Raees Aryan's 1st Birthday Party

I love birthday parties! Birthday parties are always filled with fun, food and colorful balloons! You see, my friend Raees just turned a year old. We first met each other at my very own first birthday party just a couple of months back. This time around, we went to his place to celebrate his first birthday!

Kids like me love gifts you see. That's why, I helped mama to wrap the gift I especially got for Raees earlier, and brought it along to the party!


As soon as I arrived, I was greeted by the birthday boy who happily accepted the gift that we brought him.


And then, without wasting anymore time, I started making my way into the living room that is filled with colorful toys and played with them.


However, eventhough there are so many toys scattered around the room, somehow, I have got my eyes fixed on this one thing.. It is..


That's right -- the baby pool! Yes, I would play with the balloons, I would play with the colorful blocks, I would play with the push toys, but in the end, I would still end up jumping back into the pool of balls!


Even when when everybody was busy playing toys, I would be busy in my little "hut"!


So you get what I mean. Auntie Irin even said I am the pool dominator! :P

Oh and another thing that caught my attention were the flying balloons! They were so beautiful, I even asked papa to lift me up so I could catch one!


Anyway, as I was busy playing, I couldn't help but to notice that, at a glance, Raees's outfit looked a lot like mine! Some even mistook me for Raees that day. Luckily they gave their gifts to the rightful owner of the gift or someone would have gone back smiling quietly by the end of the day! Hehe. Can you spot the difference?


I was not the only one having fun there. Mama too was also having a good time catching up with some of her friends there.

Oh did I tell you that, she also got the chance to meet Auntie Anne and Auntie Airin (also a mummy blogger) there? She obviously got the chance to meet Auntie Irin too, because, Auntie Irin is the host lah! Hehe.


And then, it was the moment we were all been waiting for -- the cake cutting ceremony! All of us gathered around the table and sang a birthday song to Raees. Once we were done, Raees -- or rather, his mommy and daddy -- blew the candle out!

Once we had the cake, we hung around a little longer before saying goodbye. But before we left the place, we took a little time to sign our names and wrote down our wishes for Raees at the Guest Book section.


We also brought back a little gift with us. It has chocolates and candies inside, and the best thing is, it is 100% handmade by Raees's mom!


Birthday parties always make me happy. And lucky me, I will get to attend another fun birthday party very, very soon too! Oooh I can hardly wait! Until then! ;)

My Non-Stop Raya

If there's anyone that can describe "beraya sakan" best, it would be me. Seriously, I don't think I have ever been to so many places, and experiencing so many new things, like I had this Raya. I can't even remember having this much fun on my very first Raya last year. Oh well, then again, I was still a baby then. ;)

You know, we spent the first 2 days of Raya in papa's hometown in Batu Pahat, Johor. After Raya prayers, all of us gathered at the hall and "salam" with each other. Since I can now salam, I too did not miss to salam with everyone including Tok Ayah and Tok Mak! Tok Mak said since I am a big boy now and able to salam, I can now receive my very first "duit raya"!


Once everybody else arrived, we took our family picture together. If we were all dressed up in grey last year, this year, we were all for brown! ;)

Not in picture : Uncle Ujang's family

Later that night, we played firecrackers together. I was actually sleeping earlier, but got awaken when I heard the loud sound of the fireworks. It went BAM BAM BOOM in the air! I did not want to miss the fun, so I jumped in the wagon and played fire crackers with the rest of my cousins!

Then on the 3rd day of Raya, we started making our move to Penang. When we arrived, Opah was already waiting for us with the ketupat and rendang she made earlier. During our short visit there, I also managed to steal a little time to see my long-awaited friend -- Nawal!

Then, on the 4th Raya, we pushed off to Kedah to visit our family and friends. This is us at Atok's place just before leaving for Raya visit.

Not in picture : Pak Lang Raqib, the photographer.

And this is taken at my uncle's hometown, Kodiang.


The next day, we pushed off back to KL. Opah and Atok also came to KL together with us because they were following us to our next destination. So on the 6th day of Raya, my family as well as Pak Long, Mak Long, Atok and Opah headed to our next destination -- Kuala Pilah, Negeri Sembilan!

We had the infamous Gulai Lemak Negeri Sembilan for lunch there, and according to mama, this is where Opah was born. Oh, and here's the exciting thing. Although my great-grandmother is no longer in this world, I actually got the chance to meet my great-great-grandmother!

Isn't it awesome? She's lived long enough to see her very own "piut" and that "piut" is me! Mama said she's about 90 ++ years, and she's already senile. Shortly after 5 minutes after you've introduced your name, she'll ask you yet again, "sapo ni?" And if you ask her how old she is, she would tell you that she's over a 100 years old! Hehe. But I wonder how she can live that long, though. Mama said it must be the healthy food!

Then, we made our way to Melaka. Here, we went to see Tok Lang's family. After having dinner with the family, we made our way back to KL.

After a few hours sleep that night, as soon as the sun appears, we packed our things yet again and pushed off to Penang -- for the second time! Actully, Mummy Na wanted to go for a little vacation in Penang and wondered if we wanted to come along, so we did, and that's how we ended up there once again!

We stayed in The Northam All Suites Hotel near Gurney. It's really a very nice hotel. All of their 142 suites have water-massage jacuzzi in it! I don't know about you, but I do not have jacuzzi in my house, so I was pretty excited to have this one in my suite!

During our trip here, I got the chance to go to almost all of the famous shopping malls available in Penang -- Komtar, Prangin Mall, Gurney Plaza and Queensbay. I also went to three different places in hunt for the best nasi kandar in town. We went to Nasi Kandar Butterworth, Nasi Kandar Tajuddin Hussain and Nasi Kandar Beratur. I don't think we've ever been to that many mamak restaurants in 3 days!

I also got on a huge, huge yellow boat! Papa said it's called as ferry. It's nothing like the boat rides I have experienced before. This one is really big and it can even carry many, many cars in it! That's me on the big boat! :)


And then, it was time for us to head on back to KL. We arrived shortly after midnight. I am telling you, from KL - Johor - Penang - Kedah - Penang - KL - Negeri 9 - Melaka - KL - Penang - KL, it was definitely one non-stop, tiring, but fun Raya to remember! :D

Anyway, here's a short pantun before I end my entry this time :

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin,
Kalau nak duit raya, datang lah rumah Aydein!

Selamat hari raya, everybody! From The Little Family : Mama, Papa & Me! :P

The Walking Toddler

Some say that a baby is not a toddler until he turns a year old. Some say a baby is not a toddler until he walks. Well I guess Aydein is officially a toddler now because he has turned a year old and can already walk!


It first started a few months back, late June to be exact -- just a few months after he started creeping and crawling. I watched proudly as he took his first few steps before toppling over. Then he gained a new skill by standing up by his own. He would bend over, balance himself with both of his hands on the floor, then push himself up straight. Aien and I would then clap and cheer for him, which he would gladly respond by clapping happily along.

I am guessing however, that crawling is faster for him compared to walking. That is why he would continue to crawl and refused to walk much after that although he should already be a pro walker by now.

During Raya however, things changed. He began to walk a lot and further, in fact. And last night, he made all of us proud again by walking a whole lot more! He was enjoying his new ability, that each time he fell, he pushed himself back up again, and continued walking -- more and more!

And although it is hard for our hearts to accept it, that's when we knew, our baby is not a baby anymore. :)