Sleeping Beauties

While pregnant, I had the hardest time sleeping. I’d wallow around in bed forever just to finally get up, in frustration, and go read or watch 714. I’d often go to bed around 1AM.

No, I’m in bed at 10PM. Then I’m up at midnight. Then asleep at 1AM. Then up at 3, then sleep at 4ish. Then awakened on and off around 7AM. Ok, I’ll get up already! (Ye-lah tu).

Now, I live for naps.

And funny enough, I sleep the best when I’m sleeping with you at my side. Or on top of me. If the position is not to your liking, you kick and scoot until you like it. Then you fall asleep. Then I fall asleep.

Iris And G.G.

You are so lucky to have met your great-grandmother, Che (that’s what I grew up calling her). Everybody calls her by that name; from her own son, your Tok Ba, to her neighbors. So I think it’s time for you to call her G.G. – an ellipsis of Great-Grandmother. She is such a strong and wonderful woman and I think it’s so special to have four generations together and able to enjoy each other. G.G met you for the first time when we arrived at Kok Lanas. She was so excited to see you. She really came alive! She can’t stop smiling and reached out to hold you. She would have played with you for hours if I’d let her. She told people to hold you gently. She hugged you close to her heart. She kept on showing you off to others. She really was beaming with pride. And you are pretty interested with G.G. when you first met for the first time. You were an absolute doll. You kept on touching her face while G.G. smothered you in kisses. It was really sweet.

Iris and G.G.

Great Mother Or Total Sucker?

Heck. I don’t know…

I just can’t stand to hear you scream, which you do a lot.
A LOT. You love to be held.
It sure makes getting things done difficult.
On the upside I’m going to have super buff arms soon.
Some days I have to tote you around for hours.
I know you’ll grow out of this phase soon enough.
Right? RIGHT?

Gorgeous Godmothers

You should thank God for having such self-claimed gorgeous godmothers. And they are Anya, Anyon and Antiq. They are far better than me when handling and totting and rocking you even though they haven’t their own babies yet. They really took care of you while I was doing another important thing – sleeping. And they have special mission on Hari Raya which was asking people to hold you gently. And when there were kids who were so geram to touch you, the three self-claimed gorgeous godmothers will control them. I couldn’t do that afraid that people will see me as not so phat mother, so I left the mission to them, and they did that pretty well.

We even had girls’ sleepover with Anya and Anyon. And I remembered one night when you cried for milk, we heard a spooky sound outside the house. Anyon said she heard someone was walking suspiciously and she was sure that was a burglar. We were so petrified to get out from the room and told Nek Ma and Tok Ba, so we kept quiet. The only person who wasn’t care and kept on screaming was you! The three of us kept blinking in the dark and prayed so hard wishing that the sunshine rises earlier than before. Even though I was the eldest and worst I am now a mummy, still I can’t get rid of fear of housebreak. And the morning came and we told Nek Ma and Tok Ba what had happened last night and they have checked it out and they founded that was actually the goat for your aqiqah which his feet has been tangled by the rope. And he was struggled last night and we misconstrued it for a burglar. Oh what a thought! Shame on us.

That was one of memorable memories with your godmothers. You actually are having many more self-claimed gorgeous godmothers; Anasha, Anmama, Anmimi, Antiah, Anlia and more Ans. And they are all self-claimed gorgeous godmothers…

Anyon, Anya, Antiq (aren't they gorgeous?)

Our Adventure

We’ve never been through this before, and it is definitely a challenge. Figuring out sleeping patterns, allergies, food preferences. I even did not eat or come close to budu my favorite sauce, afraid that our baby might have stomach ache. You would think that these little things would come with a “How To” Manual, but instead we are left on our own to figure it all out. You always ask me to give our baby my best milk, although she just wants a hug. We make mistakes, we keep trying. It’s what parenting is all about. But another thing that I adore you is that you are so confident, and I hope I have that confidence too. Yeah, I know it grows within time. You are comfortable holding Iris and rocking her to sleep. You are more than willing to give her a bottle or change her diaper. I so appreciate the father you are to Iris. We are all blessed. You make us laugh, you keep us calm, and you relax us. I think you are an amazing father and there isn’t another person that I would want on this adventure called “Parenting.” I just want you.

I just want you. Yes, you.

One Month

You are a month old already and the time has just flown by. You’ve already changed a lot in these few weeks. You slept almost all day when we first brought you home, but you are staying awake more and more now. You are very alert and turn your head to see bright lights and you love to have people talk to you. Thanks to Tok Ba who is your number one fan and of course his favorite line is “Tok Ba tengok Iris ni ome ome ome ni”, and Bapak of course your true friend and his favorite line would be “Ini Bapak” and he would repeat it hundred times . And you yawn a lot and I think these few pictures are proofs that you are a true yawner but quite the charmer. You are such a little sweetheart and we love you so much!

Yawn

Yawnnnn!!!

Yawn...

Yawnnn!!

Your First Hari Raya

This year’s Hari Raya was the best Hari Raya to all of us. Having you has made everybody’s Hari Raya was merrier than before. We celebrated at Tok Ba and Nek Ma’s house since I was still in confinement. Like the previous Hari Raya, all of my aunties and uncles from Paka and KL and Kok Lanas gathered at your grandparent’s home sweet home.

Never did I fail to have myself a new pair of baju raya. But this year, with a big change of my vital stats, I only wore last year’s baju raya. Thank God I still can wear that brown baju kurung Pahang. But then I avenged by making you your first baju raya. Okay let me be true, Nek Sue sewed you that beautiful dress, but hey, I did paste the flowers, okay. I even matched it with an adorable head wreath. I really had a little fun with your outfit project. You still look absolutely adorable despite the wreath. And here is the story of your first Hari Raya.

So cantik!

The day started with the morning breakfast from my naturally sterilized milk. Then you have your bath given by Nek Ma and Anya and I tried to dress you up with your gorgeous Hari Raya off white gown, but you refused. Seriously I didn’t have any Plan B because I didn’t buy you any girl’s Hari Raya’s dress, so you ended up wearing that boyish Timberland’s outfit. Poor Iris. But Anya and I still tried so hard to make you look like our Iris to our very irises, so then we put on the head wreath on your little head. And as you can see in this picture you couldn’t wait to get it off your bald, little head!

Put it off my head!!!

Everybody’s favorite activity on Hari Raya is definitely the photography session. But to my disappointment, Bapak wasn’t in this year’s Hari Raya photos since he was scheduled on-call on Hari Raya’s eve and arrived at Tok Ba and Nek Ma’s house at lunch hour, so we can still have photo together. So here are the 2008 Hari Raya’s photos.

Happy Raya!

Am I beautiful?

Bapak, Mummy and Iris

Family!

I am proud to say that this year’s Hari Raya is unquestionably everybody’s favorite since they have a new face in their photos, and it is definitely you!

Cozy Confinement

I just love being in confinement. Everyone treated me like I am a princess. I never thought there are so much loves around me until I was in confinement. They showered me with ultimate love from the first day I labored you.

I remembered how Nek Ma and Tok Kedah served me the food on the first day we were brought home. They even prepared me the water for me to bathe. Tok Kedah even brought two big plastic bags full of various leaves from Kedah to make sure I smelled good. I love the aroma of daun serai. While Nek Ma cooked me plain nasi and ikan bakar, Tok Kedah prepared the fragrant leaves for me to freshen up. And after that Bapak helped me to bathe. He did everything; from melulur to put on me the corset. I just love the treatment.

Bapak also cooked me special dishes when I underwent my confinement in Kok Lanas. He cooked me cabbage soup and that delicious ikan masak halia and daging goreng. And he would put mountain of nasi for me to eat. I wish I would be in confinement for three years until I get another baby and the confinement would never end.

My Oliver Twist

Yummy!

The only thing I hate about confinement was I can’t simply eat anything, especially when Nek Ma was around. I can’t resist the temptation of onde-onde, taik itik, bunga tanjung; all of the sweetmeats they had for breakfast. Unfortunately I was confined in Ramadhan. There were so many delicious dishes. But when Nek Ma and Tok Ba weren’t around, the fridge was all mine.

And I also hate when they asked me to walk slowly afraid that I would have re-sutured. How on earth could I walk slowly when I can even dance? (Oh, please stop being arrogant). I also didn’t like when Nek Ma forbade me from having a night bathe. She said I would have sakit urat in future. I told her not to worry since I will sign up for Marie Claire after this. (Oh again, please stop being arrogant). I always protest Nek Ma and sometimes we had small fight. Umm, I think I should rephrase it as a ‘words war’ rather than a small fight. But Nek Ma was really a warrior, I never won any.

I love the confinement. I am loved and cared and surrounded by the people I love. Everyone did all my daily chores and all I have to do is rest and rest and rest. But after all, I think two months confinement is enough since I don’t want to end up being like Paris Hilton; a true butterfinger and a b***o.

Complete Happiness

Amazing

How can such a simple photo elicit such complex emotions? This image of your tiny feet cradled in your Bapak’s hand illustrates so many of the emotions I was feeling the day you were born – the innocence and overwhelming responsibility of a helpless newborn, the immense and unconditional love of a mother, the security surrounding you as you join this family, the possibilities awaiting you as you make your way in this world, and, finally, the incredible joy and happiness. I knew that you, baby girl, would complete our family.

Naming Us Is Not Easy Either!

Do you know the fact that you are the number one for everyone in our family? You are the first granddaughter to my parents; you are the first niece to my brothers and sister; you are the first cucu saudara to all my uncles and aunties; and of course you are our very first baby to Bapak and me. And that creates one little problem for all of us, the naming game is of course not as easy as an ABC.

Bapak and I had a little problem of naming ourselves. Bapak had a problem to choose Bapak, Daddy, Ayah or either Papa. But finally he chose Bapak for you to address him soon. As for me, I don’t really have problem of choosing my name since I will definitely address myself as Che because I found it is quite unique in this “Momma’s Era”. But of course your Bapak didn’t allow me since it sounds too Kok Lanas. So I leave it to him to find me the name and finally he chose Mummy. I think it is very important for you to have a balance ideology once you grew up, which mixes the kampong and modern ideology.

Naming game also gives my parents a headache, especially to your grandmother. She found herself cute in ‘Nek Ma’ so I just agreed it. And she has named your grandfather Tok Ba to suit hers. Prior to that, all of your nenek saudara have put ‘Nek’ in front of their names. So now you have Nek Mi, two Nek Sue, Nek Ngah, Nek Id and Nek Chik. And ‘Tok’ for datuk saudara. And you have your own Tok Za, Tok D, two Tok Sue, Tok Ngah and Tok Lik. Oh what a name!

And now the problem goes to my brothers and sister. My sister, your only auntie has made up with a great idea which she combined the word Auntie and her name; and it becomes Anya – the combination of Auntie and Nadia. But for your two uncles, they still didn’t make up with any names so we decided to name them Tok Wan and Pak Su Pa (oh, I can’t stop laughing seriously).

Since your Anya has made up with a unique name, so did all of my cousins. They named them as Antiq, Anyon, Anlia, Anyong, Antiah, Ansasha, Anma, Anmimi, Anaina, Anfifi and the list goes on… For my cousins under age 10, I leave it to them to name themselves once they grew up and know the meaning of family tree. And they are Izyan Farhah (10), Mariam Yasmin (7), Iklil Silmi (8), Farah Amina (8), Izkhan Maula (7), and Aliff Haikal (10).

Thank God you are number eight in Bapak’s family. So that Pak Long Din, Pak Ngah Min, Mak Njang Dad and Mak Lang Anis and also your only Tok Kedah didn’t have any problem playing this naming game.

The naming game is already over, and now everybody is waiting for our little Iris to speak out our names out loud!