After 8 days of school...

Rayyan has a new friend. His first friend, Danish.. turned out that that boy has not come to class for 4-5 days already. According to Rayyan, Danish's mom came to school and said to the teacher Danish is sick. From the first day Rayyan told me Danish didn't come, I asked him to make new friends.... so only today he found another friend... SOFEA. I don't know how she looks like yet but Rayyan said she has a "round hair" and not wearing tudung. I asked if she's beautiful... Rayyan said yes... hehehe


A look at his class roster which I snapped on the first day of class, she's actually Ameerah Sofea. I still couldn't figure out which one is Danish 'coz there are 2 Danishes in his class... and I know I saw few more Danishes in other classes as well... quite a common name in 2004 I guess.

Rayyan also got his first homework today... oh which reminds me.. promised to sit down together with him when he does his homework... tulis "alif" and "ba" jer... for his Jawi. He's also starting on his Iqra' book for Quran. Math.. the teacher only started writing with 1 and 2. 5 yo students are supposed to only know numbers up to 50. But I like the way they teach the number concept. English reading.. Peter and Jane book.. only 2 pages so far. BM.. no idea what they do yet 'coz I have yet to see any books on that. Books are kept in class unless the teacher require parents' involvement at home.

The last two days I picked him up super early 'coz he has been complaining whenever I picked him up before this, he was always almost the last person there... or he is the only boy in his class left, etc... so when sees at down the stairs when no one has gone back yet, he says "thank you for picking me up "fast", papa!" both times. Haha how on earth/ what did we do right bringing him up to be so polite... haha.. I sure need to know or recall for Rayhana's sake!

So after 8 days... so far I've noticed that he has learned something... he always mentions his teacher was saying this and that at school.. he can't remember his teacher's name (3 teachers teaching different subjects in a class). He nicknamed one of the teachers "Granny Teacher".... haha I asked him why he called her Granny. He said because she is big.. hehe I think she must be that big elderly macam muka ustazah type.. but she's so nice.. bila everytime I send Rayyan to school, most of the time she's there, calling Rayyan's name dengan manja sekali... hahaha

He still rasa sebak everytime I send him off. Muka macam he could easily cry any second... but everytime I pick him up.... ceria sampai macam taknak balik la pulak... one time he actually had me wait just because he wanted to wait till Danish siap pakai kasut.. nak turun tangga tu sekali...

He's loving his experience at Genius Aulad. Everytime I pick him up he always says "let's come here again next time" and I always correct him.. TOMORROW! and he says.. "yeah, tomorrow!"

Rayhana's Squeaks and Squeals

At 2 months, Rayhana had already started making some verbal interactions with us. Now that she's 3 months old, she loves to talk! She needs people around her all the time to talk to her or else.... tu yang mak aku tak tahan tu... hehehe

Her favorite person is Rayyan. Somehow there is this strong sibling connection between them. Whenever Rayyan is talking, Rayhana tries to find her brother and reply with her own language...

Now she sleeps well at night. After her last meal at around 11 or 12 midnight, she could stay asleep till 7am. Then sleep again till 10am. 10-12 noon is her awake time, before taking a nap till 1 or 2 for her meal... then sleeps again till 5 or 6 and she'll be awake till 8-9pm. Nap again till 10 or 11 for her last meal of the day.. 1 hour of awake time and then she sleeps again till the next day... that's her daily routine as of now...

Since maid takde now (expecting this week or early next week), I have to do my work at home while taking care of the kids since my mom tak tahan dengar Rayhana menangis. I told her... baby mana tak nangis.... hehehe and that maybe she's just too old to be hearing babies crying.. hahaha... but once the maid is here.. she'll still be looking after Rayhana.. with the help of the maidlaa..

We bought the baby monitor.. ala yang walkie talkie tu... since my mom requested for it if she were to take care of Rayhana so that she would hear any cries from wherever she is around the house... RM200+ for that one..

Another strange thing... it seems that Rayhana only cries like mad whwnever I put her at my mom's place. Somehow she cries lesser in our own home. So that monitor is really handy for my mom.

One day when I came back from the office I found my mom beli buaian spring. Punayla pantang nenek moyang aku tengok benda alah tu... hahaha.. Rayyan never needed that buai... and I don't want any of my kids to be dependent on that.. and there's lots of other negative stories I hear.. medically and safety issues especially when you have other kids around the house... (if you guys have medical reports pasal buai spring ni on how it affects the baby's brain please give me the link).

Anyways.. I just let that buai in my house... tak guna pun... but my mom sneaked Rayhana into it whenever I'm out and once I get back, I'll get her out of it again.

I have sucessfully stopped my mom and the rest of the family who is soooo insisting that I give Rayhana air suam after every meal to avoid "sawan susu" or whatever they call it after printing a medical article from Johns Hopkin's University research center (this is one medical research university that you should pay attention to.. other than Mayo Clinic).

So now I need articles to ban this buai spring in my house... hahaha

I'm happy to say that Rayhana now is 100% on Ja's milk. No formula whatsoever.. hopes this last for at least 3 more months. I'm pressuring Ja.. paksa tak kasi chan punya so that she squeezes her breast till there's nothing else to squeeze or pump. Ja kata I ingat dia lembu ke apa.. hahaha... Rayyan had formula since day 1 and breast feeding stopped totally after 3-4 months...

But I already bought formula for Rayhana just in case the juices dry out.

Rayyan's First Day at Genius Aulad

That's him getting ready with his bag. It's his first day of a "real" kindie. According to Genius Aulad, technically they are a TADIKA chain but since they don't occupy a landed area, they can't apply for the status. I don't care, as long as they teach my son good. Rayyan calls Genius Aulad his "Uniform School", since his last daycare school (Salsabilla) doesn't require any uniforms... and one strange thing he mentioned the other day... he likes Genius Aulad VERY MUCH.. and he didn't like Salsabilla because there were "bad teachers"... (hmm...??!!)

Anyway.. I was at work in the morning... I rushed to the Giant to buy his backpack and stationery.. hehe last minute punya kerja.. and of course bought him his lunch at Chicken Rice Shop so he can have his meal before school. Schol starts at 1.30pm and they only provide snacks during their break.
Sampai je sekolah we were actually early... Felishia followed us.. Ja was at work... so ramai la mak-mak and I think there were 1-2 bapaks.. I saw one even brought their DSLR camera.. haha nak amik gambar anak diorang masuk sekolah...

That's him.. in front of his class... 5 Ibnu Khaldun... have not googled the name yet to know who he really was.. though that name is very familiar... there are 18 students in a class. Morning session ada 1 class for 4yo, 2 classes for 5yo, and 1 class for 6yo. Petang pulak 1 class for each age group. All full.. 18 orang each class. There's another "Rayyan" in that school.. but not sure which class.. but the rest of the kids.. nama canggih canggih canggih.. parents nowadays are outrageously creative.. hehe just imagine how you would use the letter "X" in a Malay name.. haha

Since we were earl, Rayyan got to choose his seat. At first he wanted to sit right in front of the white board. After his teacher told him that that's her seat, he chose the seat in front of the teacher's place... hahaha.. that's a good attitude.. hehe.. hopefully I'll nurture him to be the next peng-aircon cikgu-cikgi.. hehe..

One of the things I like about this school is that... just look at the computers they have... that's 4 times more than what Salsabilla had and Salsabilla had almost 2 times more students! They have computer sessions for all their subjects... Math & Science, English, Bahasa Melayu and Agama.. it's an English medium center.. so everything's in English.. even the instructions to learn Malay.. haha.. depends on the teacherlaaa..

The first day of class, Rayyan told me that they played decorating the Christmas tree and Santa Claus on the computer... (hmm... I find that interesting for a "sekolah agama" that is sooo open to other religions and cultures... GOOD!)

That's their dining area up there. The first day of class was last Wednesday, 'coz they wanted to have 3 days of orientation.. W, Th, Fr. Yang bebalnya I ni.. I didn't realize that during the orientation period school ends at 3.30pm and not 4.30pm which is their normal time. The notice was posted all around the center.. I thought it was a notice telling parents that the three days was for orientation only.. didn't border to actually look at the time they finish which was clearly printed there! So.. on the first day I was 1 hour LATE! At least I'm not the only bebal parent there.... hahaha ada la 1-2 lagi... hehehe

Overall Rayyan REALLY likes his school. He has made his first friend already on the 3rd day.. nama dia Danish something.. cute boy.. kecik je.. longhair.. nampak macam girl pun ada.. haha Rayyan told me that he asked Danish if he was a girl or a boy... and Danish replied, boy... haha... Yesterday Rayyan told me that Danish didn't come to school.. so dia takdela kawan yang dia ingat nama.. but he had fun at school nevertheless...

The other day when I sent him to school, he said.."Papa, thank you for sending me to my uniform school..." Alhamdulillahhhhh....

He has started his reading with the Peter and Jane book. He got a "star" at the bottom of the first page. He also got stars on other arts and crafts work h did over the past week... you knowlaa kindies.. so generous with stars... and Rayyan pulak... "look Papa.. I got a star.. now you got to buy me presents!"

Paintball at Padang Astaka

This was quite some time ago. My cousins were planning for this paintball match amongst themselves. They asked me to join in but I had something else planned on that day. So the least we could do is to go there and see them have fun for a little while at Padang Astaka, PJ.

They have quite a good paintball facility there. Very well-trained staff who provided excellent service before and while playing the game. It's definitely not for kids... so Rayyan datang tengok je laa... cian dia...
After the instructor taught how to use the equipment, those who are playing got into their gear while Rayyan watched from the back...

One group photo before the match...

Rayhana was there too... sleeping...

On our way back, Rayyan keeps on saying "I can't wait to grow bigger so I can play paintball next time!"... cian dia.. he really wanted to play... so what did I say? "That's why you have to sleep early and wake up early so you'll grow bigger and taller... then you can play paintball with the uncles and aunties... hehehe

Maybe next time I'll join them and play.. it's only RM100 for 200 pallettes (those tiny paintballs) per person. The way they played the other day, that lasted a good 3 hours!

Raya Haji in Kelantan Part 1

Happy New Year!! I've been wanting to blog on this loong time ago... since we spent about 1 week in Kelantan to finish off Ja's confinement holidays (which ended on the 2nd day of Raya Haji), lots of things happening and loads of stories to tell... so kita buat cerita bersiri lah ye... :)

We start from the trip to go there... on Malaysia Airlines (fuh kaya giler ke kitorang naik MAS nih? Sampai Air Asia tak pandang dah.... hehehe).. nanti I story...

It has been ages since we last flew back to KB. The reason?? Bad turbulence!!! Berderau giler darah me and Ja during our last flight few years ago.... si Rayyan ok je... although I sensed some worriness in his smile... but alhamdulillah the Air Asia flight selamat mendarat dengan terbulent-nya... and that was masa bulan 11-12 macam tu... musim tengkujuh...

So, this time, since it's also musim tengkujuh, looking at the trend few days before we made the booking, we chose to fly there in the morning (less chance of rain), and coming back early afternoon... we checked MAS and Air Asia fares... about RM300+ difference... since we had a bad experience the last time (although not totally Air Asia's fault)... we opted for MAS... lagipun flight tickets disponsor oleh keuntungan jualan kuih raya... (http://kuihraya.wordpress.com) hehe cost already factored in.. haha

That's Rayyan pretending to be his own airplane... we came quite early... one thing I hate is chaotic run to the gates... so I made sure we arrive early so we can have breakfast, anxiety trips to the toilet, and walk to the gate in peace...

hehe orang lain pun tak sampai lagi...

Rayhana pun tido... so we had a little bit of fun while Mama went to the loo... hehe..

People have started to come...

but kapal terbang tak habis isi minyak lagi... but once when we got on the plane, terus pakai seat belt... Rayyan pulak duduk je.. terus asked for airplane food (fresh from his European experience).. haha he insisted on not eating so much at the airport 'coz he wanted to eat "aeroplane food"...

Rayhana was still sleeping... in fact, she slept throughout her first airplane ride...

about an hour later, we arrived safely... no turbulence whatsoever...

yeay! and YES!! says Rayhana... sampai terkena hidung abang dia... hehe

eh.. mana Papa?

tu diaaaaa..... penat siot!!!