Tuesday, July 17, 2012

My Secret Garden :)

When it come to our house, my husband's pride and joy would be the 1ksqf garden. That is "his territory" as he's responsible with the planting, watering and taking care of the garden. Anyway, this year we're making the garden as our "couple project", a DIY project for us to tackle together (bonding mahh...)

It is common knowledge that both of us don't share much of the same interest other than the kids :p Gardening is just something that we both enjoy doing (among other things haha) I don't really like the getting dirt under my nails part (I confined my activities to watering and trimming plants) but gardening brings back fond childhood memories and reminded me a lot of my late Wan. I remembered how Amir and myself use to "help" her tend her garden, getting hose down with water and picking flowers and fruits to play masak-masak *smile*

My main objective is just that, to create a space where my children can run around making their own beautiful memories together *insyallah* Earlier this year, we commissioned for the contractor to build us a gazebo like structure to house Ryan's playhouse (yes mengada ;p)


Garden view 1 year after moving in : 
As you can see the surrounding area is pretty bare :p

Lan managed to plant some palm trees outside the house, lilies and this purple morning glory like flowers.

 We bought close to 10 types of plants from the nursery and several big tempayan looking vases

 After a week of studying landscaping magazines and websites we decided that we (hubby haha) will dig a small pathway from the balcony to the gazebo using square granite stones and river stones.

A picture of my handsome gardener at work :p

 The result :) now we have flowers planted around the perimeter of the garden and a small herb (kitchen) garden for edible plants at the end of the house.

Last weekend, the kiddies having fun in their mini pool :) can't wait when Iman and Ranya starts walking, then the real fun begins...

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Of Big Baby "Skool" and Tiny Babies Developments :)

Hello!! I've been abandoning my dear old blog as I can't find the time to type post even short boring ones. That's the problem with working in a unit that is greatly understaffed but received millions (exaggeration) of proposal/ review etc.

*pfffttt* I'm not gonna defiled my blog with boring work entries. Anyways, I've just came back from a 4 days break. It's just a break (not holiday ye people) to run errands and laze around but I had too much fun I wish it didn't end :p Hubby took some time off at the same time, so we manage to tackle a "couple project" that we've been planning for quite some time. I shall call it the "backyard beautification project" ;p I shall blog about it more later on.

Other than running errands for my dad and working on our landscaping project, I managed to register Ryan at his new Pre-School next year. It is quite early but places are limited as the skool takes only 10-12 4 year old per year. I chose the skool out of convenience, it is nearby Ryan's daycare (in fact it is run by the same person) and though it is situated in the suburbs (another word for KAMPUNG haha) their accreditation's is very impressive. The skool was featured in TV Al-Hijrah for introducing the Al-Bagh.dadi Al Quran recitation method and also in the PAMA magazines twice. It is also registered under KMM or was it KPM? so there's quality control there ;p The teaching medium is 60% BM and 40% English.

For 4 years old classes is pretty much focused on "soft skills" and developing motor skills. There's the normal language classes (i.e ABC, 123, AlifBaTa ), music, arts and craft, manners, Islamic studies (basic doa/aqidah/manners etc). There's also class trips (They went for a visit to Kid.Zania and a fruit farm this year) and some end of the year 2 days 1 night camp + sport day for the kiddies (errkkk sleepover for my lil baby??)  To teach basic manners and sharing, every Friday the kiddies is encouraged to bring their own food and share it with their friends (ala2 pot luck). All these sounds so fun and impressive I signed Ryan on straight away haha

Actually Lan and I did do a bit of kindy shopping. There's some discussion going on about sending Ryan to a kindy in Shah Alam, but my parents vetoed the idea as it is not very practical esp with the array of good kindy that is mushrooming and popping up in Klang + Bukit Tinggi areas. I relented and we decided the skool Ryan is going would be a great choice for him *insyallah*

The main concern on sending Ryan to school is the age factor. You see since his birthday is in December he is actually going to be 3 where  most of his school mate is actually already 4. I worry that he may feel a bit overwhelmed with the ongoing but the teacher comforted me that it won't be a problem. My mum also voiced her concerns over the fact that Ryan is not fully potty trained and he is not much of a talker and may not be able to communicate well with his peers, she thinks that we should wait a year before sending him to skool.

I think differently because I've seen Ryan interact and take instructions in his current skool. My lil man who  is very manja at home is actually the most independent and obliging young man in school (this is not me saying but based on feedback from his caretaker in daycare). 

Since we practise dual language at home (both BM and English) he is able to take instructions and even communicate in both languages. So I think we got it covered *insyallah* Anyway lil kids are like sponge so it is a big mistake to limit knowledge and information at this age, sending him to school early means the more he'll learn and I'm sure he'll enjoy it. Ryan was all super excited during his skoll visit on Monday, he shook hands with all his future teachers, greeted his future classmates and even had a short conversation with the headmistress about how much he love "yellow cars" - charmed the socks off everyone - Atta boy!!!


As for the cost. Monthly fees is not much different from what we're are currently paying but the registration fees is double my registration for Masters fee :p so Lan and I have to start saving.. A LOT :p... It is ok baby, you concentrate, have fun and study hard and make mummy,daddy, atuk and nenek proud. Come to think about it I better start saving for Iman and Ranya's school fees too, though it is 3 years away, bearing in mind it is DOUBLE the cost haha

Iman & Ranya : 6 months Development Chart

  • Both are able to roll around from one side to the other so it is quite dangerous to leave them unattended on the bed as they may roll off it
  • Both can sit assisted for about 10-15 seconds :)
  • They're starting to recognize faces, so they are not very receptive to strangers esp Iman
  • Both love eating esp Ranya : I've introduced the girls to rice, chicken, carrot, pumpkin, spinach,corn, avocado, potatoes, sweet potatoes, apricot, banana and mangoes. Fish and biscuits would be next on my list :)
  • Iman can hold her own bottle, Ranya can too (she does it once in a while) but mostly refused :p A bit of a Diva being the youngest and all
  • Both can make sounds that sounds like maaammmaaa and ammeeekkk... Iman love making the "raspberry" while Ranya love to laugh in a cute barky kinda way
  • One interesting thing that I observe between the girls is in terms of developed interaction. With Ryan and most babies under one year old that I've either encountered or babysat, they are usually not that receptive to other babies their own age but the twins are different in that sense. They are able to "play" and interact with each other. Last week Iman was cooing to Ranya who find whatever it is Iman was saying hilarious and they started laughing and amusing each other for a good 5 minutes (which is a long time in babyland :p) How cool is it to have a build in best friend since you're in the womb kan?
  • Ok this is a one time occurrence but I swear to god that Iman stood on her own while supporting herself on the walker for about 10-15 seconds. I have yet to try it again sebab kena marah by my dad yg takut cucu dia jatuh hahaha