Fateha had her therapies today. she was doing good but on the whole, still needs a lot of support to close the gaps of her delays. we saw Dr Tammi Quek, a doctor in Children Development Unit, who encouraged us to enrol Fateha into Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC).

as soon as we were told of the activities available in this programme, i thought i wanted to register her asap! but the waiting list was super duper long, so we might have to wait for at least 6 months to get in. it’s ok then, the social workers will be helping us in the application.

all these pictures are taken from Rainbow Centre, one of the schools that offers EIPIC. and it’s VERY near to our house! so i’ve asked Dr Tammi Quek to help me get Fateha in that school. hopefully we’ll get a place for her asap and start the programmes.

the thing is, i’m getting sick and tired of people keep telling me what to do. their intentions may be good but i don’t think they understand my feelings as a preemie mother. as soon as Fateha get into this, i’ll tell them she’s already in a school that offers ALL kinds of help and let’s leave it at that!

*grumbles*

we followed hubby’s family to Pontian, Johor Bahru, Malaysia last saturday. it was great!! i love the ‘kampung’ feeling, escaping away from the hustle and bustle of a city life. we visited hubby’s grand uncle’s home.

she just loved to watch the chickens run around

i brought her inside the chicken house to see more ‘chicks’, shashaying in front of the males LOL

i love wax apples, esp when dipped in black soy sauce and sugar

daddy brought Fateha out into the yard where grandpa has dug out some tapiocas, fresh from the ground

we love Tok Hamzah’s backyard!!!

hubby caught a grasshopper!!! he’s back at being a little boy again

we absolutely loved the trip to Pontian and i wished that we could stay longer, at least for another day. i missed waking up in the early morning dew in a laid back kampung like these. the last time i had stayed longer than a day in a kampung was waaaay back in 1999.

anyway, we already have plans to go back to experience another kampung life in december. we’d be visiting my mom’s foster sibling who lives in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Malaysia. it has been a very long time since i saw her last in her very laid back, wooden humble abode.

can hardly wait!

last week, on the eve of Diwali, the big boss bought many cones of henna. days before, i heard that she wanted the kids to have henna drawn on their hands. i thought that wouldn’t be a problem to me, since i LOVE henna and i do it all the time.

then, all teachers got 3 cones each. the cones were huge, i tell ya, but i didn’t manage to get a photo of them. i thought it would be good if i brought home one of the cones to test the henna paste. and guess what? i was lucky that i brought one home. after i snipped the tip, i found myself straining to get the paste out of the cone. not even a single dot out. and i checked, the cone was very very thick, that’s why. i rolled my own cones and transferred the henna paste.

and the next day, i drew the henna on the kids. even the boys wanted to have ‘em. LOL.

but of course, they chose different designs. flowers would make them look sissy haha. i didn’t like the after effect of the henna paste. they dried out very quickly and they didn’t stick well on the skin. the kids kept running back to me for another fill up for the ‘dropped out’ henna. i got so freaking mad! i hated the henna.

then i thought it could be the air-conditioner, since our classrooms were fixed with those. yea, i was confident that the air-conditioner was the one behind all these drying ups. since there were plenty of henna left, i brought them home for my own usage LOL. hey, i got permission for that!

design was very much my own but the flower was inspired by Magical Mehendi

the paste didn’t turn out good on me either, considering that i have no air-conditioner at home and i thought the temperature would be warmer, good for the henna to release a darker dye. but no ho way! the same thing happened to the kids, happened to me too. the paste dried out ever too quickly and they didn’t really stick well. when i bent my hand, it would crack and drop off my skin.

anyway, i love the swirls that i made. hehe. i thought it looked nice. and now, let’s wait for the stain. i hope it won’t disappoint me

we had another road trip yesterday with our friends. we wanted to set foot on another beach in Malaysia that we’ve not been to and hubby decided it to be Air Papan Beach in Mersing.

it’s much nicer and there were more food stalls than the one we went to in March. but anyways, beaches are always the best places to relax. we also dipped Fateha in the salty water. she cried at first but eventually decided that it was useless because we didn’t seem to care. LOL!

hubby had a very fun time too, swimming and dipping himself in the waters, without removing his contact lenses. he claimed that if he didn’t feel any pain in his eyes, it meant that the sea water was clean. this was also another reason why he wouldn’t swim in Singapore beaches.

“we’re VERY tired after the swim……zzzzzzz”

Hubby and friends before we’re heading back home.

Wives and Girlfriend

our Car mascots, Leo and Moo

goodbye Mersing, you sure do have a beautiful beach. we’ll be back, for sure. when we got the time, of course. Ta Ta!

the journey back to Johor Bahru(JB) was not good at all. i had a throbbing migraine and i was nauseous. Fairozi thought i was pregnant. hah hah. not at all. anyway, once we reached JB, we went to Pandan City to have our dinner. we had Naan with Keema which only cost us RM 3 a piece. how affordable! and Wan’s BBQ Stingray at only RM17. we couldn’t get this in Singapore. they were so affordable that we would want to come back to Pandan City!

a devastating news to us but of course, when i received the bomb, i bore in mind that Fateha IS an extreme premature toddler.

Fateha had her monthly physiotherapy session and paediatric appointment yesterday. i was alone when accompanying my Little Pixie for her therapy. she seemed okay during her physio session, didn’t cry at all. she only yelped and was a little reluctant. then Mr Fauzan dropped the bomb which blasted my heart like it had been for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. but of course, i was able to accept the facts he passed to me.

this is an Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) splint which Little Pixie would most likely needed to wear on a daily basis, on both feet, when walking. both Mr Fauzan and A/Prof Lee said her muscles around her ankles were more tensed than before and her muscle tone had also increased higher. this caused both of her feel to collapse inwards when standing. if no correction made, Little Pixie may not be able to walk properly. there were 2 other options given to us:
1) to get a pair of shoe with very hard soles and to wear it at home
2) Botox injection (to strengthen her muscles)

just imagining her wearing AFO breaks my heart cos it would make her look handicapped uncool but it has to be done! i want her to recover from this so i immediately told A/Prof Lee that i want to make AFO for her. Botox could fetch up to thousands and for both feet, i could just die. AFO, which i was told by Mr Fauzan, would cost me about a few hundreds, after a government subsidy. yes, we’re subsidised patients.

please pray for Fateha’s recovery and this method of correction could stabilize her feet.

*prays*

yes. i’m getting crazy! there are plenty of things to do in such a little time. and in this festive season, there is no way that i can bring work home. i have brought home some of my work but then they were left untouched. and at this very moment, i can feel the nerves in my brain are throbbing. *groans*

1) Graduation Concert: sometimes i ask myself, why did i have to choose a tough dance item? javanese ‘kuda kepang’ dance IS tough! my partner is practically not helping enough although she claims she does. costumes are terribly hard to find and i HAVE to get mom to help me make them, which are still not complete. we’re left with 3 weeks and 31st Oct will be our full dress rehearsal!

2) (still!) Graduation Concert: i volunteered to be a part of the Teachers’ Item during the finale. to do what? to sing. why did i think that i can sing? and the song? MJ’s Heal The World. *shakes head* i just started practising. Hubby’s getting annoyed.

3) Children’s Portfolio: we’re already into the fourth week of Term 4 and about last week, i just handed in the portfolios for Term 3 to the principal. she’s understanding but i can’t carry on slacking like this! i’m not sure which area i should do for this term and when i should start!

4) Fateha’s Home Therapy: *covers face with a pillow* this i have to admit, i have been a REAL slacker. i’m trying to balance a lot of things on my skinny, bony hands. it seems like this home therapy is solely my responsibility! but hey, i did try my best whenever i was available. and i’m very very lucky that Fateha’s babysitter is helping us and her out. wednesday will be another physiotherapy session and paediatric appointment at the hospital. i hope they’ll see her improvements.

last Friday, i swallowed 2 painkillers twice. morning and afternoon. both were in between the classes’ programs. my migraine was just getting worse. yea, i’m under a lot of stress. hope i can cope well with them and end this year’s school term with ease

i was snapping pictures at random and candid, when this little girl’s pout was caught on camera! i didn’t realise it until i replayed all the pictures a few hours later.

“C’mon Ms Anita Sarawak, is my pout as sexy as yours?”

the kids are learning about weather these 2 weeks and the children have to plot the class’ weather chart that i’ve pasted in the classroom. they usually asked me to open the door so that they could go out to check on the weather.

today it was Group 4’s turn to plot the chart and so TJ volunteered to be the one to draw the weather symbols. everyone got so excited, their usual self, and waited for me to open the door to free them to the world outside and never to return again!.

they discussed amongst themselves on who got the weather right. all of ‘em asked me if any of them were right. i didn’t give them any answers, i got them to think and decide. here’s our conversation.

me: okay, have you made up your minds, kids?
kids: YES!!!!!!
me: good! let’s go in now. TJ, go and get the marker. (off TJ went.)

TJ drew a sun to indicate ’sunny day’, which was right. then all of a sudden, JD yelled!

JD: Nooooo! it’s not sunny. it’s cow-dy!

everyone, including me, laughed hysterically at him. as a professional, of course i have to stop the kids and got JD to say the word correctly. it’s cloudy, JD, not cow-dy.

i just love my heels. bought specially for this year’s Eid and i tell you, they kill. i ended the visits with excruciating pain on my feet. do i feel regretful? heck, no!

grey was the colour for our first day of Eid. i bought my scarf at a very last minute in JB. it looked very nice but the embellishments on the sides of the scarf were very prickly. they were very irritating that i had to take it off and ironed a totally different scarf, of the same colour as our baju kurung. i felt good about bringing an extra one.

see the differences? i changed my scarf and so did Fateha. the weather was a killer too, besides my heels. i could actually ignore the irritating prickling of the embellishments on my scarf and could wear it throughout the whole day. but i chose not too. and the i-can’t-stand-the-heat-mommy kinda look that Fateha was giving me, i knew i had to do something. and again, i felt good about bringing a more forgiving headband for her. it’s ok, darling. you still have a lot of time to practice wearing the scarf

second day of Eid, we had no colour codes i wore a very old but-still-look-new baju kurung, which was handover to me by my aunt years ago. Hubby wore the one from our first Eid, as hubby and wife, baju kurung collection. and Fateha, she wore a blouse and jeans

not much pictures were taken during the visits. my bad. but i can’t wait for the next round of visits, hopefully soon. i don’t want to wait for the weekends to gatecrash and enjoy the scrumptious food spread. and i promise this time around, i will snap and snap till the camera and battery go bonkers!

till then, i wanna wish all Muslims a Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

i certainly have lesser time to spend in the blogsphere due to overwhelming chores for this upcoming Hari Raya. it’s only a few days away, 3 days to be exact, and there are still things either yet to be bought or have not been put up around the house.

To Do/Get:
1) buy translucent drapes for the windows
2) the rest of the Eid cookies
3) fancy Eid shoes for Fateha
4) change new bedsheets for Eid

All Set & Done:
1) cookie jars (empty ones of course )
2) curtains
3) wooden mat (a common item that Malays have at home)
4) my stilettos
5) cheese & spicy crackers
6) Eid clothings and veil
6) decoratives

will i still have time to get all set and done?