Gewam!

We did our bug to Bapak last night with this photo. Nite-nite Bapak, don't let the bug bite!

P/S: Let us torture Bapak.

The First Day

Macamana best tak Iris pergi sekolah?
Besttt, Iris suka sangat!

Ramai tak kawan-kawan Iris?
Ramaiii.

Kawan Iris nama apa?
Um,um,nama, nama, um, um. Iris lupa-lah!

Iris main apa kat sekolah hari ni?
Main gelongsor, main Lego. White color.

Oh, best tak main gelongsor?
Besttt.

Lagi Iris main apa? Iris main horse tak?
Iris tak main horse.

Ada nyanyi-nyanyi tak?
Takde.

Ada baca buku tak?
Takde.

Iris tidur tak?
Tidur.

Cikgu baik tak?
Cikgu tak baik.

Sebab apa cikgu tak baik?
Cikgu suruh Iris duduk.

Sebab apa cikgu suruh Iris duduk?
Sebab Iris up.

It took us 7 minutes to talk about the day at school, and then she was back to normal.

Mummy, tu apa?
Cow. Lembu. Dia makan rumput.

Mummy, tu apa?
Buffalo. Kerbau, Dia makan rumput.

Mummy, ada pig tak?
Hari ni takde.

Mummy, tu bus! Mummy nyanyi!

And that was the end of the first day. And later that night, we have four phone calls to answer.

11.1.11

Today is the first day I go to school. I wear baju kurung with black and white dots on it. I bring my blue bag, no no, it is Iesha's, I borrow the bag from her. Since this is Mummy quick-quick decision to enroll me to the school, so she does not buy me any bag, maybe she'll do it later. She promises me to buy me a bagpack this weekend. And I hope it is Mr Bean's bagpack. Not the real Mr Bean, but the cartoon one. Look at my face, friends. I am so happy to go to school with Mummy. I woke up at 7AM so that I will not miss this happy day!

I eat my usual breakfast, The Sosej. Mummy cooks the best Sosej in the whole world. She can do lots of variety with The Sosej. She can cook porridge with Sosej, fried Sosej, reheated Sosej, Sosej with rice, Sosej with wholemeal bread and more! But this morning I just had my plain Sosej. Mind you, it is Cheese Sosej. I sit beside Mummy. She talks a lot along the journey. I eat The Sosej. She wears her seat belt, but I am too lazy to put on the belt. It stucks on my tummy. Mummy screams her highest pitch because I do not want to wear my seat belt and sit on my car seat. I am big, the car seat is for Iesha. Along the way to school, Mummy teaches me how to greet my new friends. "Hi, nama saya Iris Adeena." We rehearses for thousand times, until I spot buses and I ask Mummy to sing "Baby dengan bus says uwaa, uwaa,uwaa!!!". And then she corrects me, "Baby ON THE bus, bukan Baby dengan bus." It is not a boring journey after all, I don't even ask Mummy to borrow her iPhone to watch Mr Bean. I am so happy seeing all the cows and buffaloes nibbling the grass. Mummy says we might as well spot pigs one day. A very big pig and Mummy always make that ugly nose when she says pig. I really mean ugly.

And later, we arrive at school! I scream when I see the drawing on the wall. It is Mickey Mouse and Mini Mouse. I scream like this "Mummy!!!! Iris suka sangat!!!!!!!!!" And Mummy screams too, she's good with screaming I tell you. I will ask Mummy to take a video of me screaming. And once entering the school, I see many friends, 6 of them boys and 1 girl. I shake hand with the teachers and new friends. Mummy asks the teacher "Boleh tak nak tengok playground?" She is always obvious like that. And so the teachers bring me to the SLIDE! Yay, slide! With lots of balls, and the rocking horses and pink and blue and green chairs and tables! I love school!

Do you see the girl with baju kurung with black and white dots on it? That's me! I take turn to go down the slide. See the teacher behind me, she takes care of all of us. I love slide! I know why Mummy wants me to go to school. Because she wants me to play with the slide. She said the slide is too expensive and she'd rather buy pop up books than the plastic slide. Mummy always brings me and Iesha to the playground at our neighborhood, but it is too rusty, I mean the stairs. So we went there quick-quick because Mummy cannot help me with the stairs while holding Iesha. But now, here at school, I can play like forever!

Do you see the girl with baju kurung with black and white dots on it? That's me! I make cool face as Mummy snap photo. I don't want to look so excited, because I know, right after this Mummy will MMS my photos to Bapak, Nek Ma, Anya, Nek Mi, Nek Sue and the list goes on. And they will call Mummy in no time and I don't have time to talk. I want to play.

So, bye!

Crossing Over

With God grants and all positive possibilities, I'm proclaiming myself as a student for the next few months. (Now, define few!). Well, most probably for the next two months I'll officially a person with a capability of using Endnote to no end and other terrifying possibilities (ghastly damage of my left-brain and a change to my walking style).

I'll enroll myself to one of the universities in KL, well, let the vagueness leave us thrill. (Haha, perasan!). Why not Sweden? What happens to childhood's dream to make snowman in winter? Why Malaysia why? Well, again, let the vagueness leave us thrill.

Yes, we are going to stay in KL for the next few months, speaking of which, I need to take Iris out from our beloved sitter care and send her to a more self-reliance environment. And so, I have registered her today (10th January 2011) into a Taska which I found so very self-reliance environment. I spotted slide. And rocking horses. And big Lego. And Ikea Mammuts.

While the caregiver briefed on the activities and such, I was in trance, for Iris. She'll play to her last energy, she'll scream in surprise with that slide, that Lego, that horses, and play all day long!

These were the conversation held between me and the caregiver.

"Kita ada kelas Kafa, baca Iqra'".
"Aktiviti main-main gelongsor tu bila ye?"
"Kita ada kelas English, BM, Sains."
"Lepas main, dioarng tidur tak?"
"Kita ada waktu makan yang tetap."
"Boleh tunjuk kat saya tempat aktiviti main-main tak?"

I can't wait for tomorrow. Iris needs to wear baju kurung for morning class-Iqra'. I don't even teach her Alif. I am yet teaching her ABCs. I'm a playful mother. I hope she'll like her new place. We'll see tomorrow.

Happy New Year

There are things I'd like to do more in 2011. More. And alone. I'd wish for a time when I could finish a sentence, have a complete thought, eat one entire meal without interruption, scrub my entire body without the girls knocking on the bathroom door, listen to my favorite song without a small little fingers switch off the satellite radio, finish the book in one sitting, and more.

More. And free. Free from tagging of that little girls of mine. Free of that thinking. Thinking of seeing the bottom of my laundry basket, of empty dish sink, of clothes needed folding, of that status of domestic goddess. And yes, it does not stop there. The thinking. It continuous when I have another baby to look at, at my parents's house. Yes, my you-know-who. When I need to think of reuniting his every sock with its mate, ironing all those so-called wrinkle free shirts, of...everything.

Yes, I am so ached for moments alone. But what am I whining for? My name is Mummy.

"So play your role, Mummy."

Happy 2011 everyone.

My Girls

With Auntisha (December 2010)

Photo credit to: http://daughterofjamudin.blogspot.com

Staring at the wall - Part 5

"I for one would not be interested to supervise students who do not understand the value of experience and depth and breadth of knowledge. It is both insulting and demeaning on the reason of U** have no equipment and expert." - Profesor XYZ -

This is what happened when you tell a brutal truth. Sometimes honesty is not the best policy. Try lying.

Brothers and Sisters

Happy new year everyone!

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese Proverb

It is good to share a good thing. A good thing to share with avid readers. A great booksale by Big Bad Wolf held once a year at South City Plaza near UPM and the average price for the book is roughly RM8, yes RM8 and the most expensive is RM20 which is definitely worth a bargain.

I tell you, it was epic- the sale. We off to KL at 8 sharp in the morning with reheated pizza for breakfast and sausage for Iris and breast milk for Iesha and we grabbed the books at 10.30 AM. People brought the luggage size elephant and they went manic over cheap books. It wasn't easy with the two small girls, but I tell you the cheap books really drove me nuts.

We did two rounds for book hunting since one was not enough; we only stopped for lunch and we used the last ounce of our very energy to grab the books. Poor Iris and Iesha they had to bear with my craziness but don't worry guys, you'll be thanking me for books are the treasure for the years to come.

I know it is too late to share it now, but don't worry bookworms, do believe in constant prayer that the Big Bad Wolf will do the sale again twice next year. They have a bookstore, BookXcess located in Amcorp Mall. They have Facebook too - try search BookXcess. (I am abusively using my husband's FB just to make sure I do not miss a bargain.)

We managed to get 68 books for only RM600. And I am so convinced that they will cost me more than RM2 K at the other bookstores. So here is my favorite snap of 2010.

The girls', mine and Bapak's.

Note: http://www.facebook.com/BookXcess and http://www.bigbadwolfbooks.com/

Congrats Anya!

Graduation day is tough for adults. They go to the ceremony as parents. They come home as contemporaries. After twenty-two years of child-raising, they are unemployed. ~ Erma Bombeck

Graduation is a very hot day. ~ Iesha Aafreen

Graduation day is a day when you can have fully access to Mummy's milk, anytime, anywhere. ~ Iesha Aafreen

Graduation is a very boring day and a time to sleep with fury. ~ Iris Adeena

At commencement you wear your square-shaped mortarboards. My hope is that from time to time you will let your minds be bold, and wear sombreros. ~Paul Freund

Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues. ~ Unknown

I love my big families. ~ Shahida

A graduation ceremony is an event where the commencement speaker tells thousands of students dressed in identical caps and gowns that "individuality" is the key to success. ~Robert Orben

Anyway, congrats Anya! You sure be someone!