Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Who does he look like ?

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Geneology

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Finally.. the question is answered....

Everywhere we go, one of the first questions people will always ask is "ikut muka siapa eh? Most people on my Umi's side of the family will say I have the "Arab" look. They will say I have a sharp nose and pipi labuh (chubby cheeks) that are common is most of my relatives on that side. When I go to the house of my Abah's relatives, they call me "Ismail Junior" because it seems I look like my Abah right down to the straight and standing hair. I can't begin to imagine what it will be if some of my Abah's relatives meet my Umi's relatives.

I notice my Abah and Umi always reserve their comments on this issue. They don't take sides and insist I just look handsome. (hehe)

Well, now when ppl make comments again, at least I can say I look equally like my Umi and Abah. If you don't believe me.... look here ...

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Itchy Itchy Fingers

As usual, this morning was a mad rush for time. While I was making milo for the hubs, I put in 2 pieces of bread in the toaster to make toast. A few mins later this came out ...

I thought the toaster was damaged as we very seldom use it anyway. I tried again to put a single piece of bread this time and again the same result. Then I realised the knob whioch adjusts the temp of the toaster was turned to the max. It must have been that little imp and his itchy fingers. My toaster is placed right at the corner of the kitchen table. And while Mubarak is not tall enough to see what is on the table he is definitely able to fiddle with the knob with a good reach. *sigh*

Nowadays we can't put anything on the tabletops that are within his reach. Yesterday afternoon, while Mubarak was at his grandparents' he snatched a cup of teh-o from the coffee table and poured it all over himself. Apparently he smiled when he realised he was all wet. Lucky the tea was not hot otherwise it won't be so funny.

His other favourite thing to do now is to hide things in odd places. He was going in and out of his Baba's room one afternoon and found his Baba's brand new stockings. He dragged one of the stockings here and there throughout the whole house like a train and then a few minutes later he didn't have it anymore and was playing with something else. When his Baba realised one stocking was missing she searched the whole house for it but couldn't find it anywhere. 2 days later, when she was looking for cds, she found her stockings in the drawer of the tv cabinet.

At this point you can imagine what a handful Mubarak is. He is forever running here and there and poking his nose in all things he is not supossed to. Like switching off the tv switch while we are watching tv and dragging the dining chair across the dining area. He also tries to put his finger between the fan grilles of the standing fan and tries to move the lesung batu (mortar and pestle) on the kitchen floor (And he actually can make it move!!) Once we even found him carrying the anak lesung (pestle) like he would a baby, craddling it in his arms. Needless to say the lesung has been removed from its usual place on the bottom kitchen cabinet to the kitchen sink so that he can't reach it. Every single day there will always be a scratch / bump / pinched finger etc on various part of his body. Good thing about him is that he hardly cries and as soon as he falls / knock himself he will cry a few seconds then get up and start his antics again. The only way I can get him to sit still for a few minutes is to hand him a book. That will make him sit for at least 10 mins (or longer if I sit and read it with him) while he turn the pages and look at the pictures. Or when he is sleeping. That will give me time to do other stuff like chores and surfing the net. But when I have finished my chores and he is still sleeping, I'd feel the house is too quiet and I will start raining kisses on him to wake him up.

It can be very tiring caring for him but looking at the bigger picture he is learning how things work and his curiosity is abundant. This is the best way for him to learn the ways of the world hard knocks bumps and all. After all, soon he will grow out of this stage and then I'd wish I could turn back time.

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Appetite's gone away

Since the fever he had last week, he has lost appetite to eat. If he used to gamely sit down on his high chair and open his mouth widely when I asked him too, now he shakes his head and tries to wiggle out of the high chair. When I put him down he wil run around and refuse to even face me. When I finally managed to get a few spoonfuls in his mouth, he will gag and spit out the food in his mouth. So eventually his Baba and I only managed to make him eat not more than 5 spoonfuls in one sitting.

We don't believe in forcing him to eat and we absolutely do not belief in distracting him with TV so that we can get a few spoonfuls down his throat. So I had to resort to other means. Initially, I thought he was sick of the food we feed him, - variations of soup with soft rice. So I decided to bring forward his weekly weekend treat, penne pasta with chicken and peas. This is usually reserved for weekends when we stay home. I have no choice but to give him frozen porridge on weekdays so I try my darndest to give him fresh food on weekends. Still, it didn't do much to make him eat.

Next I tried to bake bread pudding for him. But to meet his nutritunal requirements I added small chunks of minced beef and peas in it. He liked it for the first 4 spoonfuls and then decided he didn't like it anymore. Next day I tried grilled chicken sandwich and some baked fries. This was also popular but only if I placed it on our usual dining plate used a stainless steel spoon and not his Sesame Street kiddy bowl and colourful spoons.

I kinda caught on his trick but since he still didn't eat as much as usual, I tried baked chix nuggets the next day. Again I had to put in a grown-up bowl and used grown up utensils to entice him. I guess its not so much the food but where it is that makes him want to eat. His appetite is back but very gradually and it takes quite a bit of effort to coax him to eat.

Oh the things I try to make his eat! But I suppose this is a phase every child goes through. Let's hope my boy with that voracious appetite will be back soon.

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