Mizan is 2 years old!!

a month after mizan was born my family started our new life in kuala lumpur, malaysia. it was the start of me leaving working life and being a full time mom. it was such a pleasure for me to be able to dedicate my whole time to my children and family. it was also a very good luck for mizan and me, because i was being able to breastfeed mizan until now, when he is two years old.

mizan, you are so lucky because you have mama with you whole day and night. you are also so lucky to have my milk exclusively in your first six month and continually until now, because your brother only had this chance until he was 11 months old. you are also lucky to have me take care of you by myself-without no sitter or carer at all. 

i was so glad because mizan now become a very smart boy and loving boy. when he accidentally bump into me while he was playing, he says, "sorry, mama". when he was about leaving me and papa in our room to play outside, he says, "babay mama, babay papa". he loves playing with mikal so much. before bedtime, mizan and mikal always cuddle and giggle together until they were very sleepy. mizan loves playing in the park and everytings outdoor. mizan loves to sing, he always sings in almost entire day and night. mizan now is no longer allergic to cows milk and all dairy product. he loves chocolate, cheese, orange juice, ice tea, biscuits, and of course ice cream. however, still, what he loves so much is nenepopo (what he refers to breastfeeding)

mizan loves to imitate what i do, or repeat what i say. he always makes me laugh for doing so. his cheeks are so chubby makes  everyone wants to pinch them. my whole family, both from my and my husbands sides, often call us and said that they miss mizan so much and they can't resist to eat him!!

mizan, two years old is awesome and we are so lucky to have you.

love you to the moon and back, infinity times,

mama, papa, and abang mikal.

the finest, richest, creamiest chocolate pudding

my little family is a big fan of chocolate. even mizan who is allergic to cow's milk (including every kind of dairy product) is always craving for chocolate. so last week i googled for some recipe and found this amazing food blogger. i found a recipe of chocolate pudding in this blog and went straight to my kitchen to try this. it was so easy to make and the result was fantastic. my husband is a big fan of fine dessert so he loved this so much. mikal and I loved it. mizan tried a spoonful of the pudding and suddenly the rashes came out in his face. oooh poor my little boy.

here is the recipe:

what you need:

3 cups (675 ml) of fresh whole milk/full cream uht milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 egg yolks

80 grams dark chocolate, chopped well

1 tsp. vanilla essence

method:

whisk together 1 cup of milk with the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt in a small bowl. when well whisked, put in the egg yolks and whisk. set aside.

in a large saucepan, stir the remaining 2 cups of milk and boil over medium heat. whisk frequenly. as soon as milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low. gradually whisk in the egg mixture, stirring quickly to incorporate. continue cooking and stirring until the pudding is thick enough (about 2-3 minutes).

remove from heat and stir the chopped chocolate until it is completely melted and the pudding is smooth. stir the vanilla essence.

serve the pudding warm or cold, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, nuts, strawberry, or mangoes!! the pudding will thicken up a bit when cooled.

a trip to kuantan

last november we went to kuantan for a short break from our daily activities. we stayed for two nights and three days there. after googling and asking some friends who ever went there we decided to stay in different hotel at each night. it took about 3.5 to 4 hours drive from KL to kuantan. at first night we stayed at hyatt regency kuantan resort. it was located in telok cempedak area. the resort had its own private beach that was so nice and clean. after checking in my husband and me wanted to take a rest first, but since mikal already saw the beach from hotel lobby, he insisted to go straight to the beach. the boys were so happy. they played with wave and sands. my husband was playing kite, mikal was making his sand castle, and mizan was running round and around while i watched them and stared at hundred shades of blue so peacefully.

at night we walked outside the hotel and surprisingly only 5 minute walk from it we could find anything that tourists want to find. there were many kinds of restaurant, from macdonald, kfc, kopitiam, and local seafood restaurant. there were also some souvenir shops and a bouncing castle playground. telok cempedak public beach was quite nice and tidy itself.

the boys kept themselves busy while papa doing the check in

telok cempedak

my boys

local souvenir shop in telok cempedak

on second day we moved to swiss garden resort. this place was also nice with its private beach, pools, and playground, and kids club for children. it was located on the side of balok beach. the hotel was quite far from the city, but  nearby (about 3-5 minutes driving) we found a very nice sea side seafood restaurant. it sold range variety of seafood and the taste was very good. the name of the restaurant was pak su seafood  and my favourite was pak su stuffed crab. it was minced crab meat put in the crab shell and cooked in pak su special way. the taste was incredibly delicious.

playing in balok beach

overall we spent our holiday playing in the beach and pool repeatedly.when the kids were happy, it was enough for us. we didn't go exploring the city cause there were not many to see. there was a newly opened zoo, but a friend suggested it might worth to visit for the next year but not now since there were not many animals or show to see.

you can find information about hyatt regency kuantan resort here and swiss garden resort kuantan here.

20 months old Mizan

can't believe that my baby mizan turns 20 months old. mizan...he is our sweetheart. there are million things in him those make he is such a little darling. he has many words to speak out now. his first word was "abang" (means big brother), the word he calls mikal is. then it was followed by apple, papa, and many other words before finally he started calling me mama. i was so happy and proud back then. now he can say orange, strawberry, mango, books, penguin, turtle, duck, elephant, starwars (i gues he got this from his brother)! he can count from one to ten. he can also count in spanish from uno to cinqo (he got this from dora the explorer :) ).

mizan knows most of nursery rhymes songs and can sing them along. his favourite songs are the wheels on the bus and twinkle twinkle. he is so cute when he keeps singing and talking. he recognizes numbers from 1 to 9 and some letters (of course his favourite is o :D).

he loves berries and raisins. if he could make it his way and i let him, he could eat thousand of raisins and/or berries a day and eat nothing else. he is allergic to cow's milk but he is always craving for chocolate and cheese. he is still breastfed to me.

cabin fever, always happens when mikal is at school

when we are about to go outside, mizan springs to life. he is so happy and ask me to get him ready first. then he will take on his shoes by himself. after that he will take ours, each pair for each of us, and put them in front of us so we can take on them after that. when i say, "mizan, please kiss me" he will come to kiss not only me, but all the three of us. even if mikal is so lazy to be kissed, he insists to do it to mikal. isn't he so sweet?

he loves books. his favourite is a hungry dragon from early readers series. he loves playing ipad and he's the master in swiping it. he loves playing legos and blocks. he is very strategic on doing something. he loves playing with water but he hates to take a bath. he's often throwing tantrum when i take him to the washroom to take some shower.

mizan..what can mama say but a prayer to your health and happiness. you are papa's stress reliever, mama's source of proud, abang's best friend. thank you for letting us having you, panda bear. we love you to the moon and back infinity times. xxx

separation anxiety

the picture was taken when mizan was 9-months-old on our vacation to japan. insuch the age, he had separation anxiety in its peak. he only wanted to be with me. now mizan is 19 months, still having the same problem. he follows me everywhere. even sometimes, i have to carry him while cooking, mopping the floor, or doing any other households.

it was annoying, of course. but it's inevitable. as mizan spends 24 hours a day with me, he thinks that its only me who love, care, and protect him. once we separate, he shows his anxiety by crying or even worse, screaming.

as explained  here, separation anxiety most commonly occurs as early as 6 to 7 months and peaks between 10 to 18 months. how do i deal with this in my everyday life? i just try not to separate with him as much as i can. since i am not working, its kinda easy for me. but im gonna be off to work again soon, so i just try to communicate it with him from now on. even it seems like he does not understand what im saying, i know he does. i have experienced this too with mikal, when he was about this age. we lived by ourselves,the 2 of us, when i was having my masters degree. i needed to write up up dissertation while he was being the sweetest distraction to it. i finally put him in the best nursery in town while i was off to campus to do my dissertation research and writing.

based on my experienced with mikal and mizan, what to do best to overcome these problems (for you and your baby):
- minimize separation with your baby
- if you have to go without him, communicate it with him first, and repeat the communication frequently.
- if you have have someone else to take care of him, give him some time to know the carer first while you are still around.
- be firm to your feelings, even if you hear him crying, go, and never look back.
- while you go, every little thing will remind you of him (my experience!!). when this happens, send him a prayer, and he will be alright.

kuala selangor fireflies park visit

my husband often made jokes on me for that i never saw fireflies. i was trying so hard to remember there was a moment in my life that ive seen at least a firefly in my childhood, but nothing appeared in my memories. so last weekend we went to fireflies park in Kuala Selangor. we went at 5 pm from home and it took one hour driving from KL to Kuala Selangor. there are many visitors since it was a long weekend for chinese new year holiday. to see the fireflies, we waited for it to be dark enough, then we rode on a small boat to see the fireflies. the moment was so serene and beautiful. there were thousands of fireflies on the riverbank of kuala selangor. mikal was so excited as much as i was amazed to see the beauty of such small creatures. unfortunately, our camera could not capture the moment (due to darkness).

days of school

Today is Mikal's first day of school after Chinese New Year Holiday. I fight tears back realizing that one year flew so fast. I still remember on the first month of schooling here, in Kuala Lumpur, every morning he refused to go to school. Lately I knew from his teacher, he did not speak much in his room. He made friends with very little children, those who spoke english!! He just simply did not understand Malay Language. Later, he gets better and better. Every day, morning and afternoon, we walk to and from school. As we walk, we pretend as though we were in an adventure. Mikal likes to pick sticks from a tree branch, the fallen rambutan (yes, there are many rambutans tree in our neighbourhood!!), or the fallen leaves. He calls the house in the corner "the Rainforest," and so on, and so forth. Everyday, hot or rainy, he never complains to walk and walk. I love you, my purple hippo!!

walking back home from school

durian tree