2014. At A Glance

2014 is coming to a close. How time flies. Seems like I just wrote down a brief summary of 2013 and now its time for 2014 pulak.

On a personal note, 2014 is definitely a memorable year because it is the year of Ariz. The one who wasn't suppose to be.

The one who took everyone by surprise… well not that surprised actually, more of a fulfilment of an expectation (not mine!) that has built up over the years. I was ever ready to stop at 3 children. But since there was never any protection used (nor any restraint) (ermm… too much info?), getting pregnant was a news that was kind of expected. I was actually surprise that it took 5 years of doing absolutely nothing to stop me being pregnant for me to actually be pregnant. That was in April. Since then my life has been back to how it was 5 years ago; sleepless nights, blocked ducts, clingy human, cries (baby and mommy), exhaustion, emergency leaves, pushing stroller, baby carrying, outings at indoor areas with aircond only please, pumping regime, carrying pumps all over town, excessive weight (major SIGH!!!) and a house yang macam tongkang karam yang baru dijumpai 18 tahun kemudian...

But curiously, I can't think of how life was pre-Ariz. Its like that part of my life never happened. Thinking of his smile, his laughter, his wiggles, his excitement when he sees mommy, his curiosity, his habit of putting absolutely anything and everything into his mouth. One word. Bliss.

Adlan has master the art of masak nasi. Learn how to do nasi goreng and sambal udang. 

Is slowly turning into a tween with his degil attitude, his body odour, and his understanding of how the world works. Expecting his voice to go rougher next year.

 He is expressing more of his brotherly concerns for his siblings (despite the incessant  tease that drives mommy crazy!). 

His obsession with games has intensified, his current obsession being "counter strike". Pandai pulak main MMOG (massive multiplayers online games) ni. Mana belajar ntah.

Aliya turns out to be a wonderful sister and a marvellous mommy's helper. She keeps Ariz company while mommy takes a quick-everything (from taking a piss, to eating, and showering and cooking). On top of that she manages Aydin with his cry baby attitude. Books everywhere. Requests to buy books comes in almost daily. Botak poket mommy kalau hari2 kena beli buku. Nak cakap tak boleh tak sampai hati. Asal pergi shopping mall je she will keep a look out for bookstores.

Aydin? whooaaa that little guy turned to be a cry baby. Sikit2 nangis. I guess being anak bongsu for 5 years of his life and suddenly being dethroned has its negative impact. Trying to be patient with him but kadang2 terkeluar jugak api dari mulut bila mommy tukar jadi dragon. But he loves his little brother no doubt about it. Playing, calling out his brother (more like shouting on top of his lungs AAARRIIZZZZZ!!!), always wanting to see what his lill bro is doing. Tapi bab suka menjerit kt depan muka adik tu yg mommy tak tahan tu. Rimas.

 On the school front, he got 2nd in his class. We didn't know about it until we read the program book during hari penyampaian hadiah. Not baddd!

 And that hair! oh my. Every 20 minutes he will make a trip to the toilet or the sink to dampen his hair abd comb it. Mula2 style rambut cacak. Then he discovers hair gel. Now it’s the mat skima look. Every few minutes checking his hair. Mommy has to bring a small comb and a compact mirror everywhere just for him. Mat smart betul. 

Tapi dalam mat smart mat smart, terjadi jugaklah incident bengkok tulang. Yes, you read that right. Crooked bone. Not broken. Not fractured. But crooked collabone. Happened when he fell in his attemptm to piggy ride his Abang. Earlier this year terkoyak kulit kepala langgar pintu while at kampung. Dah berjahit 5 jahitan.

On a more general note, 2014 was a year of unprecedented events. The missing of MH370, the shot down of MH17, privatisation of ailing MAS, terrible2 haze (what else is new?) and water rationing in the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, the weakening of RM, the leakage of UPSR exam papers (UPSR je kot!!), the biggest flood since 1971.

So there… 2014 at a glance, as I can remember it. For now.

Next year cerita next year pulak. My new year resolution? To at least update a brief summary of the month on a monthly basis so that the yearly summary for 2015 aku boleh check the links je. Fening mak nak recall balik apa jadi for the past 12 months.

till then. peace.

It Was A Suprise All Right!

Had my ante-natal check up today. Boy, it was interesting...

*****
Suprise No 1:
I did my week calculation properly according to my period cycle and according to my calculation I'm suppose to be 24 weeks pregnant this week (or 6 months if people ask. And people only ask because they are expecting me to give birth next month just by looking at the sheer growth I'm sporting nowadays. But I disgress). Had my monthly check up today and all in all, it was a suprise. A pleasant and amusing suprise.

For one, it seems that my calculation is a bit off - off by 2 weeks it seems. According to the scan, I'm at my 26 weeks pregnant. 2 more weeks and I will enter the 3rd trimester.

How time flies...

But I swear my calculations was as accurate as it can be following my not normal period cycle. Apparently not.

Hence, it was a'heran' suprise looking at the monitor screen of the scan seeing that I am actually more or less 26 weeks pregnant. I was busy doing mental calculation and matching calendars while the doctor was busy probing and pushing my humongous belly and calculating bone mass and growth, etc (or whatever it is that they do while probing and pushing around the big belly filled with a tiny human).

OK, so whatever, I'm happy at any week as long as my baby is healthy and fine.

And 'he' seems fine. Or so I think.

Suprise No 2:
You see, up until this stage, we have yet to know the baby's gender. Not by choice but because the baby was too active for us to get a proper view. Adlan and A'aliya is having their own preference as to what gender the baby should be. Abang wants a baby boy whilst Kakak wants a baby girl. Seeing that both our family are predominatly male dominated (I'm the only girl of 4 siblings and Hubbs is the eldest of 6 boys amongst 7 siblings), I was anticipating a boy. My pregnant behaviour was also more inclined towards the inhabitant of my belly being another addition to the male population in our family (although it was inconclusive because I was potraying both the classic signs of having a boy and a girl. For example, I was craving for both sweet and sour taste at different times. I was sloppy half the time but makes a lot of effort to look nice at other times. I was both lazy and rajin depending on my mood. And for both previous pregnancies, it was definite. With Adlan I was sloppy, lazy and crave sugary sweets. With A'aliya it was all dolling myself up, cooking, cleaning, and a taste for asam. This time around, I'm having contrasting behaviour. Like I said, it was inconclusive).

However, it doesn't make any difference to me or hubbs what gender the baby is sporting. A boy is expected but a girl (although not really thought possible) would be a pleasant suprise. I was hoping that we could see this time whether I'm carrying a 'he' or a 'she'. No specific reason, its just that we would rather know early. I hate not knowing.

And yes, we finally know. It was a totally pleasant suprise because I was expecting to see scrotum and penis on screen and yet we saw the hamburger sign as clear as the bell. Save to say, I'm still feeling the suprise... hmm... another A'aliya on the horizon? (should I say OH NO!!! .. ??).

But it was not really a happy news for 1 person in particular.

Suprise No 3:
When the doctor told us the verdict, we translated it for the kids. A'aliya was smiling but Adlan to our suprise, cried. The soundless disappointment cry. It was amusing to say the least but my heart went out to him. He was so eagerly waiting for a baby brother that he even had a name for the baby when we broke the news that I was pregnant. And now in his mind, he has to deal with another A'aliya.

What else can I say. We'll just have to make sure that the eagerness is retained regardless of him having another kid sister to handle. A long and short but frequent motivational sessions are in order.

***

All in all, today was a pleasant and amusing suprise. I'm happy. Now I can browse through all the beautiful names for us to choose. I can still keep my hopes that this time around I can doll up my baby and get her to wear pretty cute clothes (which A'aliya is avoiding like a plague).

But one news which didn't come as a suprise - my weight. The doctor is scheduling me to go for another blood test because I'm gaining more than 2 kg a month. I told her its normal for me, I gain a kilo a week until the baby pops out. That's old news. But hey, she would rather we be safe than sorry. Fine by me.

And another news that had me teeny weeny bit worry. The baby's placenta is low lying. Hopefully, it will be in the right position at the right time.

Hopefully everything will be ok and smooth sailing.

Amin.

Trivia About the Imans Knowing About the Baby

Adlan is calling himself Abang.

A'aliya has started calling herself Kakak.

Adlan wants a kid brother.

A'aliya doesn't want adik. But she wants a baby. No gender preferance - yet.

Adlan has named the baby "Daniel Osman" (after a minor interrogation, it was revealed that Daniel is his kindergarden friend).

Adlan is calling mummy's tummy "Baby Daniel".

*****

And all that happened in a span of 1 day after they were told the good news (not sure if this would be a good news to A'aliya though coz later she will realise that the attention will no longer exclusively be hers).