On baking

Kicking off my baking reso, I've baked 2 batches of triple fudge brownies (one for sale and the other for Asma's birthday) and just recently Hawa's Peach Banana Crumble. Azalia helped with the brownies and she certainly had fun licking the leftover batter.

Next up is a simple butter cake but with a strawberry jam layer.

Funny how I'm posting this right after I've posted on eating healthy.. HAHAHA

It's time

When in college, I used to say to my weight concious friends that I'll start to control my eating habit when I'm 21. This is because I read somewhere that woman's metabolism rate slows down after the age of 21.

This year I'm going to be 27. I think it's high time I start being cautious about my food intake, if not for weight reasons at least for health reasons. huhu. This sucks. But I guess if I want to see my grandchildren grow up I should take good care of myself.

Friends from work are planning to go for an executive health screening. I'm a bit apprehensive about this because

1. I drink sugary drinks (which I'm cutting down. seriously)
2. I don't drink lots of water.
3. I love crispy fried chicken.skin and all.
3. I eat rice and white bread a LOT.. that's a lot of carbs!!
4. I don't exercise. (does the 10 mins walk to and from work counts??)

Nanti the result of the screening I'm diabeticlah.. or high cholesterol lah.. MACAM MANA?????

huhuhu. mintak jauhkan. Amin.

School

We're thinking of sending Azalia to nursery school soon and since the babysitter is going to move into a condo soon I think it's a good idea. Preferably I would have wanted her to be in school half day and at home/babysitter's place the other half so that she gets some rest but since I work 45 mins away it really is not very time efficient to pick her up during lunch time although I wish I can. sigh

But what to do..life goes on.

So... this week I've decided to check on the nursery school that we have in mind. It's actually at hubby's office. We've told Azalia that we're sending her to school and told her she'll get to read, play and do arts and crafts there and she seems rather excited. Kept on saying she wants to go to school. But meeting new people is scary for any kid(and adults I'm sure) so.. I am feeling rather nervous. (Anaknye tak nervous mak pulak over... hoooboy)

Suddenly I remember how I felt whenever I was about to enter a new school (we moved a lot so I went to 3 primary schools and 2 secondary schools). The first day is the hardest. Not knowing who to have recess with. My hardest time was going into my first secondary school and most girls already had their friends from their previous primary school, while I just moved in to the town so I know no one and since we were not assigned to any class yet so I was pretty much on my own the whole day... yeah... that felt lonely. I actually cried in the toilet during recess missing my old friends. But the next day we had our classes and I made tons of friends and we had a blast.. well at least for 3 months before I had to move again. But yeah.. moving a lot did teach me to make new friends, make conversations and most important of all, have the courage and confidence to meet new people.

So.. I guess.. instead of worrying whether Azalia can do it or not, I should just embrace the fact that its an experience that every child has to go through and have faith that she can do it and I should just watch from the sidelines just like my mom did.Oh and of course.. give her words of encouragement whenever she needs it. She'll learn just like I did. Even if she comes back home crying, things will turn out ok. She'll just need some time to adjust.

hehehe.. mcm kelakar pulak. Baru nak masuk nursery school mak dah drama.

Baby Ballet.

When Azalia was born, Mom told me she wants her to enter ballet class.

"It'll be good for her posture" she says.

So, since this year she's going to be 3, I decided to look around for a class and Ive found 2 in PJ.

1. Jean Gan Academy, (2 branch in PJ, Phileo Damansara and DU)
(They will only accept your child if she has turned 3. 2 tahun 9 bulan tak boleh. It has to be 3)
Phone no: 79568700 / 77294700 (call after 1pm)

2. Kizsport. (I'm looking at the one in OU.)
Classes every Saturday 10.30am
Phone no: 03-7726 6313

The fees for both places are the same.

RM40 admin fee
RM88 deposit (I forgot to ask whether Jean Gan have this or not)
RM88 per month (pay every 3 months so RM264 total)

Kizsport have a trial class which you can go but it costs RM40. I'm thinking of letting Azalia try it out this Saturday. Just see if she likes it. If she looks like she can cope than, I suppose I can enrol her. If not... I guess wait till June when she's turn 3 lah kot.

Next on the list,

1.Piano class (Ini Asa yang nak) - this one I suppose I'll wait till she's 5.
2.Swimming class (Ini penting wooo) - have to call the instructor to arrange a trial class.

Mom said once she's started with her activities my weekends would revolve around her schedule.huhu.

I love the LRT

Well.. takdelah love it smpi nak tido dlm tu kan. But life has been easier with the latest 4 carriage train addition. If I'm not mistaken, they have only 3 trains at the mo, so the old ones are still in use but even with the 3, service have improved. There used to be a huge crowd in the LRT by the time it reaches my station (which is only the third station from KJ), and sometimes I have to squeeze myself in there (but I have to point out that some of the time this is caused by people who refused to give way or didn't go in the carriages to make way for others to come in..that's just plain annoying laaa). But ever since the new trains took off the crowd is smaller even in the old trains. So yeay to improvement!!!.

In someways I've always prefered the LRT than driving to the office. But if someone were to send me of course I'll be glad to take that offer, but to drive.. hehehe malas laa. Plus I'm not that relaxed in a traffic jam. It takes me 45mins door to door with the LRT and by car, about the same too. Without traffic of course it takes me less but hello.. this is KL we're talking about so there's traffic everywhere except on weekends. Itupun weekends in the early morn.

I also get to catch up on my reading AND tv shows in the LRT which is a blessing because most of the time I don't have to do either at home what with entertaining the little one, household chores, running errands etc.

Walking to the station also helps in making sure I exercise.. although only for 10 mins a day but.. at least that's something. Right?

Hahaha... Why am I suddenly talking about the LRT? I'm just excited about the new train that's all. It's like the train on the Jubilee line in London !!!!

Why sleep is important to a child.

When Azalia doesn't have enough sleep this is what happens:

1. Stubbornism. she'll go all rebellious on me.

2. Cranky. Oh yes.. she'll get so cranky that she would sometimes throw tantrums.

3. Eat less. She'll play like nobody's business but than she won't fuel herself with food and then she'll be tired and gets cranky. Basically it's a vicious cycle.

So....I finally got her sleeping schedule to normal again sometimes last week, and I was able to do so as there was nothing much going on, our routine was pretty much fixed. (before, cousins were around due to school holidays and before that I was pretty much busy with studying etc..so anak terbiar sket.. uhuksss sedih nye, and weekends are no longer filled with activities that require us to stay out late.)

So yeah.. although kids have tons of energy in them it doesn't mean they need less rest. So turn off those lights and go to sleep.

I love my scissors.

We had Mon's baby shower on Saturday and it was fun. Doing the deco was definitely the highlight for me. It's been awhile since I've done any crafts so to be able to take out my scissors is definitely something I look forward too. It's nothing artsy, very simple and basic but I love how my friends put the whole decoration thing together. Everything looks so pretty.

Next events are Dina's and Azie's baby shower. Yeay!!! I get to use my scissors again!!!

Other than that, my good friend from Uni just gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday. I am so happy!!!!!! I can't wait to see both mother and son.

Anyway, Azalia is into ultraman these days. Abg Boy really has a lot of influence on this little girl. Her body language is so girly sometimes but when she's playing.. habis.. semua girly manners out the window and she'll happily join the boys wrestling on the ground. She even bites them. Kesian Adam got a bruise on his chest from her bitings.

I miss Alwi.

Yes yes.. my writing is kinda erratic on today's posting but lantaklah. I just couldn't be bothered to susun my thoughts. So I'm just writing things down as I'm thinking about it.

Ahhh work is calling. laterss~~

Grrrreat

Had a great lunch. Great conversations, great company what, No-so-great food(masing2 tapau food and apparently the nasi ayam tak sedap) but I think my brownies were pretty awesome.. (puji diri seehhh) so yeah... it was a pretty great lunch. Plus we totally surprised Asma (yep celebrated her bday too).

Last night Azalia helped in baking the brownies. She was all cheeky about it too. Licking the spoon when I turned my back, touching the pan when I told her not to just to prove that I'm wrong (I'm so NOT..kan dah sakit). But it was fun. Definitely would include her in ALL my baking process.

Finished the decos I'm supposed to do for the Baby Shower tomorrow. Ho yeah!!!! Mon's about to pop!!!!!

And I finally got my period which is a definite relief NOT because I know I'm not pregnant (because we all know how much I want to be pregnant) but because I had to go through 2 weeks of PMS and it wasn't very pleasant for my family or myself..huhu. Now the mood swings just dissappeared into thin air and I'm happy again. hehe

The whole thing is a mess.

They preach tolerance but I don't see any tolerance on their part. It is clear that their request hurt a lot of people but they refuse to back down. Shouldn't tolerance come from both party and not just one. Why are we always the one who is asked to be tolerant towards others. Why not others to us??

What's cooking.

I just thought of a resolution for 2010. I never really make any resolutions but since I really want to do this and alang2 it's January so can lah make it a resolution. Anyway.. I want to cook/bake more.

In my student days I've always cooked my meals. But ever since we got back here and living with my parents, on average I might have cooked only once a month. Why am I not cooking for my parents instead?? well... First, they are great cooks. Second, they get home much earlier than I do soooo they are always in the kitchen first. What about weekends? Aaahhhh they cook lunch so early that by the time I'm awake all the prep is done and all is left is to put everything on the stove. Plus I feel my cooking is inferior to theirs and since I can't handle criticism I usually let them cook.. HAHAHA.

Anyway.... I miss cooking and the food that I used to dish out. I miss experimenting with recipes. I miss smelling like food and have food stains on my tees(oh wait.. I still stain my tees because my 2 year old is a fussy eater). Plus, I think my cooking skills are getting really rusty. Also... it would be great that my daughter can help me with the baking.

Only problem is.. Asa loves cakes too much so if I bake a cake he'll have an even bigger waistline. But I want to bake a cake. I think my solution to this is to give it away to my colleagues. Yes yes.. I think that's what I'll do.

So.. yes people.. that is my resolution for the year 2010. I WILL MAKE SURE THE KITCHEN BERASAP WITH MY COOKING!!! and of course to have the courage to accept my parents' critics on my cooking. Seriously... they are so good that if we dine out, they almost always would say... "mine taste better" and it's true.. they do.. Sigh.

oh Snniiipppeeeee

Azalia loves the movie UP so much that I bought her a helium balloon sold for RM5 at the pasar malam in Manjung. She chose a parrot(maybe because of the bird in the movie, the boy called it Kevin) and she loved loved loved it.

We brought it back to KL and she put it safely on her bed. Then my cousin came and she was so eager to show it to him she ran out of the door and the door accidently shut and snapped the string of the balloon and it floated up to the ceiling, towards the ceiling fan.

From the horrified look on Azalia's face, you would have thought it was a real bird and was about to be killed by the ceiling fan. Her cries sounded so scared that I quickly ran to the switch to turn it off.

Thankfully the balloon didn't burst otherwise I think Azalia wouldn't sleep so peacefully if she saw her bird burst into pieces.

Anyhoo..I wonder how she would react once the balloon runs out of air. Well at least when that happens, it's still intact.

I like I like I like!!!

I got myself a treat on the last day of 2009. Am feeling absolutely giddy over it. Was thinking of getting one for my 5 years wedding anni but this pretty little thing was on sale so I can't wait can I.. hehe. Will think of something else for my anni. But a brother or sister for Azalia would be the greatest gift ever. AMEENN.

Welcome 2010!!

We started our new year with a family holiday to Swiss Garden Damai Laut, Perak. It was a fun weekend. We even went all the way to Ipoh to visit the petting zoo at The Lost Word Of Tambun (FYI, the place was set against a backdrop of limestone hills and it is just gorgeous!!!)

Anyway.. during the trip we learn a few things.

1. Azalia doesn't like the beach(yet). She doesn't like the feeling of sand under her feet and insisted to be carried on the beach and only played with the sand tools I bought at the swimming pool. Sigh.

2. GPS gets you where you want to go BUT not necessarily the road you want to take.

3. Giant, Manjung, Perak has something malls in KL don't (I think). A remote control car big enough for your kid to sit in. RM3 for 5 minutes. HAHA. Both father and daughter had fun playing with it.

4. My daughter has a problem sharing with people she doesn't know. I'm not quite sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. But what I do know, she needs to get her temper in check.

5. Azalia hates a crowded swimming pool. She prefers the bathtub if there's too many kids in the pool. Especially kids who tries to take her ball. I will never forget her coming out of the pool, stomping her feet, hands on her hips and saying "Alia nak balik. Alia tak nak mandi dah. Alia nak tido." and grunts. Only to go back to the room and climbed into the bathtub with her toys and asking for lots and lots of bubbles.

6. Azalia can handle a 4-hours car drive with only 1 stop and was seated in her car seat all the way. Of course, her books, toy laptop and toys were with her to keep her company. And it helps that she slept half way. hehe.

On the last day Azalia had diarrhea but it was manageable. A few puking incident and pooping incident but nothing major. I did worry because she didn't want to take any milk that morning and the little food that she wants to take came out not long after she consumed them. But as soon as we were in the car on our way back, she drank a bottle of milk and later another bottle so that was a relief and she was good all the way back. And her appetite came back just before she went to sleep just now. Thank God.

Overall we had a great weekend. But until Azalia can handle the beach, I think we would be satisfied with a family trip to a hotel with a pool and a zoo nearby. She just loves her animals.