Ok, So She Didn't Win

Congratulations to the winners nonetheless.

I have a better option - make it myself! I found this on Youtube and couldn't believe it is that simple. It requires no sewing whatsoever. That's good, because I'm not much of a seamstress myself. You can even decorate it with extra glitters, ribbons, beads, whatever you fancy. The choice is endless.

Check this out:



Or, an even better option - wait in glee for Lisa to send one for Alayna ;)

A Tutu for Alayna

I do not know if it is too late for this, but heck I'll just give it a try.

I saw Raggedyanne's entry today and decided that hey, it'd be perfect for my little ballerina (who isn't quite walking yet though).

This is an online contest organised by MySuperkids and the cute tutus up for grabs are generously provided by Tutuworkshop.

Pic from mysuperkids.net

All I have to do is describe why my daughter should get this tutu.

I have 2 daughters (and a son). My first daughter Alyssa who will be turning 5 soon is already a ballerina and owns a tutu for her ballet classes. She loves playing dress up with her myriad of costumes ranging from fairies to princess costumes. Sometimes, she even fashions dresses out of scarves!

My youngest daughter, Alayna Zara who is 1 years old, loves to watch her older sister playing dress up. I can see it from her eyes that she's so very excited and wished she could join her sister and pretend to be a ballerina too.

Looking at her older sister's love for all things girly, I'm pretty sure Alayna will follow suit very, very soon.

Now, wouldn't it be great if only I could find a tutu in her size?

Am I cute enough to win the tutu?

Just follow these simple steps and win!

Subscribe to MySuperKids and Tutu Workshop. (Every contestant must be a part of MySuperKids member and as a tutuworkshop fans – by dropping your email in the box @tutuworkshop website )

Make an entry titled : A Tutu For OR Tutu Untuk . e.g. A Tutu For Dania; OR; in my case, Tutu For Alayna

Put your daughter’s cutest picture.

Write about – why your daughter/niece/cousin/lil sister should get a tutu / kenapa anak/anak buah/sepupu/adik saya patut dapat tutu – in your very own, creative ways.

Describe about the contest with link back to http://mysuperkids.net/ and http://tutuworkshop.blogspot.com/.

Inform Mommy Lyna of MySuperKids at this link when you’re done!

Entry should be written in English & Bahasa Malaysia only.

The winner will be featured in My Super Kids and Tutu Workshop.

First Prize : A Custom-Made Princess tutu 14″ length, extra puffy + accesories worth RM120.00

Second Prize : A Custom-Made Classic 10″ length, double puffy + t-shirt worth RM100.00

Third Prize : Custom-Made Poffy Classic 8 ” length, double puffy.worth RM80.00

5 Consolation Prizes : 15% discount voucher for any purchase at TutuWorkshop.

You gotta hurry up as the contest ends today!

p/s: See what I mean about being a sucker of all things cute? The things I do for love....

Alayna's First

This is way overdue. She's already 13 months now.

We had a little birthday celebration for Alayna just before we left for Cherating. It was a small party with immediate family members as I didn't have time to organise a full scale party this time around. Besides, she's still too young to demand how her party goes, so let's take advantage of that.

She had a lovely cake made by my good friend Norli.

Bits about her:

1. She's expanded her vocab already. Can clearly say kakak, mama, papa, mummy (that's me too), bumblebee (clearly now), nak, nanak (tak nak), abi (abang), opah, atuk (but pronounced as 'atak').

2. Still doesn't take a lot of milk from the bottle. Prefers the boobies (or 'oobi' as she says it), although supply is dangerously depleting.

3. Has shown some interest in walking, although she still need support from us. She will say 'tatih' when she wants to go for a walk around the house.

4. Although she is still really tiny, the doctor has given an all clear that she's healthy. Hurray for that.

5. She has a total of 7 pairs of shoes and none of them really fit her well. Too loose.

6. Loves music and will bob her head when listening to catchy beats.

7. Eats everything and anything that other people are having. Especially loves meehoon goreng and pasta.

8. Separation anxiety rears its head at times. She's perfectly fine seeing me go off to the office in the mornings, smiling, kissing and waving goodbye. However, she gives no chance for me to go out on a date night with my husband without making me feel guilty. She can wail for hours until we get back. *sigh* She is getting smart.

9. Loves Pingu.

10. Still shy with strangers, but can choose to be friendly with random people.

It's my party and I can pick the cake if I want to.

Yes I will.

Mama, how am I supposed to walk with this killer heels on?

I got these 'heels' for her birthday because they're just too cute!

The shoes are extremely soft, like a soft toy and is meant as crib shoes and not for walking babies. Since Alayna was still not walking by then, I thought I'd just grab this and keep this as a decoration later on. Yes, as established way before, I am a sucker for all things cute and useless.

We've Been Away

.. and wished we didn't have to come back so soon.

Day 1 - Arrival.

Day 2 & 3 - We enrolled Alyssa in the Mini Club and Adam in the Kids Club to keep them occupied during the stay. It worked out great for everyone, they have activities lined up for them from 9.00 am to 5.30pm. Only Alayna is too young to join any of the clubs, otherwise she'd be parked there as well so that Mama & Papa can have a honeymoon ;)

Alyssa and some of her group mates.

Adam on the bungee trampoline.

Adam with his group.

"Mama, my hati geli la when I go up on that"

She's not very good at hiding her nervousness.

Treasure hunting at the beach.

This little one had a super time playing in the pool.

And at the fountain.

She needs no extra persuasion to take her naps.

She also took her first step in the sand. Not quite fond of it but didn't resist much anyway.

Time to go home.

Random Happiness

I've been tagged by the not-so-tembam Bedah. Thanks luv, it's been a while since anyone has bothered to tag me on the blog. FB is another story altogether though.

6 (un)important things that make me happy (in random order):

Unimportant? But all the things that make me happy are important to some extent.

1. Getting my hair done.

2. Pavlova.

3. Capturing this image on my mobile on the way home from work one evening.

4. Midnight rainstorm.

5. Finding random money in the pockets of my unused handbags.

6. Slipping into my pants/jeans and realising that it's kind of loose (this has not happened in quite a while).

Now, I have to tag 6 unfortunate (?) souls to do this tag... and you're IT:

1. Lisa

2. The Plague (or are you too cool for tags now?)

3. Kiddo's Mom

4. Cosmic Gurl

5. Babyboon

6. Millie

Question for the Professor: Series 2 - On Food

Adam has now started to ask about Halal and Haram food and drinks. It is quite challenging to argue with him.

A: Mama, makanan halal tu apa?

M: Makanan halal means it is suci, bersih and lembu (or lamb or chicken) yang disembelih secara Islam [slaughtered the Muslim way]. You remember the time when we balik kampung and you saw how the cow was slaughtered?

A: Yes, I remember.. it went "krohhhhh... krohhhhh" at the end.

M: Yeah. It drains out all the blood from its body and make it less painful for the cow to die (err... I'm not too sure about this actually, but I'm trying to make it less gory for him)

A: Makanan haram tu apa?

M: Makanan haram tu is like.. err.. unslaughtered cow or chicken. That means they don't baca doa before they slaughter the animals.

A: Tapi orang Christian pun ada doa jugak Ma.

M: Yes, but for sembelih, they have to baca doa Islam for it to be halal. Pork is also not halal you know. We can't eat pork.

A: Why?

M: Because they are dirty animals and they carry a lot of penyakit with them (swine flu, nipah virus, etc.). They also like to roll around in dirt.

A: But what if we bathe them in antiseptic and give them antibiotics to kill all the viruses. Can we eat them?

M: No!

A: What if we sembelih them secara Islam? Can we eat them?

M: No!

A: But why?

M: Because the Quran says so.

A: But we don't understand what the Quran says.

M: That's why you need to learn your Bahasa Arab.

A: Mama, pork tu sedap tak?

M: ???

This is why I'm never meant to be a teacher.

Next: Question for the Professor: Series 3 - on drinks pulak.

Stroller Talk.. again

I actually had my heart set on the Silver Cross Fizz because it is so light but to my dismay, it only reclines up to 45 degree angle. Not quite comfy for a snooze. It'll probably be alright for quick trips out and not for long haul travelling, despite it's weight.

So I moved on to the Silver Cross Pop (which also comes in an oh-so-cute pink & black combo), but upon testing, it doesn't collapse quite as narrow as the Maclarens. The clasp that secures the safety harness also looks very flimsy and looks like it'll snap after a few uses. While that was a good looking stroller, it didn't quite win the votes on the many reviews I've read. There were also many complaints about the front wheel.

Silver Cross Pop

We also tested the Maclaren Quest Mod at Mothercare which fits all the criteria in terms of weight, ease of collapsibility, maneuvrability and comfort for the baby, of course. The only difference is the colour option. BUT it wasn't on sale.

MacLaren Quest Mod

The Quinny Zapp looks very mod and stylish. It maneuvres well, plus it collapses really2 tiny. The only thing is that it doesn't recline. I would've gotten this one in a heartbeat if it was reclinable. The Quinny model that allows multiple recline positions was way out of my budget. So scrap that.

Quinny Zapp

We finally settled on the Maclaren Quest Sport from Baby Cottage, Subang Parade after reading countless online reviews of strollers and testing all the other options. Maclaren seems to win the most votes on ease of use, durability, recline mechanism, weight and extra features.

MacLaren Quest Sport

I only have 2 gripes about this stroller:

1. The one in charcoal & pink is not available. So we took the one in flame orange instead (in case of an 'accident', a baby brother can also use this. hehe)

2. It is impossible to access the basket if it's fully reclined. However, this is common with all compact umbrella strollers.

Lucky for us, it was on sale too.

Shopping for a Stroller

Being baby no 3, Alayna gets all the rickety hand-me-down baby gears that has been well used for the past 8 - 9 years. I think it's only fair that we get her a new set of wheels.

I'm currently on the lookout for the best compact strollers with the best deals, of course. Right now, it's a toss between the cute Silver Cross Fizz in Marshmallow and variations of the MacLaren. Either the Techno XT or the Quest Sport.

Silver Cross Fizz

MacLaren Techno XT

MacLaren Quest Sport

It has to be (in no particular order):

1.Lightweight.

2. Compact when folded for convenience when travelling and also so it can fit into my small car boot, with room for other stuff.

3. Can be folded using one hand.

4. Able to fully recline for baby to take her nap comfortably.

5. Does not stain and is easy to clean.

6. Available in cute and funky colours/patterns an extra bonus.

7. Reasonably big basket to stash her stuff in.

8. Reasonably priced.

Not unlike buying a car huh?

Any other suggestions?

Mama Idol

How do you keep children (babies in particular) entertained during long or sometimes not-so-long car rides?

I had to be on my toes for the whole journey to the party that we went to last Sunday, as it was only Alyssa, Alayna, my niece and I from PJ all the way to Starhill. Going was not a problem as Alayna is always excited going on car rides.

I mentioned that she was overstimulated during the party in the previous entry. She behaved really well throughout the journey there and during the party. She didn't actually start to fuss until we were almost halfway home.

She refused her bottle, she refused her pacifier, she just wanted to get out of the car seat. The problem was that there's only 1 adult in the car. That's me. Driving. (Maids are on holiday and Papa had to take Adam to his drums class).

So what did I do? I sang Baa Baa Black Sheep in all the colours of the rainbow until we got home.

I went 'Baa baa rainbow/pink/blue/yellow/purple/red sheep.. etc. etc..' ad infinitum until I was almost hoarse.

That did the trick alright.

Or was that really the reason why she couldn't sleep that night?

No Snooze for Mama

We attended an enjoyable birthday party of Alyssa's school classmate yesterday. Alayna may have become overstimulated with all the magic tricks, music and balloons flying around. When we got back, she became irritable and find it really difficult to sleep unlike usual. She normally has no problems getting herself to sleep without the need to be latched to the boobies or cuddling. Last night was very trying for both of us.

When she finally dozed off and we get to get some shuteye ourselves, she woke up at around 4.30am all bright eyed and wanting to chatter and play until right about half an hour before my alarm goes off. This is when she decides to show off her new vocabs and other skills. Poor baby got her body clock all haywire.

I know at some point, all parents must have experienced these kind of episodes. I wouldn't mind so much if it was Friday or Saturday night. But baby, not on a Sunday night..