
p.s. GOSH!...didnt realize that i really look tired from this pic!


Man! i needed this break ...after the mgt pow-wow, my mental got really drained and the trip to the 'kota keriangan' with good family company was something i really cherished....

Next time, Yeyen and Nia join sama, ok!

Dina is growing bigger.

i'd never thought that time would fly so fast when it comes to baby growth to toddlerhood. people around me have always mentioned this and i really never cared much cos i kinda vowed to myself that i'd savour every bit of Dina's antics and the likes so that i dont miss much...


bless the pics i'd taken of dina and i really do see that she has grown.. my Dina phoop/ baby is now a 15month old toddler... sigh.. besar dah anak mama nie. gosh....! could still remember how small she was back then and now ..she is walking and talking so much!.. a remark from a friend of mine recently on a management workshop at awana genting.. "you kena tambah sorang lagi, sebab yg sorang nie aje boring"... really????.. my reply was the obvious "you yg boring kat anak you, suruh kita tambah lagi pulak"... hehehe..laser la pulak. how can anyone get bored ??? sheeshhh!

::pic above::

Dina trying out her 1st handbag,
my coach wristlet ;)

somthin i read on babycenter.com ::

By 15 months, the majority (about 75 percent) of children have a vocabulary that consists of "Mama" and "Dada" plus at least three other words, usually nouns, such as "cookie," "ball," and "dog." "More," and of course the all-time toddler favorite, "No!" are also common early words. A typical 15-month-old can also follow simple commands, such as "Bring me your shoes," or "Put the book down." She also understands the meanings of phrases such as "No," "Come here," "Show me," and "Look."

true enough.. dina understands what it means when we say 'no', 'look here', 'eat', 'bread', and so many more words. i love the fact that she soaks up the every word uttered to her and then repeats them at sometimes a low pitch or on a highly eccentric level...to which both of us and others will laugh out loud .. this being one of her adorable behaviours :))

she now eats rice using her hands. picks up the bottle or sipper with both hands...knows when she is full and says 'no more'. ..knows when she is hungry and says 'nak ammm'...meaning 'eat'.

a recent mgt retreat at awana genting saw her doing the pocho pocho aerobics with me and the other 100 over staff...the moment the music blared, there goes the head banging (soft core) and bouncing of the body ..dina really takes to music..has been since she was very little...oh ye...another work retreat where i brought along dina with me...and of coz my maid... minus papa..sob sob!

::on the field at awana genting with dina at the toddler cheerleading tryouts :) hehe::

:: Give me a 'T'! ::

::enjoyin our moment together...just me and dina...
and of cos the photographer, my maid, Nor ::

::Dina trying to fit herself in the bag...cant wait to go home and be with papa again... she keep pointing to the door to my hotel room and saying 'papah...papah'... in her fav jacket here, i call it her 'polkadots', she says it 'kokekott' ::

miss the times when it was just me, dina and papa on these long trips...papa as babysitter... sigh...i loved those moments...still do..

ps. papa was happiest today cos dina voluntarily went up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss - twice! (dina tends to jual mahal to papa - malu but sayang)

The Day Dina Walked (and mama was happiest!)

OK everyone! Dina has finally taken her first brave steps to learn how to walk .. to be precise, at 1 year and 2 months of age, that is... well ....she still resorts to crawling... but as a proud mum, here i am saying dina has officially walked ... :))

funny thing , it was on the day of Raya Haji.. we were all at tok mummy's sis' house raya-ing...aunty rokiah's to be specific... i'd noticed all the toddlers there aged much younger than dina and were already on their feet and walking about.. one was eating laksa noodle with telur dadar...OOOooo!.... advanced! anyways... i was not worried that dina wasnt walking yet cos for her age, she'd been quite fast in language acquisition whilst quite slow in walking.... so i'm most happy with this devt. walking can start whenver she was ready...

so later we went to Gemma's house and TADA!!!... dina ACTUALLY learned to walk there...suka la my mom cos her grand dot pandai tah-tih kat rumah dia dulu rather than my own! heh!... so proud of dina...she was shaky at first...stumbling after taking 4 of 5 steps...but with everone cheering her on, dina was unstoppable!...

the next day of raya haji, (i took leave of course)... we decided to follow gemma to Muar, just for a day's journey, since we didnt go there last raya puasa... so that tues morning, got dina to wear a pretty white flowery shirt and jeans, off we went to Kris Sakti in PJ for breakfast... hmm...dina was well behaved at first but think she was a bit sleepy..so mula lah buat perangai... she will 'ehek ehek' or 'uwaaa' but no tears ok... dah pandai dia sekarang...


<---pic on left :: muka mula nak buat hal...::

pic above:: mmm... dah start dah...boring and sleepy nih ::

::...at Ayer Keroh R& R...stop for a cuppa... ::

::few minutes after arrival at kampong.. dina got excited on the swing with kak anya::

:: striking a pose on the basikal.. besar dah phoop phoop mama nie:

:: a pic of generations...on a short trip to Tanjung Emas::

...gemma wanted to take us all to Tg Emas , a recreation area in muar... so we drove there but i was dismayed to see the playgrounds not upgraded ...the grounds were wet with many puddles, but people seemed to flock the are nevertheless..i suppose it's the only place to jalan2 there...they should just cement the ground or put those rubber-like pavements...

so much for that...later, we had early dinner at Restoran Mee Bandung Muar at Tanjung Agas area, to complete the trip...the mee bandung was yummy as usual but a bit on the spicy side...

all in all, was a good trip to kampong, reminded me of my much younger days, where i used to take the big bicycle and rode the nearby area.. my! i was pretty brave back then too!...now balik kampong is not like it used to be.. sedara makin ramai and the house can be pretty packed... so some opted to stay at the hotels in muar town..we dont really favor staying overnight anymore tho mom would want us too. maybe next year....hope to get the hotel rooms booked first thing!..

:: a tired out Dina, after a long day of playing at kampong Yang Awi:
venue: at Restoren Mee Bandung Muar.

p.s dina looks different now , kan? making panjang....