I Can See You!

My greatest worry and concern when I first got myself a maid was Aydein's safety. Will she look after Aydein asthough he was her own son? Will she be patient and nice to him while I am away? Can I trust her not to lay a single finger on my son inappropriately when I am not around?

I've been hearing loads of funny stories and watched so many videos on maids cruelty to toddlers/babies that I can't help but to shudder at the thought of it happening to Aydein.

However, it has been a year now, and alhamdulillah, we're blessed to have a maid such as her. I can tell that she really loves Aydein as though he was her own.

Bibik feeding Aydein his dinner.

I can tell from the way she plays with Aydein, entertains Aydein, makes Aydein laughs, pats Aydein to sleep and how she always starts with a "Bismillah" everytime she picks Aydein up or puts him down -- she really does handle Aydein with care. In fact, everyone that comes to my house and sees how she handles Aydein would agree that she really is fond of my one and only. :)

Caak? Chubby Aydein at 4 months. :)

And to her credits, aside from the last episode that I had with her, she has really shown improvement when it comes to being honest. I still try not to ask her too much though, just to save myself from any heartaches, but so far, so good. :)

However, just for safety measure, my husband and I decided to install a livecam in my house anyways -- not to actually spy on her, but rather to have an idea of what really is happening in the house while we are not around, once in a while. After all, it is a good idea to check in the house every now and then.

Therefore, once Aien the Handyman successfully set up the whole thing, the first thing we did when we reached the office was; hopped on the net and watched my maid and Aydein live from the office (with a few of our colleagues)!

And what we saw, brought smiles to our face. :)

Bibik entertaining Aydein with Barney as soon as he got up from sleep.

Bibik playing with Aydein once she bathed him and dressed him in a fresh daytime wear.

Aydein having his afternoon nap.

Some of my friends asked me how we did it, and it is rather easy, actually. If you find it time consuming to scout around for a good CCTV, then webcam would do the trick! All you need is an Internet connection, webcam and a laptop/computer.

All set? Then, follow these 5 easy steps!

1) Plug in your webcam.
2) Register a channel with UStream.
3) Click on Broadcast Now button.
4) Wait for the system to automatically detect your webcam.
5) Done! You're Live!

Easy, isn't it? Now there is no reason for you to worry anymore and oh, you are also going to find yourself smiling crazily infront of your screen and going "awwww" everytime your baby pops into picture too! :D

Also, the best thing about livecam is that, you can watch it live, anywhere you are as long as you have the access to the Internet. And thanks to the smart phones that we have today, our baby can be monitored with just a few touch screens away! ;)

Mama's Little Toddler

It's been a while since I wrote anything on Aydein's health update. Alhamdulillah, it's been a year, and Aydein is as healthy as a bunny.

At a year old, except for the diarrhea that he got at 6 months, he has never fallen really sick, except for mild fever, flu and cough. Usually, when it comes to fever, a dose of Paracetamol (PCM) will do the trick, and as for flu, a puff of nasal spray into his nose will help. Hence, I never knew what "tepid sponging" is and a lot of other ways to bring down the temperature as I read at some of the other mummy blogs out there. This makes me nervous, because I feel like I have little experience in caring for a sickly infant!

Aydein had his 1-Year visit to the doctor last week. He was given the MMRV jab (Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Chickenpox) as well as the Flu and Influenza H1N1 shot. So now Aydein is protected against MMRV as well as H1N1, yeay!

At the doctor's visit, as usual, Aydein's height and weight was recorded, and although Aydein's height and weight was proportionate at that time, it seems that Aydein is actually slightly on the shorter side! I'm not surprised though. I mean, look at myself and Aien! We're both very petite people! And get this, Aien is actually the tallest in his family, so how la? :P My sister told me that since I've given him all the right healthy nutrition, then it must be the gene, but she also said I can help make him taller by giving him loads of protein (from white meat, red meat and dairy products) as well as calcium (from loads and loads of milk!).

Which reminds me. You see, ever since Aydein turned one, he is no longer an Enfalac baby. During the doctor's visit, the doctor asked what milk is he on now, and I said, Pediasure.

The doctor's concern with Pediasure is that it would make a baby chubby. And with Aydein's height, I can understand why she wouldn't want that happen to Aydein. Hehe. So she suggested Enfagrow A+ instead for Aydein's development and growth.
However, since we already have Pediasure stock at home, she told us to continue with it, and see how Aydein's growing in the next month. I personally love Pediasure. It smells really good of Vanilla, and I like the idea of Aydein putting on a little bit of flesh. He's lost a lot of weight from crawling actively everywhere!

So now I'm torn. Pediasure? Or Enfagrow?

Also, much to our surprise, Aydein is also affected by Carotenemia. Don't be alarmed though, the definition sounds scarier than it really is; it is not life threatening! Hehe. It is also not jaundice. It is actually a condition where a baby's skin turn yellowish due to large consumption of carotene in the baby's diet.

Orange foods, such as papaya, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and carrots, contain high levels of beta-carotene. It all makes sense because those are exactly Aydein's daily meal! In order to make Aydein's porridge taste good, I make sure that I add pumpkin or carrot or corn into Aydein's daily porridge. I guess he's got too much of Vitamin A in his system that it deposits to his skin! She suggested that we stop them food altogether for about a month, until his skin is back to its healthy normal color. :)

When I went back, I googled on carotenemia, and it seems that Vitamin A may be dangerous and even lethal when too much of it is taken in the form of Vitamin A supplement. However, natural Vitamin A, such as that which beta-carotene converts to, is harmless and is indeed very beneficial for promoting good vision and eye development as well as helping sustain healthy growth and development. No wonder Aydein rarely falls sick and can see something very very tiny as tiny as a rubber dust! Terlebih sehat sampai kulit jadik kuning! :P

For breastfeeding mums, did you know that a mother's breast milk may also become yellow or orange color? Mother's milk is full of carotene and if a Mom's diet is high in beta-carotene rich foods, her milk may take on a color change!

And finally, Aydein's gleaming white teeth. He's got 8 of them now, and another 2 poking out from his upper gum. Luckily, there were nothing wrong with his teeth. They're perfect, according to the doctor, in fact. And she said that there is no need to brush them until he's 18 months! I ni punyalah semangat nak brush his teeth that I got him a very cute & funky Jordan's Step 1 toothbrush, exactly like this.

But I guess there's no harm starting early anyway, and before Aydein's breath gets stinky like Anne's nephew, I'd better start brushing his teeth, especially when he's started sharing food with us!

When I asked the doctor what is the most recommended toothpaste that I should use (secretly hoping that it is not First Teeth as suggested by Anne since it's very costly!), the doctor immediately said, "First Teeth".

And she went on about how safe it is for children to swallow and that it is made of active milk enzyme with no fluoride and flavoured with apple and banana which makes brushing session even more fun! And since I am very obedient to each and every word that comes out from the doctor's mouth, the first thing I got from Guardian the next day, was baby First Teeth toothpaste that costs me a whopping RM25.90! Mahal gila kan! It's more expensive than adult's most expensive toothpaste!

The doctor also recommended the finger toothbrush because they're gentle to the gum.


However, since I have gotten the Jordan brush way earlier, I guess I'll just close one eye about this lah. :P Seriously, babies do not come in cheap!

Until the next entry from me! :)


XOXO.

My Bridesmaid's A Bride!

It has been 2 years since she walked on the red carpet beside me as my bridesmaid during my Wedding Reception in Johore. And last week, after 6 months of being someone's fiance, Amy Zurina, my best friend, my bridesmaid also my ex-roommate changed her status to someone's rightful wife with all its glory. :)

If there is a word that could describe my bestfriend's Wedding Reception last week, it would be : GRAND. They had a 3D2N event (not inclusive of the groom's side!) -- Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Friday was the Solemnization Day, Saturday was the Reception Day (for friends) and Sunday was the Reception Day (for families). Ain't that crazy! I've never been to a wedding that lasts that long!

I nearly could not make it for her Solemnization Day but managed to be there on time anyway, right before her Akad. Amy was stunningly beautiful that very day in her cream kurung modern and very glam makeup.


Then, after 7 years of joy and pain together, just with one lafaz, Amy is officially a wife! Tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks as well as her mum's, and I, for one, also felt this sudden rush of emotion washed over me. I don't know why, but it was like, wow, after all the tests, after all the heartaches, they still held on to each other till this very day! 7 years definitely is long, LONG time to pull it together okay. But this couple made it and I'm really proud of them! :)


The next day, we attended the event held in Royal Perak Golf Club as mentioned in their Wedding Website, built by Aien. Yes, that's my husband! :P


Amy was looking gorgeous in her dark brown kebaya as she walked down the red carpet, with her arm wrapped around Jan's.


The Reception was very well organized, very well planned, but one of the things that made it even more meaningful was the part where Amy and her siblings threw a birthday surprise that is not in the itinerary for their mum whose birthday fell on that very same day! It was so sweet, it brought tears to her mum's eyes as well as our eyes!


Oh and another one of the things that made Amy's Reception different to me that night was the Food Presentation. And I literally meant food-presentation. Before the rice were served to the guests, the room suddenly went dark and there were about 10 waiters & waitresses lining up on the stage, with a small candle placed on each of the bowl of rice that they were holding.

Then, all of them walked down the stage to their respective table, and only when the room was lighted up again that they begin serving the guests with rice. So well organized! Unfortunately though, I was so intrigued that I forgot to snap a photo of it so, many apologies! :P


I could not stay longer to attend the very last day of her event though, but from the pictures I saw from her FB, I can tell that it went very well as expected! :)


To my bestfriend, my sidekick Amy, again, congratulations on your Wedding once again! As they say, marriage is not only the beginning of a relationship but also the end of a life long search for the other half of your soul. So take good care of this sacred bond, and guard it as though it's your own life alrite? May Allah bless you two on this wonderful voyage, and last but not least, cepat cepat buat anak so you can join me (and all the other mamas) in the mama club! XOXO.

Aydein Turns One! (Part 2)

Phew! After months of money saving, careful planning, and website scouring, finally the day that my family and I have long been waiting for finally arrived! It was the day where all eyes were trained on my one and only prince, Aydein. It was Aydein's very first birthday bash!

Prior to the event, I spent a great deal of time working on Aydein's very first birthday website. Besides serving as something to remember, I wanted everybody to know the background of the celebrated boy and how he has evolved from a very tiny infant to a very handsome prince. Besides that, the website is also created to monitor the guests that will be coming to the event from the RSVP section. It was purely designed and built by my husband, Aien. The idea, content and images were all done by me. :P We plan to keep the website for as long as we can, until Aydein is able to manage his website himself :)

snapshot of ahmadaydein.com

Next up, was the invitation card. Did you know that there are hundreds of amazing invitation cards out there? I spent a great deal of time on this one too, gathering ideas and inspiration for Aydein's first invitation card. And after loads of googling and researching, I finally came up with a design that I am very satisfied with. It has the same theme as the website -- exactly what I planned. Lo and behold, the e-invite that I designed myself for the event!


Anyways. The theme for that day was Black, Blue and White (BBW). At first, I wanted the theme to be just Blue & Brown. I've always loved that color combination. But I could not find any goodie bag that matches that theme color without costing me a fortune, so we decided to just go with BBW instead. :)


The event started as early as 2.30PM when my friend Ayu (from the Lamaze Class that I attended earlier) came with her husband Nizam, and her princess Nellilya, as the first ones to celebrate Aydein the Birthday Boy. Ayu was an air stewardess before she became a mom and Nizam is a pilot still! Best lah Nelly, hari hari bole terbang sana sini! :P Oh, Nelly is a fully breastfed baby and just 2 months younger than Aydein. :)

After that, more and more guests started pouring in ; from my officemates, to my University mates, to my schoolmates, to my relatives..


.. and of course, the blogger moms (with family)!

Remember them from my last entry on Mom Bloggers Unite? This time we had additional 2 members to add up to the crowd -- Irin Putri and Nadine (with their boys!).


It's probably due to their blog entries that I have been following religiously everyday, but eventhough it was my first time meeting the both of them in person, but it didnt feel awkward at all. Like Irin tweet-ed in her Twitter -- the power of blogs! It was such a pleasure to be finally meeting Raees and Faaz the chubby boy in person too! Raees (Irin's boy) is adorable as ever and Faaz (Nadine's boy) to me, is like a grown up trapped in a small chubby body :D


As for the rest of the bloggers moms (Anne, Nuurill and Nadia), they were as crazy and friendly as ever.


Their husbands were not bad either. Masing masing sporting & happening. :P


All of them brought their little heros (Imran, Adam & Oman) to make up a small soccer team! I purposely got the pool with loads and loads of colorful balls for the babies to play in. Actually, I wanted to invite the clown over initially, but felt like it would be quite a waste since Aydein would not be able to enjoy it much since he's still very young to understand anything. I'm glad I didn't though, because even without the clown around, the house was full of havoc already! :P


I too, did not miss to join in the fun! :P


And of course, the group photo!

the mummy bloggers (with family)!

I felt pretty bad though, that I did not get to catch up much with any of them since I had too many to attend! Many apologies u guys!

It was such a noisy and busy evening, with guests filling up the house, the kids and toddlers running around the house, and babies crawling and demanding their parents attention! SO FUN!


In case you're wondering, the guests were served with variety of food on that day, from Laksa Johor to Satay to Roti Jala to Cream Puffs to many kinds of fruits and asian delicacies.

Kids were not forgotten either. There were Singapore Bihun, cocktails, nuggets and the ever delicious (but sweet!) cupcakes, baked specially for Aydein by Sugar Rush Trading. The cupcakes were baked in two flavors, Chocolate (with chocolate ganache filling) and Vanilla (with caramel filling).


And and, you know, the cupcake picks/toppers yang comel-comel tu semua i yang buat tau -- 90% handmade! 10% tak handmade pasal I print lah hahaha. :P Comel kan! :D It says "Happy 1st Birthday Aydein" and the other one has a prince image on it. :)

During the event, the children and babies were given one goodie bag each, which is filled with Squiggles cake, assorted sweets, party clampers, blowers, horns, noise makers and masks.

Just so you know, I did a lot of googling on goodie bags too because I did not quite like the goodie bags I saw in some of the party shops. Lucky for me, I got the goodie bags for Aydein's birthday at Dini Gifts at rock bottom price! You see, normally the same goodie bag will cost you RM3.90 at Memory Lane, Living Cabin, and such. But from Dini Gifts, I got it for only RM1.50 each! Very satisfying kan! :D


And then, it was the highlight of the event -- the cake cutting ceremony time. We had to push it a little later since Aydein was very sleepy earlier and slept an hour through the event. When he got up, he was slightly cranky and refused all the guests except for his mama (apelah Birthday Boy ni). But after a bit of coaxing, he was back to his normal playful self again and was ready for the cake cutting ceremony.

Everyone gathered around the Birthday Boy and as Aien lighted up the No. 1 candle on the cake, everyone started to sing the Birthday Song to Aydein.


It was so overwhelming -- the crowd, the song and everything that I can't help but to glow brightly like the candle! Haha. Mama je lelebeh, Aydein relax je. :P



And this I must tell you, the cake, is simply SUPERB! The moment it went into my mouth, I was like, this has got to be the best cake from heaven! It is THAT good. SO MOUTHWATERING! Everybody was talking about how good the cake is, and I can't help but to glow happily!

Prince Aydein with his crown

A little bit on the cake, I was actually very nervous of how it would look and taste like. And thanks to Nadibakes who baked it finely, it turned out to taste just as how I imagined it to be! I was just a wee bit dissapointed on how it looked however, but hey, like they say, you can't have the cake and eat it at the same time, right ;) So it's all good!


Overall, it was a very satisfying and enjoyable event. Tiring yes, but it was definitely worth it! Of course, it could have been better, because there were a few things that I planned to have for this birthday but it didn't work out well, due to the time and budget constraint. (Who would knew organizing a birthday party could take up a lot of your $$$?) :P But it was an enjoyable event nonetheless, and I look forward to arranging Aydein's second birthday party! :D

Again, thank you to those who have made this event a successful one, namely my husband, brothers, Syikin & Kent, as well as my helpful in laws with their bibiks. Thank you guys! Without you, none of these would have been possible!

And for those who have made it to the event, thank you so much for coming as well as for the gifts and I apologize for any shortcomings! I hope you enjoyed yourself last weekend, and I look forward to more gatherings like this in the future!

The happy Aydein in a pool of gifts!

More pictures of the event can be found in my Facebook later. Until then, love love from the Little Family (and Tok Ayah) ! XOXO.