Been wanting to update on my kids progress of weaning off but didnt have the time. I haven’t watermark my photos so here’s an entry without photos

-uZAir no longer bf during the day, but he will ask for it middle of night. I still have no idea how to stop him coz he will scream on top of his lung and will definitely wake the other 2 up.

-we need to go for a drive everynite to put all three to sleep. i do think that it will be possible for hArith n athirAh to sleep without their bottle, but i can’t be putting all 3 to sleep all by myself, thus easiest way is to go for a drive. How the other 2 sleep without bottle? hArith can sleep if i do story telling or any kind of coversation we will doze off after answering much of why this and that. athirAh, will fall asleep if tepuk2 pat her while she watches the mickey mouse / dibo / barney programme. But there’s no way uZAir can fall asleep without pacifying with breastfeed, thus we have to bring him for a drive. so ended up all 3 go for a drive coz i can’t be doing story telling with hArith while patting athirAh who is watching the tv.

-the elder two is doing superb without their bottle. however they dont like the fresh milk that much coz it is not as sweet as their formula milk. yes, do u know that formula milk is sweet? And the other day we happen to be at my in-laws and the only milk left in the fridge is the anlene concentrated milk. the love it! it is sweet like their formula milk. BUT it is rather pricey to stock that up in the house. anyone knows of any other milk brand (for kids preferable of coz) the size as small as the anlene?

-i have mentioned before that my elder 2 still wakes up at night for milk aight. surprisingly since we stop bottle, they no longer wake up at night! when i first started weaning them off, my maid’s concern was “cik, malam2 mintaq susu macam mane?” if only i knew earlier the only way to stop them from waking up middle of the nite is to wean them off from bottle, i would have done earlier…haha

-hArith eat more than i do nowadays, SERIOUS!  in most day he will have 2 serving for lunch in skool, and he will eat again at home, as much as i do. i do think it is a good idea to wean off bottle, they eat more rather than just relying on the milk.

To be continued…

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Guess what? I had a Me Time on Friday nite and the best part  it was a Me Time BUT yet still with the kids in mind coz it was a dinner with PlayHouse Disney. I wanted to make an entry on this earlier but i had problem searching for words to describe my emotion then. And up till now i still can’t find a word for it. I was just too overwhelmed.

When i first received an email for the invitation, of coz i couldnt help myself but being skeptical. I mean who wouldnt if u got an invitation out of nowhere. I did ask for further clarification, thought they got my email from nuf*nang but apparently they did their own googling and research and came to know about my blog. And later i found out that few other bloggers were also invited. I was at first reluctant to attend coz that would means leaving my kids behind. It would be fine if it was during the day but it was a dinner, how is syauQi gonna put all 3 to sleep. However motherly instict told me to accept the invitation. (and also if nk harapkn dpt dinner invites from nuf*nang smpai sudah kot tak dpt sbb i notice everytime private fuction nuf*nang, balik2 muka same..they have their blogger preferance dah kot)

syauQi decided to bring all 3 to his parents’ place that nite. He left the house almost 730pm so i could get ready and wont have the problem of having to sneak out quietly from them. I was the last to arrived, it was a nice cosy ambiance. As i sat, i was served the starter. It totally felt weird eating in such ambiance, calm and peaceful. I’m so used to having a havoc meal time. I could actually chew my food slowly instead of swallowing everything in, hihi. I started taking out my fear (camera) but later decided to just enjoy the great moment and ended up not taking much photos.

But i couldnt help myself from becoming jakun the first few mins i arrived, hence the photos of decos and such, and yes decos with my name on it!

PlayHouse Disney did a presentation for us on the branding and other infos. They were promoting a whole concept where parents are encouraged to sit down with the kids and watch the programme together to encourage interaction and ofcoz indirectly it promotes healthy bonding with the children. The first question we were asked was “do u watch tv with ur kids?” and all of us gave a very cheerful “Yeesss!” and im pretty sure they (the organizer) took our words coz we responded very well to all the cues. Upon hearing the presenter explaning that the Tigger and Pooh programme have the element of thinking, we could hear parents saying “think think think”, and when it comes to Lil Enstein, we could hear “clap clap clap” and “the three simple steps”, when mentioned Special Agent Oso. The presenter even joke about having a grand prize of a trip to Disney Hong Kong, i was already smiling ear to ear, but unfortunately it was just a joke…

It was such a great nite, i treasured every minute of it till i didn’t make any extra effort of getting to know other moms / dad at the other end of the table. I was enjoying every minute of it. Yes, i always wish for a Me Time, but i would feel guilty if i were to pamper myself at a spa, i feel that would be a lil selfish to have such a great time  and leave the kids behind. But this time around i didnt feel bad, because in a way i’m attending a dinner for their caused. For PlayHouse Disney, the one and only channel they watch every single day. ( we don not allow the kids to watch Cartoon Network as we find that not all the programmes are suitable)

Here were the food that i get to eat and chew slowly, i can even remember the taste up to today coz i really allow the food to n”mingle” on my tongue before i swallowed it. It wasn’t the usual chunk everything in the mouth scenario..hihi

And oh, the decorations were sooo nice, upon seeing the placement with my name on it, i asked them if i could bring it home. And i even go to the extend of asking the PlayHouse Disney representative if they don’t mind me taking theirs too since i would need 3 of it =) We were given goodie bags too. Went i reached home, syauaQi was still driving the kdis around to put them to sleep. The next day, they woke up with such a pleasant smile seeing the goodie bag. It looks as though it was a Christmas morning, where kids run to check their presents and open it while still in their pyjamas.

hArith had his breakfast using Uncle Jarieul’s table mat,

The dinner was perfect, it wasnt dragging. Every minute was well spent. By 10pm one of the blogger had to leave, thus we took a group photo and later I made my way home too. In the car, i felt sooo overwhelmed with the function. It was actually possible to have a good Me Time without feeling much guilt leaving the kids behind. Called up the husband to inform i’m on my way home, he and the kids were on the way home too by then.

Soon after I reached home, i received a “Thank You” email from Sophia of IN.Deed Communications who represent Playhouse Disney. I could not thank her enough for inviting me in which i replied :

I certainly had a good time, seryesly. i drove home with tears, happy tears of coz! i was overwhelmed with emotion. I actually able to sit down for a proper dinner. This is my first ever social function WITHOUT the kids. I am always feel reluctant to accept any invitation, coz i would have to leave my kids behind. But this time around the mother instict said i shuld go, and i didn’t feel much guilty leaving the kids behind coz i’m doing this for their caused (and other kids who watches playhouse disney of coz! ) =)

and it made me even more guilt free, coz i didnt come home empty handed but with lots of goodies for them =)

thanks for the wonderful night!

However, the wonderful feeling slowly fade away and i was back into reality (that peaceful nite is over and i’m back with my 3 lil ones) when syauQi came home with the 3 kids with a long face. My intention to share the great moment disappeared instantly. And only later i knew the reason behind the long face. He went to his parents’ place but to discovered nobody was at home, leaving him to take care all 3 by himself. His sister only came home after 9, so basically he was left to handle all three for an hour plus. I guess that must be the reason of the long face (tired face)

A really BIG THANK YOU to PlayHouse Disney, I can’t thank them enough. Not only they keep my kids occupied with their great programmes, but they also provide a great Me Time for me. One word to describe it. PERFECT

Sophia was super efficient, she emailed us the group photo the very same nite (in her thank you email).

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I would like to continue the entry on weaning off uZAir, but at the moment i’m so very tired, i’ll try to write on it but i might stop this entry hanging..

The number one key on weaning off uZAir is “to do it myself”. Some would say, let the father handle him while i hide somewhere else. This method does not work with uZAir, whenever i pass him to syauQi and make myself invisible it will make situation worst, he would think that i no longer want him, he will look very miserable wondering what he did wrong that i refused to have him with me. Thus, i have to be around him and at the same time make it known to him that he can no longer breastfeed. So every now and then i’ll give him a hug and vice versa…yes i’ll ask for a hug from him too. From there he will know that he is still loved. This makes him feel much more secured. During the day, while playing with the elder 2, he will come to me every now and then to get a hug from me.

Our major problem now is putting him to sleep at night. He wants to pacify. Thus the only way to avoid this is by going out so he will fall asleep during the drive. And oh, don’t find it weird if u were to bump into us on the road seeing me driving while syauQi sits at the back with the kids. Coz if i were to sit at the back, all kids will refuse to sit in their carseat, especially uZAir and athirAh. They want to cuddle up with me. Again, this will be a problem coz uZAir will want to pacify on me while cuddling. Thus, the best solution; mOmmy drives, pApa sit at the back. However, it is really2 tiring for me. Kat rumah tesenget, and usually i get to relax a lil bit in the car while syauQi drives but now i have to be full alert since i’m driving

It is really tiring for me coz we also have to go out in the afternoon, to distract uZAir from breastfeeding. So after Zuhur, out we go. And there’s no way i can lie down during the day coz uZAir will come to me wanting to breastfeed. So i hafta avoid everything that would trigger him from asking for it. So far so good. Been keeping him busy to distract him, hence the result of a zombie mOmmy.

Oh ya, he’s doing really good in school. I sent them to school at 9:30am and stayed with them for awhile before sneaking out. On the first day, i sneaked out at 11am. 2nd day at 1030am and today sneaked out at 10am. Why send him to school so early? Errr that would need another entry i think. But basically coz we are very happy with the elder 2’s progress and development, thus we wish to give uZAir an early start too =)

I did tweet earlier today, saying that i’m being very ambitious this week; weaning off uZAir, sending him to skool (getting him adjusted to school) AND weaning off bottles for the elder two. It is their 3rd day without bottle, drinking from cup! Come on kids, make mOmmy and pApa proud!  Ya Allah ya tuhanku, berikanlah hambaMu ini kesabaran in doing all these with the kids, and please ease our journey. Err pasni potty training lak (?), insyaAllah . I think syauQi pun cam uncertain wat the hack am i trying to do, but while he was away, i managed to start the weaning of the bottle for the elder 2, by the time he got back from work, the kids already succeed 2 days without bottles. Go kids!! And the maid almost spoil it..she will give in when kids merengek, thus i decided to take total control of it. No more kakak giving susu. If they demand for bottle, again i’ll distract them “wow, big boy nak which cup…come let us choose, blue? green? orange?”,  “come, help mOmmy pour the milk in the cup”  etc. Oh i forgot to mention, the first thing i did to wean off bottle for the elder two was to get them to throw their bottle. “big boy and big gal no longer need bottle, we drink using the cup like mOmmy and pApa..come  throw the bottles” Both of them, took all their bottles and throw it. If they asked for bottle i would remind them “you threw it right, coz hArith big boy / athirAh big gal” (i got them to throw it into the dustbin but later i actually pick it up and hide it from them, just in case i failed…hahaha)

I’m off to bed. and one more thing, alhamdulillah im not having  any problem bengkak susu 😉

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Yes, when i first decided to breastfeed uZAir, i intend to do it up till he turns 2 years old but he has 4 more months before his 2nd birthday, so why am i weaning him off?
There are number of reasons that make me decide to wean him off.

1. He is being super whiny n clingy, both me and husband think we should put a stop to it. And there’s a saying that, weaning a child off is a mark to being independent. It is time for uZAir to be independent. This is basically the major factor. He bf almost every hour during the day! It is more of pacify than drinking actually. Some might say, “maybe milk is not enuff, die tak puas”…i dont think my milk supply is the issue coz he weighs heavier than average. He’s weight is out of the curve.

2. Since i’m a stay-at-home-mom, i never get time-off. I believe it is time to do justice to my body system. I’m been sleep deprived for the pass 20months, oh in fact more, coz before the birth of uZAir, i already had my sleepless night waking up for both hArith and athirAh. Nowadays i wake up minimum of 5 times and it can go as much as 12 – 13 times a night. Yes, i hardly get a complete one hour of sleep. As much as i wanted the best milk for uZAir, i would like to give my body the sufficient rest needed before everything get haywire with my body system.

3. And he has started showing interest in school. In order to attend school, we would need to wean off first aight.

4. And not till i wean him off, i can never move around for more than 3 hours or so. I will always need to bring him along wherever i go, or else he will be crying or shall i say screaming away. So the longest i can leave the hse without him is about 2 hours or so. And haven’t i mention that he has super strong lung, he can scream for complete 2 hours, wihout any sign of stopping and the volume remain at the upmost throughout the 2 hours!
However, i have been hesitating to wean him off coz i wasnt ready to go through the ordeal. There are times i would just say it to myself, to just go on with all the hectic of bf rather than creating another hectic issue of weaning off. Somehow, somewhere last week, on the 9th Mac, i woke up with a feeling (nawaitu) “lets do it”..i asked my maid to pluck some daun hempedu bumi at the back which taste very pahit and rub it at my b**by. Each time he wanted to bf he will say “uweks / yucks / bluek” but he continue bf, i continued rubbing the leave but soon he became immune to the taste, he bf like usual. I started rubbing other things, coffee, asam jauh, minyak gamat (!), Vaseline…but none of it stop him from bf. Yes, he is surely a boy with great perseverance.
On Sunday, 14th Mac i decided to call it a stop. I didn’t put anything on my breast..i just refrain him from bf. Told him “finish”..i played the ignore game. I completely ignored his whining. He cried the whole morning till noon. I relly owe an apology to all my neighbours, giving them such a noisy Sunday morning. After hours of crying, he grasp the fact no more bf for him.

To be continued…

meanwhile, here’s a picture of the three siblings going to school, just arrived..auntie Aishah opening the gate for them

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Those who came from boarding skool, will surely know how  boarding school could create such a strong bond among friends. Although i did not come from boarding skool,  i could see how great my mom’s friendships are and also my sister’s. Both of them were TKC product and are the living proof of how boarding skool do wonders to their friendship.

My mom often meet up with her friends, in fact they even do overnight gatherings. The last one was in Avillion PD. They managed to gather quite a number of friends fr all over malaysia. Since young, I often meet up with my mom’s friends and they become aunties to me.

One of her friend, really wanted to have a Soup Kitchen Project unfortunately she  succumbed to cancer last year. The project didn’t manage to kick off. My mom and her friends were full of grief when Aunty Adah passed away, and to cop with their grief they felt that it would be nice to fullfil a few of her last wishes, the Soup Kitchen n help with her familyrun orphanage in Gopeng, Perak. Last year they managed to raise funds, in collaboration with Islamic Relief Malaysia, to set up a library at her orphanage. Alhamdulillah

Mom and her friends went all out to get the soup kitchen project going and alhamdulillah they managed to get sponsors and to collaborate with another NGO, PERTIWI. The Rotary Club DiRaja donated a Nissan Vanette C22 to be used for the distribution of meals.

Yesterday was the launching of the Pertiwi Soup Kitchen. I managed to be there, after i shipped the elder two to skool and left screaming uZAir at home. Launching was at the Dataran DBKL

It was launched by YB Dato’ Raja Nong Chik, Menteri Wilayah Perseketuan and Kesejahteraan Bandar.

My mom asked me to take photos but lil did i know how aggresive the press cud be, i was being pushed away, tekejut babe…mujur tak tepelanting camera yg tgh pegang ni!

What is Pertiwi Soup Kitchen about?

A New Community Outreach Effort

Soup kitchens can be found in many of the world’s cities. They exist to provide basic meals to those who go hungry, not because they are lazy or are looking for handouts, but because they simply cannot get enough food or proper nutrition. Those in need may include children, parents and the elderly. Malaysia’s economic success and prosperity has ensured that hunger is not a matter of not having any food at all, but whether those in need are getting enough food on a regular basis and
whether we care enough to provide food to them.

The PERTIWI Soup Kitchen has been established to provide regular meals at various locations around Kuala Lumpur on a regular basis. This community outreach effort has been established and managed by Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI), one of Malaysia’s longest running NGOs, with the initial support of the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja and some individual
sponsors.

Soup kitchens provide an important way to give back to the community by offering a healthy meal to those who are in need. The few soup kitchens that do operate in Kuala Lumpur are already providing this critical service but there are still too many hardcore poor and homeless people in our city who are unable to eat on a daily basis. This project will complement these existing efforts
by working towards the following objectives:

· To distribute basic pre-packaged healthy meals and clean water 4 nights a week in innercity neighbourhoods where various recipient groups are located.

· To raise awareness of the number of hardcore poor in our city.

· To encourage corporate and media sponsorship, and regular volunteer participation to feed the hungry.

· To operate the programme in a sustainable manner that will enable it to serve an increasing number of people.

The PERTIWI Soup Kitchen project will provide a humanitarian food-aid service to the hardcore poor irrespective of race or religion. By interacting with various destitute inner city communities on a regular basis, additional support programmes may be established to assist those ready for assistance to become more independent.

To help kick-start this important community effort, the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja has donated a Nissan Vanette C22 van to be used for the distribution of meals

They managed to get few of the “target group” to come over for the launching. I’m sure soon words of mouth will go round and more ppl will come fwd during the food distributions at night. It was indeed an eye opener to see them, so happy to get food. At first i wasn’t sure whether is it okay to take photos of them, but they seem comfortable when the press took their photos, some even took time to smile at the  camera, so i berani la take photos of them too.

Are you aware that we do have homeless in KL. During my uni years, i did assignment on Homeless Child. I even went undercover to meet up with them. They were as young as 9 years old and came as far as Kelantan. All with different stories, father remarried and was chased out by stepmom, abuse case and some were due to poverty that they decided to come to kl for better living. Don’t blame them, they were very young and tv always potray great lifestyle in KL, thus they came to KL in groups for better lifestyle. But little did they know, life is not a fairytale. They slept under the bridge near The Mall. Asked how they survived? Sadly, the truth is they steal handphones. Whatever amount they get, they will share among them. They never keep their “earning” to themself. If A gets to steal and sell a handphone, they will use that money to buy food for everyone. If they have extra money, they will get a room (those RM50 hotel) to get shower. Usually they get the room once a week to shower, or else they go to public toilets. They will buy those baju sold at chow kit area, RM5 per pc. Food? They said most common is to take fruits from the stall in Chow Kit..sambil jalan2 tu tgn capai lah satu dua buah.Or at times they will go to the back lane of the restaurant asking for left overs food. I was really sad when i met up with this kids. I did go to Kebajikan Masyarakat but they were not aware of the existance of these kids when i interviewed the pegawai, thus no actions were taken. In fact my assignment was left hanging by them, they promised to get back to me but they never did. I had to proceed myself, hence the undercover. It was passed midnite, i went to KL with another 2 friends to meet up with these kids.

Hope that the Soup Kitchen will help these people to get better nutritional food. A 13 years old boy look like a size of 9 years old. I was shocked to hear he was 13.

Thanks to the great effort of Vintage 63, together with PERTIWI and Rotary Club, who are trying to address these issues. Do you know that with Rm300 you can feed 150 poor people in KL. If you wish to donate it wud be most appreciated   They are also seeking volunteers to help in the distribution of food. Even if you can help once a year, that would be great.

How can the public help support this initiative?

There are 3 ways you can help support the PERTIWI Soup Kitchen:

1) The public or corporations can contribute by donating funds to be used for the purchase, preparation anddelivery of meals. RM300 will provide a meal for at least 150 people. The opportunity to guarantee at least 150meals for 1 day each month for 12 months can be met with only RM3,600. To make a -nancial contribution to this project, kindly make your cheques in favour of ‘PERTIWI’. All donations are tax exempted.

2) Soup kitchens attract public interest because the experience of feeding someone who is hungry is immediately rewarding. If you are able to contribute your time on a regular basis, even once a month, you may be interested in becoming a volunteer.

3) You can also help by telling people about this important community project.

For further information please call:

Munirah Abdul Hamid 012-2363639 Rohani Teh 03-78744203, 017-6413835

Here’s  a group photo of the aunties, TKC batch 63-69; Vintage 63

For further details, you can check out at facebook Pertiwi Kitchen Soup.

Alfatihah to Arwah Aunty Adah

**10% from my photography package will be donataed to help the needy and less fortunate. Together we help them =)

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